The three young ladies portrayed in the 2023 official Charro Days poster helped unveil the promotional item in a ceremony Wednesday morning at Brownsville’s historic Alonso Building to introduce the 86th annual Charro Days Fiesta.
Libby Tipton, Daniela Guerra and Olivia Tijerina, all dressed in the same authentic Charro Days attire as they are in the poster, pulled down the curtain to reveal Brownsville artist Don Breeden’s latest poster.
Breeden painted his first Charro Days poster in 1992, featuring show horses and Jorge Hinojosa poised for the Grand International Parade.
Introducing this year’s poster, Breeden said it is his 24th. He paid tribute to models from posters past, including Jeanne Osmos, shown in 1996 sitting at a fountain and accepting a single rose from a charro. She attended the ceremony.
The three girls in this year’s poster posed for photos in front of a Charro Days backdrop as Breeden signed posters for crowd goers. The line for both opportunities took awhile to navigate, with attendance at the unveiling estimated at approaching more than 100.
Rosie Mireles, a retired resource teacher at Russell Elementary School, was among those in line to have Breeden sign her poster. But she carried several posters from years past.
Mireles confessed to being a big fan of everything Charro Days and said she hadn’t had time to come to poster unveilings before the pandemic hit and now she’s retired.
Russell Elementary is famous for performing El Baile de los Viejietos, or the dance of the little old men, during the Brownsville Independent School District’s Fiesta Folklorico at Sams Stadium and in Charro Days parades.
Mireles said in addition to collecting Charro Days posters, many of them signed, she always helped get the kids ready for dance of the viejitos performances.
Now that she’s retired she had time to come to the signing ceremony and catch up on her hobby. She said she now volunteers at Russell, helping out with, you guessed it, Los Viejitos among other activities.
After the girls had unveiled this year’s poster and before they got mobbed for pictures, Charro Days president Henry LeVrier said all 24 of Breeden’s Charro Days posters will be on display starting at 12 noon Feb.4 at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art, 660 E. Ringgold St.
Olivia Tijerina’s father Tomas Tijerina said Breeden had reached out to the family about the possibility of her being one of the models for this year’s poster.
He said the poster will have the effect of freezing the current moment in time.
“It’s really neat to be part of history,” he said while holding Olivia on his shoulder.
The posters will be available for free at Charro Days headquarters, while supplies last.
La Vrier said Charro Days continues to reach out to communities across Texas and beyond, promoting the theme of this year’s fiesta, “Come home to Charro Days.”
Charro Days proper will kick off at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, with Baille Del Sol at Charro Days headquarters 455 E. Elizabeth St., with Gary Hobbs performing from 4:30-6 p.m.
LeVrier characterized the unveiling ceremony as having received “great public participation. It was awesome,” he said.
