Chuy Chávez, musician and educational fair ambassador, sheds tears of joy

Chuy Chávez felt like crying on Saturday morning.

Dressed in a black charro outfit – minus the sombrero – the 66-year-old Chávez sat outdoors on a cloudy day when he was announced as the ambassador to the seventh Education Fair at Fresno State.

That’s when the tears welled up in his eyes, and wife Myrna handed him a hankerchief.

The emotional response, said fair co-organizer Lupita Lomelí of Fresno Univision, was expected.

“When I called him to tell him he was selected ambassador, he cried out of just getting the honor,” said Lomelí.

Chávez – who was born in Arandas, Jalisco, México in the middle of 11 children born into a poor, farmworking family – is known to his fans as the bravado behind the success of Los Originales de San Juan.

With Chávez driving the band, Los Originales de San Juan became a success in the 1990s when their song ‘Pakas de a Kilo’ shot up the charts and was recorded a year later by Los Tigres del Norte.

They performed in bars like El Prado and other similar places, recalls Gil García Padrón, in those days a promoter, radio host and host of his television show. “A year ago, they filled the bullring in the capital in Morelia,” he said.

Today, Chávez is still recovering from a recent stroke, so his words are slower but still forceful.

“Thanks to all the parents who have guided their children and have put them to study as God intended,” said Chávez, who only finished third grade.

Chávez came to Parlier when he was 18 years old and started working in the fields. On the weekends, he indulged in his love of music and entered a contest at the Rainbow Ballroom.

Lomelí has memories of the first time she met Chávez.

“He won a contest many years ago at an event in which I was the master of ceremonies,” Lomelí recounted. “Who would have thought that he would become an international artist?”

Chávez is a singer, songwriter, actor and businessman. He is also a discreet but important benefactor of various causes, including his hometown.

“When I started the Lupita program that she mentioned, I am nobody and I was nobody then,” said Chávez, “but now we are recognized throughout the nation, throughout México, in El Salvador, in Guatemala. We have crossed borders.”

With fame came the opportunity to give back to his community.

Lomelí knows about these charitable works.

“We made a trip to Arandas and there we saw the complete construction of a church, thanks to him and Los Originales de San Juan,” said Lomelí. “We talked to the priest. The priest had an accident and Chuy took care of him until his last days.

“He has done a lot of charity work. And just notice that the media never talk about it, because Chuy never wants it to be known.”

Diana Chávez, one of the three children of the band leader, said that her father was moved to be named ambassador of the education fair because he always imposed it on his children.

“This really buoyed him up,” she said.

Chávez, according to Lomelí, was treated like a hero when he went to Arandas.

“When we arrived, the surprise was that the little ones approached him and he said what school is going to be like,” said Lomelí. “Those kids had a lot to do with Chuy’s help. He has been a very generous person, a person who has been very concerned about the community and, above all, for that in México. ”

Featuring workshops, exhibits and entertainment, the fair is designed to help parents and their children understand how to get into college and earn a degree.