Jamie Elder, the longtime owner of Unity Clothing and Boardsports on Main Street in downtown Osoyoos, will be the driving force behind organizing the inaugural Mexican Workers Tribute Day in Gyro Park on Sunday, Aug. 30. The entire community will be invited to meet and greet the 250 to 300 migrant Mexican workers who have made such a wonderful contribution to local businesses and the community as a whole, said Elder. Mexican food will be served and Canada’s top mariachi band, Mariachi Del Sol from Vancouver, will perform. (Keith Lacey photo)
A longtime local business owner has been so impressed by the hundreds of migrant workers from Mexico who work in area orchards and vineyards that he wanted to do something special to honour them.
As a result, the inaugural Mexican Workers Tribute Day will take place on Sunday, Aug. 30 in Gyro Park in Osoyoos.
Jamie Elder, the longtime owner of Unity Clothing and Boardsports on Main Street in Osoyoos, is spearheading organizing the event – a celebration he says will provide an opportunity for the entire community to say thanks to the 250 to 300 migrant workers from Mexico who contribute so much to our community.
“I’ve been throwing the idea around for a while now because I feel it was needed in our community,” said Elder. “I’ve discussed this issue with other business owners in town and every single one of them has great appreciation for our migrant workers from Mexico and how hard they work and how much they contribute to our community.
“This will allow the entire community to come out and show their collective appreciation for our Mexican workers.”
There will be Mexican food provided to the workers who join in the celebration and members of the community will also be able to sample good Mexican food, said Elder.
He’s also putting up his own money to bring in “Canada’s top mariachi band” called Mariachi Del Sol, a six-piece band from Vancouver.
Elder gained notoriety this past summer for voicing his displeasure at what he believed to be negative personal conduct and lack of respect from many transient workers from Quebec who flock to Osoyoos and the South Okanagan every spring and summer.
He’s never had a single incident with any Mexican migrant worker and neither has any business in or around Osoyoos, said Elder.
“They’re a glowing example that if you give respect, you get respect back,” he said. “All of the Mexican workers I’ve dealt with are simply wonderful people and I wanted to do something to allow the community to thank them for all of their hard work and everything they do to improve our community.
“We’re really incredibly fortunate to have them here in our community and hopefully this will be a wonderful way for the entire community to show their appreciation.”
Elder will be asking local wineries that employ many of the Mexican workers to sponsor the appreciation day on Aug. 30.
“It would be great if the businesses that employ many of the Mexican workers would step up and sponsor the event,” he said.
Elder is confident the inaugural event will be a huge success and he would then step forward to expand the appreciation event and bring Mexican workers from across the South Okanagan to Osoyoos for an annual celebration.
“If this goes like I hope it will, I would like to see it get bigger and better next year and hopefully bring in Mexican workers from Kelowna and Grand Forks and everywhere else in between in the valley,” he said. “I can really see this becoming a nice annual event.’
On Monday, Town of Osoyoos council threw their support for the Mexican Workers Tribute Day.
“It seems like a really good thing,” said Mayor Sue McKortoff.
The event will be family friendly and free of charge.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
