Rusty Rierson exploded onto the Winter Texan music scene last year, in his first full season in the Rio Grande Valley.
His charming personality and laugh out loud wit combined with his musical talents - both with the guitar and his smooth and wide-ranging voice - make for an extremely fun and entertaining show for the throngs of audience members who attend his performances.
After playing a Christmas Concert on December 8th at Our Savior Lutheran Church the Rio Grande Valley Concert Band is tuning up for its 22nd season of concert performances.
Since 1998 both Valley residents and Winter Texans have joined forces to create this seasonal band which only performs December thru March.
The Men of A-Chord will be giving several concerts this season. The group is known for their music sung acappella in four-part, barbershop style harmony. The group enjoys blending their voices together to create beautiful sounds.
The Senior Ambassadors Men’s Chorus will welcome the Texas A&M Singing Cadets to the Rio Grande Valley on Thursday, January 9, 2020 for a performance at the Center Church (Formerly Trinity Worship Center) located at 4801 N. Cage Blvd., in Pharr.
Internationally known as the “Voice of Aggieland,” the Singing Cadets are Texas A&M University’s premier men’s chorus. The Singing Cadets celebrated their 125th anniversary in 2019. David L. Kipp is the 13th and current director of the 75-member men’s choral group. Under his leadership the Singing Cadets remain true to their traditionally crisp military style and diverse selection of music. The Cadets will perform American, military, sacred and Aggie-themed numbers.
The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters will bring their new “Pushing the Limits” World Tour to Edinburg at Bert Ogden Arena on Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 7 p.m. Globetrotters’ fans will experience even bigger moments and memories, including a live world record attempt at each game. Plus, many markets will feature a glow in the dark performance.
Read more: Harlem Globetrotters bring “Pushing the Limits” tour to Edinburg
The annual Chanukah Concert and Festival will be celebrated Monday, December23 at Archer Park in downtown McAllen. The festival begins at 4:30 p.m. and a concert starring Jewish pop-sensation Yoni Z will begin at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Chanukah, an alternative spelling for Hanukkah, is the Jewish eight-day holiday commemorating the victory of the Jews “against Greek persecution and religious oppression,” according to torah.org. This year, Chanukah is celebrated from the evening of Sunday, December 22 until the evening of Monday, December 30.
Brooklyn-born Yoni Zigelboum, better known as Yoni Z, is topping charts with his catchy tunes about the relationship between man and God. At 28 years old he has already been in music for 13 years. Since 2012, he has toured worldwide. His YouTube channel has over 2.1 million views.
His Jewish ancestry survived the Holocaust. His father is of Eastern European Jewish descent, known as Ashkenazi Jews, and his mother’s family is of Middle Eastern or Mizrahi culture. He, himself, is a Hasidic Jew.
He was chosen as Israel’s Kikar HaShabbat’s Best New Artist of the Year and Music Video for the Israeli video UP in 2018. His first album, released in July 2018, has been called revolutionary for Jewish music. The album consists of 14 original songs that he participated in the songwriting and production on. His music has been released in several languages including Yiddish, English and Hebrew. Most of his music combines the beats of standard Western pop with Mizrahi music.
As the more than 100 entries into the Weslaco Christmas Parade began to line up in preparation for the 100th year celebration of the city, Bill and Cathy Ackermann found the perfect spot to watch the event
Seated on a corner spot, the Missouri couple, in the Valley for just their second winter, spilled the secret of finding the excellent spot.
“We got here an hour early,” Bill said. “We are looking forward to this.”
Searching out great spots and getting to destinations promptly probably was instilled in Bill (and therefore Cathy) sometime during his 21 years in the Navy, where he operated nuclear reactors on submarines.
“We love the Valley and we love our park,” Cathy said. “There are so many activities to do every day if you want to.”
Bill said he enjoys the RC races even though he hasn’t gotten fully invested with his own car. He said he might do that next year.
“Maybe next year,” echoed Cathy. “Maybe.”
They were just two of the hundreds who lined the parade route last week as part of the Weslaco Centennial celebration, a multi-day celebration that honored everything Weslaco, from the Tinaco Tower to the 1015 onion and the pioneer founding families of the Mid-Valley town that has seen explosive growth over the past decade.
Floats that were community built and decorated passed one by one, carrying politicians, athletes and other well-known Weslaco natives. Among those included Brandon Figueroa, who has held the WBA super bantamweight boxing championship belt since October and previously held the WBA interim title since April 2019.
High school, middle school and elementary school athletes, cheerleaders and bands were also a big hit, all promoting their school colors and mascots (purple Panthers for Weslaco High and black Wildcats for Weslaco East leading the prowl).
And what parade would be complete without a crew from Star Wars as people eagerly anticipate the final installment of that movie series, out this week.
Bruce Duff and his wife are from Buffalo, Missouri and were stationed right at the front of the parade route. They stay at the 1015 park and after the parade were probably going to go do something else they love while in the Valley.
“We love to go out to eat,” Bruce said. “There are so many places.”
Weslaco has a lot to offer and their parade and 100 year celebration showed that Weslaco loves their community.
