Critical Mass is a worldwide movement that at the very least, is setting a meeting time and place, generally the last friday of the month, and riding around your city with a group of fellow cyclists. Some critical mass groups take it one step further, and use their collective momentum to raise bicycle awareness and lobby for bike-friendly resources in their local government. The first recognized critical mass was in 1992 in San Francisco

As the Critical Mass rides organized by the Brownsville Bike Brigade have grown from 4 to 40 people, the goals of these citizen activists have grown as well. The Brownsville Bike Barn, a brainchild of the Brownsville Bike Brigade, is one of their recent initiatives to come to fruition. The group of cycling volunteers partnered with the Brownsville Parks and Recreation Dept. and local non-profit, Rio Bravo Wildlife Institute to make this cooperative effort a reality. The Bike Barn is located at Gonzalez Park in the Southmost community of Brownsville. This community resource will be a hub of education and events for cyclists of all ages, as well as a place to build your own bicycle if you do not yet have one. It seems Rosio and Cat’s vision of “everyone in Brownsville on a bicycle” has taken a huge leap forward in 2012.

The Bike Barn is a cooperative community endeavor, and needs the support of many to be a success. Your first chance to give back and donate old bikes and tools is this week at the four day Brownsville Bike Barn Inaugural Swap Meet. The Bike Brigade will be printing custom screen print t-shirts for donations.

Brownsville Bike Barn Inaugural Swap Meet
Brownsville Bike Barn at Gonzalez Park
24 Tony Gonzalez Drive, Brownsville, TX.
Wednesday, Feb. 22nd 4-7 pm
Thursday, Feb. 23rd 4-7 pm
Friday, Feb. 24th 4-7 pm
Saturday, Feb. 25th 8-11 am

The President’s Costume Ball & Fiesta de Bienvenida is a dinner-dance with guests dressing up in their best regional Mexican costume. This year Chef Ricardo will be catering a delectable dinner and guests will enjoy a music lineup that is sure to entertain. During the Awards Banquet various dignitaries will present awards and recognize Arath’s contribution to goodwill between the two countries.

Tickets are available at Brownsville Convention & Visitors Bureau Information Center for $100.00.

Arath De La Torre has currently taken Mexico by storm with his portrayal of Pancho Lopez, the zany but dreamy character in Mexico’s #1 rated soap opera, “Una Familia Con Suerte”, which has launched him into international stardom as he prepares to start a U.S. promotional tour that will take him to the biggest markets in the North American continent.

The Mr. Amigo Association chooses candidates from a wide range of fields based on criteria of endeavors and accomplishments as is reflected in the past Mr. Amigos which includes Angelica Vale, Cantinflas, Jose Suliman, Lucero, Lic. Miguel Aleman, Veronica Castro, and many, many more.

As the tradition continues, Arath De La Torre will make a great addition to the Mr. Amigo roster, so make sure that you catch a glimpse of this incredible actor, loving father and genuine “Mexicano” who wears his country’s color with pride and represents his land with dignity and dedication to his art.

BROWNSVILLE — Mayor Tony Martinez on Monday, February 8, will officially dedicate the month of February as “Brownsville WOW” month to help inaugurate a new city marketing strategy by the Brownsville Convention and Visitors Bureau (BCVB). Martinez will join BCVB president and CEO Mariano “Bean” Ayala at the official kickoff of the marketing campaign at Cobblehead’s Bar & Grill at 5:15 p.m. on February 8.

Martinez will be joined by members of the BCVB board of directors in the marketing kickoff announcement.

Ayala says it’s only fitting that Brownsville “WOW” begins in February, since this month is heavy on celebrations, including Charro Days, Mr. Amigo and Sombrero Fest. Ayala also notes the Air Fiesta in March, the Latin Jazz Festival in October and the Holiday Village in November and December.

“We are a city,” says Ayala, “that has for the longest time been promoted as On the Border, by the Sea and now we’re adding WOW, and its accompanying slogan “Always a Fiesta.”

BCVB is located at the corner of Ruben Torres and Expressway 77 and its headquarters have been decorated with festive “banderas” to help get the WOW message to the public. BCVB is charged with marketing the City of Brownsville throughout the U.S. and foreign countries.

Martinez joins Ayala in encouraging businesses and individuals who may be interested in helping to promote WOW to call the BCVB at 546-3721 for information in acquiring decorations and banners.

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The team will make trips to Brownsville, Harlingen and McAllen on Feb. 1-2. A summary of the team’s activities and the players participating are listed below and a list of stops open to the public is posted at www.astros.com/careavan. Please note that players may be added and are subject to change.

Schedule

Wednesday, February 1 – Brownsville, TX

Jose Altuve, Jimmy Paredes, Fernando Rodriguez, Alex Trevino

Chick-fil-A
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch service for fans
Open to fans and all media

Lucio Middle School Welcome to Brownsville Reception
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.

Fielder’s Choice assembly
2:45 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Open to all media

CAREavan Baseball and Softball Clinic
5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Open only to pre-registered youth players and all media

Academy Sports + Outdoors
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Open to fans and all media

Founded by Choice Hotels International (NYSE: CHH), Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H), InterContinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG), Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) and Wyndham Hotel Group, part of the Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN), or their respective affiliates, and led by a highly regarded management team, Roomkey.com provides travelers a search and book experience tailored for ease of hotel shopping through an uncluttered and trustworthy site. It will give consumers confidence that they have made the right choice by providing accurate hotel information straight from the source. From searching through to booking directly with the hotel, Roomkey.com enables consumers to search, book and relax.

This unique offering will quickly evolve to offer independent reviews, and the ability to compare, plan and share with friends and family. Room Key will initially focus on serving U.S. travelers, followed shortly after launch by the expansion of the site to English-speaking regions outside the U.S.

John F. Davis III, a highly experienced hospitality industry visionary with a history of entrepreneurial successes, is Chief Executive Officer of Room Key. He leads a veteran executive team with deeply relevant and complementary experience and accomplishments, including Chief Marketing Officer Stephany Verstraete and Chief Technology Officer J. Kurt Zimmer.

The Company acquired its technology platform from hotelicopter in an asset deal that closed last year. This innovative and flexible hotel search and direct connect platform allows Room Key to evolve and enrich the user experience quickly. Additionally, hotelicopter’s affiliate platform will provide destination marketing organizations with a hotel marketing platform that helps drive more direct bookings to their local hotels, now under the Room Key Solutions brand.

Mr. Davis said, “Finding the right hotel is complex and, unlike booking a flight or reserving a car, it is a personal decision process – one which no one understands better than hoteliers. We believe Roomkey.com will provide consumers with an innovative resource that will give them unprecedented confidence in their booking decisions by fulfilling their hotel search needs with comprehensive and trusted content, and over time, through additional features such as the ability to connect and share their plans with family and friends – all provided through a simple and flexible site experience.”

Robert McDowell, Senior Vice President, Global Distribution, Choice Hotels International, said, “We at Choice are thrilled to be a part of Room Key alongside these five other global hotel companies. In the face of a staggering number of online booking options, our goal is to make the experience of finding the right hotel as personal and enjoyable as the experience of staying in one.”

Chuck Sullivan, Senior Vice President, Global Online Services, Hilton Worldwide, said, “Hilton Worldwide is extremely pleased to join this unique venture that will provide customers with a wide range of travel options and the confidence that they will receive exceptional rates by booking directly with suppliers through Room Key.”

John Wallis, Global Head of Marketing and Brand Strategy, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, said, “With an experienced management team in place and a compelling search tool unique to the market today, Room Key is well positioned for success and will quickly become a large scale marketplace offering highly qualified hotel booking leads to our owners and franchisees. We welcome and encourage additional hospitality companies to become commercial partners with Room Key.”

Steve Sickel, Senior Vice President, Distribution and Relationship Marketing, InterContinental Hotels Group, said, “IHG is always seeking new ways to innovate in order to consistently deliver a world class experience for guests – from the moment they choose to book one of IHG’s seven hotel brands, through to the quality of their stay and beyond. Like so many of IHG’s online innovations, Roomkey.com is another industry first, offering guests breadth of choice alongside all the benefits from booking directly through our own websites.”

Shafiq Khan, Senior Vice President of eCommerce, Marriott International, said, “Room Key’s new and unique offering will embody the best of what hotel company websites offer consumers, giving them confidence in their booking decisions – a personalized and welcoming experience that offers flexibility, accuracy, and benefits of booking with the hotel companies’ proprietary sites. In addition, the immediate scale of this venture will deliver meaningful value to our owners and franchisees by showcasing their properties. This is an exciting new venture, and Marriott International looks forward to actively supporting Room Key’s growth.”

Flo Lugli, EVP Marketing, Wyndham Hotel Group, commented, “This offering will be of great value for our owners and for consumers as well. The Room Key website will enable our owners and franchisees to expand the reach of our own, cost-effective direct booking channels, and will also provide consumers with all of the information they’ll need to have confidence in their booking decisions. We believe consumers will value the relevant pricing information, independent reviews, and in-depth property information the site will offer, and we are proud to be part of an effort that brings such clear benefits to the industry and consumers.”

“Kiazi is adapting well with the other female gorillas,” said Jerry Stones, Facilities Director at the Gladys Porter Zoo. “She is very easy going.”

Kiazi was born at the Pittsburg Zoo and is on breeding loan from Cincinnati Zoo. Zookeepers plan to slowly introduce her to Moja, Gorilla Island’s silverback gorilla. Hopefully, the two gorillas will have chemistry and successfully bred. Kiazi has never produced offspring before. Western lowland gorillas along with all species of gorillas are considered rare and endangered. The Gladys Porter Zoo participates in the AZA sponsored Species Survival Plan (SSP) for gorillas. The SSP manages the population of Western lowland gorillas in AZA facilities in order to maintain genetic diversity and demographic stability.

As a new member to the Zoo family, Kiazi has acclimated well to a new diet that consists of kale, lead tree leaves, apples, oranges, bananas, sweet potato and antioxidant-rich watermelon. She has also been placed on a multi-vitamin to ensure optimal health.

The public is invited to visit the Zoo and consider adopting Kiazi. By adopting Kiazi you can help pay for the cost of her care, food and housing for a year. Consider adopting your favorite zoo animal, all Adopt- An-Animal proceeds help in the care, feeding, and housing of the animal sponsored.

Arath is currently in one of Mexico’s number one rated soap opera, Una Familia Con Suerte, and portrays Pancho Lopez, a role that has launched him into international stardom. He is preparing to start a U.S. promotional tour that will take him to the biggest markets in the North American continent.

According to the Mr. Amigo Association, to become a Mr. Amigo, nominees must be Mexican citizen role model who has contributed to the friendship and understanding between the United States and Mexico. They must also be a successful professional that promotes the improvement of the quality of life in the Hispanic community.

Over the past 47 years, the Mr. Amigo honoree has been chosen from a wide field candidates based on criteria of endeavors and accomplishments as is reflected in the Mr. Amigo roster which includes Angelica Vale, Cantinflas, Jose Suliman, Lucero, Lic. Miguel Aleman, Veronica Castro, and many, many more.

For a complete listing please visit us online at www.mramigo.com

Common species include Green Jay, Chachalaca, Black-Crested Titmouse, White-Tipped Dove, Long-Billed Thrasher, Golden-Fronted Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal, and Olive Sparrow. Most of which are special to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, found no where else in the United States.

For more information about the Rio Grande Valley Chapter Texas Master Naturalists, please visit  www.rgvctmn.org.

Resaca de la Palma promises to be an especially rich birding environment. Colorful neo-tropical and neo-arctic migrants — like the Summer Tanager, American Redstart, and Yellow-breasted Chat – have been noted here more often and in higher numbers. When resaca levels are controlled for the benefit of wildlife, species like the Least Grebe, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Purple Gallinule and various herons, as well as migrating waterfowl in their seasons, should also congregate here. The property’s dense ground-level vegetation is especially attractive to species like the Olive Sparrow, Long-billed Thrasher and White-eyed Vireo, along with all the “Valley specialties.”

The program will begin at 10:00 AM so make sure to be on time to make the most of your day. Participants should wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a hat, insect repellent, binoculars, scopes, and nature books to make your visit an even more memorable experience. Most of the items listed above are also available for purchase in the Park’s gift shop along with a variety of additional gifts appropriate for all ages. We also have bicycles and binoculars for rent.

The cost of the program, including the Nature Tram is $6 per person not including lunch. The Park’s Friends Group can provide a catered hot lunch – please call us for details! To schedule your outdoor adventure to the valley’s newest and  largest state park and World Birding Center, please contact Resaca de la Palma’s Interpretive Department at 956-350-2920 with the number of people in your group. (12 person minimum, catered hot lunch 20 minimum).

Below you will find a sample schedule of your fun filled day!

Outdoor Adventure Program – Winter 2012

10:00 AM
Welcome by the Park Rangers and Park Hosts that will guide you during your adventure. They will give you an overview of the unique wildlife and plants you may observe in the park. Afterwards, your group will be divided into two smaller groups.

10:30 AM
Group A (1hr): Board Nature Tram for a relaxing ride through our 1200-acre park that will provide a scenic view of our woodlands and wetlands. You will stop at the Kiskadee trail, (ADA accessible), for a short walk to our beautiful observation deck to look for sandpipers, grebes, and common yellowthroats that frequent the resaca.
Group B (2x30min): Choose any 2 from the following fun activities; a game that simulates bird migration, nature bingo, bike riding, watching a slide show of wildlife found at the park, or walking down our short tranquil Ebony trail (ADA Accessible).

11:30 AM LUNCH TIME!!!
A fresh hot lunch is available from our Park’s Friends Group. Drinks (bottled water & pop) are available for purchase here at Sabal, our State Park Gift Shop. After lunch, participants will have the opportunity to visit our gift shop. Lunch can be enjoyed indoors in our large air-conditioned meeting room or take your picnic lunch outdoors in the serene mesquite islands for a chance to see the many warblers and flycatchers, green jays and sparrows of our park. Slide show or nature bingo available during lunch.

12:30 PM
Group A (2x30min): Choose any 2 from the following fun activities; a game that simulates bird migration, nature bingo, bike riding, watching a slide show of wildlife found at the park, or walking down our short tranquil Ebony trail (ADA Accessible) .
Group B (1hr): Board Nature Tram for a relaxing ride through our 1200-acre park that will provide a scenic view of our woodlands and wetlands. You will stop at the Kiskadee trail, (ADA accessible), for a short walk to our beautiful observation deck to look for sandpipers, grebes, and common yellowthroats that frequent the resaca.

1:30 PM
Return to park headquarters for a complimentary group photo to remember your amazing adventure before you leave!

Taste of La Frontera features delicious cuisine from the Brownsville and Matamoros area, beer, wine and entertainment. The event comes just in time to get everyone prepped for the Charro days festivities held in February.

In previous years restaurants such as Bettys Tortas, the locally famous Vermillion and others will be participating in the event sampling their signiture dishes.

Taste of La Frontera will be held January 16, 2012 at the Brownsville Events Center from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.