On Tuesday Jennifer Martinez, known as Chismosa the host of the morning show on Lubbock’s Tejano music station Magic 106.5, announced on air that the station had a special surprise for fans that stayed listening through the pandemic.
First, she reminded listeners that local favorite Shelley Lares would headline La Raza on the Plaza, the Tejano music event which kicks off Lubbock’s annual 4th on Broadway celebration. This could be fans last time to see her, as Lares announced earlier this year her coming retirement. Lares along, with South Texas Homies and Magnifico Siete were the stations offering of a welcomed Tejano event in a slow return to post pandemic normalcy.
Following this reminder, she publicized that not only could Tejano fans see Lares perform, they could do so for free. The event was now free to the public and anyone who paid the initial $15 a ticket could seek a refund.
“It’s our way of saying thank you, thank you so, so much for being our family, for being there for us, supporting us. We support you, we love you,” she said.
Described as a thank you, the refund also appeared at a welcome time for the station amidst criticism from some in the Hispanic community over the event’s new venue.
Previously held outside the courthouse in downtown Lubbock, this year the Tejano music concert was instead hosted at Cook’s Garage—a South Lubbock restaurant and venue known for accommodating rallies in support of former President Donald Trump and for hosting Patricia and Mark McCloskey, a St. Louis couple that exhibited weapons at Black Lives Matter protesters last year and who plead guilty to misdemeanor charges for the event last month.
“I don’t feel like Cook’s garage is in the right place to be hosting our community of mainly Latinos for what they stand for or host,” said Jason “Jasito” Padilla, a lifelong Lubbock native. "You welcome it into your house, you know? That’s where it’s going to stay, in that environment.”
Padilla, like others in the Hispanic community who voiced their concerns, was troubled by Cook’s Garage association with Trump, know for his hostile stancetowards immigrants and strict policies on the Mexican border. Padilla works for a heating and air condition company where he’s spent time alongside migrant workers hired for seasonal work. He said he understands their struggles and relates them to his own family’s history.
“I’m third or fourth generation from migrant workers who sharecropped their way up here to Lubbock,” he said. “Without them crossing the river or doing what they had to do to make ends meet and get by, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Maria Oviedo, an immigration attorney at the Whittenburg Law Firm in Lubbock, said that she’s seen first-hand how the Trump Presidency’s immigration policies negatively affected some Lubbockites. She explained that while the immigration system has struggled for years to properly and timely process those in the system, during Trump’s presidency the policies and regulations he passed made things even worse.
“It was just really about surviving during that time period because there was always something new happening, some new regulation coming out, a new rule that government had imposed. And it wasn't ever for the better,” she said.
According to Oviedo, it was always to make immigration stricter or to cut down on immigration. “It was just kind of more about getting through it, surviving and seeing what would happen in four years.”
Oviedo said that during the pandemic, because of increased immigration enforcement, Lubbock families with mixed status—such as having one family member here unlawfully—refused to apply for the benefits they were entitled to, like the stimulus check, because they feared calling attention to their family members status.
“A lot of people were just anxious about any sort of government help, even if their family was struggling, even if their kids were starving, they would say, no, I'd rather not because it might affect my [immigration] case,” she said.
Don Caldwell, the president of Broadway Festivals, Inc. was involved in the discussions about changing the location of the event. He said there were many factors they considered to make sure the show could still go on, and coming to Cook’s Garage was a way to make sure La Raza on the Plaza and another event, the Bolton Oil Country Kickoff Concert, could still be offered to the community. He said that during conversations with Cook’s Garage and Ramar Communications, Inc., owner of Magic 106.5, the issue of Trump association or politics never came up.
“That's my rub with the whole thing, that it went south and we had no idea that we were doing something that was considered bad,” he said. “You know, I was a venue owner. The Trump rally never even crossed my mind as being a problem.”
Caldwell said as the former venue owner of The Cactus Theatre, which he ran for over 20 years, he leased to democrats, republicans and people of different political affiliations. He said Cook’s Garage would do the same.
“I know from having talked to Cook’s Garage that they simply leased the venue out to the Trump rally to that particular party. And I think they would have leased that venue to the democratic party if they had come out and wanted to lease the venue.”
Caldwell said he’s spent his whole life looking to improve Lubbock’s entertainment offerings. He sees Cook’s making the same investment and hopes the situation can be mended.
“Hopefully the community will embrace them because I personally feel that they will be touted as one of the best concert venues in Texas very soon,” he said of Cook’s Garage.
Madison Polozola, a manager who helps coordinate the events at Cook’s Garage shared the same vision. With their new stage, they hope to be an event center that attracts big acts to make Lubbock a stop along their tour.
“We want diversity. We want a lot of different artists. We want the community to be able to come out here and have a good time,” she said.
Polozola could not comment on the Trump rallies as she was recently hired this June. Cook’s owner was not available for comment, but Polozola says her strive is for Cook’s garage to be an event center in Lubbock with all genres of music.
Tejano was the genre performed Thursday evening, with Shelley Lares, South Texas Homies and Magnifico Siete at Cook’s Garage. It was only the second event ever featured on the new stage.
