by Rick LoBello
Big Bend National Park’s proximity to the international border makes it a natural place for cross-border collaborations, such as protecting shared resources and ensuring good neighbor relations with people living in border towns like Boquillas del Carmen in Coahuila and Santa Elena in Chihuahua. When I worked in the park in 1981 Park Superintendent Gilbert Lusk helped the park reassess its relationship with Mexico by reaching out across the border and organizing a Good Neighbor Fiesta in October. For over 20 years up until 9/11, when the border crossing at Boquillas was closed and wasn’t reopened until 2013, the fiesta was an annual event. During my years in the park I was on the fiesta planning team and soon realized how important international events were to cultural understanding on the border. The 1988 International Good Neighbor Day Fiesta at Rio Grande Village was held on October 17. For history’s sake I was able to upload my VHS video of that day to YouTube.
The official National Good Neighbor Day in the United States is on September 28, a day to promote kindness and community spirit, a concept that could extend to the efforts within the Big Bend region and beyond. Here in El Paso the City of El Paso recently proclaimed that same weekend in September to be International Chihuahuan Desert Celebration Day.
When I became the Executive Director of the Carlsbad Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association with the help Carlsbad Caverns National Park and members of the International Good Neighbor Council, we organized an International Bat Festival. So when I moved to El Paso and helped to organize the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition, the Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta was a natural next step.
We hope that you will participate in this year’s 21st annual Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta at the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens on September 27 from 10:30am to 3:00pm. Enjoy learning about our Chihuahuan Desert through the zoo exhibits and discovery tables featuring local organizations and educators plus we will have live entertainment in the Wildlife Amphitheater.