'YES,WE CAN' CESAR CHAVEZ MEMORIES REVIVED IN MARCH.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - Led by pounding drums and shaking rattles, 3,000 people marched more than a mile from Mission Hills to San Fernando on a warm Sunday afternoon during a spirited tribute to labor union legend Cesar Chavez, who would have turned 76 years old today.

To chants of ``si, se puede'' or ``yes, we can,'' the students, teachers, workers and war protesters who marched up Brand Boulevard helped kick off a daylong celebration at San Fernando Recreation Park to honor Chavez's legacy as a civil rights leader and as the founder of the United Farm Workers union.

Until his death 10 years ago, Chavez spent 30 years bringing the plight of farm workers to the nation's attention.

While some marchers used the event to express their disdain for the war on Iraq, many more were there to keep Chavez's vision alive.

``Even if there is war, and we should not forget it, this is a day to celebrate Cesar Chavez - not a rally,'' said Javier Verdin, the city cultural arts commissioner for San Fernando. ``Each year, this event gets bigger. We were the first city to commemorate his day, and that's what makes us unique.''

Buses of schoolchildren joined their families at the park for dances, live music and food. Families created pins and other arts and crafts inspired by the Chavez legacy.

Aztec dancers donned feathered headdresses and marched into the park, where they performed rhythmic dances, punctuated by thunderous drumbeats.

This year, organizers invited representatives of the national Celebra la Ciencia, a program that encourages Latino children to study science. Children perused books on reptiles and plant life at dozens of booths lining the park, and they paused at an interactive exhibit sponsored by the Aquarium of the Pacific.

``This is the first generation that is going to grow up to really know who Cesar Chavez was,'' said Norma Ramirez, who works with the Cesar Chavez Commemorative Committee that helps organize the event. ``I believe he would have appreciated all of this because he believed in education. His message was for the workers, but his message affected a lot of people.''

Others agreed, and said Chavez is a hero to all who may be discriminated against, overworked and treated unfairly.

Chavez came to national attention in 1965 when he led a strike against grape growers in the San Joaquin Valley, sparking a five-year boycott against table grapes. The old ``uvas no!'' or ``no grapes!'' chant reverberated during the march.

He later became a critic of pesticide use for the harm he said it posed to field workers.

``I think this day means different things to different people,'' said Claudia Figueroa, a teacher at San Fernando Middle School. ``It's a day to commemorate a great man, and his memory will live on, but I think people are here for many reasons.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Folklorico Los Halcones dancers practice for their performance Sunday at the Cesar Chavez memorial march and celebration in San Fernando.

(2) Holding a poster of the late Cesar Chavez and other tokens, people gather in San Fernando before setting out on a mile-long march commemorating his marches for justice.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer