Jack Vessey, president of Vessey & Co., is pictured in one of his kale fields near Holtville. Vessey represents the fourth generation of his family farming operation, which this year is celebrating its centennial in the Imperial Valley. Photo courtesy of Vessey & Co.

When Jack Vessey was a teen growing up in the Holtville area, watching his father run the family’s generational farm, he knew what he wanted to do – become a farmer like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

There were times when his father, the late Jon Vessey, would tell him that he could choose any career he wanted, and that the only reason to become a farmer would be if he truly had a passion for it. The elder Vessey told his son becoming a farmer would not be an easy path.

For Jack, there was never a question. He was going to be

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Pioneers’ Museum Director Caitlin Chávez is pictured by a statue of Mobley Meadows, the first sheriff of Imperial County, in front of the museum. Chávez began her tenure as the museum’s director in January.

Standing in the center of a great hall within the Imperial Valley’s Pioneers’ Museum, one is surrounded by a massive historic pipe organ from 1904, a gallery that celebrates the region’s cattle industry, and another that celebrates the history of the Imperial Irrigation District and the work of pioneers to bring the waters of the Colorado River to the Valley.

All of it tells the story of the Imperial Valley, and it’s a story that Caitlin Chávez, who has served as the museum’s director since January, wants to share in a way that brings this history to life and reminds anyone who visits the museum just how incredible this history is.

“It’s a turn-of-the-century,

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Esperanza Colio Warren, center, is pictured during the dedication ceremony for the new Imperial County Niland Fire Station, which she helped make possible through her grant writing work as then Deputy Imperial County Executive Officer. Today, Colio is the new city manager for the City of Calexico, and hopes to put her grant writing skills to work to bring new resources to the city.
Photo courtesy of Imperial County

When a fire devastated the community of Niland on June 28, 2020, destroying nearly 30 structures and displacing more than 100 people, Esperanza Colio Warren joined the effort to support the people and their community in the way she knew best—securing resources to help those who had lost so much.

In a government career spanning nearly three decades, the last four years as Imperial County’s deputy county executive officer, she has always focused on finding resources to

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