A cowboy competes in the saddle bronc competition during a past Cattle Call Rodeo in Brawley. In 2020, the rodeo was held to keep the rodeo’s long tradition going but was organized without spectators following COVID-19 safety guidelines from the state and from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Instead, last year’s rodeo was livestreamed. This year, in line with current safety protocols, spectators will be able to attend Cattle Call, which is now in its 65th year.

Photo provided by the Cattle Call Rodeo Committee.

If there ever was a question of just how important Cattle Call Rodeo is to the Imperial Valley, the 2020 rodeo held amid the COVID-19 shutdowns provided proof that from its very beginning 64 years ago, Cattle Call has not only been a celebration of community, but it has also been lifted-up by that very same community.

In the months

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Pictured from left to right are Cherie Watte, executive director of Imperial Valley Water (IVH20), Rachel Magos, executive director of the Imperial County Farm Bureau, and Shelby Trimm, executive director of both the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Association and the Coalition of Labor Agriculture and Business. All three took time from their busy schedules to discuss their role and the role of their organizations in supporting Imperial Valley agriculture.

With 500,000 acres of farmland in the Imperial Valley, agriculture continues to not only be vital to the economy of the Valley, but now perhaps more than ever the crops grown on that land are critical to the entire country and a world that is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Considering just how essential Imperial Valley agriculture is, strong voices ready to advocate on behalf of the farming community are pivotal—especially considering the ongoing challenges farmers face, like increasing costs of

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Charlie Ridaura, a registered nurse at El Centro Regional Medical Center, is pictured in the hospital’s E.R. Ridaura shared his experience of serving as an emergency room nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic for this Community Spotlight feature.
Photo provided by ECRMC.

You could say that for much of Charlie Ridaura’s life, he’s known he wanted to work in the medical field. His older brother is a paramedic, and Ridaura first planned to follow in his brothers’ footsteps by becoming a firefighter.

But the Calexico, California native changed his path while working as an emergency medical technician at El Centro Regional Medical Center.

“I started to like working in the hospital,” he said. “I was exposed to what nurses do, and I decided this is where I wanted to be.”

Today, the 28-year-old, who holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Grand Canyon University, is coming off the hardest year of

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