Today is Felipe Day at The Rio! Come enjoy $1 Budweisers in honor of The Rios first employee - our longtime friend and compadre - Felipe Mercado. Our owner, Pat, wrote a tribute to our dear friend: ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is Felipe Mercado. Long time resident of Fort Collins, Colorado. Felipe was hired as the first employee at the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in the summer of 1986. His job was dish washer and stockman for many years. Actually, he was much more than that. A man of few words but wonderful expression, Felipe was an entertainer. Always with a gleam in his eye, he would often have a little dance and often a pantomime mockery of the kitchen crew behind their backs. Always in the most playful way! Felipe was a slightly built man, perhaps 5 feet tall. I once bought him some cowboy boots from his beloved Texas Valley where he grew up. Had to shop in the womens section to get his size right. He wore them as big a man as youll ever know. We sent him back to Texas once to visit his family. I asked him to take pictures. He brought back post cards… Mission accomplished! Whenever I asked Felipe how he was doing, he always replied Pretty Good!. Whenever we invited Felipe on stage at our company Christmas Party he would simply express his most proud statements. #1, Texas, Long Time! Translation, he was the 1st employee of our company, he hailed from Texas, and he served faithfully on our team for a long, long time -- from 1986 right up until we said farewell to Felipe on October 18th, 2009. His later years in semi retirement, he mostly entertained us and would sweep the patio. I once heard him refer to himself as our Security Man. In a way, he certainly was that. He looked over us and kept us secure with a little dance and a gesture that would always bring a smile and a laugh. Felipe loved Budweiser. It was his drink of choice. I propose that October 18th be celebrated as Felipe Day every year in honor of our long time friend and compadre. He made life rich! In remembrance of Felipe at Rio Grande we will offer $1 Budweiser to salute #1 Felipe for a Long Time! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Cheers, Felipe!
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 17:05:01 +0000
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