Ernie (Reyes) Valens Ritchie's cousin Ernie Valens performs Ritchie's songs at the festvial. Several groups appeared at the celebration although I don't have photos scanned of them all. Great, great music! Pacoima is proud of Ritchie Valens! |
Here's a good "buddy" of mine-Carl Bunch Carl and I had met online not long before the 1999 festival. He had never met any of Ritchie's family before so when I told him I was going to be in Pacoima, he decided to come on out to the rec. center to see what was going on. Look on Carl's page on this website to see photos of Carl taken that day with Ritchie's family members. It was great to see them meet for the very first time in 40 years! |
A Ritchie look alike? Here's a cool guy that I got to see perform one night while visiting Pacoima. His name is Christian Lugos and here he is 19 years old. He can really smoke on guitar and we were all marveling over the fact that he LOOKS so much like Ritchie did. Although the similarity isn't as apparent in the photo, even Ritchie's cousin Ernie thought he was very much like Ritchie, in the way he performed and sang. Strangely enough, he has almost the same birthdate as Ritchie too! |