Soap stars warm cold fans

UNION GAP -- Nobody expected it to get so big.

What was billed as a three-hour promotional event late Wednesday afternoon at an 1,100-square-foot store near the Valley Mall turned into mass disarray.

Nearly 1,500 people packed the mall parking lot. They shivered in 30-degree weather, saw their vehicles get towed, and glanced again and again at their watches as the hours dragged on.

"It's worth the cold," said Yolanda Ramirez, 47, around 7 p.m. Wednesday. She'd been standing outside the Verizon store with her sister since 9 a.m., snagging the first spot in line.

"Have you seen these guys without their shirts? They are so good looking."

The attraction? Three Mexican television stars on a five-stop Verizon tour that ends with a concert in Los Angeles later this week.

In Mexico, Eduardo Yañez, Pablo Montero and Jorge Salinas are among the biggest names in entertainment. They drew millions of viewers during the airing earlier this year of, "Fuego en la Sangre," or "Fire in the Blood," one of Mexico's most popular soap operas.

But they're not unknown on this side of the border -- thanks to the re-airing of novela on Univision here in the U.S. And if Wednesday's massive crowd was any indicator, Yakima fan base was proud to have that slice of Mexico drop in for a visit.

"It's a lot bigger than anticipated," said Dave Cortez, an off-duty Yakima police officer charged with crowd control. At least eight other off-duty officers were on the scene -- where a lack of parking and irritated nearby business owners led to the towing of dozens of vehicles.

"I don't know whether they fully understood how quickly this could get packed," Cortez said of the promotion organizers.

But the people understood. They'd heard about it through Spanish-language radio and TV, from their friends, and in neighborhood stores and bakeries.

And as they watched the hours tick by -- the actors were about two hours late because of a delayed flight to Seattle from Denver -- they called more friends and family to spread the word and exclaimed about how unbelievable it was that these three actors would come to Yakima.

"They've come to such a small place that most people don't even know about," said Elmer Calderón, 21, of Yakima, while a local mariachi band played traditional favorites nearby. "That's unique, right? It must mean there are a lot of Latinos here."

Clearly, the Hispanic market is growing across the country -- and in rural communities like the Yakima Valley, which is 40 percent Hispanic.

Higher birthrates and continued immigration mean it's a demographic with increasing buying power -- something Verizon has noticed and is trying to capitalize on.

But there is another reason Yakima was chosen for the promotional tour, said Amir Sadeghi, who heads Verizon's Latino marketing programs for the Pacific Northwest. Hispanics are considered brand loyal.

"They're going to let their family members know, their friends know," Sadeghi said. "(Caucasian) customers will get some word of mouth out there, but you don't see the loyalty you have with the Latino community."

Yakima was one of five U.S. cities chosen for the tour. The others were El Paso, Texas, Stockton, Calif., Southgate, Calif., and Greeley, Colo.

For the Union Gap store, the event seemed a success from store managers. But not everybody outside was pleased with the unexpected extra two hours of waiting and lack of parking.

"It's not fair," said Martin Velazquez, a 41-year-old Sunnyside resident who spent the evening in his pickup waiting for his family to get their autographs. "These people drove from all to meet these guys and they got towed. The organizers should have known how big of a deal these guys are and prepared better."

"I used to be a Verizon customer, then I switched. But now I know I'm going to switch back," said Delores Sepulveda, a 40-year-old teacher's assistant from Toppenish. "I have to support them for bringing the Reyes brothers, for bringing my husbands."

In the soap opera "Fuego," the three actors play the Reyes brothers, who often appear shirtless or riding horses in a traditional Mexican style -- all the while seeking revenge and falling in love with the daughters of a rival family.

Second-generation Mexicans who tune into the telenovela -- the most popular to ever air in the United States -- learn about the old country while their parents are reminded of the home they left behind.

José Ruiz, an immigrant here from Jalisco state in Mexico, took his 4-year-old daughter, Isabella, to the event Wednesday so she could meet her idols.

"She says she wants to take a photo with one of them, I don't know," Ruiz said. "I let her watch the novelas because she can learn about her own culture and values -- and not just this American culture."

The week-long tour served as a bit of an education for the actors themselves.

"I just didn't know there were so many Mexicans here," shouted Salinas as fans were slowly led into the store for autographs and photos once the actors arrived.

"We had no clue it would get like this," said tour manager Oscar Ulloa. "To be totally honest, I had never even heard of Yakima."

Even some people who had no interest in meeting the actors knew the magnitude of what was happening.

"I don't watch soaps but I know who these guys are. Everybody does," said Raul Quezada, a baker who arrived in Yakima a year ago from Baja California in Mexico. "I was just talking about this with a friend.

"The fact these guys are here means Mexico hasn't forgotten those of us in this little town."

* Melissa Sánchez can be reached at 577-7675 or msanchez@yakimaherald.com.

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