SOUTH BEND â Roy Saenz remembers when he was a teen and started working with his uncle Rene Saenz promoting Tejano concerts in South Bend and across the Midwest.
Roy, who now lives in Arizona, saw how hard his uncle worked to develop a live music market for the areaâs growing Mexican community. And man, did he work.
âWe had to do everything,â Roy recalled. âRene would drive all over â down sometimes to Indianapolis to Ohio and to Grand Rapids and everywhere in between promoting the dances and putting posters up in little Mexican stores and restaurants.â
Heâd help his uncle put advertisements on light poles where people walking or driving down the street could see them. But their work didnât end with plastering communities throughout the Midwest with posters. It was just starting.