Eloy Pando was born in a small West Texas town named Sanderson, population around 800. He grew up in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from Southwest High School in 1977. He is a father of two boys, Nicolas and Cody Pando, a grandfather of four boys, a great granddaughter, three step granddaughters and one step grandson. In Texas he worked in construction and oil fields. He was also a professional wrestler from 1980 to 1985, wrestling for various wrestling promotions in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia. In 1988, he and his family moved to The Dalles, Oregon where he worked for the City of The Dalles Public Works for 16 years. He now works for Full Sail Brewing Company and owns and operates Pando Production Studios LLC. He produces radio shows and commercials for Gorge Country Media’s Spanish station 103.1 FM Radio LAZER, various festivals and concerts in the Mid Columbia Gorge.
In this episode, Eloy and Maxwell discuss heat waves, Phoenix, AZ, dry heat vs. humidity, chickens tell you the temperature, San Antonio, TX, Sanderson, TX, learning to speak Spanish, Tejanos, Spanglish, grandfather from Spain, slang, married Catholic priest, leaving the church, coal mines, racism in Texas, marrying into a culture to conquer, racism in the south vs. the northwest, migrant workers experiencing racism in The Dalles, getting hired after someone has a heart attack, prisoners working time off at Public Works, Full Sail brewing company, Union Vice President, being an interpreter for the State, drug busts, raiding a picker camp, domestic violence calls, the fear of INS is instilled in people, hiring illegal workers, AM/FM, Q104 radio station, 100,000 watts of power, having to follow FCC rules, becoming a professor at CGCC, winning a contest for creating a radio show at 16 years old, selling the radio show to the station, building a house from scratch, family dynamics, professional wrestling, being the “bad guy”, and traveling longs distances to perform.
