By DONNA CRONK

dcronk@thecourier

HAGERSTOWN — Although Angelica “Angie” Reyna Bland’s father had only a

•second-grade education, he taught her many things. Her face lights up as she recalls her dad Severo’s wisdom, intelligence, talents, kindness and the way he cared for his family.

To honor him as well as a means to share her own experiences growing up as a Texas migrant worker, Bland has written a novel, “Last Ride on the Ferry.” The new work from PublishAmerica is based on her father’s life with 95 percent of what’s in it a true story. Bland writes under her pen and maiden name — Angelica Reyna.

A Wayne County resident for 43 years, Bland and her husband, David, have called Hagerstown home for 26 years. They have a blended family of seven children; 15 grand children. and one great-grandchild.

Born in Mercedes, Texas as an American of Mexican descent, Bland says her family of origin, which included a mother, father and eight children, lived a hard but fortunate life. “I got education that you cannot find in school books. There were hard times but there were fun times,” she says. “You become a survivor.”

Her father’s job in the late 1940s and 1950s was that of supervising and transporting Braceros. The Braceros were temporary migrant workers who were brought to the U.S. seasonally to harvest crops. The Bracero program began, she said, after World War II as a result of so many U.S. men who were in the military. Migrants were needed to bring in the crops. The program ended during the Kennedy administration.

Her father headed up a band of these workers but he always took his own family from place to place with them, keeping it together. As a result, she changed schools numerous times and worked around the

hundreds of men in the Bracero program. She said there were no bad experiences with the workers and that she has lots of respect for them as well as for “undocumented immigrants.” She said in the years she worked near these men there was never a bad gesture, dirty jo or any harm or disrespect.

“They had a lot of respect for my father and they had a lot of respect for all American citizens.”

Severo had dual citizenship as his parents were U.S. citizens. He swam across the Rio Grande River to work in the U.S. from Mexico in 1930 and that river, which is featured on the cover of her book, was some thing he crossed on a ferry thousands of times.

Bland says writing a book had never been in her plans until after her father’s death. Her husband encouraged her to put her memories on paper and once she decided to

do so, she started attending seminars, taking classes, making notes and in all — working hard toward the goal of a book.

Hard work is something she knows well. As a child, she picked whatever needed picking from cotton to potatoes, tomatoes, cherries and apricots. She detassled corn and planted tomatoes and weeded sugar beets. “We moved hundreds of times,” she said of her life. “We were migrant workers.”

In the mid-1950s, the Braceros headed for California because it offered better pay. By then, her father had his own work force in eight kids so they set out to do migrant work themselves.

She said his favorite saying was “To succeed in America one only needs a good heart and a good brain.” She said he had both. “There was nothing this man could not do.”

He did not believe in welfare.

Welfare was something he considered embarrassing. Working hard was not. Working hard was a lesson the daughter learned well. After a youth spend working fields, she grew up to spend 30 years working in factories. She then became a cosmetologist and after owning her own shop, now works part time doing hair.

She says that most of the migrant workers simply want to make a good living. She said that Mexico is divided into the very wealthy or the very poor and the poor have no means to get legal paperwork together and are only trying to provide for their families as they are desperate to making a living. “My heart goes out to them,” she says.

Her book is currently available through the Web site: tvww.publishamerica.com and in October, should be available on www.amazon.com

Angelica Reyna Bland of Hagerstown Looks over research for her new book “Last Ride on the Ferry,” a novel about Mexican and Mexican-American migrant workers, based on her father’s Life and her own experiences. Top the cover of her book. Today is Mexico’s Independence Day, which Bland’s father used to celebrate. (C-I photos John GugLieLmi)