She married at age 15. Through college she juggled several jobs and her family helped raise her daughter. Rivera became the first of three children in her family to graduate from college. Now the store sells everything from vacuum cleaners and ceramic knick-knacks to bicycle tires and hunting and fishing licenses. Vasquez and Leonard also are more wary.
Some customers try to buy things without money or credit.
Vasquez and Leonard remember one woman who cooked tamales and traded them for merchandise. Leonard, who has worked at the hardware store 42 years, is not soured on Orange Cove so much as concerned about tomorrow. Rivera came to Orange Cove because she believes in Orange Cove's future. After working with a computer systems firm and an international marketing company, Rivera took the finance director's job earlier this year because of the city's promising development plans and to return to her roots and set an example for her family. Economic diversification is a major focus of Mayor Victor P. Lopez, who says there are plans for a small private prison, a tortilla factory and a shopping center.