Gerardo Villar Martínez, was a multifaceted Pichilemino in the labor field. The last time we spoke with him was in 2008. It was precisely the multiplicity of tasks in which we saw him that led us to learn more about him.

On the occasion, when responding, he told us: “I was born on July 15, 1927. To date I am 81 years old, I am married, and I have seven children. I did my high school studies at School No. 90 there on Ángel Gaete street almost on the corner of O'Higgins, a house that belonged to the Camilo Aguilar family. Of my teachers I remember Don Rufino Castro and Mr. Sepúlveda whose first name I forgot; but I remember some colleagues: Gonzalo González, Sergio Urzúa, Eugenio López, Augusto Aliaga, Baltasar Leyton, Gustavo Garrido, José Miranda”.

“My main trades are furniture maker, master builder and coachman. I have done all kinds of activities: From coffins, furniture, doors, windows and houses. I have built hundreds of houses in Pichilemu. I have also participated in the construction of schools inside and outside the commune.

From the age of twelve I started working washing cars and gardening at the Hotel Ross. There I also worked as a baker in the bakery of that hotel when the owner was Mr. Julio Magnolfi. After that, around the age of 17, I started in construction. My father was a teacher and by watching and working I began to learn. The first house I built was made of stone in the Infiernillo sector and it still stands. This construction was dealt with by the teacher Heriberto Pérez, who was the contractor, but I built it. Later, with more experience, I began to work with assistants under my charge and they were looking for me. For example, I built the house – that immense house – for Doctor Basilio Sánchez. I made the Automatic Telephone Plant. The Aerodrome Hangar as well. In this work, my compadre Antonio Álvarez did the deal, but he looked for me so that we could do it. That construction gave me and still gives me pride, because those trusses have a 17-meter span and there you see. They are still with no signs of going bad. The same goes for the reinforced concrete beam that has a 15-meter span. Something that not everyone does”.

Consulted how they entertained themselves in their childhood and youth?: As a child we played LIBRADOR. This game was very entertaining, but sometimes we finished very late as it was sometimes difficult to find all of us who participated. We hid in houses, trees, anyway”.

Did you participate in any Institution? “I always liked soccer, despite the difficulty I have in one of my legs (*), which made me work harder. And since I stood out, I played in the “Unión Pichilemu” Sports Club, as in the Barrios championships, where -playing for the “Cañonazo”- we were champions on several occasions. And maybe he saw me refereeing on some occasion. In fact, they even looked for me from other communes to go to arbitrate. I was also a firefighter in my youth. That's where I appear in some photos from the past”.

(*): Indeed, in our childhood there was no Association of Referees, and only "brave volunteers" with some knowledge of the regulations, dared to referee matches. Among them, Don Gerardo Villar stood out, who had a shorter leg; but this did not prevent him from playing soccer or refereeing. He was characterized by always being close to the play and his charges were always accurate and energetic in the face of the players' claims. Several years passed -in the 1980s- when an association was consolidated, the one in charge of arbitrating the matches organized annually by the Pichilemu Football Association.

Juan Raúl Flores Flores is perhaps the waiter who is most present in the collective unconscious of the people of Pichile, more because of his festive attention and "moth". However, that equal character opened doors for him in other cities that -during the harsh winters of Pichile, like several others in the activity- led him to work in important establishments.

Even, the Pichilemino -Luis Muñoz Gaete- worked for several seasons during his vacations at the Gran Hotel Ross, and after them, he enrolled in the Hotel Carrera -of the Hilton chain- an establishment that had him on its payroll.

But, within this trade we know of many others who stood out for his attention.

Among those we remember are Custodio Becerra González, Juan Jorquera, Luis Arenas Jorquera, Feliciano Becerra, Alejandro Mella Galaz, Crescente Bozo Pérez, Valentín Saavedra, Andrés González, Juan and Edgardo Jorquera Urzúa, Julio Tobar, Raúl and Heraclio Aguirre Cornejo, Manuel Arenas , Jorge Vargas Bozo, Oscar González Becerra, Ismael Carrasco Bañados, Tarsicio Becerra, Carlos Fuentes Meneses, Fernando Llanca, the brothers Humberto and Juan Vargas, Anselmo Herrera, Juan Cornejo Bustamante, Luis Cáceres Vargas, "Rucio" Quinteros, Mario Valenzuela Cabrera , Carlos Díaz Cabrera, "Chico" Insunza, Manuel Carrasco, the brothers Manuel and Enrique Becerra Jorquera, Patricio Galaz Eloz, Carlos Saldías Farías, Vladimir Santander Saldías, the brothers Antonio, Eduardo and Roberto Saldías González, the brothers Renato and Mario Rodríguez Tobar , Ramon Godoy, Mauricio Vargas Tapia. In addition to those who -from other cities and towns- came to work in the summer season.

Adolfo Moraga Rodríguez was a cobbler and a prominent saddler who -in his heyday- had stubborn clients not only from the commune, but from the region for his fine work in Chilean saddle, where leather work with the neatness of the seams ensured quality work and durability, highly appreciated by its customers.

Along with his children -who helped him mainly in shoe repair- in his youth, he maintained his workshop with a wide preference for a long time, where the quality of the work and punctuality was the mark; the one that his son Mario inherited and whose trade he exercises to this day.

In the memory, with no less merit, are other cobblers, such as Nicanor Cáceres, Gustavo Díaz, Alfredo Poblete, Carlos Fuentes Meneses, Viterbo Osorio, Mario Moraga Cáceres, Rosamel Osorio and wife Magdalena León, these last three being fully valid.

Tools: However, because this ancient trade remains in force -like the tools- almost all of them are still for daily use: needles, awls, cobbler's hammer, leg (cast iron with 3 points, in each of them a plate with the shape of a man's shoe and another of a woman's shoe, heel), rasps. And other inputs, nails, tacks, points, sandpaper (to sharpen knives), anilines, inks, pastes or bitumen, lasts, etc.

Peasant, farmer, is a noble activity and one of the oldest in humanity that, despite the harshness of the job, is essential in the food production chain, fundamental for the feeding of human life.

Over time and notwithstanding, the industrial development for field and/or agricultural tasks, as well as the modernization with equipment and machinery that facilitate the tasks of preparing the land, planting, irrigation and harvesting, the work carried out by the peasants is still important.

That is why, as a modest tribute to all the people who -for centuries- have carried out these tasks in the field; and very particularly in our communal territory, is that we want to highlight this activity -whether in the rural or more urban sectors of our commune- through the different tasks carried out as such, such as foremen, key chains, storekeepers, storekeepers, mechanics, bakers , milkmen, vegetables, and an endless number of trades as important as each other. Most learned in the rigor of daily work and learned from their parents, grandparents.

Likewise, we want to highlight the wisdom and that ability to take the time to cultivate not only the land, but also the purest traditions of the Chilean countryside, such as Creole sports, games and creativity, whether through singing to the human and to I guess, the singing of cuecas and tunes, typical food and drinks, crafts through multiple skills and talent, all of which form the essence of our cultural identity.

There are so many people who could be named, since each Pichilemina family has more than someone whose origins come from a peasant family -like my own maternal grandparents- however, no close family photographic backup can prove it, but only by our word.

But -what are friends for?- they have given us a beautiful testimony of the field of our commune, which, by the way, should not be the only one; but it is the one we have and that belongs to the family of Don Baldomero Carreño Carreño from the Nuevo Reino sector, close to Ciruelos, on the northeast side of the commune.