Frank was the first cigar roller I ever worked with. Frank was from Puerto Rico so he was a U. S. citizen. Therefore, he had no travel issues coming and going to the United States freely.
Frank learned the art of rolling (Dominican style) as a young boy and stayed with it throughout his adult life. He rolled cigars part-time all through his college days and the many years he spent in the US Army Reserves.
I went to Ft. McPherson in Georgia to witness his promotion from Major to Lt. Col. and was very proud for him and his family. Frank was an extremely hard worker and a very good cigar roller. He also taught me that when we did an event, it was a ‘show.’
But Frank was not always available for my growing Cigartainment® business especially after he was transferred to San Jose, CA. Frank received a larger command. That promotion for Frank also proved to be advantageous for me but more on that later.
In the meantime, I found several other cigar rollers from various sources. Some of them lived in Miami. Some lived in California. One family originally from Honduras, lived in North Carolina. More on them later. Some of the others were originally from the Dominican Republic or Cuba.
They were all decent people and willing to travel and work. The work is not hard but the travel can be grueling. Through the years, I was more adept at judging the quality of their work. This was especially true after I met Jorge who has taught me a lot.
None of those other rollers came anywhere close to Jorge’s expertise and skill. But this story is more about the fact each of the cigar rollers I had worked with had migrated to the United States – the land of opportunity.
Alex is a nice young man and a good cigar roller. His mother, Florinda, migrated from Honduras where she had worked as a cigar roller in the Padron factory. She found opportunity in Miami cigar factories. Eventually, she married and began her own line of cigars with her new husband who had escaped from Cuba in 1980.
She was able to go back to Honduras to get her four sons and bring them to America. While divorced now, Florinda and her sons have flourished in the United States. Each of her sons has their own families and businesses. Alex still works with us occasionally from his North Carolina home. Long Ashes, Baby.
But my partner, Jorge and his family are some of the most incredible people I have ever had the honor to meet. I encourage you to read more of his story of learning how to roll cigars from his grandmother in Havana when he was eleven years old. Also how he learned about tobacco while performing forced labor on the farms as a teenager. You can find that story on our main site on the ‘About’ page.
JORGE’S FAMILY & LIFE IN CUBA
Jorge’s father had been in the Cuban Army and even fought for Castro in Ethiopia. He was rewarded with a great career dispensing transportation jobs in Havana after his service. But when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, things began to change drastically for the senior Jorge.
He bounced from job-to-job and became disillusioned with the ‘revolution.’ Jorge Sr. finally escaped Cuba via speedboat (very dangerous & expensive) landing in Miami in early 1996. His brother and cousin arrived from Cuba via the Muriel boat lift in 1980 (along with 130,000 other Cubans). Together, they work a home remodeling/flip-this-house business that has thrived. He has since remarried and has a son named George (note the American spelling).
By 1999, Jorge Sr. was doing so well that he arranged for his son to escape the repressive Castro regime. He decided on a more expensive route for Jorge Jr. because it was a little less dangerous. Jorge Jr. acquired (via the underground) a temporary new identity and an invitation to visit Columbia. The travel documents were secured and the proper pay-offs made. Jorge Jr. spent five weeks in the foreign land. He was 23 years old and very scared.
COMING TO AMERICA
The next step in the plan was for Jorge Jr. to travel to Panama where he stayed for three weeks. Then, the big step – a flight to Miami. The rule is that if a Cuban lands on American soil, they can stay. Remember the Elian Gonzalez case. The Coast Guard picked Elian up before he arrived. Elian’s mother and others died trying to reach freedom.
But Jorge really didn’t know if the rule was true. So when he arrived at the Miami airport. He went into the men’s room and sat in a stall for a few hours gathering the courage to submit himself to U. S. Customs.
During those hours, a gazillion thoughts ran through his mind. He had just left his baby son back in Cuba. Also his mother, sister and other family were (& still are) back home. All his friends were now history.
He remembered the time a few years earlier when he and four friends tied some tires together to make a ‘boat’ and left Cuba’s shores under the cover of darkness in an attempt to escape. After about a mile out, they decided to return. It was too dangerous (remember the Elian case). He remembered almost drowning while on an exercise for the Cuban Army (mandatory two year service).
The army finally sent a helicopter to rescue Jorge after he used his swimming skills to get to a rock. He also remembered that his father told him that in America, there were not troops on every corner like in Havana. Jorge thought he would find them (the troops) on every other corner.
Finally, he tore-up the false documents and flushed them down the toilet. He went directly to U. S. Customs and declared, “I am Jorge Doctsch. I am from Cuba.” The date was September 19, 1999.
Jorge & his 'American Mama & Papa'
We picked Jorge up at the Savannah airport and drove the rest of the way. The then 25-year-old Cuban cigar roller could hardly speak any English but he tried very hard. Elaine and I have three children, two of them sons around Jorge’s age. We made an immediate connection with him and he with us. We also quickly discovered his tremendous cigar rolling skills. Long Ashes, Baby.
LIFE IN AMERICA
In the years since then, Jorge met and married Ingrid. We happened to have a show scheduled in June 2005 in Buffalo, NY. I brought Elaine and Jorge brought Ingrid. After the show, Elaine and I spent a couple of days at Niagara Falls. Jorge and Ingrid celebrated their honeymoon at The Falls and visiting friends from Cuba who were living in Toronto. Long Ashes, Baby.
Ingrid, her mother and sister came from Cuba via the lottery method in February 1997. This system allows a certain number of Cubans to migrate to the USA each year legally. While the Cuban government agrees to the system, the attitude of the party leaders is, “why would anyone want to leave paradise?” Therefore, the implications for applicants and family members are far reaching such as loss of jobs. That is the subject of another post altogether.
Many of Ingrid’s family have since migrated to the U. S. When they arrive, Ingrid coordinates a total family effort of providing housing and assistance in getting them started in the new country. The rule-of-thumb is that the family supports the new immigrants for three months. At the end of that time, the new arrivals are usually self-sustaining with jobs. Cubans are very proud people and very intelligent and hard working.
Joe, Elaine, Jorge & Ingrid Celebrate a New Year
WHICH COUNTRY IS PARADISE?
When Jorge was a cigar roller at the H. Upmann cigar factory or the Romeo y Julieta cigar factory, his salary was the common $7.00 per month. The average monthly salary is now up to $20.00 per month. However, Jorge claims the cost of living has gone higher so inflation more than eats up the increase in salary.
Jorge’s mother has more than one college degree so she makes more. She’s up to around $30.00 per month. His sister is a nurse. Her salary is around the $30.00 per month level when she was working. However, since she applied for the lottery, she lost her job. Years ago, Jorge taught his sister how to roll cigars so she could make money on the black market. Jorge and his father are working to get her and her family to the U. S. as soon as they can. His mother is still die-hard. As a member of the Communist Party, she says she will never leave Cuba.
MICHAEL MOORE IS AN IDIOT TO BELIEVE THE CUBAN PROPAGANDA
Jorge’s son is yet another story. Two years ago, in a freak accident, he was hit in the head by a baseball bat. He wasn’t even in the game but the batter took a swing at a ball and the bat came flying out of his hand and hit Jorito. I will write another post on the Cuban medical system at another time. Here you should know that because the doctor’s botched the surgery, Jorito has had numerous additional surgeries and had a tube in his throat so he can breath for a year and a half.
Finally, the last surgery allowed him to have the tube removed and his recovery is almost complete. In the U. S., Jorge estimates this problem would have been corrected in about three months instead of the two years it took in Cuba. Jorge is hoping that his son, now 11, can join him and Ingrid here in the U. S. soon.
Jorge and Ingrid have been practicing parenting on Jorge’s little brother, George who lives about an hour from them. Please send positive vibes their way and I’ll keep you posted on his progress.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!
The point of this long post on Independence Day is this: I have always been grateful to be an American. But since I have come to know these immigrant cigar rollers, especially Jorge and Ingrid, my pride has swollen 300%. When I asked Jorge several years ago what he likes most about America. His answer came quickly, “FREEDOM, my friend. #2 is choices.”
Jorge has come to know that we do not have troops on every other corner and our police (for the most part) are there to protect us, not harass us.
When family members come from Cuba to America, one of the first things Jorge and Ingrid do is take them to a grocery store to amaze the newbie’s with the choices available.
This is America. Home of the FREE and the land of more choices than anywhere on earth. Today is our 234th birthday. Millions have died providing the freedoms we enjoy and many are serving today (& their families sacrificing).
Picture of a Picture from Ellis Island
THEY’VE BEEN COMING TO AMERICA FOR CENTURIES
People from around the globe have been coming to America to live the dream for centuries. Some died before reaching the land of freedom like Elian’s mother. We found out recently that Elaine’s grandmother who migrated from Serbia in 1910 became a cigar roller in Steelton, PA.
Immigrant cigar rollers have been a very important group in the United States and our family certainly is grateful for them.
Jorge Loves Liberty
