PARROT TALK

Sanchez Family Portrait Gifted to The Green Parrot

Posted On: July 20, 2013

Yesterday, Debbie DiStefano (Sanchez) a member of the Sanchez family, visiting from Tampa, called on us at the Green Parrot and generously gifted a family photo that includes the patriarch Antonio Sanchez, world-famous folk artist Mario Sanchez as a little boy and a score of other relatives including Debbie’s grandfather.

The photo was taken in the late 1890’s in what was then the backyard of the grocery store that is now the home of our bar, visible behind the family members.
Antonio is in the back row, third from the left wearing a black bowler.
Deb’s grandfather is the little boy front and center with the large bow tie.
We believe Mario is the boy to Deb’s grandfather’s left, arms crossed with a mischievous look about him.

The Green Parrot building, built in 1890, was in it’s earliest years, a grocery, founded and operated by Antonio Sanchez, pictured above.

Antonio was the paternal grandfather of renowned folk artist Mario Sanchez, a self- taught master of the woodcut, pictured above in his”Studio Under The Trees”

The beautifully framed family portrait will soon reside beside the print of Mario’s woodcut “Sanchez Corner” that now hangs in the back bar.

In the “Sanchez Corner” print, the grocery of Mario’s childhood is easily recognizable as the Parrot of today.
To Debbie, and all members of the Sanchez family we are forever grateful for the rich heritage they have left us, forever woven in the tapestry of Key West history.
For more on the history of Sanchez corner and our continued relationship to our past look here.