Cesar Chavez's message of "si se puede" -- "yes, it can be done" -- lived on Friday morning at a Local Latino Leadership Conference held at Napa Valley College's Upvalley campus.

More than 50 students from Calistoga and St. Helena high schools gathered at the college to hear about the life of the late, great founder of the United Farm Workers, and get a glimpse of what's possible if they complete college. Speakers Louis Flores and Aurelio Hurtado both marched alongside Chavez, whose work helped California farm workers gain rights and protections they did not enjoy, during his visit to St. Helena in the early 1960s.

Hurtado was working at winery when he heard Chavez speak during a three-day rally at Christian Brothers on behalf of local farm workers. Hurtado quit his job and became active in the farm workers' rights movement.

"When Cesar came, it was like the place where we were was lit on fire," he said. "His message was simple, but he delivered it with a tremendous force. You had to have been there."

Chavez passed way in 1993, but evidence of his legacy could be found along Highway 29 Sunday morning in front of Charles Krug Winery. Close to 50 farm workers backed by Chavez's United Farm Workers, were picketing in front of the winery to bring attention to their plight to get a labor contract signed.

Workers complain that the labor contract proposed by Charles Krug promotes age discrimination. According to Casimiro Alvarez, UFW representative, Charles Krug wants to require all of its workers to pass physical tests.

"They want to replace workers who have worked at the winery for over 30 years, with younger workers," Alvarez said.

Representatives from Charles Krug could not be reached for comment on Sunday, but Thomas Fossey, the winery's chief executive officer, said that physical tests are required of all prospective employees and that the tests ensure workers can do their jobs safely.

Chavez wanted to help farm workers in all aspects of their lives, Hurtado said. One of his core messages to farm workers was for them to give their children the opportunities that they never had and to help them get to college. Flores also had some things to say about education and Chavez.

"The only advice I can give you...is to read," he said. "The more you read the more you learn. He (Chavez) brought the farm workers together and had them discuss what their problems were. He said we have to do it without violence."

Flores told the young students that leaders aren't born, they are made, and it's important for students to keep that in mind when they struggle through college. Marco Garibay, a 17-year-old Calistoga High School junior, said he knows exactly what he's going to do when he gets out of high school.

"I'm going to art college," he said. "I've already been accepted to the Academy of Art in San Francisco. I've always wanted to be in San Francisco."

While Garibay is busy breaking pencils and earning a degree in illustration, 18-year-old Calistoga High School senior Marisa Perez and Gladys Deharo, a 17-year-old senior at St. Helena High School, will study nursing at Napa Valley College.

"I like to help the community," Perez said. "I like that we still remember Cesar Chavez."

"I didn't want to go to school," Deharo said. "Oscar Deharo is my uncle, he's made a big difference in my life. I don't want to be just working a part-time job and be earning minimum wage. I want to do something with my life."

Oscar Deharo, NVC's vice president of Student Services, was one of several professional Latinos profiled at the conference. Deharo wrote: "Never allow others to tell you what your limitations are. Never let others set expectations for you. You know yourself better than anyone else. You are a unique and special individual. Si se puede!"

The purpose of the conference was to teach self-esteem and build leadership skills among young Latino students, according to organizers Karmen Loftis, who works as a career center specialist at St. Helena and Calistoga high schools, and Jose Hurtado, a trustee of Napa Valley Unified School District Board of Education. Loftis and Hurtado said they decided to bring in successful Latinos to show young students that they can become whatever they want.

"We need to do something for the kids," Hurtado said.