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 LAREDO, Texas (AP) - Linda Leyendecker Gutierrez lives and works a few blocks from the Rio Grande and traces her lineage in two branches — from one of this Spanish colonial city's oldest families and to Revolutionary War orator Patrick Henry.
And she says she has a God-given gift of designing the elaborate hand-beaded gowns for the annual Society of Martha Washington colonial ball, which combines red, white and blue patriotism with Latin American flair in what could be the nation's biggest President's Day celebration.
A city that is 94 percent Latino and can sound, feel, and smell more Mexican than American presents its aristocracy during a tribute to a president whose birthday elsewhere is more associated with department-store sales.
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