June
11, 2010 Use Back button
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‘Fourth’
taking shape
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SANDERSON –
The annual Fourth of July celebration here will be in three weeks and, while
it appears quiet so far, things are beginning to fall into place. It all begins
Friday night, July 2, when the Terrell County Bs, the popular local dance
band, will have a “rehearsal” at the dance stand in front of the Court House. While the
affair is very informal, it has become a tradition for many fans. The first
formal activity will be the saddle roping event at Downie Arena on US Highway
285 north of here. It was absent
from the activities for a few years but resumed last year. Books will
open at 9 a.m. and roping begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 3. For more
information, call Robert Rivera at 432/345-2777 or 325/226-3140. The annual
parade will start at 11:30 a.m. on School Street just west of Sanderson Bank.
Parade Chairman is Monica Graham. It will move
east on Oak, also known as Highway 90, to Legion, turn right and disband in
front of the Legion Hall. There, the
American Legion and Legion Auxiliary will provide their annual noon barbecue
of brisket and chicken. Legion
spokesman Lea Hawn said a misting system will keep diners cool as they eat. All afternoon,
vendors will be available on the Courthouse Lawn, selling food, souvenirs and
other items. The Terrell
County Historical Society normally has an “Old Timers Hour” in which they
honor the oldest man and oldest woman present. The group had
not finalized its plans at this writing. The GFWC
Culture Club annually hosts an “Ice Cream Social” with prizes for the best
home-made ace cream in different age groups. And there are
normally other games and activities on the Courthouse Lawn. There is no
charge for a booth but anyone wanting to do so should fill out a form,
available at the News Leader office. “The main
reason for the form is so we will know your needs for power and the like,”
Chamber President Jim Street said. “Whether you need power or not, we need a
form.” Class reunions
are managed by individual classmates and school reunions are coordinated by
TCISD Superintendent Gary Hamilton. A “Street
Dance” that evening will cap off the day-long event. “Southern
Comfort” of Del Rio, which played for the Terrell County Fair in January,
will provide music and entertainment for this year’s dance in front of the
old high school building. A disc jockey,
J.R. Roman of Odessa, will set up at 7 p.m. and play until the band performs
and during band breaks. Sanderson Band
Director Eric Cooksey, who found the music groups for the Chamber, said
Southern Comfort is “primarily a straight-ahead country band with some cross
section of contemporary country music, blues and rock.” They do not
have much “Tejano” or “TexMex” in their repertoire, he said, but Roman will
play a mix. “He has 20
years of professional DJ experience with high-end professional sound
equipment and lighting,” Cooksey said. “He guarantees to satisfy your musical
taste from Tejano to Bob Wills and any and everything in between.” And what’s a
Fourth of July without fireworks? Pyrotechnician Dr. Darrel Wells of
Sanderson and Huntsville has agreed to coordinate the fireworks presentation,
which will occur during the street dance. The Chamber
coordinates Fourth of July activities but it is a community-wide event. SANDERSON –
Because of a bid County Judge Leo Smith said was “too good a deal not to do
it,” a full fence around Terrell County Airport will be provided this year. The county
receives a $50,000 federal matching grant each year under the Routine Airport
Maintenance Program, administered by the Texas Department of Transportation. The Airport
Board has suggested a “game-proof” fence be built around the 640-acre airport
to keep animals from straying into the path of aircraft operating on the
runways. Smith said the
county had already used about $18,000 out of this year’s $100,000 budget and
it was expected the $82,000 remaining would buy fencing for two sides of the
property with the second half to be provided next year. But Twin
Mountain Fence Co. of San Angelo bid $43,088.41 for the first two sides,
about half of what was expected. The
engineering firm of Landgraf Crutcher Associates of Odessa contacted the low
bidder, who agreed to provide all four sides for the same unit price. Commissioners
awarded the contract Monday, agreed to extend it to all four sides and to add
$15,000 to provide a gate at the entrance on the north side. Smith said the
other two bids were for $66,000 and $80,000 for two sides. In a related
action, the court agreed to advertise for bids to install the existing
courthouse generator, which is sitting idle, at the airport. It was planned
to be used for the Sanderson Clinic but Smith said the clinic expects to get
a grant for a new generator. Airport Board
Chairman Jim Street said the old generator can be used as a stop-gap at the
airport until the county can qualify for a new generator under a federal
Capital Improvements Program grant, a process that can take three to five
years. He said a
generator is particularly important now since the Federal Aviation
Administration requires the airport beacon and runway lights to be left on
all night. Smith said a
complete lighting upgrade is needed, which could also be financed through a
federal CIP grant. In the
meantime, he said Airport Manager C.D. Curry has gotten parts for needed
repairs to the existing beacon and work will start as soon as it can be
scheduled. The court also
agreed to allow the Terrell County Historical Commission to erect a fence
around the graves of two train robbers in Cedar Grove Cemetery. Two members of “The Wild Bunch,” headed by Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid, robbed a train at Baxter’s Curve east of here in 1912. An alert agent overpowered one robber and shot the other when he
came to check on his buddy. The bodies of the two bandits, Ben Kilpatrick and Ole Hobek, were
later displayed at the Sanderson depot and then were buried in Cedar Grove. Also approved
was the purchase of wireless internet cards for a radar speed reader on a
trailer, to be fully paid for by a grant from the National Crime Insurance
Board. Smith noted
having the speed displayed to a passing motorist if no officer were present
has little value by itself. But the card
would allow the system to read the license plate on the passing car and
immediately notify authorities if it had been reported stolen or if it was
wanted for “murder, abduction or whatever.” Commissioners
agreed to advertise for bids for air conditioning repair at the courthouse
and to acquire a portable building for use at the county landfill by the
landfill attendant and animal control officer. The court also
agreed to investigate leaks in the roof of the county museum and to consider
its viability. Commissioner
Kenn Norris said the museum needs a curator “at least part time.” Maria Galvan
resigned recently for health reasons and she has not been replaced. By
ANNA La FLEUR Production
Manager SANDERSON –
The American Legion Auxiliary placed small flags on graves of veterans in
Cedar Grove Cemetery on Memorial Day last week but those in Santa Rita
Cemetery did not get the same honor. Several family
members asked the News Leader why the snub but Auxiliary members told us they
could not get into the privately-owned Santa Rita. “Why was my
family member less important than those in the white cemetery?” we were
asked. Santa Rita was
traditionally used for Hispanics here while Cedar Grove, a publicly-owned
cemetery, was primarily for Anglos. The segregation has ended but Santa Rita
remains privately owned. “I lock the
gates to keep people from hanging out in there, drinking,” Santa Rita
spokesman Ray Hernandez said. “Now, I unlock the gates on Saturdays and
Sundays and lock it back up on Sunday at 6 p.m.” Hernandez said
if anyone wants to get in the cemetery during the locked hours just to
contact him and he will unlock the gates. “I have the
flags for whoever wants to place them for family members and we made crosses,
too,” Auxiliary spokesman Lea Hawn said. “Just contact me and I will give a
cross and a flag to anyone who wants one.” Hawn can be
reached at 432/345-2509. She said the
gates at Santa Rita remained locked last week because of a misunderstanding. AUSTIN — Sales
taxes reported for Terrell County this month were down but by a much smaller
percentage than in recent months. Taxes
collected in May for Terrell County were $14,323.91, down just seven percent
from the $15,404.76 in the same period a year ago. Terrell County
sales taxes were down 21.52 percent for the year to date, from $263,851.30
last year to this year’s $207,053.56. Texas
Comptroller Susan Combs announced that the state collected $1.78 billion in
sales tax revenue in May, a 0.1 percent increase compared to May, 2009. “Total sales tax
collections have met or exceeded year-ago levels for a second month in a row
following 14 months of decline,” she said. “This may indicate that a
bottom has been reached. “May sales tax
collections from retail trade, oil and gas and restaurant activity outpaced
those of May, 2009,” she said. “Remittances from other sectors,
however, such as construction and manufacturing, fell below last year. “While overall
economic conditions and sales tax revenues appear to be stabilizing, there
remains a risk of further deterioration, before a sustained recovery is
underway,” Combs said. She said she
will deliver June sales tax payments of $26.7 million to Texas counties
today, June 11, up one percent compared to last June. So far this
year, sales tax allocations to counties are down 7.9 percent compared to
2009. June’s sales
tax allocations represent sales reported in May on sales that occurred in
April. For details of
June sales tax payments to individual cities, counties, transit systems and
special purpose districts, locate the Monthly Sales Tax Allocation Comparison
Summary Reports on the Web site at www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/allocsum/compsum.html. The
Comptroller’s July sales tax allocation will be made on Monday, July 12. SANDERSON –
Some track and running meets for children of all ages will be an early
highlight of Terrell County’s annual Summer Recreation program this year for
children from Sanderson and surrounding communities. County
Commissioners Monday approved $4,500 to fund the early activities that
organizer Jill Jahn said will be completed by July 3. The “Summer
Rec.” program also will feature soccer, kickball and bicycling activities for
Terrell County children throughout the summer. The county
money will provide $2,000 for a coach from Hardin-Simmons University at
Abilene, plus insurance from the Amateur Athletic Union, meals for
participating children and other expenses. Hunter’s Feast
donated $1,500 this year, which will provide a coach from McMurry University,
also of Abilene. Out of town
children will need to pay $14 for the AAU insurance but other expenses here
will be funded with the county contribution. Groups will be here from Alpine,
Comstock and Imperial, among others. Sanderson
children will participate in the area meet in Midland tomorrow, June 12, and
the regional meet in Abilene July 2 and 3. Children as
young as four will be allowed to compete in the running events here, which
will be age-specific except that four-to-eight-year-olds will compete in the
same class. The School
Board Monday night agreed to let the cross country and track competitors use
the school’s track at Eagle Stadium and to shower at the old field house
under supervision. Athletic
Director Mark Dominguez was asked to coordinate with the Summer Rec.
organizers. Practices will
be on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in June at the field with ages 12 to 18
working out from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and all kids, four to 18, from 7:30 to
8:45. The coaches
will provide a workout schedule for the older group. The younger kids will be
broken into groups by age and work 30 minutes on field events and 30 minutes
on running events. The
Hardin-Simmons Summer Camp for cross country, track and field, will be June
21 to 27 and the McMurry Cross Country Camp will be June 28 to 30. SANDERSON –
Terrell County Commissioners said Monday they want to meet in “executive
session” with Bob Bass, their attorney dealing with the question of county
maintenance on the six-mile Independence Creek Road in eastern Terrell
County. An agenda item
Monday would have considered “the discontinuance of maintenance of the
entirety” of the road. It was tabled pending the meeting with Bass. In April, the
county gave the parties along the creek until May 15 to take action on an
agreement reached earlier or the county would consider discontinuing
maintenance altogether. A written
agreement was drawn up in October, under which the county would continue to
provide maintenance on the road, including the crossing of the creek, which
has washed out in heavy rainstorms. Under the
agreement, which was never ratified, the Chandler family would contribute
half of the cost of a repair if it washed out again in any calendar year and
all of the cost if it washed out still again the same year. Smith said in
April that “without prior notice or consent of the county, private interests
have constructed a crossing at Independence Creek.” He said if the
county is to provide maintenance, it should have a say in the specifications
for the crossing. Smith said the
crossing “appears to be made without substantial rock or gravel which will
make the crossing hazardous when wet.” And he said it
provided fewer culverts than the county has used in the past, making the area
of damming deeper, posing greater risk to people crossing the creek and
making the crossing “more susceptible of being washed away.” The dirt road
from State Highway 349 to its end across the creek has been at issue for
several years. Crossings of
the creek have washed out in heavy rains and Smith said a permanent repair is
not economically feasible. At issue is
the crossing of Independence Creek near where the road enters the property of
Calvin Rode. The creek
course is about 500 yards wide at that point and Smith said the creek bed
changes course with each flood. Another action
was tabled Monday which would have considered acquiring picnic tables,
barbecue pits and trash cans for use of the public along the road. “If it is to
be a county road, it needs to be explored and advertised as a great place to
go fishing,” Smith said Monday. He said if
taxpayers are going to spend money on the road, they should get the benefit
of fishing from the creek. ‘Coyotes’
second in softball tourney BRACKETVILLE –
Los Coyotes of Sanderson took second place in the Brackettville Bash Softball
Tournament here last month, competing against teams from Del Rio,
Brackettville and Uvalde. Coyote team
members include US Border Patrol Agent in Charge Ernest Rodriguez, Dan Subra,
Joe Hopkins, Enrique Rivera, Tim Hopkins, Gabe Vega, Kelly Smiecinski, Davis
Yanez, Joe Bonilla, Marco Fuéntez, Chance Bruno, Sam Silva and Fernando
Sanchez of Sanderson and Joe Benavides of Del Rio. The Coyotes
won the first game with the Brackettville Brush Dogs 22 to 5. They lost the
next game to Del Rio Wackenhut by three points. The Coyotes
lost the third game to Brush Dogs by one point. But the boys from Sanderson
then tore up the Brackettville Tigers 16 to 3. The Coyotes
won the fifth game with the Del Rio Border Bunch by a point. The
championship game was played against Wackenhut, who won 21 to 10. “We ran out of
energy after playing three straight games in nearly 100 degree weather and
very high humidity,” the Coyotes’ Marco Fuéntez said. Los Coyotes
will compete next in the Saint James Tournament in Sanderson July 24 and 25. FORT STOCKTON
– The US Border Patrol has a temporary checkpoint on US Highway 285 between
Sanderson and here. Border Patrol
agents are using the tactical checkpoints as part of an in-depth strategy to
find illegal entrants and smugglers. The
checkpoints are not always in place and the randomness of them might catch
the right people off guard, Patrol officials said. “The
checkpoints are another tool we have to help us insure that people and things
crossing the border are not intended to do us harm” Border Patrol spokesman
William Brooks said. This may prove
to be the best way to catch the drug smugglers and human traffickers, he
said. The US 285
checkpoint is in addition to those near Del Rio and South of Marathon, Alpine
and Marfa. By
ANNA La FLEUR Production
Manager FORT STOCKTON
– Water was restored here last week after the principal water main broke,
causing the city to ration water. And consumers were advised to boil water
used for cooking and drinking. “We are
currently discussing the option of water storage,” City Councilman Darren
Hodges said Friday. “The state regulates that water storage should maintain a
three-day period and, at this current time, Fort Stockton can only store a
two- day supply at the very most.” The residents
were reassured the water was chlorinated and could be used for bathing and
other uses but should be boiled before drinking. On the first
day of the water shortage, the city went to a Stage Five Emergency Water
Shortage Condition. All commercial
laundry facilities and car washes were temporarily closed. The city
released a statement Friday saying the level had been changed to a level four
and businesses ordered to close were able to reopen. “We were
running on about 20 percent at the Stage Five and tonight we will be running
at 75 percent,” Hodges said Friday. At level five,
the water was not being run through the filtration system but, at level four,
some of the filters were used. The patch was
put into place and the main buried. Hodges was
asked if there were plans to replace the mains to prevent this from happening
again and his response was that the city has talked of adding storage to meet
the state’s requirements and increase the filtration to filter the new stored
water. SANDERSON –
Dick Zimmer, who has pastured the First United Methodist Church here for four
years, will retire at the end of this month. Zimmer and his
wife, Jean, said they have enjoyed their time spent in Sanderson, mostly on
the weekends. He also is
pastor of FUMC in Marathon and the Wesley Foundation at Sul Ross State
University in Alpine. The Zimmers
will be honored at a joint service of the Sanderson and Marathon churches at
11 a.m. Sunday, June 13, at the Sanderson church. The service
will be followed by a covered-dish luncheon in the Fellowship Hall. “I will have
been campus minister for ten years [at Alpine] and have enjoyed the wonderful
experiences as well as the fellowship of many students,” Zimmer said. “Jean
and I have loved living in Sanderson, if only on the weekends, and have come
to know and enjoy many of the people in this community. “In a small
town where everyone is friendly and isn’t afraid to say hello you get to know
many people in a short period of time,” he said. “The members of the
Methodist church have been very supportive in many ways to make our four
years memorable ones.” Dick and Jean
met and married in Alpine “many years ago” when he went to work for Sul Ross. He worked
there for ten years before the couple moved to the Sultanate of Oman. Zimmer worked
as assistant director for the Center for Educational Technology for Sultan
Qaboos University for ten years. The two
traveled extensively and learned a lot about the Middle Eastern culture. Through their
travels Zimmer said he was able to make many connections between Bible
stories and old world cultures still found in the Middle East. After returning
to Alpine, Zimmer taught for a year at Sul Ross and then became the director
of the Alpine Public Library. He said he and
Jean helped make many changes to enhance the Library’s image. After three years with the library, Zimmer
accepted the job as director of the Wesley Foundation. Six years
later, he took on the pastorate of both the Sanderson and Marathon Methodist
churches. “Jean and I
are looking forward to living in Alpine, raising chickens and growing our own
vegetables,” he said. “We have some travel plans with children living in
Florida, Indonesia and Texas. “Our parents
live in Hawaii and Florida as well, so we will fit in visits between picking
tomatoes and feeding chickens,” he said. BIG BEND – For
the first time in Texas history, smokejumpers are being used on a fire here. The jumpers
were dispatched from Silver City, NM, to a fire at Big Bend National Park.
Five smokejumpers landed safely in the vicinity of the Sublett Fire last
month. The Fire was
started by lightning 1.5 miles west of Castolon and south of the road to
Santa Elena Canyon on the afternoon of May 21. The fire had
affected 109 acres as of Monday and was burning within the historic Sublett
Farming District. The fire is
considered beneficial because it is removing vegetation such as invasive and
exotic species of salt cedar and giant river cane from the former Sublett
farmland. The team of
Gila Smokejumpers will help in the management of the fire. The five smoke
jumpers jumped from a vintage Douglas DC-3 that was built in 1946 and is
maintained by the US Forest Service. The Gila
Smokejumpers have worked from Silver City since 1954 as part of a seasonal
crew made up of jumpers from bases throughout the western United States. Smokejumpers
have worked in most states and have made operational fire jumps in all
western states and in many southern states. This was most
southern fire jump ever made in the US and the first in the state of Texas. The park has
limited wildland fire personnel, equipment and resources. The smokejumpers
have brought fire leadership capacity and skills to the fire, park officials
said. In addition,
they brought supplies from the regional fire warehouse from their jump base
in Silver City. ALPINE –
Sanderson Junior High Students attended a three-and-a-half day Band Camp at
Sul Ross University this week with schools from surrounding areas. The Sul Ross
State University Summer Music Camp focuses on middle school band students but
also features a leadership program for high school band students, teaching
music theory, ear-training, piano skills and music history classes were
presented at the camp. The camp
faculty comprises the Sul Ross State University music faculty and music
teachers from the region's high school and middle school band programs. It culminates
with a public concert in Marshall Auditorium at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, June 12. Sponsors with
students were Eric Cooksey and Nancy Henderson. Students
included Olivia Adauto, Brandee Stegall, Abby Carrasco, Cassie Woosley, Mayra
Rodriguez and Hannah Johnson. Also, John
Pierce, Joseph Carrasco, Luis Garza, Elias Hafner, Jake Alvarez, Jesse
Roberts, Chris Birkenfeld and Marco Fuéntez FORT DAVIS —
The Nature Conservancy’s Davis Mountains Preserve near here will have another
Open Preserve Day June 18 to 20. The facility
will be open for hiking, camping, horseback riding, backpacking, picnicking,
photography, birding, stargazing and other outdoor activities from about 10
a.m. Friday, June 18, until about 3 p.m. Sunday, June 20. The event is free
and open to the public. Guests will be
required to sign in and out at the McIvor Conservation Center. Only
high-clearance vehicles will be allowed past the center. Overnight camping is allowed at the center,
Madera Windmill, and 48 Tank. Only camp
stoves are allowed and open camp fires are prohibited. Jeff Davis County is currently subject to a
burn ban. Horseback
riding is allowed on the roads and the preserve provides a corral and water. Riders must
provide horses, tack, feed, etc. Horses must have a current negative Coggins
Test. Guests should
bring their own food and drinks and plan to take their trash home with them. Hikers should
bring their own binoculars, cameras, sunscreen, hats and plenty of drinking
water. Firearms,
ATVs, stereos and TVs are prohibited. For safety reasons, children must be
supervised by their parents or other designated adults. No pets of any kind
are allowed. Davis
Mountains Preserve is about 25 miles northwest of here on State Highway 118,
about 10 miles past McDonald Observatory and a quarter mile past the Lawrence
E. Wood Picnic Area. For further
information, e-mail DMP Director Chris Pipes at cpipes@tnc.org or call
432/426-2390. To learn more
about the Davis Mountains Preserve and other Texas lands the Conservancy
works to protect, visit www.nature.org/texas. The Madera
Canyon Trail, located adjacent to the Lawrence E. Wood Picnic Area, is open
to the public year-round from dawn until dusk. Inquire upon
sign-in as to the location of these areas. Restrooms are available at the
center. Seven
seniors ‘ace’ all their grades SANDERSON –
The final Honor Roll was released last week but somewhere in transit, the
Elementary list was misplaced. Seniors on the
All A Honor Roll the last semester this year were Clarissa Brotherton,
Victoria Busch, Blakeney Chriesman, Jessica Garza, Chris Marquez, Travis
Roberts and Darren Seidel. Ernestina
Gonzalez was the only junior and there were no tenth or ninth graders who
made all As. Jalen
Chriesman and Kayla Fuéntez were the eighth graders who made all As. Seventh
graders Luis Garza and Grace Jahn and sixth grader Jesse Roberts made the all
A Honor Roll. Jacob Benavidez
and Sarah Sivils made all As and Bs the last cycle. Juniors
Cameron Baker, Casey Couch, L.A. Galvan, Brianna Johnson, Julianna Larrinaga,
Cordell Lawson, Kelly Lomas, Noemi Nunez and Valeria Woosley made A/B Honor
Roll. Tenth graders
Ashley Hagelgans William Roberts, Shawn Stegall and freshman Daniela Garza
made all As and Bs. Eighth graders
Mason Blackmon and Daniel Luevano made the A/B honor roll. Abby Carrasco,
Joey Carrasco, Anthony Fuéntez, Brianna Lozano, Alexis Olivarez and Megan
Seidel were the seventh graders who made that list. Sixth graders
Mayra Rodriguez and Valentine Shindel made the A/B Honor Roll. With “luck,”
we hope to have elementary honor roll next week. By
MARK GLOVER Contributing
Editor ALPINE - Clarence
Russeau wants to save one of Alpine’s cultural sites. Known as the Morgan
School, the one-room facility at one time educated most of Alpine’s African
America children. “It’s
important for the history of our town to preserve the Morgan School Building,”
Russeau said. “To understand the present, it’s important to understand the
past.” The Alpine
Colored School opened its doors in 1921 and served the black community for
nearly 40 years before the Supreme Court decision in Brown v The Board of
Education of Topeka, KS, in 1954 began to crack the bricks of segregated
education in America. Lewis Gordon
not only attended but his father and mother, Morgan and Rita Gordon, started
the school. Those early
Negro and Seminole families – the Gordons, Sheffields, Perrymans and Youngs –
mustered the funds to build a wood-frame building on the banks of Alpine
Creek on land owned by Gordon, a stone’s throw away from the all-brown
Centennial School. “It was
something the black people of Alpine, in spite of all the white people and
brown people, needed to do,” Gordon said. “They wanted their kids to have an
education. They didn’t ask the state or the county, they went out and did it
on their own.” Gordon stared
at the cracked stucco as the wind whipped up dust from the adjacent field. He
pointed to it. “They turned
that part into [the] bathroom,” Gordon said. “We had an outhouse.” The first step
in Russeau’s vision to historically preserve the site is likely via the Texas
Historical Commission. “I think the
history of the site would qualify for a marker,” Brewster County Historical
Commission Chairman Travis Roberts said. “It takes time and money and the
county doesn’t have a lot of that but we would be willing to support the
effort and achieve the necessary political approval.” A black
teacher from San Antonio named Oralee Bullock taught while Gordon attended in
the 1940s. “She was good,
real good,” he said. “We didn’t fight and we didn’t get in trouble. Hell, we
were all kin folk anyways.” A block away,
the Centennial School, now a fully refurbished landmark with fresh paint and
serving as an office building, also buzzed with activity while Gordon
attended down the block. “They had all
the sports – baseball, football, basketball,” Gordon said. “We didn’t have
any of that. Our sport was hiking a mountain or going swimming in Alpine
Creek.” Gordon was set
to graduate from the eighth grade but he had other plans. “Had I
graduated, they would’ve sent me to the black high school in Del Rio,” he
said. “But I didn’t want to go so I didn’t graduate. They held me back a year
but I got a job.” Gordon washed
dishes for three years at The Holland Hotel, earning $20 for a seven day
week, before joining the US Army in 1954. “Compared to
everyone else in my squad, I knew I’d received a good education,” Gordon
said. BIG BEND –
Celebrations marking Big Bend National Park’s 75th anniversary will be at the
Panther Junction Post Office and Panther Junction Visitor Center this month. Big Bend
National Park was officially authorized on June 20, 1935, by the US Congress. The park was
established on June 12, 1944, after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
signed the park’s establishing legislation. More than
1,000 visitors came to the park the first year. Today, more than 350,000 visitors a year
enjoy the natural beauty and cultural resources of Big Bend. The
celebration will include a special pictorial cancellation by the Panther
Junction Post Office. It will be available starting June 22 and will be
offered for 90 days. Big Bend
National Park is named for the change in course of the Rio Grande from a
southeastern to a northeastern flow. As the river
flows through the Chihuahua Desert, it carves majestic canyons and preserves
great natural diversity and a wealth of the Nation’s history. In addition to
the cancellation, a special book will be available, “The Grandest Thing: Our
National Parks in Words, Images and Stamps.” Both the Post
Office and Panther Junction bookstore, operated by the Big Bend Natural
History Association, will carry the new book. To commemorate
the event, the Panther Junction Post Office will offer the pictorial
cancellation via mail by writing to Big Bend National Park Postmaster, PO.
Box 20, Big Bend National Park, Texas 79834-9998. All requests
for the cancellation must be received within 60 days of June 22. For more
information, call Big Bend Postmaster Christi Ramirez at 432/477-2238. |
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