April 25, 2008
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SANDERSON
– The Big Bend Open Road Race, an event that bills itself as “the most
challenging open road race in the world,” is tomorrow between Fort Stockton
and here. Race
Director Randy Archer said at press time that “about 155” cars had been
entered in the race, close to the goal of 160 cars set earlier. “Some
of them may fall out and there may be some others,” he said. “We’ll be right
at 152 or so.” Because
of an apparent misunderstanding, the race was canceled in February but then
reinstated. The
cutoff was 150 cars last year and there were some in reserve waiting for a
spot to open. The cutoff was increased this year to 160 cars. In
all but the unlimited class, drivers compete on who can come closest to the
posted speed for their class. They can lose points for going too fast as well
as too slow. Dave
Carpenter and Scott Cardwell of Parker, CO, will drive their 1999 Pontiac
Grand Prix in the unlimited class. The
car is known as the “M&M Car” because of its sponsor, the popular candy. The
car did not start last year because of a mechanical problem. Charlie
Friend of Alamogordo, NM, said Wednesday he will run in the unlimited class
as well, moving up from the 155 mile-per-hour class a year ago. The
other unlimited entry was Joel Hanning of Silver City, NM, and his 1962 Dodge
Polara. Friend
told the News Leader Hanning was not able to run this year because of
a mechanical problem. Sanderson
will be represented by Bobby Stegall, racing a 1986 Ford 250 pickup, powered
by a 6.9-liter diesel engine with a Banks turbocharger. Stegall
and Brian Hinkley have run in earlier races in a 1962 Chevrolet pickup. The
event began Wednesday morning with registration, technical inspections and
rookie school at the Terrell County Courthouse and Community Building. Qualifying
and practice runs were between Lomita Terrace in west Sanderson ten miles
west on US Highway 90 to the roadside park and back. The
activities continued yesterday, capped by a reception in the Pavilion at
Bicentennial Park, sponsored by the Sanderson Chamber of Commerce with
support from the BBORR committee. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- prom
royalty SANDERSON
– Davis Stumberg was crowned king and Hannah Black was voted as queen of the
annual Junior/ Senior Prom and Banquet Saturday. Black
and silver balloons decorated the St. James Hall, while the students danced
and visited with friends. The theme was “Spark of Night.” Class
favorites were also chosen last week. The
freshmen voted for Andy Milstead and Noemi Nuñez. Darren
Seidel and Ashley Hernandez were chosen by the sophomores. The
juniors voted Phillip Lascano and Misty Arnold as their “favorites.” Senior
class “favs” were Raul Salazar and newly-crowned queen Hannah. Raul
and Hannah were also named as all school favorites. WASHINGTON
– US Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez plans to make a “whistlestop” tour across his
district, including a stop in Sanderson, on the Sunset Limited train next
week. Rodriguez,
who spoke to a group April 12 at Paddy’s Restaurant in Sanderson, plans to
speak about getting our economy back on track. “I’m
taking this train trip to hear about how the economy is affecting the lives
of the people I represent,” Rodriguez said. He
said many people are having a hard time paying their mortgage or dealing with
rising gas and food costs. The
train is scheduled to arrive about 3:30 p.m. and Rodriguez will speak to
residents during the short stopover before continuing on to Del Rio. A
community event is being planned from 3:30 pm to 5:30 p.m. at a time and
place to be announced. By ERIN CORBETT Fort
Lancaster essay winner SHEFFIELD – The
field trip to Ft. Lancaster was very fascinating. I
thought I would not be interested in the history of it but was surprised to
know how much knowledge was built into Ft. Lancaster. I
thought it was awesome how it all came alive with how the people were dressed
and the items and animals that were used. I
learned a lot of information at Ft. Lancaster and I would really enjoy
returning to visit sometime in the future. Ft.
Lancaster was established in 1855 on the East bank of Live Oak Creek, just
where it joins the Pecos River. It protected the road from San Antonio to El
Paso. At
one point, the post played a major role in the protection of the southern
route to California after the discovery of gold. Ft.
Lancaster was originally made of picket canvas and portable prefabricated
buildings. It housed approximately 150 men and three officers. By
the time it was abandoned, all the major structures were made of stone or
adobe. The
fort housed between 25 and 29 permanent buildings including a kitchen, a
hospital, a blacksmith shop, a bakery and barracks. The
men that were placed at Ft. Lancaster had their duties. They were to escort
mail, freight trains and watch and keep tracks of the Indians. In
1856, an Army Inspector visited Ft. Lancaster and was shocked by how poorly
and untrained the troops were. He did not want them to demonstrate rifle
firing. He
also found 76 prisoners in a guardhouse, 15 of them for drunkenness. The Army
inspector was furious. The
problem stemmed partly from the lack of officers at the fort and partly
because of poor conditions. In
1857, a wagon train was ambushed by Indians about 25 miles from Ft.
Lancaster. The soldiers were able to defeat the Indians with the loss of one
sergeant Ft.
Lancaster is not known to many but it is recognized by a few historians. It
was an isolated post in West Texas. A
lot of soldiers lived at Ft. Lancaster when all transportation relied on wagons
and horses and communications relied on messengers. On
December 26, 1867, Company K of the 9th Cavalry, under the command
of Captain William Frohock, was attacked by a combination of Kickapoos,
Lipans and Mexicans plus some white American renegades, estimated at between
900 and 1,500 men. The
black Buffalo soldiers would have been taken down if it weren’t for corralled
horses that stampeded through the lines of the assailants. But
the hostiles took control of the horses and the Buffalo soldiers withdrew and
formed a mile-wide line of battle. Frohock
would not accept the loss, so they went after the invaders and chased them
for about four miles before running out of ammunition. This
fight took about three hours and 20 Indians lay dead and two troopers who
guarded Ft. Lancaster were missing. In
1965, the 82-acre park was donated to Crockett County by the Meadows and
Benckenstein families for preservation. In
1968, the property was finally transferred to the Texas Park and Wildlife Department. It
was transferred to the Texas Historical Commission this year. After
doing all the research on Ft. Lancaster, I find it a very important
historical event. Even
thought it’s not well known, I would personally advise more people to visit
the fort. These
soldiers and officers made a home at Ft. Lancaster and did their duties
protecting the road to San Antonio and El Paso. I
hope that Terrell County Independent School District continues on taking more
school trips to Ft. Lancaster in the future. do
well at Del Rio By ELIZA ODGERS 4-H Reporter Ok
4-Hers, here’s what happened at the Shooting Competition Saturday in Del
Rio Saturday. We had three juniors, four intermediate and three seniors.
Overall,
the senior team got fifth place, intermediate team got third and the junior
team placed second. In
the senior category, Cordell Lawson took 19th, Shawn Stegall got 20th and
Doodle Odgers got 21st. In
the intermediate category, Dryden Baker got 12th, Mason Blackmon got 14th,
Eliza Odgers got 17th and Joseph Carrasco got 18th. In
the juniors, Jesse Roberts got 10th, Al McGahan got 14th and Brandee Stegall
got 15th place. Then
the seniors went into Top Gun and the scores were Cordell Lawson with
10th Doodle Odgers with 11th and Shawn Stegall with 12th. We
appreciate all the people that came out to cheer us on. Don't
forget 4-hers, tomorrow, April 26, we are serving breakfast and lunch for the
BBORR and Sunday May 3 is Mothers Day. So order those Geraniums for your Mom. |
Today,
April 25, activities move 65 miles north to Fort Stockton for continued
registration and technical inspections, optional tours of the area and driver
schools. At
4 p.m., the cars will all gather at Zero Stone Park at Main and Callaghan for
a car show followed by a parade at 5:30 p.m. down Dickinson Street. There
will be a final meeting of course workers at 6:30 p.m. for gate assignments. The
big day is tomorrow when the some 150 cars line up at US Highway 285 and Mockingbird
Lane in Fort Stockton. They
will leave, one at a time, for the 59-mile course to Downie Arena north of Sanderson. Drivers
will all gather at the Terrell County Courthouse lawn for lunch and rest
before the second leg in the afternoon. Sanderson
Coordinator Dale Lascano has promised a real family outing tomorrow, starting
at 9 a.m. “We
want it to be fun for the whole family on courthouse lawn,” said. “We want
everyone to feel extremely welcome.” During
the turnaround, people can see the racecars “up close and personal” and visit
with race crews. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- for next week SANDERSON
– The annual Cinco de Mayo observation is next week and organizers plan a
number of activities to mark the day. Booths
will open at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 3, on the Courthouse lawn. There
will be approximately 12 to 14 vendors set up selling various items such as
food and gifts. There will also be games for kids to play. From
11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Mariachi Perla of Pecos will sing to the crowd. A
street dance will start at 8 p.m. and last until 1 a.m. Sunday with Wayne
West proving the music. Cinco
marks the date in 1862 when the Mexicans defeated the French at Puebla, east
of Mexico City. SANDERSON
– A total of 21 Sanderson students made the All-A honor roll for the fifth
six-week period. Having
all As in high school and junior high for the grading period were Erin
Corbett, Danell Graham, Vicky Busch, Taylor Roberts, Daniela Garza, Micaela
Fuéntez and Jalen Chriesman. Making
the all As and Bs were Ben Rubio, Davis Stumberg, Rosa Gonzalez, Hannah
Black, Carver Tate, Darren Seidel, Travis Roberts, Jessica Garza, Blakeney
Chriesman, Clarissa Brotherton, Valeria Orozco, Noemi Nuñez, Kelly Lomas,
Cordell Lawson, Ernestina Gonzalez, Cameron Baker, Daniel Luevano and Mason
Blackmon. Acing
their grades in elementary school were Alexis Olivares, Grace Jahn, Luis
Garza, Abby Carrasco, Jesse Roberts, Mikey Shoemaker, Al Johnson, Hunter
Truesdell, Andrew Cavender, Luke Carroll, Noah Aguilar, Kailey Dominguez and
Elijah Carrasco. Making
all As and Bs were Mikayla Baker, Megan Seidel, Anthony Fuéntez, Joey
Carrasco, Jaime Rosas, Austen Stepp, Daniela Barron, Shyanne Mills, Jason
Helmers, Jacob Helmers, Ruten Johnson, Jacob Luevano, Chris Ibarra, Lauryn
Carroll, Arlena Blanco, Wyatt Mills and Justin Flax. Sanderson
Elementary School rewards kids with extravagant gifts for having perfect
attendance. Qualifying
for the goodies were Megan Seidel, Grace Jahn, Anthony Fuéntez, Abby
Carrasco, Andrew Portillo, Mayra Rodriguez, Isreal Rosas, Edwin Carrasco,
Olivia Adauto, Jaime Rosas, Shyanne Mills, Jacob Helmers, Daniel Rodriguez,
Sean Lopez, Jacobi Campos, Justin Flax, Kailey Dominguez, Elijah Carrasco and
Isaiah Stratton. at
qualifiers IRAAN
– Davis Stumberg won the high jump competition at the Regional Qualifier Meet
here last week, clearing six feet, two inches. “It
is basically practice for the students that advanced to Regionals,” Sanderson
Athletic Director Mark Dominguez said. Four
boys and two girls will represent the Sanderson team. In
the qualifying meet, J.D. Brotherton placed second in the 100-meter dash,
clocking in at 11.20, and second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.19. Travis
Roberts came in second in the 3,200-meter run, crossing the line in 10:58.93,
and third in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:54.86. Jacob
Benavidez placed second in the 400-meter race with a time of 52.27. In
girl’s action, Noemi Nuñez placed fifth in the 3,200-meter run with a time of
13:16 and the 1,600-meter race, running the course in 6:02. Hannah
Black placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdle race with a time of 17.67. These
six athletes will represent Sanderson today, April 25, and tomorrow, April
26, in Levelland for the Regional track meet. Action
begins at 9 a.m. today with prelims and finals will begin at 8:30 a.m.
tomorrow. SANDERSON
– The Pecos County Community Action Agency serving Pecos, Crane and Terrell
Counties through the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs is
accepting applications for assistance in the Comprehensive Energy Assistance
Program. CEAP
funds are available to respond to the energy needs of low-income households. It
has four different components, Energy Crisis, Elderly/Disabled, Co-Payment
and Heating and Cooling. The
first three components assist qualifying households pay their energy bill and
the Heating and Cooling component repairs or replaces heating and cooling
appliances for eligible households. The
CEAP application is processed locally and in compliance with state and
federal regulations. Not
all households will qualify. To determine eligibility, apply at the Terrell
County Community Center between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on
Thursdays. Priority
is given to elderly households, persons with disabilities, households with
children under the age of six and households with high-energy use or
high-energy burden. The
program operates year round or as funding allows. SANDERSON
– Pets and their owners lined up for a combined rabies and health clinic
Saturday which netted 128 animals protected by inoculation and 70 to 75
humans checked out for various health issues. The
Cactus Health Services, Inc., netted $427.01 after expenses in a spaghetti
lunch for donations. County
Judge Leo Smith said he thinks the combined clinic for pets and their owners
has been a success and he expects it to be continued twice a year when the
rabies clinic is offered. His
wife Teresa, who runs the health service, thanked “everybody who participated”
in both health fairs. SANDERSON
– With warmer weather always comes baseball. The new season for t-ball and
little league baseball will begin with the first game on Thursday, May, 1, at
the field on Legion street. Bobby
Stegall remains president of the league. David Carrasco will step up as vice
president. Tammy
Truesdell will be secretary and treasurer will be Jill Jahn. Thelma
Calzada is back as the coach of the t-ball team the “Astros” with Lizette
Ramirez and Dale Stratton helping out. The
other t-ball team is the “Texas Rangers,” coached by Mark Dominguez assisted
by Wayne Truesdell. Each
t-ball team has “about 15 kids,” Truesdell said. The number of kids on each
team is because of a lack of coaches. The
Little League teams are the “Diamond Backs” and the “Cubs.” The
“Diamond Backs” will be coached by Marco Fuéntez and John Pierce while the
“Cubs” will be coached by Wayne Truesdell and Adam Portillo. Games will be played on Tuesdays and
Thursdays throughout the month of May, with one Saturday game scheduled. |
Members
of the First Baptist Youth Group will be on hand to clean dirty windshields
for donations. A number of vendors for food, gifts and games will also be on
hand. The
racers will line up after lunch, again at Downie Arena for the second 59-mile
lap back to Fort Stockton. There
will be a post-race party for the public at Rooney Park. Tomorrow
night is the awards banquet at 7:30 p.m. in the Pecos County Civic Center. SANDERSON
— A power outage of more than six hours Tuesday was traced to a broken
transmission line. Power
went out about 6 a.m. Tuesday and was restored about 12:15 p.m. There
was a momentary loss of power in Fort Stockton while crews closed some
switches to fix the problem. “Texas-New
Mexico Power Company restored electric service Monday afternoon to Sanderson
residents who lost power early that morning,” a TNMP release said. “The outage was caused by a broken transmission line that serves
the Sanderson area,” the company said. “The cause of the broken line has not
been determined and is being investigated. The outage affected approximately 700 customers in the Sanderson
area. “Restoration
was lengthy in part because it required line patrols for several miles to
identify and isolate equipment related to the outage,” the company said.
“TNMP maintains a local presence in Sanderson and Fort Stockton so crews were
on hand and ready to respond quickly to the outage.” Texas-New
Mexico Power Company provides community-based electric delivery service to
approximately 226,000 customers in Texas. It
is a wholly owned subsidiary of PNM Resources. SANDERSON
– The Sanderson Chamber of Commerce Monday adopted a resolution calling on Terrell
County Commissioners to “use existing County resources to fund a Visitor
Center open with paid employees at least 40 hours per week.“ The
resolution, which passed unanimously, notes the present Visitor Center is
funded by the state, which provides for a staff person and funding for it is
now down to 18 hours per week. An
argument against longer visitor center hours has been that all people want to
know about is Big Bend National Park, not Sanderson. But
“many visitors who stop will ask about other facilities in town such as
restaurants and shops and will often stay for a meal or even overnight,” the
resolution says. The
center is “often closed when tourists do stop,” the resolution notes. It
also notes that having the visitor center closed “when tourists want to find
about the area says more clearly than anything could that we just don’t care
about them or about showing off our town.” The
resolution notes that some 3,000 vehicles per day pass through Sanderson and
many would stop if facilities were available. Chamber
members agreed funding for longer hours need not affect the current staff
person at the center. It
could either extend her hours or provide a second staff person for additional
hours. The
resolution notes that Terrell County is currently “flush” with revenues from
oil and gas activity and receives some $10,000 per year from hotel/motel
taxes that are required by law to be used to “put heads in beds.” Chamber
President Jim Street said the Chamber does not want to “take over” the
visitor center. There
was an earlier drive to increase the hours of the center, which would have
put the chamber in charge. “That
is not our intent at all,” Street said. “The center belongs to the county. We
just want to see it open when tourists want to find out about the area.” In
other action, chamber members reviewed progress on a new Visitor Guide
booklet and a “Driving and Walking Tour” of Sanderson. It
was expected that both would be completed before the end of the current year. The
guide was published earlier by the Community Development Association but has
not been updated in several years. It
lists businesses and attractions along with information about the community. The
tour is designed to allow visitors to locate and learn about historical sites
and other points of interest around town. “Right
now, we have a list of 50 possible sites,” Street said. “We will go through
and cull the list to a more manageable number, excluding items that may no
longer be here, for example.” The
chamber agreed “temporarily” to change the meeting date to 4 p.m. on the
fourth Tuesday. Some
members had said they had trouble getting away from their businesses for a
noon meeting. starts
tonight MARATHON
– While automobiles race back and forth between Fort Stockton and Sanderson
in the Big Bend Open Road Race tomorrow, Marathon looks to the two-wheel
variety for entertainment. The
annual Los Jaks motorcycle rally kicks off at 6 p.m. tonight, April 25, at
the Oasis Café here with DJ Lawrence New providing music. The
poker run will be from “9 a.m. till 2 p.m.” tomorrow, April 26, organizer
Ruben Gonzales said. The run will take bikers over about 70 miles to La Linda
and back. There
is also talk about a parade to the site of an accident last year in which
“Ray-Ray” Beverly was killed. Also
on Saturday will be the notorious ‘biker games’ like the “slo-mo” where the
rider tries to go as slowly as possible without touching his feet to the
ground. Other
games include the “weenie bite,” where the rider on the back of the bike
rides under a hot dog suspended in air and tries to bite it. The
“ball in pipe game” is another favorite. The rider on the back of the bike
tries to place a tennis ball in one end of a PVC pipe and catch it as it
rolls out the other end, about 50 feet away. There
will also be the “cone/tennis ball” game, which requires placing tennis balls
on traffic cones. There
will be door prizes, donated by local businesses and 50/50 chances. Registration
fee is $20 and includes hot dogs and burgers on Friday and a full brisket
dinner on Saturday, complete with all the trimmings. DJ
New will return on Saturday for some more music. Proceeds
benefit the Catholic Church bereavement fund, which provides a meal and other
needs in the community when there is a funeral. For
more information contact Ruben Gonzales at 432/386-4521. concert
next week ALPINE
– An event billed as “Alpine’s premier summer event” is scheduled for next
weekend at Sul Ross State University’s Jackson Field “Awaken
the Desert” is a free Christian concert that will include Latin jam
band Salva-dor, comedian Carlos Oscar and the band Crossing
Jordan. Pastor
John Carnagey of Sanderson and Alpine plays keyboard for Crossing. The
weekend begins Friday, May 2, at the Paisano Baptist Encampment west of
Alpine where “everyone is invited to bring sleeping bags, a tent, a pillow,
your heart and your Bible,” said Brother Dan Dunagan, manager at the encampment. The
band U40 will perform in the activity center Friday night at Paisano. “Crossing
Jordan” will kick off the Saturday observance at 5 p.m. “Salvador”
is a popular band on Christian charts with a “Dove Award” to its name. Oscar is billed as a comedian “who combines
clean and funny, believe it or not,” the Awaken website said. He has appeared on “The Tonight Show,” with
Jay Leno and HBO’s “Comedy Central,” among others. “It will be a night
you won’t soon forget,” web site says. While
the Saturday night event will be free, there will be food and drinks for sale
and “inflatables” for the younger crowd. Awaken
the Desert is sponsored by Alpine Christian School. After
the Saturday concert, another free night is available at the encampment youth
rally. For
more information go to awakenthedesert.org or contact Dunagan by
e-mail at danbdunagan@yahoo.com. Sanderson
backers hope to take a group of youth to the event. Those
interested should contact Carnagey at 432/294-0827 or Kim Rapp at
432/290-4053. Chaperones
are needed as well. Transportation will be provided by carpool and volunteers
should bring money for food. “You
do not have to be ‘Baptist’ to attend,” Carnagey said. “All are welcome.” |