MARATHON – Clean-up work started this week at The Post south of here.
Donated yellow machines including, Bob Grisham’s excavator and Eric Stovall’s D-3 bulldozer, worked alongside county equipment to remove plants from the creek.
“If we had the money I would liked to have done it more like Balmorhea,” County Commissioner Ruben Ortega said. “We would concrete some of the bottom and sides so the weeds couldn’t grow thick and have clear water for a good swimming hole.”
Piles of dripping cat-o-nine tail and Hydrolia lay stacked up on the high banks.
Diesel fumes hung in the air as the men and the motors revved. The water, dark with churned mud, gurgled and bubbled and ducks flapped around, eating well on stranded fish.
“This will be a major improvement,” Ortega said.
He hopes to get a permit from Texas Parks and Wildlife to stock The Post with sterile grass-eating Carp.
“They’ll keep the weeds down,” Ortega said.
Ortega has been working closely with the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Fisheries Division in San Angelo.
He hopes to also stock large mouth bass.
“We lost a few fish, I won’t deny that,” he said. “But when we’re finished, there’ll be plenty more.”
The Post Park is leased from the family of Texas Comptroller Susan Combs.
FORT DAVIS – The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named Fort Davis a 2008 “Distinctive Destination.”
The NTHP added Fort
Davis to its list of 108 Distinctive Destinations, cities which are chosen based on their efforts to offer an authentic visitor experience
through dynamic downtown areas, cultural diversity and a commitment to historic preservation and revitalization
“It is my pleasure
to be among the first to congratulate Fort Davis,” State Sen. Carlos I. Uresti said in making the presentation. “It is clear to me
that the citizens of this wonderful town are dedicated to preserving the rural heritage of Texas and America.”
The NTHP said the twelve communities that made the list of 2008 Dozen Distinctive Destinations were chosen because they represent the richness and diversity of America’s cultural heritage.
Lacking many big city conveniences, Fort Davis not only qualified for the list but exemplifies what it means to guard an important part of the legacy of Texas history, the trust said.
“Though I was born and raised in San Antonio, my appreciation for West Texas grows with each day I spend here,” Uresti said. “Hopefully, this award will attract more visitors to this unique place.”
The NTHP chose Fort Davis as a Distinctive Destination because citizens have worked to preserve the unique qualities of the town by rejecting commercial sprawl and enacting preservation laws to maintain the look and feel of days past.
Like other Texas historical sites, Fort Davis is a prized possession in the heart of West Texas. It is a living museum and a testament to maintaining the rural history and the cultural heritage of both Texas and America.
“Fort Davis is one of the most deserving towns in Texas to receive this award,” Uresti said. “West Texas is especially lucky to have this unsuspecting gem of a city with a historical legacy as large as Texas itself.”
A key post in the defense system of western Texas, Fort Davis played a major role in the history of the Southwest.
From 1854 until 1891, troops stationed at the post protected immigrants, freighters, mail coaches and travelers on the road between San Antonio and El Paso.
Today, Fort Davis is considered one of the best remaining examples of a frontier military post in the American Southwest.
It is a reminder of the significant role played by the military in the settlement and development of the western frontier.
Named for Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, the fort was first garrisoned by Lt. Col. Washington Seawell and six companies of the Eighth US Infantry.
The post was located in a box canyon near Limpia Creek on the eastern side of the Davis Mountains – where wood, water and grass were plentiful.
From 1854 to 1861, troops of the Eighth Infantry spent much of their time in the field pursuing Comanches, Kiowas and Apaches who terrorized travelers and attacked mail stations.
With the outbreak of the Civil War and Texas’ secession from the Union, the federal government evacuated Fort Davis.
The fort was occupied by Confederate troops from the spring of 1861 until the summer of 1862 when Union forces again took possession.
They quickly abandoned the post and Fort Davis lay deserted for the next five years.
MC ALLEN – A federal lawsuit has been filed here against Homeland Security for failing to negotiate with private landowners who live along the border in Starr County.
“It is unacceptable that the Department of Homeland Security would violate federal law when taking
people’s property,” said Robert Doggett of Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, who filed the suit.
“Either they are completely incompetent or totally arrogant,” Doggett said.
“We are preceding as if the wall is going to be built,” Bill Brooks of the Marfa Sector Border Patrol said. “Unless they tell us to stop, we’ll continue.”
The Secure Fence Act of 2006 has been approved and funded by Congress and now awaits a final hearing after an environmental assessment has been completed.
Walls all along the US-Mexico border have been planned including three miles on each side of the international bridge between Presidio and Ojinaga.
A hearing in Marfa recently brought a
number of protestors.
Other federal lawsuits are being filed by opponents of the wall as Homeland Security continues to press its agenda.
One
wall has already been constructed under the Secure Fence Act of 2007 in Naco, AZ, east if Nogales.
“This fence is still under the
experimental phase,” Brooks said. “Boeing is the prime contractor.”
An anti-wall group calling itself NO WALL BIG BEND plans a protest walk along the border later this month from Candelaria to Lajitas.
SANDERSON – Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. today, Feb. 15, at First Presbyterian Church here for John Lewis Whistler, 80, who died Monday in San Antonio.
Reverend Burt Bronaugh will officiate and interment will be at Cedar Grove Cemetery.
He was born July 26, 1927, in Del Rio and was raised by his grandparents, John and Bertha Whistler who moved to Sanderson early in his life.
Whistler completed all his schooling in Sanderson and entered the US Navy immediately after graduation from Sanderson High School.
He married Betsy Bates on March 3, 1953, and died one month short of the couple’s 55th anniversary.
Betsy Whistler served as an English and theatre arts teacher in Sanderson schools for 29 years.
Whistler retired after 50 years service to the Southern Pacific Railroad where he served as a fireman and later an engineer.
He was an avid outdoorsman and, after retirement, he spent most of his time at a property he owned on Amistad Lake near Del Rio.
“All he did was fish, fish, fish,” Betsy Whistler said.
A veteran of World War II, Whistler was a Mason, an Elk and a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars in Ruidoso, NM, and Del Rio.
He also was a member of the American Legion Clarence Haley Mulkey Post 160 in Sanderson.
Besides his wife, he is survived by two sons, John and Rasario Whistler, Jr., of Del Rio and Tom Whistler of Littlefield; a sister, Margaret Dee Barbee of Lubbock; a brother, Mike Whistler of Del Rio, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Pallbearers
will be Bill Russ, Pinky Carruthers, Tom Low-rance, Jack Babb, Tom Stewart and Zeke Bradford.
Honorary pallbearers will be Kenneth
Shirley, R.D. Hall, Kevin Farley, Wayne Folmer, Gary Hutto, Tommy Arthur, Reid McClellan and Ross Stavely.
Funeral arrangements
were by G.W. Cox Memorial Funeral Home in Del Rio.
ALPINE – Development of the “Visionaries in Preservation Program” is among the items on the agenda next week for the Brewster County Historical Commission.
It is a planning program conducted by THC staff in concert with the Brewster County Historical Commission and the citizens of Brewster County.
A special meeting will be scheduled in the near future to complete the framework.
The Brewster County plan is on the THC web site.
The commission will also review the junior historian program in which students from Terlingua conducted historical research on the cemeteries, miners and family members.
Also to be discussed are the West Texas Historical Association meeting in Canyon in April, the meeting of State Historical Association in Corpus Christi in March and the annual THC meeting be in May, also in Corpus Christi.
The commission will then hear a report on historical markers in Brewster County and designation of cemeteries.
Chairman J. Travis Roberts has encouraged everyone to attend the meeting from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, at the commissioner’s courtroom.
The meeting is open to the public.
MARATHON – The Accelerated Reader program at Marathon Junior High School will open its store today in the room of Susanna Fuéntez.
Students can cash in their points for cool stuff.
“I believe students should be rewarded for what they do,” Fuéntez said. She is the teacher in charge of the program this semester.
Junior high school students may choose any 12 books in the school library to read this six- week period.
After they’ve read the book, each student is quizzed and can earn points based on their test scores, points that can buy prizes at the A.R. store.
Rhonda Garlick donated and collected items from businesses around the area, including stuffed animals and radio-controlled cars.
“It’s an incentive program,” Fuéntez said. “We want our students to be good readers.”
The store is open three times per six weeks. There will be a drawing for even more “cool stuff.”
ALPINE - The Sul Ross State University theatre program will present Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” this weekend in the Studio Theatre at the Francois Fine Arts Building.
Curtain time is 8:15 p.m. today and tomorrow. The show contains adult themes and language.
Tickets are $8 for general admission and $5 for university faculty, staff and students with ID.
For advance tickets or information, call 432/837-8218.
The production is part of the 2008 VDay College Campaign, which works to raise consciousness and inspire a worldwide movement supporting groups working to end violence against women and girls.
All proceeds will benefit women’s organizations, ten percent to the Women of Katrina fund and the remainder to the Family Crisis Center of the Big Bend.
By R.M. GLOVER
MNL Editor
MARATHON – The Community Center’s third annual Fish Fry and Dessert Auction packed in a big crowd Friday night.
Catfish and cole slaw, hush puppies and beans were a big hit along with “Los Pinche Gringos,” whose quartet boomed out dancing music all night long in the acoustically- new and improved Community Center.
The donation buckets were full of green and County Commissioner Ruben Ortega had the auctioneer’s big-bucks touch.
He hawked some $400 chocolate cakes and then drummed up a bidding rivalry between Lynn Shackelford and Eric Stovall.
It was a bottle of Don Pedro Tequila that they both wanted badly.
The bidding shot over the $500 mark in $50 pops until Stovall got his hands on the cactus juice at a cool seven hundred bucks.
Later, it was rumored that Shackelford and Stovall split the cost of the bottle and drained the contents before sunrise.
At about 8 p.m. the eaters starting thinning and the dancers started showing.
Folks from Sanderson and Alpine were seen. Even a few politicians, including District Attorney Frank Brown, his opponent Ruben Gonzalez and Alpine City Councilman Avinash Rangra joined the party.
Friends of the Marathon Community Center are still counting the money.
ALPINE – Cowboy and photographer Peter Robbins of Allen will be among new featured artists at the 22nd annual Classic Trappings of Texas Exhibit and Sale Friday and Saturday, Feb. 29 and March 1 at Sul Ross State University.
“Trappings” is a juried invitational exhibit that brings together the best contemporary cowboy gear and art.
The event is hosted by the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University and has become a West Texas tradition.
It is the nation’s second-longest running gear show, behind Elko, NV.
Ron N. Lane, manager of the Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company, met Robbins at Lane’s first branding in March, 2007.
Robbins was part of the seasonal help that the Pitchfork brings in every spring and fall to help with branding and weaning.
It was several days later that Lane realized that, besides being a cowboy, Peter was a talented western artist.
“Peter has, through his hiring on to work on the ranch, immersed himself in the cowboy way of life that he captures,” Lane said. “There are very few people today outside of our ever-shrinking sphere of influence that have experienced what those of us that live this life take for granted.
“In my position as manager of this great and historic ranch, I feel that I have a responsibility not only as a steward of the land entrusted to me but also as steward of the traditions of this way of life,” he said. “I am honored that Peter has chosen this ranch to be the subject of so much of his art and through his art to be able to share what we do here with so many people that never have the opportunity to experience it.”
Glenn Moreland of Fort Davis, a longtime supporter of Trappings with his musical entertainment, will also exhibit his sculpture at this year’s show.
“Trappings is the only major fund source for museum programs and exhibits,” said Liz Jackson, assistant to the Museum director. “Last year was a record-setting year for proceeds due to increased sales, a magnificent auction and the support and continuing growth of private sponsors, along with businesses and corporations. We have been fortunate to experience such positive growth and look forward to this year being better than ever.”
This year’s event kicks off with a lecture by Guest Curator of Art Michael Duty at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in Room 309 of Lawrence Hall.
The lecture is titled, “Old Masters: Taos School of Art.”
The main event, the Trappings sale and opening reception, will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 29, at the newly renovated Museum of the Big Bend on the Sul Ross State University campus.
Tickets must be purchased in advance for $40 per person or $75 per couple.
The Trappings public auction will be from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 1, in Room 309 of Lawrence Hall.
Items for the auction have been donated by gearmakers, artists and businesses from across the globe.