March 21, 2008
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MARATHON
– A 12,000-acre fire broke out Friday on the Maravillas Gap and Travis
Roberts Ranches 12 miles southwest of Marathon as high winds and extremely
low humidity contributed to wildfires over a wide area of West Texas and
Southeast New Mexico. No
structures were threatened in the Brewster County fire and it moved
harmlessly into nearby mountains. Another
fire broke out Tuesday in town, ironically right in front of the home of
volunteer fireman Hal Henthorne. “It
started from a downed power line and we contacted AEP-Texas,” the power company,
Henthorne said. One
of the largest grass fires in the area swept across 51,400 acres in northern
Terrell and eastern Pecos counties Friday, sending a column of smoke into the
air visible from Sanderson 30 miles to the south. It
was just one of a number of range fires that blackened West Texas and
Southeast New Mexico in a period of very high winds and extremely low relative
humidity. Bill
Davis, fire coordinator with the Texas Forest Service in Fort Stockton, said
the Pecos-Terrell County fire started near Grey Ranch Road and quickly moved
east. The
flames did not burn any structures but several were threatened. No injuries
were reported. Four
single-engine air tankers similar to crop dusters and a heavy helicopter were
brought in to assist ground crews fighting the blaze. It
spread across the Porter, Thorn, Word and Harkins Ranches and the Abilene
Christian camp, among others. County
Judge Leo Smith said but for the dedication of the Terrell County Volunteer
Fire Department, county Road and Bridge crews and the Texas Forest Service,
the fire would have consumed the ranch complex of Monty and Lisa Harkins. He
also thanked the Terrell County Sheriff’s office and Game Warden Dan Waddell
for providing traffic control and other support. The
Fort Stockton Fire Department also contributed several firemen and equipment
to the action. Terrell
County Fire Chief Bobby Brotherton and Assistant Richard Montalvo “were real
troopers,” Smith said. “They were there the entire time and their work was outstanding.” He
said without the county’s Road and Bridge crews, putting out the fire “never
would have happened.” He
also thanked the Texas Department of Transportation for providing equipment. Albert
Thorn and Ruben Rosas, working with Thorn, also worked long hours in controlling
the blaze as did Jon Tom Lowrance and Roy Deaton. Rancher
Gary Hutto said the fire “split” as it came near property owned by Scott and
Page Mitchell near Ranch Road 2400, going harmless around the structures. Waddell
said the Nature Conservancy also contributed crews to the effort. “They
did a really great job,” he said. Hutto
said volunteers came from as far away as California and Oregon to help battle
the blaze. A
Department of Public Safety helicopter flew over the area late Monday and estimated
the acreage burned. Smith
said the fire started Friday afternoon on Grey Ranch Road and moved east. A
four-mile-wide swath of flames crossed Ranch Road 2886 near the Abilene
Christian camp and moved east to near the Mitchell gas plant. Father
Tony to leave By
SUSANNA FUÉNTEZ Special to the News
Leader MARATHON
– Father Anthony Amoako-Attah, OP, aka Fr. Tony, and well known by North American
parishioners in Marathon, Alpine Fort Davis, Marfa and Presidio as well as in
Kelowna, BC, is going back to his hometown of Appiadu, Ghana, a village near
Kumasi, the nation’s second largest city.
Fr.
Tony underwent knee surgery in January of 2007 in El Paso and has since been
convalescing here. Fr.
Tony was born to Luke and Veronica Aniniwa, in 1947. He is the only son among
four offspring. “My father was delighted to hear when I
returned for a vacation one day that I had entered the seminary,” Fr. Tony
said. “He told me that God had heard his prayers regarding his son. My mother
offered no objection. “I come from a matrilineal society where I
was expected to take care of my nephews and nieces but I am a poor religious
man unable to meet that expectation,” he said. After
secondary school education he entered the Major Seminary while he was also an
external student at the University of Ghana.
He
changed from being a diocesan seminarian two years before his ordination to
join the Dominican Order and was ordained in 1979 in Nigeria. After
three years of pastoral ministry he attended the University of St. Paul in
Ottawa for counseling studies. He
later enrolled at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria in psychology. He
has served as master of students, chaplain of the Catholic community at a University
in Nigeria, the counselor on formation of African Dominican Students, parish
pastor and teacher of Latin, counseling and psychology. He
holds several degrees but the one he cherishes above all is Priest of God. It
was in 1974 that he became the first Ghanaian to join the Dominicans of
Lagos, Nigeria. Soon
after his solemn profession, he was appointed promoter of vocations. During
the last year of his study for the priesthood he was encouraged by visiting
American O.P. Fr. O’Donnell, a professor in liturgy, to choose liturgy for
his post graduate studies. “Man
proposes but God disposes,” Fr. Tony said.
Although
Fr. Tony’s stay has been brief here, he has touched many with his peaceful,
loving, kind manner. He
is a true evangelizer in every sense of the word. He will be missed by all of
us in Marathon as well as our neighboring Christian towns. Fr.
Tony is returning to his hometown for a good cause, a catholic school is
being built for him to run. |
It
was reported 95 percent “contained” Wednesday. “The
higher humidity helped a lot,” Sheriff Clint McDonald said. Winds diminished
Monday but picked up again Monday night. However,
significant thunderstorms blew through much of the area north and east of
Sanderson, dropping about four hundredths of an inch in Sanderson Monday and
Tuesday. The
Pecos-Terrell County fire was one of the largest in the area, Davis
said. KWES-TV in Midland-Odessa reported that firefighters had
controlled a blaze that scorched 75,000 acres of grass and burned seven
homes, two barns and several other buildings north of Hobbs, NM. Residents
of the area including the town of Knowles were forced to evacuate. The fire
spread into Gaines County in Texas. New Mexico Forestry Division spokesman Dan Ware said the Stiles
Complex Fire was contained at 8 p.m. Sunday. Ware said they also are watching over hay bales and a diesel
tank still burning at a dairy north of Hobbs. The fire began Friday afternoon as four separate fires but
strong wind fanned the flames into one fire. Ware said a state Forestry Division law enforcement officer is
trying to determine the cause of the fires. Back
in Texas, the Forest Service reported Wednesday a “very active fire”
threatened 100 structures and four homes were lost in a 25,600-fire in
Hidalgo County in the lower Rio Grande Valley. In
nearby Jim Hogg County, six structures were threatened but none damaged in a
10,000-acre fire. Two
fires affecting a total of 5,000 acres destroyed three barns and burned some
electrical poles in Duval County. FM
radio plans set MARATHON
– The Marathon Volunteer Fire Department is adding a new dimension to its
services – FM radio. Neil
Chavigny heads up the enterprise and hopes to have a broadcasting license
from the FCC soon. “The
license could be in the mailbox today,” Chavigny said Monday. “We have
preliminary approval for tower construction but I don’t want to start until
the license is in my hand. “We
don’t want to have the same problem Marfa Public Radio had,” Chavigny said. He
referred to the licensing delays experienced by Matinee Productions, the operators
of 93.5 radio in Marfa, last year. The
non-profit Fire Dept has applied for a non-commercial education broadcasting
license. “I
want it to be community radio,” Chavigny said. “Make the mike available to
local people who have something to say. “We’ll
subscribe to some National Public Radio programs and maybe re-broadcast some
of Marfa’s stuff,” Chavigny said. Chavigny
plans to erect a 135-foot transmitting tower at the old southside Sierra Gas
property. He
hopes to buy a used 2,500-watt amplifier to push Marathon Radio through the
air. “I’m
hitting the books every night,” Chavigny said. “Learning to program a radio
station is no easy thing.” Increasing
tourism in Marathon is another angle Chavigny is looking at. “Big
Bend National Park draws over 400,000 visitors a year and most of them come
in from the east, Houston, San Antonio, Austin,” Chavigny said. “If we could
attract just a few to drive through town instead of turning at 385 south, I
think it would be good for everybody. “Come
in drink a beer, have lunch, maybe even stay over night,” he said. “Who
knows, maybe even a family will move to Marathon just because they heard
about us on the radio.” Auction
to benefit ‘Make-A-Wish’ MARATHON
– The second annual Make-A-Wish Foundation silent auction and benefit concert
will be Saturday, March 29, at Sonworks Gallery here. The
Phoenix-based foundation grants wishes to children with life-threatening
illnesses. The
Open House will be from 3 to 4 p.m. with viewing of the silent auction items.
Music will begin at 4 p.m. Auction
items donated by local businesses will feature artwork among other items. To
donate auction items or for cash sponsorship, contact Wesley Spears at
432/386-0329. “Bring
a chair and refreshments and join us for an afternoon of art and music dedicated
to making a child’s wish come true,” Spears said. Women
to ‘Go Texan’ ALPINE – The Woman’s Club of Alpine will feature “Go
Texan” at its next meeting here Thursday, April 3. The meeting will be in line with the First “Annual Go
Texan Spring Festival” April 15 at the Kokernot Lodge. Guest Speaker at the April meeting will be Go Texan marketing
specialist Yolanda Clay of El Paso. Everyone
is welcome to attend and see the products and services that Texas has to
offer, Club President Mary Vongsavath said. The March meeting featured the Hugh O’Brien Youth
Leadership program, which annually honors high school soph-omores around the
country. The HOBY Ambassador Andrew O’Bryant of Alpine High School
was present. Egg
Hunt considered a
success MARATHON
– Isaac Briones won an Easter basket with a stuffed bunny and a basketball
Friday for selling the most tickets in the
“Progressive Walking Easter Egg Hunt.” Isaac
sold 271 tickets to the event for children in grades pre-kindergarten through
four. The
Parent Teacher Organization teamed up with the Marathon ISD to sponsor the
event. Pat
and Biddy Martin and Lee and Janie Roberts provided homes and yards for the
kids to hunt in. “Thank
you to Diana Cook who donated the prize for the most tickets sold,” PTO President
Judy Briones said. Students,
teachers and volunteers had sandwiches and chips in the in the shaded back
yard of kindergarten teacher Laverne and Durwood Avery. Briones
said several parents helped get the children from one location to the
next safely and brought requested items. Elementary
students and their parents sold more than 1,000 tickets for the two Easter baskets. “We appreciate the interest the parents
took in selling tickets for a good cause, without the help of all the
parents it would be an impossible task,” Briones said. |
Two
fires near Guthrie east of Lubbock affected about 65,000 and some 64,000
acres burned near Cotula in south Texas last week. Another blackened 67,500
acres in nearby Dimmit County. A
smaller fire burned about 6,000 acres near Juno between Ozona and Del Rio and
a 3,500-acre blaze at Greenwood in Midland County threatened about 30 homes
but the threat had ended Tuesday. In
Crane County, fire burned 3,018 acres and a 2,000-acre fire 14 miles
northwest of Barnhart in Reagan County was 95 percent contained Monday. There
was a small 763-acre fire at Fort Davis the week before, which threatened the
historic Fort Davis historical site. Easter
coming Sunday MARATHON
– Today, March 21, is Good Friday, part of the three-day Easter holiday, the
most important dates on the Christian calendar. Easter
marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his execution on the cross three
days before, the day observed as Good Friday. Easter
week is being marked in Marathon with church services that started at 6 p.m.
last night with Holy Thursday at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Holy
Thursday marks the “new commandment.” It also marks the Last Supper before
Christ was crucified. Good
Friday will be marked by a service at 3 p.m. today at St. Mary’s. St. Mary’s Catholic Church will have a
“Holy Saturday” mass tomorrow at 6 p.m. followed by a pot luck dinner for
Father Tony who is going home. The
Methodists and the Baptists will have services as usual on Easter Sunday. Other
secular observances might include annual Easter presents, parades and, for
the very young, the coming of the Easter bunny. This
practice seems to have originated around the 1500’s in Germany. The
rabbit is the most fertile animal and was known as the symbol of new life
during the spring. Around
1700, a visit from the “Oschter Haws” aka the “Easter Bunny,” was considered
one of a child’s greatest pleasures. The
children believed if they were good, the Oschter Haws would lay a nest of
colored eggs. Eggs are a symbol of new life. The
children would then build a nest in a secluded part of the house or outside. The
boys would use their caps and the girls would use their bonnets. Easter
eggs themselves have been attributed to the Easter bunny but they could have
become popular because eggs were forbidden during lent in medieval Europe. Eggs
laid during that time were often boiled or preserved in other ways until
after lent. They
were then enjoyed at Easter and were prize gifts for servants and children. Eggs
are also involved in Easter games as well, including the hiding of eggs,
carrying eggs on spoons and the ever- popular rolling eggs down hills, which
is still done at the White House every year. Traditions
and legends may come and go, but Easter is still the resurrection day of
Jesus Christ. ‘Garden’
owners have
vision By R.M. GLOVER MNL Editor MARATHON
– Kate Thayer and her partner Clyde Curry are futurists. They have a clear
vision of where the human race is headed and unlike many, they’re doing
something about it. “We
can design a new future,” Thayer said. “We can create alternatives.” She
leaned back in her chair. The couple and this writer were sitting in the
indoor garden of Eve’s Garden, a bed and breakfast here run by the duo. The
faint sweet smell of Wisteria floated through the air. Splashing water
percolated from a waterfall at the pond. A cat jumped on my lap and purred. “Our
world is getting trashed because nobody is stepping up,” Curry said. “But
we’re stepping up and we’re doing it in our own backyard.” Gold,
blue and red walls added a kaleidoscopic background to the greens and whites
of their plants. They
grow much of their own food. Tonight’s menu, sautéed squash, onions and
garlic with free-range chicken soup and home made bread. It
was a cold mid-March day, but warm inside the garden. The
walls were thick and made of papercrete, a shredded recycled paper product
that has amazing insulation value. The
doorways are arced and a row of rooms opens up into the garden. “We
call our place the Hope Center. Our job is to inspire people,” Thayer said.
“To effect them. To cause an intense reaction to our place.” She
is an attractive middle- aged woman with big eyes, high cheekbones and a
quick smile. The
north wind was blowing outside and the clear poly roof slapped against the
metal frame. “Our
leaders are corporations, entities with no souls whose only purpose is to
make profit,” Curry said. “The system is working for the rich. But for most
of us, the cannibalistic, dog-eat-dog economy is not getting us anywhere. “We
need to learn to cooperate,” he said. “Maintain our autonomy but work together.”
He
sat at a small café-like table, sipping tea. His graying beard curled around
his face. There
was blue paint on his straw hat. “We
need comprehensive change to solve society’s problems.” Curry said. “The
first thing to do is cut the load. Papercrete cuts the energy load for
heating and cooling by 75 percent. “Grow
food locally and eliminate packaging,” he said. “A million barrels of crude
are used every year in this country just to make grocery bags. Eat fruits,
nuts and vegetables. That cuts the load of the health care system. “Eve’s
Garden is a small scale example of a village,” Curry said. “We grow most of
our food and, because its not handled and processed and packaged and trucked,
its cheap and healthy and we don’t have to see a doctor all the time. “I’m
not talking about civil war, I’m talking about an alternative way to live
that doesn’t kill the earth,” Curry said. “People want to live healthy. “I
see villages, eco-villages, units of 500 people who work together, building,
growing, connecting yet maintaining their autonomy,” he said. “There’s no pay
scale, because everybody works at the same rate of pay. And a few basic laws
to help govern.” Thayer
looked out over the garden that runs the length of the city block their bed
and breakfast is built on. A black butterfly scurried by. “Art,
archtitecture – its OK to have beauty, its OK to have good food, its OK to
have big space too.” “There’s
a look in many people’s faces when they leave here,” Thayer said. “Appreciative.
Inspired.” |