July 11, 2008
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By KIM RAPP News Leader Production Manager MARATHON
– Juanita Hines of Del Rio won first place and the bronze cowboy hat on day
one of the annual Cowboy Chili Cook Off here last weekend. The
two-day event benefited the Marathon Fire & Rescue on Saturday and the
Friends of the Marathon Library on Sunday. The
Fire & Rescue received $1,421.89 while the Friends of the Marathon Library
raised $594.43. The
Chili Association Society International sanctions the event and points are
earned for placing. Texas
residents need only 12 points to qualify for the big cook off in Terlingua
later this year. Coming
close in second place was Kathy Hulmes of Hobbs, NM. In
third place was Pat Krenek of Houston. Maxine Reed, also of Houston, won fourth
place. In
fifth place was Guy W. Batesout of Midland. Sixth
Place went home with Norma Homesley of Marathon and
Manchaca. Racking up CASI points with seventh
place was Dodie Simpson of Odessa. Local Betty Ramirez won eighth place and
in ninth place was Debbie Conley of Quanah. Holding
at tenth place was Paul Mulkey of Hobbs. On day two, top
honors and the bronze Mustang, went home with Dave Boone of Odessa. Betty Ramirez returned and won second
place. Third place winner was Lynn May of San Angelo. Fourth place winner
was Norma Homesley of Marathon and Machaca while fifth place went to
Kathy Boone of Odessa. Coming in sixth was
Tom Cook of Marble Falls. In seventh place was Pat Krenek of Houston. By MARK
GLOVER Marathon News Leader MARATHON – The Fourth Annual Living with Nature festival
here is drawing speakers from around the state to highlight this year’s theme
of sustainable living and green building techniques. Dr. Richard Erdlac,
director of Energy Technologies, Research and Commercialization for
Energy America Inc., will speak on geothermal energy for home heating and
cooling and community energy generation on Saturday, Aug, 2. Erdlac is co-founder
of the Earth Resources Institute in Midland, a non-profit organization that
conducts regional energy studies in the Trans-Pecos region. Also
on Saturday, Kenneth L. Starcher, director of the Alternative Energy
Institute, will speak on wind energy for the
home and community. Since
1977, AEI has collected and analyzed data on wind characteristics and turbine
performance and has designed a number of renewable energy systems. Other
speakers are planned, including a possible group discussion on environmental
ethics. The
green products and services trade show will be set up at St. Mary’s Church
Parish Hall across from Eve’s Garden. Living
with Nature President Bennett Jones said vendors will offer everything from
“do-it-yourself solar oven kits to wind turbines to rain water harvesting
devices. “All
things sustainable, including organic gardening, green building, solar power,
al-ternative transportation, health and wellness, free-cycling, composting
toilets, sustainable city planning, local currencies and green collar
employment are all part of this year’s festival,” Jones said. Live
music, food and games for children will be offered throughout the day. Sunday
will be dedicated to touring the region with stops planned at a local buffalo
ranch and the Big Bend National Park. The
festival kicks-off at Eve’s Garden Organic Bed & Breakfast and Ecology
Resource Center with a cocktail reception at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1. All
proceeds from the festival will benefit construction of the new Brewster
County Library in Alpine. The
event is being produced by volunteers and sponsored by Blue Water Natural
Foods with help from the ReViva Collective, The Alpine Sustainability
Project, The Marathon Chamber of Commerce, City Drug Store, Alpine Ward Two
City Councilwoman Johanna Nelson, Dan Dailey, Linda Beranek, HomePower.com,
HomeGrownTexas.com., Transpecos Guitars, Nectar Computers and McCoy’s
Building Supply. Ticket
prices are $10 at the door for Saturday or $15 for the entire weekend. Some vendor booths
are still available. For more information contact Bennett Jones at
432/837-3008. MARATHON
– Johnnye Montgomery, of Midland, has won the quilt that the Friends of the
Marathon Public Library have been selling chance tickets for for a little
more than a year. The
money raised will benefit the Friends of the Marathon Public Library. The
total amount raised was $476.20. The
quilt was handmade by librarian Carol Townsend. The
“Friends” will use the funds to purchase prizes for the summer reading
program, which includes cash prizes. |
Adding one CASI point
under her belt for eighth place was Shirley Stateczny of Comfort. Debbie
Conley of Quanah won ninth place and Guy W. Bates of Midland won tenth
place. Saturday
was a Salsa contest this year benefiting Marathon Fire & Rescue and
Sunday entrants could cook up their best pot of beans for cash prizes. Winning
first place for salsa was the Stovall Ranch, second place went to Diana
Stringer and coming in a close third for the hot stuff was Billy Tom Mather. There
was a bean contest Sunday and Daniel Eaton took home first place. Second
place went to Rosalinda Crase and in third place was Ben Ramirez. SANDERSON – The long-awaited repair of the US Highway 90 Pecos
River Bridge near Langtry will get under way early
next month and a public meeting is planned here next week to inform the
public about the project. The
Texas Department of Transportation will conduct the public meeting in the Terrell
County Community Building from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 15. There
were rumors as long ago as last summer that the bridge would immediately be
completely closed for the rehabilitation. TxDOT
said there is no plan to completely close the bridge, however. It will be
narrowed to one lane during the project but traffic will be able to get
through. Heavy
and wide vehicles are urged to use a circuitous detour through Ozona and
Sonora to avoid the project. The picturesque bridge, built in 1957, is 1,300 feet long and
stands 270 feet above the water. The project will entail the rehabilitation of the bridge at a
cost of $4.2 million. The contract was awarded in January to SRC Construction, Inc.,
of Richmond. Duration of the project is estimated at 20 months once
construction begins. “We want to emphasize that the Pecos River Bridge continues to
be structurally sound and safe to use by the traveling public,” said TxDOT
District Engineer Mario G. Medina of Laredo. “We will perform work to replace
the bridge decking in efforts to remove upper surface cracking/ spalling that
extends through the deck.” He said state-of-the-art materials, innovative construction
methods, updated roadway design and bridge rails to current standards will be
used while preserving the bridge’s historical value and significance. Since US 90 continues to be an important part of the highway
system for local, regional and national traffic and the bridge continues to
be an important traffic link between west and south Texas and adjacent
states, TxDOT will notify the public about the upcoming project through news
releases, media phone interviews, flyers, posters and informational meetings
to be scheduled in the project area, Medina said. “We want to ensure the public that any interruption of local and
thru traffic during bridge rehabilitation work will be minimal, even though
the traveling public should expect brief delays,” he said. A one-way traffic pattern with traffic signals night and day
with special accommodations for emergency response vehicles is being planned
during construction of the project.
Delays for traffic light changes were estimated at 10 minutes
per cycle. The bridge is 45 miles northeast of Del Rio in Val Verde County
near Langtry on US 90. Changeable message signs will be in place in the area two to
three weeks before the start of construction. TxDOT said the
bridge was inspected last year and found to be structurally sound and safe
but the deck is in need of replacement by 2012. SANDERSON
– With the Fourth of July activities still fresh on the minds of just about
everyone here, the emphasis quickly turned to the annual St. James Festival. Marked
each July by the St. James Catholic Church here, the festival honors St.
James “The Greater” and the “Day of Celebration” on July 25. The
day will start with a Mass at the church at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 26 and end
with the dance at St. James Hall that night. At
10 p.m., the dance band will take a break for the coronation of King Andrew
Cavender and Queen Camry Lopez. Andrew
is the son of Myleah Stratton of Sanderson and Camry is the daughter of Rick
and Alma Lopez of Midland. After
the morning Mass, a turkey and dressing fundraiser meal will be served at
Legion Hall at 12:30 p.m., followed by music by Mariachi Fortunata of Midland
from 1 to 3 p.m. at Legion Park. Activities
are planned for all day at the park, including an all-day softball
tournament. For
information on the tourney, contact Chago Flores and 432/345-3010. From
3 p.m. “until things run out,” a poster says, there will be food booths with
roasted corn, funnel cakes and other delicacies and games. If
people do not get enough to eat, there will be a menudo cook off at 5 p.m. The
day winds up with the dance from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday at St. James Hall. The
raffle will follow the coronation and menudo will be served during the dance. Music
will be Rick Ruiz and his Grupo Paz. Dance
prices are $12 per couple, $8 single and $4 for children 12 and under. For
table reservations, contact Eddie Benavidez at 432/345-2922. “Come and enjoy a
day out with your entire family,” Benavidez said. “We have something for
everyone.” |
There
were several items on the raffle table. The big-ticket item was a bicycle
which Eaton paid $70 in a silent auction to win. is
fun, fun, fun MARATHON
– There were 17 children at the Marathon Public Library and seven adults for
the summer reading program this week. Steve
and Arlene Griffis read “Buster goes to Cowboy Camp” by Denise Fleming. The
children colored pictures of the Texas Flag, made horseshoe and horse head
refrigerator magnets. “Everyone
had a great time,” Librarian Carol Townsend said. “We want to thank all of
our volunteers and parents that help with our program.” The
children also performed a puppet show on “There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed
a Fly” by Simms Taback. Marathon
has new read-a-long books ready to be checked out. Three CD players
that may be used with the read-a-longs for children who do not have one at
home. ALPINE
– Erin Smith of Marathon, daughter of Bill and Gail Smith of Sanderson, is
featured in the musical “Cowgirls,” which ends a two-week run tonight through
Sunday. The
program is part of the 2008 Theatre of the Big Bend schedule at Kokernot
Outdoor Theatre. All performances begin at 8:15 p.m. “Petra’s
Cuento” will open Friday, July 18, with additional performances July 19 and
20, July 25 through 27 and Aug. 1 through 3. “Pecos
Bill and the Ghost Stampede” will be performed Aug. 7 to 10. For admission
prices, contact information, facilities and other details, visit the Theatre
of the Big Bend Theatre website at www.sulross.edu/tobb. next
week ALPINE
-- A free two-hour seminar, “An Introduction to Spreadsheets,” will be
offered Wednesday, July 16, at the Big Bend Region Minority Small Business
Development Center here. The
seminar begins at 2:30 p.m. in Room 107 of the Centennial School Building at
500 W. Ave. H. The
free workshop is designed for those with little experience in the use of
spreadsheets. Topics
include how to setup and format a workbook and worksheets, values, functions
and linking data. Each
registrant will also learn how to create and manage a simple database by
compiling and modifying a list of addresses. Registration
is limited by the number of notebook computers to 14 participants and
pre-registration is required. Participants
must also be computer-literate. To
pre-register, call 432/837-8694. MARATHON
– Retired Brewster County Deputy Sheriff James Graham has had book one of a
trilogy published. It hit the shelves last month. The
novel is titled “Bandits Along the Border” and took roughly one year to
write. “It
was fun,” Graham told the News Leader.
“Book number two should be out next year.” The
book can be purchased at Front Street Books, on line at publishamerica.com.
or the book website amazon.com. He
was asked if he was enjoying retirement. “It’s
hard to adapt but I’m learning,” he said. “I’ve worked hard all my life.” In
a month or so, he will keep busy by opening an antique shop with his sister
Jacquelin Boyd.The shop will carry some western motif as well as traditional
antiques. Graham
retired after four years as a deputy assigned to Marathon. He
spent 21 years in law enforcement, including work as a “Special Victims
Unit,” or SVU as popularized by the NBC program, “Law & Order: SVU.” He
was replaced by Edwardo Cardoza. Book
Festival Update By ARLENE GRIFFIS Library Friend MARATHON
– This is the third in a series featuring the authors at the Alpine Rotary
Club’s Way Out West Texas Book Festival, which benefits the Alpine Public
Library and its Marathon branch. Keynote
speaker will be Denise Chávez of Las Cruces, NM. Though her father was absent
through much of her childhood, Chávez was influenced by her schoolteacher
mother and her two sisters. Las
Cruces, 40 miles from the Mexican border, is distinguished by its
cross-fertili-zation of Mexican and American cultures. Her
household influences included many Mexican women servants who also helped to
raise the three Chávez girls. The
bilingual backdrop of the town and the Mexican help helped forge her
appreciation for the art of bilingualism. Her
childhood was filled with the oral tradition of storytelling, which was a big
influence on Chávez and is the reason that she refers to herself as a
“performance writer.” Her
success in writing, she says, “comes from loving a good story, from having
heard from the very best storytellers that one could possibly hear stories
from.” Chávez
has received many awards, most notably the Puerto del Sol Fiction Award for
“The Last of the Menu Girls” and the American Book Award for “Face of an
Angel.” She
still surrounds herself in literature by teaching creative writing in the
English Department of New Mexico State University. Sarah
Bird will be featured in a session in which she will discuss writing humorous
fiction. Bird
grew up in an Air Force family and received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology
from the University of New Mexico and a master’s degree in journalism from
the University of Texas at Austin. Bird
was an editor and contributor for the inactive Austin magazine Third Coast.
She
authored five romance novels under the name Tory Cates before publishing her
1986 comic novel “Alamo House,” set on fraternity row at a Texas university. “The
Boyfriend School” followed in 1989 and “The Mommy Club” in 1991. Both,
like “Alamo House,” were marked by Bird’s sharp wit and sense of the absurd. Bird
delved into her own military background with “The Yokota Officers Club,”
which novelist Stephen Harrigan called “an unforgettable melding of exuberant
wit and deep compassion.” And
when Kinky Friedman chose his political career over his Texas Monthly
column, Bird filled his big boots with some wisecracking of her own. Sarah’s
most recent novel, “How Perfect is That” is the story of
Blythe Young, a wannabe Texas princess, a heroine as plucky, driven and desperate
as Vanity Fair’s Becky Sharp. She plummets precipitously downstairs,
banging her head on every step of the Austin social ladder as she falls. Not
unlike the country as a whole, Blythe has surrendered to a multitude of dubious
moral choices and is now facing the disastrous consequences: bankruptcy,
public humiliation, a teensy fondness for the pharmaceuticals and no Pap
smear for ten years. But
worst of all, she is forced to move back into the fleabag co-op boardinghouse
where she lived when she was a student at the University of Texas. Another
speaker is Cyndi Hughes, executive director of the Writers’ League of Texas,
a nonprofit professional organization whose primary purpose is to provide a
forum for information, support and sharing among writers. Hughes
is the founding director of the Texas Book Festival, which was founded by
First Lady Laura Bush in 1996. Hughes
joined the Festival in July, 1996, and was instrumental in planning the inaugural
Festival in November, 1996. Under
Hughes’ leadership, the Festival acquired a reputation as one of the most
prestigious and popular literary events in the United States. In
addition to spotlighting more than 150 authors from all over the country at
the Texas State Capitol every November, the event raised nearly $1.5 million
for more than 470 Texas public libraries. Rounding
out this list of speakers is author Sharon Spinks. After graduating from
Texas A&M University with a BS Degree in Animal Science, Spinks combined
her writing skills and agricultural education into a career in agricultural
journalism. Spinks
later returned to school to obtain her teaching certification and Graduate
Aca-demic Certificate in Gifted Education. For
eight years, Spinks was a science teacher and coordinator of the Gifted and
Talented Program in a small west Texas school district. A
native Texan, Spinks has held a lifelong fascination with
Texas and Western History. She will appear on a panel on Texas Rangers and will
discuss her recent book, “Law on the Last Frontier: Texas Ranger Arthur
Hill,” based on the real-life
experiences of her husband’s grandfather, whose Ranger career spanned the
years from 1947 to 1974. For
information about these and other authors appearing at the Way Out West Book
Festival, visit the website at www.wowtxbookfestival.com. All
author sessions will be on Aug. 9 at the Sul Ross State University Espino
Conference Center and are free. There
will be a chuck wagon barbecue dinner Friday night at Kokernot Lodge with
music by Mike Blakely and a gala dinner Saturday night at the Espino Center
with entertainment by Kinky Friedman. Happy
Reading! Arlene Griffis is
president of Friends of the Marathon Public Library, which is a branch of Alpine
Public Library. |