Page 4-A
VIEWPOINT
El Campo Leader-News • Wednesday, June 3, 2015
www.leader-news.com
lettertoeditor@leader-news.com
Bryce, Ricebird fans know that tails never fails When you’ve had a wildly successful season like the baseball Ricebirds have had so far, determining a single turning point can be difficult. In terms of the playoffs, however, my mind goes back to a stormy Friday night in Sweeny, Texas. Facing elimination, the Ricebirds had just defeated the tradition-rich Sweeny Bulldogs behind a bulldog of their own, Byrlan Crivellari, and his 2-hit shut out on the mound. In a game – and a post-season honestly – that witnessed more than its share of rainouts, postponements and venue changes, the Sweeny and EC coaches were seconds away from meeting to determine the location of the pivotal Game 3. Both coaches knew that the squad that won the coin toss and hosted Saturday’s rubber match would have a big advantage. With two teams so evenly
matched, getting a leg up in any way possible was at the forefront of the coaches’ minds. Like so many times in sports, each team had a 50-50 shot at seizing advantage – literally at this point in time. You see, in Texas high school athletics, these pivotal and precious decisions come down to a literal coin flip. Gathered with his wife Tasha and young son Bryce, EC Head Coach Russell Krenek was thinking about his coin-flip strategy. Bryce was not shy about sharing his opinion. He thought for a second, then tugged on his dad’s hand and offered what would turn out to be sage advice. “Tails never fails,” Bryce stated confidently. From the mouths of babes ...
JAY T.
STRASNER INK BY THE BARREL
Satisfied with Bryce’s advice, the head coach stepped to the field and uttered “Tails” as the silver coin glimmered and turned in the air. Landing on the ground, both coaches moved closer to inspect. And there it was, the most perfectly satisfying coin Krenek has ever seen. The Ricebird head coach was able to relay the news to the impatient EC crowd in the stands by simply raising a fist in celebration. Everyone knew at that point what Bryce had known minutes before. “Tails never fails.”
El Campo would go on to host the next game only hours later at its new ballpark in front of a rabid and loving group of supporters. “It was a cool moment,” Krenek recalled shortly after the Ricebirds had eliminated Sweeny. “Give (Bryce) credit there. He called it. I just went with it. It was a big advantage being home in this one.” As the Ricebirds stand on the precipice of the Regional finals, one of only eight teams remaining in Class 4A, there have been numerous heroes. Outstanding pitching, timely hitting and solid defense have no doubt played a major role in El Campo’s sparkling 28-5 record this year. It’s been an interesting post-season across the state. Players have stepped in following odd injuries, torrential rains have caused venues to change and game
times to be moved. Umpires have been delayed getting to ballparks, coins have been flipped and graduation plans have been reconsidered. But one thing has been constant: the Ricebirds have been winning baseball games against the best the state of Texas has to offer. Week in and week out. If the Ricebirds get past Hidalgo Saturday afternoon, they will be one of only four Class 4A baseball teams still alive. Two more wins after that and they would be State champs. Who knows, another coin flip might even come into play. If so, little Bryce has a message for his dad and all Ricebird fans: “Tails never fails.” Jay T. Strasner is publisher of the Leader-News.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Not all support curbside recycling Editor, the Leader-News: Curbside recycling containers sounds like more ugly “pearls of the prairie” scattered down our streets! John Hancock
Challenger baseball something to see Editor, the Leader-News: During this inaugural year of the Challenger Baseball League, I was fortunate enough to be one of the volunteers working with one of the teams, the Giants. What an honor! These kids are amazing. The sportsmanship, the team effort and the excitement that occurs during the two innings of play is a display from which all of us can learn. I applaud all of the organizations and individuals who came together to make the teams a reality for both the younger and older players. The students who volunteered as Buddies for the players were amazing also. How wonderful that our small town can pull together to make such a big difference for a special group of kids. But then, that is what is so special about El Campo. It’s what we do. I encourage all of you to come to at least one game next year. They play in May, on a Saturday, and each game lasts one hour. Bring your kids and enjoy some special fun together. Jeannette Macha
Beautification efforts ahead thanks to Ann Leach One of these days, in fact it is probably already a reality, people in El Campo will not know of the many contributions of Ann Leach to this city. We can thank Ann for her contribution, along with that of Grady Wadsworth and Harlan Hobbs and others, for founding the BEEs (Beautify El Campo Extension). Just look at the many contributions the BEEs have made, and continue to make, to make El Campo a cleaner, prettier place to live. Decorative planters, garbage can receptacles, decorative light poles, enhancements to Evans Park, including the fountain and benches. Some people did not like to see Ann coming because they knew she was going to want something done.
Ann, a former Navy WAVE, was not bashful. She either wanted to chastise them for not “keeping their corner” clean (keeping weeds out of sidewalk cracks and grass mowed), or to twist their arm to get a mural painted. Every time I drive through town and see weeds growing in the sidewalks and in parking lots, I think to myself, “Where is Ann when we need her?” I think of Ann and her admonishment: “If everyone will keep their corners clean, we’ll have a pretty town.” All the murals in town are thanks to Ann. She and her second husband, Bo Chewning, used to travel a lot in their motor home. She kept telling
Have An Opinion?
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR lettertoeditor@leader-news.com
THE EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS (USPS 169520) is published semi-weekly on Wednesday and Saturday for $48 per year in Wharton County; $63 per year out of county; and $88 per year out of state; and $48 per year for the online edition only, by Wharton County Newspapers, Inc., 203 E. Jackson St., El Campo, Texas 77437. Periodical postage paid at El Campo, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS, P.O. Box 1180, El Campo, Texas 77437. © 2015 Wharton County Newspapers, Inc. 979-543-3363 • Fax: 979-543-0097 www.leader-news.com
Opinions or views expressed by individual columnists or in Letters to the Editor are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper. Also, while the Leader-News strives for accuracy, errors may occur, and will be promptly corrected once they are brought to the attention of the editor.
CHRIS BARBEE OUR TOWN
us down at the newspaper, at the Chamber of Commerce and to anyone she could corner that the way to get more tourists into El Campo was to paint murals. She said people that RV’d were always looking for a reason to visit a community, and murals were a big draw. Ann saw every blank outside wall in town as a prospective canvass. Thanks to her diligence, El
Campo now has many murals for locals and visitors alike to enjoy. Ann also worked hard to help get the El Campo Museum Society up and going, helping to shape exhibits for Dr. E.A. Weinheimer’s big game trophies. She was down at the old Chamber of Commerce building next door to the Leader-News every day after everyone arrived in the late afternoon to help build paper mache mountains, paint and do whatever was necessary to help shape the Africa Exhibit, the Arctic Exhibit and other exhibits. El Campo is currently working to improve the looks of its downtown area. We need another Ann Leach Chewning to spearhead the effort.
But thanks to her work with the BEEs and the murals, El Campo has a head start that will hopefully be taken advantage of. Ann wrote a column in the Leader-News for many years called “Our Town.” When I write a column for the Leader-News on behalf of the city I call it “Our Town” in honor of Ann. She actually took many of her columns and had them published as a book for family and friends. Ann has been gone from El Campo for many years now, but her contributions, credited or not, certainly made El Campo a nicer place to live. And thanks to those who have carried on in her absence as members of the BEEs, El Campo will continue to benefit.
Page 4-A
Viewpoint
El Campo Leader-News • Saturday, July 18, 2015
www.leader-news.com
lettertoeditor@leader-news.com
Vietnam Memorial Wall reminds all, never forget, to say thank you to vets Hobbling when she should have scampered, the little girl with long blonde curls made her way among the wounded as her mother rolled her eyes and smiled. “Hi, I’m Shannon,” she announced to anyone even remotely turning her way, following that with a “Whatcha doin’,” “Who are you” or “What’s that?” oblivious to the bandages. After all, her daddy was either training to be a physician assistant or already working in a clinic (memories fade over time). And, she spent enough time around them being carted to the hospital with wrappings of her own. The soldiers, many of them recently returned from Vietnam, generally looked at the floor more than the eyes of passers by. But, somehow, the blithe babble of a child so near the ground generally warranted a smile. Some talked about “the bad, bad place” they had been as her mother filled out forms and tried in vain to keep her little one corralled. The bandages up to her knees leaked red as her feet cracked and bled making walking more than a tad uncomfortable. But – undaunted – she simply reinstated crawling as an effective means of transportation when balancing on the edges of her soles wouldn’t work. Head constantly turning side to side, she quickly noticed a change in the waiting room as the young GI was wheeled in, his condition immediately catching her curiosity far more than head wraps and slings. “How come you got no legs,” she said (or some variation on that). “I lost them,” the young soldier with a fresh crew cut whispered. Raising his chin, he met her eyes as she stared back from a nearby plastic chair while her mother debated the merits of melting into the floor. “Why?” the little girl (somewhere between two and four) asked, not old enough to understand the horrors he had faced in the jungle, the greeting that injured soldier probably faced arriving back in the states or even that, maybe, he didn’t want to talk
Shannon Crabtree about his wounds. She just perched on the chair, waiting for a reply which came after he gave it a moment of careful contemplation (and, surprisingly, no flare of the anger the same query would have prompted coming from an adult). “So you didn’t have to,” the young soldier said softly, but loud enough to earn nods not only from his comrades in arms that day, but to echo across more than four decades. They rolled him away just a moment later. He never said another word to the little girl who grew up to wield the pen rather than the sword. She – I – can still see those eyes; hear the soft voice of a young man who briefly crossed my path all those years ago. Standing before the traveling Vietnam Wall Thursday, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of his buddies didn’t make it home and how many came back in pieces – physically or mentally. Did he feel lucky to come home alive? I was born at the wrong time to recall much of the heartache, turmoil and fear of Vietnam. But I know one thing. There are 58,272 names on that haunting ribbon of black. Each gave their life so I didn’t have to. ----The traveling replica of the Vietnam Wall remains on display on Blossom Meyer Street until Sunday night. Don’t you think it’s worth your time to stop by and say thanks to those who gave all?
Have An Opinion? WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR lettertoeditor@leader-news.com Letters to the editor run as space is available in both the Wednesday and Saturday edition. To be considered for publication, letters must be received before 1 p.m. Monday for the Wednesday edition or 1 p.m. Thursday for the Saturday edition. Publication in a specific paper is not guaranteed. Please limit your letters to no more than 350 words. Letters must be signed by at least one person and a telephone number is required. An individual can submit a letter for publication once every eight editions (generally once a month) unless it is in direct response to another letter at the discretion of the newspaper. The Leader-News allows representatives of clubs or other fundraising organizations to thank up to five individuals or corporations by name in a letter to the editor. Please note that the Leader-News will not publish letters advocating a specific choice on an election issue immediately before or during a balloting period.
Iran deal causes GOP turmoil that have taken place in this century. From first reactions, it appears With the Arab Spring, the fall of half that Hill Republicans will be near a dozen regimes, the rise of al-Qaida unanimous in voting a resolution of and ISIS, civil wars in Libya, Syria, rejection of the Iran nuclear deal. at Yemen and Iraq, we have a new MidThey will then vote to override dle East. President Obama’s veto of their resouchanan Our principal enemies are now allution. And if the GOP fails there, Qaida and ISIS. And while both have Gov. Scott Walker says his first act been aided by our old allies, Turkey, as president would be to kill the deal. Qatar and Saudi Arabia, both are beBut before the party commits to abrogating the Iran deal in 2017, the GOP should con- ing resisted by Iran. But, we are reminded, Iran’s regime is founded upon sider whether it would be committing suicide in 2016. For even if Congress votes to deny Obama authority ideological hatred of America. But, so, too, were Mao’s to lift U.S. sanctions on Iran, the U.S. will vote to lift China and Stalin’s USSR. Yet Nixon forged a detente sanctions in the U.N. Security Council. And Britain, with Mao and FDR partnered with Stalin. And Ronald France, Germany, Russia and China, all parties to the Reagan negotiated a strategic arms deal with the “evil empire” of his time. deal, will also lift sanctions. Bibi Netanyahu and AIPAC, the Saudis and Gulf ArA Congressional vote to kill the Iran deal would thus leave the U.S. isolated, its government humiliated, un- abs, will demand that Congress kill the Iran deal that able to comply with the pledges its own secretary of state Lindsey Graham says is a “death sentence for the State negotiated. Would Americans cheer the GOP for leaving of Israel.” But one trusts that, this time, the GOP will add a dose of salt to what the hysterics are bellowing. the United States with egg all over its face? After all, it was Bibi’s rants – Iran is hellbent on getAnd if Congress refuses to honor the agreement, but Iran complies with all its terms, who among our friends ting a bomb, is only months away, and military action is needed now to smash the whirling centrifuges – that and allies would stand with an obdurate America then? Israel would applaud, the Saudis perhaps, but who teed up the talks for Tehran. All Iran had to do was prove it had no bomb program, else? And as foreign companies raced to Iran, and U.S. com- which was not difficult, as U.S. intelligence had repeatpanies were told to stay out, what would GOP presiden- edly said Iran had no bomb program. Then the Iranians proved it. They agreed to cut their tial candidates tell the business community? Would the party campaign in 2016 on a pledge to get centrifuges by two-thirds, to eliminate 98 percent of tough and impose new sanctions? “Coercive diplomacy,” their uranium, to halt production of 20 percent uranium at Fordow, to convert the heavy-water reactor at Arak The Wall Street Journal calls it. If so, what more would they demand that Iran do? that produces plutonium to a light water reactor that And what would they threaten Iran with, if she replied: produces one kilogram a year, and to let cameras in and We signed a deal. We will honor it. But we will make no give U.N. inspectors the run of their nuclear facilities. And how is Israel, with hundreds of atom bombs, new concessions under U.S. threat. Would we bomb Iran? Would we go to war? Not only mortally imperiled by a deal that leaves Iran with not a would Americans divide on any such action, the world single ounce of bomb-grade uranium? What does Iran get? What Iran always wanted. Not would unite – against us. And would a Republican president really bomb an a bomb which would make Iran a pariah like North KoIran that was scrupulously honoring the terms of the rea and could bring down upon her the same firestorm John Kerry deal? What would we bomb? All the known America delivered to Iraq, but a path to become again Iran nuclear facilities will be crawling with U.N. inspec- the hegemon of the Persian Gulf. Remarkable. Iran agrees not to build a bomb it had tors. “Either the issue of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons already decided not to build, and we agree to lift all sancis resolved diplomatically through negotiation or it’s re- tions. And they pulled it off. What is one or two atom bombs you can’t use, without solved through force,” said the president, “Those are the committing national suicide, compared to $100 billion in options.” Is that not pretty much where we are at, even if the freed assets and a welcome mat back to the community of nations. GOP does not like it? Copyright 2015 Creators.com Republicans seem to be unable to grasp the changes
B
P
Jay Strasner...................................................Editor & Publisher THE EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS (USPS 169520) is published semi-weekly on Wednesday and Saturday for $48 per year in Wharton County; $63 per year out of county; and $87 per year out of state; and $48 per year for the online edition only, by Wharton County Newspapers, Inc., 203 E. Jackson St., El Campo, Texas 77437. Periodical postage paid at El Campo, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the EL CAMPO LEADER-NEWS, P.O. Box 1180, El Campo, Texas 77437. © 2015 Wharton County Newspapers, Inc.
979-543-3363 Fax: 979-543-0097 Website: www.leader-news.com Email address: lettertoeditor@leader-news.com Opinions or views expressed by individual columnists or in Letters to the Editor are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper. Also, while the Leader-News strives for accuracy, errors may occur, and will be promptly corrected once they are brought to the attention of the editor.