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Tri-Canyon’s Only Weekly Newspaper! Vol. 9 No. 26
www.hillcountryherald.net
JULY JUBILEE RODEO ROYALTY
INSIDE
Chloe Hobbs is this year’s Real County Junior Horse Club Rodeo Queen. Chloe is the daughter of Casey Allen and Gini Hobbs and sister to Joaquin McCauley. She is a Junior attending Utopia ISD, where she participates in volleyball and is very active in the Live Stock show, where she shows steers. In rodeo she competes in clover leaf barrels, straight barrels, pole bending, goat tying, and breakaway roping. She loves rodeo but says her favorite event is the barrels. Chloe rides her horse Corona Light as she participates throughout the area in rodeos. Chloe is 16 years old and her favorite color is Red, and her favorite food is Whataburger fries. Rinley Wernette is this year’s Little Miss Rodeo Queen. Rinley is the 7 year old daughter of Shane and Sarah Wernette and sister to Cooper Wernette. She lives in Utopia Texas and is in the second grade at Utopia Elementary. She enjoys riding her horses Pedro and Oreo, gymnastics, hunting, swimming in the river, slumber parties and the movies. Rinley especially enjoys goat tying. Rinley’s favorite color is pink and her favorite food is Avacado. Don’t miss our July Jubilee Rodeo Royalty at the Red, White and You 4th of July Series Rodeo, Friday July
FOR REAL COUNTY
Dub’s Corner ............................ Page 7
............................ Page 5
LOCAL HORSE CLUB PLAYNIGHTS
...................... Page 8 & 9
A SHATTERED SPRING THE STORY OF 1927 ROCKSPRINGS TORNADO ............................ Page 4
............................ Page 11
............................ Page 13
INDEX Legals/Jail Register ... . Page 3Community News ......... Page 4-6 Feature Story ................ Page 7 Community Events.........Page 8-9 Obituaries ...................... Page 10 Classifieds ..................... Page 14
Today’s Weather
High: 99° Low: 73°
June 27, 2018
editor@hillcountryherald.net
by Julie Becker
6th and Saturday July 7th, 8:00 pm both nights at the Real County Junior Horse Club Arena, Leakey, Texas. All proceeds benefit the Real County Junior Horse Club. Come support this wonderful organization that gives children the opportunity to be outside and enjoy the wonders of nature, healthy competition and success! The first play-day activities were held in 1974. The Real County Jr. Horse Club became an official organization “to further the participation of youth in activities on horseback, and related activities.” Over the last 40 plus years club members held bake sales, barbecues, and goat roping’s to raise money so the concession, restrooms, and arena could be built. Thousands of hours of labor were donated by men and women of the horse club. Since those first years, the Horse Club has continued to grow and last year was able to purchase the arena. Although the faces of the board, directors, and members have changed, the purpose of the organization is still the same. There are no paid staff members in their organization. all funds raised are utilized to reward the youth of the club for their participation in the organization and each year the club awards scholarships to deserving youth of our area.
RIMKUS MANAGEMENT NAMED BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Each year the Frio Canyon Chamber of Commerce selects a local business that has impacted the community in a positive way. This year that honor was awarded to Rimkus Management. Rimkus Management was awarded the contract to manage the concessions inside Garner State Park in 2001. Keeping it as a family business, Brett was named President of the company, and his father Daniel Rimkus the CEO. Ginger Patterson-Danny’s sister is the business accountant and Bo Allen-the matriarch of the family is the eagle eye over it all. Bo checks over each bill and invoice, she writes the checks and completes daily reports required by TPWD. In 2003, Brett married Renee Rimkus. Renee joined the hands on portion of the business with buying, staging and setting the stores. They soon welcomed children Fisher, Hayden and Ruby to the family.
This summer, the adoption of Heather, Chase and Holton will be finalized as well. It is not uncommon to find the Rimkus kids pitching in to help the family business by picking up trash, checking customers out or any number of odd jobs. At the time Rimkus Mgmt. was awarded the contract, the concessions consisted of a small souvenir shop, grill, mini golf, park store and kayak rentals. Over the past 18 years, Rimkus Management has made several improvements as well as added to the concessions. The mini golf course now features a unique candy shop. The small souvenir store is now a large gift shop that showcases a huge variety of souvenirs and a great assortment of unique gift items. At the boat house, you will find an updated boat trailer that houses Stand Up Paddle Boards, continued page 4
BEC Employees Hit 1 Million Hours ‘No Lost Time’ BEC employees recently celebrated 1 million hours worked with no lost time. “Our last ‘Lost Time’ injury was July 2012, so it took us just about six years to reach this milestone,” said Tim Landes, BEC Job Training, Safety and Loss Control Coordinator. That equals to 2,142 days without anyone losing work hours to an injury. “Safety is a group effort and is a top priority, a value and a mindset. I am very proud of our continued focus and
commitment to safety. In an economy in which we are committed to being as efficient, productive and safe as possible, this achievement is all the more notable,” Landes said. The previous record for BEC was 743,770 hours with no lost time in 2012. “This is an important achievement that illustrates how seriously our teammates are committed to safety,” Landes said. “I’m very proud of our continued focus and commitment on safety.”
BEC has continually emphasized safety and has developed a culture where everyone has a say in safety. “It is key that all employees are positively involved and motivated with their safety as well as the safety of others. By providing a full circle approach to safety—ergonomic, behavior-based safety coaching, around the clock care and support from initiatives which target the issues affecting employees—we are able to consider each individual as a
Real County Commissioner’s Court At Monday’s Real County Commissioner’s Court meeting, Commissioners again held tight to the purse strings. The first item on the agenda was discussion of the application to the Texas (*Water) Development Board for Flood Early Warning systems. Carl Esser from Esser and Co., told the court Real County did not receive the grant for the purchase of the warning system. Judge W.B. “Sonny” Sansom told the Commissioners “We will just have to wait until the next grant comes up.” With that the court took no action or discussion on
the purchase of the Flood Early Warning system. Commissioners appointed Commissioner Ramon Ybarra as delegate of updating the County Road Inventory with the Texas Department of Transportation. Commissioner Ybarra discussed with Commissioners the lease for the Nutrition Van from Nueces Canyon ISD for $1.00/per year. Sansom stated since the County Attorney was not present, the court needed to wait to approve the lease until he could review it. Commissioners took no action. Next was agenda item for discussion and/or
by Julie Becker
act upon Roy Chisum Bridge. Commissioner Bryan Shackelford motioned to accept the bid from Nick Morales to repair the bridge, Commissioners approved. Next was Road and Bridge Budget line items for 2018. During this discussion Ybarra stated the dire need for vehicles for the road hands, stating one of the trucks currently used will only go 10-15 mph. He also stated the need for road equipment for both road maintenance crews. Sansom stated several line items in the current budget were in the red totaling approximately $90k.
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person, rather than just an employee. Relentless and continued efforts have created a culture where safety is the most important aspect of our business because without employees, servicing our members is impossible,” added Landes. He added that safety is the top priority, followed by customer focus and operational excellence.
After some lengthy discussions of where to get the money from, Commissioners took no action. Sansom stated “We will just have to wait until October.” In Treasurer’s reports from previous months, Emergency Reserves are listed at over one (1) million dollars while the Super Now Account is over two (2) million dollars. If you would like to voice your opinion as to where your tax dollars are spent please contact your Commissioner, their numbers are listed on page 3.