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Current Weekly News for Leakey, Camp Wood, Sabinal, Utopia and Surrounding Areas Vol. 4 No. 10
INSIDE
EMS REPORTS
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You Have Been Tagged
The City of Camp Wood Code Enforcement administrator is using these red door tags to WARN citizens of the City of Camp Wood of ordinance violations. If you have been tagged, have an ordinance violation or have questions feel free to call city hall at 830-597-2265 or read the ordinances yourself at www.cityofcampwood.com
www.hillcountryherald.net
90 Years Later: Lindbergh Art Dedicated in Camp Wood
By Mayor Ben Cox
Camp Wood, TX – It has been 90 years to the month since Charles Lindbergh found his way to the Nueces Canyon via the UvaldeNorthern railroad that ended in Barksdale. This month, the City of Camp Wood, Pamela Winfield Rosar and the Real County Historical Commission request your presence at the dedication honoring Lindbergh’s famous visit by joining U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar and other officials in Lindbergh Park, downtown Camp Wood, on Saturday, March 29th at 2 p.m. . It has been a year since artist Pamela Winfield Rosar began working on her conception of a four panel art sculpture for Lindbergh Park in downtown Camp Wood dedicated to Charles Lindbergh’s visit to the area. Rosar says, “I felt the story of Lindbergh’s visit to Camp Wood was so unique and humorous, that when I heard it, I also saw this vision
out or 3-D). In Rosar’s process she cast the four panels in concrete through a molding process where first each panel is sculpted in clay, then coated with ten layers of latex rubber. After the mold becomes a mold, mesh is used and the concrete is poured into the mold to form the art. Her four panels each depict a story. Panel one is Charles Lindbergh’s portrait, the second panel is flying the Nueces River, third is Rosar with Sky and Bob Tomson in Lindbergh Park his plane hitting the famous pot hole that and thought it would be a good idea to embellish it with an actual illustration of caused his crash and the last panel is the actual crash into Puitt’s Hardware store. the story.” With a vision in mind, Rosar began The panels were initially unveiled on working on relief sculptures, also known Friday, December 20th at the burial of the as bas-relief sculptures. This is art work Real County Centennial Time Capsule in that is low dimensional (art that comes the park; however, the artwork housing
The Spirit of ‘45 Somewhere in the West
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March 12, 2014
editor@hillcountryherald.net
Tommy Oliphant was born on a ranch, the son of a line foreman on the Matagora Ranch. His education was completed through the eighth, when he went to work at Valdena Farms for Mr. Woodriff at the age 14, under Barney Preston. He worked there for four years. He also worked for Mr. Smith, Wayland’s father. Working with horses was what he knew and how he supported himself and his family most of his life. He recalled driving a laundry truck for Hugh Buttler Laundry between jobs and laughed as he remembered picking up the laundry for John Nance and Ettie Garner. He also worked at Garner Field on airplanes before being drafted into service. Tommy and Maurine Oliphant were married in Uvalde at the home of a pastor there on September 25, 1943. Waylan Smith and future wife, Mary Jean Cordray, stood up for them when they got married. After he got drafted, he joined the Marines, went to boot camp in San Diego, and was in only one battle, Iwa Jima where he was awarded a Purple Heart. He only shook his head and said it was terrible. Maurine
by Billie Franklin
or “Sis” worked for the phone company during the war and daughter, Tommy Lee, was born while he was overseas. He is retired from Sonny Clime Farms and lives adjacent to the horse farm, just down the road.
was not complete at that time. Lindbergh’s book, “We”, was the main source of information for Rosar’s pieces; historical details are close but some artist liberties were taken. Rosar was assisted in the process of how this was to be displayed in Lindbergh Park by close friend Linda Haddock with metal design and execution given by Bob and Sky Tompson. Once all the details were decided, Rosar looked to the Camp Wood City Council for permissions to move forward with the project. With that behind her she then sought fundraising abilities of Bill Pierce to raise the initial $1600 of monies for the project. To date there have been over 15 contributors to the project from beginning to end. More contributions are needed to offset the overall cost of the project to the City of Camp Wood. Anyone wanting to contribute to the art project can call the City of Camp Wood at 830-597-2265 about details of contributing. The donors to date that have helped make this project possible are: Mayor Ben Cox, continued page 2
ANNUAL LEAKEY LIONS CLUB RIB DINNER FRIDAY MARCH 14TH AT 5:30 P.M. AT THE AMERICAN LEGION HALL LEAKEY, TEXAS
Nueces Canyon Elementary Hosts a Successful Book Fair Fiesta ............................ Page 7
THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM Part I
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INDEX State News .................... Page 2 Legals/Jail Register ...... Page 3 Community News ......... Page 4-6 Feature Story ................. Page 7 Obituaries ...................... Page 8 Classifieds ..................... Page 12
WIND ADVISORY Today’s Weather
High:63° Low: 40°
by NC Elementary Librarian, Jana Valenzuela
Clifford has left the building! This year’s spring book fair, Book Fair Fiesta, was a tremendous success! Over $4800 in total sales, our library profit was just over $1000. This money is used to fund the end of year Fun Fling trip, the AR Gift Cards, awards, and other AR prizes. We also earn a Scholastic Dollars profit that is used to purchase books for the classrooms and the library. During the week, we held several family events at which door prizes were drawn for those who attended. The Donuts for Dads door prize winner was Enrique Hidalgo, Muffins for Moms door prize winner was Tonya Jimenez, and the Breakfast with Grand door prize winner was Jamie Floyd! Congratulations to all three of these special people! I also was fortunate enough to have several volunteers, so a special “THANK YOU!” goes out to, Diana Quintero, Leann Durham, Janet Wells, Veronica Perez, Becky Williams,
Candi Voyles, and Charlie Perez! Without you all, I couldn’t put this book fair on! And of course, who could forget our special surprise guest? Clifford the Big Red Dog was a great treat for our Book Fair Fiesta. Children of all ages enjoyed his visit, his hugs, and yes, his crazy shenanigans! He ventured off on his own and tried his hand in PE with Pre-K, Band, and attempted to try out being a Math teacher. Danielle Irwin was an awesome Clifford! Thank you to Mrs. Hicks, Danielle Irwin, and Malorie Gomez for volunteering to help me with Clifford! Here are some tips to for parents to help their children learn to read! 1. Enjoy reading with your child, laugh at silly pictures, make goofy voices, have fun! 2. Make a game out of finding words that rhyme or that starts with the same sound. 3. After you finish reading a story, look back at the page and ask your child to find common words.
Leakey ISD Bond Election FACTS The successful bond elections in Leakey ISD history: • 1921 for two-story building still in use today and will remain • 1930 for one-story building (directly south of two-story building) still in use today and will remain • 1949 for gymnasium and cafeteria still in use today (cafeteria is now concession stand for gym) and will remain Needs assessments done in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2013 all came up with same needs for district: A new building for high school and junior high school classrooms and science labs. A priority was put on
science and the challenges we have had in that field of study. A new competition gymnasium utilizing the existing covered play area where a substantial amount of the cost would be covered due to the fact the foundation and structural steel were already in place. It would also allow Leakey ISD to host tournaments and playoff games bringing in additional revenue to the school and the community. A cafetorium (cafeteria/auditorium) large enough to accommodate the regular breakfast and lunch requirements for all students. The elementary classes currently start lunch at 10:45 am and the high school students finish lunch at 1:00 pm. It was also determined that
the facility could be used for plays, ballets, school and community banquets, graduations, and meetings as well as other special events. Remodel some existing elementary and special education classrooms to accommodate growing needs (Pre-K has been discussed for several years but there has not been the room to accommodate the program). Also utilize the old cafeteria possibly converting it to classrooms and band hall.A field house and weight room for all our athletes to utilize. BE BETTER STEWARDS OF YOUR MONEY AND RESOURCES! This was the message given to the school by a committee formed after a
failed bond election a few years ago. The administration and board took that message to heart and worked hard at accomplishing that goal. Working with limited funds the buildings and equipment were painted, patched, repaired and repaired again. Things that the district could afford to replace, such as window unit air conditioners, were. Many things on the campus are now beyond repair. The average age of the buildings are over 50 years old. In keeping with being good stewards of our resources it was determined replacing five older, inefficient buildings with an energy efficient two-story structure consisting of a steel building, continued page 2