LOOK INSIDE: Deaf Smith County Museum 50th Anniversary special | Saturday,
March 25, 2017 | Printed on recycled paper
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Pony rides and 4-H TO 50 YEARS
Police Blotter Page 3
Head Start sign-ups scheduled April 4 Page 5
Castillo no-hits Palo Duro Page 9
Museum’s origin strays from the usual path
FORECAST
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Despite celebrating 50 years in its formal facility in the former St. Anthony’s Catholic School building on Stanton Street in downtown Hereford, the beginnings of Deaf Smith County Museum were within the walls of this barn on Turrentine property west of Hereford.
Today
By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
Mostly Sunny High: 75º Low: 43º Sunrise: 7:45 a.m. Sunset: 8:05 p.m. Wind: NW 10 MPH Precipitation: 0%
Sunday
Mostly Sunny/Wind High: 72º Low: 38º Sunrise: 7:44 a.m. Sunset: 8:06 p.m. Wind: WNW 22 MPH Precipitation: 0%
Monday
Sunny High: 74º Low: 45º Sunrise: 7:42 a.m. Sunset: 8:07 p.m. Wind: N 12 MPH Precipitation: 10%
HEREFORD HISTORY 17 years ago • March 25, 2000
Rodeo Results
Most county historical museums come about through dogged efforts of nameless volunteers giving of their time, talents and resources. Traditionally, there is a focal point embodied by an individual or committee which kept the wheels turning toward fruition with almost religious fervor. Along the way, there are usually several years’ worth of meetings, planning, more meetings, public hearings, fundraisers and assorted plethora of related efforts to make a county’s historical museum a physical reality. Much of that holds true for Deaf Smith County Museum as it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017. However, this silver anniversary comes with an asterisk – a notable one. Yes, the museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary, but that celebration is actually for the official museum in its current location on Stanton Street. The true beginnings of a historical museum in Deaf Smith County are much-less formal and make a much better story than the traditional path taken by other county historical museums. To find the true origin of the museum, one must go farther back than 50 years and look
BRAND/John Carson
The lone surviving founder of Deaf Smith County Museum, Johnnie Turrentine was part of the museum’s original incarnation – as her daughters’ 4-H project in a barn full of their grandmother’s historical items and antiques behind her home west of Hereford.
not at historical artifacts and displays, but at children in search of ways to get some pocket money. You also have to venture roughly 5 miles west of Hereford to land where George and Johnnie Turrentine were raising their three daughters. Now 87, Johnnie Turrentine is the lone living survivor of the committee that made the current museum possible, but gets a special sparkle in her eye when recalling how the museum actually came to be. “The girls had a Shetland pony and wanted to make some money,” she said. “So they decided to start giving pony rides for a nickel.” As the pony-ride business began to flourish, the girls also needed to come up with a 4-H project. That’s where grandmother Bess Werner, who had been married to the county’s first dentist, stepped in. With a barn on the land literally full of historic antiques from Deaf Smith County’s early days, Werner suggested the girls provide tours of the collection to visitors – who initially came for the pony rides – for their 4-H project. In short, Deaf Smith County Museum was born. “The girls would give pony rides, while Bess
‘No problems’ with city water
Rodney Wilson won the All-Around Cowboy title at the rodeo in Canyon.
By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
INDEX Bulletin Board 6 Calendar 2 Classifieds 7 Community 6, 10 Crossword 2 Fri. Night Lights 9 Menus 3 News 2-6
Photo by Bryan Hedrick/HISD
Real Estate 8 Recipe 5 Sports Sked 9 Sports 9-10 Sudoku 7 Weekly Bonus 5 Weekly Pet 4
School workers set about the task of converting the multi-purpose facility at Bluebonnet Elementary from gymnasium to cafeteria for the start of lunch Friday.
Bond to relieve cafegymnatoriums By John Carson BRAND Managing Editor
© 2017 Hereford BRAND A division of Roberts Publishing Group
PLEASE SEE MUSEUM | 2
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third of a four-part series looking at the individual segments – safety and security, multi-purpose activity centers, early childhood development center, and dressing and trainers learning facility – of a $45 million bond issue called by Hereford Independent School District.)
Cafegymnatorium. While the word sounds like something one might hear coming from the Centers for Disease Control, it is actually not a true word. However, during the past three decades it has become part of the standard lexicon PLEASE SEE BOND | 6
radioactivity as minerals dissolved, officials narrowed the potential contamination The end result is pretty to a single four-well field much exactly what Hereford that only supplied water to a city officials said from the small, specific part of town. get-go – there are no conEven though a TCEQ lettamination problems ter informing the with city water. city of the contamiThe city received nation made it clear official word earlier the situation was this week of its own not an emergency, and state test results mandates required that cleared reportthe city inform all its edly tainted city wawater customers of ter of harmful conthe potential dangers taminations. rather than those speHANNA After being incifically affected. formed by the Texas When that notificaCommission of Environmen- tion came out with February tal Quality (TCEQ) at the end water bills, the result was a of 2016 that city water had veritable city-wide scare over been flagged for contamination by naturally produced PLEASE SEE WATER | 3
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