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A LAKE VIEW
150th anniversary planning starts
S. Texans find home in Indiana ince the days of World War II, East Chicago, Ind., a stone’s throw from the Illinois border, has been home to thousands of transplanted South Texas families. The city, sitting on land off the shore of Lake Michigan, is also home to second- and third-generaIndiana naARAMBULA tion tive families with roots in South Texas. Thousands traveled from Laredo and other border sectors, found jobs and stayed. Interestingly, some of these families trace their roots to early settlers of the lead villa of a province tagged as Nuevo Santander — Villa del Señor San Ignacio de Loyola de Revilla, later becoming Guerrero (Viejo). For instance, there’s the Joe Espitia family, whose ancestors go back to Pedro Vela, one of the first group of land grantees to settle in Revilla on the Mexican side area from modern-day Zapata, on Oct. 15, 1750. Over at Revilla, the Pedro Vela family was among the first 40 families to settle the village. Espitia reached this writer by telephone from East Chicago, inquiring about Spanish land grants on the Rio Grande frontier. Specifically, Espitia had interest in a land grantee named Pedro Vela and land attached to a ranch named El Sordo (The Deaf) in the Revilla townsite of the Santander Province. Espitia said he was contacted by a historian from Premont and was told that he (Espitia) was connected to “a bunch of early families” on both sides of the South Texas frontier on his mother’s side. Espitia’s mother is a descendant of the Vela (Pedro) family. “I have been getting calls for several years,” Espitia told this writer. “An uncle called me from California and told me I had a connection with Pancho Villa, claiming that Villa’s wife (one of them) was a Vela. Another caller connected me to Freddie Fender.” Espitia, 53, said his mother, originally from Laredo, has relatives in towns all over South Texas. Espitia, a self-employed building maintenance contractor, got interested in his family genealogy after hearing stories about the early land grantees when modern-day Texas was part of Spain and later under Mexico jurisdiction. He has done extensive research on the subject, reading books and other published material (archives), and his genealogical findings suggest his descendancy dates to the Revilla settlement on Oct. 15, 1750. He’s convinced the overriding link is his mother’s maiden name, Vela. “I began to read books and other historical material that brought to the name of Pedro Vela,” Espitia said. “Someone sent me a clipping of an article published in The Times that had a lot of information on land grants and the settlement of Revilla the river,” Espitia said. “I found out that Pedro Vela was my fifth great-grandfather on my mother’s side.” The East Chicago resident said he learned that the town was one of the first of 23 villages authorized by explorer Jose de Escandon in the Nuevo Santander Province. Santander was the landmark of a Gulf of Mexico region entered into the national archives (Archivo de la Nacion) as the Seno Mexicano . Santander’s map of the region has been published in numerous books.
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See LAKE VIEW | PAGE 10A
By DEANNA MENDOZA THE ZAPATA TIMES
Commissioners Court approved renovation plans Aug. 11 for three parks in Zapata County that are just one component of what will be a three-day Sesquicentennial Celebration in November. Plans for New Falcón Plaza were approved, while Puig Engineering was designated to design sewer and water plans for Falcon Lake Park and a resolution was adopted to designate the proposed site for the Zapata Sesquicentennial Trail Park. The sesquicentennial events are planned to be a celebration of the 150year history of the county, as well as an investment for the future, said Roberto
Montes, chairman of the Sesquicentennial Committee. “It gives us an opportunity to look at the past and see how far we’ve gone and have a vision of where we want to be, what we want to leave for our prosperity (and) what we want our children to have when they take over,” Montes said. The way Montes sees it, his committee is not just planning a party, it’s planning for the future of the county. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us to learn about the county to get facts that we didn’t know,” Montes said. “It’s a good time for us to start planning for the future, for us to get goals for where we want our county to be 10 years from now.” Established in March by the Zapata County Commissioners Court, the com-
mittee is made up of about 35 people who broke off into subcommittees for the communities of Zapata, Lopeño, Falcón and San Ygnacio. Pride in their communities and preserving history are the motivation behind most of the sesquicentennial committee members, Montes said. At the centerpiece of New Falcón Plaza is an antique steel bridge older than New Falcón itself, which was established in 1953 after the flooding of Old Falcón. Built in 1938, the bridge was used to get from ranches to Old Falcón, said Commissioner Emilo Vela. The bridge, no longer used as a juncture, was moved to Falcón Community Park after the state declared it unsafe. “Part of the plan was to renovate the
bridge, renew it and make it into a historical attraction,” Vela said. “They (the community) plan to go to the state historical commission and get a historical marker.” The community pulled together and collected $10,000 in contributions to start preliminary planning and hire an architect, Vela said. In the 2009 county budget, Vela said he has allocated $75,000 for this project and expects it to be done in four years with a total cost of $200,000 to $250,00. Fifty-five memorial benches at $500 each also were sold to raise funds, said Omelia Zapata, the chairwoman for the Zapata Sesquicentennial Trail Park.
See CELEBRATION | PAGE 11A
An Eye on Medicine School to help ease physician shortage By TRICIA CORTEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
UERRERO, Tamaulipas, Mexico — By 2020, the United States is expected to face a shortage of 80,000 to 200,000 physicians, unless drastic action is taken now. Border communities have long felt the squeeze of trying to attract more physicians. To combat this troubling trend, two Zapata residents have launched a new medical school in Mexico to boost the number of available doctors practicing in underserved or rural areas in South Texas. The Jose Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara Escuela de Medicina opened its doors in September 2007, and offers an intense yearround curriculum. Its eight students and four professors are about to complete the school’s fourth semester this Friday. The Gutierrez de Lara medical school is based in the small Mexican border town of Guerrero, located across Falcon Dam 80 miles south of Laredo and 30 miles south of Zapata. Dr. Larry Sands, a practicing
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Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | Laredo Morning Times
Brian Gregory, third semester student, and Terri Kraus, fourth semester student, listen during a lecture at The Jose Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara Escuela de Medicina medical school in Guerrero, Mexico. physician in Zapata, and Anselmo Treviño, a director of Zapata National Bank, founded the school. Treviño was unavailable for comment, and Sands has declined to comment further until the school is approved to be listed with the International Medical Education Directory.
U.S. curriculum, Mexican prices Gutierrez de Lara is an officially sanctioned Mexican medical school that teaches a U.S. curriculum at “Mexican prices,” students and professors joked in recent interviews. It has received all necessary
approvals from federal and state government authorities in Mexico City and Tamaulipas, respectively, according to school officials. But the IMED listing is crucial since international medical graduates must be certified with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. This
requires an IMED listing, according to the commission’s Web site. If the school receives the IMED and ECFMG approvals, its students will be able to apply for U.S.-accredited residency or fellowship programs starting in summer 2010.
See MEDICAL | PAGE 10A
Incoming, current District United Way to start attorneys eye satellite office with Gen. Sanchez By JULIAN AGUILAR THE ZAPATA TIMES
In an attempt to establish a stronger presence in Zapata and address the needs associated with a growing community, the current and future District attorneys of Webb and Zapata counties intend to set up a satellite office at the Zapata County Courthouse next fiscal year. District Attorney-elect Isidro “Chilo” Alaniz said creating an intake office in Zapata would help assist victims and answer questions residents might have about the office and its duties. “What we’re trying to do, my major intent now, is to have a person (there) to be able to receive whatever it is,” said Alaniz. Alaniz will replace Joe Rubio as the District Attorney on Jan. 1 following his April 8 runoff victory. Alaniz stated during his campaign that setting up a Zapata office would be one of his priorities. Alaniz said he and Rubio met with the Zapata County
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Commissioners Court on Tuesday during a budget workshop to discuss the satellite office. He conceded that at present the idea was just that, an idea, but said the court seemed receptive to it. “We’re optimistic and we’re hoping to deliver on some of the ideas that we had talked about during the campaign,” he said. Alaniz said he hoped a final response from the court would be forthcoming within a month’s time. Zapata County Commissioner Emilio Vela agreed the idea was met with interest by the court, and said the need for direct representation from somebody within the office is necessary in Zapata. “In the past maybe eight to
10 years, there wasn’t really that much of a need,” he said. “But Zapata is growing, and there is much more going on, more crime. “It (the office) is something we feel that we need to have. For many years Zapata has never had a satellite office.” Vela added currently in Zapata the duties associated with a district attorney, including those associated with grand jury selection, fall in the hands of the county attorney. A satellite office would help remedy that situation, he said. Deotoro Garza, the Zapata County auditor, said Rubio and Alaniz’s request included a clerk with an approximate salary of $22,000 and monthly supplies, including a desk and a computer. Garza said the budget would be “tight” this next fiscal year, which begins in October, but said the county would be pleased if it were able to accommodate the request. (Julian Aguilar may be reached at 728-2557 or by email at jaguilar@lmtonline.com)
By DEANNA MENDOZA THE ZAPATA TIMES
United Way, the organization that helps fund agencies that assist the community every day, is kicking off its yearly campaign at 8 a.m. Aug. 20 at Zapata High School. The kickoff event will be combined with Zapata County Independent School District’s general session, a yearly event that welcomes back the districts students, teachers and staff for the coming school year, where Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez will be the keynote speaker. Sanchez, originally from Rio Grande City, served as the commander of coalition forces in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004. “We feel that his message will be one of inspiration. He’ll be talking about how important it is to have wisdom and to care enough to change,” said Romeo Rodriguez, Zapata County Independent School District superintendent. “We need to have the courage and the wisdom to accept change and be able to take on the challenges as they
present themselves on a daily basis.” During the kickoff event for United Way, ZCISD schools will be honored SANCHEZ for their contributions over the last year. Though United Way is based out of Laredo, all of the funds raised in Zapata will stay in the community, said Jerry Leal, president of the United Way for Laredo. “The general purpose of United Way is to raise money for 25 agencies that provide services to the community,” Leal said. “It ranges from the very young to the very old, and this is a yearly campaign that we have. We’re raising money every year because every year the need is always there. The money goes right back into the community. Those moneys go back to the agencies that provide services in Zapata.” Zapata’s United Way is made
See SANCHEZ | PAGE 11A