ORANGE COUNTY
FISHING Capt. Dickie Colburn Page 4 Section B
CARDINALS
BOBCATS
Big Red set to take first district title since 2002
Orangefield faces No. 1 ranked WOS before playoffs
See photos and article Section B
See Article and Photos Page 1B
RELIGION
NEWS, ARTICLES CHURCH DIRECTORY SEE PAGE 6 SECTION B
The Record TheRecordLive.com
Vol. 58 No. 27
Distributed FREE To The Citizens of Bridge City and Orangefield
Week of Wednesday, November 2, 2016
BC seeks entries for Christmas Lights Parade Dave Rogers
For The Record
Bridge City’s eighth annual Christmas Light Parade is set for Saturday, Dec. 3 and the sponsoring Bridge City Chamber of Commerce is accepting applications for parade entrants. The one-mile procession down West Roundbunch Road from the First Baptist Church Bridge City to Bridge City Elementary begins at 6 p.m. It will be headed by parade marshals from the Bridge City Police and Fire Departments as well as Acadian Ambulance and word is a certain couple from the North Pole will be making an appearance, too. “We’re honoring first responders,” said Barbara Jane “BJ” Hanneman, administrative assistant and museum curator for the Chamber. “We’re announcing our parade marshals next week.” Parade entrants may walk, drive, ride, gallop, trot, dance
or stomp their way down the parade route, Hanneman said. “Everyone is welcome to enter,” she said. “The whole purpose is we collect toys as entry fees and give them to the Bridge City-Orangefield Ministerial Alliance for their Christmas Toy Giveaway.” Go to bridgecitychamber. com for a parade application. Deadline to enter is Nov. 28. “Bridge City’s Christmas Parade has been going on for many years,” Hanneman said, “but eight years back we changed it to lighted night parade. “Everybody takes part, from local businesses to groups like the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, to individuals, to classic cars. “The Public Library will have a float with preschoolers. The high school band will be there, the Strutters (drill team) will perform. We’ll have Tiger Rock Martial Arts do a demonstration. “We give out lots of awards. Different people do different
things to try to get the judges’ attention.” Hanneman said parade entries are judged in four different categories: Dance, vehicles, floats and walkers. First, second and third prizes are awarded in every category and there is one grand prize, best overall. Last year’s big winner was a
hastily combined entry of the Bridge City ISD Transportation Department and Bridge City Intermediate’s student council. “In the staging area, the intermediate school’s float broke down, so they combined with the Transportation Department,” Hanneman explained.
Bridge City bank will be showing the movie “The Polar Express” on the lawn behind the bank immediately after the parade. For more information, call 735-5671 or email bcchamber@bridgecitychamber.com. Christmas in Orangefield set for Dec. 10. Orangefield’s Cormier Mu-
seum will be the site of Christmas in Orangefield celebrating Western Heritage Saturday, Dec. 10. The museum opens at 9 a.m. and the parade starts at 10:30 a.m. There will be food and craft booths with lots of activities for children beginning at 11:30 a.m.
Spirits running high in Cardinal land
Orange County no candidate for ‘Purple’ haze Dave Rogers
For The Record
No trend watcher would be foolish enough to predict Orange County changing from red to blue in next Tuesday’s presidential election. But a woman can dream, can’t she? Deborah Mitchell, Orange County Democratic Party chair, has been enjoying recent speculation that Hillary Clinton could become the first Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to win Texas’ electoral votes, now numbered at 38. “If Texas doesn’t turn blue, I think it’ll turn purple,” she said, “with more counties
“The Lord himself will fight for you; you only have to keep still.” Exodus 14:14
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Mitchell
Faske
turning blue.” Just probably not Orange County. In 2012, Democrat Barack Obama won re-election as president with a four-point (51 percent to 47 percent) win over Republican Mitt Romney. But in Orange County, Romney romped over Obama by a margin of 76 percent to 22 percent of the county’s record 30,836 voters. Trump’s top voter demographic, according to many pollsters, is white men with a high school education. According to the 2010 Census, 86 percent of Orange County residents are white and 86 percent of its adults over 25 lack a four-year college degree. “We’re a blue collar county, that’s for sure,” Sheila Faske, the Orange County Republican Party chairperson, said. “People want their jobs. When people have to move away to get a job, that’s sad. “The current administration – and Hillary too – are friends of industry.” Faske, who runs an office furniture and printing business, is confident in her party’s nominee, Trump. “I think he’ll beat Romney’s margin from 2012,” she said. Early voting in Orange County is at an all-time high. Even though there are no ELECTIONS Page 3A
The undefeated 2016 Bridge City Cardinals have one more game to go before claiming the first district championship since 2002. While the Cardinal football team has been setting a new bar in high school football the cheer squads has been keeping fans on their feet and spirits high. Above: Alyssa Fukuda, Abby Faulk, Ashton Bonin, Hope Hill, Carlee Dearing, Taylor Trevino, Maddie Thibodeaux, Kayleigh Collier, and Big Red mascot Alexis Bertrand. RECORD PHOTO: Tishy Bryant
Parole denied for killer of OPD officer Debby Schamber For The Record
The killer of 31-year-old Danny Gray, an Orange Police Officer killed in the line of duty in June 1974 will not be getting out of prison anytime soon. The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole denied parole for Billy Wayne Dowden,79, and the next review will be in 2021. Billy Ray Dowden was given a life sentence in the ground breaking case. Although he was not the shooter, it was ruled Gray was murdered because of the actions of Billy Ray Dowden, Charles Dowden and Clifford Blancett and therefore they would be held accountable. Captain Gray became the third police officer killed in the line of duty during an attempted jail escape. Before the shooting occurred, Gray would accomplish something he had always wanted to do which was to catch a suspect during a robbery. The chain of events began around 1 a.m. when he
Danny Gray was killed in the line of duty in 1974.
was dispatched to a convenience store located at 10th Street and Green Avenue. The robber, Charles Dowden, walked out of the store still wearing his mask. He was stuffing the pistol into his back pocket when he saw the officers. Dowden reached back for the gun, but realized it was too late and surrendered. At about 4 a.m., Charles Dowden’s brother, Billy Wayne Dowden, along with his accomplice, Clifford Blan-
cett, arrived at the jail to break his brother out. Charles Dowden was upstairs in a jail cell when the chaos began. Billy Wayne Dowden, wearing a mask, entered the building by suddenly bursting through the door. Blancett waited outside. Once inside, Billy Wayne Dowden went through the door of the dispatcher’s office demanding the release of his brother. He coldly put a pistol up to the dispatcher’s face, Ronnie Denton. Gray, who was standing near the dispatcher’s window, hit Dowden in the face which knocked him into the hallway. By this time, Blancett had come into the building and struck Gray over the head with a shot gun which caused the gun to break. Dowden attempted to use Gray as a shield to once again enter the small dispatch room, according to Denton. In the mean time, Denton ran back to the area near the stairwell of the small office to quickly grab a gun and begin loading it. Denton looked up
and saw the door opening again and began shooting. At the time, Denton didn’t know his fellow officer had already been shot. The next thing Denton knew, Dowden was standing in the hallway at the dispatcher’s window. Denton had a clear shot of the suspect and knew he had to act quickly. As bullets were fired into the small room, Denton thought of his wife and children and questioned if he was going to live through the gunfire. Denton tried to fire the gun again, but all he heard was a click when the gun failed to fire. Dowden returned fire a total of nine times. The room grew quiet and Denton seized the opportunity to call for help from other officers. Dowden was out of bullets, so he and Blancett fled the scene. After all the commotion and shooting, Gray lay dead with a bullet to the head. His gun had never left its’ holster. PAROLE DENIED Page 2A