H SPECIAL: 58TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
The Record TheRecordLive.com
Vol. 58 No. 22
Distributed FREE To The Citizens of Bridge City and Orangefield
Lion’s Carnival turns 77th Dave Rogers
For The Record
Load up grandma and the kids. It’s time for some Orange Texa-cana tradition and fun for the whole family. The Orange Lions Club Carnival will open up its two-week run Wednesday at Lions City Park, 16th Street and MacArthur Drive, Orange. If you’re scoring at home – or on your mobile device of choice – this will be the 77th year for Orange County’s five Lions Clubs to put on this charity-
BC Salutes State Champs’ 50th Bridge City High School will hold a “50 Year Proud” celebration Oct. 7-8 to honor the 50th anniversary of the 1966 state champion football team. According to Ella Stuebing of the Bridge City High School Alumni Association, the 1966 team and its support crew will first be honored at the Friday, Oct. 7 pep rally, where players will be presented commemorative 1966 replica jerseys by members of the current Bridge City football team. Also on Oct. 7, a 5:15 p.m. 50 Year Proud reception for the 1966 players, coaches, managers, trainers, cheerleaders and administrators will be held at the Middle School Gym. The 50-year group will also be honored in pregame ceremonies before Bridge City’s 7 p.m. homecoming game against Cleveland Oct. 7. The 1966 players, or a designated family member of a player unable to attend, will be introduced as honorary captains. Then the 50-year group will be honorees at the Saturday, Oct. 8 Classic Cardinal Reunion, set for 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the High School Cafeteria. Cost of the barbecue dinner will be $8 each. For more information, contact Stuebing at 409735-8336.
The Record Digital Edition ONLINE NOW TheRecordLive.com
funding event. “As anybody who’s grown up in Orange, Texas would know, it is a happening event for the city and for the county of Orange,” said Chris Gunstream, carnival chairman. “We’ve now got families in which four generations have enjoyed this carnival. And the really great thing about this is that every penny we bring in from this carnival is turned back to the community in different forms of charity.” The event includes food, games and rides and is open Wednesday through Saturday, Sept. 28-Oct. 1 and Oct. 5-8. The carnival opens at 6:30 p.m. each day except Oct. 1, which is Kiddie Day, when it opens at 4 p.m. Closing time is 10 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children 13-18. Children 12 and younger free. Rides are $1 and $2. This year’s carnival is dedicated to Larry “Uncle Larry” David, a member president of the Little Cypress Lions Club and the second-longest serving Lion in the county with more than 45 years. He has been serving up “Uncle Larry’s Hamburgers” at the carnival for more than 40 years. “He’s a heck of a good man,” Gunstream said. “I know we’re all proud that we’re going to be honoring him this year.” Uncle Larry is rightly proud of the Lions, who use proceeds of the carnival to fund things like vision screenings and eye glasses for qualifying residents in Orange, the Texas Lions Camp for children with physical challenges, Back to School Orange County, Cops and Kids, Holiday Food Baskets and Salvation Army Bell Ringing at Christmas. Participating Orange County Lions Clubs include the Orange Lions Club, the Orange Noon Lions, the Bridge City, Vidor and Little Cypress Lions Clubs. David is also proud of the carnival. “This is a rite of fall,” he said.
Week of Wednesday, September 28, 2016
On the 58th Anniversary Of Our Publications ‘The Record’ Proudly Honors
Carlton Harmon
‘Person Dave Rogers
For The Record
John Cash Smith used to eat breakfast at the Old Orange Cafe and recalls the morning his regular waitress announced she was leaving her apron behind. “She said, ‘I’ve been going to Lamar (Orange) and I just finished and I’ve got my operator’s certificate and I got a job at Mobil in Beaumont for $28 an hour,” Smith recalled. “She said, ‘Nobody in our family’s ever done this before. You just can’t imagine what this is going to do for our family. Now I’m going to send my husband through (Lamar-Orange).’ “I sat there and said, ‘Yes. This is what this is all about.’ This school is a life changer.” But Carlton “Corky” Harmon knew that all along. The sixth-generation descendant of Orange’s first Anglo settler has, in a major way, been a life changer in Orange for much of his 88 years. Co-owner for half a century of Orange’s longest-held automobile dealership (Harmon Chevrolet sold to Al Granger in 2008) and one of Orange’s biggest civic boosters ever, Harmon has been a backer of Lamar State CollegeOrange since before the two-year school first opened its doors in 1969. He helped establish the LSC-O Foundation in 1983 and served as its chairman until recently, growing it from $300,000 in assets to more than $5 million at present,
of the Year’
money used to endow scholarships and to jump-start campus expansion. Smith, who has been on the Foundation board for 20-plus years, is replacing Harmon as Foundation chairman. What better time to salute Orange’s No. 1 salesman as the Record Newspapers’ Person of the Year? “He’s been a part of this institution since it started in 1969,” acknowledged Dr. J. Michael Shahan, president of Lamar State College-Orange for the past 22 years. “No one has been a more loyal or dedicated supporter of Lamar State College-Orange than Corky Harmon.” Smith goes back to Harmon’s vision. “Early on, he saw that the school could be a tremendous asset to Orange and he’s been a booster of it from the very, very beginning,” Smith said. “And then he got kind of known as Lamar’s main citizen booster. And that’s what he’s been. “It’s been remarkable for him being there that long. And the truth of the matter is, I really give him a tremendous amount of the credit for the Foundation being the size it is and responsible for the help they’ve given to this
Carlton “Corky” Harmon and wife Betty seen during the 2015 Orange Mardi Gras. RECORD PHOTO: Lawrence Trimm
school, which is now self-sustaining. “It’s just fantastic what it’s done for the town.” Count Roy Dunn among those not surprised by Harmon’s penchant for helping. “My father bought me a car from Corky’s father (Ovie Harmon, Jr.) in 1950, which I traded in for a 1953 Buick in 1954 and financed,” said the publisher of the Record Newspapers. “I got two months behind on my payments and Corky, who was working in collections then, came to my job and got my car. But instead of repossessing it, he put my CARLTON HARMON Page 2A
Son of slain officer just wants justice Debby Schamber For The Record
Throughout history there have been two significant peaks in the numbers of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. One was in 1930 during alcohol prohibition when 304 police officers lost their lives. The other hits closer to home in 1974 when the number of shootings began to rise. Danny Gray, of the Orange Police Department, was one of the 280 officers who lost his life that year. Captain Danny Gray, 31, became the third police officer killed in the line of duty on June 28, 1974 during an attempted jail escape. Gray was a 10 year veteran of the department and a graduate of Stark High School in Orange. Before the shooting occurred, Gray would accomplish something he had always want-
ed to do which was to catch a suspect during a robbery. The day started out when he 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 he surrendered. At about 4 a.m., Charles Dowden’s brother, Billy Wayne Dowden, along with his accomplice, Clifford Blancett, 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 suddenly
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 and quickly grabbed a gun and began loading it. Denton looked up and saw the door opening again and began shooting. At the time, Denton didn’t know his fellow officer
SON OF DANNY Page 3A
See