Dickie Colburn: Fishing See Page 5B Cooking With Katherine See Page 8A
High School Football See Page 1B
County Record The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas
Vol. 51 No. 27
Week of Wednesday, October 12, 2011
OC Elections Office working with LSCO Darla Daigle
For The Record
As the Orange County Elections Office is gearing up for the upcoming election in November they, as they always do, discuss cost cutting measures. The office, created in 2005, is the hub of all election activity. Current Elections Administrator Tina Barrow has been working in the elections department since 1997, which were previously handled in the County Clerk’s office. Barrow holds the responsibility of not only all issues
concerning the administering of elections but the budgeting to hold them properly. Born in Beaumont, Barrow has lived in Orange since 1980. County Clerk, Karen Jo Vance, met recently with Barrow to discuss the elections, budget and other issues. “We hire a lot of help starting on the Friday prior to the election,” Barrow said. That hired help counts and separates early voting ballots, verifies signatures on those ballots, bundles supplies for Orange County’s 34 voting locations, their election judges and clerks and dozens of other
tasks. Hiring people is not only an expense but can sometimes be complicated. The pay isn’t much, but it’s more than minimum wage.
The complication comes in finding people who can work the odd hours that are reliable and dependable as well. In their meeting an idea struck Barrow. What if some of the
local college students could volunteer their help as a part of a course credit or extra credit? After a series of emails with a professor of history at Lamar
State College-Orange, Max Daniels agreed this would be beneficial to both sides. “The students will learn the LSCO HELPS WITH PAGE 3A
Community Christian concert rocks Orange
Gisela Houseman to be roasted in Bridge City Nicole Gibbs
For The Record
The Bridge City Chamber of Commerce Roast will honor none other than Ms. Gilsela Houseman, owner of Tony Houseman Homes and Houseman Companies. The roast will be held on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. in the Bridge City Community Center. Chairwoman Adrienne Coletti said “We’ve never had a female roaster before. I just decided it was time to have professional business woman.” The roast, held every two years, will not only provide an evening of laughs but also provides funding to the Chamber, which “helps benefit all of our local businesses,” Coletti said. “So far we’ve raised over $10,000 and that’s not even including the silent auction we will be hosting,” Coletti said. “We have been in contact with an auction house and we have autographed pictures, signed Willie Nelson album and lots of stuff from our local businesses.” This year’s roasters include: Dr. Jimmy Simmons, president of Lamar University in Beaumont; Evelyn Lord, former
Inside The Record • SHERLOCK BREAUX Page..................... 4A • Obituaries Page......................7A •Dicky Colburn Fishing..................5B • Kaz’s Forecast Joe Kazmar...........1B • CHURCH NEWS Page......................7B • CLASSIFIED ADS Page......................8B
Community Christian Church of Orange hosted 7eventh Time Down, a Contemporary Christian group from southern Kentucky on Saturday. The band has been touring together for seven years and performed for a large audience in Orange. RECORD PHOTO: Ty Manuel
Honeybears host ‘Bulls and Barrels’
GISELA HOUSEMAN
mayor of Beaumont; Betty Harmon, retired executive director of the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce; and Debbie Means, Houseman’s oldest daughter. “Gisela and I are best friends,” Betty Harmon said. “We travel together and really enjoy each other’s company. I’m going to be proud to roast her.” Harmon and Houseman have been close friends ever since Houseman moved to Orange, over 20 years ago. Harmon explained she has to be careful what she says during the roast because turn about is fair play. “I was so honored that [Gisela] asked me to this, I had all my preparations made as to what I was going to say and she cleverly comes back and says ‘remember, I have the last word.’ She holds the upper hand.” Houseman is well known throughout the community not only for her and her late husband’s business, but also for her philanthropic work in Southeast Texas. Born in Hamburg, Germany Houseman became a U.S. resident in 1956. Before moving to Southeast Texas in 1987, she was an insurance professional for 25 year with a background in accounting and finance. She married Orange County developer, the late Tony Houseman and they have four children. She is a graduate of Leadership Texas, Leadership America and went to China to help establish an international GISELA HOUSEMAN PAGE 2A
Mike Louviere For The Record
For the sixth year the LCM Honeybears will be holding the popular Bulls and Barrels bull riding and barrel racing event. This year’s show will be held Oct. 22 at the orange county Sheriff’s Posse Arena. The show is open to anyone that wants to ride a bull or run around the barrel pattern. In addition to the two major events there will be mutton busting (sheep riding) and a calf scramble for the younger cowboys and cowgirls. The fun event of the evening will be the calf dressing. Calf dressing is the event in which a team tries to dress an unwilling calf in ladies undergarments. The Honeybears are issuing a challenge to other area drill teams to for a team and participate. No experience is necessary, only four people who want to have fun is necessary. School teams that wish to enter the calf dressing should contact Valrie Gilbeaux at vgilbeaux@lcmisd.org. Rodeo contestants wishing to enter the calf dressing or other events should call SYJ Productions at 409-745-1471. This will be the sixth year for SYJ to produce the show. Rodeo books will open Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. The gate will open at 6 p.m. with the show starting at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 for adults, $4 for children 12 and under and those under two years of age are free. The Honeybears would like to invite the public to take this opportunity to enjoy good BULLS AND BARRELS PAGE 3A
The Little Cypress Honey Bears will be hosting their annual Bulls and Barrels Rodeo on Oct. 22, from 6 to 10 p.m. The community is invited to attend and enjoy bronco bull riding, barrel racing, mutton busting and a calf scrabble for the children. The rodeo will be held on Hwy 105 at the sheriff’s posse rodeo arena and this is the honey bears biggest fund raiser for the year.
Veterans Office open later Penny Leleux
For The Record
Commissioners Monday gave F.E. “Gene” Smith, the new veterans’ service officer authorization to change work hours as needed to four 10 hour days a week. Smith wants to extend the hours the office is open to service veterans without requiring overtime. “The veterans’ service office is right now open 8-5,” said Smith. “We don’t feel like we’re providing service for all the vets. For the people who are working and paying the bills, we’d like to extend our hours from 7-5:30 with flexibility to, by appointment, work outside
of that hour too, without involving overtime.” Once Smith assured the court that he or the assistant SMITH service officer would always be there and the office was still going to be open Monday through Friday, the court passed the measure unanimously. “I will say this,” said Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux. “After we made the changes [at the veterans service office] the concerns and issues with the veterans’ office has just totally dropped
off the radar. Every now and then there may be one or two come in and basically the veterans’ office has been absolutely correct in their handling of the situation. I commend you and your office.” One of the main items on each week’s agenda has been the county burn ban. Monday commissioners removed the ban for a minimum of a week. “By no means was it a drought breaker,” said Jeff Kelley of the recent rain in Orange County. He did determine it was enough to lift the burn ban briefly. Some areas of Orange County got three inchVETERANS OFFICE PAGE 2A