Dickie Colburn: Fishing See Page 6B Cooking With Katherine See Page 8A
High School Football See Page 1B
County Record The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas
Vol. 51 No. 29
Week of Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Mosquitoes have county ‘under siege’
Penny Leleux
For The Record
Although mosquitoes were not on the agenda Monday, Patrick Beebe of Orange County mosquito control spoke on behalf of a resident, Poland Guillot, when the court opened for discussion items not on the agenda. “He made me promise I
would come to the court and ask a question, so I told him I would. His question was due to the present mosquito THIBODEAUX situation which is extremely bad. Everyone in this room knows that,” said
Beebe. “He wanted to know if I or this court could ask that a federal judge waive the restrictions on the use of residual materials used by mosquito control operations or public health programs.” After a short discussion, Thibodeaux told Beebe if Guillot called again, tell him, “That’s a congressional is-
O
sue to be taken up in Washington by changing the bills that support the EPA,” said Thibodeaux. John Dubose said, “I appreciate that judge, but I also appreciate the fact that Patrick is doing all he can with what he’s allowed to use and it’s not working. It’s not working as effectively as it needs too.
We’re getting absolutely killed with phone calls about mosquitoes.” County Attorney Doug Manning said, “On the commercial side, the concentrations on some of the pesticides we have to apply are weaker than some of the things you can buy at Home Depot for personal applications. You can
buy and mix-up a product and put on your lawn that’s many times stronger than he’s allowed to spray. Our hands are tied. “It’s one of those things that kind of upsets me because we’re all here and we see the big pink elephant in the room COUNTY BUSINESS PAGE 2A
Real ghost stories
OCP ‘dearly departed’ revisited Penny LeLeux For The Record
Aerial photograph of the mothball, or reserve, fleet docked in Orange, Texas. Navy housing at Riverside can be seen to the right.
Remembering Orange’s naval base history Mike Louviere For The Record
Oct. 27 was designated Navy Day in 1922 by the Navy League of the United States. It is not a national holiday, but a day set aside to honor the United States Navy’s contributions to the nation’s history. Oct. 27 was suggested by the Navy League to recognize the birthday of President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and supported both the Navy and the idea of Navy Day. In addition, Oct. 27 was the anniversary of a 1775 report by a special committee of the Continental Congress favoring the purchase of mer-
Inside The Record • SHERLOCK BREAUX Page..................... 4A • Obituaries Page......................7A •Dicky Colburn Fishing..................6B • Kaz’s Forecast Joe Kazmar...........4B • CHURCH NEWS Page......................7B • CLASSIFIED ADS Page......................8B
chant ships as the foundation of an American Navy. The last official observance of Navy Day was on Oct. 27, 1949. Navy Day is a day that once had great importance to Orange. The United States Navy first came to Orange in an official capacity in 1940 and stayed for nearly six decades. Warships had visited Orange and been built here since the 19th century. At the end of World War I, there were 16 wooden ships that had been contracted for war service. When the war ended those ships were no longer needed and were towed down the Sabine River near the mouth of Conway Bayou and burned to the waterline. The remains of those ships are still there today. They are both a hazard to navigation and a lure for fishermen. With the shipbuilding history in Orange and the probability of another war in the very near future the Navy came to Orange and on Aug. 24, 1940 established the Office of the Supervisor of Shipbuilding under the command of Commander E.B. Perry. The office was to oversee the construction of 24 landing craft and 12 destroyers. The shipbuilding efforts and contributions of Orange to the war effort are well documented in the records of Consolidated, Levingston and Weaver Shipyards. Orange had the distinction of being the only Texas city to build warships for the navy. By the end of the war there would be a large surplus of ships that would no longer be needed, but were too valuable to the Navy to be either sold or scrapped. The solution was to establish reserve fleets to hold ORANGE NAVEL BASE PAGE 3A
Regina Patillo was in the concession area of the Orange Community Playhouse a couple of years ago during a performance of “Dearly Beloved” when she saw the front door open about a foot, but no one came in. It was the first time anyone had seen that happen, but was not the first occurrence of something strange. It couldn’t have been the wind because the door opens to the outside. John Hall, a member of the OCP board said there have been many instances when talking could be heard, or the sound of footsteps running across the stage, yet there was no one there. Brook Doss has heard music before and thought she had locked someone in the building, but upon investigation, it was empty. Activity picked up after both Hurricanes Rita and Ike when the playhouse needed extensive repairs. Patillo says that some of the actors feel a presence at times, “Bridgett (her daughter) was in the wings and thought John was behind her, but when she turned around, no one was there.” The Texas Society of Paranormal Investigators (TSPI) was invited to check things out. TSPI arrived armed with video and voice recorders, EMF meters, K-2s, and other equipment including Digital Dowsing’s Ovulis and Paranormal Puck. Video cameras were placed in strategic areas, along with other OCP ‘DEARLY DEPARTED’ PAGE 3A
Haunting spooks local resident Andrea Whitney For The Record Editor’s note: The names in this story have been changed and the actual location of the house was not revealed to protect the owner and former renters of the residence. Halloween is a time for trick-ortreating, costume parties, visiting ‘haunted’ houses and telling ghost stories. Most ghost stories seem quite fictional, like something one would see in a cheesy horror flick. But for one Orange County family, their story is much more than fiction. This story begins in June 2007 when a young family rented a home off of
Hwy 62 in Orange. The home itself was built in 1940, and added onto in the 1970s. However, the land that the home sits on has been in the same family since Texas belonged to Mexico. That is until it was sold as an investment property and rented to the Moore family. The Moore family was looking for a home in the BCISD with plenty of room for they’re nine year old daughter to run and play with her pets. This location seemed ideal. That is until the renovations began. The home sits on four acres which needed to be cleared. On part of this property behind the home was an old shed that had seen its better days. A team was hired to come in and clear the land and tear down the old shed.
The job went smooth and the crew left. Once the family arrived home and began looking around they noticed something strange: broken pieces of stone, some with writing. Upon looking further they found an intact grave stone located behind a handmade fence. Alarmed, Mr. and Mrs. Moore went to work on how to right what they believe was a unintentional wrong. “I have always felt that a gravesite is an extremely sacred place and to have someone come in and disrupt that was just terrible,” Mrs. Moore said. “ I looked online, talked to several property owners in the area and was able to locate a family name but was nevSPOOKY PLACES PAGE 3A
Pearl Burgess: a real slice of Orange Penny Leleux
For The Record
She was taken completely by surprise at commissioners court Monday when Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux proclaimed Thursday, Oct. 27 as “Pearl Burgess-Stanfield Day.” “I’ve written proclamations and we’ve passed them for the last 17 years,” said Thibodeaux.
“This is one of the most interesting stories I have read. When I read this proclamation you’ll realize the historical value of Mrs. Burgess and the historical value to Orange County of her family.” Burgess’ family fills the pages of Dr. Howard Williams’ book, “Gateway to Texas.” Pearl’s copy has bookmarks scattered throughout the volume indicating her family’s
mark on Orange History. Born at home in Brunner on Oct. 27, 1918, Stanfield was one of six children born to Oscar Olivia (Poole) Myers and Henry Carlyle Myers. Her family tree has been traced back to Europe and also includes Osage Indians native to America. “Some of my family met the Mayflower,” she said in an earlier article on her life. “I am proud of my heri-
tage.” A true tomboy, Burgess loved to hunt, shoot marbles and could “split a top” as well as any of the boys, if not better. Both of Burgess’ grandfathers were Orange County judges and so was her greatuncle. Not all of her family history PEARL A SLICE OF PAGE 2A