SPECIAL EDITION: THE RECORD’S 2011 ALL-ORANGE COUNTY BASEBALL TEAM PAGE 1B
The Record TheRecordLive.com
Vol. 51 No. 9 Week of Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The Penny Record of Bridge City and Orangefield • Founded 1960
Worster captains hometown All-Stars Mark Dunn For The Record A legendary Bridge City football player will be on the sideline as team captain when eleven local football players take the field in the Southeast Texas Ford Dealers All-Star Classic at Lamar’s Provost/ Umphrey Stadium on Saturday, June 11. Kick-off is 7 p.m. Former Texas Longhorn two-time All-American Steve Worster has been named East Team Honorary Captain. The East Team includes recently graduated football players from Bridge City, West Orange-Stark, Orangefield, Vi-
dor, Little Cypress-Mauriceville and Deweyville. The second annual East versus West all-star game is hosted by the Southeast Texas Coaches Association. West Orange-Stark coach Mark Foreman, president of the SETCA, began working on the idea of an all-star football game nearly 12 years ago. The inaugural game was held last year with West defeating East, 14-13, in the final seconds of the contest. Proceeds from the all-star game go toward scholarships and other charitable donations. An East Team and West Team MVP each receive a
$500 scholarships while players from each team vote for a teammate to receive a $1,000 scholarship. The two $1,000 scholarships will be given in
the name of WOS quarterback Reggie Garrett Jr. and longtime Newton head football coach Curtis Barbay. Garrett and Barbay both passed away
during the 2010 football season. Worster put Bridge City on the map in the late 1960s as fullback in Darrell Royal’s
famed “Wishbone” offense. With Worster in the backfield the Longhorns won back-toEAST VERSUS WEST PAGE 2A
Orangefield oil heritage preserved Greg Hayes and Penny LeLeux For The Record
Crossing the Cow Bayou on FM 105, drivers used to be able to look out and see oil derricks all around. But, over the years, hurricanes and oil companies have dwindled the number down to only two remaining. “The old derricks are not needed anymore,” Bo Henley, a volunteer with the Orangefield Cormier Museum, said. “They are just thrown aside by companies getting to the wells.” But, to Henley and other volunteers, the old oil derricks, one standing 120 feet high and the other 80 feet, are worth more than just what you can get for old scrap metal, as they feel that the derricks are of historical significance to the Orangefield community. So, they are looking at having the remaining two moved to the museum property. “We are working with the Army 808th Company out of Houston,” Henley said. “They have agreed to help us move them for free as a project for their group. We will place the
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Front row: Three generations of Bridge City football are East Team All-Star Thomas Luce, former Longhorn fullback Steve Worster, Coach Josh Smalley and East Team All-Star Shane Stankus. Back row: Orangefield Bobcat East Team All-Stars Logan Moss and Josh Shores. RECORD PHOTO: Mark Dunn
A shot of the 120-foot oil derrick as it is seen from the Cow Bayou bridge. A relocation committee is looking to have it, and one other remaining derrick, moved to the Orangefield Cormier Museum property. RECORD PHOTO: Penny LeLeux
smaller on the front of the museum property with our sign on it. “The larger will be placed in the area where the parking lot Y’s between the museum and the high school campus.” Although the move will be free, there is the cost of the foundation that will need to be built for the derricks, and for two 70-foot flagpoles that have been donated, so they are looking to raise funds. “We are wanting to put pumpers on the foundations under the derricks, so we could be looking at around $10,000 or so,” Henley said. “The Army will be doing research into the moving of the derricks this summer, so they’ll give us a clearer picture of how much money we need once they are through. The actual moving probably won’t take place until about October.” Another museum volunteer, Harvey Wilson, said that once the derricks are moved, they plan to continue a community tradition which was begun back in the late 60s-early 70s by the Orangefield Lions Club. “We hope to do a Christmas festival the second weekend of December of this year,” Wilson said. “We want to light up the 120-foot derrick with Christmas lights.” But, fundraising must be done to get the ball rolling. The 63rd annual Orangefield Homecoming Saturday ORANGEFIELD HERITAGE 3A
County bans aerial fireworks Nicole Gibbs For The Record The Burn Ban has been a major issue with Orange County officials for the last few weeks. Temperatures are close to record highs and the lack of rain fall in Southeast Texas has played a major factor in determining if the county should keep the burn ban in effect. “Talking to the forestry service and the state this morning, they are measuring, right now, the 100 hour fuels are the worst that have ever been measured in the state of Texas,” Jeff Kelley, director of Emergency Management Services said. “We have been in drought conditions since some time in 2010. This is only going to get worse and I don’t know how much worse it can get. We’re just about to be at the high end, or the worse end, of the scale on just about everything they can measure.” About a third of the Northern portion of the county is in, what is considered, an exceptional drought. Kelley explained that this is as bad as it gets and there doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight. “This is probably some of the worst news I’ve seen, with respect to the drought, in my career in this job and my previous job as a fire fighter,” Kelley said. “I don’t ever recall any portion of Orange County making it into ‘exceptional drought.’” The Commissioners deliberated for just under an hour on what to do about the upcoming fireworks sales and use. The fact of the matter is that certain use of fireworks could trigger a wildfire that
could impose a great threat to many, not just in Orange County, but beyond our county lines. Knowing the issue on fire- THIBODEAUX works would come up, Kelley and the Emergency Management Services department looked into what Louisiana and the counties surrounding Orange County are doing when it comes to fireworks. Louisiana currently has a state wide burn ban in effect and while it is not illegal to sell fireworks in Louisiana, it is illegal to set any kind of
firework off. Hardin County placed a ban on the selling and use of aerial fireworks (skyrockets with sticks and missiles with fins) last week. Jefferson County addressed the same issue yesterday, but a decision had not been announced by the time Orange County’s Commissioners’ Court began. Jasper and Newton Counties were looking into banning the use and sale of fireworks all together. “There’s two ends of the spectrum,” Kelley said. Under local government code 418.108, the county can ban the use and sale fireworks
of any kind. An emergency declaration that’s good for 60 hours, signed by the County Judge, Carl Thibodeaux, goes to the governor’s office and the governor would look to the forest service to see if the conditions for an emergency declaration are met by the county. If the county met those conditions, the governor would return a letter that would extend the restriction of all fireworks from 60 hours until the Commissioners rescinded the emergency declaration. The Commissioners would need to call a special court session seven days later to approve the COUNTY BUSINESS PAGE 2A
Orange County Sheriff warns about ‘to-good-to-be-true’ scams Nicole Gibbs For The Record It has been said that if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Now the Orange County Sheriff’s office is warning residents to watch out for things that look to good to be true as well. According to Orange County Sheriff Keith Merritt, a money scam is hitting the area as well as other parts of the country. “People will receive a check in the mail for anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 normally from a legitimate bank in the U.S.” Merritt said. “There will be a letter with the check telling the person to call and put so much money down as a processing fee.” Merritt said that since the processing fee can be done instantaneously, once the scammers receive their money they will cancel the check. “It is another global scam like the ones
from Nigeria and the United Kingdom that people get in their e-mail,” Merritt said. “They prey on the elderly, as they are usually the ones that have money in the bank. We’ve had complaints of it here and have had two instances that I MERRITT know about, so we are wanting to put the word out as a warning to people in the area to not be fooled.” Merritt said that it is unclear if more instances have occurred, as they may not get a complaint from everyone it has been pulled on. “Sometimes people may not want to say anything because they are embarrassed that they fell for a scam,” he said.
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• The Record • Week of Wednesday, June 8, 2011
East versus West All-Star Football
Destiny Boyett is poised to accept her diploma during Commencement Exercises in Larry Ward Stadium last week. Congratulations Destiny. RECORD PHOTO: Mark Dunn
County business
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later to approve the declaration. Another option would be under local government code 352, which allows the county to ban the sale and use of aerial fireworks (skyrockets with sticks and missiles with fins). In order to enact a ban on aerial fireworks, the county would have to make a decision before June 15 and the order can only be lifted once the county falls under the 575 mark on the KBDI scale. The decision to even mention restricting the use of certain fireworks was a hard one to make. Thibodeaux said that in his 16 years as county judge, he’s never prohibited the use of fireworks. Many who own fireworks stands are concerned because for some, that’s part of their family income. “Nobody really wants to do this,” Thibodeaux said. “That’s like taking apple pie and vanilla ice cream away from the Fourth of July. The key factor is that we’ve got some real dangers out there. One major flame up and people can lose their homes. We can’t depend on people popping off fireworks in a safe area. We need to try to do what we can to minimize the hazard we’re being faced with on the Fourth of July.“ The fact of the matter is that Orange County is in a severe drought and would need at least ten inches of rain over the span of four or five days to neutralize the effect now. Many of the state’s resources to fight wildfires are actually in other states helping with their natural disasters. County officials felt that restrictions needed to be placed, not only to protect Orange County citizens, but the surrounding areas as well. Most of the Commissioners were in favor of the Judge signing an emergency declaration that falls under local government code 418; however, Commissioners David Dubose (Precinct 1) and Jody Crump (Precinct 4) will be out of town next Monday. The Commissioners decided to pass a restriction under local government code 352 for the time being; however Precinct 3 Commissioner Owen Burton was against it. If the County Judge feels that a complete ban on all fireworks is necessary, he can sign the emergency declaration at any time.
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• News Editor..........................................................Nicole Gibbs • Advertising Director................................................Carol Allen • Production Manager...............................................Russel Bell • General Manager.....................................................Mark Dunn • Distribution Manager..................................................Bill Pope • Staff Writers and Photographers... Mark Dunn, Penny LeLeux, Larry Trimm, Holly Morrell, Nicole Gibbs, Joey Encalade, Christy Hyde and Angela Delk
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The 1991 graduating class of Bridge City High will hold their 20 year class reunion on the weekend of Aug. 12-13. There will be a private party at Madison’s in Beaumont at 8 p.m. on Aug. 12. A family skating party will be held at Spinnin’ Wheels in Orange at 11 a.m. on Aug. 13. The reunion will end with a party at Sunset Grove Country Club in Orange at 7 p.m. on Aug. 13. Early bird ticket prices are $40 for individuals and $75 for couples by June 15. Please go to their web site at http://BCClass1991.classquest.com for all details. For more information, e-mail Malinda Boudreaux mboudreaux1@gt.rr.com, and Christy Dobranski at crstydski@gmail.com.
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opportunity with these guys. I have known Shane and Thomas for along time and I can’t think of two better people to represent our program than them. Who better to represent our history than Steve Worster.” SEE PHOTO NEXT PAGE
back NCAA National Football Championships (1969-70). Worster was a three time All-Southwest Conference selection who finished 4th in the Heisman Trophy voting for the 1970 season. He was also voted 1970 Texas Amateur Athlete of the Year by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Before then he was a Bridge City Cardinal who was named a high school AllAmerican his senior year following the 1966 Class-3A State Football Championship. “Coach Foreman thought it would be a great idea if each team had an honorary captain that represented some of the local state championship teams,” said Josh Smalley, Bridge City offensive coordinator and a coach for the East Team AllStars,“It didn’t take long for Steve Worster to come to mind to represent the East Team, which Bridge City is a part of.” With Worster on the sideline three generations of Cardinals will be represented. Smalley was also a Cardinal football player in the early 1990s. The third generation is Bridge City football all-stars Shane Stankus and Thomas Luce who graduated last week. Orangefield trainer, Melissa Pipins was selected as trainer for the East Team that includes Bobcat all-stars Josh Shores and Logan Moss. Representing the West Orange-Stark Mustangs is Justin Petry, Wilson Washington and Donavan Rubin. All-Star players from Vidor are Joe Reed and Blake Tinkle. Representing the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears is Zach Sonnier. Dewyeville’s Trey Craft is also a player for the East Team all-stars. According to Smalley players are nominated by their coaches. Class 5A teams can nominate three players, Class 4A and Class 3A teams, two players, and Class 2A, Class 1A and private schools get one player. The coaching staff is selected by the SETCA and the East/West coaches select the players. The East Team is made up of players from Hardin-Jefferson, Nederland, Jasper, Little Cypress-Mauriceville, Evadale, KIrbyville, Silsbee, Beaumont Legacy, Woodville, Port Arthur Memorial, Orangefield, Deweyville, Newton, Warren, Sabine Pass, Buna, Port Neches-Groves, Hamshire-Fannett, West Orange-Stark, Bridge City, Beaumont Central and High Island. Cheerleading squads for the East Team is the West OrangeStark and Buna cheerleaders. The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Honey Bears drill team will perform for East. Head coaches for the East Team are all from Nederland. Larry Neumann is head coach, Monte Barrow is offensive coordinator and Delbert Spell is defensive coordinator. Also on the coaching staff with Smalley are Kip McFarland of P.A. Memorial, William Mallette, Deweyville, Bradley Allison, Beaumont Central and Justin Charrier, High Island. The West Team is made up of players from Anahuac, Splendora, Coldspring, Cleveland, West Brook, Hardin, Huffman, Chester, Ozen, Diboll, Lumberton, Cleveland, Liberty, East Chambers, Barbers Hill, Crosby, Colmesneil, Kountze, Tarkington, Kelley, West Hardin and Livingston. West Team Honarary Captain is Mickey Washington. Practise began Tuesday at Lamar University. Seating for the East Team is on the East side of the Lamar’s Provost/Umphrey Stadium on Saturday. Tickets will be available at the gate. “To be able to represent Bridge City in this game and to show people what kind of program we have, what kind of kids we have, and what kind of history we have is very important to me,” Smalley said, “It is very exciting trio be able to share this
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The Record • Week of Wednesday, June 8, 2011
East Team All-Stars take on West, Sat.
East Team all-stars and coaches left to right: Thomas Luce, Joe Reed, Steve Worster, Justin Petry, Coach Mark Foreman, Logan Moss, Coach Josh Smalley, Zach Sonnier, Shane Stankus and Josh Shores. RECORD PHOTO: Mark Dunn
Orangefield heritage was the perfect opportunity to tie-in fundraising efforts. The annual event is always held on the second Saturday in June. When the school acquired the museum a few years ago, it started opening the museum during the homecoming so Orangefield Alumni could experience the generosity of the Cormier family. This year, on Friday, the night before the homecoming, starting at 7 p.m. the first fundraising event for the moving of the derricks will by held; the Orangefield Community Hootenanny. Located in the new high school gym, the hootenanny is an age old tradition from Orangefield’s past. Absent in recent years, Orangefield was the site of several hootenannys in the 70s. Linda Granger Crawford approached the school about organiz-
ing the fundraiser several months ago according to Orangefield Superintendent Phillip Welch. The Granger family was always involved in the hootenannys held in Orangefield in the past. Wilson said that the event will feature local entertainment from Rudicelli, Fuse and the Britt Godwin Band. Following the hootenanny, on Saturday, the Orangefield Homecoming is scheduled for 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the Orangefield Elementary Cafeteria. The Cormier Museum will be open that day from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and 1-3 p.m. The museum is regularly open 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month. Welch said school funds are not used to pay for the museum’s expenses. “We’re not paying for the museum now because the museum has gotten
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GOACC celebrates opening of LSC-O’s new Industrial Technology Building
The Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the new Industrial Technology Building at Lamar State College-Orange. The college received a Skills Development Fund grant from the Texas Workforce Commission in the amount of $585,050 to train 329 new and incumbent employees at Temple-Inland, Webco Tube, Firestone Polymers and Lanxess. This grant will provide approximately 30,000 hours of training in skills such as millwright, fire brigade, SAP applications, leadership, EMT, and heavy equipment operations among others.
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some grants and donations and basically it’s an independent fund. It’s not paid with tax money or money from the state that the school gets. This year, it’s been able to support itself and that’s our goal.” Jesse Freemont also volunteers his time to the museum. “There’s a lot of things that could be done [for the museum]. It’s just finding the time,” said Welch. “We were fortunate that they stepped up. We don’t have anybody at the school district that could devote that amount of time to do what they’re doing to get it up.” Welch said the museum has been utilized by several of the local schools. “West Orange school district brought all their third graders through. They brought about two classes at a time and it was about six days that they came through.” Port Neches-Groves Middle School and
members of Region 5 have toured the facility. “What [Region 5 is] looking to do for us next year is help promote it, advertise it and get it where teachers know about it, because all school districts are going to be in the same situation. They will be looking for a field trip that is close by, that’s beneficial, but it’s cost effective. We’re not charging for them to get in. I think students can learn a lot from it. The more teachers that know it’s available, the more use we’ll see.” Besides efforts to save the last two derricks in Orangefield, Welch mentioned discussions of listing graduates that served in the military, possibly putting a star beside their name if they were killed in action. Also under consideration is a list of notable alumni. “I believe we have a picture of Garey Birt Peveto winning the state championship in the shot put. We have a picture of Courtney Burch that graduated from here that is the new district judge here in Orange.” Those additions will be in the part of the museum that houses the “Alamo”
replica of the original high school. The Cormier legacy should continue to grow and the memory of Orangefield’s oil field past will be preserved. Admission for the hootenanny is $5 for adults and $2 for 12-year-old children and under. Refreshments will also be available for purchase. For the homecoming on Saturday, the committee provides barbecue and drinks. Participants are asked to bring their favorite side dish, salad or dessert. Also bring pictures, annuals and any memorabilia you may have. For more information on the homecoming contact Mary Nixon at 409-735-3019, Kay Bilbo at 409-7353360, Robert Montagne 409-6972836 or Jimmie Lea Simmons at 409768-1554. To schedule a visit to the museum call 409-735-5337. For more information on the derrick relocation project contact Bo Henley at 409-988-8523