Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 29, 1993 Page: 1 of 8
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Pharmacy
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Inserts
Inside
25 cents
SUMMER LEAGUE BLACK TEAM---Coached by Rosie Ruiz, team members were
Melissa Cru/., San Isidro; Christy Medina, Zapata; Erika Martinez, Zapata;
Jennifer Guerra, Zapata; Rita Hinojosa, Zapata; Annie Garza, Rio; and Elvira
Guerrero, Rio. Shown with their coach are, l-r front row, Melissa, Erika, and
Jennifer; back row, Rita, Elvira, and Annie. Not shown is Christy. (KGCCISD
Photo)
The heavy rains spawned by
Tropical Storm Arlene in June
broke the drought that had been
plaguing Starr County for several
years, and the county's overall
situation is still fairly good in spite
of the extremely hot and dry
weather of the past several weeks.
Alfonso Perez of the Agricultural
Stabilization and Conservation
£crvioc S*?.r County
Tuesday, "As expected, we're in the
middle of the dog days (of the
hottest part of summer). That is the
historic pattern."
Perez noted, "The soil is drying
up in a hurry, which is due to the
high winds. These hot days have
been windy, which is unusual. This
is a time of year when we normally
don't get the rain."
Perez stressed, "We have some
grass that is dry, but we do have
some grass. Some ranchers have
even been able to cut hay in July."
He noted, "If we don't get decent
rains in late August and September,
there will be problems. The current
hot, dry pattern is pretty much
normal for this time of year."
After all of Starr County received
heavy rains spawned by Tropical
jioiiii Ailciie, v, ih sonic sxc«r>
receiving more than 10 inches,
Perez commented in early July,
"Ranchers are overjoyed at these
rains. We'll go into the dog days in
very good shape. These rains have
put a lot of deep moisture into the
soil...If we get normall rainfall,
well be in good shape."
Perez indicated at that time,
"Pastures that were very overgrazed
at that time had some water erosion
and it will take longer for grass to
Meeting focuses on Lee
House preservation efforts
FROM: Dick D. Heller, Jr.
Reporter-Starr Co. His.
Society
Preserving the historic Lee House
of olf Fort Ringgold on the campus
of the Rio Grande City
Consolidated Independent School
District, was the subject of a 2-hour
meeting recently called by School
Superintendent Ruben Saenz for
local history buffs, interested
citizens, and two representatives
from Los Caminos del Rio's Roma
office.
The Lee House, and entire fort, are
a major part of every historic tour
of Rio Grande City. Tourism,
especially during the Winter, can be
a major economic boon to the
community, and Los Caminos del
Rio wishes to help coordinate
publicity on such tours for Rio
Grande City.
At the request of the Starr County
Historical Society, the RGCCISD
school board set up a spccial fund,
pledging $25,(XX) to restore the Lcc
House after it was nearly torn down
a few years ago. A public fund drive
sparked by Miss Mona Trigo raided
more than $2,000 which was added
to the fund.
Over several years, a $3,000
hurricane fence was built from the
fund to protect the building from
vandalism; another $3,000 was
spent drilling holes to assure
bedrock support $500 was spent on
rolls of specified weight tarpaper
which was spread over the beams
to protect the inside of the building.
This has been partly blown away,
George Edgerton explained. Thus,
about $21,(XX) is still available.
Tourist dollars bring jobs and
business, creating property and
sales tax supports for the schools,
new city and county; historic
preservation builds community
pride, also.
On March 26, 1993, the Fort
Ringgold Historic District, which
comprises the school grounds, was
entered on the National Register of
Historic places, Mrs. Vale,
reported, from an April 26 letter
from Curtis Tunnell, State Historic
Preservation officer, to Romeo
Lopez, then school business
manager. Tunnell, in his letter,
stated that he hoped formal
recognition by the Department of
Interior would encourage the school
board and school officials to respect
the district's integrity.
Various Federal programs,
including grants-in-aid, are available
through the Historic Preservation
Act of 1966, and the Tax Reform
Act of 1986. Tunnell is excutive
director of the Texas Historical
Commission.
The Lee building has been marked
by the state with an official marker,
that marker was removed, but a part
of it has been found. The part
containing the history of the
building is still missing, Edgerton
noted.
Rosina Garcia, Roma Field
Co-ordinator for Los Caminos del
Rio, told the group she was thrilled
to see the local interest, and that
already some local money was
available, and that there was so
much enthusiasm. Each person at
the meeting introduced himself, and
the discussion began.
Garcia stressed that Los Caminos
will help with technical assistance,
t rustec? g
come up there. Pastures that are
properly managed will be in
excellent shape."
The ASCS official noted, "Brush
is looking good and that will be
good for cattle browsing. Cattle
like native brush."
Perez stressed, "Ranchers were
looking at a very difficult time
before these rains, but the picture
has 'um-d "onrdcielv around."
About the rains' effect on field
crops, Perez declared in eariy July,
"We had some damage, but not
much. Grain sorghum may have a
15 to 25 percent loss in yields of
what was standing and in good
shape prior to the rains. I think
cotton will not be hurt that much."
Perez pointed out, "Isolate crops
in standing water may be ruined. In
most cases (involving crops), the
water drained real good."
or finding technical assistance,
when desired. She introduced her
co-worker, Bonnie Wanninger, a
landscape architect employed by the
National Park Service to Work with
Los Caminos in helping local
communities, like Rio Grande
City, plan what diey want.
The Meadows Foundation recently
turned down a request by the school
district for a $250,(XX) grant to
restore the Lee House, whre
then-Colonel Robert E. Lcc stayed
during one of his three visits to
Rio Grande Ci'y, 1856-61, Dr.
Saenz explained, and he asked Los
Caminos representatives to meet
with the group to discuss
alternative options. He wanted a
clear understanding between the
school district and the historical
groups and interested citizens on
what they wanted, and what the
options were.
Edgerton pointed out that the
foundation is crumbling, the
building is awry, and that the roof
is again badly damaged. He called
for an immediate approach to local
small contractors to get informal
estimates on the cost of Jacking die
building up, repairing the
foundation, and placing piers
underneath it to stabilize the
building. This might be done for
$5,000 or less. Then let a contract
for roof repair.
He felt it was necessary to start
these immediately, that it would
take much too long to apply for a
major grant, or matching grant. A
number there agreed with him.
Supenndentent Saenz suggested that
an alternative to consider was doing
(See EFFORTS, > 'age 3)
4 & it
At their regular monthly meeting
on Tuesday night, July 13, the Rio
Grande City CISD board of trustees
received a construction update that
focused on the progress of the
Roque Guerra Elementary project
Superintendent Ruben Saenz
indicated, "Roque Guerra is the
most pressing project. The architect
told us that the new school is 85
percent complete and should be on
target for occupancy by the first day
of school. We have full confidence
that the project will be completed
(by the beginning of the 1993-94
school year)."
Saenz also noted the architect's
statement that the high school
addition of 20 rooms, including two
science labs, should be completed
by the end of August.
The trustees voted to re-name
Rattler Stadium as Joe R. Sanchez
Stadium. Nathaniel Fultz. made a
presentation to the board urging
this action and several in the
audience heartily echoed his
sentiments.
The late Joe R. Sanchez was a
longtime administrator in the
RGCCISD noted for outstanding
accomplishments in both the
academic and athletic areas.
Saenz noted that the trustees
approved the District Improvement
Plan at their July meeting. He
indicated that this plan was
developed in the spring.
Among the features of the plan,
declared Saenz, are "implementation
of early care education (pre-K
through sccotrd grade)/' as well as
"proper implementation of the
bilingual program."
Another of the program's aspects,
stressed the superintendent, is
"curriculum alignment from K-12;
matching the proper curriculum to
Meeting about
Roma historic
sites planned
The Texas Historical
Commission and the National Park
Service will be holding an open
meeting on Wcdneiwiay, Aug. 4 at 7
p.m. at the Parish Hall of Roma to
discuss possible National Historic
Landmark nominations in the
Historic District of Roma.
Mario Sanchez, architect with the
Texas Historical Commission, will
provide leadership at the Aug. 4
meeting.
The public is invited to make
commerts concerning the
nomination of the Roma Historic
District as a National Historic
Landmark.
The highest National Historic
Landmark in the United States, said
Sanchez, is The Strand Level in
Galveston, as well as the San
Antonio Missions.
TAAS objectives and essential
elements." Improved staff
development activities are another
vital part of the plan, stated Saenz.
Saenz noted that the trustees
approved the idea of requesting a
waiver from the Texas Education
Agency to use four instructional
days during the 1993-94 school
year as staff development days.
Upon approval of the board, the
bank depository for the district for
the next two years will continue to
be the First National Bank of South
Texas-Rio Grande City.
Besides First National,
International Bank of
Commerce-Rio Grande City and
Starr Banking Center also
submitted proposals, Saenz
indicated.
The trustees approved the
recommendation of Food Service
Director Edna Ramon that the
district utilize Provision 2 of the
Food Service Program.
Saenz noted, "This means that all
students will be eligible for free
Type A' lunches provided under the
USDA Food Nutrition Act. Over
90 percent of students (in the
district) currenUy qualify for the free
lunch. Five percent pay the reduced
price and three percent pay the full
price."
Saenz indicated, "Under this
program, parents whose children
qualify for the 'Type A' lunch will
apply once every three years,
instead of once a year."
The superintendent emphasized,
"This will significantly reduce
paperwork. The cost to the district
will be made up from the profit of
sales at the snack bar."
The trustees also vote,d to once
again contract with the Austin law
firm of C'alame, Linebarger,
Graham and Pena to appeal the
district's property values for
1994-95 at the state level. This
firm has contracted with the district
to appeal the 1993-94 property
values.
(See UPDATE, Page 4 )
CACST health fair
termed success
The Community Action Council
of South Texas health fair recendy
proved to be a "tremendous
success", according to Jaime Garza,
liealth fair coordinator.
Over 200 participants benefited
Fr. >m service1 rendered bv Diabetes
Alert, State Health Region 8, APC,
Texas Department of Agriculture,
Caremark of McAllen, Genetic
Screening of McAllen, CACST
Health Center (Dental Program,
WIC, Family Life Education,
Social Services, Podiatrist,
Laboratory and other health-related
services).
The success of the fair was made
possible because of the cooperation
of the local media and H-E-B,
which provided the facility for the
fair.
Special recognition is given to
CHC staff for their extra effort to
make these services available to the
community.
Garza said, "CACST would like
to express its gratitude to all
s^cncic'' iv ~ '• th . fpi"
possible, and also our most sincere
appreciation to Mr. Mario DeLeon
and Joe Perales, along with their
staff from H-E-B for providing their
facility and the excellent hospitality
to our staff as well as participants
of this community.
"We (CACST) would also like to
thank Mr. Ismael Guenra and Dario
Guerra from VFW Post 8526 for
letting us use their tables.
"Again, THANK YOU ALL for
letting us be of service to our
community."
Summertime beauty
pageant Sunday
Anissa Lynette Falcon, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. David Falcon of
Rio Grande City and the reigning
Summertime Tiny Miss, will
crown her successor on Sunday,
Aug. 1.
The Miss Summertime Beauty
Pageant will be held at the Rio
Grande City High School
Auditorium on Sunday, Aug. 1
starting at 9 a.m.
The nine age divisions are from
Infant Miss, 0-11 months; to
Sophisticated Miss, 16 years and
over no age limit.
Registration will take place on
Saturday, July 31 starting at 2 p.m.
in Room 219 of the Fort Ringgold
Motor Inn in Rio Grande City
Registration is also possible on
Sunday, Aug. 1, the day of the
pageanL
Anyone seeking further
information should contact Cynthia
Anna Falcon at 487-2735 or Sara
Gomez at 210-689-2333 in
Raymondville.
I
SUMMER LEAGUE GREEN I KAM---Coached b_, Edward Castillo, team members
were Victor Car/a, San Isidro; Carlos Lope/., San Isidro; Luis Gomez, Rio;
Roumaldo Pena, Rio; \be Pert*/., Zapata; Juan Villarreal, Zapata: Benny (Juerra,
Roma; and Einilio Gar/a. Shown with their coach are, l-r front row, Victor, Carlos,
I ris, .iti11 KouMilldn; hack row, Vlu\ Juan, IUmiiiv, and Knrilii (RGCCISD Photo)
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Roberts, Kenneth. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 29, 1993, newspaper, July 29, 1993; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195403/m1/1/: accessed May 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.