Giddings Times & News (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 13, 2008 Page: 10 of 16
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Page 2b - Giddings, Texas. Times & News - Thursday, November 13. 2008
VIEWPOINT
BYB.P.
LOOKING FOR FOOD -If
you've been doing much trav-
eling on the highways around
the county lately, you've prob-
ably seen some dead raccoons
hit by cars and trucks.
Drought conditions have cut
down on their food supply, so
they’re out trying to find some-
thing to eat. And when they try
to cross a busy highway, it's
worse than playing Russian
roulette.
Farmers don't like them be-
cause they eat chickens if they
get a chance.
Leroy Wachsmann had about
30 guineas, and coons cleaned
them all out.
Walter Gersch said that years
ago a raccoon attacked and
killed one of his chickens. But
he got the last laugh.
Walter chased off the coon
and then took the dead chicken
and put it in a trap as bait. The
next day Walter found the coon
in his trap.
Raccoons prefer to live in the
woods, but they're not opposed
to living close to people.
They also prefer to build
dens in trees, but may also
use deserted buildings, barns,
garages or houses.
The most distinguishable
characteristics of the raccoon
are its black mask across the
eyes and bush tail with any-
where from 4 to 10 rings.
When 1 was a child, our next
door neighbor, J.E. Huettig,
raised 4 or 5 baby coons whose
mother had been killed.
No matter what kind of food
you would give them, they
would thoroughly wash it
with their forepaws before
eating it.
It was funny to give them a
cookie or cracker and watch
them wash it until it crumbled
and there wasn’t hardly any-
thing left to eat.
Both their forepaws and hind-
paws have live toes -- and their
forepaws resemble slender
human hands and make them
dexterous.
They generally have one litter
a year, with litter sizes ranging
from 3 to 7, but usually 4.
Females are sometimes found
denning with males during
mating season. But after the
mating season is over, there is
no association between males
and females.
FERAL HOGS - Those
who live out in the country
are also reporting seeing the
evidence of more feral hogs
on the prowl.
With creeks drying up and
their food supply shrinking,
these wild hogs go out in the
late evenings and during the
night and root up pastures and
fields.
These hogs breed like, well
like wild hogs.
A brood sow can have pigs up
to three times a year, and up to
12 piglets in each litter.
CHICKEN HAWKS - In
search of food, we're also see-
ing a lot of chickenhawks and
owls coming to town.
Our son Sloan told me that he
was sitting in his back yard in
east Giddings and saw a chick-
enhawk swoop down out of the
sky and snatch a smaller bird
right out of the air one evening
before dark.
He said he's also seen several
more chickenhawks this past
week in town.
So if you’ve got any small
dogs or little kittens, don't
let them out of your sight if
they're outside. They could be
a meal for a chickenhawk.
SMART RACCOON - One
raccoon found a way to fill up
on corn from a deer feeder
without having to wait for it
to go off.
A camera at the deer stand
caught the coon red-handed as
it climbed down the feeder, got
situated under the feeder, and
then began to turn the spinner
to release the corn - with its
mouth wide open to catch the
kernels.
It’s like manna from heaven
for any coon smart enough to
figure it out.
And who says animals are
dumb?
NEARLY $2 A GALLON-
Gasoline prices are now within
a few cents of the $2 a gallon
level at many stations in the
Giddings area.
And we’ve heard reports
that at some stations in the
Bastrop area gas was selling
this weekend at $1.90 to $1.95
a gallon.
•These prices are a 3-year low
for gasoline.
BUFFS PLAY SWEENY -
The Giddings Buffaloes will be
playing the Sweeny Bulldogs
in the first round of the playoffs
Friday night at Klein Stadium
in Spring near Houston.
This is the first time in school
history that the GHS football
team has made the playoffs
three times in a row.
Congratulations to Coach
Derek Fitzhenry, his coaching
staff and the entire team on
achieving this.
For all the Buffs fans who
will be traveling to Spring,
we’ve got directions from here
to the stadium in this issue.
Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Go Buffs!
WIELDING A PISTOL
- A Giddings lady who hap-
pened to be shopping at Super
Wal-Mart in Bastrop Monday
afternoon got the living day-
lights scared out of her.
She said a man in the store
began waving a gun about 2
p.m. and all the people in the
store began running from that
side of the store to the other
side to get out of range.
She got so scared that she
left her shopping basket and
everything in it and high-tailed
it out the nearest door with her
nephew and another woman
who was with her.
By the time they got to their
car 5 or 6 police cars were pull-
ing up in front of the store and
blocking the entrances.
She never heard how it all
came out, but was just glad to
get the heck out of there.
LIKES CRAPS - 1 guess
it’s time to tell you the story
of my encounter with Senator
John McCain, especially since
Sloan is also bringing it up in
Sports Corner this week.
The reason I've waited until
now is because I was going to
wait until after the presidential
election was over.
Sloan and I first ran into Sen.
McCain when we were playing
craps at the Bellagio in Las
Vegas.
For the next three days, he
always seemed to end up com-
ing to our table -- where we
usually stayed for most of the
day and night.
For a guy as wealthy as John
McCain, I was surprised how
conservative of a dice player
he really was. He certainly
wasn’t what they call a “high
roller.”
At one point, Sen. McCain
was playing at the same end of
the table as Sloan. I was down
at the other end.
A guy walked up and started
trying to talk to the senator
about politics, and that’s when
Sloan let loose in his normal
voice that’s always pretty loud
and vibrant.
“Hey, man, can't you see the
senator is trying to have some
fun! Leave the man alone!!!,”
Sloan said in a fairly rough
Library has “Spooktacular” Halloween
Halloween festivities for
the Giddings Public Library
were kicked into full swing
with Story Time's annual Hal-
loween Party on Oct. 29 with
19 children and 12 parents,
teachers and guardians in at-
tendance. The party included
a viewing of a children's Hal-
loween animation movie, fol-
lowed by Halloween games
and refreshments.
Activities continued on Fri-
day, Oct. 31 throughout the
day with all adult patrons who
attended the library trying their
luck with a spin on the “Spook-
County Commissioners
to canvass election
The Lee County Commis-
sioners Court will meet in spe-
cial session Thursday, Nov. 13
at 9:30 a.m. in the courthouse
to canvass the General Election
results.
The meeting will be held in
the Lee County Commission-
ers Courtroom.
Lexington, Bastrop
vehicles in wreck
No one was injured in a two-
vehicle accident Monday, Nov.
10 at 7:23 a.m. just west of
Giddings.
Involved in the collision
was a 2004 Chevrolet Colo-
rado pickup driven by Michael
Glover of Lexington, and a
2000 Chevrolet Blazer SUV
driven by Keith Burnham of
Bastrop.
The truck was traveling west-
bound in the inside lane of
Hwy. 290 and the SUV was
going west in the outside lane
when the truck hydroplaned
and struck the SUV, said DPS
Trooper Thomas Goodson.
Both vehicles came to rest
facing west half on the shoul-
der in the outside lane of the
highway, according to the
trooper.
Pedestrian killed on
1-10 east of Weimar
A 27-year-old San Antonio
man walking on Interstate 10
early last Monday morning
was killed when he was struck
by a truck about 4.2 miles east
of Weimar.
The man was identified as
Alfredo Fonseca Jr.
The accident occurred at
4:27 a.m. and the driver of the
truck was Charles Demuth of
Seguin. Fonseca was in the
middle of the road when he
was struck in the eastbound
lanes, it was reported.
One motorist who avoided
hitting the man said he was
standing, but the driver of the
truck that hit him said he was
lying in the roadway._________
SWEENEY
(FROM PAGE ONE)
season,” GHS Coach Derek
Fitzhenry noted.
Operating out of a 4-3 de-
fense, the Bulldogs are led by
linebackers Woodard. Tyrell
Griffin (#20), and Evan Mul-
lins (#34).
“Sweeny is good on both
sides of the ball. They are ex-
plosive on offense, and there
are lots of athletic players on
the defense. It’s definitely
going to be a good game to
start the playoffs,” said Coach
Fitzhenry.
Directions to the game
From Giddings, take Hwy.
290 East about 94 miles, turn
left onto 1960, turn left onto
249, turn right onto Spring-
Cypress Road, turn left onto
Stuebner Airline Road, and the
school and stadium will be on
the right-hand side.
tone.
The guy didn’t waste any
time high-tailing it out of there.
He probably thought Sloan was
McCain's bodyguard.
Although Sen. McCain never
thanked Sloan for running the
guy off, he did wink at him
a couple of times after that
- probably his way of saying
thanks without actually say-
ing it.
After the senator got the Re-
publican presidential nomina-
tion, we figured we’d never get
to play craps with him again
- if he became president.
Now he’ll probably be back at
the Bellagio. And who knows,
we might be there too!
tacular Wheel of Prizes,” and
all attending children “trick
or treating” for candy at each
library desk and trying their
hand in the library’s Hallow-
een Art Contest.
Twenty-three patrons were
also “Spooktacular Wheel”
winners.
Winners of the Halloween
art contest are, age 3-5, 1st,
Andrew Rodriguez; 2nd, Ben-
jamin Arteaga; 3rd, Tessa
Ramos. Age 6-8, 1st, Emma
Tello; 2nd, Becca Kruemcke;
3rd, Trace Kreumcke. Age 9-
12, 1st, Jaquelinne Arteaga.
COREY BRITE (#2) was all lumbuslast Friday night. Brite Cards. Giddings won a share of
over the field for the Buffs on caught two touchdown passes the district title with the win.
offense and defense, pictured for 55 yards as the Buffs rolled -Times & News 1 hoto
making a nice run against Co- to a 54-27 victory over the
Buffs earn share of district
title, beating Cards 54-27
GHS to play Sweeny at Klein Stadium this Friday
With a playoff berth already
secured, the Giddings Buf-
faloes football team focused
on beating the Columbus Car-
dinals and winning a share
of their third straight district
championship -- a school re-
cord.
“I’m really proud of our play-
ers for playing so hard and
winning a share of the district
title, one of our goals at the
beginning of the season,” said
GHS Coach Derek Fitzhenry.
The Buffs share this year’s
District 25-3A title with Bell-
ville. Sealy, the third place
team in the district, will play
in the big-school division of
the playoffs. Bellville and Gid-
dings go to the small-school
bracket.
Giddings will face the Swee-
ny Bulldogs in the first round
of the postseason at Klein
Stadium in Spring this Friday
at 7:30 p.m. GHS is the home
team. Tickets are $6 for adults
and $3 for students.
“It’s exciting to be back in the
playoffs for the fourth straight
year,” Coach Fitzhenry said.
The regular season finale in
Columbus turned out to be a
high-scoring game on a cold
night, as fans bundled up in
the stands to watch as the Buffs
raced to a 54-27 victory.
The Cardinals took the open-
ing kickoff 65 yards for a
touchdown, scoring on a 30-
yard pass but settling for a 6-0
lead after the extra point was
missed to the left.
GHS responded with a quick
touchdown drive of 68 yards,
highlighted by a 40-yard run
by quarterback Trey Masek
Lee County Soccer Scores
The U11 Strikers defeated
the Georgetown Dragons in
Georgetown by a score of 4-1.
Scoring for the Stikers were
Christopher Orocio (2), Chris-
topher Gonzales, and Fabian
Becerra.
U11 Strikers defeated the
Austin Spartans by a score of
7-1. Scoring for the Spartans
were Christopher Orocio, Cha-
bastian Taylor, Alex Tovar (2)
and Fabian Becerra. The Ull
Strikers will play their final
game this Saturday at 10 a.m.
at Simmang Park.
The U14 Elite tied CCU
Lightning on Saturday with a
score of 1-1. Scoring for the
Elite was McKenna Namken.
The Elite will play their final
game Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
Giddings JV finishes
season with a victory
The Giddings JV football
team finished their sea ton this
past Thursday with a big win
over the Columbus Cardinals.
The offense scored on just
about every possession, and
the defense stepped up big
when they needed to, hold-
ing the Cardinals to just 14
points.
The Giddings offense put up
and a 25-yard run by Da-
vid Bradshaw. The drive was
capped on a 1-yard touchdown
run by Masek as the Buffs took
a 7-6 advantage.
A fake punt caught the Buffs
by surprise on the next series
after a solid defensive stand,
and the Cards were right back
in the end zone to make it
13-7.
The score was answered after
a 30-yard run by Masek. along
with nice runs from Eric Rimes
and Quinn Taylor. Masek was
back in the end zone for his
second touchdown of the night,
giving his team a 14-13 lead to
start the second quarter.
The running attack from both
sides continued with Colum-
bus going 67 yards for another
score and 20-14 lead.
But just like the two other
times, the Buffs answered after
a first down run by Masek, a
36-yard run by Rimes, then a
6-yard touchdown pass to Zach
Berry on a screen play. The
extra point was missed, leaving
the score 20-20.
A fumble recovered by Gid-
dings on the next series was
negated by an inadvertant
whistle by the referees, but
Columbus was forced to punt
the ball away a couple of plays
later.
A 72-yard punt return by
Brite to the 10-yard line gave
the Buffs excellent field posi-
tion, and Masek made his third
touchdown run on the night for
a 27-20 lead.
“That was a great run by Co-
rey. He broke tackles and had
some great blocks,” said Coach
Fitzhenry.
at Simmang Park.
The U15 Lee County Strik-
ers defeated Austin Millenium
on Sunday by a score of 5-0.
Scoring for the Strikers were
Alex Madero, Jacob Satterfield
(2), and Marcos Jimenez (2).
This was the last game of the
Fall Season for the Strikers,
who finished with a record of
7-1-1.
UI6 Xtreme tied the Elgin
Hot Shots on Sunday in Elgin
by a score of 0-0. It was a
tough, physical game for both
teams. Alisa Bautista and Es-
meralda Castro both played a
great defensive game. This was
the last game of the Fall Season
for the Xtreme, who finished
with a record of 5-3-1.
34 points with a combination
of good quarterback play from
Eric Escalante and Spencer
Fitzhenry. Also helping the
offense out was the great play
by the offensive line comprised
of Rodney Schneider, Tyler
Stubblefield, Edward Cazeres,
Alan Rodriquez, Josh Gonza-
les, Peirce Shelton, and Logan
Mangold.
Defensively, Devin Aikin,
Joseph Ruiz, and D.J. Rimes
turned in excellent games on
A big defensive stand by the
Buffs stopped the Cardinals
after a risky fourth down call
that came up short, giving
Giddings the ball just 35 yards
from the end zone right before
halftime. Taking full advantage
of the opportunity, Masek con-
nected with Brite on a 27-yard
touchdown pass for a 34-20
, halftime lead.
“Our defense stiffened and
started making some stops, and
the offense took advantage of
it. We were really starting to
execute on both sides of the
football,” Coach Fitzhenry
noted.
Blowing the game wide open
to start the second half. Rimes
made a first down run followed
by a 50-yard touchdown run by
Xavier Daniels out of the back-
field. Daniels raced around
the outside, then turned on the
speed and juked a defender the
last 10 yards to score and give
his team a 41-20 lead.
“That was a bone-crushing
block by Corey Brite to spring
Xavier Daniels, who did the
rest on a great touchdown run,”
said Coach Fitzhenry.
The next offensive series for
Columbus ended with a punt
after a great quarterback sack
by Frankie Mathis.
Getting the ball back with
good field position, the Buffs
went 57 yards for another
score and 47-20 lead. After a
first down run by Masek, he
dropped back and completed
a 35-yard touchdown pass to
Brite.
Trying to mount a comeback,
the Cards drove to the GHS 30-
yard line before Berry stripped
the ball away, preventing a
possible touchdown.
By the time the Cardinals
were finally able to score, it
didn't really matter. Closing
the gap to 47-26. Columbus
failed to execute an onside
kick attempt, setting the Buffs
up less than 50 yards from the
end zone.
A short time later, Taylor
busted loose for a 24-yard
touchdown run, putting the
icing on the cake as the Buffs
cruised to a 54-27 victory.
"I am super-proud of our kids
and the character they showed
to pull together and win the
game. Now we are looking for-
ward to the playoffs," Coach
Fitzhenry stated.
Brite was a standout on both
sides of the ball. Masek did a
good job on offense, and the
offensive line had an outstand-
ing game. Marcelo Hernandez
stood out on defense.
A Pep Rally for the football
and cross country teams will be
held this Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
at the Lee County Sheriff's
Posse Arena.
the defensive line.
The previous week, the Buf-
faloes beat Smithville by a
score of 27-0. With those two
wins, that brings the Giddings
JV record to 3-2 overall in
district play.
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Preuss, L. M., III & True, David G. Giddings Times & News (Giddings, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 13, 2008, newspaper, November 13, 2008; Giddings, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1665751/m1/10/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Giddings Public Library and Cultural Center.