The West News (West, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 9, 1991 Page: 1 of 14
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The West News
Volume 101, No. 19 Two Sections s\ t t .
Thursday, Celebrstmg 101 years serving the West area 35«
News Digest
SPRING BAND CONCERT: The West Independent
School District and St. Mary's School band will present their annual
Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. today (Thursday) in the West High School
gym. They will be performing the musical pieces they played at contest
as well as a few others. There will be no admission charge. Band directors
Joe Farmer and Richard Crowder would like to invite everyone to come
and show their support for the students.
ALL BAND BANQUET MAY 14: The West i^jan ah
Band Banquet is set for 7 p.m. May 14 in the West High School
Cafetorium. Tickets are $2 for band members and $4.50 for everyone else.
MISS WEST CONTEST May 13: The deadline for
entering the Miss West Contest is this Friday, according to Pat Grimm,
a coordinator for the event. The contest, sponsored annually by the West
Chamber of Commerce, is planned for 7 p.m. May 13 in the West
Community Center with the winner to be announced at the chamber's
Spring Social on May 19. All contest entrants are be at the community
center at 6:30 p.m. on the day of the contest. Application forms are
available at: Kay Younger’s office at West High School or the Grimm
Insurance Agency. Completed forms can be returned to these two
locations or mailed to: Pal Grimm, c/o West Chamber of Commerce at
P.O. Box 123, West, Texas 76691.
Agnes Hanak named
Mother-of-the- Year
Ninety-year-old Agnes Hanak is
this year's Mother-of-the-Yearat the
West Rest Haven and will be crowned
during ceremonies at the nursing
home facility at 2:30 p.m. this Friday.
Bom July 19,1900 to Mr. and Mrs.
Joe Matus, she had seven brothers and
three sisters. The family lived on a
farm near West and she attended the
neighboring Liberty Grove School
which she said was located on their
family farm.
Mrs. Hanak was not sure of the
exact number of grades she attended
at the school saying she knows it was
not too many because at those times
the children had to quit school to help
their parents' work on the farm. 1 had
to stay and help at home,'' she said.
She worked side by side her broth-
ers and sisters in the fields doing such
chores as: picking cotton, milking the
cows, chopping the weeds in the com
and cotton patches and also plowing
the fields with one row, horse-drawn
plow. "I did everything," she said.
She remembers racing one of her
brothers to see who could pick the
most cotton in a day. She did not say
who won, but did say they picked
about 300 pounds each.
The P.est Haven's Mothcr-of-the-
Year married Otto Hanak on May 15,
1916and the two first lived on a farm
near the Brooken community (located
Area voters elect
school, city officials
Incumbents win majority of offices
near Abbott) before moving to a farm
near Penelope. After five years there,
they moved to a farm near Cotton-
wood.
The Hanaks farmed between 160 -
200 acres growing: cotton, com and
maize while raising cattle, pigs,
chickens and rabbits.
They have five children: Mary
Matus, Ben Hanak and Albert Hanak
(who are deceased) and Estelle Hykel
of Abbott and Otto J. Hanak of West.
Mrs. Hanak also has 16 grandchil-
dren, 30 great-grandchildren and 6
great-great-grandchildren.
During the years she worked on the
farm, she also worked for six years at
sewing factories in Hillsboro and
West.
The Hanaks lived on their farm
until 1952, when they moved to West.
They moved to the West Rest Haven
in 1983 and celebrated 70 years of
marriage in 1986. This was also the
year her husband died.
On young parents rearing their
children, she had some simple advice
for them. "I advise the parents to make
their children work more. That is what
I did all my life."
Mrs. Hanaks hobbies include:
sewing, quilting and crocheting. She
also said she would like to bake kol-
aches. "I baked them almost every
Friday."
Students meet Persian Gulf soldier..
PFC Jackie Foster visited with students from St. Mary's School in West on Tuesday. The school's fifth graders
wrote Foster while she was stationed in Saudi Arabia and she came to the school to thank them for their letters.
Persian Gulf soldier visits St. Mary's
St. Mary’s students got a live ac-
count on the Persian Gulf War Tues-
day as one of the soldiers they wrote
letters to during the war visited sev-
eral classrooms in the school.
PFC Jackie Foster spent from Nov.
5 through April 23 in the Middle East
and during that period received some
letters from St. Mary's fifth graders.
She visited this class and others
thanking them for their support and
letters during this period.
Foster, who is from Waco, was
stationed in Fort Knox, Kentucky
prior to being sent to the Saudi Arabia.
"It (the letters) helped a lot, especially
from kids like these. Just to know they
arc praying for us helped out a lot,"
she explained Tuesday.
Concerning the mail while in the
Middle East, "once it got started we
started getting it (letters) from all over
the United States.” She received from
12 to 15 letters a day while adding the
soldiers still stationed in the Middle
East would like to continue receiving
letters from youth such as the St.
Mary's students.
Foster is in the Army’s 530 Main-
tenance Company and which was at-
tached to Fort Hood’s First Cavalry.
"Our company was in charge of keep-
ing thcircquipmcnl in running order,"
she explained.
The 21-year-old soldier talked
with the students on the conditions the
U.S. troops encountered in the Middle
East and answered questions on such
topics as: the food they ate, chemical
warfare, their dog tags, their uniforms
and camels.
Concerning camels, she told the
students that she rode two or three.
"Some were friendly, some not," she
said while adding the mean ones
would "kick and spit at you.”
Her company had 263 soldiers and
among these were 33 women.
On going to war, she said "it was
scary. We didn't know what to ex-
pect." A chemical attack was among
her biggest fears, she said.
On returning to the U.S., Foster
said it seemed so long she could not
picture what the U.S. looked like. "It
(returning to the U.S.) was like seeing
everything for the first time, the grass,
the trees......It was exciting."
Area city and school district resi-
dents went to the polls last Saturday
and voted for their candidates in their
respective school and elections. The
results of these races are listed below.
West
In the West ISD trustee election,
newcomer Johnny Mynar Jr. led all
candidates with 176 votes to win a
seat on the school board as did incum-
bent trustee Ed Sykora with 170
votes. Mike Kasberg, 146 votes, and
Jim Maguire, 121 votes, were the
other two candidates. Mynar and
Sykora are to serve three year terms
on the board. There were 318 voters
casting their ballots in Saturday's
election with 15 voting absentee fora
total of 333 votes.
In City of West election, incum-
bentcity councilmen EmestF. (Inky)
Uptmore and Ed Klish were re-
elected as was incumbent Mayor
William F. (Boiley) Pareya. All three
men were unopposed on the ballot.
There were 179 total votes cast in the
election with Uptmore receiving 158
votes, Klish, 146 votes, and Pareya,
154 votes.
Leroy
In the Leroy City election, Louis
Strohacker, the only candidate that
filed for a position, was elected to the
city council with 30 votes and Rita
Snokhous received 17 write-in votes
to win the other council position.
There were 32 total votes cast in the
election.
Gholson
In the Gholson ISD school trustee
election three incumbents were unop-
posed in their bids for re -elec tion The
trustees re-elected were: Jana
Buzbee, 33 votes, Ricky Adair, 34
votes, and William Kilgo, 34 votes.
In the Gholson city elections, in-
cumbent councilmen Bill Kilgo, 25
votes, Eugene Freeman, 25 votes, and
Tommy Buzbee, 23 votes were all re-
elected.
Ross
The City of Ross had three posi-
tions to be filled and the incumbents
were running unopposed and were re-
elected. Mayor Jim Jaska received 22
votes, while Aldermen David Filer
and Henry Nors received 22 and 21
votes respectively.
Abbott
In the Abbott ISD election, all
candidates were running unopposed.
Anthony Pustejovsky, 71 votes, and
James W. Payne, 63 votes, were
elected to three-year positions on the
board. David Bartosh, the only candi-
date seeking an unexpired position on
the board, received 75 votes. There
with 86 total votes in this election.
Penelope
In the Penelope ISD election, in-
cumbent Rita Wright, 27 votes, and
Jane Watson, 27 votes, were unop-
posed in election to the school board.
The positions are three year terms and
there were 30 votes cast in this elec-
tion.
In the Penelope City Election,
three incumbents, running unop-
posed, won their bids for re-election.
Incumbent Mayor Malcolm Svacina
received 18 votes while City Com-
missioners Janet Marek received 17
votes and James Green, 21 votes.
Gerik chosen Central District Firefighter-of-the-Year
Mother-of-the-Year.
West City Fire Marshal Alfred E.
(Freddy) Gerik received another
honor this past month as he was
named the Stale Firemen's and Fire
Marshals’ Association of Texas Cen-
tral Texas Division Firefighter of the
Year for 1991 at the association^
dislrictconvcnlion April 28 inTaylor.
Gerik was chosen the district's
firefighter winner and is now a candi-
date for the Slate Firefighter of the
Ycar award to be presented at the state
convention in June. He will be com-
peting against winners from 18 other
districts in the stale. The Central
Texas District is comprised of 25
counties and 259 fire departments
stretching from McLennan County to
Fredericksburg.
On being named the Central Texas
Division Firefighter of the Year,
Gerik described it as "a very hum-
bling experience. It was a real thrill
for me because fire service hasal ways
been an important pan of my life and
to be honored in this manner was a
time in my life I will treasure forever.”
On the award, he said, "I feel like I
only deserve half. My wife, Nila,
deserves the other half. Without her
help and encouragement this would
not have been possible."
Gerik was previously named the
McLennan County Fire Protection
Association W. A. Neel Memorial
Firefighter of the Year l or 1990 dur
Marshal last year.
The West City Fire Marshal has
been an active member of the West
Volunteer Fire Department for 34
years and has accumulated 1,950
documented hours of training since
records have been kept and numerous
hours of raining prior to that time.
Gerik is certified in the following
areas: advanced firefighter. Volun-
teer Fire Marshal, Fire Prevention
Specialist, Fire Investigator and
Level II Instructor.
As City Fire Marshal, he is respon-
sible for regular inspections of busi-
nesses and homes in the city and stud-
ies all new procedures and regulations
concerning fire safety, storage of
hazardous materials and location of
hazardous materials in the city.
He currently serves as one of three
firemen appointed by the city and fire
department on the hazardous material
team. He conducts schools for West
Fire Department personnel instruct-
ing them with the use of hazardous
materials handbook, symbols and
codes, and hascompilcd a list of local
and national agencies that would be
necessary in case of hazardous mate-
rials spills or incidents.
Gerik wears two hats in the fire
department as he currently serves as
Fire Chief along with being the City
Fire Marshal. He conducts training
Agaes Hanak is to be crowned Mother-of-the-Year at the West Rest Havea
at 2:30 pan. this Frida).
programs for the West Volunteer
ing an awards banquet Jan. 22,1990 Firemen in various categories to help Firefighter-Of-the-YeOr...
in Robinson. Along with serving as J
City Fire Marshal in West, he was Plesuse turn to page 2 for more on West City Fire Marshal Freddy Gerik was named Firefighter-of-the-Year
appointed McLennan County Fire Freddy Gerik.
for the state’s Central Texas District
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Knapek, Larry. The West News (West, Tex.), Vol. 101, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 9, 1991, newspaper, May 9, 1991; West, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth715346/m1/1/?q=%22waco+tornado%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting West Public Library.