Refugio County Press (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 26, 2012 Page: 5 of 18

                                
Hefugto Olmmtu ffiress
Thursday, April 26,2012
Page 5A
RES Book Fair begins Monday Teen dance to benefit
REFUGIO — The
Refugio Elementary
School Library will host
a Scholastic Book Fair on
April 30 - May 4, from 7
a.m. to 4 p.m. The Book
Fair will be open daily.
Funds raised at the fair
will help purchase books
for students, the library,
and teachers’ classrooms.
“Families, faculty, and
the community are invited
to attend this fun reading
event that helps inspire
children to become life-
long readers,” said Anna
Garcia, RES librarian.
The Book Fair
reads from more than 100
publishers.
Book Fair customers REFUGIO - A
may help the school build teen dance with
classroom libraries by Z95’s D.J. Gino
purchasing books through is set for Heather
the Classroom Wish List Solansky on
program.    Saturday, May 19,
In addition, the Book    p \2«9qn &t
Fair will feature the One ^ Post 6290'
Heather Solansky
for Books® program, The dance
is
where kids can share the sponsored by
thrill of reading by donat- Envy Boutique,
ing loose change to pur- Wilkinson
chase books from the Book Chevrolet, Grace
Fair for students’ summer    ern
contributed photo time reading.    0 j^1 a 1 ^ s
The Refugio Elementary School Book Fair begins Monday.    .    ancl Kentals.
will    ........ Scholastic matches mon- Tickets may be
feature a special Family    with their grandchild and shop    etary donations with a purchased at Envy
Night on Tuesday, May 1 from the book fair. During the students donation of up to one million books, Boutique for $5.
4 to 7 p.m. when families and lunch, grandparents and children which go to national non-profit Heather who
community members will have the will have the opportunity to deco- organizations dedicated to help- was diagnosed
opportunity to purchase books for rate and eat a grand cupcake after ing families in need, such as the with diabetes last
summer time reading. Contests,    shopping the fair.    Marine Toys for Tots Foundation,    year, is set to received
read-alouds, refreshments and    The Book Fajr offers specially    Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc.,    a diabetic alert dog.
door prizes will be available that    . d bookg and educational Drod.    and Kids In Need Foundation.    Proceeds from the event    children under 10 must
™m“S' ,    .    t Seta, including popular series, Thursday is Drop Everything wil1 be f ad ta defray b* accomPanied by an
e nes ay is e ran ven . awarci_winning titles, new releases, and Read Day, and Friday is One exPenses f°r dog.    adult.
Grandparents are invited to come j n, , , nn    j ,n    ** r> 1 T-k
^    adult bestsellers, and other great for Books Day.
Heather Solansky
For information call
441-9567 or 237-5378. All
„ „    , „    .    _ _ _    _ _    .    . _ FUN-raiser
Goliad fiesta to mark Cinco de JVIayo JVlay 4 and 5 tourney
GOLIAD — A true,
traditional fiesta will
take place at the Goliad
County Fair Grounds
on Friday, May 4, and
Saturday, May 5.
Cinco de Mayo
Internacional features
live entertainment
including conjunto music,
Mariachi performances,
ballet folklorico danc-
ers, Tejano and country
music, barbecue cook off,
kiddie rides, and much
more.
“We will also have plen-
ty of great food vendors,
cold drinks and plenty of
arts and crafts booths,”
said Hernan Jaso, coor-
dinator. “All of this will
take place absolutely free
of charge. That is right,
there will not be a cover
charge to enter the Fiesta
grounds and all musical
entertainment is abso-
lutely free!”
The Zaragoza Society,
celebrating its 68th anni-
versary, is no new comer
to celebrating Cinco de
Mayo. The hero of the
Battle of Puebla, for which
the Cinco de Mayo is cel-
ebrated, General Ignacio
Zaragoza, was born here
in the historic community
of La Bahia that lies just
two miles south of Goliad.
That is why the Texas
State Legislature des-
ignated Goliad as the
Official Cinco de Mayo
Site for the entire State
of Texas.
Fiesta is all about cel-
ebrating with family and
friends and remembering
good old times. Well, the
perfect time for celebrat-
ing and Fiesta is just
around the corner.
General Zaragoza
Society of Goliad is cel-
ebrating it’s 68th anni-
versary as a non-profit
organization. The soci-
ety celebrates the 150th
anniversary of the Battle
of Puebla (May 5, 1862)
and the 50th anniver-
sary of the Churubusco
Club runners of soil from
Goliad, Texas to Puebla,
Mexico.
As you can recall, in
1962, we had some young
runners physically run
some soil and an eternal
flame from La Bahia to
Puebla, Mexico. A remark-
able feat on its own and
some of the original dig-
nitaries and runners will
be on hand for this years
Fiesta Zaragoza.
Schedule
Our Sister City,
Hidalgo, and its delega-
tion will arrive on Friday
afternoon and will be wel-
comed by a Goliad del-
egation of city and coun-
ty officials, along with
officers of the General
Zaragoza Society. Fiesta
Zaragoza begins Friday
evening with the possibil-
ity of a group of Hidalgo
ballet folklorico dance
troupe that will perform
at 7 p.m. and the live
music will begin at 8,
featuring David Valadez
y La Guerra Musical, a
highly talented group of
Grammy potential. This
group is back by popular
demand.
At 10 a.m on Saturday,
a well-rounded agenda
is set for the official cer-
emony at the site of the
The Roman
numerals tor
“30" are
XXX.
Need I say more?
A
Brum?
Ml
Governments are required to publish their decisions in the
newspaper - including their intent to build a structure
nearby that you might not want. But some officials want
to bury public notices on little seen, rarely visited
government websites.
If it is not in the newspaper,
how will you know?
L
J
Zaragoza Statue. The ter city of Goliad, Mayor
official program will Jay Harvey of Goliad
include Former Goliad and Goliad County Judge
Mayor Hernan Jaso, as David Bowman. All guests
master of ceremonies and and participants will join
will feature comments the Fiesta at the Goliad
by Mayor Eliud Alberto County Fairgrounds for
Lozano Cisneros of continued entertainment
Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, sis- until midnight.
Tasting Bee set May 9
REFUGIO — Phyllis Hayes will host the Mah
Jongg group today, Thursday, April 26, from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m.
Plans are underway for the TEEA’s Tasting Bee
scheduled for Wednesday, May 9, at the center from
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The public is invited and plates are
$6. Proceeds will benefit local charities.
BEEVILLE — Team
HairDynamix will host
a fun-raiser 5-on-5 tour-
nament benefiting the
Ronald McDonald House
on Saturday, May 5,
in the A.C. Jones High
School gym.
Cost is $150 for a team
of eight (additional play-
ers are $20 each). T-shirts
and a team trophy will be
awarded for first and sec-
ond places. All proceeds
will benefit the Ronald
McDonald House.
For more information,
contact Gloria Landreth
at 358-8747 or 362-3939.
Comptroller’s Office Encourages
Homeowners to Take
Advantage of Homestead
Exemptions
Homeowners looking to reduce their property tax bills in 2012 may
find some relief by filing a homestead exemption. Homestead exemptions
are offered by counties, cities, school districts and other local taxing units.
A homestead is generally the house and land used as the owner’s
principal residence on January 1 of the tax year. Homestead exemptions
reduce the appraised value of your home and, as a result, lower your
property taxes. To apply for an exemption on your residence homestead,
contact the Refugio County Appraisal District.
Available homestead exemptions include:
•    School taxes: All homeowners may receive a $15,000 homestead
exemption for school taxes.
•    County taxes: If a county collects a special tax for farm-to-market
roads or flood control, a homeowner may receive a $3,000 homestead
exemption for this tax.
•    Age and disability exemptions: Individuals 65 or older or disabled as
defined by law may qualify for a $10,000 homestead exemption for school
taxes, in addition to the $15,000 exemption available to all homeowners.
Also, any taxing unit may offer a local optional exemption of at least
$3,000 for taxpayers age 65 or older and/or disabled. Older or disabled
homeowners do not need to own their homes on Jan. 1 to qualify for these
special homestead exemptions. They qualify as soon as they turn 65 or
become disabled.
•    Taxing units may offer a local option exemption based on a
percentage of a home’s appraised value. Any taxing unit can exempt
up to 20 percent of the value of each qualified homestead. No matter
what percentage of value the taxing unit adopts, the dollar value of the
exemption must be at least $5,000.
•    Partial disabled veteran exemptions: The law provides partial
exemptions for any property owned by veterans who are disabled,
spouses and survivors of deceased disabled veterans and spouses and
survivors of military personnel who died on active duty. The amount of
exemption is determined according to the percentage of service-connected
disability.
•    100% Residence Homestead Exemption for Disabled Veterans:
A disabled veteran who receives from the United States Department
of Veterans Affairs (1) 100 percent disability compensation due to a
service-connected disability; and (2) a rating of 100 percent disabled or
of individual unemployability is entitled to an exemption from taxation
of the total appraised value of the veteran’s residence homestead.
Beginning this year, this benefit has been extended to the surviving
spouse upon the veteran’s death with certain restrictions.
Recently passed legislation now requires homeowners to provide proof
of residency for a new property tax exemption beginning Sept. 1, 2011.
This new requirement does not apply to homeowners who already have
homestead exemptions.
For more details on homestead exemptions, contact the Refugio
County Appraisal District at 361-526-5994. Or contact the Comptroller’s
Property Tax Assistance Division at 1-800-252-9121 and press “2” to
access the menu and then press “1” to contact the Information Services
Team. The homestead exemption application is available online at: www.
window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxforms/50-114.pdf