The McGregor Mirror and the Crawford Sun (McGregor, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 14, 2012 Page: 1 of 12
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+ and the Crawford Sun
75c • Thursday, June 14, 2012 • REFLECTING THE MOC COMMUNITY • Vol. 108, No. 24
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Your stories.
Your community.
Your newspaper.
McGregor, TX 76657
McGregor EMS
running on fumes
Association announces December closure
unless financial solution is found
An Open Letter from Mc-
Gregor EMS:
McGregor Emergency
Medical Service has served the
citizens of McGregor and sur-
rounding areas for 34 years. We
have been blessed by your gen-
erous donations, memorials and
fund raisers. Over the years you
have paid for ambulances and
supplies, for which we are truly
very grateful. Many of you have
participated by volunteering
yourselves and your time by be-
coming state certified in various
classifications, ECA’s, EMT’s
and paramedics. And, additional-
ly, continuing your certifications
by continued education hours.
Thank you for caring so much
for the welfare of our friends and
neighbors. Thank you for your
many sacrifices and it was a sac-
rifice for you and your families.
Due to the lack of volun-
teers, it is necessary to pay for at-
tendants to be available 24 hours
per day, seven days a week. The
pay-roll for these attendants is
about $5,500 every two weeks.
There is also the monthly ex-
pense of rent, utilities, insurance,
medical director, gasoline, sup-
plies, ambulance maintenance,
etc. The monthly expenses ex-
ceed the monthly income. There
is no sustaining income, there-
fore, we never know if there will
be enough money to pay our
bills. The recovery rate of the
billed rate, insurance and pri-
vate, is 33 percent of the amount
charged.
At one time we were so op-
timistic about the future EMS
needs of this community that we
made plans to build a new train-
ing center/garage/office. Frances
Hudson donated land on South
Main Street and we accumulated
a building fund of about $86,000.
This dream is no longer feasible.
The fund has been nearly deplet-
ed because it has been necessary
to withdraw $10,000 every three
months to pay the expenses. The
current balance in this fund is
$28,500. At this rate McGregor
EMS will be broke by December
2012. There may be some money
left at that time, but we must con-
sider that it will be necessary to
pay attorneys to dissolve the or-
ganization.
We have informed the City
Council, Chamber of Commerce
and several citizens of this crisis.
We have explored many ideas.
It is with great sadness that we
are now informing the general
public that it appears at this time
that there will no longer be a
McGregor EMS as we currently
know it. Effective December 31,
2012, we will no longer be here.
If any of you can figure a
way for us to continue to exist,
there are less than six months to
make that happen. What about
adding a little to each water bill?
We anticipate having a pub-
lic foru m to examine all options
in mid July 2012.
Thank you for your past
generous support and may God
Bless all of you.
Lisa’s father, Bobby Joe, was presented with the game softball during memorial service at game.
Lisa Williams remembered
All-Star Red and Blue game has local flair
The All-Star football game
between the Red and Blue teams
held this past Saturday night at
Baylor Stadium is an experience
that Head McGregor Bulldog
football coach Tim Seward will
remember for the rest of his life.
This year’s game had a Mc-
Gregor-flair to it. Coach Seward
Olson on the defensive line for
the Red team. His defensive unit
gave up only one first down.
“This game probably had
one of the most dramatic finishes
of all time,” Coach Seward stat-
ed. “It was probably one of the
best played games that the FCA
has had. We are only given four
workouts. So, that means you
have to put together your offen-
sive and defensive packages and
special teams in just four work-
outs. There was great coaching
on both sides.”
See GAME, Page 2
Lisa “BB” Williams, the 11-
year old McGregor Junior High
student who was tragically killed
in a car wreck, was remembered
and honored by her team, the
Blue Jays softball team, at a cer-
emony at the Little League Field
on June 5.
Near the end of the game,
a bouquet of flowers along with
her baseball shoes were placed
on third base, honoring her posi-
tion as a part of the team. Her
father, Bobby Joe, was presented
with the game softball. Then at
the end of the game against the
Purple Haze from Troy, Lisa’s
parents’ Bobby Joe and Melissa
were presented Lisa’s jersey
in a shadow box signed by the
team and coaches. Both teams
gathered between the pitcher’s
mound and home plate to release
large clusters of balloons.
A benefit has been planned
for Saturday, July 14 at Leah’s
Choices at Highway 36 and
Highway 317 in Temple. There
will be a bike run, barbecue, auc-
tion and music. The bike run will
start at 10:00 a.m. and donations
are appreciated. A barbecue will
be held at 5:00 p.m. Prices for
adults is $7.00 and Children 5-12
is $3.00. Music will be provided
by Doc Dockery.
The benefit is for Lisa’s
family to help pay all funeral and
See WILLIAMS, Page 2
reported that McGregor Super-
intendent Kevin Houchin noted
after the game that it was a great
night for McGregor ISD. “Our
band directors led the FCA Band
along with a number of our lo-
cal students, Jessica Foit repre-
sented our cheerleaders, five of
our coaches coached the winning
red team, and Keith Reineke was
named as the offensive Most
Valuable Player of the game and
Taylor Fox had a great game on
defense as a linebacker,” Seward
said.
Coaches from McGregor
participating were Tim Seward
as the Red team’s head coach,
Jeff Burgess as the defensive co-
ordinator, Gene Griffin coached
the secondary, Todd McCauley
coached the outside linebackers
and was the special teams coor-
dinator, David Haynes, Jr. was
the receiver coach and the pass-
ing game coordinator. Also play-
ing for McGregor as a linebacker
was Taylor Fox who also had a
great game with six tackles.
Under Reineke at the quar-
terback position, the red team
scored on each of its four posses-
sions. Reineke carried the ball
13 times for 58 yards rushing
and two touchdowns, and com-
pleted 6 of 6 passes for 86 yards.
Coach Seward pointed out that
Reineke’s performance was pret-
ty much flawless. Also having a
great game was Crawford’s Chris
MCGREGOR HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 2012. Photo courtesy of Willie Gomez
X
&
Mullen It Over by Bonnie Mullens
December 2012
THIS IS THE date that McGregor will see the end of local
ambulance service in McGregor if the association’s financial situ-
ation is not solved before that time. And what a shame that would
be after having one of the best services in the state on call serving
the citizens, businesses and industries 24/7 for the past 34 years.
The situation is dire! The organization has issued notice that
it would have to shut down by December 2012 due to its financial
crisis. If you have never waited to hear the sound of the ambulance
siren as your loved one was experiencing a medical emergency, you
may not realize how badly we need our local service. They are there
within minutes of the call, not half an hour or more.
We cannot afford to lose our EMS. One of its champions is
charter member Martha Moyer. She has been working, along with
other members, to come up with a solution, going from City Council
to Chamber and other groups to make them aware of the problem—
asking for help in finding a solution to no avail thus far.
She came in Tuesday morning informing me she had bad news.
Her words follow:
“McGregor EMS wishes to thank everyone for 34 years of sup-
port and generosity. It has only been with your assistance that we
have been able to take care of your emergency needs. We have tried
to be good stewards of all the resources you have given us. It is with
extreme regret that we see no solution to our financial difficulties at
this time. We have addressed this problem in a separate item in this
week’s Mirror. In 1978, you responded with around 35 volunteers to
join in starting the MOC Volunteer EMS. These people went to class for
40 hours to become State certified as Emergency Certified Attendants,
thereby qualifying to “run ” on an ambulance. Some continued with
their education to become EMT, EMT-I (intermediate) and EMT-P
(paramedic). We were able to become Advanced EMS, the only one
in western McLennan County. Lives were saved with Advanced Life
Support. A lot was accomplished in 34 years.
We anticipated being here forever. It is with much sadness that
we had to issue a fuller statement elsewhere in this newspaper.
Please take time to read a more detailed item in this paper because
this crisis impacts each of us.
Thank you for your continued support and May God Bless us all.
Martha Moyer ”
Folks, this is a real quality of life issue facing our community.
McGregor at this time is able to say that it has more jobs here than
citizens. Our citizens and the employees of our businesses and
industries need this service. The importance of keeping our local
EMS (especially one that is advanced life support) is vital to our
community. We need to join together to find the answer to saving
our EMS. Watch for the July meeting date and make plans to attend,
to help find the solution to keep our EMS.
Talk with your friends. It’s time to get involved!
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The McGregor Mirror and the Crawford Sun (McGregor, Tex.), Vol. 108, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 14, 2012, newspaper, June 14, 2012; McGregor, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth805983/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting McGinley Memorial Public Library.