Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 15, 1999 Page: 2 of 42
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Aavfl Herald, Thursday, April 15,1999
JSL scholarships
Seniors who are interested in
applying for one of the two $500
scholarships to be given by the
Junior Service League should see
Cindy Woods for an application.
Deadline to apply is April 16.
Play location sought
K'Star Youth and Family
Services is looking for a location
where it can present a play it will
sponsor in June about issues that
children face today.
MV Jr. High PTO to meet
A very important PTO meeting
will be held at Medina Valley
Junior High on April 20 at 7 p.m.
The agenda includes the high
school counselor decribing the
results of the 8th grade Explore
test and end-of-year procedures
and deadlines. Refreshments will
be served in the cafeteria. Please
attend this important meeting.
Library closes early
On Wednesday, April 21, the
Hondo Public Library will close at
5:30 p.m. so that staff members
may attend the Texas Library
Convention.
MCH to honor volunteers
Wednesday, April 21, Medina
Community Hospital will honor its
Auxiliary volunteers and Junior
Volunteers at a reception in
observance of National Volunteer
Week. The reception will be held
in the Administration Conference
Room at 3 p.m. Contact Christina
garcia at 741-6358 for additional
information.
Relay for Life
Join the race to find a cure for
cancer by participating in the
Relay for Life April 23-24 from 7
p.m. to 7 am. Over 80 cancer
survivors will participate in the
Survivors' Lap at 7 p.m. Survivors
can contact Rita Vance to find out
how to participate, 741-2228.
Twenty-two teams have registered
to run/walk the 12-hour relay and
raise funds for the Medina County
Chapter of the American Cancer
Society. Be a part of the largest
slumber party in Medina County.
Liminarias in honor of cancer
survivors or in aaRtnoiy of cancer-
victims can be purchased from
Evelyn Brocks at 426-2285.
Child safety seat checkups
A free Child Safety Seat clinic
will be held Saturday, April 24,10
a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Hondo Wal-
Mart. It takes about 10-15 minutes
to have your child's safety seat
checked. For information, call
Susan Douglas, 210-358-4272, or
Christina Garcia, 830-741-6358.
Bowling tourney to help
Special Olympics
A bowling tournament to benefit
Special Olympics will be held
April 24 or 25 at Hondo Bowl.
Prizes will include cash, trophies,
Olympic t-shirts and more. This is
for FUN, low or high average are
welcome. $10 entry fee. For
information and setting up your
team, call Linda Cleveland, 426-
3017. Sign up by April 19.
Descendants sought
On May 1,1999, Landmark Inn
will be the location of a ceremony
commemorating the 150th anniver-
sary of the San Antonio-El Paso
Road. Organizers of the celebration
would like to recognize local
descendants of those who were
connected with the highway, such
as mail clerks, mail riders, freight-
ers, etc. If you are, or know of
someone who is, a qualifying
descendant, please contact Kevin
Young at Landmark Inn S.H.P.,
830-931-2133.
Medina Lake water level
Spillway level: 1072 ft.
Current level (4-7-99): 1070.73 ft.
Last rainfall (3-27): 1.75 in.
Last tepid, level (3-31): 1070.80 ft.
Previous rainfall: Mar. 8.06-in.;
Mar. 13.30-in.
Regular Meetings
MeSna Co~ WHorss Club
The Medina County 4H Hone
Oub will be riding on the first and
third Wednesdays of the summer
months, starting in April The club
will also be having its annual Bill
Miller barbecue on May 2. For
barbecue, call 741-3658.
Meyer PTO
Meyer Elementary PTO will
meet Monday, April 19.7pjn.at
the Meyer School Library. The
program will include UIL Aot-
Eastem Star Family Night
Ifee to a conflict on the fourth
Saturday, Hondo Chapter *404.
Order of the Eastern Star vill host
Family Night at 6 p.m. Saturday,
April 17. at the Masonic Lodge on
Avenue Q. All Eastern Stars,
Masons, their families and friends
are cordially invited. Bring finger
food and play the game of your
choice Hope to see you there.
Eastt. s.btar
Hondo Chapter #404. Order of
the Eastern Star, will hold a regular
stated meeting April 19. at 7:30
p.m., in the Masonic Lodge Hall on
Ave. Q. Special recognition will
be made to pro-terns for the year,
and Worthy Matron Ellen Ferguson
urges all members to anend.
Hal Jones Post 128
The regular meeting of Hal Jones
Post 128 has been changed to
Tuesday, April 20, for this month
only. We will meet in the northwest
comer of the Medina County Fair
Building. All members, their wives
or a friend, are encouraged to
attend. There will be a social hour
from 6 to 7 p.m. with a meal
following. Come out and enjoy a
free catered barbecue meal.
Dunlay Hermann Sons
Dunlay Hermann Sons Lodge
#285 will hold its regular meeting
Tuesday, April 20. 7:30 p.m.
BMA\ DA says state could take over if board doesn’t shape up
CONTINUED FROM f*GEI _
tion of eligibility, but did vote in the
1998 BM A election.
• Many voters unaware that they
were not eligible to vote in BMA elec-
tions because they (I) do not know in
which BMA precinct they live, or (2)
Freer hosts
Rattlesnake Roundup
The Freer Rattlesnake Roundup
will be held April 23-25 at the Freer
Cactus Corral on Hwy. 44, two miles
east of Freer. There will be concerts,
dancing, a hypnotist, a trick roper, a
juggler and a clown in addition to
ballet folklorico and Miss Texas
Tatum Hubbard. A parade on Satur-
day. a talent contest Friday night, a
carnival, bungee/trampoline jump,
mechanical bull riding, stage coach
rides, a petting zoo, pony rides, dare
devil snake shows, and lots of good
food, including rattlesnake meat.
Snake hunters will be paid $3.56
per pound for all live rattlesnakes
brought in. with trophies and jackets
for contest winners, and a $100 cash
prize for the hunter bringing in the
first 7-foot rattlesnake.
For more information, call the
Freer Chamber of Commerce. 361-
394-6891.
Downtown Storage
Units Available
10x10*25 • 10x20*50
Contact Fohn Bendele
741-2180
1208 17* St.
Community Calendar
paid for by
Apr. 15- San Antonio/El Paso Road Sesquicentennial Hondo
Committee Meeting at Hondo Chamber Conference
Room, 5:30 p.m.
Apr. 17-Special Olympics Volleyball Tournament, Torres Unit,
8 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Apr. 20- Hondo Area Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Luncheon,
noon, Hermann Sons Steak House. Everyone welcome!
Apr. 23,24-American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Devine
Warhorse Stadium,7p.m.t7a.m. ...,0$,^^11 uutw'
Apr. 24-RictoTayloi'flecreatfon Center Ribbon Cutting-10 am.
• Rotary Club Rummage Sale 1 - 5, Hondo Community Ctr.
To place your event on this calender, call the
Hondo Chamber ot Commerce at 83Q-426-3037 __
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Peden Rexall Drug
(830)426-2334
1118 18th Street, Hondo, Texas
do not know that there is some re-
quirement that they “live on BMA
land”—not simply within the metes
and bounds of BMA water district.
• Candidates, including current
Board members, solicited votes from
individuals without any regard for
whether they are actually eligible to
vote in a BMA election.
The jury addressed the following
open meetings act charges:
* While there was no technical
criminal violation of the act, the
spirit of the act was grossly ignored
and has been so for an extended pe-
riod of time.
• These private “public” meetings
were planned because Board mem-
bers felt that willful and deliberate
interruption of regular BMA meet-
ings by certain individuals and/or
interest groups prevented dissemina-
tion of important information to
those parties most affected by that
information.
♦ A majority of the directors felt
they had not violated the Open Meet-
ings Act because the purpose of the
meeting was to present information
about work in progress; that hold-
ing the meeting was legal because
the BMA attorney had approved and
assisted in preparing the agenda; di-
rectors did not take action on busi-
ness; and various segments of the
general public who would find meet-
ing information to be of itnerest were
invited and more meetings were
planned throughout the district.
* One board member signed an
affdavit that he had attended the
meeting in violation of the Open
Meetings act. The jury questioned
why he did not remove himself from
the premises ifhs believed the meet-
ing was in violation of the law.
• Three board members identified
as the minority circumvent the spirit
of the Open Meetings Act in their
attempts to orchestrate business of
the district in the interest of their
consituent group.
• Ineffective leaderdiip has al-
lowed individual and constituent
groups to regularly disrupt meetings,
preventing the board from conduct-
ing the business of protecting and
preserving natural resources.
Misappropriation of pttbticfiuds
• The board, not any individual, is
responsible for management of BMA.
• The board has adopted practices
which have allowed one individual
an enormous amount of freedom to
operate the district, with no appar-
ent regard for the wishes of a large
number of district taxpayers.
• In allowing the general manager
to spend up to $5,000 on any single
item, the board has waived its ac-
countability for tax and other moneys.
•The general manager, who is also
a director, polls other board members
until he determine he has enough
votes to make an expenditure, which
is “ratified” at a subsequent board
meeting. This denies the public the
right to be informed about such mat-
ters and prohibits public input.
• The appearance is given that the
general manager is allowed to spend
public money at will and the board
has been party to this practice.
• Although there is apparent con-
flict of interest, and the ethics of the
general manager’s actions are ques-
tionable, there is no evidence of
criminal activity or theft of funds in
this sale.
* • A partial list of questionable ac-
tivities is given which the BMA
board has sanctioned, including hir-
ing office personnel without consent
of the board; poor management cost-
ing taxpayers thousands of dollars
regarding purchase of a computer
system; and trips to Washington and
Austin made without prior consent of
the board* great deal of tax money
has been spent without accountabil-
ity; the overbearing personality and
deliberately abrasive manner has di-
luted the manager’s effectiveness as
a leader, and the president, general
manager and BMA attorney’s man-
ner of placing items on the agenda
was especially reprehensible.
• Problems exist in check writing
and payment procedures.
• At times it is difficult to discern
whether the board members do not
want to tell the public what the
money has been spent for or whether
they actually do not know where it
has been spent.
• The grand jury did not receive a
full and complete audit and tracking
of expenditures of funds received,
based on the contract with Bexar-Met
In conclusion, the report said the
grand jury found “the guardian of
one of the most ^recious of natural
resources to be in state of near-pa-
ralysis Recovery from years of mis-
management and neglect will be a
long, sometimes painful process and
healing of the discord that has gut-
ted the district must start with the
board of directors.” Until some sub-
stantive measures are taken to get
control, the jury said, “we can all
watch how this incapable governing
body wastes one of our most pre-
cious natural resources - water.”
Host families needed for local rotary exchange program
The Rotary Club of Hondo
D’Hanis is working to find enthusi-
astic host families to provide a fam-
ily life for Lucia Cahepe from
Balcarce, Argentina. Lucia is a 17-
year-old student from an agricultural
region outside the city of Buenos
Aires.
Her hobbies arc rollcrblading.
swimming, reading, listening to
music and traveling. Her future plan
is to study international relations at
a university. She has studied English
for eight years and is quite fluent.
Her father is an agricultural engi-
neer and professor at the National
University. Her mother teaches En-
glish and works as a church secre-
tary. Lucia ought to be a great role
model and inspiration of courage to
the students in Hondo. Let’s help
make her life dream a reality.
What does a host family do?
Several host families are needed
to share the responsibility of host-
ing for the upcoming school year,
each hosting for three to four
months.
Hosting requires that you treat
Lucia as a member of your family,
providing food and lodging and a
parental, supervised atmosphere ap-
propriate for a 17-year-old girl. It is
not necessary for a successful host-
ing experience to have children liv-
ing at home.
These exchange students are se-
lected through a highly competitive
process and are generally the most
outstanding young people in their
country, selected for this program to
be responsible ambassadors for their
countries. These students provide
their own spending money and re-
ceive an allowance from the local
Rotary Club.
Hondo students abroad
During this same time period. Ro-
tary is sponsoring two Hondo stu-
dents to study abroad for the com-
ing school year.
Debra Hoffman will be hosted in
the Netherlands, living close to the
coast. She is currently working hard
at Geronimo’s, saving money for her
exchange year.
Whitten Smart will be hosted in
Belgium. He is also working hard
to save money for the trip.
Both students will be paduating
from Hondo this spring and opting
to postpone college for a year to at-
tend another full year of high school
in a foreign country. Then both hope
to return next summer fluent in a for-
eign language, as well as more ma-
ture, independent and understanding
of cultural differences in a way that
most of us will never experience.
Rewards of Hosting
Having hosted Sheree Brodie from
Australia during the past school year,
and several others from Finland,
Netherlands, and Sweden during her
life, Cindy Ivy comments on the joys
of hosting.
“It is so rewarding to share your
hum-drum everyday life with some-
one who sees it all as so different and
exciting. Sometimes we forget that
we probably get just as much joy
from hosting as the student does from
the exchange experience. I think the
Hondo students who met and be-
friended Sheree will agree that it was
a very rewarding experience for
Hondo High students and for our
community."
Sheree returned to Australia in
January and began university in Feb-
ruary, majoring in business admin-
istration with an emphasis on travel
management. Her hope is to spend
her life in a career related to travel.
She sends an open invitation to any-
one from Hondo who finds them-
selves traveling in Australia. She can
be contacted at shereebrodie&hot
mail.com. :
Exchange program is beneficial
One element of the Four-Way Test
which Rotarians strive to live by is
“Is it beneficial to aflf ttfocettied?”
Students involved in the Rotary In'-
temational Exchange Program func-
tion as ambassadors of their home
country. The host families, the area
high school students, and the com-
munity-at-large can learn much
about life in countries we may never
visit. We also learn much about how
much we have in common. And we
learn about our own lives and cus-
toms as seen through the eyes ofh
fresh observer.
Rotary of Hondo D’Hanis is con-
fident that Debra and Whitten wA
be good Hondo ambassadors to their
host countries. Lucia wants a chance
to learn about our culture and share
the Argentinian culture with us. f.
If you feel you would like more
information or would like to apply
to host Lucia, please contact Cindy
Ivy at426-8300, Margie Ibarra at the
Hondo Library or any other Rotarian.
Rotary needs to get host family com-
mitments by April 28. So call today
or you’ll miss this great opportunity.
HERMANN SONS
STEAK HOUSE
Located one mile cast of Hondo on US 90 • 426-222C
Umth Spttkte *4.95 jwks,
_ — — -—
!
f*HealAOtre Coverage^
For Individuals
■a* j
, i
A
Fohn Bendele
W |
1208 17th Street in Hondo 741-2180 ->
lb v -- ry* M ■ !
Authorized Ago* for
- I
[ t 1
. rn ... ted BlueOomBhieShleid
tmaday- Alvin’s Pepper
Wednesday
Thursday - Baked Pork
with macaroni, coup or calad tar
Friday-Pried Shrimp or
choice of
Weekly
Special
Lunch *1 -Spicy Thai <
M:
Penn.yhr.ni. Steak
msMm
BAR
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Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 15, 1999, newspaper, April 15, 1999; Hondo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth818796/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.