Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 16, 2006 Page: 3 of 119
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Hondo Anvil Herald • Thursday, November 16.2006 • 3A
m
Saturday, November 12th
Christmas in God's Country Arts fc Craft ShowL
i8th Street, between Avenue I and K in ! londo • begins at 10 a.m. fir \
I M S1
Handcraft Items • Food Booths • Entertainment If a
Children's Games • Commercially-Made Items ^
Bloodmobile • Non-Profit area
. Great Strides 5K Run at the Rick Taylor Center - 8 a.m. j
' benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
3rd Annual Golf Tournament -10 am. • i iondo Golf club V
For the avid golfers in the group who don't want to shop but whose "better half “
does, drop your sweetie off at the show and head on down to the golf coursel 4
Sing Christmas carols while waiting for the annual Lighted Parade
1 to begin at 7 pm. Immediately following the parade, the Raye
Theater will have a showing of the new movie, “Happy Feet”.
| Many local shops will be open late with all kinds of specials to
allow you to do some Christmas Shopping where you can
shop in nostalgic historic buildings, don't have to stand in line with
the crowds, where you can stroll the streets in safety, and where
| the shops have BIC CITY Hems at SMALL TOWN Pricesll
Come Join Us for a FUN Paylll
KOCH FAMILY
amiNUED FROM /AGE IA
and then together Then a fire safety
study and an environmental safety
study was done on the Kochs house and
property.
Stephanie had to get clearance from her
neurologist sayine t‘u» he thought she
was healthy enough to adopt children.
loe and Stephanie had said they wanted
children aged three and under They were
given information on two children who
were siblings and in this age group. Then
because of a mu-up in the childrens ages
the Kochs discovered there was a third
sibling that was five years old. Not want-
ing to separate the children, loe and
Stephanie changed their age requirement
to six and under and got die biographies
of all three siblings.
The children were from the same
mother but all had different fathers.
They had been removed from their bio-
logical mother's house due to neglect.
All three were in a foster home together.
CPS gave the Koch’s as much history
and information on the children and the
mother as possible.
Stephanie and Joe met with the foster
mother and were able to ask her ques-
tions about the children.
The couple was asked to make
"books” that had pictures of Stephanie
and Joes life, like their house, friends
and family and it also contained pic-
tures of the school the children would
be going to, their bedrooms and things
like that. It was given to the children on
their first meeting.
It was the Monday before Thanksgiv-
ing 2000. that loe and Stephanie got to
meet their future children for the first
tune.
Angelina Dyan (pronounced Dune),
the oldest at five and a half, said.
‘Mommy and Daddy*' at the first sight
of her new prospective parents.
You can just imagine the emotion go-
ing through the bodies of these people'
For a woman who has never heard the
sweet word. ‘Mommy’ come through
her child’s lips, and then to finally hear
it. Stephanie knew this was her little girl!
Then little Jon Paul who was three years
old ran up to the two people who were
getting ready to be his parents and gave
them a huge hug. Again everyone was
crying the happiest tears ever. Both Joe
and Stephanie knew these were THEIR
children, lames Matthew (laime) was
only one year old and oblivious to the
commotion around him. Stephaine said.
‘It was an overwhelming feeling when
the foster mother handed laime over to
me and said. ’Here is your son.”
Of course, they were still in the process
of adopting and they had more meetings
with the children that lasted longer and
longer. Then the children got to go to
Stephanie and Joe’s house for a weekend.
The children had input on the whole
adoption too. They had to tell CPS what
they though about they prospective par-
ents and their new surroundings.
When all parties agreed, they were of-
ficially adopted. The children moved in
on December 18,2000.
While Stephanie admits is was a bit
chaotic at the beginning, everything be-
gan to flow as time went on. She learned
her house was not going to be as beauti-
fully clean as it was before kids.
But their family was just like any other,
Stephanie was a mom like any other. She
had maternal instincts and she learned
things the same way a new natural
mother does.
She learned her childrens different
cries, when they were really hurting or
just needing attention.
People often wonder how 11 was adopt
ing three at one time. Stephanie likes to
say it was like having triplets ‘You just
adjust You have to have a lot of spiritual
faith and pray a lot * She jokes. ‘I guess
we have to keep praying until they’re
eighteen!'
‘Once you get over the initial shock, it s
a normal family.' Stephanie says
The children have memory1 books that
they brought from their foster home. It
has pictures of their birth mother and
other pictures from their brief past.
Stephanie has decided to write an an-
nual letter to the birthmother sending
her pictures and letting her know how
the kids are doing. “That’s what I would
want it if were me.” she said. But. no in-
formation is ever given about where they
live or what their new last name is be-
cause it is a closed adoption.
“We are all blessed." Stephanie says.
"The children are adopted by us and they
adopt us. I never think about them be-
ing someone else’s. I can’t imagine or re-
member my life with out them *
The Koch's advice is to do your research
and consider all your options. Everything
is in God's hands, so pray about it.
There are so many people who want
to adopt and so many children waiting
to be adopted right here.
Now, Jon wants to be a marine biolo-
gist and find a cure for MD. He says the
cure is in the ocean. Lina wants to be a
fashion designer and Jaime wants to be
a veterinarian and a cowboy. He gave up
the priesthood when he found out he
couldn't have a girlfriend.
Hospital renovations getting started
Medina Community Hospi-
tal officials marked the begin-
ning of a new era with the of-
ficial closing of the USDA loan
in the amount of $12,312,000
on Thursday, November 2,
2006. The loan funds will be
used to renovate and expand
the forty-two year old facility.
Hondo Hospital Authority
Board President Rita Vance
and Secretary Judy Winkler
signed a large volume of
documents, along with the
hospital’s bond attorney Clay
Binford, property and title at-
torney Tom Rothe, and USDA
area officials laime
NtaMOnado And Jake Sheeran,
officially marking the begin-
ning of the project.
“This is a great day for
Hondo and the community,"
said Mr. Sheeran with USDA.
“The last 3-4 months have re-
quired the hospital and local
USDA staff to do a lot of work
behind the scenes to get to
this point. Additional money
was needed to supplement
the original request of $11.5
million, and we worked hard
to make sure tlife money was
available to make the project
a success. The Office of the
Attorney General and the
Texas Department of State
Health Services had to ap-
prove the bond documents
and the building plans, so to
accomplish all of this within
one year’s time is amazing."
Administrator Beverly
Gruber acknowledged that
there were many players in-
volved. “I congratulate all of
you here for making this pos-
sible," said Mrs. Gruber. “The
USDA office in Uvalde was ex-
Things are getting started at Medina Community HospitaF
tremely helpful, enabling us to
close the loan within 60 days
of opening the construction
bids. We could not have made
it through this process with-
out their assistance and the
support of our Board of Direc-
tors. the Hospital Auxiliary, the
Medina Healthcare Fund and
the people of Medina County
who have helped us raise the
required matching funds,”
said Mrs. Gruber.
On hand to witness the his-
toric event were members of
the hospital's Executive Staff,
including Administrator
Beverly Gruber, Chief Finan-
cial Officer Dale Semar, and
Clinical Services Director
Denise McWilliams, RN, Ad-
ministrative Assistant Kim-,
berly Dahlin and Marketing/
Fund Development Director
Christina Garcia. USDA offi-
cials on hand included loe
DeOchoa and laime
Maldonado of the Rural De-
velopment Office in Uvalde,
and Jake Sheeran, USDA Area
Director. Also present were
project architect Alan Adler,
Scott Rain of HuserConstruc-
tion, Auxiliary President
Martha Barchfeld, and HIIA
board members Steve
Hackebeil, Lisa Rothe and
Tima Barrientes. Represent-
ing Hondo National Bank
were President lames Danner
Thursday, Nov. 23
D Hants Parish Hall • 8 pjn. - midnight
Music by
Vanessa Vance and The Texas Connection
Admission $6 per person • Under 12 free
Huge Drawing - Great Prizes!!
Ice Chests Allowed
_Setups and Soft Drinks Available_
JasseU Stover
PangW1 Ca^dy
The perfect way t JThanksgiving!
*£S5S—
Peden Rexall Drug
111818th St. • Hondo • 426-2334
and Marcus Vidrine. Mr.
Danner also represented the
City of Hondo in his capacity
as Mayor. Sharon Beyer of
Representative Henry
Bonilla's office was also
present. F,ach attendee re-
ceived a commemorative
pen, which read "Medina
Community Hospital 2006
Expansion Project - You Made
It Happen!"
Medina Community Hospi-
tal will hold an official
groundbreaking ceremony on
Thursday, November 30,2006 |
at 9:00 a.m. The event is open 1
to the public. Site work for the
renovation and expansion
project is already underway.
Auto • Homo • Lift
In good times
and in bad
we've stayed
with you.
Wo ve been here, through ihe good and
the had. We didni leave or raise our prices
like other companies did during the insurance
crisis. In (act, we've lowered rates and added
discounts that can save you up to 40%
Call today lor a free no-ohligation review ot
tour personal insurance needs. We will he
there when you need us the most.
Helping You is what wc do best.
Mike Crowell. Agent
Cuy Davis Agent
Rebecca Rice, Agenl
Cynthia Sultenfutt. Agent
Melinda Hernandez. Agent
Doug Mogford Agency Manager
18301H26-33H9
sfbli com • tifb-int.com 2916 Ave E • Hondo, TX 78861
Taiat farm Bureau Mutual Imurence Co . Texas Farm Bureau Underwnlm
Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. Southern Farm Bureau life Iniurance Co Jackson. MS.
Farm Bureau County Mutual Iniurance Company of Texas
2006 Hondo Owl
Football
Playoff Shirts
Help us celebrate our
District Win and Playoff Run!!
Show off your owl pride!
Available @ Traditions
121018* Street
Hondo, TX
(830) 931-4834
Youth XSmal - Adult 3XLarge
Short and Long Sleeve Available
Upcoming Pages
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Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 120, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 16, 2006, newspaper, November 16, 2006; Hondo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth818820/m1/3/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.