The Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 25, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 22, 1972 Page: 1 of 16
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The Hondo Anvil Herald
• - 85th Year—No. 25 MEDINA COUNTY'S LEADING NEWSPAPER SINCE 1886 ’
. Publittltd —Ch Thurt. Ijflfl Avt. K, Hondo. $5 per ytar in county,____16 out of state; 2nd c»aa» pottage pd at Hondo, Texaa 78861
Hondo, Medina County, Texas 78861, Thursday, June 22, 1972
SP/ttZXS
“Forge thy tongue on an anvil of truth, and
what flies up, though it be but a spark,
shall have weight.'' --PINDAR
BY BURNIS K. LAWRENCE
_ Publisher
SMALL TOWNS
. . . over the entire country are losing
something most precious to them—their
names on mail leaving their Post Ovfices.
And Castroville, Devine, D'Hanis, Dun-
lay and Yancey are affected the same.
Hondo Is no exception. The U.S. Post-
al Service didn't show our county towns a-
ny favoritism when it began postmarking
mail with "U.S. Postal Service TX 788".
Thus is not really new; mail has been
leaving Hondo with this postmark for some
time and not too many citizens have no-
ticed it—or they haven't said too much a-
bout it if they have .
But maybe, and that's a "Just maybe "
mind you, we can do something to change
the situation.
Recently, Anvil Herald Owner Bill Ber-
ger asked Congressman *J. J. (Jake) Pickle
of Austin what could be done. Congress-
man Pickle answered:
"I appreciate your letter regarding our
gradual loss of small town postmarks, and I
value your support in this campaign to put
the postmark of these small towns back on
the envelope.
"We're starting to get a good response
and I'm hopeful for enough public support
that the U.S. Postal Service will think
twice about this 'cost-saving' procedure."
The Congressman went on to mention he
had written a news release on the subject
and sent along a copy. It reads in part:
". . .In one fell swoop, the Postal
Service has replaced local color, history
and pride with a set of numbers which might
warm the heart of a mathematician—but
not the heart of a hometown booster.
"When I raised this question earlier, a
news service ran the story on the national
wire. I received sympathetic letters from
throughout the United States, Canada, and
Puerto Rico. Obviously, the people don't
like being computerized.
"The Postal Service in Washington at-
tacked me as being 'political',
"Nuts.
"Washington Postal Services officials
say their job is to deliver the mail--period.
I disagree. They—this new corporation—
say someone in Snook can still get their lo-
cal postmark. But I note that they have to
go downtown to the Post Office, usually
between certain hours, to do so. And a
whole lot of the mail will still simply be
'Postal Service number so-and-so'.
"I think a compromise could be worked
out using both the U.S. Postal Service jar-
gon and still retaining the local postmark.
The small communities are the guts and
backbone of this nation. Their fierce
hometown pride should not only be preserv-
ed but encouraged.
"Besides . . . how does the FBI trace an
extortion letter from U.S. Postal Service
IA503?"
IN THE LAST
. . . few days, the Lawrence family has
passed through, slept in, eaten in, or simp-
ly buy-passed many a small town.
Each has one thing in common with Hon-
★★★ Please turn to Page 3
Alamo area plans told
The Alamo Area Council
of Governments held a regu-
lar monthly meeting Tues-
day night at 7:30 In the Mu-
nicipal Building Meeting
Room.
AACOG coordinators Bill
Long, Gary Hensarling, and
Alfredo Cevera reported on
activities now In action for
tlie region Including Medina
County, as well as those
planned for the region In the
future.
Activities underway at
present include a new Re-
source Conservation and De-
velopment Program, through
which Medina County can
receive grants from the U. S.
Department of Agriculture
tlirough the regional body for
More -than 50 area farm-
ers boarded buses at C trap-
man Grain, Inc. and travel-
ed 150 miles to Taft to at-
tend a field day sponsored
by the Pioneer Hi-Bred Com-
pany, or. Thursday, June 15.
The Modlna Countians
joined several hundred other
South Texas region farmers a
as the tour began at 10 a.m,
on Pioneer Sorghum Co's
experimental farm two miles
south of Taft.
Guides Joe Faber and
Clarence Dorman, who are
sorghum breeders, and Jim
Higdon, an Agronomu Ser-
vice specialist, conducted
the farmers tluough the new-
ly rained-on fields to show
the results of scientific cross-
breeding reflected in super-
ior sorghum crops.
The farmers expressed
their satisfaction with the
tour itself as well as the fact
that they were treated to a
nice rain along with the crop
Loan of
s 1.6 million
to MEC
A telegram received
Thursday, June 15, from the
office of U. S. Senator John
Tower states that the Rural
Electrification Agency has
approved a grant in the a-
mount of $1, 603, 000 to the
Medina Electric Cooperative
in Hondo.
The loan is for the pur-
pose of financing 137 miles
of distribution lines to 350
consumers for various system
improvements.
Medina Electric serves
Medina, Atascosa, Dimmit,
Duval. Frio, LaSalle, Mc-
Mulle, Webb, Zavala,
Brooks, Jim Hogg, Sun, Za-
pata, Edwards, Kinney, Re-
al and Uvalde counties.
farming and ranching needs,
as well as soil conservation
projects and recreation plan-
ning.
Also included among
present projects is the fund-
ing of the Natalia Sewer
Project, the Castroville Park
and Heliport Project, and
the Hondo Storm Sewer Pro-
ject through the Economic
Development Administration.
Recent meetings between the
EDA and officials from the
Cities of Natalia, Castroville
and Hondo resulted in an on-
the-site tour being conduct-
ed to determine which agen-
cies of the federal and state
governments can have a role
in meeting their needs.
Medina Lake, which bor-
tour.
The tour was shortened
by rains, but not before the
farmers saw several new
strains of planes, including
a new hybrid yellow endo-
sperm which is resistant to
AUSTIN—Alamo Area
Council of Governments and
Bexar County and the City of
San Antonio were among 26
regional and metropolitan
area planning councils a?
warded criminal justice plan-
ning grants for fiscal 1973
today by Governor Preston
Smith. Amounts were $46, -
COO for AACOG and $30, 007
for Bexar County and San
Antonio.
The awards, totaling
$793,718, will come from
the Criminal Justice Coun-
cil, which oversees state-
wide law enforcement plan-
ning and administers funds
from tlie U. S. Department
of Justice for crime control
projects in Texas.
Tlie grant to AACOG will
be used in implementing ac-
tion projects outlined in pre-
vious plans and in updating
tlie comprehensive five-year
criminal justice plan for tlie
11 counties it serves.
AACOG furnishes profes-
sional criminal justice plan-
ning services to each local
governmental unit in the re-
gion's 11 counties and serves
as a regional clearinghouse
for projects.
These counties are Atas-
cosa, Bandera, Bexar, Co-
mal. Frio, Gillespie, Gua-
dalupe, Kendall, Kerr, Me-
dina, and Wilson. The re-
ders Bandera and Medina
Counties, will soon be af-
fected by the Medina Lake
Recreation and Pollution
Control Concept, wherein a
task force of Bexar, Bandera
and Medina county officials
will set priorities for the
control of pollution and the
development of recreation on
Medina Lake,
Projected activities for
the AACOG in Nfedina Coun-
ty include tlie continued pro-
motion of intergovernmental
agreements and activities
within the region, expanding
the conservation project,
and providing more techni-
cal assistance and support to
member governments..
Flans are underway at
the downy mildew which has
plagued other new yellow
endosperm hybrid:.
The day ended with a
barbecue dinner, after which
the farmers returned home to
Hondo,
gion's cash contribution to
the criminal justice planning
effort for the coming year
will be $41, *48 6, plus $3,335
for the metropolitan area.
Activities to be supported
during tlie year in tlie law
enforcement field by AACOG
include regional law enforce-
ment radio and teletype
communications, regional
law enforcement training,
crime prevention, regional
crime laboratory and organ-
ized crime control and spe-
cial operations unit.
Under the Bexar County
and San Antonio planning
grant tlie Bexar County Met-
ropolitan Criminal Justice
Council will serve as a plan-
ning agency and oversee all
applications from depart-
ments or agencies of the
county and the city for funds
from CJC or other funding
agencies.
City Council
meeting Tues.
A special ftleeting of
Hondo’s City Council has
been called for Tuesday,
June 27, by Mayor George
Brucks. The meeting will be
held at 7:30 at the Munici-
pal Building meeting room.
The meeting will be to
discuss and reform the sub-
division ordinance.
present for extended co-op-
eration among regional law
enforcement officers, and
funding has been received
for this purpose (see other
story this page).
Also in the planning stage
is a drug abuse center for
the area served by AACOG,
as well as a program to dis-
courage shoplifting among
children and teenagers.
Due to the great and con-
tinued success of the MAST
helicopter airlift program,
which chose the AACOG re-
gion for one of its pilot pro-
grams, tlie Alamo area re-
gion is now a source of infor-
mation for the establishment
of similar programs else-
where in the state and nation.
Bill Long also presented
an outline for establishing in
Hondo or otlier AACOG ci-
ties a program of day-care
for children of working mo-
thers, While the program is
not 9et up or maintained by
AACOG, the organization
serves as a co-ordinator for
private or m inicipal groups
irirk Please turn to page 3
Lumber Co.
observes
anniversary
No 79-year-old is sup-
posed to be "still growing",
but when Hondo Lumber
Company turns 70 this week,
it can boast of a lifetime of
continuous growth stretch-
ing from tlie era of lumber
and brick to that of mason-
ite and formica. Not that
there isn't still a huge mar-
ket for the old reliable
building materials, but any-
one who supplies home
builders and fixers needs to
be flexible and able to change
with tlie times. Hondo Lum-
ber Company lias seen many
changes in 70 years, and has
stood the test of time by con-
stantly expanding its busi-
ness.
Begun in 1902 as the A -
dair and Wilson Lumber Yard,
Hondo's lumber supplier
changed names twice before
receiving its present name.
In 1904, E. S. Adair bought
out George Wilson to form
tlie Adair Lumber Co., then
in 1906, Ford and Isbell
bought out Adair. In 1909,
Felix Batot, John Finger and
Heinz Rothe bought tlie busi-
ness and renamed it tlie Hon-
do Lumber Company. Since
that year, there has always
been a Batot behind the
counter as Felix was succeed-
ed by liis son, Milton, and
now by Milton's son, Ferdle.
The old store building,
which was constructed early
in the history if the business,
grew too small in 1963, and
a new addition was built
which multiplied the floor-
space several times over the
original dimessions of the
building.
Today, Hondo Lumber
Company serves Hondo and
Medina County with building
materials and household
appliances that would have
amazed those original own-
ers of 70 years ago.
HE'S COMING BACK
...TO WORK.
DON’T FORGET.
HIRE THE VET!
TOURISTS RETURN
. . . Area farmers traded fraefor seats for bus seats for a day and toured a
crop exhibit near Taft.
Farmers tour Taft Thursday
AACOG
given gr ant
New M anager
Brad Carroll has been promoted to the rank of man-
ager of the Hondo group by Bell Telephone System.
He comes to Hondo from San Antonio's Bell offic-
es. Carroll replaces Harold Johnson, who was
promoted to a higher job in San Antortio. Born in
San Antonio, Carroll graduated from Schertz-Ci-
bolo High School and received his Bachelor of
Business Adnrnistration degree in December, 1971
from Southwest Texas State University, San Mar-
cos. He is a member of the A'my Reserves based
at Fort Sam Houston.
Young f armers
set f ield day
Nearly a dozen members
of the Hondo Young Farmer
Chapter plan to attend the
Area VII Field Day at Fred-
ericksburg Saturday, June 24.
The Field Day will begin
at 9 a. m. with a tour of the
Kirschberg Catfish Farm sev-
eral miles north of Freder-
ic Itsburg. Each phase of the
catfish farm operation will
be explained including open
pond culture, cage, breeding,
hatcliing and brooding and
rearing-tank operations. A
tour of the processing plant
will also be Included. A
catfish dinner will be served
at the noon meal.
The afternoon session will
include a tour of a large
peach orchard and tlie LBJ
Ranch at Stonewall. A So-
cial Hour at the Gillespie
Co. Fairgrourj4S''vill con-
clude ijjfi^driy's activities.
The Area'VUXeung Home-
makers will also liave a
Field Day in conjunction
with the Young farmers
Field Day. Registration for
the Field Days will begin at
7:30 a.m. Saturday morn-
ing.
A meeting on fish farming
will be held at the vocation-
al agriculture building at
Fredericksburg High School
on Friday night. June 23, at
8:00. Willard Richter, area
biologist, and James Henson,
regional biologist for the
Soil Conservation Service,
will conduct tlie program.
All interested persons are in-
vited to attend.,
oldest and newest
... Rick Rohrbach, a Hondo Volunteer Fireman
of two weeks, stands next to 18-year veteran
Charles Lutz to display a book of tickets to the
Hondo Firemen's Carnival to be held August 19.
Car nival ticket
it
sales start
Hondo Volunteer firemen
are dipping into their pockets
once again ... to pull out
tickets to their August 19
Street Dance and Carnival,
which they then sell to their
friends. The ticket, printed
in charcoal black on fire or-
ange, con only a dollar and
should remind each of us of
the ho now that that dollar is
spent to prevent.
For the dollar donation,
the holder can dance in tlie
Hondo Courthouse Square
streets to the music of Ramon
Villa and his orchestra. In
addition, tickets serve as
stubs in a raffle which will
net three lucky winners sav-
ings bonds of $100, $50 or
$25.
The carnival is always a
successful and enjoyable
fund-raising activity, and so
far Hondo's response has been
excellent. This year, plan
to conic to tlie Carnival
with full pockets, and then
go home with empty ones.
This year as always, the say-
ing applies, "You come to
our carnival, well come to
your fire,"
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The Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 85, No. 25, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 22, 1972, newspaper, June 22, 1972; Hondo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth819782/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hondo Public Library.