The Pharr Press (Pharr, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 11, 1973 Page: 1 of 6
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Pharr Memorial Library
130 E. Caffery
Pharr, Te*a*
The Weather
Change of weather on Friday
with northerly winds. Some showers
possible over wide area of South
Texas on Friday and continuing into
Saturday.
THE PHARR PRESS
10*
--*
VOLUME XXXXI—No. 41 PHARR. (HIDALGO COUNTY), TEXAS 78577 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1973 10c. PER COPY—$3.50 PER YEAR
PER COPY
(Plus Tax)
$3.50 Per Year in Hidalgo Go.
Mail Subscription
Bears-Eagle Clash In
Crucial 4-A Game
The PSJA Bears will be fighting
to stay “alive” in the tough 4-A
District title race when they play
the big Brownsville Eagles in
Brownsville this Friday night, Oct.
12th., .and maintain a jinx on the
Eagles that has held for a number
of years.
This is the first game away from
home this season for the Bears, in-
cidentally.
The Eagle-Bear game has been
one of the outstanding games each
year on the PSJA schedule for a
long time. Several years ago,
Brownsville came to Pharr with an
undefeated team and were led by a
great quarterback and the Bears
pulled one of the great upsets ever
by soundly defeating them. Last
year the Bears won 25 to 19 in a
wild one ,and in 1971 the score was
10-7, which PSJA won with a field
goal in the final 25 seconds. The
1970 score was 17-0.
Head Coach Max Cantu said
Brownsville has a larger team than
Harlingen but they are not as
quick. They have a very good quar-
terback and a fullback that gets
the short, hard yardage. “We ex-
pect a very hard, tough game with
the Eagles, as always,” Coach Can-
tu said.
Brownsville does not pass as
much as Harlingen, but they move
the ball very well.
Brownsville has won one district
game, edging out San Benito last
week 7-6.
The Beats will play again with-
out their big offensive man, Leo
Saldana, who underwent surgery
this week and is expected to miss
the next game with McAllen, but
may be ready for the Mission game.
The PSJA band and Bearettes
will go to the game and will give
their usual half-time show.
Here are the records of the two
teams to date:
PSJA RECORD
PSJA 14, Donna 17.
PSJA 34, Rio Grande City 0.
PSJA 19, Edcouch-Elsa 17.
PSJA 0, Harlingen 12.
BROWNSVILLE RECORD
Brownsville 7, Corpus Christi Car-
roll 15.
Brownsville 7, Donna 10.
Brownsville 7, Laredo Martin 0.
Brownsville 7, San Benito 6.
Security Systems Owner Gives Report On
incident’ at Pharr Civic Center Dance
f| H
BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL-
Muscular Dystrophy House-To-House
Drive in Pharr Will Be Oct. 16
Pharr, Texas
Oct. 8, 1973
To all it may concern:
In reply to recent articles pub-
lished concerning certain stated
Pharr Police activities, I, John E.
Gossett, owner of the Security Po-
lice Systems, wish to come to the
defense of. the Pharr police and
clear up some erroneous statements
published concerning the non-effec-
tiveness and un-willingness of the
police to serve their community
and fellow law officers.
On Saturday night, Sept. 22, there
was a dance at the Pharr Civic
Center which my company was
hired to guard. It was a 15-year
dance, and as the young lady was
very popular, there was an over-
capacity crowd. For security reason
it became necessai*y through the
course of events to stop people from
entering the building. Understand-
ably, this irritated the 100-125 per-
sons who were being kept out of
the dance.
At the same time the outside
problem was occurring, there was
a dispute between a man and his
wife inside. When I ushered the
man out the front door into the
large crowd, it understandably did
pot help the present outside situa-
tion. When Security Police Systems
Sgt. Ambrosio Vigil and I decided
that the crowd was agitated and
the situation was dangerous, I call-
ed the Pharr police for assistance. I
then went to the door and informed
the crowd that reinforcements were
ob the way to clear the area, and
that they should leave immediate-
ly.
At this point I wish to highly
commend the citizens of Pharr for
peacefully dispersing. I believe that
this is the most important event of
the evening. However, others be-
lieve that the event of the Pharr
Police supposedly never showing up
is more important.
Perhaps because these people
didn’t know that I went back to the
telephone and cancelled my previ-
ous call. The officers dispatched
were consequently cancelled. This is
a matter of public record. How-
ever, the officers continued to the
scene, as is normal procedure. See-
ing that the situation was under
control, the police continued with
their normal rounds.
Another statement made was the
fact that my men and I cannot
carry hand guns at the Civic Cen-
ter. When I am hired, I work for
the city. At present, Pharr does
not have an ordinance which allows
me to carry handguns at the Civic
Center. Pharr Chief of Police Rey-
na asked me as a personal favor
not to carry the guns at the Civic
Center until he could find out whe-
ther I, or any security agency, or
off duty policemen could legally
carry handguns there in the future.
Of course, I complied. I, as well as
Chief Reyna, am only interested in
the protection of Pharr. Chitf Rey-
na and I are both concerned with
the possibility of an occurrence
which could put the city of Pharr
in legal jeopardy. I believe Chief
Reyna to be right. Nobody is above
the law. Chief Reyna should be
commended for this. We are inves-
tigating the legality of carrying
handguns and the possibilities of
passing an ordinance enabling us to
i do so.
i
Furthermore, I personally have
never been present, at any time,
when our police supposedly har-
rassed any citizen. To compare
them with our past police force
would be unfair. They are well-
trained and dedicated officers.
The police motto is “We serve,
we protect.” Most citizens only
come in contact with police protec-
tion, as in quieting a disturbance.
But we are willing to serve our
community in whatever way we
can. Ask us.
Thank you.
/s/ John E. Gossett
GIN REPORT
The two gins in the Tri-City area
still open ginned 279 bales for the
week of Oct. 3-10th.
The Rio Vista Gin spid they would
stay open until October 15 and
Farmers Gin said they would stay
open through Saturday, October
13th.
Here,are the totals at 3 p.m. Oc-
tober 10 th:
Rio Vista — 6,716.
Farmers Coop Gin — 8,386.
Jose Christmas Gin — 1,625.
(Closed)
TOTAL — 16,727.
TOTAL LAST WEEK — 16,448.
City Budget
Here is a breakdown of the ad-
ministrative and financial part of
the City of Pharr general fund
budget for 1973-74, compared to
1972-73 year:
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Salaries, Firemen ...........$37,246
Allowance for
Volunteer Firemen ........$ 6,500
Alarm System ...............$ 925
Maint. and Repairs
of Equipment .............$ 2,400
Supplies .....................$ 1,000
Bldg. Repairs ..... $ 100
Utilities .....................$ 800
Car Expense, Fire 4
Marshal ...................$
Firemen Relief Fund ........$
Insurance, Trucks ..........,.$ 1,680
Insurance, Firepien .........$ 400
Travel and Training ........$ 700
Extra Labor ................$ 100
TOTAL ................$52,991
TOTAL PREVIOUS YEAR $30,000
480
600
LEGION NEWS
The annual fall convention of the
15th District of the American Le-
gion and Auxiliary will be held in
Harlingen October 12-14 with the
main sessions for both units on Sun-
day, Oct. 14th. Hector A. Pena of
Laredo is the District Commander
of the Legion.
Mrs. Ida Martin and Mrs. Elea-
nor Pullin made a business trip to
Dallas last week, returning on
Thursday afternoon.
Miss Zonia Willingham with the
Security State Bank has graciously
volunteered to seiR’e as campaign
treasurer. •' £
Muscular Dystrophy is a devas-
tating disease wffich cripples its
victims by progressively destroying
muscle tissue. Thousands of Texas
residents are afflicjted by muscular
dystrophy. Approximately two-
thirds of these victims will not
grow to maturity linless a cure is
found soon. ;
For the first time, scientists have
succeeded in reversing the relent-
less downhill progression of heredi-
tary muscular dystrophy. By ad-
ministering certainfvegetable oils to
dystrophic chickens, substantial
new' growth of muscle tissue consis-
tently occurred. This rejuvenation
has been positively [s ubstantiated by
urination and
On Tuesday, Oct. 16, volunteer
marchers will conduct a house-to-
house appeal in Pharr for funds to
fight muscular dystrophy and re-
lated neuro-muscular diseases. The
volunteer marchers will be wearing
an official Jerry Lewis identifica-
tion tag.
Otfo Coffey, 76,
Dies Oct. 11
Otto Coffey, 214 West Sam Hous-
ton, died October 11th, 2:30 a.m.,
in the McAllen Hospital after a long
illiness. He had been hospitalized
many times for a number of years
and had been in Houston hospitals
several times. He was 76.
He purchased property on West
Sam Houston in 1950 and he and ! both macroscopic^e
his wife came here in 1952 from
Cincinnati. Ohio, ami opened the,
Hidden Acres Trailer Court on West
Sam Houston and operated it until
now.
He worked for the Texas Highway
Dept, as draftsman for 12 years
until his retirement in 1963.
Mr. Coffey was born in Paw-
huska, Okla. He served four years
in WWI. He was active in the Pharr
Rifle & Pistol Club for many years
and served as an officer of the club.
He was also an instructor for a
Junior Rifle Club sporsored by the
club and a Jr. Club sponsored by the
Elk’s Club.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs.
Marie Coffey of Pharr; two cousins,
Cleon Coffey, Wauneta, Kansas, and
Audrey Pyeatte, Healdton, Okla.
Funeral arrangements will be an-
nounced by Kreidler Funeral Horne.
Trustees Leave Retirement Policy
As Is; Amendment Is Tabled
The PSJA school board of trus- the Valley and the committee re-
tees failed to reach a vote on commended that “retirement re-
amending the retirement policies ma^n at age 65 with a yearly re-
f o r professional, non-professional
and classified personnel and tabled
the question for the second time at
the ijegular meeting October 8th.
A consultation committee headed
by J. A. “Tony” Badillo presented
a written report to the board citing
policies of other school districts in
Mrs. Virginia Polk,
Valley Pioneer,
Dies at Age 77
Mrs. Virginia N. Polk, one of the
last of the early day pioneers of
the Pharr area and the Valley, died
October 5th, 9 a.m., at the Good
Samaritan Center, McAllen, after a
serious illness of about three
months. She was 77. She became ill
on July 13 and had been hospital-
ized at Harlingen or McAllen since.
Funeral services were held Octo-
ber 8th, 2 p.m., in St. Jude’s Catho-
lic Church, with Father Julian Bue-
no and Rev. Haynes Dugan of Trin-
ity Episcopal Church officiating.
Burial was in Roselawn Cemetery,
McAllen.
Mrs. Polk, a native of Laredo,
moved with her parents to Browns-
ville in the early 1900s. She received
her education at the historical Im-
maculate Conception Convent in
Brownsville, and was organist for
several years for the Cathedral of
the Immaculate Conception. After
her marriage to the late Judge Lu-
cius'Polk, they moved to Pharr in
1916, where Judge Polk opened the
Hidalgo Co. branch office of the
Brownsville law firm of Seabury,
George, Taylor and Polk.
„ , . , Mrs. Polk was a very successful
a¥S wrj- ' ^esiu tor nwo ths0 .3.
years, and was greatly beloved by
her several generations of piano
students. She endeared herself to
her friends in many ways with her
proficiency in Spanish and her
many authentic and interesting stor-
ies of the pioneer days in Pharr [
by increase in stj
to Support an all-out research ef-
fort. The survival of many of our
patients having advanced cases of
muscular dystrophy is dependent
upon early success of this effort.
MDAA also supports a Muscular
Dystrophy Clinic in San Antonio.
This clinic will provide out-patient
care to dystrophies as well as in-
patient care when necessary for
diagnostic purposes. Anyone wish-
ing to attend this clinic should
make application to MDAA, Inc.,
320 New Moore Building, 106 N.
Broadway, San Antonio, Texas
78205 or phone 512-226-8383. MDAA
also provides wheelchairs and other
orthopedic devices prescribed at the
clinic or by the patients own phy-
sician. All authorized patient serv-
ices are provided without cost to
natients.
65 with
newable contract to age 70. Retire-
ent mandatory at age 70. That edu-
cators reaching age 65 do not apply
for renewal of contract, but that
renewal of their contracts be sub-
mitted to the board by the Supt.”
After a long discussion at which
there were varying opinions express-
ed, the board voted to table for
further study. It will be first on the
agenda at the next regular board
meeting.
The survey of retirement prac-
tices showed nine school districts
in the Valley renewed contracts
after age 65, six had mandatory re-
tirement at age 70. Three had no
limit on renewals after age 65. One
school district only, Harlingen, has
mandatory retirement at age 65
for administrators.
Less Absenteeism By 65-Ers—
Another interesting part of the
survey showed that teachers over
65 had less absenteeism and less
sick leave than teachers under 65
by about 100 per cent. Average ab-
sences per educator over 65 was 4
days a year and under 65 was 9.6
days. Forty-nine teachers under 65
overspent sick leave while none
over 65 overspent their time.
The present board policy on re-
tirement was adopted Jan. 11, 1971
and provides for year to year con-
tracts after age 65 but the appli-
cant must request employment and
his request is reviewed by the supt.,
the principal and the president of
the board.
The remainder of the agenda re-
quired far less time. Resignation
and election of personnel was ap-
proved, bills for August were ap-
proved, and a report of delinquent
tax collections from Atty. W. L.
Lemen was presented in written
form.
Tiie board ordered a minor
change’ order on the classroom con-
tract at Edison School. This con-
tract of $107,000 is 65 per cent com-
plete. Funds for this improvement
are from the 1967 bond issue and
are the last funds in that issue.
The Jefferson Jr. High vocational
and the Valley. Her attitude was!bdlldinS addition 01 578,000 is only
always forward-looking and she! lb P™ cent c°mPlete-
took pride in the growth of the Val-
Ode 7-13 Fire
Prevention Week
Fire Prevention Week, October
Building Permits
Mai $3.5 Million
The building permit story in last
week’s paper had a “small” error
of $954,107! The building permits for
June were omitted in the totals,
which were $954,107, and this made
the 1973 construction permits for
nine months $3,504,226.
This is an all time record for
Pharr for any nine months or any
one year period.
Hex-e are the totals month by
month:
1973 CONSTRUCTION
January ................ $1 101,790
February si 49* 1 by Flrn Marshal Blackwell con-
^ ................ w,ayu,42a j !inuod on dmvn (he Valley with the
arci ................... ^ 156,945 j resf 0f thd caravan. Purpose of the
April .................... $ 132,412 j caravan is to let the citizens view
May ..................... $ 88,015 various pieces of equipment used
June ..................... $ 954,107
July ...................... $ 228,075
August ................... $ 74,561
September ............... $ 177,896
TOTAL ................ $3,504,226
ley and had much faith in its fu-
ture.
She was a member of the Pan
American Round Table and Texas
Music Teachers Ass’n. and a found-
ing member of St. Jude’s Parish,
Pharr.
She is survived by one son, Lu-
cius J. Folk IV of Bellaire; four
daughters, Mary Virginia Polk of
Pharr; Mrs. C. B. (Daisy Ellen)
Wickliffe, Escondido, Calif., Mrs.
Robert P. (Frances) Miller of San
Antonio, and Mrs. J. E. (Betty)
Gra mler, Jr., of Cheyenne, Wyo.
Ten grandchildren and one great
grandchild also survive.
Pallbearers were Dan McLendon,
7-13, was kicked off by the annual, Bod£ord Hudspethj Lloyd Glover,
caravan ol lire equipment Saturday, j Edvvard Bakel. Dulie Larson and
Oct. 6. All the city equipment pa-
raded through Pharr after joining
Mission. McAllen, Edcouch, Elsa
and Edinburg units at Old S3 and,R Jeratags M. N. Dyer_ K. G.
. ackson Road. ; Bea Charles Ridlehuber, Robert
Members of the lad.es pumper |po,k Lucius Polki , Michael and
team, volunteer Ijremen and civil '
A. C. Jaime. Honorary pallbearers
were Ruffin Cooper, Sr., Floyd
Everhard, George McCullough, M.
dren of the firemen enjoyed the
narade up to I Road where all the
trucks returned toj the station and
the Department ambulance driven
Bradley Miller, and Joseph, Rich-
ard and David Grammier.
Kreidler Funeral Home was in
charge of arrangements.
Class of 1923 Will
Have Open House
Jose Quintanilla
Gets Certificate
The official State Health Depart-
ment’s certificate of competency for
. „ . the oldest ecology oriented profes-
out he week. Firej Prevention Week shm T has been awarded t0
is observed in the week in which Joge Quintanil|a, wh0 is water plant
to contain fires.
Fire Marshal Blackwell lectured
in the elementary schools through-
the October 9 anniversary of the
great Chicago Fire of 1S71 falls.
Firemen and their wives gather-
ed in Brownsville Oct. 9 for the
Fifth District Firemen and Fire
Marshals meeting and pumper
races.
The PSJA graduating class of
1923-24 will celebrate its 50th anni-
versary Saturday afternoon, Oct.
20, with an open house at the PSJA , — — --------------
High School cafeteria. All our old J Will Meet Oct. 16
friends are invited to come by and
celebrate with us.
Citrus Committee
The Texas Valley Citrus Commit-
tee will meet Tuesday, October 16,
Among the graduates attending!8 p.m., at the Texas A&I University
are: Boyd Hays, Esther (Klein-j Citrus Training Center. Weslaco.
schmidtt) Wilkening, Mary (Tem-
ple) Hirth, Mary (Price) Lahser,
Irene (Mellenbruch) Johnson, Janie
R. N. Carlson, Jr., manager of
TexaSweet Citrus Advertising, Inc.,
will reveal the first phase of the
supervisor for the City of Pharr.
As a water ecologist, he has been
taught effective ways for produc-
ing safe drinking water and treat-
ments to make wastewater into
clean water for public use.
■ This training from the Texas Wa-
ter Utilities Association, the larg-
est water and wastewater training
school in the United States, has
produced clean streams and better
operated water facilities than any
other section of the country.
To receive the certificate, he has
completed both a formal and a spe-
cialized education, accumulated a
prescribed amount of actual work
New Federal Program
The board authorized the school
administrator's to apply for a new
federal project under the Emer-
gency Assistance Act. If approved,
this will come direct from the fed-
eral gov’t. Gus Guerra, ass’t. supt.,
made the report on this project.
The formal application is yet to be
prepared.
An analysis of Title I and Title
II migrant programs was presented
County Mails Out
Tax Statements
The Hidalgo County tax office is
now mailing all real and personal
property tax statements for 1973.
However, because of several dif-
ferent projects undertaken during
the year, the oil, gas and motor
vehicle statements will be delayed
for a few days. Posting machine
difficulties have also been experi-
enced, causing further delay of the
work involved.
During the year, 68 new subdivis-
ions have been processed into the
1973 tax roll. The new Road Dis-
trict No. 15 bond tax and the “Over
65” Homestead Exemption, has
been included in the work load of
the tax office, as well as the con-
tinued county re-evaluation pro-
gram.
Ciro Trevino, tax assessor and
collector, anticipates that approxi-
mately 135,000 tax statements will
be mailed this year. This repre-
snts an increase of some 6,000 state-
ments over the previous year.
(ITowton) Shedelbower, C1 a r a j 1973-74 Advertising Program to the j experience, andpassedtheexamina-
(Christiansen) Kjelde, and Eva Committee and other interested i tion given by the State. Health De-
(Mottesheard) Beddoe. | parties. ! partment’s Sanitary Engineers.
Dyer Wins Award
At Texas A&M
James W. Dyer of Pharr has earn-
ed “Distinguished Student” rank-
ing at Texas A&M University, an-
nounces Registrar Robert A. Lacey.
The undergraduate honor is given
students who have excelled aca-
demically. Recipients must earn at
least a 3.25 grade point ratio (out
of a possible 4.0) during the most
recent grading period.
“Distinguished Student” ranking
is limited to 10 per cent of TAMU’s
undergraduate enrollment.
Dyer, _ a civil engineering major,
I is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ma!-
I colm G. Dyer, Rt. 1, Pharr.
by Glenn Trent, special services- aef-
ministrator. All the programs m
each school were listed on charts
for each of the programs. Title I-
has a budget of $587,000 and Title I
migrant $640,000. Another migrant
program for 4-year-olds has a bud-
get of $115,000.
Principal Gets Salary Raise
In an executive session after the
regular meeting, the board voted
to raise the salary of High School
principal Ernesto Alvarado from
$15,500 to $16,500 annually. A com-
parison of principal salaries for
other schools was presented and
after discussion, the board voted
the increase.
One release of judgment held by
the School District was approved at
the last meeting, according to the
minutes. This was suit No. AA-1797,
DBA Sansco Home and Farm Sup-
ply, J. P. Garza, which totaled
some $450 for all taxing bodies in-
volved.
All the board members were pres-
ent, with the administrators and
about 10 spectators.
SEEN ’ROUND
THE TOWN
Former mayor R. S. BOWE and
MRS. BOWE back from a five
weeks trip says everywhere they
went, business seemed to be boom-
ing, • even more so than right here
in the Valley and this area is on
some sort of a zing right now that-
is not comparable to anything ever
seen before. . . . Did you know that
the cotton gins have been open five
weeks longer this year than last
year and the cotton harvest is still
100,000 bales less? ... The CARL
SCHUSTERS were among those who
were up at the King Ranch October
T2tft to attend the annual Santa
Gertrudis cattle sale, which at-
tracts dignitaries of all levels fromr
all over the two Americas and from
Australia. The Corpus Christi Caller
with former Valley-ite, Eleanor
Mortinsen doing the writing, always
has two or more write-ups on the
event, one from a social standpoint,
the important men and women
present, and what some of them
wore, and the other on the straight
facts on the sale. The sale this year
will see total sales pass the million
dollar mark since it began just a
few years ago. . . . Never a dull
moment in Pharr. There is always
someone telling a rumor or a fabri-
cated story as fact. Elsewhere in
this issue is an article by Security
Officer JOHN E. GOSSETT clear-
ing up a number of irresponsible
statements about what happdherf^--
at a dance at the Pharr Civic Cen-
ter recently. . . . Someone calls this
newspaper about every day now
about Daylight Saving Time and
when it is going off. Regular time
will return the last Sunday of the
month, October 28th. The clocks
will go BACK one hour (not up).
. . . Prediction — The National
League winner will be the winner
of the WORLD SERIES. 4 games to
2. . . . JACK LeCLAIR, who hunted
deer with a bow down on Atascosa
Refuge last week, says he under-
stands very clearly now why the-
Indians lost the West and the war!
Let it be said for the Indians, how-
ever, that they were far more pro*-
ficient with the bow than the mod-
ern day bowmen. . . . Two choice
realty sites, one south and one
north, are in the process of being
closed this week, and the one south
is a new one — not the 500-acre
golf course, homes, apt. complex
that has been in the works for some-
time. . . . The PSJA School Dist.
changed its tax books to a new sys-
tem of data processing and what
happens — the statements are later
by some two to three weeks than
when they were put out by the old,
slow human method. And nobody
knows yet how many mistakes the
new system will. make. . , . MAU-
RICE COFER is out again,. much
the same as before, after a very
lengthy sickness, in which he was
hospitalized for several weeks. He
is a good example of grit and sta-
mina enduring over anything. . . .
Last Sundays S. A. Express had a
fine feature about former Co. Judge,
former Congr., now U. S. Senator,
LLOYD M. BENTSEN, JR. If con-
ditions continue to go to pot for the
Republicans, he could make a big
wake in the Demo Party sooner
than any one ever predicted or ex-
pected. . . .
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Glover, Lloyd H. The Pharr Press (Pharr, Tex.), Vol. 41, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 11, 1973, newspaper, October 11, 1973; Pharr, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth848493/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Pharr Memorial Library.