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GROUNDBREAKING--The
Lockney City Council held a groundbreaking ceremony for
Lockney's STEP grant project, for a new city sewer facility.
Shown left to right are: Councilman Michael DeLeon,
Councilman J.D. Copelan, Councilwoman Tina Graves, Michael
Adams of O.D.J. Engineering, Congressman Charles Stenholm,
Mayor Roger Stapp, State Representative Pete Laney, Alvino
Lopez, Field Office Representative for the Office of Rural
Community Affairs (ORKA), and Jerry Casstevens, representing
SPAG.
TEXAS IN THE
SWING--The Lockney Chamber of Commerce will host their
annual banquet, Saturday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m. in the
Lockney Elementary Cafeteria. The cost for the steak meal
will be $10 for adults and $5 for children (who want a steak
dinner). Entertainment for the evening will include Texas in
the Swing (shown here), and Mrs. Forgerson's gymnastic
students. The chamber will present awards to the Lockney
Citizen of the Year and the Lockney Firemen of the Year.
Tickets can be purchased from Chamber President Sharon Hunt,
Treasurer Kelly Prayor, or any chamber director. Tickets can
also be purchased at the door.
Three Positions to Open for Floydada Council Seats By Darwin Robinson The Floydada City Council met Tuesday, February 17, and voted to set May 15, 2004 for the City of Floydada's General Election. Three incumbent council members seats are up for re-election. They are: Eric Cornelius, At Large; Jon Nielson, District 4; and Bettye King, District 1. Candidate applications can be picked up at City Hall, located at 114 W. Virginia. The deadline to file is March 15, 2004 at 5:00 p.m. Early voting ends May 11, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. Applications for ballot by mail must be received by 6:00 p.m. on May 7, 2004. In other matters, the council approved a bid by Allen Doggett Construction of Ralls for $159,054 to build a new sanitary sewer lift station at 12th Street. This construction is contingent upon approval of a grant pending for this project. In a related matter, the council gave unanimous approval to A & J Howco Services, Inc. of Lubbock to seek other future grants for water and sewer projects from the Texas Community Development Program. City Manager Gary Brown and City Secretary Karen Lawson both addressed the council concerning a 2003 Homebuyer Assistant grant already in place to help the elderly, disabled or handicapped citizens for reconstruction of their existing homes. According to Brown and Lawson, the citizens who apply must show proof of income, ownership, occupancy, verification of disability or handicap, and social security card for each household member. "An information sheet is available at City Hall," said Lawson. Brown added, "There is only enough money for 4 or 5 houses and I am sure we will see a larger number of applications than this." The council heard from Floydada Technology Director Dora Ross and English as a Second Language (ELS) Program instructor Ester Arellano. Arellano said, "I am excited about this new program to help the Spanish community to learn English. Many have been here for many years and still cannot speak English. "My vision is to have a bilingual community. Classes start March 23rd for men and women. Speaking English is our goal. This is very important in getting a better job. We encourage the EMS employees and the City policemen to come and learn Spanish, in order to understand the Spanish when they deal with them," Arellano concluded. No action was taken by the council concerning a letter of engagement from Edd V. Henderson & Co. of Floydada for auditing services for fiscal year 2003-2004. Lacking a 'length of time' in last month's motion of the Severance Agreement for the City Manager, the council voted unanimously to give the City Manager three months severance pay "in the event the council/manager relationship reaches a point that Gary Brown feels he can no longer effectively perform his job and feels he should resign from the position held. The City of Floydada shall compensate Gary Brown three months salary, longevity, insurance and retirement on a monthly basis, including the finding of employment with like compensation." No action was needed by the council to deny rate relief as requested by Atmos Energy effective February 29, 2004, unless Atmos extends the effective date. Brown said, "We already have a refusal in place through February 29th." No action was taken concerning Mackenzie Water Authority. Brown gave a statement to the council, "The Mackenzie board plans to cut treatment to 500,000 gallons of water a day. They will also reduce the amount of operating money they expect each city to pay. The management seems to be going about things in a solid way. This plan may not be the best, but I think everyone involved is working hard to make things work. We need rain!" In Public Forum, John Herrera addressed the council to complain about the towing of certain vehicles by the police, "But instead of 'towing' the vehicles, they are driving them. Is that proper procedure? Who is liable, if the vehicle is wrecked? Also, policemen in unmarked and private vehicles have been giving tickets. Is that correct police procedure?" Councilmember Eric Cornelius responded, "An off duty police officer has the right and authority to enforce the law anytime and anywhere in the State of Texas. It is his sworn duty to do so." City Attorney Karen Houchin interrupted and advised the council and Herrera, that Herrera had already been told that he needed documentation before he brought more complaints to the council. "There is a chain of command in making complaints. First, you must complain to your supervisor, then to the City Manager, then to the City Council in Public Forum. You need to bring dates, names, who was involved, and documented tickets, as we told you last month," said Houchin. There was no more discussion and no action taken. The council heard from a group of about 12 young boys, with some parents present, prior to the beginning of the council's regular business meeting. The boys were all skateboarders and they were seeking help from the City to possibly build a skateboard park, or area in one of the City parks just for skateboarders. Councilmember Eric Cornelius said, "Maybe we need something like the skateboard park in Lubbock. Like a ramp to ramp and a one-half pipe for skateboarders." Councilmember Sheldon Sue said, "Maybe something not real big, but at least a start." According to Technology Director Ross, "There are already some skateboard park proposals in place in Lubbock you can look at, if you want to." No
action was taken on this matter.
Smith Remembers Pioneer Days in Floyd County (Editor's Note: We hope everyone will enjoy some old stories from the past. We published a wonderful 100 year edition back in 1990 and it is full of great "pioneer" stories. One of the longest, but a very entertaining story, was written by Roy E. Smith, of Plainview. He died May 16, 1998 and was buried in the Lakeview Cemetery. He was born June 29, 1901 in Belcherville and graduated Floydada High School. He married Sunshine White on June 1, 1958 in Piney Fork, Arkansas. His sister was Ruth Harrison, of Floydada. He managed the Lakeview General Store from 1925-1941. We hope you enjoy his "Rememberances" which will be published in a series of stories.) Pioneer Rememberances By Roy E. Smith The date is 1905. We moved from Belcherville, Texas to Floyd County in a covered wagon, along with mother's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jake Hammonds. The Hammonds had two covered wagons, and we only had one. Granddad had been out west prospecting in this area and purchased a place seven miles northeast of Floydada, but could not get possession until after the first of the year. They rented a place in Lockney until they could get possession of their place. During this time we moved into a half dugout some 2 or 3 miles east of what was later Muncy switch. It had only one room. A dugout is similar to a cellar, only not quite as deep with a wooden roof over it. GATHERING WATER What I remember most about the place was the waterworks, or lack of some, I should say. There was no windmill near so we had to use the water wagon which was made of 2 X 4's, one upon another, in a U shape about four feet deep and ten or twelve feet long. There was a hole in the back near the bottom of the tank to draw water out. A rounded stick covered with a rag was used for a stopper. There was a man-made pond two or three miles away that was made by filling an arroyo and forming a dam, which was for the cattle to water (as it was ranch land). I recall going with dad to get water. He would drive out in the pond and stand on the wagon hub and lean down and dip water with a bucket and pour into the tank. Sometimes the pond would be full of cows which had come in for a drink--think of that will you. Mother would usually be on the scene when we would draw water from the wagon tank to use, as it would have to be strained to get the wiggle tails and other water creatures, as well as bugs out. How about a nice cool drink? How did we keep from being sick most of the time? I do not recall any of us (there were four of us then, including a twin brother) ever being sick. I guess we were lucky. PICKING COTTON We didn't stay there very long as dad was in Floydada one Saturday and met up with a man from Matador who was looking for cotton pickers. Dad asked some questions as where do you live and how good is the cotton and what was the picking price. He said it sounds good only it's north of Matador and we would have to move and had no place to stay. The man was Mr. Robert Dafford and lived some four or five miles north of Matador. They talked awhile and Mr. Dafford offered him his house to live in and 25¢ per hundred to pick the cotton. Dad said he could pick 400 pounds and mother could pick 300 pounds. Seven hundred pounds at 25¢ per 100. They could make $1.75 a day, plus the house to live in, which caused them to close the deal. We had a beautiful fall and dad and mother picked two bales a week until they got his crop gathered. TRIP TO THE DENTIST After we have been there some two or three weeks, I developed a toothache and I remember crying a lot as it hurt some badly. Mr. Dafford was gone a few days but when he returned dad asked him if there was any place in Matador where he could take me to get my tooth pulled. He said, "Yes there was a place," and told him how to find it. Well that was the middle of the week so dad told me we would go over there Sunday and see if we could get it taken care of. I could hardly wait for Sunday to come as I could get very little or no sleep with my tooth hurting so. Sunday morning we boarded the wagon and went to Matador. Well, dad had forgotten the dentist's name but didn't have much trouble finding him in so small a place. The dentist had a very elaborate set up, a cane bottom chair that the cane had worn out and been replaced with cow hide strips, criss-crossed on it. He had me get in the chair and checked to see which tooth was giving me the trouble. He got forceps or pliers or whatever he used to pull teeth with and got them placed like he wanted and gave a big pull. Well, he lifted me out of the chair, but the tooth stayed put. He then told me to hold on to the chair with one hand on either side. He tried again and this time he lifted me and the chair both up but the tooth stayed put. So the dentist enlisted dad to help by using some technique where he had dad to hold the chair down by placing one foot on either side of the chair while sitting in front of me. I made it just fine without any mouthwash or anything. I don't recall exactly how much the extraction cost but I think it was 50¢, the price of 200 pounds of picked cotton. FARMING We moved the winter from the half dugout to Mr. Rushings place out near Fairview, as dad worked for him a few months before moving to Lakeview where granddad had bought the place we heirs still have. I think it was the next spring after moving there that dad made a trade with Mr. Jamerson to break out a patch of grassland, commonly called sod, for three weaner pigs to feed out for meat hogs the next winter. He used a walking sod plow and would plow a strip about twelve to fourteen inches wide and between three and four inches deep. I think it took him at least two weeks work to break enough sod to pay for those three pigs. Well dad had told us boys about the trade and informed us that the pigs were red. Well, we had never seen a red pig and could hardly wait until he got that sod broken so he could bring the red pigs home. One day dad said he thought he could finish the amount of ground that he agreed to plow, that day, so he would bring the pigs home as soon as he finished. It was a long day, but just before sundown, he made it home and drove up beside the new wooden pen he had built for them. He tied the lines around the hub of the wagon wheel, so the team couldn't go forward. I was there ready to see the red pigs, so I climbed up on the wagon and on top of the hind wheel across a board that protruded about two feet from the corner post and I fell to the ground, throwing my left hand out before I hit the ground. I knew something was wrong, as my hand wanted to twist around and it was numb. Sure enough, dad said I had broken my arm, and we would have to get me to a doctor, which was Dr. Andrews in Floydada (Next
week: A trip to the doctor, going to school, peddlers, fence
cutters, and grass fires.)
Obituaries SHELBY CALAHAN Funeral services for Shelby Calahan, 84, of South Plains was held at 2:00 p.m. Monday, February 23, 2004 at South Plains Baptist Church. Reverend Nathan Mulder officated with Joe Weldon assisting. Burial was held in the Floyd County Memorial Park in Floydada under the direction of Moore-Rose-White Funeral Home of Lockney. Mr. Calahan died Saturday, February 21, 2004. He was born on April 27, 1919 in Farmersville and moved to Floyd County in 1924. Except for a brief tour of duty in the U. S. Merchant Marines during World War II, he farmed in the South Plains Community. He married Margaret Bean in 1941. He was an active member of the South Plains Baptist Church. Survivors incude his wife, Margaret; a daughter, Beth and husband, Jess Russell of Liberal, Kansas; three sons, Randy Calahan of South Plains, Jerry and wife, Carol of Canyon and Johnny Calahan and wife, Ann of Stephenville; one sister, Helen Karr of Lockney; one brother, H. S (Junior) Calahan of Abilene; four grandsons, Bradley, Bryan, Cameron, and Michael; one granddaughter, Shelby Lee and numberous nieces and nephews. E.M. "SON" JACKSON A memorial service for E.M. "Son" Jackson, 92, of Floydada will be held at the First Baptist Church of Floydada at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, February 26, 2004. Burial will be in the Floyd County Memorial Park under the direction of Moore-Rose-White Funeral Home of Floydada. Mr. Jackson died February 23, 2004 in San Angelo where he has resided for the past two years. He was born on June 13, 1911 in Wolfe City to J.W. and Emma Jackson. His parents purchased a farm in the McCoy Community in Floyd County and in 1916 they moved there. Mr. Jackson owned this farm at the time of his death. He married Faye Marble on November 3, 1940. He is preceded in death by his wife, Faye, on February 8, 2000, his parents, three brothers, five sisters, two half-brothers, two half-sisters and a son-in-law, Eugene "Button" Beedy in 1996. Mrs. Bennie Ruth Sprawls of Lubbock survives. Survivors include two daughters, Judy Beedy of Lubbock and Lynn Dunn and her husband, Joe Dunn of San Angelo; four grandsons, Mark Beedy and Todd Beedy, both of Floydada, Lane Dunn of Center and Shawn Dunn of Holly Pond, Alabama and nine great-grandchildren. The family suggests memorials to Floydada Senior Citizens, 905 West Virginia, Floydada, Texas 79235 or to a charity of choice.
Dear Editor, Hi! My name is Jay Zuidema. I am 13 years old. I like to play video games, listen to rock music, play hacky sac, skateboard, and hang out with my friends. I do not like my sister, and I do not like school. I live in Muskegon, Michigan. I live by some of my friends, so I can go over to their houses a lot. My neighborhood is nice and the people there are nice also. I live by a store, so I can go there a lot with my friends. My school district is nice also. We are getting a new high school in two years, so I will be a sophomore when we get it. I am writing to request you to put my letter in your newspaper. We're doing projects in my language arts class. We write to a newspaper so people can read them. We keep track of the responses on a giant map. I hope that the people that read this send me letters or something about your city. Well, that is my letter to your city. Again, I hope you put my letter in your newspaper. And, that your city's people will send me letters and stuff about your city. Now you know why I wrote to you. I have to go, bye. Sincerely, Jay Zuidema
By The Way | by Alice Gilroy
I recently received an email from a police chief friend of mine. It concerned proposed legislation in California that will give pregnant women special parking privileges. Critics say the legislation could pit pregnant women against disabled people--or it could imply that pregnant women are disabled. People in favor of the bill say they are trying to "honor pregnancy". In case you were wondering how you are supposed to prove someone is pregnant, the bill is supposed to be just for women in the last trimester. It's a good thing, because I don't think they pay police officers enough to risk their lives with the moods of pregnant women. What man in his right mind is going to walk up to a woman and ask, "Are you pregnant?" I know from experience that you can get yourself in all kinds of embarrassing situations by asking this particular stupid question. I was at a press convention one year and put my foot in my mouth all the way up to my knee. We were at an "open bar" type of social gathering with local press people. I wasn't drinking but I wish I had been--at least I would have an excuse for what happened. My husband was by my side, like a sweet husband. I took him with me to talk to a woman who I hadn't seen for a year. She was standing with a friend of hers and they both smiled real big when we walked up. This woman was wearing a loose fitting "shift" dress and I blurted out, "Oh! I didn't know you were pregnant!" She said very blandly and without that pretty smile, "I'm not. Do I look pregnant?" (If looks could kill her friend would have had me buried six feet under--which, by the way, is where I wanted to be.) I answered (very meekly), "No". Honest to goodness--it wasn't that she looked pregnant, it was just the style of dress that threw me off. Anyway--I felt like I was drowning in a black sink hole. There was this awful horrible silence and I looked to my side to get some moral support from my husband. Anyone that knows my husband knows he always has a wisecrack comeback for any situation and I just knew he would save me. But--being a big brave man he had already slithered out of the picture. He just turned and walked away--as if he didn't know me at all. I don't remember much after that. I don't know how I backed out of the situation, but my husband later caught up with me and simply said, "ARE YOU CRAZY!--WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" To this day I can't look at that woman without thinking about my big mouth and my husband deserting me. When I asked my police chief friend how officers were supposed to handle this problem of finding out if the woman is really pregnant, he wrote me back and said, "We carry those little pregnancy testing kits and ask the lady to pee on it! You know-kinda like the DWI test. A little messy but it is an eye opener and it works every time!" I wonder if he is kidding?
A View From The Lamplighter | by Ken Towery
All of a sudden a huge flap has erupted about a Hollywood movie that doesn't fit the usual bill. We haven't seen the movie, and we're no experts on Hollywood fare, but we are somewhat inoculated in the business of politics. The controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's film about the last days of Jesus Christ on this earth, called "The Passion of Christ" has generated it all. Evidently, as we understand the argument, the Jewish community takes issue with Mr. Gibson's using certain Gospels in the New Testament to tell the story of Christ's crucifixion. For many years certain elements within the Jewish community have denied any culpability in Christ's crucifixion, saying instead that the Romans were to blame, since they had ultimate responsibility for law and order in the Roman province of Israel. Their position has the Jewish community of that time as more or less passive spectators. Some Gospel accounts indicate Jews were a little more active, a little more assertive, than that. The argument gets very basic. There are Jewish spokespersons who, in fact, claim the entire Christian message, as relayed in the New Testament, is anti-Jewish, even anti-Semitic. Count Abraham Foxman, head of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, as one of those. The Christians, as usual, are placed on the defensive. Nothing really wrong with that, they are usually much more comfortable being on the defensive. But this current flap seems to have many Christians and Jews all worked up. Even the Rev. Bill Graham has commented on the film, recommending it highly. The film director's 83-year-old father, who evidently is a Roman Catholic practitioner of the old school, has been interviewed extensively on his views of what the Jews call the Holocaust. (He thinks the generally accepted version of some 6.2 million victims is too high, that the number is therefore "fictitious", and of course that gets translated by certain reporters as meaning the son is also anti-Semitic.) He (Mel Gibson) claims he is not anti-Semitic, that he was merely trying to make as realistic a film, given his sources and resources, as he could. As we said earlier in this column, we have not seen the film. Not only that, we don't plan to go out of our way to see it. Generally speaking, we are not movie fans. But it strikes us as more than passing strange that the same people who have gotten so worked against this film, are the same people who got so worked up over certain Christian groups complaining about the federal government funding obviously obscene and anti-religious "works of art." Then it was a matter of "First Amendment Rights", with the ACLU at the top of the barricades. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, and now that a Presidential election is in the offing, a certain amount of time will have to transpire before at least some of the politicians can make up their minds on where they stand. Quite frankly, we don't see how one can be a true adherent to the Jewish faith unless that same person disagrees with the Christian version of Christ's crucifixion, indeed, disagrees with the Christian message. Conversely, we do not see, and we have never seen, how a true believer of Christ's message could accept the Jewish version, that Jesus was a political agitator trying to bring down the Jewish establishment. For many Christians, probably most Christians, the crucifixion was prophesy being fulfilled. The sins for which Christ was crucified were humanity's sins, not just the sins of the Jews. Fortunately, in America, both sides have tried to live side by side, despite all the friction caused by self-proclaimed champions from both sides. As we have pointed out many times, Jews in this country have influence far in excess of what their numbers would otherwise indicate. Indeed, we would suspect there are now about as many if not more Muslims in this country than Jews, but no one in his right mind would equate the two groups in terms of influence, either political or financial. In fact, we would rate even the Baptists ahead of Muslims in terms of political, if not financial, clout. And everyone knows how divided the Baptists are. A few years ago one was elected President, and very few of them would even claim the guy. Nor would he claim them.
The Hesperian-Beacon invites you to read a collection of thoughts and memories by Ken Towery. The "Reflections of Ken Towery" can be found on this website by clicking here.
Classifieds
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Lockney MULTI-FAMILY GARAGE SALE to benefit church youth group. Weather permitting. Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. 904 Lavada Drive, Lockney.
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