The Odem-Edroy Times (Odem, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 8, 1969 Page: 1 of 8
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Volume 18 — Established June 25, 1948
ODEM, TEXAS, 78370, THURSDAY, MAY 8, 1969
EIGHT PAGES — NO. 23
FIRING ANSWER DUE MAY 16
Co.WelfareCost$82,517
— Medical Care Big Item
A&l GOLF ENTRY — Bill
Evans, senior from Odem will
be a member of the Texas A&l
University golf team that enters
Band Takes
Trip t© Mexico
Last Week
The Oclem High School band
and seven adults left early Fri-
day morning for Freer High
School, the first stop on the
way to Reynosa, Mexico.
The band played in the Freer.
High School, but their engager
ment to play in Hebbronville
High School was cancelled. The
group ate lunch in Freer after
their concert. They reached Mc-
Allen arouind 5:30 p.m. and
checked in at a motel where they
had access to three swimming
pools and bowling lanes.
They left McAllen for Reynosa
the next morning. They did
some shopping and much sight-
seeing, including a visit to a
church, the plaza and the mar-
kets. The school bus was parked
on the Texas side of the Rio
Grande and the group walked
across the bridge and along the
streets of Reynosa.
Lunch was eaten in Mexico
to culminate the four-hour visit
to the city of Reynosa. The
group had a short break at Mc-
Allen before starting the trip
back to Odem. Some went swim-
ming during this break. They
arrived back at Odem High
School at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Miss Alice Ramirez of Edin-
burg spent the weekend here
with Miss Gloria Sembrano. The
are students at A&I University.;
the Lone Star Conference meet
Thursday1 on the Kingsville Coun-
try Club course. Evans has a
70.0 average for this season.
Transfer Date Set
For School Children
•Supt. C.L. West has announc-
ed that June 1 is the deadline
for parents to transfer their
children from one school district
to the other for the 1969-70 term
of school.
Band Concerts
Are Announced
For This Week
The annual concert by the
Odem High School band is sche-
duled to open at 8 p.m. Thurs-
day, May 8, in the school cafe-
torium under the direction of
Darrell Burditt.
Bill Hipp, professor of music
at Del Mar College, will be a
guest artist to play two trumpet
numbers.
The Junior High and Elemen-
tary bands will present their
concert in the cafetorium at
8 p.m. on May 12.
There will be no admission
fee for any of the conerts. The1
public is invited to attend.
Mr.s C.B. Rolls of Aransas
Pass who was here in the home
of her daughter, Mrs. Charlie
Curtiss, while recuperating from
surgery, developed a complica-
tion following the surgery and
is now hospitalized in Aransas
Pass.
County welfare has 'been com-
ing in for lots of publicity in San
Patricio County the past several
weeks what with petitions being
submitted demanding the firing
of Mrs. Eleanor Brittain, head
of the welfare department, and
the hearings conducted in secret
by the commissioners court the
past several days.
Welfare in San Patricio Coun-
ty accounts for a sizeable chunk
pf the budget, in fact the recent
audit shows that a total of $82,517
was expended for welfare last
year. This has been a steadily
increasing budget item in the
past few years.
The biggest item in the wel-
fare budget is listed as Pauper
Care and Indigent Expense and
Judge William A. Schmidt says
that the San Pat Commissioners
Court has been authorized to
issue and sell $500,000 in certifi-
cates of indebtedness through a
jbiXl signed by Gov. Preston
Smith last week.
There is restriction placed on
sales. Such revenue must be
used only for road construction
and road right-of-way.
The judge said that the money
will be used to improve and
consturct roads in various areas
of the county. He mentioned
right-of-way to be purchased for
the by-passes at Sinton on High-
ways 181 and 77 as two specific
demands to be met by the re-
venue from the sale of the bonds.
Other projects to met by funds
from the sale of bonds are the
grade crossings on Highway 181
at Portland and Gregory to eli-
minate certain roads intersect-
ing that highway at those points.
The Judge said that only three
parcels of land in Portland have
yet to be purchased for the grade
crossing in the north edge of
Portland.
Other projects under consider-
ation to be financed by the bond
sale are two new roads in the
Aransas Pass and Ingleside area
and the widening of FM Road
136 from the county line near
Bayside to the intersection with
State Highway 35 at Gregory.
Schmidt said there is still
Former Resident
Dies In Ohio
Elmer Kilmer, 74, a former
resident of Odem, died at his
home in Hiram, Ohio, Thursday
following a long illness.
. Kilmer and his wife, the for-
mer Virgie Hughes, both attend-
ed the Odem schools prior to
their marriage. He was a World
War I veteran, enlisting from
Odem and served with the 36th
Infantry Division in France.
He is survived by his wife,
two daughters, a son and several
granchildren.
amounted to $59,260 last year.
Grouped into this item are such
charges as hospital care, medi-
cations and other expenses in-
curred in dealing with the indi-
gents.
Salaries take the next biggest
portion of the budget with two
warehousemen hired full time
and one part time. Mrs. Brittain
also has working under her a
secretary and two case workers,
one in Mathi's and one in Sinton.
One part time case worker is
sometime used in the eastern
portion of the county.
Other items in the welfare
budget are as follows: Capital
outlay, $26.95; Conference and
Associations, $98.45; Rent and
much to be done in the way of
clearing 'the'way for' the avail-
ability of funds to be derived
from the sale of the bonds.
Among the work yet to be done
by the court will be the details
of bond retiremnt, plans as to
where and when certain projects
will be undertaken, the adver-
tisement for sale of bonds and
many ohter routine detaisl. The
Judge estimated it might be as
late as the end of 1969 before
all details are completed.
This is the third issue of bonds
which has been granted the
court. Each of the previous is-
sues were in the amountof $500,-
000, said Schmidt. The first issue
was authorized July 1961 and the
second was dated April 1, 1965.
Mrs. Boggus Is
III In Hospital
Mrs. Mary Boggus was taken
to a Sinton hospital Friday after
becoming ill in'her home.
Her condition is serious, but
showing improvement, said her
family physician.
Mrs. Boggus is one of the
elderly residents who has spent
most of her life in San Patricio
County, and she has taken an
active part in community pro-
ject for many years. She has
been recognized on national and
state level for her interest in
political movements in the com-
munity.
Work on Mission
Plans for an addition of on
bedroom and a dining room to
the Edroy Baptist mission par-
sonage are well under way now,
said the Rev. Floyd Conner, pas-
tor of First Baptist Church.
The work should begin within
a few days, said Jack Thornton,
who with Tcm Fralick and John
T. Whitley comprise the mis-
sion committee.
The Rev. Robert Cortes is the
mission pastor. The mission is
sponsored by F i r st Bpatist
Church.
janitor of Mathis welfare office,
$811.42; Repairs and mainte-
nance, $14.00; Telephone and
telegraph, $500.61; Travel*
$879.36; USDA Food program,
$3,231; USDA gas and oil and
truck repairs, $1,214.78.
It should be noted that the
USDA food does not cost the
county anything but there ar©
certain expenses in receiving the
food, warehousing and transport-
ing it to the final distribution
points. These costs are reflected
in the budget.
There are two items in the
budget covering salaries of wel-
fare workers. An item for $7,582*
44 covers two full time ware-
housemen & extra help as need-
ed. Another item for $8,986.90
includes Mrs. Brittain’s salary*
$4,839.60, and two case workers,
one for $2,294.80 and one $1,308.
Extra help amounted to $454.50.-
After receiving the petitions
demanding the firing of Mrs.
Brittain the Commissioners
court held executive sessions to
hear all of the people who want-
ed to register a_c o m p l_a i n f
against Mrs. Brittain. Thursday
of last week the court again held
a closed session and heard Mrs.
Brittain’s version of the conflict*
County Judge William A*
Schmidt has announced that he
will hand a prepared statement
to the press on May 16 giving
the court’s action in the matter*
Driver Class f*
To Begin Here
Next Week ^
A driver education classroom
course will get under way. in
the Odem High School Monday
with Glen Morgan and Marion
White from the Education Ser-
vice Center of Corpus Christ!
giving the instruction.
Classroom instruction will be
given from Monday through Fri-
day until 30 hours per students
are completed. Students from
15 years up may take the class-
room instruction, but only those
16 years and above will be per-
mitted to take the behind-the-
wheel instruction which will be
given this summer by James
Rose, the new football coach,
who has taught driver education
courses for several years.
In the behind-the-wheel por-
tion of the instruction each stu-
dent must • complete six hours
of observation and six hours of
behind-the-wheel experience be-
fore he can qualify for a .driver’s
license.
The behind the wheel and ob-
servation instruction classes are
limited to 35 students. There
are 49 students now enrolled for
the classroom instruction to start
Monday. Of this number 14 are
only 15 years of age. This leaves
35 of the currently enrolled
drivers education students eli-
gible for the behind-the-wheel
\and observation course, said
Supt. C. L. West,.
FOR ROADS
County Now Authorized To
Sell $500,000 In Bonds
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Winebrenner, Mary Cornett. The Odem-Edroy Times (Odem, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 8, 1969, newspaper, May 8, 1969; Odem, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1044702/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Odem Public Library.