The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 176, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Page: 1 of 10
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COMMUNITY
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Stall Ih'ii' to get liw
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Free Auto Buying Semi nor!
Tuesday, September 17th • 2900 Decker Drive • 11:30am 1:00pm
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A M. WEDNESDAY’ SEPTEMBER 4,2013
Vol. 112, No. 176 ©2013 • Since 1922
Throaytown Sun
RSVPat crcu.org 281.422.3611
Covering East Harris County, Chambers J County and Southwest Liberty County
SCORE!
Win cash & bragging rights by
picking the winners in our football
contest! -SEEPAGES
RANGERS GET
BACK TO WORK
Aduddell said defense
needs to be better in
week two - SEE PAGE S
www.baytownsun.com
EM&EM OF TEXAS
Orton gives a history lesson
-SEE PAGE
SCHOLARSHIPS
EHCMA will award 12 college
students - SEE PAGE 2
Mayor: Bayou Bowl ‘not dead’
BY CODY TUCKER
sports@baytownsun.com
With rising annual costs and
interest in the game seemingly
dwindling, the relationship be-
tween the Bayou Bowl and its
11-year host city might be in
question.
Or is it?
Last week. President of the
Baytown Chamber of Com-
merce Tracey Wheeler said talks
have been underway to make
changes to the Bayou Bowl.
According to Baytown Mayor
Stephen DonCarlos, who is also
Alternating game with Sugar Land under consideration
the chairman of the Bayou Bowl
committee, talks are indeed un-
derway with Sugar Land to host
the 2014 game.
But in the end, he said the
city’s goal is to alternate sites
each year to alleviate finan-
cial and volunteer stress on
Baytown.
“I think this game is good
for the community and 1 have
enjoyed hosting it," DonCar-
los said. “We have talked to the
mayor of Sugar Land and they
are very in-
terested in
alternating
years.
“That is
where we are
at.”
DonCarlos
said the initial Bayou Bowl idea
was to alternate the game be-
tween Louisiana and Baytown.
After years of calls to Baton
Rouge, Lafayette, etc., the
mayor said it was apparent that
Baytown was on its own in foot-
ing the bill.
The Bayou Bowl has been
played at Stallworth Stadium
for 11 consecutive seasons with
Team Texas holding a 5-4-1
overall advantage in the series
after knocking off Louisiana 22-
14 on June 15.
DonCarlos said the city has
made money on the annual
game, but volunteering has be-
come a major issue in recent
years.
“We have been successful at
raising money, but we have vol-
unteer fatigue,” the mayor said.
“The game takes a fully-staffed,
big enterprise to put on and it
puts a lot of strain on the cham-
ber.”
Another major change, ac-
cording to DonCarlos, is the
teams themselves. If all goes as
planned, the mayor said 32 5A
and 4A players from each side
of Houston will take part in the
game, leaving Louisiana on the
outside looking in.
SEE BAYOU BOWL • PAGE 10
Labor Day Nightmare
Baytown &
United Way
Partners from
the beginning
Baytown Sun photo/Albert Villegas
Gary Odom, 63, looks at various newspapers from 1963, including The Baytown Sun and those in Houston, which covered
a Labor Day accident that claimed 10 lives, including six members of his family. Odom said his grandmother saved all the
newspaper clippings 50 years ago when he was 13 years old. Odom said he only is able to glance at the clippings and is
unable to read the articles because of the pain it causes him.
Baytown man still haunted by family’s deaths
BY ALBERT VILLEGAS
albert.villegas@baytowsun.com
Labor Day weekend is supposed
to be a'festive occasion as adults
take a break from the workplace
and children from schoolwork. It’s
a time for families to come together.
That was the plan for a Baytown
family 50 years ago.
Labor Day is still very unnerving
for Gary Odom, of Baytown. Six
members of his family were killed
in an automobile accident one day
in 1963.
Newspapers in Baytown, Hous-
ton and the surrounding area that
covered the accident had headlines
that read “traffic’s blackest day,”
and the “area’s worst auto acci-
dent.”
On Monday, Sept. 2, 1963,
Odom’s life was turned upside
down when he found out that five
members of his family were killed
in a two-vehicle accident around
2:30 p.m. Labor Day along rain-
slicked Highway 146, just south of
Dayton.
Odom’s parents, Matt and June
Odom; his aunt and uncle, Carl
and Rowena Odom; a cousin Keith
Odom, 6, died at the scene. Another
cousin, Peggy, died four hours later
at a Houston children’s hospital.
Another cousin, Troy, 8, was the
only survivor in the horrific acci-
dent. He would eventually be raised
by Matts Odom’s parents, and Gary
by his grandmother on his mom’s
side, Nona Roberson.
The Odom family was traveling
north along 146 toward Saratoga to
visit Matt and Keith’s sister.
SEELABOR DAY • PAGE 8
BY ELESKA AUBESPIN
eieska.aubespin@baytownsun.c0m
The United Way of
Greater Baytown Area and
Chambers County started
in 1946 following World
War II.
Its first fundraising cam-
paign was held shortly af-
terward, netting $45,388
for the 1946-47 year.
What has followed is
an ever-changing city of
Baytown landscape that
began with the Tri-Cities
of Pelly, Goose Creek and
Baytown and an evolving
United Way agency ret
sponding to its needs.
“There has been a cam-
paign to raise funding each
year since the fall of 1946,"
said David Mohlman, ex-
ecutive director of United
Way of Greater Baytown
Area and Chambers Coun-
ty-
“I’m very fortunate to be
doing what 1 ‘m doing in this
particular community be-
cause people are very gen-
erous here,” Mohlman said.
“During the overwhelming
majority of its history, our
United Way has reached its
campaign goals.”
That campaign figure
has increased with time,
exceeding the $1 million
benchmark in 1986, 40
years after United Way's
start. The $2 million mark
was reached 20 years later
in 2006, and the agency’s
$3 million fundraising goal
was met in the 2011-2012
campaign.
With an eye on propel-
ling its kindergarten-readi-
ness initiatives, this year’s
2013-2014 campaign goal
of $3.3 million kicked off
Aug. 6.
Many workplaces will
begin handing out cam-
paign pledge cards to em-
ployees during September
and October.
Over the years, the goal
of United Way has re-
mained pretty much the
same; to provide funding to
agencies that help to fulfill
needs in the community.
But there has been an
evolution, so to speak, as to
what has been identified as
those needs and how mon-
ey is used toward them,
Mohlman said.
“It’s really been not so
much about change as
much as evolution because
the United Way is and al-
ways has been about local
leadership, governments
and local identification of
needs,” Mohlman said.
“Evolution as far : as
needs have continued to be..
identified and resources ap-
plied to them.”
The agency has - about
20 traditional partner-
ships, such as American
Red Cross and Baytown
Resource and Assistance
Center.
SEE UNITED* PAGE 2
Garcia says levels of government need to work together
MARK FLEMING
mark.fleming@baytownsun.com
Texas Sen. Sylvia Garcia focused on education,
health care and the economy when she spoke to the
Baytown Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.
Garcia was a familiar face in a new role after having
served many years as Harris County Precinct 2 com-
missioner before being elected to the Senate in Janu-
ary.
Garcia said she was glad to be back in the Houston
area after her time in Austin for both
the regular session and three special
sessions.
“It’s really true,” she joked. “Austin
is weird.”
While the state’s economy is improv-
ing, it is still necessary for different lev-
els of government to work together.
“Quite frankly, that’s the way to get
things done. No longer can the state
handle everything, or the county, or the municipalities,”
GARCIA
she said. “Even though it is a stronger economy for the
region, revenues are still not what they used to be, and
everybody still has to make cuts and adjustments.”
. In that regard, she said she met with Baytown’s may-
or and city staff before the meeting to discuss ways to
work together.
Her priority this session was education.
She said much of the legislative work was in support
of public education and workforce development to pre-
pare workers for expansions.
SEE CHAMBER • PAGE 8
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Bloom, David. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 176, Ed. 1 Wednesday, September 4, 2013, newspaper, September 4, 2013; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1066696/m1/1/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.