San Patricio County News (Sinton, Tex.), Vol. 99, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 30, 2006 Page: 2 of 16
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JAME8 F. TRACY, JR.
JOHN HENRY TRACY
Co-PubHshers
JIMMY TRACY
Editor
JENNIFER RAMSEY
Aaaoc. Edtlor/Aoportor
JOHNNIE SUE LITTLETON
Community Editor
JIMMY TRACY
Sport* Editor
MOLLY MICHAELS
Amoc. Edltor/Rop^rttr
TERRI SUE SCOTT
Account Exocuttvo
SYLVIA PAYAN
PMM January 1. S00& I
run tor ono(1)yaar.) $2740
THE SAN PAtnCO NEWS (USPS 4*0-040)
MKad aaaMy Mary toifln**«*i wan a Tt
(toatoa bytanPatodoPuMaiang Co. Inc
(361)364-1270
P.0. Drawer B • 113-117 S. Rachal Ave. • Smton. Texas 78387 • (361) 364-1270
Viewpoint
f»Pag«2 Imim 13
Thursday, March 30,2006
The Wildman’s buzz about honey
r 1 \:
I*! I love honey, guess I always have. It
You know, of course, that domestic
bees contribute to the flavor of honey
by the types of flowers they polli-
nate. I’ve tried many of them- From
orange blossom honey from the Rio
Grande Valley, and wildflower and
Clover honeys from Central Texas to
mesquite and huajillo honeys from
the Uvalde area, just to name a few.
Texas bees also provide us with
some great honey from cotton, pur-
ple, black and white sages, sun-
flowers, alfalfa, avocado and
canola. Several Texas beekeepers
and honey producers statewide also
blend various honeys for a consis-
tency of color and flavor.
Honeybees are Unusual creatures.
Not only do they provide us honey, they
are essential for pollinating many of the
foods we eat. Crops such as almonds,
apples, oranges and avocados simply
could not be cultivated or would not be
nearly as productive without honeybees
visiting their blossoms. Though it is not
while bee colonies may survive year
around, a honeybee lives a maximum of
45 days, so bees that pollinate apple
blossoms do not live long enough to see
the apples!
South Texans might also be interest-
ed in knowing that cotton is a major
honey plant source in the southwest and
in California where beekeepers migrate
to and from the fields for honey produc-
tion. While there are many types of cot-
ton, Pima (long staple) cotton is favored
by beekeepers/as the best nectar
i Cotto
source. Pima cotton produces light-col-
ored, top-quality honey.
History records that man has collect-
ed honey for at least 9,000 years. Many
Egyptian tombs have drawings and
painting of bees and fossils of honey-
bees dating back about 180 million
years ago. Additionally, cave paintings
in Spain from 7,000 BC are among the
earliest records of beekeeping. But, it
was the English settlers who introduced
the honeybee to North Amorira in the
Davy Crockett’s volunteers at the
Alamo. He was known simply as
“Beekeeper," and legendary author J.
Frank Dobie confirms that somewhere
along Crockett’s route to the Alamo a
nameless man, known only as
“Beekeeper” attached himself to the
heroic Tennessee delegation:
Dobie also reports that shortly after
arriving in Texas in January 1836,
Crockett wrote a letter to his children
back in Tennessee describing the
league of Texas land on which he
expected to settle. It had, he said, “bees
and honey a plenty."
In Dobie’s Tales of Old-Time Texas,
countless stories about huge honey
caves and big, hollow honey trees pre-
vail. Early settlers followed bees to their
hohey stashes, often marking the tree
with an axe-chopped X and would later
cut down the whole tree to collect the
honey. And on the long cattle drives to
Kansas, Texas cowpokes kept a sharp
flyn nut fnr bees. They knew honeybees—reported
on long scouting missions kept honey in
rawhide or deerskins sacks to supple-
ment their wild game meals. Several
other Texas pioneer reports document
their enjoyment of raw honey on broiled
venison. Southwest Indians, including
the fierce Comanche, also bartered
deerskin bags full of honey to Texas set-
tlers. t
The German emigrants at
Fredericksburg somehow managed a
honey exchange with the usually dan-
gerous Comanche. Early Texans also
used honey as a bartering commodity
instead of money as Romans had done
centuries earlier, using honey instead of
gold to pay their taxes. Meanwhile back
at the modern-day hives, about 2,000
beekeepers throughout the United
States working in the world known as “
gather tons of honey annually.
According to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s August 11, 2003, National
Honey Report, about a dozen states
harvests and reported prices
Thursday,
To W
Mr. and .
sqims like every time I go on a road trip
l^can’t resist those little roadside stands
selling pints of honey along with pecans
and peaches or tomatoes and such-
widely known that honey bees are said
to be responsible for about every third
bite of food we eat, the fact becomes
especially poignant at harvest time. And,
17th Century. Remember John Wayne’s
1960 movie, The Alamo? Noted actor
Chill Wills won an Oscar as best sup-
porting actor in role as one of Colonel
would make a “beeline” for flowers and
where there were flowers there was like-
ly to be water for the cattle herd.
Texas Rangers, according to Dobie,
paid to beekeepers by processors and
packers for extracted, unprocessed
honey. '
Continued on page 6
Looking Backward
From the files of the San Patricio County News
Fifty Years Ago 1956
August Brinkoeter, furniture and auto store
owner, has announced for Mayor. Jack
McWhorter, owner of Model Grocery and L. A.
Harris, owner of Harris Humble station, have filed
for city commissioner’s spots.
Several days later Tom West, a farmer and
' manager of Sinton Elevator filed for Mayor. Then P.
L. Johnson Jr, owner of The Carpet Center and
Weber Pool, a farmer, also announced for the
commissioners places. This is the first contested
race in four years.
Mrs. Fred H. Speers was the sweepstakes win-
ner. in arrangements at the annual Sinton Garden
Club Flower Show which had 316 entries and 500
visitors. Mrs. J; Ward Crow was the horticultural
sweepstakes winner.
Supt. £; Merle Smith was the guest speaker at
the Frances Alexander Club meeting Wednesday
at the home of Mrs. H. M. Ford on King’s Highway.
The senior Methodist Youth Fellowship held a
Hqbo Party Thursday at the Little Red House with
Martha Bergln as chairman of the games and
Patricia Morrow in charge of refreshments.
Sponsors were Mr and Mrs. Dan Grissett, Mr.
arid Mrs. Murry Stephenson and Rev. C. Jordan
Mann.
Brinda Hendley was honored on her ninth birth-
day at the home of her parents, Mrs. O. W.
Hendley.
Lela Ann Stephenson was first runner up .in a
Miss A&l College contest held Thursday in
Kingsville. She performed a Spanish dance in the
.talent show. v ’ v
Mr. and Mrs. Preston Cave attended the annu-
al Legion of Leaders Sales Honor Club at the
Shamrock Hilton Hotel in Houston last weekend.
Miss Joan Tollett and Anthony Bernard
Kunitz were married in St. Joseph’s Catholic
Church in Beeville Monday evening.
Ursula Villarreal is visiting in Schwabish Hall,
Germany, her first trip home since 1952.
All Aboard
/This 1930s school bus
was owned by the T. C. Hill
family and leased to the
Sinton school.
It was driven by John Hill,
who was^also a student. The
bus had benches down each
side and one in the center.
In bad weather, the windows
were * covered with flaps
made from a fabric called
“ducking.”
Hitching a ride on the
hood of the old bus is Bogue
Thirty Years Ago - 1976
Forty Years Ago - 1966
Mary Hayes, chamber of commerce secretary,
has announced that Clean-Up Week in*Sintoq will
begin in April and asks all residents and business
owners to pitch in.
Dawn Curlee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harrell
6uriee was named champion speller at Welder
Elementary School. She is 12 years old and a sixth
grader. Cynthia Whitehead, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Eddie Whitehead, took second place.
Among those taking part in the Bicentennial
Kickoff Tuesday were John Curlee, Kenneth
Ceeh, Jane Curlee, Aleta Water, Bill Carper and
Mildred Carper.
Joe Sheeran, Irma Trevino and Lindsey
Eubank, three of the students who acted as mem-
ber of the city council and staff will be heard on the
radio beginning Thursday. They will be interviewed
by Juliet Wenger on State of the Region.
John, jQsephine and Mary Catherine Miller
are home from a skiing vacation in Alta, Utah.
J. Carroll Weaver will enter the Tri-State
Seniors Golf Tourney in Pampa, Texas again, an
event he won last year.
The new Pizza Hut on Sinton Street is sched-
uled to open in May.
Volunteering to dig the grave for Mr. Ray Zor’s
funeral at Liberty Square were Calvin Meyer, Mike
Marburger, Alex Martinez, Blain Syma, Steve
Boscamp, Euslbio Bottelo and Buck Schmidt.
Mr. Ray Zor symbolized the shaving by Sinton men
after the Bicentennial beard contest.
Happy
Hunting!
The Hill hunting party
posed for pictures after
a successful deer hunt
on a Fall day in 1939.
From, left to right, T.
C. Hill and his sons,
Tom and Ben with their
trophy bucks.
Photos courtesy of Cora (Mrs.
Ben) Hill.
Officials differ on scope of special session
We welcome your letters. Letters must be signed and Include an
address and phone number. Letters can be emailed to
editor.sppc@charter.net or dropped off at our office, 117 S.
Rachal St. in Sinton.
.AUSTIN — Something is floating in the
Texas sky and it’s big enough to obscure the
sun. To some observers it looks like a spring
cloud, to others, it’s more like
the airship Hindenburg. But
really, it's just a question: How
will the Legislature, in a 30-day
special session, fix the state's
unconstitutional tax system?
Since the late 1980s the
Legislature repeatedly has
failed to agree on something
better than “Robin Hood," the
oourt-ordered wealth-sharing formula that
requires rich school districts to contribute a
portion of their tax revenue into a pot divided
among poor school districts.
And, during those 20-odd years, the
Legislature forced school districts to pay an
ever-increasing share of the cost to fund edu-
catlbn. Now hundreds of districts are taxing
at the cap rate of $1.50 per $100 valuation.
Texas’ top officeholders are looking toward
: Ed
sterling
throws money at a problem, is talking in con-
ciliatory terms.
But Perry seems firm in his resolve to limit
the Legislature's business to property tax
reform, because the Texas Supreme Court
ruled the property tax system must be made
constitutional by June 1 “or else."
• Adding pressure to the court-imposed
deadline are Carole Keeton Strayhorn,
Richard S. “Kinky” Friedman and Chris Bell,
candidates for governor.
The challengers are banging drums and
tooting fifes for reform, and if Perry’s leader-
ship fails to produce acceptable results, they
likely will win points with voters in the
November election.
All three say they are for teacher pay rais-
es, and Perry says he is, too. But Friedman
has given his teacher-pleasing idea the
catchiest title: The No Teacher Left Behind
Act."
Washington, D.C., lobbying firm that is under
contract with the Office of State-Federal
Relations. She said an audit shows pay-
ments to the firm have already exceeded the
contracted limit of $330,000.
Gov. Perry’s office brushed off Strayhom’s
action, calling it a publicity stunt, and saying
the money was used to promote tourism.
AJjnr 17, opening <Jiy loT The" 79th
Legislature's third called session, each with
different perspectives on how to proceed.
/Gov. Rick Perry called the special ses-
sion with the sole purpose of getting lawmak-
ers to fix the state’s broken property tax sys-
tem.
• Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who presides
over the Senate, wants to expand the call to
include school finance reform.
. - Even House Speaker Tom Craddick, R-
Mkfand, who heretofore has kept a Ikf on
any proposal that smells like a new tax or
Comptroller cuts off payments
Also, Strayhorn, In her role as state comp-
troller, stopped a $10,000 payment 'to a
Washington, D.C., lobbying and public rela-
tions firm used by the governor's Office of
State-Federal Relations.
Strayhorn said an audit by her agency
found that payments
made to The Federalist Group were to go
to a third party, Ogilvy Public Relations
Worldwide, a firm that does not have a con-
tract with the state of Texas.
Earlier, Strayhorn stopped further pay-
ments to Cassidy & Associates, another
Strayhorn files suit against state
On March 24, Strayhorn sued Secretary of
State Roger Williams for making it unreason-
ably difficult for independent candidates to
get on the ballot for the November statewide
election.
Williams said his office would manually
examine the signatures on her petition,
rather than sample enough signatures at ran-
dom to be statistically accurate and quicker.
The Strayhorn campaign wants the state’s
chief election officer and an appointed of
Gov. Perry, to audit signatures now through
the end of the signature-gathering period on
May 11.
Williams refused, and said his office would
not begin the task until after May 11.
Strayhorn and Friedman need 45,540
valid signatures each in order to get a spot
on the ballot.
TABC enforces aggressively
The Texas Alcoholic . Beverage
Commission has begun to send officers into
bars to arrest drunken patrons. The fine is
$500 and/or jail time. _■
ment of
Christoph
New Brau
Severo Pa
School an
Tom Brow
graduate <
tioned In li
Conservat
Libi
acct
The Sin
advisory be
from Li
Bustamante
Monday eve
computer cl
accepted tt
books for its
Bustama
1,590 patroi
during the
There
materials i
and 164 vide
; It was am
ing that fre
will be offer*
six-week
Tuesday, Ap
Sandra C
Welder Eler
member of
teach the ck
from 6 to 8 p
basic intern*
The boar<
two books.
Hollan of Ss
Com
v<
4 Horses
STEERS: Ste
200-300 lbs
300-400 lbs
400-500 lbs
500-600 lbs
600-700 lbs
700-8(X) lbs
HEIFERS: Ste
200-300 lbs
300-400 lbs
400-500 lbs
500-600 lbs
600-700 lbs
700-800 lbs
SLAUGHTER
SLAUGHTER
STOCKER C
or Bred Cows
PAIRS:...........
HORSES:..
Hwy. 59 East,
361
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Tracy, Jimmy. San Patricio County News (Sinton, Tex.), Vol. 99, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 30, 2006, newspaper, March 30, 2006; Sinton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124061/m1/2/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Taft Public Library.