The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 1987 Page: 4 of 10
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RIO CRANK HERALD RIO GRANDE CITY, TEXAS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2*. 1M7 PACE 4
Winter Texans Active In Starr County Life
BY KENNETH ROBERTS
Managing Editor
(Editor's Note: This is the
second story in The Rio Grande
Herald's two-part series about the
impact of Winter Texans upon
Starr County. This story will focus
on the activities of the tourists
themselves).
The steadily-increasing Winter
Texan population in Starr County is
obviously having a positive social
and economic impact upon the
county, as the tourists become
more active in community affairs.
Most of the Winter Texans
indicate that they are attracted to
Starr County because they find the
atmosphere quieter and more re-
laxed than in the lower Valley, and
because they enjoy the friendliness
of the local people.
A large majority of those staying
for the winter live at La Loma Rio
RV Park between Rio Grande City
and Roma.
Also, large numbers of the
tourists are enthusiasts for Starr
County's rich history. Many Winter
Texans enjoy such activities as
rock collecting and birdwatching.
Quite evident among the retirees
is a strong bond of fellowship and
caring for one another. "Pot luck"
socials are often held, most fre-
quently during holidays and when
one of the Winter Texans is
celebrating a birthday or wedding
anniversary.
Two Winter Texans, Mr. and
Mrs. Fred Graves from Midwest
City, Oklahoma, deserve the lion's
share of credit for getting the Food
Pantry started in the Rio Grande
City area to help hungry and needy
persons.
Mrs. Gigi Gutierrez said of the
Come Celebrate
the Youth Fair
at Sonic Drive In
LARGE BURGER
all beef burger
^XMBURCERS
onion rings
89
Frl. Feb. 27th
Sat. Feb. 28th
Sun. March 1st
Call in Orders
Welcome
OPEN
WEEKDAYS
TILL 11PM
FRI&SAT
TILL 1AM
Graves', "If it wasn't for them, this
would never have gotten started.
Nobody else took the initiative. I
was lucky to have been trained by
them. They set up this church (for
the Pantry), they brought in the
trays and table...They were driving
twice a week to McAllen, as well as
unloading food."
The Graves were vital in starting
the Food Pantry in January 1986 at
First Baptist Church. The opera-
tion moved a few months later to
the old St. John's Methodist Church
in downtown Rio Grande City.
Mrs. Lillian Kirk of Grayling,
Michigan expressed the belief that
there "are definitely more
tourists" than two years ago. She
noted in early January that "three
new couples have come in the past
two weeks. For a lot of them, it's
their third year."
Her husband, Charles, said, "I
have never found a better place.
Something's going on here all the
time." He noted that he has a
garden of tomatoes, beans, carrots,
and radishes, adding that "I've got
a lot of help with this garden.''
Kirk noted that "we spent our
winters in Ruskan, Florida, 20
miles south of Tampa. That's a big
tomato-growing area. We used to
like it, but it got so crowded."
Kirk commented, "We picked up
a phone book," and used a road
atlas. He added, "My wife sug-
gested to pick out four or five
places, and call them. After calling
La Loma Rio, we determined to
come here. There were only two
regular campers here when we
came."
Kirk exulted, "These people (in
Starr County) treat you like old
friends. I take my friends out
here, and they're treated the same
way."
Kirk noted that Grayling,
Michigan is located in the thumb of
Michigan, about 210 miles north ot
Detroit. He said that "4000 people a
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day go to Mackinaw Island. That's
a huge attraction. There's no cars
allowed on the island."
Mrs. Rosetta Kazda of Sayner,
Wisconsin said, "This is our third
winter. We're enjoying it here. It's
very friendly and nice down here.
We used to go to Tucson for the
winters. It isn't as crowded as it is
in Tucson."
Her husband, Charles, com-
mented, "We were going to Del Rio
for the winter. We came through
here, and decided to stop. The
longer we stayed, the better we
liked it." Both he and his wife are
very avid golfers who enjoy play-
ing at the Fort Ringgold Golf
Course.
Tourists Enjoy
County
"Ray Bielby, who lives in Wyan-
dotte, Michigan with his wife Vera,
said, "This is my fourth year here.
I am enjoying my life quite well
here. With this bunch here, how
can you do anything else, but enjoy
life. The Kirks were the ones who
got us started here."
Vera Bielby commented, "We
can see Canada from our front
porch (in Michigan). Chuck and
Lillian talked us into it (coming to
Starr County) the first year. It's
much more like a family here than
in Florida, where we spent 15
years. It's cheaper to live here."
Mrs. Bielby added, "This year,
we got here in October. I'm very
interested in the area. Medical
care is excellent, as is the hospital.
The nurses there are very friendly.
I think it's lovely around here; it's
quiet."
Roy Cady, of Gavlord, Michigan,
is 89 years old, but is actively
working in a prison ministry. He
commented, "We came down last
year with the idea of ministering in
a lot of prisons. The churches are
doing a lot of good in this area."
Cady recalled^that he woiked in
a prison ministry this past fall at a
De Quincy, Louisiana prison.
He commented, "We saw 50 to 60
prisoners saved in a meeting there.
It's a minimum-security prison.
There's probably about 900 there.
We visited with whoever would talk
to us. We divided up into four
groups. We ate supper with them.
The last day, I had a chance to
grab the mike and talk to the
prisoners."
Cady added that "we stopped to
work with a prison ministry in
Dallas We left Michigan in early
October. We got here (to Starr
County) about two days after we
left DeQuincy. We arrived on about
Dec. 11."
Cady commented, "We play on
staying until mid-March. This is
about the nicest place I've ever
found. We visit jails; we hope to
get down to this one."
Cady, who with his wife, Mildred,
is spending the winter in Starr
County, said that "I drove all
across Texas last winter. We
started off in Texarkana, and then
went to Dallas and down to Laredo.
We stayed at Pearsall for three
months. We went north from Rio
Grande City on FM 755."
Andy Crombie of Dixon,
Nebraska commented, "This is my
third year down here. My im-
pression is nothing but good. The
friendly people are what I like
most. This is a nice, friendly
area."
Crombie added, "We'll stay four
or five months, I guess. We didn't
leave last year until May ."
Crombie continued, "We spent a
couple of years at Brackettville,
and we've stayed at Cotulla."
Crombie is an enthusiastic rock
collector. He said, "Anything that's
pretty, and that I think will polish
good, we'll pick up. Once you get
started rock collecting and
polishing," it grows more enjoya-
ble.
Crombie commented, "I polish 12
pounds at a time; it takes a
month." Rock polishing involves
applying a coarse grind, fine grind,
pre-polish, and polish, with each
step taking about seven days. After
that, he noted, "then you put the
rocks in a real mild soapy water."
Paul Milliron of Shelby, Ohio
commented, "This is our second
year. The weather attracted us
down here. We've enjoyed shopping
in Mexico. In two years, we've
gotten acquainted with lots of
people. You can't beat these
people."
Ellis Shuck of Carden, Indiana
noted that this is the second winter
that he and his wife have spent in
Starr County. He added, "We've
spent the winter from here to Big
Bend. I've stayed here, at Falcon,
and at Bentsen. We've been at it so
long we've lost track of all the
reasons," for RV'ing.
Rociel Watson of Traverse City,
Michigan commented, "This is our
fourth year. We've been down here
in the Valley for 12 or 13 years. We
used to spend time in Zapata."
She added, "I think this area
(Starr County) is quite a nice place
to be. People are very, very
friendly The weather is ideal in
the wintertime."
Mrs. Watson noted that Traverse
City, Michigan is a four-season
tourist area We have skiing,
fishing, hunting of deer and small
game, and boating They ice-fish in
the wintertime. They've got a lot of
fish when the bay freezes over such
as salmon, trout, pike, whitefish,
and bass."
She noted that "they have a
National Cherry Festival in
Traverse City, Michigan in early
July. It's nothing to have 15,000
people."
Friendly People
Praised
Mildred Cady, the wife of Roy
Cady, commented, "I just love it
here. We planned on staying just a
week, but now we're staying until
April."
Mrs. Joan Van Buren of Jemison,
Michigan commented, "This is our
first year. We stayed one night,
then stayed for a month, and then
signed up" for the whole winter."
She noted that she and her
husband John spent 14 winters in
Florida, but commented, "We like
the people of Starr County. We've
found a real nice friendly church
(St. John Methodist)...We've been
seeing the countryside on foot."
On their way to Starr County this
year, said Mrs. Van Buren, "we
visited our daughter in Missouri,
visited our son in Alamogordo, New
Mexico, and stayed a night in Big
Bend "
Both of the Van Burens enjoy
sightseeing and shopping in Mex-
ico, commenting that "we decided
to see all we could of Mexico. We
just got back from a six-day,
five-night tour, including Mexico
City. It was very worthwhile."
Mr. and Mrs. D.W. Martin of
Johnson City, Texas spent a couple
of weeks in Starr County in
January, as they have done for
four years. Martin said he and his
wife come to Starr County to
escape the "cedar fever" that
sweeps the Texas Hill Country in
the winter months.
Martin said, "I like the people
real well; everybody's friendly. We
do volunteer work out at Fort
Davis in the Davis Mountains. It's
now a historical site. They say it is
one of the best preserved forts in
the Old West."
Martin retired from the U.S.
NCO
CLUB
Fort Ringgold
Motor Inn
Tues. Feb. 24-Sun. March 1st
LA CHUSMA
<9
Army in 1956. He commented, "I
think the people of the Valley are
doing a good job of preserving
history."
Martin is originally from Indi-
ana, but has resided in Johnson
City since 1951. Before that, he
noted, "we lived in Live Oak
County."
Martin noted that "my wife is a
history buff." Mrs. Martin noted
that she grew up in George West,
calling that town "very much like
here. We've lived all along the
border."
She commented, "We like the old
buildings in Roma. The people (in
Starr County) are a joy to know.
They're so open and friendly."
Martin concluded, "Every busi-
ness shop we went into was willing
to help as if we needed it." Mrs
Martin added, "They took time to
get to know you. They would strike
up conversations about many other
things besides the store."
Mrs. Martin noted, "We had been
staying in a larger park in Zapata.
We were passing through. We
stayed at Fort Ringgold Inn, and
we then noticed the R.V. park."
She noted that in another year,
"people in the park came up to our
trailer to sing Happy Birthday to
us." The Martins now live four
miles from the LEU Ranch, and
knew the late President Lyndon B
Johnson quite well.
Rush Meadows noted that he and
his wife are "from the Sacramento
River delta in California I've been
in and out of this country for a
number of years." he said he used
to work in the transportation
departments of major motion
picture companies
Meadows commented, "I've been
very impressed with the warmth
and friendliness of these Texas
people...We're on our way to see
our daughter in Florida. We are
now full-time R.V. travelers We
both like it down here We hope to
be back."
"Che" Guerra, manager of the
LaBorde House Hotel, indicated
that 11,010 Winter Texans have
visited the hotel in the last four
months alone. This accounts for
$54,000 in revenue, said Guerra,
who added that most revenue goes
to the restaurant
Guerrra indicated that February,
still not over, has been a very good
month for Winter Texan visitors,
with 4020 tourists visiting the hotel
thus far A total of 3390 Winter
Texans visited the hotel in
January, 2200 in December, and
1400 in November Guerra added,
"Last year, we peaked in
January."
Guerra commented, "Each year,
it (Winter Texan trade) is going to
get better They always come back
and bring friends with them Every
year, it's more. This would be an
excellent R V. area, but they need
things to do while they're here."
The Rio Grande Herald publishes
a column that is written by
residents of La Loma Rio R.V.
Park. This column provides many
details about the day-to-day activi-
ties of Winter Texans who reside
there
From all indications, the impact
of Winter Texans upon Starr
County is growing, slowly but
surely. It seems clear that this
strong point can lie increased by
further promotion, and by such
steps as preserving local history
and maximizing recreational
assets.
It is very obvious that the Winter
Texans like what they see in Starr
County, with the tourists residing
here preferring the quieter at-
mosphere and drier weather than
in the lower Valley.
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Roberts, Kenneth. The Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 1987, newspaper, February 26, 1987; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195069/m1/4/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.