The Tulia Herald (Tulia, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 15, 1997 Page: 1 of 16
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DANIEL GIBSON
Tulia High School Names Top Five Students For 1997
by Richard Porter
Assistant Editor
Tulia High School has named its
top five graduates for 1997.
Daniel Gibson, son of David and
Glenda Gibson, was named valedic-
torian, with a grade point average of
4.32.
Aaron Wright, son of James Wright
and Lynda Lutz, was named saluta-
torian with a grade point average of
4.10.
Third, fourth, and fifth ranked stu-
dents were Karla Kirkpatrick, Aarika
O’Daniel, and Dale Dawson, respec-
tively.
DANIEL GIBSON
Daniel Gibson completed kinder-
garten in Erick, Okla. before moving
with his parents to Tulia.
As a student in the Tulia school
system, Gibson has been a member of
the National Honor Society, Future
Teachers of America, and Student
Council.
Also, he was a member of the Tulia
High School Band as a freshman and
sophomore.
He has competed in U.I.L. contests
at the district level in speech, math,
science, number sense, and calculator,
and has competed at the regional level
in number sense.
Gibson was member of the Junior
Engineering TechnologyTeam, which
won first place at district and competed
at state.
- In addition to these accbmpfish-
ments, Gibson was awarded the Out-
standing Foreign Language Student
by the Amarillo College Foreign
Language department
In athletics, Gibson served as the
place kicker and as tight end in foot-
ball, and as a pitcher and first baseman
on the district championship Tulia
baseball team.
Also, he was a member of the 1997
state 3-A runner-up basketball team.
Gibson is a member of First Baptist
Church, Tulia, where he is active in
the choir program and serves on the
Church Youth Council. He has been a
member of the Texas Baptist All-
State Youth Choir for three years.
Gibson has been active in 4-H for
the past ten years and has won nu-
merous awards through that organi-
zation. Also, he has served as an of-
ficer in the Town and Country 4-H
club, the Cbunty 4-H Council, ^hd the
District 4-H Council.
Other awards include the Swisher
Electric Cooperative Rural Youth
Tour Winner and the Swisher County
Farm Bureau Award He won second
place in the District Free Enterprise
Speech contest.
Gibson will attend Wayland Baptist
Please see STUDENl'S on page 2
AARON WRIGHT
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH of Tulia took time Sunday morning to recognize women who had
maintained church membership for 50 consecutive years. A total of 41 women qualified for
recognition. Twenty nine of those were able to attend the service. —Staff photo
Church Recognizes Women's
Watch Where You
Park Your Tractors
Swisher County farmers are be-
ing advised to pay particular at-
tention to bow and where they leave
their tractors overnight.
According to Sheriff Larry
Stewart, the theft task force from
Lubbock informed him that tractors
have been stolen from the fields in
counties surrounding Swisher.
Somebody has been loading the
equipment onto trucks and driving
off with it, he said.
Stewart urged farmers not to park
their tractors near the highway or
near tumrows.
"Make it inconvenient for some-
one to stop and load them up," he
said.
Al$o, he encouraged people to
keep an eye on their neighbors
equipment.
GARY WILLIAMS (L) and his son Cory play a little music at their
home. Cory was named Grand Champion fiddler at the 1997 Bob
Wills’ Day festivities In Turkey, Texas. —Photo by Richard Porter
Consistency And Dedication
Tulia's First Baptist Church recog-
nized some special women last Sun-
day as part of their normal Mother's
Day service.
According to Office Manager and
General Secretary Faye Hen thorn, the
church recognized all of the ladies
who have maintained continuous
membership for at least 50 years.
As a part of the service. Hen thorn
said, each lady was escorted by a
deacon to the altar and presented a
rose.
Henthom explained that the church
had made a similar recognition about
ten years ago.
"We just felt it was time to do it
again," she said.
A total of 41 ladies qualified for the
recognition, however not all were able
to attend, Henthom said.
Of the 41 contacted, 29 were able to
attend, including one, Ethel Grigg,
from El Paso.
"I was so thrilled Mrs. Gngg came
from El Paso. She is iri an assisted
living facility and she came the greatest
distance," Henthom said.
As she explained further, all but
five of the 29 in attendance still are
residents of Swisher County. Those
five are living in areas closer to their
family, she added.
One of the interesting aspects of
this particular group of women was
that it included three groups of sisters:
Dora Bonds, Dessie Evans, and Dor-
othy West, of the Lela Bivens family;
Mamie Lee Burrow and IvaFerguson,
of the B.B. and Mandy Burrow fam-
ily; and Lucille Barbour and Faye
Henthom, of the Bob and Lois
Jennings family.
During the presentation the Rev.
Charles Davenport, pastor of First
Baptist Church, explained that this
group represented approximately
2,000 years of collective membership.
"Seeing 29 women honored for be-
ing members of First Baptist Church
for 50 years or more reminded us of
how indebted we are to those who
Please see CHURCH on page 9
Scouts Dance, Learn, Enjoy
by Chris Russett
Herald Publisher
Tulia's Boy Scouts were hosts to
community youth and out-of-town
guests last weekend.
Kwahadi Dancers, Boy Scout Ex-
plorer Post #9, visited the Tulia scout
house. Greg Perkins, Tulia scout-
master, cooked a hamburger dinner
for Tulia scouts, visiting scouts, par-
ents and honored guests.
The honored guests were prospec-
tive scouts who came to see tradi-
tional Native American dancing per-
formed in traditional Native Ameri-
can costumes by Boy Scouts.
"Kwahadi Dancers started in 1944
and has been going for 53 years,"
said Harry Janzen, an adult leader
with the group. He is from Amarillo,
where the group meets.
Over the years the post has had
about 1,500 members. There cur-
rently are 38 members ranging from
11 to 18 years of age. Most belong to
a Scout troop as well as the Explorer
post. In fact, 21 scout troops are
represented, including Tulia's own
Troop 263.
Tulia members are Kaury Edwards,
12, and Lee Edwards, 10. They have
been members for 1 1/2 years and
about one year, respectively.
Theirmother, Pam, said, "It is very
family oriented because everything
we do, we do as a family. Once, the
five of us were beading together all
day for their costumes. It's nice to see
my boys dedicated to something that
is good, clean and all-American . They
are meeting people from all over.
They are also learning good morals."
Bryan Edwards, the boys father, is
also involved with the Kwahadis.
Charles Ritchie, narrator for the
show, is married to Julie Ritchie,
former principal of Swinbum El-
ementary.
He said, "The boys have been do-
ing this since 1944.1 have been with
them since 1964. You can’t get inter-
ested in Indian dancing without get-
ting interested in Indian art and cul-
ture. What I treasure most about all
this is what we do for children. When
you dance for children and tell them
Please see SCOUTS on page 3
Internationally renowned Kwahadi Dancers performed eight dances, Including this Eagle Dance at
the Tulia Boy Scout Hut last Saturday. Many visitors enjoyed the show snd a hambureger lunch.
Area Soil Moisture
In Good Shape
The rains just keep coming, but
not too many people are complain-
ing.
"I don’t know if we ever get it (the
soil profile) full, but we're in pretty
good shape," explained Swisher
County Extension Agent David
Gibson.
According to Glen Am bum, ob-
server for the National Weather Ser-
vice, Tulia received an additional
1.55 inches of rain for the week,
bringing the yearly total to 9.55
inches.
As Gibson explained further, the
rain has fallen in a way that has
allowed it to soak in rather than run
off.
Swisher County is not the only
part of the area that has received
beneficial rainfall.
According to Park Manager Geoff
Hulse at Caprock Canyons State
Park, Lake Theo is the highest it has
been since 1989 or 90.
"It looks like a lake now,” he said,
adding that it was within four feet of
the spillway.
Lake Mackenzie is holding at about
80 feet after gaining 5 feet earlier in
the spring, explained Roy Garris,
manager of Mackenzie Municipal
Water Authority.
Although the rain is welcome and
has been beneficial, it has caused
some minor problems, according to
Gibson.
The wet weather has slowed spring
planting some, he pointed out.
"We're just running a little behind
schedule," he said.
However, he continued, if the rains
held off through the rest of the week
most of the com would be planted.
The delay in planting has not been
critical so far, although itcould force
farmers who have multiple crops to
rearrange their irrigation schedule,
Gibson said. Also, it could cause
pollination to come at a less advan-
tageous time, he added.
Finally, the rain and accompany-
ing cool weather has kept the soil
temperature down.
Gibson explained that normally
by now the soil temperature was 60
degrees, which meant producers
could begin planting cotton. How-
ever, he said, currently it is around
55-58 degrees.
Again, he emphasized that this
was not a major concern because
cotton growers still had a month to
get the temperature where it needed
to be.
A ten-day period where the soil
temperature was at least 60 degrees
would be ideal for cotton farmers,
he concluded.
Grand Champion Musician
Part Of Fiddling Family
by Richard Porter
Assistant Editor
Cory Williams reached a milestone
recently.
The 18-year-old fiddle player from
Kress was named Grand Champion
fiddler at the 1997 Bob Wills’ Days
festivities in Turkey, Texas.
Although Williams has been play-
ing for nine years and is attending
South Plains College in Levelland on
a music scholarship, he was excited
over his win.
"I was surprised. It was one of the
biggest honors. I’ve been trying to win
it so long," he said, explaining that he
had been competing in Turkey for the
last six or seven years.
The competition consists of age
divisions, and the top two from each
division compete for Grand Cham-
pion, he said.
Williams came in second in his age
group before winning the overall
competition. Along the way, he de-
feated former world champion fiddler
Ricky Bowen of Odessa, and 23 other
contestants.
"The best I’ve ever played was in
the Grand Championship. I knew what
I had to do and I guess I did it,” he said.
Cory is not the only member of his
family who was pleased with his
performance. In fact, as it turned out,
he was not the only member of his
family to compete for the 1997 Grand
Championship.
It seems the Williams are a fiddling
family. Cory's younger brother, Jus-
tin, won first place in the 12-and-
under division and his father, Gary,
won second in his age group.
Serious competition aside, Gary
Williams was thrilled with his son's
performance.
"That was the first ume he just fiat
out beat me. He beat me and he beat a
former World Champion, and I was
just tickled to death,” the elder Wil-
liams said.
Mr. Williams went on to explain
that fiddle playing has been a tradition
in the Williams family. His dad, the
late Dee Williams, played, and Gary
has taught both of his sons.
In addition, Rhonda Williams,
Cory’s mother, pointed out that her
father, the late Bill Sharp of Tulia,
Please see MUSICIAN on page 3
Kathy Hontmel
This is Peace Officer’s Memorial
Week. It is a time to honor those
fallen in the line of duty and give
recognition to those serving us daily.
Here, in Swisher County, we have
had two peace officer killed in the
line of duty.
Robert Henry Potter and John
Moseley were dedicated peace off c-
ers.
On the days they died, they ex-
pected to go to work, complete their
shift and return home. This was not
to be.
They each had families and friends
who loved and cared for them. Like
all of us. I’m sure they had plans for
their futures. They were highly re-
spected, admirable men.
The contributions they made and
the mark they left on Swisher County
will be an inspiration to all members
of our law enforcement community
for years to come.
These men performed their duties,
making the ultimate sacrifice. They
gave all they had to give, their lives.
The members of our law enforce-
ment community are the silent guard-
ians of the people.
When we think about them most
frequently is if we are driving our
car, and see a patrol car in our rear
view mirror. That is when we are
acutely aware of their presence.
If they issue us a citation, it isn’t
because they’re out to get us. They
are doing their job and helping to
keep motorists and pedestrians alive.
They are upholding the law.
Are we as acutely aware of their
presence when we are mowing our
lawns, eating dinner, watching tv or
sleeping at night?
The answer is, not usually, not
unless we need their services.
Then we expect them to be there as
soon as we hang up the phone.
Let’s think about what our law
enforcement community does for us.
At Christmas, when most of us are
snuggled up warm and safe in our
homes, they are on the highways and
in our neighborhoods, making sure
we stay safe.
When we go to work each day we
depend on them to patrol our neigh-
borhoods and keep our property and
Please see SINCEREALY on page 3
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The Tulia Herald (Tulia, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 15, 1997, newspaper, May 15, 1997; Tulia, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth507565/m1/1/: accessed June 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Swisher County Library.