The West News (West, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 16, 1997 Page: 1 of 12
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Local band wins state showdown
Pages 5
50 years ago in West
Page 10
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Kitchen Corner
New Feature this week
Volume 107, No. 42
Two Sections
The West News
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350
TEXAS PRESS
I ASSOCIATION I
THURSDAY
October 16, 1997
Celebrating 107years serving the West area
Covering West, Abbott, Aquilla, Axtell, Birome, Chalk Bluff, Elm Mott, Gerald, Gholson, Hillsboro, Leroy, Malone, Penelope, Ross, Tokio, Tours, Waco and Whitney
News Digest
West United Fund Drive underway
The West United Fund Drive is currently underway for 1998.
The purpose of this fund is to collect funds for area non-profit
organizations. Any contributions toward helping the West
United Fund will be appreciated and anyone working outside
West and living in the West community is urged to make their
contribution to the West fund. Allocations for the past year
were made to the West Senior Citizens' Meals on Wheels
Program and the Circle of Moms organization. Allocations
are also usually made to the following organizations accord-
ing to their needs: West League Booster Club, West Girl
Scouts, West Boy Scouts, West Library Association, West
Volunteer Ambulance Association and West Welfare.
Health screening offered to veterans
The Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Marlin
ICF is to provide free health screening and flu shots. The
health screening and flu shots are to be from 3-6 p.m. Oct. 29
at the West VFW Post 4819. This service is open to all male
and female veterans in the West and surrounding area.
Veterans only need to bring proof of service to be eligible for
the free health screening (blood pressure, blood sugar, PSA
and colon cancer screening, tetanus and pneumonia vac-
cines) and flu shots.
Garden club meeting today
The West Bluebell Garden Club is scheduled to meet at 9:30
a.m. today (Thursday) in the West Public Library. There will
be a social and meeting. Guests are welcome to attend.
Penelope school carnival Friday
The Penelope Better School Organization is sponsoring their
annual carnival this Friday. A turkey and dressing dinner is
set to begin at 5 p.m. in the school's cafeteria. Adult plates are
$5 and children's plates are $3.50. Bingo and all types of
carnival games are to begin at 6 p.m. in the school gym. A
Halloween Costume Contest for grades pre-kindergarten
through twelfth grades begins at 7 p.m.
Over 50 Dance set for Friday
The Over 50 Dance is scheduled from 7-10 p.m. this Friday at
West Fraternal Auditorium. Mike Kuzenka is to provide the
music and admission is priced at $4. No smoking or alcohol
is allowed.
Junior CDA Fall Fest planned
The Junior CDA sponsored Fall Fest is planned from 10 -
11:30 a.m. Oct. 25 at the Gazebo on the West City Hall lawn,
weather permitting. In case of bad weather, the event will be
moved to the West Community Center. There will be children's
games and a bake sale with proceeds to benefit the West
Senior Ministry Program. Pre-schoolers may enter a deco-
rated pumpkin contest and grade school through fifth grad-
ers may enter a pumpkin carving contest. Cash prizes are to
be awarded and entries are to be accepted from 10 -10:45 a.m.
Winners are to be announced and pictures taken at 11:15
a.m. For further information, contact Kathy Podsednik, JCDA
chairman, at 826-5636.
West VFW plans meeting
West VFW Post 4819 has scheduled a meeting for 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 22 in the West VFW Club. The VFW Post also announced
the winners of its Oct. 8 and 11 drawings for $1,000 savings
bonds. The winners were A1 Straten ofNorthcrestand Evelyn
Hlavaty of West.
West Point Club to meet at games
The West Point Club is scheduled to meet from 4:30 - 7:30
p.m. this Friday in West High School's Trojan Gym. All
members are asked to gather in the southwest comer of the
gym. Those planning to attend are asked to bring their
stomping shoes and be prepared to clap and yell for the Lady
Trojans in their big matches against Clifton. For further
information, contact club Vice President Butch Eskew at
829-2691.
BU Choir returning to West church
Baylor University's Religious Hour Choir is returning to the
West Brethren Church at 7 p.m. Oct. 26. The 40-member
choir and their band will present a service of contemporary
worship and praise. Anyone is welcome to attend and there
is no admission charge, but an offering for the choir will be
received.
Depot to open on weekends
The West Katy Railroad Depot is to be open from 1-5 p.m. on
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Volunteers are still needed
to man the depot and anyone interested in doing this is asked
to contact Maggie Grmela at 826-5189 or Inky Uptmore at
826-5852.
/ ibott Exes Homecoming Oct. 25
Th^ Abbott High School Ex-Student Association has sched-
uled their Tri-Annual Homecoming Banquet for Oct. 25 in
Abbott's school cafetorium. All ex-students and faculty are
* welcome to attend. Registration and visitation for all exes
begins at 3 p.m. at McKamie Hall. The banquet begins at 7:30
p.m. Reservations are to be sent to Abbott Ex-Student, P.O.
Box 71, Abbott, Texas 76621.
West ISD bond election set for Nov. 22
Voters to decide proposed high school’s fate
West Independent School Dis-
trict trustees approved the call-
ing of an $11.5 million school
bond election on Nov. 22 for the
purpose of constructing a new
high school facility in the school
district.
The trustees voted five to one
in favor of the bond election which
will send voters to the polls for
the third time in less than two
years to vote on the possibility of
a new West High School facility.
School board member Joe
Grmela cast the lone dissenting
vote.
The two previous bond elec-
tions were for $8.9 million on
March 2, 1996 and for $8.1 mil-
lion on May 11,1996. Neither of
these two bond issues passed.
This new bond issue mirrors
the March 2,1996 bond package
with at least two exceptions. The
new bond package does not in-
clude a new football and track
complex while it does include a
900 seat auditorium. The first
bond drawings called for a 500
seat auditorium.
The plans for the proposed
high school facility call for a com-
prehensive masonry structure
which will provide classroom
space for up to 650 students with
core elements of the building
(gymnasium, cafeteria and li-
brary) are to accommodate 850
students.
Specific features of the pro-
posed high school would include:
31 classrooms and four science
classrooms / labs, two computer
labs and a math center, band
hall and choir room, library /
media center, home economics
cooking and sewing labs,
cafetorium / student activities
center and kitchen, auditorium
and lecture hall, gymnasium,
physical education gym, dress-
ing areas and weight room, two
agriculture education classrooms
and shop with covered work area,
restrooms, storage areas and
teacher workrooms and office
areas.
The proposed main high school
building is 134,790 square feet
with plans calling for an 8,210
square foot ag building. This
bond also covers the cost of get-
ting the needed utilities (such as
water and sewer) to the property
along with the cost of widening
Jerry Mashek Drive, adjacent to
the proposed location for the high
school facility. The proposed
package also includes the needed
equipment and furniture for the
new facility along with money
for landscaping and irrigation.
This bond package has a
higher cost than the $8.9 million
package in March 1996 due to
the increased size of the audito-
rium, the inclusion of extra costs
not included in the previous bond
package and increased construc-
tion and materials costs.
The one big difference in this
school bond proposal and the
previous two others has to do
with the financing portion. Un-
der this proposed bond package,
property taxes would increase
by a maximum of 12 cents from
its current $1.38 per $100 valu-
ation to $1.50. In the previous
two bond elections, tax increases
of 36 and 32 cents had been esti-
mated.
The school district's financial
advisor Leon Johnson, of South-
west Securities, discussed the
options the district had to aid in
the financing of the proposed
school bond. "We are in an un-
usual time," he explained to the
school board, "in that we have an
opportunity to unveil ourselves
of some state funding." Under a
facility's funding program (Tier
III) for new schools, the West
ISD would be eligible to apply for
this funding should the bond
pass.
By setting the tax rate at
$ 1.50, which is where it would be
if the bond passes, the West
school district would also be eli-
gible for its maximum share of
Tier II state funding. Johnson
said this was guaranteed money
and the school district could also
use this money to aid in financ-
ing the bond. He explained that
even if the school district did not
receive any Tier III money, it
would still get the needed money
to fund the new bond from the 12
cent increase in property taxes
combined with the Tier II money.
Johnson had said at a Sep-
tember school board meetingthat
the state has structured its fund-
ing compensation rates to favor
school districts with a tax rate at
$1.50 per $ 100 valuation of prop-
erty.
Before voting on whether or
not to call for the election, board
member Evelyn Pareya called
the plan in the best interest of
the "students and taxpayers.
Board member Jimmy Doherty
said that looking in the future,
the school district could well have
a $1.50 tax rate in three years
anyway and added it would be a
shame to be paying that tax rate
and not have a new school to
show for it.
The proposed site for the new
school is the Harris Property,
which is located on the north-
eastern outskirts of the city along
Jerry Mashek Drive.
Prior to the trustees discuss-
ing a bond election, David A.
Kolar, chairman of Project 2000:
Children First, addressed the
trustees and presented them a
Please turn to page three for
more on bond election.
West ag students
win sweepstakes
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.*4%
West High School Ag students (in the above pictures) display some of the projects they
built and entered at the Heart O' Texas Fair.
i.% ’:-
The West FFA captured
their third consecutive sweep-
stakes award last week follow-
ing competition in the Ag Me-
chanics Project Show at the
Heart O' Texas Fair in Waco.
The West High School stu-
dents narrowly out-pointed
Whitney (26-25) to win the
sweepstakes award as schools
received points for their vari-
ous ag mechanics projects en-
tered in the show.
In addition to winning the
sweepstakes award, West took
first and second place in the
electrical project category.
They won first with their light
stand and second with an elec-
trical stand. The West students
also took second place in the live-
stock equipment category with
the one bale hay trailer they con-
structed.
In the farm machinery cat-
egory, West took second place
with a shredder. Third place went
to West for their barbecue pit
entry in the farm, home and yard
conveniences category. The West
students also won second and
third place in the gates category.
The schools could enter items
which their ag departments
made during the year since the
past fair competition.
Overall West won 20 blue
ribbons and two red ribbons
for their projects.
"It (winning the sweep-
stakes) made all the hard work
for the kids worth it," West
High School Ag Science teacher
Tim Sullins said Tuesday. An-
thony Meurer, also an Ag Sci-
ence teacher at West High
School, agreed with Sullins
while adding the students "put
in the extra time and effort to
make the projects."
St. Mary's Homecoming King and Queen are (back) Jeff
Zapalac and Melinda Kolar. The Duke and Duchess are
Kevin Kocian and Ashley Hromadka.
St. Mary's School crowns
Homecoming King, Queen
St. Mary's School crowned
their Homecoming King and
Queen during halftime of last
Saturday's game between the
Mustangs and St. Joseph's
Eagles at Trojan Field in West.
Eighth graders Jeff Zapalac
and Melinda Kolar were chosen
the King and Queen. Jeff is the
son of Mark and Cindy Zapalac
and Melinda is the daughter of
Ernest and Mary Kolar.
The school's Duke and Duch-
ess was also crowned during the
halftime activities. Kindergar-
ten students Kevin Kocian and
Ashley Hromadka were crowned
the winners. Kevin is the son of
Gus and Chris Kocian and Ashley
is the daughter of Larry and
Cindy Hromadka.
All of the nominees and stu-
dents would like to thank every-
one for their tremendous sup-
port by purchasing raffle tickets
sold by the St. Mary’s students
in conjuction with Homecoming.
The eighth grade class raised
$1,516.50 while the kindergar-
ten class raised $1,250. This
fund-raiser netted $7,055 with
all proceeds going to St. Mary's
School.
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Knapek, Larry. The West News (West, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 42, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 16, 1997, newspaper, October 16, 1997; West, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth715146/m1/1/: accessed June 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting West Public Library.