Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 128, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 1, 2014 Page: 1 of 25
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Medina County’s Leading Newspaper Our 128th Year Published in Hondo, Texas
Thursday, May 1, 2014 • Volume 128, Number 18 • Website: HondoAnvilHerald.com • Three Sections, 28 Pages • 75 Cents
HACC hires Finger for top spot
Hondo Area Chamber of
Commerce Vice President
Diane Cosgrove Tuesday an-
nounced that the selection
committee has chosen Hon-
do resident Lisa Keene-Fin-
ger from a field of applicants
for the position of Executive
Director of the Chamber. She
will replace outgoing Execu-
tive Director Holly Schlortt,
who is in her second year
with the Chamber.
“We’re sorry to see Holly go,
but excited about the direc-
tion our chamber will take
with Lisa at the helm,” said
Cosgrove. “She is enthusiastic
and ready to meet the chal-
lenges ahead.”
In an interview Wednesday,
Finger said she is ready to be-
gin working with the organi-
zation to promote the Hondo
area and help to make the city
a better place to live and work.
“That’s my ultimate goal,” she
Lisa Finger
said, “to bring new business
in, expand the business we
currently have and get every-
body involved... get the com-
munity working together. I
have all kinds of ideas.”
A wife and mother, her
most recent job was with
Time Warner, covering ter-
ritory from the San Antonio
area to South Padre Island.
“I’ve been in technology for
15 years,” she added. “I took
a little break and worked (lo-
cally) in real estate.” Much of
her experience is in sales and
customer relations. She holds
an information and technol-
ogy degree from the Univer-
sity of Phoenix.
“Stepping right in, it’s going
to be ftm to get out and meet
everybody. I can’t wait for the
airshow (May 17). We did that
years ago; that was fabulous.”
“I’m looking forward to
getting out there and meet-
ing each and every business
owner... sitting down with
them for 15-20 minutes, and
getting their ideas... seeing
what they envision for Hondo
as well. This is an all-inclusive
thing; we all live in the same
city, we all run up and down
the same streets and we all
need to do it together.”
State semi-finalists...
viti, ...
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COURTESY PHOTO
Hondo High School tennis doubles team (from left) Pete
Rochat, a sophomore, and his brother, Jack, a senior, com-
peted at the state tennis tournament in College Station
Monday. They lost to the eventual state champions from
Abilene Wylie High School.
■Titty* J
PHOTO / JEROMY KUSCH
Hondo City Manager Jeff Litchfield (third from left) presented the prestigious 1st place trophy to Street Department employ-
ees (from left) Tony Sauceda, Pablo Gonzales, Superintendent Claude Cosgrove, Adam Zapata, Henry Torres, Joe Gon-
zales, David Rangel, Bernardo Bernal and (not pictured) Fletch Highsmith and Jaime Gonzales, as the team relishes their
victory at this year’s City of Hondo Chili Cook-off held last week.
Street Dept, steamrolls competition in cookoff
By Jeromy Kusch
Anvil Herald Reporter
The City of Hondo’s an-
nual chili cook-off challenge
between the departments
saw six teams competing,
but only one could take
home the coveted tide.
The electric, street, parks,
facilities and police depart-
ments, along with the Rec Cen-
ter participated in the cook-off,
and all looked to unseat last
year’s champion, Mayor James
Danner. Unfortunately, for
those eager men and women,
Mayor Danner excused him-
self from the competition this
year as it conflicted with the
regularly scheduled Hondo-
D’Hanis Rotary Meeting at the
same time. The mayor holds a
board position with the club.
Some city employees took
the opportunity to do a little
good-natured “trash-talking”
as Mayor Danner was not
present to defend himself.
One employee, who shall re-
main anonymous, said the
mayor was “scared.”
Tacho Vasquez with the Fa-
cilities Department cooked
on behalf of his department,
and was the most self-as-
sured of a victory, compared
to the other teams. “I sam-
pled them all, and mine is the
best,” he quipped.
Hondo Police officer Dar-
rell Wittenbrink did not take
any shots at the mayor, but
showed no hesitation to of-
fer a critique of his competi-
tors. “The Parks’ chili has too
much cayenne, and that
one,” pointing to the Street
Department’s table, “has too
much chili powder.”
Street Dept. Superinten-
dent Claude Cosgrove gave
credit to co-worker Fletch
Highsmith for assisting in the
cooking, but was willing to
accept full responsibility for
the cooking if the department
brought home a victory.
City Manager Jeff Litch-
field was on hand to sample
the fine cooking, but would
not comment on who he
thought would win this year’s
trophy. He did not cook this
year, but said he is planning
on adding his own entry at
next year’s contest.
Kelly Bippart with the Parks
Department did not jab at the
mayor or his opponents, in-
stead, he turned his criticism
on his own chili. “I ate it last
night, and I’m still not right.”
Gabriel Trinidad, a lineman
apprentice with the Electric
Department said this is his
third year competing in the
contest. He added that it was a
team effort, but suggested the
teams’ taste-testing cost them
10 pounds of chili on the way
to the competition.
Ultimately, it would be
the Street Department that
would be victorious this
year. Cosgrove said he heard
a rumor the winning de-
partment earned a few days
off with pay, a claim which
could not be confirmed. He
said the victory did not come
without its complications,
noting that he came out of
the gates slow because he
could not find his can open-
er, but recovered to earn his
department the victory.
Two other awards were
handed out, one for Best Cook
Site and the other for Best Des-
sert. The Electric Department
won Best Site, for their intri-
cate display complete with
glowing power lines, “dead
squirrel” and street lamp.
Hondo Police Department
earned Best Dessert for their
German Chocolate cupcakes.
Relay For Life overnighter is Friday in Castroville
The 2014 Relay For Life of
Medina County is finally here.
Come join the fun and excite-
ment Friday night through
Saturday morning, May 2-3
at Medina Valley High School
track. Thousands of people
join together to celebrate
life, remember those lost and
fight back against cancer at
this signature American Can-
cer Society event. The event
is free to the public. Nearly
50 teams, with over 500 par-
ticipants, have registered and
raised $67,204.
What can one expect at a
Relay Event? Relayers are wel-
comed in the opening cer-
emony beginning at 7 p.m.
Relay starts with the Survivor
Lap, when survivors walk to
celebrate their victory over
cancer. A Caregiver Lap rec-
ognizes those who have given
care to cancer patients.
Linally, all of the Relay
teams are invited to walk
together during the Open-
ing Lap. Luminaria bags and
candles are lit during the Lu-
minaria Ceremony at 9 p.m.
to honor loved ones who
have passed or are fighting
the disease. Individual walk-
ing continues throughout the
night with family games, ac-
tivities, and entertainment.
The Light Back Ceremony
helps close the event. Relay-
ers take a final lap and pledge
to take action and spread
awareness of cancer research,
treatments, and prevention.
Activities are guaranteed
to keep all entertained (and
awake!) all night long with
team raffles, silent auctions,
a scavenger hunt at 11p.m.,
Cotton-eyed Joe and Chicken
Dance laps, and the Randy
Brown Band playing 11:30-12
midnight.
Other activities include the
Fight back ceremony, royal
courts lap, Wiggin’ (Cheetos
& Shaving Cream/ Shower
Cap - see who can get the
most Cheetos to stay on!),
cake walk, Best 80s dance
moves lap, team t-shirt fash-
ion show, karaoke and more.
This year’s theme is the
song, “Roar” by Katy Perry, a
very upbeat and moving song.
Food will be available for
purchase from various teams
including sausage wraps,
hot dogs, candy, drinks, ta-
cos, pizza, hamburgers, bake
sales, soft drinks, water, Gato-
rade, nachos and pickles.
ACS Relay For Life Medina
County would like to invite
Cancer Survivors to “Cele-
brate More Birthdays.”
“Be our guest of honor for
dinner and the survivor lap
See RELAY Page 5A
Staj ;e 3
Water
Restrictions
in effect.
Home-and-home
bi-district series
begins Friday for
Owls, Robstown
Baseball postseason play
begins Lriday for the Hondo
Owls.
Hondo, the third-place
finishing team in District
29-AAA, will take on 30-AAA
runner-up Robstown in a
best-of-three, home-and-
home series.
The teams will play the
series opener in Robstown,
Lriday at 7:30, then will move
the series to Hondo for the
second game, and third, if
necessary.
Saturday’s possible double-
header at Bridges Lield will
begin at 5 p.m.
Admission price for each
day is $5 for adults and $2 for
students.
Hondo comes into the
game with a season record of
13-12 after going 6-4 in dis-
trict play. The Cottonpickers
were 14-11-1 for the season
and were also 6-4 in district.
The Hondo-Robstown win-
ner will advance to the area
round and will face the win-
ner of a series between 31-
AAA champion Kingsville and
the 32-AAA fourth place fin-
isher, Rio Hondo.
Early voting light in HISD race;
runoff election begins May 19
By Diane Cosgrove
Anvil Herald Staff
Medina County Elections
Administrator Patricia Barton
said Wednesday that early
voting started Monday for
Hondo Independent School
District’s trustee position.
Dale Richter and David
Bermea are running for Dis-
trict 2, to replace Anna Reyes,
who is stepping down after
serving three terms as trustee.
“It’s very slow,” said Barton
of the turnout for early vot-
ing at the county’s elections
office, which ends Tuesday,
May 6. “Election Day (for
HISD) is Saturday, May 10,
and (voting on that day) is
here as well.”
Barton noted that early
voting for the Democrat and
Republican primaries starts
Monday, May 19, and runs
through May 23 at the three
county buildings, in Devine,
Castroville and the elections
office in Hondo. “Election
Day is May 27th,” she added.
Elections sites on May 27 in-
clude the county buildings in
Castroville and Devine, as well
as at the Mico Lire Depart-
ment and South Texas Region-
al Training Center in Hondo.
Candidates involved in
their party’s runoff election
include:
• Will Hurd and Lrancisco
“Quico” Canseco, Republi-
can, U.S. Representative -
District 23
• David Alameel and Kesha
Rogers, Democrat, U.S Sena-
tor. The winner will face in-
cumbent John Cornyn.
• Rob Henneke and Andrew
Murr, Republican, State Rep-
resentative - District 53
• Richard “Kinky” Friedman
and Jim Hogan, Democrat,
Commissioner of Agriculture
• Sid Miller and Tommy
Merritt, Republican, Com-
missioner of Agriculture
• Dan Patrick and David
Dewhurst, Republican, Lieu-
tenant Governor.
PHOTO / LISA ROTHE
YUM...Twenty-five teams in the 8th annual D’Hanis Li-
ons Club BBQ Cookoff enjoyed some great weather this
past weekend as they toiled over their pits raising money
for the club’s scholarship fund. Trophies were presented to
the winning entries in brisket, ribs, and chicken categories.
There was also a Jackpot Bean contest and a People’s
Choice award. See winner photos on page 5C.
s
Wed.,
Thur.,
Fri.,
Sat.,
Sun.,
Mon.,
Tues.
Apr. 23
Apr. 24
Apr. 25
Apr. 26
Apr. 27
Apr. 28
Apr. 29
Hondo 87
87
87
85
93
94
84
Weather 67
67
69
70
72
67
63
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total rain for the week: 0.0 in.
Total rain for Apr. 2014:1.81 in.
Total rain for2014:4.09 in.
Avg. high temp, for the week: 88.1 °
Avg. low temp, for the week: 67.9°
High temp, for 2014:92°, Apr. 11
Low temp, for 2014:18°, Jan. 7
Edwards Aquifer level, April 30,
at Bexar County, J-17 well: 634.2 ft.
Medina Lake level, April 30:973.07 ft.
91 feet below spillway
Anvil Herald weather info
recorded by Jeff Berger
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Hondo Anvil Herald (Hondo, Tex.), Vol. 128, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 1, 2014, newspaper, May 1, 2014; Hondo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth739776/m1/1/: accessed June 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hondo Public Library.