Karnes Co. TX - NEWS - May 2004 This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Kimm Antell Copyright. All rights reserved. http://files.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************ Karnes Ses Qui Fest makes do despite weather May 4, 2004 ANN RUNDLE Victoria Advocate KARNES CITY - Torrential rains, flash flood watches, cold temperatures and a chilly wind may have been enough to cancel Saturday's Ses Qui Fest parade in Kenedy, but they weren't enough to wash out all of the events scheduled to celebrate Karnes County's 150th birthday. "I would say at least 75 percent of what was planned on did actually take place and overall, it was a successful event because we accomplished at least that percentage - that 75 percent - of what we intended to accomplish. We would have liked to have had more people out, but when it's inclement (weather) you just can't get them out and that's understandable," said Randy Witte, the primary chairman of the Ses Qui Fest, which was sponsored by the Karnes County Sesquicentennial Association. Witte estimated that about 1,000 people were at the celebration held at the Karnes County Youth Show Barn located between Kenedy and Karnes City. He said this number included both participants and attendants. "It turned out well, and I think that the people involved in putting it on were pleased with the way it turned out, simply because everything had to be adjusted at the last minute," Witte said. "People who were going to be exhibiting or performing outside simply had to be moved indoors, and the schedules pretty much stayed the same, as far as the performers who were there. We just simply filled in (time) slots in a different way. We were able to fill out the day with things to do." Trick roping; story telling; a beard-mustache contest; a fashion show; family heritage booths displaying pictures and information; and performances by Danni Leigh and Sean O'Brien were among the activities that went on as planned. The Texas Ranger Re-enactors canceled, as did the AACOG Car Classic Cruise Club and the Shriners from San Antonio. The Shriners and classic cars were to be in the parade. The parade, which was scheduled to have 88 entries - the majority of which were going to depict the past 150 years of different families, organizations, businesses and communities in the county - was to start at 11 a.m. "Oh, it rained by the bucketsful starting about 8 o'clock (in the morning), and we kept thinking it was going to go away and go away, but it didn't, so they did cancel the parade because they just couldn't let people out there. It was just too wet," said Bonnie Alonzo, who was in charge of media promotions for the Ses Qui Fest. "I was disappointed that we couldn't do the floats, though, because there were so many heritage floats in there, and it was such a unique parade. It's kind of sad that that didn't happen. Maybe there will be another time." Mary Alice May, who coordinated the sesquicentennial parade along with Raymond Moczygemba, said there are possibilities that the floats that were to be in the sesquicentennial parade could be part of either Runge's July 4 activities or the Lonesome Dove Fest activities in September. Witte, who also helps coordinate the Lonesome Dove Fest, said "It's logical to me because we are going to have a parade anyway with Lonesome Dove Fest. We can just take the sesquicentennial floats and whatever memorabilia or things people wanted to have in the sesquicentennial parade and include them in the Lonesome Dove Fest parade. It kind of makes sense to do it. I hope it works that way." He explained that "the entire 2004 year is what we call the sesquicentennial year, and the sesquicentennial event (Ses Qui Fest) is kind of included with everything that is going on throughout the year in Karnes County." Some of the county events going on include the July 4 celebration in Runge, the Lonesome Dove Fest in September and the 150th birthday of the Catholic Church in Panna Maria in December, Witte said. "So the events that are going on throughout the year in our county will all be tied to the sesquicentennial," he said. While Witte, Alonzo and May all know that the weather hindered the event, the three chose instead to look at the silver lining in the rain clouds - especially living in a county known for farming and ranching. "I think that everybody was disappointed, probably, that it rained, but in this part of the country, you never complain about rain. Everybody goes 'it's ok.' There was nobody in the crowd that just went 'ugh.' I mean you just kind of live with it," Alonzo said. And May added, "We can't fool with Mother Nature. That's just one of those things," she said. Ann Rundle is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-741- 2566 or arundle@txcr.net. May 15, 2004 The Countywide Karnes County's community newspaper May 15, 2004 City and School Board Election results Results are final but unofficial Office/Candidate Votes % Outcome Falls City ISD Board of Trustees Garrett Jurgajtis (INC) 130 13.1 Brent Houdmann 150 15.1 Edward Bordovsky 363 36.6 winner Patrick Jarzombek 294 29.6 winner Cindy Gatlin 54 5.4 Karnes City City Council Dist. 3 * John Perez 4 16 Mary Kruciak (INC) 21 84 winner * and one provisional vote Kenedy City Council Dist. 4 Jason Clay Jansky 20 31.7 Norma Atkinson (INC) 43 68.3 winner Kenedy ISD Board of Trustees Dist. 1 Elisa Garcia Rahmes 24 21.1 Velma Garza 90 78.9 winner Runge ISD Board of Trustees Dist. 4 Eloy Nunez (INC) 20 32.2 Felix Zapata 42 67.7 winner Runge ISD Board of Trustees Dist. 7 Orlando Nunez 11 18.3 Robert Molina (INC) 49 81.6 winner May 17, 2004 Karnes County gets grant for courthouse restoration KARNES CITY - Immediate and long-range plans for the Karnes County courthouse will be funded with the $100,000 Texas Historical Commission Grant awarded to the county earlier this month. The emergency grant to fund courthouse repairs and a structural research study was announced on May 6. Dorothy Wood, chairperson of the Karnes County Historical Commission, said she hopes the county will be in a position to start work on the courthouse this summer. "I'm not sure on the exact timeline for the repairs," she said. "But I would hope we could start this summer. We'll be working with the firm that helped prepare the grant, Fisher and Heck out of San Antonio, to find an architect to work with." County Judge Alger H. Kendall Jr. said the scope of the restoration work planned includes both the roof and exterior walls of the courthouse. "We've got to look at the roof," he said. "We've done some patch jobs already but we need to look at something more extensive. And we've also started seeing moisture getting inside the exterior walls between the plaster exterior and rest of the building, which is causing some deterioration. There might also be some foundation problems, but we aren't in a position right now to address that." The structural research will be used to form the basis of future restoration projects, possibly funded through the Texas Historical Commission. While Kendall would like to see additional work done to preserve the courthouse, he said that going through the THC has some drawbacks that the county will have to take into consideration. "What I've found is that most counties doing that kind of work have to move out of the courthouse and either buy or rent space," he said. "A lot of counties have had to spend from $300,000 to $1 million to continue to conduct county business during the restoration. At this time, I don't feel we are in a position to spend that kind of money. In addition, we added on to the building in the 1930's and need that space. The THC has informed us for a complete restoration, we would have to lose the add-on and as a county government we haven't made that commitment at this point. So what we plan to do is some preservation work at this point in time and see what the county wants to do at some future point." The Karnes County Courthouse opened in 1894 and was designed by architect John Cormack. May 24, 2004 New vehicle rescues rescuers in Karnes City Thanks to donations, fire department has top-of-the-line truck to assist county ANN RUNDLE Victoria Advocate KARNES CITY - The diesel engine of the Karnes City Fire Department's newest truck purred as Danny Denson started it up and eased it into the driveway of the fire station, located next to city hall. The truck's silver metal gleamed in the bright sunshine. "Very nice. I like it," commented a woman walking by the new $217,000 rescue truck. Denson, the assistant fire chief, smiled. "Thank you," he said, later acknowledging that if it weren't for the community, the department would have never been able to raise the funds to purchase the truck, which has enough room to carry just about anything needed for any type of rescue - from a person trapped in a wrecked car to a person stuck in a trench. Charlie Malik, chief of the volunteer department that averages about 25 members, said that $130,000 of the $217,000 was raised locally. The rest came from grants. He said the largest donation was $50,000 from the Johnson Foundation in Victoria. "We raised $130,000 locally during a broke time. We thought it was good," Malik said, shaking his head and smiling at the amount that was raised in about a year and a half. "People really came through. They really supported well." Denson agreed. "The citizens of the county came across," he said. "We left no stone unturned countywide. We did anything from fund-raisers to mailing out letters. And several different civic organizations held fund-raisers for us, too." The original dollar goal for the truck, which will be used for rescues throughout the county and not just in Karnes City, was $200,000. The truck consists of an enclosed rectangular body, or bed, that is 18 feet long and 8 feet wide. The bed itself is divided up into different compartments, with each one designed to fit the needs of the department. One compartment contains air packs. Another is long enough and wide enough to carry sheets of plywood for trench rescues. A third compartment has vertical racks that roll out. Tools, such as shovels, hang on the racks. "We, basically, took a look at what (equipment) we had, what we expected we'd need in the near future and what we felt like we would need down the line and tried to design a truck to do that job," Malik said. "Basically, we designed and built the interior and the body the way we wanted to fit our needs. "And we left room for expansion," he said, noting, "there's not a whole lot of room right now. Most of it's full. But it's not packed like that one was." He pointed toward a small one-ton pickup that was used as the county rescue truck until the new one arrived. "We had that one packed," Malik said, emphasizing the word. "We had something on top of the other." The truck was so packed that there wasn't room for other equipment that was also needed for rescues, Denson said. "We had stuff just laying in the station, that, if we thought we needed it, we'd throw it on there or on another truck," he said, noting that sometimes that would mean arriving at an emergency without the equipment that was needed to help. "We just outgrew our old truck, just flat outgrew it. Simply, it was time to go to something bigger." He said that the new truck "allows us to carry all of our rescue and all of our special equipment on one vehicle." "This gives us all of the capabilities now to carry all of our vehicle extrication equipment, all of our rope rescue equipment, our swift water rescue equipment and large amounts of shoring to do trench rescues," Denson said. The truck also has a light on a pole that can be raised, a winch and even a memorial to the firefighters in New York, who were killed due to the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. The back door of the truck has a painting of a red, white and blue firefighter's helmet, which is surrounded by the words "Honoring America's Bravest. We will not forget you." "It's just kind of a little tribute to New York," Denson said. May 26, 2004 The Countywide Karnes County's community newspaper Remembering Rachel Father of shooting victim keeps memory of Rachel Scott alive By Jason Clay Jansky Rachel Scott was only 17 years old when she died in Littleton, Colorado at Columbine High School. She had plans to touch millions of hearts, and her message is still reaching Karnes County more than five years later. Darrell Scott, Rachel's father, made Rachel's mission his own -- a mission of kindness. He spoke to Karnes City and Falls City high school students May 13 at Karnes City High School. His challenge to them was plainly spelled out. "What would happen if, for one hour, the students in your school stopped; reflected, on the effects their words and actions have on their classmates," he asked. "People will never know how far a little kindness can go," Scott quoted his daughter. "You just may start a chain reaction." Scott describes Columbine as the worst day of his life. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting spree through the high school his daughter and son attended. Their wave of violence left 13 other students dead before they took their own life. What happened there, Scott said, is the opposite of kindness. "My son was literally covered in blood from his two close friends," Scott told students in the crowd. Many of Rachel's writings were discovered after her death. "My biggest aspects of ethics include being honest, compassionate, and looking for the best and beauty in everyone," she wrote in an essay on ethics for her fifth period class. "I will put honesty before the risk of humiliation, before selfishness, and before anything less worthy than the Gospel of truth." Rachel described honesty and trust as an investment in people. Her father explained how Rachel's trust in many people who were new to school, different, or outcasts affected their lives and sometimes displeased her other friends -- the "popular" group. Rachel wasn't fazed, though, he said. "Compassion is the greatest love humans can offer," Rachel wrote further in the same essay. "Compassion is forgiving, loving, helping, leading, and showing mercy for others. I have this theory that if one person goes out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same." Scott showed testimonial videos to the students in the crowd. One testimony came from a mentally handicapped person in a wheelchair. Scott explained how Rachel befriended him one day when he was being picked on. Rachel scolded away two bullies twice her size, Scott said, and told them if they wanted to pick on the student in the wheelchair, they'd have to fight her first. Another student spoke who was having troubles in school and at home. He was new, very alone, and had thoughts of suicide before Rachel reached him. "She probably saved my life," he confessed in the video. Many other testimonies from Rachel's friends followed. All told of a spirited young girl who caused them to see the world differently, made a difference in their lives, and showed them kindness. Scott extended the challenge for Karnes City and Falls City students to follow Rachel's example -- to make a difference in someone's life. He also urged them to think of the people in their lives who made a difference. "While she was alive, he never thanked her once," Scott said of one student who was extremely grateful for Rachel's help. "Why do we wait until we lose people to express how we really feel?" His last request was for everyone to think of the people that had made a difference in their lives, go to them straight away, and thank them. "I guarantee you'll make their month," he said.