The Odem-Edroy Times (Odem, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 47, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 25, 2004 Page: 1 of 8
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Copyright 2004 • San Patricio Publishing Co., Inc.
Volume 58 • No. 47 • 8 Pages
Home of the Scrappin’ Owls
Thursday, November 25, 2004
with donations toward the building
fund, which ranged from just a lit-
tle change to $25,000 plus,
Spiekerman asked those present
to keep on giving, "Those dollar
bills mean just as much to us,”
she said.
The material and labor for the
landscaping was donated by local
residents, as was the tile walkway
leading from the sidewalk to the
entryway.
Others taking part in the cere-
mony Saturday were Alderman
Charles H. Smith, Friend’s presi-
dent Noe Guerra and Mayor
Jessie Rodriguez Sr.
Darline Green, the Board's vice
president, recognized former
librarians and board members,
past and present.
Following the turnover and
acceptance of the key by Library
Director Kay Janak, the library
director, officials and board mem-
bers participated in a ribbon cut-
ting ceremony followed by closing
remarks from Board Treasurer
Jean Gonzales and Friends
Treasurer Kelly Whatley.
residents a reality. The pleasure
shown in expressions of those at
the ceremony Saturday was evi-
dence that the long effort had
been appreciated by all.
Vicki Spiekerman, president of
the Board, has been a tireless
worker in the library effort.
She said when she moved to
Odem in 1974 the first things she
looked for were her church, the
grocery store, the post office and
the library.
"And I had to look hard for the
library," she said, speaking of the
old building on Humphries Street.
In Spiekerman's welcome and
introductory talk Saturday, she
said that the move to make the
library a reality began in earnest
in 1987 with various fund raising
events and intensified in1998 with
Market Days, a fund raiser which
is held every month in the city
park. In 1999 the Friends of the
Library was organized and by
2000 they were received their 401
(c)(3) status and were ready to
apply for grants.
In thanking those who helped
By Johnnie Sue Littleton ty's grand opening and ribbon cut-
Community Editor ting ceremony Saturday after-
noon.
A sizable crowd of more than Located on Odem's main thor-
150 people gathered at the Odem oughfare, Hwy 77 or Voss
Public Library for the new facili- Avenue, the library boasts 5,128
signage was added to the outside
of the new building.
She said that more than
10,000 books were boxed and
taken to the new building where
they were placed on the shelves.
Tennill noted that all those books
were "somehow, all in the old
building."
The new facility has the capac-
ity for 19,000 items and also net-
worked computers with 10 sta-
tions.
The Odem City Council voted
to pave the area in back of the
new building and giving the pub-
lic a chance to enter both build-
ings from safer more accessible
parking spaces.
The community room is inte-
grated into the building so that the
public can use it when the library
is closed.
Odem residents, members of
the Friends of the Odem Public
Library, city officials, and the
Odem Public Library Board, com-
bined their efforts in an energetic
and concerted effort to make the
dream of a public library for all
square feet of space, replacing
the over-crowded space that had
served as the city's library more
than three decades
There is now plenty of room for
children and adults to pursue their
varied interests. The children's
reading area now has room for
many more Odem children to
take advantage of storytime
hours, an activity that has already
more than doubled in attendance
in the mere three weeks that the
library has been open for busi-
ness.
The building has a circulation
and work room area, a reference
and adult reading section, a con-
ference room for use by literacy
tutors and students, an$ a com-
munity room, which will also be
used by the city council for their
meetings, beginning in
December.
City Secretary Billie Jo Tennill
presented a slide show overview
of the library beginning with a his-
tory of the library, using photos
going back to 1934 and ending
with the previous week when the
The new Odem Public Library is located on Voss Avenue and offers
considerably more space with its 5128 square feet in contrast to the
overcrowded library of the past three decades. The old library build-
ing is being used by the Odem Volunteer Fire Department.
(Johnnie Sue Littleton photo)
..
A new arrival,
Emergency Management
Director William “Ski” Zagorski
examines San Patricio County’s
new saltwater boat. The pur-
chase of the boat was funded by
a Homeland Security grant the
county received earlier this year.
The boat can hold up to nine
people and is a 22’ Super Tunnel
with shallow water design. This
is the county’s first saltwater
boat. Prior to this purchase,
Zagorski used his own personal
boat in the event the county
needed to inspect the pipelines
in the bay. The county has also
relied on the General Land Office
and Wildlife and Fisheries for
their boat needs. The new boat
is equipped with a canopy, radio
box and radar mast, which will
be a great help in the fog.
The annual food drive is underT
way here in Odem with Julie
Garcia working to see that the
needy and the elderly receive
enough food for a proper meal on
Thanksgiving Day and again at
Christmas.
So far, she has between 80
and 100 people on the list to
receive the food contributions.
The names of those in need come
from church and school records.
“I am especially interested in
Sunday, November 21 to give the
recipients time to prepare their
dinners.
The Saturday before, volun-
teers counted the food, marked
boxes and lined it up to make sure
every receives all the needed
foods.
Garcia also stressed that even
those unable to give or volunteer
now can donate later in the year.
“I take items all year for both
holidays,” she said.
checks are also welcome but
must be taken to Reed’s
Supermarket.
Thirty to forty volunteers are
also needed to see that the food
is distributed.
“We need muscles and brains,
so call and see what you can do
to help,” said Garcia.
“I also need people with trucks
to help deliver.”
Garcia and volunteers deliv-
ered Thanksgiving donations on
seeing that the elderly get this
food because their income does-
n’t change month to month,” she
said.
“I would appreciate the help of
everyone in seeing that no one
goes without this year.”
Garcia urges people to bring
their non-perishable donations
and deposit them on her porch,
1006 Cook Avenue, or call her at
368-9111.
Money contributions and
Joni Kurz neatens up the corner of Odem City Park where the city
workers were busy Monday checking the lighting in preparation for
the Christmas season. (Johnnie Sue Littleton photo)
Index
Grand Jury indictes 25 people; seven drug-related
possession of methampheta-
mines.
Ricardo Cardenas Jr. aka
Ricardo Cadena ,30, of Corpus
Christi was indicted for intoxica-
tion assault.
Tomas R. Ramos, 47, of
Aransas Pass was indicted for
failure to register as a sexual
offender. Ramos is a repeated
felony offender. Lori Ann
Greenwood aka Lori Ann Perez,
30, of Ingleside, Margo Smith,
49, of Mathis and Melanie
Banda, 26, of Gregory were
indicted for tampering with a gov-
ernment record.
Wildman’s Wanderings page 2
Pharr was indicted on felony
possession of marijuana
charges.
Christopher Lee Rodriguez,
22, of Mathis was indicted for
felony possession of marijuana.
Twenty-six-year old Darby
Dycus Troup of Sinton was
indicted for possession of
cocaine. Also indicted on that
charge were 29-year-old Jaime
DeLosSantos of Sinton and
Daniel Garza of Sinton.
Forty-four year old Deborah
Edlin of Mathis and 28-year-old
Joseph Michael Burns of
Philadelphia were indicted on
Hirecheta, 44, of Taft was indict-
ed for felony criminal mischief.
Eulalo Sandoval III, 18, of
Mathis and Sinton was indicted
on felony mischief charge.
William Allen Fellers, 37, of
Taft was indicted on felony dri-
ving while intoxicated charges.
Billy Jo Valdez, 26, of Taft was
indicted on felony driving while
intoxicated charges.
Jerry Lee Ortiz, 34, of Sinton
was indicted for driving while
intoxicated with a child passen-
ger.
Joel Armando Gonzalez, 41,
of Corpus Christi was also indict-
ed for driving while intoxicated
with a child passenger.
Thirty-two year old Aransas
Pass woman Jo Ann Marie Smith
was also indicted on the afore-
mentioned charge.
Michael Thomas Koeneke, 32,
of Sinton was indicted on three
counts of indecency with a child.
Martin Salcido Jr.,32, of Taft
and Corpus Christi was indicted
on indecency with a child.
The Grand Jury indicted 25-
year-old Jose Antonio
Hernandez of Aransas Pass for
retaliation.
Victor Amaya Rios, 26, of
The Grand Jury met
November 9, 2004 and came
away with 25 indictments. Seven
was the magic number with
seven drug-related indictments
and seven indictments of Sinton
residents.
Christopher Charles Furr, 20,
of Portland was indicted on a
burglary charge.
Lisa Ann Reyna, 35, of Sinton
was indicted on a burglary of
habitation charge.
Martin Fuentes, 37, of
Portland was indicted for felony
theft.
Rodolfo Rendon aka Rudy
Library Pictures page 3
Player of the Week page 4
Children’s Reading Week page 5
Sheriffs Report page 6
Court Records page 6
Commissioners Court page 6
Player of the Week page 4
Football page 4
Lady Owls Basketball page 4
Lunch Menu page 7
Classifieds page 7
Upcoming Pages
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Tracy, Jimmy. The Odem-Edroy Times (Odem, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 47, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 25, 2004, newspaper, November 25, 2004; Sinton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1055749/m1/1/: accessed May 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Odem Public Library.