Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 15, 1976 Page: 1 of 12
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"THE LARGEST PAID CIRCULATION GOING IN STARR COUNTY"
RIO GRANDE
TPA Award Winning Newspaper
Ten Cents
Vol. XXXIV
No. 13
Thursday, January 15,1976
Rio Grande City, Texas
Roma To Sponsor Bicentennial
Kick-Off Celebration Saturday
The City of Roma will sponsor
the kick off for the Bicentennial
Celebration on January 17,1976.
The celebration will start with
the traditional "Abrazo" at the
Roma International Bridge
between border officials from
the U.S. and Mexico at 4 p.m.
A parade will follow at 5 p.m.
Parade Marshall Ramiro
Barrera has announced that the
parade will start at the north
end of Hiway 83. Participants in
the parade will include officials,
dignitaries ambassadors of
good will, and entertainers
from the U.S. and Mexico.
Following the parade, the city
will receive the Bicentennial
Flag and Certificate from Mrs.
Trudi Garza of Brownsville who
has been designated by the
Bicentennial Commission. This
will be followed by the
Inaugural Ceremonies of the
Guadalupe Plaza. A program
has been planned to include
local talent and entertainers
from our neighboring country
Mexico.
After the program the city
will host a dinner at 7:00 at the
V.F.W. Hall for special guests.
At this same time a Jamaica
will be held at the Guadalupe
Plaza. There will be all kinds of
games, and all types of foods for
the general public.
A large number of residents
from Roma, and the surroun-
ding communities are expected
to turn out for all events, ac-
cording to Mrs. Victor Canales,
publicity chairperson of the
Bicentennial Committee.
General Telephone's Customer
Deposit Policy Explained
Joe Pilmer, Weslaco Division
Manager for General
Telephone, today explained the
company's deposit policy as "a
protection of revenues" and an
obligation the company has to
customers.
He explained that control of
bad pay accounts protects the
majority of customers who are
good credit risks since the cost
of uncollectibles eventually
becomes a cost of doing
business.
Pilmer said an applicant is
considered a good credit risk
when ability and willingness to
pay for services are shown.
The division manager said
customers requesting service
are assigned a credit
classification based on a
Arbor Day Ceremony To Honor
Late
Principals At Rin^old
Ringgold Junior High School
of Rio Grande City will kick-off
the Bicentennial year with an
Arbor Day celebration to be
held on Monday Jan. 19 at the
school at 3:15p.m., according to
R.C. Salinas, school principal.
At that time, the school's
Bicentennial project and two
Alvarez Files
For Public Office
Jose Maria (Chema) Alvarez,
well known Starr County
resident, has filed for public
office with Starr County
Democratic Chairman
Guadalupe Villarreal.
Alvarez said he would seek
the post now being held by
Roque Guerra, that of County
Commissioner for Precinct 1.
Incumbent Guerra, according
to sources, will seek re-election.
Meeting Place
Changed
The Rio Bravo Project
luncheon meeting
scheduled for noon on Jan.
16 at Zapata will be held at
the Holiday Restaurant
and not at the Multipurpose
Center as previously
scheduled.
trees will be dedicated to the
memory of the late Eliseo
Mireles, Ringgold Junior High
School principal from 1S65 to
1969, and to the memory of the
late Ismael Pena, Ringgold
Junior High principal from 1971
to 1973.
Hosting the event will be the
Ringgold Junior High band and
student council Principal R.C.
Salinas will be the master of
ceremonies.
The public is invited to at-
end.
Feb. 2 Is
Filing Deadline
Guadalupe Villarreal, Starr
County Democratic Party
chairman, reminds persons
wishing to seek public office
that the filing deadline is Feb. 2.
He added that it is important
that information relating to the
campaign treasurer, known
before as the campaign
manager, be filed with the
County Clerk's office before the
application for office is filed
with Villarreal. He said the
filing fee is $200.
Villarreal said he would be
available to assist anyone
seeking public office in Starr
County. He may be reached at
his residence at 1807 W. Main,
on the highway to Roma,
everyday from 4:15 p.m. on.
Villarreal's phone number is
487-2944.
SSWElSrSt=MC
8 Is B
ig Bird A Barn Owl?
company investigation. The
investigation normally -eveals
present or previous telephone
service and record of
payments. Business applicants
usually indicate the type of
organization, years in business,
and product or services offered.
Residential customers provide
information concerning em-
ployment including both
husband and wife where ap-
plicable.
He said the company
basically has five credit
classifications. The first is
assigned to an account when
special treatment is desired.
This includes government of-
fices, large business, com-
munity offices such as cham-
bers of commerce and
hospitals.
The third class includes
applicants whose credit records
reveal inability or un-
willingness to pay regularly,
insufficient information to
assign a classification or no
investigation can be made.
The fourth class is assigned to
high risk accounts. Some ac-
counts in this group receive
semimonthly billing in addition
to the deposit requirement.
In addition, there is a fifth
class established by a policy
that is of particular interest
around election time. It is the
policy issued in 1971 by the
Federal Communications
Commission as a result of the
1968 political campaigns which
left telephone companies
throughout the nation with
unpaid and uncollectible bills
for telephone service provided
national candidates. The policy
assures equal treatment to all
candidates and requires
adeauate security for services
provided political candidates.
Pilmer emphasized that these
are company guidelines, but
there is a judgment factor in-
volved in evaluating each ap-
plicant with the end result
always the desire to protect all
customers.
Could the Lower Rio Grande
Valley's "Big Bird" be a simple
creature such as a barn owl?
Even a large barn owl would
be smaller than the creature
described as having been sight-
ed at San Benito and near 01-
mito, Brownsville and Rio
Grande City, but a Valley wom-
an who has been watching birds
for about 40 years thinks that is
what some of the people have
seen.
Mrs. Gladys Donohue, who
lives west of Mission and has
sighted 553 different species of
birds in 40 years of bird watch-
ing, said there is no bird in
North America what would
match the description of the
Valley's "Big Bird."
"People don't always see
what they think they see," she
said.
The Valley's "Big Bird" story
got started not long after some
large, three-toed tracks were
found Jan. 2 in a field in back of
the Stanley Lawson home on the
outskirts of Harlingen.
The tracks were about a foot
long and six to eight inches wide
and continued into the field for
about 80 yards before they
vanished. Two small children
told newsmen a hairy, ape-like
creature made the tracks.
San Benito policemen Arturo
Padilla and Homero Galvan re-
Onion Crop
Could Be
Large One
AUSTIN-If favorable
weather conditions hold up, the
1976 Texas spring onion crop
probably will be a large one.
according to Agric llture
Commissioner John C. White.
During this week's cold snap,
temperatures in most onion-
producing areas were not low
enough to cause any damage.
White noted that only in the
Rio Grande City area were
onion plants subjected to ex-
tremely cold temperatures last
Thursday night, but extent of
damage will not be known for 4-
6 wppWC
According to statistics
released yesterday, 23,500 acres
of spring onions will be har-
vested in Texas this year.
In the Rio Grande Valley,
where approximately 19,000
acres will be harvested, the
onion crop is about two weeks
early with harvest expected to
begin in mid February, White
said. The acreage figure is 39
per cent greater than the 2,900
acres harvested in 1975.
San Antonio - Winter Garden
area acreage is 3,800. This is a
31 per cent increase from last
year's 2,900 harvested acres.
In the l^aredo area 700 acres
are expected to be harvested.
This compares with only 400
harvested acres last year.
ported sighting a huge bird with
a wing span of perhaps 10-15
feet gliding over a resaca
(canal) in that city during the
early morning hours of Jan. 3.
Padilla said the bird resembled
a stork or a pelican.
I^ater that same day, KGBT-
TV, Harlingen, aired a science
fiction movie called "The Fly-
ing Serpent." More sightings of
"Big Bird" followed.
That same night, someone
told officers they saw an un-
identified flying object appear
and then disappear into a re-
saca between San Benito and
Olmito.
The next sighting of "Big
Bird" came the following
Wednesday when Alverico Gua-
jardo, who lives in a mobile
home on the outskirts of
Brownsville, heard a noise and
went outside to investigate.
Guajardo said he confronted
the four-foot tall bird-like crea-
ture for about three minutes
before it walked away. He said
it had a huge wind spread, a
long beak, a bat-like face and
eyes the size of a silver dollar.
"His face was horrible and he
had real big eyes," Guarjardo
told Cameron County officers.
"It's got wings like a bird, but
it's no bird. That animal is not
from this world," he said. "I
was scared," he continued.
Starr County Sheriff Ray Al-
varez says some persons have
reported sighting a bird-like
creature in the Starr County
area about 80 miles west of San
Benito.
The only birds that could
come close to matching the de-
scription given by Guajardo
would be a Californian or an
Andean condor, according to
Dr. Don Farst of Gladys Porter
Zoo at Brownsville. Dr. Farst
said those birds would not be
found in South Texas. Mrs.
Donohue said there are only a
few condors in the entire world.
Whatever it is, the valley's
"Big Bird" could provide a nice
"nest egg" for someone if they
can capture it alive and take it
to Radio Station KRIO at
McAllen. The station is offering
a $1,000 reward for the live
capture of "Big Bird."
1
Meeting Dale
Changed
Due to a scheduling
conflict, the ALAT
Amistad Area Advisory
Council's Annual Meeting
will not be held on Sunday,
January 18, as originally
planned, but will Instead be
held on the following
Sunday, January 25, 1976,
to begin at 12:00 noon at the
Iji Posada Motor Hotel in
McAllen.
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Rodriguez, Rene. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 15, 1976, newspaper, January 15, 1976; Rio Grande City, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth194542/m1/1/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.