Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 18, 1999 Page: 1 of 8
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HANKSGIVING GIVE-A-WAY^
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8
THURSDAY
WEEKLY EDITION
November 18, 1999
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Herald
A Newspaper Serving the People of South Texas
*
• County talks status
of several projects
At their continued regular
meeting Friday, the County
Commissioners focused on the
status of several state and/or
federally funded grants and ongoing
projects.
The commissioners granted
authorization after some discussion
to advertise for bids in December
for the TDCP Contract No. 717751
involving wastewater collection and
rural paving.
Federa/State Programs
Coordinator Elisa Beas told the
commissioners, "We're working
together with TEXDOT on their
expansion of FM 1430 and our
paving and sewer projects. They
(TEXDOT) should be finished with
their drainage work in mid-
December."
Beas continued, "We hope to put
out for bids in mid-December. We
need to finish our contract by
December 2000. We should give
the contractor an order to proceed by
March."
Beas later explained to The Rio
Grande Herald, "We are doing the.
sewer work and they (TEXDOT) are
doing the paving. We want to
coordinate our projects. We received
authorization to go out on bids in
mid-December. The first stage (of
the TEXDOT work) is the drain
pipes."
The court approved a resolution
to apply to the Texas Water
Development Board for a Flood
Mitigation Grant. County Judge
Eloy Vera explained, "I asked Elisa
to pursue funds for a study of
countywide drainage."
Beas indicated, "This is a 75-25
percent grant. Half of our match can
be in-king. This would also involve
incorporation of existing projects."
The commissioners considered
the matter of nursing home
proposals that could involve the
construction of a new nursing home
facility. Vera declared, " My
understanding is that Rctama Manor
is running short of beds. Since he
Martin firm's proposal is taking a
lot of time, I thinik we should
open it up and consider all
proposals. There is no money
involved. This could create up to
120 jobs."
Beas briefly updated the
commissioenrs on the status of the
Los Olmos Project. She later told
The Rio Grande Herald, "The
project is ongoing, but being
affected because funds may be
suspended because of delays in the
county carrying out audits."
Beas added, 'It is an annual
requirement that the county audit
everything on an annual basis.
There has been a delay in audits
being done on a countywide basis."
The Los Olmos flood control
project, which ws first approved by
the federal government for funding
in the early 1980's, has moved
forward under the auspices of the
Rio Gmade Valley Empowerment
Zone during the lav several years.
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KEiiii
Veterans Day Activities held in RGC area
Many activities were held throughout the Rio Grande City area on Thursday, Nov. 11 to honor local
veterans on Veterans Day. On Thursday night, a special ceremony was held in front of the courthouse. The
featured speaker at many events was Sgt. Able F. Ortega of San Antonio, a former POR who was held in
captivity by the Japanese for three years during World War II. After the ceremony, a special fireworks
display was carried out.
Programs held in RGC
area to honor local veterans
Rio 151 Festival 'holds
•many activities for public
RGC City Hall - This ^
weekend, the City of Rio Grande
City held the RIO 151 City Festival
at the Starr County Fairgrounds in
Starr Job Fair
_ scheduled Dec. 1
w
The first ever Starr County
lob Fair is scheduled for
Wednesday, December I, 1999
from 10:00 a.m. till 7:00 p.m. at
STCC Starr Campus Building A-
Student Center.
Companies Valley wide will
be attending to inform you of
^ career opportunities in trucking,
construction, customer service and
much more.
Everyone is encouraged to
come and learn about the high skill
and high wage jobs in the area.
For more information please
call Cynthia Montalvo or the Texas
Workforce Center at (956) 487-
lionor of the city's 151 st birthday.
• The festival was kicked off last
Thursday November 11, with
Veteran's Day festivities and an
evening fireworks display at th •
Starr County Courthouse. The
following day, the city held an
afternoon parade down Main street
with entries from several schools,
businesses, bands and
organizations.
Over the course of the next
three days, the public was
entertained with food, carnival
ridei arts, crafts, gunfights,
Rattlesnake shows, the South
Texas Indian Dancers, Al
Ragusin's Dancing Horses, Lazo
Productions Show, Hypnotist Ken
Whitener. Bob Davis Karate
School, local bands and music
groups Michael Salgado. FAMA,
Intento. and La Costumbre. Radio
stations sponsoring live remotes for
the RIO 151 festival were K1WW,
KGBT, 103 KCTM and 840 La
fejana. Concluding Sunday's
activities was a Rio Grande City
original, Country Roland.
The City of Rio Grande City
would like to thank all the
organizations and individuals who
volunteered at the RIO 151
festival. It would also like to thank
L&F Distributors, Valley
Beverage, H.E.B., all our local
merchants, our Aldermen, our
Valley veterans, all the Stan-
County schools that assisted and
contributed, our local bands, and
all the television and radio stations
that promoted the festival.
The chairman for the RIO 151
festival was Ricardo Gutierrez,
alderman and president of the
economic development
corporation. All proceeds from the
festival are going towards building
parks and recreation for the
residents of Rio Grande City.
RGC City Hall - Veterans from
throughout the Valley came
together Thursday, November 11
in Rio Grande City in honor of
Veteran's Day. Ceremonies
included a gathering at the County
Cemetery by Rio Grande City
VFW members, a Veteran's Day
luncheon and dance sponsored by
the City of Rio Grande City at the
Rio Grande Cuy VFW Hall and an
evening ceremony at tiie Starr
County Cour.hc/jse.
Special guest speaker at the
events was Sargent Able F. Ortega
from San Antonio, who was a
former P.O.W. in Japan for thee
/ears during WWII and the first
Hispanic to construct and raise the
American flag when Japan
surrendered. Noe Olivarez, VFW
Post Commander lead the cemetery
and luncheon ceremonies. Also
present at the events were City
officials Mayor Baldemar Garza,
Aldermen Ricardo Gutierrez, Juan
De Luna Jr., Lauro Lopez, Ruben
D Saenz and Manuel Canales. and
Municipal Court Judge and
Veteran Samuel Ramos.
The Veteran's Day highlight
was the evening ceremony at the
steps of the courthouse which was
led by Sam Ramos and featured the
unveiling of the Gregono tsarrera
plaza on Britton Avenue. The
ceremony also included special
presentations ot city seals to local
former P.O.W.s and school
presentations by Ringgold Fifth
Grade. It was then followed by a 15
minute fireworks display sponsored
by the City of Rio Grande City.
The event was broadcast live by
103 KCTM-FM.
Veteran's Day activities also
included school presentations by
Alto Bonito Elementary, Ringgold
Elementary and Grulla Middle
School.
Hinojosa presented medals at
San Isidro veterans ceremony
mm*
Two new RGC aldermen sworn in
RGC City Hall - Three new Rio Grande City Aldermen Juan De I.una Jr.. Ruben D.
Saenz and Lauro L. Lopez took their oath of office on Wednesday, November 10 by
Municipal Court Judge Elvira Garza at City Hall. The aldermen won this November's
election on November 2, and will be in aldermen seats 1, 3 and 4. Pictured above from left
to right are Juan De Luna Jr., Ruben I). Saenz, Lauro L. Lopez and Judge l'lvira Garza.
The annual Veterans Day
Ceremony wsa held at the San
Isidro ISD Auditorum on Thursday,
Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. The ceremony
was held in honor of the Noe
Hinojosa VFW Post 9303 veterans
from the Delmita and San Isidro
area.
The commander of the Noe
Hinojosa VFW Post 9303, Arturo
Hinojosa, opened the program by
welcoming the veterans and their
families and talked on Armistice
Day. Commander Hinojosa read a
letter frorr the VFW Texas
Commander Jimmie Cantrell in
honor of Hermilo and all veterans
of the Noe Hinojosa VFW Post
9303.
The former commander of the
Fifth Army and Fort Sam Houston
in San Antonio, retired Lt. Gen.
Marc Cisneros, presented Hermilo
the medals that he had be«n awarded
for heroism during World War II.
The medals presented were: The
American Campaign Medal,
European -African Middle Eastern
Campaign Medal With a Silver
Star (Five Bronze Stars were
replaced with a Silver Star),WWII
Victory Medal, Army of
Occupation Medal with a German
Clasp, Good Conduct Medal, and an
Honorable Service I^pcl.
Hermilo was also presented with
a personally addressed certificate
from the President of the Regional
Counsel of Normandie, France, and
the french Minister for Veterans
Affairs, in tribute for his
participation in the battles of D-
Day in Normandy and the
Liberation of France 1944-1945.
Hermilo participated in the
Ardennes, Northern France,
Rhineland, Central Europe, and the
Occupation of Germany. Gen.
Cismeros said he felt honored to
have been asked to do the
presentation of medals to Hermilo.
Araceli Perez-Davis, Hermilo's
niece, was able to obtain his
medals, after working with
Congressman Ciro Rodriguez's
office for over a year. She also
inquired if Hermilo was eligible to
receive other meritorious medals
that might have been inadvertently
missed after the end of WWII.
(See related pictures,
Page 6)
She was notified thru
Congressman Rodirguez's office
that due to a fire that had occurred
in July 1973, Hermilo's records
would have been in the area that
suffered the most damage to Army
military personnel records and that
they were unable to reconstruct
complete records. Those were
disappointing news since she felt
that after all the campaigns Hermilo
had been through without physical
damage, he might have been worthy
of other meritorious medals.
Hollis Rutledge represented he
Governor's office and read a letter in
honor of the Hermilo and the Noe
Hinojosa VFW Post 9303 veterans.
Ms. Norma Pena, Congresional
Services Liaiason from
Congressman Rodriguez's Roma
office, read a letter from
Congressman Rodriguez. Araceli
Perez-Davis, coordinator of the
event, and niece of the Hinojosa
family, read letters from Senator
Kay B. Hutchison and a letter sent
to Hermilo in the name of the
people of Normardic, France in
gratitude for his participation in D
Day, and on the 55th anniversary of
the invasion, A U.S. flag was sent
from Senator Kay B. Hutchison's
office was presnted to Josefa H.
Perez in memory of their mother
Josefa L. Hinojosa.
After the San Isidro Assembly,
the veterans and their families were
invited to a reception in their
honor. After the reception, the
veterans proceeded to the Santa
Monica cemetery to honor the
memory of Pfc. Fabian Hinojosa,
father of Commander Arturo
Hinojosa. Fabian had participated in
tch Spanish-American War.
The Post 9303 veterans and
Ladies Auxiliary proceeded to Rio
(See HINOJOSA, Paee 6)
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Roberts, Kenneth. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 18, 1999, newspaper, November 18, 1999; Edinburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth195731/m1/1/: accessed May 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.