The Front Page
The Risk is Real - Serving our Country
Remembering those that have served and those that are serving our country.
You know sometimes it doesn't hit you until it is personal.
Please remember these Santa Anna folks that are serving our country in combat, training, or support: Maricela (Marty) Siller, Eddie Dawson, Ike Garza, Clay Hubbard, James Watson, Austin Voss, Randy Casey, Mike Montgomery II, Mark Rutherford, Allen Tucker, James Culpepper, and Shane Watson.
1453 American soldiers or sailors have died in Operation Enduring Freedom as reported by the
Department of Defense and the
Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. Pray for our country, its' leaders, and our soldiers and sailors.
I read in the Coleman paper where Marty Siller recently returned home from Iraq. Please pray for others safe return home.
You know sometimes it doesn't hit you until it is personal.
Many service men and women return home safely. Operation Tribute to Freedom Homecoming Photographs.
I Believe
I read in an article recently on the Internet about blogs, also known as web logs which are sort of like online journals, diaries, or sometimes just message boards with common interests, where if you operate a blog, which SantaAnnaNews.com could be considered, that your readers should know where you are coming from. Over the last several months I have shared a lot of information with you, some of it of a somewhat personal nature but not necessarily what would be considered "where I am coming from" or even where I am going with this site.
To be honest with you I am not really sure sometimes, and that may be the success or failure of it. With no ball games to report on I may have to get pretty creative to hold your interest.
I have been really surprised by the response SantaAnnaNews.com has had with 8000 Front Page views since August and around 100 views per weekday and all with me telling only a few friends and relatives about it in the beginning.
Over the next week or so I will be featuring the "I Believe" column so that you will know where I am coming from and maybe I can figure out where I am going!
Thanks for reading and have a good Friday!
Whatever Happened To?
I worked as a Counselor at the Boy Scout camp, Camp Tonkawa in Buffalo Gap, in 1977 with Charlie Hart from Baird, the son of longtime Abilene Reporter News Sports Reporter Bill Hart. I enjoy reading Mr. Hart's sports column occasionally and he does a "Whatever happened to?" in his column where he recalls a standout athlete or coach that has played or coached in this area and maybe has moved on to obscurity or just continued with life in a different direction.
Borrowing from Mr. Hart that is where I want to take this article, hopefully weekly, that I hope will generate some interest. It will rely on you, the readers just as much as it will me the "writer". This won't have to just be former athletes but maybe someone that has just moved on and you wondered what happened to them. Maybe the have reached a milestone or achievment or whatever the case may be. So please send your "Whatever happened to?"s to news@santaannanews.com.
And so let me start with "Whatever happened to Rusty Buzzard?"
Lady Mountaineer Basketball - Part II.. sort of..
I had said in Lady Mountaineer Basketball below that we weren't the only ones that ever had to forfeit a ball game because too many games were played.
I found several articles from this week on the Dallas Morning News web site (requires free registration to view articles) about the Duncanville High School Varsity Girls. In a similar situation as our girls, Top ranked Duncanville had to forfeit their Tuesday night game against Arlington because it would have been their 22nd game.
Duncanville was in a three way tie for the District Championship with Desoto and Bowie. With the forfeit it put Duncanville in a tie for third place with Cedar Hill after their Tuesday night win. Desoto and Bowie both won their Tuesday games and will probably coin flip for the District 7-5A title, while Duncanville and Cedar Hill, who have traded wins this year, are scheduled to have a playoff game on Friday. Duncanville had also canceled an earlier game against Mesquite which would have put them two games over had they played it.
The Duncanville Girls are coached by 26 year veteran and Assistant Athletic Director Cathy Self-Morgan, who took responsibility for the scheduling error. Her record at Duncanville is 164-23, 662-165 overall. She also lead the Westlake High School Girls to 3 State Championships 1993, 1995, and 1996. Duncanville Athletic Director Kevin Ozee also took responsibility for not double checking the schedule. The violation of the 21 non-tournament games played was reported to Duncanville officials by Cedar Hill which stands to gain a spot in the 5A playoffs where unlike Class A playoffs, third place advances. Should Cedar Hill win it will be the first time in 37 years that the Duncanville Girls will not make the playoffs. The District Committee will hold a hearing to determine any punishment for the rules infraction which was reported to District officials on Monday by Ozee.
The Duncanville Girls are ranked #2 in the state in Class 5-A in the TexasHoops.com rankings and #10 by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches' rankings. They were State Finalists in 2004 and State Champions in 2003 and have racked up quite a history of winning: district 67 times, state 6 times, and they also set a state record winning 134 consecutive games from 1987 to 1991.
Although I can't find any supporting information; I believe that I heard about a similar incident with one of Fort Worth Dunbar's legendary coaches a few years ago and he was forced to sit out a Regional playoff game after his team played too many games in the regular season. In these situations the teams themselves are not normally punished and based on the fact that this is the first year for an extra week of play for Girls there will probably not be too much of a big deal made of it.
Mountaineer JV Girls Basketball
The JV Girls came out and won their game against Water Valley 44-26. Many of these girls are really going to contribute to the Varsity next year. Coach Herrod has really done a great job with these Girls and I think they only lost one game this year. And I heard that her Junior High Girls won the District too. Good job Coach and good game girls.
Fast Break Bucket!
Lady Mountaineer Basketball
Well what can I say? Nothing would probably be best, but.. here we go..
The Santa Anna Lady Mountaineers had to forfeit their last game against Water Valley because they had already played the UIL limit of 21 non-district and district games not counting the limit of two scrimmages and three invitational tournaments. See the UIL Basketball Plan excerpt from the 2004-2005 UIL Constitution and Contest Rules Section 1230 (c)(3) for more details.
The scheduling of games falls into the responsibilities of the coach's. As can happen when there has been a coaching change, as there has been with the Santa Anna Boys and Girls this year, scheduling mistakes can and do happen. And we are not the only school that this has ever happened to. I am just thankful that this game was not more meaningful to the girls, although it may have been for the Senior Girls. Certainly had they won Friday's game against Robert Lee this would have been a whole different story.
These girls played a tough schedule this year and are in a pretty tough district and certainly have a lot to be proud of. I would much rather see the Girls have the chance to play the game even if they stalled the ball the WHOLE game! Nevertheless I am just as proud of these girls for the way they played this year. Good season girls!
The girls huddle up and break one last time.
Mountaineer Basketball
The Varsity Boys lost their game 42-63 against the visiting Water Valley Wildcats.
The first half was a pretty close race but the Mountaineers fell behind and never could overcome mistakes as the game progressed. The boys have one more game scheduled against Paint Rock Friday at 6:30 in Perry Gym.
Parent's night and game photo albums are on the Sports Page.
Ben takes another jump ball!
Ben buys a bucket of his own!
DEEE Fense!
Matthew lands another fast break.
SAHS Cheerleaders pep up crowd.
Patrick dominates the lane.
Santa Anna's Jason Wagner nets Promotion
PROUD PARENTS, Karl and Jerilyn Wagner of Santa Anna tell me that their son Jason has recently been promoted to Administrator in the Linux Division of Perseus Labs in Round Rock. He worked in Waco as an I.T. intern at the courthouse before going to work at Perseus Labs.
Jerilyn also tells me, "We would like to thank the computer teachers with a special thanks to Paul and Gay Martin, and Mr. Wetzel. They helped spark the interest for Jason to make computers his career. He seems to be very happy with his job, and that makes life alot better. Thanks to everyone who contributed to our sons future, and gave him the confidence to pursue his goals."
I had the pleasure of working with Jason one Summer when he was in high school working part time and I was an installer at Coleman County Broadcasting. Mostly because no one else had the patience to work with the high school kids except for me and my buddy Marvin Hale. I liked for Jason to go with me because he was my neighbor and I knew his Mom and Dad had raised him right. Jason was a pretty good helper and always one step ahead of me... sometimes in the wrong direction! Seriously he was pretty good kid and smart as a whip too. This goes to show you the value of getting a good education, what kind of education you can get in our schools, and how much the teachers care about the kids in our schools.
Your parents and Santa Anna are proud of you Jason and keep up the good work!
Mountaineers take it tough in Robert Lee
The Santa Anna Mountaineers and Lady Mountaineers took on the Robert Lee Steers Friday night and came out on the short end. Cindy and I enjoyed the company of score bookkeeper and #1 SAHS basketball fan Lois Ann Harper again on the trip as we gave her a ride to Robert Lee. Coach Shannon Herrod's JV Lady Mountaineers did bring home a victory wining 48-32, the Varsity Girls lost 40-59, and the Varsity Boys lost 44-52.
The Lady Mountaineers were in must win situation to make it to the playoffs and will face one of the other of the two teams Tuesday night that have already beat them once this season as the Ladies take on the Water Valley Lady Wildcats in Santa Anna in their final game of the season. The Lady Mountaineers will face another of top ranked Texas Association of Basketball Coaches' teams. The Lady Wildcats are ranked #3 by the TABC and #8 in the TexasHoops.com poll.
The Varsity Girls had a hard time getting on the court during the pregame but once they got on they played a really tough physical game but just couldn't get the long shots to fall and the Robert Lee girls were pretty hot on the three point shots.
The Varsity Boys played a hard fought game actually coming from behind to tie it up in the third quarter only to have the Steers pull away in the fourth.
We caught the second half of the JV Girls game and shown below is Krystle Deleon on a hot shot.
It was nice to see the Robert Lee folks lead the National Anthem and they also did player introductions which I thinks make the kids feel special.
High point Jesse Hensley gets a couple of free shots.
There was also a very nice Santa Anna crowd at the game including these two escapees from the school.
Demitrus gets airborne for another bucket.
Patrick Kerr gets another of his favorite jumpers.
Game photo albums are on the Sports Page.
Sammie Joe and Imogene Powers Celebrate 50 Years of Marriage
Sammie Joe Powers and (Lena) Imogene Ingram were married February 6,
1955 at the First Baptist Church in Coleman, Texas. At the time
Sammie, originally of the Buffalo Community and the son of Martin
Willard and Jewell (Russell) Powers, had recently served in the army
in 1951 during the Korean War, was then working in the oil industry.
Imogene, daughter of James and Lena (Green) Ingram, was working at the
Coleman County State Bank. She had attended school in Santa Anna
through the 7th grade and graduated from Coleman High School in 1949.
The two had been set up by friends the previous year.
Sammie Joe and Imogene Powers - 1955.
After their marriage, Imogene quit work temporarily and the couple
relocated as required with Sammie's job, living briefly in Snyder,
Kermit, Bangs, Cisco and Coleman, where a year later Imogene resumed
her job at the bank. She remained there until the adoption of their
daughter, Laurie in 1971. In 1958, Sammie and Imogene moved to their
current residence at the Powers homestead outside of Santa Anna.
Sammie continued to work as an oil field supervisor and served on the
school board in Santa Anna for a term. After adopting their second
child, Michael, in 1972, Imogene remained a stay at home mom until the
late 1980s. She then worked 2 years as the elementary school
librarian in Santa Anna and then put in ten years with the US Postal
Service in Brownwood. In addition, she taught pre-school Sunday school
for near 40 years.
Sammie retired from the oil industry in 1995 and continues to farm and
ranch. Imogene retired from the post office in 2000, and continues
her job as a homemaker as well as teaching an adult Sunday school
class.
The couple currently resides in their home of 47 years near Santa Anna
and both are active members of the First Baptist Church there.
Sammie Joe and Imogene Powers - Present Day.
To celebrate their parents' 50th wedding anniversary, Laurie and
Michael hosted a reception last Saturday, February 5, 2005 at the First Baptist Church CLC in Santa Anna.
Thanks to Laurie for sharing this with SantaAnnaNews.com. Laurie also shared with me that Bill Day of Santa Anna was Sammie's friend that insisted on him meeting Imogene. Imogene already knew of him through one of her friends, Lois
McCarty of Coleman. Lois said of Sammie, "You know him, you've seen Sammie around town! He's the one who always has such clean fingernails."
I had the pleasure of working for Sammie in the early 80's, along with Cecil Ellis, Roland Duus, and my Step-Dad Tex Wright, when we worked for Norman Pautsky. I had told Laurie when she first asked me if I would post this, "I won't say that he was the easiest person I ever worked for because he had pretty high expectations of us. But I always respected him very much and he certainly set a great example for us by working just as hard, if not harder, as he expected us to. Your Mother is a super nice lady as well. And I know they are both very proud of you and your brother."
At the time we were working in the Oil Patch was towards the tail end of the oil boom and I remember when Mr. Pautsky ordered Sammie Joe a diesel Buick Riviera. The Rivieras had become a sort of status symbol for those that had "made it big" in the oil business. Sammie Joe drove it for several years but I don't think he was ever very comfortable in it with all that flashy stuff, because he was more of a pickup truck man. We also had two-way radio's back then for communicating, that was before cell phones in case you are too young to remember. Anyhow I used to hate hearing him call our number, 108, on that darn thing, "102 to 108, Come in 108", especially when Cecil wasn't around to answer it which meant I had to talk on it. It usually meant we had done something wrong or were fixing to have to go do something... wrong! Sammie Joe had a horn honker for his radio on his Riviera and if he was around us, I used to like to hear it ring because of the diesel air horn sound it made and because it usually meant Sam was probably fixing to go home for dinner!
Laurie is an Artist/Designer and has created and maintains the Santa Anna Texas website, Santa Anna Chamber of Commerce's website, and the Santa Anna Historical Development Organization's website.
I read in the Coleman paper recently where Michael recently returned from a Christian educational stay in Russia.
I made it over to the Church for the festivities Saturday afternoon and they had quite a turnout. I especially enjoyed visiting with Sam and looking at all of the old pictures that they had put on the tables.
SantaAnnaNews.com Photos for Sale
I have debated whether or not to do this but I am going to try it out and see how it works for a while.
Several have asked me for copies or prints of various photos on the site. Based on my experience and what I have read in various publications, photos printed at home just are not lasting very well, especially in the Sun or bright rooms. Some that we have printed out look good for a couple of weeks and just seem to fade too fast. So I have found a site that will do a pretty good job of printing and of course all the photo places can print from a floppy or compact disk now.
Many want photos of some of the various school games and since this whole deal really started after the Booster Club asked if I would take some photos for the programs and maybe to give each athlete a CD with some photos on it at the Sports Banquet in the Spring, I want to be sure that each of you knows about it. The CD's given to each athlete won't have all of the photos but will have some of the better ones, simply because they all won't fit on a single CD. Of course you can always just right click on any image on this site and print it out (please note that they are copyrighted but I will grant you personal use.. especially if they are of you or one of your children!). For other use please get my permission before using them.
The photos on the site are also not the original quality or size in most cases, because they have to be redone for the Internet and faster loading. Some of the older photos won't be suitable for printing larger than 4x6 prints because of adjustments made when using my old camera. My new camera is an 8 megapixel so most of the new ones will work for up to 20x30 prints and possibly larger if I can find a place to print them.
Here is the picture resolution recommended for each print size to help ensure that you get a high-quality print:
Wallet size: 320x240
4x6 prints: 1024x768 (640x480 resolution is acceptable but not always recommended)
5x7 prints: 1152 x 864 pixels (1 megapixel)
8x10 prints: 1600 x 1200 pixels (2 megapixels) (1280x960 is acceptable but not recommended)
8x10 prints (cropped from original image): 1920 x 1600 pixels (3+megapixels)
16x20 prints: 1600 x 1200 (this is a bare minimum, for best results 2048 x 1536)
20x30 prints: 1600x1200 minimum, for best results 5 megapixel (2560 x1920)
With that said I will be selling season CD's for $5 each and you can get the whole season for each sport and then print out whatever you want. The 2004 Football season with pep-rallys, homecoming parade, and some halftime activities is on one CD and the 2004 Volleyball season on another. The Basketball season should be available at the end of the season but will probably be on two CD's.. one Girls and one Boys.
The following pricing will be for professional quality commercial prints:
Photo Size |
Per Print |
4 wallet size |
$6 sheet |
4" x 6" singles |
$1 each |
4" x 6" multiples |
6 for $5 or 15 for $10 |
8" x 10" |
$10 each |
16" x 20" |
$25 each |
20" x 30" |
$30 each |
Prices are subject to change but I will give you notice before ordering. Plus shipping and handling which is currently $2 for any amount. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back upon return of photos in original condition. Please allow a few weeks for delivery... which I will have a better idea of as time and orders go by.
To place an order just locate the photo or photos you want, identify them by game and photo number (right click on the photo to see the filename and number), and then send me an e-mail at photos@santaannanews.com.
Want your own dot com?
This is great time to get it whether you just want it for an e-mail address of your own, like james@yourlastname.com, or for putting some family pictures on the web, or getting your business on the web
1 and 1 is by far your best bet!
Any questions just send me an e-mail and I will be happy to help you get started, or just click the 1 and 1 ad on the left, or any of the links in this article.
