The Front Page
The Risk is Real - Serving our Country
Deadliest day in Iraq as 37 troops die. Thirty of those were in a helicopter accident. Read more on this Yahoo News link.
A second deadly day in Iraq as 20 more perish.
Remembering those that have served and those that are serving our country.
You know sometimes it doesn't hit you until it is personal.
For those of you that read SantaAnnaNews.com on a regular basis, you probably skip over this part of the Front Page by now. That is why I change it up every week so that you almost have to stop and read it to see what I have added or taken away. Covering what is happening to our, Santa Anna's, men and women in service is just as important to me as it is to cover the weekly sports, school activities, happenings around town, and what trivial things happen in my life. I don't know if anyone other than Clay Hubbard ever really looks at it, but if he is the only one and he sees something that makes him feel closer to home then I am satisfied with that.
You probably know by now also that I listen to Paul Harvey as often as I can and on my way home today he had an informative "Rest of the Story" about the Tomb of the Unknowns and the Sentinels from the Old Guard. You can catch it if you care at the Paul Harvey website. The Arlington National Cemetery has some more information at theirOfficial Arlington National Cemetery web site and I found this unofficial Arlington National Cemetery web site. I got to see the Changing of the Guard at the Cemetery when I went to Washington D.C. on my trip to the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia in 1981 and I have never seen anything like it. It is an awesome experience that you must see for yourself if you ever get the chance.
1420 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.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.
Many service men and women return home safely. Operation Tribute to Freedom Homecoming Photographs.
Santa Anna Weather
Well the Winter weather has finally shown up here at the end of January. Aren't you glad you don't live in Boston where they have had record 42 inches of snow this month already with more in the forecast. High temperature for Friday is supposed to be 19 degrees.
Speaking of weather I have been a little under it the last couple of days so there is not much news here today. Those of you that are regular readers may already know that I usually try to update the page during the week and take Friday and Saturday nights off, but I am afraid I don't feel too good this Thursday night.
Well have a good Friday and I hope to see you at the basketball games at Perry Gym Friday night.
Sammie Joe and Imogene Powers to 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 will be hosting a reception on Saturday, February 5, 2005 from
1:30-3:30 at the First Baptist Church CLC in Santa Anna.
Refreshments will be provided and all friends, family and
acquaintances are invited to attend. Donations may be made to the
church in their honor in lieu of gifts as per the couple's request.
Anyone requiring directions or additional info is requested to contact
Laurie via email at lawree@gmail.com or via phone at 323-401-1847 or
contact the couple directly.
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 am proud to announce the celebration of the Powers' 50th Wedding Anniversary and I hope to see you there.
Mountaineers take on the Panther Creek Panthers
Cindy and I stopped off in Valera to pick up her Grandma, Louella Pierce, on the way to Panther Creek as the Santa Anna teams took on the Panther Creek Panthers in another Coleman County District basketball matchup on Tuesday night. We made it in time to catch some of the JV Girls game and they won 39-18. I had forgot to mention that the JV played the Bangs JV and won on Friday night before the Novice Varsity games. I didn't get any pictures of that game but I did of Tuesday's. The Lady Mountaineers won a close one 40-33 and the Mountaineers lost 42-71.
JV Girls celebrate their victory with Coach Herrod assisting injured Kristle Deleon.
Chaplin draws a foul on a shot.
Matthew Vasquez on the fast break.
Demitrus goes up for two.
Game photo albums are on the Sports Page.
Simmons' Feed and Seed
One of the oldest, if not the oldest, of Santa Anna's family owned business's is Simmons Feed and Seed and sometimes Fertilizer if Mike is around..
Please read more about Simmons' Feed and Seed on the latest edition of the Business Page.
Need a ramp?
Read more on the latest edition of the Stuff Page.
Mountaineers take on the Novice Hornets
The Santa Anna teams took on the Novice Hornets in Coleman County District basketball action Friday night in Santa Anna and both Santa Anna teams came out on top. The Lady Mountaineers won 61-23 and the Mountaineers won 67-37.
Every once in a while I have to put up a picture of Jessica.. after all she is the main reason I go to the games. I am pretty proud of her and the way that her teammates play. These girls have always given 100% plus. They all hustle down the court and play pretty good as a team most of the time. It is a pleasure to watch them play. If you haven't been out to Perry Gym in a while I would encourage you to come and watch them. Anyhow here is Jessica going for a three under "heavy" defense. I am not sure if she made it or not but I am pretty sure that there was no foul called because I don't have her shooting the free shots after this picture!
At halftime of the girls game I caught my good friend and old classmate JR Salazar serving up some cold ones, Dr Peppers that is, in the concession stand. JR is the manager of CARR, City and Rural Rides, in Coleman.
Another one of those girls that is always giving 100% plus is Senior Chaplin DelaRosa shown here going for the tough shot in the lane.
Demtirus Reese getting some air time.
On the boys team Senior Bryan Fellers is one of those that is always hustling. Here, Bryan goes up for the fast break shot.
Here he is again jumping incredibly high over the defenders to take a shot.
Terrance Jackson gets off a three point shot.
Game photo albums are on the Sports Page.
Talk Show Legend Johnny Carson Passes Away
By now most of you that watch TV know that former Tonight Show host Johnny Carson has passed away. Johnny of course started the Tonite Show in 1962, the year before I was born. I remember watching Johnny with my parents, Tex and Pat Wright, when I was a kid in the 70's and I got to stay up late on a rare occasion. Later in I life enjoyed watching his show with my wife Cindy up until he retired in 1992. He was always very funny and entertaining and just had a way with people. I used to get mad when some other guest host would come on. The shows that are on late night now days are just plain stupid for the most part and seem to have given up on being funny. I have missed him for many years already but his passing and the media coverage remind me of how good he was and how much he is missed by all.
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.
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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.
