Please remember these Santa Anna folks that are serving our country in military combat, training, or support: Maricela (Marty) Siller, Clay Stewardson, Eddie Dawson, Ike Garza, James Watson, Austin Voss, Randy Casey, Mike Montgomery II, Mark Rutherford, Allen Tucker, James Culpepper, and Shane Watson.
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.
1629 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 the many serving as volunteers for various groups and those that may be working for the media or one of the many Department of Defense contractors that have employees in support roles in Iraq including Santa Anna's Jason Dane. These folks are serving an important part in the rebuilding of Iraq and the danger is just as great if not more for them as it is for soldiers.
We must never forget the sacrifices of men and women serving our country from all generations. Tex Wright recently sent me this information:
The Coleman County Historical Commission has started work on a new project.
Since this year is the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII, we (Texas Historical Commission statewide) have started a project to honor the ones who served.
We (I) have set up a Web Page to keep people posted on what is being done and to ask for their help in remembering those Men and Women.
The Web Page is:Coleman County Historical Comm.
WW2 Commerative Activities
The Iraq Coalition Casualty Count has also tracked the deaths of 83 American contractors working in Iraq so the risk is real.
Many service men and women return home safely. Operation Tribute to Freedom Homecoming Photographs.
Mrs. Virginia Ruth Dodson
It is with great sadness that I heard of the passing of Ruth Dodson, longtime Elementary Principal and school teacher at Santa Anna.
Just about anyone that went to school in Santa Anna in the 70's and 80's knows very well who she was and how she expected you to act. Cindy called me at work today to tell me that she heard it. ColemanNews.com has a nice obiturary and recent photo of Mrs Dodson so I will not try to duplicate that information. It has been a couple of months since I saw her at the Shoppin' Baskit in Coleman but she looked just like she always did and was always as glad to see me as I was her. I was surprised that she was 80 years old and never realized that she was from Santa Anna and had attended Baylor and Howard Payne.
I remember learning lots of things from Mrs. Dodson, especially spelling words. I was probably not a very good student back then and I am thankful for spellcheck. Most of eighth grade boys were probably not very good students. But if you can't get the word pretty close then spellcheck is not much use anyhow.. most of my errors are because I think faster than I can type and for me fast and type aren't in the same sentence!
For a small statured lady, Mrs. Dodson demanded a lot of respect and she almost always got it. If she didn't it was usually a long ways down the hall with her a hold of an ear and on the rare occasion that she used a paddle she knew how to swing it, or so I heard..
With all the recent school renovations, activities, and upcoming graduations in the High School Auditorium, I am always reminded when I sit in the old seats that Mrs. Dodson taught us not to "POP" the seats when we got up out of them. We will miss Mrs. Dodson very much.
I got the following message from Connie Culpepper Massey:
I was saddened to hear about the death of Ruth Dodson. I often thought of her after leaving Santa Anna, and would hear through the grapevine that she was still in Coleman. I did not know what her health situation was, and had I, I might have taken the time to go see her. It is just a reminder that life is short and it is important to keep relationships kindled.
To this day, I remember when I was an eighth grader, I was talking with a group of friends and made mention that I had thought about not going on to college after high school. Ms. Dodson immediately pulled me aside and took me into the hallway outside the 8th grade classroom. I felt her dissatisfaction with me in her voice as I stood there in the breeze that came from the open doors at the north and south ends of that long old hallway. She scolded me for even thinking such a thing and reminded me of how important an education was. I have never forgotten the tone and her demeanor of "matter of factness" that she always carried. I admired her for her generosity that she had always given to me as well as my eight siblings that she taught over the years. She expected the best from all of us and would not allow us to give her any less.
She will always hold a special place in my heart. When the going got tough for me through undergraduate and then graduate school, I always kept her words in the back of my mind. Maybe she is the reason that I was able to stick with it. She will be dearly missed.
FUNTIER DAY AND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BISON COOK-OFF SCHEDULE OF EVENTS - MAY 21, 2005
Submitted by Lois Harper
JUDGES ARE ALWAYS NEEDED
PIE CONTEST: Pies must be at the Old Armory Community Center by 9:00....Judging at 9:30
ICE CREAM CONTEST: Ice cream must be mixed and at the Old Armory Community Center by 10:30...Judging at 11:00
ENTERTAINMENT: Entertainment will start on the pavilion at 10:00 and continue until 4:00.
HORSESHOE TOURNAMENT: Horseshoes should get underway between 9:00 and 10:00. There will be 3 pits for horseshoes this year.
WATER POLO: Water polo will start at 3:00
AWARDS CEREMONY: Winners in the cook-off and Logo contest will be announced at 4:00
.
DANCE: The dance, featuring Desert Horse Band, will begin at 8:00 and end at 12:00....admission $5.00 per person.
FUNTIER DAY LOGO CONTEST
Submitted by Lois Harper
The contest for a new logo for Funtier Day will be finalized by 5:00 on Friday, May 20, 2005. All entries must be turned in at the Old Armory Community Center or dropped by Nancy Wylie's home at 515 Willis Ave. across the street from Henderson's Funeral Home. Don't forget NO ENTRIES CAN BE ACCEPTED AFTER 5:00 P.M. ON FRIDAY MAY 20, 2005. The entries must be about Funtier Day ONLY.....Please make NO mention of the World Championship Bison Cook-Off in your drawing....and remember the winning entry will be featured on a T-shirt for the 2006 Funtier Day Celebration and the winner will receive a prize of $100.00.
Special Thanks!
A very special SantaAnnaNews.com thanks to Lois Ann Harper for submitting the Funtier Day schedule to SantaAnnaNews.com.
Most of these, or all of these, are the same that she sends to the Coleman newspaper and what a great service that is for our community.
Although I try not to duplicate things that can be found on the Internet, I don't mind submitting or recieving things that can be found in the newspapers. I have sent a few articles and a lot of photos to the paper and even some photos to go along with Mrs. Harper's articles. That is one of the major differences in the web and print.. I can put up a photo album of 100 photos of a ballgame where the papers can't really afford more than a couple of photos per issue.
I know how long it takes to come up with all this stuff too and believe me it can really add up. If it weren't for Mrs. Harper we would not have a weekly section in the Coleman paper or probably any articles at all.
Thanks again Mrs. Harper for all you do!
James
I wonder..
.. whatever happened to the founder of Santa Anna's Funtier Day?
Many that are new to Santa Anna may not even know who Jim Laubhan is or was but he was definitly a pioneer in the true meaning of the word. He, as far as I can remember, started Funtier Day and was also a pioneer business man in Santa Anna with a lot of vision for opportunity and the future.
He started a succesful screen printing company known as Art Fabrics, which later became A Touch of Class under different owners. This was before screen printing was hardly heard of. He also was responsible for renovating the historic O.R. Kelley building which is now Dub's Opera House.
I am not real sure where he is today but I think he has moved to the Austin area. He had a son, Little Jim to me, that I became pretty good friends with when he lived here in the late 80's. Little Jim was kind of a wild and crazy guy with curly black afro style hair and he used to come by the old Mobil station and hang out with me. He helped me assemble the girls first swing set and that is one of the best times that we had. Last I heard of Little Jim was that he lived in the Metroplex.
AEP upgrades nearing completion
American Electric Power Company contractors continue upgrading the electric distribution grid in our area and the Santa Anna Substation.
One of the last pole bases is set in the ground near the substation on South Third Street.
Here is a close up of two of the pole bases with giant nuts that are already set in the ground.
These are the poles set a couple of days later on the two bases above near the Armory.
Busy Weekend
Well we had a very busy weekend and I have a lot of catching up to do!
We got Chrystal graduated and all the associated activities are now behind us but I am afraid there was not much time for SantaAnnaNews.com
Chrystal and family before nurses pinning ceremony last Friday
Chrystal receiving diploma
I am sure the are a lot of other events going on but haven't received too much from anyone else. I know there are lots of Little League baseball going on. Why not send your scores, team, and game photos to news@santaannanews.com?
One of my co workers and former Coleman Bluecat, Terry Thompson now from Goldthwaite, has taken on a new web project for the Mills County Youth Sports Association and he is doing a really great job with it. He also has had more of a photography bug than I have and started submitting photos to the Weather Underground and has even started his own photo gallery site called Central Texas Photos.
While I am not that interested in baseball right now I would be happy to report any of our local youth sports in the news.
That is about all I have time for now but I will try to get a little more news for you Monday night.
Still Catching Up!
Cindy called me on the way home from work and said we had a basketball game at eight in Bangs. Several of the high school girls are playing this year and there are enough that there are two teams. I am not sure what their names are or even if they have names but there is a Pink team and an Orange team. The Orange team that Jessica is on is coached by Billie Gay Abernathy and the pink team is being coached by Ross Guerrero.
I like the Summer League basketball because it is pretty fast paced and the girls really have a lot of fun playing.
The Orange team won their game against the Green team from Bangs with a score of 40-39. The Orange team is 2-0 after defeating a team from Early last week. See the Sports Page for more Summer League game photos.
Don't forget the band concert at the school on Tuesday night and Funtier Day this weekend. I haven't got any more information about the cook off or the events but maybe someone will send them to me or you can read them in the Coleman paper. There was no information about it on the Chamber's website that I could find either and their calender is from 2004.
Santa Anna's Funtier Days
Well I saw a schedule for Funtier Days in the Coleman paper Tuesday night so I am pretty sure we are still having it..
I also saw some more signs of it around town Tuesday after work.
Main sign next to Centex Land Company
On a banner across the old Lions Club building and Sunnies
The Bison Cook Off sign in the window of Coleman County Woodshop
..and the new Chamber of Commerce scrolling marquee
Bees
Did I forget to show you the pictures of Jennifer and Josh's bees?
Just in case I did, hear are some pictures of a bunch of bees that came to Josh and Jennifer's house on South First a few weeks ago:
Several hundred bees swarmed on this tree limb
A little closer look
Superman (aka Patrick Kerr) vs the killer bees
You might be from Santa Anna if..
Sent in from my lawyer buddy from Snyder, Mike Hartman, "You might be from......if instead of scrawling you senior year class number on the side of the water tower in spray paint, you spelled it out in white rock on the side of a mountain.."
Santa Anna's New Water Tower
I realized that you can't hardly read the Home of the Mountaineers in the photos of the new water tower unless you get a little closer. So how about this:
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