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DOWN LIFE’S HIGHWAY

ORANGE COUNTY

Roy Dunn- Columnist Page 7 Section A

Capt. Dickie Colburn Page 2 Section B

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County Record TheRecordLive.com

Vol. 58 No. 154

Week of Wednesday, May 8, 2019

The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas

Orange incumbents hope to flip run-off avoid a run-off. Mary McKenna, a thirdtime opponent for Pernell, came within three votes of winning outright, racking up 140 votes to 100 for Pernell

Dave Rogers

For The Record

The incumbent Orange City Council members forced last weekend into a run-off election set for June 15 are upset about their messaging. “It would have been better if I’d just have won,” Place 6 council member Bill Mello said when asked his reaction to being forced into a runoff by Caroline Mazzola Hennigan, a special education coordinator for Little CypressMauriceville schools. “It’s very disappointing because the citizens have got to get involved,” District 4 council member Annette

Mello

Hennigan

Pernell said, looking at the fact that only 285 people voted in her three-candidate race. She said about 10 times that many District 4 residents voted in the November 2018 county, state and federal election. Both Mello and Pernell came up second in the voting to an opponent who failed to get the 50 percent plus one vote majority needed to

and 45 for third-place finisher Alan Mesecher. Hennigan grabbed 39.3 percent of the vote in the atlarge election in which every eligible Orange voter was eli-

gible to participate. She had 402 votes, Mello got 293, Charles Ray Thomas, distant runnerup for mayor a year ago, won 242 votes and David C. Bailey 85 votes.

Mello, who is running for his fifth consecutive term, was hospitalized with what turned out to be brain cancer ORANGE Page 3A

Orange Fire Chief marks 50 years

BC loses longtime backer H. D. Pate, 79 Dave Rogers

For The Record

Heinie Dell “H.D.” Pate helped put Bridge City on the map in 1970, preparing the lawsuit that led to the incorporation of the city. The first lawyer to hang a shingle in Bridge City also prepared the new city’s first charter; the South Texas College of Law grad served 34 years (1970-2004) as Bridge City’s first city attorney. He was in the spotlight a lot in the late 20th century. He was president of the Bridge City Chamber of Commerce, president of East Texas Legal Services (now Lone Star Legal Aid), president and founding member of the Bridge City Rotary Club, president of the Lions Club, citizen of the year and a top youth sports coach. H.D. Pate was President of the Lamar University System Board of Regents from 199499, during which he helped grow what is now Lamar State College Orange. He offered his legal services to folks throughout Orange County. Veteran County Judge Carl Thibodeaux recalls Pate helped him incorporate his West Orange pharmacy. Lately, though, Pate had

H.D. Pate

shied away from public life. He died Monday (May 6, 2019) at his home in Bridge City after a long

illness. He was 79. Pate asked that his body be cremated and no funeral service held, his widow, Patricia Raines Pate, said. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Lone Star Legal Aid or Catholic Charities. “You can’t say enough good things about H.D. Pate,” said Beaumont attorney Wayne Reaud, who served on the Lamar System Board of Regents with Pate. “He exercised a lot of influence, but he always operated behind the scenes. He was not the kind of guy who’d call a press conference to tell people how smart he was.” Longtime state senator Carl Parker of Port Arthur called Pate “a friend for a long time and a great man. “He was on Lamar’s Board of Regents and he was a big Democrat and loyal to a fault. One of the greatest compliH.D. PATE Page 3A

Orange Fire Chief David Frenzel has seen many positive changes since he joined the department in 1969. RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers

For The Record

“Leather Lungs” used to be a point of pride among firefighters. Those were the ones who, through years of fighting fires, had hardened their lungs to the point of withstanding exposure to nasty smoke. But on-the-job training, deaths while trying to ride to fires and wooden buildings that burned up in the blink of an eye also used to be the norm for those in the fire services. Orange Fire Chief David Frenzel remembers those days, but he’ll take new safety equipment and safety codes and standards any day. “Safety issues have changed, and they make all the difference in the world in injuries,” said the Orange na-

tive whose 50 years with the department will be honored from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, May 9, at the Central Fire Station, 501 7th St. His point of pride now is the rating of 2 – “as low as you can go” from the Insurance Service Office (ISO) that Orange has obtained since he was named chief in 1997. “We work hard to keep insurance rates down,” Frenzel said. ISO ratings affect every home or business owners’ fire insurance rate. “When I made chief, our ISO rating was 5. We got it down to 3, and this last year, a 2. So I feel like we’ve accomplished a lot in the last 20 years.” Frenzel began his career in 1969. His first run was a car fire at 4th and Cypress St. “Why you remember something

like that I don’t know,” he said in an interview earlier this week. Frenzel, who grew up at 1013 13th St. with brother Dolan and his parents Edward and Sophie, seemed destined to follow the fireman’s path. His father, a lineman for Gulf States Utilities deemed too essential by GSU to be drafted during World War II, was president of Orange’s volunteer fire department. In the 1960s, the VFD was replaced by full-time firefighters. Orange was – and remains – the only Orange County “career” fire department. Frenzel met his wife, Hildy, in 1975 when she was working part-time at the fire station and married her in FIRE CHIEF Page 3A

Depot Day offers city fun, sun Dave Rogers For The Record

2-year-old triplets Isabella, Melanie and Michelle Pulgaron help their brother Leo, 4, feed a lamb in the petting zoo at Depot Day at the Orange Train Depot Saturday, May 5 RECORD PHOTO: Dave Rogers

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Hundreds rallied around a city landmark last weekend to celebrate the third sureto-be-annual Depot Day at the Orange 1902 Train Depot. The theme was “Talent Under The Big Tent” and there was plenty of entertainment both under and outside a roof. “This was by far the best we’ve had,” said Rose Simar of the non-profit Friends of the Depot. “We had at least 400 peo-

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ple come out. The children absolutely loved it because of the things we had, and of course, the Orange Community Players were performing under a tent. “We got a lot of pleasure out of seeing the kids have a good time. We definitely plan on doing it yearly.” Leisha Courville’s Feather and Fur petting zoo and Blasia Hornsby’s Party Ponies were big hits with the younguns and their young-adult parents. Besides the OCP, which had both adult and teenager groups singing, dancing and

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otherwise performing, the Southeast Texas Model Railroad Club, food and craft vendors were available in and around the Green Ave. depot. “Every year we try to do something different to see what works,” explained Carrie Woliver, who led the effort to renovate the train station that served Orange from the turn of the 20th Century until the mid-1970s. “Obviously the animals have worked. And the balloon man, wow. OCP, they do it every year.” Simar said the “balloon

twister” was coming off a three-year tenure at Disney World, saying both that artist and the provider of the trackless train ride, both hailed from Houston. Depot Day was a one-year experiment when it was held before Tropical Storm Harvey devastated much of the county in 2017. This was the second year in a row since the storm. Weather -- wouldn’t you know it? -- was the only sticking point this time. Although it didn’t rain during DEPOT DAY Page 3A

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