County Record Vol. 56 No. 9
The Community Newspaper of Orange, Texas
Week of Wednesday, June 11, 2014
WO clearing out sub-standard housing David Ball
For The Record
Though it’s a little late for a Spring cleaning the city of West Orange is making plans to spruce things up.The West Orange City Council approved a resolution for property owners to either repair, remove or demolish several structures in the city that were declared as
Orange council runoff set for June 21 David Ball For The Record Come June 21 Orange residents will know whether a former city councilman or someone new to the council will be the next At-Large Place 6 councilman. Larry Spears Jr. and Cullin Smith were the top two vote-getters in the May 10 General Election. Neither candidate had a majority of the vote and are facing each other in a runoff election on June 21. Spears led with 354 votes, Smith was second with 318 votes, and incumbent Charles Guillory was third with 183 votes. Smith previously served on the council. Spears is a safety, health and environmental coordinator and Smith is in the real estate business. The following polling places listed below will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on June 21, 2014 for voting in the runoff election for the At-Large Place 6 council member for registered voters. Early voting in person will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on every weekday, now through June 16, at the Orange Public Library, 220 N. 5th St. There will also be a 12-hour day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on June 17. Applications for ballot by mail shall be mailed to: Tina Barrow, Administrator, Orange County Elections Administration, 123 S. 6th St., Orange, TX. 77630. Applications for ballots by mail must be received no later than the close of business on June 12, 2014. Election Day polling places: District 1- Salvation Army building, 1950 MLK Drive District 2- Little Cypress Intermediate School, 2300 Allie Payne Road District 3North Early Learning Center, 801 Cordrey Avenue District 4- West Orange-Stark Middle School, 1402 W. Green Avenue
Sanders
either substandard and hazardous along with possible remedies for the structures. The council first held a public hearing before their regular
meeting. Alan Sanders, special counsel for the city, said the 10 properties listed on the council’s agenda were the first of several other properties to be decided upon. He advised the council property owners should be given 30 days to begin demolishing or repairing the structures and 90 days to complete. Shirley Bonin, mayor pro tem, asked Sanders if the mortgage holders were notified. He answered yes. First to speak at the public hearing was Pete Amy. He owns the properties at 801 and 803 Boston.Amy said he contacts contractors to work on the houses. They give him their prices and he doesn’t hear back from them again. He added he will speak with a contractor on Wednesday and he has the funds to rehabilitate the houses. Amy also said he didn’t appreciate Dean Fuller, city building inspector, entering onto his property without his notice. “I would appreciate it if he notified me and I would be glad to accompany him,” Amy said. Vandals also did some damages to the houses in the past. Amy said he has been paying the full amount of taxes owed since he’s began residing there. Councilman Mike Trahan asked Amy why it’s been taking him so long to repair the homes. Amy said he’s done a lot of work by himself to the 803 Boston property. Trahan then said something needed to be done. Amy said he agrees something needed to be done such
David Scott of Four Seasons Guns in Orange said certain gun ammunition is difficult to find and some are making a big profit selling it on the internet. RECORD PHOTO: David Ball
Ammo scarce on high demand David Ball
For The Record
Ray Fontenot is an example as to why the Greatest Generation is so great. Fontenot was born on January 5, 1921, in Washington, Louisiana near Opelousas. His father was a farmer and worked a cotton gin. In fact, the family home was in the middle of a cornfield. The house had no electricity. He joked some of his younger friends talk about when they received their first cars. Fontenot remembers when he received his first horse. His father’s first vehicle was a Ford Model-T in the late 1930s. Fontenot completed school in 1938. His first job was away from home in La-
fayette, digging ditches for farmers in the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. He was paid $1 a day and provided with room and board. He made $5 a week and his parents were paid $25 a week by the CCC. Fontenot said the idea behind the CCC was to get money flowing again in the economy. He went back home to the family farm but decided farming wasn’t the life for him. He moved to Port Arthur to work on an oil tanker for Texaco. That job wasn’t for him either. It was during his time in Port Arthur he would meet his wife. They dated for six months before marrying.
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Ray Fontenot, a Louisiana native and Orange County resident, worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Consolidated Steel Ship Yard, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and at DuPont in Orange before retiring. RECORD PHOTO: David Ball
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Dad may not be legendary but his day is Darryl Brinson For The Record
Every third Sunday in June is set aside for this special day. The United States and Canada are among the few countries that honor fathers with a special day every year. The history of Father’s Day is interesting and there is some debate as to when the first Father’s Day actually took place. Among the various legends that abound about the creation of this special day include Dr. Robert Webb. In 1908, he held what is believed to have been the first Father’s Day celebration at the Central Church of Fairmont, in Fairmont, West Virginia. The celebration probably originated from observations of Mother’s Day, another tradition that sprang from West Virginia. Another theory holds that Mrs. Charles Clayton, also of West Virginia,
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planned the first Father’s Day in 1908. But the most popular legend is that Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane Washington came up with the idea. Dodd was from Spokane Washington and legend has it that while she was listening to a sermon about mothers on Mother’s Day in 1908, she got the idea of honoring fathers as well. Dodd’s father, William Smart, was a Civil War veteran who, along with his wife, was raising their five children on a farm in eastern Washington State. During the birth of their sixth child his wife died, leaving Smart to raise the six children by himself. It is no wonder that Dodd thought of her father while listening to the sermon about Mother’s Day. She had grown up seeing Smart’s tireless efforts and sacrifice to keep the family together and fed. She wanted a way to honor him and
Although the concept of a Father’s Day had been around for several decades it didn’t become an official national day of observation until President Lyndon Johnson signed a Presidential Proclamation in 1966 setting aside the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.
all the fathers like him that had raised their children in a dedicated and selfless way. Dodd was able to gain support for a local Father’s Day celebration from the own’s ministers and members of the local Y.M.C.A.. The date that she wanted for the first Father’s Day was June 5, 1910. Smart’s birthday. However, because of the time needed to prepare for the celebration, the date of the first Father’s Day celebration was moved to June 19, the third Sunday in June. Newspapers across the country endorsing Mother’s Day, ran stories of the Father’s Day observance in Spokane. Interest in Father’s Day increased and local observances popped up across the nation. In 1912, J.H. Berringer, of Washington conducted a Father’s Day service. Berringer chose to wear a
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