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TOP STORIESFebruary 6, 1998'Rainbow the Clown' receives hero awardBy RICK SMITH Staff Writer PECOS, February 6, 1998 - Joyce Morton tries to live her life as a testimony to the love of God. While she seeks no glory for the good deeds she performs, Joyce is not one to hide her light under a bushel either. As "Rainbow the Clown" Joyce brings laughter and fun into the lives children in both the Pecos area and in Mexico, and she brings a message. "I do magic and funny routines for anybody who has children that want to hear about the Lord," Joyce said about her "Rainbow the Clown" act. "Every routine tells about the plan of salvation." For about 20 years Joyce has been taking her act to Bible schools and wherever she is invited. But her work as "Rainbow the Clown" is only one reason Joyce was given the Hidden Hero Award by the Pecos Chamber of Commerce this year. "Those who are nominated for the Hidden Hero Award are people who do a lot for the community and other people without being recognized," said Linda Gholson who presented Joyce with the award at the chamber banquet . "They are people who do things out of the goodness of their heart and their love for people." Joyce certainly fulfills those qualifications. She taught first graders in Pecos for 25 years and continues to be involved with child education. Joyce is a Sunday school teacher at one church, leads singing at another church, teaches painting classes, organizes groups to paint murals on downtown buildings and provides supplies for the poor, just to name a few of the things she does with no thought of praise or reward. "She takes things to Mexico to help the hurting and the sad," Gholson said. "She helps others for the sake of helping people, not for her own glory." Francis Heath has known Joyce for more years than she can remember. "I got acquainted with her and her husband years ago when our children were showing animals in 4-H," Heath said. "When I started to West Park (Baptist Church) I really got to know the woman. She has a beautiful personality and is always smiling. "She's my Sunday school teacher at West Park. She leaves from there and goes to Barstow to lead singing in a church there." Heath says Joyce is an organizer. She gathers rice, beans, tortilla flour and many other supplies to take to missions on the Rio Grande. Joyce teaches painting classes at the Pecos Senior Citizens Center and has organized groups of local artists to paint murals on some of the neglected buildings in the downtown area. Joyce and her husband raised two sons of their own and were foster parents to several other children. "If you ever have a need and Joyce finds out about it she will take care of it if she can or find someone else to do it," Heath said. "And she'll never mention that she did it. "Joyce is a person that brightens any corner where she is. I've never seen her mad or heard her say a bad word about anybody." According to another of her many friends, "Joyce is a very good Christian woman who lives her life that way." So says Judith Greenwood. "She is always willing to jump in and help other people and put them first," Greenwood said. Joyce also is president of The Modern Study Club. She is the creator of a Pecos Bill puppet that she uses to delight children at the West of the Pecos Museum. Joyce is a member of the Pecos Pallet Club. Joyce and her husband, Don, have lived in Pecos since about 1970 when he came here to work in the oil patch. "You know what they say, If you wear out a pair of shoes in West Texas you'll be here forever,'" she said. Their two sons, Floyd Lee and Allen, both graduated from Pecos High School. Joyce and her husband, Don, have four grandchildren. Joyce finds it hard to explain why she stays involved in the community, but she gave an example of what makes the effort worth while for her. "I teach art at the senior center and when one of the ladies there finishes a work and says, Oh, I like what I've done,' then I've just got paid. I feel happy at what I've done and I feel good," she said. "When we make a downtown corner look better and other people see it I think they might say, Pecos must be a nice town because they made this corner look nice.' "I think sometimes you can take care of your own problems by taking care of others. You stop looking at our own problems by helping others."
Meet the candidates next weekBy ROSIE FLORES Staff Writer PECOS, February 6, 1998 - Reeves County residents will have a chance to meet the candidates in the upcoming March 10 Deomocratic Primary Election and discuss pertinent issues with them at a "Meet the Candidates" program at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Quality Inn. The program is sponsored by the Pecos Business and Professional Women's Club. During the program each candidate will have five minutes to speak, increased from three minutes in previous years, according to the women's club president Debbie Thomas. All local candidates have been invited, but not all have responded, Thomas said. "I haven't heard from all of them yet, but I'm hoping they'll contact me to let me know if they will be attending," said Thomas. "We have done this for several years and have always had a good turnout, and a good response from both the community and the candidates," said Thomas. The group will be sponsoring another meeting next month for the city, school and hospital district candidates. Election for those offices will be held in May. "We want to invite all candidates, their families and the community," said Thomas. Refreshments will be served.
Reserve sheriff's deputy injuredPECOS, February 6, 1998 - A reserve sheriff's deputy from Monahans, Vori Balderas, was injured last night during an altercation with a man wanted for a parole violation out of California. According to the Reeves County Sheriff's Department, Balderas was assisting Department of Public Safety troopers in apprehending Michael Allen Cunnington, 33, of San Diego, Calif. The officers stopped Cunnington at mile marker 37 on Interstate 20 and, during the scuffle that followed, Balderas either tripped or was pushed and her elbow was broken, according to Reeves County Sheriff Arnulfo Gomez. Cunnington has been charged with evading arrest, driving while intoxicated, resisting arrest and assault on a peace officer. He is currently being held in the Reeves County Jail. According to Gomez, Balderas' elbow was too swollen for medical personnel to help her last night, and she was given an appointment to see a doctor in Odessa this morning. Gomez said that she was "in a lot of pain."
Hospital staff says goodbye to interim CEOBy GREG HARMAN Staff Writer PECOS, February 6, 1998 - The lobby of Reeves County Hospital was full yesterday afternoon with the friends and staff of Interim Administrator Terry Andris, hoping to relay best wishes in his change of careers. Andris turned in his resignation on Jan. 6, stating he had accepted a position in regulatory services with The Seton Network. The job will base him in Burnett, Tx. Compounding Andris' decision to leave the hospital, he said, was his wife's decision to resign from her job at Sweet Success in Dallas to be with him there. His last day at the hospital will be Monday, Feb. 9. "There's never been a reception like this for any administrator before," said Jeannette Alligood, president of the hospital board of directors. "He was very well-liked and respected." Opening the ceremony, Alligood addressed Andris before the room, "This has been a very good two years. You have allowed us all to grow to potentials we didn't know we had." Andris returned the sentiment by stating that his assignment to Reeves County Hospital was the best assignment of his life and the fastest two years he had seen. "You've got such a terrific hospital. You are such terrific people. This transition will be very difficult because I fell very close to you all," said Andris. Dr. James Cam, chief of medical staff, professed to the gathering that before Andris joined the hospital they had worries there every day. "You have revitalized and revived everyone. We owe you big time!" Willie Hamilton also publicly thanked Andris, saying, "You have always included us and came to our meetings." Andris was presented with a plaque from the RCHD Board of Directors in appreciation for his services, and Nancy Ontiveros, hospital public relations coordinator, presented him with a gift on behalf of the hospital employees. The new interim administrator will be Charles Butts. Andris said that Butts, who was born and raised near Sweetwater, Tx., had 25 years of experience with hospital administration and "knows the hospital system."
She talks with her hands to help studentBY PEGGY McCRACKEN Staff Writer Guadalupe Villela studied sign language 17 years ago, and used it occasionally to communicate with learning disabled students in her special education classes. Now Villela talks with her hands all day long at school, then goes home and cracks the books again to improve her skills. It is not the simple hand signals of American sign language that Villela uses with her first-grade hearing impaired student, but exact English. That requires learning the various word endings, such as "ed" and "ing" that enable the student to recognize those same words on paper. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Villela said of her move into the classroom of Lanette Portillo. When the position came open to interpret for Stephanie Laurence, personnel director Crissy Urias remembered Villela's skill. "We had taken some more classes in sign language and Crissy knew about it," she said. "I'm sure the boss upstairs had a plan for us." Stephanie is learning to read and write and is up with her age group in math, Villela said. "The hardest part is reading because it is hard to teach her plurals," she said. "Just the other day we were doing a story about five dogs. She put down dog,' and I kept saying, You need an s' because it is more than one dog.' "It is very hard for her to see the differences after she has learned a word one way. We are working very hard on her speech. She says her words the way she hears it." Working with a special student is no different than working with your own, Villela said, in that you learn their body language to help understand what they say. It is also necessary for the student to understand her teacher. "I wish there were more people I could sign with, because you get use to that one person," Villela said. She attends workshops periodically to sharpen her skills. While at one such workshop, she met a 15-year-old girl who had been completely deaf since birth, yet had learned to speak in a normal voice. "She had made a video with her teaching others to sign," she said. The girl responded to background music in the classroom, dancing to its rhythm, she said. "They can feel the vibrations of the music, or hear it. Stephanie can hear music before I do," Villela said. Villela has had the support of her husband, Alfonso, as her teaching career in special education took a new turn. "If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't be as far along as I am now," she said. "He's not happy unless he sees me studying." Working from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Austin Elementary, Villela is physically and mentally tired from the constant hand movements that keep Stephanie involved in classroom discussions and physical education. But the work is so rewarding, Villela feels she will stay with sign interpretation the rest of her career. She has even taught classes in signing. The easiest way to learn is to learn families of words, adding signed letters for specifics, she said. An example is the sign for "sick." With an "F" added, it becomes "flu." A "A" turns "sick" into "ailing," and a "D" makes it "death." "Words that have no sign, you have to finger spell the word as it is written," she said. "She's not familiar with a lot of long words, so I plan ahead my lessons and tell her what the sign will be for a certain word." Villela encourages people to talk directly to Stephanie instead of to her. "She will pick up most of it, and if she doesn't, she will ask me herself," she said. "Speak directly to the person, no matter what their disability," said the teacher who has worked with special needs children of all ages for the past 16 years. With her three children grown, married and moved away, Lupe and Alfonso often spend time at their retreat on Lake Brownwood, where she paints the beautiful sunsets, takes photographs, sketches, embroiders and works with clay. "I like to cook, but I don't like to clean up after myself," she said.
Commissioners meet MondayPECOS, February 6, 1998 - Reeves County Detention Center expansion project items will be discussed at the regular meeting of the Reeves County Commissioners, set for 9:45 a.m. Monday, Feb. 9. Financing, application and certification of payment for Banes General Contractor and a proposal for construction materials testing and observation for the project will also be a topic at the meeting. Commissioners will discuss awarding bid proposals for column showers for the RCDC and approve early voting workers for the Democratic primary election. Other items on the agenda include right-of-way easement for Madera Valley Water Supply; a contract for the detention of juvenile offenders between Crane and Reeves counties and awarding of a proposal for licensed Texas Real Estate Inspector for Home Contract. The group will also discuss/take action on: * A bid award for TCDP Contract. * Reports from various departments. * Budget amendments and line-item transfers. * Personnel and salary changes at the juvenile detention center, RCDC and the Reeves County Sheriff's Office. * Minutes from previous meeting. * Payment of semi-monthly bills. * Spread on the minutes, continuing education certificate for commissioner precinct 2 W.J. Bang.
OBITUARYConcepcion LermaConcepcion "Concha" Lerma, 64, of Monahans, died Thursday, Feb. 5, 1998, at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa. Services will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, at Martinez Funeral Home Chapel. Lerma was born Dec. 17, 1933, in Van Horn and was a housewife. Survivors include: her husband, Luciano Lerma, Sr. of Monahans; six sons, Rolando Lerma of Pecos, Charles Ray, Luciano and Rosendo Lerma of Odessa and Manuel Rivera and Antonio Garcia of Odessa; five daughters, Mary Rodriguez of Pecos, Anita Lerma, Delila Lerma of Monahans and Dilia Saldana and Yolanda Melendez of Odessa; one brother, Margarito Benevidez of Hemet, Calif.; three sisters, Cecilia Moreno of Hemet, Calif., Pabla Garcia of Pecos and Frances Bustamantes of Odessa; 14 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Martinez Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
WEATHERPECOS, February 6, 1998 - High Thursday, 60, low this morning, 39. Clearing skies will bring warmer temperatures across Texas on Saturday. But temperatures will be cold tonight across the entire state with readings to be near the freezing mark as far south as the Hill Country. It will be clear to partly cloudy tonight across West Texas with fog expected during the early morning hours in the areas east of the mountains. It will be mostly sunny on Saturday. Lows tonight will be in the 20s and 30s, highs Saturday will be in the 50s in the Panhandle and in the 60s and 70s across the rest of the area.
Pecos Enterprise
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