Weekly Newspaper and Travel Guide for Ward County Trans Pecos, Big Bend of West Texas

Opinion

Dec. 31, 1998

Dispelling those rumours

First off, she says (with a stern look in her eye), tea
isn't always accompanied by crumpets. And it's not drunk at
precisely 4 o'clock in the afternoon- no, many steaming cups
are gulped down all throughout the day.

A rule of thumb: if you happen to have a visitor come by,
the first thing you should say is, "Would you like a cup of
tea?" My sister learned this the hard way when, while
having workmen over to fix up her kitchen, she asked if
they'd like a Coke or a beer.

And while undoubtedly there are a few unfortunate butlers
out there by the name of Watson, it's not as if they're in
every household. I get the feeling, however, that Rachael
(the said sister), would not particularly mind having one.
God knows she needs to.

But perhaps the most inaccurate stereotype is their
"snottiness". It's true that the English are reserved-
heck, that might be a wild understatement- but by no means
are they as uppity as they're made out to be. According to
Rach, once you break through that initial reservation,
they're actually quite warm. She says that "friendships are
more sincere there. Once a friend is made, they're always a
friend."

One grave fault the English do have, however, is their
weakness for striped, flowery home decor. This may be
related to their dedication to keeping splendid little
gardens, full of flowers (search me as to where the stripes
come in).

Another bone ole Rachael has to pick is that she failed her
driving exam twice. It's a "true feat" to pass your driving
test in England, she states (possibly out of embarrassment,
but let's just give her the benefit of the doubt here). For
example, three-point road turns aren't just three-point road
turns. The instructor can (and generally will) fail you
should your hands not be positioned exactly right on the
wheel, or if he/she feels you're not using the hand brake
appropriately.

Speaking of cars, they're a lot smaller over there. In
fact, everything's smaller: the roads, the houses, the
refrigerators, even the people.

But, she adds with a sly grin, the teacups are huge.

OUR VIEW

Golfing gets better and better

The Golf Association has hired Danny Birdwell to oversee the
maintenance as head superintendent.

If you play golf out at the Course you see several areas
where the crew is fixing the irrigation system.

Trees have been pruned, some greens reseeded and all of the
tee boxes reseeded with rye so we now have nice green tees
to play from.

The driving range has been reworked with new irrigation and
seed making that whole area look 100% better.

Much needed new sand has been added to the sand traps, and
hole locations are changed on a regular basis. All of this
has added to better playing conditions around the greens.
People have been working very hard at Ward County Golf
Course.

The pro-shop has reduced prices on all merchandise, and
lowered the cost for out of county people to play, keeping
green fees the same for everyone and attracting more out of
the area money to Ward County. They ran one of the most
successful promotions and golf tournaments in the history of
the course this fall.

All of these improvements and changes have taken place since
August 1, when the Ward County Golf Association took over
interim management of the course.

Monday the county commissioners did a very good thing for
the golfing community of Ward County - they accepted the
W.C.G.A.s bid to manage and operate the Course for the 1999
season.

The Golf Association will operate the course returning all
profits to the course for improvements. We believe profits
will increase with the improvements. Add to that competitive
pricing in the pro-shop, better tournaments and promotions
and we will see more money pumped back into the course than
ever before. The end result will of course be a better golf
facility for all of us to enjoy and a better attraction for
Ward County and the City of Monahans to entice outside
visitors.

That's not all of the changes taking place at Ward County
Golf Course.

New rules that will aid in improving the conditions of the
course include:

As of Jan. 1, golfers will be required to keep their cart on
the path at all times and all golfers will be required to
wear soft spikes on their golf shoes. We believe that these
two new rules are good and for the good of the course.
Keeping the carts on the paths will help the greens crew
grow grass up to the worn areas next to the paths, and also
stop the spread of grass burrs.

A single green will, on a busy day of play, incur between 7
million and 14 million spike marks. Wearing soft spikes will
definitely help the condition of the greens.

The third improvement is in the way you can pay for your
membership. You can, as of the first, have your yearly
membership drafted right out of bank account monthly.

We are behind the Ward County Golf Association and their
effort in improving a very important asset to Ward County.
The members of the Golf Association are to be commended for
their efforts and guts in taking on a project of this size.
They know what the course can, if properly managed, mean to
it's members and community. We are behind you all, 110%.

Resolve to say thanks

Usually my resolutions focus around things like losing
weight and exercising.

This year, however, my thoughts have gone beyond resolutions
to help me improve physically and are more focused on
helping me improve emotionally and spiritually.

We have always tried to give through our church but now I
want to be more conscious of helping charitable
organizations right here in Ward County - groups like the
Gleaners and the Rainbow Room. Often at Christmas our hearts
are tender and so we help but the need goes on year round. A
little given every month can do a lot of good.

As I grow older I am becoming acutely aware of how short our
lives are.

I also think of how important people have been in my life.
And I wonder if those people knew how important they were to
me. When we first moved to Monahans a certain reading
teacher made a difference in the life of one of my children
and I always meant to write her a note and tell her, but you
know what - I never did. This past year she died and now I
never can. And so I am resolved to do my best not to let
that happen again.

Sometimes those we should be the most appreciative of are
those we take the most for granted, like parents.

When I was at my parents home recently, I noticed a Father's
Day card from one of my brothers. Curiously I opened it.
There were no rhyming words from some greeting card. Rather
just a few lines expressing his appreciation to our Dad for
teaching him to love the outdoors.

Occasionally we get letters to the editor from someone who
was helped by a Ward County resident. I'm sure they said
thank you at the time but the assistance meant enough to
them that they wanted to say thank you again in a more
public way.

Perhaps as we look back over the events of this past year
and prepare for the one to come, we should take a little
time to write a note, make a phone call or even send a
little gift just to say thank you.