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Helping those who are hungry is not just a holiday chore for the
Gleaners of Monahans.
True, there are special Holiday offerings. The Monday before
Thanksgiving the Gleaners distributed food that included turkeys from
their base at 921 North Betty.
"On the Monday before Christmas," says Carolyn Cunningham of the
Gleaners, "we'll be distributing turkeys again."
But Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey is not what the Gleaners are about.
"We feed people 52 weeks a year," says Cunningham, the administrative
aide to Ward County Judge Sam Massey and the chair of the board that
administers the Gleaners. Founded in 1982, the Gleaners, a joint
project of volunteers and the Monahans Ministerial Association, take
their name from the Bible's Book of Ruth, which notes that the poor may
glean from the fields the grain left by the reapers.
One of its founders, Mrs. Maxine Moore, once said: "We don't have any
fields to glean, like in Ruth, but we glean the stores."
The inspiration for The Gleaners came when Mrs. Moore and husband Jack
saw a man sitting by a grocery store dumpster eating bakery goods he had
fished from the trash bin. Jack and Maxine Moore took the man to the
Salvation Army and began the crusade that became The Gleaners.
And the Gleaners still need assistance to help the hungry.
Reports Cunningham:
"Items for the Gleaners may be dropped off at the Ward County Judge's
office or at the box at 921 North Betty. Gleaners take donations of food
- especially canned goods, rice,, beans and other staples. We also take
cash and clothing."
For those who may need emergency assistance, Cunningham says she can be
called at 943-3209. If she is not available, telephone Georgia Nunn at
943-3424.
For information on how to help or seek aid. telephone Cunningham; The
Rev. LeRoy Henson (943-2335) or The Rev. Gene Brown (943-5464).
By Jerome P. Curry
of the News
Elections director Pat V. Finley predicts a "very, very low" voter turn
out in Ward County next Tuesday, Dec. 10, when voters choose a successor
to John T. Montford in the sprawling 28th Senate District those
boundaries attempt to link Lubbock and far West Texas. The western edge
of the district stops just about at the El Paso City limits, avoiding
that area of mostly liberal
Democrats.
At stake is Montford's unexpired term.
Although District 28 constituents do not seem aware a state senate race
is going on in their backyard, politicians across Texas are watching
this one closely. The outcome decides whether Democrats or Republicans
district's dogleg boundaries have the rule the 3 I-member State Senate
in Austin.
At least one problem with the district is the diverse nature of the
areas covered by Senate District 28, a district controlled politically
by Lubbock because of its larger population.
One political observer says the district's dogleg boundaries have the
appearance "L," which may have been drawn after "a bad Saturday night in
Nuevo Laredo."
The 28th Senatorial District covers all or part of 26 counties Ward,
Culberson, Ector, El Paso, Reeves, Tom Green, Borden, Crane, Crosby,
Dawson, Garza, Glasscock, bock because of its larger population. Hale,
Hockley, Howard. Hudspeth, Irion, Lamb, Loving, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin,
Reagan, Sterling, Terry, Upton.
Montford, an influential Democrat, retired from the Texas Senate after a
dozen years to become chancellor of Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
The two candidates who face each other at the polls on Dec. 10 are
Republican Robert Duncan of Lubbock and Democrat David Langston of
Lubbock. Duncan is a former state representative; Langston, a former
mayor of Lubbock.
They're lawyers. They're 43 years old.
Duncan and Langston are the survivors of a seven candidate cat fight
decided by the voters at the general election Nov. 5.
Tuesday,Dec. 10, is the run-off.
Finley says she based her vote turnout forecast on the fact that not
many Ward County citizens know much about either of the candidates.
Plus, she noted, it is the holiday season, not a usual time for
political elections.
"People are caught up in the holiday spirit. This is an unusual election
time. People just don't know much about the candidates, "Finley said.
"All these are indicators the election turnout on Tuesday will be low,
at least in Ward County."
In the first two days of early voting, only 14 ballots had been cast.
Early voting ends on Friday at 5 p.m. There only 100 mail-outs for early
voting in Ward County. As of Wednesday, none had been returned.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Dec. 10.
The expected abbreviated voter turn out is the reason Ward County
Precincts have been consolidated for the state senate election, Finley
said.
Although neither candidate appears to have sparked a major following in
Ward County, there have been fireworks and attack ads.
Both are conservatives.
But pundits call Republican Duncan the frontrunner. This is based on
several factors.
1. He was the leading vote getter for the seat in the November election.
Langston finished second.
2. Duncan has more money to campaign. By the mid-November reporting
period. Duncan reported raising $256,000 for the race; Langston, only
$50,000.
3. District 28, according to Texas Legislative Council documents, votes
Republican in most elections.
4. Records show Democratically tinged lobbyists in Austin are not above
donating to Republican campaigns. In this case, Robert Johnson and Jack
Roberts have given a total of $6,000 to Republican Duncan's efforts.
Johnson's late father was a close friend of Democratic Lt. Gov. Bob
Bullock. Roberts was Bullock's chief deputy comptroller in the 1980s.
Bullock presides over the Senate. Johnson's campaign contribution to
Duncan was $5,000; Roberts, $1,000.
Both candidates favor ethics reform in slightly different variations.
They are, they say, fiscal conservatives. Both are for property tax
reform and against juvenile crime.
Langston's campaign has touched in Ward County at least twice. Duncan is
depending on the vote here from television advertising that attempts to
depict himself as a Bush Republican and Langston as a Dukakis Democrat.
Langston has not had the funds to counter on television in the same
volume and intensity Duncan's campaign can. Because of his fund gap,
Langston has had to forego television for more personal campaigning.
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