The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

THE GREATNESS OF MANDELA

Ten years ago I watched all the Nelson Mandela service including President Barack Obama's speech. Ninety-one governments were represented. Former United States Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and their spouses attended. President Obama drew the largest reception. He shook hands on the way to the podium with Raul Castro. Mandela was one of a kind; born in 1918, he died at age 95. After being imprisoned 27 years, where he was mistreated and often kept in solitary confinement, he came out at age 70 and transformed South Africa in a successful struggle against an apartheid system of racial segregation. It earned him the Nobel Peace prize. He told President Clinton once, "That in prison they took away everything, but they couldn't take his heart or mind." He taught that hope always trumped fear. Millions of words have been written about this great man. There were those who had negative words, mostly because he was a man of color and they wanted to discredit him. Mandela died Dec. 5, 2013 at the age of 95. He was just one of the great people who lived during my lifetime but his life stands out.

REMEMBERING LOIS JUDICE

Lois Bourgeois Judice, age 95, passed away on December 1. Funeral services were held December 5, at St. Henry Catholic Church in Bridge City. I was not aware of her passing until after her service was held. In my early years I had been really close to Edwin and Agnes Bourgeois and the family. Back in the late 1940's and early 50's, I would sometime arrive in Port Arthur during the might after hitchhiking all day from Louisiana. I would tap on Ms. Agnes's window and she would let me in. Tired and hungry, she would get me something to eat and get me a pillow. The boys, Ray, Kenneth, Gene and the baby Richard were the ones I knew best. They had two sisters, Lois and Cecile. I don't recall the exact year, maybe 1949, Lois, the prettiest girl in Port Arthur, was named Miss Port Arthur in a beauty pageant. She dated A.J. Judice, who always drove a fancy convertible. They married and had five children, Larry. Debbie, Al, III, Kevin and Karen. A.J. and I had been very close and did a lot of things together and attended many events in the Motherland. We once appeared together in a front page photo in U.S.A. Today racing crawfish on A.J.'s famous race track. I recall when Harry Waddell's brother Tommy, gave Kenneth a guitar that his little brother Gene learned to play and grew up to be "Jivin Gene," a lifelong friend. Ms. Agnes had a brother who was one of my best friend's dad, and the Bourgeois boys spent vacation time in Abbeville so I met them at a young age. Gene and I still stay in touch, not as often as we should. I'm saddened by Lois' death. She was an angel among us who raised a great family. She lived in the shadow of A.J., the Cajun promoter, but always stood out to those who knew and loved her. Lois had a good, long life and now is reunited with her loved ones. May she rest in peace. (Memories shared by Roy Dunn.)

OUR CONDOLENCES

Alice Ann Daniel Brennan Williams

We just learned of the death of Alice Williams, who passed away December 8. Alice was the first woman to work at Gulf/Chevron, she once was a sales executive for the Record Newspapers, and worked 20 years for the Classy Peacock. Alice was a "people person" who never met a stranger. She is survived by her sons Patrick and Jared, daughters Rebecca and Courtney and grandchildren. May she rest in peace.

TURNING BACK THE HANDS OF TIME

10 YEARS Ago-2013

We were sorry to hear of the death of Dorothy Marie Morphew, 83, of Orange, who passed away Monday, Dec. 9, at Baptist Hospital, in Beaumont. Our deepest sympathies go out to our friend, Monte Morphew, his siblings, Dad and family.***** The one of a kind, Ray Cotton, stopped by. Ray, at age 84, is the most optimistic person I know. His great outlook on life is inspiring. He says every day is a good day. If he can visit with old friends it's an extra special day. Ray always parks the farthest away from his destination so he can get his walking in. He parks nearly to Hwy. 87 to go all the way to Super Wal-Mart Pharmacy. What a guy. ***** We visited with my longtime Black buddy from Rayne Louisiana, former Orange mayor and present councilperson, Essie Bellfield. Ms. Essie spoke about the time Velma Jeter, Willie Mae Champagne and she had the opportunity to visit and be touched by the late Nelson Mandela in Detroit. This was shortly after he was released from 27 years in prison and became the president of Africa.

22 Years Ago-2001

On a cold, damp Nov. 8th day, the Bridge City Cardinals, one of the best 4-3A football teams, ended a good season on a bad day. The Cardinals great season came to an end at the hands of Sinton in Kyle Field, at Texas A&M. Sinton is not your typical Hispanic team. They were loaded with state caliber talent across the board. The rainy, wet field was a disadvantage to the Cardinal speed and for the most part Matt Peebles was the workhorse, as B.C. tried to ground some yards and burn the clock. Sinton races for 22 first downs, B.C. manages only six in a 38-0 loss. Only two teams remained in the playoffs, Sinton and Everman. Seniors leaving the Cardinals, the best team since the 1966 state champs, seniors are: Justin Cruse, Matt McCain, Joe Khoury, Bobby Vice, Dwayne Breaux, Chris Harvey, Lanston Fults, Jason Yeaman, Luther Sanders, Luke Wolfford, Chris Jetton, Pat Godwin, Tyler Briggs, Aaron Mitchell, Dustin Bock, Shannon Maloney, Greg Alejo, Kaleb Faulk, Scott Lambert and Chris Sneed. Bridge City has a lot of talent returning in their juniors and sophomores. *****About 75 people gathered at the K.C. Hall for the reunion of the Bridge City 1966 state championship team. Quarterback Joe Lanston had fallen and was unable to attend but Steve Worster, All American at Texas, despite of having quadruple bypass heart surgery, was in attendance.

50 Years Ago-1973

Paul Hale is mayor of Orange.*****James "Stick" Stringer is county judge.*****Henry Stanfield, Orange fire chief, announces his retirement.*****County attorney is Jim Sharon Bearden. *****Prescient 4 county commissioner is Raymond Gould of Vidor.*****Fred Trimble is district judge of 160th district court.****Dr. Joe Mayors is Bridge City's only dentist.*****Wayne Peveto is state representative and represents all of Orange and Newton counties.*****Preston Woods is mayor of Bridge City.*****Louvenia Hryhochuk is tax-assessor-collector.*****Some of the old boys around is 55-year-old Bob Taylor, who coached football and other sports at Hackberry, La.*****Wayman Martin, 62, of Little Cypress school superintendent; Buck Sims, 60, a former crop duster and businessman; Fred 'Cooder' Avant, 51, who claims to work at DuPont; Murphy King, who turned 71 on Dec. 15, is known as the Pawnshop King; Lloyd Merlin Broussard, 49, works at Allied Chemical and coached at Carr Junior High; Charlie Webb, 44, works at DuPont; Wynne Hunt, 46, is a DuPont hand as is Harry Fulton, 45 and Harold Force, 53; J.D. Stanfield, 56, is a partner in Case and McGee Furniture and is also city councilman; Cecil Willey, 52, works at Gulf States. Others are Percy Bordelon, 53, who has put in his time at DuPont and Firestone; Monty Moran, 51, works at DuPont; Danny Barker, a 44-year-old youngster, is often seen enjoying the coffee at Kroger's with Joe Runnels, Steve Williamson, Eddie Morris, John Taylor, Cecil Griffin, Charles Picking and former County Judge Charlie Grooms. Also, spotted at Kroger's was the coin machine operator, Dag Andress, John Magness, Harold Emmert, Tony Garritonia and Joe Burke.**** Ann Segura returns to East Texas from time to time to keep the accent intact.*****Jim Dunaway flies around on his motorcycle.*****("I'm here to tell you I knew everyone in this 50 Years Ago piece, I wrote it.")

A FEW HAPPENINGS

The Service League once again put on a glorious Christmas Toy Coffee with tours and refreshments of two 19th Century houses in the Old Orange Historic District.  This was the 67th Toy Coffee for the non-profit group to raise new toys and money for the local Salvation Army. The preliminary figures show the group raised $13,595 and collected 556 new toys for families across Orange County. Tricia Stroud is club president this year with Cheryl Sharpton-Stalnaker and Vineen Giordano as chair and co-chair. The event had 32 volunteers and 397 visits to the houses, owned and restored by Beth and Kenneth Wheeler. Jessie Romero was one of the volunteers, taking a day off work to help drive a cart to help people get to the houses. Robert and Mindy Currie, who volunteer for non-profit events throughout the community, gave their talents. Emily McKee Mellon and Rita Ballard were among the Service League helpers. Paul and Raul Burch, who have hosted two toy coffees in recent years walked down the street from the house in The District. It's for sale, by the way. The Mauriceville Heritage Association helped by donating toys. Brad Childs, Abigail Liptak, and Adam Conrad were also among the visitors. Heard the Wheelers invited some neighbors over for some relaxing adult beverages that evening. And more about the Service League, they held a designer purse raffle as a fundraiser for other projects. Lanie Brown was the grand prize winner of a Louis Vuitton. Lots of houses are adorned with thousands of lights, but Brandi Griggs may have the only colorful ball wall. It's inside her house and not for public view. She took dozens and dozens of shiny Christmas tree balls in different sizes and covered a large wall with them. Can't get more festive than that. Bet daughter Kiley, who recently received a TaeKwonDo black belt, enjoys the color. And yes, the outside is decorated in lights, thanks to help from Justin Rieson.*****Betty Harmon and Cecil Broom were out and about again. This time for the Leaf and Petal Garden Club's annual Christmas party.*****Stump and Dayle Gunn Weatherford made the trip to College Station this past weekend for the wedding of grandson Vincent Hale, son of Lacey Gunn Hale. Father Jim Sichko, formerly of Orange, made time from his globe-trotting work for Pope Francis to officiate at the service. Stump and Dale made it back to Orange in time for the Lions Club's Christmas party. Lions Internation officers from around the state and region came to give Stump the Ambassador of Goodwill Award for his long years of volunteering and dedication to the service club. Stump has been hospitalized recently in a battle against cancer. The special award is given to only 35 people a year in the organization that has 1.7 million members worldwide.*****Shangri La drew crowds the first week of the lighted night Christmas strolls. Members of Orange Community Players, LaToya Overstreet, Tanya Guillotte, and Paul Burch, were seen serving cookies one night. The free family even continues this week from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.*****Craig and Elva Couvillion are off on a cruise. Craig found a place to practice his putting and Elva was trying to learn Italian. Mickey Litton Gisclar, daughter of the late and beloved Bridge City High Coach Moe Litton, found a copy of a special poem in the coach's papers. It was written by Ann Smith about 1965 when the late Bridge City football phenomenon Steve Worster led the team twice to the state finals, winning the second time. The words to "Worster, the Red, Red Cardinal" were to be sung to the tune of "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeeer."*****Attorney Sharon Bearden, got a double whammy in the past weeks. First he picked up COVID somewhere, brought it home to Liz but that wasn't enough, he then came down with a bad case of the flu. He sounded like he was near death last week. What seemed to be his biggest worry however was he needed to get back to work. The guy is going to be 85 in a few days and he's worrying about his practice.*****Our friend Phillip Welch, who just returned from a cruise with his family, will turn 65 on December 20. He's still making too much money to draw Social Security yet. Happy Birthday Phillip. *****I made it to Gulf Coast Cardiology last week. I understand Commissioner Kirk Roccaforte was there at the same time. We just missed each other between tests. Kirk said he and Christy did Thanksgiving in three parts. his mother's place, her brother's house and finishing up at her nieces' house. Anyway, I got Dr. Morbia's oatmeal recipe but won't publish it until after the holidays when everyone is ready to make New Year's resolutions and eat healthy.*****Judge Chad Jenkins and Windee spent the weekend with Chad's college roommate and his wife recalling all those years ago. Recalling only things they could say in front of their wives that is.*****I called Judge John Gothia last week and when I asked if he was busy he replied, "Not really, I'm sitting on the beach in Jamaica." He and Glynis and friends spent a few days playing golf and enjoying the beautiful beach. John puts in a lot of time as our county judge so he deserved and earned that time off.*****A note from Beverly Parker. Carl is now in Dishman at St E for PT. He has had multiple issues. They kept him in hospital because he had a blood infection. To make sure they got it they gave him IV for 6 weeks. I'm afraid if he ever writes again it will be about what "fun" he had in hospital. We wish Senator Parker a speedy recovery.

BREAUX BIRTHDAYS

A few folks celebrating birthdays or anniversaries in the next few days. Dec. 13: Melissa Poydence,  Melinda Swares, Kristy Kidwell, Dennis Lee,Hailey Tally, Jenny Duncan, also Jim Sharon and Tylor Bearden's mother, Caroline, celebrates a birthday December 13. That was also the birth date of their late uncle J.B. Bearden.*****Dec. 14: Happy Birthday to Coach "Beaver" DuBois and his twin sister, Melanie LaFleur, Keri Michutla, Diane Bertrand, Ronald Escamilla, Tim Fix, Danny Blacksher, Danny Prosperie, Dorothy Jenkins, Hannah Carpenter.*****Dec. 15: Amanda Webb, Jeff Harrington, Kenneth Pittman, Melanie Richter, Alex Harner, Belinda Broom, Brent Burris, Craig Reynolds, Dale Armand.*****Dec. 16: Kitty Martin,  Michelle Gephart, Carol Allen, Elizabeth Uzzle, Natalie Nimitz.*****Dec. 17: Beatrice Cortez,  Jeremie Delano, Nathan Applebach, Martha Taylor.*****Dec. 18: Brown Claybar, Mandy Hoffman, Tracey Lynn Broussard, Daniel Brocklehurst, Dyann Schiler, Jill Vaughn, Julia Alleman.*****Dec. 19: Dan Brocklehurst,  Ellisia Smith, Christina Carpenter, Marcu McLellan, Mitch Hidalgo, Raymond Hughes, Bill Cardner, Janet Holland, Shelby Vogt, Stacey Bates, Andrew Havens.*****Recent birthdays have included Beverly Blalack, Dan Harris, Susan Childers, Richard Teague, Natalie Carter, Ronnie Mason, Donis Fitzpatrick, Melanie Huckabay Claybar, Marissa Emmons, Jimmy Ray Burnitt, David C. Claybar, Ellen Watters Wiemers, Nic Provost, Glenda Sullivan, Carli Crumpton, Colton Claybar, Brenda Thompson, and Jimmy Mooney, father of Sheriff Jimmy Lane Mooney.*****Congratulations to Gay and Dixie Richardson as they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. They are still going strong. Their daughter, Traci James, has a dog rescue group that has helped hundreds of local abandoned dogs get medical care and find new homes.*****Anniversary wishes also go out to Mike and Dana Garrison for their 36th celebration.

CAJUN STORY OF THE WEEK

Sostan and Annabel were having a quiet, romantic dinner in a fine restaurant in Lafayette, gazing wit love at each utter and holding hands.

Da waitress was taking an order at anutter table wen she noticed Sostan him, sliding down his chair and under da table. Annabel her, stared straight ahead.

Da waitress, tinking this behavior a bit strange and dat it might offend da utta diners, went over to da table and tactfully began by saying to Annabel, "Pardon me, ma'am, but I tink you husband him just slid under da table."

Annabel her, calmly looked up at her and said, "No honey, he didn't, my husband Joe just walked in da door him."

C'EST TOUT

THE RACE IS ON

The candidates running in the Primary are all signed up. "Pistol Toters" are the only races that are contested, sheriff's race and constables races in Precinct 2 and Precinct 4. I'm surprised the county attorney and tax assessor are not contested races. In the past they drew opposition. I'm told no one really wants the jobs. A lot of work and a lot of head aches go into them. Personally, I'm going to miss Karen Fisher and John Kimbrough. This would have been a good time for a Democrat to run, a free ride until November, plus no one knows what the General Election will be like. I recall when Cimron Campbell ran as the only Republican and won. One third of Orange County voters are Independents.***** We are increasing our circulation through the election season in March in order for candidates to reach the most voters. (Notice: To all candidates, all ads to be produced must be in by Monday for Tuesday night publishing. Open the gates, the race is on.*****Gotta go, take care and God bless.