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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Thursday, August 1, 2002
Fly-in breakfast offering children free airplane ride
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Thurs., August 1, 2002 -- Children will have an opportunity to let
their imaginations run wild and soar like an eagle on Sunday morning
at the Pecos Municipal Airport.
The 17th Annual Fly-In Breakfast will be held beginning at
7 a.m., Sunday at the airport, and new events have been added that will include
the children in the community.
The breakfast is scheduled for 7 a.m., on Sunday, Aug 4, and will give
area and local pilots as well as community members a chance to share experiences
and dreams of the vast skies.
The breakfast, which will be cooked by the Pecos Downtown Lion's Club,
is scheduled to run until to 11 a.m., and everyone is welcome.
"This year, we'll be having the Young Eagles Program," said airport manager
Isabel Blanchard, who explained that this was a program to welcome young
people into the world of aviation
"Aviation is exciting and important to our nation's future," said Blanchard.
Children ages 8-17 will have the opportunity to fly and take a tour of
the city with an experienced pilot on Sunday morning beginning at 9 a.m.
"We'll be signing the children up at 9 a.m.," said Blanchard, who added that
she welcomes everyone to come out.
The children will experience a safe and enjoyable flight in an FAA registered
aircraft, flown by a licensed pilot in accordance with FAA rules and regulations,
according to Blanchard.
There will be no acrobatics and there will be no charge to any youth between
the ages of 8-17, according to Blanchard.
"If you ever dreamt of flying or laid in your bed dreamt you could fly
like an eagle, stop dreaming and come to the airport on Sunday morning,"
she said.
At least one parent or guardian must accompany the child.
This is also a program that has a follow-through, according to Blanchard.
A certificate will be issued to the child after he/she has flown, and after
they will receive an aviation magazine. "It's a magazine about flying, which
includes information on aviation personalities and careers in aviation,"
said Blanchard.
Blanchard said that maybe through this program a spark would ignite one
youngster. "This will encourage them to aspire to bigger things," said Blanchard.
"The sky's the limit, they can do anything and be anything they want to be."
Blanchard said that the possibilities are endless and only limited by
the individual.
"When you fly, you get a different perspective," she said.
Children will be taken out through the surrounding area, where they will
have the opportunity to see their schools, street, home and cows, from away
above in the sky, according to Blanchard.
"It's a pretty exciting thing," she said.
Blanchard said that for those youngsters who will be flying for the first
time, it would be something they will remember forever.
"This is real, it's not like television or video games, but a real thing,"
she said.
Registration will begin at 9 a.m. and the group will be flying children
until all have had the experience of being in an airplane.
"Weather permitting, we'll fly until all of them have had the opportunity,"
she said.
Blanchard said that they had done this five years ago and that about 78
children had participated at that time.
"We're doing a lot of different things this year," said Blanchard.
Five aircrafts will be on hand to take the children up in the air and
to participate in the Young Eagles Program.
"We hope to have pilots from all over West Texas and New Mexico," said
Blanchard.
A Cantaloupe Bombing Contest will also be held for the pilots that fly
into Pecos on Sunday.
"We'll also have two representatives from FAA in Lubbock to participate
in a safety seminar and courtesy evaluation of pilots," said Blanchard. The
pilots will be evaluated without any fear of punitive damages.
"Our main thing is focusing on the Young Eagles Program," said Blanchard.
"This is an introduction and welcome into aviation."
Along with receiving a certificate and aviation magazine the children
that register will also be listed in the World Longest Log Book, which is
on display in Wisconsin.
"They'll be able to see their town in a different perspective," said Blanchard.
"Set your goals and look at what you can do."
As kids we've all dreamt of flying. "They'll also have a chance to visit
with the pilots from all over this area," she said.
"It's an interesting field that has something for everyone, whether you're
interest in computers, mechanics, being a stewardess, or whatever," said
Blanchard. "The career possibilities are huge," she said.
The Lions Club breakfast consisting of eggs, sausage, pancakes and cantaloupe
will be served from 7-11 a.m., for everyone.
"This is something we love to do," said Lion's Club member Richard Crider.
"We enjoy participating in anything in the community."
The group has been working at the fly-in breakfast for the past 10 years,
and also helps out during clean ups of the city, participates in Night in
Old Pecos, Fall Fair and cooks breakfast for Relay for Life.
"Anything that will make Pecos a better community to live in, we want
to participate in," said Crider.
Anything people would like for the Lions Club to participate they will.
"They just have to contact one of our members and we'll be happy to help
out," said Crider.
Pot wheels get Mexican driver arrested on I-20
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Thurs., August 1, 2002 -- An SUV traveling through Reeves County with
`special' tires on Tuesday ended up getting the driver into trouble
and in jail on drug charges.
According to Trans Pecos Drug Task Force Officer Kevin Roberts, at 11:28
a.m. on Tuesday he stopped a white Chevrolet Cherokee Laredo, at mile marker
35 in the eastbound lanes of I-20, for a traffic violation.
"I obtained consent from the driver to do a search," said Roberts. "A
trap door in gas tank was fraud, in cargo area of the Jeep," said Roberts,
but nothing was found in that area of the vehicle.
Roberts did a thorough search of the vehicle and noticed a distinct odor
of marijuana. "The tires were later found to be loaded with marijuana," said
Roberts.
The marijuana was found inside the "housing" part of the tire. "Each tire
was tightly packed with marijuana," said Roberts.
Roberts called Trans Pecos Drug Task Force Officer Joe Gonzales to assist
at this time.
Arrested was Wilhelm Neufeld, 36, of Mexico, who was traveling alone.
"He was taking the marijuana from El Paso to Tennessee," said Roberts.
Officers confiscated 90.20 pounds of marijuana with a street value of
$45,000.
Neufeld was transported to the Reeves County Jail and charged with possession
of marijuana with intent to distribute a second degree felony.
Roberts said getting the marijuana out of the "homemade" housings of the
tires was a chore. "It took us a long time to get all that marijuana out
of there," he said.
"It's thanks to the good investigative techniques of Roberts that led
to the discovery of the marijuana," said task force lieutenant Larry Arredondo.
"He interviewed the individual and got a confession out of him."
Arredondo said he was very proud of the work his officers are doing in
taking all drugs off the streets. "This are very well-trained officers that
are here to protect and keep our community safe," he said.
Council approves seeking engineer for grant project
PECOS, Thurs., August 1, 2002 -- The Town of Pecos City Council approved
authorization for the proposals for the engineering services for the funding
of the 2003 Texas Community Development Program during a special meeting
at noon on Wednesday.
"We will be advertising to select an engineer for the program," Carlos
Yerena, City Manager said.
While the city will be selecting an engineer, Yerena also said that the
project that person will be working on has not yet been determined.
"We have not decided what program we will be doing but it will probably
have to do with water or sewer," Yerena said.
According to Connie Levario, City Secretary, the council also approved
the administration services to be provided by the City of Pecos Staff for
the 2003 Texas Community Funding Cycle.
"They also decided that the city would be doing the administration of
the Community Program," Yerena said.
OC campus holds open house before start
By JENNIFER GALVAN
Staff Writer
PECOS, Thurs., August 1, 2002 -- The Odessa College branch in Pecos held
an open house Wednesday afternoon for local residents, before the start
of the fall semester for the Technical Training Center.
According to Paula Howard, Continuing Education Coordinator, the open
house was held to so that the people of Pecos could become familiar with
their facilities.
"We wanted to acquaint the community with our services and so that they
could meet the President (Dr. Vance Gipson) and the Dean of our School (Robert
Munoz)," Howard said.
With 55 people in attendance, Howard said that some networking was done
with the community during the open house.
"The President and the Dean meet with some of the school board members
and some of the principals," Howard said.
According to Howard, Pecos-Barstow-Toyah school board members and principals
were informed of the different types of classes high school students could
take through Odessa College.
The college provides classes over the Internet and through interactive
classes, Howard said.
According to Howard the interactive classes are held with a teacher lecturing
a class through a television enabling the students watching to respond back.
Such classes are government, history, child development and numerous academic
classes are done interactively, Howard said.
With the open house being held from 3 p.m. till 6 p.m., Howard believed
the event to be a very successful open house.
"We would like to thank the community for making this open house a successful
one," Howard said.
"We would like to invite the public to come and view our facilities if
they have not done so," Howard added.
Weather
PECOS, Thurs., August 1, 2002 -- High Wed. 97. Low this morning 72. Forecast
for tonight: Partly cloudy with isolated evening thunderstorms. Lows
in the lower 70s. SE winds 5 to 15 mph. Fri.: Partly cloudy with isolated
afternoon thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 90s. SE winds 5 to
15 mph. Fri. night: Partly cloudy with isolated evening thunderstorms.
Lows in the lower 70s. Sat.: Partly cloudy with isolated afternoon
thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 90s. Sat. night: Partly cloudy with
isolated evening thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. Sun.: Partly
cloudy winds 10 to 15 mph. Lows 70 to 75. Highs in the mid 90s.
Obituary
Bill Painter
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail newsdesk@nwol.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2002 by Pecos Enterprise
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