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World Senior Professional Bull Riders compete in Bigfoot, Texas

The Senior Professional Bullriders competed right here in Bigfoot, Texas recently. Photo by Brigid Howard.

For some, being in your mid 30’s is considered “over the hill” for bull riding. But thanks to three cowboys who had a passion for continuing their rodeo careers, the World Senior Professional Bull Riders Association (WSPBR) was born in 2009. They recently competed in a rodeo this September at TW Arena in Bigfoot.
They held an open bull ride after the WSPBR event as well.
Robert Long, Morgan Saunders and Troy Moseley are the “Founding Fathers”, of WSPBR, which is now considered, the longest running and most competitive senior bull riding association in the world, according to wspbr.com.
“With 30+ events per year and over 300 members, the WSPBR attracts bull riders from all over the continental United States and beyond those borders. Membership cards are scattered from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Virginia and Colorado,” their website states.
Some even travel here from as far away as…

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St. Joseph’s Octoberfest

Devine Oct. 5

Gary Hobbs to headline live music
Live entertainment will take place all day Saturday, October 5, 2024 during the annual St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Octoberfest with accomplished Tejano artists Gary Hobbs headlining the evening concert opened up by Los Escorpiones Del Norte. Live entertainment also includes singer/songwriter Cheyenne Saenz of Von Ormy, Mariachis, Folklorico dancers, and square dancers round out the live entertainment. There will be a $5.00 entry fee only.
The festival includes food and drink booths and craft booths all day. BBQ Plates, family fun, children’s games and activities. A cash Bingo. Silent Auction. Corn hole.
The annual drawing with lots of nice prizes will take place Saturday as well. The grand prize is a Ford Maverick Truck donated by Chaparral Ford -Devine & Lytle. Tickets for the drawing are $10. The beautiful blue truck can be seen in the parking lot of the church daily with the sign on it “Win Me”. A list of the prizes are on the ticket which can be purchased at the church office or from parishioners.
St. Joseph’s is located at 108 S. Washington St., Devine, Texas.
Octoberfest will take place all day on Saturday, Oct. 5 from 11:00 am to 11:30 pm.

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Elementary enrollment in Devine still lags behind pre-COVID numbers

By Anton Riecher
Enrollment at John J. Ciavarra Elementary remains below pre-COVID numbers with 489 students presently attending, elementary principal Magdalena Strickland reported to the Devine ISD school board on Sept. 16.
Strickland, who has been principal at Ciavarra for three years, said that enrollment during her first year on campus stood at between 520 to 530 students.
“Our goal was always above 98 percent (capacity) but after COVID it has been kind of hard to get our attendance back up,” Strickland said. “Right now we are holding steady at 93.15 precent.”
Families frequently having to move makes it difficult to establish a steady enrollment figure over a length of time, she said. At least 46 students on the Ciavarra enrollment list have some type of military connection.
Among programs that Ciavarra utilizes to improve student performance is the Texas Curriculum Management Program Cooperative, a shared service agreement between the 20 Educational Service Centers across Texas. TCMPC reflects the combined effort of the ESCs to help schools operate more efficiently and cost effectively.
Ciavarra also utilizes the Character Strong curriculum program that supports students in developing important skills and character traits necessary for success in life and school, Strickland said. The three main goals is teaching students to be kind, strong and well, meaning emotional regulation.
The elementary also utilizes the CHAMPS (Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation and Success) behavior management program.
“It’s a proactive approach to classroom management that helps teachers create…

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Fall Revival this Sunday

Sept. 29
to Wednesday, Oct. 2 at
Black Creek Baptist Church with
Dr. Ross Chandler

We would like welcome the community to join us as we worship and learn more about God’s plan during this time of revival.
Black Creek Baptist Church is hosting a Fall Revival. Services will be held on Sunday, September 29 at 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Monday, September 30 at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday, October 2 at 7:00 p.m.
Dr. Ross Chandler will be preaching.
We welcome the community to join us during the four day revival.
Black Creek Baptist Church is located at 798 County Road 660, Devine, Texas 78016.

Arabian Airyanna Rodriguez receives Player of the Week honors

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Devine’s Airyanna “Yaya” Rodriguez and her Arabian volleyball teammates had a terrific week as they defeated Carrizo Springs in four sets September 17 and Pleasanton in five sets September 20.
Sportswriter David Hinojosa rewarded Rodriguez for her efforts with the San Antonio Express-News Player of the Week honors.
Rodriguez torched the Lady Cats for 22 kills and 17 digs in their 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23 win.
The Pleasanton game was one for the ages as Devine rallied from a 0-2 deficit to take the next three sets in dramatic fashion.
Losing 25-15, 25-23 set Rodriguez and the Arabians up for one the best matches in recent history as they came back for the 25-15, 27-25, 20-18 scintillating victory.
Rodriguez had 34 kills and 26 digs against the Lady Eagles helping Devine move to a perfect 3-0 in District 29-4A.
Runner-ups to Player of the Week honors were Cobee Beckerson of Center Point, Miranda Clark of San Antonio O’Connor, Lexi Dahl of Davenport, a Sierra DeLoza of Sotomayor, Angel Osteguin of San Antonio Brennan, and Brooke Romo of San Antonio McCollum.
Congratulations, Yaya!

Football Trivia

DID YOU KNOW? Willie Nelson, country music legend, was a four-sport letterman in the small central Texas town of Abbott. WWII placed their football program on hold, but was reinstated in 1947 and the team roster was a bunch of skinny country boys with make shift uniforms and painted on numbers.
At that time, Willie was a 5’9” 130# 14 -year-old sophomore. Now Willie is 5’6” and 91 years old and still going. The team had to learn the rules because some of them had never seen a football game. Abbott HS had 23 students in his class. They were supposed to play six-man football, but there were no six-man teams in the area; therefore, they had to play…

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Devine “D” chokes out Hondo

Warhorse Eli Contreras on the carry with some great blocking by his line including QB #9 Jacob Sollock,#51 Israel Reyes and #6 Edward Perez Photo by Brigid Howard.

Jerel Beaty
Staff writer
Hondo’s offensive explosion enjoyed going into last Friday’s matchup against the Warhorses at Barry Field, was extremely short-lived this particular night as Devine’s defense suffocated the Owl’s offense for an overwhelming majority of their snaps.
Hondo managed only 46 offensive plays on 12 full possessions, gaining a total of 303 yards. Of those 303, 44 of their 85 yards on the ground came on one play while 90 of their 218 passing yards were on a combination of two plays as Devine soared to the 46-19 victory.
In all, 134 or 303 yards were amassed on just three of those 46 offensive plays.
Wowser!
In Devine’s last three convincing victories, Warhorse Defensive Coordinator Danny Sanchez’s SanchoStats have told a darned accurate account of what exactly went on while the other team had possession of the football.
Well, this game held true to form as the Horses held what was a high-potent offense that had been averaging 43 points a game to a mere 19 points.
SanchoStats
“Our defense set the tone early as our boys were excited once they found out we were starting the game on defense,” Sanchez began his postgame comments saying. “A quick stop on the first possession was huge, and it was a premonition to Hondo for what they were going to be in for the whole night.”
Hondo averaged 4.47 yards per carry, and if the elimination of the 44-yard run they did have, went differently, that average would dip severely to only two yards per carry.
“On that 44 yard touchdown run, I had a stunt called, which meant us moving our linebackers. The two inside linebackers were supposed to run the stunt, well, Riley Gutierrez gets through, but Hondo holds our other backer, Matthew Gomez, like there is tomorrow. No penalty flags ever came flying out, so we had to live with that result of the play.”
A humongous tide-turning…

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The Circus is coming to town!

Sponsored by: Lytle Memorial VFW Post 12041
Thanks to the sponsorship of the Lytle Memorial VFW Post 12041, the Culpepper & Merriweather Circus is coming to Lytle, TX on Sunday, October 13th, to the Lytle Memorial VFW Post 12041 Grounds located at 1425 FM 2790 with shows at 2:00 & 4:30 pm. C&M Circus has been providing quality, local family entertainment for 38 years. This authentic One-Ring, Big Top Circus has been featured on the A&E Special: Under the Big Top, Nick News: On the Road with Circus Kids and most recently OETA’s Big Top Town. This year, we’re very excited to bring you our brand new 2024 performance featuring Big Cats presented by Trey Key, our Aerialist Extraordinaire Simone on the trapeze, 10th generation Loyal Bareback Horse Riders, the Perez Daredevil Duo on the Tight Rope and Wheel of Destiny, Elizabeth Ayala’s incredible foot juggling and hair hang and everyone’s favorite Circus Clown Leo Acton.
Everyone is invited to watch the Big Top rise! You’ll also get a chance to tour the grounds and get a behind-the-scenes look at our show! Learn about life on the road and the care our animals receive. Tent raising & Tour are only of the first day of the circus event.

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Shooting Star Museum Quilt Show Oct. 19th and more

The long hot summer has not come to an end, but the calendar shows school starting and return to the events at the Shooting Star Museum. We are re-opening October 6th!! Open Sundays, 1 – 5 pm. Here’s what’s coming up!
Quilt Show and Sale – October 19th
The first even of this fall will be held in Castroville outside the Medina Valley Dental offices! The ladies have made many new Quilts for show and for sale. The Quilt Show and Sale will be Saturday October 19th from 10 am until 3 pm. Come out to see these beautiful masterpieces and perhaps find one that needs to live in your home!
Veterans Day show – Nov 10th – Cannon Shoot!!
The museum is again proud to have our Veterans Day event. Sunday Nov 10th we will be open early so that everyone can enjoy the “recreation” of WWI cease fire. Gate opens shortly after 9am so that you can walk the displays and watch the Fire Team prepare for firing the final shot at 11am.

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Autumn/Fall is here

According to everything I hear, it is officially fall, however, you would not be able to prove it by the weather! The nights are fairly cool, but the daytime temperatures are still in the high 90s most days. Today, Sunday was a beautiful day. I got to visit a bit with one of my nephews, as he was on his way back home a quick trip to the coast. We enjoyed Mass and then went out for breakfast. This afternoon and early evening, I visited with a friend and we played canasta. I hadn’t played two-handed in a very long time, and actually managed to win a game.
This week will find me back in Devine for my monthly bunco session and I am looking forward to it, as usual. I truly enjoy being with and seeing some of my children and grandchildren as well as six or seven of my great grands. It’s always amazing how much they grow in just a month without seeing them. They all have such awesome personalities. This coming weekend will be a fun one for me as my daughters are coming in for time with one another and with me. We haven’t been able to do this in quite a while as we’ve all been sort of going in different directions!
We all know that lots of peanuts are raised in the Devine area, but have you ever given peanut butter a thought? It made its debut at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. The original patent was given to Dr. John Harvey Kellog, who initially developed peanut butter as a meat alternative for his patients. However, George Washington Carver is considered by many to be the father of the peanut butter industry. He began his peanut research in 1903 suggested to farmers that they rotate their cotton crops and cultivate peanuts.

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