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THE LIBERTY
GAZETTE
Liberty ISD voters to
decide $33.5 million
bond on May 9
Liberty County’s Only Home-Owned Newspaper
Vol. 55, No. 9
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Agenda
HIRING EVENTS
LIBERTY - Workforce
Solutions Liberty has
scheduled two hiring
events for Sunoco/Stripes.
Scheduled dates and times
are March 5 and 19, from
9 a.m. until 12 noon. For
more information, contact
Workforce Solutions Liberty at 936-336-8063.
FOOD ASSISTANCE
RYE - Liberty Church
of Christ Food Bank is
sponsoring a Houston Food
Bank truck for those who
need food assistance. The
truck will be at the voting
place in Rye, 31422 Hwy.
146 N., next to the post office, Fri., March 6, from 10
a.m. to 12 p.m. For more
information, contact the
Liberty Church of Christ at
936-336-2213 or Russell
Godby at 281-851-8721.
BUTTERFLY GARDEN
WORKDAY
DAYTON - Trinity
River Refuge has a work
day planned for Sat.,
March 7, at the butterfly
garden at Champion Lake
from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
About 20-30 volunteers are
needed to do some minor
weeding, lay out a weed
barrier, and spread about
20 cubic yards of mulch.
The Champion Lake Public Use Area is located at
the end of CR 417 off of
FM 1409. For additional
information, contact Stuart
Marcus at 936/336-9786.
OYSTER SUPPER
PORT BOLIVAR Port Bolivar Volunteer Fire
Department will hold its
45th annual oyster supper
Sat., March 7, from 2-8
p.m. at the fire station located at 1806 Loop 108 in
Port Bolivar. Come and
show your support with a
$20 donation and enjoy all
the fried oysters you can
eat. Oysters will be served
with french fries and
coleslaw. No raw oysters
will be served. For more information, contact Chief
Malcolm Comeaux at 409771-7026 for Will Weeks at
409-354-3368.
MOVIE NIGHT
DAISETTA - At Central Baptist Church of
Daisetta,
the
second
Wednesday of each month
is movie night. There will
be a movie, food and a devotional. Everyone is invited to come watch the
movie and join in the fellowship. The movie for
March 11 is “God Is Not
Dead.” Showtime is 6 p.m.
Central Baptist is located
at 104 Redbud Street.
2015 ACIE CEMETERY
ASSOCIATION
HERITAGE CALENDAR
LIBERTY - The 2015
Acie Cemetery Association
Heritage Calendar is available in a limited number.
The calendar depicts military veterans from Liberty
County and can be purchased for $20. Proceeds
benefit the Acie Cemetery
Association Fund. Order
your calendar by email at
[email protected]
or
by
phone
at
832.402.9096. You can also
find information on the
Facebook
page
at
www.facebook.com/aciece
metery. Acie Cemetery Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit volunteer group that
is in the process of restoring one of Dayton’s oldest
cemeteries.
Sterling, Hanson named Liberty, Dayton Citizens of the Year
Liberty Citizen of the Year Jimmy Sterling
Dayton Citizen of the Year Brady Hanson
Liberty County, but got to Dayton as fast as he could. His early
years were spent as a citizen of
the city of Dayton, having graduated in 1967 from Dayton High
School, followed by graduation
from Texas A&M University,
majoring in Marine Transportation, spending much of his time
in the Corps of Cadets as a trombonist and bugler with the
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band. This
laid the foundation for many of
his future efforts.
He is the founder and director
for the newly-formed “Sea
Aggie Band” in Galveston’s
Maritime Academy and has
stayed closely tied to his musical
roots by playing for and/or directing over 15 musical productions since 1977 for our
community theatre, The Valley
Players.
His founding and directing of
the hugely-popular, all-volunteer
Invincible Eagle Band has set
the standard for other communities to follow. This band has performed at multiple patriotic
events throughout southeast
Texas and Liberty County, including several annual performances at the Pearl Harbor Day
Memorial on the Battleship
Texas and the annual commemoration of the USS Houston Memorial. His guidance and
mentorship of this patriotic
group has led him to be one of
the best ambassadors for all that
the City of Liberty stands for,
and has set the standard for the
volunteer spirit that the word
“Liberty” represents.
Jimmy and his wife Sandra
have fostered many programs at
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
LIBERTY - Anahuac rancher both agriculture and business.
Leroy Ezer is this year’s recipi- He continues their legacy to be a
ent of the TVE’s Annual Western good steward of the land.
Heritage Award.
He attended
The presentation
Southwest
will be made
Texas
State
during the CowTeachers Colboy Boil set for
lege and Texas
Sat., March 14,
Christian University, comat the TVE Fairgrounds.
pleting TCU’s
Ezer
was
Ranch Management proborn April 21,
1940, in Housgram in 1961.
He returned to
ton, the son of
Charles
G.
Anahuac
to
(Charlie) Ezer
work with his
father, Charlie,
and Margaret
LEROY EZER
Fanett Ezer. He
in the family
is a descendant of the Ezer and commercial cow-calf operation
Fanett families, which have and has been the managing partmade their mark in Chambers ner of Canada Ranch since 1978.
County for over 100 years in
Ezer is currently serving as a
director for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and for the Coastal
Cattlemen’s Association. Appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to serve on the
Cattlemen’s Beef Board, Ezer
has recently completed his second term. He is a member of the
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Cutting
Horse Association. He is a lifetime committeeman for the
Houston Livestock Show and
Rodeo and a member of First
United Methodist Church of
Anahuac.
He and his wife, Norma, have
two daughters, Charlotte Ezer
Edwards of Winnie and Kristin
Ezer Hargraves of Anahuac.
They have five grandchildren
and one great-grandchild.
LIBERTY-DAYTON - A
packed house filled the main
ballroom of the Dayton Community Center Fri., Feb. 27, as area
citizens turned out for the Liberty-Dayton Area Chamber of
Commerce Annual Awards Banquet. As in years past, a highlight
of the banquet is the naming of
the Citizen of the Year – one in
Liberty and one in Dayton. This
year, that honor was bestowed
upon Jimmy Sterling as Liberty’s 2015 Citizen of the Year
and Brady Hanson as the 2013
Dayton Citizen of the Year.
This year’s recipient for 2015
Citizen of the Year for Liberty is
none other than James B. Sterling or “Jim” or “Jimmy” as he
is known to many throughout the
community.
Jim Sterling was born in
1948 in a little town just south of
Ezer recipient of Annual Western Heritage Award
for community participation and
enjoyment, having written much
of the music for the “Jazz Mass,”
“Octoberfest,” “St. Patrick’s Day
Mass,” and Taizé Service.” He
also conducted the community
chorus in several performances
of Handel’s greatest composition
“Messiah” and has brought
many outstanding performers to
the city for the community to
enjoy. He has served on the
Vestry of St. Stephen’s, having
been a Senior Warden, belongs
to the Order of St. Andrew and
continues to serve as choir director. His love for music prompted
his contribution of the wonderful
pipe organ currently in St.
Stephen’s along with the building and donation of several pipe
organs in various churches and
museums in the area.
He has been extremely generous in the area of education
and has helped others in numerous ways, many anonymously.
He knows how valuable education has been to his life, also
having received a BBA from
Baylor University in Real Estate/Insurance, a diploma from
Commonwealth College in Mortuary Science and later graduating from the Realtors Institute.
He seeks to bless others with the
same opportunities by giving numerous scholarships to the Texas
Maritime Academy, The Invincible Eagle Band, Texas A&M
University, the Fightin’ Texas
Aggie Band, the American Legion, and the Sterling Foundation, all of which serve to
promote educational opportunities for those in need.
Jimmy Sterling has contributed his time and effort generously as a member and past
president and a Paul Harris FelSee CITIZENS, Page A-3
LIBERTY - The Liberty
ISD school board approved a
district repair and improvement bond for election after
consulting with the Citizens’
Advisory Committee (CAC)
at a special meeting held February 9. The total amount to
be requested is some $33.5
million, and the bond will
come up on the ballot at the
May 9 elections with early
voting beginning in April.
How would passage of
this bond affect taxes on
homes? According to Andrew
Friedman of Samco Capital,
the school tax on a $100,000
home, including homestead
exemption, would be an additional $201 per year. This increase would decline in
subsequent years. Citizens
over the age of 65 are exempt
from any property tax increase provided they do not
make improvements to their
property. The bond would be
a 20-year commitment carrying an estimated three precent
interest rate.
TRBA Senior
Adult Lunch set
for Mon., March 9
KENEFICK - Lunch, a mission program and great fellowship
are in store for senior adults who
attend the Trinity River Baptist
Association Senior Adult Luncheon, set for Mon., March 9, at
11:30 a.m. at Kenefick Southern
Baptist Church.
Those attending are asked to
make their reservation by March
5 with Iris Whittington, TRBA
senior adult ministry director, by
calling 936-549-7052.
The program will include informative and inspiring reports
from community ministries sponsored or supported by TRBA, including Liberty County Jail
Ministry, Family Visitors’ Center
at the prison units, Pregnancy
Care Center in Dayton, Spirit of
Sharing (SOS) in Liberty and
House of Destiny in Votaw, Texas.
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DAYTON YARN CLUB
DAYTON - If you crochet or
knit, the Dayton Yarn Club invites
you to join them Tuesday afternoons at 12 p.m. at the Dayton
Community Center. The club is
currently working on baby blankets and stocking caps for the
young patients at M.D. Anderson
and Texas Children’s hospitals.
The club would also appreciate donations of yarn for their projects.
These three gentlemen are the finalists for the position of Police Chief in LIberty and attended a Meet and Greet at Liberty Center last week where
they met with local media. From left are Gary Martin, currently a captain at the Liberty Police Department; Tom Claunch, assistant chief in Webster;
and James Healy, chief in Godley, Texas. Liberty City Council members are still deliberating on this difficult choice.