Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 30, 2010 Page: 2 of 18
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Page2A ★ Crowley Star ★ Thursday, December 30, 2010
www.crowleystar.net
THEYEARINTHECITY
From theft of medal to building, 2010 was a busy time
By DAVE SORTER
crowleystar@thestargroup. com
The city’s first tax-rate
hike in several years and in-
creases in utility rates was
the No. l city story of 2010.
Here’s the rest of the top 10.
2. Purple Heart stolen.
The Crowley Public Library
and the city as a whole was
shaken the night of June 10,
when the Purple Heart be-
longing to Cpl. Jason Daniel
of Crowley was stolen from
its case on display at the li-
brary. Dirt was smeared on
the American flag in the case,
as well.
The broken case was
found in the library men’s
room with Daniel’s medal
gone. The Crowley Police De-
partment offered a reward —
ultimately reaching $1,000
in anonymous donations —
for information leading to
the arrest and conviction of
the perpetrator.
That never happened. Po-
lice did not have a single lead
in the case, but someone — no
one knows who — returned
the medal in a book between
Dec. 10-14, six months after
the theft.
In the meantime, the local
Veterans of Foreign Wars Tri-
Cities Post No. 6872 donated
a replacement Purple Heart
to Daniel’s widow, Monica
Daniel, and the library on
Aug. 19. The donated medal
will remain in the now-sealed
case, while the original medal
will be displayed in a sepa-
rate box devoted to Daniel.
3. Walmart may be
back on track. Walmart
was supposed to have built
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YOU MADE NEWS
We Saw You
Pets of the week
COURTESY PHOTO
Stanley is a handsome 8-year-old neutered male cat, who
was surrendered because his family was moving. Stan-
ley is litter box trained, and good with children and other
cats. Contact the city of Burleson Animal Services, 1695
John Jones Drive in Burleson, or call 817-426-9280.
Deer Creek
Animal Hospital
Bob Denton DVM & Associates Preventative Health Care
(817) 297-6939 Surgery • Laser Surgery
813 BUS FM 1187 Dentistry • Boarding
CROWLEY, TX 76036 All Breed Grooming
www.deercreekanimalhospital.vetsuite.com
DAVE SORTER/CROWLEY STAR
Monica Daniel, widow of Cpl. Jason Daniel, accepts a replacement
Purple Heart from David Bowers, commander of the Veteran of
Foreign Wars Tri-Cities Post 6872, during the Aug. 19 City Council
meeting as Crowley Public Library director Gwen Hopper looks
on. The VFW post purchased the medal to replace the one stolen
from the library in June. The original medal was returned between
Dec. 10-14.
a Supercenter at FM 1187
where Main Street veers away
from it in 2007 or 2008. The
failing economy, however,
caused the company to stop
building anything.
Now, apparently, the Ben-
tonville, Ark.-based big box
retailer is building again and
is targeting Crowley.
City officials met on Sept.
26 with Dunaway Associ-
ates, a consulting company
that helps Walmart with
development, to discuss is-
sues concerning platting and
code compliance. Dunaway
then came to the Oct. 21 City
Council meeting for approval
on a renewed site plan. Offi-
cials said the store is planned
to be 147,695 square feet.
Access concerned some
council members, since a two-
way entry is planned catty-
corner from the entrance of
First Church of the Nazarene.
Ground-breaking could
take place in March or some-
time before summer.
4. City construction.
The year saw the completion
of the walking track at Bicen-
tennial Park and the begin-
ning of construction on the
new city animal shelter and
recreation center.
The animal shelter should
be finished early in 2011,
while the rec center may be
open by summer. The cen-
ter will feature two basket-
ball courts, a walking track,
a fitness center and meeting
rooms.
Some utility-line prob-
lems delayed completion of
the animal shelter.
Meanwhile, a walking trail
that will eventually connect
Bicentennial Park with Tee-
ter Park is among the items
being paid for by a combina-
tion of leftover bond money
and gas-well royalties.
And, finally, a covered
porch over the walkway to
City Hall was finally erected,
satisfying resident Dottie
Sargent, who had been advo-
cating the project for years.
5. Chamber of com-
merce year. The Crowley
Area Chamber of Commerce
had a big year, beginning with
its awards dinner on Feb. 16,
when several new awards
were inaugurated. Ahbee Or-
ton, the blind Deer Creek El-
ementary School student who
won a national Braille com-
petition in 2009, was named
Citizen of the Year, and
Mayor Billy Davis received
the Spirit of Crowley Award.
Awards were also established
for Business Employee of the
Year and Volunteer of the
Year. Civic Employee of the
Year was a holdover from the
previous year.
Chamber president Eileen
Yarborough wanted to get
public input for those awards,
a plan she has also estab-
lished for the 2011 awards
dinner, scheduled for Feb.
1. The deadline for nomina-
tions is Friday, Dec. 31.
The chamber also changed
locations for the first time in
20 years, moving to 201 N.
Hampton St. on July 17. The
city had purchased the two-
building complex in December
2009, partially for the cham-
ber and partially to hold onto
for transit-oriented develop-
ment should a commuter rail
line ever become operative.
6. Christmas sign con-
troversy. A website begun
by First Baptist Church of
Dallas, www.grinchalert.
com, listed Crowley City Hall
as “naughty” because the
lighted sign in front of City
Hall read “happy holidays”
instead of “merry Christmas.”
That put Crowley in the
regional and national news,
most stories pointing out that
the city has a Christmas tree
just behind the sign in ques-
tion and had Christmas deco-
rations on every telephone
pole on Main Street between
Crowley and Beverly roads.
Some also stated that city
employees raised $1,000 for
the Crowley House of Hope
from the “Fantasy Forest” that
sported Christmas tree entries
from various organizations.
7. House of Hope.
Crowley’s favorite non-profit
was having its usual pro-
ductive year — a successful
penny drive in the schools;
a good year in the snack
sack program; a new cov-
ered trailer; and a successful
Thanksgiving food giveaway
— until a $10,000 grant that
was expected did not come to
pass. That left director Billy
Hutchings and his staff and
volunteers scrambling.
But events such as fundrais-
ers, the inaugural Hope Bowl
flag football game between the
police and fire departments —
the police won — and donation
drives by city public works di-
rector Jim McDonald and oth-
ers helped out. The House of
Hope ended up serving more
than 850 needy children this
Christmas season.
8. Incumbents win.
Mayor Billy Davis was elected
to a fourth term as mayor with-
out opposition, and council-
men Jesse Johnson and Jerry
Beck each topped opponents
to win re-election to their
seats. Johnson beat third-time
candidate James Doman, 136-
129, to win his third full term,
and Beck topped Jimmy Mc-
Donald, 160-110, to take his
third term.
All the candidates favored
personal campaigning.
9. Celebration of Free-
dom. Rain held off on July
10, and the city’s biggest
Celebration of Freedom took
place without many hitches.
The parade down Main Street
was spectacular, the enter-
tainment at Bicentennial
Park lively and the fireworks
drew lots of oohs and aahs.
10. Veterans Memo-
rial. Led by Councilman
Johnny Shotwell, the process
was started to establish a vet-
erans memorial in Crowley,
probably near the library and
the new recreation center.
The group working on the
project was originally a non-
profit foundation. But the
city took it over as a commit-
tee, still allowing it to receive
tax-free donations.
The process of building
the memorial will likely take
three to five years.
Al Nelson, right, had quite a collection of volunteer dancers for some Beatles songs during his show at
the Celebration of Freedom July 10. From left are Tina Pace, Tina Beckham, Linda Floyd, Kelly Harris
and Angie Winkle.
Ahbee Orton, 10, was named Crowley Citizen of the Year by the
Crowley Area Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 16. Ahbee, with
chamber chair Gigi Southall, won the National Braille Challenge
last year.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
Through
Sunday, Jan. 2
■ Crowley ISD closed
for holiday break. Classes re-
sume Monday, Jan. 3.
Friday, Dec. 31
■ Crowley City Hall,
Crowley Area Chamber of
Commerce and other govern-
ment offices closed for New
Year’s Day. Crowley Star of-
fices closed.
Saturday, Jan. 1
■ Happy New Year.
Monday, Jan. 3
■ Crowley ISD classes
resume and school offices re-
open.
Tuesday, Jan. 4
■ Partners in Progress
Network, 8 a.m., Honey Do-
nuts, 114 S. Tarrant St.
■ Crowley ISD school
board special meeting, 6
p.m., CISD Administration
Building, 512 Peach St.
Thursday, Jan. 6
■ Crowley City Council
meeting, 6:30 p.m. work ses-
sion; 7 p.m. regular meeting,
City Hall, 201 E. Main St.
Tuesday, Jan. 11
■ Crowley Area Chamber
of Commerce board of direc-
tors meeting, noon, chamber
office, 201 N. Hampton St.
Wednesday, Jan. 12
■ Crowley Area Chamber
of Commerce ribbon cutting
for Alpha and Omega Pest
Control, 11:30 a.m., Renfro
Street, Burleson.
Thursday, Jan. 13
■ Chamber After Hours,
5-7 p.m., Edward Jones-Matt
Hubbell, 824 S. Crowley
Road.
Thursday, Jan. 13-
Saturday, Jan. 15
■ Sargent-Zahirniak Me-
morial Tournament, high
school boys and girls soccer,
Eagle Stadium and CHS aux-
iliary fields, 1005 W. Main St.
Monday, Jan. 17
■ Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Day, city and offices
closed; school holiday.
Tuesday, Jan. 18
■ Partners in Progress
Network, 8 a.m., Honey Do-
nuts, 114 S. Tarrant St.
Wednesday, Jan. 19
■ Crowley Area Chamber
of Commerce Ambassadors
meeting, noon, chamber of-
fice, 201 N. Hampton St.
Thursday, Jan. 20
■ Crowley City Council
meeting, 6:30 p.m. work ses-
sion; 7 p.m. regular meeting,
City Hall, 201 E. Main St.
We welcome submissions
for the community calen-
dar. Please submit items for
consideration to: crowley -
star@thestargroup.com or
Editor, Crowley Star, 319
N. Burleson Blvd., Burleson
TX 76028 or by fax to (817)
295-5278.
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Sorter, David. Crowley Star (Crowley, Tex.), Vol. 24, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 30, 2010, newspaper, December 30, 2010; Burleson, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth808004/m1/2/: accessed June 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Burleson Public Library.