Diamond field — By the 1950s, La Encantada had an adult fastpitch softball team that played in the Brownsville City League, which held games at Horseshoe Lake Park at Fort Brown. Shown are Lorenzo Sanchez and Manuel Rodriguez. (Archival photo/Rene Torres Collection)
By Rene Torres
Special to the NEWS
Rene Torres is a retired assistant professor at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. He has a longstanding history in the Rio Grande Valley as an educator, sports historian, and humanitarian, with extensive community service to his name.
In 1936, top students from rural schools in Cameron County gathered in Olmito to compete in their annual athletic and literary meet.
It was an era when a piece of paper and a pencil were prized possessions and when some elementary athletes ran, skipped, and jumped barefoot.
It was also an era when recess was a favorite part of the school day, giving children the chance to be creative in inventing their own games or just socializing.
In this particular year, with perhaps a sack lunch in hand, the boys and girls from “La Encantada” left their friendly confines en route to faraway Olmito to compete.
By accumulating a total of 201 points in the athletic events and 351 in the paper and pencils competitions for a total of 552 tallies, the rule squad from the outskirts of San Benito proved good enough to win the Cameron County Interscholastic League rural competition.
It wasn’t an easy victory, as the group from Briggs-Coleman posed a tough challenge. The lads from Military Highway outscored the Harlingen challengers, who earned 263 points in the physical events and 267 in literary activities, for a total of 530 points.
Other scores included Nogales with 276 points, all in literary competitions; Las Yescas with 108 athletic and 160 in literary events; La Paloma with 266 points, all in literary events; Palm Grove with 25 athletic and 146 literary points; Hardin Ranch with 47 athletic and 108 literary points; Villa Nueva with 55 athletic and 79 literary points; and Anacuitas with 32 points, all in literary events.
Results in the literary events…
Arithmetic: At the second grade level, Nogales Dolores Salinas took the top spot, followed by Raul Gomez from Villa Nueva, and in third place was Celso Gonzales, Las Yescas.
Third Grade: Top mathematician honors went to David Salinas, Nogales; second place, Ovidio Martinez, La Paloma; Tomas Lopez, Palm Grove, and Santos Perez from Encantada, third place.
Fourth Grade: Jim Alvarez, Nogales, Briggs-Coleman, first; Meliton Ortiz, Palm Grove, second; Maria Garces, Nogales, third.
Fifth Grade: Maria Salinas, Nogales, first; Antonio Flores, Encantada, second; Viola Contreras, Briggs-Coleman, third.
Sixth Grade: Gilberto Sosa, Encantada, first; Edio Leal, La Paloma, second; Mary Sanchez, Briggs-Colman, third.
Seventh Grade: The best at this level and taking first place was Antonio Longoria from Briggs- Coleman.
Spelling results:
The second-grade top participants included: Juan Saldivar, Anacuitas; Porfirio Paz, Villa Nueva; Roberto Arzola, Palm Grove; Consuelo Garcia, La Paloma; Alfredo Garza, Las Yescas; Petra Gutierrez, Nogales; Jose Chavez, Briggs Coleman; Mercedes Yanes, Encantada.
Third Grade: Manuel Garcia, Villa Nueva; Emilio Delgado, Hardin Ranch; Ella Pedraza, La Paloma; Serafina Meza, Las Yescas; Abel Cantu, Nogales; and Esperanza Longoria, Briggs-Coleman.
Fourth Grade: Aurora Alvarez, Briggs-Coleman; Consuelo Arredondo, Encantada, tied for first; Manuel Saliva, Nogales; Israel Leal, La Paloma.
Fifth Grade: Carolina Rodriguez, Nogales and J. Trevino, Encantada, tied; Telesforo Reyes, La Paloma; Christina Gonzalez and Maria Chavez, Briggs-Coleman, tied.
Sixth Grade: Top winner, Charles Leal, La Paloma; Lupe Alvarez, Briggs-Coleman; and Maria Benavides, third.
Seventh Grade: Top speller, Angel Longoria, Briggs-Coleman.
In the poster-making category, the following were recognized as winners:
Ramona Chavez, Hardin Ranch; Carlota Lopez, Palm Grove; Polly Mae Moody, Encantada; Anita Leal, Encantada; Delfina Longoria, Briggs-Coleman.
Storytelling:
In the boys’ category, Natividad Caraveo from Las Yesca was the winner, followed by Israel Alvarez, Briggs-Coleman, and Modesto Trevino from Nogales.
Maria Garza from Nogales was the top performer in the girls’ division.
Extemporaneous Speech and Declaration
In the girls’ extemporaneous speech competition, Lupe Ballia of La Paloma was the top performer. While in the boys’ junior division declaration, Ben Garza of Las Yescas and Alberto Esparza from Encantada were the best. The top in the girls’ junior declaration were Mercedes Gonzales and Marcela Gonzales of Las Yescas.
It was an exciting two-day competition, and just as thrilling was the fact that for most of the younger kids, it was their first time to travel beyond their rural neighborhoods. A trip from La Encantada and/or from any other countryside area to Olmito was a challenging ordeal, especially during the Depression.
For those kids who didn’t participate in UIL activities, there was always the weekly “spelling bee.” It usually went like this: teams were chosen, and children took turns spelling words that were read aloud by the teacher.
If someone misspelled a word, he or she would be out of the game and had to sit down. The bee ended when only one person was left standing. In the one-classroom school era, the winner was a school celebrity until the next spelling bee.
Note: All information, along with names, was taken as written in the Brownsville Herald archives.
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