Freddy Fender Water Tower Dedication

Awww Freddy Fender, San Benito's favorite son. When no one is around, I sing along to "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" and "Before the Next Teardrop Falls". This reminds me, Mission needs a Tom Landry water tower asap!

A Couple of Pharr Historical Markers

I just thought I would share these two photographs of two historical plaques that deal with Pharr school history.

Frank B. Alexander crashes a plane into the Church of the Shrine of the Virgin of San Juan (10-24-70)

At GenDisasters, they posted an original newspaper article of the famous plane crash in San Juan. I remember hearing about this famous story as a kid from my mom, who remembers the day and has talked about the sight of the flames emanating from San Juan. This is a story I've been curious about for ages now, so thanks to GenDisasters for posting this information online and making this famous Valley story available to the masses.

MAN CRASHES PLANE INTO VALLEY SHRINE.

230 ESCAPE INJURE; LOSS IS $1.5 MILLION.

San Juan (AP) -- A former schoolteacher crashed a small plane into a Roman Catholic church Friday, destroying it and an adjoining cafeteria. Acquaintances said the pilot deliberately smashed into the structure after issuing a strange radio warning.
About 30 priests at Mass in the church and 200 schoolchildren at their noon lunch fled safely from the Church of the Shrine of the Virgin of San Juan and the cafeteria.
Officers identified the pilot as FRANK B. ALEXANDER, about 50, considered an authority in teaching migrant children. He resigned his school job with the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school system last spring. ALEXANDER also was a flying instructor.
ALEXANDER'S body was recovered from the destroyed structures. It still was strapped in the pilot's seat when found.
Charles Wardroup in the control tower at Miller International Airport at nearby McAllen said an all-point radio call was received from a pilot identified later as ALEXANDER. The call was on an emergency frequency.
The flier ordered fire departments to evacuate all Methodist and Roman Catholic Churches between Hidalgo and Edinburg and Weslaco and McAllen, all in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Asked the reason for his strange order, the pilot replied: "because of a serious plot."
Moments later the four-place plane smashed into the church and fell at the point where the cafeteria and church proper joined, setting both afire.
The church and the cafeteria were destroyed by the fire, with only steel beams remaining.
The Rev. E. A. Ballard, chancellor of the Bownsville diocese of which the church complex is a part, estimated the loss at $1.5 million. He said the church and cafeteria destruction was total.
The church is part of a complex which also contains St. John's Catholic School and a retreat house.
The school is across a street at the rear of the church but the children eat in the cafeteria which forms a wing of the church. The retreat house is also across a street and a parking lot.
The Shrine of the Virgin of San Juan is famous to Roman Catholics in Northern Mexico and in Texas. The Virgin of San Juan is venerated in a centuries-old Mexican belief.
The white church, of stone and brick, was about the height of a two-story building. The steeple towered four or five stories high. It could contain about 800 worshippers.
"We first heard an explosion and we all rushed out," said Rev. Ronald Anderson, vice chancellor of the diocese.
A spokesman for the Upper Valley Aviation Co. in McAllen said Alexander rented the Piper Cherokee 180, a single-engine, four-place plane.
The aviation firm's spokesman said ALEXANDER, about 50, was well known to employes of the company. He was an instructor-pilot and often rented the company's planes.
The spokesman for the aviation company said the crash was no accident -- that it definitely was a deliberate crash. The spokesman said he also heard the radio orders from ALEXANDER.
On the strength of the mysterious radio evacuation directive, orders went out to clear all churches of persons in them, said Capt. Joe Garza of the McAllen Fire Department.
A spokesman for the McAllen police department said, however, there was no time to evacuate anyone. "As we were picking up the phones and dialing the plane crashed," said spokesman, "so the evacuation was not ordered in McAllen."
The aviation company said ALEXANDER rented theplane about 11 a.m. and said he planned to fly in the local area.
Employes of the airplane firm said they noticed nothing unusual about ALEXANDER'S manner.
Sister Margaret, principal of St. Johns' Catholic School, 50 yards from the church, said she saw the plane strike the church.
"I saw the plane coming," Sister Margaret said.
"It was making all sorts of noise and shaking ...
Suddenly it curned and hit the top of the church. I saw the fire burst out and I thought, 'Oh, the children.' I ran to the cafeteria to get them out." Mrs. Romelia de la Rosa, a teacher's aide who was in the cafeteria with about 200 children, said:
"We only heard a noise. A father came in and said the church was on fire and we got the children out of there."
The children left their lunch half-finished. Classes were immediately dismissed for the day and they were sent home.
Mario Reyna, 11, a sixth grader who was in school cafeteria, said:
"We heard the plane, then the explosion. I looked over to the church and saw a lot of smoke."
A huge crowd and traffic jammed the area as fireman from several Valley towns fought the blaze unsuccessfully.
One wing and part of the fuselage lodged between the church itself and the cafeteria.
Sheriff Claudio Castaneda said Department of Public Safety officers searched the still burning wreckage of the plane but did not locate the pilot at once.
Supt. Dean Skiles of the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo schools said ALEXANDER, a resident of San Juan, resigned as a teacher April 28 effective at the end of the last school year.
Justice of the Peace Dario Garcia of McAllen said an autopsy had been requested by the Federal Aviation Agency.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times Texas 1970-10-24

Perro Aguayo y El Hijo del Perro Aguayo vs Cien Caras y Mascara Año 2000, Hair vs Hair, CMLL (3/18/05)

The Perros started off with a lot of fire, Perrito looked fantastic running in with his rapid fire brawling. Perro really looked to be hurting and struggling at times, but he's always so interesting to watch and no one matches the emotion and charisma he brings to pro wrestling. I mean, at this point I really think Perro Aguayo Sr. may be the most charismatic pro wrestler ever. No doubt I've seen bad matches with Perro Aguayo Sr. in them, but I've never been bored or ever thought of turning it off, he has a real star presence and his battered scarred up face is iconic (also I can't imagine wrestlers 50 years from now having the sort of legendary faces that Perro Sr. or Villano III have). When I first watched "When World's Collide", the most memorable image of the show was of teenage girls hugging and kissing the battered Perro Aguayo, who happened to be covered in blood in the most gruesome violent manner possible. Also, I must admit that sentimental value may be involved here since Perro Aguayo Sr. was the first genuine star I ever saw as a kid at a live pro wrestling show in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

As expected, the first two falls are very short and quick, but what really stood out was how great Los Hermanos Dinamitas were at working these two short falls. Both guys were eating Perro and Perrito's offense in a very entertaining fashion, but what was even better was how great their teamwork was. Everything they did together offensively, from hitting simultaneous moves or hitting the same moves one after another just flowed so smoothly. It was pretty simple but it was so pleasing to watch what they were doing. As the final fall opens and we see some more great work from the brothers, it dawns on me that this is one of the great career matches of Mascara Año 2000. He was incredible at everything in this match. He was awesome dishing out hard headbutts and strikes to Perro Aguayo Sr. and just as cool when he was beating the shit out of Perrito by slamming him on the steel rampway. I was really impressed at how he would eat Perrito's dropkick during transitions and how he would throw himself and fly to the outside in such a spectacular way. Mascara Año 2000 was so great in here, he's one of the main reasons why this match is as good as it turned out to be. Perrito is also great at making a big comeback in the third fall, and beating the shit out of a Mascara Año 2000 (especially when he was stuck to a ringside chair). I can see how some people would be turned off by how histrionic and how much of a scene-chewer Perrito could be at times, but I just really dig how much energy he brings to these type of matches.

What I really loved about this whole spectacle, was the layout of the match (especially the way the tercera caida unfolds) and I was thrilled at how well it worked for this match. It was so precise and tight, it made this whole thing feel epic in a way that we don't see often anymore. It was like a formula B-movie that exceeded its expectations due to some fine craftmanship, the talent and charisma of its performers. I don't really want to spoil exactly what happens in the third fall since it's a very exciting conclusion but I'll give some details. They manage to fill this final portion of the match with some pretty clever twists, exciting nearfalls (from great high-end moves executed from Mascara Año 2000 and sold perfectly by Perrito), failed double team moves, well timed eliminations, outside interference, momentum changes, referee distractions (and referee bumps), and miscommunication spots. During the third fall, I was thinking how much better this would have been if Black Terry Jr. was at ringside filming this, just so we could get a good taste at how hot this Arena Mexico crowd was. They really seemed like the hottest crowd ever, but we'll never know thanks to how terrible Mexican TV audio is. But back to the main point, this match really delivered the goods.