|
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
WHEREAS, In the 1950s, the golf team of San Felipe High School |
|
in Del Rio battled adversity and defied expectations to become the |
|
best in Texas, and their story is told in the new book Mustang |
|
Miracle, by Humberto Garcia; and |
|
WHEREAS, The team got its start after J. B. Pena became |
|
superintendent of the San Felipe Independent School District in the |
|
mid-1950s and, together with a friend, introduced golf as a school |
|
sport at San Felipe High; the two men were surprised and pleased to |
|
discover that there were some very talented golfers among the |
|
students in the then-segregated school; and |
|
WHEREAS, These students had learned much about the game while |
|
working as caddies at the exclusive San Felipe Country Club, whose |
|
course they were initially prohibited from playing; determined to |
|
take part in the sport, several of these aspiring athletes decided |
|
in 1954 to build their own course, which they dubbed the El Llanito |
|
Country Club; it was, by necessity, a rather crude design: one hole |
|
surrounded by multiple tees, with a "green" that was actually made |
|
of caliche instead of grass; nonetheless, the boys used the |
|
hardscrabble course to hone their skills through long hours of |
|
practice, often playing until after dark; and |
|
WHEREAS, After the harsh conditions of El Llanito, the team |
|
members found that competing on regulation courses as part of |
|
school matches was relatively easy, and they quickly established |
|
themselves as winners, even as they had to ignore verbal abuse and |
|
other forms of discrimination; the San Felipe Mustangs became |
|
regional champs in 1956 and finished second to Ranger High in the |
|
state championships; in 1957, the team qualified once more for the |
|
finals and traveled to Austin for the tournament, where they were |
|
the only minority players to compete; the Mustangs turned in an |
|
outstanding performance, shooting a combined 643; this bested |
|
runner-up Shamrock High by 35 strokes and earned San Felipe the |
|
state title; and |
|
WHEREAS, In Mustang Miracle, Mr. Garcia, a San Felipe High |
|
School alumnus, attorney, and avid golfer, tells the tale of Felipe |
|
Romero, Higinio "Gene" Vasquez, Joe Trevino, Lupe Felan, and Mario |
|
Reyes Lomas, and the resulting saga of perseverance in the face of |
|
adversity is one that is sure to resonate beyond Del Rio and the |
|
Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
|
Legislature hereby honor the members of the San Felipe High School |
|
golf team of 1957 along with their biographer, Humberto Garcia, and |
|
extend to them sincere best wishes for the future; and, be it |
|
further |
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
prepared for the members of the team and Mr. Garcia as an expression |
|
of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives. |
|
|
Gallego |
|
|
|
Straus |
Gonzales of Williamson |
Morrison |
|
|
Aliseda |
Gonzalez |
Munoz, Jr. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anderson of Dallas |
Hancock |
Orr |
|
|
Anderson of McLennan |
Hardcastle |
Otto |
|
|
|
|
Beck |
Harper-Brown |
Patrick |
|
|
|
|
Bohac |
Hernandez Luna |
Pena |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Burkett |
Howard of Fort Bend |
Pitts |
|
|
Burnam |
Howard of Travis |
Price |
|
|
Button |
Huberty |
Quintanilla |
|
|
|
|
Callegari |
Hunter |
Reynolds |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Christian |
Keffer |
Schwertner |
|
|
Coleman |
King of Parker |
Scott |
|
|
Cook |
King of Taylor |
Sheets |
|
|
Craddick |
King of Zavala |
Sheffield |
|
|
Creighton |
Kleinschmidt |
Shelton |
|
|
Crownover |
Kolkhorst |
Simpson |
|
|
Darby |
Kuempel |
Smith of Harris |
|
|
Davis of Dallas |
Landtroop |
Smith of Tarrant |
|
|
J. Davis of Harris |
Larson |
Smithee |
|
|
S. Davis of Harris |
Laubenberg |
Solomons |
|
|
|
|
Driver |
Legler |
Taylor of Collin |
|
|
Dukes |
Lewis |
Taylor of Galveston |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Farias |
Mallory Caraway |
Veasey |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Frullo |
Martinez Fischer |
Weber |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Giddings |
Miller of Comal |
Zedler |
|
|
Gonzales of Hidalgo |
Miller of Erath |
Zerwas |
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Speaker of the House |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 1008 was adopted by the House on March |
|
24, 2011, by a non-record vote. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|