Ask Billie

Last Friday David Bucek Jr. and I were talking about our recent vacations. He and his family had returned from a driving vacation to the Pacific, lasting about a month. They took their time to explore and really enjoyed the many different geographical areas of that half of the United States.

One of the things David said about his tour was that while enjoyable he saw nothing more unique than Wharton, Texas. I think we would all agree that we do have a community that is amazing with a variety of people from all walks of life. This past weekend was typical of our uniqueness. The reception honoring District Judge Danny Sklar was a delightful evening. To be the first social event in our Historic Courthouse made it even more special. In our mobile society it is unusual for a person to live, work and retire in the same city and that is what Judge Sklar has done.

Many of us who are current residents of Wharton, but have lived here several years, have never known another District Judge so we too have some adjustments.

People make places unique and this past weekend another of our special citizens was honored. Dr. Harold Northington just celebrated his 88th birthday with his large family of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, other relatives and friends. Dr. Northington was an important part of laying the foundation for the medical community we are today. We have always been a unique place where our citizens had a choice of medical specialists with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.

Even though Dr. Northington enjoyed his 88th birthday party, he does not intend to slow down. Most any day will find him at a bridge table, domino table, baseball game or cheering for his Longhorns. If anyone says party Doc says "lets go". We had another unique citizen honored this past weekend. Bruno Ybarbo served as Parade Marshall for the Fiesta Hispano Americano festivities. This is the 26th year of the festival and Bruno served as President 16 of those years.I first met Bruno shortly after the beginning of the festivals and it was evident he had a vision for the young Hispanic people. We talked often about the importance of education and why no young person should be limited because of lack of money.

I do not know how much money has been raised for scholarships during the past 26 years because Bruno and a few others decided it was a worthwhile project. I am confident many young people have been given a start in life because of Bruno's vision. Of the 3 individuals we are thinking about today Bruno is the only one who has not actually been here since birth. His family moved to Wharton when he was 9 and he has been a good citizen since.

Why is Wharton a unique place to live? Here are 3 good reasons. They have all been givers of their time and talents to the community and we are better because they call Wharton home.