Dear Readers of The Big Bend Sentinel:

In my January 19 opinion piece, “How Marfa, Texas Came by its Russian Name,” I expressed doubts about a previous explanatory claim, published in Wikipedia, that Marfa derives from a novel by Jules Verne, Michael Strogoff. I knew Jules Verne as a writer of science fiction, not about Russia, and so made sure to read the book, which had been translated into English soon after its French publication in 1876. It is an entertaining, sort of madcap adventure tale, but in its depiction of supposedly Russian historical events it might as well be science fiction. The Marfa character, although the mother of the novel’s hero, makes few appearances, and I found it very unlikely that she was memorable enough to readers to have become the namesake of Marfa, Texas. 

Mr. Barry Popick, apparently the author of the Wikipedia entry (whose name I regrettably didn’t know because I didn’t see it mentioned in connection with the entry) has written a letter to the editor (March 29) defending his claim that Marfa comes from Jules Verne, not Karamzin’s Marfa the Mayoress, which is my contention.

Mr. Popick and I agree on one thing: that the often-heard explanation of Marfa coming out of Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov is unsustainable because the novel only appeared in English translation in 1912, while Marfa got its name in 1882. Concerning the likelihood of Jules Verne being the source of Marfa, Mr. Popick makes a strong case by citing contemporary newspaper references to Michael Strogoff, arguing that Jules Verne was a popular author, and adding, more significant to his argument, that the novel had also been made into a stage play in which Marfa is a much more prominent character than in the novel. He believes these circumstances surrounding Michael Strogoff fit into the time frame of Marfa’s naming and support his claim that this is where the name has its source. Notwithstanding my negative evaluation of Jules Verne’s novel as the source of Marfa, I have to grant Mr. Popick that with his citation of the stage adaptation of the novel, and its mention in the Galveston newspaper, he makes a credible case for a Jules Verne-based naming of Marfa.

But when all is said and done, the question of Marfa’s naming can’t be answered with absolute certainty; we can make educated but, in the end, speculative guesses based on the circumstantial data that can be produced. With all due deference to Mr. Popick’s claim to have found the definitive answer, I still prefer the claim I make: namely, that the name came from a venturesome, perceptive reader — my hunch being it was the wife of Charles Crocker, one of the Big Four railroad tycoons bankrolling the Southern Pacific’s construction project — who in her reading, including English translations of Russian literature, comes across Marfa the Mayoress, one of the most celebrated women in Russian history and the heroine of Karamzin’s historical novel. Mr. Popick makes light of my choice of this book as a possible source for Marfa and even claims the Russian original was never translated into English, which is not true – how else would I have found Marfa the Mayoress without its having been first translated from Marfa-Posadnitsa? 

I’ll leave it at that and humbly ask folks in Marfa who care to reflect about the origin of their town’s name to choose for themselves which of the proposed storylines they find more appealing and believable.

Peter Fischer 

Clayton, NC

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Friends:

Do you love swimming? Do you want to support those in the Marfa community who need swim lessons?

Here’s your chance!

Swim season is approaching, and the Marfa pool is in need of two things: lifeguards and the funding to recruit them.

Those of us who organize the annual Summer Shake Up program for local kids want to add swim lessons to the calendar of month-long activities offered this June. Local swim lessons have been available only sporadically over the years, and none in recent memory. Many Marfans both young and old lack this important life skill. Likewise, it’s been difficult to hire and retain lifeguards to stay for the entire summer.

We’ve located seasoned, qualified instructors from Alpine who are eager to teach our kids. The City of Marfa has agreed to open the pool for these lessons, which is great. Now we’ve got to locate lifeguard candidates and pay their wages for the Summer Shake Up lesson time.

Our goal is to recruit four lifeguards. Lifeguards will make $13 per hour; the supervisor earns $15. Training will be provided and participants will be paid. Lifeguards are expected to keep the pool open all of June, July and into mid-August. If the lifeguards stay through the end of the summer, we’ll throw in a bonus of up to $500 ($550 for the supervisor).

The total expenses for swim class is projected to be $5,300. We should be able to accommodate four to eight students per class, twice a day with a potential of reaching 32-64 children. 

The Marfa Parks and Rec Board has kindly offered to contribute $2,000 toward this endeavor, and we have approximately $1,500 in in-kind donations pledged. That leaves $1,800 we must raise.

If you want to be a lifeguard, contact Mandy Roane, mroane@cityofmarfa.com, 432-729-4315.

If you’d like to donate, contact Michael Roch via email, mroch@chinati.org. All donations will be made to the Marfa Education Foundation (501-C3), which will gift donations to Marfa ISD to pay instructors and guards for the June programming and summer end bonuses.

Thank you so much for your help! Through fostering new and newly improved swimmers, Marfa can impart a skill that will benefit our community members for all their lives.

Sincerely,

Michael Roch

Chinati Foundation education director and Summer Shake Up provider

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Editor:

Alpine is the happening place in West Texas. There are a lot of good things going on. The City of Alpine just submitted a large grant application to Tony Gonzales’ office for a community grant to repair our aged and ailing wastewater treatment plant. We also recently broke ground on updating Pueblo Nuevo Park after receiving a matching grant. The Zoning and Planning Board has a workshop and historic district walking tour coming up on April 24 beginning at 6 p.m. at the Holland Hotel, and the hotel occupancy tax grant applications open up on April 6. More information for most of these items can be found on the homepage of the City of Alpine Website. The city is one of the sponsors of a pet adoption and fundraiser at the Granada on April 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Come out and meet your new best friend. There are many other great things going on around town in conjunction with the city. For residents of Ward 5, voting will be in Alpine City Council Chambers.

The City of Alpine is required by the state of Texas to hold the Ward 5 council member election in May between Rick Stephens and Jerry Johnson. If the late Councilman Jerry Johnson wins, the city council will appoint someone to fill his seat until another election is held next May 6, 2023, with early voting being April 24, 2023 through April 28, 2023, and May 1, 2023 through May 2, 2023. 

Alpine is also home to a lot of active nonprofits that are working on some great initiatives. The Alpine Historical Association is the organization that plans and implements things such as our mural tours, the Christmas Stroll and the Ghost Tours. There are three Ghost Tours coming up this month. One on Thursday, April 13, Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15. This is also the organization that will place flags on your property for various patriotic holidays. 

Of course, you don’t want to miss out on the Gem and Mineral Show opening on April 14, and running through April 16 at the Civic Center. Another exciting event coming up the following weekend is the Second Annual Spirits of the West Festival starting on Friday, April 21, and going through Saturday, April 22. 

The nonprofit Alpine Community Projects is working on putting a summer activities schedule together for ages 3-18 so that everyone will know what is available. In addition, this group has moved into Phase 2 of the Green House Nursing Home Project with funding from the hospital district. Within the next few years, it is quite possible that we will have a nontraditional, innovative nursing home facility in Alpine. 

The Alpine Business Association (ABA) is working on determining what business in Alpine needs in order to thrive and succeed. Volunteers from the group went out and surveyed various businesses throughout Alpine to determine what the greatest needs are and what they need from the ABA. 

The Kiwanis is having their annual Easter egg hunt this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Kokernot Park. At 10:30 a.m. the Farmer’s Market will hold their annual Easter egg hunt. The Lion’s Club is looking to donate a park bench or bicycle rack to the city, possibly for Pueblo Nuevo Park. 

There are so many other wonderful events and activities going on in Alpine over the next several months that I didn’t mention here. So, be sure to listen to KVLF, check out the newspaper, and watch for postings on the Alpine Facebook Community pages so that you don’t miss out on the fun.

Catherine Eaves

Mayor of Alpine