July 22, 1982
Bridge go-ahead signed
Gov. Bill Clements announced Wednesday that an agreement had been signed clearing the way for construction of the international bridge between Presidio and Ojinaga, Mexico.
Mutual commitments between the two nations as to the exact location of the bridge were finalized at a meeting on July 15 attended by U.S. and Mexico officials, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
They named as architect Arturo Garcia Alvarez, secretary of Public Works in Mexico City. He and Joe M. Battle, district engineer for the Texas Highway Department in El Paso, will be coordinators for the project. The two men will meet in January to determine the availability of construction funds. The highway department has allocated funds for the project, and Mexico has agreed to provide necessary funds, but specific contributions await budget approval which will come after Mexico’s new presidential administration is sworn in in December. A contract will be awarded for the project after both nations funding allocations are set. Construction is expected to begin in early 1963. Jim Richardson, deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Regional Development, participated in the July 15 meeting.
Chance meeting with paraplegic climbers highlights family outing
A Marfa family, on their way to deposit two children in summer camp in New Mexico this weekend, became inspired by more than scenery on the way. Stopping on Saturday at a lone cafe at Pine Springs, N.M., near Carlsbad, they found themselves befriended by the three paraplegics who had scaled Texas’ tallest peak the night before.
“The kids were afraid to go in because they thought it was a bar,” Rose Zubiate recalled. She and husband Ray Zubiate, children Rebecca, Raymond and Raquel, and cousin Yvonne Zubiate were on their way to Camp Tall Pines in Mayhill, N.M., where Raquel and Yvonne are spending two weeks. Renea, the Zubiates’ other daughter, was staying with relatives in Fort Davis. As they passed Pine Springs, Ray spotted a man descending from a van in a wheelchair, according to Mrs. Zubiate. She asked her husband to return to the site on the hunch that the man might be acquainted with the Guadalupe Peak climbers. “It turned out to be them!”
The three men — Donnic Rogers, 26, and Joe Moss, 32, both of Dallas, and Dave Kiley, 29, of Los Angeles — had been airlifted from the mountaintop early Saturday morning after reaching the 8,751-foot summit Friday evening. They and three other paraplegics in wheelchairs had attempted the climb “for the chairs,” a nickname for handicapped persons in wheelchairs. They refused assistance to demonstrate the extent to which people can overcome their handicaps. Three of the climbers were forced to turn back due to muscle spasms, sores and blisters, and, in one case, a kidney infection; but the remaining three pushed on, often dragging themselves
along on the ground and pulling their wheelchairs behind them. They reached their goal in five days.
The climbers are members of Paraplegics On Independent Nature Trails, or POINT. Their feat was part of a fundraising effort for the West Texas Rehabilitation Center of Abilene. At Pine Springs, “They were just overjoyed, they were talking — everyone was talking at once,” Mrs. Zubiate beamed. “They were so nice, they made the kids feel right at home; and they answered all the kids’ questions.” Two of the men also gave autographs to each child. “It says: To Rebecca — a lovely, pretty girl’,” said the shy recipient of one autograph by Moss.
Asked if she could have climbed Guadalupe Peak, the sturdy-legged youngster said resolutely, “Uh-uh. It was three (sic) days, no way … it would be a miracle if I did it.”
The Zubiates didn’t get to meet the third climber, Kiley, because he was on the telephone during their visit. But later, after the Zubiates had journeyed on to Carlsbad. Raymond and his dad re- located the trio — again by chance — at the Carlsbad civic center. Father and son went there to see a gun show and found their recent acquaintances in a news conference. They were just in time for President Reagan’s congratulatory telephone call from Camp David, M.D. The public address system went out as Reagan spoke, so those present weren’t able to hear the president’s words. But that didn’t matter to the Zubiates. “The president didn’t shake their hands,” Mrs. Zubiate smiled. “We did.”