Rene Torres is a retired University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College assistant professor. He has a long history in the Rio Grande Valley as an educator, sports historian, and humanitarian, with a wealth of community service to his credit.
In 1936, the best rural school students from Cameron County gathered in Olmito to compete in their annual athletic and literary meet.
It was an era when a piece of paper and a pencil were prized possessions and when some elementary athletes ran, skipped, and jumped barefoot.
It was also a time when recess was a favorite time of the school day, allowing children to be creative by inventing games or simply socializing.
In this particular year, perhaps with a sack lunch in hand, the boys and girls from the San Benito river community of La Encantada left their friendly confines on their way to “faraway” Olmito.
By accumulating a total of 201 points in the athletic events and 351 in the paper-and-pencil competitions, they tallied a grand total of 552 points, good enough to win the Cameron County Interscholastic League rural competition.
It was not an easy victory, though, as the group from Briggs-Coleman gave them all they could handle.
The lads from Military Highway outscored the Harlingen challengers, who earned 263 points in the physical events and 267 in literary activities, for a total of 530 points.
Other scoring included: Nogales, 276 points, all in literary competitions; Las Yescas, 108 athletic and 160 in literary events; La Paloma, 266, all in literary events; Palm Grove, 25 athletic and 146 literary; Hardin Ranch, 47 athletic and 108 literary; Villa Nueva, 55 athletic and 79 literary; and Anacuitas, 32, all in literary events.
Results in the literary events:
Arithmetic: At the second-grade level, Nogales’ Dolores Salinas took the top spot, followed by Raul Gomez from Villa Nueva, with Celso Gonzales of Las Yescas coming in third.
Third Grade: Top mathematician honors went to David Salinas of Nogales; second place, Ovidio Martinez of La Paloma; Tomas Lopez of Palm Grove; and third place, Santos Perez of Encantada.
Fourth Grade: Jim Alvarez, Nogales, Briggs-Coleman, first; Meliton Ortiz, Palm Grove, second; Maria Garces, Nogales, third.
Fifth Grade: Maria Salinas, Nogales, first; Antonio Flores, Encantada, second; Viola Contreras, Briggs-Coleman, third.
Sixth Grade: Gilberto Sosa, Encantada, first; Edio Leal, La Paloma, second; and Mary Sanchez, Briggs-Colman, third.
Seventh Grade: The best at this level, taking first place, was Antonio Longoria from Briggs- Coleman.
Spelling results:
The second-grade top participants included: Juan Saldivar, Anacuitas; Porfirio Paz, Villa Nueva; Roberto Arzola, Palm Grove; Consuelo Garcia, La Paloma; Alfredo Garza, Las Yescas; Petra Gutierrez, Nogales; Jose Chavez, Briggs Coleman; and Mercedes, Yanes, La Encantada.
Tercero de primaria: Manuel García, Villa Nueva; Emilio Delgado, Hardin Ranch; Ella Pedraza, La Paloma; Serafina Meza, Las Yescas; Abel Cantu, Nogales; y Esperanza Longoria, Briggs-Coleman.
Cuarta grado: Aurora Álvarez, Briggs-Coleman; Consuelo Arredondo, La Encantada, empatadas en primer lugar; Manuel Saliva, Nogales; Israel Leal, La Paloma.
Fifth Grade: Carolina Rodriguez, Nogales, and J. Trevino, La Encantada, tied; Telesforo Reyes, La Paloma; Christina Gonzalez and Maria Chavez, Briggs-Coleman, tied.
Sixth Grade: Top winners, Charles Leal, La Paloma; Lupe Alvarez, Briggs-Coleman; and Maria Benavides, third.
Seventh Grade: Top Speller, Angel Longoria, Briggs-Coleman.
In the poster-making category, the following were recognized as winners: Ramona Chávez, Hardin Ranch; Carlota López, Palm Grove; Polly Mae Moody, La Encantada; Anita Leal, Encantada; and Delfina Longoria, Briggs-Coleman.
Storytelling:
In the boys’ category, Natividad Caraveo from Las Yescas was the winner, followed by Israel Alvarez, Briggs-Coleman, and Modesto Trevino of Nogales.
The best in the girls’ division was Maria Garza of Nogales.
Extemporaneous Speech and Declaration
In the girls’ extemporaneous speech competition, Lupe Ballia of La Paloma was the top performer. In the boys’ junior division of the declaration, Ben Garza of Las Yescas and Alberto Esparza of La Encantada were the top performers. In the girls’ junior division of the declaration, Mercedes Gonzales and Marcela Gonzales of Las Yescas were the top performers.
It was an exciting two-day competition, and just as thrilling was the fact that for most of the younger kids, it was their first time traveling beyond their rural neighborhoods.
A trip from La Encantada and/or from any other rural area to Olmito was a challenging ordeal, especially during the Great Depression.
For those kids who didn’t participate in UIL activities, there was always the weekly “spelling bee,” in which teams were chosen and children took turns spelling words the teacher read aloud.
If a competitor misspelled a word, he or she was out of the game and had to sit down. The bee ended when only one student remained standing. In the one-classroom school era, the winner was a school celebrity until the next spelling bee.
Note: All information, including names, was taken as written in “The Brownsville Herald.” The above sketch art was credited to Villa Nueva Elementary in 1934.
