Ozona History

June 28, 1934

The first definite promise to folks of Ozona that the celebration is actually at hand came this week when the barbecue committee began making its preparations in the park for feeding the thousands of visitors expected here next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the eighth annual Crocket County Rodeo, Race Meet Stock Show and Sale. The barrels for the iced tea and water, wood for the fires to boil the coffee, lumber for the long tables, and pots and pans for cooking the beans, coffee, son-of-a-gun and other western delicacies were being assembled in the park under the big shade trees in preparation for the daily feed. Barbecuing of several hundred pounds of meat for the three-day feed will be started by R.J. Cooke Tuesday morning in his patented pits. Each day’s meat is cooked the morning it is to be served and is served fresh and steaming right out of the pits at noon. The menu will consist of barbecued meat, pickles, bread, onions, cowboy stew, beans, iced tea and coffee.

June 29, 1944

LUBBOCK ARMY AIR FIELD, Lubbock, Texas. The members of Class 44-F, more eager than ever to join their fellow airmen in combat over the skies of the world now that D-Day has become a reality, received their silver pilot’s 'wing- June 27 in impressive ceremonies held at Lubbock Army Air Field, one of the eleven advanced flying' schools in the Army Air Force Central Flying Training Command with headquarters at Randolph Field, Texas. The LAAF men, representing 40 states in the Union, have been intensively trained for months at primary and basic schools as well as advanced and will, after brief transitional training, be ready to pilot the Army’s giant Fortresses, Marauders, Mitchells and other multi-motored planes now blasting Hitler’s crumbling Fortress and Hirohito’s blood-stained Empire. Included among the LAAF graduates is Flight Officer James H. Joslin of Ozona, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Joslin.

June 24, 1954

Dependable television reception with only a moderate outlay of cash may soon become a reality for Ozonans if planned tests of strength of television signals in this fringe area prove the feasibility of installing a community television receiving and distribution system in the town. A franchise granted the right to use of streets and alleys in the town of Ozona for stringing cables on which the television signals will be transmitted to homes was granted by the Commissioners Court last Thursday afternoon to a group of five Ozonans who are forming a company for installing and operating the community system. Promoters of the new enterprise have been in consultation for some time with representatives of one of the nation's leading electronic engineering firms and other sources of information on the possibilities of fringe area television reception and plan soon to order an engineering test to determine whether or not a satisfactory signal can be received in Ozona.

June 25, 1964

The S125,000 bond issue approved by Crockett County voters more than two months ago, is finally about to reach the stage of final approval by the Attorney General's department and the Commissioners Court of Crockett County may then launch its first move toward actual construction of the much needed coliseum-auditorium or civic center The bonds, approved by voters April 18, have about traversed the long process of formal orders by the County Commissioners Court, advertising their sale and sale of the bonds, their printing and then approval by the Attorney General, after which, proceeds from their sale will become available for expenditure. Meanwhile, a lot of preliminaries are yet to be completed by the Commissioners Court before an actual construction contract can be awarded. Hiring of an architect to draw plans and specifications is next in the process and this the court is expected to consider soon. Jack McDermott, San Angelo architect, worked with the citizen committee which studied Ozona’s need for a civic center and launched the move which led to the approval of the bond by voters. Mr. McDermott drew preliminary plans which met the approval of the committee after study and alterations and this plan, along with any which may be submitted by others, will be available for the court’s study. Mrs. Boyd Baker, chairman of the civic center committee, which was made up of representatives from the various civic groups in Ozona, expressed hope that the coliseum can be completed by early fall.

June 27, 1974

Diving off the high board is Jimmy Holdt, 15-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Holdt. The Holdt youngsters enjoy the swimming pool almost daily along with hundreds of others.