PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Tuesday, October 21, 1997

Town plans early Halloween to clear decks for football

By PAUL POWELL The Victoria Advocate

GANADO, Texas - If you don't think high school football is big in Texas, consider this:

The town of Ganado will hold Halloween a day early so trick-or-treaters don't get tangled up with the massive crowd expected for the Oct. 31 battle between the Ganado Indians and the Industrial Cobras.

"We're expecting a huge, standing-room-only crowd at the game and although we'll have law enforcement out in full-force, it's only prudent that children not be allowed on the street Friday night," Mayor Dana Parks told The Victoria Advocate.

So Parks and City Council members are encouraging parents to observe Halloween early. Although compliance is voluntary, the die-hard Ganado fans will very likely comply and take their kids trick-or-treating Thursday so they can catch Friday's game.

Both Ganado and Industrial are currently 7-0, undefeated in District 28-2A, and are each favored in their next games prior to the big matchup. Ganado is ranked No. 4 and Industrial is No. 9 in Class 2A in the latest Associated Press state high school poll.

"You know nothing really exciting happens in a small town like Ganado, so when the football team is doing well it's really a big deal," said resident Sandra Green. "I sure hope we win because my husband farms in La Ward and he'll never hear the end of it if we don't."

When the Indians defeated Industrial last year in Vanderbilt, Green said her 83-year-old grandmother remarked to her, "I'm sure glad I lived long enough to see our team win a game against Industrial."

Green explained that a lot of Ganado school children had been going around town with long faces until they came home with a note from school Wednesday declaring Halloween will be observed on Oct. 30.

"Mom and dad were going to the game," she said, "not trick or treating."

Dennis Bures of Ganado, who works at Formosa Plastics in Point Comfort, said the impending game is all the rage at work.

"Everybody is talking about it and lots of people from Victoria and elsewhere say they plan to attend."

He said that if both teams remain undefeated, the crowd in Ganado Halloween night may set a new attendance record.

Green added that Ganado's success has fostered mini-homecomings of many former residents who've returned home to support the team after years of absence.

Ganado schools Superintendent Donald Egg said he will be meeting with law enforcement representatives Tuesday to plan a crowd-control strategy.

---

Distributed by The Associated Press Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: