Sabinal High School 2025-2026 varsity cheer team members (left to right) Grace Morales, Trinity Gonzales, Presley Contreras, Ainsley Schulte, Aubrey Fulcher, co-captains Kaydence Sandoval and Tori Esquivel, Amber Espinoza, Hennley Fulcher, and Braylyn Garza.
The city of Sabinal has received word that the T-Mobile Corporation is providing a $50,000 grant for new playground equipment for Sabinal Veterans Memorial Live Oak Park.
T-Mobile representatives were scheduled to present a check to city Mayor Erik Gomez March 29 during the Sabinal Lions Club’s wild hog festival and craft fair.
Grant writer Carl Esser applied for the funds on the city’s behalf. The grant was highly competitive, and the city of Sabinal bested 589 other projects.
During the Chamber of Commerce entertainment and chili cook-off, AEP external affairs manager, Jimmy Ernest, announced that the lights in the city park will be updated.
The purpose for the update is to provide the park better lighting at night. The project will adhere to the night sky guidelines recommended by the Hill Country Alliance.
Attendees of the Sabinal tennis reunion included (front row, left to right) Marla Goodson, Felisha Reyes Tinker, Maggie M. Davis De Los Santos, Kaela Spence Winston, Lyndsey Horton Myres, Nicole Lopez Clary, Jamie Mathis Dodson, Sheila Rochat Rothe, Sarah Henry (back) Neal Calvert, Liz Massey, Rusty Shudde, Debby Horton, Helen Matthews, Ricky Ware, Kathy Schaefer Sprott, Deborah Graham Stabler, David Kring, Paula Matheney, Vicki Kring, Doug Shudde, Linda Spence, Clifford Cavender, Sheila Rothe, Diana Henry, and Keith Taylor. (Photo courtesy of Diana Medina)
Hammer Station
Jerry Ballard, leader of the Keep Sabinal Beautiful historical tenet and lead of the Hammer Station renovation project, spoke to the Uvalde Historical Society March 20 at El Progresso Memorial Library.
During the meeting Ballard revealed new information about the renovation project, and also proposed leaving Hammer Station in the same general location it sits now.
If left in the same location, the building may qualify for a Recorded Texas Historical Landmark, and qualify for up to 45 percent reimbursement incentives from the state of Texas for its renovation.
The renovation is part of a larger picture, connecting historical landmarks along stagecoach trails that once connected west Texas communities during the time of the Republic of Texas.
Hammer Station, accompanied by Uvalde’s Fort Inge and Fort Lincoln near D’Hanis in Medina County, provide a visual history for people to see first-hand how people once lived and travelled in this remote area of the nation. The stagecoach stops were typically a day’s ride between stops.
Tennis event
The Sabinal ISD cafeteria filled with tennis players and coaches from Sabinal’s tennis athletes of the past on March 22. The event was organized by Deborah Graham Stabler and Neal Calvert, both former Sabinal netters.
Stories were relayed to the group telling of close games, funny encounters, weather mishaps, and shared tears and victories.
Among the many state champions in attendance were doubles partners and cousins Felisha Reyes Tinker and Maggie Davis De Los Santos, winners from 1995. The ladies’ Aunt Maggie had framed their medals and some state memorabilia, but Felicia told the alumnus that she had thought her medal was lost. Felisha was pleasantly surprised when Maggie reunited Felisha to her medal from 30 years ago.
The warm stories of shared chicken salad sandwiches lovingly prepared by Vicki King and Trisha Van Pelt for the tennis players and families were told for almost two hours that afternoon.
Coach Colin Trulove won two doubles state championships with partner Lane Pepper in 1997 and 1998. He summed up the experiences shared with this reverie read by his father, Larry Trulove.
“Playing tennis in Sabinal was a special time for me… The commitment that some of the ‘old timers’ made to keep the legacy going like Mr. Shudde, and Gary Jones allowed us to have fun and compete. Other people like Greg Bales and David Kring would take the time to play with us and give us encouragement. Coaches like Hawkes and Coker would demand our best and work hard to find us the competition that we needed…,” Trulove read. “I think it takes a village to have a good program and I am proud to say I was part of that village.”
Maggie De Los Santos and Felisha Tinker echoed this sentiment, citing Connie Garcia and Elda Alejandro for being apart of the list of “old timers” who challenged them on the courts.
Please see Page 3B for additional photos.
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