ISSUE 1 VOL. 1                                                                                                                                                    

 

What is the AOGDHP Newsletter? This newsletter will now be published on a quarterly basis on the following months: August, November, February, May. Our purpose will be to inform the Alvarez descendants as to important events , special interests, and comments to be shared by one and all  and  to promote our ancestor, PANCHITA ALVAREZ , an Hispanic Texan Heroine of 1836 .

 

FACTS ABOUT THE ANGEL OF GOLIAD:   From Dr. J.H. Barnard’s Journal March 27, 1836  and I quote:” When she arrived at Copano with her husband who was one of Urea’s officers, Miller and his men had just been taken prisoners. They were tightly bound with cords, so as to completely check the circulation of blood in their arms, and in this way had been left for several hours when  she saw them. Her heart was touched at the sight and she immediately ordered the cords to be taken off and refreshments to be given them. She treated them with great kindness ……….”

 

IMPORTANT  EVENTS:  Rudy and Gloria Ramirez  as representatives of the AOGDHP    have been donating items for  the Children's Play Room at one of the Homeless Holding Areas in Palestine, Texas. Their goal is to be in charge of  making these people as comfortable as possible. Any  Alvarez wishing to donate toys, furniture, paintings, clothing, blankets, sheets, etc  for this worthy cause please contact  Rudy Ramirez at  Area code:903-729-5800.

Nikki Ramirez Smith , daughter of  Rudy and Gloria Ramirez recently returned from a trip from  Haiti where she helped the poor and needy. Her experience in helping the Haitians is something she will treasure forever.  Thank you, Nikki from the AOGDHP.

Birthday  is  in order for the wife of Ernesto Alvarez, Sr. , Consuelo Alvarez who turned 98  in July and says she hopes everyone will come and celebrate her 100^th birthday. God Bless you, Consuelo.  Other July birthdays were celebrated by Arnold Alvarez, Joseph Shokrian, Yvette and Anna Marie .   Little Rebecca Renee Ramirez  the granddaughter of Louis and Deanna Ramirez whose . Proud parents are Ronnie and Veronica Ramirez. Born on July 6. 2005 at 6lb.15 oz. and 19 inches long in San Antonio, Texas is the youngest of the Alvarez descendants. Other events are Josh Ramirez making the Honor Roll in Louisiana. Way to go Josh!  We also welcomed Gemma Ibrahim from Kuwait daughter of Viola Alvarez Pineda and Herlin Pineda who came to visit us Texan relatives with her husband and niece. Alfonso Alvarez, Jr’s. son Joseph who is serving in Iraq and Belinda and Manuel’s Munoz son who is working in Iraq are two young men who we must pray for everyday as they are in harms’ way. Anyone else who is an Alvarez serving or working in Iraq , please contact me so that we may add them to our prayer circle  Please add Ray Alvarez ‘ Dad and  Mr. Garza the husband of Bertha daughter of Baltazar Alvarez to your prayers as they have been ill. We congratulate Michael and Dina Ramirez on their wedding here in San Antonio. Proud parents are Louis and Deanna Ramirez.  We also offer our deepest sympathy on the passing of E.J. Longoria’s mom.  We would like to thank  Raul Garza from Kingsville Texas who has been writing stories on our Alvarez clan and who updated us on the burning of  the El Jardin Restaurant , a landmark for us older Alvarez. WE also received some beautiful pictures from the descendants of Hugo Villa the artist who sculpted the Angel of Goliad Bust in La Bahia in Goliad , Texas.. Two excerpts from the  textbooks on the Angel have been written by Alex Loya from  Louisiana And Roger Borroel from East Chicago, Indiana . I refer you to our website. Congratulations to Omar Alvarez from Idaho who recently won second place in a cook-off, Rebecca Shokrian  who won an Outstanding Achievement in Poetry Award. For her poem Rekindling a Love of Long Ago and Joseph Shokrian who is a freshman at San Antonio College. 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:  Rebecca Valadez has recorded the Angel of Goliad Song  and hopefully will have a CD very soon. WE will keep you posted. Wait till you hear it.    It is awesome!  The Angel of Goliad coins are out and on sale. Our Angel was the first woman to be so honored from the Texas Numismatic Association.. Each family will want to keep this coin for your children and grandchildren as a momento to honor our great ancestor. Rudy, Gloria, Arturo, Humberto, Ernesto, Gilbert, Olga, Velma, Eustolio and Bertha Garza will be selling these in their respective cities. The bronze is $5 and the aluminum is $3. KR Wood ‘s CD which has Becky’s  and Ray’s introduction to the Angel in English and Spanish is $15 ; $5 will go to our organization. Please purchase one for our monies in our bank account is quite low. These are some of our fundraisers and we need everyone to pitch in and buy these items. Our special thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Galindo from San Antonio who issued these medals and KR Wood for promoting our song Angel of Goliad. We would like to thank Velma and Dora for helping read and take the secretary minutes on our last meeting.

 

ANGEL OF GOLIAD MEETING:   Members present were Rudy, Gloria  Ramirez, E.J. Longoria, Joe Ramirez, Jr. Becky and Joseph Shokrian, Velma and Olga Gonzales, Dora and Gilbert Alvarez, Louis Ramirez, Sandy Valadez, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Galindo, honored guests. A future meeting  place and date will be announced later. Suggestions were that we participate in the laying of the wreath at the Alamo next year and have our descendants present a wreath at the Alamo as part of the Texan Heroes, who died for Texan freedom. Also, membership dues were discussed and will probably be lowered to 15 dollars for family with the angel membership being gold,  the  tejano  being  silver and soldado would be bronze. Each membership would have a little more recognition than the others. Anything to raise our funds. A marker   design was suggested for the Angel by Joseph Shokrian but to due to lack of funding this is a project we will have to work on and postpone until a later date.. Though we have less than $100 in our bank account we are hopeful that once we sell all our coins and CDS we will be able to fund other projects in the future. Rudy Ramirez suggested a park type of atmosphere where the Statue is located with tables and benches for picnics. The Galindo’s offered suggestions and explained the minting of the Angel of Goliad coins Joseph Shokrian read part of a screenplay he is working on  the Angel of Goliad  When he is finished he will present it to our organization for approval and suggestions. Though many of our officers could not be present , we feel we will keep our organization going. We must for the sake of our future generations of  Alvarez.  It was suggested that we hold our next meeting in Kingsville sometime in November to coincide with the King Ranch Breakfast and Fair. Perhaps, we can have a booth and make our Angel known to everyone. After all she is buried on the King Ranch and some of her descendants are still living and working on the King Ranch. Due to expense  and distance perhaps our meetings will have to be held  via phone and email. Perhaps also, we could have a mini Alvarez      family reunion in Goliad where we will be laying the wreath at the Angel of Goliad  Statue. in March of  2006.   WE have met our quota of meetings for the year as a non-profit organization.  Our webmaster Manuel Munoz again left word  that you send your stories and news to him. Let us not disappoint him. We would again like to thank Velma and Dora  for  taking the minutes and reading last month’s meetings. WE thank those who came and participated in our meeting as well.  VIVA PANCHITA!!! God Bless our organization and the USA. 

 

Respectfully submitted , Rebecca Shokrian for Herlin Pineda and Rudy Garcia  Newsletter Editors