Raymond Ville 100th Birthday Celebration With A Party To Remember!

Raymondville 100th birthday celebration in 2004 with a gala that included a parade, dance, food, and fireworks. Raymondville had a party to remember!

An event to commemorate the arrival of the St. Louis Brownsville Mexico Railway has been planned for the month of July. As of July 4, 1904, the initial run of the Rio Grande River Railroad between Corpus Christi and the city of Brownsville and the city of Corpus Christi passed each other. In order to commemorate the advent of the railroad, each city organized events to celebrate the end of the 40-hour stagecoach voyage from Brownsville to the Alice railhead. Because of this vision shared by ranchers in the wide plains of the Gulf Coastal Region, a new and better marketing approach for South Texas beef cattle was developed. Wichita, Kansas' railhead in Wichita, Kansas, will no longer require livestock to be walked up the Chisholm Trail. Slaughterhouses in eastern markets can now receive cattle directly from the ranches.

As a result of this massive undertaking, water and gasoline filling stations were created throughout the 141-mile route as a result. It was at these turning points that new settlements began to take shape, leading to the eventual creation of new towns. It's hard to believe that Raymondville, Sebastian, and Combes were not already part of the city of Raymondville. In honor of this event's 100th anniversary, we will hold a celebration this year.

There will be a youth rodeo on July 2 with awards. A golf competition will be held on the Municipal Golf Course on Saturday, July 3rd. At Eddie Stark City Park, there will be a baseball tournament, kiddie train rides, food and beverage stands, conjunto music performances, and concession stands. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Historical Museum will be available to the public and will provide punch and cookies to guests as a meeting spot for the town's elderly. To celebrate Glenn Harding and Cindy Lee's new book, "Rails to the Rio," there will be a display of 200 enlarged pictures from that book in the Tourist Center all day long! This historic photo display will be complemented by an event at the Tourist Center honoring the occasion and our visitors starting at 6:00 p.m. Presentations by Mr. Frank Yturria of a historical 16mm video and Mr. Jimmy Tiller of an up-to-date slide program on our cattle history will take place tonight at 7:00 pm in the Historical Museum's auditorium.

Raymondville's growth as a community in South Texas can be attributed in part to the cattle industry, which will be celebrated in this year's theme. The traditional way of gathering livestock with cowboys from large meadows will be shown in Mr. Yturria's film. Cattle roundups using helicopters will be demonstrated by Mr. Tiller in his program. Residents of this county who have lived in this magnificent cattle-raising region but have never seen this thrilling side of ranching will find both of these ranching programs to be very interesting. Anyone interested in purchasing a copy of Mr. Tiller's new book, "Helicopter Cowboy," can have one autographed by the author. During cattle roundups on South Texas ranches, these stunning aerial images were taken.

City Park will once again include train rides, food and beverage stalls, ice cream, a "pan de campo" competition, railway whistle souvenirs, and autographed copies of "Rails to the Rio" on Sunday, July 4th. The Fourth of July Parade in downtown Raymondville will begin at 8:00 p.m. After the sun sets, there will be a stunning Fourth of July fireworks display.

A patriotic display of red, white, and blue street banners will decorate the downtown light poles prior to these activities. The Texas State Bank will present a 200-photo show titled "Rails to the Rio" from June 17 through July 9, 2004. Exhibits are open to the public seven days a week, except on federal holidays. Everybody is invited to come in and peruse the pictures while sipping on a cup of coffee at Mr. Travis Richards's display.

Residents are invited to attend Glenn Harding, the Chamber of Commerce, and Executive Director Mrs. Elma Chavez's Centennial celebration, which has been meticulously planned by Mayor Joe Alexandre and the city commissioners, who have worked tirelessly to make this a memorable occasion in the life of this community.