HARLINGEN — Zena looped small rubber bands together to make a chain, her fingers moving swiftly to add one colorful loop, and then another, and another.

Zena, 12, and her friend Gabby had begun the previous night. They’d gone to bed about 1 a.m. but soon Zena was up working on her’s some more.

“I kept staying up too late to do it,” said Zena, a seventh grader at Memorial Middle School.

They now worked at a table at the Le Moyne Gardens Unit of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Harlingen at 3221 N. 25th St. working steadily on their chains. They were in a dead heat to see who could make the longest one.

“We’re just making a pattern with the rubber bands,” said Zena as her hands worked swiftly with the bands. Flickers of green, pink, blue, yellow and orange flashed through her fingers before joining the other links in her chain.

The two residents of Le Moyne Gardens were spending the afternoon at the Boys and Girls Club, one of five units in Harlingen. There also are nine extension sites spread across the city. Le Moyne Gardens is also the location of one of the Harlingen Housing Authority’s residential areas.

Like the other four units, the Le Moyne Gardens facility is located in a low-income area of the city, said Gerald Gathright, chief professional officer. The average annual income of these areas is $10,000 to $15,000, he said. The household income qualifies most children in these high-risk areas for free or reduced lunches at school. About 30 percent of the children are working below grade level in school. The areas are prone to gang activity, including violence.

The children living around Le Moyne Gardens endure poverty and limited transportation. Many come from single parent families and don’t perform well in school.

For many children and even the adults, the Boys and Girls Club site is like a second home where they can hang out with friends, eat a hot meal, join community service organizations and enjoy arts and crafts. Sports leagues offer a vibrant opportunity to play and compete in basketball and other sports throughout the year.

The mission of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Harlingen is to “inspire and enable all young people, especially those from challenging circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens.”

AIM Media Texas Charities of the Rio Grande Valley lists the Harlingen Boys and Girls Clubs of Harlingen as one of its recipients for this year’s fundraiser. The organization is one of 21 recipients of the money raised in AIM Media Texas Charities’ annual fundraising campaign. AIM Media Texas is the parent company of the Valley Morning Star, The Monitor, the Brownsville Herald and the Mid-Valley Town Crier.

Gathright was delighted that the Boys and Girls Clubs would be a recipient of funds from AIM.

“We’re very excited because our food service and family service programs have grown tremendously over the years,” he said. “There’s a lot of need in our community and in the Valley for programs that meet the day-to-day needs of families. And so this AIM Charities program will help provide funds that meet some of these needs.”

Gathright elaborated by saying the funds would support programs at all five sites. It would help provide clothes, shoes, paper goods and other commodities through its program called “Family to Family.” The money also would be used to help with food service delivery.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Harlingen also partners with the school district to help students succeed. Two activities with which it partners with the school district are an essay contest and a public speaking contest.

“It helps kids improve reading and writing skills, and of course speaking skills with the public speaking contest,” said Gathright, who is in his 38th year with the organization.

He’s seen the difference the club can make in the lives of children.

“For many children it’s a home away from home and a safe haven where they can come and be kids and be away from the physical and the moral dangers of the street,” Gathright said. “They’re in a safe place with good programs and things that help them become better citizens. I’ve had dozens and dozens of children and young adults and even older adults now come up to me and recall good memories they have of being part of the Boys and Girls Club.”

The annual budget for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Harlingen is $940,000. The organization saves money by not hiring janitors or maintenance personnel. There are no secretaries.

“We split all those duties among our other staff people, so that kind of helps hold down some of our employee costs,” he said. The organization employs 25 to 30 people. It also is funded by the United Way and by grants from the cities of Harlingen and Primera.

“We raise between $200,000 and $250,000 each year through fundraising activities,” he said.

However, some of the children in the neighborhood don’t raise money just for themselves. The Torch Club, which is a community service organization made up of children, holds regular fundraisers.

“It’s a club that has raised thousands of dollars which they have donated back to community organizations and individuals to help out their community,” Gathright said. “These are 10 to 14-year-old children who live in public housing, and they have raised a few thousand dollars in the last three or four years which they have donated to various causes in our community.”

Zena is one of those Torch Club members.

“It’s a group of kids at the Boys and Girls Club,” she said as she continued looping rubber bands together.

“We raise money by cooking and selling cupcakes to give back to the community,” she said.” I enjoy it. I like to give to them.”

As for the club itself?

“We usually try to come after school and stay here until 7,” she said. “Sometimes we work on our homework. When we finish our homework, we can play video games, play outside, or play in the gym.”

Christopher, 16, plays for “The Celtics,” one of 183 basketball teams in the clubs’ sports program. Those teams are separated into young adult, high school, middle school and elementary divisions. Currently the Boys and Girls Clubs is in its winter season for basketball.

“That’s my sport that I like to play when I come to the Boys and Girls Club,” said Christopher, a junior at Early College High School.

He said his and other children’s’ parents are grateful for the Boys and Girls Club in their neighborhood.

“They have people that know how to take care of us and they know we are here doing things we should be doing,” said Christopher, who has a GPA of 3.0.

Like his fellow ECHS classmates, he’s in dual enrollment at Texas State Technical College and has taken six college classes. He plans to study criminal justice in college and become a police officer.

Leily, 14, also likes coming to the club almost every day. The Dr. Abraham P. Cano Freshman Academy student has been coming to the club since she was in the fourth grade.

“We play basketball, we play kickball, we do stuff in the kitchen like cupcakes,” said Leily, who is also in the Torch Club.

Gathright commended her for recently obtaining employment as scorekeeper for the basketball games.

“She’s learning job skills now, money for school,” he said.

Christopher had also been a scorekeeper.

On the basketball court, Gathright’s wife Hilda, unit director, was working with two 7-year-old girls.

“All of you jump rope,” she said as the two girls laughed and jumped over the colorful cords.

“I look forward to working with them when they come here,” she said. “I want to be able to work with them so I can encourage them to want to participate.”

Many of the parents volunteer at the club. Ana Perez has two children and they were doing their homework.

“They learn to behave and be good leaders,” said Perez, who helps out with cleaning the floors, serving lunch and other duties. She was on the basketball court with Hilda Gathright and the two girls.

She grimaced at the thought of life without the Boys and Girls Club.

“Ohhh!” she said. “They would be very different from what they are now.”

As things are, her two children are learning social skills while interacting with the neighborhood children. They don’t get into fights and they behave.

“If they hadn’t come here, they wouldn’t have gotten that,” she said. “These kids are getting direction.”

At the other end of the court, the sound of basketballs hitting the floor filled the air as Christopher, Leily and several other students played. Chris rushed around some other players and tossed the ball. Leily grabbed it and held it tight before tossing it toward a small boy who grabbed it and rushed around the players.

Through funds donated by AIM Media and other organizations, students like these will have the resources to better their lives through sports, tutorials and food assistance.

HARLINGEN — The city saw some familiar ups and surprising dips in its retail sales, with major businesses opening or expanding while sales tax dollars rumbled like a roller coaster.

New businesses opening this year included a car dealership, a call center, a wine house, a salon and a café, and that’s just the beginning.

Bert Ogden Toyota Scion opened in August at 8721 W. Expressway 83. The 56,000-square-foot dealership immediately began doing a brisk business, selling more than 200 vehicles in the first month. The dealership had been located at 602 W. Jackson Ave. where it employed 55 people.

It opened at its new location with more than 100 employees, said General Manager Adrian Burone. There were plans to add another 150 employees in the near future.

Burone, a Brownsville native, appreciated the robust sales.

“People from all sides of Cameron and Hidalgo counties have given us support,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of people who have chosen to drive a little farther just to come to our service department because of the great job they do.”

The dealership sits on 10 acres. Burone says future plans include the development of another six acres for expansion.

Qualfon opened its doors in May with 147 employees. But the call center has the capacity to employ more than 600 people.

A statement from the new business on Haine Drive off Ed Carey Drive said Harlingen is a city rich with outstanding technical support, customer service and sales talent that is 60 percent bilingual.

“In addition, Harlingen’s low cost of living combined with Qualfon’s industry-leading employee tenure rates offer clients ideal value in the USA for contact center and back-office outsourcing services,” said the Qualfon statement.

Several new businesses also opened in the downtown area. Armando’s Tuxedos opened early this year at 102 E. Jackson Ave., the location of a former Subway. Armando’s Tuxedos owner Gus Corona said Downtown Harlingen helped him with a 50/50 matching incentive grant. The $874.01 grant paid for his sign, a bold “Armando’s Tuxedos” across the side.

“It helped a lot,” Corona said. “It gave us money to do other stuff that we needed like get inventory, stuff we had to do inside as far as dressing rooms and painting, so it really helps.”

The tuxedo shop is the third opened by Corona.

“I’ve been looking for awhile now for a new location, and I came across it on the Internet,” said Corona, who owns two other tuxedo stores in Brownsville and Weslaco. He said he really likes the downtown area. He also likes the setup of the corner store, which has lots of windows.

“I saw the local shops around it and I thought it would just be a good fit for a tuxedo shop,” he said.

The attractive downtown area, which includes locally-owned clothing shops and antique stores each with their own special personality, may have convinced Luis Betancourt and his wife to open Carlito’s Wine House in August. The first of its kind here, Carlito’s at 204 W. Jackson Ave. is a rustic comfortable establishment with large leather sofas, wooden coffee tables, a high ceiling and brick walls.

Patrons can choose from a variety of wines from Napa Valley in northern California, plus Washington, Oregon, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Argentina.

“We enjoy wine,” Betancourt said. “We enjoy what wine does to people. It brings them together. It’s kind of like having wine with friends in your living room. That’s the concept.”

Next door, Michelle Ballin recently opened The Vanity Lash Hair and Waxing Studio at 206 W. Jackson Ave. She’d been in business for several years at another location but decided she wanted to be on Jackson Avenue.

“I like the old buildings,” she said. “I wanted that Audrey Hepburn ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’ look.”

Ballin opened the salon at its previous location several years ago because she wanted to bring something new to Harlingen. “It’s a full blowout bar, a one stop shop,” she said. “They can come in and get their hair shampooed and their nails done, their color done, their lashes done.”

Up the street at 204 E. Jackson Ave., John and Beth Fuqua opened J&B’s Café in October. The Java Café did business there for years, but the new owners have given the dining room and menu a noticeable makeover.

Pat and Sue Thomas have operated Twinkets and Friends for about a month. The two retired teachers have five businesses renting space in the store at 122 1/2 W. Jackson Ave. Those five businesses are filled with vintage furniture, crafts and antique home goods such as mixing bowls and glass. The shop has quickly become a draw for people wishing to visit the Thomases or other customers.

Juiceology Juice Bar, LLC opened in July at 210 E. Jackson Ave. It’s an organic juice bar that offers freshly-made vegetable and fruit juice, smoothies and protein shakes. Other downtown businesses this year include Escanuela Fine Art at 103 W. Jackson Ave. and Honey Bees, a boutique at 208 W. Jackson Ave.

In spite of all this activity, the city’s monthly sales tax revenue bounced all over the place.

In July and August, the city received increases in sales tax dollars of more than 9 percent from last year. In August, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar sent Harlingen $2.054 million, a 9.21 increase from last year’s $1.880 million.

However, in September, the city received only a 4 percent increase in sales tax dollars.

Although the increase wasn’t as high as the previous two months, Mayor Chris Boswell was nevertheless pleased about the numbers.

“Nine, nine and four percent is great,” he said. “That’s five straight months of increases and almost four percent total for the whole year. That amounts to a total increase of nearly $800,000 for the year. More than we expected. Those are very good numbers.”

In October, however, the city didn’t see an increase at all. In fact, Harlingen had a startling 4.485 percent decrease in sales tax dollars when it received $1.644 million in revenue. The previous year the city received $1.728 million for the month.

Raudel Garza, manager and CEO of the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation, said he doesn’t worry too much about monthly fluctuations in receipts.

“When you look at the year over year gains of more than three percent, Harlingen is having a very good year,” Garza said. “In an economy of over $1 billion in annual taxable retail sales, that annual increase equates to about $35 million more in taxable sales from our Harlingen businesses.”

In November, the city rebounded with a 2.93 percent increase in sales tax revenues over 2014.

Business continues at a brisk pace into the New Year.

Plans are underway to restore the Baxter Building downtown. The city has agreed to sell the building to MRE Capital, a Kansas City, Mo., company on the condition it qualifies for state and federal tax credits to renovate the structure. The company has applied for the tax credits from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs Housing Tax Credit Program.

If MRE qualifies for state and federal tax credits, it will pay the Harlingen Community Improvement Board $250,000 for the building while investing $4.5 million to renovate it to its original condition.

Boswell hailed the agreement.

“I think it’s the most unique because of the nine stories and because it’s going to be restored,” Boswell said. “If you consider a $4.5 million investment, anywhere in our city we would welcome that.”

City leaders are counting on the Baxter Building’s renovation to help cap the downtown’s revitalization.

“It’s a huge eyesore and concern,” downtown Manager Cheryl LaBerge said. “It’s been tough having that blighted area in the middle of downtown.”

LaBerge said the city’s plans to renovate the Baxter Building have helped lead more business owners to invest in storefronts near the nine-story building.

“I think that made people feel it’s being addressed and feel they could invest,” LaBerge said.

And just recently, city leaders launched a $14 million project to build a convention center in the business district. The project would include an “upscale hotel,” Boswell said.

The city has been trying for more than 20 years to build a convention center that would attract more tourist dollars.

“I really feel great about getting to this point,” Boswell said. “We’re excited about the prospect of moving forward. We still have hurdles to resolve but basic points regarding the structure of the agreement have been agreed on, in principle, between the developer and city.”

Some other projects started early last year are still in the process.

The $10 million Palms Behavioral Health Center on Victoria Lane was expected to be completed in 2015. Boswell said the project is well underway but not yet complete.

The $2.6 million multi-purpose building at St. Anthony Catholic Church is nearing completion, as is the $3.2 million Cameron County Communications Center at 501 Camelot Drive.

The building permit for a new Golden Corral was for $1.35 million. Work continues on that project. Hooters of America LLC., has submitted a building permit application for $1.25 million. The restaurant chain is planning construction of a new restaurant at the northwest corner of Dixieland Road and Harrison Avenue.

Work is scheduled to begin Feb. 1 and be completed by May 1.

RAYMONDVILLE — Some top stories of the year are quick hitting and remain in the headlines a short period of time.

Others leave lasting effects in their wake.

Willacy County experienced the latter in 2015.

An inmate uprising destroyed much of the so-called tent-city prison, plunging Willacy County into an economic crisis that will continue to unfold in 2016.

On Feb. 20, complaints over medical care led about 2,000 prisoners to riot, setting fire to tent-like domes at the Willacy County Correctional Center.

The destruction left the prison “uninhabitable,” leading officials to transfer 2,834 inmates before shutting down the prison that cost $60 million when it opened in 2006.

By mid-March, the Federal Bureau of Prisons terminated its contract to hold inmates in the prison, which had paid the county for every inmate it held.

The prison’s closure slashed $2.7 million from the county’s $8.1 million general fund budget, leaving the county with a monthly revenue shortfall of $220,000.

To try to offset the loss of revenue, county commissioners cut 25 jobs, forcing 16 layoffs. Nine positions remained vacant.

“It’s very difficult,” Commissioner Eduardo Gonzales said in October. “These are the ripple effects of the prison closure.”

After deep budget cuts, county commissioners approved a $7.3 million general fund budget.

County Judge Aurelio Guerra described the budget as part of a “two-year plan.”

During the coming year, commissioners are counting on the prison’s insurance policy to make more payments, Guerra said.

He said business interruption insurance reimburses revenue losses for a period of up to a year.

Without the prison’s insurance money, commissioners would cut as much as “a few hundred thousand dollars” off the county’s next general fund budget under a “worst-case scenario,” Guerra said.

In Raymondville, the closure of the 3,000-bed prison led city commissioners to slash about $600,000 to offset a plunge in water sales.

As a result, officials postponed a $325,000 street improvement project.

But they set aside $104,000 for street repairs.

“We’ll be patching potholes, that’s what sure,” Mayor Gilbert Gonzales said.

Meanwhile, county officials and Management & Training Corp., or MTC, the company that operated the prison since it opened, continue to search for a customer to fill the prison.

Officials are counting on the Bureau of Prisons to accept MTC’s proposal to hold inmates at the prison.

MTC has offered to accept the Bureau of Prison’s request for a company to operate a 1,200- to 2,000-bed “low-security” prison.

The Bureau of Prisons has proposed that a company hold male “criminal aliens” with about 90 months or less remaining on their sentences in Texas, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico or Oklahoma.

The Bureau of Prisons is expected to respond to proposals by MTC and other prison operators by April 2017.

Guerra said officials also are counting on E.ON Climate & Renewables to build 115 wind turbines in the San Perlita area in 2017.

The wind farm operator is expected to pay the county $458,000 a year during a 10-year period.

HARLINGEN — The city saw some familiar ups and surprising dips in its retail sales, with major businesses opening or expanding while sales tax dollars rumbled like a roller coaster.

New businesses opening this year included a car dealership, a call center, a wine house, a salon and a café, and that’s just the beginning.

Bert Ogden Toyota Scion opened in August at 8721 W. Expressway 83. The 56,000-square-foot dealership immediately began doing a brisk business, selling more than 200 vehicles in the first month. The dealership had been located at 602 W. Jackson Ave. where it employed 55 people.

It opened at its new location with more than 100 employees, said General Manager Adrian Burone. There were plans to add another 150 employees in the near future.

Burone, a Brownsville native, appreciated the robust sales.

“People from all sides of Cameron and Hidalgo counties have given us support,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of people who have chosen to drive a little farther just to come to our service department because of the great job they do.”

The dealership sits on 10 acres. Burone says future plans include the development of another six acres for expansion.

Qualfon opened its doors in May with 147 employees. But the call center has the capacity to employ more than 600 people.

For the rest of this story and many other EXTRAS, go to our premium site, www.MyValleyStar.com.

Subscribe to it for only $6.99 per month or purchase a print subscription and receive the online version free, which includes an electronic version of the full newspaper and extra photo galleries, links and other information you can’t find anywhere else.

RAYMONDVILLE — Some top stories of the year are quick hitting and remain in the headlines a short period of time.

Others leave lasting effects in their wake.

WillacyCounty experienced the latter in 2015.

An inmate uprising destroyed much of the so-called tent-city prison, plunging WillacyCounty into an economic crisis that will continue to unfold in 2016.

On Feb. 20, complaints over medical care led about 2,000 prisoners to riot, setting fire to tent-like domes at the WillacyCountyCorrectionalCenter.

The destruction left the prison “uninhabitable,” leading officials to transfer 2,834 inmates before shutting down the prison that cost $60 million when it opened in 2006.

By mid-March, the Federal Bureau of Prisons terminated its contract to hold inmates in the prison, which had paid the countyfor every inmate it held.

The prison’s closure slashed $2.7 million from the county’s $8.1 million general fund budget, leaving the countywith a monthly revenue shortfall of $220,000.

For the rest of this story and many other EXTRAS, go to our premium site, www.MyValleyStar.com.

Subscribe to it for only $6.99 per month or purchase a print subscription and receive the online version free, which includes an electronic version of the full newspaper and extra photo galleries, links and other information you can’t find anywhere else.

HARLINGEN — Gloria Nelson and her two friends had enjoyed a productive day counting birds in the cold and rain.

In spite of the weather, by noon they had recorded 41 species of birds on their tally sheets for the Harlingen Christmas Bird Count. They spoke excitedly about the morning’s adventures while sitting at a Whataburger restaurant.

“We saw the common yellowthroat, yellow-rumped warbler and ruby-crowned kinglet,” Nelson said.

“My highlight was a barn owl,” said her friend Linda Butcher. They’d been driving around their assigned area near Texas State Technical College and Valley International Airport all morning. Norma Friedrich, one of the co-compilers, had been the driver and also spotted birds.

The count is part of an annual event held throughout the United States. It was sponsored locally by the Arroyo Colorado Audubon Society. Counters were assigned one of 28 specific areas within a 15-mile circle extending from Harlingen to San Benito and Rio Hondo. It also spread toward La Feria.

Friedrich and Mark Conway, another co-compiler, were also there to accept the tally sheets of any half-day counters. They’d made arrangements to receive the tally sheets at the Whataburger at 1522 E. Harrison Ave.

They remained there between noon and 1 p.m. However, out of 60 counters, only two came by as half-day counters to deliver their tally sheets. The rest of the die-hard birders would remain in the field the entire day.

Friedrich said the number of counters this year was about the same as last year. This in spite of some extremely disagreeable weather, cold and wet. Rock solid dedication was the order of the day.

“There are no chickens in birders,” Friedrich said. She’d seen her share of birds, too.

Although Butcher spoke eagerly about her barn owl, she declined to reveal exactly where she’d seen it. Conway explained why.

“People like to see barn owls,” he said. “If they keep going back to the same place, it will spook the barn owls.”

Conway himself spent a couple of hours at Hugh Ramsey Nature Park where he counted about 36 birds.

“That’s before it started to rain, about 9:30 a.m.,” he said. “I got in there at 7:30 until it rained.”

The birds behaved differently in the heavy rains than they would in more favorable conditions. They sought cover in the thick brush. Their lack of movement made spotting them difficult, Conway said.

“They try to get out of the wind and rain like people do,” he said.

Nevertheless, he saw some notable birds, including the painted bunting and blue-headed vireo.

“Did you see a verdin?” Nelson asked.

“No,” Conway said. “I didn’t see it. I saw a Cooper’s hawk.”

Nelson mentioned they’d seen quite a few sandhill cranes. She was pleased with the number of birds counted.

“I was surprised we saw as many species as we did for the conditions we had,” she said.

Conway hesitated to say the count would be as good as in previous years. Last year, the count yielded 157 species of birds.

“That’s a good year,” he said. Matching that same number this year would be a little tough.

Nelson, Friedrich and Butcher were technically half-day birders, but for a reason. They were heading out to prepare chili, pecan pie and other eats for the free countdown dinner. The meal was held at the Harlingen Cultural Arts Center at 576 ‘76 Drive next to the Harlingen Public Library.

They were pretty jazzed about starting on the meal, although they couldn’t stop talking about the birds they’d counted.

“We got excited when we saw two white-tailed kites,” Nelson said as they stood to leave.

Friedrich said she’d enjoyed the day with her fellow birders and looked forward to the evening events.

“It’s nice to be with like-minded people,” she said.