Come see the creation of the City of Von Ormy!

EVENT: Incorporation Ceremony
LOCATION: Commissioner's Court
Bexar County Courthouse Room 1.20
100 Dolorosa, San Antonio, Texas
TIME: 11:30 AM


COMMITTEE TO INCORPORATE VON ORMY
P.O. BOX 377, VON ORMY, TEXAS, 78073
www.vonormytexas.com | 210-857-6848

Press Release
May 10 2008

RE: City of Von Ormy Established by Voters.

Event.
On May 10th 2008 the voters of Von Ormy, Texas, by a vote of 117 in favor and 16 against, passed a proposition to establish the city of Von Ormy, Texas in Southwest Bexar County.

Residents gathered for a victory celebration at Sacred Heart Catholic Church and toasted to the new city with locally made wine and champagne. Residents then processed to the church's bell tower and rang the bell for nearly one hour. The church's bell dates to the 1840's and is perhaps the oldest continuously used community symbol in Von Ormy. It is still rung as it was in the old days by manually pulling on ropes. The last time residents rang the bell for an hour was at the end of World War II, a local historian noted to the crowd. Everyone present took turns ringing the bell, young and old. The bell is named "San Ignacio"; it was a Mexican tradition in the 19th century to symbolically baptize church bells and give them names. The name "San Ignacio" is cast into the bell, and it is rung before every mass. Every Von Ormian since the 1840's has heard "San Ignacio" ring and in this night it rang proudly to usher in a new era in the community's history.

The Committee to Incorporate Von Ormy is proud to announce that it has accomplished its goal in creating the city of Von Ormy with a near 90 percent consensus.

CIVO would like to humbly thank everyone involved with the incorporation effort, especially our great CIVO members, volunteers, and everyone who contributed to the campaign in any way. It was truly a community effort and the results demonstrate this clearly.

The next step in the incorporation process is for Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff to sign an order of incorporation and enter the city of Von Ormy into the official record of Bexar County Commissioner's Court. This is tentatively set to occur on Friday, May 30th, 2008. An election to elect a Mayor, 5 at-large Alderman, and a Marshall will be held in the November General Election

Committee to Incorporate Von Ormy (CIVO) is a Texas non-profit association formed in the summer of 2006 by residents of Von Ormy, Texas to incorporate Von Ormy into a municipality. The CIVO website can be found at http://www.vonormytexas.com

The current CIVO officers are:
Chair Art Martinez de Vara, Attorney
Asst. Chair Charlie Brown, Pilot/Owner Alamo River RV Resort
Asst. Chair Mike Suarez, Internet Specialist
Secretary Mary Louise Castro, Teacher
Treasurer Raymond Vara, Jr., Bookkeeper

Latest News on Incorporation

5/10/08 - Express-News Article "Von Ormy: Rural area becomes newest town" See it here.

5/8/08 - Southside Reporter Guest Commentary by Art Martinez de Vara See it here.

5/8/08 - Southside Reporter Article on Von Ormy Election See it here.

5/7/08 - San Antonio Current Article on Von Ormy ElectionSee it here.

4/30/08 - Express-News publsihed an article on the Von Ormy Election. See it here.

4/18/08 - VOPAC mailed all registered voters a flyer with eletion information

4/9/08 - Volunteers put up 150 yard signs and 30 LARGE yard signs around Von Ormy

3/15/08 - CIVO hosted a town meeting at Jarret VFD Fire Station on Sat. March 15th.

3/13/08 - CIVO hosted a town meeting at Sacred Heart Church on Wed. March 12th. Over 35 voters attended.

3/12/08 - The Von Ormy Trail Ride was very successful. We raised $1250.00. Thanks to everyone who participated!

2/21/08 - County Judge Nelson Wolff signed an Order of Election today! Our incorporation election will be May 10th!! Read the order of election here.

2/20/08 - Our application was submitted and Bexar County election department has selected Sacred Heart Church as our early voting and election day polling site. Click here to view our application for an election.

2/18/08 - We have completed our application for incorporation and will submit it Tuesday, Feb. 19th with County Judge Nelson Wolff. Once the application is approved and the election is ordered, CIVO will organize a series of town meetings to address questions and get out the vote.

2/1/08 - The City of San Antonio has granted us permission to form the City of Von Ormy. They passed a resolution on January 31, 2008. Our next step will be to file an application with Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff requesting that he order an election on incorporation of Von Ormy. CIVO has been working hard to get this application complete and we expect to file it on Monday, February 18, 2008. We have hired Baker Surveying, Inc. to perform our survey, which you can view here: Survey | Survey Description.

Once our application for incorporation has been submitted and accepted by Judge Wolff, he will order the election.

Important Documents

About CIVO

Committee to Incorporate Von Ormy (CIVO) is a Texas non-profit association formed in the summer of 2006 by residents of Von Ormy, Texas to incorporate Von Ormy into a municipality. The CIVO website can be found at http://www.vonormytexas.com. The current CIVO officers are:

Chair Art Martinez de Vara, Attorney
Asst. Chair Charlie Brown, Pilot/Owner Alamo River RV Resort
Asst. Chair Mike Suarez, Internet Specialist
Secretary Mary Louise Castro, Teacher
Treasurer Raymond Vara, Jr., Bookkeeper
Asst. Treas. Sally Martinez, Retired

CIVO
PO Box 377, Von Ormy, Texas 78073
Tel: 210-857-6848
Fax: 210-448-7756
Email: martinezdevara@yahoo.com

About Von Ormy

Von Ormy, Texas is currently an unincorporated community in southwest Bexar County. The historic town center today lies near I-35 and Benton City Road. During the Spanish colonial era, Von Ormy sprang up along the natural crossing point of the Medina River on the Camino Real between San Antonio and Saltillo. Von Ormy was known then as "Paso de las Garza's" or "Garza's Crossing". After the War for Texas Independence (1836) the town was known as "Mann's Crossing". And finally on December 4, 1886 the city changed its name to "Von Ormy" in honor of Prussian Count Norbert Von Ormay, who moved to the city that year. A year later Count Von Ormay and his court mysteriously disappeared, but the name remained.

Von Ormy has co-existed with San Antonio for nearly two-hundred years and during that time Von Ormy has maintained a distinct historic and social identity. During the War for Texas Independence, the residents of Von Ormy came to the aid and assistance of our neighbors in San Antonio. During the Battle of Concepcion, Von Ormian Juan Martinez and others reinforced Texian forces under command of iCol. Jim Bowie and Col. James Fannin who were pinned down along the San Antonio River by Mexican forces. Von Ormian Blas Herrera rode hurriedly to San Antonio to warn the defenders of the Alamo of the approach of Santa Ana upon seeing the approach of the Mexican Army into Von Ormy. Von Ormian "Deaf" Smith, served the Republic heroically as a spy during the war and a Texas County was named in honor of him (Deaf Smith County). And after Texas won its independence the alcalde (mayor) of San Antonio, Jose Antonio Ruiz, sought and received refuge in Von Ormy, where he lived the remainder of his days and was buried.

The oldest church in Von Ormy was founded in 1836 as Santisima Trinidad Catholic Church, the parish exists today though renamed Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The town's first post office opened in 1872 and the town now has its own zip code (78073). In 1906, the first bridge over the Medina River at Von Ormy was built by the International & Great Northern Railroad. In 1914, the town had two grocers, a general store, a cotton gin, and a population of 350. In 1946 the population was still 350. The Von Ormy School closed in 1956 when Southwest ISD was formed by area residents. The school taught the children of Von Ormy for nearly 50 years. Since that time the population has grown slowly, and in 1990 Von Ormy had over twenty businesses. In 2007, construction began on a Union Pacfic Station in Von Ormy. Currently, the Committee to Incorporate Von Ormy (CIVO)is leading a community effort to incorporate Von Ormy into a municipality. The area CIVO wishes to incorporate is 1.88 square miles and has over 1,300 residents and over 10 businesses.

Von Ormy Flag

The above flag was adopted by CIVO for use as a provisional Von Ormy Flag. The left 1/3 is a blue field with a white star with the letters T-E-X-A-S interlaced between the points of the star. This design was borrowed from the first provisional flag of the Republic of Texas designed by Lorenzo de Zavala. This memorializes those brave Von Ormians who have fought for liberty from the time of the Texas War for Independence to the present day. The right 2/3 is a white field with a Prussian Double Headed Eagle. The white field represents purity, innocence and trust, and memorializes our insistance that the government we are forming is for the benefit of all and not the profit of a few. The Prussian eagle is in honor of Count Norbert Von Ormay, our community's namesake. It is double headed to represent our community's dual heritage: American and Mexican, since both counties use the eagle as a symbol of their nation. The eagle holds a sword to remind us that freedom comes at the price of being forever vigilant to defend it. The banner above the eagle says "Von Ormy, Texas". The banner below says "Libertas, Fides et Familia" meaning "Liberty, Faith and Family". The flag was designed by Art Martinez de Vara and is available for purchase from the Dixie Flag Company in San Antonio, TX.

How You Can Help

CIVO encourages anyone who supports creating the City of Von Ormy to join and become an active member. Please send an email with your contact information to CIVO Chair Art Martinez de Vara at martinezdevara@yahoo.com or call 210-857-6848. Members are invtied to participate in all CIVO activies and you can be as active as you wish. We are also currently raising funds to help with the cost of postage, printing, public meetings, yard signs etc. Our next fundraiser is the "Von Ormy City Limits Trailride" Saturday, March 8th, 2008.


This website is maintained by the Committee to Incorporate Von Ormy.
Art Martinez de Vara, Chair
PO Box 377, Von Ormy, Texas 78073
Tel: 210-857-6848 | Fax: 210-448-7756 | email: martinezdevara@yahoo.com