Gualberto Wally Gonzalez was honored for his decades of service to Point Isabel ISD at the district’s monthly meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 19 (Courtesy photo by PI-ISD)
By CATHERINE DONNELLY
Special to the PRESS
In the thick of Tarpon territory, there is a man with a voice that is both a call to fight the good fight on the football field and somehow feels like ‘home.’ Gualberto “Wally” Gonzalez, Point Isabel’s class of ‘71 and the beloved announcer for the football games for over half a century, is that man.
There’s just no way to describe the tribal feeling that comes with a well-run sports team. Even high school football teams, like the Tarpons, can develop into fiercely close-knit and competitive communities. Gonzalez was instrumental in fostering this unity among Point Isabel Independent School District’s football fans over the past five decades.
In high school, Gonzalez was two years behind another Tarpon titan. This man would become The Honorable Bennie Ochoa III, Justice of the Peace for Cameron County at Port Isabel. Gonzalez came from a enthusiastic family of Tarpons. He and Ochoa fostered Tarpon pride in their future families, with their children carrying on the tradition as football players, cheerleading coaches and even running the concession stands to raise scholarship money for current students.
Gonzalez quickly points out that Ochoa has successfully cooked for and run the game’s concessions for over 40 years—the money from selling these game-time snacks created eight to ten $500 sports scholarships annually. Of note, they are given out egalitarian in that an equal amount of young women receive them as young men.
Want the entire story? Pick up a copy of the Port Isabel-South Padre PRESS, or subscribe to our e-Edition by clicking HERE!