Voices of the
BIG BEND
Jim Glendinning recreates some of his popular radio interviews from “Voices of the Big Bend,” an original
production of KRTS, Marfa Public Radio, which is broadcast throughout the region at 93.5 FM.
GLORIA RODRIGUEZ
G
loria Rodriguez was born in
1957, the oldest of nine children,
in Las Conchas, Chihuahua across the
Rio Grande from Ruidosa. Her father,
Enrique Rodriguez, was a farmer who
often harvested candelilla wax plants
which he sold to Rex Ivey in Lajitas.
Gloria’s schooling was in San Carlos,
Chihuahua, 17 miles south of Lajitas,
and then at a Catholic school in
Ojinaga.
Gloria’s first job was in 1975 at the
Lajitas Trading Post, then the hub of
cross-border commerce in South
Brewster County, latterly owned by Bill
Ivey. It lasted to 1981.
In 1980 she married Rick Page of
Lajitas and worked in their busy liquor
store in Lajitas, while also selling con-
dominiums at Lajitas Resort. Their
daughter, Vanessa, is married to a
Border Patrol agent, Rush Cotter and
also works for the Border Patrol. They
live in Sanderson and have a daughter,
Marilyn Kay. Gloria and Rick’s 23-
year-old son, Russell, is studying electri-
cal engineering at Texas A & M.
In 1996, divorced from Rick Page,
Gloria opened a guest house in San
Carlos, called La Gloria, the product of
a 20-year dream. Proud of her
14
Cenizo
RAY HENDRYX
Hispanic culture and keen to show vis-
itors the beauty of San Carlos Canyon
and explain the history of the town, she
designed a modern hacienda and
supervised the construction. At the
entrance to the canyon, with year-
round water flowing through the ter-
raced garden, the guest house with red
tiled roof and wide porch was readily
accessible from Paso Lajitas. Guests
arrived from all over the world.
Following 9/11 and the closing of
the Lajitas crossing, Gloria advertised
getting to San Carlos via Ojinaga. With
the Ojinaga/San Carlos road now
paved, the trip from Ojinaga is less than
an hour.
Tourist cards and vehicle import
permits are not required by the
Mexican government, although a
passport book or card is now required
by the United States government to
reenter the States.
Gloria continues to promote La
Gloria. Although bookings have been
affected, Gloria has never shied from a
challenge or hard work. “I like to take
risks,” she says.
When she gets bookings for La
Gloria (lagloriabb.com) she drops her
job in Alpine’s Penny’s Diner and meets
Third Quarter 2009
SHIRLEY ROONEY
her clients in Ojinaga for the quick
drive to San Carlos.
N
o person in the Big Bend region
comes close to matching Ray
Hendryx as the Voice of the Big Bend
– both literally, because for 31 years he
has anchored the local radio station
KVLF and figuratively, since his opin-
ions and attitudes reflect the best of our
community.
He was born in 1953 in El Paso to
Lucille and Gene Hendryx, who met in
1949 at Sul Ross State University.
After graduating from Alpine High
School, Ray went to Texas A & M
University. He describes his grades dur-
ing a one-year stint at A & M in 1971 as
“not so good” and acknowledges that
the subsequent four-year service in the
United States Navy made him focus,
imposed some discipline and offered
some stability. In 1976, after four years
as a radioman, he left the Navy.
Since childhood he had been fasci-
nated with “the box that could talk”
and took a course in radio technology
at the Elkins Institute of Technology in
Dallas prior to his Navy service.
Ray’s father had taken over the
fledgling radio station KVLF in Alpine
RAYMOND SKILES
in 1951. During high school Ray had
worked part-time at KVLF. By the
mid-70s his dad’s health was failing
and, swearing that the move was tem-
porary, Ray took over the “Morning
Show” in 1978. To do this, he rose at
4:45 a.m. to go to work and has been
doing it ever since. KALP, the FM
station, was added in 1980.
In 1974 Ray married Rita Evans.
They have two sons, Travis, who works
at Sul Ross, and Otis, who lives in
Kansas with his wife Kelly and their
three children, ages 2, 6 and 8.
Visits to Kansas, and an occasional
fishing trip, are about the only time
Ray gets out of the studio. It’s a bind-
ing routine, he acknowledges, but he
wouldn’t trade it for anything. Living in
small-town Texas can’t be beat.
Ray brings a human element to
broadcasting, whether looking for a
misplaced message to read over the
radio, applying his deprecating sense of
humor or giving his listeners a percep-
tive take on local issues. Ray Hendryx
is, indeed, the Voice of the Last
Frontier.
W
ith an energetic enthusiasm that
belies her 74 years, many of