Four representatives from the Lions Club International were in town in hopes of starting a new club and stopped to visit at Pouland’s. The most traveled of the three was Ronnie Martin of Freeport; Ed Stiles of Hemphill who is the  2015-16 District Governor;  Waldo Dalchau of Broaddus and Bobbie Fagan of Livingston, 2016-17 District Governor and a member of the Corrigan chapter.

Waldo Dalchau was telling John Ralph he was formerly the head basketball coach at Blinn College from 1978-98. He remembered trying to recruit Neil McGilvra, who was coached by his father (John McGilvra) and had an outstanding DHS basketball career. Neil chose to play for Coach Guy Davis and the Angelina College Roadrunners. When Ed Stiles overheard this conversation he commented that John McGilvra was his high school basketball coach in Liberty and remembered him as a “killer on workouts”. Ed also shared that Dr. Dan Carter of Lufkin was another member of that Liberty basketball team.

Ron Martin from Angleton, New Club Development Consultant, was also traveling with Waldo and Ed. He enlightened me about Lions Clubs International which was founded by an insurance agent from Chicago, who at the time belonged to a men’s social club.  Melvin Jones decided that there should be an organization that did more for their communities. The first gathering of clubs was in Dallas Texas in 1916, where 29 men’s social clubs met to work out the details of this new organization, and to decide on a name, 12 of those clubs were from Texas.  In 1917 the first convention was held to vote on the decisions made at the Dallas gathering.  Lions clubs has since grown to over 200 countries and territories, with over 1.4 million members.  In 1925 Helen Keller addressed the attendees at their convention, and asked them to become her Knights for the Blind.  At that point in the organization it was voted on by the delegates to become the Knight for the Blind.  Since that convention Lions have worked to help improve lives for anyone needing anything to do with vision, eyeglasses, cornea surgery, eye tissue, guide dogs, cataract surgery to name a few.  Recently Time Magazine voted Lions the number #1 non-governmental agency in the world.  They are also considered to be one of the best organizations in the world to donate to, as no public funds are used to run the organization.  If you donate money to Lions Clubs International’s Foundation for a disaster, every cent you donate is forwarded to the local Lions club to help those in need; every penny must be accounted for as to how it was spent to help those in need.

Texas has almost 900 Lions clubs with just under 26,000 members.  The Lions of Texas also own a camp in Kerrville for kids with disabilities.  They have 5 one week sessions for kids with physical disabilities; 1 week for kids with Downs Syndrome and 2 weeks for kids with Type 2 diabetes.  These camps do not cost the child or his/her family anything!  The Lions of Texas underwrite all the cost and all it takes for a child to attend a camp is for a Lion to sign their paperwork.  For more information about the camp please go to Texas Lions Camp .com.

When you read this, there will have been an organizational meeting of folks in Diboll that met to start a local Lions Clubs chapter. Lions Clubs are about their communities, and what they can do to help improve the quality of life for those who live there.  They may do everything from improving the community to putting up new flag poles; it’s up to the local Lions club to decide what they want to do. If you are interested in joining approximately 50 other people who have already made a commitment to become a member of the new local Lions club, contact Sarah Thompson at city hall 829-4757.

Congratulations to 13-year-old Macy Ward who will be competing for a state title at the Junior High Region 5 Rodeo Finals in May. Macy won two buckles at the Regional Finals and will be competing in Breakaway and Ribbon Roping in Gonzales. Macy is the daughter of Wayne and Amy Ward and a sister to Paige. Both girls attend Diboll schools.

Melvin Linton, Jr. brought a poster promoting the Angelina Benefit Rodeo, April 20-23. He also brought raffle tickets for us to sell on the Dodge Ram truck that will be given away during the last performance. We also have vouchers to purchase rodeo tickets. A book of 10 vouchers is $80. You take the vouchers to Cavender’s Boot Center in Lufkin where you can choose the seats you want.

Julie Horton came in with her granddaughter, Samantha, who wanted to buy plants for a flower bed. They had both been busy doing yardwork. Lots of folks have been in to buy plants and seeds for their spring and summer gardens: Otis Ray Posey, Hugh Robert Lyles and his brother, Roy Lee, who always has a large garden. John Richard has been in several times to get plants as well as Woody Ingram, Buddy Shipp and Glenn Shivers. Tina Jowell couldn’t resist the pretty germaniums to plant at their new home in South Meadows and Sam Coleman was in buying tomatoes and pepper plants.

This will be your last chance to get a ticket to the $5,000 Steak Dinner this Saturday, April 2^nd at Shelton’s Barn at 6:30 PM. The Angelina County Go Texan Committee is sponsoring this fun event and all the proceeds will benefit their Scholarship Fund. Call Andrea at Pouland’s for more information 829-4040.

And, it’s finally here! The annual plant sale sponsored by the Master Gardeners of Angelina County. It’s this Saturday, April 2^nd at the Angelina County Farmer’s Market. The gate opens at 8AM and will last until 2PM or until they sell out. The plants are adapted for this area and they will have perennials, natives, fruit trees, roses and so much more.

Come see us…’round the table.

The Diboll High School Dazzlers, their managers, sponsors, and families traveled to Orlando, Florida for five days at Walt Disney World for Spring Break. They kicked off the week with a day exploring the Magic Kingdom. Tuesday, the Dazzlers participated in a “Dancin’ Disney” workshop presented by Disney Performing Arts. The girls were taught a Broadway style Disney routine by dancer/ choreographer Sam Simms, and then went through a mock Disney audition using what they had learned. After a break, the girls learned another routine and then put it all together in a special mock performance with Goofy! The Dazzlers all earned Disney Performing Arts certificates and were made honorary “cast members” for their hard work, and spent the rest of the day enjoying Epcot. Wednesday was spent in the Animal Kingdom, and the Dazzlers performed a 15 minute show in the Disney Springs area that evening. A packed crowd were excited to learn about Diboll, and were shocked to learn that a town our size was able to raise so much money and had such a great dance team. Disney was equally impressed by the Dazzlers, and the girls “earned their ears” and received a commemorative Mickey Mouse trophy. The rest of the week was spent in Hollywood Studios and back in the Magic Kingdom before starting the bus ride home.

The Diboll Dazzlers and group traveled on a chartered bus. Those making the memorable trip were: Capt. Celeste Monrroy, Lt. Brittney Barkley, Lt. Jazlynn Mark, Lt. Peyton Morgan, Evian Davis, Jo Lynn Baker, Kelsie Grissett, Tristan Rice, Yesenia Gonzalez, Ashlee Cole, Nicole Santana, Jade Hernandez, Mirella Carrillo, Anais Fajardo, Haley Sudduth, Madison Powell and Valerie Ramirez. Their sponsors are Gina Souto and Kristina Inman and their managers are Rebecca Banuelos and Cynthia Ramos. A total of 64 made the trip to Florida. Thanks Dazzlers for putting DIBOLL on the map, we are proud of you.

Jan and Burlon Wilkerson have been taking “mini” vacations and I am most appreciative that they are willing to share information about their most recent one which started with a trip to Galveston to the historic Grand 1894 Opera House & Theater. They attended a performance of Capitol Steps a five member troupe who have all worked on Capitol Hill. For 35 years they have performed satire all based on fresh news from the headlines; their claim is, “We put the MOCK in Democracy”. Jan said with this being an election year, they have had plenty of material. The next day they spent time on “The Strand.” Their first stop was La Kings Confectionary where they bought handmade candy and sat on a bench out front and ate it for their breakfast before continuing shopping along the famous street. They toured the “Ocean Star” which is an actual off shore oil rig that has been made into a museum.  They were able to see how these rigs are set up and what type of work an off shore rig is capable of doing.  It was a very interesting tour.

The next weekend Jan Burlon Wilkerson went to Irving to attend the Texas Steel Guitar Associations Jamboree. Talented steel guitars players came from around the world to perform. The music never stopped with a different performer playing every 30 minutes.  One of the highlights was the Charlie Pride band, The Pridesmen, backing their steel guitar player.  His son, Deon, sung and then visited with the crowd .The next day they “shopped” their way home by going to the outlet mall in Terrell, and making stops in Tyler, and Jacksonville. These two are already making plans for more mini vacations.

Two sets of sisters enjoyed a mini vacation to the Boardwalk in Shreveport. Letha Grandgeorge and her sister, Naomi Holeman and Ginger (Taylor) Capps and her sister Judy (Taylor) Kellum. It was during the time that I-20 traffic was being re-routed through highway 59 and it took them one hour to drive from Lufkin to Nacogdoches. Letha said the traffic was bumper to bumper from Carthage to Shreveport and it took them two hours for that short distance but once they arrived in Shreveport, they took their time enjoying all the luxuries of the Margarita Ville Hotel.

Enjoying an afternoon trip to the Arboretum in Nacogdoches were good friends, Don and Dollie Whitaker and Earl and Carolyn Hutson. Earl said everything was very pretty but you best not wait too much longer to see the azaleas. They met some mutual friends also walking the trails and enjoying the day; Martha Williams and her neighbor, Ernestine Allison from Hudson. Martha and Ernestine came back to enjoy some good fried shrimp at The Cajun Oaks before going to see the new faith-based movie, Miracles from Heaven, which they highly recommend seeing.

Enjoyed visiting with ’96 DHS graduate Kevin Tolly who lives in Plano but was in Diboll taking care of his mother’s lawn. His mother is Linda Tolly who is a teacher’s aide at Diboll Primary.  Kevin works in Human Resources for Plasticpak who manufactures bottles for Pepsi, Kraft, Gatorade and many other companies. Kevin was all smiles talking about his upcoming wedding in April to Tanya Rodriguez who was also a member of the 1996 DHS graduating class. Her parents are Jesse and Rosemary Rodriguez of Diboll. Oh yes, I had to go back four generations of Kevin’s family before I could truly say I remembered his great-grandmother, Erma Lee Shatto.

Dianne Gibson enjoyed having her granddaughter, Lena Tate, in Diboll during Lena’s spring break from her 8^th grade class at Magnolia West. They enjoyed visiting over a delicious meal at the Tokyo Japanese restaurant. Lena was excited about spending remaining days of her spring break at Crystal Beach.

Let’s hope the customer that quoted the saying “Thunder in February, Frost in April” is wrong and spring is finally here to stay. Our fresh bedding plants are green and healthy and folks are ready to put them in the ground. Chuck Mann was anxious to use the new Sthil weed trimmer he bought. Cathy Pavlic was in buying cattle cubes for her grandkids to feed the neighbor’s Braham bull.

Carl Ferguson brought us raffle tickets to sell on a Ruger 1022 rifle. All proceeds from the sale will go directly to Delilah Olivares, to help with the expenses of medical treatments. The tickets are 6 for $5 or $1.00 each.

Margie Bass has made a new produce, handmade soap with sugar that acts as an exfoliate leaving your hands extra soft. We have used the jar she brought us and it does leave your hands feeling extra soft. Thank you Margie.

As a reminder, the Burke Chapter of the Eastern Star is having a fund raiser, April 1^st, selling $7 lunches of pulled pork sandwiches. You can go by the lodge in Burke or call 829-5973 to place an order.

As Christians, we will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ on Easter. It is the most well attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches. Plan to attend services somewhere on Easter.

Come see us…’round the table.

U.S. clocks sprung forward last Sunday for daylight saving time, the annual event that stretches the hours of evening sunlight and irritates those who’d rather leave well enough along. I wish they would leave it alone and I agree with the person who said they would vote for the candidate that would leave Day Light Savings time. Did you know that Ben Franklin first introduced this controversial clock changing idea way back in 1784? Did you realize the Monday after the change was National Nap Day and wouldn’t be necessary if the time didn’t change?

James Simms and I visited at the bank and he told me his grandson, Wiley Parker, had his 6th birthday on March 5th. I argued with him that Wiley just had a birthday a few days ago but he assured me it was a year ago. James, Kathy and all of Wiley’s family are extremely proud of him. On Friday the day before his birthday Wiley ran a 1K race and on Saturday he ran the whole distance in a 5K race which is almost 4 miles! His dad, Craig Parker, ran alongside just in case he was needed. Wiley raised $750 for the benefit. He later celebrated with a big birthday party. This week is Wiley’s spring break, his dad was able to be off the whole week and Jamie is very fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom so I’m sure they have the week planned with fun things to do.

Shane Garrett had a birthday on March 9th. Because he loves NASCAR racing, his wife, Crissy, treated him to a “Ride Alone with the Pros” which is 3 laps around the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth. This is also known as the Richard Petty Driving Experience. Shane and Crissy drove to Aledo, Texas where they were invited to visit his DHS classmate, Jermichael Finley and his family. Jermichael said he normally offered his guests hor d’oeuvres but on this occasion he ordered pizza to eat while they all enjoyed watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship on TV. Shane said they had a good visit and shared that Jermichael stays busy with football camps, his fitness center and being a partner with his father-in-law’s Boss Hogg BBQ.

Four guys rode their motorcycles from Kingwood to Pouland’s last Saturday. The weather was bleak here but they said it was sunshine except around the Corrigan area. The four were Louis Burdulis from Katy who is an industrial real estate manager; James Cunningham from Houston who owns Texas General Construction and his son-in-law, Chris Papandrea from Cypress and Jack Williams who is a familiar face around here. They had it planned to meet Vic Bass here and go to the airport for lunch. Jack Williams is the author of “18 Doors” a book about his ministry to people on death row. Through his “BroJack” ministry, he is presently working for the Harris County Juvenile detention ministering and making vivid presentations of what it’s like on death row in Texas. Jack and his two sons Brandon, age 20 and Jason, age 27, live in Kingwood.

BACKYARD GARDENING, a world all its own! The thought of fresh vegetables growing in the backyard has to be appealing to most. It’s a great pastime and can be great therapy. It can also be a great family activity for the kids. Here at Pouland’s we can help with the planning and preparation of your garden and provide you with fresh bulk seed, plant sets, soil amendments, fertilizer and all you need to get the job done right. By the way, it’s time to prune and fertilize roses.
Frank Farrow came in with his beautiful 2-year-old great-granddaughter, Abbigail Powell and her dad, Clay. Frank is a busy guy with all his chickens and show rabbits. He is a rabbit judge and spends a lot of time traveling around the country judging rabbit show.

You would be surprised at the people who have backyard chickens. I am one of them and have named most of my bantam hens and roosters. My backyard is filling up fast with chicks of all ages because I have successfully hatched many chicks in my incubator; therefore, I am running out of names. The backyard chicken phenomenon is thriving because non-farming Americans are concerned about food safety, taste, nutrition and the satisfaction of raising poultry as pets. There is nothing better than a fresh egg delivered by a happy chicken.

Abney’s Fish Truck will be in our parking lot on Wednesday, March 23rd from noon until 1 PM. If you want to stock a pond, he will have channel catfish; bass, black crappie; bluegill, minnows and even pond fertilizer. If you would like to place an order, call Berry Abney at 1-870-697-3550 or check out the website at www.fishstocker.com.

The time is nearing for the annual Master Gardeners’ plant sale on Saturday, April 2 beginning at 8AM until 2PM at the Angelina County Farmers Market. They will have perennials, native plants adapted to this area, fruits, roses and much, much more!

The evening of April 2nd at 6:30 at Shelton’s Place on FM 2108 will be the Angelina County Go Texan $5,000 Steak Dinner. No, the tickets only cost $100 per couple and includes a steak dinner with all the trimmings and a chance to win $5,000. The proceeds from this dinner will benefit their local scholarship fund. Andrea has tickets here at Pouland’s and more information if you need to call her, 829-4040.

Come see us…’round the table.

Lots of folks were in buying fishing licenses for spring break. April Richard came in to get a fishing license although her plans were to just “go along for the ride” while her husband Phillip and son Drew fished for perch. Drew was to participate the next day in the high school fishing tournament representing Diboll ISD.

Naomi Holeman came in to buy a fishing license with her son John. She and family members had two cabins rented at Harvey’s Cabins for three days and some were planning to stay in a tent. John’s plans weren’t to fish but to help babysit some of the younger ones. Naomi said the menu included fish that was donated by her sister, Letha and Junior Grandgeorge, and BBQ. About 12 to 15 family members plus dogs were looking forward to this campout.

Arlene and Winston Hook were also making plans to enjoy Spring Break and getting some time off from his job with Diboll ISD. They had plans to “rough it” in their RV while camping at Sandy Creek on Dam B. Although these two are veteran Dutch Oven cookers, Arlene didn’t plan to do much cooking but spend more time relaxing and riding their bicycles.

Lorene Rhiddlehoover made her first visit to Pouland’s looking for pot holders for Lodge cook wear. She and her husband retired from their boot and shoe business in Carthage and moved to Lufkin to be closer to their grandchildren; Landon, age 12 and Reagan, age 11. Their parents are Jimmy and Joy Rhiddlehhover and Jimmy is the manager of the beautiful Ivan Smith furniture store.

A couple from Elgin, Texas had already stopped at two other feed stores Saturday morning looking for Lady Cream Pea seeds. Randal and Karen Wilkerson live in Elgin, Texas and were in Diboll to attend the 100th birthday party for his aunt Oda Wilkerson. Randal’s parents were Vann and Cora (Stephens) Wilkerson who spent time in Diboll. Randal is VP of Claims and Risk Management for Texas Hospital Association and Karen is Senior VP of Risk Management of United Heritage Credit Union. They have three children: Gary and his wife, Norma live in Laramie, WY; Gayle of Dripping Springs and Celeste of Lyon, Texas. Randal was happy to find a Lodge cast iron pot and cookbook.

Family and friends from near and far came to celebrate the 100th birthday and reception of Oda Wilkerson last Saturday, March 5th. Not only was Diboll well represented but also Lufkin, Pollok, Mt. Pleasant, Austin, Elgin, Houston, Madisonville and even Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. Mrs. Wilkerson’s children and grandchildren along with nieces, Sandy Hendrick and Janie McCann, hosted the successful event. About 200 guests came to share memories and renew aquaintances. Diboll has been Oda’s home for the past 80 years and has been a great place to live. The family wishes to thank everyone who came to honor Oda and also thanks to First Methodist Church of Diboll for the use of their facilities. Oda and Dewitt Wilkerson’s children are: Bobbie Joyce Burnett of Houston; Betty Fridell of Diboll; George Wayne Wilkerson of Houston and Peggy (can’t remember her middle name) Wilkins of Houston

On Friday, March 4-5th, several women from First Baptist Diboll enjoyed a wonderful start to their spring break at a Women’s Living Proof Live Conference with speaker, Beth Moore and worship lead by Travis Cottrell. The event was held at the Extraco Event Center in Waco, TX with more than 7,000 people in attendance from 28 states! Beth Moore focused on life events that cause us all to be “shaken.” Whether it be health concerns, issues with finances, family, relationships, a job or some sort of addition, each attendee received a word from God through Beth’s message. Each woman in the FBC group was able to come away from the weekend with a new focus on life specific to them. From being inspired to use their story to help others, or being able to understand God’s power through heartache in their lives. From learning to have a stronger faith in God’s provision and love or in receiving Christ’s love and grace through salvation in Jesus Christ, this past weekend made evident to many that our “unshakable” God is not dead, but still changing the lives of so many!! Those attending were: Dawn Baxter, Jana Colter, Judy McGuire, Julie Scott, Lindsey Hines, Tiffany Nash, Vickie Pettey, Theresa Burns, Autumn Kesinger, Becky Day, Carrie Hibbs, Gloria Dunlap, Jamie Smith, Marci Fenner, Amber Pesek, Linda Hall, Stacey Minton, Staci Morgan, Crystal Williams, Heather Nash and Lacey Chandler.

Dr. Neal and Mary Naranjo stopped in on Saturday on their way to Canton’s First Saturday. Mary was rushing Neal who enjoys looking at feed store “stuff”. During his short visit he did mentioned that on Friday he had taken Diboll ISD 5th graders on a tour of the Naranjo Museum of Natural History and I was proud to hear him say, “They were a bunch of smart 5th graders.”

It’s time to mark your calendar for the Angelina County Master Gardeners’ annual spring plant sale, April 2. It will be held at the Angelina County Farmer’s Market. The plants are chosen by the Gardeners that are adaptable for our area and should grow very well in the soils and climate in our part of the world. Gates will open at 8 AM.

Remember to come see us…’round the table.