June 8, 2015

Terry and Dale Grantham had all their family members present at Cheddars to celebrate the 16th birthday of their granddaughter, Anna Seale, who is a sophomore at Jasper High School. Her mother, Marty the youngest daughter of the Granthams’ was present along with Anna’s older sister, Maggie. Marty is a 5th grade math teacher in Jasper and Maggie has completed her first year at UT in Austin. Maggie will work as a counselor this summer at Camp Longhorn. Daughter Lisa and husband David Crager were in the group; Lisa continues to work at GP in Diboll and David stays busy with his quality construction business. Daughter, Tina and her husband Rayburn Hance, came with their two sons; 23-year-old Marshall and 20-year-old Morgan. Marshall will graduate from SFA this summer and stays busy singing and writing songs; you might be lucky to catch him performing at The Liberty Bell in Nacogdoches. Morgan is a student at Blinn College. Their mom, Tina, is a Bristol Myers pharmaceutical representative and their dad, Rayburn, works as a sales representative for Texas Document Solutions. Sometimes, on special occasions, Rayburn performs as the flashy Elvis while Marshall portrays the younger Elvis. Terry Grantham is completely retired and enjoys being at home while Dale continues to work. The only job Dale has ever had is working at Diboll Junior High where she has been for 44 years and said they coerced her into staying ONE more year!

Ruth Mullins’ 80th birthday was last December. Eighty is a special number of years. Her daughter Diane knew Ruth would not want a big party so she and her husband Bob Pennington, told Ruth they would treat her to see Neil Diamond in May when he came to Houston. The date finally arrived and it was during all the rain and flooding in Houston. The threesome couldn’t believe it when they drove ALL the way to the Toyota Center with no rain or flooding. Neil Diamond was great and it was a great way to celebrate a special birthday. Diane and Bob also treated her to see Riverdance in January as part of her special celebration.

Leonard and Billie celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on June 10th. They began celebrating early when Leonard really surprised Billie with a Baby Grand piano Thursday, June 4th. Then Saturday, June 6th, at First Baptist Church, they had a reception to celebrate with their family and friends. It was really a great event. Family who came in from out of town were daughter Debra Mader and her husband, Tony; grandsons, Michael McGowan from Dallas and Jacob McGowan and his wife Meredith from Pearland with their sons and Leonard and Billie’s great grandsons, Logan and Luke. A cousin Walter Silveria came from Georgetown and niece Lynn Warren and her husband, Johnny from Killeen. Also missionary friends, Johnnie and Lahoma Loar came from Fort Worth. Plus local family, son, Leonard, Jr. and his wife, Camellia and their daughter, Rochelle Pena were there. Camellia’s dad, Joe Miranda completed the family circle

Billie and Leonard would like to say “thank you” to all the friends who came to celebrate with them. Everyone made the day extra special for them. The food was catered by J. R.’s Barn and decorated by Vintage Blooms with Teresa Pouland and Bailey Litton. Andrea Swor made the punch and Lena Coody helped with decorations and set up. Everything was pretty and the food was delicious. The Robisons said these ladies will always hold a special place in their hearts and memories. Grandough’s Bakery made the cake and it was almost too beautiful to cut. But cut it they did and it was good. Leonard and Billie give thanks and glory to God for the family, friends and life He has provided for them and look forward with anticipation to many more years of living for Him and serving Him in some capacity.
Darla and Jack Thomason live on Fairview Circle and to celebrate several graduations, temporarily transformed their backyard barn into a tremendous party area with lots of atmosphere and string lighting. Zane Smith and Liesa Starr Larabell graduated from Pineywoods Academy. Zane is their nephew, the son of David and Tiffany Smith who co-hosted the special event. Starr is Ben Thomason’s girlfriend. Luke Weisner, Darla and Jack’s grandson was also honored for his kindergarten graduation. Zane’s dad, David, arrived early morning to prepare cooking for the main courses of BBQ and fried fish. Luke’s parents, Jill and John Weisner, also helped with the event. Zane’s grandmother, Betty (Hannah) Smith and his aunt, Sherri Weeks, prepared the delicious desserts and someone made homemade ice cream. Approximately 60 guests enjoyed the special party.

Darryl and Annette Richardson have always been faithful to follow their granddaughter, Alyssa Dotson, in her softball career. Alyssa is presently attending Navarro Jr. College in Corsicana on a softball scholarship where she is a left-handed first baseman for the “Bulldogs”. The team qualified for the National playoffs in beautiful St. George, Utah. Nancy Mize at Holiday Travel found Darryl and Annette a non-stop economical “red eye” flight into Las Vegas where they rented a car and drove 100 miles to St. George. Alyssa’s parents, Greg and Lisa, were also there. On Saturday the group drove back toward Las Vegas for an impressive tour of Hoover Dam and then on to Vegas for a dinner show at Margaritaville and back to St. George. Everyone was tired but made it safely, back to Texas. Darryl and Annette’s grandson and Alyssa’s brother, Blake, graduated from Baylor and is an assistant manager for Enterprise in Waco.

Charlotte and James McClintock spent the weekend in Victoria watching their 16-year-old granddaughter, Kaylee McClintock, compete in a 4-H Marksmanship state shooting match representing Trinity County. This is Kaylee’s second year to compete using a .22 rifle. Her team placed 11th out of 33 teams that competed. Her parents are Steven and Michele McClintock.

E. W. Scarborough is one of many discouraged farmers whose crops are a failure due to the excessive rains. He said “never” has his potatoes rotted in the ground and everything that should have green leaves now has yellow leaves. We’ve heard that so many times as folks are coming in to buy seeds to replant. George White was in buying okra, squash, watermelon, peas, corn, etc. to start over. Our farmers markets will be short on local produce this year. If you thought gas was high, wait until we see the price of produce this year.

Come see us…’round the table.