March 20, 2017

Congratulations to Duran Electric for begin recognized as Business of the Month by The Diboll Business Association. Omar and Blanca Duran is the owner. Omar grew up in Diboll and graduated from DHS in 1997. His parents are Arturo and Linda Duran. Duran Electric has been in business for 7 years and specializes in residential and commercial electrical work. Omar and Linda have three children: Omar, Jr., age 3; Valarie, age 9 and Crystal, age 13.

The Diboll Business Association had its monthly meeting in the hospitality room of the Diboll Inn compliments of owners, Rick and Linda Patel. They and their children are very active in the community. Their 11^th grade daughter, Krishna, is in band and is a tennis player; her little brother, Dhwani, is in the 4^th grade.

A big congratulations to one of our customers, Hallie Hawkins, whose parents are Brent and Jeannie Hawkins. Brent is a former DISD superintendent but presently serves in that position at Livingston ISD. All three daughters, Hallie, Gracie and Hannah attend school there and are involved in many activities. Hallie, the youngest daughter, is a member of the Livingston Junior FFA and raised a Hampshire barrow she named “MFL”, Mister Fat Legs. She exhibited him at the Houston Livestock Show and someone must have liked his fat legs because he was Grand Champion of Hampshire class. Gracie and Hannah also raised barrows but have not yet been in the ring. They are known as the “Hawkins Sistas” and we wish them all luck!

During spring break Lewis and Shirley Ivey traveled to Hot Springs, AR with their daughter Brandy Soto, granddaughter Katylen, grandson Bill and his friend, Emily from Newton. It was a trip down memory lane for them back to the time they lived there for about 7 years. The group rented a nice condo on Lake Hamilton where Shirley enjoyed relaxing and visiting with friends from that area. Brandy enjoyed going with her dad to show the kids where they lived, went to school and the little church that Lewis and his son Brad helped build that is now a mega church. They attended services there and that afternoon drove to the largest lake in Arkansas, Lake Ouchita. Lewis showed them an empty field where he once worked at Weyerhauser. Another day was spent downtown visiting the Alligator Farm, Arlington Hotel, Wax and Gambling Museums filled with Al Compone stories and tested the hot water in natural mineral springs. They enjoyed a “Duck tour” on Lake Hamilton where Lewis showed the kids many former fishing holes.  Before leaving Hot Springs, they visited the Sat bottom Girls Cupcake Bakery where Brandy bought a cupcake and brought all the way home to her husband William who had to stay here and work.

Kathy Sample enjoyed having 6-year-old grandson Jaxon and 2-year-old granddaughter, Linley during spring break. They are the children of Amanda and Blake Yarborough who live in Nederland. It was a busy four days while they were here and included visits to the museum, zoo, McDonalds and a successful fishing venture.

Owners of Los Jarritos, Carlos and Julie Galvan, took some time off from the busy restaurant to spend with their two children; 13-year-old Edward and 11-year-old Alexis. Also having fun with them was Julie’s nephew from Center, 13-year-old Brandon. They visited with Julie’s sister, Nancy, and helped her plant potatoes. Later, they attended a movie, had ice cream and shopped at an estate sale. Another day was spent enjoying a cool swim in the family pool.

Chuck Mann bought plants hoping the cool weather is gone. He said his pecan trees weren’t budding (a sign when to plant) but his neighbors’ trees were. He also bought a fishing license just in case he had time to fish. Richard and Elke Brashear from Corrigan came in for garden seed. Thomas Lowther was showing the video of the 10 baby goats he has at his house.

Brooke Colwell came in with her precious 21-month-old daughter, Gentrie. They were on their way to her sister’s house where her 4-year-old son, Lewin had spent the night with his Aunt Hope and cousins: 6-year-old Kendall; 5-year-old Peyton and 19-month-old Gavin. They had plans to build a raised garden bed.

The Angelina County Go Texan Committee is having another $5,000 Steak Dinner on April 1 6PM at Shelton’s Place. Tickets are $100 per couple and includes a steak dinner with all the trimmings and a chance to win $5,000. VIP table packages are also available but only 200 tickets will be sold. All the proceeds will benefit the scholarship fund for Angelina County students. For tickets or more information, call Randall Taylor 936-634-4134.

Ariana “Ari” Garza, the beautiful daughter of David and LaDonna Garza of Diboll is competing for the title of Miss Cinco de Mayo 2017. Ari is a senior at DHS. You can see her on the volleyball court and also in the courtroom for Mock Trial. She is definitely a leader, strong athlete and Christian young lady. Ari plans to attend the University of Houston and major in Speech Pathology. She is asking people to become a community partner for Team Ari and support her. Look for Team Ari on Facebook her website, www.teamarigarza.com, email, teamari2017@gmail.com, call 635-4468 or 936-229-1762.

Ariana and her “Team Ari” is having a Baked Potato Sale, Friday, March 24, 10:30 – 1:30. Potatoes are Plain with add-ons or BBQ and include a dessert and water. You can pick up at the Lumberjack field house. By the time you read your Free Press it may too late to “preorder” so for more information call LaDonna Garza 936-635-4468 or email lgarza@dibollisd.org

Pouland’s has beautiful bedding plants that are locally grown. Don’t forget we also have gift items, tiny terrariums, fairies, birdseed and all the usual stuff you find in a feed store. So, come see us…’round the table!