May 16, 2016

The newly organized chapter of the Diboll Lions Club, under the direction of President Gary Gores, is not wasting anytime to begin being a service to our community. One of the most important programs that Lions Club has to offer is the KidSight Program to detect early visual conditions. Gary Gores and Lions Club Director, Tracy Nichols were recently certified and trained to use the Spot eye scanning camera service for the Lions’ National KidSight program. The goal of KidSight is to provide an optical camera to objectively scan young people from 6 months to 6 years of age and identify conditions that may be present impairing their vision, catching potential vision problems at an early age can impact eye development in time to make corrections and allow for lifetime improved vision and the basis for better learning. Tammy Holder of Tree House Academy was the first Diboll Area daycare professional to provide the program to their toddlers. If Lions Club KidSight program can be made available as an opportunity for youth, it could indeed be a blessing in their lives .Lions Club International hopes the Lions KidSight program will be supported throughout Texas and impact thousands of children’s’ eye heath in Texas. For more information contact Gary Gores 936-465-8215 goresgolf@ymail.com

It’s not too late to join the Diboll chapter of Lions Clubs and still be a charter member. There has been approximately 60 members that have already joined and there’s always room for more. Contact Gary Gores for more information, 936-465-8215.

Christi Quarles was one proud mother of her youngest son, Owen, who won the $500 savings account from Huntington State Bank for having good grades. Students in grades one through 12 from any school district, private school, charter school even home school as long as they have written and signed Report Card are eligible to register their Report Card A’s for a Chance to Win a $500 Savings Account. There are two drawings a year and Owen won the second semester that is held in May. Winning students are awarded a Certificate for a $500 Savings Account in front of their classmates on their school campus. Since the bank first initiated the Pays for A’s Program in 2002, they have proudly awarded $60,000+ in Savings Accounts to students in our area. For more information about the Pays for A’s program, contact Stacey Willmann, Marketing Director at (936) 639-5566.

Luis and Rosie Maldonado of Diboll are extremely proud of their son, Marco, who is a freshman at Tyler Junior College. Marco, like his dad, loves the game of golf and is a member of the Tyler Junior College men’s golf team that moved to the top of the latest NJCAA D2 golf poll, the National Office announced Monday.  Additionally, Marco Maldonado was ranked 2nd in the nation individually.  The squad is preparing for the NJCAA D2 National Championships, which will be held May 24-27 at Swan Lake Resort in Plymouth, Indiana. Marco is also one of five who is competing for the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award. Congratulations and Good Luck to Marco and his team members.

Jimmie Woodward was one of the volunteers that helped the Diboll Business Association with the coke booth at the Tamale Festival last Saturday. In conversation she mentioned a recent trip to Cozumel and agreed to share it with me. Following is the email I received from Jimmie. Tom (Kuhn) and I left Houston for an 8 day visit to Cozumel which turned into an 11 day adventure.  While in Cozumel we snorkeled, swam, sunned, parasailed and did a lot of walking.  One day we took a 30 minute ferry ride to Playa del Carmen and spent the day.  One day we took the submarine ride which took us down 100 feet to view a sunken ship; beautiful fish, tons of awesome coral and formations on the bottom of the ocean and we saw 4 scuba divers.  One day we rented a car and took a trip all the way around the island of Cozumel, which was totally awesome.  We visited a lot of restaurants and, of course, ate while we were there.   Excellent food!!!! And as any vacationer, visited a lot of gift shops, making some souvenir purchases.  At last, it was time to go home but we learned that the Houston airport was flooded, no planes to come and get us, so we had to stay an additional 3 days!   Oh, So, Sad!!!! NOT !  Great fun on a great adventure!

Sitting at the round table one day was Jimmy “Big Mack” McCall, Bobby Chandler, Skeeter Scarborough and Ray Anthony. Skeeter never worked at the paper mill and didn’t contribute much to the conversation or had a chance to say much because the other three had a great time reminiencing about people and good times while working at the paper mill.

Sue Chandler shared with me that her husband Bobby and daughter, Tracey Murray, gave themselves a “surprise” birthday party on May 14^th at the Murrays’ home. This is an annual event since Bobby’s birthday is the 15^th and Tracey’s is the 16^th but I don’t think it is a “surprise” to anyone. The menu included pulled pork, chips and dip and cupcakes for dessert. Enjoying the food and fun were Bobby and Sue Chandler; Leslie and Rickey Stubblefield, their daughter-in-law, Megan and grandson, Carson (Josh had to work); Ray Chandler and fiancée, Ashley; Tracey and Sydney Murray and their son, Caleb, his wife Zowie and beautiful 9-month-old, Henley. Caleb, Zowie and Henley live in Deridder, LA but travel back home quite often.

Marjorie Bass is always “on the go” doing something that usually involves cooking. She said cooking keeps her mind off her aches and pains. We love to see her coming because it usually means she’s been in the kitchen and bringing us something to eat. This past week she brought not only a breakfast dish but also a hearty serving of her homemade chicken and spaghetti. Thank you Margie, you are a sweetheart!

To those of you that didn’t attend the annual Tamale Festival, you missed a treat. I can’t believe they said it was our 9^th year for this fun occasion. It was a bit hot but lots of folks drove a distance to enjoy not only hot tamales but a variety of food menus, vendors, rides, lots of entertainment for children and an extraordinary petting zoo that included a camel!!  Where else could you go but in Diboll to see camels and tamales. Put it on your calendar to attend next year, the 2^nd Saturday in May. A BIG THANK YOU to the small committee that made this a very successful event.

Come see us…’round the table.