Thanksgiving week was very busy for the Carter house in Burke. Early in the week, David and Charlotte (Morris) Carter were blessed to have his daughter Meredith Romine, her husband Chad, and their 4 year old son from Bedford, Indiana. “Carter” is the first name of the 4-year-old. They all enjoyed visiting the Festival of Trees at the Museum of East Texas and Carter’s love of trains took them to the Texas Forestry Museum the next day. During their last visit to Diboll they went to the History Center and Papa Carter scared little Carter with the train horn so they skipped that this time! On Wednesday the rest of the family came for Thanksgiving dinner. David’s son, Jamie, from south Louisiana and his wife, Cheryl, and three children (Virginia, Ana, and Ethan) came and spent the night. His daughter Amanda Robertson, son-in-law Jason, and grandchildren Dixie Leigh and Jack Davis from Appleby came for dinner. It was a very nice visit and lots of food was consumed!
Good friends, Thomas and Jean DuBose, traveled on Wednesday with their sons, Tommy and Larry, from Apple Springs to Oxford, Mississippi. Their granddaughter and Tommy’s daughter, Ashlan, lives there with her husband, Dr. Chris Glaze. Thanksgiving dinner was in their home with 13 guests including Ashland’s mother, Mary Frances, her husband, Jeff and younger brother Dre Espenosa from Frisco; her brother Adam and Allison, Jack and Reagan Dubose from Leander, Texas; and of course, Jean and Thomas; her dad Tommy from Austin and Larry Dubose from Belton. On Friday family photos were taken on the Ole Miss campus. After that the group traveled by a double decker bus to the square where activities included a carriage ride, tree lighting, shopping and singing. On Saturday, Thomas and Jean participated in their first Rebel tailgating party on the Grove at Ole Miss. The Grove is a large green space on the Ole Miss campus that transforms overnight into a sea of red, white and blue tents. Tailgating in the Grove is not just a simple tailgate, there are strict rules and some tents are equipped with all the comforts of home. Most have TVs hooked up to Direct TV with a dozen or so lawn chairs surrounding them. There are no open flames, gasoline, or propane allowed in the Grove. This eliminates the option of cooking burgers, hot dogs or any other grilled item that you would normally find at a tailgate. Chris took care of providing, cooking and delivering lots of good food to their tent. The temperature was freezing and the wind blowing but everyone enjoyed the experience but only the brave attended the ballgame. Returning to east Texas on Sunday was difficult with lots of traffic and construction but happy to say they all made it home safely.
Jimmy Woodard has been traveling again and sent the following news. I left on Saturday, Nov 19th with friends Karen Barringer, Tara and Addison Thompson and Leanne Hendrick on flight 1638 from IAH to Los Angeles to visit for a week. My luggage, however, traveled to Los Angeles on a different flight and arrived late that night at our hotel. I had a marvelous time visiting Griffith Observatory, reading, learning and watching interactive videos about the solar system and observing the valley, mountains and Los Angeles below us! We went to La Brea Tarpits for an interesting adventure learning about digs for fossils and the cleaning process of the fossils getting them ready for assembly! We had a wild, fun time at Universal Studios riding rides, eating and drinking and spent one day at Palm Springs where we ate at Pinocchio’s, a very interesting dining choice. While in Palm Springs we had an awesome 2 1/2 mile ride on the Aerial Tramway from Valley Station to Mountain Station. The tramway car had a 360 degree rotating floor that allowed us to view the natural surroundings, wildlife and overlook Palm Springs. It was 36 degrees at the top and snow was on the ground. The lodge-like facility at the top had a gift shop with several outdoor viewing areas and also a large area available for parties, weddings, etc. The view was breathtaking! A beautiful waterfall provided a relaxing sound as it flowed down the mountain. There were hiking trails and even a ski slope; some folks hiked down the mountain, don’t know what their problem was (perhaps afraid of the ride down???????). Our group returned to Texas on late Thursday night from a fantastic journey…and our luggage arrived at the same time!!
The Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving, the Sergio Zapata family was leaving Diboll for College Station to pick up their Aggie daughter, Karina. Sergio and his wife, Deyanet and Karina’s 9-year-old brother, Junior and 7-year-old sister, Katia were all anxious to see her but probably not as anxious as Karina was to see all of them. I’m sure they all had a grateful Thanksgiving.
Roy Smith was happy to share how excited his dad, Leroy, was about killing a deer this season. Leroy is only 87 years old. John Walter Cobb lives on acreage outside of Corrigan. He was outside working on trailer lights when he spotted a couple of deer walking in the edge of the woods. He didn’t get excited about that until he realized a really nice buck was following them. As most Texans, he reached in his pickup, got his rifle, and now has a nice 10 point trophy. John also shared how much he enjoyed seeing Tanya Tucker in Crockett recently. He was 14 the first time he saw her; a second time in 1976 in the Astrodome and this past August in Lake Charles, La. He said she packs the house and puts on an extremely good show.
Looking for Boston terrier puppies for Christmas? One of our customers, Emily Barton has AKC registered red and white six weeks old puppies; 2 girls and 2 boys. Her number is 903-478-2411. Billy and Judy Sessions drove all the way from Alto to get pecans last Friday not knowing the store was closed and drove all the way back on Saturday. It was good meeting and visiting with them as we had several mutual friends. Lynn Carranza has been driving from Houston several years to buy pecans…glad we were open.
Sherrel Fears has moved to Diboll on Burkhalter Hollow Road. I didn’t want to believe him when he said it not only rained but hailed one day about 11AM and several inches of the ice was still on the ground about 2PM. Sam Anderson came in after lunch and said he saw a bunch of “white stuff” beside the highway on FM 2497 and realized it was ice confirming Sherrel’s story.
The Ladies’ Christmas Luncheon, sponsored by the Diboll Civic Club, will probably be the last big Bingo of the year. It will be Thursday, December 15th.The lunch is $5 and each bingo card is $1. Because it is a luncheon, only 5 games with great prizes and 1 blackout game will be played plus you get to enjoy a delicious lunch and door prizes. The time is 11:30 until 1PM in the cafeteria at the Family Education Center. For more information call 829-2779 or 829-4817.
Earl Carr wants to invite everyone to his church, Fairview Baptist, this Sunday, December 4th to hear David Ring speak at both services, 11AM and 6PM. David Ring is a cerebral palsy victim who shares how he became a cerebral palsy VICTOR! The pastor, Gene Hazell and all the members extend a cordial invitation to this free event. For more information call 936-637-1466 or 676-5229. The church is located at 3742 FM 2108. (The intersection of the airport road and FM 58.)
Mark your calendars on Wednesday December 7th for Diboll’s Christmas in the Park at 6PM. There will be lots of music, readings, hot chocolate and the official lighting of the decorations in the park. Don’t forget, it’s getting bigger and better every year.
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