November 17, 2014

 

The pecans arrived a day later than planned. Customers were calling and many came by multiple times before they were able to put their hands on the fresh pecans. These pecans come from Georgia and are selling for $10.25 per pound for halves and $10.00 a pound for pieces. We have another shipment arriving this Thursday. This is the time of year that we see lots of ladies and a few guys. While waiting for the pecans to arrive last Friday, Tommie Jan Lowery and Mary Hubbard spent the day visiting in the hospital, ate lunch at the Red Lobster and shopped in Hobby Lobby and finally toward the end of the day, got to take pecans home with them. Mary Hubbard was married to Morris Hubbard who was well known and remembered as a high school basketball official. He was also associated with Huntington State Bank for 41 years. When the bank opened in 1965, Morris Hubbard was their 3rd employee to be hired and later served as a director.

Geneva Ard just happened to be sitting at the Round Table when the pecans were delivered and was the very first customer to buy hers. Just a few of the other pecan customers that came in were: Carolyn Salas, Denise Myers, Deidra Pixley, Alicia Palacio, Susana Torres, Nita Hurley, Julia Jones, Pat Levens, Violet McDonald, Carolyn Stover, Mary Samford, Eunice Stephens, Wanda Matzenbacher, Pam Bowley and Sue Matchett. Temple Inland retiree, Jean Hamilton, stopped by during her lunch hour as she is now working part time at G/P. Mr. and Mrs. Louis Martin (another T/I retiree) enjoyed visiting when they came in for pecans, peanuts and jelly. Don and Dollie Whitaker came in with Dollie’s friend who had just finished decorating the Whitaker’s Christmas tree; they all bought pecans. Terry and Mike Gipson were in the area for a few days from their travels and happy to get pecans before they hit the road again. Driving from Apple Springs was Louise Hendry; from Livingston, Patricia League; from Corrigan, Dena Vance. Andrea congratulated Millicent Irish when she came in for receiving the prestigious

Two pretty ladies who have homes in Pine Crest drove to Diboll for pecans. Eloise Richardson and Dorothy Owen are both retired school teachers and enjoyed letting Andrea know that they both taught her husband Kevin Swor in school. Mrs. Richardson taught him in 2nd grade and remembers “he got into everything”.

Doyle Oliver and his brother, Ron Oliver, were dispatched to pick up Sarah Oliver’s annual order of pecans. Bro. Ron Oliver has been a Pentecostal pastor in El Paso for many years. They left and in a few minutes came back for more pecans. Bart Royal came in and bought several pounds of pecans; he loves to bake pecan pies and also gives pecans as gifts. Vernon Burkhalter bought pecans to give away and Earl Carr bought pecans for Joyce to cook with.

Enjoyed visiting with Jim and Sharon Morrison from Pine Forest, a town near Vidor with a small courthouse and population near 300. The Morrisons are the proud parents of Coach Blake Morrison, DISD Athletic Director. His mother shared with us her way of cooking tilapia with bread crumbs and orange marmalade…yum, yum!! Jim Morrison knew his son  would be a football coach when, at 5 years old, he saw Blake drawing “plays” in the dirt for his young team members. Ray Clary is mighty proud of his son, Audy Clary who received a scholarship from the University of Arkansas in Monticello to play baseball for the Boil Weevils.

Diboll is growing. Andrew and Traci (Parrish) Hall and two month old baby daughter, Sadie Elise, have moved to Diboll. Andrew is working on completing their home but in the meantime they are living with Traci’s grandmother, Ezzie Oaks, who is having a great time spoiling her great-granddaughter. Andrew and Traci moved from Glenrose where he worked for Riverbend Retreat Center. In January he will go to work as a service technician for McWilliams & Son. It was good to visit with Fran McGilvra’s sister, Sue and her husband, Tommy Butler from Hudson when they came in for Colorado pinto beans.

Wayne Hodges told us about seeing Marty Stuart in person at the packed Angelina College auditorium in Livingston. Marty Stuart is known as the “Keeper of Country Music’s Cowboy Couture”. Wayne and Charlie Mann traveled together and met Charlie Mullins, Gladys Mettlen, Vicki Mullins and son, Brody. All agreed it was a “high octane” program.

Mark your calendar for Ladies Christmas Bingo—Wednesday, December 17.  Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. with bingo starting at noon.  This year it will be at the cafeteria of the Family Education Center.  If you would like to help, contact Fran McClain at 829-2779 for food donations or Jan Wilkerson at 829-4817 for prize donations.  Then come and join the fun!

The Diboll Civic Club invites individuals, clubs, churches, and other organizations to help decorate Old Orchard Park for Christmas.  Lighted displays are being sought that will brighten up the park during the month of December between the 13th and 27th  I have a complete list of guidelines, please call 829-4040 and ask for Sandra so you can join the fun and be a part of decorating our beautiful Old Orchard Park for a drive-through Christmas attraction. We CAN NOT make this happen without your help!  

Jubilee Baptist Church on FB1818 in Diboll is having a Homecoming Sunday, November 23rd starting at 10:30 AM. Everyone is welcome to come hear the popular Narrow Road Quartet.

Saturday, November 29th has been designated as “Small Business Saturday”. You are invited to shop with local small businesses that day. Fill out the Scholastic Free Book Offer for Small Business Saturday® Book Redemption Card  (available at Poulands and other businesses) with your name and address and up to two (2) small businesses that you visited on Small Business Saturday® and a short reason why. For purposes of this promotion, a small business is defined as a retailer, restaurant, or non-professional service provider with fewer than 99 employees.  A Redemption Card may also be found at scholastic.com/ShopSmall. Each business you list means a free book for your family and maybe two books per household while supplies last. Fill in the requested information and drop the pre-paid card in the mail. The Diboll Business Association will certainly appreciate your participation on November 29th.

Time is running out for you to participate in the Diboll Business Association’s Christmas Cash Giveaway. Entry cards are available at City Hall, Library, DISD Administration building and Poulands. 20 chances to win prizes and $300 Cash for visiting businesses in Diboll.

Hope to see you at Pouland’s…’round the table.

 

 

May 5, 2014

 

Bessie Furgurson and Fran McClain traveled to Fulshear to pick up Teena Kellam for a trip to Kerrville. While in Fulshear, they enjoyed having dinner with Suzanne Stubblefield. Bill and Linda Fulmer were their hosts in Kerrville. They also visited with Bill’s sister, Kristen and husband, Norman, who are their “down the hill” neighbors. The ladies enjoyed lunches at Camp Verde and the YO Restaurant and visiting the Apple Store and the beautiful Wildseed Farm. Bessie and Fran caught them up on the folks in Diboll and of course they had a great time remembering “Old Times” growing up in Diboll.

Enjoyed meeting and visiting with two ladies that are good friends and grew up in Diboll, graduating from DHS: Debra (Taylor) Dunn, class of ’71 and Barbara (Ligon) Burton, class of ’69. They bought some of the gourmet preserves and Debra bought some flowers to plant. Debra moved to California for several years and lived in Los Angeles where she worked for the LAPD. She lived 55 miles from her job and it took her 2-1/2 hours to drive to work. That’s just one reason moving home to Diboll and East Texas was a good decision. I remember her beautiful daughter, Ayesha, working at Beall’s and later, at Belk’s selling Clinque products. She now sells the same products at Northstrom’s in Houston’s Galleria and like her mother, drives a long distance from Diboll to Houston everyday to her work.

Mike Gipson works very hard in his large garden and he so kindly shares the produce with the neighbors who live nearby in the Pine Valley area. A good friend of his and Dianne’s, former Dibollian Sarah (Salmon) Weathersby from Baytown, sent Mike some unusual radish seeds she ordered; some were purple, black, yellowish and red. Mike planted and harvested them this past week along with new potatoes and fresh onions and sautéed them in butter. He then served them with two large T-bone steaks that were grilled to perfection. Oooh, sounds good!!

The DHS Alumni Association is still trying to locate former DISD employees for the October Diboll Day Reception:  We need contact information for these  from the 2000’s: Wanda Bailey, Arsenio Barrera, Randy Batten, Heather Bergman, Steven Berry, Justin Biddle, Emily Breedlove, Kacie Bridges, Juliann Brooks, Phyllis Bryan, Ruby Burton, Jenesia Bushman, John & Susan Capozzoli, Joseph Carroll, Miriam Caurhon, Janie Clark, Ernestine Conley, Lorelei Cummings, Aubrey Davis, Shellie Davis, Elena Dejesus, Elida Dejesus, Jacob Denman, Anna Dominey, Susan Doss, Crystal Douglas, Karann Chew, Mark Dreid, Tonya Easley, Katherine Eaton, Lisa Elliott,Kellie Farr, Shigale Foster, Deborah Frazier, Doug Gerrard, Joan Giudici, Tricey Godfrey, Terri Gray, Tricia Hall, Julia Hardin, Lisa Harrington, Lynn Harris, Malena Henderson, Christina Hodge, James Holland, Vee Huggins, Amy Hutchison, Valerie Hyde, Zach Johnson, Suzi Kelley, Angie King, Jamie King, Crystal Lacy, Miriam Lambert, Florisela Lar!

a, Bradley Latham, Merry Alisha Lewis, Kayla Martin, Melissa Martinez, Kevin Mathis, Sonja McClellan, Laurissa McCormick, Jennifer McCullough, Beverly McGee, Vicki McNeil, Michael Mettlen, Andres Mijares, Linda Mitchell, Stacey Monteau, Brenda Montelongo, Kevin Moran, LaSandra Murphy, Dustin Nessel, Beth Neu, Alejo Pacini, Janet Kaye Page, Elizabeth Perkins, Deanna Petersen, Jason Pitts, Kasey Polk, Denise Price, Jamie Quinn, Johnnie Ray, Mindy Richardson, Maria Sanchez, Amanda Seago, Amy Seaman, Kristin Sherman, Vickie Sims, Aubrey Sledge, Stephanie Sloma, Katherine Smith, Stephanie Sparks, Cassie Stringer, Anna Sturgeon, Toni Sullivan, Brett Tucker, Cecilia Vann, Kay Verhoef, Bertha Villanueva, Cedric Vinson, April Wallace, Pat Wallis, Jeremy Wamsley, Darla Warden, Heather Whitcomb, Lori White, Horace Williams, Jennifer Williamson, Shannon Windsor and Michael Woodard. Please contact Fran McClain  829-2779 or franmc@consolidated.net if you have any information.

 

April 27, 2014

RT NEWS April 27, 2014

Herman Strauss stopped by early Monday afternoon after leaving the Salvation Army’s Adult Day Care Center where he and his wife, Wanda, and others have gone every Monday for more than 10 years to provide musical entertainment to the folks there. Joining them that day was Gene Squyres, Bonnie Jumper, Lena Challender, Ann Boles, E. J. Ratliff and Ray Smith. Wanda Strauss always accompanies the group on the piano.

Herman Strauss has a full weekend ahead of him. On Friday evening, May 3rd, he plans to attend his 64th Lufkin class reunion at the Henderson retreat off Highway 103 where the group will enjoy a Fish Fry. Others in that class of 1950 were Robert McDonald, James Jones, Bubba Henderson and Jo Ann (Fairchilds) Stewart. The class of 1950 was the first year that the 12th grade was added. Saturday morning at 9AM the group plans to meet at IHOP for breakfast and more visiting.

Saturday night Herman plans to attend the 1st Saturday night singing at the Beulah Congregational Methodist Church. He invites the public to come out and hear special guests, The Martin Family, sing at 7PM. Sunday morning, May 4th, is Homecoming for the Beulah Congregational Methodist Church. Services begin at 10 AM. Chet Strain and Trey Thompson will be the guest speakers. The music will be directed by Reginald Squyres and special music will be presented by the Bear Creek Boys, Tom Squyres and Herman Strauss. After the services, there is a Beulah School Reunion next door to the church in the Beulah Community Center where lunch will be served at 12:30. Everyone is invited to attend and bring a covered dish.

After telling us at the Round Table about those events, I asked Herman about his school days. He was a member of the DE (Distributive Education) class during his junior and senior years at Lufkin (he attended Beulah school through the 7th grade) and worked a ½ day in the surveying department for Southern Pine Lumber Company with J.D. Winder and Jack Warner. At that time. A young Arthur Temple, Jr. had a vision to make Diboll a better place to live. The survey crew’s project was to locate water and sewer lines and light poles to lay out new streets in Diboll. Herman remembers riding with Bob Musslewhite in his ’49 green Ford convertible “surveying” and then going back to the drafting table. The vision was to tear down the “Red Town” housing that was moved from the Fastrill logging camp and build better housing. Red Town included the area today on the east side of 59 in Diboll between First Bank & Trust and the General Dollar store. Joe “Tody” Denman, a former soda jerk had recently graduated from Texas A&M after serving in the war, was hired as an engineer by Arthur Temple, Jr. According to Herman, Joe Denman’s very first project was to design the “tourist court” located beside the Antler Hotel (the “L” shape concrete slab is still visible inside the school campus behind Brookshire Brothers). His next two projects were to design shopping centers for Pineland and Diboll. Joe Carter Denman, Jr.’s foot prints are still here as the Diboll ISD Administration building is part of the original Village Shopping Center that he designed.

Enough of the past and to the present, or past weekend. I’m not much on fishing but John Ralph and I drove across the long bridge on 147 expecting to see lots of boats as we had heard there was to be 8,000 boats on the lake last Saturday. It was the 30th Anniversary of the Big Bass Splash “Where It All Began on Lake Sam Rayburn” Fishing Tournament with a 1 Million Dollar Payout. What a disappointment to see only one lonely boat and fisherman when we crossed the bridge. Later as we were driving through some of the housing areas, we recognized someone we knew, Chad Camp, of Diboll. He and his wife, Jackie, had entered the tournament and won $900 with the almost 7 lb. bass they caught. That was exciting that we knew someone that had won a portion of the Million Dollar Payout.

Last Friday night in the restaurant at JR’s Barn was a group of friends and family that had gathered to support and listen to Betsy Plemons as they enjoyed good fried fish, shrimp and crawfish. Betsy is originally from Wyoming and attends SFA and will graduate in August with an Ag Business degree. She is also very musically talented and entertained the crowd with many songs accompanying herself on the guitar. She is also a song writer and sang several of her own songs. Her dad, Mickey Plemons, who still lives in Wyoming was present and later sang several songs with Betsy. I learned from her father that Betsy’s great-grandmother, Billie Burke, played the part of the Good Witch of the North in the original musical, The Wizard of Oz and was married to Florenz Ziegfeld of the famed Ziegfeld Follies. Betsy sang a song, OZ , that she had written in honor of her great grandmother. In the crowd of her admirers was Forest Baker, son of Thomas and Julie Baker who were also present. Forest attends SFA and will graduate in May with a nursing degree. He was excited to learn that day he had been hired by Woodland Heights to work in ICU after graduation.

I saw Cindy and Wayne Clark Saturday morning as they were leaving for Galveston to board a cruise ship; she promised to let me know details when they return. Jessica (Tipton) and Doug Dunn boarded a cruise ship on Sunday; hopefully, we will hear about their trip later. Returning from a cruise aboard Carnival’s Triumph is Ricky and Misty Morris with children, Lexy and Hunter, and her dad, “Smitty” Smith. Smitty said he liked it but it was a little too much walking for him on the ship and in Cozumel although he did put his bare feet in the beautiful blue water.

Late Friday afternoon at closing time, Louis Landers and JR were hashing about “the good ole days” when to our pleasant surprise, Congressman Louie Gohmert stopped by to visit at the RT.  Congressman Gohmert was introduced to Louis Landers. Louis, who works at The History Center, immediately told us that the Gohmert family has connections to Diboll through Louie’s dad who was the architect that designed the Katherine Sage Temple Day Care Center and 90 units of federal housing. After a nice visit and “thank you for standing up for us”, we gave him jars of his favorite, mayhaw jelly, made by Billie Jean Capps.

Enjoy the season and come see us…’round the table

 

April 21, 2014

RT NEWS April 21, 2014

What a pleasant surprise to see one of Diboll’s former superintendents, Bill Ward, come into the store for a short visit. He was on his way to watch two of his grandsons, Grayson and Graham Ward play T-ball for the Mud Cats. Their dad, Chad Ward, is one of the coaches and their mother, Marissa, teaches at H.G. Temple. Bill’s wife, Neita Fran stayed in Tyler where they have a retirement home on Lake Tyler. At the present time, they are still living in New Mexico but drove to Texas to spend Easter. Neita Fran has a studio in Las Vegas, NM and Bill is completing his 7th year as superintendent of the Mosquero, NM school district which has K-12. Bill said there are a total of 46 students; 8 teachers and 13 employees and they only go to school 4 days a week. He has no discipline problems and no student in his 7 years has made an “F”. The tax value per student is over two millions dollars! Revenue comes from CO2 wells and that value will increase with the completion of two more plants that are being built.

Mosquero ISD is the richest school district in New Mexico! Under Bill’s leadership the district recently completed a state-of-the-art Media Building for two million; a new track field for $250,000; a new gym for 2.5 million and plans to build an indoor rodeo arena for 1.5 million.  Only 5 or 6 students live in town while the others are children whose parents live and work on the Bell Ranch which has 290,000 acres. Seventy-one year old media billionaire John Malone bought the Bell Ranch in NM in 2010. He now owns 2.2 million acres, surpassing his friend Ted Turner, as the nation’s largest private landowner. Coming soon, Bill Ward will help cook steaks with his school board president who will be catering a meal for John Malone and about 50 other people from around the world at his “fish camp”, a remote camp/resort on one of his ranches.

Bill Ward brought us up to date on his son Skipper who lived in Diboll for a while. Skipper will soon be moving to Magnolia, Arkansas to accept the job of superintendent. He and his wife Misti have four children: 19-year-old Will; 8th grader, Eli; 5th grader, Rachel, and Caleb who is in Junior High. Daughter Terri and husband Aaron have 2-1/2 year old Aubrey and expecting another baby. They are moving to San Diego where Terri works with her master’s degree in Finance. Altogether, Bill and Neita Fran have 12 grandchildren.

Ronnie Kilgore came in with his 13-month-old grandson, Kolton Kilgore, who is beginning to walk. JoNell Placker spent the Easter weekend with her daughter Kim and family in Bullard. Darrell is a bank president in Tyler and he and Kim recently purchased a home with acreage for all their animals. Their daughters, Elizabeth and Rachel, have both graduated from Texas A&M but while at home, always had horses that they boarded in Tyler where they lived.

The feed store has some really nice bedding plants and beautiful hanging baskets. Lots of folks have been in buying plants and seeds for their spring gardens including Mike Shivers, Charlie Mann, Sam Coleman, Caroll Dover, Larry Morris and Cleo Mason. Jim and Judy McClain were in and bought plants for their yard. (Later in the week Jim brought their son, Wesley, to visit the RT). Mary Lee Garner and Evelina Zolman drove all the way from Apple Springs for plants. Diboll Garden Club members, Gloria Ogden and Ginger Capps couldn’t resist buying flowering plants. Jane Horn always buys caladium bulbs every year. Thomas Anderson also bought caladium bulbs and made a second trip to buy more for his wife, JoAnn.

Eddie Smith’s son-in-law, William Avendt, came in for a fishing license; Eddie’s son, Willie Smith, had plans to take both of them fishing. Robert Compean bought a new Stihl blower and fertilizer to work in his yard. Barbara and Carroll Nash were also expecting to get a lot of work done when they came in to get a chain sharpened for their chainsaw. John Richards had to deal with getting a flat fixed and Mike Allbritton bought new tires for his trailer.

Charlotte Morris was in getting new keys made. She is the new owner of the former Pumpkin Patch day care center in Burke and plans to rename it. Debbie Tipton was also in getting keys made and announced that her daughter, Jessica, who owns Vanity Hair Salon is happy to have a new hair stylist coming soon.

Clay and Brooke Colwell and son, Lewin, were in buying local honey. Many people believe buying honey that was made by bees locally helps to deal with allergies in the area. Dale Rye, a beekeeper from South Dakota, ships hundreds of his hives to Texas to spend the winter months here and on to California in the spring where they pollinate many orchards and back to South Dakota where they make him lots of honey. People here have told him they think his SD honey has helped combat local allergies. Dale says pure honey is thick and slow. If honey flows easily it’s been watered down with something. If it turns to sugar that only proves it is pure honey. It’s a fact that honey found stored thousands of years ago in clay pots in Egyptian tombs was still good. Anyway, after being a beekeeper for 35 years, Dale is retiring and this is his last trip to Texas. He plans to keep a few bees in his insulated 30×30 room with heated floors and insulated walls but plans to spend most of his time hunting and fishing in the Black Hills and the Rockies while his wife Jill, who is an RN, continues working and studying toward her doctorate in Rehabilitation. We will miss their visits to Diboll and the Round Table.

Some leave and others move in. Ken and Wanda Cheshire, parents of Joel Cheshire and Tammy have moved here from Humble. I think Ken was a brother of Clyde Cheshire who was one of our postmen in Diboll.

Leonard Robison brought us a brochure and is recommending to anyone that loves to hear quartets not to miss hearing “Barbershop Through the Years”, May 10th at Grace Community High School in Tyler, Texas. The evening performance begins at 7PM and matinee at 2:30. For more information, call 800-233-8219.

The Beulah Congregational Methodist Church Homecoming and Beulah School Reunion will be May 4 at 10AM and Lunch at 12:30 at the Buelah Community Center. The church was founded in 1892 and the school was constructed in 1903 and since been rebuilt three times. The present structure has served as a community center and was approved for a historical marker in 1998. Everyone is welcome to come and bring a covered dish. For more information, contact Gene Squyres 634-7840 or Herman Strauss 829-3584.

If you need to stock your pond, The Fish Truck will be in our parking lot on May 7th from noon until 1PM.

Come see us…’round the table.

 

April 14, 2014

 

GOOD NEWS!! Diboll is getting TWO more new businesses! Tammy Holder came in to get keys made and we learned that she has already opened Salon 829  and plans to also open in June, Tree House Academy, a day care center. Salon 829 is open for business for haircuts, etc. for both men and women. It’s also a boutique with clothes and jewelry and located at 101 Thompson in Diboll. For us older folks, that’s where Dr. Eddins and Dr. Hoot had their doctor’s offices. Recently, the WIC office was located there. Behind that building where Temple’s “Personnel/sales” offices were located will be the new day care. The owner, Tammy Holder, is taking applications for teachers, cooks, etc. You can call her at 936-414-2215. Tammy is married to Anthony Holder who has been the pastor of New Life Church on 103W for 17 years. Tammy and Anthony also have plans for an Outreach ministry in Diboll. Welcome them to Diboll!

Laurel Hendrick celebrated her birthday with family last Saturday night at J.R’s Barn. They reported the food was great and her guests enjoyed live music and playing washers.  Her guests were: Don and Sandy Hendrick; Jennifer Hendrick; Lindsey, Earl and Aiden Morris and daughter Jayla Finley; J.R. and Alaryca Youngblood and daughter Brynn Maxwell; Pat and Janie McCann; Allison Amason; Mike and Dianne Gibson; Judy and Stephanie Cook; Josh Yarbrough and Sam Hester.  Jordan Eldridge and her date Stephen Baird, Katie Dubose and her date Hank Carbrow stopped by to say “happy birthday” to Laurel on their way to the Diboll Prom.  The girls looked beautiful in their full length dresses. Sandy took lots of pictures of her family then lost her camera.  If anyone finds it please call her at 829 4377 or 936 465 7414.

The music that guests heard at JR’s Barn last week end was the talented Brandon Lee, originally from Bowlegs, OK but now lives here in Diboll with his wife and 3 daughters. His wife, Resy is the Property Manager for the Diboll Mobile Home Park; 19-year-old Alie works for Subway in Diboll; 16-year-old Celestia is a student at DHS and 14-year-old Katelyn is in Junior High.

Brandon Lee is the stage name for Brandon Pipkin who has been singing since the age of 12. At 14 he picked up his first guitar and wrote his first 3-chord song. Soon after that he played at the Creek County Jamboree when the Skinner Brothers’, Garth Brooks’ first band, took him under their wings and he began making money doing what he loved. He has been a member of bands that opened shows for Tammy Cochran, Joe Nichols, Keith Urban and Neil McCoy at the Country Fever; playing at one time in front of 30,000. His last band, Lariat, had a great five years until the untimely death of their lead guitar player, Neil Hartman. After that, the group was devastated and unable to go on and each member went in different directions. Last Friday night Brandon was re-united with the drummer of Lariet when John Carr drove from Dallas to surprise him. The drummer didn’t have a set of drums but made rhythm using makeshift wooden boxes and a single cymbal. The two were incredible together. Brandon Lee will be singing on regular bases at JR’s Barn, the new restaurant serving catfish, shrimp and crawfish every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Give them a call for more information, 829-4141.

Jessica Skipper, 2013 DHS graduate attending Texas A&M, has a passion to become a medical doctor.  She says, “I have been on a search to find some kind of mission trip for future doctors that would allow me to really get a lot of “hands on” experience. I found an organization that takes Aggies to Kenya for a summer medical mission trip. They basically give us the chance to job shadow a doctor in Kenya and work alongside him or her. We will be able to perform minor surgeries, assist in delivering babies, give vaccines and do really anything that the doctor would do. After a lot of prayer, I jumped in wholeheartedly and booked my airline ticket.”

Jessica will be going to the village of Wagusu in the Bondo district.  The people there are so poverty stricken. They have so little medical supplies and so many people that need medical attention. Jessica was very active in her church, school and community and wants to ask people in Diboll and the surrounding area to help gather plenty of medical supplies to take with her to the people of Kenya. She has been in touch with Operation Africa, which is the organization in Kenya that makes all the arrangements for this medical-mission trip. They have sent her a list of things that are so desperately needed.  Justin Barkley at the Temple Library has the list and has offered to collect any donations at the Library in Diboll, while Jessica is at Texas A&M. She is really hoping that the community will respond to this and help out in a big way. Jessica is also trying to raise money to fund her trip to Africa and has set up a web page; it is gofundme.com. just type in “An Aggie’s Dream” to find her page.

Diboll PTSA will host a candidate forum on Monday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the cafetorium of the H. G. Temple Schools.  Both candidates for the run-off election for county commissioner have been invited.  All four candidates for Diboll School Board have been invited to attend. Each candidate will be speaking and there will be a “Question and Answer” time provided.  Invite your friends to come out for this event.    It’s getting closer to the date for Operation Clean Sweep on April 26th  Fran McClain needs more helpers and volunteers to have everything in place for the big day.  If anyone can help in the following areas, please leave her a FB message, call 829-2779 or email — franmc@consolidated.net  1) Power wash one house prior to the 26th.  2) Help tape poly over windows of one house on the 24th. 3) Help remove roof shingles on the 26th  4) Help with sign-in, ( a sit down job) at the Diboll Housing Authority on the 26th but will need to be there by 7:30 AM. Please share this with others and “Thank you” to those of you that have already volunteered your time or made a donation!!!!

Patsy Colbert’s grandfather “Daddy Dutch” said, “If it thunders in February there will be a cold spell in April within 3 to 4 days of that date. It thundered February 11th. Patsy wrote it on her calendar as she does year after year and it hasn’t failed yet to be true. Surely, this is our last cold spell! I’m ready for spring and warmer weather.

Come see us…’round the table.

 

March 31, 2014

 

IT’S TIME FOR TEXAS TRASH OFF! Volunteers will be picking up litter throughout Texas. (So unnecessary…littering, that is). Keep Diboll Beautiful will meet volunteers in Old Orchard Park at 8:30 AM Saturday, April 5th to give assignments. Or, according to Fran McClain, you can help the DHS Class of 1969 with their Adopt-A-Highway section and meet them in the Dollar General parking lot at 9AM. If neither of these work for you, please just pick up litter around your area as a lot of people already do that on a regular basis. Keep Diboll Beautiful will be serving pizza for lunch. If you plan to work and eat pizza, please call Elvia Esteves-Garza at city hall, 829-4757 by Friday. Trash bags will be provided but you will need to bring your own gloves. Also, don’t forget that Diboll’s Operation Clean-sweep is scheduled for Saturday, April 26th. Volunteers and donations are needed!!

Diboll Alumni Association is working hard to contact all former employees of DISD to recognize them at a special time during Diboll Day this year. Please let Fran McClain (829-2779) know if you have any contact information for the following employees that worked during the 1990’s: Jeannie Bacon, Sandy Crespin, Maria Dejesus, Traci Eakin, Lula Garcia, Debbie Gault, Delores Harris, Tommy Hodges, Shane Holman, Clyde Jackson, Ruth Lemmond, Sharon Lusk, Dr. Craig Morton, Debra Oladovich, Melissa Petty, Leslie Roberts, Kim Roberts, Becky Robins, Lacey Joe Roden, Pam Rogers, Craig Russell, Francisca Silva, Melanie Spark, Candice Stine, Brandon  Taylor, Maria Torres, A. Van Schoubrock, Susan Wier and John Yonker. Fran’s email is franmc@consolidated.net.

It’s two more great grandchildren for Dianne and Mike Gibson of Diboll. Twins Jude Kenneth and Lennon Morris Tate were born March 18th in Huntsville. Their parents are Brittani and Zachary Tate and grandparents are Vicki and Barry Tate. Both boys are doing well and yes, they were named after Jude Law and John Lennon.

Enjoyed visiting with John Oates and learned that his and Ruth’s daughter, Rachel, is getting married.  Last May when Rachel received her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from UT Tyler she also received a marriage proposal from Chemical Engineer, Ryan Bloser. She accepted his proposal and began her new career the following Monday. Rachel is working for The Crisis Center of Jacksonville having to complete 3,000 hours of apprenticeship. Their wedding is May 31 in Flynt Texas at the Centaur Arabian Farms that offers a country elegance wedding venue and reception. Matthew (Rachel’s brother) and Mary Oates are expecting their first baby on the 24th of May and everyone is holding their breath hoping that baby Adam Malloy arrives in time for his mother to be Rachel’s matron of honor.

Billie (Goins) Bryce has enjoyed getting re-acquainted with a childhood friend, Ira Jean (Black) Wooten, whom she had not seen since the 8th grade. They both are attending Pine Grove church in Beulah. Two other classmates also live in the area: Bobbie (Havard) Goolsby and Wanda Torbert.

Sue Johnson reported the Burke Chapter #1098 Order of the Eastern Star had a HUGELY SUCESSFUL Baked Potato sale on March 27th.  They would like to thank everyone who bought potatoes including the Diboll schools, the Central schools and all the others who always help their chapter with its fund raisers. Sue said there are too many to name without leaving someone out; however, one of their buyers not only buys but makes a BIG donation and for that and all the others, they are truly grateful. The biggest “thank you” goes to The Golden Corral who not only bakes the potatoes but has them ready and they are awesome! Their manager, Jason and his staff, always go above and beyond to help this local chapter and the ladies can vouch that the food is great and encourages everyone to try The Golden Corral.

Congratulations to Jack and Donnie Jenkins who are both very active in the SASS, Single Action Shooter Society, which is competing with 6-shooters. Jack won 3rd Place in the Texas state championship and also won “Spirit of the Game” award. Donnie won 4th Place in the state in her division. The event takes place in Oakwood, Texas.

Congratulations to Mike Waters who was awarded the Joe Richardson Most Distinguished Athletic Training Award from SFA. He is an ’86 SFA alumni and his picture is in the current SFA Sawdust magazine.

Joe Donald Smith celebrated a birthday dinner on March 31st at Los Jarritos. With him was his wife, Emma Lee; their son and daughter-in-law, Joe Henry and Diane Smith and son, Bill. All five ordered fried shrimp and loved their dinner. On April 3rd. Joe Donald and Emma Lee will celebrate their 66th wedding anniversary. That is awesome, congratulations!!

Billie Jean Capps also enjoyed her March 31st birthday with all four daughters, Susie, Shannon, Sharla, Sherry and families home for the weekend. Later in the week, her husband, Donald, treated her to breakfast at IHOP. Happy Birthday Billie Jean; it’s been a long time since you and I walked home after school to 8 Bakers Café almost every day and listened to Percy Faith’s A Summer Place.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars April 12th for the 2nd Annual Music in the Park. Beginning at 6PM Old Orchard Park will be rocking with music from The Crime stoppers Band. Opening for them will be one of DISD’s school choirs and concessions will be available from volunteers with Project Celebration.

Also on April 12th,  Angelina County 4-H will be having a BINGO at the Angelina County Extension office. The doors will open at 5:30 and the games begin at 6PM. The cost is $2 a card for 8 games.

The Angelina County Master Gardeners Annual Plant sale will be this Saturday, April 5th beginning at 8 AM at the Farmers Market in Lufkin.

Our bedding plants, flowers and hanging baskets have arrived and made the front of Pouland’s an array of colors.

Come see us…’round the table.

 

March 17, 2014

 

We met up with Nathan and Lesa Terrell at Los Jarritos and learned they had just returned from Atlanta, GA. I asked him to tell us about their trip and

appreciate what he sent me; Nathan wrote the following. This is the 3rd week out of the last 4 that Lesa had to go to Atlanta, GA with Georgia Pacific to work.  I went with her as a tag along cuz I was tired of being a bachelor on a weekly basis.

We arrived on Sunday, March the 9th, got checked into the hotel, then started searching for a place to have dinner. While walking on Peachtree Street we saw banners advertising the NCAA Southeastern Conference, SEC, Mens Basketball Tournament.  This was exciting as Texas A & M is part of that conference. I did not really have anything to do once we got back to our hotel room so I searched for tickets on the computer.  The event was taking place at the Georgia Dome, which is walking distance from the hotel.  I was able to get tickets for the nights of Wednesday and Thursday plus the afternoon Session on Thursday. On Wednesday night, Lesa and two of her coworkers, Michael Dorman and Lori Smith were able to go with me.  The Session was not a sell out and we were able to sit anywhere we wanted.  We got there early enough to score Floor Seats on the 7th row Center Court!!  Being so close to the floor we got a real good look at the players, those Basketball players are TALL & BIG!!  There was one 7 foot and a couple of 6 foot 11 inch ones.  We watched South Carolina beat Auburn in a blowout.  After the first game, Lesa and Lori left to go back to the hotel room to work.  Michael and I stayed to watch Mississippi State beat Vanderbilt, another blowout.  The next day the games started at 1:00 PM, I went by myself and watched Texas A & M go into Double Overtime against Missouri before getting handed a loss.  I and a handful of folks were cheering for the Aggies, but we were loud!  At the night session, Lesa and Lori came back to the Georgia Dome to watch Alabama get beat by LSU.  We did not stay for the final, I was tired after watching 3 games that day and Lesa and Lori, again, had to go back to the hotel to work.

One other thing I did while Lesa was at GP working was to take a tour of CNN headquarters in Atlanta.  It was a short walk to the CNN building, which is located beside Olympic Park.  While walking toward the CNN building I saw a couple of Fashion Model Photo shoots and one Reality TV show film crew working on the street. In the TV shoot I fell in with the “Xtras” when the director yelled “Action” for them to walk across the street.  I don’t know the name of the TV show or if I will be in any of the footage, but it was fun.  On the tour of the CNN building I saw where Wolf Blitzer and all the other folks bring us the news and weather.  The thing I noticed the most was, upon getting my ticket I was subjected, along with the other folks in the tour, to a MAJOR SECURITY scan.  This was more thorough than the airport!  The tour lasted about 45 minutes and at every turn we made in the building, there were Security Guards.  At the end of the tour we were in a room for a Q & A session and one guy ask had there been an incident, that now is the cause, for all of the Security, the tour guide answered, Yes!

If you like Southern Gospel music, mark your calendar for March 29 at 6PM at Calvary Baptist Church in Lufkin to attend a benefit for Relay for Life. The admission is free but a love offering will be taken for the American Cancer Society. Jack Havard will serve as the MC for the evening with entertainment from the following groups: The Waymakers; The Stanleys; The Martin Family; Narrow Road Quartet; Ransomed Quartet and Emily Rhoades.

According to good friend Carol Chalfant, the first Saturday in April will be the Annual Plant Sale sponsored by the Angelina County Master Gardeners. April 5th beginning at 8AM until 2PM at the Angelina County Farmers Market you will find annuals, perennials, natives, fruits, roses and so much more.

When you are out and about town take time to look at the entrance of the Lottie and Arthur Temple Civic Center and see the new landscaping that the Diboll Civic Center Committee has implemented. The extensive work is being done by Johan Terbough who is married to former Dibollian,  Andra (Willmon). Johan is from South Africa where he grew up on a farm. I love his accent. You don’t listen to him long before you realize he loves his work and appreciates beautiful flowers and landscaping. When he was quite young his mother decided she wanted to landscape their home and Johan said it grew into a 3-acre manicured park.

People everywhere are ready for spring and wanting to plant their gardens. We do have a large selection of bulk vegetable seeds, onion plants, fertilizer, potting soil, weed/feed, trimmers, etc. to help you get started. We also plan to have a large selection of bedding plants and flowers just as soon as we feel that winter is gone.

Buddy Shipp and Gary Jones were in buying seed potatoes. Mark Hafernik came in with his adorable 15-month-old grandson, Gibson. Mark is ready for the Purple Martins and has seen “scouts” in his yard. Chet and Tammy Winger said they already have 15 pair in their yard on Lake Rayburn. Roy McCall was in town during the weekend and came in three different times to buy corn. Wayne Clark bought local honey. Joe Paul Stovall bought a new Stihl trimmer. Ken St.Ama sent Pam in to buy lawn fertilizer just before the rain was to arrive.  Ray Smith is 80 and still delivering mail to Diboll. He is also planning to plant an extra large garden. Newly married Daniel and Lisa Eddins were in buying trailer tires. Deer Trace neighbors Stephen and Dortha Jackson and Jay Wyatt were in buying weed & feed for their lawns; J.R. and Tellie Williams bought a new rain gauge. Carolyn and Eddie Smith came in to buy milo for all the beautiful red cardinals in their yard and said her Christmas cactus is still blooming.

Jan Wilkerson sent an email to remind us all to SAVE THE DATE!!!

Diboll Civic Club presents its second “Music in the Park” on Saturday, April 12, at 6 p.m.  The Crime stoppers Band will be featured, and the Temple Elementary and Intermediate School Choirs will be on the program.  Old Orchard Park is the site, and it has some bench seating, but everyone is encouraged to bring your own lawn chairs.  There is no admission charge.

The Diboll Civic Club needs you!!!  The annual Operation Clean-Sweep is coming April 26. Repairs, outside painting, yard work and other types of “fix-up” projects will be undertaken for community members in need.  Churches, school groups, businesses, organizations and individuals are needed to form work teams for the day. Donations of building supplies, tools and money are needed to help with the projects, along with food and drinks for the volunteers. Nomination for homes needing assistance will be received until April 4.  To volunteer, make a donation or to receive a nomination form, contact: Fran McClain 829-2779 or franmc@consolidated.   Trey Wilkerson 637-3418 or 366-7215.

If you haven’t noticed Diboll is a busy place with lots of activities. There is always something going on that needs volunteers and support. Get involved!!.

Come see us…’round the table.

 

March 3, 2014

 

Mark and Ann Hafernick of Diboll, along with their son Brian Hafernick, DVM, of Lufkin, recently attended the Sky Ranch Gala at the Omni Hotel in Dallas.  The event was entitled Cowboys & Cowboys and in attendance were former Dallas cowboy football greats and Pro Rodeo cowboys.  The purpose of the gala was to raise money for scholarships to send underprivileged boys and girls to Sky Ranch.  This is a Christian based weeklong camp located in Van, Texas.  Michael Irvin was the honorary celebrity chair and Walt Garrison and Rope Myers were celebrity co-chairs.  Mark got his picture made with Tony Dorsett and Jay Novacek.  Mark and Ann’s daughter, Lauren Hafernick, of Dallas, was the event planner for the event.  Some of the more popular auction items were:  Alaskan Salmon fishing trip, Golf trip to Colorado Springs via private jet with Michael Irwin and PGA Pro Shawn Stefani, Dinner prepared by nationally recognized chef David Holben at Walt Garrison’s ranch with him and Roger Staubach, Two floor tickets to George Strait’s farewell concert at Cowboy stadium in June along with an autographed Martin guitar.  Approximately 600 people attended the gala and it was estimated it raised enough funds to send more than 300 kids to camp this year!

Lauren Havar has been an Event Planner for ten years and is the daughter of Mark and Ann Hafernick of Diboll. Mark, Ann, their son Brian and his one-year-old son, Gibson were excited to attend her lastest event, along with 600 other guests last weenend at the Omni Hotel in Dallas

Sky Ranch is one of North America’s premiere Christian Camp. It exists to provide people with a positive, recreational, fun and memorable experience while being exposed to the truths of the Word of God. I love their Mission Statement: Leading youth and families to know and follow Christ. The ranch opened in 1955 in Denton, Texas as a vision of Mel & Winkie Brewer, with 66 campers.  There are now located in three states serving more than 50,000 individuals every years.

This years Gala featured superstar of the Football Field and Rodeo Area. Michael  Irvin was the Honorary Celebrity Chair

Mark frequents the Round Table more often now that he is officially retired from The Campbell Group. He’s been retired less than a year and I heard him say he is just now getting where he doesn’t look at every log truck now; for 40 years he looked at every load of logs on the highway and could tell by the logs which mill it was going to and most of the time knew the driver of the truck, the logging company he worked for and probably been on their job site at one time or another. It is amazing to hear him call people by their names that worked with him many years ago. I don’t think he ever forgets anyone he’s ever met.

It was nice to “catch up” on Caurie Cheshire when she came in the store. She is the daughter of ?? and I remember her when she was a checker at Brookshires while attending Diboll ISD and graduating from SFA in just three years. She is presently living in Houston and teaching Special Ed in an inner city school. She also has a passion for mission work and in her young life has been to Haiti six times and one time to Africa which she says is beautiful. She is a member of the Providence Community Church in Atasacita. About a year ago, she was wearing a teeshirt that said “Here to Serve” which attracted the attention of Morgan Gantz who is also a missionary. These two are being married March 8th. They plan to spend their honeymoon in Mexico aboard a cruise ship and they are excited about spending this summer in Zimbawaee, South Africa, doing mission work. Congratulations and may God bless you both.

Another young woman and high school classmate of Caurie shares the same passion of helping people. Kendal Martel is presently living in Africa while serving in the Peace Corp for two years.

Lee and Desirae Allen came in and we learned they have just returned from their first trip to Las Vegas where they celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary. Both were impressed with the sights while staying at the Flamigo Hilton. They enjoyed the Dolphin show and the Million Dollar Quartet which was the story about Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. They were impressed with the magic shows of David Copperfield at the MGM and Mac King at Paris. While observing the beautiful white tigers at the exhibit in the Mirage, they personally saw and took pictures of one of the greatest magicians, Sigfried, as he was visiting in the crowd telling them about the tigers and other animals in their exhibit.

John Ralph and I stopped by the Brisket House one evening when we noticed lots of construction work. We met Brice Curl who is having the work done and learned he presently manages the Bed and Breakfast, The Mansion at Manning. His plans are to reopen the building and serve BBQ, burgers and anything that can be cooked on a pit. He has experience in the restaurant business starting at 14 when he bussed tables in his grandparents’ family restaurant, Hills’ Seafood on the seawall in Galveston. The new restaurant will be named T.K.’s Smoke House after Brice’s son, Trevor Keith Curl. Trevor also has experience and will be moving here from Liberty where he works at the Landmark Steak House that was voted “Best Steaks in East Texas”. He also worked at Legends in Baytown for five years. It’s great Diboll is getting another place to eat!!

The contractor on the jobsite for building the pit room at the old Brisket House looked familiar and no wonder he did because it was John Wojhan, a graduate of Diboll, whose dad, Eddy Wojhan, was a well known contractor years ago. John and his wife, Lisa, the daughter of Van and Bernice Harris, live below old Manning. Their four children are Heather, Amy, David and Rachael and they also have four grandchildren.

 

February 24, 2014

 

John Powers and his wife Mable (Nivens) who both grew up in Diboll have recently returned from Wichita Falls where John attended a reunion for the Survivors of  Iwo Jima during World War II. It was 69 years ago that 17-year-old John Powers was part of the invasion of Iwo Jima. His 21st Regiment of the 3rd Marine Division was there on February 20th. The invasion lasted until Easter Sunday, April 4th 1945. During that time 6,830 people were killed and 18, 800 were wounded. John himself was hit in the knee but didn’t let that stop him. While in the field, on February 23, 1945, John looked back over his shoulder and witnessed the actual raising of the US flag that has been immortalized in pictures and sculptures. Even today, 99% of the time when you meet John Powers he is wearing a bolo tie with a miniature of the flag raising. While in Wichita Falls, John and Melba were impressed with the friendliness of the people and were proud to see someone who served with him; Bud Williams, who received the Medal of Honor from President Truman. Approximately 30 survivors attended the reunion. Some of them including John were given a special badge from the Commanding Officer at Fort Sill who gave them a personal tour and update of the equipment and technology being used today. A sincere “thank you” to those who served and are serving is just not enough to express our gratitude for your service. May God Bless America!!

Fran McClain sent me the following email. Over the past 22 years, the Diboll High School Alumni Association has given 165 Scholarships to DHS Graduating Seniors for a total of $97,650. Scholarship Forms for Seniors 2014 are available in the DHS Counselor’s Office. Deadline for turning in a completed application is May 9, 3:30p.m. The Association accepts donations at any time for the following Scholarships:  DHS Class of 1952, Classes of 1962 & 1963, Class of 1969,Class of 1982,Class of 1995-Mike Suarez & Michelle Lawrence Memorial, Dixie Cook Memorial, Joe & Beth Denman, Joseph Hambrick Memorial, Sean Hendrick Memorial, Robert & Rita Ramsey Memorial, Pop & Sis Rich Memorial and Melissa Baxter Simmons Memorial. For additional information or to make a donation, contact Fran Mcclain, Sec/Trea.  829-2779  or franmc@consolidated.net

Fran also sent another email which I greatly appreciate and ask any of you that will, send me your news. A big Thank You to Betty Capps, Glenn Price, Bessie Furgurson, Carol Gartman, Ginger Capps, Jimmie Woodard, Jana Coulter and Louis Landers for their work in putting together a list of past DISD Employees.  Now the Alumni Association needs help in finding contact information on each one. Check out this column in the next several weeks for lists and also on the DHS Alumni Association page on Facebook.  Several people have agreed to help.  If I haven’t contacted you, and you would like to help, please give me a call 829-2779 or email – franmc@consolidated.net  A Reception to honor all past and present DISD Employees will be held on Diboll Day, Oct. 4.

Congratulations to 11-year-old Macy Ward who placed 4th at a Benefit Roping last Saturday for Ryan Broussard, a good friend of the family from Garrison, Texas. Macy is the big sister of Paige; the daughter of Wayne and Amy Ward and the granddaughter of Ken and Pam St.Ama and great-granddaughter of Wayne Steele.

John and Gloria Ogden came in last Saturday morning to buy fertilizer for their yard. The Ogdens moved into Deer Trace last year and work in their yard all the time. Everywhere they have lived they have always had beautiful yards; some that have been featured in magazines. I’ve always heard February is the time to prune roses and I asked Gloria what she did for her roses. To my surprise she said she buries banana peels around her roses and uses Epsom salt on almost every plant. I guess that’s why she had eaten banana pudding for breakfast that morning; she needed the banana peels for her roses.

Earl and Joyce Carr traveled with other members of the Lufkin Sam’s Club to the Double Heart RV Park outside of Jasper to spend a couple of days relaxing. With no TV or phone reception there was lots of domino games, reading and eating. At night, with no TV, Earl enjoyed watching John Wayne movies. The group arrived on Thursday morning, got their trailers set up and drove to the Catfish Cabin in Jasper for lunch. On Friday at noon everybody brings a pot luck dish and the evening meal is “left overs”.  Joyce baked Sue Johnson’s recipe for a French Coconut pie which was a big hit. The Sam’s Club is 30 years old and the group celebrated with a birthday cake. Other couples traveling to Jasper were John and Carmelita Rhodes; Robert and Mary Shanks; Tommy and Nita Hurst; Leonard & Billie Robison; Pat and Harvey McHan and Raymond and Gerry Dunkin who came from McKinney. Raymond said, “We’ve made friends in McKinney but we still mill our friends in Lufkin and Diboll.” The group disbanded on Saturday morning. Earl and Joyce drove several miles out of their way through FM 1818 just to come by Pouland’s for a cup of coffee.

We want to thank everyone that voted for Pouland’s having the “Best Cup of Coffee”. The Diboll Business Association and The Diboll Free Press sponsored the neat idea of this survey, “The Best of…75941”. My sincere thanks to those that voted for me for “Best Newspaper column”. About 75 people gathered with anticipation at a reception that was held last Thursday in the library to announce all the winners. Thank you again!

The Diboll Business Association is having a Ribbon Cutting at 5PM this Thursday, February 27th at the new restaurant in the back of J.R.’s Barn. Roho Pouland is the owner with substantial and experienced help from many others. The menu will vary from shrimp (boiled and fried), catfish (filet & whole), fresh cut French fries, corn on the cob, cold slaw, hushpuppies and more all served in a very informal family atmosphere. Please tell your friends about the Ribbon Cutting and stay around and eat.

Come see us…’round the table.

 

February 17, 2014

 

What writer wouldn’t be pleased to know they have 22 million readers? Tracy (Maxey) Cox can say that after her thoughts were read on February 19th in the  Methodist daily devotional, The Upper Room. According to the Internet this little book has been translated around the world and has more than 22 million readers a day. Her devotional was taken from Matthew 17 about faith that can move mountains. Tracy’s application is different than most. “In my vision, I am pushing a wheelbarrow and carrying a shovel. I’m moving my mountain one rock at a time. If it is God’s will we can call on our faith in God’s power to move mountains, rock by rock.” That’s good!! Tracey’s proud parents are Clyde and Linda Maxey who raised her in the Diboll United Methodist Church. She is married to Jim Cox and they have two children; Kelsey, age 11 and Gavin, age 8. They live in North Ft. Worth and attend Alliance Methodist Church in Keller, Texas.

The most unusual Valentine’s gift would have to be Christi Quarles’. It seems Christi loves donkeys and hopes one day to own a real miniature donkey. So, on Valentine’s Day she was thrilled, even though it was “yard art”, to find a little white donkey in her flower bed.

The most thoughtful Valentine’s gift was for Darlene Kee when her husband Donnie prepared a candlelight dinner for two of filet mignon, baked potato and coconut pie for dessert. Donnie had been at the round table earlier in the day visiting with Woody Ingram and John Ralph about his gliding experiences. Valentine’s Day was absolutely beautiful and when asked, “Why aren’t you gliding today”, Donnie said, “I know better than to choose gliding over Darlene’s day.” Donnie Kee sold his insurance agency and is now fully and joyfully retired. For years he loved scuba diving and trained many people how to dive including Darlene who eventually loved it and actually chased a shark. Darlene does not share Donnie’s love for gliding. He keeps his glider near Katy and goes every opportunity he can. On his Facebook page, he has a short video from a camera inside the cockpit; it’s very impressive! Although he’s never had to use it, I heard him say, “Parachutes are required to be “repacked” every 180 days and replaced every 20 years”.

Enjoyed visiting with James and Amber Paulette from Angleton when they stopped by for him to buy a new Spin cast feeder. They are retired and came to “help out” at a ball tournament for their granddaughter who plays on Hudson’s Junior Varsity. Her parents, Bo and Paige Paulette were both having to work so her grandparents volunteered to work in their place. Before they left the store, James was surprised to see and visit with an old friend, Sandy Bate.

Andrea cooked a hefty amount of “Firehouse Spaghetti” one day; enough for the “Teacher Appreciation” meal at the high school and also for our lunch. Joining us for lunch that day was DOT Trooper Joe Cole who was off duty. Joe grew up in Beulah and enjoyed visiting at the round table with brothers, Barley and Dennis Lenderman, who also grew up in Beulah. They all reminisced about eating “moon pies” at C.B’s Grocery store. Tom Squyres was also sitting at the table and remembered the boys sitting in his lap when he played “Santa” at the Beulah Community Center.

Sue Baker also helped with the Teacher Appreciation dinner at the high school and after eating the Firehouse Spaghetti, came by later for the recipe.

Donnis Bergman, a 1942 graduate of Corrigan high school stopped by one cold day looking for an insulated vest. While visiting with him he said he remembered in his younger days coming to the Antler Hotel to dance with the pretty girls.

The DHS Alumni Association needs help in locating past DISD Employees. A reception to honor both past and present DISD Employees will be held on Diboll Day, October 4, 2014.  The event will precede the “All Years’ Reunion Dance. Please let the association know if you can provide addresses or contact information on any of the following employees. From the 60’s: John Beasley, Cecil Couch, Mary Christopher, Nancy Cummings, Saddie Davis, Vivian Hickerson, Lucy Hill, William Johnson, Mrs. Billy Latham, Raymond Manchester, Jerry Modisette, Claude Redman, Lynette Walker, Stephen Wheeler. Employees from the 70’s: Joe Barron, Pam Clayton, Barbara Hall, Mary Ann Hall, Kathryn Holberg, Lavine Howard, Maderia Latham, Taddy Maddox, Richard Sheridan, Gloria Singletary, Ginger Smith, Mylinda Smith, Chery Sutherland, Frances Terry, Gloria Webb and Alice Wyatt.

If you have information on any of these, please call Fran McClain 936-829-2779 or email her at franmc@consolidated.net or send her a message on Facebook.

Thursday evening, February 20th at 5:30 in the Temple Library, The Diboll Business Association invites everyone to attend the results of The Diboll Free Press’ “The Favorites of 75941 Survey”. The recipients of the awards will be announced with a reception to follow. Come find out “Who is the Favorite….”

Just have to brag a bit about my granddaughter, Hiliary Cheyenne Swor. I can’t believe she’s already 16 and a veteran at exhibiting her animals but her heifer named “Katniss” (from the Hunger Games) “brought home the bacon” for Cheyenne. At the San Antonio Stock Show “Katniss”, an American Registered Breed, was 1st in her Class; 1st in her Division and was Reserve Grand Champion winning a $10,000 scholarship for Cheyenne. We are very proud for her and her parents, Kevin and Andrea Swor.

Aran Greene and Dalene Merrel have been out in the county advertising the upcoming PINEYWOODS CHILDREN’S CONSIGNMENT SALE. It is a children’s clothing sale of gently used spring and summer clothes, shoes, toys baby furniture, nursery décor, outdoor play equipment, books, movies, maternity items and much more. So, shop and save on great deals at great prices. The event will be February 20-22 at Abrams in downtown Lufkin. Thursday and Friday 10AM-6PM and Saturday, 8AM-3PM

This Saturday, February 22nd is the date of Moye’s Catering Going- Out-of-Business Auction at their kitchen facilities on Highway 59. The auction will be from 10AM until 2PM and it will be the last time to enjoy some of Moye’s good BBQ as they plan to serve lunch.

You might want to mark your calendars on April 5th for the Angelina County Master Gardeners Annual Plant Sale which will begin at 8AM until 2PM at the Farmers Market on the loop in Lufkin. According to the member that sent me this notice, Carol Chalfant, it will be a good time to replace those plants that did not make it through our many freezes this year. I will remind you readers again as the time approaches.

A more recent date to remember is next Wednesday, February 26th if you need fingerlings to stock your pond. The Fish Truck will be in our parking lot from noon to 1PM.

Come see us…’round the table.