Accolades to the postal mail carriers of Diboll from Diboll Christian Outreach for collecting hundreds of can goods. Some time ago, brown paper bags were delivered to postal mail recipients asking if they would fill the bags with can goods and leave beside their mailbox to be picked up by their postal carriers. It was very successful this year. 25-year veteran volunteers, Billie Jean Capps and Isabelle Hardy ask to use this column to thank everyone who so graciously donated can goods. They are still praising the people of our community for their loyal support of Diboll Christian Outreach. The people of Diboll have always been so gracious to help when there is a need.

How about Diboll being the #2 best town. We’ve known that for years just as our Mayor John McClain stated, “It’s the best kept secret in Texas”. Jay Wyatt, a longtime resident of Diboll made the announcement at FBC about the good news and said he used to live in the #1 town, Borne and now he lives in the #2 town. Someone retorted his moving to Diboll may be why we are #2 and not #1.

Emmah Jones had the surprise of her life for her 16th birthday. Her parents are John and Misti Jones. Her maternal grandparents are Aundrea and Larry Ellison and her paternal grandparents are Troy and Wanda Jones. Last Sunday, Emmah thought she was going to Olive Garden to celebrate her birthday after leaving the services at the Apostolic Church in Burke. But Emmah was blindfolded and carried to the Old Burke School. She had no idea where she was when the blindfold was removed because the building had been converted into “A Night of Paris” with tons of tiny lights and posters of the Eiffel Towers and other Paris landmarks. A backdrop for picture taking included a black drape with hot pink accents, tiny lights and a chandelier. Her birthday cake was full of pink roses and topped with a sparkling tiara. The table for her and her friends had pink boas and a tall vase filled with pink plumes. The menu of Chicken Alfredo and green salad was served to approximately 100 guests. Emmah’s creative and talented grandmother, Aundrea Ellison, was very pleased with everything except for all the soreness she had the next day from the extensive decorating.

Several from the 1982 DHS graduating class, 32 years ago, enjoyed visiting over a meal at Los Jarritos. Those included Allison Amason; Laura Youngblood and son-in-law; Vicky Mullins and Mark Mayberry; Steve and Mary Brasher; Andrea and Kevin Swor.

Whitney (Wilson) Camp came in to buy a fishing license. She was looking forward to going to the Lake Livingston during the holiday hoping to find a really large gar. To bring her trophy into the boat, she planned to use fishing line, not attached to a fishing rod but to a bow and arrow. Hopefully, she was safe, successful and didn’t have to apply her nursing skills. Whitney is a nurse at Urgent Doc.

Margaret Smith brought us warm homemade cinnamon rolls to the RT apologizing for too much cinnamon but that wasn’t the case. They were perfectly delicious and thoroughly enjoyed. An empty pan testified to that. Thank you Margaret.

Rain, rain go away, come again another (summer) day has been the wish of many folks around here. Having the opportunity to be at home one rainy morning, I observed someone who doesn’t mind the rain or how wet it is; my recently widowed greenhead duck that lives in our backyard. During a thunderstorm and pouring down rain he calmly sat cleaning himself before waddling off to take a swim on the pond oblivious to the wind, rain and lightning. My nine hens did not want to leave their nice and dry house to wade through puddles of water and browse in the rain. They wanted their breakfast of hen scratch served inside. My two pigmy goats, Isabella and Sabrina, do not even want to consider stepping in puddles of water to go outside in the rain. They would rather run into the chickens’ house and keep them company. My bantam rooster Harold has two ladies that look like twins, Thelma and Louise. I’m pretty sure it’s Louise that is the proud mother of eight baby chicks. They stay high and dry and secure in a special cage. The same is true for two young white doves who live across from the new family in their own high rise protected house. They all seem to adjust to the weather whatever it brings, we should do the same.

When and if you can, come see us…’round the table.

PRALINES AND BROCCOLI CORNBREAD

Almost anyone who had been around Geraldine Pouland for any length of time has eaten either her homemade pecan pralines or her broccoli cornbread. She was well known for these two specialties and spent time reading cookbooks and collecting recipes. She loved to cook, was good at it and kept us fed. Affectionately known as “Other Momma” Geraldine passed away May 5th. She will be missed by many friends and family.

Geraldine Pouland was probably the best known lady in the Personnel Department at Temple. She was usually the first person new employees met and she seem to remember who they were for years to come. They learned that she was willing to help anyone with anything. It was in this office that she often brought home cooked food to share with others. Broccoli cornbread was an all-time favorite of her co-workers. J.D. Johnson remembers that she would spice up cocktail sausages just the way he liked them. Her Sunday school class members always expected her to bring her pecan pralines to any function where food was served and she also made them for many bridal, baby and various showers for many years.

After her retirement from Temple, Geraldine became our resident cook at the Round Table, preparing wonderful home cooked meals every day. There is a plaque near the Round Table that says: Over and Above The Call of Duty Club, ‘Other Momma’ Pouland, Cook of the Year Award 1998. She always made the chicken and dressing for Thanksgiving until she taught Andrea her secret. In later years, she passed on the cooking duties at the Round Table but loved to come, eat lunch and visit. Visiting became very difficult as her hearing was so impaired, conversations would have to be written on a board for her to read. That didn’t keep her from issuing orders or flashing those dark eyes at anything that didn’t suit her. It’s sad and we will miss her but we must remember… she can now HEAR what’s being said!

Betty Baskette, one of Geraldine’s best friends and co-workers in the Personnel Department at Temple both had birthdays in May. Geraldine’s was the 18th and Betty’s is the 16th. Betty Baskette is celebrating her 90th birthday this Saturday, May 16, at Diboll First Baptist Church in their fellowship building. All of her family will be there and the public is cordially invited to attend her party at 1PM.

Don’t forget that Diboll’s annual Tamale Festival is also this Saturday in Old Orchard Park beginning at 10AM. Lots of fun, festivities and homemade tamales.
Speaking of homemade. Morris Smith brought to the Round Table two large pans of his home made yeast rolls. Oh, how I wish I could describe how good they tasted and they were still warm from the oven. Morris said his mother let him watch her in the kitchen and always told him that a man needs to know how to cook as well as a woman. That’s a lesson Morris learned well. He is known for his homemade bread. Betty never buys bread, only flour and Morris bakes bread nearly every day. Someday, I plan to look over his shoulder and learn “how to”.

Our thanks to Ella Wayne Wilkerson for bringing home made brownies fresh from the oven to the Round Table one day last week. They certainly didn’t last long! There are others who were so thoughtful of us and brought food to the store. Sue Johnson and Mary Ingram both tried a new recipe from the Charm magazine for a Lemon pound cake drenched in sweet lemony sauce. Donnie Jenkins brought a delicious pound cake, Aundrea Ellison, an Arkansas Pie and Marcia Jones a pecan pie. Bettye Greer delivered us a whole Mexican meal from our favorite place, Los Jorritas and in addition to that, Julia sent Tortilla soup because she knows it’s my favorite.

A big heartfelt “Thank you” to everyone that expressed their condolences in any way. We truly appreciate each of you.

Come see us…’round the table.

David and Charlotte (Morris) Carter have owned the His & Hers Trade Days in Burke for two years and they both love it. The following is an email from Charlotte about a quick trip they took to Virginia to help a friend move. One of their venders, Johnny, also went along with them.

Charlotte says. It was a two day drive to get there pulling trailers and packed and stacked but it was truly a great trip! On the way I (Charlotte) left my phone and all of my debit/cards at a restaurant in Tennessee, went back and nothing was found. So, for two hours I was canceling cards and cell phone service. We arrived at our beautiful destination in the rolling Blue Ridge Mountains on a Friday evening. Such a beautiful site looking over the hills, seeing old barns, and beautiful flowers and trees. David, Johnny, and I headed out to Roanoke Saturday morning with the sole purpose of going to Black Dog Salvage. This salvage place specializes in reclamation, re-purposing and resale of architectural pieces. Two guys, Mike and Robert, started the business and it went from salvage business to a Salvage Dawgs reality show on the diy (do it yourself) network. This is one of our favorite shows! We arrived at their store and the town was having a marathon. Mike, Robert and the black dog Sally were greeting the runners. We were able to stand on their dock, visit with them, and get our photo made. They are super “down to earth” guys! We got our t-shirts, shopped a bit and hit the road. Being in the business of junk we made many stops! We spent Saturday night in Kodak, TN near Pigeon Forge. Sunday we pointed toward home by way of Arkansas. Being the traveler I noted that the American Pickers, another awesome show on the History channel, have a store in Nashville. After a few flea markets we made our way to ribs at Rippy’s BBQ and a quick visit to the American Archaeology store to view some of Mike and Frank’s finds. They were not there but we got a few pictures with some of the things from their show. As our day was ending we found some great treasures including several old cast iron kettles and a few iron skillets. We found ourselves facing storms through Arkansas but made it home safely in the early hours Monday morning. It was a very quick trip but we enjoyed our venture! Note: His & Hers Trades Day is the third weekend of every month in the middle of Burke on the east side of highway 59, just a short distance south of Angelina County Airport.

Visiting with Arlene Hook when she came in for garden seeds, I learned that she and several ladies from her church, Diboll United Pentecostal Church, spent all day last Saturday shopping in Tyler. With Arlene were chauffeur and pastor’s wife, Michele King, Michele’s daughter-in-law, Brittany King, Jessica Stanley and Patricia Stubblefield. Their first place to stop was the new strip center taking in the several department stores that included: Versona; T. J. Maxx, Compass, Gordman’s, Ross and Steinmart. For lunch they dined at Genghis Mongolian Grill where customers choose their meat, spices, vegetables, give it to a cook and when it’s done the cook brings it to the table with your choice of a fork or chop sticks. After a delicious meal, the group enjoyed frozen custard at Andy’s.

Enjoyed visiting with Andy Archer and his son, Clayton, who now live in Pleasantview, Colorado. Andy is the son of John and Johnnie Archer of Diboll and is married to Debrah (Brooks) whose parents are Bobby and Ann Brooks also of Diboll. Andy and Debrah both graduated from Diboll. Andy worked at Temple Inland’s Fiberboard plant, was a para medic and followed in his mother’s footsteps and became a nurse, moved to Colorado and later became a flight nurse. He doesn’t fly now but is a Regional Flight Manager. His company owns 35 aircrafts and he is responsible for the crews and equipment that includes 8 aircrafts and 90 pilots, nurses and para medics. They love living in Colorado on their 35 acres where Andy can be trout fishing in 8 minutes from home. Although Debrah earned the title of a Physicians’ Assistant she chose the title “mother” and home schooled their three children. Their oldest child, Andrew, is married to Jessica; Clayton is 20 and Christina is 17. Clayton is a carpenter and spends his time helping others when he is not taking care of his goats, sheep, cows, pigs and chickens. He uses a Great Pyrenees dog to guard all the stock against bear and mountain lions.

Jack and Donnie Jenkins have arrived home from attending the SAS, Single Action Shooting Society, state competition in Lockhart. The association is made up of men and women who love to shoot pistols, rifles and shotguns which are period correct for the late 1800’s. It involves shooting ten separate stages and is based on time and accuracy. Donnie competed in the “Grand Dam” category and was awarded the honor of being #3 in the state! In June, Jack and Donnie will attend the World competition in Albuquerque, NM where both will compete in the “End of Trail” shoot.

Dennis and Karon Lenderman were proud to be taking care of their 16-month-old grandson, Jase Davis, when they came in the store. Karon’s parents, Marlon and Jean Register, were also in the store buying Colorado pinto beans. John Hawkins also bought pinto beans.

Dianne Tate and her daughter-in-law, Vicki Tate, stopped by the store to visit after attending the Women in Red luncheon. Vicki had some pictures of hers and Barry’s precious twin grandsons, Jude Kenneth and Lennon Morris whose parents are Zackary and Brittany Tate. The twins were helping Barry and had climbed up on the open dishwasher to help him load dishes. Vicki has retired from teaching in Magnolia and works full time, or when she wants to, for BVT Enterprises which is managing their rental properties. Barry works for the Barry W. Tate Group that is associated with Ameriprise.

It’s not a surprise so go ahead and mark your calendars for Betty Baskette’s 90th birthday party on May 16th in the fellowship hall of Diboll First Baptist Church. The special event is open to all who want to come and celebrate her birthday at 1PM. There will be plenty of food and birthday cake.

Come see us…’round the table.