October 19, 2015

October 19, 2015 by

 

Ruth Mullins is a proud grandmother again thanks to her son, Ted Mullins of Jeffersonton, Virginia. Ted and his wife, Adrianne, announced the birth of their daughter, Caity Diane, on October 7. She weighed 6 lbs. and 8 ozs. Caity’s middle name “Diane” is after her aunt Diane (Mullins) Pennington who teaches in Diboll. Caity’s sisters, Chloe, Courtney and Carla were adopted into the Mullins family in September. Ruth shared that Carla called her on the day the adoption papers were finalized and said, “Grandma Ruth, my name is the same as yours now.” Blessings to this sweet family.

John and Gloria Ogden celebrated their 53th wedding anniversary with a road trip east to attend the “Cruisin’ the Coast” Classic Car Show. Cars were in several cities along the coast of Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Gulf Port, Biloxi and Ocean Springs. They also enjoyed the Shrimp Festival on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. John appreciates the classic cars and Gloria loves all the cute shops, arts and crafts. On the way home, Gloria really liked St. Francisville, Louisiana, where they had lunch and looked at the plantation homes and shops.

The traveling duo, Garvis Baldree and Bettye Greer, took a road trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas in hopes of seeing the leaves change and attend The Great Passion Play. The leaves didn’t cooperate but the play did with a cast of 150 actors and dozens of animals, “America’s #1 Outdoor Drama” brought the Bible to life on a 550’ long multi-leveled stage. Towering above the stage area is the massive “Christ of the Ozarks” which stands 67 feet high and an arm span of 65 feet. Built in 1967, it is one of the largest Christ memorial statues in the world. Garvis and Bettye also enjoyed touring a Bible Museum located in the same area were delighted to see an original Gutenberg Bible.

Located about 1-1/2 miles outside the city of Eureka Springs, nestled in a woodland setting, is The Thorncrown Chapel that rises 48 feet into the Ozark sky. A magnificent wooden structure that contains 425 windows and over 6,000 square feet of glass. It sits atop 100 tons of native stone and colored flagstone. The chapel’s simple design and majestic beauty combine to make it what critics have called “one of the finest religious spaces of modern times.” Since the chapel opened in 1980, over six million people have visited this woodland sanctuary. Garvis and Bettye increased that number with their visit. These ladies also enjoyed the trolley ride that took them all around Eureka Springs allowing them to get on and off at their discretion.

In Bentonville, Arkansas, Garvis and Bettye visited The Walmart Museum located in the original Walton’s 5&10 dime store where Sam Walton’s “made in America” theory was to purchase only from vendors who lived in the town. (Boy, has his predecessors forgotten that theory). Sam Walton, a very humble man, once said, “I just don’t believe a big showy lifestyle is appropriate. Why do I drive a pickup truck? What am I supposed to haul my dogs around in, a Rolls Royce?” Sam’s famous 1979 Ford F-150 pickup is on permanent display in the museum.

Bess Andrews was happy to have her son and daughter-in-law, Don and Renee Andrews, drive from Austin to visit and treat her to dinner at The Cotton Patch. It was nice to meet Charlotte Jackson from Lewisville, Texas, where she works for AT&T. She is the lovely daughter of Dortha and Steve Jackson who have moved to Diboll. The Jacksons own the popular Tropical Toucan shaved ice which is located near Hwy 59 and Thompson Streets.

Jerry King comes to store every fall and always reminds us he is a friend of former Dibollian, Joe Anthony. We don’t have to be reminded who he is because Jerry buys lots and lots of peanuts from us. He gives several pounds away to friends like Joe Anthony and David Bennett but he also enjoys eating them. Jerry has learned “just the right timing” to roast his peanuts in the microwave.
Enjoyed visiting with Herman Day who recently moved back to Beulah after living in Pasadena for 40 years. His parents were Luther and May Day. His dad worked for Temple Associates when they lived here in the 50’s with their eleven children. Two people Herman remembered from school was Mrs. W. F. Pate and Granville Smith. Before leaving Diboll to serve in the military for 20 years, he remembers helping install the first water meters in Diboll. Herman has three sons: David moved here, Darrell and Dwayne still live in Pasadena. Dwayne and his wife Sheila come here to race at Pine Valley Raceway on the Ryan Chapel Road.

Also enjoyed visiting with Carlos Olvera and his daughter, Myra, when they came in for hunting licenses on their way to Ryan’s Lake to do some bow hunting. Myra is a student at Angelina College. Her sister Victoria and husband, Eric Giles, are the parents of six month old, Isabella Sophia. Carlos’ wife, Iliana, is the administrative assistant to Martha Hernandez at Diboll First Bank & Trust and almost everyone knows his parents, Pedro and Maria Olvera. And, how can we ever forget his sister, Maria, who worked here for a number of years.

The Everything store was pleasantly surprised with several young visitors from Kathryn Sage Temple Day Care. The group was on a ”hayride” with two of their favorite teachers, Tammy Bass and Sheila Eldridge, when they came in to get a pumpkin. Each child received a child-size pumpkin to take with them from Andrea’s pumpkin patch. They took a larger pumpkin with them to carve for Halloween. Andrea grew the pumpkins and has all sizes available if anyone is looking for fall decorations. By the way, Lane Bass was the driver for the hayride.

The Diboll Business Association invites everyone to attend a Ribbon Cutting at Ace Hardware on Hines Street this Friday, October 23rd, at 5PM. Bobby Dubose’s Ace Hardware will be having a LARGE celebration with lots of sale items and fun things for the kids and everyone. The sale is Friday and Saturday. We are fortunate to have this nice store, please don’t forget to patronize it by shopping locally.

I’m expressing my gratitude in advance for the coming rain and the cooler temperatures we have been enjoying.
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Filed Under: News from the Round Table at Pouland's, October 2015

October 5, 2015

October 5, 2015 by

 

Because we knew several that had birthdays the last of September and the first week of October, Andrea decided to make Rueben sandwiches and invite them and friends to help celebrate. Mary Lou Havard’s birthday was the 2nd and Marcia (Warner) Jones’ birthday was September 30th. The other birthday was for the young man that has been around here for quite some time, Thomas “Spiderman” Linton whose birthday was the 28th. Guests included Bess Andrews, Ima Weisinger, JoNell Placker, Kathreen Chuke, Joyce Carlton, Dee Adams, Marcia’s son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Shelly Jones from Houston and Mark Havernick. Mark’s wife, Ann, had a birthday on the day of our little party but she was in Dallas so Mark decided to celebrate with us and sent Ann a picture of his plate and told her “Happy Birthday”. For dessert Andrea made homemade pecan and buttermilk pies. We also served a Snowball cake that Patricia Stubblefield made and delivered to us with her husband, Kenneth. There were lots of laughter and stories told at the table that day. In the conversation, I learned there were three DHS cheerleaders from the class of ’44 sitting at the table; Bess, Mary Lou and Marcia who was also Football Sweetheart that year.

It was great to see Russell and Tricia Roberts when they were in town to attend the funeral of Dave Winfrey. The Roberts lived here for five years in the late 80’s while he was athletic director and she worked in the library. Both of their children graduated from DHS; Tina in 1990 and Chris in 1993. Tina graduated from Baylor and Chris attended school in Wichita Falls a short time before transferring to Baylor. Tina got a business degree and worked in the business world for a while and later taught school. She now loves being a stay-at-home mom to 15-year-old Trinity and 11-year-old Tucker. Everyone in her family has a name with “T”, Tad, Tina, Trinity and Tucker. After Baylor, Chris immediately began coaching with his dad in Wharton and New Caney before moving into the Humble ISD and is now the head coach at Meridian which incidentally, is where he attended kindergarten. His wife, Kathryn (from Mexia) is the assistant principal and their children are 13-year-old Maddie and 9-year-old Grant. In 2010 Russell retired and he and Tricia moved to Round Mountain, population 181, not even a stop sign. They truly enjoy living in the country on their 8 acres of rocks, watching the wildlife and drinking coffee on their deck. Tricia works one day a week in the library at their church’s school. Russell fully retired this year after serving as head coach at Faith Academy in Marble Falls, at first it was 6 man football and later 11-man and eventually he stepped down to coaching Jr. High. Tricia’s parents, Patsy and Sam Johnson lived in Diboll about 5 years but eventually moved back to the Marble Falls area. Patsy passed away about 5 years ago but Sam will be 94 on the 11th of October and still lives alone, drives and cooks for himself.

Geneva Ard called to let everyone know that the $100 gift card given away by the Diboll Pilot Club was won by Dennis Gilmore of Jasper. He is the brother of another Pilot club member, Barbara Nash. Proceeds from this go toward the special projects that the club does. Geneva also shared she spent the weekend in College Station being “Nana” to her two grandsons 3-year-old Case and 5-1/2 year old T.J. Their parents, Allison and Dennis Gilmore attended the Texas A&M game.

Two SFA lifetime alumni, attended their first SFA football game this past week end in Houston at the NRG Stadium. Kevin and Andrea Swor along with their SFA freshman daughter Cheyenne and her friend, Samantha Wallace enjoyed good seats on the 50 yard line. The girls were able to find their former high school classmate, Brandon McCall, in the huge and very impressive SFA band. Brandon was playing the piccolo and being watched by his parents, David and Brenda McCall, who were also in the crowd. I just have to interject that my mother, Anna Lee Burden Powell, was the 13th student to enroll at Stephen F. Austin in 1923 before there was football or even buildings.

Jimmie Woodard shared with me about her recent cruise to Alaska on the Norwegian ship Pearl. She traveled with Kenny & Gay Standridge from Huntington who were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. They invited Kenny’s brother and wife, David and Vivian and Sandy Anthony who invited Jimmie. The group flew from Houston to Seattle and spent two days sightseeing before boarding their ship. Their first port was Ketchikan, then the historic island of Sitka, Juneau, and the last port was Victoria, BC where they took a tour to Buchart Gardens, the Empress Hotel and a night view of Parliament. This was Jimmie’s second Alaskan cruise and it was as awesome as the first. They enjoyed the icebergs, glaciers, saw black and brown bears, whales, eagles, totem poles and took a train ride to a salmon bake and watched the spawning salmon. Back in Seattle they spent two more days touring that included a second trip to Pike’s Market, space needle, floating bridge and houses and observing locks and dams. It only rained a short time on one day during the 12 day trip.

James Davis from Lufkin was impressed that Andrea was able to get his 20-year-old Spin Cast feeder working again. He told her when he returned from being in the service he enjoyed being a referee for 24 years and remembered Coach Joe Wyatt when he was Diboll’s Athletic Director.

It’s time to plant bluebonnet seeds in early October. They are annual plants meaning they go from seeds to flowers to seed in one year. They germinate in the fall, grow throughout the winter and usually bloom (if someone doesn’t mow them down for weeds) the end of March to mid-May. We do have bluebonnet seeds for sale here at Pouland’s.

Congratulations to Melvin and Kay Linton, Sr. on the 53rd wedding anniversary, October 5th. John and Gloria Ogden will celebrate their 54th anniversary on October 7th with a short trip to a classic car show in Alabama.

If you read your Diboll Free Press today, Thursday October 8th, before 5PM, you’ll have time to attend the ribbon cutting of a new business in Diboll, Tropical Toucan Shaved Ice. The colorful trailer will be set up at the site of the old Diboll Free Press building at the intersection of Hwy 59, Thompson and Hendrick streets. The owners are Steve and Dortha Jackson of Diboll and the cute trailer is packed with dozens of flavors and new items coming almost every day. Steve plans to move the Tropical Toucan to the Angelina County airport this Saturday for the air show.
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Filed Under: News from the Round Table at Pouland's, October 2015

September 29, 2015

September 29, 2015 by

 

Jan Wilkerson is one busy lady. If you have been involved doing any volunteer work in Diboll you have probably met Jan. She is very active in Diboll PTSA, a past State President of PTSA, serves on the Diboll Business Association, Design for Diboll committee and the Diboll Civic Club to name a few. She is also very active in her church, Eastview Pentecostal, although she recently resigned as Director of the Women’s Ministry after 13 years to accept the position of Community Relations Director of her church. I understand that two ladies filled her vacancy. Thank you Jan for all you do for our community and your church.

The Diboll Civic Club meets once a month on the first Tuesday which will be October 6th at 6PM at the Temple House on Hines Street. There are no membership requirements or dues except to be interested in making our community of Diboll a better place to live and raise a family. Please mark this date on your calendar and come be a part. Plans are in the making for Christmas Blessings and also Christmas in the Park. Hope to see you at the meeting.

Gayle (Saxton) Holland, grew up a “city” girl living in Diboll. She never had much opportunity to get her feet off the concrete until she married Ken Holland. She now loves living in the country near Kennard and has named almost every animal on their place. They have cows, rabbits, horses, chickens, dogs, a cat, a donkey and a weak and abandoned calf named PIB. Gayle’s day job has been working as a medical transcriptionist for Dr. Thomas Duncan for the past 35 years. Gayle graduated from DHS in 1972. She has a son, Kevin Dickey, who lives in Lufkin. Gayle’s little sister, Kathy, graduated in 1974; their parents were Bill and Pat Saxton. Kathy and her husband Terry Bunkley live in Abilene but are contemplating moving near Austin to be closer to their two daughters. Mary Lynn graduated from UT and is waiting to hear the results of her bar exam, hopefully in November and Candace graduated from Hardin Simmons and is already living in Austin.

Fran Rodriguez called Friday asking if we knew of someone who planned to attend the Master Gardeners Native Plant Sale to be held Saturday, September 26 at the Farmers Market location in Lufkin. She had a $5.00 discount coupon off any purchase she had won as a door prize at the monthly Gardeners Seminar on September 21. She would be in Nacogdoches attending a Texas District Pilot meeting and would not be attending. However hubby Louis would be working at the sale with the other local Master Gardeners; he is just two hours away from completing his final requirements to become Certified Master Gardener. Fran also reported that she and Louis celebrated her 74th birthday by attending “The Diamonds” concert at the Pines Theater on September 14; and they are also enjoying driving their new red Ford Explorer SUV around town. (Fran never drove his 2012 Ford 150 super crew pickup truck because it was too big for her and now she is so happy that this vehicle has all the bells and whistles and has a special setting just for her when she is in the driver’s seat). Follow-up report from the Gardeners sale: Yes, it was another successful sell-out and everything was just about gone by 10:30 a.m.

Dianne Gibson called to report about the six members of the Diboll Pilot Club that attended a workshop at the First Christian Church in Nacogdoches last Saturday. The purpose of the meeting was to learn more ways the Pilots can serve their community. The group enjoyed being served breakfast as well as a delicious lunch. Diboll Pilot members attending were: Barbara Nash, Sue Baker, Betty Capps, Fran Rodriquez, Geneva Ard and Dianne Gibson. This club meets the second Monday of each month at Vintage Blooms for their regular meeting and a catered meal. If you are interested in this service club and want to know more about it, feel free to contact any of these ladies. Their next service project is an Appreciation meal for our Diboll policemen.

John Monk frequents the round table. He shared that he and Lynette’s grandson, John Berroth, is attending the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota on a baseball scholarship. While attending Estrella High School in Goodyear, Arizona, John played on the First Team Arizona All Stars.

John and Lynette Monk are members of the Christ Church where he serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The church has been meeting in The Lodge since August 2009 but will be moving in a few days into their new building on Saddle Creek off Southwood. The beautiful new building already has a bell installed in the bell tower. From John’s research, it is an old 30-inch 800 pound bell that was cast in 1882 by the Clinton Company and has “Meneely” stamped on it. It will be operated by a traditional pull rope although electronic chimes will also be used. The church has a new Allen Organ and was given a 1938 Steinway & Sons piano signed by one of the Steinways. They also have a new set of hand bells that will be used under the direction of Lynette Monk.

The following is from Christ Church website describing the ornate hexagonal oak pulpit that is already installed. It is only one of two remaining pulpits designed by the famous Sir Christopher Wren in the late 1600’s. “It is both humbling and inspiring to think that in the newly constructed Christ Church, the Word of God will be proclaimed from a pulpit built when the King James Version of the Holy Scriptures (which just celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2011) was a mere 50-60 years old, and from which the Gospel of Christ was first proclaimed a full century before the founding of our country!” The minister is Randall Green and the first service is planned for October 11th at 10:45AM.

Our thanks to Ella Wayne Wilkerson for the homemade cookies and to her son-in-law Jerry for bringing her to the round table. Robert Jones’ local honey is always in demand. Lacey Chandler and Betty Jumper both came in to restock with honey. Gary Gores came and bought a Woodman’s Pal tool. Melvin Linton, Sr. was happy to get Swamp Witch tires for his mechanical mule. J.R. Williams enjoyed spending time with his brother, Richard “Dickie” Williams from Sweeny; his wife is Debbie (Bullock) whose grandparents lived in Corrigan. J.R. and Dickie spent time in the Smyrna hunting club getting ready for the season.

If you are in need of fish to stock your pond, The FISH Truck will be at Poulands, October 14th from noon until 1PM.

Members of the 1985 graduating class at DHS are having their 30th class reunion, October 10th at J.R.’s Barn one mile north of Diboll. For more information contact Clevette Mark 936-586-9416 or Faye Jones 936-208-9225. Check out their Facebook page, Class of 1985.
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Filed Under: News from the Round Table at Pouland's, September 2015

September 21, 2015

September 21, 2015 by

 

WOW! Diboll is very fortunate to have an ACE Hardware store. Bobby Dubose is the owner and he has completely redone the Dixon Furniture building on Hines Street. The store is more than 12,000 sq.ft. packed with everything imaginable. I was looking for a small lightweight vacuum, which they had, and discovered coffee makers and a host of neat kitchen items. They have tiny screwdrivers for glasses and parts for sprinkler systems and shelves and shelves of paint and paint supplies. You need to see for yourself what a selection they have. The manager, Jared Rounsavall, was very helpful; he lives in Nacogdoches. Former Dibollian, Dennis Flowers, was also very helpful to bring me a buggy when I was overloaded with items. Other employees from Diboll include Juanita Esteves who worked at DISD for 17 years; Julissa Martinez who graduated in May from DHS and Raul Pecina, a Junior at DHS. Mr. Dubose said the grand opening is planned for October 23rd and 24th. The Diboll Business Association will have a Ribbon Cutting on Friday, the 23rd, there will be tons of sale items. Their number is 829-0330 but it’s best to go see for yourself.

Bobby Dubose told me the antique tractor displayed in front of the store belonged to his dad, Warren Dubose, who recently passed away. Bobby’s grandfather started the Dubose Ford Tractor dealership in Lufkin, a family owned business where Bobby and his brother Paul grew up and later owned the Outdoor Power Sports Equipment on Highway 59. Years ago Paul was delivering a new Ford tractor to a farmer in the country when he spotted an old tractor covered up in weeds. Paul asked the man if he would sell it. The farmer told him if he would haul it off he could have it.

Under the bucket of rust was a 1917 Fordson tractor that has been repainted a number of times and now sits in front of the new Ace Hardware store in Diboll.
We attended the wedding and reception of Shane and Crissy (Hall) Garrett last weekend and enjoyed seeing folks we haven’t seen in a while. Shane’s parents are Phil and Loretta (Shipp) Garrett of Diboll. Crissy’s parents, Charlie and Anita Hall, live near Atlanta, Texas. Crissy works at Ellen Trout Zoo and that’s where she and Shane met; that’s where he proposed and that’s also where their engagement pictures were taken with the giraffe posing in the background.

At the reception at JR’s Barn, I first sat at the table with John and Ruth Oates and their daughter Rachel and husband, Ryan Bloser. Rachel and Ryan live in Tyler where they met and were married in May of 2014. Rachel graduated from SFA and earned a master’s degree from UT at Tyler in Clinical Mental Health. Ryan is a chemical engineer at KP Engineering in Tyler. Rachel is a licensed professional counselor at the Crisis Center of Cherokee County/Children’s’ Advocacy Center. I remember Rachel loving to sing at her church and while in the 4th grade at Diboll, playing the lead in the awesome production of Annie directed by Nancy Trout. She also played the leading character in The Secret Garden at Angelina College with Dr. George Thannisch.

John and Ruth (Meriwether) Oates met at SFA and later married. Ruth is from Mt. Pleasant and majored in Kinesiology. She and her twin sister, Kathrine Stewart, were twirlers in high school and both were twirlers at SFA between l978-82. Ruth works at Lockheed Martin and is also one of Diboll’s finest First Responders.

Sitting at another table with David and Lisa Crager, I enjoyed visiting with David’s brother, Corry. I can’t believe it’s been almost 11 years since he and Sandy moved to Hewitt where Corry is responsible for keeping the school district in top maintenance and Sandy is an executive secretary with student services. Their daughter, Brooke Curtis, teaches in the Diboll ISD and she and Larry have two daughters, Kati, a senior who is the reigning Miss Diboll Day and Bailey. The Cragers’ daughter-in-law Kathrina (Trout) is the CFO for DISD and their son Eric loves his new job using his auto-cad talent working for Ref-Chem in Houston. He is very popular when he brings Blue Bell ice cream home, especially to his neighbor and uncle, David and Lisa Crager.

Didn’t get to visit much with Glenda (McGuire) Shepherd as she is a cousin to the groom’s mother (Loretta) and was busy keeping everyone happy at the reception. Her husband Mark sat down at our table with their newest 4-month old grandson, Heath, asleep in his arms. Mark and Glenda now live in Newnan, Georgia, near Peachtree City, where Mark works with Joe Rodgers, formally from Diboll. Heath’s parents are Paul and Elizabeth Shepherd and his big sister is Brie; they live in San Antonio. Also living in Newnan, Georgia is Mark and Glenda’s daughter Jane and her husband, Frank Wallace and 11-year-old granddaughter, Hazel.

P. E. “Buddy” Shipp was proud to have celebrated his 82nd birthday on September 17th with friends and family. That same day 39 years ago, Walter Sharry married Karon Register and Dennis Lenderman at the Burke Baptist Church. Dennis told us he carried Karon to Bass Pro Shop for their anniversary but later treated her to a luxurious room overlooking the river at the Horseshoe in Shreveport. The hotel treated them to dinner for the special occasion. The following Saturday, Dennis and Karon drove to Magnolia to visit with daughter Cassi, Stacey and 20-month-old grandson, Jace Davis. Cassi’s little brother, Texas Trooper Zach Lenderman, was also there to watch the Texas A&M game.

Maxine Jones shared with me how much she enjoyed this past weekend at the Rayburn lake home of her daughter, Marvana Cook. Also present was her daughter Lynda Bowman and Betty Sue Murry. Maxine was happy to visit with her stepson, Royce Grimes and his wife, Becky and son, Aaron who is a teacher in the Nacogdoches ISD. The view of the lake and perfect weather made a good day for visiting.

Don’t forget this Saturday, September 26th, is the Angelina Master Gardeners third annual Native Plant Sale starting at 8 AM at the Angelina County Farmers’ Market. The Master Gardeners will work with you at the sale to select just the right plant for the right spot in your landscape and answer questions to help you be successful in your gardening efforts. Check out their website go-lukin.com/mastergardeners/

The following Monday (28th) the Master Gardeners will have a Fall Native Plant seminar at 6:30. Peter Loos, Horticulturist, will present “Native Plants that Work for You”. Admission is $10 at the Extension office.
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Filed Under: News from the Round Table at Pouland's, September 2015

September 14, 2015

September 14, 2015 by

 

How about those Diboll Lumberjacks, cheerleaders, band and Dazzlers!! We are very proud of you. It is sports season in Diboll!!! Please display your Lumberjack Flags in support of not only our football team but volleyball, band, and cross country. Show your support for our DISD students as they are working to make Diboll ISD the best school district around.

If you do not have a Lumberjack flag and you are a member of the Diboll Business Association, contact Jan Wilkerson at 829-4817 for your FREE flag. If you would like to purchase a flag—stop by Diboll Free Press or Pouland’s to pick one up. The cost is $10. GO LUMBERJACKS!!!!

If you’ve attended any of the Lumberjack’s football games, you have heard a loud train horn when the Lumberjacks score, make a first down, and recover the ball or anything exciting. The horn was designed by Jim Morrison, Coach Morrison’s dad. Jim and Sharon Morrison live in Vidor and never miss their son’s football games especially while their grandson Caleb played. The horn was retired after Caleb’s senior season in 2013 until this year when it was brought out of retirement for the Diboll Lumberjacks. The horn is actually 3 horns in one. Mr. Morrison proudly refers to them as the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe. The horn started out on a small pull cart then elevated to an upright mobile unit on wheels before being attached to a Kubota ATV with a custom red and black paint job along with custom red and black upholstered seats made from alligator and ostrich. It has made appearances throughout the years at various big time stadiums such as: McLane Stadium at Baylor University, NRG Stadium (formerly Reliant Stadium) and the prestigious AT&T (otherwise known as Jerry World/Dallas Cowboys Stadium) for Coach Blake Morrison’s teams including the 2010 State Championship.

One former Diboll Lumberjack that was a tri-captain of the 1961 football team and also past mayor of Diboll celebrated his 71st birthday on the 10th of September. James Simms couldn’t remember which restaurant in Magnolia that his daughter and son-in-law, Jamie and Craig Parker, took him to for a steak dinner but he does remember that his wife, Kathy, was there along with his pal, 5-year-old grandson, Wiley. The group finished the celebration at the Parkers’ home with birthday cake and Blue Bell ice cream. A big hunter, James is excited and getting ready for deer season to open. He hunts on a lease near Ratcliff Lake. By the way, the other two captains on that ’61-62 football team were quarterback, Paul Murphy and a handsome 185# full back, John Ralph Pouland.
Someone else celebrated a 10th birthday on the 3rd of September. Her name is “Mia”, a French toy poodle whose mom is Gay Storch of Diboll. Mia insists that Gay take her for a ride in the car almost every day to get an ice cream cone.

I received the following news from Christene Boles. The ole Surgery crew from Memorial (now CHI St Luke’s) had a joyous reunion at Cheddars last Saturday. It was wonderful to get together with ex co-workers that felt like family when they worked together and enjoyed closeness as a team. This was the third get together in several years, which in these busy times is not often enough. Those attending were: Glenda Allen, Vicki Burnette, Olivia Ellington, Kathy Hessinger, Pat Strickland, Susan Schuller, Carolyn Cullum, Karrie Stanaland, Jessie Boston, Christene Boles, Lucy Price, Bobby Boles, Janet Kilgore and Kelly Boles.

Some of the residents that live on Brookwood Drive just north of Diboll are having to get accustomed to a landmark that is now gone. Leonard and Billie Robison purchased the property on the corner of Brookwood Drive and Highway 59 and removed the large “Flowers Body Shop” sign. Clyde Maxey told Leonard he has passed up the road he lives on looking for the colorful tall sign. He is not the only one that’s missed the turn. If you are interested, parts of the building are available to rent for small business or motor homes.

Enjoyed visiting with David May when he stopped by the round table. When I first met David he was working at Lufkin Federal Savings and Loan and he reminded me he had to help with my first real estate contract years ago. It was my uncle’s large tract of land near Hondo and coincidentally, joined David’s hunting lease. David also shared stories about other mutual friends we know; Grady Grimes and John Powers. “Sonny” Hubbard from Nacogdoches and former Big Tin Barn employee, also stopped by to check on a former classmate of his, Jack Jenkins.

Scott McDonald brought raffle tickets to Pouland’s for a Benelli pump shotgun. The proceeds from the raffle will benefit the Texas Forestry Museum and they are $5 each. Stop by and get one.

The Diboll PTSA and DISD have started a campaign on their Facebook pages of “Did You Know” facts about the school district. Look in the paper today for a Did You Know fact that I hope to have every week about someone who lives in Diboll and why they like living in Diboll. Diboll is a great place to live and in my opinion is the Best Little Town in Texas!!

October 10th at JR’s Barn in Diboll will be the place for the 30th reunion for the DHS graduating class of 1985. The advanced cost is $30 per person or $50 per couple; prices will be more at the door. So, don’t wait. For more information contact Clevette Mark at 936-526-9416, Faye Jones at 936-208-9225 or Jimmy “Rhinestone Cowboy” Tate at 936-635-4704.

Don’t forget September 22 at 6PM Angelina County 4-H will be hosting a 4-H Expo at the Angelina County Extension office. This is for anyone that is interested in having a 4-H project. For more information, call 632-8239.
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Filed Under: News from the Round Table at Pouland's, September 2015

September 7, 2015

September 7, 2015 by

John Ralph and I thoroughly enjoyed a labor-less Labor Day starting with sleeping until I woke up which was about 7AM and JR cooking breakfast and later after feeding all my animals, leisurely watching a DVD of a vacation we took almost 20 years ago to Sedona, AZ with Richard and JoAnn Rainwater. At 2PM we were invited to meet with several friends in the beautiful home of Billie and Leonard Robison to enjoy some of Leonard’s delicious BBQ cooking. The menu included tender BBQ beef and pork; grilled onions in lots of butter; potato salad; 6-layered green salad; baked beans; hamburgers; stuffed peppers and toasted garlic bread. For dessert there was a deep rich fudge chocolate cake and homemade ice cream. The visiting and conversation with friends was equally good. Those present included Earl and Carolyn Hutson; J.R. and Tellie Williams; Gay Storch; Lee and Debbie Woodard; Steve and Dortha Jackson; Dick and Linda Miller; John and Gloria Ogden; us and the Robisons.

While we ladies were visiting around the Robisons’ dining table, it was brought to our attention that Dortha Jackson has had another book published. The name of it is Seeds and it is a Christian suspense novel about the dangerous effects that genetically modified crops are having on our environment and on human health. Seeds follows a young woman university professor as she looks into mysterious phenomenon such as birds falling out of the sky and the rise in aggression in animals and people and being caught up in a whirlwind of adventures. The book sells for $8.95 and is available here at Poland’s.

Back to my labor-less Labor Day. Not long after we got home from the Robisons, we left for the Rainwaters’, JoAnn and Richard. She had as guests in their home, two longtime friends that we have also gotten to know through the years. Jennifer Falk and Christine Lynch. Both of these ladies lived in Manhattan where they treated JoAnn and me to the sights and sounds and personal tours of NYC while staying as a guest in Christine’s apartment. We relived several stories and the most memorable was our trip in a limousine from Manhattan to the Meadowlands stadium in New Jersey to see the “last” tour of the original Three Tenors. After the performance it was an ordeal getting out of the stadium. Our driver was stuck in the traffic so we had an experience crossing 12 lanes of high traffic and climbing over a chain-link fence to find “our” limousine in a sea of limousines. We did find it and made it back to Manhattan but this remains as our funniest and favorite experience to recall. Christine and Jennifer have been friends for many years and have traveled around the world. It was sad that Christine recently relocated to Philadelphia while Jennifer stayed in Manhattan. They miss their weekly going-to-the movies but manage to stay in touch via daily telephone calls. Christine Lynch is an agent for Cruises, Inc. She is very familiar with the different cruise lines and has a wealth of information from having traveled on so many ships. If you are planning a cruise, give her a call at 215-676-3640 and let her help you plan your trip.

Sunday afternoon at the Burke Community Center, the children and grandchildren of Sofia Lenderman surprised her with a special 80th birthday party. She couldn’t believe and neither could the family that they truly kept it a secret. She was totally surprised upon arriving at the community center. Her son Ray told her they were going to a special called meeting. The community center is the former Burke school where Sofia started to school there on her birthday 74 years ago. It was a great party with a large cake, lots of punch and lots of birthday wishers from friends and family. Immediate family helping with the party were her sons, Barley, Dennis and Ray; daughter-in- law Karon Lenderman and granddaughters Ashley and Cassi.

Pam (Rush) Burnett, has a heart as big as Texas when it comes to helping someone in need. She has organized a “Homemade Fried Pie” Fundraiser for Daniel Hagan, who needs help with the expenses of a kidney transplant. Pam needs volunteers to help cook the fried pies October 5-7 at the First Methodist Church in Diboll and also needs monetary donations to purchase the ingredients. The pies will cost $4 each; 6 for $20 or $40 per dozen. You can choose from peach, apple or cherry flavors. Money donations will be accepted at Southland Credit Union. For more information, call Pam Burnette at 829-4631 or 281-995-0496.

Steve Jackson has started a new venture in Diboll, Tropical Toucan. His blue eye-catching shaved ice trailer is open 2-6 PM Monday thru Saturday and parked at the red light at FM1818 near the intersection of Thompson and Hendrick streets. Be sure to visit the Tropical Toucan and cool off in the hot weather we are having.
How about our Diboll Lumberjacks? What a football game to come from behind 22 points and win the game against Athens. Thomas Lowther came in the store Saturday morning and bought two large cowbells that you will probably hear at the next game.

Terrell’s Insurance was the location of the latest “Pack the House” sponsored by the Diboll Business Association. His attractive brick office building located at 902 N. Temple Drive in Diboll was literally “packed” last week with Diboll business owners showing their appreciation of Terrell’s membership in the Diboll Business Association. Nathan and Lesa Terrell, agent Wendy Terry and receptionist Liz Monroy prepared delicious punch and iced cookies for the guests. Nathan’s son Jonathan is also an agent but was under the weather and unable to attend. Burlon Wilkerson won a tape measure as a door prize and Julie Gavan of Los Jarrritos was excited about using the set of kitchen knives she won and said she had the perfect place to use them.

The Diboll Business Association cordially invites you to the Ribbon Cutting of Cuts & More, a hair salon owned by Brenda Platt who is re-opening her shop at 105 Weber Street in Diboll. Her new shop is in the same building with Trey Wilkerson’s Financial Services behind Commercial Bank in Diboll. Please stop by and welcome Brenda and her staff back to Diboll, 5 – 5:30PM. There will be refreshments, door prizes and time to visit.

Filed Under: News from the Round Table at Pouland's, September 2015

August 31, 2015

August 31, 2015 by

Ken Christopher has scratched an event off his “bucket list”…attending the 2015 Annual Motorcycle Rally in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. It was the 75th anniversary of this gathering of Harley Davison bike owners; approximately 1.5 million people attended some of the weeklong event. Ken owns a 2015 Street Glide Special Harley and was part of the Nacogdoches group that traveled with Mike Greer who has made the trip numerous times and knows all the backroads and shortcuts in and around Sturgis. They are all members of “HOGS”, Harley Owners Group. Preparation for this trip began earlier when the group packed their tents, air mattresses, lamps, etc. into a foot locker and sent it via UPS to one of the many campgrounds outside of Sturgis.

A group of eight HOGS left Nacogdoches on July 24th with the wind blowing in their faces and enjoyed riding the highways through Chama, NM, Pagosa Springs, CO, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park and over eleven mountain passes that were over 10,000 feet. They spent their nights in hotels on the trip to Sturgis After arriving in Sturgis, SD, the group found their foot lockers to camp out and took day trips with wonderful weather to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the historic town of Deadwood, and several museums. In Denver, CO on the return home it began to rain and riding wasn’t nearly as pleasant but all made it home safely.

Ken had ties to Diboll through working as a geologist for Temple Inland. For 31 years he worked in the Minerals Division where Lowell Wood hired him. He retired in 2007. Since returning from the Sturgis event, Ken said to his wife Donna one Sunday morning, “Let’s go to church on the bike and ride to Palestine for lunch” They did and some few hundred miles later, he brought her home. Donna had also retired from teaching in the Nacogdoches ISD but is presently working for “I Teach” saving her money for a trip to New Zealand.

Tommy and Angie Fenley have made another memorable family vacation. Tom, Jr. and his two children Ryan, 12 and Samatha, age 10, flew from their home in Billings, Montana to East Texas and spent almost a month here. During that time they did a lot of fishing and attended baseball camps coached by Roy Esteves. Tommy and Angie loaded them in the car and spent another three weeks taking them back home. In Billings, the group picked up a camper and also another granddaughter, 22-year-old Christina, who flew from North Carolina where she attends nursing school. The family loaded up and enjoyed camping along the way. They enjoyed included Pikes Peak, water parks, amusement parks and an aquarium. Driving west toward Utah, they toured Capital Reef National Park, colorful Cedar Breaks National Park and the north rim of the majestic Grand Canyon. From there it was on to the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas where the younger ones loved swimming through a tunnel in a shark tank. It seems Angie is always the lucky one in the family and won tickets to the Lee Ann Womack show. Tommy. Sr. is a fan of hers so, he and his granddaughter, Samatha, attended the show.

The Fenley family arrived in Las Vegas and was checking into the hotel at the same time high winds were blowing the heavy doors open and causing water to come inside. Through large windows they could see deck chairs and umbrellas creating havoc outside. The weather finally calmed down but there was flooding in areas. The vacation ended in Las Vegas with Christina flying back to NC; the other family members flying to Billings, Montana and Tommy and Angie leaving for Diboll in 109 degree heat.

The “Lunch Bunch” gathered at The Airport Café on August 27th to celebrate Polly Leavell’s birthday. Sharing fun stories and latest news were Nita Hurley, JoAnn Rainwater, Ginger Capps, Sandra Pouland, Betty Hendrick, Kaye Fitzgerald, Polly and her sister LaVerne Ross. LaVerne had not eaten one the café’s famous burgers, so she drove from Silsbee to share the meal and do some shopping and visiting with Polly and family. The ladies met in the conference room so they would not disturb other diners (as if they cared!). While they were eating, other friends stopped by on their way to the diner. Fran McClain, Bessie Ferguson, Glenn Price, Bobby Lee, Don and Robbie Wier were among those. The café is always a good meeting place because of the tasty food and fun fellowship.

The sale of 2016 hunting and fishing licenses are picking up every week. Some that have purchased their licenses at Pouland’s are: Leroy Lazarine, Greg Ashabranner, Justin Abner, Lewis Ivey, Frank Farrow, Dewayne Stanford, Jr. Grandgeorge, Chuck Smith, Sherril Fears, Louie Sullivan, Larry Smith, Clyde Maxey, Barley Lenderman, Junious Weisinger, P. E. “Buddy” Shipp, Raymond Mason and Dr. Woody Ingram. Louie Sullivan will be hunting in a new 4-wheeler that was a surprise from his wife Rhonda. Mary Thompson got her fishing license and is looking forward to going fishing.

Angelina County 4-H will be hosting a 4-H Expo on Tuesday, September 22 at 6PM in the Angelina County Extension office. This is the time to get attend if you are interested in 4-H projects. For more information call 632-8239

The Diboll PTSA will be having a Baked Potato Sale this Friday, September 4, from 10:30 until 1:30 at the Housing Authority Community Room. Dine-in or Carry Out, the prices are $7.00 for a baked potato with the regular butter, sour cream, cheese, etc. and $8 to add BBQ or Taco Meat. These prices also include a dessert. Hurry to Pre-order by calling 635-4044 or 414-6955 because orders have to be placed by Thursday, Sept. 3. You can also email orders to janwpta@consolidated.net.

Be safe during the Labor Day holiday. Pouland’s will not labor on Labor Day so don’t come see us that day…’round the table.

Filed Under: 2015 RT News, August 2015

August 24, 2015

August 24, 2015 by

The Super Seniors at Diboll First Baptist traveled to Nacogdoches to eat at Clear Springs. Driving the church bus was Jesse Bradford for the following to sit back and enjoy the trip: Leonard and Billie Robison; Jim and Polly Leavell; Earl and Joyce Carr; Leonard, Jr. and Camille Robison; Geneva Ard; Shirley Terrell; Betty Kee; Fran McGilvra; Ruth Mullins; Betty Page; Betty Capps, JoNell Placker; Chris Walker; Dianne and Mike Gipson. The Super Seniors enjoy a luncheon at the church on the first Tuesday of every month at noon. Anyone is welcome to come bring a covered dish and enjoy fun, food and good fellowship.
Former Dibollians, Billy and Tommy Jo Jordan celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary at the First Baptist Church in Jasper where Billy serves as a deacon. Billy graduated from DHS in 1947. Tommy Jo grew up in Zavalla. They met while both of them were working at TSE Railroad in Diboll. Lots of relatives were present to help them celebrate the special occasion including Bruce Durham from Diboll and his sister Laurie and Steve White from Round Rock.( Bruce and Laurie’s parents were Paul and Jimmy Beth Durham of Diboll.) Many other family and friends were present including Pat & David King, Jane & Harry Styles, Sherrie Anthony and longtime friend JoNell Placker of Diboll.

It’s that time of year again…Friday night football and hunting season. The Diboll Lumberjacks will play their first game of the season this Friday in New Caney. Hunting licenses went on sale the 15th of this month. The very first person to buy their licenses at Pouland’s was Kevin Swor. Soon afterwards others came including Alton Thompson; Joe Baker; James Simms; Kenneth Capps; Keith Spencer; Joe Henry Smith; Melvin Linton, Sr.; John McClain; Jay Shands; Delbert and Jennifer Reynolds; J.D. and Sue Johnson; Donnie and Darlene Stephens; Fox and Mona Adams and Darryl Stanley.

Good friends for more than 30 years, Robert Conner and Al Cortez, came in with plans to go fishing at Shirley Creek. These guys really enjoy fishing while their wives, Judy and Diane, fill their day working and shopping.

Delton Holcomb from Apple Springs enjoyed visiting at the round table while getting a tractor flat repaired. Delton says he loves to hunt and fish and is thankful that he lives in the woods of East Texas where he can be on his hunting stand in a matter of minutes. His daughter Bridgette who is an RN in the emergency room at St. Luke’s (Memorial) is married to Jonathan Smith and they have one son, five-year-old Cole. Grandpa Holcomb was on his way to deliver chips for a party at KST Day Care for Cole and others who will begin their first day of school on August 24th.

Teresa Luna, owner of Kountry Poultry in Burke, and I enjoyed discussing our animals. Teresa raises a rare breed of turkeys and geese but also has chickens and guineas. Kountry Poultry is a tested and certified poultry business and sells eggs from free range hens. If you are interested, give her a call at 936-366-2637.
A few minutes after she left, Greg Ashabranner came in for feed. Greg and his son Garrett raise chickens and goats. I am always asking him questions about my animals and he is always so patient and gracious to help.

Jerry Goins came in for chicken feed. When I asked him about his chickens, he said he had had up to 36 chickens but was down to 12 at the present time and is thinking about starting over. Dennis Lenderman happened to be standing nearby and said his dad, Raymond Lenderman was down to one chicken. It’s hard to protect foul from predators. Everything loves chicken. Tina Hawthorn came in and her herd of animals includes 5 turkeys, one pet squirrel who thinks he is a monkey and a Chihuahua named “Baby Girl” who can round up the turkeys.

Loretta Christmas shared with me that the staff at the Lottie and Arthur Temple Civic Center is very excited about the upcoming Canvas & Cocktails, An Evening of East Texas Art. The event will be this Saturday, August 29th from 6 until 9 PM at Diboll’s civic center. She said 13 artists have committed to display anywhere from 10 to 20 pieces of their original artwork and everything will be for sale. Dennis Ford will be doing a demonstration of his wood sculpturing. There will be finger foods, punch and a Wine Tasting presented by Brookshire Brothers. Admission is $10 for an individual or $15 per couple.

Come see us…’round the table.

Filed Under: 2015 RT News, August 2015

August 17, 2015

August 17, 2015 by

I love to read about vacations. The following is from Jan Wilkerson when she and Burlon spent three weeks in Europe. Their daughter Krista is married to a Master Sergeant who has two more years in Wiesbaden, Germany. Krista planned the whole trip from her mom saying she wanted to see windmills and her dad wanted to go to Switzerland. Jan shared a few highlights of their trip. We left on July 6 and arrived in Frankfurt July 7. The next day we went to a little town on the Rhine River—Rudeshein. We rode a cable car to the top of the hill to see the Niederwald Monument-this is like our Statue of Liberty. The town is full of little shops, we drove though the countryside and saw dozens of old castles and visited Lorelei—from the poem. Our trip the next day went to Heidelberg to tour the castle there that was built in 200 A.D. We rode a funicular to the top of the mountain but walked back down and had lunch in the Queen’s Garden. We got to see an original Gutenburg Bible and the printing presses used to print it. These Bibles were huge—two volumes and were hand painted depending on what the buyer of the Bible wanted. It was fascinating to be able to see one of these famed Bibles.

In Weisbaden we visited the market in downtown where that was everything from flowers to onions on display. The market is set up in the town square and is open two days each week. Everyone buys their produce fresh at the market. That same day we visited an old walled city that was hosting a Medieval Festival. Everyone (not us) were in costume and there were lots of street vendors. The next day we attended the Harbor Festival and watched Dragon Boat races. This was very different from anything in East Texas.

Rothenburg was a beautiful city. It is walled and one of the cities never destroyed over the centuries. The town square was huge and a band was playing while we were there. We visited the largest Christmas Store in Germany and got to eat Schneeballen, a pastry unique to that city. We actually walked on top of the walls about one-half way around the city. It was quite an experience to walk on a wall that was hundreds of years old. A visit to the Castle Burg Rheinfels and the town of Saint Goar’s was an adventure. We toured the castle from the dungeon to the tower and ate lunch in one of the courtyards with a fantastic view of the Rhine River. The town at the foot of the mountain was a unique little German town with lots of shopping and it was almost like a fairytale when the church bells rang for about thirty minutes.

On our way to Holland we visited the Aachen Cathedral which is the oldest cathedral in northern Europe. The remains of Charlemagne are housed there. The church treasury was beautiful and filled with gold and jewels. Then it was on to see windmills, watch clog making, and cheese making. We visited a small fishing village on the North Sea. Our visit to Zaamescheans was wonderful. It is a village of working windmills. We went into and watched a sawmill cut logs using only wind power. It was fantastic! This was truly a “bucket list” adventure. We came back through Koln and visited the cathedral there. We also visited the Lindt Chocolate factory which was one of Burlon`s high points of the trip.

In Straussburg, France we toured the city by boat. The cathedral there was built between 1200 and 1400 A.D. Then to Switzerland where it was 100 degrees! We visited Rheinfalls—a beautiful waterfall and took a ferry across Lake Constance to tour Meersburg. Another item on our “bucket List” was scratched off when we went into Austria and across to Germish Germany– up into the Alps. The Alps are beautiful and indescribable. We hiked the Partnleechklamm Gorge which is several miles long and right above the rapids. It was a true adventure and beautiful.

Our last adventure was to Treberg, Germany in the Black Forest. This is the area where my ancestors are from. It was a real treat to go back to a place where my great-great-great grandmother lived. We toured the cuckoo clock shops there and saw the largest clock in the world.

Jan said the weather was pleasant most all the time except for the 100 degrees in Switzerland. Air conditioning is not needed, you open the windows and it is very cool at night. All five countries were very clean and the technology in Germany is out of this world; much more automated than the states. All of Europe is concerned with the environment and they do not tolerate litter, pollution, etc. Everything is clean and the people are very respectful of one another and of the environment. The country is very safe. We only saw police about 3 times the entire time we were there and that was due to accidents on the autobahn. You never hear of shootings because guns are illegal there. Crime of any kind is very low. In France we saw a sign to be aware of pickpockets. In the larger cities people spoke English to some extent, but in some of the smaller villages we visited, they did not and we had to smile lots and hope they understood what we said.Jan and Burlon arrived home July 28 three weeks and five countries packed with adventure and would love to share their 1200+ pictures!

Vera Jones celebrated another birthday August 16th…101. She is an amazing lady. She lives alone but near her granddaughter and family, Jennifer, Aaron, Ethan, Ben and Cooper Smith. Several family members went to church with her at Pine Grove where she faithfully attends. Those included her son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Brenda Jones, Jennifer, Aaron, their three sons and Aaron’s parents, Mr. & Mrs. Tommy Smith. Everyone went to the Smiths’ home for Sunday dinner and a special Italian Cream birthday cake baked and decorated by Fran McClain.

Gary and Brenda (Minyard) Jones will celebrate their 43rd wedding anniversary on August 19th along with Kathy and James Simms who will celebrate their 48th anniversary. Congratulations to each of you.

The DHS Class of 1985 is planning their 30-year reunion on October 10 at J.R.’s Barn. Bill Walker and Clevette Mark stopped by to ask that we share this news. The cost will be $30 per person or $50 per couple. For more information call Clevette at 936-526-9416, Faye Jones at 936-208-9225 or Jimmy Tate at 936-635-4704. You might check out their Facebook page, Class of 1985.

Come see us…’round the table.

Filed Under: 2015 RT News, August 2015

August 10, 2015

August 10, 2015 by

Joe Anthony, who grew up in Diboll, came in the store to bring us some of his most delicious homegrown tomatoes. They weren’t as large as usual but they were by far the best tasting we have had all summer. Joe told me he had been sitting at home reading a copy of The Pine Bough, that wonderful magazine The History Center publishes (not often enough) about the history of Diboll and the good folks that made it what it is today. He came across an article that mentioned Geraldine Pouland. That made him think about her; thinking about her made him think about John Ralph; and thinking about John Ralph reminded him how much he loves tomatoes. And that’s how we got our tomatoes. Joe, thank you, keep reading and thinking about us.

JoNell Placker celebrated a recent birthday in Richardson, Texas in the home of Linda (Johnson) Cook. Most of the guests grew up in Diboll on Park Street and they have continued to stay close through the years. Friends helping her celebrate included Rita (Hutto) Howard; Mary Alice (Bunch) Shivers; Elaine (Bunch) Pinkerton and Kim Steward. Also present were JoNell’s daughter, Kim Chapman and granddaughter, Elizabeth Chapman. JoNell’s house on Park Street is where she grew up with her parents, Avis and Jack Vaught. It is the only house left on the short street but the good memories of growing up with the families on that street still linger there.

Returning to Diboll from Pflugerville is Tina (Wolf) & Phil Jowell. Phil will be teaching Chemistry in the Diboll ISD. It’s been 20 years since they left Diboll and moved to his hometown of Huntsville to teach. To bring you up today on their daughters; Christina teaches math in New Waverly ISD. Brittany and Steven Whitehead live in Huntsville. Diana and Jonathan Cortez live in Conroe and Brooke lives in California. Tina is happy to be home to care for her mother, Jeanette Wolf, after her dad, Dewey Wolf, recently passed away. Tina’s parents grew up in Corrigan and moved to Diboll in 1969 when Dewey was hired as a policeman. He became chief of police and later worked as the golf pro at Neches Pines. While living in Pflugerville and before buying a home, Tina & Phil rented from a member of the original Pfluger family that settled this German community. Phil taught in the Dell Valle ISD for ten years. We are happy they are back in Diboll.
William & Katie Weeks have a new addition to their family as of August 2nd. Three year old Jayleigh is happy to have a baby sister, Addyson Rae Weeks, who weighed 8 lbs. 11-1/2 oz. She arrived a week early allowing her daddy more time to be at home before school starts in Huntington where he teaches first grade. Grandparents are Karol and Charles Weeks, III of Diboll and Leslie Bradley of Lufkin.

2-1/2 year old Lewin Colwell is now a big brother to Gentrie Rose who weighed 8 lbs. when she was born July 31st. Her parents are Clay and Brooke Colwell. Grandparents are T.J. and Brad Colwell; Hollis Lakey of Apple Springs and Robin Lakey of Zavalla.

Good customers, John & Connie Cobb of Corrigan, are proud to introduce their first grandchild. Tinsley Klair Cobb made her debut July 29th weighing 8 lbs., 1 oz. and 20-1/2” long. Her parents are John and Jessica Cobb. John teaches history at Lufkin ISD where he is also the head baseball coach. Jessica works at the Jordan Dentistry and Grandpa John is excited he will get to babysit one day a week when she returns to work.

Clay Homan, age 10 and his brother Josh, age seven, live in Weston, WI. They have been visiting here for two weeks with Nana and Punk, Kathy and Howard Smith. They are the sons of Michael and Sarah Homan and enjoyed visiting with all their family in Diboll. They spent part of the time with Aunt Kristi Homan and Great-grandma Terrell while Nana and Punk worked. The boys, Nana and Punk and Grandma “T” spent three days in a trailer at Lake Tejas where they spent their time swimming, fishing and making s’mores by campfire at night. Another day, Grandma “T” carried them for a second visit to the Naranjo Museum. Nana, Aunt Kristi and Aunt Donya took them to see the movie, Minion and they also attended the wedding of Cody Stifle and Courtney Burchfield. They visited Jonathan, Jennifer and 2-year-old Jacy Terrell in their new home. Jacey argued the boys were her brothers, not cousins. Clay and Josh sadly returned to their home in WI but happy with their new Dallas Cowboys backpacks, cowboy boots and jeans.

This year is Pineland Day which will be October 3rd. 16-year-old Laura Beth Rhodes is one of the queen candidates. She and her mom, Marlo Rhodes, came in the store and took time to visit with us. That was the first thing that impressed me; that a 16-year-old would talk with an old person like me. I learned from this outgoing teenager that her family moved to Pineland 22 years ago when her dad, Tom Rhodes, was hired by Temple Inland as a Harvest Manager. She was born three months premature and weighed only ONE pound and 8 ozs. Laura Beth is a fighter and has learned how to live with Dyslexia. She is in the National Honor Society and absolutely loves math, science and chemistry. She is in band and competed in area UIL with her trumpet. She is also a twirler and competed solo at the state level. She has written the rough draft of a fantasy science fiction book and has begun to type it. Her plans after graduating from West Sabine is to be a member of the Texas A&M band and major in Engineering. We wish you well.

Pineland Day tickets are available at Temple Inland Credit Union and also here at Pouland’s. The Grand Prize is a Polaris Ranger ATV. 2nd prize is a zero-turning lawnmower and 3rd prize is a Ruger Hawkeye rifle.

On August 20th at the Temple Library at 6PM Cary Sims, Angelina County Extension Agent will be speaking about the Texas Cottage Food Law for anyone interested in learning the basic rules and regulations concerning the sale of agricultural products and processed foods made in your home. For more information call Mary Howell at 829-5497 or email her Mary@dibolllibrary.com

Another reminder to folks who may be interested in learning more about “Backyard Poultry”. The Angelina County Extension office will be discussing what is needed to raise chickens for eggs or meat production on August 17th at 6:30 at the Extension Office. The cost is $10 per person. Lisa Crager and I plan to attend so we can learn more about our chickens.

Come see us…’round the table.

Filed Under: 2015 RT News, August 2015
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