April 17, 2017

 

Customers are coming in to buy garden seeds and bedding plants and some are already harvesting the fruits of their labor. One customer came in and said, “57 pounds of potatoes came from a 60 foot row of potato ‘eyes’ he planted. He was going home that night to eat fresh potatoes and yellow squash for supper. Earl Hudson reported he should have fresh tomatoes in about 30 more days. It’s always exciting to talk with gardeners about what they’ve planted and how their garden is doing. We still have bulk seeds and bedding plants and it’s never too late to plant vegetable or flowers.

Sue Baker, Wanda Fuller and Dianne Gibson all bought beautiful hanging baskets before we had time to display them. Marie Dear was happy to find moss rose plants. Charlotte Carter was in buying caladium bulbs as well as Lucille Weeks. Roy Lee Lyles bought three pounds of purple hull pea seeds. Peggy Burt and Bettye Greer both bought flower plants and Nikki Miller purchased one of our tiny fairy terrariums. Bobby Colbert shared that he and Patsy had about 30 guests in their home for Easter when he came in to buy plants. Jay Roach bought a few plants while waiting to get his new tires mounted.

Dianne Gibson, Sue Baker and Betty Capps stopped by after have brunch at the new Charlie’s located at the truck stop at the intersection of Hwy 69 and the Loop in Lufkin. They were bragging that the food is as good as they remembered it being at their old location. It’s been crowded but folks don’t seem to mind waiting. Peggy Burt and Nancy Sloan had lunch at Newk’s the same day.

You would be surprised at how many folks have chickens in their backyards. We are selling lots of chick starter which means there are baby chicks that have hatched (or given away during Easter). I am one of those who have baby chicks and there is nothing cuter. My Silvering Bantam has 8 chicks that are three weeks old and she is very proud and protective of them. Greg Ashabranner once told me when we were discussing chickens that Silkie hens would set on a rock. He was right. I have a beautiful Silkie and found her sitting on a very small clay pot. I removed the pot and put several bantam eggs under her and she is now the proud momma of 5 babies about the size of a golf ball.  My friendliest bantam named “Princess” is also due in a few days to hatch several chicks. Hens are devoted mothers sitting the majority of the day and night on their eggs for 21 days. Did you know chickens do cluck socially, but are relatively quiet for the most part. Hens will become slightly more vocal for a few minutes after laying an egg (who wouldn’t?), but even then it is no louder than a normal conversation between a bunch of guys sitting at the round table. Now roosters can be real noisemakers but even their early morning crowing doesn’t bother me.

If you are in the market for foul that make wonderful watchdogs, you need guineas. One of our customers from Polk County, Ann O’Rourke, has guineas for sale, or eggs to hatch.  You can contact her at 936-685-7259.

Bee Keeping is also becoming more popular in our area. The Pineywoods Bee Keepers’ Association is having a “Hands On Management” skills course at the Angelina County Extension office April 22, April 29 and May 6 starting at 9:30AM until 4:30PM. For more information, call 632-2272.

If raising fish sounds interesting to you, The Fish Truck from Arkansas that has been coming to Poulands for years and has lots of satisfied customers, will be parked in our driveway on Wednesday, April 26th from 12:15 until 1PM. He has a wide selection of fish and will be selling 4-6” channel catfish for $40 per hundred. Don’t be late!

A father-daughter turkey hunt is what Andy Parish and his daughter, Emily Hale, had planned for last weekend. They were leaving for a lease near Comanche hoping to have the same luck they had two years ago when Emily got a nice trophy. Brian Wilson is another one who truly enjoys hunting turkeys.

11-year-old Cooper Horton is a veteran hunter. He was excited when he came in with his dad, Rayburn, telling me about of the nice 8 –point buck he found in the Poor Boy Hunting Club in Polk County. This trophy was definitely not his first but maybe the best so far. He was using a 7mm.08 rifle.

The Diboll Business Association selected the Diboll Housing Authority as its “Business of the Month”. The Diboll Housing Authority has been a member since the association was organized five years ago. This non-profit organization is always available to do anything when it comes to promoting Diboll and reminding people to shop locally. Congratulations!

Another member of the Diboll Business Association, Building Blocks Academy on Morris Road in Burke is super excited to announce that the summer of 2017 will be a “Summer of Science”. All ages will be exploring outer space, learning all about the weather and studying the life cycles of plants and animals. The children will be growing and harvesting a garden so that they can see firsthand how a tiny seed turns into food on our tables. They will be using their new outdoor classroom to have tons of fun painting and exploring the great outdoors. To wrap up the summer they will be constructing their very own totem pole and making an active volcano that they will show off at a Hawaiian Luau Bash. Summer enrollment has begun and if you enroll your child by May 15th you will received the 3rd week FREE. Contact the day care for more information 829-2933.

Tina Jowell was in buying a hanging basket and flowers to plant what time she isn’t in the kitchen baking cookies for her business, Desserts First. She was busy baking cookies for Easter and has plans for a gift idea; Mother’s Day Cookie Bucket. Call Tina at 512-963-2600 to place an order.

We welcome you to come in and look around at our wind chimes, tiny terrariums, hummingbird feeders and all kinds of general farm supplies and weird stuff!

See you…’round the table.

 

 

 

April 10, 2017

 

Special anniversary greetings to Joe Donald and Emma Lee Smith who celebrated 69 years of marriage on April 4th. Joe Donald’s 88th birthday was March 31st. At the time they married in 1948, Joe Donald had just turned 19 and Emma Lee was working and living at the legendary Antler Hotel in Diboll. They had someone drive them to Burke to get married, came back to Diboll, went to the picture show and walked back across the street to the Antler Hotel.

Junious and Dorothy (Tims) Weisinger celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary also on April 4. They were married in 1952 in the Burke Methodist church parlor. They had dated for seven years since Dorothy was 13 years old. Junious was 28 when they married and they spent their honeymoon in Hot Springs. Junious worked at the foundry but loved working on cars and got his experience from Harry Nivens who got his experience from Lee Estes. Because Junious always knew he wanted to one day have his own garage, he saved his wages and they lived off what Dorothy made working at Holder’s Grocery and living next door in a house they rented from Mrs. Viney Allen. They eventually bought their first home for $3,500 and opened a shop on highway 59 in 1956. While Junious did the mechanic work Dorothy did everything else from gathering parts to assistant mechanic. She became so good that Junious said Dorothy could diagnose a faulty fuel pump from listening when a car drove in the shop. They continued to work together for almost 40 years until they retired and closed the garage in 1995. They have two children; Jerry and his sister, Julie Horton.

And there is still another wedding anniversary for special longtime friends, Kenneth and Ginger (Taylor) Capps who celebrated 55 years of marriage on April 6th. They grew up in Diboll and raised their family here that has grown from three children to eleven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren

Diboll’s First Responders were treated to a hamburger cookout provided by Trinity Nursing & Rehab of Diboll. Chief cooks were Director of Rehab, Jason Burson and his assistant, Barry Spencer. The Business Office Manager, Sara, organized and helped along with the Administrator, known only as “Sam” who worked with William who is a reserve fire fighter and over Maintenance plus many others. The workers hand patted 40 lbs. of hamburger meat and furnished all the trimmings.

William Weeks is a first grade teacher at Hudson’s Peavy primary campus. He was explaining to Andrea they are studying the life cycle of a chicken’s egg. Every class room has an incubator with a scope that allows the students to view inside the egg. Each student is excited and gets to turn the eggs and check the temperature. They have also planted potatoes that can be observed through the container to watch it grow. Wish I could be a fly on the wall the day all those baby chicks hatch, hopefully it will be during the day at school when the students are there to watch. I get excited watching my own two setting hens who just recently hatched out a total of 14 bantam chicks. They are about the size of a golf ball and come out of their shell ready to see their world.

Jim McClain was in town after watching his son Wes “make the cut” to qualify for the Shell Houston Open golf tournament. Wes’ whole family, his parents, Jim and Judy and sister Allison, followed Wesley through 54 holes. Jim shared that the driving average on 11 holes was 307 yards; Wes’ average was 317 yards. Wes was to play in Houma, Louisiana before leaving in two weeks to play in British Columbia, Victoria, Canada. While Jim was visiting at the round table, Harold Maxwell came in and suddenly their entire conversation was ‘golfing’ including stories about the upcoming prestigious Masters’ tournament in Augusta, Georgia. In the meantime, we want to wish Wesley the best of luck in his golfing career!!

Rozalinn Runnels was selected earlier this year as one of only twenty state SAY WHAT!  Ambassadors. SAY WHAT! is an acronym standing for Students Adults and Youth Working Hard Against Tobacco. Her selection process involved lengthy applications, recommendations, YouTube presentations, and conference interviews. She was chosen by the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University for this honor. She attended training with the other state ambassadors last fall in Spicewood, TX. She has assisted in leading action conferences in Henderson and Corpus Christi TX. She will also be traveling to San Antonio and Conroe, TX this summer as she helps bring awareness of the dangers of tobacco use to youth across the state. Rozalinn is a freshman at Zavalla High School.

Just a few more days and the Fish Truck from Arkansas will be in Pouland’s parking lot between 12:15 – 1PM. April 26th is the day.

Time is running out if you plan to attend the reunion of the Diboll High School Class of 1977. They will be having their 40th Reunion April 22 at Behannon’s Warehouse in Lufkin.  They invite all of their classmates and any who would like to visit with them for this event.  The meal will be served about 5:30 and there will be someone there any time from 2pm until about 11pm.  Any wishing to join for the meal needs to RSVP to Charlotte Morris Carter at 936-675-1310.  The cost per meal is $20/ea. It will be catered by the Red Tulip Bistro. The 1977 classmates are chipping in on the building rental. Any teachers of this fun group are invited and their meal will be covered by their favorite group of students. The dress is casual!

Saturday April 22, is the time for the annual Angelina County Trail Ride. Bring your horse and sack lunch and meet in Old Orchard Park in Diboll at 8:30 AM. The ride will end at the Angelina County Expo Center. For more information contact Jim Hightower 632-5313 or Kenneth Wilson 632-2026

The Diboll Pilot Club encourages you to participate in their fundraiser that will be next week on Tuesday, April 18th. All you have to do is EAT at the Whataburger near Walmart between 5 and 8PM and tell them you are there to help the Diboll Pilot Club. It’s that easy!

A BIG Thank You to everyone who participated and helped with another successful Operation Clean Sweep. Diboll is so fortunate to have so many citizens who give freely of their time and talents.

Don’t forget to come by and see all the different gifts items in addition to feed and farm supplies we carry at Pouland’s.

Come see us…’round the table.

April 3, 2017

 

The Donald Capps bunch gathered this past week-end to celebrate birthdays. They would not let Billie Jean (Baker) forget she turned 75 on March 31.  She is still being reminded about the historic milestone in her life.  (Three quarters of a century.) Donald had to be reminded that he is 4 years older and remains at 79 until next February 13.  Hayden Flynt, grandson, celebrated his 16th birthday.  Joe Jones, son-in-law, has a birthday on the 5th and they will not reveal his age.  There is always lots of fun and laughter going on when this bunch is together and of course, lots of work in the 4S orchard and around the 5 acres. Donald always appreciates their help.  It blesses the lives of the aged ones and helps keep up with all that needs attention. This family plans to gather again soon to celebrate more birthdays in April.

My friend and classmate, Betty Hendrick, sent me news about her recent trip with her friends who own the CD Tour Company in Longview. There were 23 in the group that traveled in the comfort of a 40 passenger bus and handled all the details of the trip, including the luggage. The trip was from March 27 through April Fool’s Day. Following is Betty’s email about the trip.   I have friends who are sisters that own the tour company and put together one of the best trips I have ever seen.  My neighbor asked me if all we did was eat—-I made a promise to use moderation at the restaurant choices and did well.  Two of the places off the beaten path were The Hungry Hill Billy and The Flying Cowboy (that last one was near a WW 2 Airfield and the good menu was typically ranch type food. Other places featured comfort food with which we could identify!    One of the favorite stops was the dinner/show cruise aboard the Georgia Queen.   Shrimp and grits was a feature on the buffet—mercy, those were good.  I think Hole in One in Lufkin has those on their menu.  The music was well done from the 50’s and 60’s—some of our group go line dancing regularly; they stole the show!

Pat Tuttle, a native of Savannah, was on our bus as the city guide.  What a great city, and a wonderful guide! Highlights were Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the historic district with those gorgeous homes and more trees than East Texas, especially live oaks. Did we visit Paula Deen’s restaurant? No…lines were too long and they don’t take reservations. A very interesting stop was Tybee Island with the beautiful lighthouse near the famed Crab Shack.  We also dined at The Pirate House, a one-time hangout for pirates when they came to Savannah. Yes, the bench is in Savannah where Forest Gump said “Life is like a box of chocolate; you never know what you will get!” The impressive cemetery from “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” made us wish we had time for a ghost walk!   Savannah has so much history from Revolutionary Days as well as Civil War times—stories abound about General Oglethorpe as well as William T. Sherman who liked the city so well he did not make his army set fire to it on his much hated march through Georgia.  Other fires and hurricanes have done their worst in typical ways, but this jewel of a city stands ready for tourists.  The people are very friendly—“Bless your heart!” came from their lips pretty often.  We had good weather and good health…arriving back in Longview and to Lufkin before the storm blew through.

          Dwaine Brown is officially retired from G-P but has no plans to travel except around the ranch, enjoy his horses and relax. Kevin Richardson was in town for a track meet and stopped in for pickled quail eggs and .22 mag shells. JoAnn Anderson sent Thomas to the store to purchase caladium bulbs. Did you see pictures of her Victorian “she shed” in The Journey that Thomas built for her? Thomas said she has now added a garden path. Jesse and Suzanne Bradford were in getting fishing licenses. Larry and Judy Poe stopped by on their way home from a good report in Houston. Patsy Rivers came in the store, remember when she worked at LaNita’s and later at Clark’s for 13 years?

          News is still coming in from winnings at the Houston Livestock show. Cooper Bendy from Chester won his class and Reserve in the Red Brahman 2-year-old bull division. Timber Wright took time off from her nursing studies to exhibit the Champion Beefmaster Heifer in the open show. Congratulations to both of you.

If you need fish to stock a pond mark your calendar for April 26th when the Fish Truck will be parked in front of Pouland’s between 12:15 and 1PM. don’t be late. He will have a variety of fish available on the truck but the 4-6” channel catfish will be $40 per hundred.

Are you ready to ride? The Angelina County Trail Ride will be April 22nd. Gather up your horse, tack, coggins and meet at 8:30 in Old Orchard Park in Diboll. Bring a sack lunch. The ride will end at the Expo Center in Lufkin. For more information, call Jim Hightower, 632-5313 or Kenneth Wilson 632-2016.

The Diboll High School Class of 1977 will be having their 40th Reunion April 22 at Behannon’s Warehouse in Lufkin.  They invite all of their classmates and any who would like to visit with them for this event.  The meal will be served about 5:30 and there will be someone there any time from 2pm until about 11pm.  Any wishing to join for the meal will need to RSVP to Charlotte Morris Carter at 936-675-1310.  The cost per meal is $20/each. It will be catered by the Red Tulip Bistro. The 1977 Classmates are chipping in on the building rental. Any teachers of this fun group are invited and their meal will be covered by their favorite group of students. The dress is casual!

The Diboll Lumberjack Band reminds you to eat at Whataburger near Walmart next Tuesday, April 11th between 5 and 8 PM. When you order please let them know you are there to support the band and 25% of the sales will be donated toward funds for the band’s trip to Disney World.

Coming up this Friday, April 7, is a scholarship fund raiser for the Burke Chapter of the Eastern Star. This group will be selling pulled pork sandwiches at the lodge in Burke until they sell out. You are welcome to eat there or carry it with you. They will deliver within a 15 mile radius with 5 orders or more. For more information call Suzanne Fitts 635-5474; Mary Wells 671-9557 or Sue Johnson 676-7467.

Come see us…’round the table.