Shelby County Today

Largest Watermelon Winners

July 12, 2018 (More photos coming soon) - Twenty-two watermelons were entered into the largest watermelon contest at the 2018 What-A-Melon Festival and the largest watermelon tipped the scales at 152 lbs! The winning melon was grown by Olivia Johnson who won the title and the $2,500 grand prize money six years previous. She had a spree of five years in a row, 2009-2013, and regained 1st place in 2017.

From left: 2018 National Watermelon Queen Savannah Christensen, Olivia Johnson, and 2018 Texas Watermelon Queen Hannah Crisp.

Nineteen of the entries weighed more than 100 lbs this year for a cumulative weight of 2,494 lbs which was moved to the scales by Rotary Club Past-President Scott Stanfield and fellow Rotarian Armando Lopez. Assisting them with moving the melons into position to be weighed was another Rotarian Ed Johnson.

From left: Whitley Johnson with 3rd place melon, Louise Johnson with her 2nd place melon, and Olivia Johnson with her 1st place melon

Over $5,000 in prize money was given out to the 1st through 12th places.

Below are the full results of the watermelon weigh-in:

1st place ($2,500) - 152 lbs, Olivia Johnson 
2nd place ($600) - 142.5 lbs, Louise Johnson
3rd place ($500) - 140 lbs, Whitley Johnson
4th place ($400) - 135 lbs, Jenny Johnson
5th place ($300) - 132.5 lbs, Dylan Jones
6th place ($250) - 128.5 lbs, Renee Johnson
7th place ($200) - 127.5 lbs, Shelby Johnson
8th place ($150) - 126 lbs, Jaleigh Johnson
9th place ($100) - 124 lbs, Faith Kruebbe
10th place ($80) - 123.5 lbs, Catch Bragg
11th place ($70) - 120 lbs, Malcom Brown
12th place (60) - 118.5 lbs, (tie) Tate Johnson and Cody Carleta

July 11, 2018 - Center resident, Roger Doyle, was installed as District Governor at the Lions Club 101st International Convention held in Las Vegas on July 3, 2018.

DG Roger will serve over District S1 which consists of 49 Lions Clubs and covers Angelina, Cherokee, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine. Shelby, Trinity and Tyler counties.

DG Roger is a member and current secretary of the Center Noon Lions Club.

East Texas Delegates with Congressman Louie Gohmert

July 10, 2018 - For high school students who grow up in rural Texas, visiting a place like Washington, D.C., might sound like a far-away dream. But every year, more than 100 such students are given the opportunity to travel to the capital for an intensive weeklong tour. June 6th – 14th, Texas students representing their respective electric cooperatives had this opportunity to join more than 1,600 other students from around the nation for the 2018 Electric Cooperative Government-In-Action Youth Tour. Delegates representing Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative were Anna Bardwell of Tenaha and Conner Downs of Broaddus.

In Washington, tour participants get to see with their own eyes sights they may have only experienced in history books or on television. Texas' students also have the chance to participate in the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Tour Mt. Vernon, visit the Holocaust and Smithsonian Museums, take a midnight tour with Congressman Louie Gohmert, watch a show at the Kennedy Center and much more.

In addition to visiting monuments, museums and historical sites that would be a part of any standard tour of the capital, the students also fulfilled the ambition of then-U.S. Sen. Lyndon Johnson, who inspired the Youth Tour with his desire expressed in 1957 for young people to "actually see what the flag stands for and represents," when he addressed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Annual Meeting in Chicago. Consequently, some Texas electric cooperatives sent groups of young people to Washington, D.C., to work during the summer in Sen. Johnson’s office. In 1958, an electric cooperative in Iowa sponsored the first group of 34 young people on a week-long study tour of the nation’s capital. Later that same year, another bus load came from Illinois. The idea grew and other states sent busloads of young people throughout the summer. By 1959, the “Youth Tour” had grown to 130 delegates.

In 1964, NRECA began to coordinate joint activities among the state delegations and suggested that co-op representatives from each state arrange to be in Washington, D.C. during Youth Tour week. The first year of the coordinated tour included approximately 400 young people from 12 states. Word of the program has continued to spread and today, more than 1,500 young people and their chaperones from 45 states participate in the Youth Tour every year.

For more information about the Youth Tour, contact the Cooperative at 936-229-3907.

July 10, 2018 - Luke Brown Watermelons and Wiggins Farms are sponsoring the Texas Watermelon Queen and the National Watermelon Queen who will be visiting royalty for the 2018 What-A-Melon Festival - July 12th, 13th, and 14th.

Savannah Christensen, previously the 2017 Florida Watermelon Queen is the new 2018 National Watermelon Queen. She travels all over the United States, as well as Canada, promoting the production and consumption of the happiest, and tastiest fruit in the world, watermelon! Miss Christensen said, "There is no place I would rather be on July 12-14 than the 2018 East Texas What-A-Melon festival. I'm so excited to see what fun activities are in store for families and friends!"

Hannah Crisp, the 2018 Texas Watermelon Queen, will also be attending the festival. Miss Crisp gave a history of her journey to becoming the Texas Watermelon Queen, "I am currently a senior nursing student at East Texas Baptist University pursuing a career in pediatric oncology. Recently I was honored with the opportunity of representing the Texas Watermelon Association throughout the year traveling all over Texas, some out of state, and even out of the country promoting the sales of watermelons and the watermelon industry. I was crowned in November of 2017 at the Texas Watermelon Association Convention in McAllen. Most recently I have gotten to attend the Viva Fresh Produce Expo, go on a farm tour, attend the Alamo Watermelon Festival, and many other events. I am looking forward to my next event at the East Texas What-a-melon festival to share my love of watermelons and promoting the Texas watermelon industry."

Wiggins Farms and Luke Brown Watermelons are proud to sponsor these two ladies attending the What-A-Melon Festival and invite everyone to give a friendly East Texas 'Howdy' to them as they attend all the festival activities.