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Around Town
April 6, 2016 - It recently was time again for what has become an annual competition at Center Intermediate School. This year the competition between the 4th graders and 5th graders was which class of students could sell the most cookie dough. As has become tradition, each grade is represented by a member of the administrative staff of the school who, if the class they represent does not meet their goal, has to kiss a member of the livestock community. What has also proven to be tradition is, Principal Heath Hagler has had to kiss, on three separate occasions, two pigs and a horse.
Students from the 4th grade and 5th grade gathered outside the school gymnasium at Center ISD Intermediate School in preparation for the event on March 28, 2016. Hagler represented the 4th grade and the 5th grade was represented by Tracy Bolton, At Risk Coordinator. Bolton proudly led the event as he once again was not required to plant a "wet one" on a squealing or neighing beast. He in fact was the head cheerleader of the event and was able, with the assistance of a loudspeaker, to influence the students to chant "kiss the horse."
Principal Hagler, good sport that he is, approached "Blacky" the horse and his owner Beth Nichols, wooed the horse with a bucket of grain and proceeded to place a kiss on the horses nose to the delight of all students present.
Mr. Bolton wanted it to be known to all, he has won this competition three years in a row which has resulted in Hagler having to pay up, and this year he had to kiss a horse.
Take a look at the last time Principal Hagler had to kiss a pig by viewing the related video below.
April 5, 2016 - Jacob Locke, sophomore at Texas A&M University, was one of 20 members of the TAMU Trap and Skeet Club that competed at the 2016 ACUI Collegiate Clay Target National Championships in San Antonio, March 29-April 3.
The event took place at the San Antonio National Shooting Complex and included 76 teams representing colleges nation-wide. There were 476 total competitors that participated in various disciplines including International and American versions of Trap, Skeet, 5-Stand, and Sporting Clays. Each team shot a total of 2350 clay targets, with the TAMU team hitting 2206.
The team was awarded a Division II National Championship trophy and each member will receive a National Championship Ring and Belt Buckle.
Jacob has been shooting with the team for two years while at TAMU, and is a former member of the Shelby County 4-H Shooting Sports Team, coached by John Henry and Chelsea Holloway. Jacob is also a member of the TAMU Corps of Cadets Marksmanship Unit and serves as the Clays Team Gunnery Sergeant.
April 5, 2016 - The PWPS would like to let everyone know that there WILL NOT be a monthly meeting in April. The Club has scheduled a photo shoot trip to attend the "Feather Fest" in Galveston. There will, however, be a regular meeting in May, 5/21/16, per the normal schedule, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in the basement of the First United Methodist Church, Center, Tx. Any questions may be directed to Janet Hughes, a (903)720-3499.
"The PWPS did hold their regular monthly March meeting Saturday, 3/19/16 with a workshop, conducted by Janet Hughes, featuring "Exposure Compensation." The monthly Challenge was "Reflections" with some outstanding entries. The results are as follows:
March 2016 Challenge Winners - Theme: Reflections
April 2, 2016 (Photos: Album1, Album2)- Children up to the age of 10 participated in Green Acres of Center's Annual Easter Egg Hunt on Friday, March 25th at the Center City Park. Green Acres' volunteers littered the playground area all the way to the spray ground area with Easter eggs giving the park a colorful makeover.
Kids were divided into three age groups. The ones who gathered the most eggs were awarded with prizes.
Winners were as follows: (Ages 0-4) Levi James and Jayla Barkins, (Ages 5-8) Jarrett Champion and Makenzie Simmons, and (Ages 9-10) Sureya Ceniceros.
April 1, 2016 - Shelby County Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8904 and the Auxiliary would like to remind citizens of their ongoing recycling program. Laser and inkjet print cartridges along with cell phones can be dropped off at Chief Imaging, 614 Tenaha St., Center, Monday – Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. Let’s save the environment for future generations.
Pictured is Post Quartermaster Larry Hume preparing to send off 21 laser cartridges, 110 inkjet cartridges and 12 cell phones donated by Shelby County Citizens.
Click image to enlarge
March 31, 2016 - In honor of those who served for peace in Somolia, Commander Gene Hutto laid the memorial wreath during the VFW Post 8904 and Auxiliary observance on the courthouse grounds March 31, 2016.
Larry Hume said, "Well good morning, nice little crowd we have here, thank you for coming. It's a great day. You know Americans consider themselves to be a compassionate people, and the United States military has a long tradition of humanitarian relief operations both within and outside the continental United States. Never has this humanitarian impulse proven more dangerous to follow than in 1992 when the United States intervened to arrest famine in the midst of an ongoing civil war in the East African country of Somalia."
"Ultimately hundreds of thousands were saved from starvation, but unintended involvement in the Somalian civil strife cost the lives of thirty American Soldiers, four Marines, and eight Air Force personnel during the years of 1992 and 1994," continued Hume.
In elaboration of the Somalian aid Hume explained, "And the American Military has established the conditions for peace in the mist of a famine and civil war but unlike later in Bosnia the factions were not exhausted from the fighting and were not yet willing to stop killing each other or anyone else caught in the middle. There was no peace to keep and the United States withdrew all its military combat troops in March of 1994. The American GI had, as always, done there best under difficult circumstances to perform a complex and often confusing mission. But the best military in the world can only lay the foundation for peace, it cannot create peace itself."
As a final tribute, Bugler John Piersol played taps.
In closing, Hume thanked everyone for coming because without them this day would have went by unnoticed in Shelby County, Texas.
March 30, 2016 - In ten seconds, where is the largest daylily farm in the southern United States? (No using Google!) If you answered Shelby County, Texas, you get an “A” because many life-long residents of our county are unaware of that fact. Located on four acres off Highway 7, west of Center, The Lily Farm has been in business for thirty years.
Speaking to members of the Timpson Area Genealogical and Heritage Society at their March meeting, current owner of The Lily Farm, Mark Carpenter, told how he first became fascinated with daylilies when he visted The Lily Farm in his youth. The farm was started by Mark's uncle, Jack Carpenter, who Mark says is one of the top ten daylily experts in the country. Jack's primary interest was the hybridization of daylilies and creation of very rare “top end” daylilies. Over the next few decades, Mark had a business career, family, and lived in several cities, but his love of daylilies and his uncle's farm endured. Finally, when his uncle decided to retire and sell the farm a few years ago, Mark became the new owner.
Jack Carpenter started The Lily Farm with five hybrid daylilies. Today Mark has over 15,000 plants, with 15 or 20 of them “really special” he says. Whereas Jack was only interested in “high end” daylilies, Mark has expanded The Lily Farm's offerings to include more common, yet beautiful, varieties which are affordable to most customers. By contrast, the rare varieties sell for upwards of $150 a plant. The Lily Farm does not wholesale and all customers are welcome. Mark says they like visitors. They get more customers from Shreveport and Tyler than anywhere else, and occasionally have tour busses come in from other states. “The average customer age is between 55 and 80,” Mark says. He hopes younger people who visit will “catch the daylily bug”.
Two of The Lily Farm's four acres are under “shade houses' to protect the plants from hail damage. A bad hailstorm is a disaster. Another threat to the plants is wild hogs. “If hogs were able to get through the fence they could destroy all of our work overnight,” he says. So far, that hasn't happened. The farm has only two employees, Mark and Jose Morales, the foreman, without whom Mark adds “the farm could not exist”. Mark says he and Jose spend a lot of time on their knees, since all cultivation must be done by hand. The farm doesn't have a set calendar since everything is controlled by the lilies themselves. They bloom when they bloom and the farm is open seven days a week during the blooming season. In addition to daylilies, the farm now has a nursery and offers blueberry bushes, sword palms, knockout roses, and camillias. “Since we sell directly to the public, our prices are much lower than 'big box' stores” he revealed.
At the end of his talk, Mark offered several varieties of daylilies to those present for purchase at special “TAGHS Meeting” prices. As members milled around the boxes of daylily “clumps”, making their selections, Mark advised members that when set before Mothers Day, daylilies will bloom for four weeks. “Daylilies are pretty hardy” Mark told purchasers “but they prefer morning sun and afternoon shade”. At the conclusion of his presentation, Mark generously gave the unsold daylily clumps to TAGHS, all of which were promptly bought by member Margie Holt.
TAGHS meets at 2pm on the third Wednesday of each month in the Meeting Room of the Timpson Public Library, located on the corner of Austin and Bremond streets. The public is invited.
March 29, 2016 - Woodmen Life Chapter #250 held their regular meeting at the Shelby County Courthouse Community Room on the evening of Thursday, March 21, 2016. Brandi Emanis with the Senior Nutrition Site presented the program for the meeting and she thanked the Woodmen Life representatives for the generous donations they have given to the Shelby County Outreach Ministries (SCOM) and the Senior Nutrition Site, as she was speaking also on behalf of SCOM.
"The Shelby County Outreach Ministries, with the Senior Nutrition Site, provided over $94,000 worth of assistance in the form of senior emergency food boxes and utility assistance, emergency medicine and dental, prescription assistance and many other miscellaneous things," said Emanis.
Emanis then gave a brief explanation of the program at the Senior Nutrition Site.
"We feed, at our local site on average, 35 to 45 or so people a day. At our San Augustine Site our numbers are very down. San Augustine is under the Shelby County Outreach umbrella, but we have about 8 to 10 people on average a day," said Emanis.
She stated she is in the process of getting a meals on wheels program started in San Augustine, "For our Meals on Wheels here in Shelby County we deliver to 45 to 50 people a day and that number is constantly growing," said Emanis.
There is one driver delivering for the Senior Nutrition Site and Emanis said he is Donald Weatherly. He delivers the food to the San Augustine Senior Nutrition Site and he also delivers to the recipients of the Meals on Wheels program.
Emanis said there is a new program being featured at the Senior Nutrition Site called Do Well, Be Well and it is being presented by Jheri-Lynn McSwain, Shelby County Extension Agent.
"It's teaching you about nutrition of course, it's teaching you about diabetes and all sorts of things such as that. The last Friday that we had our meeting she had Dr. [Gary] Barkocy, [NMC Cardiologist]," said Emanis.
Emanis described how Dr. Barkocy provided very informative presentations on the heart, and different foods.
The next class which will be presented is on April 1, 2016 and it will be on medications with guest speaker Pam Miller. PVD screenings will also be given during the program.
Gospel singing is now featured at the site on even months on the first Tuesday of that month.
Cecelia Boles, Woodmen Life member, asked Emanis at the end of her program if the Thanksgiving dinner which the site provides is funded through donations, or by the site and Emanis said it is funded through donations.
Toward the end of the meeting Christopher Green Woodmen Life Financial Representative, presented a new banner during the meeting for Woodmen Life which will be hung at the Shelby County Expo Center for Education Day.
March 29, 2016 - Watson & Sons Funeral Home was recently honored to assist the family of Stanley Burgay with funeral arrangements.
While our business strives to fulfill our motto, “Our family serving your family” with everyone we serve, there are those times when we have the opportunity to be a part of a much larger community joining together as a family to honor the memory of one who has impacted the lives of so many… such was the case with both the visitation and funeral service for Stanley Burgay.
We were overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and efforts to assist by law enforcement officials. No task was too large or small – there was only a genuine attitude of service to insure their fellow officer was honored.
Thank you to your family of law enforcement officers serving one of your own and those he held dear. We are thankful to be a part of this community and express our sincere thanks.
March 28, 2016 - Polly Smith was the hostess and program leader for the March 17th meeting of the Center Women’s Reading Club. President, Janene Walker welcomed members and guest. The Center Women’s Reading Club members have been invited by the Carthage Reading Club to attend a special program and lunch on April 18. Gae-Lynn Woods, author of the Cass Elliott Crime Series will be the speaker. The Center ladies voted to attend the Carthage program in lieu of the regularly scheduled April 21st meeting.
It was announced that the 2016-2017 course of study for the Club would be selections from the 2015 New York Times Best Seller list. A selection of books from the list will be distributed. Members will be encouraged to choose a book before summer break.
Polly Smith reviewed the book The Mockingbird Next Door, by Marja Mills. The book is the journalist’s memoir of her friendship with (Nell) Harper Lee and her sister, Alice.
Marja Mills is a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. In 2001, Chicago’s “One Book, One Read”, was To Kill A Mockingbird. Ms. Mills travelled to Harper Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, Alabama with hopes of an interview with the famous author. Many journalists have made the journey to Monroeville, trying and failing to get an interview with the allusive Harper Lee.
Alice Finch Lee answered the door when Ms. Mills arrived, and invited her in to visit. The next day, Mills received an invitation from Harper Lee to visit her. They talked and Mills promised not to write anything the sisters did not want to be made public. It was the beginning of a long interview, and a wonderful friendship.
In 2004, with the Lee’s encouragement, Mills moved into the house next door to the sisters. She spent the next 18 months sharing stories over coffee, feeding the ducks, fishing and exploring all over lower Alabama with the Lees and their inner circle.
Harper Lee was born in 1926, the youngest of four children. She was named after Dr. Harper, the doctor who saved her sister Louise. Her sister, Alice, was the oldest. Alice was fifteen years older than Harper. Alice was an attorney and Harper Lee said that she was Atticus in a dress. They had a brother Ed who died at a young age.
Harper Lee’s mother, Frances Finch Lee, was in “delicate condition”. Harper’s father wanted Harper to attend law school. Harper was smart. She was admitted into law school but first spent the summer at Oxford University as an exchange student. When she returned, Harper told her father she had decided not to attend law school.
In 1949, Harper Lee moved to New York City; worked for an airline and wrote. She became friends with Broadway composer and lyricist Michael Brown and his wife, Joy. Her Christmas gift, in 1956, from the Browns was one year’s salary so she could quit work and write.
She finished the manuscript for To Kill A Mockingbird in 1959. Soon after, she helped fellow-writer and friend, Truman Capote write and article for the New Yorker, which would later become In Cold Blood. Harper was his research assistant. They travelled together to Kansas to interview people and do research.
When Capote’s book was finally published in 1966, Capote dedicated the book to Harper Lee but failed to acknowledge her contributions to the work. Although Harper was angry and hurt by this betrayal she remained friends with Capote for the rest of his life.
To Kill A Mockingbird was published in 1960. The following year it won the Pulitzer Prize. In 1962, the film adaptation was released. Harper Lee travelled to California. When she met Gregory Peck, she said “isn’t he delicious?” The movie received 8 Academy nominations. It won 3 Awards including Gregory Peck as Best Actor. His character was based on her father.
Later in life, Harper Lee suffered a stroke and lived in an assisted living home until her death this year, February 19, 2016. She was 89 years old. Her second novel Go Set a Watchman was published in July 2015.
Mrs. Smith served delicious “southern” refreshments and members enjoyed a special time of fellowship.
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