February 6, 2017

February 6, 2017 by

 

Brenda (Minyard) Jones stays busy since retiring last October. Brenda worked 36 years for the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services Division for Blind Services. She is also very active in and supportive of her church. She is married to Gary Jones and they have two daughters: Misty lives in The Woodlands and has one daughter; Jennifer works for The Campbell Group and lives here with her husband, Aaron and their three sons: Ethan, Ben and Cooper. They also have one son, Jonathon who lives in Diboll. Since retiring, Brenda has had more time to attend the grandsons’ ballgames and their activities and also enjoys babysitting her granddaughter while her mom works out of town. Brenda says, “I am enjoying retirement and definitely recommend it.”

According to their newsletter, the youth at First Methodist in Diboll invite you, your friends and family to attend their church on February 19th.  Immediately following the morning worship everyone will meet in the Fellowship Hall for a Camp Fundraiser luncheon. Because camp funds keep going up every year and the youth have to pay their own way, they would greatly appreciate your help toward this special event.

Burlon and Jan Wilkerson recently drove to Canton to spend the night. The next morning they drove to Emory for the Eagle Festival.  It is a two day event celebrating all the eagles they have in the area. They attended a Birds of Prey show, listened to a local band, visited with vendors, and took a 3 hour bus tour to the nesting grounds.  They saw many nests, most were empty but they did get to see an eagle in a nest near the end of the tour which was very impressive. They made a stop at a local bakery ran by Mennonites, “The Cinnamon Bear”, and testified the sweets were wonderful.  That evening they ate catfish at a local restaurant before going back to Canton. On Sunday they made a side trip to Terrell to the Outlet Mall, then back through Tyler for a second stop of the week-end at “Andy’s Custard”. I learned that Andy’s Frozen Custard has always been fanatical about custard, and has served it with pride since 1986 and is the largest dessert only franchise in the world!

If you haven’t seen or heard it yet, you probably will… our Diboll policeman, Brandon Lovell in a photo with Lady GaGa. Brandon was working as a motorcycle policeman in Houston during the Super bowl. He was part of the escort team that brought celebrities to the stadium including the star of the half time performance, Lady GaGa who took time to pose for a picture with Brandon.

Betty Hendrick sent the following email.  Sometimes, a group of dear friends gets together for birthday celebrations—yes, they still celebrate and are grateful! The ladies at the Airport Café often ask who is being honored. Last week, however, Donnie (Weeks) Smith had never eaten one of those tasty burgers, so she and Polly Leavell came to get Donnie’s opinion—-it was sort of a comparison between those burgers and Ray’s in Lufkin and the gathered friends had a good time as they often do.  Those present were: JoAnn Rainwater, Nita Hurley, Ginger Capps, Donnie Smith, Polly Leavell, and Betty Hendrick.  As usual, the conversations were a lot of “Do you remember….” (and we are glad when we can!)  and shared laughter.  As the friends grow older, there are more notations about doctor visits, etc. but it was a good time had by all.

On another note:  Hannah Flynt, Billie Jean and Donald Capps’s granddaughter, will be competing in the State swim meet on February 18th.  She is the daughter of Sherri (Capps) and Tim Flynt.  They live in Huntington; she is a remarkable young lady as well as an excellent swimmer.  Good luck at the State meet!

          Pastor Kenny Hibbs and his wife Carrie were returning from a “Hot Hearts” Youth conference in Beaumont last week. Driving along near Woodville, Kenny’s phone rang and it was Gary Martel. They exchanged the usual greetings ‘how are ya’ and ‘where are ya’ and Gary replied, “I’m in the pickup in front of you”. They stopped and enjoyed a short visit. The Martels are having a great time keeping their grandbaby as much as possible.

          Coming to Diboll to eat at Los Jarritos was a group that call themselves the “Over 50’s”. John Ralph and I were invited to join this group several years ago and don’t really know why unless it was at the invitation of John and Fran McGilvra and we just kept meeting them month after month. Most of the group has ties to Hudson either living or graduating from there but they still let us join them. Anyway, twenty folks gathered Monday for delicious Mexican food that everyone loved. It was great to see Annette and Darrell Richardson come as they have not been since last fall. Pat Brown was another sweet lady that we were happy to see and she too has been “under the weather” for some time. Others included: Mr. & Mrs. Charles Nix; Jerry and Dorothy Collins; Bob and Jimmie Putnum; Fran McGilvra; Jerry and Geraldine Bishop; Rufus Dunn; Barbara Clark; Jean Lee and her sister, Jackie; Bob and Nell Horton and of course, John Ralph and myself.

          Come see us…’round the table.

Filed Under: February 2017, News from the Round Table at Pouland's

January 30, 2017

January 30, 2017 by

 

It was a sad evening when I arrived home and discovered my pet rooster, Harold, met his fate underneath the tire of a stranger’s vehicle. John Ralph bought Harold and two beautiful hens for me from Harold Moore about four or five years ago. Needless to say I was hesitant to accept his gift because the only time I had been near a rooster, it spurred me! That was many years ago when we lived in Copestown. Anyway, Harold and his two lady friends that I named Thelma and Louise, came with their own high rise chicken coop which was moved into our backyard. Harold, Thelma and Louise are Silver Duckwing Bantams which are miniature members of the chicken family. It didn’t take too long for me to get comfortable with these three little ones and unafraid to hold them. We eventually let them have full range of the backyard.  They all got up early every day (early birds get the worm) and would come to our patio back door where Harold, though small in size, had a very loud “cock a doodle doo”. J.R. usually was already up and loved it when Harold’s crowing woke me. We eventually bought more “bannies”, roosters and larger hens that produced large brown eggs and sometimes adorable baby chicks that increased our flock. As we got more chickens, Harold had more and bigger responsibilities protecting and taking care of the ladies from roosters who were three times his size. They didn’t scare Harold! This LITTLE bully was my BIG pet. He would come when I called him, follow me around like a puppy and eat out of my hand when none of the others would. I shall miss him! He is survived by seven beautiful bantam ladies; eight larger hens and two relieved roosters.

Last Saturday morning, David Crager came in and picked up a cold biscuit from breakfast and smeared it with some of Terry Gipson’s homemade mayhaw jalapeno jelly. He ate, visited at the round table and left but later came back with his wife Lisa. David wanted Lisa to try the jalapeno jelly which she did and he’s hoping they will make their own later in the year. David was wearing his usual, overalls, but Lisa came in sporting a trendy black hat that David had bought her. The hat complimented her, her boots and jeans. That evening David and Lisa went to Ralph and Kacoo’s where they met her parents, Terry and Dale Grantham and her sister Marty and her daughter, Anna, from Jasper. Rayburn and Tina (Grantham) Hance were also there to proudly support and listen to their son, Marshall Hance, who was entertaining on the patio that night. Lisa shared that Marshall thoroughly enjoys being a full time musician after completing his education at SFA. He has a band and frequently entertains at two places in Nacogdoches and also in Dallas.

Andra (Willmon) Terburgh stopped by on her way back home after visiting with her mom, Billie Willmon in Diboll.  After graduating from DHS and AC Andra worked   at the East Texas Medical Center in Tyler for 18 years. During this time folks realized she had a talent for decorating and planning parties. When the owner of Kiepersol Restaurant, Winery, Bed and Bath in Bullard, Pierre DeWitt, was looking for someone to help market his new winery, someone gave him a napkin with Andra’s name and number on it. He called, they met and she was hired. One day while working at Kiepersol she met the landscaper/horticulturist from South Africa. She said he was wearing a backpack sprayer with shorts and rubber boots and had beautiful blue eyes. Their first date was in January for her birthday and in June they were married in the private family chapel at Kiepersol.  Johan assisted Marnelle De Witt, the owners’ daughter and winemaker for a while until he opened his own landscaping business in Tyler. Andra is a full time interior designer in Tyler except when she is taking care of their 12-year-old daughter, Olivia and 11-year-old Simon. She’s still planning parties too. Simon’s birthday party was January 20th and she planned his party for 25 boys that included games, dinner and a traditional sheath birthday cake.

Darryl Stanley came in to get feed and proudly shared that his granddaughter, Kate Sabesta, entered the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Art Contest through her school. Kate got a blue ribbon but missed by one place getting to exhibit it in Houston but all the art pieces are displayed at the Museum of East Texas.

Mrs. James Adams from Lufkin was so happy to hear about Vetericyn, a medicine she is hoping will heal her little 12-year-old dog, Susi, as well as it did Andrea’s fingers. Andrea believes in this product from using it on two of her fingers that were busted open from a chute while working cows. She keeps it handy all the time.

Thomas Lowther came in wearing a sling after having shoulder surgery a month ago. He and his wife Renee are the original designers of the tee shirt he was wearing that tied on the side. Believe it or not, this actually slowed Thomas down but only for a short time. Earnest Rast came in and was also moving slow after a successful back surgery.

Mark Hafernick who grew up in Czech area around Prasek’s below Houston brought us some thick cut noodles and chicken seasoning from the Czech Bakery and suggested we try them. He told us how his grandmother made chicken noodle soup and Andrea tried it one day. It was truly delicious, everyone enjoyed it. Mark’s mother lives near Prasek’s.

Skeeter Scarborough spent the weekend with his son, Marvin, at the 6S Ranch that he owns about 5 miles out of Lindale in the Sandflat community. The 130 acre 6S Ranch is a wedding venue and shooting range. This past weekend 26 teams competed in a Chili Cook-off to benefit a friend who lost his house in a tornado.

It’s not too late to order smoked Pork Butts that will benefit Kim Baker Vann. Call David Lawson 936-676-0692; Shon Laird 936-240-2478 or Les Bradshaw 936-645-6676.

Chad Ward would like for everyone to know he has Border collie puppies for sale, just in time for Valentine’s Day. They are black and white and red and white. His number is 936-635-9735.

Valentine’s Day is approaching. You have an opportunity to treat your sweetheart to an evening of dining by candlelight with great food and entertainment. The proceeds will benefit Project Graduation 2017. The event will be February 11th at 6PM in the Fellowship Hall at First Baptist Church in Diboll. You can dine in or carry out and choose between Rib Eye Steak and Grilled Chicken Brest. $25 per person or $40 per couple. For reservations or more information, contact: Ladonna Garza 635-4468 or Allison Amason 414-0145.

Come see us…’round the table.

Filed Under: January 2017, News from the Round Table at Pouland's

January 23, 2017

January 23, 2017 by

 

Young US Air Force serviceman, Stephen Badeaux, who is based in Japan wanted to spend some R&R in Australia. He invited his mom, Melissa (Mullins) Jones and his sister, Sara, to meet him in Australia. Sara is an accounting major at Lamar University and having studied about the Great Barrier Reef quickly decided it would be a good trip. A good friend of theirs from Teague, Linda Ward, also accepted the invitation to travel with the girls. The threesome left from Dallas and were met by Stephen in Sydney, Australia 17 hours later. They jumped in their rented vehicle with its snorkel, cattle guard and steering wheel on the wrong side and tried to adjust to driving on the opposite side of the street. They did not take the time to sightsee around Sydney but drove toward Cairns where they had a 3rd story apartment rented for the entire time.

With more than two weeks to explore Australia, one of the first adventures was a two hour train ride on the Kuranda Scenic Railway which has been in operation for over a century. The train took them through lush regions, mountainous scenery and several waterfalls. The destination, Kuranda, is a beautiful village hidden by tropical rainforest. Fig trees line the main street while colorful parrots and butterflies flock among ferns and orchids. There are galleries, markets, boutiques and places where they tasted crocodile, kangaroo and emu. They returned via the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, a 90- minute experience that took them over and through the World Heritage Rainforest, allowing stops at two rainforest stations. During the entire trip they saw multitudes of waterfalls including Babinda Boulders, Crystal Cascades and Josephone Falls.

The group spent New Year’s Eve on the Cairns Esplanade which is a picturesque long stretch of boardwalk and shoreline in the heart of Cairns overlooking the Coral Sea with incredible sunsets. It also has parks, playgrounds, Lagoon and recreational facilities that are all free. One day was spent in a habitat observing kangaroos, tropical birds, wallabies and the popular Koalas bear which they petted. Linda enjoyed a tour of the living history of the Tjapukai Aboriginal people, the Australian indigenous people from Queensland’s far north and learned about the boomerang, didgeridoo and fire making. As a souvenir and because of his love to play guitar, Charlie Mullins received an Australian Didgeridoo which is the world’s oldest wind instrument made and used by the Aborigines. Another day was spent stepping back in time taking an umbrella tour of the Paronella Park with its recreated tropical gardens, remarkable architecture, wildlife and fresh local produce. They also enjoyed touring the Chillagoe Caves. During their stay, the group enjoyed eating lots of shrimp or fish n chips; hamburgers with beets (ugh!); French fries were called “hot chips” that had chicken salt on them. They also saw lots of acreage with sugar cane, bananas, different fruits and coffee beans.

The group took two different boat trips to the Great Barrier Reef to enjoy snorkeling in their “stinger” suits which were required to protect from the stings of the jelly ray fish. They witnessed a couple of swimmers that had to be air-lifted due to being stung. This group also noticed that sharks were swimming nearby but were told not to worry about them. (Must be “fake” news that I recently saw that swimmers were hospitalized due to sharks in this same area?). After two weeks of fun, everyone returned to their homes safely. Melissa is looking forward to July when Stephen will be living in England and is already planning another trip to visit him. Thank you for sharing your memories.

Donnie Kee stopped by the round table. He was going stir crazy staying in the house too much watching it rain. Delbert and Carolyn Ellison came in for fishing licenses to go fishing when the sun comes out. We are glad when customers bring us good stuff to eat. Recently, Mary Lou Havard’s daughter, Mary Beth Boatner, who lives in Lafayette brought us a Mardi Gras King cake as she has done for years. It was really good but having the “baby” taped to the cake plate is not as much fun as when it was baked inside the cake. The tradition was whoever found the baby had to bring the cake next time. A lot of times we get “left overs” and certainly proud that folks think of the round table. That was the case when Mike Gibson brought several cupcakes piled high with creamy colorfully icing left from a birthday celebration.  A grateful thank you to Bettye Greer who baked and brought us a delicious King Ranch Chicken Casserole “just because she wanted to.” Margie Bass is always bringing us something. Sometimes it cute creations she has made from Pinterest and sometimes it new recipes she tries. The Ham Sliders with Pepper jack cheese were a big hit. Thank you all and remember, we don’t, or haven’t yet, refused anything!

Vernon Glass frequents the round table pretty often. He came in after New Year’s Day and showed me part of his billfold where he carries a few black eye peas year round for good luck. Vernon was born in the logging camp at Fastrill. His mother died when he was two and his father, Doyle Winston Glass, married Corrine (Thames) Flowers; her children were: J. D. “Sonny”, Kenneth, Travis and Mollie Sue. They moved to Diboll where Doyle was the “company” plumber and later had two children: Sambo and Jerry Nell Glass and then there was always, Vernon. While going to school Vernon worked in and around several mechanics that influenced him. Some of them included: Benny Rector; Jack Vaught; Weldon Bowman; Harry Nivens; and Lee Estes. Vernon graduated from DHS in 1957 and worked 15 years as a machinist for DEMCO until the devastating fire when he went back to mechanicing in his own shop and earned a reputation for knowing how to work on Model T’s and Model A’s. He has lived in Pine Valley for 48 years where he continues to “mechanic” and farm 12 acres. He is presently rebuilding a 1955 Ford Flathead motor and can be seen driving around town in his 1929 T-model or his 1945 Ford pickup truck.

The Masonic Bodies of Districts 20-21A is hosting an important Fundraiser Event. They will be taking orders for Smoked Pork Butts that can be picked up on Saturday, February 11 at the Lufkin Lodge #669 at 508 N. John Redditt Drive between the hours of 9 AM and 1 PM. Fundraisers show how good folks in East Texas are compassionate and come together to help when there is a critical need. It is with a sad heart to let you know the proceeds will benefit Kim (Baker) Vann with her medical treatments and expenses incurred traveling to M.D. Anderson in Houston. Kim is the precious daughter and only child of Bobby and Rosemary Baker of Diboll. She and her husband Paul live in Wells where Kim has resigned from teaching. They have two young daughters, Kaylee and Krista. Previously, Kim taught music in the Diboll ISD for several years. PLEASE continue to keep this family in your prayers. To pre order, contact one of these gentlemen which all have a 936 area code: David Lawson. 676-0692; Shon Laird 240-2478 or Les Bradshaw, 645-6676. The cost is $30 each and this compassionate organization says “Thank You” in advance for your support.

Tell someone about the conference sponsored by the Diboll ISD Family Education Center that will be Friday, January 27 from 8:30 until 2:30. There will be several speakers and topics to choose from that will encourage strong families. A free breakfast and lunch, door prizes and the opening motivational speaker will be Melissa Radke. This beautiful center is located at 209 S. Neil Pickett Dr. in Diboll.

The Alcohol & Drug Abuse Council of Deep East Texas “ADAC” will benefit from the proceeds of the Oscar Brookshire Memorial Concert at the Pines Theater, February 2nd at 7PM. The concert will feature 2015 Grammy Award Winner, Mike Farris, a solo acoustic show. Tickets are $30 and available at Pines Theater

Come see us…round the table.

Filed Under: January 2017, News from the Round Table at Pouland's

January 9, 2017

January 9, 2017 by

 

Los Jarritos is a very popular place to eat good Mexican food and visit with folks. The owners, Julie and Carlos Galvan, are very dedicated hard workers. So, I was glad to see that they closed the restaurant the day after Christmas. I learned later that December 26th is Carlos’ birthday and Julie had several family members come to their home and surprised Carlos with a steak dinner and large birthday cake. Two days later, the 28th, was Julie’s birthday and Carlos, after the restaurant closed that night, surprised Julie with a birthday cake at their home. Everyone insisted she blow out all 42 candles! Julie’s sister, Nancy, and her two daughters 19-year-old Aranza and 22-year-old Adriana have been visiting from Mexico for almost three weeks and they have all enjoyed too much eating and shopping. During this time, the family was invited by Brandon Belt and his wife to visit their new home in Hudson. (It was formerly owned by Shane Squyres and his wife and built by Melvin Linton, Jr., all of Beulah.) Although the water was cold the younger ones really enjoyed riding the paddleboat on the pond. Brandon and his wife Haylee are regular customers at Los Jarritos when he isn’t playing first baseman for the San Francisco Giants. Julie shared it took Nancy and her daughters almost 12 hours to get back home near Mexico City because of the people protesting the high fuel prices.

The Diboll ISD Family Education Center is excited about the upcoming “A Conference for Everyone!” It will be from 8:30 until 2:30 on Friday, January 27th. at the spacious Family Education Center on the former H.G. Temple campus. This conference is designed to unite and help make strong families. A few of the sessions will include: Dealing with Children’s Behavior; Bullying; Technology & Students; Fit & Healthy for Life; DISD Career Opportunities; Nutrition and Be Safe at Home. It will be worth it to hear the outstanding motivational speaker, Melissa Radke. There will be FREE Breakfast; FREE Lunch and Door Prizes. Other speakers include: Cathy Pavlic; Ashlei Rios; Shawna Neal; Jana Coulter; Donna Grimes; Joel Reddus; Beth Wilbanks and Dr. Laura Beth Cooper. Charlotte Morris Carter is the director of the Family Education Center and needs volunteers to help that day with directions, parking, serving, etc. She also can use donations for about 15 door prizes ASAP. If you can help, give her a call at 936-675-1310. The invitation says: Be motivated, be inspired, be encouraged, be blessed, be informed, BE HERE!

The week after Christmas, local sisters Fran (Miranda) Rodriguez and Carmen (Grumbles) Miranda traveled to San Jose, California, then on to Fremont to attend the funeral of their oldest sister, Sofia Miranda Torres. She was born in Fastrill, Texas and grew up in Diboll during the 40s.  She joined the U.S. army as a WAC during WWII and met her husband Leo at the naval base in Norfolk, VA. They married in 1945, later moving to Kingsville, Texas where he worked at the naval base in Corpus Christi. Then they were transferred to the naval base at Alameda, CA. Sofia loved coming back to Diboll to visit family before her health declined.  Her daughter, Susana Torres, also traveled to Fremont to attend her mother’s funeral.  For more information, Sofia’s complete obituary is published in this week’s paper.

One day recently my old key board was sitting on the round table when a couple came in and the lady asked if it was OK if she played it. She sat down and began to play and sing “Sweet Sweet Spirit”. We learned they are Denny and DeAnza Duron from the Shreveport Community Church where he is the pastor. Traveling with them was their daughter Destiny Deaz, her five-month-old baby and Ashley who was helping with the baby. They were on the way to Houston to fly to Japan to take part in an evangelical conference that also included Joyce Meyers and other speakers. Denny Duron preached his way through college at Louisiana Tech and later played two years for the World Football League until he met DeAnza. He continued to coach football and said their church has a Christian Academy. He was quick to share their football team played the Lufkin Panthers during the time Dez Bryant and Reggie McNeil were on the team and proudly added “Evangel Christian Academy was the only team to beat the Panthers that year.” We look forward to them stopping by again.

Charles and Becky Donahoe came in with a flat Saturday morning and we twisted their arm to eat breakfast at the round table. Actually, Becky was ready to try some of Andrea’s homemade biscuits, it was Charles that had to be convinced it was a good deal. That was one of the coldest days we had last weekend. Brent Hawkins came in and said they didn’t have electricity in Livingston as of 6AM that morning and no water in the barn with all their animals. Loree Olson, Don Hendrick and Donnie Stephens all came in at different times for Colorado pintos. Melvin Linton, Sr. had to come in to get a battery for his pickup.

Project Graduation is having a BINGO, January 21st at the Lottie and Arthur Temple Civic Center. They still have a few $100 tickets left with the opportunity to win $10,000 cash. Tickets are available here at Pouland’s.

Come see us…’round the table.

Filed Under: January 2017, News from the Round Table at Pouland's

January 2, 2017

January 2, 2017 by

RT NEWS January 2, 2017

A good thing about the holidays is seeing and visiting with friends and family. A dear friend, Carolyn (Kelly) Steinberg from Little Elm called to say she and two of her grandchildren wanted to stop by the store after Christmas and visit on their way back home. With that, JR got on the phone and started calling some of her DHS classmates and friends to stop by and visit with Carolyn last Friday afternoon. She was later than we anticipated and missed the first visitor, Betty Ann (Wilkerson), who couldn’t stay because of another appointment. Next was another classmate, Frances (Johnson) Thompson who was truly happy to see Carolyn and shared with us that Carolyn let her borrow a beautiful yellow prom dress when they were in junior high. The prom was in the “old” gym where the present primary school is located today. Alma (Wilkerson) Breazeale, stopped by; she brought her 1957 DHS annual with her which brought about lots of memories of other classmates. Kenneth and Ginger Capps both enjoyed listening and contributing stories at the round table. Although Nita (Ramsey) Hurley was much younger, she and Carolyn both took piano lessons from Mrs. W. F. Purdy as did I and we all shared our anxieties associated with piano recitals. Nita also remembered hearing Carolyn sing a solo at her church, Diboll United Methodist, which was also the site for most of our recitals during May when Mrs. Purdy would line the bannisters with fresh cut magnolias. Sisters, Donnie Smith and Charlene “Polly” (Weeks) Leavell also contributed memories from school and First Baptist Church where Carolyn was a member. Polly and I refreshed Carolyn’s memory of being our chaperone for summer camp at Pineywoods Encampment between Corrigan and Groveton. Fran McGilvra came in for her daily afternoon coffee and although she attended school in Hudson remembered sharing a dorm with Carolyn at Pineywoods. JoNell (Vaught) Placker stopped by as well as Bettye Greer who remembers everybody that attended school in Diboll since she worked there beginning when they moved to Diboll for her husband Bill to teach science in the early ‘50’s. It was a good afternoon. Carolyn had two of her grandchildren with her; 9-year-old Devin and 7-year-old Alexis.

Leonard Robison joined the round table that same afternoon for coffee. He and Billie and his sister Erna had spent part of the Christmas season at their grandson’s new house in New Elm and learned from Carolyn that his house joined her subdivision in Little Elm near the fast growing area around Frisco. Carolyn was able to earn a music degree from SFA with music scholarships. She continues to teach piano and is a Degreed Teacher National Federation of Music. While in high school, she also worked for Mr. Schinke at his nursery and florist and shared with me “tips” she learned from him about how to care for house plants.

One DHS classmate that Carolyn hated she missed seeing was Kenneth Ashworth who stopped by earlier that morning with his wife Ann on their way to Houston to fly back home to Ireland where they have served as missionaries for 32 years. They have been married for 54 years and have two sons that are pastors; a daughter who spent three years in the underground church in China as a missionary and six grandkids. Kenneth and Ann are very devoted and live by faith of a vision of a European Revival in the center of Ireland where they have been living. They work with the Jerry Smith Ministries in Oklahoma and they welcome anyone to contact them especially if you would like to donate to their ministry. Their home address is: Ashworth Family Ministries, Rehoboth, Barrymore, Athlone, Co. Roscommon, Ireland. The custom in Ireland is to give your home a name. ”Rehoboth” is the name of the Ashworths’ home. They found “Rehoboth” in the book of Genesis and it means “The Lord has made a place for us and we will be fruitful in the land”.

Sherri Paresa came in the store on the recommendation from WilberTeer to try Colorado Pinto beans. He loves them. Sherri bought a large bag that day and after Christmas she came back for another bag. She gave the first bag away with a Dutch Oven as a gift. Someone really got a nice gift and here’s hoping Sherri will be back for more beans.

Darrell Chapman is married to Kim (Placker). They live in Bullard and Kim sent Darrell to Poulands to buy jelly and cattle feed for their longhorns, horses and dogs. We truly appreciate their long-distance shopping with us. Of course, being in Diboll gives Darrell an opportunity to check on his mother-in-law, JoNell.

Retired Judge Barry Bryan came in specifically to buy “Cobbler in a jar”. He and his wife Lynn (Courtney) had been here for the Christmas holidays and were returning the next day to their home in northern California. They built a new home “in the woods” and enjoy seeing bucks roam nearby. It rains a lot but seldom thunders and the temperature hardly ever dips below 36 degrees or reaches higher than 65. The locals say it is unbearably hot if the temperature gets above 70 degrees. Barry enjoys working in his wood working shop and has taken some creative writing courses. Lynn enjoys weaving, knitting, and crochet and has gotten into mosaics which are displayed in their home. There is no need for air conditioning and they use wood to heat the house; a cord of wood is about $300.

Ted Lankford came in with his son Barrett to buy corn for their deer feeders. Mark Hafernik was in buying tractor tires. Billie Lamb was in getting keys made and news is that Sue Johnson got an 8 point buck.

Dianne and Mike Gibson and granddaughter, Lena Tate spent a day in Huntsville visiting with grandchildren. They met at the Café Texan. Dianne’s granddaughter, Chelsea was there with her two sons, Gavin and Nolan. Her grandson and his wife, Zachary and Brittani Tate were also there with the new great-granddaughter, Maisie who was born around Thanksgiving. They also brought Maisie’s older twin brothers, 2-1/2 year old Jude and Lennon.

Enjoyed meeting Bryan Perry who is married to Ave Marie (Rodriquez) who graduated from DHS in 1999. They live in Frisco where he works in the IT department of Wing Stops. Her parents are Jesse and Rosemary Rodriquez of Diboll.

Don’t forget Project Graduation is still selling $100 tickets with the opportunity to win $10,000. Tickets are available here at Poulands.

Come see us…’round the table.

 

Filed Under: January 2017, News from the Round Table at Pouland's

December 26, 2016

December 26, 2016 by

 

Pouland’s The Everything Store was closed on Christmas Eve and all of us thoroughly enjoyed spending time away from this place although it is good to visit with customers when they come in shopping for something special. Anyway, JR and I drove to Dean’s Meat to pick up the main dish for our Christmas evening gathering at the Swor’s. The owner, Dean McMullen, got up and met us as we were going through the buffet for lunch. He wanted to let us know that his family wouldn’t have Christmas dinner because he was selling us the steaks he was saving for his family dinner. He later sat down with us as we ate to re-assure us he was teasing. He introduced us to his wife who works with him and said they would soon be married 55 years and neither is ready to retire. We told Dean we had learned he had ordered a new catering trailer through our computer guru, Bill Havard, who traveled with his state trooper son-in-law, Chad Wilson to Georgia to bring the trailer back to Dean’s in Huntington. Dean also shared that the meat market, the day before, had sliced over 9,000 slices of ham for the Dream Center which coordinated a plan to cook and deliver 7,500 meals on Christmas Eve. Lots of volunteers helped make the meal a reality. Sincere thanks and congratulations to everyone that had a part in making Christmas Merry for lots of folks.

Pastor of the Diboll Methodist Church David Goodwin, who bears a good resemblance to Santa somehow convinced Gary Gores to dress as an Elf and the two delivered Christmas greetings to folks in Trinity Mission and other shut-ins. The “elf” has the proof in dozens of photos taken including one of Becky, a manager at the Family Dollar store who was checking out someone buying candy in a red suit. We’ve also heard that one of our local policemen stopped Santa Claus for speeding and was totally surprised when he realized who was driving the car. In his defense, who would ever think Santa would be driving anything but a sleigh?

Don & Sandy Hendrick celebrated Christmas eve at candle light service at First United Methodist church and in their home with all their family Laurel & Bob Youngblood, Jennifer Hendrick, Jordan & Tyler Eldridge, Lindsey ( Harper) & Earl Morris, Jayla Finley, Aiden Morris, J.R. & Alaryca, Aniston Ray Youngblood, Brynn Maxwell.  Tissue paper, wrapping paper & bows were flying for several hours with all these people opening gifts. On Christmas day this family went to church to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas.  At 5 PM the family had dinner with special guests James, James Jr and Jarred Galuszka, Alicia Cruz, James Snarr, Jose Calderon, Stephen Baird, David, Melanie, Natalie and Katie Goodwin

Robert Ramsey stopped by the store to visit. We were talking about Christmas when he said his wife Nancy gave him a package which surprised him because they don’t exchange gifts. He anxiously opened it and was happy to see it was two cans of mixed nuts which Nancy immediately took from him and said she needed those to make Texas Trash.

If you haven’t completed your Christmas shopping or thinking about gifts for special occasions during 2017, you might want to contact Frank Farrow who is a very talented craftsman with wood. From wolmanized wood he has, for years, made gliders and hanging swings but has added coffee tables, hall tables, clocks and jewelry boxes made from cedar that was grown in Beulah. He also continues to take special orders to build bird houses and squirrel feeders. He also proudly shared that he and Teresa have been married 53 years as of December 21st. Congratulations! By the way, his number is 936-829-5040.

Enjoyed visiting with Harold and Donna Plath who recently returned from their second home in Walden, Colorado. They have been there since June where Donna has worked in the local bank for 12 years and Harold does maintenance in the oil field and for local ranchers. They told us Walden is 62 miles from Laramie, WY; 62 miles from Kremmling, CO; 62 miles from Gramby, CO and 62 miles from Steamboat Springs, CO and they experience living with snow every month of the year except June and July. Donna said she wore insulated clothes to the annual 4th of July celebration. Walden is the only town in the county of about 800 people of which 550-600 live in town. Donna got her banking experience while working at Lufkin Federal Savings and Loan almost 25 years. When they are in Texas, they live in Central and Harold works at his shop in Apple Springs. They also enjoy their hunting lease, Las Escobas, in El Sauz near Rio Grande City where Harold has hunted since he was 8 years old.

Dianne Gibson and Betty Capps enjoyed traveling with the Senior Circle from Woodland Heights to Natchitoches, Louisiana where they spent two nights enjoying the Christmas lights along the Cane River. The days were filled with touring homes decorated for Christmas, shopping and eating. Two special restaurants where they enjoyed eating were The Landing and The Mariner. These two highly recommend joining the Senior Circle for $15 per year that includes monthly informative meetings and several trips during the year.

You can support Project Celebration by buying fireworks at their stand in the parking lot of J.R.’s Barn this week until midnight on New Year’s Eve. They also still have $100 tickets for sale with the opportunity to win $10,000. Tickets are available at Pouland’s.

Our thanks to Bill Smith for the delicious meal of hot tamales with all the trimmings and also to Darlene Stephens for a whole tray packed with lots of goodies including cranberry bread, crockpot candy and fudge. So many people have brought so many goodies to the round table and for that we are thankful. I noticed several enjoyed tasting the good food at the round table. At one time I saw Skeeter Scarborough, Buddy Shipp, Mack Coward, Bill Dean Yates, Gary Jones, Mark Hafernik, J.D and Sue Johnson and Fran McGilvra.

The coffee is always on, please me of you join us…’round the table.

Filed Under: December 2016, News from the Round Table at Pouland's

December 12, 2016

December 12, 2016 by

 

Congratulations to a longtime customer of ours, Sue Baker. Sue was all smiles telling about winning a book and gift card for completing a “reading challenge” at Temple Memorial Library. The challenge began in January and ended December 1. Forty books were selected by the library staff which also read the books. The purpose was to get people to read books they might not ever pick up to read on their own. Sue was one of five adults that completed the challenge and according to Justin Barkley, “A lot of adults were really close to completing the challenge.” Justin also said the library is working on another list of books to begin a new challenge in January.

Jack and Gayle Beene stopped by early Wednesday afternoon to visit and were disappointed they missed the annual Christmas dinner at the civic center. They live in Jack’s hometown of Mexia where they built a home on land that has been in his family for years. Jack enjoys rebuilding old tractors and Gayle volunteers helping others and enjoys her garden club and they are both active in their church. From here they drove to their old neighborhood in South Meadows and visited with former neighbors, Don and Dolly Whitaker.

Mark and Ann Hafernick hosted their grandson Gibson Hafernick’s 4th birthday party at their home. Gibson’s parents are Angela and Brian Hafernick. It was a farm party complete with plans for a hayride to the barn and an opportunity to feed chickens, goats, cows, horses and tractor rides were also on the agenda. Unfortunately, it rained 4”on that cold Saturday morning so the party was moved inside and original plans were substituted with lots of farm related games and activities. The children still had a wonderful time and left with homemade stick horses as their party favor!  The stick horses were made by Angela and members of the Caskey family at their Thanksgiving celebration. Attending were several of Gipson’s classmates from St. Cyprians, friends from church and cousins, Alex and Millie and their parents, Ron and Michelle Haney from Lufkin. Gibson’s maternal grandparents, Jim and Ann Caskey, also enjoyed the party which was lots of fun and turned out to be the best “indoor” farm birthday party ever!

Jimmie Woodard went with friends Dell and Jerry Sawyer to Durango’s Canyon outside of Mt. Enterprise and had a delicious meal at the Crater Restaurant and Club.  She reported that the food was good, but prices were a little high. The music was excellent and not so loud you couldn’t visit and enjoy your evening.  The ambiance of the outside surroundings was awesome.  The restaurant sits high and overlooks the crater and the Christmas decorations at the foot of the crater were pretty awesome. So, you might ask, “What’s the story on The Crater? “No one is certain. There is the legend that thousands of years ago a huge meteorite fell to earth and left this natural crater. One can find some interesting boulders which could possibly be meteorite debris. Then there are the stories that The Crater was formed by the Caddo Indians for their use. Arrowheads and Indian artifacts have pushed their way above the ground. Located on 120 acres, the restaurant sits on the rim of the Crater Amphitheater overlooking the stage at Durango’s Canyon and is open Wednesday through Saturday evenings.

          Two guys came in the store at the same time and I learned they both graduated from Diboll in 1992. Jose Hernandez, Jr. and Bobby Lee who both live in Diboll. Jose and his two brothers, Cesar and Juan had returned from Green Bay, WI where they watched the Packers win over the Houston Texans. Before that trip, Jose, his two sons, 9-year-old Trey and 11-year-old Santana and Chaundra Hawthorn attended the game between the Cowboys and Packers. In fact, they attend all the home games in Green Bay and have tickets on the 20-yard line.

          Bobby Lee, as a hobby, raises AKC Labrador Retrievers to run and compete in AKC field trials. After last week’s competition in Hillsboro, Bobby’s prize dog, “Jammer” who is only 16 months old is ranked #21 in the nation. He trained the dog for about a year but since then Jammer is being professionally handled and trained by Mike Johnson of Piney Creek Retrievers in Corrigan. Bobby also raises birds used in training dogs and presently has about 900 pheasants and ducks at his house.

          Two good friends who worked together for years and have hunted together for “too many years to remember”, Eugene May and John Wallace, truly enjoy hunting. They recently returned from a two-week trip to Montana and South Dakota.  They hunted for five days in Montana staying in the outfitters’ lodging. The temperatures broke records for being the hottest in years but these guys both got a mule deer before driving 300 miles to the area of the Badlands’ in South Dakota. Eugene had a picture of the 300 pound deer he bagged with four HUGE antlers that were extremely wide and tall. I was astounded but Eugene in his mild, quiet manner said it wasn’t much by SD standards. John Wallace amazed them all with his 4×4 mule deer he shot at 505 yards by carefully getting down on his bad knees, bracing and calculating the long distance shot. Before leaving home Eugene had already killed two nice 11 pointers; one in the Tower Club and one in the Dean Creek Club.

          Ramiro Perez came in just as Eugene was leaving and was very proud of the 14-point buck that he had gotten in the Tower Club. Ramiro said the thick rack scored 138 points and was 14-1/2” wide.

          The Diboll Lions Club met for their regular monthly meeting at the First Methodist church. The speaker was Drew (Andrew) Estrada, a senior at DHS and expected to be the Valedictorian of his 2017 graduating class. He told us about his freshman year when he planned to take a culinary class that filled up and he had to take an agriculture class. Getting injured and unable to play sports, he got involved in FFA and presently holds an area office that includes 89 school districts and 11,000 members. He has been accepted to Texas A&M and plans to major in Nutritional Science. He challenged the Lions Club to speak up and speak out for everyone in the community. This young man was a very impressive speaker.

          You missed a treat if you did not attend “Christmas in the Park”. It was a wonderful evening with singing and scriptures. After the program The Diboll Civic Club had the Christmas lights turned on in the park just in time for Santa to arrive on a firetruck. Please take time to drive through the park and see the many exhibits, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

          Please send me news and come see us…’round the table.

.

 

 

 

Filed Under: December 2016, News from the Round Table at Pouland's

December 5, 2016

December 5, 2016 by

 

A very special Thanksgiving holiday was a joyous time in the home of Janet Kilgore. It was a great feeling, after five surgeries, three of them from cancer since 2009, for Janet to hear laughter, jokes and old stories shared about the good ole days when family and friends get together. All five of Janet’s sons were home which brought indescribable joy to her heart. Visiting the Kilgore household: Alberta Potts from Lake Fork; Brandon Hopp from Groveton; Jonnie, Teresa, Gracie and Wesley Kilgore from McMinnville, Oregon; Donnie Kilgore from Pearland; Ronnie, Stacy, Kraig and Kolton Kilgore; Lonnie and Tommie Kilgore, Gary, Landon and Lela Rector, all from Diboll.  Ruben Kilgore from Pineland; Rex and Tina Bankston from Conroe. Jonnie and family enjoyed the History Center where Louis Landers helped them trace old family names in Teresa’s history. Wesley enjoyed the train, especially ringing the bell and blowing the horn. After visiting old friends in this area, two weeks came to an end too quickly for them to fly back to Oregon.

Carmen (Grumbles) Miranda went on another RSVP bus trip to Branson MO returning on Saturday December 3 which was her 71st birthday! Some of the great shows she saw there were Puttin’ On The Ritz, Brett Family Show, Dublin’s Irish Tenors and the Celtic Ladies, The Million Dollar Quarter Show, 70’s Musical Celebration starring Barry Williams (Greg from the Brady Bunch) and The Hughes Brothers Christmas Show. Also had a three-course meal onboard the famous Showboat Branson Belle while enjoying Broadway-style entertainment. Shopping in historic downtown Branson especially Dick’s Old-time 5 & 10 was fun but unfortunately things were not five and ten cents! On return trip stopped at William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock AR.  Former Dibollians Earl and Joyce Carr were also on the bus.

Hunting buddies, Dennis Lenderman and Jerry Hemphill, took another opportunity to go hunting in West Texas. Arriving at the site they thought it a good idea to check their guns with a quick target practice. Almost instantly, two vehicles arrived on the spot and two game wardens got out of their pickup and others got out of a black suburban with cameras and begin filming the conversation. The game wardens asked Dennis and Jerry if they knew it was illegal to target practice. Of course they said “No” to which one of the game wardens pointed back toward a sign at the entrance that stated the rule. The game wardens noticed the two hunters had a side-by-side ATV and asked if they had a permit for it to which they both answered “No”. Dennis never said if any tickets were issued but afterwards the people with cameras approached them about signing a “release” which would allow Dennis and Jerry’s faces to be shown on the TV series, Texas Game Wardens, Lone Star Law. This TV series follows the men and women game wardens with Texas Parks and Wildlife as they patrol and protect our Lone Star state’s natural resources and police its 27 million citizens. I hate that I didn’t get Dennis’ autograph since he and Jerry may become TV celebrities.

It’s not often we see George Vinson from Chester since his retirement but he recently stopped by the round table and was tired from traveling and ready to get home. George is president of the Central Texas Beefmaster Breeder Association and had been to Nevada and California encouraging ranchers to buy Beefmaster bulls. While he was here Harold Maxwell came in and the two of them truly enjoyed talking about cattle and ranches. When Harold was about 15 his dad moved the family to Colorado where he managed a ranch in the areas of Simla and Lyman, Colorado near Matheson where Tom Lasater developed the Beefmaster breed. Harold and George mentioned too many names and places they both knew that I couldn’t keep up with them. I do remember Harold saying there were only 35 kids in the Agate high school where he played 6-man football and rode the school bus 25 miles.

George Vinson brought me up to date on his family. His nurse wife Gayle continues to do ultrasounds at the hospital in Woodville. Their son Shannon and his wife Lisa live in Huntington with Pierce, age 16; Parker, age 15 and Lana, age 10. Son Ryan and his wife Carrie live in The Woodlands with Abby, age 8; Chase, age 6 and Mollie, age 2. Daughter Robin and her husband, Tracson Stockton live in Warren where she teaches. Their children are Madison, age 8 and Garrison, age 5.

Ladies, don’t forget to attend the Christmas Luncheon and BINGO, Thursday, December 15th in the Family Education Center. Lunch is $5 and each card is $1. There will be five games of bingo with great prizes and one blackout game.

On Friday, take time to visit our awesome TLL Temple Library during the day and say “good bye” to Brenda Russell who is retiring. She has served the library for many years and has seen many changes and improvements. Do plan to go by for refreshments, visit with Brenda and see the 12 beautifully decorated Christmas trees inside. The outside is also very pretty at night.

Sunday, December 11th there will be an Open House at the brand new Ryan Chapel church, 2 – 4PM. The church, which originally was founded in 1865, burned about 18 months ago and everyone is happy that the construction is completed. Pastor Charles Weeks and members invite the public to come see the new building and celebrate this special event. Kathi (Weeks) Jordan is the organist and Mary Florence (Weeks) Hendry is the pianist. This congregation may be small but they are to be commended for completing the new building which is debt free. They invite anyone looking for a new church home to come worship with them. A formal dedication will be held later.  For folks that don’t know, the church is located at the intersection of FM304 and FM2497 about 2 miles east of Hwy. 59 on FM 2497.

Enjoy the season and remember the real reason. Come see us…’round the table.

 

 

 

Filed Under: December 2016, News from the Round Table at Pouland's

November 28, 2016

November 28, 2016 by

 

Thanksgiving week was very busy for the Carter house in Burke. Early in the week, David and Charlotte (Morris) Carter were blessed to have his daughter Meredith Romine, her husband Chad, and their 4 year old son from Bedford, Indiana. “Carter” is the first name of the 4-year-old. They all enjoyed visiting the Festival of Trees at the Museum of East Texas and Carter’s love of trains took them to the Texas Forestry Museum the next day.  During their last visit to Diboll they went to the History Center and Papa Carter scared little Carter with the train horn so they skipped that this time!  On Wednesday the rest of the family came for Thanksgiving dinner.  David’s son, Jamie, from south Louisiana and his wife, Cheryl, and three children (Virginia, Ana, and Ethan) came and spent the night. His daughter Amanda Robertson, son-in-law Jason, and grandchildren Dixie Leigh and Jack Davis from Appleby came for dinner.  It was a very nice visit and lots of food was consumed!

Good friends, Thomas and Jean DuBose, traveled on Wednesday with their sons, Tommy and Larry, from Apple Springs to Oxford, Mississippi. Their granddaughter and Tommy’s daughter, Ashlan, lives there with her husband, Dr. Chris Glaze. Thanksgiving dinner was in their home with 13 guests including Ashland’s mother, Mary Frances, her husband, Jeff and younger brother Dre Espenosa from Frisco; her brother Adam and Allison, Jack and Reagan Dubose from Leander, Texas; and of course, Jean and Thomas; her dad Tommy from Austin and Larry Dubose from Belton. On Friday family photos were taken on the Ole Miss campus. After that the group traveled by a double decker bus to the square where activities included a carriage ride, tree lighting, shopping and singing. On Saturday, Thomas and Jean participated in their first Rebel tailgating party on the Grove at Ole Miss. The Grove is a large green space on the Ole Miss campus that transforms overnight into a sea of red, white and blue tents.  Tailgating in the Grove is not just a simple tailgate, there are strict rules and some tents are equipped with all the comforts of home. Most have TVs hooked up to Direct TV with a dozen or so lawn chairs surrounding them.  There are no open flames, gasoline, or propane allowed in the Grove. This eliminates the option of cooking burgers, hot dogs or any other grilled item that you would normally find at a tailgate. Chris took care of providing, cooking and delivering lots of good food to their tent. The temperature was freezing and the wind blowing but everyone enjoyed the experience but only the brave attended the ballgame. Returning to east Texas on Sunday was difficult with lots of traffic and construction but happy to say they all made it home safely.

Jimmy Woodard has been traveling again and sent the following news. I left on Saturday, Nov 19th with friends Karen Barringer, Tara and Addison Thompson and Leanne Hendrick on flight 1638 from IAH to Los Angeles to visit for a week. My luggage, however, traveled to Los Angeles on a different flight and arrived late that night at our hotel. I had a marvelous time visiting Griffith Observatory, reading, learning and watching interactive videos about the solar system and observing the valley, mountains and Los Angeles below us!  We went to La Brea Tarpits for an interesting adventure learning about digs for fossils and the cleaning process of the fossils getting them ready for assembly!  We had a wild, fun time at Universal Studios riding rides, eating and drinking and spent one day at Palm Springs where we ate at Pinocchio’s, a very interesting dining choice.  While in Palm Springs we had an awesome 2 1/2 mile ride on the Aerial Tramway from Valley Station to Mountain Station. The tramway car had a 360 degree rotating floor that allowed us to view the natural surroundings, wildlife and overlook Palm Springs. It was 36 degrees at the top and snow was on the ground.   The lodge-like facility at the top had a gift shop with several outdoor viewing areas and also a large area available for parties, weddings, etc.  The view was breathtaking!  A beautiful waterfall provided a relaxing sound as it flowed down the mountain.   There were hiking trails and even a ski slope; some folks hiked down the mountain, don’t know what their problem was (perhaps afraid of the ride down???????).   Our group returned to Texas on late Thursday night from a fantastic journey…and our luggage arrived at the same time!!

The Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving, the Sergio Zapata family was leaving Diboll for College Station to pick up their Aggie daughter, Karina. Sergio and his wife, Deyanet and Karina’s 9-year-old brother, Junior and 7-year-old sister, Katia were all anxious to see her but probably not as anxious as Karina was to see all of them. I’m sure they all had a grateful Thanksgiving.

Roy Smith was happy to share how excited his dad, Leroy, was about killing a deer this season. Leroy is only 87 years old. John Walter Cobb lives on acreage outside of Corrigan. He was outside working on trailer lights when he spotted a couple of deer walking in the edge of the woods. He didn’t get excited about that until he realized a really nice buck was following them. As most Texans, he reached in his pickup, got his rifle, and now has a nice 10 point trophy. John also shared how much he enjoyed seeing Tanya Tucker in Crockett recently. He was 14 the first time he saw her; a second time in 1976 in the Astrodome and this past August in Lake Charles, La. He said she packs the house and puts on an extremely good show.

Looking for Boston terrier puppies for Christmas? One of our customers, Emily Barton has AKC registered red and white six weeks old puppies; 2 girls and 2 boys. Her number is 903-478-2411. Billy and Judy Sessions drove all the way from Alto to get pecans last Friday not knowing the store was closed and drove all the way back on Saturday. It was good meeting and visiting with them as we had several mutual friends. Lynn Carranza has been driving from Houston several years to buy pecans…glad we were open.

Sherrel Fears has moved to Diboll on Burkhalter Hollow Road. I didn’t want to believe him when he said it not only rained but hailed one day about 11AM and several inches of the ice was still on the ground about 2PM. Sam Anderson came in after lunch and said he saw a bunch of “white stuff” beside the highway on FM 2497 and realized it was ice confirming Sherrel’s story.

The Ladies’ Christmas Luncheon, sponsored by the Diboll Civic Club, will probably be the last big Bingo of the year. It will be Thursday, December 15th.The lunch is $5 and each bingo card is $1. Because it is a luncheon, only 5 games with great prizes and 1 blackout game will be played plus you get to enjoy a delicious lunch and door prizes. The time is 11:30 until 1PM in the cafeteria at the Family Education Center. For more information call 829-2779 or 829-4817.

Earl Carr wants to invite everyone to his church, Fairview Baptist, this Sunday, December 4th to hear David Ring speak at both services, 11AM and 6PM. David Ring is a cerebral palsy victim who shares how he became a cerebral palsy VICTOR! The pastor, Gene Hazell and all the members extend a cordial invitation to this free event. For more information call 936-637-1466 or 676-5229. The church is located at 3742 FM 2108. (The intersection of the airport road and FM 58.)

Mark your calendars on Wednesday December 7th for Diboll’s Christmas in the Park at 6PM. There will be lots of music, readings, hot chocolate and the official lighting of the decorations in the park. Don’t forget, it’s getting bigger and better every year.

Come see us…’round the table.

 

Filed Under: News from the Round Table at Pouland's, November 2016

November 21, 2016

November 21, 2016 by

 

THANKSGIVING IN U.S. HISTORY

George Washington had so miraculously survived war that he often was referred to as “Bullet Proof”. It was widely accepted that he was appointed by God to the role of our first President. His 1789 thanks-giving proclamation was a one-time event that was repeated as the need arose. “Both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

There is one young man I know that is surely “thankful” to be around to celebrate this Thanksgiving with family. Following is what happened the beautiful morning of November 12th as told by Allison (Lazarine) Amason about her adventurous husband, Matt. Two friends, Thomas Baker and Matt Amason were enjoying a fun bicycle ride in Livingston. “The Spirit Ride” is a 44 mile ride that benefits Polk County Crime Stoppers. On mile 35, Matt had a bad crash. While riding fast, his front tire went into a crack in the road bringing him to an abrupt STOP and throwing him over the handlebars. Matt never saw the crack, it happened so quickly and he hit the pavement so hard he thought he had been hit by a car! Matt said if he tried a million times he would not have been able to purposely hit that crack in the road. He was NINE miles from the finish line. In his upset, shook-up condition, he managed to change the tube in the tire and tried to continue the race but soon realized his tire was also cut! He was forced to get a ride from a SAG vehicle back to the start/finish. Matt was checked out by paramedics on the scene and two different free standing ER facilities. It was determined he has two breaks in his wrist; an AC joint separation in his shoulder (on the opposite side of the breaks); a dislocated finger; a slight concussion and terrible road rash but thankful for the helmet! Allison said even with all his aches and pains, he can hardly wait to get back on his bike. Good luck to Matt.

Good health is a blessing and something to be thankful for. One way to express that gratitude is to help someone else in need. Josh Shoffitt, an employee of B&J Excavating is fighting colon cancer (without insurance). A unique custom-built Texas Cowboy Cooker is being raffled to benefit Josh. The cooker has been displayed here at Pouland’s where tickets are available for $1 each. The drawing will be on December 10th. The group is also selling pork butts on that same day for $35. To order, call Jessica at 936-671-3644. On December 9th, an $8 chip beef sandwich lunch will be available at B&J Excavating on Hwy 69 N. Your prayers and support is greatly appreciated.

Enjoyed meeting and visiting with Hershel and Karen Lee who are both retired and have built a home in Coldspring. Karen worked with Richard Warner almost 25 years starting when he was a young, upcoming lawyer with Jimmy Cassels. She followed him to Temple Inland in Diboll and on to Austin when he was president of T/I.  She was also the manager of the T/I Foundation. While she and her husband were working in Austin, Hershel became the Travis County Fire Marshall even though they lived in Bastrop. They survived the terrible Bastrop fire that came within 600 feet of their home. The Lees have three children: Shelby, Ben and Beth. We met Shelby who is a DPS trooper in San Jacinto County and the only woman that works in “crash reconstruction”. Since retiring in 2012, Karen has taken up quilting and enjoys their five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Richard Warner came in later to buy deer corn and was disappointed to learn he missed seeing his former assistant, Karen Lee. Enjoyed a short visit with Melvin and Patsy Slusher when they came for pecans and learned the 19th was her birthday. I also learned that Pasty is an avid sports fan and loves college football more so than her husband. It was so good to visit with Bobbie Bartlett who came in with her son Bill to buy pecans. Bobbie and Geraldine Pouland were step sisters through Bob York and Effie Martin. Bill Bartlett continues to teach Government classes for Angelina College.

Jan and Jerry Morgan came in to buy pecans for their new neighbors, Morris and Betty (Hannah) Smith who moved from Beulah to Fairview Circle. The Morgans told us that Morris is always bringing them homemade rolls, biscuits, pralines, peanut patties or cinnamon rolls. They wanted to restock Morris’s supply of pecans and look forward to receiving more of his neighborly treats. Jerry and Jan were on their way to meet and eat with her sister Suzanne Bradford and Jesse. Jo Grimes also came in for pecans with specific orders from her grandson, Josh Mullins, to make him some peanut brittle. Her other grandchild specified fudge. Geneva Grimes came in to buy pecans as well as Gala Canada, Ken and Gwen Baker.

Sisters, Marie and Carmen (Miranda) Grumbles, had been “running the roads” when they came in for pecans. Carmen shared that her son, Jarrad, celebrated his 48th birthday on the 18th with a Caribbean cruise with his wife Gwen. Both are RNs. Jarrad at CHI and Gwen with Bethany Hospice. I know Jarrad has trouble keeping up with his mother as she loves to travel and “keep the roads hot”. Dave Martinez has been in a couple of times for pecans and was excited that Delores was baking for the holiday. Robert Gaitan admitted Baldimar was his brother and both of them now work at the particleboard plant. Their parents, Mr. & Mrs. Baldimar Gaitan, Sr. came in later for pecans.

What a delightful surprise to see Dick and Betty Albrecht walk in the store. They live in Riverview, Florida, near their daughter, Kelly and had plans to stay in this area a few days before driving on to their daughter’s, Melissa who lives and works in the Kyle ISD. Their son, Dick, Jr. lives in Pineland where he owns the pharmacy. Dick and Betty were happy to visit with Woody Ingram when he stopped by the round table. According to Dick, Melissa’s daughter, Katie is about to complete her first year in the US Army while Sarah is working and attending college.

What perfect timing for a friend to bring a loaf of fresh homemade bread right out of the oven just as we were about to eat lunch at the round table. It is almost daily that Donnie Jenkins bakes bread at home so we were so happy she chose to share a loaf with us. Thank you.

Be thankful for all our blessings and come see us…’round the table.

 

Filed Under: News from the Round Table at Pouland's, November 2016
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