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 20^th 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 11^th 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.

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 3^rd 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 2^nd 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.

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 26^th 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 28^th, 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 27^th. 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 21^st 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.

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.