The first city-organized Memorial Day service was held at 10AM on Monday at the Wall of Honor located on the grounds of the TLL Temple Library. The few that attended were impressed with the service which was officiated by Pastor Ronnie Coleman.  Mayor John McClain welcomed everyone and the Star Spangle Banner was beautifully sung by Emily Bulling, a music major from SFA. Sam Coleman, a veteran and also Vice Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars provided some American flags. Our city manager, Gerry Boren, spoke and expressed his wishes for this service to become an annual event. He and his wife, Marcie, also donated flags to the attendees that planted the flags on the lawn in memory of soldiers who they knew that made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we have living in the United States of America.

Diboll’s Veterans Memorial Wall was a project of the Ladies Auxiliary for the Diboll VFW Post and was approved by the city council to begin construction in December, 1998. It wasn’t until February of 2000 that it was officially dedicated. In May of 2004 another ceremony dedicated a second wall with special recognition to David McCall of Orangeburg, SC for the 15’ sign he made and donated; to Allen Tucker who donated the masonry work; to Hellen Schmidt for the first flag; to Demco Manufacturing for the flag pole and to the City of Diboll for donating the space for the wall. I know there were lots of ladies and veterans involved in making this memorial wall a reality but one I remember was a 5’2” blond powerhouse, mover & shaker, Lois Hurd.

A little bit more information about Emily Bulling who sang the National Anthem. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Music and Education from SFA on May 14 and said it was an honor to sing at the memorial service. As a music student at SFA, Emily met Gerry & Marcie Boren’s son, Robert, and they began dating because of their mutual interests in music. Robert Boren earned his BS in music from SFA and is near to completing his master’s degree while studying and also working as a Professor’s Assistant in the Music department. Robert and Emily have both sung in several of the operas at SFA and performed as guest soloists at First Methodist Church of Nacogdoches and elsewhere. Robert Boren was recently hired as the choir director at First Methodist Church of Bullard. His mother, Marcie, shared with me that she realized Robert had perfect pitch at the age of 3-1/2 while singing along in the car with songs on the radio.

John and Gloria Ogden recently fulfilled a wish of Gloria’s to visit Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. On the way they traveled through Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington. They went through Yellowstone National Park and saw lots of snow, bison and Old Faithful. While they were in Colorado, they had an unexpected excitement when they heard a terrible noise in the car. John told Gloria to stop the car and he began looking for the problem. In the meantime, Gloria looked in the backseat and saw chips spilled everywhere and a bag that looked like it had exploded. They assumed the higher altitude caused the bag of chips to explode. They made it to Bainbridge Island and spent two nights in Sequim where the air is filled with the fragrance of lavender from all the lavender farms everywhere. As they neared Canada, the Black Ball ferry carried them to Victoria, BC. Gloria said the gardens are beautiful as she expected but not as large so they completed their tour in two hours and got back on the ferry.

The next item on their itinerary took them to Neah Bay, Washington to walk the Cape Flattery Trail to the furthest point one can go in the northwest lower 48 states. Walking sticks are provided and came in handy for the uphill climb. The trail went through beautiful forest with ferns and other unusual plants on the forest floor and when you come out of the forest there is a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. It’s awesome when you realize you cannot go any further north or west. The trail is located on the Makah Indian tribe’s reservation. They have an informative museum about their people and how they managed to survive in this area.

While riding one day, John could not believe that Gloria wanted to stop and ask an owner working in his yard if she could have one of his “red hot poker” plants. He said “yes” because he was getting ready to dig up his plants and move them anyway so he graciously gave her one to bring to Texas. (It never hurts to ask.) From there they traveled down the Pacific coastline. At one point there were miles and miles of dairies that provide milk for Tillamook Cheese, John and Gloria enjoyed visiting a Tillamook Cheese store. In San Francisco they stopped for sourdough bread and chowder at Boudin’s and a milk shake and sundae at Ghirardelli Square. In Thousand Palms they bought dates at Medjool Date store and visited a friend in Las Cruces. Getting anxious to get home, they arrived in Houston the same time that thunder storms and torrential rains caused flooding. They had to spend the night in Houston and make several detours the next day. Gloria said, “Diboll sure looked good when we finally got to the city limits.” Thank you John and Gloria for sharing your travels.

My thanks to Jimmie Woodard for sharing the following news about her holiday weekend: I went to Shreveport for Memorial Day weekend and had a blast at the Mudbug Festival. The Crawfish Calling contest was a hoot! The Crawfish Eating contest was a little long (took contestants too long to shuck crawfish). The Crawfish Races were a little on the slow side, but a blast to watch and I had a tremendous time listening to the various bands that provided entertainment.  My gambling experience at the Horseshoe Casino yielded a mighty $6.95, so if anyone needs a loan, my interest rates are very low!!!  I also enjoyed seeing my Shreveport friends, the Allens and had a great weekend.

Jimmy and Noel Sims spent the holiday at the Omni in Houston. Meeting them there for a day was their daughter and son-in-law, Heather and Matthew Elam and their son Jonathan (Taylor) and his girlfriend, Hallie Million. They all enjoyed a good meal at the Italian Restaurant, La Piatto. After the kids left, Jimmy and Noel were pampered with massages, sitting by the pool eating and relaxing. Jimmy is 100# lighter and enjoying his new Martial Arts business venture, Lionhart, which is located in Diboll.

Congratulations to all graduates, from kindergarten to college. It’s an exciting time for them and their families. Thomas and Rena Lowther have a house full of graduates. All three of their sons are graduating. Adam will graduate from Texas A&M in August. This summer he will be interning at Bird & Crawford Land Management. Colin graduated in May from SFA with a degree in Business Management and is working for Fastenal in Nacogdoches and Benjamin will graduate from Diboll High School this week and plans to attend SFA this summer. Congratulations to all!

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Wes McClain is putting Diboll on the map again! Wes is on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica along with Sam Fidone from Lufkin. These two kids grew up about 11 miles away from each other and are tied for the lead heading into the final round of the 58^th Abierto Mexicano de Golf. These two Texans and long-time competitors go way back to playing little league baseball together, competing in golf in high school and college and now in the final group of this PGA tour. Wes said, “I know there’s a lot of people back home pulling for us. If either one of us comes out on top, it’s a great week for us and East Texas so I’m really excited, It’s going to be special!”

Jimmie Woodard has returned from another trip. This time she went to Anaheim, California with her friend, Vivien Standridge, who had to attend a business conference. While Vivien was in conference Sunday and Monday, Jimmie says, “I went to Disney Downtown, California Adventure and Disneyland.  At Disney Downtown, I made some purchases and enjoyed great food. At California Adventure, I got to see the World of Color, an electrifying water and colored light show, depicting Walt Disney’s life starting with a mouse named Mickey and ending with the theme parks that now exist. At Disneyland we rode some rides, had some snacks, and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful electric lighted parade at 9 p.m. followed by fireworks to close the park.  A fun adventure, an exciting journey and a fast paced few days!!!!   LIFE IS GOOD!”

Richard and Jo Ann Rainwater rendezvoused recently with friends Chick and Lollie Bever of Tampa, FL at Natchitoches, LA for a two-night stay at the beautiful Samuel Guy House B&B before motoring together to Diboll for more visiting. The Bevers wanted to make a road trip in their new Corvette Stingray. Lollie was concerned that the trunk would not hold enough for the 10-day round trip, but she was amazed that she still had three outfits that she never wore. Jo Ann needs an SUV to haul her “stuff” on trips!!! The girls did manage to buy a few items at Jo Ann’s favorite clothing store in Natchitoches, The Hall Tree. As Lollie says, pack light and then you can buy more! The group arrived in Diboll on Thursday afternoon in time to attend that night’s performance of “Mamma Mia” at the Temple Theater which they all enjoyed very much. The four-night stay at the Rainwaters was “laid back” with hours spent on the patio enjoying the cooler weather and watching the birds – all they wanted to do in addition to having one of Richard’s famous steaks grilled to perfection.

Lots of you will know Janet Purcell Kilgore of Diboll from working at Memorial Hospital for 33 years. She worked everywhere but in the nursery but mostly as a surgical nurse. Janet started working in 1975 as a nurse’s aide and continued her education to complete her nursing degree. Now that she is retired Janet is fighting cancer for the third time and was having a good day when she stopped by the store to show us her latest ancestry project. She loves tracing her ancestors and has done quite well on her mother’s side. In fact when she was fortunate enough to visit the large collection in Salt Lake City, Utah, she was disappointed they didn’t have much and asked for copies of her information.

This past February Janet’s youngest son flew her to Portland, Oregon to visit him and his family. Of course when they asked what she would like to do, it was to visit cemeteries. After visiting three of the oldest cemeteries she was shocked and emotional to find five of her dad’s brothers. (At five years old, Janet’s mom remarried and she never saw her dad again until she was grown but her mother had given her five names of her dad’s brothers). When Janet returned home she got busy and traced her “Purcell” ancestors all the way back to 1083 to her 11^th great-grandfather, William Shakespeare; yes, the one from Stratford on Avon. Her 19^th great grandfather was Archbishop Canterbury, John Kempe and her 20^th was Lord of Weston, Allen, Kempe. Needless to say she is quite proud to have found deep roots of her Purcell heritage. She is also quite proud of her five sons: Lonnie; twins Ronnie and Donnie; Tommie and Jonnie. What a legacy!!

Matt Amason with friend and co-worker Will Jones, will have a story to tell their grandchildren. This modern-day Lewis and Clark launched a boat at the Livingston dam and traveled down the Trinity River to Interstate 10. They did not fish, just floated. It was hard to find camp sites with all the excess water from the recent rains but each night they ate grilled steaks. They have already explored the Sabine River from Toledo Bend to Deweyville so hope to keep you informed of their next adventure.

Trey Denman came in with couple of old guns to show John Ralph and Andrea. The guns had belonged to Sally’s father. He told about one of his dad’s gun that was a handheld Marksman that looked like a service revolver but was actually a BB gun. Trey could not find anyone that could show him how or where to load the BB’s. After several people couldn’t help him someone suggested he look at You Tube. Sure enough, he found a video of a boy about five or six that showed him exactly how to load the gun. Trey bought him a box of BBs before he left.

For Mother’s Day, Margie Harrell was proud to receive a pair of Golden State Warriors socks to go with her Warriors jersey. It only takes a few minutes when talking to Margie before the subject of Steph Curry is in the conversation. She has told me before that she’s been watching Steph since he graduated from a small unknown college (Davidson in Davidson, NC) and knew he was on his way to becoming a basketball star. Monday evening Margie helped us serve at a banquet and on leaving, said she was going home, put on her Warriors’ jersey and socks and cheer for Steph and the Golden State Warriors who were playing the Portland Trail Blazers that night. It was such an exciting victory she didn’t go to sleep until after 3AM. The next day at Lions Clubs noon meeting she was still wearing her Warriors jersey and socks and talking about Steph Curry who returned from an injury to score 40 points in Golden State’s overtime win earning him the MVP award.

For those of us that are not as familiar with the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry as Margie is, this is his second straight year to earn this coveted MVP award in a landslide 131 first place votes which earned him 1,310 points. “It is the first time in NBA’s 61-season history that a player has been the blanket first pick for the award. Margie knows how to pick a winner! Curry’s personal statistics for the season shattered his own record for most three-pointers, which had stood at 286, with 402. He also led the NBA scoring charts with an average 30.1 points per game. I say again, Margie Harrell knows how to pick a winner.

Someone else has had some excitement in their family. Gary and Susie Martel are now grandparents to Luke Daniel Mary, who is the son of Kayla and Adam Mary of Waco. He was born on Wednesday, May 4^th at 9:40 AM. On Tuesday evening with bags packed, Susie and Gary received the “on the way to the hospital” call from Adam and cautioned them there was no need to “drive like a bat”. The Martels’ plans were to drive two vehicles so that Gary could return home sooner. Susie was anxiously waiting while Gary was having to make calls and re-arrange his busy schedule for the next couple of days; after all, he is superintendent of Diboll schools. Susie decided she couldn’t wait any longer and “hit the road” knowing Gary would follow her shortly. Somewhere about “Goat Hill”, she got another call from Adam, “baby is coming” and speeds up. Gary was following but never caught her. In Kosse, Texas, Gary looked in his rearview mirror and saw the dreaded flashing lights and dutifully pulled over and had his license ready for the officer who looked at them and said, “That’s OK Mr. Martel, I’ve already given your wife a ticket and I’m not going to give you another one.”

The story continues about 1:30AM in the hospital. Gary and Susie and Adam’s parents, Diane and Richard Wallace of Waco are all in the waiting room; Gary had not said anything to Susie about her speeding ticket. Mr. Wallace asked if they saw any deer while driving to Waco during the night; Gary said “yes” and Susie said “no”. Gary says, “That’s why you got a ticket, you were driving too fast to see any deer”. That had been Susie’s biggest worry that Gary would show up while she was getting a ticket. Her story was she got stopped in Kosse going 67 in a 45MPH. She also dutifully gave the officer her information and he walked away. He came back with a ticket and asked her if it was a medical emergency. After she told him her reason for speeding he was compassionate, gave her his telephone number, and said if she would send him a picture of the baby, he would waive the ticket. Just as soon as baby Luke Daniel was born, Susie was snapping pictures and the officer was one of the first to receive a photo!

Cathy Pavlic and Kathy Sample were in buying hummingbird feeders to give for Mother’s Day gifts. Lewis Ivey bought Shirley another running rose bush for Mother’s Day. Shirley had bought a rose bush last year and it was so big and beautiful this year she wanted another one. Billie Jean Capps and Woody Ingram also bought roses; Billie Jean bought Knock Out roses and Woody bought the new Drift roses that don’t grow as tall as others.

DHS graduate, Josh Brasher, was recognized as an outstanding SFA graduate in the spring issue of Sawdust, the magazine of the SFA alumni association and Stephen F. Austin State University. Josh lives in Winter Garden, Florida and works for Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando but the article talks about him being a balloon handler in Macy’s Thanksgiving parade for the past two years. Josh said, “Walking the 2.5 mile parade route in front of millions of curbside and TV spectators is an exhilarating experience. It’s great to see families and friends enjoying a true American tradition. It’s surreal to be a part of something so iconic.” He also said, “This year was even better because I saw the Lumberjack Marching Band. It was cool to see SFA represented in the parade and the band looked and sounded amazing. I bragged to others about the band and that SFA is my school.”

Tom Harris recently returned from a trip to Belterra Resort in Indiana. This was a military reunion of ECHO Co 1/5 1^st Cav. Twenty men, previously serving in Vietnam during 1970-1971 and some being part of the Cambodian incursion, enjoyed reminiscing with each other and tours of Fort Knox and the Kentucky Speedway. Tom and three others had not all been together in over 40 years. Thanks to Tom’s wife, Marty, for sharing this news and a heartfelt “Thank You” to these veterans and all who serve to protect us.

Bobby Chandler was in for garden fertilizer. We are hoping to see more produce this year from gardens than we have seen in the last couple of years. It has not been too long ago that Glen Shivers had surgery but he was in buying pea seeds and Uncle George’s syrup.  Walter Levine shared he was cooking BBQ for Mother’s Day. JoAnn Anderson came in for Caladium bulbs and brought us freshly made ginger snap cookies from San Augustine. Thomas Anderson and Ed Domingue had been to Smith’s Farms in San Augustine to buy greenhouse tomatoes. Smith’s Farm will shut down their tomato greenhouses at the end of this month just in case you love them as much as we do.

The DHS Class of 1983 is planning a reunion on Diboll Day, October 1^st, at JR’s Barn. Those of you who are interested can find more information on their Facebook page, “Diboll High School Class of ’83. You can also email Tina Wolf Jowell at ti********@***oo.com

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World War II veteran John Powers and his lovely wife of 70 years, Mable (Nivens) and their daughter, Johnnica Edgerley of Farmers Branch have returned from a trip to Galveston. The occasion was to attend the spring reunion of the Texas Chapter, 3^rd Marine Division Association. Of the 40 that attended, four were survivors of Iwo Jima, John Powers was one of them. Arriving on Thursday evening, most of the group stayed at Gaido’s Seaside Inn on the seawall. With seafood everywhere, their first meal was at The Original Mexican Café (since 1916). The week-end reunion started on Friday morning with an impressive visit to explore the space shuttle replica Independence, mounted on top of the historic and original NASA 905 shuttle carrier aircraft. This is the world’s only shuttle mounted as such and the only one allowing the public to enter both. These veterans had their own reserved time to visit and were most impressed with this outstanding exhibit. From NASA the group carpooled to Santa Fe Seafood and Grill for a lunch buffet, then toured Haak Vineyards. Dinner that evening was at Nick’s followed by a meaningful “flag retreat ceremony” just for them around the flag poles in the parking lot. John and Mable’s daughter, Johnnica, sang the national anthem.

This reunion of the 3^rd Marine Division continued on Saturday with a visit to Moody Gardens and a meal at the Garden Restaurant and a visit to the Bryan Museum. This museum has the world’s largest collection of historical artifacts, documents and artwork relating to the Southwestern United States. The evening banquet was held at Fisherman’s Wharf with special guest speaker, Joe E. Stepp who is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Lt. Colonel with extensive background in Counter-terrorism Operations and Intelligence. He is currently the regional intelligence coordinator within the Pasadena Police Department. Johnnica was again part of the program singing the Star Bangled Banner. The reunion ended the following morning with a final fellowship and good byes until the next reunion in San Antonio.

Justin and Krystal (Fergerson) Jimenez came in with their three cute children: Jori, age 4; Dallee, age 3 and Dillon, 11 months. Justin works in Monahans, Texas which is close to Odessa and comes home every chance he gets some time off.

JoNell Placker received news from Eric Martin of Carrollton, Georgia that his mother, Joyce Martin, recently passed away. At one time John and Joyce Martin lived on Park Street in Diboll while he served as pastor of the Pine Grove Church on FM 1818. As a master carpenter, he later built the nice 2-story home that overlooks the former Boots Havard’s pond and presently owned by John and Kathy Smith.

A precious baby boy, Jacen Luke, was born April 12^th to Lawren and Jaci (Hubbard) Scarborough of Diboll. I know one excited great-grandmother ready to spoil him is Peggy Scarborough and then there are his grandparents, Hal and Janie Hubbard of Corrigan; Steven Scarborough and Chasity Murray. Other great-grandparents include Billy Brewer of Pollok and Charlotte who lives in Bald Hill.

Dianne Gibson called to say she is going to become another great-grandmother. She was excited it was only one as this baby will have two-year-old twin brothers who live in Huntsville with their parents, Zachery and Brittney Tate. Sue Baker came in with her grandson, Walker Baker, an 8^th grader at Diboll ISD who enjoys being on the fishing team. Sue had to have a new battery.

Michael Dorman and Bettye Greer came in to get their annual supply of caladium bulbs. Everyone says caladiums need to be planted sometime around Mother’s Day. Don’t forget Pouland’s has caladium bulbs if you haven’t bought any. Wanda Fuller came in for okra seed and also bought petunias before she left. She reported her church, Diboll First Assembly, is very close to starting their new building on highway 59 in Burke.

We love to see Billie Jean Capps come in Pouland’s. This visit was to buy the type of potting soil that her dad used when they had Baker’s nursery. It’s the only potting soil she will use, it’s Redi-Earth. She brought us a jar of her famous mayhaw jelly for the round table and we truly love it! Her sister-in-law, Ginger Capps, came in for flower and rose food to make the plants prettier in her yard.

Tammy Bass was in buying candied pickles and Hal Hawthorn bought garden seeds. Chet Winger came in for fertilizer and reported he and his wife Tammy have lots of martins around their home on Lake Rayburn. Bill Stovall and Earl Carr came in early Saturday morning for Bill to pick up the overalls he had ordered.

Richard Spring stopped by with his new Konaice Shaved Ice truck and gave out samples which were very good. He said Konaice has given back 35 million dollars through fund raisers… He is set up to go to schools, day cares, tournaments, weddings, birthday parties and fundraisers. You can reach Richard at 936-676-2399.

We appreciate the many prayers for Jessica Pouland, the wife of our grandson, Brandal, who is breathing with new lungs after having her transplant surgery on Monday in Houston. Please continue to pray for her, her family and the family of the donor. God is Good!

Don’t forget Mother’s Day is May 8 and Pouland’s has some beautiful hummingbird feeders that make a special “I Love You” gift.

Come see us…’round the table.