September 2015

September 29, 2015

 

Jan Wilkerson is one busy lady. If you have been involved doing any volunteer work in Diboll you have probably met Jan. She is very active in Diboll PTSA, a past State President of PTSA, serves on the Diboll Business Association, Design for Diboll committee and the Diboll Civic Club to name a few. She is also very active in her church, Eastview Pentecostal, although she recently resigned as Director of the Women’s Ministry after 13 years to accept the position of Community Relations Director of her church. I understand that two ladies filled her vacancy. Thank you Jan for all you do for our community and your church.

The Diboll Civic Club meets once a month on the first Tuesday which will be October 6th at 6PM at the Temple House on Hines Street. There are no membership requirements or dues except to be interested in making our community of Diboll a better place to live and raise a family. Please mark this date on your calendar and come be a part. Plans are in the making for Christmas Blessings and also Christmas in the Park. Hope to see you at the meeting.

Gayle (Saxton) Holland, grew up a “city” girl living in Diboll. She never had much opportunity to get her feet off the concrete until she married Ken Holland. She now loves living in the country near Kennard and has named almost every animal on their place. They have cows, rabbits, horses, chickens, dogs, a cat, a donkey and a weak and abandoned calf named PIB. Gayle’s day job has been working as a medical transcriptionist for Dr. Thomas Duncan for the past 35 years. Gayle graduated from DHS in 1972. She has a son, Kevin Dickey, who lives in Lufkin. Gayle’s little sister, Kathy, graduated in 1974; their parents were Bill and Pat Saxton. Kathy and her husband Terry Bunkley live in Abilene but are contemplating moving near Austin to be closer to their two daughters. Mary Lynn graduated from UT and is waiting to hear the results of her bar exam, hopefully in November and Candace graduated from Hardin Simmons and is already living in Austin.

Fran Rodriguez called Friday asking if we knew of someone who planned to attend the Master Gardeners Native Plant Sale to be held Saturday, September 26 at the Farmers Market location in Lufkin. She had a $5.00 discount coupon off any purchase she had won as a door prize at the monthly Gardeners Seminar on September 21. She would be in Nacogdoches attending a Texas District Pilot meeting and would not be attending. However hubby Louis would be working at the sale with the other local Master Gardeners; he is just two hours away from completing his final requirements to become Certified Master Gardener. Fran also reported that she and Louis celebrated her 74th birthday by attending “The Diamonds” concert at the Pines Theater on September 14; and they are also enjoying driving their new red Ford Explorer SUV around town. (Fran never drove his 2012 Ford 150 super crew pickup truck because it was too big for her and now she is so happy that this vehicle has all the bells and whistles and has a special setting just for her when she is in the driver’s seat). Follow-up report from the Gardeners sale: Yes, it was another successful sell-out and everything was just about gone by 10:30 a.m.

Dianne Gibson called to report about the six members of the Diboll Pilot Club that attended a workshop at the First Christian Church in Nacogdoches last Saturday. The purpose of the meeting was to learn more ways the Pilots can serve their community. The group enjoyed being served breakfast as well as a delicious lunch. Diboll Pilot members attending were: Barbara Nash, Sue Baker, Betty Capps, Fran Rodriquez, Geneva Ard and Dianne Gibson. This club meets the second Monday of each month at Vintage Blooms for their regular meeting and a catered meal. If you are interested in this service club and want to know more about it, feel free to contact any of these ladies. Their next service project is an Appreciation meal for our Diboll policemen.

John Monk frequents the round table. He shared that he and Lynette’s grandson, John Berroth, is attending the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota on a baseball scholarship. While attending Estrella High School in Goodyear, Arizona, John played on the First Team Arizona All Stars.

John and Lynette Monk are members of the Christ Church where he serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The church has been meeting in The Lodge since August 2009 but will be moving in a few days into their new building on Saddle Creek off Southwood. The beautiful new building already has a bell installed in the bell tower. From John’s research, it is an old 30-inch 800 pound bell that was cast in 1882 by the Clinton Company and has “Meneely” stamped on it. It will be operated by a traditional pull rope although electronic chimes will also be used. The church has a new Allen Organ and was given a 1938 Steinway & Sons piano signed by one of the Steinways. They also have a new set of hand bells that will be used under the direction of Lynette Monk.

The following is from Christ Church website describing the ornate hexagonal oak pulpit that is already installed. It is only one of two remaining pulpits designed by the famous Sir Christopher Wren in the late 1600’s. “It is both humbling and inspiring to think that in the newly constructed Christ Church, the Word of God will be proclaimed from a pulpit built when the King James Version of the Holy Scriptures (which just celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2011) was a mere 50-60 years old, and from which the Gospel of Christ was first proclaimed a full century before the founding of our country!” The minister is Randall Green and the first service is planned for October 11th at 10:45AM.

Our thanks to Ella Wayne Wilkerson for the homemade cookies and to her son-in-law Jerry for bringing her to the round table. Robert Jones’ local honey is always in demand. Lacey Chandler and Betty Jumper both came in to restock with honey. Gary Gores came and bought a Woodman’s Pal tool. Melvin Linton, Sr. was happy to get Swamp Witch tires for his mechanical mule. J.R. Williams enjoyed spending time with his brother, Richard “Dickie” Williams from Sweeny; his wife is Debbie (Bullock) whose grandparents lived in Corrigan. J.R. and Dickie spent time in the Smyrna hunting club getting ready for the season.

If you are in need of fish to stock your pond, The FISH Truck will be at Poulands, October 14th from noon until 1PM.

Members of the 1985 graduating class at DHS are having their 30th class reunion, October 10th at J.R.’s Barn one mile north of Diboll. For more information contact Clevette Mark 936-586-9416 or Faye Jones 936-208-9225. Check out their Facebook page, Class of 1985.
Come see us…’round the table.

September 21, 2015

 

WOW! Diboll is very fortunate to have an ACE Hardware store. Bobby Dubose is the owner and he has completely redone the Dixon Furniture building on Hines Street. The store is more than 12,000 sq.ft. packed with everything imaginable. I was looking for a small lightweight vacuum, which they had, and discovered coffee makers and a host of neat kitchen items. They have tiny screwdrivers for glasses and parts for sprinkler systems and shelves and shelves of paint and paint supplies. You need to see for yourself what a selection they have. The manager, Jared Rounsavall, was very helpful; he lives in Nacogdoches. Former Dibollian, Dennis Flowers, was also very helpful to bring me a buggy when I was overloaded with items. Other employees from Diboll include Juanita Esteves who worked at DISD for 17 years; Julissa Martinez who graduated in May from DHS and Raul Pecina, a Junior at DHS. Mr. Dubose said the grand opening is planned for October 23rd and 24th. The Diboll Business Association will have a Ribbon Cutting on Friday, the 23rd, there will be tons of sale items. Their number is 829-0330 but it’s best to go see for yourself.

Bobby Dubose told me the antique tractor displayed in front of the store belonged to his dad, Warren Dubose, who recently passed away. Bobby’s grandfather started the Dubose Ford Tractor dealership in Lufkin, a family owned business where Bobby and his brother Paul grew up and later owned the Outdoor Power Sports Equipment on Highway 59. Years ago Paul was delivering a new Ford tractor to a farmer in the country when he spotted an old tractor covered up in weeds. Paul asked the man if he would sell it. The farmer told him if he would haul it off he could have it.

Under the bucket of rust was a 1917 Fordson tractor that has been repainted a number of times and now sits in front of the new Ace Hardware store in Diboll.
We attended the wedding and reception of Shane and Crissy (Hall) Garrett last weekend and enjoyed seeing folks we haven’t seen in a while. Shane’s parents are Phil and Loretta (Shipp) Garrett of Diboll. Crissy’s parents, Charlie and Anita Hall, live near Atlanta, Texas. Crissy works at Ellen Trout Zoo and that’s where she and Shane met; that’s where he proposed and that’s also where their engagement pictures were taken with the giraffe posing in the background.

At the reception at JR’s Barn, I first sat at the table with John and Ruth Oates and their daughter Rachel and husband, Ryan Bloser. Rachel and Ryan live in Tyler where they met and were married in May of 2014. Rachel graduated from SFA and earned a master’s degree from UT at Tyler in Clinical Mental Health. Ryan is a chemical engineer at KP Engineering in Tyler. Rachel is a licensed professional counselor at the Crisis Center of Cherokee County/Children’s’ Advocacy Center. I remember Rachel loving to sing at her church and while in the 4th grade at Diboll, playing the lead in the awesome production of Annie directed by Nancy Trout. She also played the leading character in The Secret Garden at Angelina College with Dr. George Thannisch.

John and Ruth (Meriwether) Oates met at SFA and later married. Ruth is from Mt. Pleasant and majored in Kinesiology. She and her twin sister, Kathrine Stewart, were twirlers in high school and both were twirlers at SFA between l978-82. Ruth works at Lockheed Martin and is also one of Diboll’s finest First Responders.

Sitting at another table with David and Lisa Crager, I enjoyed visiting with David’s brother, Corry. I can’t believe it’s been almost 11 years since he and Sandy moved to Hewitt where Corry is responsible for keeping the school district in top maintenance and Sandy is an executive secretary with student services. Their daughter, Brooke Curtis, teaches in the Diboll ISD and she and Larry have two daughters, Kati, a senior who is the reigning Miss Diboll Day and Bailey. The Cragers’ daughter-in-law Kathrina (Trout) is the CFO for DISD and their son Eric loves his new job using his auto-cad talent working for Ref-Chem in Houston. He is very popular when he brings Blue Bell ice cream home, especially to his neighbor and uncle, David and Lisa Crager.

Didn’t get to visit much with Glenda (McGuire) Shepherd as she is a cousin to the groom’s mother (Loretta) and was busy keeping everyone happy at the reception. Her husband Mark sat down at our table with their newest 4-month old grandson, Heath, asleep in his arms. Mark and Glenda now live in Newnan, Georgia, near Peachtree City, where Mark works with Joe Rodgers, formally from Diboll. Heath’s parents are Paul and Elizabeth Shepherd and his big sister is Brie; they live in San Antonio. Also living in Newnan, Georgia is Mark and Glenda’s daughter Jane and her husband, Frank Wallace and 11-year-old granddaughter, Hazel.

P. E. “Buddy” Shipp was proud to have celebrated his 82nd birthday on September 17th with friends and family. That same day 39 years ago, Walter Sharry married Karon Register and Dennis Lenderman at the Burke Baptist Church. Dennis told us he carried Karon to Bass Pro Shop for their anniversary but later treated her to a luxurious room overlooking the river at the Horseshoe in Shreveport. The hotel treated them to dinner for the special occasion. The following Saturday, Dennis and Karon drove to Magnolia to visit with daughter Cassi, Stacey and 20-month-old grandson, Jace Davis. Cassi’s little brother, Texas Trooper Zach Lenderman, was also there to watch the Texas A&M game.

Maxine Jones shared with me how much she enjoyed this past weekend at the Rayburn lake home of her daughter, Marvana Cook. Also present was her daughter Lynda Bowman and Betty Sue Murry. Maxine was happy to visit with her stepson, Royce Grimes and his wife, Becky and son, Aaron who is a teacher in the Nacogdoches ISD. The view of the lake and perfect weather made a good day for visiting.

Don’t forget this Saturday, September 26th, is the Angelina Master Gardeners third annual Native Plant Sale starting at 8 AM at the Angelina County Farmers’ Market. The Master Gardeners will work with you at the sale to select just the right plant for the right spot in your landscape and answer questions to help you be successful in your gardening efforts. Check out their website go-lukin.com/mastergardeners/

The following Monday (28th) the Master Gardeners will have a Fall Native Plant seminar at 6:30. Peter Loos, Horticulturist, will present “Native Plants that Work for You”. Admission is $10 at the Extension office.
Come see us…’round the table.

September 14, 2015

 

How about those Diboll Lumberjacks, cheerleaders, band and Dazzlers!! We are very proud of you. It is sports season in Diboll!!! Please display your Lumberjack Flags in support of not only our football team but volleyball, band, and cross country. Show your support for our DISD students as they are working to make Diboll ISD the best school district around.

If you do not have a Lumberjack flag and you are a member of the Diboll Business Association, contact Jan Wilkerson at 829-4817 for your FREE flag. If you would like to purchase a flag—stop by Diboll Free Press or Pouland’s to pick one up. The cost is $10. GO LUMBERJACKS!!!!

If you’ve attended any of the Lumberjack’s football games, you have heard a loud train horn when the Lumberjacks score, make a first down, and recover the ball or anything exciting. The horn was designed by Jim Morrison, Coach Morrison’s dad. Jim and Sharon Morrison live in Vidor and never miss their son’s football games especially while their grandson Caleb played. The horn was retired after Caleb’s senior season in 2013 until this year when it was brought out of retirement for the Diboll Lumberjacks. The horn is actually 3 horns in one. Mr. Morrison proudly refers to them as the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe. The horn started out on a small pull cart then elevated to an upright mobile unit on wheels before being attached to a Kubota ATV with a custom red and black paint job along with custom red and black upholstered seats made from alligator and ostrich. It has made appearances throughout the years at various big time stadiums such as: McLane Stadium at Baylor University, NRG Stadium (formerly Reliant Stadium) and the prestigious AT&T (otherwise known as Jerry World/Dallas Cowboys Stadium) for Coach Blake Morrison’s teams including the 2010 State Championship.

One former Diboll Lumberjack that was a tri-captain of the 1961 football team and also past mayor of Diboll celebrated his 71st birthday on the 10th of September. James Simms couldn’t remember which restaurant in Magnolia that his daughter and son-in-law, Jamie and Craig Parker, took him to for a steak dinner but he does remember that his wife, Kathy, was there along with his pal, 5-year-old grandson, Wiley. The group finished the celebration at the Parkers’ home with birthday cake and Blue Bell ice cream. A big hunter, James is excited and getting ready for deer season to open. He hunts on a lease near Ratcliff Lake. By the way, the other two captains on that ’61-62 football team were quarterback, Paul Murphy and a handsome 185# full back, John Ralph Pouland.
Someone else celebrated a 10th birthday on the 3rd of September. Her name is “Mia”, a French toy poodle whose mom is Gay Storch of Diboll. Mia insists that Gay take her for a ride in the car almost every day to get an ice cream cone.

I received the following news from Christene Boles. The ole Surgery crew from Memorial (now CHI St Luke’s) had a joyous reunion at Cheddars last Saturday. It was wonderful to get together with ex co-workers that felt like family when they worked together and enjoyed closeness as a team. This was the third get together in several years, which in these busy times is not often enough. Those attending were: Glenda Allen, Vicki Burnette, Olivia Ellington, Kathy Hessinger, Pat Strickland, Susan Schuller, Carolyn Cullum, Karrie Stanaland, Jessie Boston, Christene Boles, Lucy Price, Bobby Boles, Janet Kilgore and Kelly Boles.

Some of the residents that live on Brookwood Drive just north of Diboll are having to get accustomed to a landmark that is now gone. Leonard and Billie Robison purchased the property on the corner of Brookwood Drive and Highway 59 and removed the large “Flowers Body Shop” sign. Clyde Maxey told Leonard he has passed up the road he lives on looking for the colorful tall sign. He is not the only one that’s missed the turn. If you are interested, parts of the building are available to rent for small business or motor homes.

Enjoyed visiting with David May when he stopped by the round table. When I first met David he was working at Lufkin Federal Savings and Loan and he reminded me he had to help with my first real estate contract years ago. It was my uncle’s large tract of land near Hondo and coincidentally, joined David’s hunting lease. David also shared stories about other mutual friends we know; Grady Grimes and John Powers. “Sonny” Hubbard from Nacogdoches and former Big Tin Barn employee, also stopped by to check on a former classmate of his, Jack Jenkins.

Scott McDonald brought raffle tickets to Pouland’s for a Benelli pump shotgun. The proceeds from the raffle will benefit the Texas Forestry Museum and they are $5 each. Stop by and get one.

The Diboll PTSA and DISD have started a campaign on their Facebook pages of “Did You Know” facts about the school district. Look in the paper today for a Did You Know fact that I hope to have every week about someone who lives in Diboll and why they like living in Diboll. Diboll is a great place to live and in my opinion is the Best Little Town in Texas!!

October 10th at JR’s Barn in Diboll will be the place for the 30th reunion for the DHS graduating class of 1985. The advanced cost is $30 per person or $50 per couple; prices will be more at the door. So, don’t wait. For more information contact Clevette Mark at 936-526-9416, Faye Jones at 936-208-9225 or Jimmy “Rhinestone Cowboy” Tate at 936-635-4704.

Don’t forget September 22 at 6PM Angelina County 4-H will be hosting a 4-H Expo at the Angelina County Extension office. This is for anyone that is interested in having a 4-H project. For more information, call 632-8239.
Come see us…’round the table.

September 7, 2015

John Ralph and I thoroughly enjoyed a labor-less Labor Day starting with sleeping until I woke up which was about 7AM and JR cooking breakfast and later after feeding all my animals, leisurely watching a DVD of a vacation we took almost 20 years ago to Sedona, AZ with Richard and JoAnn Rainwater. At 2PM we were invited to meet with several friends in the beautiful home of Billie and Leonard Robison to enjoy some of Leonard’s delicious BBQ cooking. The menu included tender BBQ beef and pork; grilled onions in lots of butter; potato salad; 6-layered green salad; baked beans; hamburgers; stuffed peppers and toasted garlic bread. For dessert there was a deep rich fudge chocolate cake and homemade ice cream. The visiting and conversation with friends was equally good. Those present included Earl and Carolyn Hutson; J.R. and Tellie Williams; Gay Storch; Lee and Debbie Woodard; Steve and Dortha Jackson; Dick and Linda Miller; John and Gloria Ogden; us and the Robisons.

While we ladies were visiting around the Robisons’ dining table, it was brought to our attention that Dortha Jackson has had another book published. The name of it is Seeds and it is a Christian suspense novel about the dangerous effects that genetically modified crops are having on our environment and on human health. Seeds follows a young woman university professor as she looks into mysterious phenomenon such as birds falling out of the sky and the rise in aggression in animals and people and being caught up in a whirlwind of adventures. The book sells for $8.95 and is available here at Poland’s.

Back to my labor-less Labor Day. Not long after we got home from the Robisons, we left for the Rainwaters’, JoAnn and Richard. She had as guests in their home, two longtime friends that we have also gotten to know through the years. Jennifer Falk and Christine Lynch. Both of these ladies lived in Manhattan where they treated JoAnn and me to the sights and sounds and personal tours of NYC while staying as a guest in Christine’s apartment. We relived several stories and the most memorable was our trip in a limousine from Manhattan to the Meadowlands stadium in New Jersey to see the “last” tour of the original Three Tenors. After the performance it was an ordeal getting out of the stadium. Our driver was stuck in the traffic so we had an experience crossing 12 lanes of high traffic and climbing over a chain-link fence to find “our” limousine in a sea of limousines. We did find it and made it back to Manhattan but this remains as our funniest and favorite experience to recall. Christine and Jennifer have been friends for many years and have traveled around the world. It was sad that Christine recently relocated to Philadelphia while Jennifer stayed in Manhattan. They miss their weekly going-to-the movies but manage to stay in touch via daily telephone calls. Christine Lynch is an agent for Cruises, Inc. She is very familiar with the different cruise lines and has a wealth of information from having traveled on so many ships. If you are planning a cruise, give her a call at 215-676-3640 and let her help you plan your trip.

Sunday afternoon at the Burke Community Center, the children and grandchildren of Sofia Lenderman surprised her with a special 80th birthday party. She couldn’t believe and neither could the family that they truly kept it a secret. She was totally surprised upon arriving at the community center. Her son Ray told her they were going to a special called meeting. The community center is the former Burke school where Sofia started to school there on her birthday 74 years ago. It was a great party with a large cake, lots of punch and lots of birthday wishers from friends and family. Immediate family helping with the party were her sons, Barley, Dennis and Ray; daughter-in- law Karon Lenderman and granddaughters Ashley and Cassi.

Pam (Rush) Burnett, has a heart as big as Texas when it comes to helping someone in need. She has organized a “Homemade Fried Pie” Fundraiser for Daniel Hagan, who needs help with the expenses of a kidney transplant. Pam needs volunteers to help cook the fried pies October 5-7 at the First Methodist Church in Diboll and also needs monetary donations to purchase the ingredients. The pies will cost $4 each; 6 for $20 or $40 per dozen. You can choose from peach, apple or cherry flavors. Money donations will be accepted at Southland Credit Union. For more information, call Pam Burnette at 829-4631 or 281-995-0496.

Steve Jackson has started a new venture in Diboll, Tropical Toucan. His blue eye-catching shaved ice trailer is open 2-6 PM Monday thru Saturday and parked at the red light at FM1818 near the intersection of Thompson and Hendrick streets. Be sure to visit the Tropical Toucan and cool off in the hot weather we are having.
How about our Diboll Lumberjacks? What a football game to come from behind 22 points and win the game against Athens. Thomas Lowther came in the store Saturday morning and bought two large cowbells that you will probably hear at the next game.

Terrell’s Insurance was the location of the latest “Pack the House” sponsored by the Diboll Business Association. His attractive brick office building located at 902 N. Temple Drive in Diboll was literally “packed” last week with Diboll business owners showing their appreciation of Terrell’s membership in the Diboll Business Association. Nathan and Lesa Terrell, agent Wendy Terry and receptionist Liz Monroy prepared delicious punch and iced cookies for the guests. Nathan’s son Jonathan is also an agent but was under the weather and unable to attend. Burlon Wilkerson won a tape measure as a door prize and Julie Gavan of Los Jarrritos was excited about using the set of kitchen knives she won and said she had the perfect place to use them.

The Diboll Business Association cordially invites you to the Ribbon Cutting of Cuts & More, a hair salon owned by Brenda Platt who is re-opening her shop at 105 Weber Street in Diboll. Her new shop is in the same building with Trey Wilkerson’s Financial Services behind Commercial Bank in Diboll. Please stop by and welcome Brenda and her staff back to Diboll, 5 – 5:30PM. There will be refreshments, door prizes and time to visit.