February 27, 2017

 

72 years ago on February 23rd 1945 a young 17-year-old boy from Diboll, John Richard Powers, never thought he’d live to this day to tell his story of seeing the US flag being raised on the island of Iwo Jima. John’s Marine Division was ordered to capture Mount Suribachi from the Japanese after two days of bombardment. Capturing this small island was a primary objective of America’s military plans to bring the Pacific campaign to a successful conclusion. On the morning of the 23d at about 10:30 AM men all over the island were thrilled by the sight of a small American flag flying from atop Mount Suribachi. The victory claimed the lives of almost 6,200 Marines and Navy personnel and casualties of more than 24,000.

This past Sunday February 19, 2017 aboard the Battleship Texas, the 72nd Anniversary Battle of Iwo Jima was commemorated.  John Powers was there along with three other Marines, one Sailor and a Corpsman from Minnesota who served in the same division with John. During the solemn ceremony these six Iwo Jima survivors were each presented a United States flag that has flown at the US Marine Corp War Memorial in Arlington, VA. This is where the life size bronze statue of the iconic flag raising is located. May our nation be forever thankful and indebted to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and to those who served and continue to serve around the world to keep our precious Freedoms.

Two of John Powers’ daughters attended this special event with him; Johnica Edgerley and Belinda Stanley. Those that attended the ceremony were treated to a dinner at the Monument Inn at 4PM where Johnica sang the fourth verse of the Star Spangle Banner with her talented voice that can easily reach the high notes in our national anthem. One more interesting note about John’s service in the marines. His division was scheduled to come home in December of 1945 but it was February of 1946 before he made it back to Diboll. He was welcomed home by family and one special young lady who had been waiting for him, Mable Nivens. They were married March 16, 1946 and will soon celebrate their 71st anniversary. Congratulations to this wonderful couple!!

On Sunday, February 26th, the H. G. Temple Alumni Association sponsored the Annual City Wide Black History Program which was held in the Even Start Family Literacy Cafeteria. Donna James served as the MC.  Ternisha Cortines moved the crowd with an interpretive dance number and The Church of the Living God Choir sang from their souls. All in attendance enjoyed a terrific lunch of chicken & dressing with all the trimmings.  During the program Mayor John McClain read a proclamation proclaiming the month of February as Black History Month and urged all citizens to join together in making this a time of rededication to the principles of justice and equality for all people.  The mayor then recognized two community leaders that received plaques, Sam Coleman and Clara Mitchell.

Diboll High School Alumnus Katrina Hines was the guest speaker.  She is a college graduate from Texas A&M and Prairie View A&M and was presented a certificate of recognition for her accomplishments. Elliott Gordon, Mable Johnson, Earline Vinson and Joyce Bray also received plaques of recognition from the H. G. Temple Alumni Association. The Community Service Award was presented to representatives of OCDC and Team Sexy. These are two different groups of men and women who promote and organize an annual Mother’s Day Dinner. Throughout the year and at Christmas they also organize activities for the youth.

David Harold Curbow stopped by to buy fig preserves. I agreed with him when he said a lot of folks mistake him for his pastor, Ronnie Frankins. David was on his way to the Old Paper Mill club pasture in Polk County. Several guys who worked together enjoy gathering there including Larry Mills and son, Burt and Moody Smith, Jr. Clay Platt who has a cabin nearby and known as the “king of squirrel hunters” usually joins them  although he works for DEMCO in Diboll.

Glenda Tobias came in for chick starter for her nine new baby chicks. She and I discussed how neat it is to have backyard chickens and fresh eggs. I usually share with customers how I spoil my hens with Happy Hen Treats that we sell. Dwayne Sanford shared he received the best birthday gift from his kids for his February 10th birthday. Dwayne enjoys cooking outdoors and they gave him a stainless steel folding cook table. Dwayne and Stephanie have four grandbabies and one on the way.

I truly hate I missed seeing Billy Stanford when he came in for zipper cream pea seeds. He’s now retired from Brookshire Brothers after working there for 44 years. Lots of folks are getting seeds in hopes of being able to plant soon including Robert Hooks and E. W. Scarborough who plants enough Top Pick Purple Hulls to sell to the public. Clara and Ron Lemons from Livingston came in for green bean seeds. They canned 80 quarts of green beans in jars last year. Mr. Lemons bought a yellow 3-knife gift set, Old Timer Limited Edition 2016 and came back the next day and bought a brown set. The set includes:  Schrade “Pal”, “Dog Leg Jack” and “Slim”.

One of our customers from Zavalla, Rodney Lott and his mom are the new owners of the Eagles’ Nest café on the main street through town. He said the shrimp and “all-you-can-eat catfish” served on Friday nights will be worth the drive. They open early for breakfast and have a steam table at lunch and open late.

Don’t forget this Sunday afternoon, March 5th at 3PM, will be a free concert by our own East Texas Wind Symphony at the Diboll ISD Family Education Center, 299 S. Neil Pickett Dr.

Check out our website at Poulands.com and come see us…’round the table.

February 20, 2017

 

Mark your calendar for 3PM Sunday afternoon March 5th to attend a free concert of our own East Texas Wind Symphony at the theater located at the Diboll ISD Family Education Center. According to Michael Parrish, Director of Operations and founder of this group of thirty “more serious amateur musicians” have been practicing here in Diboll under the direction of David Smith. They will perform a military medley recognizing veterans from each division of the armed services and will also perform one of the 130 marches written by John Phillip Sousa. I learned that Red Skelton was not only a comedian but also a composer and the group will perform two of his marches; one will be the Kadiddlehopper March written for one of his comic characters. The musicians come from Cleveland, San Augustine and all in between including Evelyn (Carr) Walker who grew up in Diboll. You can contact Michael at 936-676-3095 for more information.

It was a pleasure talking with Colton Moreno, a senior at DHS, who recently earned his Eagle Scout award through Troup 136. Colton designed and built a 3×3 square metal box for people to deposit worn or damaged US flags for proper retirement. The bright red box is sitting on the grounds of the National Guard Amory on Tulane Street in Lufkin. This is the highest honor for a Boy Scout and only 4% earn this prestigious honor. A scout is required to have earned at least 21 badges but Colton had 36! His proud parents are Josh and Amanda (Williams) Moreno. Josh has been a customer of ours since he was raising show animals for the youth fair. Colton plans to attend Tulsa Welding School in Houston after graduating in May. Congratulations!!

Enjoyed visiting with James Bray affectionately known as “Spot” to his DHS classmates who graduated in 1980. James is quite proud of his daughter Chenice “CiCi” who also graduated from DHS and Prairie View A&M. CiCi completed the RN Nursing program and passed her state exam in December. She is presently working in a Houston hospital. Her younger sister, Keundra, is in her sophomore year at Prairie View A&M and although she doesn’t know exactly which career path she plans to take, she knows it won’t be nursing. These girls’ sweet grandmother, Joyce Bray, is also very proud of them. James is presently working for Casey Industrial in Corrigan who is installing the equipment for the new Roy O. Martin plant.

Also enjoyed visiting with Harold Gasaway who grew up in Brookland and later married Zenova Scott who graduated from DHS in 1969. Her parents were longtime Dibollians, O.C. and Zeola Scott. Harold and Zenova both graduated from Prairie View A&M; Zenova with a teaching degree and Harold with a degree in mechanical engineering. Zenova taught 2nd grade her entire career which included some time in Diboll ISD where she taught our son, Roho (Hileory Powell). Harold got a job working in Kansas City, MO where they spent most of their adult life raising two sons, Bryon and Brandon. They now have five grandchildren and continue to spend time in Diboll. They were in for the funeral of Zenova’s sister-in-law, Yvonne Scott, the widow of Bennie Scott.

Early Tuesday morning coffee drinkers usually include Thomas Anderson and Ed Domingue. During the conversation, Valentine’s Day was brought up. Although Dr. Domingue said he rarely shops “online” he responded to an ad to order roses and chocolates that could be delivered on the 14th. He requested the order to arrive at his home between 2 and 4PM knowing his wife Annette would be working in the gift shop at Woodlands Heights and he could be home to accept the package. 2-3-4PM came and no flowers; Annette arrived home and the couple went out to celebrate a special evening without the surprise gift of flowers. But when they returned home there was a package on top of the car that had arrived at 6:30PM. They both were pleasantly surprised that the long stem roses were fresh and came with a vase to put them in along with a very small box of chocolates!

It was good to visit with former DISD Ag teacher Larry Poe and his wife Judy when they stopped by on their way to The Woodlands to watch their grandson Grant compete in Lacrosse. They were quite proud of the fact that Grant has signed to attend Syracuse Orange. Larry had a good visit with a former student, Jerry Cobb who was in with his 9-year-old son, Easton.

Bo Smith from Corrigan came in with his wife Cathy who was carrying their 1-1/2 year old French bulldog “Harley”. It seems when Cathy first asked if she could get a French bulldog, Bo said, “Only if I get a Harley Davison motorcycle”. Cathy settled that by getting the dog and naming him “Harley” who has captured Bo’s heart and made him forget all about the motorcycle.

Kevin Clayton from Nacogdoches was the winner of the Savage .270 rifle given away at the Boys and Girls Club Black Tie Bingo last Saturday. Kevin has worked for the Boys & Girls Club for 18 years and was recently promoted to Area Director. He has fond memories of knowing and working with Sam Coleman through the Boys and Girls Club and now works with his son Ronnie Coleman who is chairman of the B&G board in Diboll. The bingo in Diboll this year was fantastic! The civic club was converted into a colorful circus tent with decorated tables and lots of balloons. An Illusionist, Ben Jackson, kept the crowd entertained with disappearing tea glasses and money that reappeared in the most unusual places. A large “thank you” to everyone that made the evening extra special! It gets better every year.

A couple of customers came in bragging: Raymond Lenderman brought in a 6-1/2# purple top turnip he raised and Jerry Goins was proud of the 20 eggs he gets almost every day from his hens. Buddy Shipp, Gary Jones and others have bought potatoes and anxiously awaiting a time to plant. Ginger Capps purchased one of the Circle E candles that we now have in the store.

Have a great week and don’t forget to come see us…’round the table.

 

 

February 13, 2017

 

The Diboll Business Association was proud of the response to the 4th Annual BEST OF 75941. Congratulations to each winner and let me thank everyone for the two awards Poulands’ The Everything Store received. Andrea received the Best Store Clerk. Personally, I think she is very deserving and has probably worked in her position longer than anyone, starting when she was a junior at DHS. She is a very hard worker, dependable, loyal, knowledgeable and reliable. We are very proud of her! The second award was for The Best Place to get a cup of (free) coffee. Anyone is welcome to not only enjoy a cup of hot coffee but sit and visit at the “round table”. Quite a few ladies enjoy coffee with the guys who seem to have more time to spend reminiscing about “the good old days.” We cordially invite any and every one to stop by and visit.

Andrea has started carrying the popular Circle E candles which have made nice Valentine gifts for some of our customers. Sam McDonald from Corrigan and his brother, Bob from Livingston, stopped by. Sam bought his wife Bonny a Bird of Paradise candle for Valentine’s Day. They have been married for 48 years. Sam retired as high school principal from Corrigan-Camden ISD about 15 years ago and remembers working with Jim Dunlap and Don Robbins. Sherry (Sprayberry) Hughes is the present superintendent and he was quick to say he taught her in high school and hired her as an English teacher after graduating from SFA. She later became a principal and a few years ago was selected as their superintendent. Bob McDonald enjoyed a Junior High teaching career in the Big Sandy ISD. Another customer bought his wife one the fragrant candles and shared that next year they will have been married 50 years.

Dennis Lenderman stopped by for a short break before joining his wife Karon for lunch.  He carried her some chocolate covered strawberries that Andrea had made. They had enjoyed dining out the evening before and Dennis had plans on Valentine’s Day to cook supper for their parents. His menu was grilled chicken and sautéed mixed vegetables. Their two granddaughters and their parents, Ashley and Raul Rios were driving to San Antonio for 14-year-old Kylie to participate in the Calf Scramble at the stock show. 10-year-old Kyna was going along to cheer for her sister. Perhaps Kylie can depend on her experience from catching a calf at this year’s Ft Worth stock show. We wish Kylie and also Gentrie Eldridge “good luck” in San San Antonio. Gentrie is also competing in the calf scramble and traveling with Sheila Eldridge. After the scramble, they had plans to spend the night with Jordan Eldridge in San Marcus.

John Ralph and I traveled all the way to Tyler to meet former DISD superintendent Bill Ward and his wife, Neita Fran, for lunch at Traditions. Bill and I enjoyed having liver and onions which is hard to find on most restaurant menus. After a good lunch we drove to “Valerosa” which is Neita Fran’s art gallery in Tyler’s Bergfeld shopping center. Neita Fran also had a gallery during the years they lived in New Mexico where she designed and sold custom made southwest jewelry. She has incorporated the jewelry into the Tyler gallery as well as art work from local artisans. They presently live in Neita Fran’s hometown of Arp in a gated area. Their home is for sale and Bill can hardly wait to build a new home on the range.

Gaylon Wallace enjoyed visiting at the round table with JR and Gary Gaylada from Slocum. They discussed trail rides, horses, mules, donkeys, wagons, dogs and just about everything else in between.

Sue and J. D. Johnson have celebrated recent birthdays. Sue’s birthday is February 7th and J. D.’s is the 10th. Sue’s nephew and wife, Bo and Cathy Haney, treated them to lunch at Ralph and KaCoo’s and presented Sue with a Pandora “Aunt” charm and a gift certificate to Boot City for J.D. Andrea gave them two packages of her homemade peanut brittle and J.D. said he thoroughly enjoyed eating both packages.

Lisa Crager was wearing a wide smile when she came in with her husband David. She had been retired about two hours and couldn’t have been happier. She took an early retirement even after working 41 years starting at Temple Industries. She worked two years while in high school. Her first job was working in the attic of the old commissary building adding labels to paint buckets filled with rich lighter. After graduation she worked in accounts payable with Lena Coody, Jewel Smith, Jimmy Nelson, Sue Johnson and others; for Spencer Knutson and Dennis Maynard in Forest Division; Environmental/Engineering with Gary Frost, Ben Crim, Linda (Poland) Syler, G. Wayne Hardy; Lumber mill for Darin Simpson; Safety with Jack Matthews; Minerals for Lowell Woods; Maintenance with Bill Fulmer and retired back in environment with Pat Miller. I probably missed some of this but David said she worked in every department except legal and sales! David and Lisa were leaving that afternoon to enjoy some R&R in Jermyn where they have family land they plan to build on.

  1. D. Johnson and Sue were still seated at the RT when Lisa shared her work experience at Temple, they all agreed it was a great place to work. Sue retired after 34 years and J. D. retired after 43 years. He also worked in several places including: sawmill, “fighting the bear”; treating plant; fiberboard with Ruben Saxton; sales; invoicing with Frank Smith and Jerry Hall and finally in “Personnel” with Vernon Burkhalter, Betty Baskette, Geraldine Pouland, Betty Barkley and Lucille Warner.

We also learned that Stacy Lucas is happy about retiring on the 17th and Ruby Gordon retired on the 10th after 50 years!! What loyalty. Congratulations and enjoy your retirement!!

Mark your calendars. The FISH truck will be in our parking lot on March 1st from noon until 1PM. It’s time to start stocking ponds.

Again, thank all for voting for us and don’t forget to stop by and visit us…’round the table.

February 6, 2017

 

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.