June 22, 2015

 

While Rodney, Carol and Cameron Cheshire were in Ft. Worth for Rodney to attend a Diboll ISD board training, they learned in the wee hours of Saturday morning their house was on fire. When they arrived in Diboll, it was sad to see that they had lost everything including his new pickup. There are always sentimental treasures that can’t be replaced and for Rodney that included guns from his grandfather, Garrison Wilkins and father-in-law, Cleon Murry. This devastation did not keep them from attending church the next morning and being thankful for their safety, a loving family and caring friends. Rodney is a policeman for the city of Diboll and Carol was glad his uniforms were in the cleaners.

Plans are already made to have a Benefit Dinner for the Rodney Cheshire family. A Chicken Spaghetti Dinner that includes green beans, salad, roll, dessert and drink will be served on Friday, June 26th from 5 -7PM in the fellowship hall of Diboll First Baptist Church. The chicken spaghetti will be cooked by Margie Harrell and her crew so you can bet it will be delicious.

Adults can eat for $8 and children under 12 will be $5. You are welcome to eat there or take it home with you. The organizers would appreciate it if you could let them know if you plan to eat so they can make their plans. Please call 829-4807 or 829-2779 or email janwpta@consolidated.net (Jan Wilkerson) or franmc@consolidated.net (Fran McClain) to place your orders by June 26. A community coming together to help is just another reason I love the dear hearts and gentle people who live in my hometown.

The Diboll police department has set up a special account at the Temple Inland Credit Union if you would like to help Rodney and his family recover from this loss.
Twelve-year-old Garrison Cheshire, son of Bobby (Rodney’s brother) and Chandra Cheshire, received a 30.06 Browning rifle from his great-grandfather, Garrison Wilkins. It was Mr. Wilkin’s 35-year service award from Temple Inland. It was with this 30.06 that young Garrison had an unforgettable experience on a recent Idaho bear hunt. Garrison’s Uncle Cary Cheshire planned the bear hunt with Big Timber Outfitters of Elk Bend, Wyoming not too far from his home in Rawlings. Traveling with Garrison was his dad Bobby, his sister 9-year-old Kaydee and his grandmother, Helen “Ruthie” (Wilkins) Cheshire. They drove and on the way enjoyed seeing Pikes Peak, Cave of the Winds, Royal Gorge, Garden of the Gods and learned the history of Independence Rock before stopping in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In Rawlings, Wyoming, they spent the night with Cary and Carla Cheshire. The next day Cary, his son and daughter, Corbin and Chantry Cheshire and friend, Chase Childress joined the expedition and in two vehicles drove to Cody and into Yellowstone National Park where they observed Old Faithful, an abundance of buffalo and elk but no moose. They arrived at the bear camp near Salmon, Idaho at 9PM where the facilities included a cook cabin, tents, a camper for the ladies and soon to find out…good cooking.

It was the third day of hunting when Garrison said he was sitting with his Uncle Cary “a long time” in a ground blind. After rejecting two smaller bears Garrison finally saw his opportunity and with one shot from his grandfather’s 30.06, he got his trophy. It was an ordeal to get the bear back to camp by evening. The guys were exhausted and were relaxing around the camp fire when they learned Helen had spotted a bear cub that afternoon coming out of Corbin and Chase’s tent. There had been lots of excitement in the camp and everyone was grateful to the camp dogs who chased him away. But later that evening the bear cub returned and the dogs chased him again, this time up a tree and kept him bayed, or so they thought; the next morning the bear was observed in a different tree.

Helen Cheshire was a very prim and proper teacher and principal at Diboll ISD. She retired after 36 years of service and she and I are near the same age. Somehow, I find it hard to believe, yet I admire her, for going on this camping trip, roughing it in the wild and taking long horseback rides through the beautiful countryside. She also spent one day hunting bears. Her grandson Corbin was the only other successful hunter to kill a bear during this trip.

It was the last day when they were packing to leave, the cub was still observing them from a tree that Corbin, in his early 20’s, decided to take 12-year-old Aspen Beck, on a last minute 4-wheeler ride. After a short ride, she asked to get off when she realized Corbin wanted to “jump off” a pond dam. She realized it was a good decision when she saw the 4-wheeler roll down the steep embankment and land on top of him. Aspen managed to roll the 4-wheeler off of Corbin and run for help. Within minutes, a search and rescue team was on the scene and called Life Flight to air lift Corbin to Idaho for emergency surgery on his broken femur.

After all this excitement. Helen, Bobby, Garrison and Kaydee drove to Missoula, Montana, spent the night, got up at 4AM and drove to Spokane, Washington for Bobby and Garrison to fly home. It took them all day but they arrived in Houston by way of Portland, Oregon and Atlanta, Georgia. They were met by Garrison’s mom, Chandra and his two sisters, Laycee and Emalee.

Helen and granddaughter Kaydee drove on to Richland, Washington to visit with Helen’s aunt for a couple of days and back to Rawlings to check on Corbin. They spent three days sightseeing and talking to the lady at On Star before arriving back in good ole East Texas. That should be an unforgettable trip for everyone.
Vacationing closer to home was Jeff and Susan Eberlan who rented a house on Crystal Beach for their family to enjoy a few days of sun, sand and relaxation. Family members included daughter Stephanie and her 4-year-old daughter, Olivia; Jake Hale and friend; Kristen and Chris Straps and sons, Christian, 8-year-old twins Alex and Drew and 6-year-old Ryan; Cameron and Victor Castillo and children, Alyssa, Victor, Jr., Lori, Adan and Kaylee. Their stay was shorten by one day due to the tropical storm “Bill”. Susan has been retired since April after nine years at Atlas. She now enjoys being at home and doing the book work for Jeff’s new electrical business, Eastex Electric. He’s certified to work on Generac generators and of course, all other types of electrical work.

Come see us…’round the table.