Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 149, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 9, 1998 Page: 2 of 38
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Page 2—CHEROKEEAN/HERALD of Rusk, Texas—Thursday, July 9,1998
Emmett H. Whitehead
rri_ , i /IT i i
publisher
Cherokeean Herald
Marie Whitehead
M.W VI. JLIl w %M-A.r 1 M.M JL Ml Vt
editor
July 9,1998
Texas' oldest continuously
published weekly newspaper.
Established as the Cherokee
Sentinel Feb. 27,1850
High Points From El Camino Real
Jim Hogg State Historical
Park, Rusk
Caddoan Mounds State
Historical Site, Alto
Texas State Railroad State
Historical Park, Rusk
Scene in Passing
And it rained! Not exactly a
flood, but aren't we grate
ful for that which we re-
ceived? Do you remember where
you were? The day was Friday,
July 3. There was one report of a
young boy standing outside, look-
ing up, smiling. It was a smile
moment!
That was the same day your
writer almost dropped her teeth!
Looking out the front window in
the early morning brought a shock!
We had been "birded!" Land
a'livin,' the whole front yard and
even on the hedges we had pink
flamingos! I played 'dumb like a
fox,' and said not a word to the
Better Half. When he finally got
Marie Whitehead
e-mail: herald@e-tex.com
course they have to be because
that is younger than me, and... are
they younger than me? They are
very young in spirit, heart, service
The Whitehead household was "in the pink" last week with a
creative fundraising project by First Baptist Church youth. For a
small fee, a friend or neighbor can rent the church's pink plastic
flamingos, and let them roost a while in someone's front yard.
up to the front of the house and
looked out, he screeched out,
"Marie!" He never calls me by my
name! He was astounded! And all
of this happened when we really
needed a good, silly laugh session.
Some of our best laughter came in
a discussion of "who" to send these
birds to next! We are so grateful to
Vickie Jordan Beard for help-
ing Jerry Rix "give us the bird."
We sent them to our neighbors,
Jack and Opal Fitts, who really
needed a new touch to their al-
ready beautiful yard. There is a
hitch to these pink creatures and
the humor they bring. You are
expected to pay money to the Youth
Fund of First Baptist Church to
get them moved! But you have the
joy of sharing YOUR joy by indi-
cating who you wish to share them
with! Don't be surprised if you find
your yard filled with pink birds
some morning! Now, if you see
pink elephants too, better call
Sheriff Campbell to send a squad
car!
Congratulations are due Char-
ley and Nora Christopher! Can
you believe these two celebrated
their 58th wedding anniversary
July 3? I don't think of them as
being more than that in age. But of
to others! That's for sure!
An event of mixed emotion was
the visit from Cindy
Cunningham Friday. She and
Dr. John had returned
home...without John David! He
had been deposited in the good
hands of folks at West Point...to
begin a wonderful new chapter in
his young life! Parents can be
happy when they see their chil-
dren accomplish a dream as John
David did. But sometimes, hiding
on the other side of glad, we find
sad.
A former voice of the early
KWRW days, is that of Stan
Nolley. It was good to hear his
voice again recently. He is one of
the many nice people who make
KETK-TV possible! His mom,
Bobbie, is one of our outstanding
Junior High teachers. We always
welcome visits, calls from those
who once were...with us!
Really, we like to hear from all of
you...even if we haven't "pressed
the flesh!" Last week we received a
letter from Daisy Young Estrada
who had been here for the annual
Young Family Reunion. She was
kind enough to send a write-up!
And she included the subscription
v v & ftv.
BIRTHDAY NO. 66 for Bettye Wallace Sharp
fee to send this publication as a
gift to a couple celebrating their
56th anniversary Aug. 3. They are
Troyce and Jean Roark of Na-
cogdoches. Help with the news
and sending the news! This is
very nice and we appreciate Daisy
so much!
Had your vacation yet? No? Well,
let me share with you this report of
a fun, fun time enjoyed by a former
Ruskite. Where? Well, in Rusk, of
course. With our gratitude, here is
Bettye Wallace Roberts' narra-
tion.
"I want to share my recent expe-
rience with you. I had the most
unique birthday I've ever had, at
the place I love most, my home-
town.
"On June 13, my family put to-
gether a birthday celebration for
me in Rusk without my knowl-
edge. My daughter, Pam Webb,
who lives in League City picked
me up Saturday morning for a
surprise weekend somewhere. She
headed out to Rusk where my son,
Mike Sharp and his children from
Friendswood were unexpectedly
waiting when we arrived. It was
when we pulled in front of the
Cherokee Rose that I learned
where we would be staying. My
daughter had told me that
Kenny(Wallace) had a pop-up
camper we could stay in! I never
know., if she is serious or not and
would not put anything past my
family.
"Twenty one of my family mem-
bers celebrated my birthday with
me at a Mexican food restaurant
in Palestine. Saturday night (my
birthday is actually on Flag Day,
June 14). They enjoyed embarrass-
ing me with an announcement, a
parade through the restaurant, a
big sombrero, lots of presents and
an American Flag cake with so
many candles that it was rumored
the restaurant manager was ner-
vous and stood by with the fire
extinguisher! I was in shock
throughout the weekend and could
not believe they had pulled off this
surprise without me knowing it.
"Sunday morning at the Chero-
kee Rose, my grandchildren gath-
ered eggs, fed the catfish as they
jumped in the pond and ran wild
while we sat on the big veranda in
rockers and visited with the pro-
prietor and others. Suzann
McCarty certainly contributed to
my special weekend with her per-
sonal attention. I loved staying at
the Cherokee Rose and look for-
ward to doing it again.
"The remainder of my weekend
was spent visiting with Joanne,
Marinelle, Lisa, Kenny, Sally and
all of their beautiful children while
my grandchildren rode the horse.
We all had a wonderful weekend,
especially me! Since then, at least
one of my grandchildren has been
saying he wants to move to Rusk.
Maybe I'll get back there, perma-
nently, yet!"
Bettye is a longtime friend now
residing in Houston. It is with
gratitude when we hear from her,
but I join her in wishing she had a
Rusk, Texas address!
Sympathy is extended to the fam-
ily of the late Raymond "Pa"
Vermillion. His service was Fri-
day. He will be missed so much
and remembered for many rea-
sons. Those who knew him will
never forget the bubbly, joyful
sound of his laughter. We had some
interesting, historical talks. And
now, I wish there had been more.
Condolences go to Chloe
Waddell whose son, Tom, was
buried Saturday in Rusk. He was
born on July 4 and laid to rest July
4. It is sad when special days are
forevermore recalled with grief.
Been there, done that. Chloe,
John, Joann and Jack are to be
consoled.
Somebody else said it, but it's
worth repeating! "Nothing lasts
forever, not even our troubles!"
On that note of optimism, keep
doing your rain dance! Even
droughts come to an end!
Chris Davis
e-mail: elcaminoreal@inu.net
Well we have the Fourth
of July behind us, so
now we can get ready
for the hot dry weather with the
dog days of summer on the way.
I think everything went pretty
smoothly around Alto for the
fourth. I am sure it was a lot
quieter than usual with the
fireworks ban. I have had
several pieces of news sent to me
t his week, so I better let you
know what I found out.
Hilltop Baptist Church is
having their Bible School the
week after next, July 12 between 2 and 4 will start
things off with a picture taking session. Bible
School will be on Monday thru Friday from 6:00 -
8:30 P.M. The theme this year is Passport to
the Holy Land. Preschool - sixth grade or ages 5
- 12 years are welcome. No Nursery will be
provided, so you might need to make other ar-
rangements for your younger children. Sounds
like a good place to send the kids to beat the heat
and fellowship.
The 101st Annual Holcomb Family Re-
union is scheduled for this weekend at the Cold
Springs United Methodist Church in the Cold
Springs Community just west of Alto. I don't know
why I'm telling you this because it has been going
on for 101 years and if you are a descendant of this
family you know you have to be there. Pack your
lunch and come ready to have a good time with all
your relatives you haven't seen since last year.
I was sure proud to get a note from Alan
Singletary the other day. After reading the note I
have been somewhat troubled. Alan left Alto after
he graduated high school and we haven't seen a
whole lot of him since. He went off to college and
then moved to Austin to live. When Alan left here
he was a pretty normal Altonian, but he sent me a
picture of him finishing a 26.2 mile marathon that
is causing me to have my doubts. Can you
imagine someone running that far without being
chased by the police or a wild hog or something?
He just did it for fun. He said that they told him
the last five miles would be the worst of it and that
he would need to dedicate the race to someone, so
that he could remain focused on that until the
end. He said he decided to dedicate his race to my
neighbor, Virgil Schochler since he was always
getting such a bad shake. He said that they were
right about the end being tough, but that he never
thought of old Virgil even once. He said he was too
tired to think of anything. "Alan, come home quick
you need a good dose of Alto shock therapy to get
you back thinking straight and walking slow." It
is always good to hear from old friends even if they
have changed a little.
m
Jerry Byrd who graduated
from Alto High School back in
the sixties is having open heart
surgery this week. I think they
are going to repair a leaking
heart valve. Jerry gets the
paper all the way down in the
Houston Area. I just wanted to
wish him good luck on getting
his leak fixed. Ifheneedsa
heart transplant I would be
willing to cut him a deal on
Virgil's because I know it hasn't
been used much even though he
is 87 years old. The only time it
ever beats fast is when he spends money and that
isn't very often. Good Luck, Jerry on your surgery!
Amber Low and Josh Moore, two gifted and
talented students from Alto Middle School traveled
to Beaumont in June to receive recognition awards
from The Duke University Talent Identification
Program. The awards are given based on the
seventh grader's scores on the college SAT or ACT
entrance exam scores. These students scored high
enough to go to the college of their choice and
they're just seventh graders. In order to foster
tomorrow's leaders in science, industry, education
and public service, the Duke University Talent
Identification Program seeks to increase the focus
on today's brilliant students. The TIP Network
centers on these youths' strongest advocates-their
parents. Only four students in Cherokee County
were recognized for this honor. Congratulations
Amber and Josh and a special congratulations to
their parents.
My family and I went to Crystal Beach over the
Fourth of July weekend to spend time with the in-
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Former Alto resident Alan Singletary is a
"marathon man," completing a 26.2 mile run in
three hours, 38 minutes.
Last year I told ya'll about Gayla McGaughey
getting married to Tom Needham up in Idaho. I
never did quite understand just how it worked, but
Tom stays in Idaho in the summer and comes
down here in the winter. Gayle didn't go back to
Idaho this summer and is spending her summer
mowing grass, fighting fire ants and talking bad
about Tom, while Tom spends his summer enjoy-
ing the cool Idaho weather with 70 degree days
and 40 degree nights. Well the way its looking
things are still going to be hot and dry when he
gets home for the winter, so he can get his share
then. Happy Anniversary Tom and Gayle!
Daniel Trollinger with Duke University presents
certificates of achievement to Amber Low (left)
and Josh Moore for their scores on the ACT and
SAT college admission tests.
laws. Everything went as good as it could with the
in-laws and we had a good time on the beach.
There were a lot of people on the beach celebrating
the fourth in various ways. When it started
getting dark the kids threw a fit for fireworks, so I
went and bought us some. We figured the safest
place to go shoot them would be at the beach. Boy,
were we wrong! All of those other people on the
beach must have had the same idea we had
because when we got down there the beach was
packed. When you sprinkle in a couple hundred
drunks, you have fireworks going ever which way.
They weren't little cheap firecrackers either, they
were the great big high dollar ones. At one point
the noise was getting so loud I thought they were
throwing dynamite. I got out of my car and set off
the ones I bought as fast as I could and the kids
said, "Daddy, let's get out of here". When the kids
want to leave fireworks, you know it's bad. I
believe you would have been safer celebrating the
Fourth of July with Saddam Hussein on the
beaches of Iraq.
I asked my neighbor, Virgil Schochler to feed
my cat while I was gone. All of my family was out
of town, so he was the only choice remaining. I
guess he thought I had a mountain lion over here,
instead of a fifteen- year old tabby cat. He had a
pile of food that would have fed ten cats poured out
when I got home. If he had to buy that food, I bet
he wouldn't have been so free with it. I guess he is
just depressed over the shape his garden is in. The
only way he is going to make money out of that
garden is if people start buying dried tomato
plants like they do dried flowers. You have never
heard such a depressing sound as the wind makes
when it blows through all that dusty dry produce.
He is selling his watermelons by the bushel and
there's about twenty in a bushel. He's started
cussing the President again because he went and
looked at where Florida burnt up and he won't
come and look where his garden burnt up.
I guess this is about all the information you
can handle for one week, so I better quit while I'm
ahead. I'll see ya next week! And remember, The
gap between "need' and "want" is filled with
headaches and heartbreaks.
New Deadline for Letters
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readers' letters and differing
viewpoints. All submissions to "let-
ters to the editor" must contain the
writer's name, address and zip,
along with a daytime telephone
number so we may contact you
with clarification or confirmation.
Also, letters must not contain
information or allegations deemed
libelous. We do not publish form
letters or copies intended for mass
distribution to other publications.
Generally speaking, the shorter
the letter, the better its chances
for publication. Write us at P.O.
Box 475, Rusk, Tex. 75785 or send
us a FAX at (903) 683-5104.0ur E-
mail address is herald@e-tex.com.
Please include a daytime telephone
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Please note that our nee "let-
ters" deadline is 10 a.m. on Mon-
days.
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Consolidation of The Cherokeean,
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 149, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 9, 1998, newspaper, July 9, 1998; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152380/m1/2/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.