Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 157, No. 26, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 16, 2006 Page: 2 of 16
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Page
HERALD
\ August 16, 2006
COLUMNS
EDITORIAL BOARD
Whitehead Enterprises Inc.
publisher
Marie Whitehead
editor
Terrie W. Gonzalez
managing editor
Texas' Oldest Continuously
Published Weekly Newspaper
Established as the
Cherokee Sentinel, Feb, 27,1850
Consolidation of The Cherokeean,
The Alto Herald and
the Wells News & Views
■
View from the Top
While we were travel-
ing through New
Mexico this summer,
my daughter Rachel decided
she wanted to climb a moun-
tain. So we visited the El
Morro National Monument,
which is located approxi-
mately one hour southeast of
Grants.
El Morro is a 200-foot mesa,
with a naturally-formed pool
of water on the side. During
the days of the early explor-
ers and pioneers, travelers
would stop by the pool for
water and rest. During their
stay, they would carve their
name and the year on the
side of the rock formation.
Visitors can visit El Morro
and read inscriptions. Then
they can hike up to the top
of the mesa, and view ruins
from Native American civi-
lizations. The view from the
top is breath-taking. Rachel
was proud of herself for
"climbing a mountain." She
stood there enjoying the view.
"Daddy, God made all of
this so we could come here
and enjoy it," Rachel said.
It is amazing a six-year-old
would make such a state-
LELAND ACKER
chreporter@mediactr.com
ment. Indeed, when God
made the world and placed
Adam and Eve in the garden
of Eden, He told them they
could freely eat of all the
trees in the garden.
To freely eat means to eat,
enjoy and continue doing so
until you can eat no more.
Trust me, I know alot about
freely eating.
The point is, God made the
earth to be inhabited and to
be enjoyed by man.
Psalm 8:3-4 speaks to this,
when the writer says, "When
I consider the heavens and
the works of thy fingers, what
is man, that thou art mindful
of him."
Summertime is here. The
weather is sunny and hot. In
these times, we often make
the mistake of sitting inside
under the air-conditioner.
However, the views outside
are amazing.
Do not let this season pass
by without enjoying God's cre-
ation. We have ample places
to do this in East Texas.
I personally recom-
mend Love's Lookout in
Jacksonville. When the
weather is clear, you can see
all the way to Henderson.
Jim Hogg City Park in
Rusk has a great nature trail.
The Mission Tejas in Weches
is a great place for hiking and
features a historic home and
church building.
Of course, I would be remiss
if I did not recommend riding
the Texas State Railroad. In
addition to the scenic views
of east Texas, the Rusk State
Park has a lake that has
offered some of my best fish-
ing days and has paddle boat
rentals.
So, wherever you are, get
up and get out. We are truly
blessed to be living in an area
as beautiful as East Texas.
Jim Hogg
Historical Park,
Rusk
Caddoan Mounds
State Historical Site,
Alto
Texas State Railroad
State Historical Park,
Rusk
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Scene In Passing
It is good to be back with
you. Thanks for your
comments on last week's
epistle. We are doing our best
to "save the train." It seems
to many of us that this can
be accomplished quite easily
if the Legislature will only
lift the cap from the sporting
goods tax and put it where
it was originally intended.
Texas Parks. What good is
millions in reserve for the
use of new companies who
want to locate in Texas, as
in the Enterprise Fund, if
we don't support existing
facilities, businesses'.' Rec-
reation may not be viewed
by some as "business," but
in this instance* the Texas
State Railroad is a vital part
of our local economy. It may
not generate the quantity
of money that the Dallas
Cowboyscan take credit for
bringing to the Metroplex.
But what TSR can take credit
for is a lot of jobs for local
citizens and...hunched® of
thousands in tourism dollars
to East Texas.
On this particular day.
MARIE WHITEHEAD
editor@mediactr.com
Aug. 13, it is difficult to deal
with today's dilemmas while
trying to maintain a balance
from reeling four years ago.
It is not just the personal loss
of a mate. It is the loss of his
skills and abilities, a role for
which I am only a poor sub-
stitute. And yet, I know that
whatever it is that I can do,
I must do. I am very grate-
ful to serve on an advisory
board with a group of people
who bring knowledge and
Strength to the table.
Some of you have ques-
tioned the option to privatize
the operation of TSR. When
fcthat question is asked, it tells
me that the questioner has
[forgotten why this task force
[committee was activated
hn the first place. We were
[advised by letter from Texas
[Parks and Wildlife Executive
¡Director Bob Cook to "have
la plan for TSR's operation in
place by Dec. 31, 2006, or the
[state's official state railroad
would be parked and become
static displays for viewing in
Rusk and Palestine." What
a waste of taxpayers money
that would be, And then I
remember, "Be careful and
don't throw out the baby with
the bath water." Are we about
to do this? And then, how can
we know, for sure, when it's
time to put down an animal?
Kill a train? Well, you don't
until you seek all information
possible. And that means you
must ask a lot of questions.
This committee has done
that. We've tried to prepare
a proposal for the future
of TSR's operation if the
state carries out its threat
to turn our beloved facil-
ity into a museum. I have
to question even that. Just
recently the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department had a
fine museum on behalf of
Admiral Nimitz in Freder-
icksburg. Unable to maintain
it, they transferred it to the
Texas Historical Commis-
sion. Did you ever hear of a
game called "hully, gully?"
V. J. Long introduced us to
this technique of confusion
some years ago. I feel like
a participant in this hypo-
thetical game, and I still don't
understand how to play it.
What are the rules? Privatize
became a dirty word in our
kitchen back when Carole
Keeton Rylander Strayhorn
introduced this idea as a way
to save tax dollars four years
ago. I wish I could get this
one tough grandma in my
kitchen for just one after-
noon. I could talk. She could
listen.
Hopefully, out of this dirth
of digging, something logical
and acceptable can be deter-
mined. For one thing, can
the state afford the luxury of
a parks system at all? Then
you may join me in wonder-
ing, can the state afford to
maintain a state highway
system? What about educa-
tion? Maybe we don't need
all of these amenities of hfe
any more. And what about
the cost of the legislature
itself? Now, there's some real
silk, real fat in tax dollar
expenses.
We know there's a wealth
(no pun intended) of support
from foundations, also grants,
corporations, private citizens
that are being sohcited for
use by TSR. If this becomes
a possibihty for some financ-
ing, so be it. Anything we
can do to "save the train" is
hkely to become an accept-
able arrangement in the next
session of the legislature.
You might say that the worst
thing that could happen
would be the total shut down
of operations. And then priva-
tization becomes a Second
choice, second best scenario.
The Better Half used to say,
"In the land of the blind, the
one-eyed man is King. This
committee has its eyes open,
for logical means to maintain
a viable service at TSR. We
are willing to support the
Texas Parks and Wildlife in
their efforts, but their abihty
is totally determined by the
Please see SCENE, pg. 8A
High Points From El Camino Real
I don't know whether the
dog days of summer have
officially arrived on El
Camino Real, but my guess
is they axe already here. It's
just about too hot outside
for any outdoor activities to
be enjoyable and if I were
an outside dog, I'd be pretty
miserable about now. I've
been able to keep the yard
mowed in spite of the heat,
but the other chores I need
to be doing outside will just
have to wait until October or
November. I'm just glad that
the chore of gathering up and
writing your four bits' worth
of news can be done in the air
conch tioning.
I can only faintly remember
the clays before air condition-
ing. I don't know whether
my memory lapse is caused
by my very young age at
the time we got our first air
conchtioner or if it is because
the thought of such a horror
has been shut out of my sub-
conscious mincl. I remember
the first car air conditioner
that we hacl. It was a big
unit under the clash of the
car. Sitting with my head in
front of the big round vents
as they blew freezing air into
my face was a wonderful
thing to a hot little boy when
he got into the car after some
hard playing in the summer
time. Older people say that
they were used to the heat
and it didn't bother them as
much being hot as it does
now. I clon't want to ever get
accustomed to sleeping hot.
If I hacl my choice to be cool
or go hungry, then I'd just
CHRIS DAVIS
elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
have to be hungry. With our
electric bills climbing every
month, I'm sure that some
folks will be faced with that
choice before long. I guess
I'll start cutting firewood for
the winter a httle earher this
year and try and recoup my
losses to the electric company
this summer by heating the
house with wood this winter.
I guess the good old clays
for me would be somewhere
between the time when we
got air conchtioning and
before the electricity got too
expensive for us to run it.
The Alto Community Fel-
lowship Church is trying
to help some folks beat the
heat with their snow cone
ministry, I've never heard
of a snow cone ministry, but
that, is the only thing that
I coulcl call what they are
doing in the afternoons in
beautiful downtown Alto.
Monday through Friday from
3:30-5 p.m. members of the
Alto Community Fellowship
Church are giving away free
snow cones from a blue snow
cone stand that they set up
on the corner by the red light.
I know this arrangement is
going to be great for kicls who
get off the bus there next
week when school starts. The
church's Pastor Ron Rose
tolcl me they would keep
serving the free snow cones
until the weather cools off.
It sounds hke a great idea to
me, but I'm holchng out for
the chih ministry that I hope
will be coming this winter. I
just wonder if it takes more
frozen water to make a Bap-
tist snow cone as opposed to
a Methochst snow cone. Good
luck to the Alto Community
Fellowship on their snow cone
ministry.
While I'm on the subject
of church I have to fill you
in on my church-going this
past Sunday. I hacl been
invited to attend the annual
homecoming services at the
Weeping Mary Baptist
Church last week when I
ran into G.W. "Dad" Parker
in town. He knew when he
askecl me that my reasons
for coming would be more
nutritional than spiritual.
Those laches clown there can
really cook. I decided to go
to church and Sunday school
at my church before heachng
clown to Weeping Mary. I got
clown to Weeping Mary about
noon and slipped into the
services. Dacl Parker saw me
come in and announced that
I hacl come to eat. The music
was fantastic as always and
I keep wondering why they
clon't make a CD and get rich.
They have so much musical
talent in their church. My
old friend, Harvey Parker,
Larry Davis (left) and Summers Hassell enjoy a visit with
the pig that showed up at the Hassell home a few weeks
ago when they returned home from a vacation. The wander-
ing swine comes by everyday for a visit with the Hassells
before moving on at night.
preached the sermon and
I was totally amazed that
this fellow that I worked
with for many years finish-
ing concrete hacl made such
a good preacher. By 2 p.m. I
was busy trying to convince
my growhng stomach that
Harvey was a good preacher.
After church I headed into
the serving hne following
Woody Ross, a man that I
knew coulcl find his way to
the front of the food hne. He
didn't disappoint me and we
managed to get a plate and
enjoy some of the best home
cooking in East Texas. I'm
hoping that by next year the
congregation will be in their
new sanctuary with just as
much spirit and heart as
they've always hacl in their
old one. I want to thank the
members of the Weeping
Mary Baptist Church for the
invite and the great food and
fellowship we shared at their
church.
Summers and Marcia
Hassell came home from
their summer vacation to a
new addition at their house.
When they arrived home they
found that a pig hacl taken
up residence at their house
with their cats. The pig is
very tame and he comes by
their house everyday. They
saicl that he doesn't seem to
be of the wild hog variety
but is just a domesticated
pig that hkes to stop by for a
visit. They have named the
pig "Babe." Marcia enjoys a
good game of hiele and seek
with the pig every evening as
she hides and tries to follow
and see where he goes when
he leaves their house. So far,
the origins of the friendly pig
are still unknown. I've hacl
this same thing happen at my
house on several occasions,
but once the pigs that come to
my house get their bellies full
Please see EL CAMINO, pg. 8A
Cfyerokeeai}
HERALD
Published weekly on
Wednesday by
WHITEHEAD
ENTERPRISES, INC.
Texas' oldest continuously
published weekly newspaper,
established as the
Cherokee Sentinel,
Feb. 27, 1850
Consolidation of
The Cherokeean,
The Alto Herald and
the Wells News & Views
USPS 102-520
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 157, No. 26, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 16, 2006, newspaper, August 16, 2006; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152744/m1/2/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.