The Naples Monitor (Naples, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 19, 2012 Page: 1 of 18
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July
19
The Monitor
Established in 1886 • Naples' Oldest Business Institution
vo ume
Number
P.O. Box 39, 110 Main Street, Naples, TX 75568-0039 • Phone 903-897-2281 • Fax 903-897-2095 • e-mail: themonitor@valornet.com
Hometown Newspaper of Johnny Scott of Daingerfield
Carter Blood Care to attend festival
Blood donors receive Blue Bell ice cream
What are your plans for the sum-
mer? Before you venture out on
your next road trip or vacation,
make plans to give a lifesaving
blood donation.
Masonic Lodges of Naples and
Omaha are hosting a blood drive
during the annual watermelon fes-
tival on Saturday, July 28, from 10
a.m., to 3 p.m., at the Melon Patch
in Naples at the Carter BloodCare
bus.
Not only can you save up to
three lives with one donation, you
can get a sweet treat... a free pint
of Blue Bell ice cream.
For more information or to
schedule an appointment time,
contact Jerome Elder at 903-884-
2583.
Carter BloodCare is offering
blood donors the opportunity to
cool off this summer with a pint of
Blue Bell ice cream.
Donors who give blood in July
can visit the great rewards page at
carterbloodcare.org and receive a
free pint of Blue Bell ice cream.
Donors will also be entered to win
other sweet rewards, like a bed
and breakfast getaway in Bren-
ham.
One lucky donor will receive a
year's supply of Blue Bell ice cream.
Monitoring
Main Street
It's watermelon festival time again in Naples and the annual event
will be staged for the 74th time on July 26-27-28.
The summer celebration has changed over the years, but the
serving of free ice-cold watermelon is still one of the big activities of
the festival.
An old newspaper page from 1939 told of the first festival and it
boasted of a queen's coronation and ball ... a watermelon-eating
contest... a street dance ... a free band concert... rodeo perfor-
mances ... and an old fiddler's contest.
Prizes were offered for home-grown melons and included the
whopping amounts of $5 for the largest melon, $3 for second, and
$2 for third.
"Will pay to melon growers in Naples territory $20 per ton, or 10
per pound for melons weighing more than 50 pounds each, deliv-
ered before Thursday night." noted the advertisement.
The page promoted the watermelon cutting: "Eat ice-cold water-
melon while enjoying the old-time music made by the fiddlers in their
contest."
Promoting the queen's coronation, the ad said, "There will be
several interesting and entertaining numbers by capable perers
preceding the queen's ball. Music for the ball will be furnished by Ben
Burton's band of Shreveport."
But what started all this? The watermelon, and some history of the
tasty hunk was offered by the website >www.watermelon.org<.
Watermelon is thought to have originated in the Kalahari Desert
of Africa. The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred nearly
5,000 years ago in Egypt and is depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphics
on the walls of their ancient buildings. Watermelons were often
placed in the burial tombs of kings to nourish them in the afterlife.
From those days, watermelons spread throughout the countries
along the Mediterranean Sea by way of merchant ships.
By the 10th century, watermelon found its way to China, which is
now the world's number one producer of the melon.
The 13th century found watermelon spread through the rest of
Europe via the Moors.
In 1615, the word "watermelon" first appeared in the English
dictionary, according to John Mariani. Southern food historian, John
Egerton, believes the watermelon made its way to the U.S. with
African slaves.
The United States currently ranks fourth in worldwide production
of watermelon. A total of 44 states grow watermelon with Texas,
Florida, California, Georgia and Arizona consistently leading the
country in production.
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For more details, donors can
visit grea tamericangive. org.
Potential blood donors can vol-
unteer beginning at age 16 with a
parent's consent, and 17-year-olds
can give independently. There is
no upper age limit for giving.
All donors must weigh at least
110 pounds, be in good general
health and present a photo ID each
time.
It's also a good idea to eat a
nutritious meal and drink plenty
of water before giving blood. For
more information, call Carter
BloodCare at 1-800-366-2834 or
visit carterbloodcare.org.
K&
froiifefif
Area Deaths
Bill Henderson
Patricia A. Hill
Goodies from home
This local group took time out from their summer schedule to offer some
cheer to think of others. They were helping pack boxes of goodies and
needs for military troops in Afghanistan and they gave special care to
boxes for two Naples men, Jake Wiley and Kyle Jones. The foursome
included Samuel George, Caitlyn Croley, MegAnne George and Abby
George. The packages were prepared at the home of Sara French of
Omaha, the Caring for America Chairman of the Republican Women of
Northeast Texas organization. SJF photo
Event theme is "Good Old Days"
Watermelon Festival set for next week
"Good Old Days" is the theme of
this year's 74th annual Naples
Watermelon Festival and VirGinia
Fleming said that memorabilia,
antiques, memories and good times
will be appropriate for the Satur-
day festival parade and for deco-
rating business windowns.
Each parade entry must have a
watermelon of some type ... pic-
ture, real, ceramic or plastic ... and
follow the theme.
All decorated business windows
will be judged and the windows
must also follow the festival theme.
The parade will originate at
Bluebonnet Assisted Living on
Floyd Street. It will follow the nor-
mal parade route and travel
through the downtown area. Prizes
willl be awarded for the best float,
'Fun Day' event set
at Carpenter Street
community center
A "Fun Day" and homecoming cel-
ebration, hoped to become an annual
event, is planned for Saturday, July 28,
at the community center facility on Car-
penter Street in Naples.
Games for children and families are
planned throughout the day with volley-
ball and softball games set during the
evening. Area teams will compete with
the Naples Wildcats.
"A feature of the day will be a 'pit-
master' cook-off where area barbecue
enthusiasts can display their culinary
skills as they compete for a pit-master of
the year title," said Minnie Thomas, a
member of the planning committee.
Thomas said area nurses will be avail-
able to offer blood pressure and glucose
testing in the morning and early after-
noon.
A highlight of the event will feature
Dee Jay Larry Mike who will be providing
music and karaoke all during the day.
"Special recognition awards will be
presented to Nathaniel Collins Jr., and
Nancy Parrish for their years of service
to the well-being of our children from the
founding of the Community Action Inc.,
organization to the present time," Tho-
mas noted.
Concession stands, a dunking booth
and water slides will be open during the
day.
Thomas said the event is being spon-
sored by the newly-formed Community
Action Organization as a fund-raiser to
refurbish the park and playground areas
for the young people.
Bring lawn chairs and spend the day
Contact persons include Thomas,
Patrick Collins, Tanyaka Holley, Charles
Moore Tameka Black or Fredda Barber.
decorated car and pickup, four-
wheeler and horse-drawn vehicle.
Naples native Charles Johnson
has been chosen as 'grand mar-
shal' for the 2012 Naples Water-
melon Festival parade on Satur-
day, July 28.
He is a graduate of Pewitt High
School where he was active in FFA
and other activities.
Johnson was a cutting horse
judge in the 1960s and a full time
farmer and rancher since the '70s,
raising cattle, watermelons, pea-
nuts, soy beans and bahia grass.
In 1987, he was selected "Out-
standing Farmer" for the Sulphur-
Cypress Soil and Water Conserva-
tion District.
He is now semi-retired and lives
on the family farm north of Naples
with his wife, Dorothy. They are
the parents of one daughter, Jyl
Logan.
"The festival committee was
elated to select Charles as the
grand marshal for 2012," said Ms.
Fleming.
Watermelons will be judged at 9
a.m., at the melon patch and prizes
will be awarded for the largest
melons.
A number of activities are
planned on Saturday and will in-
clude a horseshoe pitching tourna-
ment, corn hole games and pole
climbing. Also available will be a
host of food vendors and a variety
of arts-n-crafts booths.
An antique car show will start
at 10 a.m., at the melon patch and
vehicles can enter by paying a $15
fee.
A climax to the day's events will
be a "street dance" at the VirGinia
Fleming Pavilion at the melon
patch. Entertainment will be fur-
nished by a Nashville, Tennessee
band, Slow Rollin' Lows. The dance
will be from 9 p.m., until 1 a.m.
Breaking ground
Members of the Morris County VFW Post 1890 began working on a new
post home at Rocky Branch Monday morning of last week. "The old
building burned back in the spring, leaving our veterans without a
meeting place or a place to host benefits for people in our community who
need help," said Richard Yates. "So far this year, the VFW has raised
more than $14,000 to help our neighbors with medical bills and other
needs." Yates said construction is being done by Homer Metal Buildings
Inc., of Mt. Pleasant. The completion date is undetermined. Persons
wishing to make a donation to the VFW building fund, can contact Yates
at 903-884-2658. "All help will be greatly appreciated," Yates said.
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Craig, Morris. The Naples Monitor (Naples, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 19, 2012, newspaper, July 19, 2012; Naples, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth291748/m1/1/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Atlanta Public Library.