De Leon's Monitor (De Leon, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 14, 1997 Page: 1 of 10
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COMANCHE EXP 09/06,
COUNTY LIBRARY 0-0
COMANCHE TX
76442
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
AWARD WINNEH
350
Monitor
Home of Bruce and Sherri Mix
Volume 3 No. 7
Reflecting our PAST, our PRESENT and our FUTURE
Thursday, August 14,1997
Dillon's Doings
by PhiI lute
Dillon Flowers, 2V» year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Clay Flowers inflated his lungs and expelled his watermelon seed projectile a stunning 2 Vi inches!
Not the
Grand Opening
by Charles Chupp
That event is planned for Septem-
ber on a date to be announced, but
Higginbotham's new furniture show-
room is available and partially
stocked for a sneak pfeview
The showroopi is in the building
which formerly housed Perry's Va-
riety Store The interior of the build-
ing has been redone and painted and
is ideal for furniture, appliances and
accessory viewing
Drop in and visit with Jim. You
can gain access by the front or south
door, so you might possibly get close
before he spots you. And, don't ne-
glect to clip and take along that 10%
coupon printed just atop their ad on
page 3.
Meet the
Bearcats
night!
Come to the football stadium,
Saturday, Aug. 16 for a barbecue
supper sponsored by the High School
Cheerleaders The barbecue is $5.00
a plate, and serving begins at 8:00
PM
At 9:00 PM. the football teams,
coaches, band, cheerleaders and
mini-campers will be introduced.
Be there to help kick off another ex-
citing school year!
Cyclists Tour Melon Patch
by Anne Haass
It Was Priceless!
by Jeanette Ward
Normally my luck isn't anything
to brag about. Tuesday afternoon
was different. I was given the oppor-
tunity to chat with a legend in Coun-
try music.
Ray Price was inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996
after 47 years in the entertainment
business. The Country Music
Awards voted Ray Price as the num-
ber one male singer eight years in a
role in the sixties. His biggest hit was
"For The Good Times."
A new adventure for Ray took
place two and half years agd when
he recorded his all Spanish album
"Los Dos.” He was instructed in Span-
ish by Moises Celdron, his friend and
piano player of thirty-one years. Ray
and Moises are recent partners mar-
keting their hot sauce in HEB stores
everywhere. Ray Price's "Burning
Memories" hot sauce originated in
Continued On Page 3
If you were at the intersection of
Texas and Reynosa on Saturday.
August 9, at 8 a m., you would have
seen a sea of cyclists coming through
the fog. There were over 535 riders
this year at the Melon Patch Tour,
and they brought a variety of bi-
cycles with them: singles, tandems
(two-seaters), some three seaters,
bikes with baby seats on the back,
and some pulling carriers with babies
inside. There was even a "penny-far-
thing," which is a bicycle with a huge
front wheel and a tiny back one. It
was quite a sight, and remarkable to
think how the ride has grown. It has
come a long way since 1993, when
the Peach and Melon Steering Coth-
mittee decided to try a bike ride as a
new event for the festival week. That
year 32 rides came, but they raved
about the routes, the festival and the
friendly town, so it was decided to
create a committee to form an ex-
panded ride, and the Melon Patch
Tour was bom. In it's first year, 1994,
there were 225 riders, so you can see
how it has grown.
The riders came from all over the
United States there were riders from
New York and Seattle, as well as all
over Texas. Many drove in from Hous-
ton, San Antonio and parts far away
and came in Friday so that they could
enjoy the Festival and Golden Satur-
day as well. This year's prize for the
oldest rider went to Marvin Gilbreath,
age 78 from New Braunsfel, who won
this category last year as well, and
our youngest rider was Joseph
Stokes, age 8, from Stephenville. The
first single registrant was Brian Baker
from Arlington and he won a prize,
as did the first tandem registrants,
Beth Hobensack and Yvonne
Hensley from McKinney. The BBQ
grill donated by Higginbotham's was
won by William Lawton from
Cleburne, with the men's mountain
bike that Coca-Cola donated going
to Calvin Conger of Fort Worth, with
the ladies bike won by Melinda
Etheridge of Early.
We had planned food fox 700, but
with 535 riders and over 220 volun-
teers, we almost ran out. That is amaz-
ing when you realize that we had 1400
frozen fruit bars, 1050# of bananas,
500# of oranges, 70# of peaches
(these are sliced and frozen), over
1200 home baked cookies, 700 food
bars, 50# roasted peanuts. 1500 Fig
Newtons, 40 watermelons, 30 canta-
loupes, and 10 jars of peanut butter
with crackers. Also, the popularity of
stopping at the rest stops to eat, visit,
and draw for prizes, contributed to
the festive atmosphere. Whenever
someone would come up to thank the
committee for a fun ride, they would
always mention the great fo8d, so
what drives cyclist is their stomach
as well as there desire for exercise!
There were many more De Leon
riders this year, and we hope that
number grows. If you didn't make it
this year, dust off your bicycle, start
riding and plan to join us on Satur-
day, August 8, 1998.
Historian
Passes Away
by Charles Chupp
Lowery Easley was awarded a
Golden Deeds Award by the De Leon
Chamber of Commerce and Agricul-
ture Committee in 1996, and no one
ever deserved the recognition more.
Lowery's efforts in preserving the
history and folk loreare legendary in
the area. He was a regular contribu-
tor to T>t 2cm) Monitor and our
sister publication The Messenaer,
and we've a back log of material yet
to be published. His obituary is on
page 3, but you have not heard or
seen the last of the monumental re-
search and information of a valued
friend of mine.
I Got
NO REASON TO LIE
by Charles Chupp
It's Herman Gilder's nature to talk when
he should be listening and getting attention
when he should be paying attention. He paid
a dear price for these flaws in his character
on a recent hot dog roasting and burger cre-
mating shindig out at Proctor Lake.
It started out as a, gala gathering at the
onset, but ended as a*tragedy. The obvious
deservers of th^blame are Rosa Lopez and
Charlie Gonzales, but Herman is not blame-
less in the incident. He ItW every opportu-
nity to know of Rosa's destructive tenden-
cies when she's unleashed upon a pickup
truck.
Not many months back Rosa was aided
and abetted by Dalia Lewis in the trashing
of Larry Don Womack's pickup truck. Both
confessed, after their rights were recited to
them, that they'd meant Mr. Womack no
harm. They thought they were in a similar
vehicle owned and operated by Lannes
Callison.
Despite his outward appearance and
reputation, Mr. Callison is a heap smarter
than he looks. There is no accurate count
on the number of citizens who have vowed
to get even with Mr. Callison for imagined
wrongs he is reputed to be responsible for
to innocent denizens of De Leon and the
surrounding area. His pickup is always
locked. Mr. Womack has taken up that habit
also, but Herman did not leant anything from
the tawdry affair. He allowed Rosa entry and
use of his pickup. She took Charlie along on
the gig the fateful day at the lake.
What happened was. that band of revel-
ers ran shy of firewood due to the heavy de-
mand for hot dogs and hamburgers. Just down
the road, another group pul Led up stakes and
they left a goodly amount of firewood. Rosa
and Charlie struck out with all due alacrity in
Herman’s vehicle.
Inside Herman's pickup bed there was a
made to order liner, and upon that liner was
an inflated rubber vyater craft and a rubber
duck that Herman thought a lot of.
Joyfully the two scavengers loaded wood
into the pickup bed, and they were none too
careful in its placement. Some of it landed
smack in the geographic confines of the rub-
ber boat. The rubber ducky was nestled
nearby.
With the wood on board Rosa and Charlie
set sail for the awaiting diners. Folk along the
route waved with vigor, and yelled to the
happy haulers as they sped toward their des-
tination, but of course they could not hear
what was being yelled at them.
"Your pickup is on fire!" is what folks were
calling out at the top of their collective voice*.
And, it was the Gospel truth. The wind whip-
ping through that wood pile reignited the
smoldering ends of the sticks and logs and .
a contrail of dark smoke trailed behind ti.e:
pickup. Rosa and Charlie smiled and re-:
turned the waves.
Herman saw them coming into the home:
stretch, and although he is not a rocket sci-^
entist he figured out what the problem was.":
Burning wood and rubber boats and
duckies are not a wise and prudent mixture.
He voiced his disapproval of the arrange-
ment as the wood gatherers happily alit and
braced themselves for the adulation of the
gathered throng. They, of course were sorely^
disappointed.
The bed liner suffered mightily, and the
rubber boat and duck were a total loss.
Herman's grief was boundless.
"What beats me,” he will tell you, ’’is how
a shining star of the Sheriffs Department
and a kid studying brain surgery could do
such a moronic trick.” Rosa is the deputy.
Herman wants Sheriff Works to charge
the both with destroying ducks out of sea-
son.
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Chupp, Charles. De Leon's Monitor (De Leon, Tex.), Vol. 3, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 14, 1997, newspaper, August 14, 1997; De Leon, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1143438/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Comanche Public Library.