Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 15, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 22, 1998 Page: 19 of 29
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He just enjoys life - never a dull
moment with Harold Shoemaker
by BETTY ADAIR
Rains County Leader staff
Frederick Harold Shoemaker
lives with his daughter, Charlotte
Rabe of Emory, who is a teacher at
RISD He is also the grandfather of
Dr. E. Jason Rabe, who has a chiro-
practic practice here in Emory.
Mr. Shoemaker has been in
Emory since May 22, 1998. After
celebrating his 90th birthday in
Lumberton, Mississippi, he came
back to Emory with the Rabe fam-
ily for a six-month stay.
He loves riding the senior citizen
bus out to the senior citizen center
to eat lunch. He has made numerous
friends in Rains County since he
has been here, and loves associating
with them while having lunch at the
center.
Mr. Shoemaker has a lot of happy
memories, but can also remember a
lot of tragedies in his lifetime He
remembers his dad reading from the
Tri-Weekly Constitution, a newspa-
per printed in Atlanta, Georgia, that
his dad always subscribed to.
Among the stories that his dad read
to him was that of the sinking of the
Titanic and all the sadness sur-
rounding it He also remembers the
explosion and burning of the
Hindenburg, the German-built diri-
gible that was struck by lightning in
New Jersey while in the process of
being tied down. The airship was
filled to capacity during that maiden
voyage, so there were a lot of deaths
from the tragedy.
The Shoemakers lived about 60
miles from where the hurricane
Camille came ashore in Mississippi.
Things got bad in their area at about
11 p.m. At that time they decided to
go to the post office which was
about 60 feet from their house and
had an underground area. After
arriving at the post office, they
remembered they had left a candle
burning on the piano, and because
of the danger of fire, Mr Shoe-
maker went back to extinguish it.
By the time he started back to the
post office, he had to crawl because
the wind was so high. He said that
the government was conducting a
test to see how high the wind got,
but the testing instrument broke as
the wind velocity measured 200
miles an hour. The top was taken off
the Shoemaker’s house, but the
house was so well-braced that it
was still standing. He also remem-
bers the constant lightning.
Mr. Shoemaker was bitten by a
rattlesnake at the age of eight as lie
followed his uncle through a pas-
ture on their way to Grandpa’s
house. His uncle placed him on his
shoulders, put his foot in his mouth
and sucked out the poison as he
walked. Upon arriving home his
foot was put in coal oil, and the coal
oil (timed green. The doctor arrived
some time that afternoon, and
remarked that it was a good thing
his uncle sucked the poison out or
he wouldn’t be here now. He had a
teacher that walked to school and
always came by to carry him to
school on his shoulders so he didn’t
have to miss.
There were twelve children in the
Shoemaker family, and money was
Lone Oak ISD
lunch menu
Sept. 2f-Oct. 2
Mon: No schoof for students.
Parent/teacher conferences.
Tues: Pork rib, scalloped pota-
toes, spinach, fruit, com bread,
milk.
Wed: Hamburger, lettuce and
tomato, chips, fruit, milk.
Thurs: Creamed turkey, rice,
English peas, roll, brownie, milk.
Fri: Chili con carne, cheese cup,
green salad, crackers, fruit, milk.
DOTS&
DASHES
by Dorothy Reed
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22,1998 1^31118 CfoPntp Ijtfldtr Qfl
EMORY
POLICE
REPORT
FREDERICK HAROLD SHOEMAKER is very young for the 90 years he
has lived. There's never a dull moment when he is around.
Staff photo by Betty Adair
hard to come by. They always had
plenty to eat, but they did not live
high on the hog. There were always
peas, beans and com bread.
Mr. Shoemaker was the first to
graduate in his family at the age of
twenty-two. His older sister gradu-
ated at the same time. He had to
drop out twice because of illness in
the family; once when his mother
was sick, and then when he was sick
himself, and although money was
tight, he went back to finish. He had
to travel twelve miles to Bay
Spring, Mississippi. In 1997 he
attended the 65th year reunion of
that graduating class.
There are two boys and four girls
of the family still living; the
youngest is 76.
Mr. Shoemaker worked at many
different things in his lifetime. He
started plowing alongside his dad at
age nine. While still young, he
learned to cook off and can syrup at
a syrup mill. He worked for Gulf
Oil for fourteen years; and he
worked in the county clerk's office
for two terms. While working at the
clerk's office he met a man who was
behind on his county taxes and was
losing his property, which was two
small tracts of land. The man need-
ed $24 to pay the taxes. He offered
one of the tracts to Mr. Shoemaker
for enough money to pay off the
taxes. Mr. Shoemaker said, “I didn't
really have the money, but 1
stretched a point and gave him the
money, and in return he made me a
deed to the land. Later there was an
oil well placed on the property. It is
still pumping.”
Mr. Shoemaker received notice to
Special Occasion Cakes
Laura White
it *.
PO. Box 194 „ ★
Emory, TX 75440
903-473-0173
3? •+ .•
TACL - License
« B 002792E
Hatting ^
Wilson Heating & Air Conditioning
Sales, Service & Installation
Servicing All Brands
Ray Wilson Hwy. 19 South
903-473-2536 Emory, TX - USA
EMORY TIRE &
SERVICE CENTER
Open Mon.-Sat. 8-6
New & Used Tires Available
Limited Warranty on Used Tires
Hwy. 69 South • Emory • 473-4037
BOBBY ESSARY, Owner-Manager
SONCER SEPTIC
SAND AND GRAVEL
Sales • Installation
Backhoe Work • Driveways
Sandy Loam • Top Soil
SPRINKLER HEADS
MECHANICAL SEWAGE TREATMENT SYSTEMS
Owner: ALBERT SONGER (903) 473-3899
P.O. Box 685, Emory, TX 75440 State Licensed
prepare to go to the service in World
War II He sold his place and was
about to move his wife and family
back to her mother’s to live in the
rent house when he received anoth-
er notice to stay home; he was too
old at age thirty-five.
Mr. Shoemaker loves baseball on
TV or radio. Some time back he
said, “I’ve ridden on Amtrack twice
and 1 would love to ride it once
more. I want to go to Chicago to
watch the Cubs play.” His daughter-
in-law got on the telephone and
made reservations and he, his
grandson, and his son went to
Chicago. They rode all night, and
saw three games before returning
home.
He lost his wife in 1980 and his
son in 1994.
He related the experience of a
very enjoyable cruise to Cancun,
Mexico, and the Cayman Islands on
a Russian ship. He said it was very
nice with all kinds of entertainment
Mr. Shoemaker will be returning
to Mississippi in October for anoth-
er six months. Whether he is in
Rains County or in Mississippi, he
enjoys life and always has lots of
friends.
Make plans now to attend the
Alba Country Fair, Friday night.
Sept. 25, and all day Saturday, Sept
26.
There will be something for
every age group, and lots of hard
work has gone into the preparation
for the event. See you there!
The ladies of Enon Baptist
Church enjoyed a salad dinner, co-
hosted by Karen Bohannan and Nan
Owen, Tuesday night in the fellow-
ship hall.
The ladies served the men, also,
since the men were meeting at the
church the same night.
The hall and serving tables were
decorated with a “Back to School”
theme, complete with favors of
apples, rulers, erasers, pencils, and
crayons. Megaphones and pom
poms were lined up down the center
of the tables.
Blackboards and posters through-
out carried school messages regard-
ing each member.
Certificates of graduation were
presented with each member’s
school name, superintendent and a
brief message regarding their most
eventful happening during their last
year of high school.
Salads were served buffet style.
A Bible quiz was the “test’ for the
night and a brief business meeting
was conducted.
The Deborah Sunday School
Class of First Baptist enjoyed din-
ner at the local deli Tuesday.
Twenty members attended, sever-
al of the ladies’ husbands were
guests, and a good time was had by
all
Brother Bill and Mrs. Bonnie
Eads of-Tyler came Friday to visit
her sister and husband, Earnest and
Vada Caldwell.
Bobby and Judy Davis of
Houston visited over the weekend
with his mother, Lois Cross.
I was finally able to visit the
recently renovated offices of the
“Rains County Leader” and was
impressed with the results. I wish
this establishment many more years
of successful business and service
to this area.
The Rains County Fair is over
(finally), and the Rains County
Law Enforcement Agencies man-
aged to fingerprint and photograph
165 children during the fair. Kids
who came to the booth received
candy, balloons, pens and pencils,
stickers and coloring books. I
would like to thank all of the people
that helped man the booth and
made things run smoothly all week,
including the fair association for
their assistance with our booth. I
would also like to thank Wal-Mart
for their donation of film and pro-
cessing and the Eastern Star for
their donation. The pictures of the
children should he going out to
Rains schools this week, and for
those kids who were not school
age, the pictures will be available at
the Rains County Sheriff’s Office.
The fair went smoothly enough
with a wet and muddy start for
everyone and a wet finish for me. I
was in the dunking booth for about
two hours on Saturday trying to
help earn money for the Scottish
Rite Children’s Hospital.
For those who left early (before
1 a m. Saturday night) you missed a
new event at the fair this year, the
tire roll. A large truck/tractor tire
was rolled down the hill behind the
fairgrounds while a man was inside
the tire. Reports say the man was
slightly intoxicated, and after roll-
ing down the hill, he was more than
slightly sick.
Monday: Asked to secure a
house on N. Texas of a man who
was transferred to the hospital.
Called to Airport Rd. for a domes-
tic disturbance. Man was assaulted
but refused to file charges. Call :d
to Forbis Rd. regarding people in
someone’s yard Called to Oak
Leaf Trailer Park for a curse fight
between mother and daughter.
Warning given.
Tuesday: Received a call about
a mangy dog in a yard. No action
taken No animal control officer or
facility to take the animal. Went to
Greenville to pick up film for the
fair. Called to Quitman Rd. for a
dog that had killed some chickens.
Report taken.
Wednesday: Report from carni-
val worker that some stuffed ani-
mals were stolen.
Thursday: Report that a dog
attacked a pedestrian while he was
walking down the road. Pedestrian
managed to cut the dog before
being bitten, dog reported by owner
to be okay No charges filed. Re-
port of a gas drive-off from Max-A-
Mart. Unable to locate person. Re-
port of an accident at Max-A-Mart
with one of the parties involved
leaving the scene without leaving
the required information Subject
later found and information was
forwarded to other involved party.
Friday: Called to Ravine St. to
assist EMS with a medical emer-
gency. Elderly woman had fallen,
no injury reported Called to Max-
A-Mart for a domestic disturbance,
no charges filed.
Saturday: EMS called to fair-
grounds for a man with an injured
leg. Man transported to Sulphur
Springs.
Sunday: No calls made. Went to
Sulphur Springs to get film devel-
oped.
***
If there is any sin more deadly
than envy, it is being pleased at
being envied.
Richard Armour
1 do not consider it an insult, but
rather a compliment to be called an
agnostic. I do not pretend to know
where many ignorant men are
sure—that is all that agnosticism
means. Clarence Darrow
(lountxij ^J[oujex± & (ff/lj-ti
on the Square • Emory • 473-2069
1-800-765-1569
“Serving you with over 32 years' experience
Karen Young • 598-6040
Calling all Students.
The Secretary of State and
this newspaper want
your opinion!
Fewer and fewer Texans vote on election days in Texas
Two of the low est election turnouts in state history have taken place this year.
The situati m greatly concerns your hometown newspaper and Texas Secretary
of State Alberto R. Gonzales, the state’s chief elections officer His job is to
encourage voter participation in Texas. Whileyow may not be old enough to vote,
Secretary Gonzales wants you to tell him why you think your parents should vote
this November 3rd. Secretary Gonzales asks that you join other Texas students in
writing an essay entitled: “Why My Parents Should Vote.” Winning entries will
be displayed in the Capitol through the November election and announced in a news
release and at ;t media event. Students who write the winning essays will be invited
to appear at the Capitol media event.
Please think about this important topic and send Secretary
Gonzales your essay. And, if you need help writing your essay,
talk to your mom or dad about the importance of voting!
Entry Divisions: Grades K-5( 100-300 words), Vo«ofWo«a».»gfcEdM,»»
6-8(400 words or less) and 9-12(500 words or less)
Due Date: Entries must be postmarked by October 9th 1998
I
Why My Parents Should Vote”
Essay Contest
Student Name .
School/Grade
School District.
Home Address
City/State/Zip ___ I
Parent or Guardian Daytime Phone ______ __ ,
Mail entries to: The Office of the Secretary of State, Executive Division
Attention: Essay Contest, P.O. Box 12697
^ Capitol Station, Austin, Texas, 78711 j
I he Secretary of State's essay contest is generously supported by this newspaper.
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Hill, Earl Clyde, Jr. Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 15, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 22, 1998, newspaper, September 22, 1998; Emory, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth765895/m1/19/?q=war: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rains County Library.