Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 149, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 18, 1998 Page: 2 of 16
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Sec. A, Page 2—CHEROKEEAN/HERALP of Rusk, Texas—Thursday, June 18, 1998
Emmett H. Whitehead
rri_ , i /Ti i J
publisher
Cherokeean Herald
Marie Whitehead
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editor
June 18,1998
Texas' oldest continuously
published weekly newspaper.
Established as the Cherokee
Sentinel Feb. 27,1850
High Points From El Camino Real
a
Jim Hogg State Historical
Park, Rusk
Caddoan Mounds State
Historical Site, Alto
Texas State Railroad State
Historical Park, Rusk
Scene in Passing
Marie Whitehead
e-mail: heralo@e-tex.com
Do you know what a "block
party" is? Some of us who have
spent our lives in the rural areas
may think that's what the young
people do when they meet down-
town and "drive around the
•quare." That's one kind of a "block
party," don't you agree? But for the
city dwellers, this is understood as
an ice-breaker for the neighborhood.
Get to know who lives next door and
down the street. This concept in
socializing was turned into a great,
country, fun time recently by a few
neighbors in the Gifford/Pecan
Street area of Rusk.
Whose idea was it? Nobody will admit to it, but
among the ring-tail leaders were Earl and Nancy
Finley and Claudia and Sam Florian with Jack-
sonville Mayor Tommy Dement. That stretched
the block concept a "fur piece," didn't it? Actually,
Mayor Dement's parents, Carl and Cora, live right
there, too. And the party turned into a surprise for
Carl because he didn't know his son would bring with
him a band of musicians, magical, merry-making
folks! Carl had never heard his son perform with the
group, therefore you can see how special the party's
significance began to be. It was a kind of early
"Happy Father's Day" gift from Tommy to his dad.
As the music makers entertained, lots of foot pat-
ting was going on. Finally, somebody took the bull by
the horns and made the first steps toward dancing in
the street! It was an all ages event.
Little people getting their first exposure to such a
thing and the fully grown folks sailed around on that
rough street, wearing blissful smiles. Remembering
when, most likely. The more middle-aged couples
found they could move to the traditional waltz and
swing out to the fastier tunes, too!
Tommy emceed the musical program, injecting a
bit of humor. In reference to his postition of mayor, he
admitted it hadn't gone to his head at all. "I just told
my kids they'd have to call me Mayor Dad for a while."
Anyway, just to get a feel for being in a band, Rusk's
mayor, the Better Half, posed for a picture holding
a "geetar" like he knew what he was doing! It really
was an enjoyable party for everyone present. It was
supposed to honor Mr. Carl, but those in attendance
were honored, too.
Handling the major chef duties were longtime,
experienced hamburger cooks Ike Daniel and Wayne
Guinn. Of course, everyone brought some kind of
food...and Nancy and Claudia should not have
given a second thought to their major question-."Will
we have enough food?" Yes, it was more than enough.
And best of all, the best part of the party was that part
which was FREE! No price tags on friendship and
dancing in the street!
The guest list did go just a little beyond the neigh-
borhood boundaries, but that's be-
cause friendship goes beyond neigh-
borhood boundaries! It reaches out
and touches those with whom we
work, or with whom we have
kinship...those we love, in other
words! Who wasn't there? The
neighborhood geese, Clyde and
Myrtle!
Hughlamae Manning was
among those present. Was she in-
spired by what we shared? Who can
say! What I do know is that she
hosted a two day party at her lake
home last week. She invited 20
friends and they came! Some spent
the night after enjoying a pizza fest. The rest went to
their own beds and returned the next day to party
again. This time they dined out at Lake Stryker's
Marina Restaurant. The group enjoyed a fabulous
trip away from home without having to really leave
home!
Home now, but leaving soon, is Nathan Parrish,
son of Buz and Margaret, brother of Allen, of
course. He has enjoyed a brief vacation, away from
the grind of West Point! It must test the mettle of
students and family alike, to be separated by such
distance. But once we understand that "nothing
lasts FOREVER," that which is painful becomes a
little easier.
To all Dads everywhere, happy, happy day next
Sunday! It is YOUR day! We wish you coffee in bed,
the meal of your choice. And may all the voices you
hear have only praise for you today. (Nagging will
resume Monday!)
Jacksonville Mayor Tommy Dement and
Rusk Mayor Emmett Whitehead
Letters To
Local Stories Could
Now that my next play, "The Bridge," is in produc-
tion at the Cherokee Civic Theater, I'd like to take a
moment to thank the many East Texans who shared
historical tales of Jacksonville, Rusk and New Bir-
mingham with me.
Two years of research does not make me a histo-
rian, but as a writer I was overjoyed with a notebook
full of stories that could produce a hundred plays.
The personal stories from the Rusk footbridge were
especially touching. Though I could not tell them all
in one play, I tried to take the sentiment from each
Btory and combine it into one.
The story of New Birmingham proves that fact is
indeed greater than fiction. This million dollar city
that sprang up just two miles outside of Rusk in the
late 1800s was fascinating to say the least. I learned
that Governor Jim Hogg played a very important role
there that could have completely changed East Texas
History.
Now, under the direction of my musical friend,
Karen Hendley, there are actors, musicians, carpen-
ters, historians, seamstresses, etc...working hard to
recreate the footbridge and the illustrious Southern
Hotel as authentically as possible. What a joy it is to
live in a place that is so rich in history and full of
people willing to preserve it. As "The Bridge" begins
to take on its own life, I am beginning to understand
Cl?erokeeai?/Herald
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Texas' Oldest Continuously
Published Weekly Newspaper
Established as the Cherokee
Sentinel, Feb. 27,1850
Consolidation of The Cherokeean,
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the Wells News & Views
Published weekly on Thursday by
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FAX (903) 683-5104
Subscription ratas payable in advance:
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Outside/Cherokee County .$18 par year
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Citizens 1st
BANK na
1 have been out of pocket most of
this week on a little vacation. If
you can call a week in n motor
home with two fighting kids, a
spoiled baby, and a spoiled wife a
vacation. I figured I'd use this
week to catch you up on things
that I have left out over the last
few weeks.
One of the main things I forgot
to tell you about was the grand-
child. I figured it would have been
on the TV or something the way
they have been going on about it.
You would think it was the first ———
grandchild born in Cherokee County. I guess as far
as the Grandparents, Charlotte and John Paul
Dixon are concerned, it is. On May 27 their son Paul
and his wife Becky brought Taylor Rebecca Dixon
into the world. She is a beautiful little girl and if you
don't believe it ask her Grandmother. Congratula-
tions Dixon family on your new arrival in
Lynches Chapel!
In all the hoop la of graduation and the end of
school I left out some very important people that we
are losing to retirement. Marcia Page Hassell
retired as the Alto High School Counselor after hold-
ing that job for many years. She was the counselor
when I was in school, but she didn't do much counsel-
ing on me. I guess she figured her time would be
better spent sharpening pencils or something than
tackling such a chore. For many years she has been
as big a part of the school as the yellow jacket itself.
She will sure be missed. Another person who is
calling it quits is Marion Hudson over at the Alto
ISD Administration office. This lady was the ulti-
mate problem solver for the school. She was in
charge of breaking in new school superintendents
and keeping all the finances in order. Ms. Hudson's
most important job was selling the preseason tickets
for the football games. I think anyone who takes on
this task should get hazardous duty pay. The lady
was great and I pity any new superintendent who has
to start out without her. I know her new grand-
daughter will be glad to have her at home. Last but
not least in this retirement trio is our Alto school
superintendent, Leland Edge. Mr. Edge has left his
mark on our district and he will be missed. He led the
school through the building of Jacket Stadium and
the Alto Middle School. He has seen the school excel
in many areas and worked to make areas where we
didn't shine do better. He went through the wringer
and came out clean. All of these people will be missed
in our school district. Congratulations on your retire-
ment and thanks for all you did.
It doesn't seem like anytime ago when that bunch
of Cooper girls crossed the river out of Houston
County and started to school in Alto. I guess time
does fly because on June 15, Debra Cooper
Landrum turned forty years old. Happy Birth-
day, Debra!
While I'm on the subject of birthdays, I went to a
dandy one a few weeks ago. Elizabeth West had a
" Wizard of Oz" party for her second birthday. Some
of her Mom's students were dressed up like charac-
ters frnm thp storv and she had a hpaut.ifnl rakp
complete with a yellow brick road. Hamburgers were
Chris Davis
e-mail: elcaminoreal@inu.net
served and everybody had a good
time, especially the birthday girl.
Toby Sartain has put up new
signs for the Country Kettle
Restaurant. He has turned that
big dirt lot next to NAPA into res-
taurant parking for his customers
in big trucks. If they want to
spend the night, I'll bet he makes
them buy five hamburgers. Toby
is proud of his new parking area,
but sandy as it is, it looks like a
good place to grow watermelons to
me. Maybe next year he'll put in
one of those drive thru windows
like the Dairy Queen.
Kathleen Cornelison over at Fredonia Bank
wanted me to remind everybody to keep plenty of
water in their hird baths for the birds during dry
weather. Kathleen is always worrying about our
little furry and feathered friends. What about the
ones pecking Virgil's tomatoes and the ones that use
my truck as a toilet? I guess they'll all want a drink
too. It starts with the birds and then word gets out
to the squirrels and rabbits and before you know it
everybody is coming to your house for a free drink. 1
don't have a bird bath and neither does Virgil, so all
I can say is, it's BYOB(bring your own Birdbath) if
you come to our houses.
I told you I've been on vacation, so don't gripe if
this column is a little short. I don't know what
Virgil's done this week cause I've been gone. I'll do
my best to give you a full report on Virgil and
everything else next week. And remember,
When you come to the end of just any one day,
And you count all the things you have done,
The folks you have hindered or helped on their way,
The battles you've lost or won;
If you'd undo the wrongs that you've done-if you
could-
If you fell but got up again,
The day wasn't perfect, but at least it was good
And maybe tomorrow you'll win.
If you've lifted one soul who was struggling along.
Neath a burden that crushed to the ground,
If down in his heart you have placed a new song,
And pointed a new way around;
The master who judges the race that you run
The price of your failures has paid,
He'll judge not by the battles you've lost or won,
But only by efforts you've made.
Author, Tom Q. Ellis
Elizabeth West
Commentary
Neches River Rose and Other Memories
the Editor
Generate 100 Plays
that it is not so much a lesson in history as it is a
celebration of each of our special roles in history.
'The Bridge' will be ready for its first performance
July 31.
Randy Moore
Rusk, Tex.
Letters Policy
The Cherokeean/Herald values readers' letters and
differing viewpoints.All submissions to "letters 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 confirma-
tion.
Also, letters must not contain information or alle-
gations 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 number for clari-
fications and verification.
Member F.D.I.C.
I was very pleased to see the write up in the
Thursday, June 4, 1998 on the Neches River Rose
Mallow. I have been a photographer of wildflowers
for many years. Many of the species that I have
photographed were along the shoreline road at
Duran Lake about one mile off Highway 21 and the
State Pine Tree Nursery.
I have something that I think is very exciting to
share. Since I can not contact the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Dept. directly, perhaps you will share this
information with them or the appropriate people.
Along the shoreline road of Duran Lake between
the artesian spring and pump house and the club-
house, on the right side of the road, you can find a
rose-colored (deep pink) rose mallow with the red
throat.
The article only mentions a white rose mallow. Do
they not know of the deep pink variety that grows
where the Neches River wet land regularly floods
several times a year into Duran Lake?
I was fortunate enough to fish there with my father,
G. S. Hart, from childhood until his death in 1970. In
1972, I bought a cabin from James Blanton on the
shoreline of Duran Lake. I owned it many years until
my health prevented me from keeping up two homes.
Also, after we, Jim Ted Wood and I, retired from
Baytown to New Braunfels, the drive became five
hours as compared to three hours from Baytown.
I have many fond memories of Duran Lake. Once,
I won the trophy for catching the biggest bass that
year. There is a section of the lake called the, "Usher
Hole," that was named for my husband's grandfa-
ther, Robert Fulton Usher. I have been told that he
rode a horse seven miles from Alto to that spot to fish.
He and his wife, Amanda Evans Usher, had a store in
Alto before the turn of the century - 1900.
My father and Luther McCullough fished together.
My father could not swim and one time the boat
turned over and Luther saved my father from drown-
ing.
Another story, is the time Luther turned off high-
way 21 into the entrance to the Duran Lake property,
he was day dreaming about the big bass he was going
to catch and forgot to signal his left turn. His car was
hit by the car following him. When challenged for
failure to signal the turn, Luther said, "Everybody in
the country knows that I make that turn at 5 p.m.
every day of the week!"
As a former psychology teacher, I remember teach-
ing that when you need peace of mind, think back and
picture a very peaceful time in your life. In your
memory, visualize the whole picture. See the scene,
notice the colors, the aromas, the time of day, where
you were sitting etc..
I choose to go back to the setting sun over Duran
Lake. I am sitting on my cabin deck with something
cold to drink. I see the brilliant colors of the sunset
reflected in the water. I hear the songs of birds as
they call back and forth to their mate. There is an
occasional fish that leaps out of the water to catch a
. 1 '
bug. There are late fishermen still out in their boats,
probably Tom Boy Ball and Robert Earl Cummings.
I know that some one of them will probably bring
me their catch of the day rather than take them home
to clean. My father taught me how to use an electric
knife to filet a bass in four easy strokes that will leave
no dangerous bones. He taught me to cover them in
water and freeze them then let them thaw to room
temperature before rolling them in salted corn meal
to fry in oil. He told me to let the oil get hot enough to
strike a wooden kitchen match that I have dropped
into it. The match lights and immediately goes out to
be picked out with the fryer tongs before covering the
top of the oil surface with strips of fish.
My, I can smell the fish frying and taste the crisp
fish that have been drained on a paper towel in the
big iron skillet. The iron skillet holds the heat until
the frying is finished, the paper towel soaks up the
excessive oil. The fish is served in the iron skillet
right to the table.
Duran Lake was formerly owned by four families.
Dr. Hill, was last of the original owners to die last
year. He was a fine old gentleman. He came down and
sat under the tree with us. That was a very important
tree. It gave shade and held up the swing by Cotton
Fultz's cabin. Cotton Fultz was the caretaker for the
longest time that I remember. He is Bertha Fultz's
brother in law. Mr. Joe Murphy was caretaker at one
time.
Many a fish yarn were told under that tree. Old
memories were revived about families that had long
since left Cherokee Co. There were lonesome non-
fishermen who drove down to sit and chat after they
were living alone. A few men came to get away from
a nagging wife!
Many a game of poker was played in the, "Poker
Cabin". If Jim Ted was with me, we got invited to
steak night at the , "Poker Cabin" when the wives all
came , too. That was a long time ago when Jim Ted's
brother, George Ruby Wood, was Alto's J.P..
I need that peace of mind, now. Especially since
Jim Ted's stoke March 20th, 1998. He is still very
unsteady and is in a wheel chair or the bed except for
therapy mornings and evenings at the Gonzales
Warm Springs Rehabilitation Hospital. He was there
33 days and came home using a walker. Three days
later, I found him unconscious and we began all over.
He has been there since the Friday before Memorial
Day.
We have been on prayer lists across the USA via the
Internet. He is slowly improving. His mind has al-
ways been clear. I'm not sure about mine!
I am reminded of the 1937 Alto graduating class
song, "When You Come To The End Of A Perfect
Day," I'm crazy enough to hear Mary Elma Brittian
Utley singing a verse in 1937! I know now, how
precious each day is that the Lord gives us!
Kathryn Hart Wood
New Braunfels, Tex.
I
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 149, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 18, 1998, newspaper, June 18, 1998; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152377/m1/2/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.