Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 40, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 25, 2009 Page: 3 of 16
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Cljei'okeeai} Herald ■ thecherokeean.com
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
3A
EDITORIAL BOARD
Whitehead Enterprises Inc.
publisher
MARIE WHITEHEAD
editor
TERRIE W. GONZALEZ
managing editor
FAST I f°rward
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst hears plea for 'Field of Dreams'
I wish that Lt. Gov. David
Dewhurst could drive
around the downtown
square in Rusk with me.
I would hke to show him
the Christmas lights after
dark, and let him see the
sparkle and promise of the
city.
After a private interview
with him Nov. 19 at the
East Texas Economic De-
velopment Summit, he and
I talked about small town
hfe and some of the great-
est challenges facing rural
East Texas cities like Rusk.
I told him about the 1,000
jobs at Rusk State Hospi-
tal and the 1,000 jobs at
the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice.
"That's a very stable
workforce," he said.
"It is," I replied, "and
those folks are not worried
about getting pink shps or
about having their hours
slashed from full-time to
part-time. They are paying
their bills on time, and that
has created stability in
our city We are weather-
ing the downturn in the
economy better as a result."
We talked about the 200
jobs that were added a
couple of years ago at Rusk
TERRIE GONZALEZ
herald@mediactr.com
State Hospital when a new
forensic unit was created.
"Not many of those new
jobs relocated in Rusk,"
I said. Gov. Dewhurstfs
eyebrows went up.
"We don't have good
places for these people to
live," I said.
The federal lending
programs in place tend to
favor communities a httle
larger than Rusk. Cities
with a population of 12,000
get the lion's share of the
loans over a town the size
of Rusk.
Gov. Dewhurst listened
as I talked about Rusk's
problem in attracting de-
velopers in the past.
"I'm going to look into
this, he said as he fished
a piece of paper out of his
suit pocket.
He scribbled down the
important information and
promised to get back with
us.
One of my top priorities
the next day was to share
this information with Mike
Murray, Rusk City Man-
ager.
"The heutenant. governor
is taking a personal inter-
est in our lack of housing,"
I told him. "He promised to
make some phone calls on
our behalf."
The adage about what
comes first — the chicken or
the egg — can also apply to
rural development.
As Gov. Dewhurst poinled
out. Rusk has a stable work
force. Now we need to
work on multi-family hous-
ing, single family hous-
ing, certified retirement
community designation, an
industrial park and broad-
band Internet.
In my "Field of Dreams''
for Rusk — I know that if
we build homes, apart-
ments and an industrial
park, we will grow the com-
munity in a positive way
that benefits us all.
THE QI
cactor
Giving thanks for Thanksgiving memories
From time to time at
various points in
the year, I find my-
self thinking about
Thanksgiving.
No, not only about the
food, although that does
play a role in my thoughts.
I've always liked Thanks-
giving because most of
the time, it was one of two
holidays where you were
guaranteed to see anyone
and everyone. (The other is
Christmas.) If you'd spent
the entire year wondering how so-and-so
Was doing or if Person X's baby was grow-
ing up, you'd know right around Thanks-
giving.
Thankgiving for me was always a huge
deal. Family would usually come in from
across the state and the country the day
before Thanksgiving. We'd all spend that
day together, catching up and reminiscing.
On Thanksgiving, we'd spend all day
eating, sleeping or watching football.
Yes, yes, I know that Thanksgiving is a
time for giving thanks, and We did plenty
of that. I have to admit, though, that I'm
also thankful for the NFL tripleheader
that started in the last few years. We'd
give and take on the early game to where
usually, a few of us would watch it and the
rest of the family would drift in and out.
When the Cowboys kick off, however.
We're all in front of the TV. only moving
for a Second (or third or fourth) helping of
food, a bathroom break and to avoid the
halftime show.
QUINTEN BOYD
chreporter@mediactr.com
When the Cowboy game
ends (and hopefully, with
a win), the che-hard sports
fans stick around for the
third NFL game or whatev-
er college game was on that
night while others would
go riding to see friends that
came home for the holiday.
Friday was another foot-
ball day, usually highlight-
ed by the Texas-Texas A&M
game (although this year,
that game is Thanksgiving
night). Happily there's a
full slate of college games.
The Saturday following Thanksgiving, if
Pewitt is in the playoffs, the entire family
will pile into their vehicles and go wher-
ever the Bulls were stampeding. If not,
some of the family goes shopping, some
play video games and others just hang
out. On Sunday everyone returns home
for another week of work or school. We all
wish we had more time to spend at home,
looking forward to the next time we'd all
get together.
You may notice a theme in my Thanks-
giving memory: people doing things
together. As I said in a previous column,
"memories are never made alone." Every
Thanksgiving, I'm surrounded by family
and friends, doing things that we all enjoy
and creating those brand new memories.
That's why I spend most of the year hop-
ing for moments like that. I relive them,
knowing that they will come soon and I'll
spend time with my family and friends.
That's what I'm thankful for.
TAXING I thoughts
'Tis the season for giving gifts - tax free
The tax code allows
you to give away up
to $13,000 each year
to as many people as
you want, without trig-
gering gift tax. If you and
your spouse "split" your
gifts, you can double this
$13,000 annual gift-tax
exclusion and give $26,000
per recipient.
Sharing the Wealth
If you're thinking of
sharing your wealth, here
are some important gift-
giving considerations,
• All gifts during the
year, including birthday
and hohday presents,
count toward the $13,000
(or $26,000) annual gift
tax exclusion. For ex-
ample, say you give a $500
birthday present to your
grandchild. You may give
another $12,500 to that
grandchild during the year
without triggering the
need for a gift tax return.
• A gift made by check
isn't complete until the
recipient actually deposits
ANITA L. WOODLEE
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
or cashes the check. Plan
accordingly when making
year-end gifts, especially if
you want such gifts to be
counted toward this year's
gift-tax exclusion.
• For a gift to be valid,
you must part with owner-
ship. Pay special attention
to gifts of stock in the fam-
ily business or gifts of your
personal residence.
• Carefully consider the
type of asset before you
give it away. Property that
has substantially appreci-
ated in value may not be a
good candidate for giv-
ing, especially if you are
elderly. If you own stock
or other property that has
declined in value since
you acquired it, you may
be better off selhng the
property and giving away
the proceeds. Giving away
a life insurance pohcy can
be an excellent strategy,
but it's subject to some
tricky rules.
Of course, you should
never make a substantial
gift unless you can afford
to part with the prop-
erty. And any gift-giving
program should be part
of an overall estate plan.
Remember, too, that gifts
to individuals are not tax-
deductible. Call us if you'd
like assistance.
pd. advertising
ANITA L. WOODLEE,
CPA, PC
CERTIFIED PUBLIC
ACCOUNTANT
111 Henderson • Rusk • 75785
Phone:903-683-1002
www.anitawoodleecpa.com
Visit our web site for new tax
tips and financial calculators
mum tmp-itrf
iNJ
NrWyt,
Published weekly each
Wednesday by
WHITEHEAD
ENTERPRISES,
INC.
Texas' oldest continuously published
weekly newspaper, established as the
Cherokee Sentinel, Feb. 27,1850. Con-
solidation of The Cherokeean, The Alto
Herald and the Wells News & Views
eeaij
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Marie Whitehead
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mwhitehead@mediactr. com
Terrie Gonzalez
managing editor
(903) 683-2257 ext. 107
herald@medlactr.com
Robert Gonzalez
advertising sales
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rgonzalez@mediactr. com
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general news
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chreporter@mediactr.com
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HIGH POINTS !*■ El Camino Real
Folks along El Camino
Real are busy as
bees frying turkeys,
making dressing
and making out beds and
pallets for family coming
in from out-of-town. All
these chores must be done
quickly because Thanksgiv-
ing is here. This has got
to be the best time of year
to live in East Texas. The
recent rains have made the
leaves prettier than they
have been in years. It is
hard not to get excited about Thanksgiv-
ing when you think about what we have to
be thankful for. If nothing else you can be
thankful that you just had to pay four bits
to read this article when you know good
and well its worth at least six bits.
The National Junior Honor Society at
the Alto Middle School sponsored a "kiss
the pig" contest to raise money to buy
hams for needy families at Thanksgiving.
Each teacher had their own piggy bank
and the kids put money into the bank for
the one they wanted to have the honor
of kissing the pig. At the last pep rally
for the Alto Yellowjackets the pig kissing
winner was announced. Lindsey Patrick,
a sixth grade language arts teacher, was
awarded the prize and presented with
a beautiful pig for her to kiss in front of
the whole school. Mrs. Patrick is from
Connecticut and this is her first year to
teach in Alto. I don't think that folks in
Connecticut do much pig kissing, so the
whole affair was a httle odd to her. After
a spell of nausea, Mrs. Patrick wag a good
sport and kissed the porker on his head. A
big thanks to all of those folks who gave a
CHRIS DAVIS
elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
Alto Middle School Teacher Lindsey
Patrick agreed to kiss a pig when honor
society students sponsored a fund-
raising drive to buy Thanksgiving meals
for those less fortunate.
httle money to make some-
one's Thanksgiving a little
brighter.
A Thanksgiving play,
"Squantos, Thanksgiving"
was preformed by the chil-
dren of the A. Frank Smith
United Methodist Church
after church on Sunday
The fellowship hall was
standing room only as folks
arrived to enjoy a great
lunch and watch the kids
do their play. Dianne West
and several other mothers
and grandmothers helped make the play
possible with lots of hard work and some
great Indian and Pilgrim costumes. The
children did a great job and everyone left
full of good food and inspiration. If you
want to fill up a church house all you have
to do is turn the show over to the kids and
the people will come to watch them.
We have lots to be thankful for this year
and I hope everyone will slow down just
a httle bit over this Thanksgiving hohday
and think about some of our blessings. Gf
course we are all thankful for our children
except when they are fighting all over the
house and won't stop no matter how loud
you scream. I know we are thankful for
our children here in Alto because it was
just last year that we voted school bonds
to build them a new elementary school.
The vote passed by a huge majority even
as our economic future was beginning
to look a little gloomy. We love our kids
and we are thankful that we are able to
provide for them. We are thankful for
the dedicated teachers and administra-
tors that We have working in our schools.
We are thankful that they keep trying
to do their best to teach our kids even
when some folks don't do their part in
parenting. We may not be able to offer
everything that a big city school can offer,
but we make up for that in community
involvement and love for our kids.
We are thankful for the closeness in our
community, If someone is ill or a trag-
edy strikes a family then within minutes
they are placed on prayer hsts all over
town. When someone in our community
is hurting then we all hurt a little. When
an ambulance or fire truck goes by we
always watch which direction it goes and
start trying to figure who hves out that
way and which one of our friends could be
in trouble. When trouble does come to a
family the last thing they have to worry
about is something to eat, because some-
one has usually already started cooking
them something as soon as the word gets
out that there is trouble. We are thank-
ful to kind souls who use their stoves to
brighten someone's day.
We are thankful for the wisdom of our
elders in the community We are thankful
that they are willing to share their knowl-
edge, if we are willing to listen
We said goodbye to some great people in
See EL CAMINO, pg. 4A
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 160, No. 40, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 25, 2009, newspaper, November 25, 2009; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth152914/m1/3/: accessed May 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.