Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 150, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 27, 2000 Page: 2 of 16
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Page 2A—CHEROKEEAN/HERALD of Rusk, Texas—Thursday, January 27, 2000
1
Emmett H. Whitehead
rri_ _ i ITT i j
publisher
CDerokccanricrald
Marie Whitehead
wlf VI. Xy 11V wV4L JLr 1 11VI itlH
editor
January 27, 2000
Texas' oldest continuously
published weekly newspaper.
Established as the Cherokee
Sentinel Feb. 27,1850
r&riá
Jim Hogg State Historical
Park, Rusk
Caddoan Mounds State
Historical Site, Alto
Texas State Railroad State
Historical Park, Rusk
Scene in Passing
Marie Whitehead
editor @ mediactr.com
Where has Winter gone?
Or...is it yet to arrive? Sixty
years ago a heavy snow fall, six
to seven inches deep, marked
the Jan. 14 arrival of my
younger sister, Shirley Rob-
erts. Fifty-two years ago, we
had a snow and ice storm, Jan.
30, our wedding date, the
Better Half and I. If there is
any point to these memories,
perhaps it is 1), to call attention
to the lack of cold weather this
season, and 2) to call attention
to the fact that no matter what
the weather is doing, life goes
on.
Say goodbye to January this week. It is almost
time for February. And as is the floral custom,
the narcissus bulbs have emerged and been in
bloom a couple of weeks, also the japónica and
camellia bushes. This early color suggests the
possibility of a beautiful Spring...if we get some
badly needed wet stuff from Above.
In the meantime, new memories were made as
we reviewed old memories during a bite of lunch
with Dr. Jim Swink Friday. It was ironic that we
sat across the room from a display of Jim when he
was a powerful force on the field of football at
TCU, winning All American honors. We didn't
notice that then. I thought of it later. Jim, now an
orthopedic surgeon in Fort Worth, is one of the
outstanding alumni of Rusk High. As we visited,
football barely made the scene. Jim was reliving
his memories of coming to Rusk in the late 40s
under the Guiding Light of Obie and Grace
Walker. He shared early day memories which
belong in a biography. And that's because it is still
possible for the human phoenix to rise from the
ashes of nothingness to a mighty position of great
good for all mankind. Jim recalled school days,
clasmates and fun stuff. Like who did what to the
flagpole when Obie was Principal? Among the
names of students near his grade level, or in it,
were Cecil Ham and Linda Beard. Not unusual
because this is Rusk, both of them were at the
Courthouse Cafeteria dining at noon Friday, also.
Small world. When he isn't replacing knees, Dr.
Jim likes to come home to his ranch out on the Mt.
Hope Road. Among the many adults in his life
during school days, Jim recalls with fondness
Frank and Katie Gillespie who operated the
theatre here, also Quinton and Bobbie
Nicholson. At one time, these two businesses
were the hub of nightly gatherings. Places for
friends to meet, greet and leave, somehow bonded
for the rest of their lives.
We say again, "thank you," for the bits of info to
be used in this space. One such epistle is on hold
because of its length. It is a spoof, kind of, a
conversation with God. This is courtesy Frank
Gillespie who is wheeling and dealing with e-mail.
But soon.
A note from Anne and Tom Rogers suggests
their weekly copy of this newspaper is behind in its
delivery. We have requested our Post Office to put
a tracer on it, which is one way to determine the
problem. I wonder if it is stalled out somewhere,
lost in a bathroom, being read by a delivery
person? Anne is almost poetic in her complaint: "It
is like receiving hugs from home when I get
it..." We're trying...be patient...all of you who have
a similar problem. And know that our LOCAL
Postal Personnel are on the job, starting the paper
toward you.
A phone call from Sam Womack merits our
help. He says Sunday, Jan. 19 a
man from Rusk found his dad in
the middle of Hwy. 110 south of
Troup toward New Summerfield.
The man got his father off the
road and found help for him
before leaving. When Sam and
his wife, Annelle, came from
Tyler after being called, no one
had gotten the name of the man
who had helped the senior Mr.
Womack. Sam and Annelle want
very much to properly thank
whoever helped Sam's dad. If
you have information, please call
Diane at our office and she will
help connect you.
On the road to recovery this week we find James
Hagen, ankle still mending from a break while
fighting a fire; Madge Smith down at Forest
whose recent days have been spent re-cycling the
Crud Bug, this is the third time; Glenda
McElroy Dement, wife of Jacksonville's Mayor
Tommy Dement, came home Jan. 18 and rehab
has begun; Mary Boone makes progress, though
in small increments, and expects to be transferred
to ETMC Tyler this week for a special form of
rehab to help those who have been on a respirator
for an extended period; our neighbor, Joyce
Turner, and the next door neighbor of Opal Fitts,
is recouping from triple bypass heart surgery
Friday much to the delight of her son Russell and
wife Christi, who so recently lost her dad; our
dear Margie Williamson parted company with
about 18 big staples last week, lightening her load
and lifting her laughter after recent heart surgery;
Wallace Gard and spouse Mary June are too
busy being the caregivers to have time for caretak-
ing; they are loyal friends of Carl and Hettie
Rogers who they say, are doing "pretty good."
Jenny Bell, who suffered a stroke Jan. 17, has
been returned to Gardendale Nursing Home with a
less than optimistic prognosis. Bill Cobble hopes
to confer with doctors at Galveston this week
regarding the future treatment for his wife Linda.
Bill says she seems to take one step forward, then
one back in her recovery from brain surgery. Our
dear Annie Lee Smith's son, Jamie, is at home at
Elkhart, assisted by Hospice Caregivers as he
deals with cancer. In the getting better column is
Kelley Garner, who was able to wheel himself
downtown for lunch one day last week (a literal
wheel, as in wheelchair.) after recent knee surgery.
And Mrs. Ralph Travis sends word to Flora Mae
Jones that she hopes to visit Rusk next month.
She will celebrate her 80th birthday at home.
Ralph recently noted Number 90.
The community's sympathy is extended to the
family of Comer Hudson who died Sunday
morning following a heart attack.
Thanks to friend Marsha Stephens who e-
mailed a bunch of bloopers in headlines. This is
especially interesting to us because we tend to
create some funny, others not so funny, headlines
in this newspaper. Here's a sampling of what
other publications have written: "Include your
children when baking cookies; Something went
wrong in jet crash, experts say; Iraqi head seeks
arms; New study of obesity looks for larger test
group; If strike isn't settled quickly, it may last a
while."
That's all for this week, folks. I am thankful you
are there to read...and I am equally thankful to be
here to write. And if I don't stop soon, this may
last a while. Keep Smiling...
GRASS ROOTS by Stan Lynde
KIPS SURE PO LOVE
COW&OYS, DON'T y, i
THEY, SHAG?" vmnlM \
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YEP.. AM' SET UP
STtZA/GHT, BILLY..
WE'VE: GOT T'
I 1.«(/• -• -V. .. . • • ¿Z-TAkt
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High Points From El Camino Real
Chris Davis
e-mail: elcaminoreal9inu.net
It has been a slow dry week
along El Camino Real unless
you are a politician. Those
buddies have really gotten busy
beating the bushes for votes the
last few weeks. Nobody brought
by much news this week, but
things kept happening anyway.
I managed to get enough to-
gether for two dimes' and a
nickel's worth, but it was pretty
tough going at times.
The lunar eclipse Thursday
night had a lot of folks standing
outside staring at the moon. It
put on a pretty good show for a
while, but I didn't have any shoes on and my
interest began to dwindle when my feet got cold.
The moon turned a reddish color that was kind of
eerie looking on a cold winter's night. My poor
sister is supposed to be having a baby anytime and
we figured that all the moon activity might send
her to the hospital, but nothing happened. A big
full moon seems to make people act a little crazier
and sometimes there is an increase in fights
during this time. I don't know whether any of the
superstitions about a full moon are true or
not.These are just some of the things you have to
ponder when nothing happens in Alto and you
have a column to write.
Alto hit a low point this week with the deaths of
three of our citizens over the weekend. I don't
know whether Dickie Allen started the saying
years ago about deaths coming in threes or how it
came about, but it does seem like when we have a
death here in town there are usually two more
soon to follow. It is a lot easier to tell funny stories
than it is to write about the passing of old friends,
but sometimes that is just the way the cards fall.
A longtime Alto school teacher, Van Campbell,
passed away on Friday night from a heart attack.
He instructed a lot of kids here in Alto and had
made many friends over the years. I got to visit
with his children, Kim, Tracy and Bryan at the
funeral home Sunday night. It is good to see old
friends but it seems here lately we see our friends
at the funeral home more than anywhere else.
Please keep this family in your prayers this week
as they mourn their loss.
Jake and Carrie Hamilton weren't in their
usual place at church Sunday and I had thought
about them during service. The phone rang about
3:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and I was told
about Carrie's passing. She was a real sweet lady
and we are sure going to miss seeing her about
town, in her garden and walking around the
neighborhood with her friend, Emal Rogers.
Carrie had a big family of siblings that were very
close. Keep them as well as Jake, Charles and the
rest of the family in your prayers as they cope with
losing someone so special this week.
I was talking to my friend Roland Peacock
Sunday night and he told me that Archie
Perkins had just passed away in Jacksonville.
Archie had been sick with
pneumonia and just couldn't get
over it. I got to know Archie
when he helped Edwin Boyd on
his trips home from the VA
Hospital in Marlin. I always
enjoyed visiting with him over at
Edwin's or when I would run
into him in town. His family will
certainly appreciate your
prayers this week.
I couldn't help but notice how
the warm weather has gotten
people to burning off their
~~ gardens and discing up the
ground a bit early this year.
With the on again, off again burn bans I guess you
better burn it at the first opportunity. If some rain
doesn't come pretty quickly, I think everyone's
gardening attempts may be in vain this year. The
drought is getting pretty serious all across the
state and some of our East Texas lakes are nearly
dry. I talked to a friend from Central Texas this
weekend and I asked him about the dry weather.•
He said they were already drinking dirt out there
and that if you went to the store to buy bottled
water they sold you a bottle of dirt. I think he
might have been exaggerating just a little, but
from the looks of Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend
he may not be too far off from the truth.
My neighbor Virgil Schochler decided to mow his
turnip greens down last week because they were
going to seed. He got his riding lawnmower in
such a bind in the greens that the belt jumped off
and it wouldn't mow anymore. I went over to his
house and he wanted to know if I knew anybody he
could hire to look at his lawnmower.
I told him I'd look at it for $5 but I wasn't going
to do anything to it. I don't know why he just
didn't say " Chris, will you put the belt on my
lawnmower?" I pulled the mower out of the puttin'
house and it took about half a minute to put the
belt back on after I got down and reached under it.
I told Virgil that it wasn't that hard to do. He said
that he couldn't get down.
I told him, that was the dumbest thing I ever
heard. Anybody can get down. You can fall down.
It is the getting up that is the hard part. I didn't
get so much as a thin dime out of him for my
efforts and to make matters worse he has been
giving my greens away since he mowed all of his
down. I'm afraid I'm in for a long, miserable
garden season with him again this year.
I was looking back over some old articles I had
written during the third week of January over the
past few years and couldn't help but notice that
very little goes on around here in late January. I
guess this is our quiet time. People are shut up
trying to do their taxes and trying to get over all
they spent on Christmas. Ill see ya next week!
And remember, When a good man or woman
runs for political office, support him or her
with your time and money.
New Deadline for Letters
'i1*
Our mail bag is frequently a
mixed bag.
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ing viewpoints.All submissions
to "letters to the editor" must
contain the writer's name, ad-
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OT'
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Also, letters must not contain
information or allegations 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. 78785 or send
us a FAX at (903) 683-5104.
Our E-mail address is
heraldQmediactr.com. Please
include a daytime telephone
number for clarifications and
verification.'
Please note that our net "let-
ters" deadline is 10 a.m. on Mon-
days.
Emmetl and Maria Whitehead will celebrate thalr 52nd wadding annlveraary Jan. 30.
Cfyerokeeaq/Herald
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Whitehead, Marie. Cherokeean/Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 150, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 27, 2000, newspaper, January 27, 2000; Rusk, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth168628/m1/2/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Singletary Memorial Library.