May all your Thanksgiving leftovers be gone by now except the good memories. The Powell and Pouland families were grateful and thankful for all the family members that gathered with us. Out of town guests included Jerry and Annabelle Powell from Angleton; Randy, Lisa and John Cook, their daughter and family, Amber and Brad and two daughters; another daughter, Alexa Duke and daughter, Aryn, all from Henderson.

Kayla Martel was grateful for the mashed potatoes she had for Thanksgiving. Kayla spent almost two weeks with her jaws wired together and could have nothing to eat but liquids and could not use a straw; she survived on yogart and smoothies. So you can understand why she got excited about having mashed potatoes. Because of Kayla's situation and her sister Kendall being sick at home in Nacogdoches, a big TG dinner wasn't planned. Susie stayed home with Kayla while Gary Martel went to Nome to spend the day with his dad and family. The Martels' neighbors, Coach Tom and Michele Shepherd, brought lunch to Susie while Kayla enjoyed her potatoes and they were all thankful.

David and Sally Macher enjoyed having both children at home for Thanksgiving. Christine is finishing her RN degree from Blynn College and John is completing his degree in biomedical technology and imaging from a technical school in Waco. John is doing his internship at Memorial Medical in Lufkin. In the Macher household, the women did the cooking and the guys did the cleaning; sounds good to me.

Doug and Rita Baldree enjoyed Mexican food for Thanksgiving including fajitas, rice and beans. Doug was the chief cook and had lots of help eating: son B.J. and daughter, Megan; nephew Jonathan Smith and friend, Brigette; niece Marcie and Robert Fenner and children, Bradley and Kimberly. Doug's mom, Garvis Baldree, brought a homemade apple pie.

Big John McGuire came by to get a sprocket for his chainsaw but left with syrup, peanuts and pecans. He said the McGuire family gathered at the home of Mark and Glenda Shepherd in The Settlement; all but five members of the family were present. They ate on a long table that will seat 10-12 people, handmade by David Crager.

The Joe Mack Tanners and his mom, Jean Tanner, enjoyed having his daughter and family for Thanksgiving. Mike and Elizabeth Holland and their 10-year-old son, Michael Tanner, came from Beaumont where they recently moved from North Carolina.

Longtime Diboll native Paul Tucker stopped by looking for shells for a 35 Remington he bought from Herman Havard. While Paul lived in Diboll, he owned and operated several service stations including the Enco, Mobil and Texaco. He also owned and operated restaurants including the former 8 Baker Café and Holcomb's and a fish and bait store next door to the Everything Store. He now lives in the Etoile area where he enjoys fishing on Lake Rayburn. For Thanksgiving, Paul and his wife Joyce had three of Paul's four children present: Bill Everitt from West Texas who recently retired after 37 years with Oncor; Betty Irene Hogan from Wells and Sammy Paul from Austin. Unable to come was his daughter Laura Lou and Phillip Camp from California. There were seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren present.

Enjoyed visiting with Curtis Heath when he came from Fuller Springs to Diboll and stopped by the RT. Curtis is 92 and lived in Diboll years ago when he and his wife Mary Helen owned and operated a dairy outside of town. To Mrs. Heath's GA girls, it was a treat to go to her house and see the cows, play in the barn, run wild on their farm and go on a hay ride with Mr. Heath pulling the wagon with his tractor. To us girls that lived "in the city," the Heath dairy seemed a long way out in the country then; now it is located on Shaw Street in Diboll. The Heaths had two daughters, Ann and Rosemary. Ann died in 2004 and Rosemary lives in Tucson, Ariz. She was married to Jimmy Farley and they have two children; Bobby who is in college and coaching and Katy, a high school senior.

A group of hunters from this area have returned from a deer hunt in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Michael Smith, formally from Diboll and now a stockbroker elsewhere, made the arrangements for the hunt. Mike got a large 10-point buck. His parents, Joe Henry and Diane Smith, went with the group and Diane got a nice 9-point buck. Jack Jenkins got a big 10-point and his son Jerry got two large 11-pointers. The deer are much larger and have heavier racks in this area. Tom Burger and his grandson Clayton Burger traveled with them; Clayton got a nice 10-point. This was about the 15th time that Tom Burger has made a hunt in Canada. Mr. Burger, in the past, has furnished all 10-12 grandchildren with a bear rug from his many hunting trips although this time he just sat back and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and weather. It snowed the second day they arrived but their accommodations included a nice warm lodge and home cooked food. Jimmy Hardy was

also along on the trip and he also has been to Canada on a number of hunting trips. Heather Weeks got an 8-point buck while hunting with her grandpa, John Lewis, in Jasper. Her mom, Vikki, got her second 8-point buck as the guest of Tina Hawthorn in the Woodlake area. Bob Brown came in for pecans and said

he survived taking care of his two grandsons by himself; Grayson and Griffin are 9 and 11 and live in Katy. Bob's wife Toni had gone to her mother's 86th birthday and Bob offered to keep the boys while the boys' parents celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary. They spent a lot of time at the Bass Pro Shop in Katy.

Enjoyed visiting with John and Sue Jasper when they came in for pecans and syrup. They were glad to know we had Orange Oil and took a bottle home with them. I learned later that Sue and Peggy Burt attended high school together in Arkansas. Others coming in for pecans were: Louise Lindsey, Jeanette Hurst, Burl and Marvin Moses, Charlie and Nora Mullins. Walter Butler made a special trip here to buy a raffle ticket on Diboll's Project Celebration $10,000 cash. Enjoyed visiting with Mary King, a pharmaceutical representative, who stopped by with a tire problem on her way to Livingston.

The John McClains celebrated Thanksgiving early on Fran's birthday, Nov. 23. Her daughters, April and Lisa, cooked a semi-homemade Mexican dinner for their mom and cleaned the kitchen too. Their son-in-law, Jeff Vanover, had been traveling in Australia but got home just in time for his mom Sharon Vanover's birthday on the 25th.

We have lots of folks to thank for lots of thoughtfulness. First, to Christine and James Glover for the homegrown turnips and greens she prepared with lots of pork and also for the delicious Mexican cornbread all delivered hot to the RT. To Shirley Ivy for the delicious cake she made and decorated to look like a pumpkin complete with its stem. We had lots of nice comments about the pumpkin-cake. To Karon Lenderman for the large pan of squash cornbread she made and personally delivered by Dennis. It was good! And last, but certainly not least, to Hugh Robert Lyles for the fried turkey that arrived just in time for Thanksgiving.

This Friday night, Dec. 5, you can support the Diboll 4-H by purchasing a Christmas tree. The Angelina County 4-H Christmas tree lot is in the parking lot of Tractor Supply in Lufkin. It will be open until Dec. 13, or until they sell out, every day, Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday.

Don't forget the reason for the season and come see us…'round the table.