All Around Lufkin

I attended the Fajita Dinner honoring the County 25 Drug Free All Stars at the First Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall hosted by The Coalition. There were about 70 counting the parents and family that attended. Janet Taylor is the Executive Director and Jean East is the School/Business Coordinator.

Sheila Adams, Special Events and Media Coordinator, and was in charge of the banquet. There were place mats with the names of the students by their school. They are: Central - Katy Arnold, Taylor Flowers, Todd Hendrickson, and Brittany Wilson; Diboll - Jasmine Deason, Esteban Gonzalez, Daniel Guerrero, Rachel Oates, Kyle Prescott and Cutler Ruby; Hudson - Erin Aikens, Seth Franks, Jessica Garcia, Addie Russell, Hillary Shaddox; Huntington - Mallory Brandenburg, Chessa Harris, Chloe Shofner, Sommer Short, and Joshua Young; Lufkin - Christina Hannan, Jessica Hernandez, Cody Mitchell, Shelby Portwood, Sydney White. Board member Brent Hawkins, superintendent in Diboll, introduced the speakers. Some that spoke on behalf of their experiences this year with the Drug Free All Stars were: Esteban Gonzalez, Rachel Oates, Addie Russell, Hillary Shaddox and Shelby Portwood. Parents and guests in the crowd that I knew were: Reverend Jackie Hannan, Patricia and Freddie White, Billy Russell, Cheryl and Randy Arnold, Michelle and Dale Green, Jeff and Tracy Portwood and Rocky Thigpen. Board members serving the meal were: Judge Billy Ball, Bob Brown, and Daniel Lopez. The Drug Free program is 20 years old. That is hard to believe. Applications and interviews will begin in May for 2009.

If you are going to the Angelina County Dog Fair, Saturday, March 8 there will no parking inside the Farmer's Market itself, except vendors and demo participants can come in the vendor entrance and park behind the booths. Parking for the public will be at the Extension office parking lot and the Family Counseling Associates just past the Farmer's Market. There is a gate leading from that parking lot to the Market. Events start at 9 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.

Vance Roberts sent me an interesting fact: Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify pass over, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Here's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here's the facts: 1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!). 2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

The 8th grade cheerleaders for Lufkin Middle School year 2008- 09 are: Anna Catherine Alvis, Madison Bartlett, Hannah Bennett, Jacqueline Bryant, Michaela Charanza, Natalie Denman, Jennifer DuBose, A'tia Fredieu, Krysta Gray, Holly Hollis, Darcy Jackson, Kiana Jenkins, Kirsten Kindred, Saushia Lewis, Sydney Luce, Samantha McC l a i n B r NicholsCorieR Claire Roche, Callie Smith, Shelby Smitherman, Summer Szafran, Mollie Taylor, Callianne Teutsch, Cierra Thompson, Kayla Tierney, Morgan True, Katelynn Walker, Bailey Watson, and mascot Aerial Adams. Their coach is Caron Cook.

Barbara Mathis has a list of businesses that have the cookbooks of Lauralyn's recipes with the proceeds going to Relay for Life/American Cancer Society. They are Huntington State Bank in Huntington, Lufkin and Central; Regions Bank on the loop; Angelina Savings Bank; Timberland Pharmacy; Salon 2000; Christian Words & Works; Planet Beach Spa; The Very Thing; Brandy's; Crump Insurance Agency; Re/Max of Lufkin; Lufkin Farm Nursery and Cook Tire Company.

We were waiting at Logan's Roadhouse and met Marvin and Cindy Henderson. Their granddaughter Brooke Knight had a 16th birthday party. She is the daughter of Bryan and Tracie Henderson. She calls the Hendersons P-paw and Mimi and is in FFA at Central and shows pigs. She plays softball and has academic honors in school.

Wayne and Clarkie Brown went to Cheddars for their 61st wedding anniversary celebration. Wayne had been telling Clarkie that he would take her to the Dairy Queen for a hot dog. No one knew that it was their anniversary and they were seated in booth #61. Is that a coincidence?????

Evie Smith had the real bad flu for two weeks and is doing much better. Jimmie Putnam said, "When God made her he did not use any junk. She is our miracle mama, 102 and a half and still walking with her walker and watching Wheel of Fortune and bull riding". The Putnams had great granddaughter Lexi Looney, daughter of Megan Looney, for a week in January. She brought the Putnams the flu, and she was sick the whole week that she was here. Then Bob had foot surgery and is up now from that.

Brandon Zoss, their grandson who has finished his submarine duty, is a certified diver, finished Officer Candidate School and entered Old Dominion College to study engineering and make a career of the Navy. His home base is Norfolk, Virginia.

Landon and Kari Spurgeon are settled in Lufkin and enjoying their daughter Kenzie born December 12.

Lauren Spurgeon, daughter of Lee Ann and Gary Lipscomb and Mark Spurgeon, will graduate in May as an RN, and she and

Kenneth Williams of Longview will be married at the First Christian Church on May 31. They will move to Longview where she plans to continue her education to get her BSN in nursing. She told her "Pa" Bob Putnam that she was sorry that it was at the University of Texas. Being the good Aggie that he is, it is okay as long as she gets her education.

June and Hollis McAdams were happy to have their son Scott and his wife Joyce and their 7 month old son Jaeden McAdams with them in church last week.

Bettie Powell was with granddaughter Shelby Miller and her parents, Shaye and Darell Miller, in Waco at the Betty Lou Mays Field where Shelby played soccer with the All Saints Episcopal team from Tyler. Their final game was against Argyle Liberty for the state title for the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. The game went into a double over time with a shoot out at the end for the score 5-4. Shelby's team has won state in soccer for the past three years. She is a junior and has one more year to play. Shelby was selected All State in 2006, 07 and the results are not in for 08. She was All Tourney for 2006, 07 and 08.

Bettie Powell was in Dallas for a Stream Energy Rally at the Reunion Stadium with 8,000 attending. She was honored as a Senior Director.

The Final Touch Salon has a new nail tech, Julie Phillips from the Houston area. She joins hair stylists Shelly Hollis, Cheri McKinney, Amber Dugat, and Ilse Parker. Julie has a special $5 off until March 20 on pedicures and manicures. Contact her at 639- 1764.

The Lufkin Dance Club is sponsoring dance lessons every Tuesday in March at the SPJST Dance Hall from 7 pm. to 9 p.m. Lessons are taught by Bobbie Lee Friday and are $6 per person per lesson or $20 for all lessons.

Brandy Nair, owner of Brandy's at the Wishing Well, will have a trunk show of Don Caster, petite, misses and women's clothes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Stephen and Karla Yates took Abby Yates, Alli Bartlett, Amy Yates, Alyssa Dunbar and Clark Thannisch to Toyota Center to see Matchbox 20 in Houston last Thursday. The show was from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. They were home at 1:30 a.m., and the kids all went to school.

Jon and Jill Carswell will be moving Spring Break to Montgomery in their new house. Jon works for Rain C I I Carbon LLC in Kingwood as their assistant controller. They are a calcined petroleum coke producer. Martha and Ray Carswell will have granddaughters Emma and Abby while their parents are moving.

Judy Ryman Holmes donated her brother Dick Ryman's Lufkin High School Annuals to the LHS Alumni Association. He was in the class of 1961, and now we have annuals from 1960, 1959 and Junior Fangs for 1957 and 1956.

Ardie Dixon was voted into the Tyler Junior College Hall of Fame, Circle of Honor. He was selected as one of the few chosen elite athletes for his basketball ability while attending school. The induction will be June 28 and 29. Ardie graduated from the University of North Texas and also played basketball for them.

Happy Birthday: Jetta Westerholm, David Harkness, Joan Poplin, Lou Ray Berry, Dorothy Walker, Mary Gibbs, Joy Coble, Matthew Warren, Fredna Swan, Dale Bounds, J. E. Driskell, Cheryl Spruill, Paige Carrigan, Barbara Sexton, Tenney Braden, Katie Nicholson, Mary Grace Polk, Michael Duncan, Amy Murphy, Ernie Rowe.

Happy Anniversary: John and Julie Rhodes.

Barbara Peterson had a showing of Sue Gagliardi's Silpada jewelry for spring. Some at the showing were: Dot Brookshire, Laura Brookshire, Tamesha Root, Jamie Zayler, Ellen Sorrell, Polly Goodier, Cay Billingsley and Carol Bradley.

Harriet and David Tamminga's son William is engaged to Kate Gallagher. He proposed at Christmas in Colorado, and it was kept a secret from everyone. He and Kate have dated over four years. She is from Houston, and they will be married in the summer. William works for a development company called Grayco, and Kate is working for Ernst and Young.

Billy and Martha Russell's daughter Addie told me that she wanted to attend Texas A&M.

Cheryl and Randy Arnold's Katie will attend Angelina College and then SFA and get her degree in Early Childhood and a Masters in Speech Pathology. Dyan Arnold will graduate in May with her masters in Public Administration from SFA. She is interviewing for jobs.

Andy and Sheila Adams have their red brick house on Jefferson on the market for sale and have a contract on the house on the corner of Pine Tree and Southwood. The house on Jefferson belonged to the Bob Stroud family in my high school years. James and Robin Flournoy lived in the house for 8 years.

Catch you around town. Janice Ann email: roweja@suddenlink. net