People, Places & Events

Local history dons walls at Pizza Hut’s WingStreet
Monitor Staff Reports
GUN BARREL CITY– Pizza Hut in Gun Barrel City is sporting a new look and a new menu, following a recent revamping of the 14-year-old restaurant.
General Manager Bill Hastings said the updated look coincides with the newly adopted WingStreet concept, which adds eight different ways to enjoy America’s fastest growing appetizer.
WingStreet offers both intense taste and variety with eight different flavors.
When combined with three different kinds of wings – traditional, crispy bone-in and crispy bone-out. Plus, four different sizes, 5, 10, 20, or 40 count, there are 162 ways to “wing it.”
Hastings is seeing highest number of orders of Buffalo Medium and Honey BBQ.
Garlic Parmesan comes in a close third, while Buffalo Burnin Hot is still the choice of those who enjoy extreme heat and spice, he added.
Other choices also include Cajun, Spicy Asian and Buffalo Mild.
In 2007, WingStreet won first prize in the Traditional Hot Wing Sauce category for its Buffalo Burnin’ Hot Wings at the annual National Buffalo Wing Festival.
Besides great finger food, the Honey BBQ, Buffalo and Parmesan boneless wings are packed, along with other great ingredients, on the sandwich menu.
Also a part of the expanded menu are WingStreet Hot Cinnamon Apple Pies, mini fried apple pies sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and accompanied by caramel or frosting dipping sauces.
Among the appetizers WingStreet Taters and fried cheese sticks round out the WingStreet menu.
Any of the WingStreet items may be ordered in conjunction with America’s favorite pizza, or pasta dishes.
But don’t look for hot wings on the all-you-can-eat salad bar offerings.
“They’re just too cost prohibitive to include them,” Hastings said, though Wednesday night’s buffet is by far the favorite night of diners at Pizza Hut.
“We get lots of folks in here on Wednesdays and also Sundays after church,” Hastings said.
“Customers have remarked on the restaurant’s new look and enjoy walking around and seeing all the memorabilia we’ve got on the walls,” Hastings said.
Among the wall hangings are newspaper clippings from the Mabank Special Olympics, other sporting events and parade pictures.
Signs and decals from surrounding school districts are also displayed.
Also, two more television monitors have been mounted.
Hastings is expecting orders for WingStreet hot wings to pour in for Super Bowl XLIII Sunday, Feb. 1.
“They are just so darn good and easy to eat, perfect for watching the big game,” he said.
Restaurant hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. To place a takeout order, call (903) 887-7935.


Monitor Photo/Kerrey Yancey
Assistant manager Eric Shewmake (left), general manager Bill Hastings and
staff members Crystal Lawrence, Shannon Anderson, Kyleen Ridge, Lisa Reeves,
Elizabeth Smith, Brian Sanchez, Heather Smith and Daniel Krueger offer a delicious
taste of their new WingStreet hot wings in eight tantilizing and spicy flavor combinations.

Library cat name contest announced
Special to The Monitor
MABANK–The Tri-County Library in downtown Mabank has a new addition – and it’s not a book, it’s a kitten. This new mascot needs a name.
The gray and white kitten, was adopted from the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake in Tool, (903) 432-3422, and was spayed and vaccinated by Friends of the Animals Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic at Cedar Creek Lake, (903) 887-PETS.
The kitten has settled in among the rows of cat (and dog – OK, and other subjects) books and comfy chairs that abound at the library.
Tri-County Library in Mabank is inviting all lake-area elementary school children to submit a name suggestion for this kitten.
Kids may obtain the form on the Library website, www.tricountylibrary.org , or pick a form up at the library, located across from City Hall on Market Street in Mabank. The winner of the naming contest (picked name received earliest) will receive a copy of Dewey, the Library Cat.
Deadline for entries is Saturday, Jan. 31, and the winning name will be announced Saturday, Feb. 14. Entries should be mailed to the Tri-County Library, 132 E. Market Street, Mabank 75147, or dropped by the library, open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
Name selection will be decided by the Tri-County Library Board of Directors. Everyone is invited to come by to meet this friendly, cuddly kitten.
As it turns out, there is a national association of library cats, called the Library Cat Society.
Probably the most famous library cat is Dewey ReadMoreBooks, a kitten that ended up at a library in Iowa, which was featured on CBS Sunday Morning, and is the subject of the book being awarded to the name contest winner, available at the Tri-County Library.

‘Sounds of Cedar Creek’ set
Special to The Monitor
SEVEN POINTS–The Endowment Fund is pleased to announce a series of concerts benefitting The Library at Cedar Creek Lake.
The “Sounds of Cedar Creek” concert series will bring its first concert to the lake at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Main Place Theatre in Seven Points.
Performing that night is The Classics Strings Quartet from the Dallas metroplex.
Musician John K. Schertz, a former member of the Fort Worth Symphony and the Richardson Symphony and free-lance musician in the Dallas area for more than 40 years, has played in shows and concerts, including the Fairmont Venetian Room and the Anatole Hotel, and taught strings at the Dallas Independent School District for 17 years.
Paul Palmer studied with the famous Paul Rolland in Champaign, Ill., and continued his education at SMU with Ronald Neal and Barbara Hustiss.
Palmer plays in several regional orchestras including the Wichita Falls, Waco and Longview Symphonies and teaches in the Plano school district.
Linda Proch is a member of the Richardson (since 1978), Wichita Falls and Lewisville Symphony orchestras and is a founding member of the Plano Symphony.
She maintains a private studio for violin and viola students as well.
Cellist Kelli Kirschenmann studied in South Dakota, at the University of Iowa, in Seattle and at the University of North Texas.
He has performed professionally with the Abilene Philharmonic, Wichita Falls Symphony, Allen Philharmonic, East Texas Symphony and Waco Symphony.
In the late 1990s, he also performed as a choral tenor.
The repertoire for the program at the Main Place Theatre includes Corelli, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart.
A champagne reception is offered immediately after the concert.
The Endowment Fund is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization created separately from The Library at Cedar Creek Lake to support this vital community asset.
Donations and charitable annuity gifts to the Endowment Fund generate a growing and steady interest income stream in support of the programs of The Library at Cedar Creek Lake.
Tickets and sponsorships will be available at The Library of Cedar Creek Lake, (903) 432-4185. Tickets are $50.