Lake Area
Billboard
East Cedar Creek Freshwater Supply District meets at 12:30 p.m. the third Wednesday of each month at the ECCFSD office
on Hammer Road just off Welch Lane in Gun Barrel City.
Eustace City Council meets at 7
p.m. in the Eustace City Hall the first Thursday of each month. For more information,
please call 425-4702. The public is invited to attend.
Eustace Independent School District meets at 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at the Eustace High
School Library. For more information, please call 425-7131. The public is invited to
attend.
Gun Barrel City Council meets in
Brawner Hall at 6 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. For more information,
please call 887-1087. The public is invited to attend.
Gun Barrel City Economic Development Corporation meets at 1831 W. Main, GBC, at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month.
For more information, please call 887-1899.
Henderson County Commissioner’s Court meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 9 a.m. in the
Henderson County Courthouse in Athens. The public is invited to attend.
Henderson County Emergency Services District #4 meets at 7 p.m. the third Tuesday of each month at 525 S. Tool Dr. in
Tool.
Henderson County Historical Commission meets the first Wednesday of each month at 1 p.m. in the HC Historical
Museum.
Kaufman County Commissioner’s Court meets the first, second, third and fourth Monday of each month at 9:45
a.m. in the Kaufman County Courthouse in Kaufman. The public is invited to attend.
Kemp City Council meets at Kemp
City Hall at 7 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month. For more information, please call
498-3191. The public is invited to attend.
Kemp Independent School District
meets the third Tuesday of each month in the Board Room in the Administration Building.
For more information, please call 498-1314. The public is invited to attend.
Log Cabin City Council meets the
third Thursday of the month in city hall. For more information, please call 489-2195. The
public is invited to attend.
Mabank City Council meets at 7
p.m. in Mabank City Hall the first Tuesday of each month. For more information, please
call 887-3241. The public is invited to attend.
Mabank Independent School District meets at 7:30 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month. For more information,
please call 887-9310. The public is invited to attend.
Payne Springs City Council meets
at city hall at 7:30 p.m. every third Tuesday of each month. For more information, please
call 451-9229. The public is invited to attend.
Payne Springs Water Supply Corp. meets
the third Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m. at the Payne Springs Community Center, located
at 9690 Hwy. 198.
Seven Points City Council meets
at 7 p.m. in Seven Points city hall the second Tuesday of each month. For more
information, please call 432-3176. The public is invited to attend.
Tool City Council meets at 6
p.m. in the OranWhite Civic Center the third Thursday of each month. For more information,
please call 432-3522. The public is invited to attend.
West Cedar Creek Municipal Utility District is held at 5 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month. For more information,
please call 432-3704. The public is invited. |
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Traditional
Aley Picnic set July 9
By Barbara Gartman
Monitor Staff Writer
ALEY–In 1928, just a little more than 80 years ago, a small group of farmers and
ranchers gathered for the first picnic on the Aley Methodist Church grounds.
“The men would go work on the cemetery, and the women would cook a delicious meal of
fried chicken, baked chicken and dressing, served with all sorts of vegetables brought in
big tubs from the gardens,” Jimmie Lou Smith recalled.
“They also had a lot of desserts and homemade ice cream. It was like a
homecoming,” she added.
Now it’s that time again, as the Aley Picnic is set for Friday, July 9.
“The grounds will be opened around noon, with dinner set for 6:30 p.m. There will be
food, games, a live band and fellowship,” she said.
“People will come (to the picnic) from all over the United States,” she added.
Jimmie Lou ought to know – she’s been coming to the Aley Picnic most of her
life. She served on its board of directors more than 20 years (1986-2008).
But being a board member is only one connection she has to the famed picnic.
Jimmie Lou and her twin sister, Mary Sue were born July 10, 1938, which happened to fall
on the Aley Picnic Day that year.
The twin girls were born to Mary and Jimmie Thomas of Aley.
The whole family was excited over the special birth – so much so, her grandfather,
Charlie Reed, kept making trips to the church, inviting those attending the picnic to
“come see the twins.”
The family lived about a mile from the grounds – “if we took the shortcut
through the woods,” Jimmie Lou said.
The picnic has always been a fund-raiser for the cemetery.
“When we were growing up, Dad would give each of us four kids $5 each to spend at the
picnic. If we had money left over, he said just to donate it, but we weren’t to bring
any of it back home,” she explained.
Almost 32 years after its beginning, the Aley Picnic was moved just down the road to King
Cemetery, where the event is still held today.
“It was in 1959 or 1960 they moved everything, including the building called
‘The Tabernacle’ from the church to the cemetery grounds,” Jimmie Lou said.
The new country store was added sometime after 2000, in memory of Linda Thompson, she
added.
Jimmie Lou’s husband, Clifton Smith Jr., explained the naming of the cemetery.
“There are many explanations as to why the cemetery is called King Cemetery, and a
lot of them are erroneous,” he said.
An attorney and surveyor, John Ragan, partnered with John King. Each of them owned 300
acres, Clifton Smith explained.
“Ragan donated five acres for a school and church, but the community needed a
cemetery,” he added. “The cemetery is sitting on the five acres donated by
Ragan, and he dedicated it to his friend, John King.”
Clifton Smith retired from Cisco Foods, but has never quit working. He served several
terms on Kemp Independent School District board of trustees and currently serves on the
board of directors for the West Cedar Creek Municipal Utility District.
In 1973, Jimmie went to work at First National Bank of Kemp as a bookkeeper and teller,
and remained there for 23 years.
The couple are both Kemp High School graduates and met in 1952. He graduated in 1955 and
she graduated in 1956.
Keeping up the tradition, their children also attended Kemp schools.
“All of our children have graduated from KHS, and so did all of our
grandchildren,” Jimmie Lou said.We need to
cut spending now
By U.S. Reps. Jeb Hensarling and Paul Ryan
Special to The Monitor
(Part two of a three-part series)
WASHINGTON D.C.–With each passing week, fresh warning signs from the markets,
government reports, or events overseas underscore the need to tackle our dire fiscal and
economic picture.
The starting point for tackling this challenge is the federal budget. For families,
organizations and businesses alike, a budget sets priorities and forces tough decisions.
Governments are not exempt from the need to budget. Yet, in a stunning abdication of
responsibility, leaders in the House of Representatives have failed to even propose a
budget – a feat never before “achieved” since the enactment of the 1974
Budget Act and unacceptable in the face of a looming debt crisis.
The Democrats’ budget collapse further erodes confidence in Washington’s intent
to get federal spending and debt under control – and creates even greater concern
about impending tax increases that will further hinder the private-sector job creation
Americans desperately need. Washington’s failure to control spending undermines
sustainable economic growth and job creation.
Democratic leaders calculate that it is a better to take a pass than to pass a budget. The
president’s “new era of responsibility” has hit a new low.
This year’s budget failure begs the question of how Congress is even allowed to
continue to tax, spend and borrow without a budget.
To address the breakdown in the budget process, House Republicans put forth the Spending,
Deficit and Debt Control Act, requiring Congress – by law – to control its
dangerous spending appetite.
Our proposal would create a legally binding federal budget, with enforceable limits on
spending and deficits, which will force Congress to address our entitlement crisis and
budget for our long-term liabilities, and allows for budgetary oversight by moving from
the frenetic annual calendar to a biennial budget and appropriation process.
Budget process reforms can help limit the excesses of spendthrift lawmakers – but
real restraint requires a commitment to get spending and deficits under control.
Republicans broke the trust of the American people with respect to spending – and
paid a political price in recent elections. We must reclaim the mantle of fiscal sanity.
At the House Budget Committee, we have identified $1.3 trillion in savings to help get our
fiscal house in order and spur job creation. Among the proposals:
• Cancel unused bailout funds. The financial rescue package has morphed into a
Washington slush fund for special interests. To prevent its continued abuses, we should
terminate the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
• Cancel unspent “stimulus” funds. We need more jobs, not more debt.
• Reduce government employment and freeze government pay. We need to grow the
economy, not government.
• Cut and cap discretionary spending. After an 84 percent increase in discretionary
spending, Washington has added trillions of dollars to our debt, yet failed to produce the
jobs promised. We should return spending to pre-Obama levels and establish discretionary
spending caps.
• Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We need to phase out the federal control of
these mortgage giants, limit taxpayer exposure and combat crony capitalism.
These specific proposals, offered as real legislation, would cut spending immediately.
This is just a start. It is clear that much more needs to be done to rein in government
spending, spur private-sector growth and set our nation on a sustainable fiscal and
economic future.
In the next issue of The Monitor, we will examine our plan to do just that. To refer to
the first in the three-part series titled “Higher debt-to GDP ratios leads to lowered
standards of living,” see page 3A of the July 4 issue.
(Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., is the ranking minority member of the House Budget Committee.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, is the second-ranking minority member of the committee.)
City of Tool foresees tight 2011 budget
By Barbara Gartman
Monitor Staff Writer
TOOL–A budget workshop Thursday laid out the scenario for the city of Tool’s
2011 budget.
Due to the economy, there probably will be a tax increase, Mayor Mike Black told city
councilmen and department heads gathered for the first planning session.
“You will all need to come in with a real tight budget,” he instructed
department heads.
Other business, council members discussed:
• two public hearings for the possible tax rate increase.
Tentative times were two Thursdays in August.
• the city’s purchase of a road grader.
• the need for a “different” dump truck, not necessarily new.
• a court hearing set for Wednesday, July 7, concerning the Emergency Service
District (ESD) 3-cent tax.
• creating a road work committee to determine priorities for road repairs.
The committee will be comprised of representatives from the different property owners
associations.
• the regular city council meeting set for 6 p.m. Thursday, July 15.
Come Adopt Us At
The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake |
 The domino effect is a chain reaction that occurs when a small
change causes a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and
so on. My name is Domino, and I got my name not only because I’m black and white like
a domino tile, but also because my outgoing, cheerful personality causes my doggie
roommates to smile. This also causes our human friends to smile, which even causes the
kitties in the cat room to smile.
I am an 8-month-old male Pointer/Terrier mix. I love children, other dogs, and even get
along great with kitties. I’ve had all my shots and am ready to be adopted. If
you’d like to experience the domino effect, I am sure to put a forever smile on your
face when you take me to my forever home.
I currently live with a foster family, so if you would like to meet me, call my friends at
the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake at (903) 432-3422 to make an appointment. You can
also email them at dogshsccl@yahoo.com.
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We have many animals at
the
Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake in Seven Points
in dire need of a good home.
Please call or stop by the Humane Society today
and rescue one of these forgotten animals.
The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake is located on
10220 County Road 2403 in Seven Points.
For more information, please call (903) 432-3422 after 11 a.m.
We are closed on Wednesday and Sunday. |
For further information visit our
website at petfinder.com |
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