Nation readies for 10th anniversary of 9/11
Monitor Staff Reports
CEDAR CREEK LAKE–With the 10th anniversary of the events of 9/11 fast approaching and the inaugural opening of the memorial museum at ground zero in Manhattan taking place, national attention is beginning to build in anticipation.
Several big commemorations are in the works for the anniversary across the country, including one at The Alamo in San Antonio to coincide with the actual time of day the terroristic events started to unfold that resulted in the death of nearly 3,000 American civilians, during a time of peace at the hands of Islam extremists.
Several television channels will be covering some of these commemorations.
The National Geographic Cable Channel begins a series of programs starting today (Sunday, Aug. 28) at 10 p.m. ET with an interview with former president George W. Bush in a first time telling of behind-the-scene events from his unique perspective.
The following night it presents what the CIA knew at the time and on Tuesday, Aug. 30, a host of vignettes answering the question: Where were you (when the Twin Towers were hit by hijacked passenger airplanes)?
On July 11, visitor passes to ground zero went on sale and by day’s end passes for nearly the entire week of Sept. 12-19 had been sold.
A commemoration ceremony on the day of Sept. 11 at the World Trade Center site has been restricted to families of the fallen in the attack.
Due to ongoing construction, the site can hold only 1,500 people. Not even survivors of that horrific day will get to attend nor rescue personnel, but they may attend other ceremonies held elsewhere such as at the Washington National Cathedral.
Major television networks and cable channels are expected to televise many of these ceremonies taking place on Sunday, Sept. 11.
Locally, the VFW Post 4376 is planning a small gathering in Seven Points. If other groups or churches plan to hold commemorate events, contact The Monitor by e-mail before Sept. 3 for publication in the Thursday, Sept. 8 issue. Deadlines are changed due to the Labor Day holiday.

Eustace students to ride new buses
By Robyn Wheeler
Monitor Contributing Writer
EUSTACE–Eustace students will be traveling in style this year on three new buses.
School board members unanimously agreed to purchase three new school buses for 2011-12.
Each new bus will feature air conditioning as well as outside and inside storage racks. The new buses are replacing three buses that are more than 25 years old and will be auctioned off once the new buses have arrived.
Board members speculated during their Aug. 16 regular meeting they will have to replace more old buses in the years ahead.
After a lengthy discussion, the board agreed to purchase the buses outright, rather than finance them over time.
This avoids paying over $21,000 in interest and leaves money left over to hire one new teacher should the need arise, superintendent Coy Holcombe said.
The proposed school district budget for 2011-12 is a little over $10 million, the same as last year. Student enrollment is not expected to increase much over last year, Holcombe said.
Board members also agreed to freeze salaries at current levels across the board. “This move saves the district $50,000,” Holcombe noted.
Holcombe also congratulated teachers and students on achieving a Recognized accountability rating for the district.
The Texas Education Agency awarded an Exemplary rating to the Intermediate School.
After explaining that the Eustace High School, Middle School and Intermediate school passed the Adequate Yearly Progress report, Holcombe stated. “We are doing what’s right for our kids. We’re not trying to push them into taking tests they’re not ready for nor are we trying to pull kids down to take tests that are too easy. We are doing right by our kids and I can live with that.”
In other business, trustees:
• accepted the lowest fuel bid from Borders and Long,
• amended the budget by $15,000 to meet higher utility bills and allotted $360,000 towards Special Education. The money will be used to purchase new educational equipment, materials and instructors salaries,
• agreed to keep the current proposed tax rate of $1.04 for Maintenance and Operations plus 24 cents per $100 valuation to serve the debt,
• sold four more lots in Indian Harbor, accepting low offers on all of them. The board is considering doing the same for seized or abandoned properties in Cherokee Shores.

CCL Garden Club sets workshop ‘Recycled/Reseen’ for Sept. 2
Special to The Monitor
SEVEN POINTS–Recycled/Reseen will be the hands-on workshop project at the regular meeting of Cedar Creek Lake Garden Club starting at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, at the Library at Cedar Creek Lake in Seven Points.
Participants should bring an old shirt or smock and a pair of scissors.
This is the first in a series of Design through Discovery Adventures, and we will make a seasonal birdhouse out of recycled natural and man-made materials.
Our gardens are a capsule education in horticulture and our gardens are only a small manifestation of the art and science of gardening and growing in our own life-experiences and aesthetic development.
Our first hands-on project will be the creation of a birdhouse. Hopefully, it will inspire each of us to focus on the effects and products of a disposable world, help us to find beauty where most folks find none and integrate a usable and decorative object into our gardens or landscapes.
Workshop facilitators will be Gail Haynes, Donna Malik and Rachel Beer.
Interested individuals are cordially invited to attend.
To ensure we have enough materials for everyone, please call Gail Haynes at (903) 498-6544, prior to Tuesday, Aug. 30, to make a reservation.

 

Come Adopt Us At The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake

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