People, Places & Events

Churches and Brookshire’s launch October food drive
Special to The Monitor
MABANK–The Mabank Area Good Samaritans officially launched the group’s annual drive to stock their the food pantry for families in need Monday with a gathering at the First United Methodist Church of Mabank.
The Mabank Brookshire’s grocery and area churches are helping collect needed food items that will help make the holidays easier for needy families.
Specially marked brown Brookshire’s bags and a list of food items that are being distributed to the nine sponsoring churches are available at the store.
Sponsoring churches include Central Baptist of Mabank, Elm Grove, Mabank First Assembly of God, Faith Bible of Mabank, First Baptist of Mabank, First Presbyterian of Mabank, First United Methodist and Payne Springs churches A Sinner’s Hope and Harbor Baptist.
Each church makes a monthly monetary donation to the pantry.
Donations are also received from various businesses, Sunday School classes and memorial gifts.
At Monday’s gathering, the Good Samaritans noted a $3,000 donation from the Henderson County United Way campaign.
This money is used to purchase food products locally and from the East Texas Food Bank and King’s Storehouse Food Bank in Tyler.
The Food Pantry is an emergency food source for needy families each week, Monday through Friday.
It is operated on a rotating basis among the above churches. Calls for assistance are taken by Mabank First Baptist Church.
When calls are received between 8 and 9 a.m., the food box will be available at 10 a.m. the same day.
If the call is received after 9 a.m., the food box will be available the next day.
The pantry has been operating since late 1987.
Since 2000, the number of families helped has increased from about 700 to more than 1,100 last year.
Community members are welcome to donate the following food times to any of the listed churches – canned meats, stews, canned or packaged soups, canned fruits, corn, green beans, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, tuna, cornbread and pancake mixes, jams and jellies and powdered milk.
For further information, contact Mabank Area Good Samaritans president Lowell Pahl at (903) 340-9299, vice president Dorothy Hensley at (903) 887-2331, secretary Pat Chadwick at (903) 451-2670 or treasurer Betty Jones at (903) 887-3522.


Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Mabank Area Good Samaritans members gather at the organization's fiscal
year opening luncheon Monday at the First United Methodist Church of Mabank,
including Brookshire’s grocery representative Ken Roberts.

Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
Jay Etheridge (left) and Mabank Area Good Samaritans president Lowell Pahl
hold a $3,000 check from the Henderson County United Way, which will go
toward the church-funded food bank's efforts to feed needy people in the Cedar
Creek Lake area.

Domestic violence awareness activities
set in VZ County
Special to The Monitor
CANTON–The East Texas Crisis Center (ETCC) will present a 2008 Domestic Violence Awareness Month proclamation at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, to the Van Zandt County Commissioner’s Court.
Along with the proclamation, “Silent Witnesses” will be on display throughout the county the week of Oct. 13-17.
The “Silent Witness” project is a national program against domestic violence homicides that began in 1990.
Its mission is to promote peace, healing, and responsibility in adult relationships in order to eliminate domestic murders.
“Silent Witnesses” are life-sized red wooden figures of women who’ve been murdered in acts of domestic violence, with breastplate shields giving each woman’s name and her story.
The project debuted in Texas at the state capitol in Austin in 1997 with a march, memorial service and a three-day exhibit by Texas First Lady Anita Perry.
ETCC’s Van Zandt County outreach office has several of the red wooden figures they’ve used during the years at various events.
To spread the message further into the county, more are currently being built by members of the Batterers Intervention Prevention Program (BIPP) and the Van Zandt County Juvenile BIPP group.
Van Zandt County has 10 (known) women who were killed due to family violence, with the most recent being Robin York of Van.
Their stories, along with others from Texas, are told on the silhouettes on view at the Van Zandt County courthouse in Canton, the Van Community Library in Van, the Wills Point Chamber of Commerce, and at the ETCC office on Buffalo Street in Canton.
The public is invited to see these figures in remembrance of the women who lost their lives and to seek opportunities to stand against domestic violence in Van Zandt County.
The ETCC is dedicated to providing safety, shelter and education to victims of family violence, sexual assault and other violent crime.
Last year, in Van Zandt County alone, 330 victims were assisted.
Programs emphasize both prevention and intervention in ending violence in East Texas communities.
Private donations make up close to 50 percent of funding that makes ETTC possible.
Donations may be made in honorarium or memorial gifts, through sponsorships, or anytime during the year to East Texas Crisis Center, 310 S. Buffalo, Canton, TX 75103, or call (903) 567-6426.

Hunter Education Course set for Mabank
Special to The Monitor
MABANK–A course in hunter education has been scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, Oct. 13-14 and 16, at the Mabank High School Agriculture building in Mabank. Tom Trull will be the instructor.
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, if you were born on or after Sept. 2, 1971, and you are
• under 9 years of age, you must be accompanied*.
• age 9 through 16, you must successfully complete a hunter education course, or you must be accompanied*.
• age 17 and over, you must successfully complete a hunter education course, or purchase a “Hunter Education Deferral,” and you must be accompanied*.
*Accompanied means by a person who is at least 17, who is licensed to hunt in Texas, who has passed a hunter education course or is exempt (born before Sept. 2, 1971), and who is within normal voice control.
Proof of certification or deferral is required to be on your person while hunting. Note: certification is not required to purchase a hunting license.
A Hunter Education Deferral costs $10. It allows a person 17 years of age or older who has not completed a hunter education program to defer completion for up to one year.
A deferral may only be obtained once and is only valid until the end of the current license year.
A person who has been convicted or had received deferred adjudication for violation of the mandatory hunter education requirement is prohibited from applying for a deferral.
If you take the course by Aug. 31 of the current license year, you may receive a $5 discount.
However, any individual may take the course on a voluntary basis and is encouraged to attend regardless of requirements, according to Tom Trull.
The minimum age for certification is 9 years and the cost is $15.
Students 9 years of age or older successfully completing the course will be issued a “temporary student card” at the end of the course.
Students will then receive an original “Hunter Education Certificate” from Texas Parks and Wildlife after processing the paperwork.
Those less than 9 years of age will receive a “certificate of attendance,” but must take the course again after turning at least 9 for proper certification.
Since 1972, more than 780,000 Texans have completed the course, which is mandatory in all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces.
For more information, contact Tom Trull at (903) 880-5918, or Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at 1-(800)-792-1112, (512) 389-4999 or the website at www.tpsd.state.tx.us/learning.