People, Places & Events

GBC: Choice place to retire
Monitor Staff Reports
GUN BARREL CITY–Following a lengthy process, the Gun Barrel City Economic Development Corporation has succeeded in its quest to be designated a top retirement spot.
EDC vice president Richard Wendel led the pursuit, researching and completing a 15-month application process that has won the city the state Certified Retirement Community designation.
A program administered through the Texas Department of Agriculture, the certified retirement designation gives adults planning for their retirement the assurance of services and amenities many seniors need and expect.
Gun Barrel City is one of 22 cities and counties with the designation, with more being added every week.
Athens had secured the ranking beforehand, suggesting to Wendel that Gun Barrel City could win it too, with its close proximity to the county seat.
And he was right.
The completed application was in the hands of the Texas Department of Agriculture at the end of August, and word was received of the city’s qualification the end of October.
“This will benefit the city in two ways,” Wendel told The Monitor.
“First is monetarily – as retirees come into the community, they’ll buy homes, products and services from local vendors and providers.
“Secondly, the retirees themselves will be coming from different walks of life and bring their expertise into the community as volunteers,” he added. “This will upgrade our people resource.”
Wendel expects as people plan for retirement, they will turn to Texas.
“Texas is the second or third most popular state to retire in, so people are going to search for the Internet for places in Texas,” he said. “RetireinTexas.org should pop up in those searches.”
The certification is good for five years, and the city can then go through a renewal process, he explained.
However, the program is so new, no one has had to renew yet, he said.

How Armistice Day became Veteran’s Day
By Barbara Gartman
Monitor Staff Writer
CEDAR CREEK LAKE–They called it The Great War, because it just wasn’t reasonable any war could ever be more widespread and involve more countries, more death and more destruction.
An armistice halted fighting between Germany and the Allies – Great Britain, France and the newly involved United States – and at 11 a.m. Nov. 11, 1918, the guns fell silent over no man’s land, between the trenches crossing a devastated countryside.
The terms of the Treaty of Versailles that followed angered Germans and their allies, and bore bitter fruit in the form of World War II some 20 years later.
That was still in the future. For now, the world was able to rest and recover from a four-year-long war that killed an estimated 8.5 million soldiers, not counting those wounded, or civilian deaths and injuries.
Nov. 11, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day.
The plan for the celebration included a two-minute period of silence that began at 11 a.m. The rest of the day was filled with public meetings, parades and picnics.
Nov. 11, 1920, the second anniversary of the armistice, saw France and the United Kingdom holding ceremonies honoring their unknown dead.
Wilson called the nearest Sunday Armistice Day at the suggestion of various church groups. On Armistice Day Sunday, American churches held services in the interest of international peace.
Nov. 11, 1921, Congress established the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, which was dedicated on the third anniversary of the armistice ending The Great War. Congress further declared Nov. 1, 1921, a legal federal holiday. The ceremony was a great success.
1926 Congress adopted a resolution directing the president to issue an annual proclamation calling Americans to observe Armistice Day.
1938 On May 13, Congress passes legislation designating Nov. 11 a legal federal holiday. However, the United States has no “actual” national holidays, because the states retain the right to designate their own holidays.
The federal government can only designate holidays for federal employees and the District of Columbia. In practice, the states almost always follow the federal government’s lead in designating holidays.
1941-45, 1950-53 World War II and the Korean War create millions of war veterans in addition to those World War I soldiers honored by Armistice Day.
1954 On June 1, President Dwight David Eisenhower signed legislation changing the holiday’s name from Armistice Day to Veteran’s Day.
1968 Congress passes the “Monday Holiday Law,” establishing the fourth Monday in October as the date for observing Veteran’s Day, to take effect in 1971.
1971-75 The federal Monday holiday was observed. Initially, all states accept the fourth Monday, except for Mississippi and South Dakota. Other states also began to change the date back to Nov. 11.
Between 1972 and 1975, more than 20 states returned to Nov. 11 as the date to observe Veteran’s Day.
1975 Legislation passes returning observance of Veteran’s Day to Nov. 11, as 46 states continued to observe Veteran’s Day on Nov. 11 despite the federal observance on the fourth Monday in October.
1978 The federal Veteran’s Day holiday formally reverts to Nov. 11.

SP intersection to finish by February
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
SEVEN POINTS–A spokesman from R.K. Hall told local business owners he expects to open all four lanes at the intersection in Seven Points some time in February.
The projects is running about three months ahead of schedule, Chad Ingram, roadwork manager said Wednesday.
Chamber members met for their monthly breakfast meeting at the Seven Points Dairy Queen to hear an update on the long-awaited road improvements.
Crews continue to prepare inlets and sidewalks for concrete pours on the southside of State Highway 334, Ingram said.
Though hot oil cannot seal southside lanes until May 1 to insure steady temperatures, those lanes are essentially done, he said.
After the seal coat the final two-inch surface will be applied.
Crews will also be pouring concrete for a pedestrian island at the intersection and then a barrier, blocking the left turn into Pritchett Lane will also go in before the February four-lane intersection opening, he added.
Ingram expects to turn the completed road over to TxDot sometime in June, he said.