Death in the family

For anyone who might be trying to get in touch with me at the newspaper, I will be out of the office for a few days. My mother-in-law, Betty Barnett, passed away late this afternoon. She had COPD and had been in the hospital for about a month with an upper respiratory infection of some kind. She had lived with us for the past couple of years and was very close to the kids, and to me. We'll miss her dearly. Arrangements are pending at the funeral home in Jewett. I'll catch up on emails and phone messages early next week. If you need to get something in the paper that I would ordinarily handle, please contact Cheril or Angie. Thanks for your understanding.

Beth

Wings of Freedom Tour

If you can, make time today or tomorrow morning to stop by the Palestine Municipal Airport to see the planes here for the Wings of Freedom Tour. They really are something special to see. It's amazing to think that these planes carried tons of ordnance over Europe and made it back through the flak and fighters, and that they're still flying today. It's also interesting to look at the size of the B-17 and the B-24 bombers. They look large when you're standing next to one, but when you start to think about the size of the commercial passenger jets we're used to - 727s, 747s, MD-80s - they're actually small. There's not much plane in between the young men who crewed those planes and the metal being shot at them from the ground and the enemy fighters. It really gives you something to think about, particularly when you listen to the stories of the men who flew them. The P-51 Mustang, the small silver fighter, was one of the most well-known American fighters from World War II. It's much smaller than the two bombers, particularly the B-24, but most of the planes were designed for only a pilot, although some models had a passenger seat.

Walk-through tours are going to be available regardless of weather. Cost is $12 for adults and $6 for children. Not only do you get to see the planes up close, inside and out, you also hear about what it was like to fly in them from people who really know. Pretty cool experience. In addition, flights are available on all three aircraft, but for a much higher, and tax-deductible, price. The money raised by the flights helps to keep the aircraft in the air for everyone to enjoy. I had planned to fly in one of the bombers yesterday but was unable to due to family illness. I'm still planning on today sometime. I'll post after I do, as soon as I stop grinning.

The tour is here courtesy of the Veterans Historic Education Center, which sponsored this stop. The VHEC also brings the Vietnam War era Huey helicopter to the Armed Forces Weekend each year at the Texas State Railroad, and it sponsored the traveling Vietnam Wall nearly two years ago on Veterans Day. The group is a non-profit and has been digging into its own pockets for events such as these, so if you see Anne Coleman, Reba Hays or other VHEC members, why not tell them thanks and maybe pass on a little donation if you can to help recoup some of the expense? After all, the drive to our airport is shorter than the drive somewhere else.

Gearing up for Weekend 2 of Dogwood Trails

It's an almost rainy Tuesday -- it looks like rain, sometimes it even spits a few drops, but there's still plenty of pollen on my truck -- and I think we're all recovering well from Weekend 1 of Dogwood Trails. By now the sunburns aren't stinging like they were, the feet have quit complaining and we've had a couple nights of sleep. So let's talk about Weekend 2.

THURSDAY
The weekend's events actually kick off on Thursday with the start of the annual Old Time Music and Dulcimer Festival. The festival is held throughout the rooms and hallways of the Museum for East Texas Culture, 400 Michaux St., behind Reagan Park. To someone who hasn't been before, holding a three-day music festival in an old school building now used as a museum may seem strange, but it works well. It's an intimate setting, meaning that the audience can be knee-to-knee with the musicians, and considering that there are plenty of break-out jam sessions, that's a really cool thing. Then too, the timelessness of the music and the nostalgic feel to the building blend together well. This is an awesome good time and VERY family-oriented. Cost varies depending on whether you attend any of the offered workshops, and how many days you want to go. The festival runs through Saturday with varying times.

FRIDAY
In addition to the Dulcimer Festival, the Palestine Community Theatre's production of "Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming" continues this weekend at the Texas Theater, 213 W. Crawford St. The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday for the final performance. Cost is $10 in advance for adults or $12 at the door; $6 for students age 18 and under either in advance or at the door.

SATURDAY
The Palestine Area Chamber of Commerce needs volunteers to help out with Saturday's 8 a.m. annual bicycle rides. This year, the Gatherin' Steam Bike Ride begins downtown, just down the hill from the newspaper in Old Town. (this means i need to be here really early Saturday after a late night on Friday if i want my usual parking spot :( ) As usual, there are several distances to choose from, but all start and end at the same location. If you're considering participating as a rider (or a walker in the 1-mile fun ride/walk/run) maps of the routes are available online here. Registration forms may be downloaded from the Chamber website by clicking here.

For those who enjoy rodeo and good Southern rock/red-dirt country music, the Boston Porter Memorial Scholarship Bullriding will be at the Anderson County Riding and Roping Arena, with a concert by local band Whiskey Myers to follow. The money raised goes to fund a scholarship in the name of Boston Porter, the grandson of Kim and Jimmy Ray who died at 14 months old in 2006. Boston’s Little Buckaroos Kid Rodeo will start at 11 a.m. and the Boston Porter Memorial Scholarship Bullriding will be at 7:30 p.m.

Prior to the rodeo, local animal lovers can have a barking good time at the BARC, The Humane Society's Critter Fun Day at the Anderson County Youth Livestock Expo in front of the riding and roping arena. The Critter Fun Day runs from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and costs $10 for ages 7 and up (pets and kids age 6 and under are free). The event includes dog trainers running their furry buddies through obstacle courses, Bill and Star from the TV show "Greatest American Dog," and more. It's a fun thing to watch, although I have to do it upwind because of my dog allergies.

The Dulcimer Festival wraps up today, but if gospel music is more your style, check out the Gospel Music Festival today at North Jackson Baptist Church, 1213 N. Jackson St. The event is free and runs from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Also, the Lakeview Methodist Conference Center on Texas 294 between Palestine and Elkhart will have its gift shop open for visitors from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. to view its Dickens Village. The village is an entire collection of ceramic buildings designed around the Dickens Christmas theme. It was donated to Lakeview by Don and Jo Strickland of Bryan so that people could enjoy it year-round.

Good start to 71st Dogwood Trails Festival

You couldn't ask for better weather this weekend to kick off the Dogwood Trails Festival. The weather was near perfect Saturday for the parade, arts and crafts show and all the various church fundraisers timed around the festival's biggest weekend. Pleasant temps, mostly sunny skies and a breeze make it a lot easier to be out there, whether as a visitor strolling along W. Oak Street, a vendor outside selling his/her goods or a reporter walking throughout downtown.

People seemed to enjoy the parade, which was longer than normal, lasting over an hour this time. Lots of cars. Lots and lots and lots of cars. Personally, I'd like to see more groups enter floats, but that's a personal preference, not a knock on the parade. Too bad spring break week coincided with the parade. That probably kept out two, and probably three, of the high school bands normally marching in it. I love to listen to a good band play, and personally, I'd like to see ALL of the area school bands participate. It's a chance to show the community how good your kids are.

A note about the video posted of the parade: I enlisted the help of my 14-year-old son to shoot video while I shot still photos during the parade. A technical problem with the camera -- it shut off when he thought he was filming, and it's happened to me, too -- led to no clips of the first few minutes of the parade, when the Dogwood Queen and court and the Palestine band passed by. Sorry about that. The problem got fixed and we shot more video (mostly, he did) throughout the rest of the parade, as well as the day. I'll be editing and posting festival videos beginning Monday.

Glad to see a long Dogwood day at its end

It's 11 p.m., and I do know where my children are. They're all still up instead of in bed. But it's spring break and two of the three children were at the 71st annual Dogwood Trails Festival all day. Our son signed up to help the Chamber of Commerce at 5:30 am direct the vendors to where they were to set up their booths, which netted him three hours of community service for Scout rank advancement. After that, he helped me with photos and videos throughout the day. Our older daughter arrived at 6 am with her Girl Scout troop to set up their booth to sell cookies in Old Town. They stayed until after 3 pm when the crowds became sparse. Both are tired and all need to go to bed, which they've been told to do. Following directions is not a strong suit when it comes to bedtimes around here.

Congratulations to Slocum

Congratulations to the Slocum Mustangs on their state championship! Slocum defeated Lipan on Friday night, then beat perennial heavyweight Nazareth on Saturday to win the Class A, Division II title. To put some perspective to it, Nazareth won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. The Swifts (a long-eared fox) have won like 13 state titles. To beat a team that expects this kind of success in your first trip to state is like little Hickory High beating the big-city school in Hoosiers, even though the school size is comparable. I've played on a pair of basketball teams that reached the state tournament in Kentucky back in 1982 and 84, but we didn't win. This is a great achievement that you should be very proud of! My hat's off to you, Slocum!

Victory for the Neches River National Wildlife Reguge

The word is spreading now that the judge in the appeals case has ruled in favor of those pushing for land along the Anderson and Cherokee County banks of the Neches River to be allowed to become a national wildlife refuge, rather than be flooded to make Lake Fastrill for the City of Dallas. The City of Dallas and the Texas Water Development Board had sued to halt the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's efforts to set up the Neches River NWR, so that Lake Fastrill could be built to help meet Dallas' projected water needs mid-century. The first ruling had been in favor of the refuge, prompting the appeal. Groups such as the Conservation Fund, the Sierra Club, the Texas Conservation Alliance and the Friends of the Neches River all have lobbied public and political support for keeping the river and its bottomlands as they are, not flooded with lake water.

Word came down late last night that Judge Solis ruled in favor of the refuge. Watch the Herald-Press' Saturday edition for a story with local reaction.