Community-Henderson County Now

National Day of Service: Family Peace Project

Saturday, Jan. 19, has been designated a National Day of Service, and the call is going out across the country for citizens to get involved and serve their community.

Here in Henderson County, a service day project has been identified: the Family Peace Project needs help getting its resale store (which helps fund FPP) cleaned up and ready for its grand reopening.

On Tuesday, HCT Now reader and former Democratic candidate for Congress Linda Mrosko contacted our site and asked if we knew of any local projects scheduled for Saturday. We did not, so we asked our Facebook community.

And Marlena Taylor of the Family Peace Project stepped up.

“We need help cleaning our store racks,” Taylor told HCT Now this morning. “We have closed the store and are revamping for a grand reopening in late February or early March, but we can open sooner if we can get help.”

Taylor said the store racks need to be taken to the car wash and cleaned, and the floors and walls need to be cleaned.

For those who don’t know, the Family Peace Project offers “a place of refuge and resources to victims of family violence,” and is one of the very important charities in the county.

For those wishing to help, you can contact Taylor at [email protected], or through the organization’s Facebook page.

Morning Brief: Wednesday, Jan. 16

In the photo above, State Rep. Jim Pitts, who now represents parts of Cedar Creek Lake, files House Bill 1, the base budget bill, Tuesday in Austin. (COURTESY PHOTO)

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While we are talking about the Legislature, Rep. Lance Gooden has filed several resolutions, including a couple about Henderson County folks.

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What are you going to do for the National Day of Service this Saturday? We asked our Facebook community, and looks like the Family Peace Project could use some help.

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Thank you to Kevin and Jeaneane Lilly for their $10,000 donation to the Athens Splash Pad project. The Athens Review has a photo.

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Don’t forget, the Athens Chamber of Commerce Banquet is this Friday night. There’s still time to get tickets.

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From the TVCC Facebook page:

The Cardinal Sports Network will webcast tonight’s Region XIV Conference Doubleheader at Cardinal Gym between the Lady Cardinals, Cardinals and Kilgore College. Sports Information Officer Benny Rogers and President Dr. Glendon Forgey will handle the play by play and commentary. Watch all the action starting at 5:20 p.m.

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TWITTER USERS: If you see something newsworthy (or interesting or fun) in the county, tag it #hctnow.

FOR NON TWITTER USERS: What the above means is that any tweet with the tag #hctnow can be gathered into one list … so you could conceivably track that one tag and get information from Seven Points to Chandler.

Daily Brief: Jan. 15

I’m still hoping to get some more information on The Ned Show coming to Bel Air this Friday … but here’s the poster while I’m waiting on a call back.

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The Malakoff community is still in pain today following the deaths of 16-year-old MHS sophomore Jamiya Givens Williams and her 11-month-old daughter, Alahna, in a car wreck Sunday.

According to a story by Jayson Larson in the Athens Review:

According to Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Kyle Bradford, a public information officer stationed in Garland, Williams and her daughter were in the backseat of a Chevrolet Cavalier headed east on Hwy. 175 when the accident happened. Reports state the Cavalier, driven by Williams’ mother, Cheryl Givens, 40, had a tire blow out as the car traveled down the road.

Givens slowed to around 10 to 15 miles per hour on the highway preparing to exit off a nearby ramp. Before she reached the ramp, the Cavalier was hit from behind by a Ford F-150 truck.

Services are pending.

A fund has been set up through FBC Malakoff to help the Givens family with funeral related expenses for Jamiya and Alahna, such as the Caskets and funeral directors. The cost of a funeral is normally in the thousands, meaning that some families will need as much help as they can get to fund a funeral service. As their family will want to give Jamiya and Alahna a great funeral, they have allowed a fund to be opened to help them cover the costs. If you’d like to donate, checks can be made payable to FBC Malakoff and designated for “Jamiya Givens Williams.” As they seem to be struggling with the cost of the funeral, it might suggest that Jamiya wasn’t paying for life insurance. Many people seem to disregard life insurance until they’re older as they feel that nothing will happen to them in their younger years. However, life can be unpredictable and events like this can occur. By paying life insurance, families can receive money for the funeral. For those who want to know more about the benefits of life insurance, it might be worth visiting PolicyMe.com or another website similar. That should help people learn more about the insurance option.

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Betty Waters at the Tyler Paper had a cool feature story about Henderson County Tax Collector Milburn Chaney’s sports autograph collection.

It is a fun read. rch

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The Texas House and Senate both filed budget bills yesterday, sparking instant debate.

This debate is also important to us, but this session Henderson County is a little closer to the middle of things. State Rep. Jim Pitts, who now represents a portion of Cedar Creek Lake, is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

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LOOKING FOR A DEAL: Store closing sale … the following is from Jessica Crye of My Favorite Things:

Big sale in Malakoff (one block south of light in the right 202 S Terry St) Store closing!!!!
Kitchen items/tables/chairs, dishes, glassware, china, Christmas, kid items, home decor, furniture, outdoor items, construction materials, commercial kitchen equipment
TOO much to list, 5000 sq ft!!!!
Wed-Fri 9-2 Sat 9-4
Mon-Fri 9-2. Sat 9-4
Will meet evenings if interested in bulk buying
903-340-4921

Daily Brief: Friday, Jan. 11

TGIF.

Looks like a fairly quiet weekend ahead. Enjoy it, because next weekend is going to be busy!

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Monday, Jan. 21, is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Scheduled events include:

– MLK Parade: Saturday, Jan. 19
– Gospel Explosion: Saturday, Jan. 19
– Candlelight Vigil: Monday, Jan. 21

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Another big event on the horizon is the Athens Chamber of Commerce Banquet. The event will see big awards, like the Citizen of the Year.

The event is set for 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18. Tickets are still available, but hurry.

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We won’t see as much rain this weekend as we have during the week, but the forecast is still calling for some drizzles. Prepare accordingly.

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The Athens Daily Review has a story about the Athens EDC considering a funding request for the splash pad planned for Kiwanis Park.h

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Finally, I owe a personal thank you to the folks in Malakoff who threw me a wonderful party last night to mark my departure from The Malakoff News. It was beyond anything I could have envisioned and a lot of nice people said some really nice things about me.

I have been very blessed to work in a community full of people who care, and the secret is that I should be the one thanking you for allowing me into your lives and being able to make a living doing what I love.

So, thank you.