Martha and Jimmy Mitchell receive the Outstanding Cardinal Award from TVCC Associate Athletic Director Kris Baumann. (COURTESY PHOTO)
Jimmy and Martha Mitchell were presented the Outstanding Cardinal Award during the final Trinity Valley Community College home basketball game Saturday, March 2.
Both were born and raised in Athens and attended high school together, but they went their separate ways after graduation and each of them married and had one child before both lost their spouses.
They reunited at a basketball game they attended with their children.
They have now been married 54 years and have five children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Martha retired from Athens ISD and Jimmy from the Texas Department of Human Resources. Jimmy has announced for the Little Britches Rodeo and is currently an auctioneer. He has also served on the TVCC Hall of Fame Committee.
The couple has been season ticket holders for decades.
The No. 1-ranked Lady Cardinals go after a 43rd straight Cardinal Gym win today against San Jacinto at 5:30 p.m. The game will be streamed (audio) online at www.youreasttexas.com.
The Lady Cardinals are 27-1 on the year and 14-0 in conference. San Jacinto is 7-18 and 2-12.
Earlier this month, the Lady Cardinals were an 80-46 winner against San Jacinto.
With a win against San Jacinto, the Lady Cardinals will clinch no worse than a share of a 12th straight conference championship.
The Lady Cardinals are scheduled to wrap up the regular season at home Saturday against ninth-ranked Blinn at 4 p.m. A win would give the Lady Cardinals an outright conference title and the No. 1 seed in the regional tournament next week.
SOFTBALL
The Lady Cardinals are scheduled to return to action Friday in the opening day of the three-day Region XIV Cross Over Tournament in Longview. They take a 13-7 record into the event.
Here is the seven-game schedule for the Lady Cardinals:
FRIDAY
2 p.m. – vs. Alvin
6 p.m. – vs. San Jacinto
SATURDAY
9 a.m. – vs. Lamar
3 p.m. – vs. Coastal Bend
7 p.m. – vs. Blinn
SUNDAY
11 a.m. – vs. Galveston
3 p.m. – vs. Angelina
Coach Ashley Johnston is four wins from her 100th career victory.
The Lady Cardinals’ next home game is Wednesday, March 14 against Navarro. Doubleheader action begins at 1 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Cardinals head east across the border tonight to take on Bossier Parish in their final road game of the regular season. Game time is 7 p.m.
The Cardinals take an 18-10 season record into the contest. They are 9-8 in conference play. Bossier Parish, which fell 80-69 to the Cardinals earlier this month at Cardinal Gym, is 9-17 and 2-15.
Improving their seeding at next week’s regional tournament will be the top priority for the Cardinals. With two games to go, it appears they will most likely be seeded anywhere from 7-10.
The Cardinals are scheduled to close the regular season at home Saturday against Navarro. Game time is 6 p.m.
ON THE AIR
The Cardinal Sports Network will webcast Saturday’s doubleheader at Cardinal Gym. Pregame programming for the 4 p.m. women’s game starts at 3:50 p.m.
Trinity Valley Community College student Will Baker isn’t going to Romania this spring break. But that didn’t stop him from finding a way to help those who are.
Three students from the college will be traveling across the globe in March to spend a week helping Romanian orphans in need.
Although he isn’t taking the trip, Baker has been working to organize a fundraiser for those students. His idea: the Cruisin’ Cardinals Car Show.
On March 2, drivers of all makes and models of car, truck, motorcycle and boat are invited to attend the show, which will be in the front parking lot of the college’s Athens campus.
“I told them I would help fundraise. And I enjoy car shows and have grown up going to car shows. So I thought this would be a great excuse to have a show,” said Baker.
The show will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Drivers do not need to register in advance, but can do so the day of the show. Registration for the show is $15 for a car or truck and $7 for a motorcycle or a boat.
“I’ve had people asking about all kinds of vehicles,” said Baker. “I even had a guy ask about an ATV and I decided why not. Sounds like fun.”
There’s no charge for members of the public who want to come look at all the vehicles on display. However, donations will be taken at the show for those who want to help the students with their efforts.
Awards will be given for best of show in a car/truck category and then in a motorcycle category.
Cortney Curran, who is the TVCC staff sponsor for the trip, said she is glad to have students like Baker who are willing to help where needed.
“This was a great idea Will had and I hope everybody comes out,” said Curran.
The students will be leaving for Romania March 7. Curran, who has been to Romania on similar trips in the past, said the students will be spending their days working at a facility for infants and working with children after school hours.
“These children are truly destitute,” said Curran. “They have nothing and we are glad to be able to help them.”
For more information on the Cruisin’ Cardinals Car Show, contact the TVCC Student Activities Office at 903-675-6252.
Trinity Valley Community College Choir Director Dr. Byron McGilvray, shown here at a concert last fall, will direct the college’s choral groups on March 3. On that date, the college will present a concert titled “Our Musical Heritage, the Folk Music of America.” (COURTESY PHOTO)
Press release from TVCC
From the patriotic themes of the Revolutionary War to the songs of the old West to the spirituals of the Civil War era, American folk music is a rich part of the country’s history.
During its first concert of the spring semester, the Trinity Valley Community College Music Department will be celebrating American folk music. The concert, titled “Our Musical Heritage, the Folk Music of America,” is scheduled for 3 p.m. March 3.
The concert will take place at Dogwood Church in Athens and there is no charge for admission.
The idea for the performance, said Choir Director Dr. Byron McGilvray, came when he was watching a documentary from renowned director Ken Burns.
“They play in those documentaries a lot of folk music,” said McGilvray. “In this one, they played the folk song ‘Johnny is Gone for a Soldier.’”
That song, which is mostly likely an American adaptation of an old Irish tune, has become an American folk piece, said McGilvray. That piece will be played during the concert and inspired McGilvray to begin creating a concert centered on the American folk genre.
The concert will feature a variety of American folk music, said McGilvray. The performance will include everything from marine shanties to spirituals to mountain songs.
“We have these tunes that we don’t know exactly where they come from, which is the definition of folk music, but they have been lovingly tuned and expressed for centuries,” said McGilvray. “This is the character of America.
“With our diverse society, our folk music takes on so many characters through everything from our cowboy songs, to shanties, mountain songs and spirituals. Folk music of America is so varied that it seemed to me a good expression of that heritage and that history to do a concert based around the genre.”
Students in the college’s Chamber Singers and Cardinal Singers will be participating. The performance will be directed by McGilvray and narrated by TVCC’s Fine Arts Director Kelly Driskell.
Dogwood Church is located at 6467 Farm-to-Market Road 2494 in Athens, which is three miles west of the college.
The event will be sponsored by the Lakeland Concert Association and the Cain Foundation.
Trinity Valley Community College and the Lady Cardinals are teaming up with faculty member Mandy Weber to raise funds for the East Texas chapter of the Amazing Little Hearts Group (ALHG).
The college has proclaimed Wednesday, Feb. 27, as Hoops For Hope Day. The Lady Cardinals play San Jacinto at home that day at 5:30 p.m. and opportunities will be available for fans to contribute to the effort to raise funds.
ALHG provides support, information and resources to families affected by congenital heart defects in our area.
A congenital heart defect (CHD) is a defect in the structure of the heart and great vessels which is present at birth. Many types of the heart defect exists, most of which either obstruct blood flow in the heart or vessels near it, or cause blood flow through the heart in an abnormal pattern.
The cause is very personal to Weber, as both her husband and daughter have CHD.
Among the opportunities for fans to contribute at the game will be the chance to purchase ribbons for $4 and a note for the wall. Donations will also be accepted.
The college is also inviting children from ALHG and others touched by the disease to be special guests at the game.
February is heart month and the college encourages fans to support Hoops For Hope Day.
