HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
The March winds have blown this month by in a flash and folks along El Camino Real are left wondering where the month went. March is a busy time around here with all the gardens to get planted and projects to finish for the upcoming Cherokee County Livestock Show. With all these activities, I ended up with more than four bits' worth of news, but I'm going to try and squeeze it all in to this one article.

We were saddened to hear of the passing of Ms. Helen Perdue over the weekend. Ms. Perdue has been a longtime resident of our community and will be sorely missed by all who knew her. I think she gave my brother his first job. She paid him to keep the birds out of her fig trees with his Red Ryder BB gun. Please keep her family and friends in your prayers as they mourn her passing.

I ran into our friend Elvin Peacock the other day and he was out walking, trying to get his strength built back up after his recent heart surgery. He said that he was feeling pretty good, but just a little sore after his surgery. Prayers were certainly answered there and for that we are thankful. He should be back to full steam and working away at Triple P Automotive in another three or four weeks.

More than 340 cowboys participated in Alto's team roping contest Saturday. The event lasted more than 12 hours, and money raised will benefit the youth of the Cherokee County Junior Livestock show.

Willard Lawson had a couple of stints put in his heart, but I think he is doing fine. In fact I saw him driving to church on Sunday morning. Willard is about as tough as they come when it comes to bouncing back from ailments. Get well soon, Willard.

The Alto Buyer's Group held their first annual team roping on Saturday out on the Sand Flat Road at Jonathan Davis' roping pen. About 347 teams competed in the event. The roping lasted more than 12 hours and there were some tired cowboys and cowgirls Saturday evening, but a great time was had by all. Proceeds from the event help with buying the agriculture projects that will be sold at the county show on Saturday night. If you want to help some great kids with their projects, you can still donate money to the Alto Buyer's Group by contacting John Griffith or Steve Winfield. You will be amazed at the quality of the animals and the shop projects that these young men and women bring to the show. The Cherokee County Livestock Show starts on Friday and runs through Saturday evening at the Cherokee County Livestock Show Barn on the loop in Jacksonville. If you like being around some great young people from throughout Cherokee County then you better not miss the opportunity to attend the show.

The Central High Home Demonstration Club has sewn the last stitch in the beautiful quilt they give away each year at the Central High Homecoming. The quilt is on display at Tin Lizzie's and you can buy a chance to win it for a $1 donation. Tickets are available at Alto Rural Water Supply, the Stella Hill Memorial Library or from any member of the club. The ladies from the Ponta and Central High Clubs attended the Texas Extension Education Association spring meet- ing in Gilmer last week with about 150 other ladies. Next year the spring meeting will be in Alto, and the ladies are eager to show off our town. These are some great ladies, so be sure and support them.

Members of the Alto Chamber of Commerce are seeking donations to help put a new roof on the old Alto Herald Building, so it can be made into a museum. The Alto Herald Building offers a rare look into printing of the past with its linotype machines still set up right where they were when the newspaper was merged with the Cherokeean. Merchants and friends of the museum have donated items to be placed in a gift basket and raffled off. The gift basket is on display in the window of the Gift Shop downtown. You can buy chances for a $1 donation or get six chances for $5. All proceeds from the drawing will keep the artifacts safe and dry until the museum can be opened for the public to enjoy.

Jimmy Selman and his mom made a trip last week to NASA Space Center with Rose Hodges. They went with Beverly Milner and her fourth grade class from Wells Elementary. This is a yearly trip for the Wells fourth graders, and one that they all look forward to. I talked to Jimmy at the team roping and he said that he had a great time and really enjoyed seeing all of the spacecraft and the old mission control center that was used during the Apollo missions. Beverly Milner has always given her classes a good dose of space education and I know it is something they all enjoy.

I finally got my garden broken up and made my yearly pilgrimage to Dover's Plant Farm for my tomato plants. I believe his plants look better than ever this year. After a long talk with

J. C. Dover on what I needed and the best way to grow them, I loaded up three flats. I added all the knowledge J. C. gave me with about 20 years of stuff I learned from my late neighbor, Virgil Schochler, and proceeded to plant my tomatoes - my way, of course. J.C. gave me some valuable information about fertilizing in dry weather that I wish I would have known last year. I guess he just lets out his secrets a little bit at a time. Virgil gave his freely, but I had to be real careful because he would throw in a trick every once in a while just to mess me up. My mother-in-law brought me a flat of pepper plants. She said that she just wanted to do something for me, but I know she thinks she'll get half interest in my garden for her efforts. I don't know how she is going to eat all those peppers, because she didn't get any stock in the tomato crop. I'll plant my peas in a week or two and I'll be set to go. Several people told me that it thundered in February and that meant we would get a frost in April, but I'm thinking that old saying won't hold water this year.

Well, I managed to squeeze all the news that needed telling into four bits and I've even got some in the pile for next week's issue. It looks like things are fixin' to get busy along El Camino Real, so be sure and keep me posted on things that need telling.

I'll see ya next week! And remember, Anything worth taking seriously is worth making fun of.