HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
Folks along El Camino Real had to put up with another cold April weekend, but we will be wishing we could see some of this cool weather about August. I need to get my peas planted, but Virgil always told me if I planted them when it was too cold, they would come up possumeared, and wouldn't do good. I'm down to about 14 sticks of firewood, but I do have four bits' worth of news. If we have many more cold weekends, then I'm going to have to start burning the news.

Our town was a little sadder last week with the passing of our friend Grady Singletary. Grady was sick for a good while and I was already missing seeing his truck pass the house everyday. Grady was one of our town's best historians and I relied on him often for information on things that were before my time. Years from now when people visit our library and are able to look at old pictures of their greatgreat grandparents and the old pictures of how our town once looked, they can thank Grady Singletary for the chance to see these photographic treasures. Grady worked tirelessly photographing and documenting every old photo he could get his hands on throughout Cherokee county while serving as a member of the Cherokee County Historical Commission. Grady shared lots of stories with me about Alto's past on visits we had at the Hall of Justice when I was JP. I enjoyed his visits and the knowledge he eagerly shared with me. He will be sorely missed in our community. Please keep his wife, Virginia, their children, Richard, Ann, Linda and Alan, along with all the grandchildren in your prayers as they mourn the passing of a good man.

Elisa McDonald fell and broke her hip last week and had to undergo surgery in Nacogdoches. Elisa came through the surgery fine, but it is going to take that hip a while to heal. Her husband Jerry is going to have to wait to get his bad knee fixed until Elisa gets well. They are grandparents to Mindy and Kim Scott's large brood, so they shouldn't have any problems getting a hand until they recuperate. I think all the kids ought to move in with Jerry and take care of him until Elisa gets home. That would take Jerry's mind off of that sore knee. Get well soon, Elisa, you're in our prayers.

The Alto Youth Baseball/ Softball Association will hold their annual fish fry fundraiser Saturday, April 21at the Alto Volunteer Fire Dept. starting at 4:30 p.m. Plates are $7 (just like last year) and will include fish with all the trimmings, including drinks. To-go plates will also be available. This year they will have a cake sale during the fish fry with all cakes priced at only $20. Come early to get your cake, they will go fast! All proceeds will benefit Alto Youth Baseball/Softball Association. Things are lining up for a great year of baseball, so please come out and do your part to kick off the season and eat some great fish.

Cheyenne Allen, the daughter of the late Dickie Allen and Mary Grace Allen Simms, has been a practicing attorney for eight years now. This is hard for me to believe - I still picture her as a little girl. She has been practicing law in Tyler with a firm for the past eight years, but now she is going into business for herself. She is limiting her practice to Social Security Disability and SSI law. I imagine folks will be happy to know there is someone to call who can help them through the Social Security nightmare when they get denied. Cheyenne represents people all over East Texas and all the way over to Shreveport. Cheyenne is married to Tyler Policeman Dale Feuquay. Good luck to Cheyenne on her new law practice. I'm sure she will do a great job for her clients; her brother Cody has always done good in the undertaking business here and most folks say that he will be the last person in town to let you down.

All the school kids around the state will be finishing up their dreaded TAKS tests this week. Students and teachers are anxious about the results, but it will take a while to get them back. Feed your kids a good breakfast and make sure they don't stay up too late before the test.

I've got to vent for a second. In East Texas we grow up eating just about anything we could kill or catch and if the meat is a little strong you just put extra gravy on it. I thought I had eaten just about every kind of meat you could cook and enjoyed most of it until Saturday night. We went to the Sunflower Gala in Jacksonville and the theme was "Midnight at the Oasis." The place was decorated to perfection and the steam tables full of food looked great. After piling on the boiled shrimp, I ventured over to another food line to sample what they were serving. Everything was going well until I decided to sample the lamb meat. I took one bite and the strong taste overwhelmed me, the more I chewed the bigger it got in my mouth. No wonder those people in the Middle East stay mad all the time if that is all they have to eat. I had to go back to the boiled shrimp and eat twice as many just to get the taste of that sheep meat out of my mouth. I think we ought to ship some armadillos to the Middle East for those poor folks to eat. Life is all about new experiences and now I understand why the cattlemen of old didn't want sheep herds around their cows. They were afraid that some of their cooks might cook one of those sheep.

I guess that just about covers everything that went on along El Camino Real this week. If something is happening around your place that needs telling, be sure and let me know.

I'll see ya next week! And remember, There is always death and taxes - however death doesn't get worse every year.