HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS
Folks along El Camino Real didn't have any trouble figuring out it was summer in East Texas this past weekend. The humidity was high and so were the temperatures, so if you were outside the sweat should have been rolling off of you. If you are a little bit on the pudgy side like yours truly, it seemed even hotter. It's a good thing I can type out your four bits' worth of news without working up a sweat or you might be out of luck this week after all the mowing and plowing I did on Saturday.

G. L. Skinner is back in the hospital and getting sicker everyday with cancer. Please keep G. L., his wife Rosie, and all the family in your prayers to help them through these hard times. G. L. was able to go down to see the work being done on the new Weeping Mary Baptist Church on Saturday. He loves his church very much and I hope and pray he is here to see it completed.

Jimmy Selman called me on Saturday to fill me in on all the details of his recent vacation. Jimmy and his mother Billie Selman, Rose Hodges, Judy Wilson and Ella Bee Dominy headed out on June 3 for Shreveport. After a short visit there they headed on to Broken Bow, Okla. where they spent the night. The next day they went to Eureka Springs, Ark. to see the "Passion Play." I went to that when I was a teenager and it was great then. Jimmy said that they walked around downtown Eureka Springs and looked in all the shops before heading on to Memphis, Tenn. The group enjoyed the tour of Elvis Presley's Graceland and all the shops and other stuff they have there for Elvis. Jimmy said that they even have his airplane on display. The group made it back to Alto on June 8. I'm sure that Jimmy will be ready to go somewhere else once he's had a few days to rest up. It is great to go and see the world, but its even nicer to get back home.

We had a covered dish lunch after services on Sunday at A. Frank Smith Methodist Church. This was our new preacher's first Sunday, so a good many folks showed up for church to check him out. His name is Dick Dobbins and he has been preaching at the Methodist church in Grapeland for the past five years. He and his wife Sarah have two grown daughters, Ginny and Emily. One of them was in church on Sunday, but I can't remember which one. His mother-in-law came to church too, but she didn't look as mean as mine. The choir had some really good singing lined up for the preacher's first Sunday. I don't know whether the music was to impress the new preacher or to entertain the congregation just in case the new guy couldn't preach. Rev. Dobbins didn't disappoint us. He did a great job preaching and talked loud, so the hard of hearing people could enjoy the sermon, too. I never dozed off once and he got us out for lunch by noon, so I guess he'll do. You Methodists that haven't been showing up in a while can slip in next Sunday and the new preacher will never know that you've been backsliding.

There has been a Juneteenth Parade in Rusk for the past several years, but this year according to Pam Green Black they are going to have one in Rusk and Alto. The one in Alto is sponsored by the Alto Trailriders Club and it will be held Saturday, June 16 starting at 10 a.m. in the parking lot next to Bancorp South on Hwy 69. The parade will head north on U.S. Hwy 69 to the Booker T. Washington Community Center where a short program will be given. The theme of this year's parade is "Unity in the Community." That does have a ring to it. Alto isn't like California or New York and we don't have that many different ethnic groups here to participate. We have blacks, whites, hispanics and our only Asians are David Chen and his family and they are going to be running the Donut Shop at 10 o'clock on Saturday and can't come. I don't know how we can have a "Unity in the Community" Juneteenth parade with no Asian representation. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19 that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston with the news that the war had ended and the enslaved were free. The war had been over since April, but it took time for the news to get down here to Texas.

If you are interested in riding in the parade start making plans for Saturday morning on the 16th. Polish up your car, put flags on your four-wheeler, give that horse a good brushing and get ready for another great parade in Alto. If you need more information you can contact Pam Black at (903) 262-0583. If Pam Black had been living back in 1865 that General Granger wouldn't have had to come all the way to Galveston to let everyone know the war was over. He could have just told Pam Black and asked her not to tell anyone and everyone in Texas would have known about it in a week. She does get around. Pam works hard on community projects like this one, so let's help her make it a success.

Don't forget that it's Father's Day this weekend and all those great dads need some special attention. Father is a pretty big name to live up to and when we get blessed with that title our lives change forever. A great burden of responsibility is placed on our shoulders and along with that burden comes some of the greatest joys a man can ever know. When our children are born, we think we have a lifetime to mold them into the adults we want them to become, but in reality we only have a fleeting moment of time to shape and guide them. We hope we can work in the time to talk to them and teach them everything they need to know, but the time goes by so fast as we work to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, that sooner or later you realize that they learn most by our example.

Honesty, integrity, respect for family and faith in God are best learned by example. Thank someone who set a good example for you this Father's Day.

I know people are starting to scatter this way and that on summer vacations, so I may not be able to keep up with all the news without a little help.

If something is going on around your place that needs telling then let me know. I'll see ya next week! And remember, No burden is too heavy if it is carried with love.