Thomas the Tank will draw 20,000 visitors to area
CONNIE BROWN Rusk

Even though there are problems with the Texas State Railroad running due to the tracks being washed out from the rain, American Heritage has set the course to run Thomas the Tank Engine.

This will be the last two weekends in October and to date the tracks for the 15 minute run have not been affected by the weather.

Rusk will be hosting "A Day with Thomas and Friends" Oct. 19-21 and 26-28. Thomas the Tank is very popular with children two years and up and Rusk is anticipating around 20,000 people to attend both weekends.

Thomas will be located at the Texas State Railroad. He is known for driving 15 minutes backwards and 15 minutes forwards, blowing his whistle and moving his eyes.

Children get their faces' painted, visit the Imaginations Station and hang out with Sir Topham Hatt. It is a full day of fun and excitement for these children.

This is something very new to the Rusk area and with this in mind the Rusk Chamber of Commerce decided to invite surrounding chambers.

Lufkin and Nacogdoches were unable to attend, but Alto/Crockett, Jacksonville, Tyler and Palestine, along with Palestine Mayor Caroline Salter attended a luncheon/ meeting at the lake house of Bobby and Hazel Tosh.

The Rusk chamber informed the surrounding chambers of the potential visitors needing hotels, food and shopping. Discussion involved what was happening in their area during the month of October and they all agreed to pull together all of their events for visitors' information. The chambers will have a brochure printed that displays October, November and December events in East Texas.