HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS elcaminoreal@consolidated.net The first week of October has arrived on El Camino Real and the temperatures and dry weather make if feel like the summer weather that we were supposed to get in July, but didn't. The grass isn't growing, so I don't have to mow, but my oat patches aren't growing much either. I think a crop of dryland mosquitoes have invaded East Texas - there are mosquitoes flying every which a way and no water for hatching. I guess I better quit my griping and belly-aching and get on with your four bits' worth of news.

Our good friend Annie Ruth Nicar passed away last week after a long, good life. Ms. Nicar has been sitting behind us in church for more years than I can remember. I don't think you could find a kinder lady anywhere. She left us with many pleasant memories and we are thankful for the many years we had her with us. Please keep her daughter Charlotte, and her family and friends in your prayers as they mourn her passing.

I was sorry to hear of the passing of Justine Poole last week. Justine was a part of our community for many years and leaves a large family to mourn her passing. Many of the Headstart children remember her when she worked there. Please keep them in your prayers during their time of mourning.

Life around the Donut Palace in Alto got pretty busy last week between making doughnuts and adding a new member to the Chan family. David Chan and his wife Bopha are the proud parents of a brand new baby boy, and Kalyn Chan has a new baby brother to play with. Christopher Xue Chan was born on Sept. 26 . The little fellow weighed seven pounds and seven ounces and was a few weeks early. He would have been a whopper if he had of gone full term. This could be Alto's first Asian baby. The proud father is already making plans for the little guy to become the first Asian member of the Yellowjacket football team. David wanted me to thank everyone for keeping his family in our prayers while his wife was in the hospital. David said that all of the rest of his family was born in big cities. This is the first baby in the family to be born in the country. You can't get much more country than Alto, so I guess he's right. We've never had a redneck Asian before, but I guess we'll do the best we can to teach him how to hunt, fish and play football. I especially liked the name they chose for the baby. I don't know whether it was just a name they liked or if they decided to name the baby after whoever ate the most doughnuts. Congratulations to the Chan Family on their new baby boy. Welcome to Alto, Chris Chan!

We've had several babies born in Alto here lately and we have more on the way. During the Labor Day early deadline I missed getting to tell you about Clint and Amy Gardner's new baby girl. Lane Gardner was born on Labor Day. When your dad and granddad are coaches for the Yellowjackets it is always best to be born on a Monday. It is alright for a coach's wife to give birth on a Friday, but they shouldn't expect to see the father until after the game. Congratulations to the Gardners on their new baby girl!

Several weeks ago we were all excited over our prayers being answered when little Hannah Collie received her heart transplant and recovered so well. On Sept. 26, Hannah had another change in her life with the birth of a new baby brother. Cooper Collie weighed in at a whopping nine pounds, 14 ounces. Cooper will have to block for the Chan baby when they get on the Yellowjacket football team. Jason and Amanda Collie are the proud parents, but they can't show him off to the home folks just yet because they are still living in Dallas while Hannah recovers from her surgery. We need to keep this family in our prayers and maybe they'll all be home by Thanksgiving or Christmas. Congratulations to the Collie family on their two little miracles.

We've got several more babies coming in the next few weeks, but I'm not going to tell about them until the get here. Some of these ladies are really dragging this pregnancy business out until the last day. It looks like Alto is having its very own baby boom.

I bought a hog trap down at the Alto Feed Store and the boys and I are going to try our hand at hog trapping. We haven't caught one yet, but we are just getting started. We've been listening to all the tricks that hog trappers in the area have been telling us, so we should have the system down pat in a few weeks. If we start catching hogs, I'm going to have to get somebody to teach my mother-in-law how to skin them. She can worry the horns off a billy goat, so she shouldn't have too much trouble getting the hide off a hog.

I can't think of anything else that needs telling for now. If you have some exciting news happening around your place, be sure and let me know.

The Yellowjackets are traveling to Huntington this Friday night, so dust off your stadium seats and get ready to head south. I'll see ya next week! And remember, Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.