SCENE IN PASSING
MARIE WHITEHEAD herald@mediactr.com
The downtown square of Rusk Saturday looked like days of old. Vehicles were parked on all four sides. The question to be asked was, "Where are the people?" They were picked up in shuttle buses and driven out to TSR for the wonderfully successful visit of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. Let us hope that this first event of significant exposure will continue for a rebirth of our living legacy. The Texas State Railroad is so integrated with the thread of history that holds our town and county together. The TSR is a work in progress, steaming slowly into the future. All of us want that future to last a long, long time. There was a wee bit of optimism in a communication Friday, suggesting that those in the State Capitol are nearing the door of action. The door to the money. What moves today without first having the wheels greased with money?

And back to the downtown side of our weekend, the gifted and talented participants of "Suesssical, the Musical" presented a production in the "big city" category. Our talent is as good as New York's, the stage is just smaller. Rusk and all of Cherokee County are on the threshold of potential economic growth and development. Lots of new people are finding our area to be just the new home they've longed to have. Look at the pluses: great churches, schools, medical facilities, utilities, even our weather and infrastructure. The ingredients are right here for growth. Yes, we can make a change for the better.

Believe it or not, the RHS Class of '53 allowed me to dine with them recently. My Chinese fortune cookie wisdom read, "You will make a change for the better." The words have stayed with me. Those in attendance were Dr. Jim Swink and Jeannie, Catherine Thedford, Kenneth Simmons, Gloria Jennings, Bonnie and Ray Dement, Kenneth and Beth Mann, Gerry Struhall, Clay Jones, Mary Wofford, John Irwin and your writer. As I approached the table, Dr. Swink couldn't resist a little humor. He said, "I want you all to know that I am not the oldest person here tonight, because we have Marie Whitehead with us." I let him know that I hoped my age would allow him to give me a little respect.

Kahlan Heard Ferrell, a Rusk High graduate of the late 50s, was a chance encounter while grocery shopping Saturday afternoon. The Lago Vista resident had enjoyed a wonderful visit to her hometown seeing family and friends. She reminded me that she had been one of my group in the Methodist Youth Fellowship back when. Like I needed to be reminded? I admitted that I couldn't believe it had been such a long time ago. Time marches on and so did we with shopping. She is the daughter of the late Dan and Lucille Heard.

Life is good. Some of our less-than-well citizens are really improving. City Councilman Donnie Woodard is one of them. He was hospitalized briefly last week and released after many tests. There are more tests scheduled, just to keep up with his progress in recoupig from pneumonia and a blood clot. He sounds great. And spouse Bonnie is holding up well, too. Neighbor Jim Turner is home after a short stay in the hospital where they treated his painful back with something we laughingly call "monkey glue." You can smile, but it's a serious matter. It got Jim and Joyce a visit from their daughter in Colorado and a daughter in Houston. Family can do more good than all kinds of knives, needles and thread. Another of our newer neighbors on Bonner Street, Barbara Alewine, has turned a corner for the better after a rocky start toward recovery. She had an appendix flare up, followed by surgery. Spouse Frank has been an eagle eye nurse in super care-giving.

Good words were shared in a phone visit with our Rusk friend in California, Lithana (Fanny) Sessions. She is bluer than blue - homesick is not the word. She says you can take a gal out of East Texas but you can't take East Texas out of her. She went to live with son Frank and wife Gwen several years ago.

Well, tomorrow I'll remember a dozen things I should have written today. But that's life.

It was the great Cicero who said, "Robbing life of friendship is like robbing the world of the sun." It is such a blessing to have a friend like Fanny who spreads sunshine on me. Keep smiling.