HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
Folks along El Camino Real have been going at full speed trying to get all the things done that need doing in October. Fall gardens, football games, school programs and hunting season, take all the time a person has - and then you have to find time to work. On top of all of these chores, I have to find time to give you your four bits' worth of news.

Last week was a week for birthdays around here and everywhere I went I ran into someone who was really adding up the years. Randy Low and Bob Grammer both turned 50 last week. That was hard for me to believe. I remember they were a little older than me in school but I never imagined that they would be hitting 50 so quickly. They will be as old as Sandy Wallace before you know it and she added another year on Oct. 23. I've always wondered what growing old gracefully really means. I've just about figured out that it means "limping with style." Happy birthday to these old-timers.

Enough about the old folks. Creager Davis and yours truly celebrated our birthday on Oct. 20 with a Halloween party and hay ride at the Westover Ranch in Lynches Chapel. About 30 kids and 30 adults showed up for the fun. The youngsters rolled down the hill and played all over the place while the grown=ups watched. I could have rolled down the hill with the kids with no problem. It would have been the walking back up the hill that would have done me in. Creager had lots of fun turning 10 with his friends. Birthday parties are fun for the first 30 years of life, then they start getting old.

For the l last 13 months James Ross, project foreman and Manuel Galindo, project manager (right in photo), have been working on 28-story towers in Galveston. Mr. Ross is originally from Alto.

Ramon J. Ross and Elizabeth Ross out in the Thomas Chapel Community are mighty proud of their son James Ross Jr. For the past 13 months James Ross has been working as project foreman with Manuel Galindo, project manager, to successfully complete the 28-story towers that make up the Palisade Palms Condominiums. Between the two of them James and Manuel have 36 years experience in the lath and plaster industry, and they needed all of their combined experiences to apply over 250,000 square feet of stucco on this massive project located in Galveston. As it nears completion, this project marks the highest Baker Triangle as pumped stucco; at one point the plaster crew was pumping mud 420 feet. It looks like Ramon is going to have to load up and head down to Galveston and see what his son has been building down there. I know Mr. and Mrs. Ross are very proud of their son. And we are still proud here in Alto that Ramon hasn't retired yet. We never know when we are going to need something from his place on El Camino Real.

The Home Demonstration Clubs of Cherokee County held their Rally Day last week in the old Central High Community School. I was invited to go out and have lunch with my favorite ladies and I didn't miss the opportunity. My friends from the Ponta Club as well as the Central High Ladies were present. I missed the program that was put on by the Cherokee County Electric Co-op, but I did manage to make it in time for lunch. The food was fantastic as always and you couldn't find any nicer people to cook it and serve it up. The ladies had their fine sewing and craft work displayed in the front room of the school. Those ladies can really put out the nice stuff. A big thanks to th TEEA Home Demonstration Club ladies for the invite.

Early voting started on Monday for the November election on amendments and the elementary school bond for Alto ISD. If you like to vote early you can drop by the Fellowship Hall at A. Frank Smith Methodist Church and cast your ballot. All elections are important and you are encouraged to cast your ballot.

I carried the boys deer hunting at the Coonpond Hunting Club this weekend, but we didn't manage to bag the big buck. Creager and I were hunting together in a house stand. The morning was perfect, the weather was great and we were watching several deer feed around under the stand. Things were perfect that is until the buzzards decided to use the top of our stand as a roost. The buzzards began flying in and landing on the tin top of our stand and their claws made awful scratching noises as they walked around on the roof. It was an unnerving sound as more and more came in for a landing. Our deer stand was looking more like an aircraft carrier in the ocean than a place to hunt. Creager started laughing and the deer under the corn feeder just kept starring at the stand trying to figure out what was going on. All I could think of was my birthday and wonder if the extra year had brought me so close to the end that the buzzards have already started to circle me, like some character from a western movie on a trek through the desert. I hope this isn't an indication of what our upcoming deer season is going to be like.

I've got plenty of things to do and I bet you do too, so I better wind this week's rambling to a close and get to it. I'll see ya next week! And remember, A day hemmed in prayer is less likely to unravel.