HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
The first week of the regular deer season has begun along El Camino Real and just about every person you bump into in town is wearing camouflage clothes. When I run into someone wearing camo in the store or getting gas, I always look to see if they have blood on their clothes. This is the one time of year that you can wear bloodstained clothes and it is a good thing. Bragging rights are important to East Texas folks. This column won't be anything to brag about if I don't get on with writing your four bits' worth of news.

Downtown Alto was filled with old cars and all kinds of booths and entertainment on Saturday at the Alto Pecan Festival. A good crowd showed up to enjoy a beautiful day, and they looked around and visited with friends at the festival. Some great singers performed on the stage in the middle of town. A big thanks to all the people who worked so hard to put on the Pecan Festival.

The beauty shop across from the car wash in town is closed, but before you ladies get in a tither about your hair do, I've got good news. Brandi Germany and Rhonda Parker are still fixing hair, they just moved to a new location and changed the name.

Brandi's Beauty Shop is located on CR 2603 just south of Alto. Brandi has remodeled Diane Simmons' old beauty shop and is ready to get started doing the do's out there. Rhonda is moving with her doing the do's that she wants to do too.

Brandi's is open Tuesday thru Friday and on Saturdays by appointment. The new phone number is (936) 858-4699. They cut and fix hair for men and women of all ages, from toddlers to blue hairs. They can even slap a shine on a bald head for those who don't need a haircut but miss the gossip. Good luck to Brandi in her new beauty shop.

I can't believe after all these years I finally made a mistake. Last week when I wrote about Shannon and Trey Crosby's new baby boy, I accidently made the baby's grandmother a bigamist. Fay Hudson is married to Bill Hudson and they live in Alto. The other grandparents are Dean Crosby and he is married to Cindy Crosby and they live in Palestine. The maternal grandparents are Bobby and Martha Snowden of Lufkin. I'm just proud I was able to straighten this out before I confused little Nathon Paul about his grandparents. I'll try not to let this happen again. I'm still trying to think of a proper punishment for my proofreader and wife.

Love was in the air in the Weeping Mary Community Saturday afternoon. One of our favorite folks, Peggy Green, married Colbert Kaiser from Houston in the Weeping Mary Baptist Church. A big crowd showed up for the wedding and a reception was held at the bride's home. I know lots of good food was there if Peggy had anything to do with it. Peggy has been an important part of our community for a long time and we are going to hate to see her move off to Houston with her new husband. Maybe she can talk him into retiring in to the country and they can move home after a while. I hope the poor fellow didn't find out that Pam Green Black is one of his in-laws. He may try to get this marriage annulled. Congratulations and best wishes to Peggy and Colbert on their new life together!

The youth deer season in Texas was the last weekend in October. This is a great time for parents to teach their kids the joy of hunting without having to give up one of their days in the woods. The sad part of this idea is that once you teach kids the fun of hunting you are never able to sneak off without them again. Joey Tobias took his five-year-old daughter Jalyn out for the youth season and she killed her first buck. A nice seven pointer. The little girl was pretty excited and sang "A Country Girl Can Survive" all the way back to the house. A big congratulations to Jalyn on her first buck. I don't know who thought up this youth season, but it is something that parents have really learned to enjoy. The only part I don't like about hunting with the kids is carrying all their stuff. Gutting the deer, loading the deer and processing the deer with no help. The kids just shoot then daddy does the work.

I witnessed a sad sight in Alto at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. I was headed out hunting, rushing to get on my stand before daylight and I drove by the Doughnut Shop in town. Cars and pickups were jammed all around the place as hunters ran in for some breakfast before the hunt. The sad part was the fact that most of these men had wives who could be getting up and cooking their husbands some breakfast before they headed out to hunt for the family. I was looking at a bunch of men who had lost control at home and were forced to go to the doughnut shop for breakfast. I bet most of them even tiptoed out of the house to keep from waking their wife. The saddest part of this whole scene at the Doughnut Shop was the fact that I couldn't even find a place to park. I was forced to go back home, tiptoe into the house with my flashlight and get a Pop Tart. I bet Daniel Boone's wife made him breakfast before he went hunting.

I'm hoping we'll get some cooler weather. I can't believe it's time to eat turkey and we haven't even had a good frost. Times are going to get plenty busy around here with the Alto Yellowjackets in the playoffs and deer season going on. Keep the news coming if you want me to spread it. I'll see ya next week! And remember, Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber and not the toy.