HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS

HIGH POINTS

Love is in the air on El Camino Real as sweethearts scramble to buy their sweetheart something special. The kids are busy making their Valentines to exchange with all their friends and decorating sacks and shoe boxes to receive them. Valentine's Day was always a fun time at school, when I was growing up. The chocolate candy that is given out on Valentine's Day usually spells the end to most New Year's resolutions. Enough about the mushy stuff, I've got to get busy giving you your four bits' worth of news. Your love life is none of my business anyway.

We were sorry to hear that Susie Jeter Bowman passed away in Nacogdoches. She had been sick for some time. She worked as a nurse for a good many years. She and her family lived around the corner from us. Please keep her children and the rest of her family in your prayers as they mourn her passing.

We need to keep Charlene and Barry Bomer in our prayers. Charlene and Barry opened up their new café in town last week and before they could get going good, Charlene had a heart attack. Any time is a bad time to have a heart attack, but her timing was really bad. The last report I received on Charlene was that she had undergone surgery and was doing very well. I don't think she'll be flipping any burgers for a few more weeks, but I think Barry has everything under control at home and at the café. Both of these folks need our prayers to get them going at full steam again.

AHS ag teacher John Griffith caught 20 wild hogs in his hog trap recently.

I ran into Steve Winfield at Alto Tire and Alignment the other day and he seemed to be doing fine after his heart surgery. He had some kind of new robotic surgery that seemed to do the trick. I guess they used one of those "Terminator" robots like the governor of California plays that was programed to cut instead of shoot. We are sure glad to see him up and around so fast. He told me to be sure and thank everyone for all their prayers and concern. I think Alto folks are solid gold when it comes to praying for sick people or feeding folks at funerals.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8908 in Alto held a drawing for a Verona 12-gauge shotgun on Feb. 4. Post members had been selling chances on the gun for several weeks to raise money for their various projects. Britton Tilley flagged me down in town to tell me about who won the drawing and I didn't even know they were selling chances. I might have been the winner if I'd only had a ticket. I'm trying to make folks let me know before the event, so more money can be collected. Shannon Brooks Cobb was the lucky winner of the new shotgun. I know Shannon doesn't hunt, but I bet that gun will make a great Valentine's present for her husband John or she could sell it and buy herself something nice if he doesn't come through on Valentine's Day.

A Frank Smith United Methodist Church had a Valentine luncheon last Sunday. The gospel group Had-ACall performed for the dinner and they are great. The group consists of Nathan Bryan, Cody Allen, Randy Low, and Freddy Wallace. During the church services Freddy and Sandy Wallace were chosen as the churches Valentine sweethearts and the couple was seated at a specially decorated table during lunch. Dianne West and Ann McClain and some helpers did a fantastic job of decorating the fellowship hall for the event. I didn't like the fact that they let the singers eat first because I was nearly at the end of the line. If one of them had belched real loud during a song I bet they wouldn't let them go first again.

A big bunch of Alto Future Farmers and their parents headed to the San Antonio Livestock Show this past week for the Jr. Breeding Beef Heifer show. In the Beefmaster Breed- All showing in separate classes: Lance Low showed two different heifers in two different classes and received third place ribbons in both of them. Trey Black received second place in his class. Tanner Jones received fourth place in his class. In the Braunvieh Breed Jordan Hicks received third place in her class. In the Brangus Breed Rhett Gresham got sixth place. The kids all did a great job with their animals and Tanner Jones was especially proud of his heifer. Tanner's heifer usually acts as crazy as Tanner's grandpa Carlton Jones, but for some reason Tanner got her calmed down and she performed wonderfully in the arena. Kenneth Hicks was pulling all the animals home when his truck started blowing out diesel and had to be left in the shop in Bastrop. Terry Black had a gooseneck hitch in his truck and was able to pull all the cows back home safely. Congratulations to our winners in San Antonio! Another group of students will be heading to San Antonio this week for the tractor restoration and ag mechanics show. Good luck and have a safe trip.

John Griffith had a stroke of good luck with a hog trap last week. He called me one afternoon early last week to come and see all the hogs in the trap. I drove out by Doris Hartman's place and met John to see his catch. He had caught 20 wild hogs of all sizes at one time in one trap. I was proud for John's big catch, but I haven't caught anything but a little baby pig in mine. Tony Ray Johnson helped John get the pigs loaded in a trailer. I guess Tony is some kind of professional pig herder. John cleaned pigs all week long and into the weekend, and I'm not sure he has them all cleaned yet. During the middle of dealing with all of these hogs, his dad Larry Griffith runs into a herd of about 20 more hogs and shoots one of them, so then they had 21 to clean. That is sure a lot of hog meat, but the farmers that cut hay around there will sure be proud that those pigs won't be rooting up their pastures this spring.

My mother-in-law bought a new stove last week and I still don't understand why. If somebody buys her old stove they will certainly be getting a deal. I've been in and out of her house for the past 33 years and I've only seen that stove fired up on special holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving and for the Holcomb reunion. It seems like I do remember her cooking for me some when I was dating Jay Anna, but once I said, "I do," the cooking stopped. She got a new fancy digital stove this time, so now she has an excuse not to cook. She can't figure out how to turn it on. I bet she complained when she had to rub two sticks together to start a fire. It's just the nature of a mother-in-law. I haven't been invited to eat anything prepared on the new stove as of yet, but I'm waiting for my invitation, and it may be a while after this article.

I better wind this thing up and start thinking about what I'm going to do for my Valentine. One little Valentine mistake and a man can wind up in the dog house quick.

Keep the news coming and I'll get it spread. I'll see ya next week! And remember, Show me a man who never makes a mistake and I'll show you a man that never makes anything. elcaminoreal@consolidated.net