HIGH POINTS from El Camino Real
CHRIS DAVIS
Folks along El Camino Real are used to getting their four bits'

worth of news every week and they sure get riled up if I don't get my column in the newspaper. I went to the San Antonio Livestock Show with the Alto FFA and I didn't get back until late Sunday evening. I might have tried to write my column even at that late hour, but I had come home with the worst head cold that I ever remember having. Anyway you didn't get your four bits' worth and for that I am sorry. I haven't missed but a few times in over 10 years, so you ought to give me a little break every once in a while. Here is your fresh-off-the-press, four bits' worth for this week.

We were all saddened last week at the passing of our dear friend Ms. Marie Murphy. Marie was one of the sweetest people that you would ever run into in our little town. I guess she was a blessing to everyone she met in her 92 years here. A good crowd showed up on Saturday for her service and one last chance to honor such a fine lady. She leaves behind many fond memories of a life lived well. Please keep her family and friends in your prayers as they mourn her passing. And throw in a special thanks to all the nice people who did things for Ms. Marie to make her last years happy ones. The Alto Youth Baseball/ Softball Association is getting ready to kick off the 2008 season. This coming Saturday, March 1, will be their Annual Fish Fry & Cake Sale fund raiser. This has been a regular event for the past few years and helps to signal the start of the upcoming baseball season. The plates will be loaded as usual with fish, french fries, hush puppies, cole slaw and a drink all for just $7 a plate. The cakes will be priced individually, so you can buy what you want and not have to bid for it. This has proven to be an outstanding meal in the past and I'm sure this one will be just as good or better. All proceeds this year will go towards purchasing a new pitching machine and restoring the pitching machine we have to "like new" condition so we will have two working pitching machines this year. We also want to do some cosmetic upgrades to our baseball complex and keep it looking its best. Everyone needs to remember to get their children signed up through the schools by March 7 or at tryouts on March 8. Any questions, contact Jay Jones at (936) 635-1919 or Lee Ann Jones at (936) 674-9898. The kids are already getting excited about the upcoming season and I hope all you parents and grandparents are ready for another great summer of Alto youth baseball and softball.

Alto FFA competed l in the Agriculture Mechanics event at the San Antonio Livestock Show on Feb. 15. From left are Shelby Pierce, Chayse Holcombe, Clayton Scott, Grant Davis and Kade Griffith standing in front).

About 3 a.m. on Feb. 15, John Griffith, Kevin Pierce, Anthony Holcombe and I headed out to San Antonio with Alto FFA'ers Kade Grifffith, Clayton Scott, Shelby Pierce, Chayse Holcombe and Grant Davis for the Agricultural Mechanics contest at the San Antonio Livestock Show. We arrived for the competition at about 9 a.m. with two tractors, an arena drag, a concrete feeder and a light stand. It was 4:45 p.m. that evening before we got the last tractor inside the building, so we had a pretty long wait in the parking lot while they judged each tractor before they went inside. It was a great show and I was totally amazed at some of the projects that young men and women from across the state had brought to show. Shelby Pierce brought home a third place win in his class for his arena drag. It looked really nice. Clayton Scott got a fourth place prize for his concrete feeder. Both of these young men won gift certificates for placing in their classes. Grant Davis and Chase Holcombe brought home ribbons for their tractor restoration entries, and Kade Griffith brought home a ribbon for his portable light stand. The boys did a great job and are brushing up on their presentations and getting ready for the judges at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this next week

These kids and many more throughout our school system couldn't continue to build and raise projects for the livestock shows without the great support they receive each year from the Alto FFA buyers group. The Alto FFA buyers group raises money each year that is used to help purchase agriculture products that our students enter and sell at the Cherokee County Youth Livestock Show in March. This past Friday night The Alto FFA buyers' group hosted a hamburger supper and cake auction as a fund raiser and made around $6,000 for our kids. If you missed the hamburger supper, you really missed a great time. I never saw so many beautiful cakes and pies. We are very fortunate to live in a community that supports our young people and their endeavors like they do here in Alto. A big thanks to everyone who baked cakes, donated items and paid out some big money to help our kids build character and learn some great life skills in the Future Farmers of America.

While I'm on the subject of kids and agriculture, I've got some more news. My youngest son Creager didn't want to be left out of all the agriculture activities, so he joined the Alto Junior FFA. He is going to raise chickens for the county show. I have had some experience with chickens, but my knowledge is limited to fried, baked or barbecued. I have never owned a live chicken. Creager now has 25 chickens living in the shed where my lawn mower used to live. They are ugly, don't have very many feathers and eat non-stop day and night. The chickens were wobbling around on this featherless bulge and I figured something had to be wrong. I called our ag teacher John Griffith, and his wife Kimberly answered. John has her trained pretty well, so I knew she could answer most any chicken question. The only book learning I've obtained on chickens and their body parts has come from a restaurant menu, and since the invention of chicken strips it has gotten worse. I told Kimberly on the phone about Creager's chickens and about the big red bulge that they wobbled around. She diagnosed the problem almost instantly and informed me that the bulge was the chicken's butt. I guess you never get too old to learn something new. I had never seen a live chicken's butt. All the chicken butts that I've seen had a liver, a gizzard and a neck wrapped up in white paper and shoved up them. We are lucky to have someone like Kimberly Griffith to help us with our complicated poultry questions.

My mother-in-law came by to see us on Sunday afternoon and I asked her what she had for Sunday dinner. She informed me that she had a delicious ham and swiss cheese sandwich. I guess she still hasn't figured out how to work that new stove. I just hope she gets it figured out before the chickens get ripe.

I guess I'll wind this thing up before I start rambling. Keep me posted on what's going on around your place and I'll keep twisting it around and spreading it all over town. My apologies again for missing the last issue. I'll see ya next week. And remember, Half of being smart, is knowing what you're dumb at. elcaminoreal@consolidated.net