High Points| from El Camino Real

by Chris Davis

Folks along El Camino Real are beginning to get that strange look in their eye and starting to speak in seasonal tongues as Friday night fever begins to take over their brains. Its hard for some people to think about football when the temperatures are still bumping 100, but temperatures don’t matter to the die hard fans. I just wish that I had fans so dedicated to my six bits worth of news. Sometimes I feel like I’m throwing Hail Mary’s every week and nobody is there to catch them.
A community that prays together stays together and this past week we got to witness our prayers at work after a long journey. Drew “Bear” Bowman was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago when he was in the second grade. Pray for Drew Bear signs started popping up all around our area. Our town witnessed the ups and terrible downs of childhood cancer up close through this brave little man. He struggled to play baseball and do all the things a little boy does while continuing his fight against cancer. This past week Drew rang the “cancer free bell” in Houston to the cheers of family, friends, doctors, and a community of people who have been praying for him for years. I saw an old Pray for Drew Bear sign in someone’s yard the other day and I wondered to myself if all the signs would fade and crumble before this was over. They didn’t! Now those signs are just a reminder of answered prayers.
We’ve got some sick folks that we need to be praying for so I’m going to update you the best I can from what I hear at church. Barbara Whiteman is very ill in a Tyler hospital after suffering a brain bleed. Please keep Barbara in your prayers. She was a big part of our community for a long time.
The son of my longtime nemesis, neighbor, and dear friend Virgil Schochler, Dan Schochler is having some bad problems with his heart and isn’t strong enough for surgery at this time. Dan is a 1964 graduate of Alto High School.
Rose Peacock has been in the hospital for a week with Pneumonia and I didn’t know a thing about it. They don’t come any better than Rose and Elvin Peacock, so we need to keep them in our prayers until Rose is back on her feet.
My kindergarten through High School classmate, Ricky Bobbitt and his wife Page had something to crow about this month. They got their first grandchild and it was a beautiful baby girl. Kimber Elizabeth Stover was born on August 8 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Her parents are their daughter Laura and her husband Corey Stover. I saw a picture of Ricky holding the baby and he looked just like a grinning possum if I ever saw one, but he hasn’t seen a picture of my grandson Sawyer yet, so he doesn’t know that there are prettier babies in the world. Congratulations to Ricky and Page, but I can’t imagine how far away Idaho must seem. Tyler is too far a distance between me and my grandson.
While I’m on the subject of grandchildren, mine came to see me this weekend. I know people have lost their farms, drinking, and doping or just being plumb lazy, but I think grandchildren might be worse than any of the above. When Sawyer comes to town all I want to do is hold him and swing in the porch swing. Everyone tried to tell me that grandchildren would have this effect on you, but I didn’t believe them. It’s worse than I ever imagined. I’m ruined.
No wonder Virginia Singletary was surprised by friends to celebrate her 89th birthday . It was a week early on Thursday , August 16th. Virginia thought she was going to a Pageturners Book Club meeting , but was surprised that the gathering was also to have a birthday party for her . The friends met in the home of Frank and Dottie Singleton, a few miles north of Alto. After a lunch of chicken Alfredo, the ladies sang "Happy Birthday" and Virginia cut her cake. Everyone had a fabulous time sharing stories and laughter. I wish we could download all the stuff in Virginia’s head onto a hard drive, so we could have it forever. Virginia is the go to person in Alto on any kind of history about Alto and I have to pick her brain often for this article. We love you, Virginia, and we all want to wish you a Happy Birthday!
Everyone was talking about how good the Alto Yellowjackets looked on Friday night in their scrimmage against Overton. I never was much on watching scrimmages so I didn’t make it. I like football games better when the weather is cooler and the concession stand workers have become more seasoned. Good luck to all our area teams on a great season.
I was visiting with my Uncle Charles Dean Felder the other day and he was commenting on my fresh haircut. He notices things like fresh haircuts because he isn’t sporting much hair to cut anymore. The talk turned to this column and he said that he thought I needed to update my picture for the column. I must admit the picture they have been putting at the top is probably fifteen years old and many could say that is false advertising. So this week I got on the front porch of our house on El Camino Real and had my wife Jay Anna to make me a new picture. My moustache is whiter, my cheeks are fatter, and there are a few more wrinkles, but I can promise you there is just as much crap packed inside as there was when I started this column almost 22 years ago.
I’ve run on a little longer than usual this week, but this always happens when school starts back. There is way more going on than can be crammed into six bits worth.

I’ll see ya next week! And remember, The trouble is, you think you have time.