High points from El Camino Real

Folks along El Camino Real had to get busy hustling up firewood and filling their propane tanks as another arctic cold front blew through this week.
It’s hard to imagine that anybody didn’t have firewood piled up after all the tornadoes blew through in April, but you’d be surprised at the people that didn’t.

I took care of everything I needed to get winterized, before I sat down to give you your six bits worth of news.

Last week I asked you to pray for my aunt, Alma Wallace, who was in the hospital. We put her in God’s hands and he decided to keep her. I can’t blame Him, she was a wonderful Christian woman and it was time to go home. She was 95 years old.
I learned that she had only been in the hospital one other time in her life and that was 65 years ago. Her husband, Charlie Frank Wallace, died 37 years ago.

They lived next door to my grandparents, so all the family gatherings were in the yard between their houses.
Many wonderful childhood memories were made under that big elm tree, where the family gathered to shell peas or eat homemade ice cream.

She leaves behind a big family that will smile every time they think of her. You can’t ask for much more than that. Please keep her family in your prayers as they adjust to life without her in it.
The Alto Yellowjackets are heading to the playoffs on Thursday night in the Tomato Bowl to take on the Cayuga Wildcats. The Yellowjackets haven’t been beaten all year, so we are looking for another great game in the Historic Tomato Bowl.

If you haven’t seen the Tomato Bowl since it was renovated, now is your chance. It is fantastic and only 28 miles from Alto. Go Yellowjackets!

You can’t talk about the Alto Yellowjacket football team without saying something about the Mean Sting Music Machine Band.
I think they are the loudest high school band you’ll hear. I listen to them practice every afternoon and we live two miles from the school. The folks in Jacksonville will be wondering what is going on when they cut loose on Thursday night in the Tomato Bowl. They do a great job and are always fun to watch.
Kade Griffith, shown here at right, received his American Degree at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis on Nov. 2.
This is the highest degree you can get in the FFA and requires lots of hard work and dedication

He is the son of Alto Agriculture teacher John Griffith and Kimberly Griffith. I know they both were so proud they were about to burst.
If that wasn’t enough their daughter, Presley Griffith, was recognized as a national finalist in the Agri Science Research Proficiency Award Area.
A big congratulations to Kade and Presley for doing great things in the FFA. We are very proud of both of you. Some of my best memories in life have blue corduroy in them.

Oncor is putting in new light poles and upgrading a lot of their equipment on the east side of Alto, so there have been some power outages.
I know this will be an inconvenience to some folks, but you’ll just have to get over it, if you want to have good reliable power, between the tornadoes and ice storms.
The new poles look really nice, if you are a person that pays attention to utility poles. I just hope they are putting them in the ground deep enough to keep the hogs from rooting them up.

For more years than I can count I have spent part of my Veteran’s Day calling out the names of our veterans at Alto High School.

They weren’t able to do the program this year because there wasn’t a place big enough to have it with the gymnasium gone. We all love our veterans and the kids love honoring you. Hopefully next year they can make up for it with an even bigger and better show. Thanks vets!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so its time to start thinking about all the things you have to be thankful for this year.
If you put your heart into it you ought to be able to come up with a pretty long list.

I was going to be thankful for the pecan crop I have this year, but after picking up over 200 pounds, I don’t know whether they are a blessing or a curse. I guess I can be thankful for having a strong back.

I may even have turnip greens by Thanksgiving so I won’t even have to straighten up. I can just go right over and pick them. We’ve got plenty to be thankful for so get to thinking about being thankful.

It’s going to be cold this week, so save this paper when you get through reading it so you can wrap it around a pipe or stuff it in a crack. I want you to get your six bits’ worth out of every issue. I’ll see ya next week!
And remember, Integrity is the value we place on ourselves.