November/December 2015

MAUREEN KILLABY. AUTUMN BEAUTY. BLIND WHISTLER. ANSEL ADAMS.

county line UPPER EAST SIDE OF TEXAS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

M A G A Z I N E

COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM

COMPLIMENTARY COPY

TO SUBSCRIBE SEE PAGE 17

DON HENLEY RETURN TO CASS COUNTY

COMPLIMENTARY COPY

TO SUBSCRIBE SEE PAGE 19 JEFFERSON HOLIDAYS. CUTE & CREEPY. CAS HALEY. EDGEWOOD HERITAGE. TAMALE PIE & CORNBREAD. LADY BIRD JOHNSON. ALLY VENABLE. CADDO LAKE.

Tyler Junior College™ Academy of Dance Presents

The

Nutcracker 7 p.m. • Friday, Dec. 4 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. • Saturday, Dec. 5 2 p.m. • Sunday, Dec. 6 Wise Auditorium on the TJC main campus Guest artists:

Nayara Lopez and Dylan Santos from The Dance Theatre of Harlem

For more details visit tjc.edu/nutcracker Tickets are reserved seating: $15-$40 Senior citizens (65), TJC students, and children under 12: $10 Tickets are non-refundable and may not be exchanged for another showtime.

Tyler Junior College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution. Complete information is available at www.tjc.edu.

2 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

CREATIVE DESIGNS, EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY WWW.PAULMICHAELCOMPANY.COM | 903.567.0363 CANTON, TX | 1930 N. TRADE DAYS BLVD. |

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 3

CONTENTS

STAGE 26 Henderson County Theatre

By John Wilson 27 Cherokee Civic Theatre

Stage Events

LITERARY 30 Willie’s Story Never Gets Old Review by P.A. Geddie 29 Poetry By Pat Herring

and Josie Gonzales

6

30

12

MUSIC 32 Guitarist Ally Venable

By Tom Geddie Music Listings 34 35 Cas Haley’s New CD

FOOD & DRINK 38 Seed to Table 39 Tamale Pie and Cornbread

EXPLORE 40 Caddo Lake: Past, Present, Future

LIVING ROOM 42 Master Gardeners

FEEL GOOD 44 The Teacher Within

By Lorraine McKean

FEATURES 6 Don Henley: Cass County

Northeast Texas native and Eagles singersongwriter, Don Henley, has a new CD out that takes him back home.

By P.A. Geddie

8 The Art of Maureen Killaby

Lindale artist Maureen Killaby left her legal career behind after she picked up a pencil and paintbrush.

By Tom Geddie

14 Final Stage for Autumn Beauty Just about anywhere in the Upper East Side of Texas roadside warriors find incredible views.

DEPARTMENTS 5 Editor’s Note Letters

MAUREEN KILLABY.

AUTUMN BEAUTY.

BLIND WHISTLER.

ANSEL ADAMS.

county line UPPER EAST SIDE OF TEXAS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

THIS TIME OF YEAR 16 The Blind Whistler from Palestine 17 Lady Bird Johnson

M A G A Z I N E

COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT 18 Jefferson’s Old-fashioned Holidays Events 19 Edgewood Heritage Festival

THE ARTS 22 23 24

Ansel Adams Early Works Cute & Creepy in Longview Dace Lucia Kidd Art Events

DON HENLEY COMPLIMENTARY COPY

RETURN TO CASS COUNTY

TO SUBSCRIBE SEE PAGE 17

COMPLIMENTARY COPY

TO SUBSCRIBE SEE PAGE 19 JEFFERSON HOLIDAYS. CUTE & CREEPY. CAS HALEY. EDGEWOOD HERITAGE. TAMALE PIE & CORNBREAD. LADY BIRD JOHNSON. ALLY VENABLE. CADDO LAKE.

Photo by David McClister

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MAGAZINE

PUBLISHER & MANAGING EDITOR P.A. Geddie CONTRIBUTORS Lorraine McKean John Wilson Tom Geddie Sherrie Skeeters Pat Herring Josie Gonzales Danny Clinch David McClister Alexander Morris Lazara RB2 Photography SALES P.A. Geddie COPY EDITORS Terry Britt

EDITOR’S NOTE Dear Readers, What an extraordinary issue this one is — hope you enjoy it as much as we did putting it together.

First of all, we get to know a bit more about Eagles singer-songwriter Don Henley whose family has deep roots in Northeast Texas. His new CD speaks volumes about him and the folks I spoke with in Linden while putting together the article had so many nice things to say about him and the contributions he makes to his hometown community. It’s good to see someone of his popularity giving back. It’s also good to see him recognize how much his roots mean to him and his own well being and I love that he shares so much advice to young people in the region about following their dreams.

Jette Stephens

I was really glad to find out about Seed to Table in Athens whose menu is almost completely organic and locally made. They serve breakfast and lunch and have pick up options available for dinner. Sure hoping some of our other restaurants take a cue and get more organic foods added to the menu, and vegetarian choices as well.

Wishing you all the best this holiday season brings.

P.A. Geddie Publisher & Managing Editor

GRAPHIC DESIGN & PRINT PRODUCTION

One teen following her dreams is Ally Venable from Kilgore. I saw her in concert a few months ago and was impressed. She’s the real deal. I particularly like the way she connects with her audience in a very authentic way. Look for her upcoming performances in a variety of East Texas venues.

LETTERS

ADMINISTRATION Annette O’Brien DISTRIBUTION Pam Boyd Bombyk David Michelina County Line Magazine is published every other month, 6 timess a year. It is available free of charge in the Northeast Texas area in select businesses, limited to one copy per reader. Subscription costs: $18 per year in Texas, and $22 per year outside Texas. Bulk rate postage paid at Ben Wheeler, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to County Line Magazine, P.O. Box 608, Ben Wheeler, TX 75754. Contents COPYRIGHT 2015 County Line all rights reserved. Material may not be reproduced without written permission. Opinions expressed in articles appearing in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Mailing address: P.O. Box 608, Ben Wheeler, TX 75754 Phone: 903.963.8306. E-mail: info@countylinemagazine.com Website: www.countylinemagazine.com. Free listings are entered on a space available basis. Advertising space may be purchased by calling 903.963.8306.

Serving the Upper East Side of Texas

Dear Editor, Picked up your latest in Sulphur Springs. You’re all over the place!

Nathan Hunnicutt ETX Records I really enjoy your magazine — you are doing a great job. Thanks.

Nancy Buchanan Canton

Thanks for all the information you share — I am enjoying my subscription.

Pat Herring Athens The Green Chile Cornbread recipe (Sep/Oct 2015) seems to be missing the amount of cornmeal in the list of ingredients. It is mentioned in the di-

rections so I assume that this an error. I would like to make it if you could send me a corrected recipe.

Nada Horn EDITOR’S NOTE. The missing measurement is 3/4 cup cornmeal. We’ve made a few errors in our 175 issues over the years but never have we ever received so many calls!

Due to popular demand, we are reprinting the corrected recipe on page 39 along with one for tamale pie we hope our readers will enjoy as well.

Let us hear from you.

Please feel free to send us your comments.

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DON HENLEY

Return to Cass County

We shall not cease from exploration.

And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

T.S. Eliot

Photo by Danny Clinch

By P.A. Geddie Multiple generations continue to dance and sing, fall in and out of love, expand their dreams, and otherwise resonate with the tunes of the Eagles and founding member Don Henley, who hails from a small town in the Upper East Side of Texas.

For more than four decades, Henley has shared his time and talents with fans all over the world. Most recently, he and his Eagles band mates were on tour for a couple of years following the success of their documentary, History of the Eagles. The hugely successful tour grossed more than $250 million. In other good news for the band, they are receiving the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors for Lifetime Artistic Achievements at a

gala in Washington D.C., broadcasting on CBS at 8 p.m. December 29.

But perhaps even more importantly to Don Henley, is his new CD, Cass County, that takes him back where he started.

Hughlene McWhorter and C.J. Henley had very deep roots in Northeast Texas by the time their only child, Donald Hugh Henley, was born on July 22, 1947. C.J. was born in Como near Sulphur Springs and Hughlene was born in Linden just a couple of blocks away from the home where they raised one of America’s most famous performing singer-songwriters.

Growing up in rural Northeast Texas Don Henley’s earliest memories hold the backdrop of timberlands, heavily forested with pine, cypress, and oak

6 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

trees; rivers and lakes; the small downtown of Linden; and his father’s cornfields and wide open spaces.

“There was a lot of freedom,” Henley said. “There was room to roam. I remember the beauty of the landscape; the freedom of being outdoors, day and night, and working in my dad’s vegetable garden and enjoying the taste of fresh produce. I enjoyed just playing in the dirt in the shade of the sassafras trees at the edge of my dad’s cornfield.”

As boyhood kicked in he began to venture out, exploring the woods behind their house with his dog and going to the local movie theater.

He was inspired by the heroes of the cowboy movies he saw on Saturday afternoons like Roy Rogers, Gene Autry,

Hopalong Cassidy, The Lone Ranger, and Lash Larue.

Music was always a part of Henley’s upbringing and he was exposed to an eclectic mix of musical genres including country, big band, gospel, jazz, and blues.

“There was always music in our home,” he said. “My mother played the piano.

My maternal grandmother, who lived with us, sat in her rocking chair singing hymns and Stephen Foster songs.”

They also had radios in the cars and in the house.

“My dad’s father had a big old wooden radio made in the 1930s, and he listened to country music and baseball games on that old radio.”

Later the family got a record player and in the ‘60s a hi-fi stereo and often listened to big band music.

His dad, a World War II veteran, farmer and auto parts dealer; and mom, a teacher, were big influences on Henley and he recognized their hard work and the challenges they lived through with the war and the Great Depression. Like a lot of good people from that era, they wanted an easier time for their son.

“They made sure I had books to read and my mom, recognizing that I had some talent, bought me my first drum set in 1963.”

His parents weren’t the only ones to recognize talent in young Henley and he credits some of his school teachers for their support including Lois Daniels in elementary school, Gladys Moore in junior high, and his high school English teacher Margaret Lovelace.

“I had always had a habit of drumming, either with my fingers or with pencils, on my school books or the dashboards of cars.”

His good friend, Richard Bowden, was first chair trombone in the Linden high school marching band. Bowden suggested Henley try out for drummer.

“So I did that and one thing led to another,” Henley said.

Bowden’s parents, Marion and Elmer, were big supporters of their son and his friends’ musical talents.

“They allowed us to practice in their living room into the wee hours and Marion always had food for us,” Henley recalls. “Elmer, a musician himself, encouraged our efforts and protected us from crooked club owners and dishonest, would-be managers who were constantly trying to take advantage of green country boys like us. It was a very nurturing environment and an unusual set of circumstances. We were lucky boys.”

Elmer and Richard Bowden, and a few other local folks had formed a Dixieland Jazz band and invited Henley to play with them, which he did for a while.

“Eventually, the grown ups dropped out of the band and passed the torch to Richard, Jerry Surratt (who was a state champion trumpet player), a local guitarist named Freddie Neese, and me,” Henley said.

By the time he was in his teens, Henley was ready to create his own music.

He graduated from high school in 1965 and enrolled at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, transferring a year later to North Texas State University where he majored in English literature.

After three semesters, Henley returned to Linden to spend time with his father, who was ill. While at home, he reunited with his old band, they eventually called Shiloh. They played frequent concerts in Texas and the surrounding states.

In the summer of 1968, Henley and some of the band members were buying bell-bottom pants and Nehru jackets in a clothing store on McKinney Avenue in Dallas called The Electric Rocking Horse. By chance, they met Kenny Rogers there who was looking for talent to produce. Jerry Surratt asked Rogers to come hear the band play at a club in Dallas and Rogers ended up signing them to a recording contract with a small label in Los Angeles.

Tragically, Jerry Surratt was killed in a motorcycle-auto accident March 5, 1970.

Shiloh regrouped with Henley, Richard Bowden and his first cousin Mike, and a couple of other musicians, Al Perkins, and Jim Ed Norman and they headed to California in the summer of 1970.

While gaining a good education and encouragement from his family and community, it was the radio that was his “magic carpet,” Henley said, bringing the world to him from all different directions.

Some of Henley’s first inspirational artists he heard include Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, the Everly Brothers, Kitty Wells, Jim Reeves and Patsy Cline just to name a few.

“When the Beatles arrived on the popular music scene, we began to transition from doing strictly instrumental music (usually featuring the trumpet or guitar), to performing the hit songs of the day. At first, we all shared vocal duties, but as time went on, I did more and more of the singing. I was a pretty good mimic and could imitate several of the popular vocalists of the day, or at least I thought I could. But, I eventually found my own voice.”

l-r. Don Henley, Richard Bowden, Mike Bowden, back Al Perkins, and Jim Ed Norman. Shiloh was the band Henley was with when destiny brought in a chance meeting with Kenny Rogers and a subsequent introduction to the music scene in Los Angeles. Courtesy photo.

“We received an offer from Kenny Rogers to come to Los Angeles and make a record album,” Henley said. “We had done some recording for small-time labels in Texas, but this was our first opportunity to move up to another level in the music industry. So, we — Richard and the rest of the boys in our band — packed up our things and moved to Los Angeles, knowing only one person there — Kenny Rogers.”

Rogers made good on his promise. continued page 8

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 7

HENLEY continued from page 7 “Kenny produced our first — and only — album, which wasn’t a real success, but our connection with Kenny landed us in Los Angeles, which, at that time in history, was the center of the music business.”

Their record deal was with a small label called Amos Records. Also signed to that same label was a young musician from the Detroit rock scene, Glenn Frey.

Though they came from vastly different backgrounds, they both grew up listening to and appreciating a wide variety of musical influences and their union produced a harmony that resonated with millions in the years to come.

The two first joined Linda Ronstadt as her back up band and although they loved what she was doing musically they wanted their own band with four guys that could all sing.

Henley and Frey formed the Eagles in 1971 with Bernie Leadon and Randy Miesner.

They released their self-titled debut album in 1972 with three top 40 singles: “Take It Easy,” “Witchy Woman,” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” That was followed in 1973 with their next album, Desperado, with two of the band’s most

popular tracks, “Desperado” and “Tequila Sunrise.”

Guitarist Don Felder joined the band and performed on their 1974 album, On the Border, with top single “Already Gone” and their first number one, “Best of My Love.”

In 1975 the Eagles enjoyed even bigger success with “One of These Nights,” “Lyin’ Eyes,” and “Take It to the Limit.”

In late 1975, Leadon was replaced with Joe Walsh and in 1976 the band released Hotel California, which sold more than 32 million copies worldwide. That album had two number-one singles, “New Kid in Town” and “Hotel California.”

Hotel California is the last album to feature founding member Randy Meisner who left the band after the 1977 tour. He was replaced with Timothy B. Schmit.

The last Eagles album of the 70s was The Long Run, with three Top 10 singles, “Heartache Tonight,” “The Long Run,” and “I Can’t Tell You Why.” After almost a decade of magical success, the Eagles broke up in 1980 over clashing personalities and the story goes that Henley commented that the band would play together again “when hell freezes over.”

Henley went on to great solo success and embraced this time in his life.

“It gave me the opportunity to write with other people besides members of the Eagles, and it gave me the chance to work within a wider range of musical styles,” he said.

He sang a duet, “Leather and Lace,” with Stevie Nicks in 1981 and in 1982 he released I Can’t Stand Still featuring the hit “Dirty Laundry.”

The song reached #3 on Billboard Hot 100 at the beginning of 1983 and earned a Gold-certified single for sales of over a million copies in the US. It was Henley’s all-time biggest solo hit single, and also was nominated for a Grammy.

Henley also contributed “Love Rules” to the 1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High movie soundtrack.

Don Henley in the early days of the Eagles. Courtesy photo.

This was followed in 1984 by the album, Building the Perfect Beast. A single release, “The Boys of Summer,” reached

8 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for the song won several MTV Video Music Awards including Best Video of the Year.

Henley also won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song. Several other songs on the album, “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” (No. 9 on Hot 100), “Not Enough Love in the World” (No. 34) and “Sunset Grill” (No. 22) also received considerable airplay. He then had a No. 3 album rock chart hit with “Who Owns This Place” from 1986’s The Color of Money soundtrack.

Henley’s next album, 1989’s The End of the Innocence, was even more successful.

The song “The End of the Innocence,” a collaboration with Bruce Hornsby, reached No. 8 as a single. “The Heart of the Matter,” “The Last Worthless Evening,” and “New York Minute” were among other songs that gained radio airplay. Henley again won the Best Male Rock Vocal Performance Grammy in 1990 for the album.

During the 70s and 80s, Henley didn’t lose touch with his home town in Cass County and visited family and friends frequently. Henley continued to live in the Los Angeles area until 1994 when he moved to Dallas after an earthquake.

Another big event occurred that year as well when “hell froze over.”

A year earlier, a group of country music artists produced an Eagles tribute album titled Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles. Travis Tritt is featured singing “Take It Easy” and in producing the video for it, he insisted on having the members of the late 70s-era Eagles in the video and they agreed.

The next year the Eagles formally reunited with their first live performance in April 1994. The ensuing tour spawned a live album, Hell Freezes Over, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. It included four new studio songs, with “Get Over It” and “Love Will Keep Us Alive” both becoming Top 40 hits.

The group has remained together to some degree since then.

“We have done some touring, somewhere in the world, almost every year since 1994,” Henley said.

CD REVIEW Henley’s own list of highlights during his time with the Eagles include recording with the London Symphony in 1973, in London; giving a concert at the Rose Bowl in 1995; playing in Moscow in May of 2001; giving a concert on the grounds of historic Stormont Estate, the home of the new assembly and the old Northern Ireland parliament, just seven miles from Belfast city centre, June 2001; playing in the public square in the ancient walled city of Lucca, Italy (Tuscany) in July 2001; playing in Reykjavík, Iceland, in June, 2011; and playing in Cape Town, South Africa, in June 2012.

Although he said he could only guess at why their music continues to speak to multiple generations for more than four decades now, he believes it has to do with the attention they put into it.

“I suppose it’s because our music is well-crafted. It contains memorable melodies, lyrics with universal themes, thoughtful arrangements and good musicianship — all recorded on state-ofthe art equipment with high standards of production. So, all the elements are there — we made sure of that.”

In between touring with the Eagles these past few years, Henley began to think about doing another solo album.

“Several years ago, I began to grow tired of the “new country” music I was hearing on the radio. To me, it didn’t authentically reflect “the country” or the people who live there. So, I decided to do a country-flavored album of my own — one that reflected the influences of the country music that I heard all through my childhood and my adolescence.”

He spent about five years working on it and once his current Eagle tour ended this summer he wrapped up production and released Cass County, a reflection of his roots in Northeast Texas. The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, selling more than 87,000 units in its first week of release according to Nielsen Music.

That’s his first No. 1 solo album in his career and Henley’s happy to share that honor with his home town community.

“It’s not an exercise in nostalgia; it’s an exercise in perspective,” he said about his newest project. “It’s good not to continued page 10

Cass County (Deluxe) Don Henley / Capitol Review by P.A. Geddie With the very first few slow and steady notes of a sliding steel guitar reminiscent of Floyd Cramer’s “Last Date,” Don Henley’s first date in 15 years with a solo album draws listeners in to a sense of home, community, and the pleasure of being at peace where you are.

It’s an Americana mix of traditional country, roots rock, folk and a dash of jazzy blues sure to please a wide range of audiences including Eagles fans.

Debuting at No. 1 on Billboard country charts, Cass County, named for the region in Northeast Texas where Henley grew up, is a rich collection of well-crafted, reflective songs presented alongside an impressive star-studded cast of musicians and vocalists.

Produced by Henley and Stan Lynch — the two also co-wrote 10 of the songs — the CD kicks off with Tift Merritt’s “Bramble Rose.”

Henley’s unmistakable soulful, raspy voice, is joined on lead vocals by a very mature-sounding Miranda Lambert, and Mick Jagger who enters the song with a strong, country twang and adds haunting harmonica. Dallas-based Milo Deering’s pedal steel guitar contributions to this song, and many others on the CD, provide a constant supportive thread that brings to mind the phrase, “music is what feelings sound like.”

The lyrics help set the stage for a trip down memory lane, a reflection on where one comes from and where they go from here and how home is a soft place to fall. “The ungrateful few, the tangled inside/Don’t care where they’re going, they’re growing up wild/….

The rain’s got me thirsty, falling wasteful and slow/…I come back to this porch to make it all up to you.”

Another Cass County (the region) son, and childhood friend of Henley’s, Richard Bowden, adds electric guitar to two songs on the CD, “Bramble Rose” and “Waiting Tables.”

Henley’s joined on “The Cost of Living” with the steel-voiced Merle Haggard, singing about the passing of time. “I look in the mirror now/I see that time can be unkind/ But I know every wrinkle/And I earned every line/ So wear it like a royal crown/ When you get old and gray/ It’s the cost of living/ And everyone pays.”

“Waiting Tables” starts out a little “Tequila Sunrise”ish. It’s about a waitress Henley actually knew. “She grew up tall in a timber town/ Where trees were not the only things that were fallin’ down/ The breezes through the pines were blowin’ bittersweet/ They blew the papers down the dead-end street.” Harmony vocals include another East Texan, Lee Ann Womack.

“Take a Picture of This” is an empty-nester song about a couple whose children are grown up and moved away and how the couple deals with that. In a camera-obsessed age it begs to think about the time wasted taking pictures that leads to unfulfilled relationships. “When you spend all your time living in the past/ With all those pictures that you took, here’s one more for the book/ Take a picture of this, this is me leaving/ Take a picture of this, this is me walking away.”

Henley harmonizes on many songs with a number of talented women including Alison Krauss, Trisha Yearwood, Molly Felder, Ashley Monroe, Dixie Chicks sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, and the elusive Lucinda Williams.

“That Old Flame” picks up speed in a passionate duet by Henley and Martina McBride that talks about the dangers and attraction of rekindling old love.

The Louvin brother’s “When I Stop Dreaming” is masterfully done in a duet with Henley and the incredible Dolly Parton — a track worth the ticket of the whole album.

“Praying for Rain” is an alert from Henley on the changes in the world’s climate and a nod to farmers like his father and grandfather that talked about the weather every day of their lives. “I believe that Mother Nature/ Has taken us to school/ Maybe we just took too much/ Or put too little back / It isn’t knowledge/ It’s humility we lack.”

The final two songs on the deluxe CD, “A Younger Man” and “Where I Am Now,” touch on a faded photograph, an old devil from the Vince Gill chimes in harmony with Henley in past, a trick of light and shadow, and after a life a “riled up” tune called “No, Thank You,” his of questionable choices, being at peace with lament for politics and other things that don’t the present. “I took it hard when I found out/ work well in today’s society. “B.S. blaring from That life just isn’t fair/ I used to bellyache and the radio, the TV/ Hot wind blowin’ off The moan/ But now I just don’t care/ I’m making Hill/ It’s a mystery to me we can’t agree to dis- one last victory lap/ and then I’ll take a bow/ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM •9 agree/ It’s lookin’ like we never, ever will.”

Because I like where I am now.”

HENLEY continued from page 9 forget where we come from and it’s healthy to look at the whole picture — the good, the bad, and everything in between. By looking back over my life, through the creation of music, I can see how far I’ve come and how I got here. I can see pivotal moments in my life and the results of critical decisions that I made in those moments. It helps me to locate myself in the present and it helps me to map out the future.”

Henley hopes it will do the same for people who hear it.

“Ultimately, it’s about ‘home’ and what home means to different people. It’s also a tribute to all the great country music stars I heard on my dad’s car radio when I was a young boy.”

Henley called in a few amazing friends to help with the writing and performing of the songs and production of the album recorded in several studios in Dallas and Nashville.

“A great deal of time, care and money was put into making the album. Many of the finest musicians in Nashville, Dallas, and Los Angeles played and sang on the album. I hope the fans hear and appreciate the time and effort that went into the making of this record.”

Henley’s childhood friend, Richard Bowden, pitches in with guitar on a couple of songs and Steuart Smith, who joined the Eagles in 2001 after Don Felder left, is featured prominently throughout the album. Long-time friend Stan Lynch is listed as coproducer of the album and co-wrote many of the songs with Henley.

“The famous jazz drummer, Buddy Rich, once said that there are only two kinds of music — good and bad. I’d like to think that this album falls into the first category,” Henley said.

An impressive list of musical superstars contributing to the album includes Mick Jagger, Miranda Lambert, Merle Haggard, Lee Ann Womack, Alison Krauss, Martina McBride, Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, and Lucinda Williams.

Henley founded the Caddo Lake Institute to underwrite local wetland science and conservation education. Donations continue to be welcome and needed, he said.

“I can truthfully say, I enjoyed making this record more than any record I’ve made in my career because of the people who participated,” Henley said. “Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard are two of the most memorable. Dolly was delightful to work with — a true professional and as kind and gracious as anyone could be. Merle is a very interesting character. He’s one of the all-time greats.”

All the songs were carefully cultivated to fit the sense of connection and community he hopes listeners hear on this album that leans toward country but doesn’t necessarily fall into any particular genre.

Cass County, Texas Don Henley, William Hines, and other former children of the county like Sue Morris Lazara and Richard Bowden that have returned to live in Linden, are working hard to restore their downtown area to it’s heyday. Henley and Hines donated funds matching those received from the Texas Historical Commission to restore the brick antebellum courthouse, the oldest one in Texas still used as the seat of county government. Henley currently has a number of down10 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

The careful considerations that Henley takes with his music are evident in other projects close to his heart as well.

Caddo Lake has special meaning to Henley as the place he caught his first fish and anyone that’s ever been there amongst the ancient moss-draped cypress trees agrees it’s a magical place where people can find or lose themselves.

His love for the lake is deeply rooted.

His parents met in a riverfront honkytonk upstream in Jefferson and the lake was a spiritual refuge for his dad, he said, and he treasures his own boyhood memories of fishing on the lake.

Thanks to the institute’s work, Caddo Lake became the 13th U.S. site designated a “wetland of international importance.”

town buildings under restoration and was very supportive in turning the old American Legion Hall into Music City Texas Theater which hosts outstanding concerts throughout the year.

Henley is not the only native son to become a world-class performer — founder of Ragtime Jazz Scott Joplin and daddy of the Blues, Aaron “T-Bone” Walker also called Linden home. To learn more about Linden and Cass County visit lindentexas.org and various social media sites. Photo by Alexander Morris Lazara.

Photo by Danny Clinch

Henley also co-founded the Recording Artists’ Coalition, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group formed to represent the interests of recording artists.

“The Internet (especially Google and YouTube) is killing the music industry by aiding in the theft of copyrighted material,” he said. “If this continues, no one will be able to make a living by writing and recording songs anymore. The Recording Artists Coalition is trying to educate legislators in Washington about the problems facing the creative community. ” The plight of the small family farmer is another cause he continues to study.

“Family farms are being driven out of business by big agribusiness,” he said.

“Industrial farming is driving the small farmer off the land. To make things worse, between two and three million acres of farmland are being paved over, every year, by developers and suburban sprawl.”

Musician, songwriter, singer, producer, intellectual, environmentalist, and philanthropist, are but a few titles used to describe Don Henley. To him, however, the most important title at this stage of his life is father.

Henley currently lives in Dallas with his wife of more than 20 years and three children — ages 15, 17, and 19. In his leisure time he likes to read, garden, fish, hang out with his children, and cook.

“I do most of the grocery shopping for the family (when I’m not touring) — and I cook, too. I like to cook.”

Being a father is his favorite part of his life today and a perfect day is, “when all of my kids are laughing and happy.”

Henley owns property in downtown Linden and has a farm outside of town.

“I get to East Texas fairly often and I visit with friends, check on my property,” he said. “I have many good friends in Cass County and we keep in touch.”

One of his favorite places to write songs is on his East Texas farm, bonfire blazing, guitar in hand.

He is also involved in civic affairs in Linden and sees many changes over the years since he used to walk to the local movie theater and enjoy other downtown businesses.

“It has become less populated and less prosperous. There are few, if any, economic engines in the area — very little industry, very few jobs being created.

We need better leadership, at the local and state levels, and we need more educated, skilled people moving back to the area and establishing businesses.”

Honoring his small-town beginnings is important to Henley and he shares good advice for young people in East Texas about following their dreams.

“Never let the fact that you’re from a small town shake your confidence or your belief in yourself,” he said. “Kids who grow up and go to school in the bigger cities may have some advantages, but there are many very successful people in America who came from small towns. Get a good educational foun-

dation first, and then go out and work toward your dreams. Don’t be afraid to take a risk now and then as long as it’s a calculated risk. There will be failures and setbacks but those are just part of the process. Perseverance and belief in yourself are key. Your small-town values and your work ethic will serve you well.

Nothing great is ever achieved without hard work.”

At 68, Henley’s hard work continues to pay off and he has no plans to stop any time soon. He thinks the Eagles will do more touring as a group and said they’ll get together early next year to discuss that. In the meantime, he’s focused on his own solo tour and other projects.

“I intend to keep on writing songs and recording albums. The touring may come to a halt in a year or two, but I’ll continue to create music and recordings. I also intend to write my autobiography at some point, and maybe some poetry, but that’s a ways down the road, yet. I also intend to have a cornfield — a big one — like the ones my dad used to plant.”

Henley said his dad’s cornfield was his field of dreams when he was growing up, a place where he used to lay down on his back and peer through the corn tassels at the wide-open blue sky. He said he doesn’t think he’s had a sense of well being equal to that.

Wherever his journey takes him from here, Don Henley knows home is always there for him in Cass County.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 11

The Masterful Art of Maureen Killaby

By Tom Geddie Maureen Killaby is an addict. No, not that kind of addict. The former lawyer picked up a pencil one day and began drawing. She can’t stop. Not literally, of course, but, no pun intended, figuratively.

Soon, the teaching bug attacked her.

Sunk its teeth into her, as she puts it.

That was (mumble) years ago in Washington state.

Maureen Killaby

Today, she spends 60-hour weeks teaching a variety of classes and making art at her own Killaby Art Studio/ School/Art Center in Lindale, where she also brings in guest instructors.

She has a contract with Artist Network

TV to do DVDs of four drawings from start to finish, as a teaching aid.

“It got to the point where the art thing took over. It just clicked. I kinda got addicted,” she said. “I could actually create something with a No. 2 pencil: copy a picture out of a magazine, drawing it freehand, which I never knew I could do.”

Killaby’s work has won dozens of awards since 2008 including recognition from the Bosque Art Classic, the Mineola League of the Arts, the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center, and the River Road Art Show in Baton Rouge.

Killaby’s career arc is almost backwards, in a way, in that she began making art before she researched it, before she began doing research into the Old Masters; it’s an arc she doesn’t recommend although the practical experience of the doing eventually contributed to the learning.

She moved from the gray graphite of

12 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

the No. 2 pencils before moving to colored pencils for a while, a medium that she soon abandoned but it taught her a lot about color and led to the next step.

“I studied color for two years and went into oil paintings,” she said. “That’s when considered myself more of a professional. In the beginning, it was a hobby. But I started getting more commissions and winning art shows. I thought maybe I could do art for a living.”

Once Killaby was drawing and painting regularly, she began doing her homework.

“That opened up a whole new world for me. I saw everything differently,” she said, recommending that anyone interested in art study the Old Masters.

“There were so many different areas where I was off on a lot of things, so the research – going back and learning the basics – sort of grounds you in a sense.

“They don’t teach that in schools here.

It’s important to be taught the tradi-

tional ways of art, and if I had to do all over again I would have wanted to start with the traditional methods, to get the basics then build on top of that. When you put the cart in front of the horse, it sorta falls apart on you after a while,” Killaby said.

“I think I was not happy at some point. I was tired of it.

I was self taught and couldn’t figure something out so I spent every waking moment studying art in every aspect. I started going to workshops, working with masters in California and all over the country and taking classical online courses. You name it, I did it.”

So that – classic styles – is what Killaby teaches now.

“It really made a huge difference,” she said. “I just got a text from a 12-year-old student who said she won best in show for the first drawing she ever did. That’s the payoff for me, when I can teach something and the students can make a success out of it.”

Killaby is thrilled when she sees the light bulb turn on in her students’ eyes, when it’s clear that the students “get it.”

“The best other part of teaching is when they can take what I’ve given them or even gleaned from me because I’m passing down a tradition, a craft,” she said. “When we go through life, we’ve got to live to the utmost. What we have passes from one person to another. We enrich our lives so much as long as we pass it along to others. I guess that’s our purpose. I love teaching more than anything. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t teach, couldn’t share my, I guess, talent. Even though I never have thought of it as talent,” she said, laughing. “I think you work your butt off for it. Talent is an overrated word. God gives you the passion, then you work your butt off.”

Killaby’s own work ranges from drawing birds to figurative work to landscapes to impressionist to studying the classic Russian and Spanish artists. She accepts commissions for portraits and still lifes. And, always, the teaching, which has its teeth sunk deep into her.

Maureen Killaby’s work is featured in Artists of Texas Fall Show, “A Show of heART,” November 2 through December 20 at Uptown Downtown Art Gallery in downtown Rockwall. Learn more about her studio and classes at maureenkillaby.squarespace.com.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 13

175

Tara Vineyard & Winery Tara & Winery CR Vineyard 3914

175 CR 3918 3914 TaraCRVineyard &19 Winery CR 3918 19 175Hwy. 175 West CR 3914 Hwy. CR 175 West 3918

19

31

Loop 7

Hwy. 175 West

East Texas East Texas Arboretum Arboretum

PINEYWOODS PINEYWOODSAUTUMN AUTUMNTRAIL: TRAIL:ATHENS ATHENSTO TOPALESTINE PALESTINE

NEYWOODS AUTUMN TRAIL: ATHENS TO PALESTINE

31

Loop 7

East Texas City CityofofAthens Athens Arboretum 31 31 Department Tourism Department of Tourism City of Athens 31 Department of Tourism

FM 317

31

Loop 7

Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

FM 2495

FM 607 FM 607 FM 607 CR 4325

FM 804 FM 804 FM 804

Hwy. 19

Hwy. 19 City of Athens of Tourism 201 W.Department Corsicana St., Suite 2 City of Athens Department of Tourism 201 W. Corsicana Suite 2 Athens, TXSt., 75751 201 W. Corsicana St., Suite 2 Athens, TX 75751 888-294-2847; www.AthensTX.org Athens, TX 75751 Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

888-294-2847; www.AthensTX.org 888-294-2847; www.AthensTX.org Hours: Monday-Friday Hours: Monday-Friday8 8a.m. a.m.to to 55 p.m. p.m.

Palestine Visitor Center 825 W. Spring St. Palestine VisitorCenter Center Palestine Visitor Palestine, TX 75801 825 W. SpringSt. St. 825 W. Spring 903-723-3014; www.VisitPalestine.com Palestine, TX 75801 Palestine, TX 75801 Hours: Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 903-723-3014; www.VisitPalestine.com 903-723-3014; Saturdaywww.VisitPalestine.com 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Hours: Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Hours: Monday-Friday 9:30toa.m.

5 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m.

4:30 to p.m.

NY-TX Zipline Saturday 9:30 a.m.Adventures to 4:30 p.m.

7290 CR 4328 NY-TX Zipline Adventures Larue, TX 75770 7290 CR 4328 NY-TX Zipline Adventures 903-681-3791; www.GoZipTexas.com Larue, TX 75770 7290 CR 4328 Open by reservation only 903-681-3791; www.GoZipTexas.com Larue, TX 75770 Thursday-Sunday.

Admission.

Open by reservation only 903-681-3791; www.GoZipTexas.com Thursday-Sunday. Admission.

OpenFreshwater by reservation onlyCenter Texas Fisheries 5550 FM 2495 Thursday-Sunday.

Admission.

Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center Athens, TX 75751 5550 FM 2495 903-676-2277; www.tpwd.texas.gov/tffc Texas Freshwater Athens,Fisheries TX 75751 Center Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

903-676-2277; www.tpwd.texas.gov/tffc 5550 FM 2495 Sunday 1-4 p.m. Admission.

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Athens, TX 75751 Sunday 1-4 p.m. Admission.

903-676-2277; www.tpwd.texas.gov/tffc East Texas Arboretum Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m.

1601 Patterson Rd. to 4 p.m.

East Texas Arboretum Athens, TXAdmission.

75751 Sunday1601 1-4 p.m.

Patterson Rd. 903-675-5630; www.EastTexasArboretum.org Athens, TX 75751 Hours: Open Dawn to Dusk East Texas Arboretum 903-675-5630; www.EastTexasArboretum.org Admission.

Hours: DawnRd. to Dusk 1601 Open Patterson Admission.

Athens, TX 75751 Tara Vineyard and Winery 903-675-5630; www.EastTexasArboretum.org 8603 CR 3914 Tara Vineyard and Winery Hours: Open Dawn to Dusk Athens, TX 75751 8603 CR 3914 903-675-7023; www.TaraWinery.com Admission.

Athens, TX 75751 Hours: Call ahead 903-675-7023; www.TaraWinery.com Tara Vineyard and Winery Hours: Call ahead Davey Dogwood Park 8603 CR 3914 900 N. Link St. Davey Dogwood Athens, TX 75751Park Palestine, TX 75801 N. Link St. 903-675-7023;900 www.TaraWinery.com 903-723-3014 Palestine, TX 75801 Hours: CallDawn ahead Hours: Open to Dusk 903-723-3014 Hours: Open Dawn to Dusk Texas State Railroad Davey Dogwood Park 789 Park Road 900 N. Link St. 70 Texas State Railroad Palestine, 75801 Palestine, TXTX 75801 789 Park Road 70 877-726-7245; www.TexasStateRR.com Palestine, TX 75801 903-723-3014 Hours: Check website for special events 877-726-7245; Hours: Openwww.TexasStateRR.com Dawn to Dusk Hours: Check website for special events

Leagueville Leagueville

FM 317 Texas Freshwater Texas Freshwater FM 2495 Fisheries Center FM 2495 Fisheries Center

Hwy. 19

City of Athens Department of Tourism

Leagueville

FM 317

CR 4325

FM 607CR 4325 CR 4328

FM 607 CR 4328 New New York York NY-TX Zipline Adventures FM 607 CR 4328 CR 4334 NY-TX Zipline Adventures New York CRNY-TX 4334 Zipline Adventures CR 4334 CR 4336

FM 607

175 FM4336 607 CR FM 607 60 175 175 Larue 60

CR 4336

60

Larue Larue Poynor Poynor Poynor 175 175

19 19

19

17

Bradford Bradford

Bradford 315 315

315

Montalba Montalba 19 Montalba 19 Davey Dogwood Park Link Street

Davey Dogwood Park Loop 256

19

155 155

Link Street

79 79

Loop 256

Palestine Visitor 155 Center Palestine VisitorDavey Dogwood Park 84 Link Street Center Hwy. 287 79 79

Loop 256

84

Hwy. 287

84

8479

Texas State Railroad Texas State Railroad

Palestine Visitor Texas State Railroad Visit www.AthensTX.org and www.VisitPalestine.com for a complete list of things to do andCenter see, upcoming events and accommodations.

789 Park Road 70 84 For nearby geocaching locations, visit www.GeoCaching.com.

14 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 TX• 75801 Hwy. 287 Visit Palestine, www.AthensTX.org and www.VisitPalestine.com for a complete list of things to do and see, upcoming events and accommodations.

877-726-7245; www.TexasStateRR.com For nearby geocaching locations, visit www.GeoCaching.com.

84 Texas State Rail 79

75

lroad

Nature’s Stage is Ready for Autumn Beauty Autumn in the Upper East Side of Texas is filled with exceptional views of picturesque landscapes as leaves turn vibrant colors along scenic backroads and other trails throughout the region.

Take off in any direction during early to mid-month in November and, depending on weather conditions, even longer before winter arrives December 22 and all the leaves are gone.

One good location in the region is Love’s Lookout, 43822 Hwy. 69 North near Jacksonville in Cherokee County.

It’s part of a long, flat-topped hill that extends north and south about nine miles, with the east side looking over a broad valley and wide expanse of beautiful scenery. There are picnic arbors, restrooms, and an information center at the location.

The trails in and around Winnsboro remain some of the best in the state for Autumn beauty and most of the state parks provide excellent views as well.

Two East Texas towns have joined together and put a trail together for travelers that not only provides beautiful scenery but fun and interesting things to do along the way.

The Pineywoods Autumn Trail: Athens to Palestine, hosted by the City of Ath-

Davey Dogwood Park, Palestine. Courtesy Photo.

ens Department of Tourism and Palestine Visitor Center, offers a 145-mile driving trail along breathtaking scenic highways and byways connecting the two cities.

Athens and Palestine are located in the Texas Forest Trail Region, with beautiful autumn color displays of the deciduous trees known to the region.

There are a plethora of activities for people of all ages. Enjoy local wineries, fishing, nature walks, public art and art galleries, zipline adventures, train excursions, local cuisine, and so much more.

Enjoy stunning views of the beautiful fall foliage while zipping through tree tops during the Fall Zipline Tours at New York Texas Zipline Adventures, located just minutes from Athens.

Stroll down the interpretive wetland trail and learn about the hatchery at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center and identify local birdlife during TFFC’s monthly Bird and Nature Walk offered the second Saturday of the month.

One of the best ways to enjoy the East Texas color show is to climb aboard the Texas State Railroad, which offers a historic ride on a restored vintage steam train. Enjoy fine dining with a side order of Pineywoods scenery on the Fall Foliage Brunch Train on November 8.

Fall in love with Davey Dogwood Park during the month of November. The fall season offers amazing color for picnics, photo shoots, hiking or just a drive in one of Palestine’s beloved areas. The 200-acre park has five miles of hard surface roads, unincorporated hiking trails and scenic views.

Hwy. 84

Texas State Railroad. Courtesy Photo.

For more information contact the City of Athens Department of Tourism at 888-294-2847 or the Palestine Visitor Center at 903-723-3014; visit them online at www.AthensTX.org and www.VisitPalestine.com.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 15

THIS TIME OF YEAR NOVEMBER 1, 2015

NOVEMBER 26, 2015

Daylight savings time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday

DECEMBER 22, 2015

DECEMBER 31, 2015

WINTER SOLSTICE

New Year’s Eve

NOVEMBER 2, 1909

Remembering the Blind Whistler from Palestine

and performed with many stars including Bing Crosby, Mary Pickford, and Jack Dempsey.

By 1945 he pursued an independent career with success. One of his hit pop recordings was as the featured whistler in the theme from “The High and the Mighty” movie with John Wayne. His rendition of the song sold 1.7 million records. His biggest selling record was “Indian Love Call” which sold more than two million copies.

Fred Lowery was born in Palestine November 2, 1909, and grew up to an unusual claim to fame — The Blind Whistler. Others still call him the “king of whistlers” to this day.

The son of William and Mary (White) Lowery, his mother died shortly after he was born and he lost his eyesight before he was two years old. His father deserted he and his three older sisters and they were then raised by their grandmother Lucy White.

Lowery attended the Texas School for the Blind from the ages of 7 to 19.

While there he met a bird imitator who

Lowery also did much of the bird calls on Disney films. inspired and encouraged him to pursue the art of whistling. He appeared on a number of stages and radio shows and eventually joined WFAA radio in Dallas, and later, the Vincent Lopez Orchestra in New York.

Whistling with the orchestra he met

DECEMBER 2015

Hear Jim Reeves for Christmas One of the most soothing, heart-full voices ever belonged to the late, great Jim Reeves of Panola County. He released only one Christmasthemed album called simply Twelve Songs of Christmas, in 1963. For those who don’t already have it in their record collection, it is available on Amazon. You can also request the songs on the radio at KKUS 104.1, especially during the Tom Perryman Show since they were good friends and business partners.

The album contains some traditionals like “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Silent Night,” “Silver Bells, and “White Christmas” and one of the most popular from the album is “An Old Christmas Card.”

There’s an old Christmas card in an old dusty trunk And it brings back sweet memories dear to me ‘Though it’s faded and worn, it’s as precious as the morn When I found it ‘neath our first Christmas tree 16 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

He married Gracie Johnson and they had one son, Fred Jr. Lowery’s autobiography, Whistling in the Dark, was published in 1983.

He died December 11, 1984, and is buried in Jacksonville City Cemetery

DECEMBER 22, 1912

PAPER

Lady Bird’s Gifts of Nature “On Caddo Lake, I loved to paddle in those dark bayous, where time itself seemed ringed around by silence and ancient cypress trees, rich in festoons of Spanish moss. Now and then an alligator would surface like a gnarled log. It was a place for dreams.”

Indulge YOU DESERVE IT

Lady Bird graduated from Marshall High School in 1928, and graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor of arts in 1933 and bachelor of journalism in 1934. She had ambitions of becoming a reporter, preferably a drama critic for The Washington Post. If that didn’t work out, she intended to apply for teaching jobs “in some faraway romantic spot — Hawaii or Alaska.”

Karnack, Texas, is a tiny community next to a moss-laden magical lake called Caddo in Harrison County. Most known for this natural wonder, it also boasts being the birthplace of one of America’s most famous — Lady Bird Johnson.

Born in this deep piney woods area on December 22, 1912, she lived in a brick two-story, 17-room antebellum house.

Her father, Thomas Jefferson Taylor, owned a plantation, two stores and was the richest man in Harrison County. Her mother, Minnie Lee Pattillo Taylor was from a genteel Alabama family.

Lady Bird was named Claudia Alta but within moments after her birth her nursemaid, Alice Tittle, said the six-andone-half pound, dark-haired baby looked “as purty as a lady bird” and the nickname stuck.

Lady Bird was just five years old when she lost her mother after a fall. She was raised by her father and her Aunt Effie after that.

As a young girl, Lady Bird explored ancient trees, exotic plants and dark bayous in nearby woods.

“Growing up rather alone,” Lady Bird said, “I took my delights in the gifts nature offered me daily.”

Caddo Lake was a favorite place for her.

Instead, she met Lyndon Johnson through a college friend and despite a fear of politics, she ended up marrying and supporting him through his time in Congress and eventually his time as the 36th president of the United States.

“I have moved onstage to a part I never rehearsed,” she told an aide at his swearing in.

During the White House years, amid the turmoil of the 1960s, the First Lady reached back to the source of her childhood consolation and brought nature to Washington. She planted pansies, azaleas, dogwood, cherry trees and daffodils that are still in evidence in Washington’s parks and green spaces today.

Congress passed “Lady Bird’s Bill” that limited junkyards and billboards on the nation’s highways and encouraged the planting of wildflowers in 1965. She did far more to protect parks and rivers and many parts of the country and said, “The environment is where we all meet, where we all have a mutual interest. It is what we all share.”

Lady Bird died at the age of 94, July 11, 2007. She is buried next to former President Johnson in his small family cemetery in Stonewall, Texas.

Excerpts from the Texas State Historical Association’s Texas Almanac and Jan Jarboe Russell, author of Lady Bird, A Biography of Mrs. Johnson.

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 17



CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

Check out the eMAGAZINE www.countylinemagazine.com for extended event listings.

Jefferson Offers Old-Fashioned Holidays Step back in time as the Historic Jefferson Railway, an antique live steam narrow-gauge train, embraces an oldfashioned Christmas in the country.

Enjoy the lighted vignettes and hear the “Wonder of Christmas” aboard the train that circles the Piney Woods along the Big Cypress Bayou.

The Christmas Train opens November 25 and runs Thursday through Sunday through December 27. (Closed November 29).

Also, ring in the New Year with the Rail of Lights New Year’s Train on December 31. This ride features the dropping of the ball in Times Square, complete with beverages, noisemakers and a fireworks show, with a cannon firing dramatic “dragon’s breath” on every train ride.

The live steam train was built in 1964 and is one of the few operational steam trains in the United States.

First Class is offered in a beautiful historic, warm, enclosed coach while the open-canopied observation cars provide an excellent view of the ride along the river. Those riding in the open coaches should dress warmly and bring a blanket.

The excursions go by a life-size nativity scene, the German Markets, Jerusalem and the Angel Tree and other scenes representing Santa Fe, Alaska, Russia, China and Australia.

There’s also an authentic life-sized 90year old Christmas card as well as a postcard sent by soldiers during World

EVENTS Through January 3, 2016 Curious Exhibit. Palestine. 201 W. Oak St., Old Town & Historic Main Street.

903.723.3014. visitpalestine.com.

October 29-November 1 First Monday Trade Days. Canton.

903.567.6556. firstmondaycanton.com.

Docents dress in period costume to escort guests on the Historic Jefferson Railway for Christmas and New Years Eve adventures. Courtesy photo.

War II and other favorites like an aluminum tree, reminiscent of the 1960s; a whimsical Teddy Bear tree; and Charlie Brown’s forlorn little Christmas tree.

Call 903.742.2041 and visit jeffersonrailway.com for more information on the train rides.

During the holiday season Jefferson also offers a Candlelight Tour of Homes sponsored by the Historic Jefferson Foundation, December 3-5 and 10-12.

This year three traditional tour homes

November 5

are decked-out with all natural greenery lit by candlelight, representing 19th and early 20th Century Christmas finery. With a surprising fourth attraction, guests step into the Lafayette Street Vintage Car, featuring beautifully restored vintage cars. The building originated in 1920. Visit jeffersoncandlelight.com for more information.

Jefferson has numerous lodging and dining options amongst the ambience of a bygone era.

November 8

ETx Oilmen’s Chili Cook-Off. Kilgore.

903.984.5571. visitkilgore.com.

Fall Foliage Brunch Train. Palestine. Texas State Railroad. U.S. Hwy. 84 E., Park Road 70.

903.683.3451. texasstaterr.com.

November 7

November 13-14

Red White & Blue Festival. Downtown Bullard. 903.894.4238. bullardchamber.com.

Explore Emory: Girls Night Out. Emory. emorytx.com.

18 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Deck the Halls Shopping Extravaganza.

Mount Pleasant. 903.572.8567. mtpleasanttx. com. continued Page 21

Edgewood Heritage Festival Set for November 14

A

Southern Style Christmas LUNCHEON & MARKET

December 8th–12th LUNCHEON:

Noon to 1pm Daily Tuesday: Sold Out Tickets: $25

SATURDAY BRUNCH:

11am to 12pm Tickets: $25

MARKET:

11am to 2pm Daily • Open to Public Thursday: 5 to 8pm for ArtWalk

Call or go online to make your reservations.

Spradliln Cabin (dog-trot style cabin) is the cornerstone of the Heritage Park Museum of East Texas. It is the first building donated, restored, and relocated to the park. Courtesy photo.

The society was fully organized by December of 1976 and in need of funds to move its first structure to the park, the Spradlin dog-trot cabin, and subsequent buildings.

It was 1977 when the group first started holding a Christmas bazaar with members making hand-made items and baked good.

It was called the Log Cabin Christmas Bazaar and was a great success and has continued and grown every year since now as a full blown festival.

Early traditions continue like the pinto bean contest, a Christmas raffle, gourmet bake sale, and the annual Christmas ornaments fashioned after one of the buildings in the village each year.

Today the festival also includes a clas-

sic car show, vintage tractors, and just this year they’ve added mini-bike drag racing.

This year also introduces a play by the Edgewood High School Drama Club, sure to entertain.

Other activities include a variety of art and cultural demonstrations, live music, vendors, parades, model trains exhibit, blacksmithing, Old West shoot outs, quilt show, dog show, children’s activities and rides and Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Admission and parking are free.

All proceeds benefit the museum made up of 22 circa 1900 authentically restored and furnished buildings representing early life in rural East Texas.

It is a treasure for present and future generations to visit and study their heritage.

Visit edgewoodheritagefestival.com and find them on Facebook for more information or call 903.896.1940 or 214.673.1882.

ANSEL ADAMS EARLY WORKS THROUGH JAN 3 Tyler Museum of Art

(903) 595-1001 • www.tylermuseum.org

El Capitan, ca. 1923 I Photograph by Ansel Adams I Collection of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg Image courtesy of Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona I © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust

The 39th Edgewood Heritage Festival takes place from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m.

November 14. It is sponsored by the Heritage Park Museum of East Texas, previously known as the Edgewood Historical Society.

903.753.8103 • LMFA.org 215 E. Tyler St. • Longview, TX 75601

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 19

Magically Mineola THANKSGIVING – JANUARY 4, 2016 Outdoor Holiday Display Mineola Historical Museum Santa Letters Drop Off

Santa’s Little Red House Behind Museum See Facebook for info on Santa Visit

DECEMBER 1 Judging of the Main Street Window Lighting & Decorating Contest

DECEMBER 3 “A Very White Christmas” 6 – 10 p.m. Civic Center. 903.569.6115 Tickets: $25

DECEMBER 6 Mineola League of the Arts Bazaar 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. 200 W. Blair 903.569.8877 Tour of Homes 1 – 4 p.m. Sponsored by Mineola Landmark Commission Carriage Rides at the Gazebo 3 - 5 p.m. Free. Sponsored by the Merry Merchants of Mineola and Mineola Main Street

Merry Merchant’s Winter Whirl 4 – 5:30 p.m. Open House Downtown Magically Mineola Christmas Parade 5:30 p.m.

Tree Lighting after parade Visit with Santa at the Gazebo

DECEMBER 14 Christmas Concert 2 p.m. Lake County Symphonic Band FOLLOW US!

1.800.MINEOLA • www.mineola.com

20 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

EVENTS continued from Page 18 November 14 Edgewood Heritage Festival.

Edgewood. Heritage Park Museum of East Texas.

903.896.1940. edgewoodheritagefestival.com.

Bags, Boots & Bingo. Longview. The Reserve, Hwy. 259 North. 903.807.0189. TheMartinHouseCAC.org.

Bird and Nature Walk. Athens. Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center, 5550 FM 2495.

903.676.2277. athenstx.org.

Colfax Community Women’s Bazzar. Colfax UMC, 3739 FM 16. 903.963.7089.

Star Party Saturday at the Dome. Tyler. Center for Earth & Space Science Education, 1411 E. Lake Street. 903.510.2312. tjc.edu/cesse.

November 15-28 Pineywoods Autumn Trail: Athens to Palestine. 888.294.2847. athenstx.org.

November 20-December 27 The Polar Express. Palestine. Texas State Railroad. U.S. Hwy. 84 E., Park Road 70.

903.683.3451. texasstaterr.com.

November 21 3rd Annual Christmas on Commerce. Downtown Jacksonville. 903.586.2217.

November 25-December 31

Wonderland of Lights. Marshall. Historic Downtown Marshall, 301 N. Washington.

903.702.7777. marshalltexas.net.

November 26

18th Annual Turkey Trot. Athens. Cain Center, 915 S. Palestine. 903.677.2000. athenstx. org.

November 27-January 3, 2016

Hometown Christmas Celebration. Rockwall. Rockwalldowntown.com.

Explore Emory: Girls Night Out. Emory. emorytx.com.

December 5-6

Christmas on the Square/Tour of Homes.

Emory. emorytx.com.

December 5-12

Christmas Park Land of Lights. Athens.

1500 N.W. Loop 7. 903.675.7469. athenstx.org.

Christmas Candlelight Tour of Homes. Jefferson. Murphy Building, 116 W. Austin St. 903.665.7064. JeffersonCandlelight.com.

November 28

December 10

Jefferson Annual Christmas Parade. Downtown Jefferson, Austin Street. 903.665.2672. jefferson-texas.com.

December 3-5

Christmas in Longview. Visitlongviewtexas. com.

December 3-6

First Monday Trade Days. Canton.

903.567.6556. firstmondaycanton.com.

December 4-6

Christmas on the Square. Mount Pleasant.

903.572.8567. mtpleasanttx.com.

December 5

Athens Christmas Parade & Holiday on the Square. Downtown Athens, 100 W. Tyler St. 903.677.0775. athenstx.org.

Night Owls, Shop LATE Till 8. Downtown Rockwall, Rusk and Goliad. 972.437.2360. rockwalldowntown.com.

December 12

Bird and Nature Walk. Athens. Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center, 5550 FM 2495.

903.676.2277. athenstx.org.

December 31

Lake Country Neighbors’ New Years Eve Bash. Emory. emorytx.com.

December 31-January 3, 2016

First Monday Trade Days. Canton.

903.567.6556. firstmondaycanton.com.

January 2

Explore Emory: Girls Night Out. Emory. emorytx.com.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 21

THE ARTS

Ansel Adams Early Works Exhibiting in Tyler

Frozen Lake and Cliffs, 1960. Photograph by Ansel Adams. Collection Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.

The iconic work of one of the giants in the field of landscape photography is the focus of the Tyler Museum of Art’s next major exhibition, Ansel Adams: Early Works. The is currently open to the public through January 3, 2016.

Adams (1902-1984)— an accomplished musician, naturalist, explorer, critic and teacher in addition to his photographic prowess — represented the end of a movement in American art focused on capturing the beauty in the pristine Western landscape. Yet most audiences only are familiar with

the heroic, high-contrast prints on high-gloss paper stock Adams manufactured to order in the 1970s and ’80s.

“Much less familiar are the intimate prints, rich in middle tones, which Adams crafted earlier in his career. That’s the primary focus of this exhibition,” TMA Executive Director Chris Leahy said.

The more than 30 pieces in Early Works, drawn from the private collection of Michael Mattis and Judith Ho-

22 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

chberg, highlight the small-scale prints Adams produced from the 1920s into the 1950s.

“This exhibition guides you through an evolution in printing styles that complements the scenic grandeur of his natural subjects – revealing Adams as a true ‘poet of light,’ both in the field and in the darkroom,” Leahy said.

Ansel Adams: Early Works was organized by art2art Circulating Exhibitions, LLC. Local support for the exhibition is provided by Collectors’ Circle

Platinum Sponsor The Robert M. Rogers Foundation, and Collectors’ Circle Gold Sponsors Sheryl Rogers Palmer and Agnes and Frank Ward.

General exhibition admission is $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens. TMA members, students, children 12 and under, TJC faculty and staff, and City of Tyler employees are admitted free.

Ansel Adams: Early Works is the focus of a programs in this year’s Fall Lecture Series: “Through the Lens with Ansel Adams” by Robert Langham, local photographer and former student of Adams, at 2 p.m. Sunday, November 15 at the TMA. It is open to the public at no charge.

Additional special events include First Friday Art Tours at 11 a.m. November 6 and December 4, and Family Days

from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, November 14 and December 12.

LEO BURNETT U.S.A. A DIVISION OF LEO BURNETT COMPANY, INC.

The Tyler Museum of Art is accredited Ad/I.D. No. XXX – Job No. 610-XXXXXXX0000 – Americans for the Arts – “Van Goghgurt” – Publication – ( T: 4.25" x 3.5") – 136926_b01_Van Goghgurt.ai by the American Alliance of Museums and a participant in the North American Reciprocal Museum Association (NARM), which allows TMA members to receive free or discount admission at hundreds of additional museums throughout the U.S. and Canada. For a complete list of participating NARM institutions, visit narmassociation.org.

Printed in the U.S.A.

TMA hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m.

Sunday; the museum is closed Mondays and major holidays. The museum is supported by its members, Tyler Junior College and the City of Tyler.

For more information, call (903) 5951001 or visit www.tylermuseum.org.

Feed your kids the Arts. Involvement in the arts helps kids increase test scores and get better grades.

For 10 Simple Ways to get more art into your child’s life, visit AmericansForTheArts.org.

Feed your kids the Arts. Studies have shown that involvement in the arts helps kids increase test scores and promotes academic achievement. For 10 Simple Ways to get more art into your child’s life, visit AmericansForTheArts.org.

AD: XXXXX

PSM: XXXXX

Longview Museum of Fine Arts Presents Cute & Creepy 136926_a02 Leo Burnett 08/05/09 jmd

AD: XXXXX

1 North Dearborn Chicago, IL 60602 Tel 312 943 0400

PSM: XXXXX

137204_a01_VanGoghgurt.ai Leo Burnett 07/15/09 GM

Cute & Creepy artwork is now on exhibit at the Longview Museum of Fine Arts through December 19. Artists represented include Carrie Ann Baade (left) and Craig LaRotonda (right) as well as Scott G. Brooks, Michael Brown, Laurie Hogin, Mark Hosford, Robert Jessup Steven Kenny, Brandon Maldonado, Chris Mars and Chet Zar. The works of the artists can also be viewed online at www.LMFA.org and on facebook at Cute and Creepy. For further information, please contact fineart@LMFA.org or call 903.753.8103. Courtesy photos.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 23

ART EVENTS Through November 8

Day of the Dead Art Exhibition. Winnsboro.

Winnsboro Center for the Arts, 200 North Market Street. 903.342.0686. winnsborocenterforthearts.com.

NOVEMBER 6-7 FRIDAY 1 TO 7 P.M. SATURDAY 9 A.M. TO 7 P.M.

Through December 18

Cute & Creepy. Longview. Longview Museum of Fine Arts, 215 E. Tyler Street. 903.753.8103. lmfa.org.

Through January 3, 2016

Ansel Adams: Early Works. Tyler. Tyler Museum of Art. 1300 S. Mahon Ave. 903.595.1001. tylermuseum.org.

Through May 22, 2016

The Granite Sculpture of Candyce Garrett:

Rock Walk. Tyler. Tyler Museum of Art. 1300 S. Mahon Ave. 903.595.1001. tylermuseum.org.

November 2-December 20

A Show of heART. Rockwall. The Uptown Downtown Art Gallery, 301 N. San Jacinto.

214.304.6002. theuptowndowntowngallery.com.

November 6-7

Winnsboro Fine Art Market. Juried art event with paintings, photography, fiber, sculpture, metal work, jewelry, wines, live entertainment, farmers market, children’s activities. Live concert by Hannah Kirby and others. Downtown Winnsboro. 888.559.4333. winnsboroonlineguide.com.

November 15

Through the Lens with Ansel Adams – Lecture Series Tyler. Tyler Museum of Art. 1300 S. Mahon Ave. 903.595.1001. tylermuseum.org.

Dace Lucia Kidd Shows Art in Tyler

Juried Art Event Featuring Fine Art

From Artists all over the country paintings, photography, fiber, sculpture, metal work, jewelry

Art of Taste

Chocolates, Cheese Munger, Finick Cigar Company, 5 regional wineries

Our Town First

Local talent, singers and songwriters, organic meats/foods

Winnsboro Farmers Market Children’s Activities Live Concerts

Hannah Kirby, Audio Adrenaline and the United Concert Series, Chad Evans, Ashes Remain, Shiloh, and Shuree. $10-$35. Tickets available at event.attendstar.com, Flowerland, and CopperLeaf Spa.

888.559.4333

winnsboroonlineguide.com

The artwork of Tyler-based artist Dace Lucia Kidd is on display now through February 28, 2016, at the Arcadia Theater in downtown Tyler.

More than 20 pieces are on display, created in the time she moved from her native Latvia to America four years ago. The show includes oil on canvas and mixed media paintings and installations.

“The works reflect my unique perspective as a fresh consumer of American pop culture and show my appreciation of its power and beauty,” Kidd said.

24 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Primarily a painter, she merges different styles and media that look like sculptures, drawings, or design objects.

“My influences are ever changing because I am inspired by my surroundings; therefore at the moment my greatest inspiration is the American experience. I like to work with traditional and contemporary compositions.”

Kidd has exhibited in New York, Miami, Dallas, Warsaw, Bulgaria, Berlin, and many other cities world wide.

For more information visit daceluciakidd.com or call 903.258.7274.

WINNSBORO CULTURAL ARTS DISTRICT

BREWBAKER’S

ART & ESPRESSO

210 N. Main St. - (903) 342-6119

111 E. Broadway - (903) 342-3343

Melanie

Frank Martin Gilligan

November 21 COPPERLEAF DAY SPA

209 N. Main St. - (903) 342-7772

December 5

ALL SHOWS START AT 7:30 P.M. TICKETS AVAILABLE AT:

www.winnsborocenterforthearts.com; Winnsboro Emporium, 212 Market St., 903-342-6140; and Winnsboro Center for the Arts

LIEFIE LI VINE

302 N. Main St. - (903) 347-1111

Also at Winnsboro Center for the Arts Men in the Arts Exhibition Nov. 14 - Jan. 2, 2016 Holiday Show Dec. 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13

DITTO GALLERIES

245 Private Road 8571 - (903) 285-2174

Enjoy the Holidays in

MONK’S OVEN

204 Market St. - (903) 347-1282

Winnsboro

The Gallery Gift Shop features Unique One-of-a-Kind Artist Creations and Art Supplies

THEE HUBBELL HOUSE

GRAPE BISTRO & WINE BAR

307 W. Elm St. - (800) 227-0639

CLARA IDA FRANCES

219 N. Main St. - (903) 342-6137

217 Market St. (903) 347-6510

WINNSBORO EMPORIUM

100 East Cedar Street • 903-588-0465

212 Market St. - (903) 342-6140

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 25

200 MARKET STREET • 903-342-0686 • WINNSBOROCENTERFORTHE ARTS.COM

STAGE

Theatre Group Promises Hottest Ticket in Town

By John Wilson For those who love the thrill of exceptional theater, top-rated stage productions and first-class acting almost within reach of your seat, then the hottest ticket in town may well be to a show at the Henderson County Performing Arts Center (HCPAC) in Athens. Those familiar with this nationally acclaimed organization know that HCPAC not only regularly delivers the magic and excitement of Broadway to this part of East Texas, it also gives back to the community by providing a variety of learning and participation opportunities to people of all ages who’ve got an itch for the spotlight.

For 52 years, HCPAC has been nestled off Gibson Road near the medical district.

But not quietly nestled. Founded by a determined group of community-minded citizens, HCPAC quickly created a big noise and soon outgrew its original handle of The Little Athens Theater. Today, the nonprofit boasts its own full-production facility complete with two performance stages and reception areas, a full woodshop, an ever-blossoming costume loft, and a busy staff: Executive Director Marcia Colbert, Technical Director Gary McDonald, Volunteer Guild Coordinator George Guillot, Playwright-in-Residence Robin Haynie, Artist-in-Residence Dana Lynch, and a seven-member Board of Directors.

The January-through-December season presents eight shows — six in the Main Stage Theater and two in the Black Box Theater (which explores more controversial and avant-garde themes). Two of the main stage shows, a summer musical and a Christmas show, are both youth productions and reflect the importance the organization places on mentoring young people with an eye toward a future in theater.

There are also gospel concerts and other events throughout the year. Staged readings and acting classes for seniors, which require less line memorization and stage movement and have a shorter rehearsal window, have also been added.

“We entertain, we educate, we change lives,” explains Marcia Colbert, who, with her background in stage work and choreography, took over after longtime Execu-

Clockwise from left Anita Joblin, Suellen Vander Colff, and Kelli Driskell were in quite a pickle in the recent comedy production of “The Smell of the Kill” presented by the Henderson County Performing Arts Center.

Photo by John Wilson.

tive Director Dennis Gilmore retired in 2014.

“Besides being a major force in this theater for 25 years, Gilmore started the YES! Program (Youth Excellence on Stage),” Colbert said. “We teach acting and stagecraft to kids as young as six years old. They become part of our family and most stay with us through their college years. Many have gone on to find success in a variety of theatrical and television careers.”

The YES! Program, which runs concurrently with the school year, teaches acting, stage makeup, set design, costuming, playwriting and stagecraft (including lighting, set construction and props, stage movement and stage combat) to students ages thirteen and younger.

“When our YES! kids get into school drama programs, they’re way ahead of other students. Here they end up socializing with 22-year-olds to seniors — it’s a mentoring process with people of all ages. Everyone becomes family. You can’t spend two months in close interaction and preparation for a performance, and not be a tight group,” Colbert said.

26 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

You’ll also find adults putting in as many as 2,475 hours on a single production to make it the best and most entertaining it can be. At HCPAC discipline and the absence of an “it’ll do” work ethic are foremost. Always.

Still, all these years later, ticket sales are not at all sufficient to support the HCPAC and all they do. For example, last summer’s production of the musical “Legally Blond,” with 34 cast members and technical personnel, had an actual and in-kind value of $30,450 to produce.

“One of our biggest challenges is that we are a nonprofit and we always need operating funds. There are very few grants available for salaries, overhead — they’re just not there,” says Colbert. “We have many donation and sponsorship levels.

But if people can donate even a ream of paper, a box of screws, old paint… those are the kinds of things we can use all the time. And we always need to increase our Volunteer Guild. Our volunteers sell concessions during the shows, help put out 2,000 monthly newsletters, do cleaning, work with costumes, work on sets and more.”

For young and old alike, HCPAC provides a neighborhood glimpse into the magical world of theatrical arts where people can land a part, learn a part, but most importantly, be a part of a 52-year-old tradition of theatrical excellence and share a passion for the arts with a close-knit family of dedicated folks.

The next show for HCPAC is “The Christmas Bus” showing December 4-6 and 1012.

In the story, it’s Christmas Eve and Mrs. Frump, the director of the Peaceful Valley Orphanage, is planning what she believes will be the most special Christmas ever for her kids. She’s “borrowed” an old bus and arranged for each child to

spend Christmas with a family in the area.

The only problem is she hasn’t told the Busybodies on the Orphanage Board of Trustees, who believe Frump has gotten too old and soft to handle the rowdy kids at Peaceful Valley.

With the help of teenage Thomas, the oldest of the orphans and her trusty righthand man, Frump sets off to deliver the kids — pursued by the suspicious Sheriff and the Busybodies. It’s an adventuresome ride culminating in a Christmas even more special than Frump could have ever imagined.

For more information call 903.675.3908 or to volunteer contact Marcia Colbert at marciacolbert@hcpac.org.

STAGE November 6-8

Sanders Family Christmas. Edom Community Center. 903.352.3158.

November 20-22

The Wizard of Oz. Longview. Longview Community Center, 500 E. Whaley St. 903.236.7535. artsviewchildrenstheatre.com.

December 4-6

The Nutcracker. Tyler. Wise Auditorium. TJC Campus. Tjc.edu/nutcracker.

December 7-12

The Christmas Bus. Athens. Henderson County Performing Arts Center, 400 Gibson Rd. 903.675.3908. hcpac.org.

Cherokee Civic Theatre Kicks Off New Season Cherokee Civic Theatre (CCT) in Rusk celebrates is 43rd season of providing great community theatre with a funfilled schedule of four upcoming shows.

Kicking off the year is “Shrek The Musical TYA” — all the fun of the original Broadway show made a bit shorter to appeal to families and young people.

Join Shrek the Ogre and his “stalworth steed” Donkey as they rescue the Princess, foil the villainous Lord Farquaad and meet a host of favorite fairy tale characters along the way. It’s the animated movie live with songs that delight and amuse. Directed by Jessica House and produced by Jon Paul Kelley, performances of “Shrek the Musical TYA” are November 7-8 and 13-15.

Setting the holiday mood is a classic story in a new format. Performed as a 1940s radio show with theater-goers as the studio audience, “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” taps all nostalgia buttons with the heart-warming tale of angel-in-training Clarence showing desperate George Bailey how one life can touch and transform so many others. It is performed as an old-fashioned radio show complete with commercials and live sound effects.

Under the co-direction of Karen Hen-

dley and Judy Faye Garner, “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” is performed December 10-13.

Come February, CCT presents “Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming,” the final installment of the popular gospel and bluegrass musical trilogy. World War II is over and Dennis comes home from the Marines to find many changes: Denise is raising rambunctious twins, June is expecting her first, the Reverend is taking a new church and Uncle Stanley is back from Hollywood. But Vera and Burl are still singing and keeping everyone on key.

Join the Sanders as they reunite one last time to celebrate faith and family in a touching final performance at the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. With Jerry Parker and Sheilah O’Heaney as co-directors, “Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming” runs February 20-21 and

26-28 with a dinner theatre evening also in the works.

Putting a big bow to wrap up the season is “Always a Bridesmaid” from the team of Wooten, Jones & Hope who brought us the southern-fried comedies “Dixie Swim Club” and “Dearly Departed.”

Over the years, four friends see each other through bridal jitters, bridesmaids dresses and bridezilla moments as well as marital snags and the ups and downs of parenthood. Everyone ever involved in a wedding will delight in this comic romp that touches the heart while tickling the funny bones.

Directed by Castanya Breen with Judy Faye Garner producing, “Always a Bridesmaid” run April 23-24, 29-30 and May 1.

For more information cherokeetheatre. net or call thebox office at 903.683.2131.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 27

Presented by Marshall Regional Arts Council Ryley Tharp

Rafael Espinoza

Shea Birdwell

The Big Bopper

Ritchie Valens

Buddy Holly

Tickets: $20. Available at Marshall Regional Arts Council Office, The Weisman Center, and Marshall Convention and Visitors Bureau.

For more information visit marshallartscouncil.org or call (903) 935-4484.

Hotel Partners

KILGORE, TEXAS

c Nov-De 2015

ETx OILMEN’S CHILI COOK-OFF 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Nov. 5

EAST TEXAS PIPE ORGAN FESTIVAL • Nov. 8-13

This annual event showcases oilfield service companies from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma as they prepare hundreds of pounds of chili and compete to claim the title of the #1 Chili Team in the Oilfield. Benefiting the East Texas Treatment Center and others, the event has drawn 10,000-plus the past two years at just $5 each. Call ETTC at 903-984-5571 for more.

Featuring 20 concerts on seven Aeolian-Skinner Pipe Organs in the East Texas area, this series showcases the works of a master organ-builder, First Presbyterian Church of Kilgore’s Roy Perry. FREE Visit EASTTEXASPIPEORGANFESTIVAL.COM

CHRISTMAS UNDER THE STARS

In the midst of a series of holiday activities sponsored by several Kilgore organizations, the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce’s Mt. Kilgore Snowhill Festival is fun for the whole family, from the Big Snowhill and Kiddie Snowhill to Santa & Mrs. Clause, Bicycle Giveaway, Entertainment, Face Painting, Balloon-Making, Downtown Tour Wagon Ride, Kiddie Train Ride, food concessions, arts & crafts and business vendors. The event is free for everyone. Learn more from the chamber’s Visitors Bureau at 903-984-5022. Search Facebook for more on “Christmas Under the Stars.”

MT. KILGORE SNOW HILL FESTIVAL 1-7 p.m. Nov. 22

KILGORE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & VISITORS BUREAU 815 N. Kilgore St. • Kilgore, Texas 75662 903-984-5022 • Fax 903-984-4975 • VisitKilgore.com 28 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Rains County “The Lure Between the Lakes”

Local Events:

A Sweet Affair

“Deliciously Different”

December 5th Christmas ‘Round the Square

Sandwiches, Soups, Salads, Cakes & Desserts

December 6th Christmas Tour of Homes, Community Wide Church Service on the Square, Tree Lighting

234 Quitman St. On the Square, Emory, TX 903-473-2015

December 31st Lake Country Neighbors’ New Years Eve Bash

Lake Country Cleaners

January 16th (Rain Date: Jan. 23rd) Eagle Fest First Saturday of Every Month Explore Emory - Girl’s Night Out

150 Planters St. On the Square, Emory, TX 903-473-2071

619 E. Lennon Dr. (Hwy 69) 660 CR 3325 On Lake Fork Emory, TX Emory, TX 903-473-4087 903-473-6227 Hooten’s Hardware

Glazed

Your everything & more store!

Create Art! All ages welcome

490 S. Texas St. Emory, TX 903-570-7607

Find us online:

www.rainscountychamberofcommerce.com www.emorytx.com

Axton’s Bass City 2959 FM 2946, Emory 903-473-7224 www.axtonsbasscity.com Bent Tree Motel 381 W. Lennon Dr. (Hwy 69), Emory 903-473-0061 Best Western Inn Emory at Lake Fork 1026 E. Lennon Dr. (Hwy 69), Emory 903-473-2022

Participating Stores: A Sweet Affair Allie Scott Day Spa Cloz Country Flowers & Gifts Glazed Hooten’s Hardware Kidz Cloz Reka’s Rise ‘N Shine Coffee Co. Rumors Salon & Boutique The Humble Thread Thrifty Chicks Top 10 Trending:Vintage

1139 E. Lennon Dr. (Hwy 69) Emory, TX

903-473-8788

Explore Emory Girl’s Night Out

Come shop with us and support shopping local.

6:00-9:00pm

Explore Emory

Bryant’s Fishing Camp off FM 514 on CR 3418, Emory 903-473-3018 Collins Landing 3979 FM 2946, Emory 903-456-1844

Hardware, home decor, gourmet food, paint, garden center & much more

Every First Saturday - see dates below.

November 7th December 5th January 2nd

CHANCE TO WIN $100 SHOPPING SPREE!

www.emorytx.com www.facebook.com/emorygirlsnightout

Lake Fork Ranch 306 PR 7332, Emory 800-317-6445 www.lakeforkranchresort.com Lake Fork Sportsman’s 4449 FM 515, Emory 903-473-3367

North Shore Landing 660 CR 3325, Emory 903-473-4087

Highland Lake Lodge 301 CR 1155, Emory Lakeview Lodge 903-473-7268 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 250 PR 6946 (off FM 2946), Emory 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 29 www.highlandlakelodge.com 903-473-5110

LITERARY

Willie’s Long Story Never Gets Old It’s a Long Story: My Life

by Willie Nelson with David Ritz Little, Brown and Company ISBN 978-0-316-30629-4 (signed edition) Review by P.A. Geddie I’ve read a few Willie Nelson books through the years and certainly many, many articles. We interviewed him a few years ago for a cover feature in County Line Magazine and reviewed one of his ex-wives tell-all books on him, one in which he said he deserved everything she dished out.

My mom and dad, T.D. and Lucille Geddie, with Buck Owens at Willie’s Dripping Springs Reunion, 1972.

I’ve read and heard many stories on Willie’s “outlaw” ways but I was not prepared for the man I got to know in this book. It’s raw.

Made me blush every now and then. But overall, Willie’s big heart comes through like gang busters.

cided she wanted to read it anyway. She said she’d skip over the “bad stuff.”

When she got to the pages talking about the Dripping Springs Reunion in 1972 she had to call to tell me that she had been there!

Willie says of the book, “This is the story of my life, told as clear as a Texas sky and in the same rhythm that I lived it.

“It’s a story of restlessness and the purity of the moment and living right.... It’s the story of true love, wild times, best friends, and barrooms, with a musical sound track ripping right through it.”

That’s my favorite part of the book — the way it weaves his songs through the story. It’s very interesting to learn where he was and why and how he came to write the songs like “The Party’s Over,” “On the Road Again,” and one of my favorites “I Never Cared for You.” He also talks about the times in his life when he wrote “Pretty Paper,” “Mr. Record Man,” and we find out who Paul is in “Me and Paul.”

I also enjoyed learning more about his causes and the beginning of his Fourth of July and Farm Aid concerts and learned

about the Dripping Springs Reunion of 1972 that started Willie’s annual Texas gatherings, this one with Buck Owens, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, and many other traditional artists and big country stars.

It was a three-day outdoor concert and some called it country music’s answer to Woodstock. It brought together all kinds of people, young and old, country cowboys and the longhairs as Willie called those leaning towards a more hippie-type lifestyle he’d started to embrace. People from very different lifestyles bonded over the music like they do where Willie’s concerned.

“It’s a Long Story” is full of moments that stirred my own memories as I recalled going to several of his concerts and songs that hold special meanings for me as I’m sure they do for many.

His book was one of eight or so I read this summer and as I was preparing to pass them over to my almost 90-year-old mother to read, I decided to hold his book out because of Willie’s colorful language and somewhat descriptive sexual escapades that I thought my mother might find offensive. Somehow it landed in her hands anyway, and despite my warning, she de-

30 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

My dad was a musician and active in bands during that time and they went with a friend. I remembered they talked for years about their trip to Dripping Springs and meeting Buck Owens but never in my wildest imagination did I connect that trip to one of Willie’s parties. It’s fun for both of us to think we’re a tiny little part of Willie’s story.

Willie Nelson is one of the most authentic people on the planet and this book made me feel like he was sitting across a table from me sharing his ups and downs over a cup of coffee in a diner perhaps with his music playing on the jukebox in the background as he tells the tales. It is a long story, but it never gets old and at the end of the day, through good times and bad, it’s a life and a book well done.



 POETRY a fall day in East Texas Noisy woodpecker Go away and let me sleep Tat tat tat, tat, tat Old shoes and a robe Morning coffee before errands Find the shoe polish Barbed wire fence POSTED NO TRESPASSING Deer airborne Leaves piled knee high Colors of copper, gold, gray Rake finds earth, and snake A lingering fire Brush reduced, cooling embers Thinking not thinking Pasture grass disturbed Freshening wind, smells like rain Splatters on stock pond Prayed for rain Neglected a stop date Back deck now a raft

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WED NOV 4 Doug Kent. FRI NOV 6 Clay Thrash. WED NOV 11 Jacob Thomas. FRI NOV 13 Strangetowne.

SAT NOV 14 Wayland Hicks. WED NOV 18 Tanner & Caleb. FRI NOV 20 Troy Cartwright.

SAT NOV 21 Bri Bagwell. WED NOV 25 Kid Icarus. FRI NOV 27 Pushwater. SAT NOV 28 Mouse & The Traps.

WED DEC 2 Elaina Kay. THU DEC 3 Stoney LaRue. FRI DEC 4 Jason James. SAT DEC 5 Wesley Pruitt Band.

WED DEC 9 blacktopGYPSY. FRI DEC 11 Chris Colston. SAT DEC 12 Prophets & Outlaws.

WED DEC 16 Ally Venable. FRI DEC 18 The O’s. SAT DEC 19 Mike Ryan. WED DEC 23 TBD. SAT DEC 26 Jeremy Lynn Woodall. WED DEC 30 Matt & Austin. THU DEC 31 Chris Colston.

She plans a meal Smelling the left overs Phones for take out Pat Herring Athens

Who Am I I am a girl I am a lone wolf in a pack.

I am someone who is not afraid to be herself.

I am one who blends in...yet stands out.

I am that star in the sky that shines brighter than the sun.

I am a girl that is smarter than smart, but is not the smartest.

I am a flower that will soon bloom.

I am something that will end, but will never disappear.

That’s who I am.

Josie Gonzales Carthage, 4th Grade

Unplug & Wine Down

Every Wednesday

Acoustic Music/Wine Specials

Thanksgiving Special November 25

New Year's Eve December 31

www.mooresstore.com • 903.833.5100 Hometown Hometown Christmas Christmas Celebration Celebration DOWNTOWN ROCKWALL • Saturday, December 5 A L L D AY F E S T I V I T I E S Parade 9 a.m. Trackless Train. Photo Booths. Face Painting.

Find Frosty Scavenger Hunt. Carolers. Balloon Artists.

Elves. Live Music. Refreshments at Downtown Shops. annual tree lighting 6 p.m.

RockwallDowntown.com

facebook.com/downtownrockwall

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 31

Photo by RB2-Photography 32 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Glam Rock and Blues Guitarist

ALLY VENABLE

By Tom Geddie Ally Venable was more than thrilled to play the man’s guitar for a few minutes while he sat at his booth at the Dallas International Guitar Festival and sipped coffee.

The man was Gary Hoey, who’s labeled as one of the top 100 guitarists of all time and who’s had five top-20 Billboard hits. In addition to his solo work, Hoey performed with Foreigner, Joe Satriani, The Doobie Brothers, Kenny Wayne Shepard, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck, Lita Ford, and more.

“All of my influences are blues — Stevie Ray Vaughan and stuff like that.

The guys (in the band) like rock, so our sound is like glam rock and blues put together. It’s a really good thing to have our own sound.”

Venable lists her major influences, in addition to Vaughan, as Gretchen Wilson, Buddy Guy, Orinthia, and a local band she sometimes performs with, The Darby Warren Project.

Country rebel Gretchen Wilson?

“I like all kinds, mainly rock and blues is what I lean toward.”

Venable was also thrilled to, at the T-Bone Walker Blues Festival in Longview, jam with Grammy-winning Rick Derringer, a blues-rock guitarist who’s worked with Johnny and Edgar Winter and with Steely Dan among others.

Venable said she started singing when she first started talking, and appreciates her parents support. Her mother teaches seventh-grade reading at Kilgore Middle School and her father is a sales manager at Fairway Auto Center in Tyler.

On that same stage with Venable and Derringer were Jonathan “Boogie” Long and Kingfish; she called Kingfish “a monster” because “he’s so good.”

“I was always singing. I sang in the children’s choir at church and started playing guitar when I was about 12 and now with the band the past couple of years.

That sort of enthusiasm is refreshing, especially from a musician who already has two albums and is beginning to work on a third.

Venable gigs with her own band just about every weekend as far away as Houston. She doesn’t take many weeknight gigs because she’s got her junior-year classes at Kilgore High School.

Venable turned 16 years old in April and is a fairly rare — but becoming less rare — female blues-rock guitarist in a field that’s been dominated for years by men.

She doesn’t sound just like any of them, although her influences are clear.

“A lot of people say we have our own sound,” she said after school one day.

“God gave me a gift,” she said. “I want to use what he gave me. Hopefully I can get far with it. I can’t see myself not doing music. It’s something you can carry on throughout your whole life. Sports kinda fade away.”

Venable played basketball, tennis, and soccer until she got so busy with music. She’s still an editor on the high school newspaper and teaches guitar to a special-needs class.

“It’s been great,” she said. “The kids love it. It’s thrilling. They enjoy music and playing guitar, and they’re really learning how to play.”

Venable and her band — Zach Terry on bass, Elijah Owing on drums, and Bobby Wallace on guitar and keyboards — play a mix of originals and

cover songs from the two albums — Wiseman and Trainwreck Blues — and from many other sources.

“We like to cover Joe Bonamassa and some Stevie Ray Vaughan. Anything really blues-rockish, we will do,” Venable said. “The shows are about half and half originals and covers, and we make the covers our own. We really don’t play exactly like the records.

“As long as I’m playing, any venue is fun and great,” she said. “Whether it’s 10 people or 200 or a thousand. We like to play anywhere we can, having a good time and making people happy.”

Among other gigs, the band has played at The House of Blues and Midway Icehouse in Dallas, at Rock 101 Grill in Frisco, Auntie Skinners in Jefferson, The Back Porch in Kilgore, Dick’s Cajun Bar and Grill in Mount Selman, Muddle in Waco, Big Easy in Houston, and at Miranda Lambert’s Ladysmith in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, as well as the T-Bone Walker Blues Fest and Alley Fest in Longview and at the Marshall Music Fest.

Venable won second place runner up in the “10 under 20” competition at the Dallas International Guitar Festival and in the East Texas Music Awards was named 2014 and 2015 female guitarist of the year and 2015 blues band of the year.

She’s not letting the music go to her head. Venable plans to get a college degree in “business or something like that.”

“I can’t really predict the future, but I know I’ll keep playing music. For sure.”

Maybe someday she’ll be the one sipping coffee at her own booth at the guitar festival while she lets somebody else play her guitar.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 33

MUSIC

MUSIC LISTINGS

Every Wednesday

Unplug & Wine Down. Ben Wheeler. Upcoming shows include Doug Kent, Jacob Thomas, Tanner & Caleb, Kid Icarus, Elaina Kay, blacktopGYPSY, and Ally Venable.

Moore’s Store. 903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

November 6

Parker Heights Music. Tyler. Republic Icehouse, 3807 University Blvd., 903.504.5860, republicicehouse.com.

Clay Thrash. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store.

903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

Michael O’Conner & Jeff Plankenhorn. Nacogdoches. Liberty Bell Bar, 422 E. Main Street, 936.622.6425. libertybellbar.com.

November 7

The Day the Music Died. Marshall. Starring Rafael Espinoza, Ryley Tharp, and Shea Birdwell as Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and Buddy Holly. Marshall Visual Arts Center, 208 E. Burleson 903.935.4484. marshallartscouncil.org.

November 8-13

East Texas Pipe Organ Festival. Kilgore.

903.984.5022. easttexaspipeorganfestival.com.

Singer-songwriter Melanie Safka takes The Bowery Stage November 21 in Winnsboro. Best known for quirky songs of the 70s like “Brand New Key” and “What Have They Done to My Song, Ma,” her show promises an unforgettable night of songs and stories covering momentous times at Woodstock to today.

Courtesy photo.

November 13

November 27

Strangetowne. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store.

903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

The Whiskey Prophets. Tyler. Republic Icehouse, 3807 University Blvd., 903.504.5860, republicicehouse.com.

November 19

November 28

Kid Icarus Project. Tyler. Republic Icehouse, 3807 University Blvd., 903.504.5860, republicicehouse.com.

Kip Moore. Nacogdoches. Banita Creek Hall.

936.462.8000. banitacreekhall.com.

November 20

Pushwater. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store.

903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

Bongo & The Point Band. Tyler. Breakers Seafood, 5106 Old Bullard Rd. 903.253.2623. yandrpr.com.

The Bellfuries. Nacogdoches. Liberty Bell Bar, 422 E. Main Street, 936.622.6425. libertybellbar.com.

Mouse & The Traps. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store. 903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

November 21

Stoney LaRue. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store.

903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

Melanie. Winnsboro. The Bowery Stage @ Winnsboro Center for the Arts, 200 North Market Street. 903.342.0686. winnsborocenterforthearts.com.

Bri Bagwell. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store.

903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

Beth Wood. Downtown Edom. The Old Firehouse, 8241 FM 279. 903.852.2781. theoldfirehouse.net.

November 22

Mt. Kilgore Snow Hill Festival. Kilgore.

903.984.5022. visitkilgore.com.

December 3

December 4

Wesley Pruitt Band. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store. 903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

Palestine Dogwood Jamboree Annual Christmas Show. Palestine Civic Center.

903.729.7080.

The Sherpas. Downtown Edom. The Old Firehouse, 903.852.2781. theoldfirehouse.net.

December 9

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas. Tyler.

Cowan Center. 903.566.7424. cowancenter.org.

December 11

Chris Colston. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store.

903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

King Richard & The Bayou Boys. Tyler.

Republic Icehouse, 3807 University Blvd., 903.504.5860, republicicehouse.com.

Jason James. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store.

903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

December 12

Wood & Wire. Nacogdoches. Liberty Bell Bar, 422 E. Main Street, 936.622.6425. libertybellbar. com.

December 18

December 5

Frank Martin Gilligan. Winnsboro. The Bowery Stage @ Winnsboro Center for the Arts, 200 North Market Street. 903.342.0686. winnsborocenterforthearts.com.

34 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Prophets & Outlaws. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store. 903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

The O’s. Ben Wheeler. Moore’s Store.

903.833.5100. mooresstore.com.

December 26

Emily Elbert. Downtown Edom. The Old Firehouse, 8241 FM 279. 903.852.2781. theoldfirehouse.net.

Cas Haley Releases More Music, More Family

Sometimes blessings come disguised as roadblocks. Such is the case of More Music More Family, the new release from soulful singer-songwriter Cas Haley.

The Paris, Texas-based artist was successfully recording, touring and building a fan base when he was sidelined by an accident that hampered his ability to sing. The idea for More Music More Family came about during treatment, as Haley reflected on how to pursue his career in a way that included his family and better represented his lifestyle.

Crowdfunded through a Pledge Music campaign and recorded over a month at Steelgrass Farm in Kauai, Hawaii, More Music More Family was co-produced and co-written by Andrew Terrett, aka Tubby Love. Its tracks address the universality of life lessons with positivity and uplifting melodies. The album borrows the best of Haley’s previous efforts, drawing on influences of reggae, soul, blues and rock. It captures an organic, live-record feeling with high-quality sound. Learn more at cashaley.com.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 35

Discover the East Texas Oil Fields of the 1930s

NOMINATIONS

OPEN

September 1 - November 15

BEST OF 2015 The East Texas Oil Museum is located on the campus of Kilgore College in Kilgore, Texas. This fascinating museum houses the authentic re-creation of oil discovery and production in the early 1930s from the largest oil field inside U.S. boundaries.

MUSEUM HOURS Tues-Sat 9am - 4pm April-Sept 9am - 5pm Sun 2-5p.m.

Hwy. 259 at Ross St, Kilgore, Texas On the Kilgore College Campus, 903.983.8295

www.EastTexasOilMuseum.com 36 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Cast your nominations for your favorite people, places, food, and other things in the Upper East Side of Texas. Winners are announced in the January/February 2016 issue.

county line

www.countylinemagazine.com

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 37

FOOD & DRINK Seed to Table Now Open in Athens

Diners looking for locally grown, organic and clean food fast, the newly opened Seed to Table in Athens promises to fit the bill.

In addition to organic fruits and veggies, they offer fresh made soups, salads, and a variety of sandwiches, as well as locally made beauty products Tuesday through Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to Noon.

The serve breakfast and lunch and offer pick up items like King Ranch chicken or quarts of soup for the dinner hour.

They have more than 25 vendors offering a wide range of items including fresh dried herbs, homemade soaps and body products, essential oil health products, local honey, petrochemical free laundry care, homemade jams, jellies, and pickles, spicy salsas, pesto, and jalapeno ranch dressing, organic cold pressed juices, organic vanilla, kombucha, and pumpkins and gourds through the autumn season.

The store owners are D.J. Stapleton and Danae Oglesby, both heavily involved in the Athens Farmers Market that operates on Saturdays during season.

In addition to their food and other products they provide information about the benefits of fresh, local, organic, and pesticide-free seasonal produce and farm pro-

Open 24/7 Full Menu Breakfast Anytime!

Hwy 19 near I-20

903-567-6551

www.dairypalace.com

photo by Sherrie Skeeters

duction methods and are big supporters of the local farmers and artisans.

Their current menu features organic quiche, turkey wraps, fresh caprese sandwich, organic garden and pasta salads, and a jalepeno pimento cheese sandwich with fresh baked jalepeno bread. Soups

east F T E X A S

SUBSCRIBE

38 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

include gazpacho and a couple of different kids through the week. They also have organic sweets.

Visit Seed to Table on the corner of South Highway 19 and 201 Hillside Drive. For more information, call 903.675.2303 and go to seedtotabletx.com.

Tamale Pie and Green Chile Cornbread

by Chef Lyndsay Caldwell

Best Steakhouse

County Line Magazine Hall of Fame

I love tamales. No matter if I’m buying them for a dollar on the beach in Mexico, by the dozen from a friend’s mom, or randomly from the meat market in Mount Vernon, I love them. I do not have time to make them. They are truly a labor of love and patience that some of us, no matter how good of a cook we are, simply don’t have the stamina for.

Saute ground beef, onion, garlic, cumin, paprika, chili powder, salt, oregano, and cayenne in oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until beef is cooked through. Drain drippings and transfer mixture to slow cooker; do not stir.

Cover slow cooker and cook until beans are creamy and tender on high setting, about 3 hours.

This time of many of us start to get cravings for tamales. Here’s a slow cooker tamale pie that can satisfy the urge that anyone can handle on the busiest of days. The recipe is simple and slow cookers are the most under used piece of home kitchen equipment. Let them do all the work.

Add tomatoes and corn to slow cooker; stir in tomato paste to combine. Top filling with cornbread batter. Cover slow cooker and cook until a toothpick inserted in center of cornbread comes out clean, about 1 hour on low setting.

Top with cheese and chives; cover until cheese melts; 5 minutes.

Tamale Pie

Green Chile Cornbread

Makes 10-12 servings

8 oz pinto beans ¼ tsp baking soda 1 ½ lb. ground beef 1 cup diced onion 1 Tbsp. minced garlic 1 Tbsp. ground cumin 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika 1 Tbsp. chili powder 2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. dried oregano 1 tsp. cayenne pepper 1 Tbsp. olive oil 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes 1 cup frozen or fresh corn 2 Tbsp. tomato paste 1 recipe of Green Chile Cornbread batter (below).

Soak beans in 3 cups of water in a saucepan overnight. Add baking soda to pan and bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Skim and discard any foam from top.

Drain beans; reserving 1¼ cups liquid to a 4-6 qt slow cooker.

¾ cup shredded sharp cheddar ¾ cup shredded pepper jack cheese ¾ cup cornmeal ¼ cup all purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking powder ½ cup buttermilk 1 egg 1 4.5 oz can green chiles 2 tsp. fresh chives Combine cheddar and pepper jack cheese in a small bowl. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together ½ cup of cheese mixture, buttermilk, egg, and chiles.

Stir dry and wet ingredients until combined.* Pour into slow cooker. *If you just want to make the cornbread, preheat the oven to 425 with a cast iron skillet inside. Follow directions above.

Then pour batter into the hot skillet and bake 20 minutes. Top cornbread with cheese and cover to melt; about 3 minutes. Garnish with chives.

Book Your Holiday Reservations Early!

Gift Certificates Available

Top 100 American Steakhouses OpenTable.com

Located in a beautiful lakeside lodge at 21191 FM 47 in Wills Point,one block north of Interstate 20, Exit 516 Open Tuesday - Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Available for Special Events

Make A Reservation

903.873.2225

www.fourwindssteakhouse.com

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 39

EXPLORE Caddo Lake: Past, Present, and Future

courtesy photo

Texas Parks and Wildlife is presenting a variety of programs to educate guests on Caddo Lake. The series, called Caddo Lake: Past, Present, and Future, discusses the lake’s exciting history to include the Great Raft, the Caddo Indians, Port Caddo location, and even the pearl rush of Caddo Lake. Attendees learn about the different invasive species ravaging

the lake, and how people can help keep it healthy for future generations. All outdoor programs are subject to cancellation due to weather conditions. Program is free of charge; regular entrance fees apply. All children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Upcoming dates are November 13, 20, and 27. Call 903.679.3351 for more information.

THE PEGASUS PROJECT

MORE FOOD & FUN!

we give horses wings

Dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and placement of neglected, abandoned or abused horses in East Texas. Please visit our website for more information or to make a donation.

www.PegasusRescue.org • 903-469-3578 40 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Go to County Line eMagazine for more fun food and drink articles, recipes, dining ideas, wineries, farmers markets, and events.

countylinemagazine.com/ Food-Drink

county line

Regional Magazine for the Upper East Side of Texas

got you covered

MAGAZINE

We specialize in creating and presenting words and images to reach the market that counts through a multi-channel approach including print, audio, film, digital, websites, email, and social sites. Let us help you choose the most cost-effective, results-oriented promotion campaigns.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 41 CALL TODAY. 903.963.8306. MARKET@COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM

LIVING ROOM Enjoy Shopping and Events at Blue Moon Gardens Blue Moon Gardens is well known in East Texas as a gardeners’ nursery. The staff is composed of avid gardeners and plant lovers. But inside the 100-year-old farmhouse at the front of the garden center lies a hidden gem — a unique gift shop. Popular items in the shop include French milled soap, scented can-

dles, hats, books and home décor. In the last several years fairy garden furniture and accessories have captured the attention of young and old alike.

Now the owners of Blue Moon Gardens strive to bring the very best of American made products to their customers in East Texas. They support American artists, craftsmen and companies while still maintaining their distinctive style.

SHOP. DINE. STAY.

Edom for the Holidays POTTERS BROWN STUDIO & GALLERY

DRAGONHEAD RETREAT B&B on 25 Wooded Acres at 675' Outside Living Area • WiFi • Kid Friendly 903-520-2069 • www.Vrbo.com/559168 www.dragonheadretreat.com

BLUE MOON GARDENS Perennials. Herbs.

Garden Art. Gift Shop Open Daily 9-5 • 903.852.3897 www.bluemoongardens.com

MARIPOSA CABIN Quiet Relaxation in the East Woods Hand-crafted, lofted 1 bedroom cottage 903-571-2423 • www.Vrbo.com/354940

www.VisitEdom.com 42 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Original Handmade Stoneware 903.852.6473 www.pottersbrown.com

THE FARM HOUSE RETREAT A Unique East Texas Experience Lodging, Weddings, Retreats 903.749.1682 www.facebook.com/thefarmhouse retreatweddings

VINTAGE EDOM Coffee Shop. Mid Century Cool Items.

Vintage Antiques. Boutiques.

Collectibles. Arts & Crafts.

903.852.5552 • VintageEdom.com

The candles and soaps in their shop are made in the U.S .with sustainable, ecofriendly materials. Most of their jewelry and fashion accessories are made by American artists, many of them local.

Those searching for unique gifts or fashionable items are invited to explore the gift shop and garden center at Blue Moon Gardens. They are open 7 days a week, 9 am to 5 p.m. through the end of the year.

Two special events during the holidays offer opportunities for discounts.

At the Christmas Sale during the weekend following Thanksgiving, November 27–29, all merchandise and plants are 20 percent off. Enjoy refreshments while shopping in the peace and quiet of this country setting.

An evening event, Luminations, lights up the nursery with hundreds of candles, lights and luminaries. This event is from 5-7 p.m. December 5. Roast marshmallows at the outdoor fireplace and shop for last minute gifts with discounts up to 25 percent. Every household attending receives a free handmade door swag.

Blue Moon Gardens is located 4.5 miles east of Edom, 20 miles west of Tyler, at 13062 FM 279. Visit their website bluemoongardens.com or call 903.852.3897 for more information.

Texas Master Gardeners Present Lecture Series The Texas Master Gardeners Association presents a variety of programs to help guests develop their green thumbs.

On November 3 they host Tuesday in the Garden and November 14 is an East Texas Garden Lecture. The events are free and start at Noon and are about 30 minutes with a Q&A session follow. Seating is limited and guests should bring a chair. In case of inclement weather the program will move inside. They take place at the Tyler Rose Garden, 420 Rose Park Dr. Call 903.590.2980 and visit txmg.org to find out more.

Pure, serious, results-focused skin care!

Facials, Eye Treatment Waxing & Tinting, Chemical Peels

VISIT

Gun Barrel City ...a straight shot to Cedar Creek Lake

Michelle Lintner, Master Aesthetician 1023 South Trade Days Blvd Canton, TX. 214.862.5664

www.glowskinstudios.com

ft&

YAMAYOGA spa school retreat

Come Stay & Play.

We Aim to Please!

Massage. Aroma Touch. Reiki. Facials/Chemical Peels. Pedicures/Manicures.

Natural Hormone Replacement/Medical Weight Loss. Boutique. Infrared Sauna.

YOGA Daily Classes • Stretch • Beginner • Flow • Vinyasa & 200 HR Teacher Training 1023 S. Trades Day Blvd. (Hwy 19), Canton, TX 75103

www.gunbarrelcity.net www.gunbarrelcityfestivals.net

WWW.YAMAYOGA.NET 903.567.0077

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To advertise, call 903.963.8306 or email market@countylinemagazine.com

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Bill Hullum, CPA PC 625 Hwy 31 East #6 • Chandler, TX 75758 903.849.4994

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Pawpa’s House in the country

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649 W. Main • Box 545, Van, TX 75790 903.963.5865

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903.887.1087

Voted Best Antique Store Satellite • Wireless Internet Jacuzzi Tub • Hot Tub Fully Equipped Kitchen Handicap Accessible Near Canton, Ben Wheeler, Lindale, Tyler, Mineola.

One hour to Dallas.

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903.571.3620 • www.pawpashouse.com

by County Line Magazine readers

12,000 square feet

Home Decor & Furniture

Vintage Vinyl Records, Art Pottery, Art Glass, Silver, China, Candles, Fine American and European Furniture, Texas Primitives, WesternCollectibles,Rugs,Gifts,Chandeliers, and so much more!

Open 7 Days, Mon-Sat 10-6, Sun 1-5

903-469-4321 7150 SH 31E • Murchison www.wagonwheelantiquemall.com

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 43

FEEL GOOD

Embrace the Teacher Within for Guidance

By Lorraine McKean It was Christmas Eve 2014, and my family and I found ourselves in a muchneeded family healing time. The past year and a half was a difficult and trying time for us. We lost both my father-inlaw and mother-in-law and while still in the depths of grief, my husband’s left foot was severed in a near-fatal hydroplane accident.

Five hospitals, three states and a multitude of surgeries later, the foot was sewn back together, infection fought and my husband endured a painful recovery.

During this time the company I worked for 12 years relocated and I was laid off.

We decided to convalesce in a little cabin burrowed in the snowy mountains of Red River, New Mexico.

The silence of the falling snow was meditating on that Christmas Eve and in the midst of its natural quietude, I pulled out my constant companion, my yoga mat. I flowed through my poses, paus-

ing, sometimes with my face high toward heaven, sometimes in a deep bow of humble gratitude. Yoga always had a way of opening my heart and mind to receive guidance within me, perhaps it is a combination of moving the body in connection to the Earth— a complete and beautiful union. It was here, on my yoga mat, I made a promise to myself that I would find my way back to the path I needed to be on.

I started the new year off by enrolling in classes at Yama Yoga in Canton. Each class I took strengthened my body physically and a healing began to take place in my mind.

By March, I was signed up for a 200hour teacher training, an in-depth study of yoga examined through anatomy and physiology. The course breaks down poses, recognizes the benefits of the pose, body alignment and application of the pose safely. Various breathing techniques are explored to control anxiety, anger, fear and stress.

When the 200-hours are completed

44 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

and all criteria met, one can then even teach yoga classes to others if you chose to do so. But the yoga course offered me so much more than I thought.

The course was challenging, each pose more difficult than the last. Yet as I progressed through, yoga was teaching me to prevail through the challenges by looking to my inner self, and by looking inward I found a teacher inside me — a teacher that was always there, waiting to burst out. This teacher that I came to know, was here as my inner guide to teach me life’s lessons as they are presented to me with grace and gratitude.

I’ve come a long way since that last Christmas Eve. I no longer fear what future paths lay before me. I am just grateful for the opportunity to tackle and triumph over each obstacle in life, step by step, just like with my most difficult poses.

There is a wise and wonderful teacher inside us all, and yoga helped me find mine.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 45

ATHENS, TEXAS

Playground for the Seasons

Scenic Drives, Fall Foliage, Local Wineries, Art Galleries, Drive-Thru Christmas Park, Zipline Tours, Nature Trails, Train Excursions, Holiday Shopping, Events & Entertainment Nov. 10-Jan. 3. Christmas Park Land of Lights Nov. 13-14. Hot Rods, Hot Coals & Cook Junk Nov. 14-28. Pineywoods Autumn Trail: Athens to Palestine Nov. 14 & Dec. 12 Bird and Nature Walk Nov. 26. 18th Annual Turkey Trot Dec. 4-12. The Christmas Bus Theater Performance Dec. 5. Holiday on the Square & Christmas Parade Dec. 6. North Pole Athens

Stay & Play!

For information about hotels and upcoming events, 1-888-294-2847

www.AthensTX.org/CLM5

46 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Indulge

Light Up a Face This Season.

in

PAPER

YOU DESERVE IT Upper East Side of Texas Regional Magazine

SUBSCRIBE! In celebration of our 15th anniversary get a one-year subscription in 2015 for just $15 per year!

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903.963.8306 • countylinemagazine.com SUBMIT ORDER BY WEBSITE, PHONE, OR MAIL TO P.O. BOX 608 • BEN WHEELER, TX 75754

NOVEMBER 25 THRU DECEMBER 31 www.VisitMarshallTexas.org

Christmas FESTIVITIES Christmas Parade DECEMBER 3

Christmas at the Courthouse DECEMBER 4-5

Living History Christmas DECEMBER 5

www.VisitLongviewTexas.com

300 W. Cotton St., Longview, TX 75601

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 • COUNTYLINEMAGAZINE.COM • 47

How Amy & Jay Novacek Wind Down.

Peace and quiet are in short supply today. Amy and Jay Novacek find it by winding down the day in the solitude of their Johnson County ranch. If you’re ready for your own Texas hideaway, Heritage Land Bank can help you get there. In fact, Heritage is the right financing partner for anyone buying land in rural Texas. If you’re ready to buy, we’re ready to help.

903.534.4975 • HeritageCounty.com EQUAL HOUSING LENDER

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