NETX Crossroads February 2022

C NETX

ROSSROADS MAGAZINE

ALL ABOARD

Texarkana man’s winter wonderland is off the rails

By JOESPH SPEARS, page 4

Traces of Trammel’s trail in Cass County

By KATE STOW, page 22

Brynne Chalmers

Omaha’s maven of curiosities and oddities

By DI ANA FITZGERALD, page 24

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About the Cover

FEBRUARY 2022 Small but fierce...

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S D A O R S S RO

CONTENTS

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ALL B A OanAaRmD an’s

Texark d onderlan winter w e rails is off th , page 4

By JOES

PH SPEA

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Traces of Trammel’sss trail in Ca County

By KATE

ge 22 STOW, pa

10

s Brynne Cenhaoflmcurierosities

mav Omaha’s d oddities an 24 ALD, page

By DI AN

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Cleaning up the ArkLaTex Region

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C

One man’s belief in the hope of education C. W. Forsyth, Jr. named Texas Farm Bureau Pioneer

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ROSSROADS Published and distributed by

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Northeast Texas Publishing, LP in Bowie, Camp, Cass, Gregg, Morris, Titus and Upshur counties.

Please contact us with questions, story ideas or advertising requests via email at info@NETXcrossroads.com or call us at

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Elizabeth Lanning Shawn Larson Heather Russell Joseph Spears Kate Stow Niklas Hamann Elizabeth Lanning Jodi Pack Kate Stow Joni Guess

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FEBRUARY 2022

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ALL ABOARD

Texarkana man’s winter wonderland is off the rails

By JOESPH SPEARS

T

here’s a little slice of Winter Wonderland in Texarkana, Texas as Dave Clark transformed his living room to match the season like he has done for the past 30 years. The process of creating an entirely brand new Christmas arrangement every year takes around 3 months, but Dave wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We started our scene when we first started dating with a church that resembles the church we attend ,” said Dave’s wife Shari. “He’s 80 years old and 4

FEBRUARY 2022

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this is something that he loves to do. Our time on this earth is limited so I told him to go crazy with it.”

It all started with a small black freight train that was given to Dave when he was 3 years old by his father. “My daddy bought me a train when I was very young, and sadly I no longer have that train,” explained Dave. “But I do still have the original track that came with it. That first train was really the spark that began everything you see here today.”

Dave’s father was a machinist and moved his family to Hooks, Texas after the Red River Army Depot opened. He attended Hooks High School and later graduated college with a music degree. Dave put his degree to good use becoming a band director for several local programs including Winnsboro, North Lamar, and Irving.

He also started the band pro-

Independent School District

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FEBRUARY 2022

5

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gram at Prairiland ISD, and stayed there as the head director for an additional 3 years. Since his retirement, Dave has continued to find the time to help out local bands in Bowie County, including working with students at both New Boston ISD and DeKalb ISD. “I loved my musical career, I think it teaches so many skills that go beyond just playing music,” said Dave.

When it comes to his love of trains, what once started as a single train and track has now grown to a setup that encompasses an entire room including: three trains, a downtown district, happy holiday heifers, a barn, a horse ranch, two ponds with geese and skaters, a water tower, a tree house, a holiday village, and an entire cave system made out of paper mache.

The arrangement changes every year, and each vacation the pair takes will bring a new addition to the Christmas scene. One train still circles on the very same track that Dave received when he was a young child. Several items in the village date to the 1930s and 1940s, and Dave takes special care for the items he owns that are “pre-war”.

“The water tower in the center of town dates back to 1938 I believe,” recalls Dave. “It’s still holding up strong. It really is like they say that they don’t make them like that anymore.”

When the village lights up, so does Dave, and listening to him speak about his trains brings out the 12 year old in all of us. Every year he gathers all of his friends, and together they watch the unique display that none want to miss. A collection of past and current band directors and church members always find the time to enjoy the spectacle that has been going strong in Texarkana, Texas “save one or two times where we decided to take a break” for the last 30 years.

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Bowie County micro-preemie continues to fight the odds with her progress

fierce...

By HEATHER RUSSELL

A

Mom Nikki holds her baby for the first time, as dad looks on.

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DeKalb, Texas couple recently celebrated the arrival of a child for whom they had prayed for quite some time, even if her arrival did come much sooner than anticipated.

John and Nikki Crouch welcomed Arizona Reese into this world on November 26, 2021 at just 23 weeks gestation. She was flown to Dallas Presbyterian Hospital where she remains in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU. At just 1 pound 5 ounces at birth, Arizona has quite a tough road ahead of her. But at just over two months old, she has proven to be a fighter, holding her own and impressing the doctors with her progress.

She currently weighs nearly 3 pounds, more than doubling her birth weight, and is 14 inches long. She

NETX CROSSROADS MAGAZINE

has had recurring problems with reflux and a history of her lungs collapsing, but through all of her struggles, she has managed to overcome.

She is still on a high frequency oscillatory ventilator, but her medical team has been able to gradually decrease her oxygen as she continues to gain strength. While her family looks forward to the day she will be able to breathe on her own, they know that it is important not to rush the development and healing of Arizona’s lungs.

What the Crouch’s looked forward to most, however, was the day they could hold their precious baby. While they were allowed regular physical contact with Arizona, they were unable to hold her in their arms until she was two months old, as the type of ventilator that she requires at this time has short, stiff tubing that allows for easy extubation. On January 23, Arizona’s medical team determined that she was stable enough for her mother to finally hold her for the first time.

Babies born at under 26 weeks gestation are considered “micro-preemies.” They require respiratory support, specialized monitoring equipment, OG/NG support ( feeding tube) and much intensive and specialized medical care.

Arizona still faces a long stay in the NICU, and with medical bills, travel expenses, and missed work, the Crouches could use the help and support of their community and surrounding areas.

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Samantha Morgan, owner of Little Rascals Daycare in Malta, Texas, hired Nikki five years ago to work in her daycare. Nikki has since worked her way to the position of director at the daycare, and become like family to Samantha.

“Nikki has taken care of, loved on, and prayed over so many of our babies here at the daycare,” Samantha said.

“She has made such a difference in the lives of so many babies, and now we need to come together and make a difference for her and her family.”

Nikki and her husband John met when John’s church visited the orphanage where Nikki spent the majority of her teen years. They began dating a couple of years later, and married in 2015. “They are just great people who could use our help,” said Samantha. “I promise they would do it for any of you. That’s just the kind of people they are.”

Those wanting to donate have several options through which to do so. An account has been set up at State Bank (any branch) under Cynthia Crouch/Arizona Reese Crouch. Paypal is jcrouch95@yahoo.com. Venmo is also jcrouch95@yahoo.com. Cashapp is $NLCrouch. You may also leave a cash donation at Little Rascals Daycare in Malta, and NB Pharmacy or Bowie County Citizens Tribune/Henry & Jean Boutique in New Boston.

“If you can’t donate, just pray,” Samantha said. “The family feels and needs your prayers for this precious little girl.”

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One man’s belief in the hope of education

This 22-foot long mural hangs in the Biggers Room at NTCC. Photos: Jodi Pack, Director of Marketing, NTCC

I

The second segment shows a barren one room school, with some children reading and the rest sitting on a bench. This was a time without teaching contracts, and often without paychecks. The dour expression on the matriarchal teacher’s face is further explained by the harsh language of the report card she holds in her hand.

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By ELIZABETH LANNING

n the climate-controlled Biggers Room at NTCC hangs a mural, painted by a man who initially went to college to be a plumber.

Born in Gastonia, North Carolina, on April 13, 1924, John Thomas Biggers enrolled at Virginia’s Hampton Institute in the fall of 1941. This school was founded by General Samuel Chapman Armstrong who had commanded the 9th United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. The intention of this school was to give the children of those soldiers a school where they could learn a trade and learn it well.

“That was the basis of my Hampton education—always the discipline of fine craftsmanship,” Biggers would later say. “It was said, ‘Hampton graduates, you will walk proudly, you will be honest, and you will know all the virtues.’”

But the aspirations of a plumber plummeted when Biggers signed up for an evening drawing class taught by Victor Lowenfeld, the art professor at Hampton Institute.

“When I heard Lowenfeld talk, that was the end of plumbing,” Biggers said. He was taught the use of practical skills as well as the artistic touch.

“Victor felt it was important for us to learn, in the time-honored manner, how to prepare our own art materials,” Biggers explained. Students used handmade gesso, made from whiting and rabbit’s foot glue, and fresh egg

tempera mixed daily from a mixture of whole egg, dammar varnish, and water, with the brush then dipped in showcard tempera paint.

Keenly aware of the unique power of a work of art to express one’s selfidentity, Biggers grew to love murals because of their size and scale. He wished to express the cultural heritage of the people of his community in a great way.

This was initially taught and then encouraged by Lowenfeld, who had his own theories concerning how and what to teach African-American art students. He believed that art could have personal meaning for them, and would necessarily be different from that of their white counterparts. Rather than encouraging imitation, which Lowenfeld believed would stimulate their own feelings of inferiority, he inspired his students to paint as directed by their own natural individuality.

Biggers said of Lowenfeld, “Victor encouraged what was there but did not direct our ideas. He believed it was up to each person to make a commitment to an idea. It was his job to find the right technique to develop our skills so that our idea could be created.”

Biggers received his doctoral degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1954 with a thesis entitled, “The Negro Woman in American Life and Education.” From 1950 to 1956, he painted NETX CROSSROADS MAGAZINE

The third and most dominant panel focuses on the time and work of the well-loved Mr. P.Y. Gray. He came to the Naples community in Morris County in 1929; in 1932 he graduated the first high school student. Gray stands in front of a “Rosenwald School” wood frame building. This panel describes a period of self-sufficiency. Students are seen quilting, raising and preserving food, caring for animals, and reading under the guidance of Mr. Gray and his wife Lucinda. She taught homemaking as he taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and agriculture and introduced athletics. Biggers uses Gray, and his outstretched arms as a “tree of life.” As Dr. Theisen observes, the strong male figure reaches out with open hands, holding “seeds of hope.”

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The first segment depicts the bleak period following the Civil War. The preacher is both spiritual leader and teacher. He addresses his congregation in a farmyard against a backdrop of laborers’ shanties. There is no school building as no land is owned.

Education of the young is only a hope for the future.

Children work in the fields or sit aimlessly on the rail fence. The preacher is depicted as urging the people to give offerings to build a church and school to lead to a better future.

four murals in African-American communities in Texas and realized his love for this artistic style.

John Biggers established and directed the Department of Art at Texas Southern University in Houston for 34 years, until he retired in 1983. He had the reputation of being a major African-American artist of the Southwest, and was recognized as the Texas Artist of the Year in 1988. Several of his murals can be found in Houston.

From 1955-1956, John Biggers painted the mural that now hangs in NTCC. He titled it, “The History of Negro Education in Morris County, Texas,” and intended it to honor Dr. Phineas Y. Gray, superintendent of the George Washington Carver High School.

Biggers wished to commemorate him with a work of art, and the mural was displayed in the school until it integrated with the Pewitt CISD. Eventually, however, it was deemed “inappropriate” and taken down.

The mural was stored beneath the floor of a gym for 15 years; Coke and Pepsi had stained it in several places by the time it was brought to light again.

Dr. Olive (Ollie) Jensen Theisen, the first art faculty member at NTCC and author of “Walls That Speak” a book about Biggers 12

FEBRUARY 2022

published in 2006, discovered the mural in pieces in a storage room.

This was in the mid-1980s during a teachers’ workshop at the Paul Pewitt School. She recognized the painting to be one of great value, and began a campaign to restore it.

John Biggers himself came for the unveiling of the mural in the library of the Paul Pewitt Elementary School, and did some touchup work personally.

The mural hung in the library for many years, but community members approached the school and requested that it be made more accessible to the general public. An agreement was made to loan the work of art to NTCC for 30 years. One year was required to transport the painting because of its size.

The mural is 22 feet long and six feet tall. It is thinly painted in an oil-like medium on a heavy artist-primed muslin canvas. The painting is executed in thin washes of color similar to fresco technique.

In the firm belief that education, such as he received at Hampton, has the power to transform people’s lives, Biggers painted a oneroom schoolhouse that is changed to an edifice of modern education as one follows the theme of the mural. The painting is divided into four sections, described as follows.

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13

“You’re Invited” to

Madeline’s Café D

Story & photos by ELIZABETH LANNING

rawing upon Samoan influences with a generous dash of Italian and a gentle influence of the Pacific Islands, Madeline’s Café offers a unique menu to both the traveler and the daily visitor.

Salina Dollinger purchased the building in 2018 with the vague idea of starting “something”. Upon looking about the downtown area of Pittsburg, she felt discouraged about the many empty buildings lining Main Street. But rather than curse the darkness, she preferred to light a candle, and bought the building on 111 Quitman Street.

“It evolved from there; I just wanted to do something to help revitalize downtown,” Dollinger explained. The building has a varied history of housing a florist’s shop, and a grocery, but she wasn’t quite sure what the current project should be.

In 2020, significant work on the project began. Long-time friend Karen Bertolini from Houston was the first to help with the floor plan. “That part was hard,” Dollinger remembered.

Madeline’s picture hangs on the wall of the café named after her.

Decadent delights, all made from scratch, wait patiently for the hungry passerby.

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The color scheme recommended by Bertolini must have been the right one, because when Terre Wallis continued with the interior decorating, she recommended the same color scheme. “Terre was the mastermind,” Dollinger said, explaining that it was Wallis who suggested the black and white tile “M” just inside the front door, the stools at the window counter, the hanging “basket” lights, the structural opening of the high windows in the front, and the false skylight over the kitchen.

Wallis was also the one who found Dale Nielsen, the artist. A self-taught visual expressionist, Nielsen has produced meticulous and imaginative graphic design patterns both on canvas and digitally. His specialty is creating patterns by mixing overlapping and intersecting visual planes and geometric shapes to create unique pieces centering on Pacific cultures and their environments.

Initially, Dollinger didn’t know what to put in her building. As she and her husband

Tasteful decorations adorn the walls.

like to cook and bake, she thought of a bakery, or maybe a deli shop. But while sitting in another restaurant, Dollinger told her husband that she wanted to have meatballs in her new shop. There are strains of the German (Dollinger), English

Saipo, a traditional Samoan linen-like bark cloth is made from the bark of the Paper Mulberry tree.

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(Warrick, maiden name), and Samoan (mother) in Dollinger’s family history, and the menu began to grow from there. Even so, it wasn’t solidified until Arielle Hinds entered the picture.

Originally from Seminole, Texas, Arielle Hinds worked her

way through college, got a degree in animal science, wildlife science, and animal reproduction, and she is also a toxicologist. With several aviators in her family, she has had the advantage of travel and has stayed in Europe, Hawaii, South America, Ireland, and even lived in Italy for six months.

It was in Italy that she found her love of pasta. There too, she learned the traditional Italian way of making foods such as marinara sauce—without sugar. Instead she sweetens it with vegetables. She learned to make traditional Italian pasta and many other dishes without substituting ingredients to cater to the “Americanized” palate.

Hinds has been cooking now for 20 years and has “enjoyed every bit of the trip.” Dollinger appreciates Hinds’ creative thought process. Madeline’s uses different sauces and pestos such as a dairy-free coconut bechanel on the Island Ham FEBRUARY 2022

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and Cheese sandwich. Mayonnaise is not to be found in Madeline’s, but gingers, coconut, pineapple, curry and sweet vegetables are in abundance, and all dishes are made fresh every morning with the best quality ingredients they can get. They follow the principle ‘Don’t cut the apple until you need to cut the apple.’

A coffee bar is also available, offering French Press coffee (no drip), Americanos, and lattes. Their special Sumatran/Ethiopian blend is made locally from US Roast in Mount Pleasant with just a hint of the Islands. The decaffeinated coffee is created using the “Swiss method” without the use of chemicals.

But there is more to Madeline’s than just the food. In spite of the fact they have recently opened, there is much history to the café.

It was named after Madeline Warrick, Salina Dollinger’s mother.

Madeline passed away Dec. 25, 2020 at the age of 83, and was American Samoan. She met her husband, Travis Eugene “Gene” Warrick, in 1953 while he was stationed in her home country serving in the U.S. Navy. They were married in 1954, and moved back to America for the second and final time in 1963.

Madeline’s motto in life was always “You’re invited,” and her daughter remembers many holidays when strangers would be invited to the table in this spirit of sharing what one has with others.

A photo of Madeline now hangs in her honor in the café, and “You’re Invited” is the motto of the establishment. Dollinger explained, “That means, ‘I’m going to give you the best I can give you.’”

She credits her success to her faith as a Christian, and the “spectacular, talented, local people” who helped to make her dream come true.

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Comments on a noteworthy “weed”

T

By ELIZABETH LANNING

araxacum, more commonly known as dandelion, has been used since ancient times for medicinal purposes. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans recognized its value, and the Chinese have been using dandelion for medicinal purposes for over a thousand years.

All parts of the plant are edible, usually as a tea, although the leaves can be found in salads as well.

The roots can be roasted to a dark brown, steeped in boiling water and then strained, making a cup of non-caffeinated dandelion coffee.

Highly nutritious, dandelions are a good source of vitamins A, C and K, as well as vitamin E, folate and small amounts of vitamin B. The greens provide a substantial amount of several minerals including iron, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

The tea is beneficial for the liver in that it helps to flush hangover-inducing toxins from the body.

Upon further study, dandelions have been suspected of providing antioxidants such as betacarotene and polyphenols, reducing cholesterol, regulating blood sugar and lowering blood pres-

Photo by Niklas Hamann on Unsplash 18

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sure, reducing inflammation, aiding weight loss, reducing cancer risk (specifically slowing the growth of colon, pancreatic, and liver cancers), boosting the immune system (by limiting the growth of hepatitis B), aiding digestion (traditional remedy for constipation and other digestion issues), and keeping the skin healthy (helping to protect from sunlight, aging, and acne).

While more research is needed, it is thought that extract from this plant significantly reduces the ability of viruses to reproduce, protects against harmful bacteria, and helps the body fight infection.

Dandelions have been used for conditions such as swollen tonsils, kidney infections and UTIs, but no real scientific evidence supports these uses as yet.

Because of their deep taproots, dandelions are a good addition to a pasture. Those taproots pull nutrients hidden deep in the subsoil to the surface, making them available to livestock as well as other plants. Thus they can be a good source of calcium for livestock, and animals tend to enjoy them.

Pollinators also like them as a spring food source when options are somewhat limited. This can make them beneficial for beekeepers as well as anyone encouraging pollinators and thereby stimulating biodiversity.

Dandelion’s wide-spreading roots are beneficial for aerating the soil as well, and can help to control erosion and encourage water retention.

Not only can they live for years, but their roots sink in deeper every year, sometimes reaching as deep as 15 feet. Also, the roots easily regrow; a one-inch piece of root can grow a new plant.

Some of the most expensive items in a store, dandelions can be more pricey than prime rib, swordfish and lobster.

If one is allergic to ragweed or other similar plants, an allergic reaction should be watched for in taking anything dandelion. They can also cause dermatitis and should not be taken in association with other diuretic medications.

As with anything, there are bad sides to having dandelions in one’s yard. They are hard to eradicate and grow like wildfire. To say they can affect the lawn’s appearance is an understatement, and they compete with the grass for water. When nutrients are out of balance, they can smother the grass, and they attract bees. (Little children and bees usually get along better when not together.)

Nonetheless, in the old world, dandelions were well known and even had poems written about them. They were used as a remedy for scurvy, a vitamin deficiency. Dandelions have more vitamin A than spinach, more vitamin C than tomatoes, and are well-stocked in iron, calcium and potassium.

The following is a list of generally accepted doses: • Fresh leaves: 4–10 grams, daily.

• Dried leaves: 4–10 grams, daily.

• Leaf tincture: 0.4–1 teaspoon (2–5 ml), three times a day.

• Fresh leaf juice: 1 teaspoon (5 ml), twice daily.

• Fluid extract: 1–2 teaspoon (5–10 ml), daily.

• Fresh roots: 2–8 grams, daily.

• Dried powder: 250–1,000 mg, four times a day.

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Cleaning up the ArkLaTex Region

ONE TIRE AT A TIME

Site Manager, Joseph Barker, Jesther Doblado, and Director Stephen McLemore stand in front of tire processing equipment in Linden, Texas (Journal-Sun Photo)

New tire processing company opens in Northeast Texas

By SHAWN LARSON

I

t can be depressing to drive down the highway and see the side of the road littered with old abandoned tires laying off on someone’s property. Since it takes 50-80 years for those tires in their current state to decompose, you might plan on seeing them there as long as you live. What’s worse than the tires being a blight to your eyes, they can also become a safety and environmental hazard. For those that are cleaned up off the land, they may find an end that is little better than the ones off the side of the road. Every year nearly 300 million tires are discarded in just the US alone. While those numbers are high, what’s even more staggering is that many of those tires are illegally dumped somewhere.

Depending on how and where they are dumped, each unique scenario causes its own nightmare. For property owners who find themselves on the wrong end of someone dumping trash on their land, it can be aggravating. These landowners are now forced to find a solution to clean things up. Instead, many times the tires

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just end up sitting there, especially if landowners live out of the area and don’t maintain their property.

The common solution for many people is to take their old tires to their local landfill and dump them there. Unfortunately, for many, they will be turned back because of state and local laws not permitting whole tires to be dropped off.

Those tires that do find their way to landfills, the EPA says, the abandoned tires in landfills provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other unwanted animals when stockpiled or illegally dumped. “Intact tires in a landfill tend to float to the surface of the trash heap where they make perfect homes for rodents and damage landfill liners, which can lead to even more environmental problems,” notes one tire disposal company.

Another place abandoned tires are stored is on people’s land illegally. One such location has made news recently. In 2019 cleanup was underway when more than 20,000 tires were abandoned on a NETX CROSSROADS MAGAZINE

The processing crew throws tires on the machine to get shredded.(Journal-Sun Photo) property in Simms, Texas. According to a story from KTBS, “The Bowie County Environmental Office recently received about $16,000 from the Ark-Tex Council of Governments for tire clean up. Nearly half of those funds are being used on the Simms, Texas property (alone).” In the news story Scottie Taylor, Bowie County Deputy Fire Marshal said with concern, removing the tires is important because “the old tires are a serious fire and environmental hazard.”

Fortunately, there is a new trend to dispose of tires responsibly, says the EPA on their website. This is where ArkLaTex Tire Processing, LP comes in. In November, with a vision of creating an environmentally friendly business that can serve the greater good, Stephen McLemore, Director of Operations, opened his first legal, regional tire disposal site in Cass County.

When ArkLaTex Tire Processing receives tires, each one is shredded and then finds its new home in one of the pits created in Linden during the mineral mining process. In fact, this is exactly why Linden was chosen because it was able to create an agreement with a mine in Cass County to meet legal requirements for tire disposal.

Normally, says McLemore, facilities just can’t create new pits to dump tires. Finding pits like these that companies have left with huge holes are a perfect win-win.

Now their company can grind up tires brought to its facility and NETX CROSSROADS MAGAZINE

turn them into “tire derivative aggregate that is mixed with “inert material,” and then deposited into the hole. Once the pit is complete, says McLemore, “we put topsoil over the tires and plant tree farms, “We are actually reclaiming the land.” Also, what is great about the process, says McLemore, the hole that once was there created by these mining companies is now leveled back to where it was before the mining took place with beautiful trees growing on it.

McLemore states in a recent release that the “ATP’s permitted site has reserves to hold in excess of 25,000,000 passenger tire equivalents (PTE’s) under its first phase of reclamation and has the capacity to process 20 tons per hour of light truck/passenger tires (LTP’s) information from the company said. “That equates to 14,000 tires processed during an eight-hour shift or 42,000 tires over a 24-hour period.“ “The facility is open for tire generators, including retail stores and car dealerships, with “aggressive pricing,” the company reported.

McLemore said the facility is open to the general public. Customers must provide transportation themselves, however, ArkLaTex Tire Processing said it can “help to facilitate transportation through its established network of permitting transporters,” says McLemore.

If you are interested in having tires disposed of, appointments can be made by going to the company’s website: www.processtires.com.

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Traces of Trammel’s trail in Cass County

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Story & photo by KATE STOW

ong before any communities were formed in Northeast Texas, the Caddo Indians populated the three-state area. The Kadohahacho, one of the tribes of the Caddo living in East Texas, made their homes in switch cane huts shaped like beehives.

The Caddo were believed to be the most advanced Indians living in Texas and were peaceful unless threatened.

They were mainly farmers who lived in one place, moving only when the ground no longer supported crops of corn, beans, squash pumpkins, sunflowers and tobacco.

The friendly Caddoans produced black leather clothing and pottery.

Their term “Teyshas” means friend or ally and became the name of the new Republic in 1836 and in 1845 the state of Texas.

In the early 1800’s settlers began to

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make their way westward from the East Coast. Some came by riverboat to the ports in Jefferson, and others by wagon on a path from Arkansas southward over the Red River into the Republic of Texas.

The trail most often used was called Trammel’s Trace. Named after Nicholas Trammell (1780-1856) of Tennessee, it began as a smuggler’s trail during the time when Spanish and Mexican authorities attempted to control trade in the region. Trammel travelled the path to Mexican territory from Tennessee and back frequently to trade horses and contraband.

Trammel’s Trace was the first route from the United States into the northern boundaries of Spanish Texas where it intersected with EL Camino Real do los Tejas in Nacogdoches. By the 1820s, as Mexico gained independence from NETX CROSSROADS MAGAZINE

Spain, smuggling declined as Anglo immigration became the primary use of the trail. Familiar names such as Sam Houston, David Crockett, and James Bowie joined throngs of immigrants making passage along Trammel’s Trace.

Trammel’s’ Trace across Cass County is fairly well documented.

It entered the county at Epperson’s Ferry on the Sulphur River near Cusseta and exited the county just west of Avinger.

The site of the ferry is now underwater – flooded when Lake Wright Patman was built – however, Texas Historical Marker No. 9478 has been placed beside US Highway 67 in Bryans Mill.

On Highway 77 between Douglassville and Naples, another historical marker is placed to commemorate Trammel’s Trace.

Down the hill, on the other side of an old barbed-wire fence, one can make out the old indentation of a trail in the field.

Those wagon ruts are all that remain of the path led our ancestors to the place we would eventually call home. Drive over and take a look before they are gone, without a….trace.

C NETX

ROSSROADS MAGAZINE

A magazine about people, places, and happenings in Northeast Texas.

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FEBRUARY 2022

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Brynne Chalmers Omaha’s maven of curiosities and oddities

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By DI ANA FITZGERALD

rynne Chalmers has been operating online businesses for years in Northeast Texas. With her knowledge of marketing and general business practices, she has turned her love of design, photography, and history into a career.

She began with items she already had around the house and took appealing photographs of them. Before she knew it, she was selling and ordering supplies constantly. This business stayed up for years until finally, she fell out of love with it.

Today, she operates a curiosity shop called Bone & Bloom on Etsy.com and various other sites. From bones of exotic animals, to dried herbs and flowers, to stones, Chalmers sells what she calls, “conversation pieces.”

She says she has always been drawn to the curious items that spark interest. “I started Bone & Bloom as a way for me to grow my own collection. I have trouble spending money that doesn’t make me money, so I started to think to myself,

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NETX CROSSROADS MAGAZINE

‘How do I turn my collection into a business?’ I had no idea then that I would fall in love with being a curator of natural history.”

Chalmers says that her customer base is much more of a niche market than it was before. To find customers, she focuses on marketing her products and making them more appealing. She creates settings for her photos that she finds attractive for staging and takes high-quality photos.

Because most of her items come in glass vials, Chalmers uses natural backdrops made of wood and pure white fabric to draw attention to her items.

“People who are browsing sites that my shop is on see items similar to mine, but the real difference is how attractive the photos are.

You’re less likely to click on a set of butterfly wings that are just sitting on someone’s brown carpet. It doesn’t register visually. I present my pieces as works of art, and as a result, I draw in a great amount of business.”

Chalmers does not plan to own a brick-andmortar shop in the future. She prefers the fluidity of her online business, and she saves a substantial amount of money. Few small online retailers are as successful as she has been. She attributes her success to her knowledge of people and her work ethic. In the future, she plans to continue to focus on Bone & Bloom’s growth and provide interesting artistic products.

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C. W. Forsyth, Jr.

named Texas Farm Bureau Pioneer

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Forsyth served locally on Farmers Home ounty farmer and rancher C.W. ForAdministration Loan Review Committee, syth, Jr. received the Texas Farm Bureau FSA Committee and County Appraisal Review (TFB) Pioneer Award at the organizaBoard. He is currently serving his 43rd year, tion’s annual meeting in Corpus Christi. five of those as president, of the Tri-County “C. W. was truly a pioneer in Farm Bureau, Special Utility District board. He served on the and we are proud to recognize him with this Sulphur Cypress Soil and Water Conservation award,” County Farm Bureau President Kaci District and Region D State Water Planning Temples said.

Board.

C. W. was 12 when he joined 4-H and ordered Forsyth, member of the David Elliott Lodge, pigs and chickens from Sears and Roebuck. He was a Worshipful Master and a District Depuraised a Duroc gilt and won Grand Champion ty Grand Master. He is a 32° Scottish Rite Matwice. Forsyth successfully raised 301 of the son and a Shriner. He served on Finance Com306 baby chicks received. He kept 140 pullets, mittee for the First Baptist Church of Omaha the start of his thriving broiler operation. and on the Building and Prayer Garden comForsyth attended Texarkana College and mittees for the Concord Missionary Baptist Texas A&M’s Arlington State College. He marChurch. ried Nancy, the love of his life, and they celC. W. Forsyth, Jr. After 49 years of raising poultry, cattle and ebrate 63 years together. While managing the farm, he also worked at Lone Star Steel Company and then seven bailing hay, he retired in 2017. Titus County Farm Bureau board deyears as a Game Warren for the Texas Game and Fish Commission. scribe C.W. Forsyth, Jr. as “A one of a kind person with a passion for In 1969, he returned to full-time farming and to his broiler opera- agriculture.”

TFB’s Pioneer Award honors one outstanding Texas farmer or tion. Also in 1969, Forsyth joined Titus County Farm Bureau and became director in 1986. He served on the county Legislative Com- rancher in each of the organization’s 13 districts, as well as one mittee, the state Poultry Advisory Committee six years, the state staff member. Winners are chosen annually by a caucus of County Resolutions Committee twice and attended many meetings, espe- Farm Bureau presidents for their exceptional contributions to agriculture and TFB. cially working to set stockyards and packer regulations.

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