PROGRESS 2019 Education | Health | Religion
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SATURDAY, JULY 13, 2019
KILGORE NEWS HERALD
Life Lessons
Kilgore College makes changes for new success By LUCAS STROUGH lstrough@kilgorenewsherald.com
NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTOS
Kilgore Public Library Children’s Librarian Marilyn Kitchens invites young patrons to plant their own seeds during the grand opening of KPL’s Seed Library this spring. (Below) Three-year-old J. Karol Pruett enjoys a book at the library – decades later, her “Goodnight, Texas” is one of many on the shelves awaiting young readers.
Kilgore library continues mission for community education, entertainment By LUCAS STROUGH lstrough@kilgorenewsherald.com
Kilgore Public Library was built by people with a dream. Staffed by volunteers, funded by donations and government grants, the library began as a community project. The building, the people who work there and the programs it offers represent a significant investment in the Kilgore community and today, nearly 90 years after its creation, that investment continues to pay dividends. “We like to help provide people experiences that they may not be able to go out and experience,” said Stacey Cole, library director. This summer, the library is once again offering an array of programs and activities for local kids and their families. The NASA exhibit and other space-themed events held at the library this summer give locals a chance to experience activities they would otherwise have to travel to Houston or farther away to find. “We want to bring in things that are educational and that people are interested in and may not otherwise be able to see,”
Kilgore College is making major changes. In the past year, KC has changed visibly, from the removal of the campus bridge and the derrick at East Texas Oil Museum to the installation of campus beautification projects, an electronic sign and star sculptures. Some of the biggest changes, however, are happening behind the scenes, as KC reworks it curriculum to boosts student success, retention and graduation rates. Earlier this year, KC began rolling out significant changes to its curriculum and class requirements, all in the name of simplifying things for students. In March, KC President See COLLEGE, Page 5
Work gets underway soon on inclusive play area By JAMES DRAPER jdraper@kilgorenewsherald.com
With about 73% of their fundraising goal in hand, the team behind the planned ‘Friendship Playground’ is moving forward with the project sooner rather than later. Hopefully, Stacey Cole says, visible progress on the new inclusive play-area will kick-start a final stretch of donations that will put the E4 leadership team at – or beyond – their $175,000 goal for the extension of
See LIBRARY, Page 6
See PLAYGROUND, Page 2
Vacation Bible Schools fuel faith, fun for Kilgore kids Vacation Bible School participants at First Baptist Church of Liberty City learn how water wells are dug during this year’s week-long activities in Liberty City. NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTO
By NICK SHELLEY News Herald Intern
Vacation Bible School is an event that many churches host, but the reasons and technical aspects of the experience can oftentimes be buried by its sheer magnitude. Often, ‘VBS’ activities are an essential tool to reach children with the Gospel for the first time. “I think VBS is really important,” said First Baptist Church of Kilgore Children’s Minister Rebecca Kahil. For her and helpers, the first, and ultimate, goal of the week-long event is the eventual salvation of the participants Many staff members are involved in
both planning and executing the activities. Some different areas in which VBS workers are involved range from helping with food and teaching the children lessons from the Bible to generally working with the young guests – shepherding groups, entertaining them, being there for them. “There are about a million-and-one ways anyone with any kind of willingness can take part,” according to Cristi Langley of First Baptist Church of Liberty City. At the very least, volunteers may be able to do small chores that help the church’s VBS-planning team. Many instructors at See VBS, Page 8
PROGRESS: Education, Health & Religion
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PLAYGROUND
We are going through a Big Upgra Upgrade at Faith Baptist Church!
Harris Street Park. “We are going to move forward with the finances that we have,” said Cole, Kilgore Public Library director and a member of the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce’s 2018-2019 leadership class. With the addition of incoming grant Promotional monies, the E4 images show team has raised the range of about $130,000. playground “We’re close, but equipment, we’re not there. customized We told the com- for individuals munity that we with special wanted to break needs, that ground on this could become in summer. We’re a part of E4 going to go ahead Leadership’s and move forward project. doing everything we can with the financial means we have available right now. “It’s probably not going to be as grand of a scale – there will probably have to be some adjustments made because we didn’t reach the finances that we wanted to. It’s still going to be an accessible playground, it just may be scaled back a bit.” The E4 group’s moniker tasks them to ‘Embark, Enlighten, Empower and Engage.’ They’ve brought each element to bear in their designs for Friendship Playground. The layout of the park and its equipment, in particular, will be tailored to children and adults with some type of
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special need – physical, mental or otherwise – able to accommodate an individual in a wheelchair as much as one with sensory issues. To date, private donors have contributed about $55,000 toward the project with $75,000 pledged by the City of Kilgore. More is needed for all the park plans to come to fruition, but the 15-member E4 team doesn’t want to delay the effort. “We could still get there,” Cole said, “but we didn’t want the lack of meeting the goal to continue to hinder the progress of meeting the project.” Their excitement about the impact of the inclusive playground is undimmed: from the thousands of people who attend the Special Abilities Family Fun Event Day here every year to the hundreds that take advantage of First Christian Church’s Special Needs Vacation Bible School, there’s a diverse population of people of all ages who can take advantage of the customized playset alongside friends, siblings, parents and grandparents. “It’s for adults as well who have children but may have some sort of disability that prevents them from playing beside their kids” on standard playgrounds, Cole said. “We don’t have anything like it in our town.” For more information or to make a donation to the project, visit tinyurl. com/FriendshipPlayground or search Facebook for “Friendship Playground at Harris Street Park.” – Updated from May 2019
Out with the old (building) and in with the new. Come see all that God is doing! See you soon! Sunday Classes (All ages) 9:30 AM Sunday AM Worship 10:30 AM (Including Kids Church) Sunday PM Worship 5:00 PM Wednesday Prayer/Bible Study 7:00 PM
Faith Baptist Church 2304 Stone Road Kilgore, TX 75662 www.faithbaptistkilgore.com
Pastor - Scott Thomas
903.983.5829
COURTESY IMAGES
An early rendering shows a variety of equipment that could be included in the planned ‘Friendship Playground,’ an inclusive playscape tailored for children and adults with special needs.
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KILGORE NEWS HERALD F PAGE 3
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PROGRESS: Education, Health & Religion
SATURDAY, JULY 13, 2019
SATURDAY, JULY 13, 2019
PROGRESS: Education, Health & Religion
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“Successful Women of Rahab’s Retreat & Ranch”
Victoria Victoria arrived at Rahab’s Retreat with her baby, homeless, no driver’s licence, and no education. In her year at Rahab’s Retreat, Victoria has earned her driver’s license and is working towards her GED. She has plans to attend Kilgore College in the Fall. Victoria is employed at Downtown D’Lites. Larry & Judy Perkins have taken her under their wing.
NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTOS
Sabine High School senior Kaityln Pearson and West Rusk High School senior Tristen Banton sign paperwork agreeing to the terms of the KC Connection program as KC President Dr. Brenda Kays looks on. The program cuts tuition costs by 40 percent for qualifying dual-credit students.
COLLEGE Dr. Brenda Kays said the college was reducing previously mandatory developmental education courses. The aim is to allow students to focus on skills relevant to their major and future career, rather than becoming bogged down by courses reviewing skills learned in high school. “We have reduced our Developmental Ed. contact hours by forty-four percent,” Kays said. “I’m really proud of that because you’ll notice that we’re in the top 3 or 4 colleges that have really pushed trying to get students through the developmental coursework as quickly as possible. We do a lot of joint enrollment in the developmental courses as well as the college-level course at the same time.” Developmental courses are used at community colleges to bring high school graduates up to college level in basic skills like reading, writing and math before moving on to courses directly tied to their major or field of study. Not all graduates have to take them but those who are assigned to them based on test scores may spend an entire semester working through these basic courses. These kinds of courses can cause students to become discouraged and lose motivation due to a perceived lack of progress, Kays said. In some cases, students choose to drop out rather than pay tuition for courses which never move beyond concepts introduced in high school. KC solved this problem by combining Dev. Ed. courses with co-requisite courses and establishing tutoring labs so students could more easily master concepts and pass their courses. Students can now knock out Dev. Ed. requirements that used to take two or more semesters in one semester or less. “It’s the Dev. Ed. class and the college-level class. It’s just-in-time learning. If
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there’s something that you don’t know in order to be successful in a college-level course, what you get is that just-in-time developmental to back-fill what you don’t know so you can be successful,” Kays said. In 2016, KC received a $297,500 two-year grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to launch the program. Students can choose to take these courses in an accelerated eight-week format, allowing them to be done with basic course requirements even more quickly. Also in March, KC announced the launch of its “KC Connection” program, which allows high school students who take dual-credit KC courses to matriculate to the college for a sizeable tuition discount. KC’s board of trustees unanimously voted in March to approve a 40 percent discount for dual-credit students who enroll at KC after high school graduation. Dual-credit students already enjoyed a discount on KC courses taken while still in high school; that discount will now also apply to courses they take while in college. “According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, approximately 22 percent of the students who take dual-credit courses with Kilgore College don’t ever enroll at KC, they don’t enroll with another community college nor do they enroll with a university. This promise is designed to connect those students with KC so that they don’t forfeit their dual-credit coursework by not matriculating,” Kays said. KC held a special “signing” ceremony in March for five area students who signed commitments to attend KC, maintain a 2.0 grade point average, declare a major and apply for scholarships in return for nearly half-off their tuition. Because these students had completed at least
12 hours of college credit while still in high school and could also avoid the quagmire of developmental coursework, they’re poised to graduate KC in a rapid timeframe. This could set a precedent for future KC students looking to obtain a degree, certification or transfer credits in a hurry. These changes are already underway and will fully roll out this fall when classes resume. Also being introduced this fall is a major change to KC’s curriculum – nearly all courses offered at the college will now be offered in an accelerated, eightweek format. The shift will allow students to complete the same number of hours, or more, in a typical 16-week semester period while not becoming overburdened by the pressure of classes and other responsibilities, like working or raising children. Most community college students work and many have families to support. “Completing four classes (a total of 12 semester credit hours) in a single semester – two classes at a time – will classify a student as a full-timer and could potentially cut the time they spend in pursuit of a certificate or degree in half,” Kays said. The new schedule will also allow more students to perform well in their courses by avoiding burnout. “By the ninth week of a traditional semester, burnout tends to take a toll and dropout rates become noticeably higher,” Kays said. “With the new eight-week model, students should experience a lower chance of burnout due to the shortened terms.” All of these changes are in line with KC’s Strategic Plan, which calls for increasing the number of graduates from the institution and improving student success. The current iteration of the Strategic Plan was adopted in 2016 when Dr. Kays became president of the college.
NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTO
Kilgore High School seniors Charli Marcantel, Austin Huckabee and Perla Vazquez hold up brand new Kilgore College t-shirts after signing up for the KC Connection program earlier this year. The program enables dual-credit high school students who enroll at KC to get a 40 percent tuition discount.
Brooke God has restored her relationship with her Mother & Daughter. She blesses other residents with helping with their children. She graduated from Rahab’s Retreat, and has started attending classes at Kilgore College. She has also begun working at East Texas Hardware. Brooke has also been blessed with a vehicle.
Terri Terri came to us with her son during the month of January, 2017, after escaping an abusive marriage that was a hinderance to herself as well has her son. Since coming to Rahabs Retreat she has received her divorce, gained custody of her son, completed her education, is currently employed at Joey Degraffenreid here in Kilgore as a Registered Dental Assistant, and is married to her soul mate.
Betty Betty arrived at Rahab’s Retreat in January of 2018. CPS had removed all three of her children because of her addictions. She now has her children with her on a regular basis and is working towards having them full time. She has gained her driver’s license, her GED, and will finish her first semester at Kilgore College and a semester at Bible College.
3607 Stone Rd. • Kilgore, TX 75662 903-218-4985
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LIBRARY
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Cole said. Serving the community has been the library’s aim since the beginning. In the early 1930s, the Kilgore Business and Professional Women’s Club set out to found a public library for the community. With only $90 and no books, the group began to raise money by hosting fundraisers and soliciting donations. The first library in Kilgore was housed in a room at the local hospital and was eventually moved to a room in the Texan Theater. The library’s construction was a community effort, with supplies and labor donated by the community. After the city began setting aside funds for the library, city commissioners and library board members decided a permanent structure was needed and, in 1939, the library was built for a cost of $45,000. $20,000 of the building costs came from the Public Works Administration. The library uses the same building to this day, providing a vital resource to the community by offering books, movies, programs
and more. Summer programs are just one of the ways the library connects with Kilgoreites. This year’s theme, “Universe of Stories”, focuses on space exploration, bringing the NASA exhibit from the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Discovery Dome from the Houston Museum of Natural Science. “We try to go with our theme as much as we can. We try to do research and gauge what people will like and be interested in,” Cole said, adding last year’s musical theme “Libraries Rock” saw the library bringing in musicians and workshops focused on music. These kinds of activities not only provide learning opportunities, they also show community members how much the library has to offer. “It does help with our patronage and it helps people to see what else we have to offer them. If they are interested in an exhibit or an event, they’ll come in, they’ll hopefully talk to someone, they’ll ask questions, they may get a library card, they may start check-
ing out books, they may buy some books from our book sale. It all goes together,” Cole said. In addition to summer programs, library staff are also working to expand programs for area students. Earlier this year, the library partnered with Kilgore Police Department to host a mock crime scene investigation event for students. The library offers biweekly story times for younger students and is working to create additional events for older students. In an effort to engage with middle and high school students, the library recently purchased virtual reality equipment. “It’s not quite ready yet but it will be ready soon so we’re excited about that,” Cole said, noting the purchase will allow many kids to experience virtual reality who may otherwise not get the chance. “We’re going to learn about it, see what it’s like, and just let them play.” Cole said she agrees with the library’s mission statement, which is posted on their website and states the goal of the library is:
FOREST HOME BAPTIST CHURCH www.fhbckilgore.com
Our Staff:
Pat Monk, Minister of Education 32 Years of Service
Earl W. Duggins, Pastor 30 Years of Service
Student Minister, Matt Korzeniewski, Student Minister
Mark Fried, Minister of Music/Sr. Adults 26 Years of Service
Ryan Smith, Children’s Minster
OFFICE HOURS: M-TH 8-5 • Friday 8 - 12 Noon
(903) 984-2117
Fax: (903) 984-0239 fhbckilgore@cablelynx.com
15746 CR 173 N Kilgore, TX 75662
NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTOS
Stunt juggler Matt Tardy performs in the Texan Theater in Kilgore Public Library’s summertime activity series in June. (Below) Kilgore Public Library’s first Hobby Fair drew a variety of crafters, collectors, enthusiasts and guests in January to share their passions.
“To inform, enrich, and empower people in our community and surrounding areas by creating and promoting free and easy access to informational, recreational, educational, and cultural resources and by supporting lifelong learning and encouraging the love of reading.” Cole said, as more people visit the library, the more library staff can learn about adding new items to their collection. “I really just enjoy having the people come into the library and utilize it more. I enjoy talking to the kids when they come in to pick up their prizes, talking to them about books or recommending books.” These conversations help Cole decide what items are popular with young readers and what they would like to find on library shelves. The library adds new items every day, the director said, sometimes adding more than 100 new items in a month, including items for kids, teens and adults in a variety of genres. Cole invited everyone to check out the library, especially those
who may not have stopped in for awhile. “If they haven’t been here in a long time, I would really encourage them to come back and really take advantage of what’s going on this summer and throughout the year. If they haven’t been here in a long time, a lot of things have changed. We have a lot of new things going on.” If people enjoy the library and its programming and want to offer support, they can support Friends of the Library, Inc. Formed in 1989, Friends of the Library works “to preserve and strengthen the library, and to create awareness and appreciation of library services.” FOTL helps pay for the library’s programming which is usually not covered by its budget. A link to their membership form can be found on the City of Kilgore’s library website. To learn more about the library and its events, visit www. CityOfKilgore.com/Librar y, www.Facebook.com/KilgorePublicLibrary or call (903) 984-1529.
A Home for All Ages
Located on the loop, east of Kilgore, Forest Home Baptist Church services the greater East Texas area with an array of programs to involve all age groups in evangelism, missions and discipleship. There are programs of ministry for every age group. The music ministry includes choirs for all ages, and an adult handbell choir. The Joymakers, a group for senior adults, meet together once a month for an evening of fun, food and fellowship. Our year-round student ministry includes Bible study, missions, fun and fellowship in our state-ofthe-art student facility. We recently welcomed Ryan Smith as Children’s Minister to our staff to work with preschool through 5th grade students. For twenty-five years, the church has provided the area with a drive through picture of the birth of Christ which reaches over 3000 people annually.
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VBS
Continued from Page 1
VBS have instructed and been a part of the annual program for several years. Planning a VBS takes much longer than the simple execution of the school during the week of the event – planning can run anywhere from six to ten months in advance. During the months ahead of the events, some organizers meet once a week, with more meeting-times the closer the event becomes. FBC-Kilgore starts its planning meetings in December. At the planning sessions, volunteers brainstorm over the basics of the VBS, such as the theme.Preparations soon progress to purchasing materials or crafting them by hand. This year in particular, FBC-Kilgore invested three months in recruiting volunteers and buying animal-related supplies to go with the 2019 theme. VBS volunteers can generally be assigned any task, from shopping for supplies to running errands to teaching during the week.
Two weeks before the first day with children, churches, such as FBCLC, have full two full workdays on which volunteers set everything up to be used during the week. “And then it goes,” Langley said, full steam ahead for five days. Some churches buy their materials from local Christian vendors, such as Lifeway, while others build their materials inhouse. On Amazon, one starter kit is $177, enough supplies to get setup underway. Costs can pile up, though, as plans get more extensive. “It’s pretty expensive,” Kahil said. FBC-Kilgore used Oriental Trading this year to get their supplemental, a website for buying everything from children’s party supplies to school supplies in bulk. The website usually has the latest VBS supplies as well – “It’s really helpful!” Kahil said. Essentially, churches can spend as little or much as they want when it comes
COURTESY photo from MEREDETH BROWN
Participants in First Christian Church’s first summer Vacation Bible School stand with their 313 boxes of macaroni-and-cheese collected for Helping Hands of Kilgore. First Christian Church also hosts an annual Special Needs Vacation Bible School for area children and adults.
to VBS. Other churches design their material rather than
purchase. “That way, we can control the theology,” said FBCLC children’s director Suzanne Roper, crafting a curriculum to disciple the children in a more personal way: “We just use the Bible and Pinterest!” she quipped. The basic requirements to be a part of planning phase is to have a love for children and adept organizational skills. “If you’ve got those, you can do it,” Kahil said. The week is also a chance for London Baptist Church VBS participates listen to the rules of Simon Says during the June 2019 event.
younger students to connect with leaders. “It’s just like committing to go alongside them.” Participants, of course, come come from all different walks of life, with a wide range of church-going experience represented in the crowd. For some, it’s a first-time introduction; others will be familiar with the lessons but ready to learn more. “You’re entertaining them while you’re teaching them the Gospel,” Langley said. Typically children attend a Vacation Bible School 2-3 hours per day, typically stretching a full week. As a result, the educational week is nearly 15
hours-long. However, churches utilize several different styles for VBS’s. London Baptist Church in New London, for example, ran a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. one-day school that closed with wet games, a cookout and a firetruck Even with the differing methods and costs of running Vacation Bible Schools, the main goal is the same: to proclaim the Gospel. The event as a whole, no matter the church, is an outreach into the community. With hundreds of hours invested by the time it’s all said and done, “It’s one of my favorite times of the year!” Roper said.
Pirtle NEWS HERALD photo by NICK SHELLEY
Since 1847
United Methodist Church Worship • Fellowship • Serve
SUNDAY SCHOOL 9:30 AM | MORNING WORSHIP 10:30 AM
We're MINISTRY IN MOTION Ministry is about serving God, by serving God's people. This is a role Pirtle United Methodist Church takes very seriously. Activities, events and functions are planned to reach out to the surrounding community, provide for times of fellowship and promote the love of Christ to people in need of love. Our every activity is planned to meet these criteria. We proclaim, with the writer of the Book of James, that "faith" is a word of action. Faith is about serving our Lord, reaching out to others and being busy in ministry. We call it "Ministry in Motion". Pirtle UMC is focused on being busy in ministry. Our annual calendar of events expresses our desire to be involved in outreach to our community. Come join us as we "Worship God and Fellowship with Friends and Serve Others."
Dudley J. Plaisance, Jr.
Senior Pastor Pirtle United Methodist Church
“Where everyone is a V.I.P”
Dudley J Plaisance, Jr Senior Pastor
James Holder
Pianist & Minister of Music
Kerry Hargrave Song Leader
Dr. Jody Clements Praise Leader
11278 CR 173 N, Overton, TX 75684 | 903.984.9555 | Email: Pirtle UMC@gmail.com
PROGRESS 2019 Community | Past, Present & Future
100%
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019 Kilgore’s historic Crim Theater marked 80 years on South Kilgore Street in June. It’ll be years before the building is once again more than its iconic façade, but locals hold on to hope.
KILGORE NEWS HERALD
Icon marks 80 years By JAMES DRAPER
jdraper@kilgorenewsherald.com
NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTO
It was popcorn and Saturday mornings, ‘refrigerated air’ and matinees on hot days, date nights and holding hands under the glow of the silver screen. The façade of the Crim Theater still towers in many
memories, and those recollections drew a crowd back to the old edifice June 21 for the 80th birthday celebration for the historic structure. When Mike Jones catches a scene from “Singin’ in the Rain” he’s transported, not just by Gene Kelly’s masterful song-and-dance, but back to the seats of the Crim Theater.
“I can’t remember where my truck keys are,” he joked, “but I remember where I was sitting.” It’s one of countless movies he watched in the South Kilgore Street as a youngster, dropping his nickels and dimes on shows in the BoomSee CRIM, Page 3
Texan Theater thrives again Multiple stakeholders invest in future of downtown property By LUCAS STROUGH lstrough@kilgorenewsherald.com
The Texan Theater bridges the gap between Kilgore’s past and the city’s future, offering a snapshot of yesteryear while bringing in new events and activities. First built in 1931, the theater was the place where many in Kilgore saw their first movie, paying only a few cents for admission. Now, the city-owned venue hosts a variety of events, from Reel East Texas Film Festival to an art festival, weekly yoga classes, concerts and more. The years-long restoration and renovation process (ongoing) has been a monumental effort but well worth it in the end, according to RETFF founder and filmmaker Chip Hale. “It’s still going on. It’s a work in progress,” Hale said. “The critical thing was getting HVAC put into the building. That was what really made it to where we could be open to the public on a regular basis. As far as that’s concerned, none of the guests, no one has a problem with it being under construction.” The Texan sat largely empty, inactive, following essential preservation efforts by Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation. After some initial events in recent years to jump-start renovation, RETFF took up the charge alongside the city’s support, funding and labor. During the renovation, carpeting was installed, the interior of the building’s roof was reworked and the venue’s original doors, kept in storage for decades, were re-installed. Getting the building, which sat empty for years and has survived two fires and a brief stint See TEXAN, Page 5
Texas Shakespeare Festival intern Chandler Novak tears Leah Mann’s ticket on opening night June 27. NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTO
NEWS HERALD photo by MICHAEL HAMPTON
PLENTY TO CHEER FOR IN 2018 AND 2019 – Kilgore’s Kylie Nichols (above) pushes through a group of defenders for the Lady Bulldogs, and Kenneth Lacy (below, 8) finds a hole in the Texas High defense. Baseball stole a lot of the headlines with its trip to the state tournament, but almost every KHS sport made the postseason last school year. Football season kicks off the 2019 sports slate at Nacogdoches on Friday, Aug. 30.
’DOGS UP By MITCH LUCAS
mlucas@kilgorenewsherald.com
The athletic portion of Kilgore High School’s 2018-19 school year will probably be remembered for the dominance of the Diamond ‘Dogs baseball program, justly so – but there were other reasons to keep Bulldogs fans fired up, as well.
Baseball’s state journey, playoff trips made 2018 special; ’19 looks bright for programs throughout KHS
The football program overcame hefty losses in graduation to make the playoffs once more, keeping alive a streak that’s seen the Ragin’ Red miss only twice since the 1995 season (in 2006 and in 2010). The Bulldogs finished 3-8, with losses to Pine Tree (for the first time since 1990), Henderson and Carthage, among others, but enough of a run in district play to get
back to the postseason. They finished the year with a 42-21 loss to Midlothian Heritage at Forney’s City Bank Stadium. There are reasons to be excited for the 2019 season that starts in a couple of months, though. There were some coaching departures, but there’s good news. Graduation didn’t hit the Bulldogs nearly as hard as it did in 2018, and help is on the way with a junior varsity team that had great success last year. Coach Mike Wood will be guiding them for his 10th season, so expect the Ragin’ Red to be a contender again this fall. Kilgore volleyball made the playoffs for the third time in four years, winning four of their last six district games to do so. They again ran into North Lamar, though, a playoff power in this region, and lost in four games. There will be a new volleyball coach leading the Lady Bulldogs this fall. Madeline Harris, who recently coached at Marshall and is involved with the Arsenal volleyball club in Longview, replaces Lacy Coldiron, who was here four years, but has accepted a coaching position at Pine Tree. Kilgore’s cross-country teams didn’t win district titles, as the boys have so often in
NEWS HERALD photo by DENNIS JACOBS
See SPORTS, Page 7
Texas Shakespeare Festival draws talent, entertainment to Kilgore By LUCAS STROUGH lstrough@kilgorenewsherald.com
Texas Shakespeare Festival is in the midst of its 34th season in Kilgore and directors from across the county have
converged on the city to realize their creative visions for the works of the Bard and other notable playwrights. Director and choreographer Daniel Haley is a TSF veteran. He directed the musical “The
Marvelous Wonderettes” two years ago and has been keeping busy directing “Into the Woods” this year, as well as providing choreography direction See FESTIVAL, Page 10
PROGRESS 2019
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019
Chimney collapse delays progress on historic home By JAMES DRAPER jdraper@kilgorenewsherald.com
Catastrophe struck the historic Dean-Keener-Crim Home this spring, and the recovery is still in limbo. That said, David Reeves is looking to the silver lining: things could have been worse when the original chimney effectively imploded at Kilgore’s oldest residence. “It goes without saying, but we’re very fortunate we were not having an event there and had that collapse. I can’t imagine anything more devastating than that.” Reeves is spearheading the renovations of the 143-year-old structure for Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation, which owns the building and has been fueling years of repairs to maintain it as another downtown relic. “Being the oldest house in town, the house itself predates the discovery of oil by roughly 50 years,” Reeves noted. “There’s very little left in Kilgore from that time period. It offers a chance for us to have something that shows the earliest life in Kilgore, from the 19th century. “Everything historically in Kilgore has always focused on the discovery of oil and afterwards. This is an opportunity to show people what life was like in a very rural Kilgore before oil was discovered. That’s why I think it’s important.” When renovations are complete, the residence will serve as a small event venue and tour house where it sits on Lantrip at the head of Commerce. The house currently boasts years of renovations, to the infrastructure as well as the aesthetics. Before March, there was never any evidence of a problem with the masonry – the central chimney looked solid. “It was standing there 140-odd years,” Reeves said. The home’s original story was constructed in 1876, the second-story portion added in the 1880s. “I feel confident that the house was probably built around the fireplaces and the
NEWS HERALD photo by JAMES DRAPER
Eagle Scout Jacob Riley plants an American flag in front of the historic Dean-Keener-Crim Home ahead of July 4th.
chimney,” and everything seemed stout until the collapse this spring. Reeves discovered the 5-foothigh pile of bricks inside the home within days of the chimney disintegrating, likely the weekend of March 9, which included strong storm winds. Ultimately, “The insurance company blamed it on the storm. That was our main concern in the very beginning, what they determined the cause to be.” The good news: repairs will be covered. The bad: the timetable’s is in flux. Almost four months on, “The clean-up work has been done. All the damage has been cleaned up and the bricks have been removed,” Reeves said, but recon-
struction is still pending: “Unfortunately, we’re still waiting on the insurance company to approve the estimate that we have. They’ve asked us not to do any work until we come to an agreement on the final cost. “As soon as we get an OK from the insurance company, we’re ready to begin.” According to Reeves, the bid he received for the repairs (higher than the insurance company’s estimate) is $60,000 to rebuild the fireplaces and the chimney as they were in addition to repairing the walls and floors that were damaged in the collapse. “Part of our issue is having to build that inside a structure that’s already standing,” he added. That
said, “I don’t expect the work to take all that long once we get the go-ahead to do it. I’ve expressed to our contractor, once we get the goahead, I want it done, I want them to stay on it and get it completed so we can move on.” Move on, yes, after catching back up. “We were at the point of being able to wallpaper. I had basically chosen wallpaper, I just hadn’t ordered it yet. Now we’ve gone back several steps because we’ve got to have walls rebuilt and ceilings and floors replaced. They’re going to have to completely replace the front bedroom floors upstairs and rebuild the parlor walls downstairs.” Again, it could have been worse. “As bad as it was, we’re just very
fortunate we hadn’t already paid the thousands of dollars to have it wallpapered and had our furniture in there – the brick dust alone has settled all over the house. As bad as it was, there was at least a silver lining to it.” With all the damage, some repainting is necessary as well. Reeves estimates the downstairs wallpapering will cost about $20,000. “It’s a large job. That’s one reason I haven’t rushed into it. Once it’s wallpapered we can start furnishing it and get it open. I’ve already bought all the furniture we need and all the art we need,” he said. “It’s all going to depend on when we get the go-ahead from the insurance company.”
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019
Community | Past, Present & Future
CRIM
KILGORE NEWS HERALD F PAGE 3
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era building. “It was a home away from home for the kids who grew up in the ’40s and ’50. Think about the fascination of the movies,” he said June 21, turning pages in an exhibit of scrapbooks next door to the theater. “Most of us had no TVs in our homes. It was one of the two places that had air conditioning, especially in the summer, it and the library. “We literally grew up in the kids’ shows on Saturdays,” and Jones expects he saw every movie that screened there until the theater closed and the name moved across the street to what is now the Texan Theater: “I can remember watching them in the Crim. I can remember where I was sitting.” Sitting in the theater’s out of the question at the moment: though the façade has seen plenty of TLC from Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation and others, the interior doesn’t permit visits – for now. It’s been a longtime goal of KHPF’s Sue Brown, and numerous others, to see a full renovation of the theater come to pass. Brown hoped June’s birthday party could spark some new energy to resurrect the building. That said, “She’s pretty now,” Brown added. “You can’t go in, but she’s pretty.” KHPF President Jerry Camp was floored by the party’s turnout as scores of people dropped by to peruse the Crim exhibits curated by Brown, to celebrate the 80-year-old downtown attraction and to swap stories of its heyday. “I’m telling you, I am shocked. I’m glad to see them,” he said, including the members of the Class of 1954 having a reunion this weekend in the Old Post Office and Texan Theater. “So many good stories are coming out of these people. I know they’re reliving a lot of good memories, seeing these pictures thanks to Sue Brown.” There are many, many people here, Camp added, for whom the Crim was a major part of their childhood and youth.
NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTOS
The exterior of the historic Crim Theater was saved by Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation and the City of Kilgore, but a great deal of costly work will be necessary to salvage the interior of the South Kilgore Street venue – someday. KHPF’s Sue Brown walks Mike Jones, a former student, through an exhibit of the Crim’s history during the 80th birthday celebration for the theater June 21.
“It was a gathering place, a place to come and meet. We feel like it’s a part of Kilgore that needs to be kept up and kept out for the people of Kilgore, especially the young people. They probably think it’s just an empty building.” Kilgore Community Relations Manager Sonya Waters helped coordinate the June 21 event with KHPF and was glad to see so many people poring over the old blueprints of the theater, historic photos and new images by local photographer Doc Langley. “People always like to know more about the history of the Crim,” Waters said. “It’s so important to Kilgore. Main Street and the city of Kilgore are so
appreciative of all the work that Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation has done with all the renovations of the two theaters in Kilgore.” She, too, is eager to see the future revitalization of the Crim become a torch its current caretakers can pass to a new generation. “One big thing we really need is more youth involved,” Waters said. “We have been welcoming young people in who want to know more about the theaters. That’s who we need to engage for the restoration of the Crim and all the rich history here in Kilgore.” – Reprinted from the June 22 edition of Kilgore News Herald
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019
City safeguards history, resource in pool repair By LUCAS STROUGH lstrough@kilgorenewsherald.com
After months of work and a summer out of commission, the Kilgore city pool is back open and, judging by the hundreds of loyal patrons keeping cool at the amenity, locals are thrilled. “Getting from this point, which is basically where the contractor handed it over to us to open, it took an effort that is nothing short of extraordinary,” said City Manager Josh Selleck at a June 11 city council meeting. The pool, which was first built in the boom years of the 1930s, had not seen se-
rious rehab work since the 1980s. A pump problem occurred in 2017 and, in 2018, the city decided it was time to fix up the aged-butbeloved community fixture. Wet weather slowed the project and pushed back the desired date for reopening. Swimmers used the city’s Splash Pad and the pool at Kilgore College’s Parks Fitness Center in the summer of 2018 but many longed to return to the city pool, described by Director of Special Services B.J. Owen as “super-Olympic” sized, one of the largest public pools in East Texas. Inclement weather struck
Swimmers crowd Kilgore City Pool during its re-opening celebration and free ‘Dive-In Movie’ June 8, longawaited after necessary repairs forced the city to keep it shuttered in Summer 2018. NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTO
again in 2019 with an unseasonably rainy spring and early summer, once again pushing back the hoped-for reopening. “Getting from a pool that hadn’t been used in two years, lines that hadn’t been used in two years, to a pool that was open and
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crystal-clear blue three days later truly was a ridiculous, extraordinary effort,” Selleck said. He commended Owen’s dedication and hard work in the days leading up to the pool’s reopening, saying he put in overtime to make sure everything was ready. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was close to 90 hours because he’d have to get up at 4 a.m. to go check the filters.” Kilgore City Council set aside more than $200,000 for the repair project in fall 2018. Building a new pool could have cost more than $1 million. It seems that the time, energy and effort have paid off. “Looks like a lot of happy folks,” said Josie Atchley, administrative assistant in the Department of Special Services, as she looked around at the hundreds of swimmers enjoying the renovated pool on Splash Day, which was held Saturday, June 1. The event heralded the official reopening of the pool and scores of people turned up to enjoy the resurfaced pool, an expanded seating area with additional tables and two new water slides. “I’ve gotten multiple texts today congratulating us on the opening and a lot of
‘thank you’s.’ All I can tell you is that our city manager and all our department heads, they went above and beyond to get this back to where it needed to be. It’s been a two-year process. We worked until the last minute. I’m really proud of everything we got done,” Atchley said. Already, the pool is back to its role as the site for well-attended community events. On Saturday, June 8, the city held its first “divein movie” – a showing of “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” at the site. The event was a hit: approximately 750 people attended. Mayor Ronnie Spradlin supplied pool floats, toys and water guns to pool patrons. In addition to resurfacing, extra seating, a new diving board and new slides, the pool renovation project included the construction or ramps and other amenities to make the pool ADA-compliant and more easily accessible to all its patrons. “We had our first elderly and handicapped people that were able to actually access the pool through the
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same route as other people,” Selleck said. At the June 11 meeting, Selleck closed his presentation on the pool by noting an interesting occurrence from the minutes of a city council meeting held March 14, 1936, just a month after the newly-built city pool was first opened. The minutes recounted how bonds for the pool’s construction had not yet been sold until a man stepped forward and offered to buy $20,000 worth. The man, a Mr. Kriegler, said he would buy the bonds and take on the construction project, promising to have the pool built and ready for use by June 1, only three months later. Kriegler even offered to pay a penalty of $50 per day for each day the project went over the projected completion date. He kept his word and the pool opened in June. “It’s amazing what you can do when you put your minds to it and we all know that 1936 Kilgore was capable of just about anything, especially with the cast and crew. I just want to say I feel like we have a similar cast and crew today,” Selleck said.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019
TEXAN as a restaurant, into good shape involved a mountain of projects and sustained effort. The process continues, and Hale says the work is being done one step at a time. “With large buildings, it’s just taking us time to do it. We’ve not really given ourselves an end date with the city and the film festival,” he said, noting the building can be used even as the renovation projects progress. The building can comfortably accommodate large crowds, such as at a recent event when a “Creature Teacher” showcased exotic animals in the Texan to a wall-to-wall audience. Hale said the work at the theater has taken time but has gone well overall. “As far as how the process has been, it’s been very smooth. (A big part was) just getting the bathroom fixed and getting HVAC. Now we’re working on getting sprinklers in there and getting the second floor reconstructed. We are just waiting on the contractor in Tyler to get back to us on the second floor,” he said, adding an ADA-compliant and handicap-accessible bathroom was also in store for the theater in the near future. There’s a also a renovation planned for the north side of the building, which currently sits empty. Hale said there’s a plan to pave this area allowing for additional parking spaces as well as a loading area. This could allow permit groups, such as musical acts or orchestras, to more easily load their equipment into the building, saving time and creating convenience. Hale said the Texan has hosted more than 70 individual events since it was effectively ree-opened for business, and he sums up the public’s reaction to the renovated venue succinctly: “People dig it.” In years past, people driv-
Community | Past, Present & Future
KILGORE NEWS HERALD F PAGE 5
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ing by the theater could see its neon sign lit up and wonder what it’s like on the inside. Now, they can check it out for themselves. “Anytime people come inside, they’re thrilled to be in there.” People are already viewing the theater as a unique event space. It’s hosted a wedding, speeches on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and events for the Kilgore College Rangerettes and others. Much more than simply offering a place to hold activities, the restored theater is emblematic of Kilgore and inspires community pride. Ryan Polk, the city’s director of tourism and marketing, agrees that the Texan’s restoration is a big deal for Kilgore and its residents. “The fact that the Texan Theater is being used is something to celebrate,” Polk said. In addition to being a place Kilgoreites can enjoy and take pride in, the theater is also a boon from an economic perspective. “Being used as an event center allows the Texan Theater to utilize its historic relevance and attractive façade to generate hotel and sales tax dollars for Kilgore while also bringing people to the historic downtown area. The Texan Theater also allows everyone to see that historic buildings can have a new life with a purpose,” Polk said. Hale agrees the theater is good for the city and its people. He cites support from city government as a major factor in its renovation. “It’s done a lot for the community – just giving them a place that can hold 300 people is really fulfilling as a community. The city being able to see that and put the energy into that for the community members... the city council and mayor have been really keen on the building as a multi-use event center.”
Hale said the future is bright for the Texan and more events are in the works. “We’re always planning events. We had a music festival Friday, July 12. We have yoga in there every Tuesday. We have a private event in there Friday the 19th. In August, Kilgore Main Street will have a Harry Potter marathon and show all eight movies from Aug. 3 through Aug. 10 with a costume contest, trivia and more. We’re always having events. It’s a regular occurrence, which is really cool.” In the near future, Hale and others are working to get the inside of the theater properly illuminated. “When we have concerts, plays, or a seminar onstage, they’ll able to be properly illuminated. Swepco has done some awesome things with other theaters in the area so excited about that.” All in all, the Texan Theater, RETFF and Hale are ready for the future. “The city is ready. We’re ready as a festival. I think it’s just a matter of continuing the ball rolling and waiting on a couple integral pieces.”
NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTO
Caleb Henry introduces Teddy the Tegu to a packed house in the Texan Theater June 18 during Kilgore Public Library ‘Creature Teacher’ summer visit in the revitalized theater.
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PROGRESS 2019
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019
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Community | Past, Present & Future
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019
NEWS HERALD photo by MITCH LUCAS
BRINGING THE HEAT – Kilgore High School pitcher Chase Hampton (above) winds up against Melissa. The Diamond ‘Dogs were one of the state’s final four teams in Class 4A, and return quite a bit of talent for another state tournament run.
SPORTS
KILGORE NEWS HERALD F PAGE 7
Photo courtesy of KILGORE HIGH SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY
RUNNING WILD – Cristina Rosas (above, left) took time for a photo with her coach, Heidi Hagan, after running in the UIL state cross-country meet last fall.
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the past. But they did send Cristina Rosas to the state meet, her second trip in as many school years (she competed as part of the Lady Bulldogs’ team trip previously). Rosas finished a very impressive 22nd out of 147 runners, in a time of 12 minutes, 19.44 seconds. Rosas is part of a strong girls cross-country group that includes Zoe Craven, and many of that group also suits up for Kilgore’s girls soccer program, as well. Basketball was back in a big way last fall, as Jeff Coleman slid back into his old seat as coach of the KHS boys program, and Trushundra “Shun” McGill took over as the new coach of the Lady Bulldogs. Coleman, who was a legend of sorts in Oklahoma high school basketball, will likely always be known for taking over a Kilgore pro-
gram that had fallen into disrepair – missing the playoffs 29 straight seasons – and taking them all the way to the regional tournament in Commerce back in spring 2014. He was back at the helm last fall and got Kilgore two rounds deep, beating North Lamar before losing to Crandall in the second round. McGill had a great run in her first season, too. The Lady Bulldogs won eight of their district games – including an upset over eventual district champion Bullard in the final regular season game – and got back into the postseason. Kilgore beat Liberty-Eylau in Marshall, but lost to state power Canton in round two. When the calendars flipped to 2019, it seemed like the entire athletic department turned it up to a
higher gear. For years now – in fact, for a decade, in the case of the boys – the Kilgore soccer programs have dominated their district competition, and largely did so again. Coach Tom Wait’s ‘Dogs finished district champions yet again, and the Lady Bulldogs, coached by Heidi Hagan, split with Spring Hill. Both programs have been regulars in the UIL state tournament in Georgetown: the girls have gone two of the last three years, and the boys have been four times since 2010, and have one state title (2017). Based on the talent pool in place, it looks like their run could continue next spring. One team that looks to be very much on the rise next school year is KilgoSee SPORTS, Page 8
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SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019 BULLDOGS BITE BACK – Kilgore’s Nesba Brown wraps up Hallsville’s quarterback in regular season play in Fall 2018. The Bulldogs rallied after a slow start to make the playoffs, a feat they’ve accomplished every year except two since 1995.
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re’s Lady Bulldogs’ softball team. The recently-graduated class of 2019 is taking talent with it, but coach Cheyenne Kirkpatrick’s squad brings back ace pitcher Kristen Wilson and a good nucleus of young players that should allow them to make the playoffs for a third straight year, maybe even compete for a district title. Two of Kilgore High’s longest-tenured coaches – Phillip Lane (boys track and cross-country) and Jason Maroney (tennis) – both continued to find success all the way to the state level again this school year. Maroney has sent three different boys doubles teams to the state tournament at Texas A&M University in College Station, one of them twice. Jack
Tyra and Kalen Ray gave the Bulldogs’ tennis team another year with a doubles team at A&M this year, and both will return this school year. Coach Robert Cooley and the Lady Bulldogs had another good track season, and so did Lane, who coached Cameron Jackson and Calvin Woodside to the UIL’s state track meet at the University of Texas in Austin, something in which Kilgore has been quite adept for many years. Jackson hit the medal stand with a third-place (bronze) finish in the 4A boys 100 meter dash, and Woodside finished sixth in the shot put. The cherry on top of the entire season, though, was the incredible run by the Kilgore baseball program back to the state tourna-
NEWS HERALD photo by DENNIS JACOBS
ment. It’s been well-documented the Diamond ‘Dogs made it for the first time since 1972, but this current incarnation of
‘Dogs – meaning the last three seasons – have taken things to another level. A 59-14 record the last two seasons, three straight district championships, backto-back trips to at least the
regional finals, and a 4A final four appearance at Disch-Falk Stadium in Austin is quite a resume. Coach Eugene Lafitte’s team knocked off five teams along the way be-
fore running into Sweeny in Austin June 5. But still, after the game, Lafitte and his crew vowed that would not be their final trip to the state’s biggest stage.
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Community | Past, Present & Future
KILGORE NEWS HERALD F PAGE 9
Kilgore’s Torrence rises rapidly among roster of NHRA’s greats By DAVE DENSMORE
Special to the News Herald
Back when Tony Schumacher was terrorizing Top Fuel drag racing in the mid-2000s, there were some who suggested that his was such a dominant performance that it never would be duplicated. After all, from 2006 through 2009, the former driver for the U.S. Army hoisted the trophy after nearly every third start, riding 31 tour victories to four consecutive championships. But that was then. Ten years later, Kilgore’s own Steve Torrence is reminding everyone why we are told to “never say never.” The reigning Mello Yello champion and runaway point leader at the wheel of the Capco Contractors dragster, Torrence is halfway through a season in which he is on pace to eclipse Schumacher’s records for Top Fuel performance over four consecutive seasons. R e m a r k a b l y, the 36-year-old Texan has won 29 races the last four years using a business model that likely would have been totally rejected during Schumacher’s years of total dominance. Torrence is the face of a family-owned, family-financed race team comprised of self-described outlaws and, among them crew chiefs Richard Hogan and Bobby Lagana Jr. Although Torrence lives
Photo by MARK REBILAS
2018 NHRA Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence (above) has hoisted the winner’s trophy seven times in 13 races this season.
here, the team itself operates out of shop space rented from rival John Force in Brownsburg, Ind. None of the parts and pieces used to put the Capco Contractors hybrid together are proprietary. Instead, all of them are bought “off the shelf.” That includes a chassis
built by Morgan Lucas Racing and engine and driveline parts from Alan Johnson Engineering. Nevertheless, there are a lot of intriguing similarities between Schumacher’s dominance and Torrence’s. During his best four years, Schumacher won 21 more races than any other Top Fuel
driver. During his current run, Torrence has won 16 more races than anyone else. Schumacher won a Top Fuel record seven straight races and followed with a string of five straight. Torrence won six straight tour events while sweeping last year’s Countdown and, but for a broken
crankshaft in the final round at Bristol, Tenn., likely would be racing next week for his eighth straight “Wally” instead of just his second. Last year, when he won 11 times, Torrence was perfect in final rounds, a performance that earned him a nomination for a “Best Driver” ESPY this
year along with Lewis Hamilton from Formula 1, Scott Dixon from Indy Car racing and Kyle Busch from NASCAR. Schumacher enjoyed the same recognition three times during the era in which he set the Top Fuel record for races won in a single season with 15 (2008).
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 2019
FESTIVAL Continued from Page 1
for Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”. “It’s really great because the actors are really highly-trained,” Haley said of his experience directing “Into the Woods”. “They come to the show with the acting in mind first. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great musicians as well, but it’s a whole different thing when it’s from the acting side first. The songs get so much richer because of the acting that’s put into it.” Haley, who has experience directing both musicals and traditional plays, allows that directing “Into the Woods” is a challenge, as it’s the first Stephen Sondheim musical in the festival’s history, but hopes audiences enjoy its unique charm. “The music is very difficult and there’s so much of it. It’s almost an opera, there’s so much music in it.” Haley has been working on the show since February but says finally meeting with the cast and hearing their own personal interpretations brings the show to life. “They bring much more to it than I do in my head,” Haley said. Leda Hoffmann is joining TSF for her first season, though she has an extensive list of directing credits to her name. She is taking the helm of “Born Yesterday”, a Broadway classic and Academy Award-winning play and film, which she is bringing to life for an East Texas audience. “It’s been wonderful. People have been so welcoming,” Hoffman said of her East Texas experience. She added she’s visited local museums and venues, de-
NEWS HERALD photo by JAMES DRAPER
Texas Shakespeare Festival actors share the spotlight on the Van Cliburn Stage of the Anne Dean Turk Fine Arts Center during the company’s annual Media Day event. Shows this season range from (clockwise from center) William Shakespeare’s “Othello” to the children’s play “The Girl Who Cried Throgmonster,” the musical “Into the Woods,” Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” and “Born Yesterday.”
scribing the local attitude as warm and welcoming. It’s her first time directing the Broadway classic, which sold out theaters decades ago at its premiere, but still offers new interpretations today. “Sometimes it’s really fun to go back to a show you know really well, but most of the time I’m working on plays for the first time. It’s really fun to do that because you get to discover everything together. We all do our prep work and then we get to the room and we start to put together our
various ideas of what the script says to us so far,” Hoffmann said. “It really gets to be a production for this moment.” The play, which centers on themes of politics and romance, speaks to a modern audience focused on the troubles of a modern age. “We’re doing the version that suits us and this exact moment in time,” Hoffmann said. Donald Carrier is directing “Othello”, one of Shakespeare’s most famous tales of jilted romance and revenge,
at this year’s festival. “‘Othello’ tells the story of a Moorish general and his disloyal ensign, Iago, who convinces him that his wife Desdemona has been unfaithful. The play deals with various themes, including love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and repentance,” according to the TSF website. Carrier’s extensive experience in both acting and directing has led him to his first season as TSF. “I’m really enjoying it,” Carrier said of his experience so far, the first time
he’s spent considerable time in the Lone Star State. This fresh perspective allows him to lend a new direction on a classic show. “I feel sometimes if you’ve worked on a play too much, you bring in a lot of baggage and preconceptions into it,” Carrier said, pointing out such familiarity can lead to repetition. “In terms of that, I thought coming into a play I didn’t know too well was really exciting,” Working on a show with heavy themes of death and
revenge can present its challenges, Carrier allows, but overall the experience is rewarding. It’s rewarding because, “Here’s a play that’s written 400 years ago and it’s got so much to say about jealousy, about manipulation, about the outsider. Those are human traits,” Carrier said, pointing out how anyone can feel like an outsider in modern conditions. TSF shows can be experienced by purchasing tickets at www.TexasShakespeare.com.
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PROGRESS 2019 Business, Finance & Industry 100% SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019
KILGORE NEWS HERALD
Business growth outpaces averages By LUCAS STROUGH lstrough@kilgorenewsherald.com
Business is good in Kilgore, according to Kilgore Economic Development Corporation’s mid-year report, delivered at a city council meeting June 11. “It compares where we are so far with year-end metrics. It looks at the number of agreements that we’ve signed with primary employers and what those agreements represent, like the number of jobs that are under contract and the amount of investment,” said Jana Russell, KEDC assistant director, explaining the report to council members. By analyzing the report, KEDC can get an accurate picture of how Kilgore is doing in terms of attracting new businesses to the area and keeping current businesses here. “The purpose of a mid-
WHAT WILL KILGORE LOOK LIKE IN 2030?
year report is threefold. One, we look at our progress so far this year compared to yearend metrics. Two, we look at our program of work to see if there are any adjustments that need to be made and, finally, we give ourselves a financial health checkup,” Russell said. According to the report, Kilgore is ahead of schedule when it comes to signing agreements with new businesses, as well as keeping currently active investments in the area. Russell said KEDC signed agreements with five primary employers by March 2019. With those agreements come new jobs. Also, jobs currently in the area are being retained. “The projections that those five agreements make in terms of jobs – they expect to create 36 new ones, retain 438 for a total of 474 jobs
O
n Oct. 3, 1930, thouwhat does the next century sands watched as the look like? Daisy Bradford No. 3 well “Our planning horizon is erupted, a towering gusher of infinite,” he said. oil that changed Kilgore, East Texas, the United States and It’s the nature of the beast. the world. Just as city leaders like J. Prior to the discovery, KilMalcolm Crim, Kilgore’s first gore was a sleepy, rural commayor, considered not only munity, founded in 1872, a the needs of the day but also railroad town on land sold the decades ahead, so too to the International – must today’s elected By JAMES officials and municipal Great Northern Railroad by Constantine DRAPER employees consider the “Buck” Kilgore. future as well as the In just more than a depresent to ensure the ongoing cade, Kilgore will mark the vitality of the community. centennial anniversary of the Hopefully, Selleck says, the beginning of the boom, vastly work the city is doing today changed across 100 years. As will become a solid foundahe looks beyond 2019 and tion for growth ahead, the 2020 to 2030, Kilgore City kind outsiders see and pursue, Manager Josh Selleck’s gaze moving here to invest in a extends far past it as well – thriving community.
See KEDC, Page 4
Marketing Kilgore helps fuel business, improve quality of life for residents
Before that happens, city leaders are following the example of the past and striving to better it. “For the 40 years following the boom, Kilgore was a brand new town. It was building out. It was building new subdivisions. It was paving the streets,” Selleck said. “It was locating new water and wastewater facilities. It was building some of the most sophisticated infrastructure in the country at the time.” Flash forward decades, and the oilfield downturn of the 1980s struck Kilgore hard, with a lingering impact. “Following the 80s downturn we had a period of recovery and, honestly, a period of See FORWARD, Page 3
By LUCAS STROUGH lstrough@kilgorenewsherald.com
A city thrives when it becomes a destination and some in Kilgore are hard at work trying to attract newcomers and repeat visitors to the City of Stars. Ryan Polk, Kilgore’s tourism and marketing manager, looked back over some of the city’s marketing efforts from the past year. “Visit Kilgore, the destination marketing organization for Kilgore under the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau is always marketing Kilgore with many projects, but some of our largest projects since last summer would have to be the new ‘Christmas Under The Stars’ logo suite, the 2019 Kilgore Visitors Guide, and the Historic Downtown Kilgore Guide,” Polk said. “Christmas Under The Stars” is a month-long mainstay event in Kilgore, drawing hundreds downtown for the days leading up to the holiday, and includes events like the “Dashing Through Downtown” run, the lighting of the
NEWS HERALD photo by JAMES DRAPER
Fireworks explode behind one of the community’s signature star-topped derricks near city park during the 2019 Fourth of July Extravaganza. While celebrating and preserving the past, city leaders also have a keen eye on Kilgore’s path forward.
See MARKETING, Page 9
City searches for sustainability in sales tax By JAMES DRAPER jdraper@kilgorenewsherald.com
After a long, difficult dive and a steady climb, Kilgore’s sales tax rollercoaster seems to be plateauing. That stability gives city planners a better understanding of how healthy the community’s sales tax base actually is and how sustainable it can be as they look ahead
– a year down the road, five, 10 or 20 and whatever growth or upheaval they bring. “The city has known this since the ’80s that the sales tax has a core to it,” Kilgore City Manager Josh Selleck said, “and then there’s this portion of our sales tax (that in the best of years is about half of our sales tax) that is not dependable year-to-year.
“Where we are right now is on the upside of this. If you think of this as a series of peaks and valleys, we’re on the peak right now.” That peak arrives after the years of economic recession and slumping oil-and-gas prices that still have a major impact on monthly revenues from the Texas Comptroller. Sales tax figures in one month are based on sales made two months
prior (by monthly and/or quarterly filers). In Kilgore, City Hall takes two-thirds of the sales tax revenue; the remainder benefits Kilgore Economic Development Corporation. In recent, past years, Selleck advised Kilgore City Council members to reduce their sales tax projection to face the uncertain reality of the economic downturn. In City Hall’s financial planning,
sales taxes in Kilgore aren’t allocated toward essential operations – they’re not earmarked for key services for residents. The ideal is for sales tax revenues to fund projects which, in a slump, could be set aside without consequence – more streets are repaired in flush years, more quality of life projects get underway and See SALES TAX, Page 6
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Business | Finance | Industry
FORWARD
KILGORE NEWS HERALD F PAGE 3
Continued from Page 1
stagnation for a number of years.” That slump included the loss of professional staff members at Kilgore City Hall, a loss of both experience and vision for the future. “A lot of projects and infrastructure suffered as a result,” and the city today is still feeling the burden of that lapse, with multiple major water, sewer, wastewater, streets and other projects ongoing and more ahead, making up for lost years. They’ll persist through the coming decade, Selleck says, as Kilgore catches up while still focusing on growth and on strengthening bedrock for the future. “Rebuilding infrastructure, getting back to a look and feel of what we had during those glory days,” Selleck said, “when infrastructure felt like it was maintained and new and looked great and there was a lot to do in Kilgore.” When he envisions 2030, there are a few things that come immediately to Mayor Ronnie Spradlin’s mind. “We will have a relatively new water and sewer plant,” he said, the product of a substantial amount of investment and labor today and in years ahead. Similarly, “Our roads will be in the best shape they’ve been in since the late ’70s.” Again, not without work. Meanwhile, “I’m sure we’ll have continued to diversify our economy beyond oil and gas, but we’ll still have a lot of oil and gas companies.” Both continue to be a primary focus of Kilgore Economic Development Corporation. KEDC’s first and only executive director, Amanda Nobles, and her staff are working toward 2030 and beyond with diversification at the top of their minds. Oil-and-gas has been the cornerstone of the local economy for 90 years, and Kilgore thrives as more companies in multiple industries build on that base. Suffice it to say, the community will look quite different in 2030 than 100 years before, Nobles said, and the reins will be in other hands
COURTESY photo from CITY OF KILGORE
The City of Kilgore’s Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee meets July 16 at Kilgore City Hall. The committee will be reaching out to the community in numerous ways during the next several months, soliciting input from residents on the city’s path forward.
to carry Kilgore forward. “The community has diversified so much,” she added. “Not only has its industrial base diversified, but by 2030 there will be diversification in retail, the community will be more diverse.” That’s been the consistent trajectory, says KEDC Marketing & Development Director Jana Russell. “If you look at our recent data and the companies approaching, whether they’re contributing or new, they’re largely non-energy related,” she said. It helps to mitigate the natural ups-and-downs of the energy sector, and “It’s one of the ways we’ve moved forward through the years. “Looking forward, what we’re
doing is a considered process. We’re looking at data, looking at trends and adjusting our program of work as trends grow.” Amidst the data, common sense shines too. “People are people,” Russell said. “You need a place to live and a job to pay for it.” Changing technology will, as in the past, mean 2030 will be dramatically different than ever before, Nobles said. “The growth of automation and the use of robots… The job descriptions will change because the jobs are going to require equipment that will be able to be used, maintained and adapted for growth,” she continued. “I think
that’s probably going to have a rather dramatic impact on the change in workforce. We already are focusing on that change with our partners – we are facilitating conversations with our businesses and our school district and our college about that change. “We are continuing those very important relationships with the people who are training the workforce of our future. We are fortunate that both of Kilgore’s institutions ... are looking at that and continue to look at it.” A decade on, recruitment will be more competitive, Russell added, as it already is: “We’ve seen the trend of primary employers investing more and
creating fewer jobs. Our data is not dramatic, but we have seen the trend.” Notably, one lingering challenge Kilgore needs to address is housing, Nobles said. “We largely have connectivity to the jobs right now but we don’t have connectivity to the homes,” with a large portion of Kilgore’s working population commuting to the area each day. Today, Nobles noted, projects in Kilgore already are being spearheaded by a younger demographic, likely to continue. “That’s a very good trend. We’re already making that change,” she See 2031, Page 4
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SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019
KEDC
Continued from Page 1
under contract.” Russell added those agreements also included anticipated investments of almost $12.5 million and one retention project, aimed at keeping employees and investments in the area, expected to retain $3 million. When taken together, the number of jobs and amount of investment indicated on the report show Kilgore is coming out ahead of previous years. “If you go back and look at the number of jobs, 474 under contract, and you compare that to year-end three and five-year averages, it already exceeds that number,” Russell said. “If you look at the amount of investment, those five contracts put us on track to meet year-end investment.” The report also shows further growth for Kilgore, as more agreements were signed after the end of March. Additional agreements being completed caused the mid-year report to be delayed until June, rather than being given at the usual time in April. In this case, the delay is a good thing, as the additional agreements further propel Kilgore past jobs numbers in recent years. “It is twice the number of
COURTESY IMAGE
An architectural rendering shows the planned 60,000 square-foot speculative building at Synergy Park that will now house German high performance auto parts manufacturer Wagner Tuning and, as early as January 1, its distribution. It’s the culmination of about two years of work by Kilgore Economic Development Corporation staffers working with CEO Carsten Wagner as he relocates American operations – to Kilgore.
agreements we typically sign in a year,” Russell said. “What that means is we have already had a very good year in terms of growth in Kilgore.” The report also contained information about KEDC’s efforts to make Kilgore more attractive to businesses look-
ing to expand or set up shop. “We analyze internal and external factors that influence our ability to meet those metrics and goals. In doing so, what we normally come up with is something we want to add to the program of work or something that’s already existing that
we may want to improve upon. We did something a little bit different this year,” Russell said, explaining KEDC studied a survey of professional “site selectors”, or people who help companies find a new location for a business expansion. “The process is more about
site elimination. For example, a company or professional, they get 200 proposals but they have the budget to visit 10. They’ve got to find a way to eliminate or filter.” In this process, companies look for specific traits which may indicate a particular area is not right for their business.
FORWARD
“What was particularly interesting is that the number-one deal-killer was number one by a lot, and that was politics and a lack of responsiveness,” Russell said. She pointed out the recent failure of Amazon to open their new “HQ2” headquarters in New York City, an effort which was stymied by pushback from politicians. “What that caused us to realize is that, in Kilgore, we have been very proactive in doing pretty much the opposite of what happened there.” She cited two primary reasons Kilgore was attractive to businesses: including city council members at every KEDC meeting and keeping business owners on the KEDC board. “They understand making business decisions and they recognize the importance of local support in operating a business.” All in all, Russell said the report indicated Kilgore was on the right track, as far as its business environment is concerned. “We’re a productive steward of finances, proactive in our teamwork, our program of work is progressive and, finally, I think the results are pretty impressive. Already, we’ve had a very good year for growth in Kilgore.” Continued from Page 3
said. “It will continue to become younger and younger,” and Kilgore must act to capture the workforce: “No millennial is going to stay here if he doesn’t have a job.” Recently, Selleck said, a resident asked why the city was investing so much in amenities, such as revitalizing Kilgore City Pool, building the Creekside Trail, upgrading Meadowbrook Golf Course or installing the Lazy “S” Splash Ranch. “Our goal,” Selleck answered, “is
to make sure that Kilgore isn’t just attractive to people of your generation, but that it’s attractive to people of the generation that’s going to have to replace you.” How does the city attract more and larger demographics, the city manager explained; how does it draw people from outside the community put down roots here, to become the next slate of leaders, whether in politics, business or culture? “How does the city attract the
new young professional who’s going to come in and open an insurance agency? How does the city attract a new young entrepreneur who’s going to make their fortune in the oil-and-gas industry? How do we convince them this is the place to raise their family, to risk their fortune and to invest their fortune for the rest of their lives?” That doesn’t happen by letting infrastructure deteriorate, he said. “That’s not done by closing amenities and reducing the services you
provide to your citizens,” Selleck emphasized. “Those are things done by dying cities, not thriving cities.” “While we are also trying to maintain and rebuild all of our other infrastructure – water, wastewater, sewer and drainage – we’re also not losing sight of the fact that if we are going to be a contender long term our quality of life cannot lose focus on amenities.” The City of Kilgore – through a myriad of staffers, community volunteers and stakeholders – has
been focusing on the same issues for more than a decade. Right now, a new slate of residents is working with the roster at City Hall on a new Comprehensive Plan. The coming decade will be much like the last, Selleck said. Granted, hopefully it won’t bring years of recession and hardship. “The next 10 years is critical. It’s what our comprehensive plan is going to focus on,” Selleck said. “What do we need to ensure that by 2031 we are the place of choice?”
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PROGRESS 2019
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SALES TAX
Continued from Page 1
the city goes to an evergreen supply of other projects waiting for funding. The current surplus is being put to work, gravy to fund ‘flexible priority’ projects. “It’s available to fix the things we may not have had money for in the downtime,” Selleck said. “At the same time, it’s the time that we replenish our reserves.” “The city council had the city better prepared than ever before from a financial strategy standpoint as well as the reserve standpoint. We were able to traverse the last downturn relatively easily.” Certainly, it brought plenty of challenges, with plenty of belt tightening and trimming expenses along the way – when possible. “The city keeps a very lean budget without a lot of fat. There isn’t a lot to cut,” Selleck noted. “Instead they look at opportunities to fund or not to fund discretionary projects. Granted, “I think that some would prefer that road reconstruction projects are not discretionary, that they’re not down every year.” “We have boom years, and we have very lean years.” Fiscal Year 2019 has almost run its course, and it’s proved to be a boom year, reaching projections two months ahead of schedule. That said, the past four months’ sales tax allocations have been relatively flat comparing year-to-year. It’s a simple indicator, according to Selleck, that Kilgore has left its recovery months behind: July 2019 is level with the same month in 2018, but it’s still substantially increased compared to 2017. “We may only show two percent over 2018, but we show 31 percent over 2017,”
“...this is a year where our residents really should get involved in the budget process, they should get involved in the comprehensive plan process that is getting underway this summer and make sure they understand the implications of what we’re trying to do.” Kilgore City Manager Josh Selleck
he noted. “December of 2018 show a 104 percent gain over 2016,” and there was a 39 percent increase between December 2017 and 2018. “The interesting piece, that sounds phenomenal but … compared to 2013, it was down $50,000. “That’s all part of this story. We don’t necessarily get back to where we started when we talk about ‘recovery.’” Today, the bywords are stability and sustainability. “The philosophy in financial strategies that the city council employs takes all of that in stride,” Selleck said. “Some cities may see an 8 percent down like last month and begin to start worrying. We know that’s just part of it. “We keep an eye on the longer-term trends. We manage the surpluses, and we manage the shortages all in relation to our reserve and all in relation to a very flexible capital improvement plan.” Significant capital improvement projects are in progress – water, wastewater, sewage and streets. Some could not wait, some were dusted off after a long stretch in city planning purgatory. “We call them flexible pri-
ority projects,” he said. For example, the Chandler Street Improvement Project is underway, though full repairs could have been shelved longer: “Chandler Street could have been patched for another couple of years, but it was time to do chandler Street. Because of the surpluses we have been seeing, it was time to do Chandler Street. “Streets are somewhat forgiving. Not over a long-term period like 20-30 years, but over a period of three to five years you can manage and mitigate the prioritization if you don’t have the funding immediately.” “One of the most important things about sales tax is to be clear about how it is perceived in contrast with and in conjunction with property tax,” Selleck added. “We actually have discretion over the rate-setting side of property tax. Our goal with all of this is to hit a sustainable property tax rate.” “Our goal with all of this is to provide our residents, who are the people most sensitive to property tax, with a consistent and reliable property tax rate.”
In recent years, Kilgore has seen consistent, step-by-step increases to the property tax rate. It’s been a gradual strategizing of getting the number to a sustainable point after it was significantly reduced decades prior due to other economic concerns. “When we get to the point where we consider ourselves sustainable is to be able to hit that rate and leave it be and not have to do a lot,” he said, avoiding changes that especially impact ‘fixed incomes.’ “Managing this insanely dynamic sales tax is absolutely critical in terms of providing predictability for our residents in terms of property tax. “That really helps to put better perspective on why each of these conversations each month is so important”
when the sales tax allocation numbers arrive from the state comptroller’s office. “Each month, we talk about ‘How did sales tax do?’ What we’re really talking about is, ‘What is the next impact?’” In mid-July 2019, “We’re right where we expect to be from a sales tax perspective, and we’re still working on determining exactly where that sustainable property tax rate lies,” Selleck said. “This year should be a pivotal year for that conversation through the budget process. Every year is, but this is a year where our residents really should get involved in the budget process, they should get involved in the comprehensive plan process that is getting underway this summer and make sure they
understand the implications of what we’re trying to do.” City Hall department heads and staffers crave that public input, he added, though they’re usually disappointed in the turnout. “We don’t have a lot of public involvement in our public hearings and our open meetings and our open workshops,” Selleck said, but there are plenty of opportunities ahead to change that: “We’re underway with budget. The months of July and August will be very intense in terms of the meetings that take place. I just encourage people to come on out. Come learn about how your city council is strategizing. They do an extraordinary job. “We encourage and hope that folks will come out this year and get involved.”
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Business | Finance | Industry
KILGORE NEWS HERALD F PAGE 7
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PROGRESS 2019
PAGE 8 F KILGORE NEWS HERALD
SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019
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SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019
KILGORE NEWS HERALD F PAGE 9
MARKETING oil derricks at the World’s Richest Acre and a parade. The 2019 Kilgore Visitors Guide is available for free download at www. VisitKilgore.com and features a map of the city, a list of popular restaurants, events and attractions, as well as information about hotels for visitors. “Some other significant projects include filming and photography for our multimedia library and ad development for print and digital media campaigns,” Polk added. Some of those photos and videos can be seen on Visit Kilgore’s Facebook page and website. Media of popular events like the Texas Shakespeare Festival allow guests and potential visitors a chance to see what Kilgore has to offer before visiting or schedule in a stop in Kilgore on their next trip. Event promotion is a big part of Visit Kilgore’s mission. Kilgore attracts visitors from around the state, the county and the world thanks in large part to the wide variety of exclusive
Continued from Page 1
events available here. “Events are vital for destination marketing,” Polk said. “They not only bring visitors, but they create a certain quality of life that locals and prospective residents desire. The events grow like a tree as they develop and are nurtured properly and Visit Kilgore has the amazing opportunity of sharing these events in various marketing campaigns throughout Texas and the world in print and digital media. This only adds value to the event and the Kilgore area.” At the end of the day, marketing Kilgore is all about showcasing the city in the best light possible. This encourages people to visit the city and can even convince some to live here. People come to Kilgore for many reasons. Some seek to further their education at Kilgore College. Others find employment in one of the many industries supported by Kilgore’s economy. No matter the reason, people coming to Kilgore is good for the city and its people and has a direct benefit on the quality of life here. “The end goal of Visit Kilgore’s marketing efforts is to generate additional hotel occupancy tax dollars through the promotion of our events, attractions, and destination as a whole,” Polk said. When people come to Kilgore and spend mon-
(Clockwise from right) From Oktoberfest to the annual Fourth of July Extravaganza, Rangerette Revels and Juneteenth, numerous events in the City of Kilgore become another asset in the toolbox for city and chamber staffers marketing the community to visitors. NEWS HERALD ARCHIVE PHOTOS
ey on food, lodging and entertainment, the entire city benefits. Businesses thrive, the city gains more funding for important projects and the hard-working entrepreneurs, artists and workers who call Kilgore home continue to make a living. But marketing the city isn’t just about directly drawing people to the area. It also changes how Kilgore is viewed on a much larger scale. “While the end goal of Visit Kilgore’s marketing efforts is to generate additional visitation to our events and attractions, there are other ways in which the marketing can have influence,” Polk said. “One of the positive side effects of destination marketing is improving the image of the destination. The exposure to the paid marketing not only showcases to consumers that Kilgore is a leisure destination, but it also improves how consumers perceive the quality of life in Kilgore. Through various campaigns of print, digital, native, and paid social media, we are influencing the image and perception of Kilgore.” To learn more, visit www.VisitKilgore.com.
CELEBRATING THE STRENGTH AND HISTORY OF THE EAST TEXAS OIL INDUSTRY!
2800 Highway 135
903-984-3061
P.O. Box 1461
Email:sales@steelman.com
Kilgore, TX 75662
Http: www.steelman.com
• • • •
INDUSTRIAL PROCESS OVENS POWER FACTOR CORRECTION CLEANING OVENS (BURN-OFF) PHASE CONVERTORS
For all your Oilfield Needs. Pump Plus Started in 2003 Geonix serves the TX, OK, MS, LA, AR area offer-ing a broad range of products and services. Our primary focus is to bring together a combination of employees, products and services to exceed our customers’ expectations. At Geonix, we define quality in terms of our customer’s needs. We make dependability and consistency in quality, delivery, and service to the customer, the hallmark of our operations. We are dedicated to supplying our customers with high quality, uniform and reliable products and services to ensure the long term viability and satisfaction of our customers. This goal combined with our expanding quality team reflects our commitment to quality assurance.
Opened in 2012, Lance Silvertooth is a native of Kilgore, Texas and has been in the oil & gas industry since 2002. Collectively, the team possesses more than 100 years of indepth, hands-on experience in the oil & gas industry. Pump Plus is proud to announce their partnership with Geonix TM to better serve all their customer In addition to their location at 508 S. Commerce Street in Kilgore, they now have a second location in Nixon, Texas at Geonix’sTM New store at 1592 South Hwy 80. Products include: • Chemical-injection pumps • Control valves • Stainless steel fittings • Poly tanks and Containments • Full service repair shop We provide 24-hour service and make repairs in the shop or in the field full service repair shop.
Geonix Oilfield Products Geonix is oilfield products in the business of managing all levels of procurement services as well as providing oilfield supplies to support and produc-tion operations and all PVF needs. We are completely equipped to handle well hook ups, pipelines, well servicing needs, as well as all types of special orders.
2008 N. Longview St. P.O. Box 2169 Kilgore, Texas 75663
Office: 903-983-3249 Fax: 903-983-3259
1592 S. HWY 80 Nixon, TX 78140
Office: 830-582-1500 Fax:830-582-1550
www.geoixlp.com
PAGE 10 F KILGORE NEWS HERALD
PROGRESS 2019
SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019
D&D Welding Industrial Welding Supplies
Front Row (LtoR) Heather Logston, Dennis McFadin, Robbie Tinney. Back Row (LtoR) Brady Tompkins, Trent Logston, Mitch Holbrook, Louis Hurtado
Inside / Outside Sales Route Delivery Available Full Service Repair Center We Specialize in Cryogenic in bulk gases Welding • Industrial • Safety Supplies will be expanding throughout the year also expanding into manufacturing of welding gases
4615 Hwy 42 N 903.984.1764 Owner, Dennis McFadin Established April 1, 1996
Since 1964, P&W Sales, Inc has been providing oilfield and drilling equipment to the industry. Wayman McMillian and the PW Sales team have continued to expand P & W Sales to include 5 locations with 40+ employees to serve our many loyal companies. Also, in 2011 a full-service Iron Works facility in Kilgore, opened with a full recertification department for flow line that travels locally and nationally, staffed with Certified Level 2 techs along with a complete inventory of iron and painting services. Our staying power in the Oil and Gas industry for 55 years has been fueled by the ability of providing quality products along with dedicated service to earn and maintain the trust of our customers. Give us a call to speak to an experienced and dedicated P & W Sales team member. Kilgore: 903-984-2102 Ft. Worth 817-244-6565 Pleasanton 830-569-1905 Midland 432-563-1025 Pecos 432-755-0155
3 4 7 7 3 5 3 03
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n o i t a s g i r i r a r p I E R s l l a t s N I New
g n i d a r G
e g a n i e a p r a D c s d n a L Full g n i t h g i l e p a c s d Lan Military Discounts Available
PROGRESS 2019
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SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019
Texas unemployment rate drops to lowest level since feds began tracking it in 1976 By TROY CLOSSON Texas Tribune
Texas' unemployment rate continues to drop to record lows, with the state's rate for May hitting a seasonally adjusted 3.5%, the Texas Workforce Commission announced Friday. That's the lowest level since the federal government began collecting the data series used to calculate the rate in 1976. The state's 3.5% unemployment rate breaks the record low of 3.7% Texas set last month. Over the month, the state added 19,600 non-farm jobs, according to seasonally adjusted data. Jobs categorized as professional and business services topped all other categories, adding 8,100 positions. Education and health services saw the second-highest rise, adding 4,500 jobs in May. Among more than two dozen metropolitan statistical areas in Texas, the Midland metro area recorded May's lowest non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 1.7%, according to the Workforce Commission, while the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area had the highest rate at 5%. Mike Davis, an economist at Southern Methodist University, said the record low unemployment rate isn't necessarily surprising considering "how fast the Texas economy has been growing." Though the Cox School of Business lecturer said he stays away from predictions or forecasts, he said the overall outlook for the state looks positive. "There's nothing on the horizon that gives me any reason to think that it would change," Davis said.
City Population Growth By DR. M. RAY PERRYMAN The Perryman Group
Economic vitality drives population expansion, particularly migration, and Texas cities are growing rapidly. The US Census Bureau recently released new population data which included estimates for city population changes from July 2017 to July 2018. Much of the time, economic series are tracked for “Metropolitan Statistical Areas,” which are normally one or more counties linked to a large central city. While it makes sense from an eco-
nomic perspective in that these clusters of counties are functioning largely together as an economic unit, slicing the data this way often conceals part of what’s going on. For example, the Dallas-Plano-Irving Metropolitan Division is seven counties centered on Dallas and includes several other cities which are growing rapidly. Of the 15 fastest-growing large (population greater than 50,000) cities, seven are in Texas. New Braunfels ranked second with 7.2% expansion, Frisco is fourth, McKinney sixth, George-
town seventh, Rowlett eighth, Midland thirteenth, and Round Rock fifteenth. These impressive population centers are outgrowths of larger cities (San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin), with the exception of Midland (which is the epicenter for the current oil surge). Looking at the cities adding the most new residents (as opposed to the largest percentage gain), five are in Texas. San Antonio ranked second, adding 20,824 to top 1.53 million. Fort Worth was third (up 19,552 to reach 895,008), Austin sixth (with a 12,504 gain
to 964,254), Frisco tenth (up 10,884 to 188,170), and McKinney thirteenth (up 9,888 to 191,645). It is pretty remarkable that even some of the smaller Texas cities like Frisco and McKinney added more people than the likes of New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. As people migrate to areas with abundant jobs, they bring with them the needed skills to enable continued expansion. It’s a virtual cycle, with a large and capable workforce encouraging businesses to locate and expand which in turn encourages additional
people to relocate. Growth begets growth. At the same time, rapid expansion presents significant challenges. Housing markets may struggle to absorb new residents, sometimes causing prices to rise and affordability to suffer. Roadways, water systems, and other types of infrastructure take time to expand and congestion and other problems may arise. Additional schools, health care providers, and city services may be required. The list goes on. Growth can indeed be expensive for cities
202 Hwy. 31 East, Kilgore, TX
and other governmental entities, but it’s a clearly desirable condition and far preferable to the alternative. In some parts of the US, a lack of opportunities is forcing young people to look elsewhere for meaningful employment. High taxes or exorbitant housing prices are encouraging families to leave other locales. The bottom line is that these high-growth areas of Texas are doing something (actually many things) right. Published in syndication June 17, 2019
CNC Threading “API 5CT • 1890”
60,000# 60,000 Lbs W/ Torque Turn
MAY OILFIELD PIPE API-5CT 1890 NEW & USED OILFIELD PIPE & SUPPLIES P.O. BOX 430 OVERTON, TEXAS 75684 OFFICE PHONE: 903-834-3661/3662 FAX: 903-834-6847 General Manager Managing Partner
TOLL FREE: 800-995-3661
May Oilfield Pipe was established in 1953 by Joe R. May, May Oilfield Pipe, Overton Texas buying and selling oilfield products. Today, the company is ran by second generation Richard May, buying and selling oilfield pipe, stocking 1 ¼” thru 24” O.D., we sell Downhole Tubulars, Tubing and Casing, Flush Joint Liners, Structural and Road Boring Pipe and 60,000# Make and Break with Torque Turn Services. Complete pipe facility, API Licensed CNC Threading and Third Party Inspections. Give us a call, see what we can do for you. Many Sizes in Inventory New & Used Oilfield Pipe, CNC Threading Facility, Structural Pipe, Pipe Reconditioning, Make & Break Services and Forklift Services. Richard May - Managing Partner Cody Smith- General Manager
API 5CT • 1890
Shanna Hansen - Office Manager
Office Manager
PAGE 14 F KILGORE NEWS HERALD
PROGRESS 2019
SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019
LOOKING BACK A recent foray into the Kilgore News Herald photo archives uncovered signature scenes from the community’s past
(Above) The photographer caught oilfield workers “Moving boilers into field” in the midst of the Boom. (Right) From the back of the postcard, “Scene on North Kilgore during scenes of fires. Note crowd and fire truck at building on right.” (Below) An early Kilgore street scene shows an initial paving under construction.
(Top) From the original photo notes, “Old Post Office mail carriers long before boom.” (Above) The National Guard arrives, Aug. 17, 1931, to enforce martial law in the East Texas Oilfield. With more than 848,000 barrels of oil flowing daily from the field’s wells creating chaos, Gov. Ross Sterling called out the troops to re-establish order.
(Above) “J. Malcolm Crim with familiar corn cob pipe watches the plugging of the Kilgore discovery well, Lou Della Crim No. 1, in 1961, approximately 10 years before Mr. Crim, a citizen and first mayor of Kilgore, died.”
Derricks fill the skyline of Boomtown with the Kilgore Hotel rising six stories in their midst. From the original cutline: “Note an oil well on the sidewalk under Hall Tire in the right foreground of the picture. This well, with many, many others, does not have a derrick over it.”