www.MyCounty-Line.com --- OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013
Big Country Ce ntr al Texas E d i t i o n
Volume 6 Issue 74
National News and Opinions mixed with Local Small Town History and Story Telling. Representing the Small-Town Conservative Viewpoint, Values & Patriotism!
~Mike Norris, Owner & Publisher
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
Monthly Issue
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER , In This Issue:
On The Cover Growing Up Small Town Texas Conservative Michael Ramirez Home Is Where the Heart Is Tumbleweed Smith Good Neighbors Treasure Hunters Love Lessons Huddle Up! Breckenridge Wall Distribution Map Cisco Loboes Territory Welcome to Rising Star This Week In Texas History B.C. The Wizard of ID In Sickness & In Health
COVER ART:
Just something I put together for Halloween to celebrate the launch of Socialist Healthcare in America. ~by Mike Norris
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All. B:510-152550100200
2013
Please Visit Our Website
www.MyCounty-Line.com vol.6 Issue 74
Trick or Treat!!! Obamacare Is Here, Like It Or Not!
I visited the HEALTHCARE.GOV website the other day and used the “Live Help Chat” to ask a question or two about Obamacare: [2:19:56 pm]: Welcome! You’re now connected to Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat. Thanks for contacting us. My name is Theodora. To protect your privacy, please don’t provide any personal information, like Social Security Number, or any other sensitive medical or personal information. [2:20:21 pm]: CALLER Hello, Theodora [2:21:56 pm]: CALLER here’s my question -- (I’m in Texas) Since Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is a participant in providing healthcare plans through Obamacare, can I just contact them directly rather than use this website? [2:22:34 pm]: Theodora Thank you. One moment please while I look that up. [2:26:08 pm]: Theodora You can use HealthCare.gov to find this information and what programs you may qualify for, as well as find and apply for coverage, compare plans, and enroll in a health insurance plan. You can apply now through the end of open enrollment. Open enrollment for health coverage in 2014 closes on March 31, 2014. [2:27:08 pm]: CALLER OK, can I go directly to BCBS? Do I have to use healthcare.gov? [2:28:38 pm]: Theodora Yes you can. [2:29:47 pm]: CALLER OK, that’s awesome. Thank you very much. Why aren’t they saying this in the news instead of blabbering on about how messed up the healthcare.gov website is? [2:30:16 pm]: Theodora Do you have any other questions that I can help you with? [2:30:34 pm]: CALLER no, that was it....thanks! [2:30:39 pm]: Theodora Thank you for contacting Health Insurance Marketplace Live Chat. We are here to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. [2:30:54 pm]: ‘Theodora’ has left the chat session. [2:30:56 pm]: Your chat session is over. Thanks for contacting us, and we hope we’ve answered your questions. Have a great day. [2:30:56 pm]: 10/25/2013
So if the HEALTHCARE.GOV website itself is optional, then why did we spend nearly $700-million on it in the first place???
The County Line
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design PO Box 1156 Eastland, Texas 76448 Phone: (254)433-2693 mike@mycounty-line.com
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Thanks to our readers in:
Abilene Albany Baird Breckenridge Brownwood Carbon Cisco Comanche Cross Plains Dallas DeLeon Desdemona Dublin Eastland El Paso Ft. Worth Gordon Gorman Irving Olden Lingleville Lubbock Ranger Rising Star Stephenville Strawn Thurber Weatherford Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma & Georgia
We appreciate your support! Mike &rris Ruth No
By the way, if you don’t go through the Healthcare.gov website, you can’t apply for any subsidies for your premiums. Trick or Treat!!! ~mwnorris
C:255075150300
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
3Growing Up Small Town
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, Mike W. Norris
Government Shutdown???
Obamacare has a pill for that!!! by Mike W. Norris
What in the world happened during the “Great Government Shutdown of 2013”??? From everything that I saw, best I can tell is that the National Park Service shut down and put up barricades in front of every possible national treasure that the Obama Administration felt would somehow impact upon the daily lives of American culture. But wait....the National Park Service didn’t really “shut down” because there were still enough park rangers available and on duty who were instructed by the Obama Administration to arm themselves with sidearms, place barricades, erect closure signs and string out miles of yellow caution tape just to make absolutely certain that the government shutdown would be “as painful as possible.” This required our National Park Service rangers to literally hang around entrances and common areas within our national parks--not to assist or inform visitors---but to confront private citizens, retired military veterans, members of Congress and foreign tourists just to inform them that the QUOTE--”Park is closed due to the government shut down that was imposed by the Republicans.”---ENDQUOTE. There were park goers who were camping out in our national parks....you know what “camping out” means--you have a tent or rv that is setup in a campsite and you basically have everything you need with you in a self-contained, portable unit to survive roughing it with little or no reliance on anyone or anything that is not absolutely necessary! CAMPING! ROUGHING IT! Well the Obama Administration insisted that these individuals pack up and get out because there was not going to be any park service personnel available to serve the park. Keep people out, yes...service the park, no. So pack up and get out! In one instance, a couple, aged 43 and 58, was booted from Big Bend National Park, where they had visited before and were familiar with, and relocated to the Big Bend Ranch State Park which they had never visited. They attempted a trail hike and ended up getting lost... for four days! They almost died from dehydration and hypothermia! Talk about a memorable trip! It almost turned into just a memorial. Lucky for them, I guess, that the state park officials were still out there doing their jobs. The 37-member search and rescue team that participated also included members of the U.S. Border Patrol....(Note: Protecting our national borders is a Constitutional requirement demanded of our Federal Government, which means it’s one of those things that can’t be shut down on a whim like the National Park
Service. However, enforcing deportation laws appears to be up for interpretation?!?! Go figure.) According to some reports, it likely cost We The People ---MORE--- to shut down the national parks than it would have to keep them operating business-as-usual. Is anyone surprised by that little tid-bit of information? I’m not. This administration shows no respect for the Constitution of the United States, nor any resemblance of fiscal responsibility, so it comes as no surprise to me that they would gladly spend an extravagant amount of money just to demonstrate that they require an extravagant amount of money to conduct business as usual! Duh! That’s the problem!!! OK, speaking of spending extravagant amounts of money for stupid things....how about that Obamacare website rollout, eh? Sweeeeeeeet move, Democrats! Not only is the entire Democrat Party incapable of admitting failure at implementing the world’s largest socialist healthcare program, but in the process they got
scammed by a foreign IT company into paying nearly $700-million dollars for what GoDaddy.com offers for FREE with every domain registration and hosting for like $10-bucks a month!!! $700-million dollars for a website that takes the information that you type into it, save that to a database, then cross reference your information with another database in order to present you with several insurance packages to fit your circumstances. And --IF-- you elect to purchase one of those packages, all it has to do is pass your information on to the insurance company that offered that package. That’s it. That’s end of scope of work. That is CORE operation. A single website designer can create that exact core website in an afternoon sitting in his boxer shorts, sucking on a Red Bull, while playing Candy Crush and Skyping with a virtual girlfriend from Hotchickastan!!!! YOU. HAVE. GOT. TO. BE. KIDDING. ME. Continued on page 11...
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
4Texas Conservative
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, Chuck Norris - The Man
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In God We Trust United We Stand
By Chuck Norris
Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. Human Sex Trafficking of US Minors October 22, 2013
Reuters reported last week, “Some 30 million people are enslaved worldwide, trafficked into brothels, forced into manual labour, victims of debt bondage or even born into servitude.” A percentage is represented in all 162 countries, with almost half being in India. And many would be surprised to discover that the U.S. sexual slavery market is growing -- in and outside our country -- using none other than American minors. Americans trafficking Americans. ABC News reported in July on a National Geographic undercover investigation of sexual slavery in the U.S.: “When some people hear about sex trafficking in America they usually think of Asian and Eastern European women being brought into the States, but it’s actually 10 times more likely for an American girl to be trafficked inside the U.S. Further, almost 300,000 American children are at risk for trafficking into the sex industry, according to U.S. Department of State statistics.” About 14,500 to 17,500 girls from other countries are smuggled into the U.S. and exploited in sexual slavery. The U.S. Department of Justice says the average age at which females -- domestic and international -- start prostitution in the U.S. is between 12 and 14 years, and those older than 12 are leading targets for sexual exploitation by organized crime units. The FBI further explains that boys and transgender youths begin prostituting between the ages of 11 and 13 on average. And where are they all marketed? Most know how they are paraded on the streets by pimps, controlled by violent gangs and organized crime, and marketed through residential brothels and businesses such as strip clubs, escort services and massage parlors. But the greatest and most recent proliferation has been through the Internet. Malika Saada Saar, president of the Rebecca Project for Human Rights, explained that there is a “cyber slave market that is being built up by Craigslist and other websites” (for example, dating and hooking up sites and online escort services), and most who buy and sell these girls are never arrested or jailed. In July, however, the FBI conducted raids in 76 cities, arrested 150 pimps and rescued 105 children from their sexual and abusive rings -- the youngest of whom was only 9 years old. The Blaze reported that “Detroit saw the most pimps arrested, while the largest numbers of children rescued were in San Francisco, Detroit, Milwaukee, Denver and New Orleans.” The Blaze also noted how 2,700 children have been rescued by the FBI since 2003 under its Innocence Lost initiative, in partnership with the nonprofit group the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Moreover,
roughly 1,350 convictions of sex traders have been brought about by the FBI. Many of the convicted got “lengthy sentences,” and 10 received life sentences. The FBI reported: “Today, the business of human sex trafficking is much more organized and violent. These women and young girls (and boys) are sold to traffickers, locked up in rooms or brothels for weeks or months, drugged, terrorized, and raped repeatedly. These continual abuses make it easier for the traffickers to control their victims. The captives are so afraid and intimidated that they rarely speak out against their traffickers, even when faced with an opportunity to escape.” Sex trafficking victim Chong Kim shared just how intense it was during her couple of years of captivity: “The first year I was in there, I literally became numb; I thought I was going to die as a sex slave. ... When I started to become defiant with the traffickers, the traffickers would look at the girls we were close to, and with that, they would actually tie us to a chair and make us watch the girl that we were close to or the child we were close to get tortured, sodomized and raped for hours and hours on end. We went through beatings; we were held in the bathtub with ice.” (Kim’s story, now put into the award-winning film “Eden,” is proof of how ethnic sexual slavery can be easily overlooked and victims can be carted around the heartland of America without ever being noticed.) The Justice Department estimates that of the roughly 450,000 U.S. children who run away from home
each year, at least one-third of teens end up homeless and lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. This is another reason it is so imperative that the lost are found quickly. Shared Hope International (http:// sharedhope.org), whose mission is to eradicate sex trafficking, has a helpful website with many great resources to help you help others caught in the webs of sexual slavery, including a section in which you can view report cards for how your state is doing in the fight against human trafficking. The website for the Polaris Project (http://www.polarisproject. org), a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization working exclusively on the issue of human trafficking, also has a state-by-state map that you can click on and access in-depth information and resources in your area. The Polaris Project also provides the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, which is a toll-free hotline available for calls and texts from anywhere in the country 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. Call it at 888-373-7888, or text “help” or “info” to BE-FREE (233733). Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews. blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www. creators.com. www.MyCounty-Line.com
©CHUCK NORRIS DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM - Reprinted under license by Mike Norris
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5Michael Ramirez
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, Political Cartoonist
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7Home Is Where the Heart Is
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, Monica Payne
By Monica Payne Monica has home schooled all of her five children after making the switch from career educator to at-home family educator.
The Exploding Science Experiment: What Our Journey Has Taught Us “You might be a homeschooler if… A soda bottle explodes into a geyser in your kitchen and you call it a science experiment.” Hello! My name is Monica. My husband and I are happily married and have been blessed with five beautiful children; Shealee(21), Sean(17), Shani(11), Shannen(10), and Sherylan(8). God has been gracious to us and kept us strong through years of refining fires. We are not completed works just yet, and continuously make many mistakes. We hope that through the retelling of our journey, you may be encouraged on yours; whatever your personal journey may be. We are parents. We are homeschoolers. We are the Payne’s. The afore-mentioned science experiment happened to us one day a couple years ago. We had been grocery shopping and came home with many bags of groceries. I don’t remember which of my children dropped the bag with this particular soda bottle in it, but the soda rolled around on the floor before being picked up and placed on the counter. Our family then proceeded about our day as usual, putting away all the groceries and settling in for supper. That night we were watching a movie together as we ate. All of a sudden, from across the room, we heard a loud explosion. We looked and found a geyser of soda drenching the kitchen ceiling. After the initial shock, came a burst of laughter. We promptly left the movie and began exploring the science behind the shaken-up soda. This episode launched into a full-on investigation of all things overpressurized or combustible. The movie was forgotten while we discussed and explored other similar reactions. Do you know what happens when you drop a Mentos into a bottle of soda and which type of soda will react most violently? What about mixing vinegar with baking soda? My youngest son even carried it over the next day, creating his own volcano in my kitchen. He also learned that he could clean the commode with such a reaction and was thereafter responsible for the task. One which he truly enjoyed completing! It may not have been a controlled experiment in a classroom environment, but we learned a valuable lesson that day. Learning happens as life happens. We didn’t have to artificially create that moment for our children to learn about pressurized containers, combustible materials, and chemical reactions, it just happened. Naturally. We didn’t have to water it down for them to understand. They witnessed it. They understood the connection between the lesson and the experiment, without the extra lectures. My oldest son, who was just entering high school at the time, was able to connect the incident back to what he’d been learning in his science text and take it farther than the other children who were only elementary age. This was a launching pad for both of my boys to explore something that interested them. They both did so for much longer and in much more depth than the girls. But that’s ok. The girls moved on to something else, but they didn’t miss out on anything because the boys enjoyed sharing their findings with them. “Hey, watch what happens when I do this!”
“Cool, can you show me how to do it too?” These are words I hear from my children a lot these days. It’s just learning happening. We remember that day so well because it was a turning point for our homeschool. We no longer worried whether our children were getting the academics they needed. Yes, I still worry about which curriculum to buy. I still pour over curriculum information at least three times a year. However, it has made me less stressed knowing that my children are able to make real connections through their learning experiences. They have shown me that they can connect what they are reading with real-life. There’s no disconnect between the classroom and life, because we’ve made a point to put life first, academics second. We have a motto in our homeschool: We are always learning, not just during schoolwork. Our homeschool happens 24/7/365 and sometimes even 366. We used to laugh about the required hours we had to put into our “school time” because our children learned
more outside of those hours than they learned within them. And they were also able to take what they learned during the segregated times and relate them back to each other. The one building on the other as each child grew in ways we never expected. I am so blessed to be able to watch from a distance and enjoy my children as they learn. Or, even participate fully in that learning experience and learn just as much myself. There is a philosophy of homeschooling that embraces this concept more fully. It’s called unschooling. While we are not a “true” unschooling family, we certainly embrace many of the tenets of this particular philosophy. To unschool, you simply need to trust your children’s natural curiosity bent towards learning and growing. Having two children who were at first publicschooled, unschooling seemed like a fairy-tale. They had lost that love of learning. It had become a task to Continued on page 8...
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8Home Is Where the Heart Is
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, Monica Payne
hide from or rebel against. Unschooling, at this point, would have been a disaster. However, I have witnessed the full return of the natural beauty that comes from allowing learning to happen and children to explore as their curiosity inclines, at least in all but my oldest. She still sees learning as a necessary evil which must be done to achieve the goals she’s set. (Unfortunately, this is my fault. I allowed the general education system to fail her for too long before making the change over to homeschooling. I count it among my greatest failures as a mother. However, I am very proud of how far she has come from the days of tears and stomach aches. She’s grown in every area and is becoming the young woman I always knew she could be.) We are not, as I said, a “true” unschooling family. We do require our children to practice certain academics daily (or semi-daily), such as reading, writing and math. We believe that if you are not using the knowledge you’ve gained in these technical areas, you will eventually lose them. True unschooling families do not require their children to learn anything in particular. They allow the children to explore and learn through the many resources available to them on whatever topic the child chooses to pursue at the moment. It doesn’t matter whether this is through the local library, classes, text books, living books, personal experience, tutoring, or some other resource. The child decides what he wants to explore and the parent helps to find the resources to explore that topic. The child would be learning at his own pace, through his own learning style and achieving his own goals. I have much respect and admiration for true unschooling families. One day our family may make the complete change over to unschooling. But for now, we are doing whatever works for us. A little of this and a little of that, all mixed together until our experiment becomes over-pressurized and explodes. Then we try again. As we continue our journey together, I hope you will come back again. Don’t forget your tea glass! You may witness more of our family’s learning-as-it-happens adventures… “Hey children! Remember when Nana and I took you on the Texas history field trip? Maybe we should do that again.” We homeschool. Do you?
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Independent Sales Reps Needed Why is this space empty? Because we need more advertisers!!! Flexible Hours -- Generous Commission -- Huge Income Potential
ABILENE -- BROWNWOOD -- STEPHENVILLE All Points In Between Literally 1,000’s of potential accounts?!?!?
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10Tumbleweed Smith
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, Bob Lewis
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By Bob Lewis THE DIALVILLE TURTLE
Dialville is a little place between Rusk and Jacksonville that developed in the 1880’s when John Dial opened a store on a railroad line. The place was originally called Dial, but when residents applied for a post office, there was already a Dial in Fannin County, so the post office was named Dialville. It became a shipping point for tomatoes, peaches and other produce. At the town’s peak in 1915 it had two churches, a school, a bank, two newspapers and a theater. About 200 people live there now. A store in Dialville sells sandwiches, coffee and a few other essentials. It’s a meeting place for neighbors and sometimes there’s a domino game going on. Annette Kimbrell of Dialville has a turtle. “Down at the Dialville store one day, the owner, Rebecca had a big ole turtle in the back of her truck and she asked us if we had a place to keep it. I told her yeah, we had ponds and everything. That turtle was big, really a neat looking turtle. It was a soft shell.” Annette asked Rebecca how she got the turtle. “She said this guy came in and he was drunker than Cooter Brown. He had this big turtle with him and every time that poor turtle would poke his head out, he’d pop it in the head with his fist. So they got to feeling sorry for the turtle and asked the man if they could buy the turtle for five dollars. The guy said, ‘why, sure’. About that time that turtle stuck out his big ole long neck, reached around and bit that guy on the belly. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Anyway, they gave us the turtle.” The turtle has found a home in a pond right above a zip line that Annette and her husband Billy started in their back yard in July of 2011. Their business is called Adrenaline Rush Zip Line Tours. Zip lines cross over ponds and treetops on some of the highest elevations in East Texas. During the Christmas season, the zip lines are lighted. There are group rates, but for 50 dollars a person can ride five zip lines. 60 dollars gets you on seven and 75 bucks gets you on eight. The most
expensive one includes a ride on one of the longest zip lines in Texas. It’s 1700 feet long and people hooked to it reach speeds up to 40 miles an hour. Adrenaline Rush provides all the necessary equipment for a ride, but closed toed shoes are required. People eight years and older can ride, provided they weigh between 65 and 275 pounds. The rides are by reservation only (903 683-6855 or info@daretozip.com). Annette and her husband live on 109 acres of land and have mined iron ore on their property and in the neighboring area. Some of that ore is beneath a layer of sandstone, which has some unique patterns in it. Annette thought it was attractive. She rocked the outside of her house with it. “I was thinking of having someone else do it, but when I found out how much it would cost, I thought I would try my hand at it. I rocked that whole entire house all by myself. It took three years to do it.” ANTHONY CATCHES A THIEF
for people who were goofing around too much to make it in the business school. I agreed with him.” Anthony is known for his practical jokes. He learned a lot of them at A & M, like covering the toilet bowl with cellophane or painting the toilet seat with white shoe polish or throwing ice water on someone in the shower. Once Anthony helped catch a thief who had stolen two cordless drills from a hardware store in Del Rio. “I went in the store to buy one screw driver. As I was walking toward the store I saw a man run out the front door with some employees of Russell Hardware run after him. A friend of mine grabbed the back of my shirt and said, ‘go get him.’ I chased this guy for the equivalent of four blocks. He went around the wool house one way and I knew he was going to be coming around the other way. So I ran through the wool house and cut him off. Sure enough, by the time I got to the back of the wool house, I was waiting for him and tackled him. I recovered the stolen drills. “After this happened I went back over to Russell Hardware. The owner was there and thanked me profusely for getting his merchandise back. I thought to myself that these people are grateful. I saw a nice wrench set for forty-five bucks. I thought I would seize the opportunity and said to myself, ‘if I take this forty-five dollar wrench set up to the check stand they’re gonna give it to me to show their appreciation.’ I took the fortyfive dollar wrench set up there and again got tons of praise and gratitude for catching the thief. The clerk told me, ‘that’ll be forty-eight ninety five.’ I pulled out my credit card and paid for the wrenches. Next morning I took the wrenches back, got a refund and got my screwdriver.”
Anthony Kusenberger has lived in Del Rio all his life with the exception of six and a half years he spent at A & M. He liked it there and developed some unique studying skills. “You know some people go the library to study, but real men go to the Dixie Chicken to study. It takes real talent to try to study your physics homework while playing dominoes and drinking a beer. That’s real talent. Anybody can go to the library.” He really wanted to stay at A & M. but something made him think it was time to go. “One day my mother called and she said that little Ann Strohman would be coming up here next year. Well, I used to baby-sit this girl. I thought it was time for me to get out of here.” Tumbleweed lives in Big Spring and produces He ended up with a master’s degree THE SOUND OF TEXAS syndicated radio series. His website is tumbleweedsmith.com in Agricultural Economics. “I thought it would increase my social standing if I had an advanced degree. My daddy, who’s a CPA, told me studying agricultural economics is www.MyCounty-Line.com
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11Growing Up Small Town
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, Continued...
I could have created that website for $700...SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS. Not MILLION, not THOUSAND...SEVEN HUNDRED! With $700-million I could have hired 700 website designers, 700 database programmers, 700 IT specialists, 700 call center operators and paid each and every one of them $50,000 and built 700 different websites in less than 7-months and then would have had $560-million left over to spend on hardware, security and bandwidth with redundant server access in all 50-states!!! The Democrats and this Administration had THREE YEARS to get this up and going and they failed. They FAILED. They took our money and they FAILED. They dropped the ball and it was a failure on launch. Crash and burn. Utter. Complete. Total. Failure. In Washington D.C. that level of incompetence calls for Congressional Hearings. In the real world, that level of incompetence calls for criminal charges and jail time as well as restitution and closures of companies and corporations involved. If Apple failed on a product rollout on that level, where every single user was adversely affected, shareholders would demand that the board room be cleaned from top to bottom and not a single division would be spared scrutiny and possible change of leadership...or else the entire organization would
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crater to the ground. I have seen online game companies give their players DAYS of free play time to compensate them for MINUTES and HOURS of downtime. No online service could withstand this level of incompetence. No tech company could survive this level of failure on their signature rollout. Microsoft has NEVER had a new Windows rollout that failed this bad...and they have had some industry-shaking doozies! If you believe that government is qualified to handle your healthcare then you are as dumb as a rock. God please help us all if Bird Flue or Swine Flue ever gets loose under Obamacare.....it will be like the Black Plague in the dark ages! ~mwn Obamacare (www.Healthcare.gov) do it work? Or do it not? Maybe you should try to log on at 3am in the morning when there’s less traffic?!?!? How about Washington, you get your crap together. www.MyCounty-Line.com
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
12Good Neighbors
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, Clint Coffee CLU ChFC State Farm Insurance® Agent
The Pros and Cons of Metal Roofs
Whether you’re putting a roof on a new home, or your existing roof requires a total makeover, there are many materials available. But no matter what roof style you have, metal roofs can be an attractive option because of their longevity, minimal maintenance, and eco-friendliness. And you can choose from tin, zinc, aluminum, copper, or galvanized steel – just make sure your metal roofing material is tested and labeled by UL, FM Global, or the equivalent.
inspected periodically to make sure no repairs are required. Safety. Metal roofs will not spark and ignite into flames during a wildfire or lightning strike. Energy efficiency. Metal roofs reflect solar radiant heat, which can reduce cooling costs by 10% to 25%. Environmentally friendly. Metal roofs not only have 25% to 95% recycled content, depending on the material used, but are also Advantages of Metal Roofs 100% recyclable at the end of their life as a Metal roofs offer many benefits, including: roof. In contrast, most shingle tear-off waste Longevity. Metal roofs can last 40 to 70 ends up as part of the building-related waste years, depending on the material. Traditional stream – up to 20 billion pounds per year. asphalt roofing materials have an estimated life expectancy of roughly 12 to 20 years. Durability. Some metal roofs can sustain Disadvantages of Metal Roofs wind gusts up to 140 miles per hour, will not Despite their many advantages, metal roofs corrode or crack, and may be impact-resistant have some potential drawbacks (depending on which metal you choose). In Affordability. Metal roofs can be as much addition, metal roofs don’t need the periodic as two or three times more expensive than other costly maintenance that other roofing materials roofing materials. While the life of a metal often require. However, they should be roof is much longer, investing in a metal roof only makes sense if you plan to stay in your home long enough to enjoy the cost benefits. Noisiness. Metal roofs can be noisy, especially during a heavy rain or hailstorm. Adding more insulation during installation usually solves this problem, but that may increase costs. Expansion and contraction. Metal roofing materials that are attached as large panels tend to expand and contract. If they are not properly installed with fasteners that allow the metal to “breathe,” the panels may loosen. Inconsistency of color match. If a repair is required or a home extension is added years later, it may be difficult to find an exact match to the existing metal. Performance. If water accumulates anywhere on the roof because of poorquality installation or repair, it can eventually cause serious damage. Lowgrade metals may also be thinner and less durable. Some metals rust in certain climates or dent more easily than others during hailstorms or installation. - See more at: http://learningcenter. statefarm.com/residence/maintenance/ the-pros-and-cons-of-metalroofs/#sthash.9nPJoziG.dpuf www.MyCounty-Line.com
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13Treasure Hunters
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, Jerry Eckhart
By Jerry Eckhart To see more of Jerry’s treasure finds, search Facebook for “Jerry Eckhart”
he was the prime suspect. The boy’s body was found in a pool of blood right in the middle of this acre sized thicket. The police called us in to see if we could locate the murder weapon. They had no idea as to how the boy’s throat had been cut.
over, and it looked as if it were going to rain. We heard the officer call everyone to gather again. He thanked us and dismissed us, saying that they would test what we found and let us know.
There were six of us who assembled at the bloody spot where the child died. It was gruesome. The blood pool was about three feet in diameter, and had hardly soaked into the ground at all. We cordoned out lanes and began to search. Whenever something that appeared to have the potential for a I spent a lot of time treasure hunting in the desert of the American Southwest weapon, the officers would claim and in the past. Sometimes, I was out alone, or far from my companions, when I bag it. had the strange feeling that someone was watching. I would look around and This went on for about an hour as a nothing would be there, not even a bird. Still the feeling would persist. It number of sharp, jagged pieces of tin was so strong at times, that I would literally get goose bumps on my arms. At cans were found. Until forensics could times, I quit searching and sought out my companions for mutual company. test them, there was no telling. One I never figured out just what brought on this feeling, but in my historical of the treasure hunters and I worked research, I came upon tales which mirrored my own. I also learned that many farther away from the main group, of the legends of the southwest desert involved that of a parallel universe until we came to an area where we with doorways where one could travel from one dimension to another. These suddenly stopped. It was September, legends described the event as first beginning with a feeling of being watched, and the temperature was still in the then, at a distance, the terrain would take on a shimmery look and distant nineties, but when we entered a small objects would become indistinct. I saw a lot of places take on that appearance, clearing, the temperature dropped but always attributed it to rising heat waves. I cannot logically explain it, but until it was almost cold. We stopped after a few steps into the clearing that feeling of being watched was all too real. and looked at each other. Both of us Back in the 1980’s, while living in Wichita Falls, I formed a crime scene felt the unusual temperature change. search team from metal detector users in our club. One search we were John, who was more of a believer in involved in was that of searching a thick, brushy spot at the very edge of a the supernatural than I said, “There is residential area. This unoccupied spot was about halfway between the houses either a body here, or this place was used for a Satanic ritual. and an elementary school.
The following story, although incomplete covers some of the ideas our forefathers had about the spiritual world. I found this is one of my late uncle’s notes. He was Robert O. Woodward and was a collector of interesting folklore as well. Here it is.
Spookiness does not always mean treasure...
Many treasure stories carry an element of unworldiness. Some are permeated with ideas that ghosts guard some treasures. Others say that spirits of those who hid the treasure abound around it. J.Frank Dobie recorded a number of these in his several books. Although he never claimed these stories to be true, he left the door open to speculation. As that time of the year approaches when it is popular to glamorize the unworldly, I thought I might offer a few thoughts and experiences I have had in my fifty some years of treasure hunting. I want to emphasize right off the top that I don’t believe in ghosts. In spite of that, I have had a fascination with collecting odd and unusual folklore that sometimes pertained to ghosts. Those who told these stories firmly believe in the supernatural from a ghostly standpoint. With that in mind, let me relate a few of the unexplained incidents that I have seen, or that folks in my family have seen.
Although we left, that uneasy feeling of walking into a cold spot stayed with John and I for days. I still cannot explain that eerie feeling. A few days later, they arrested the stepfather, who confessed the murder of the boy and turned over the murder weapon. It turned out to be his own pocket knife and he had carried the thing, with the boy’s blood still on it in his pocket all the time.
It is entitled, “Woodward Sagas, Great Grandmother Haycraft’s Spiritual World – as Remembered.” It is presented as it was written.
“In a child’s formative years there are numerous wild fancies of the brain that particularly attract the attention. One of the early years’ stories of this writer, as initially told by his mother, Nellie Essa Arnett We stood there for a few minutes and Woodward, and remembered as a A little, 12-year-old boy had been waylaid by his stepfather and apparently murdered by him. Although the stepfather had not been charged at this point, looked around. The sky had clouded Continued on page 17...
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14Love Lessons Learned So Far
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, Vicki Stiefer
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By Vicki Stiefer Depend on your Man for Support during the Holidays
You are gearing up for another nerve jarring holiday season. You’ve made appropriate lists and your family is all over you to host the best Holiday Season ever! Or maybe you’re just a bystander expected to be on your best behavior. I know you’re asking yourself, how long can I stand here smiling? Good news, you only need to smile for 2 months out of the year. Ugh! You think to yourself. You can do it! It’s possible to have a great Holiday season, but only if you have some inner calm. You’ve also got to rely on your spouse for support. You’ve got to turn to them and say, “Honey, if you don’t help me this year I think I am literally going to kill your sister.” Of course you would NEVER watch Friday the 13th to beef up on your terrorizing innocent sister skills but the thought does cross your mind when your precious husband who normally is a good guy turns into a stupid Mr. McGoo. I love my husband, I really do but my love for him dies a little every time he stands in front of the pantry shouting, “Honey, where’s the peanut butter?” And it’s right there in front of his big dumb face! So how do you depend on your loved ones when you don’t really feel like they are up for the task? You don’t! Get straight with yourself. First, remember that you are not crazy. Say it with me, “I AM NOT CRAZY.” Once you believe it, things get a lot easier. Second, and this is a big one, people are different! I know, wrap your brain around that simple fact. Not everyone does everything the very same way. And if you’re a woman this is an earth shattering statement. Women know everything. Am I right? Of course I am! They know the best way to handle any situation and if you are doing it differently then you are not doing it correctly. Being married has taught me the big lesson that there are other ways to do things and get the same correct outcome. It was kind of a blow, but I pretend it never happened and I’m still the Queen. And most of all, take into consideration that most people lack basic communication skills. If people could communicate with one another break-ups would be much more civilized. “It’s over Dan because you’re feet smell like corn chips and your bird Fifi won’t stop pooping in my handbag.” To which Dan would reply, “Duly noted, you might want to pluck your eyebrows more often so you don’t look like a caveman.” They shake hands and walk away.
they think if I give in? I can’t let them win, so I’m just going to ignore them and get on with my business. Fear is another big one. What if they don’t accept my apology? What if I don’t get my way? Deep down inside, we all want to be loved, we all want appreciation and respect, but in reality we are animals and we don’t show respect in order to protect our delicate egos. This is wrong, because in a marriage and close relationships with family there is no pride, no ego and there should not be any fear. If there are any of these things in your marriage or close family relationships then you haven’t fully given yourself to the situation. Check the bible for the reference. I think God’s got it when it comes to not being boastful and proud especially in a marriage.
have a choice. When Grandma Betty asks you in her sweetest voice, “You didn’t double wash the sheets I am sleeping on this year?” You simply have to lovingly look back at her and say, “No Grandma I didn’t. If you’re not comfortable I would be glad to book you a hotel room.” It’s more about pro-active than re-active. If you’re always reacting you’re never in control and you will never have the inner calm necessary to make it through Thanksgiving and Christmas with family members you don’t really like all that much.
One more thing to remember, the skin you are in probably feels better when everyone is sitting in a circle holding hands and singing Christmas carols, but other than the Christmas card you just mailed out where else do you see that picture of harmony? Life is dirty When the Holidays come, it’s not and that’s okay. Keep calm and eat just stressful for you and the bible some Turkey! ~vs says you need to ‘bloom where you are planted’ so that means you www.MyCounty-Line.com
Pride is the biggest factor in a non-communicating world. What will
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
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By Matt Swinney Bullying In Football, It Can’t Be
High School football is over half over, and there is one team and one game is particular that has garnered coverage from news sources like the Washington Post and Fox News, and even ESPN. It involves the town of Aledo and its Bearcats. The Aledo Bearcats, located about an hour west of Dallas, are the number one ranked team in Class 4A with a record of 7-0. They have outscored their opponents 485 to 47, which is an average of 69 to 7. It seems like they have had an easy season so far, but what happened on October 18th made news not only locally but nationally. They defeated Western Hills high school out of Fort Worth 91 to 0 in a District 7 Class 4A contest in Fort Worth. A lot of people would say, “Wow! That’s a big blowout.”, but what makes this a national news story, yes, I said national news story, is that a father of one of the Fort Worth Western Hills football players filed a formal complaint accusing the Aledo Bearcat coaching staff of bullying. According to the complaint, the father wrote “I did not know what to say on the ride home to explain the behavior of the Aledo coaches for not easing up.” Also, in the complaint, the father wrote that everyone witnessed the bullying, and it was getting out of hand. Aledo head coach Tim Buchanan, on the other hand, didn’t even think that the game would escalate in a bullying lawsuit. He said they didn’t expect to score 91 points, but he’s not going to tell his kids not to play all out, and I completely agree with him. Are you going to tell me that second and third string players don’t deserve to play all out just like the regular starters? I would hope not. Also, one of the scores was a seventy-three yard punt return, don’t tell me that you don’t want the players to score? Isn’t that the object of the game
of football, to score touchdowns? Of course, it is. Now, on to this ridiculous “bullying” complaint. The word “bullying” is the new --it-- word. Don’t get me wrong. Bullying in schools is out of hand and needs to stop, but you can’t tell me that when one team wins in an athletic competition by 90 points is bullying. As my niece says, “Seriously!!!” I mean really, what’s going to happen next is one basketball team going to beat another 100 to 10. This complaint alone is out of hand. I’m waiting for the American Civil Liberties Union, or the ACLU, to file a lawsuit, and you know it’s going to happen. The superintendent of Aledo hopes that the University Interscholastic League will move Aledo to a tougher district next year during the district realignment that occurs every two years. Another thing that’s been mentioned by Aledo head football coach, Tim
Buchanan, is the adding of the mercy rule in eleven man football. There is currently a 45 point mercy rule in six-man football, which means if one team is leading by 45 points at halftime or any time in the second half, the game is over. I never thought that there would be a chance that teams that play eleven man high school football would ever have the mercy rule, but, that could happen as soon as next year. If they do add the mercy rule, how many points would it take, 40, 50, 60...when would it be enough. I personally don’t think it will happen, but time will only tell. As far as the complaint goes, I would hope that it will be settled without having the courts get involved, but the question still remains, will there be another complaint filed if this happens again. ~ms www.MyCounty-Line.com
No matter which team you’re rooting for, you can create your own custom team sports apparel and accessories! No Minimum Orders! Quantity Discounts! Shipped Straight to Your Door!
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Hunters, Continued...
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truism, was my mother’s grandmother’s concept of the hereafter and spiritual world. It was impressive when first heard at the age of four or five years as it intertwined with many of the “boogerman” stories a child at that age is exposed to as a later arrival in a large family. It borders on superstition, mythology, magic and perhaps several other areas of imagination. A story of this type would hardly have a place in a family history book if it had not been consistently repeated, and finally discovered in several mythology writings. The mystery surrounding it is heightened by the discovery of these very similar realities when one asks ”From whence did Grandmother get the story?” A very simple, unlettered, western Illinois maiden who probably never attended school beyond the equivalent of seventh grade--her husband, however was supposedly an English Merchant Marine who jumped ship and reared a family in Pike County, Illinois. Our mother elucidated upon this story to this writer’s recollection. It was also repeated to him by an uncle and several aunts in separate accounts some 800 miles removed from where my mother reared her family. If it were not for the intrigue of the story, the repetitious manner in which it was received and the relationship of the procreator, it would hardly have a place among the Woodward Sagas. Mama would frequently tell us siblings of our kith and kin, and usually connect many of them with unusual events or happenings. The setting for these discourses could be many; sitting around the supper dishes still on the table, huddled around the wood burning stove in the front room on a cold winter night, or while chopping cotton which seemed to be a 45 day detestable annual job. The siblings would probably prompt her into these stories as it was not only an historical event, but also slowed down the laborious task at hand and made things seem easier. Another setting could be when hoeing and weeding the garden which was also laborious and a competitor with the cotton chopping. Mama seemed to relish telling these family events as most of them was a trip back to her happy, more secure childhood days. Grandmother Haycraft’s spiritual story could be easily set aside if it had not been repeated to this writer on several occasions, and also a partial verification of the concept Continued on page 18...
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18The County Line
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■ , Mike W. Norris The County Line Distribution Area
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Hunters, Continued...
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is found in mythology writings. A second person to repeat her story was Uncle Otis Arnett in 1933. I had driven my mother and father, two sisters and a nephew to Pike County Illinois to attend the funeral of Mammas’ youngest brother, Thomas Arnett when a short discussion between Mamma, Aunt Cora Godfrey and Aunt Fannie Hart was overheard. The topic was whether Tom’s spirit would take the form of Grandma Haycraft’s little people. Again, in 1946, when Pappa, Mamma, Teresa, Wayne, Nancy and myself spent Christmas in Pike County I heard the story again. The 1946 retelling will be recorded later, as it was between the four Arnett sisters, as well as Teresa and I. Both of us were listening. This was the heavy weight of all the stories. Further, the mythology writings adds another dimension to it. Grandmother’s saga centered around a concept of life and activity after death. It was not contemporary in that the soul leaves the body, ascends into heaven, and remains there unto joined by others. In this story, the spirit never leaves the environs and friends known in life, but it exists as an invisible figurine some 12 to 14 inches tall. It can be seen by other figurines (spirits), can see everything about it, but cannot be seen by living people. It uses limited amounts of food and liquids, sleeps, talks to other spirits, is mischievous, provokes levity, and supposedly can often be heard laughing in some remote corner of the room. It wears a pointed witch type hood, its face is withered like a prune and its feet look like chicken feet. It lives on top of book cases, on upper moulding in rooms, or on bare rafters. It can jump from the floor to the ceiling, or across two or three rooms in one leap. Each one adopts one living person to protect, something like a guardian angel. Other spirits will do their utmost to intimidate or aggravate the other spirist protectorate, making them stumble, hit their finger with a hammer while driving a nail, make them burn their mouth because the coffee is too hot. This is a source of laughter to the spirits. They also do good things about the house or field like bring in wood or water, and perhaps wash windows. They sometimes do mischeivious things like letting the gate down so the cows get out at night. Supposedly, they stay with their adoptee for life. (This sounds like the modern description of a poltergeist.) This syndrome was very impressive to a four or five year old boy—these animal things you can’t even see and them being so ornery too. Increased evaluation would be made of dark places, booger holes, the dark outside and sleeping without your head being covered. In the early years it was even thought that if you would whirl around suddenly you might get a glimpse of one. An older brother and this writer had a stop put to this antic by our mother when we would bump or break fragile items in the room. Normally it would seem that a person could discount all this as a wild story if it didn’t keep cropping up in the most unexpected places. It was almost put to bed, until an interest in genealogy and a desire to leave something about the family for posterity. Grandmother’s spirit animal might be considered as a Teutonic spirit called the Kobold. There are many things that coincide for it to be disclaimed.” Uncle Bob kind of stopped his story in midstream. I suppose he always meant to continue but for some reason never did. Family stories of these kind seem to prevail among the older generation. Perhaps they were, as Uncle Bob implied, designed to frighten younger children into being good and to keep them out of mischief. They may have worked on me because I had a healthy fear of the dark until about ten years old. To date, I have never found even one coin in places where there is supposed to a ghostly treasure. Nor, have I had any ghostly experiences other than the two I related in any of my treasure hunting escapades. ~jme
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Visit www.MyCounty-Line.com Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
20This Week In Texas History
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, by Bartee Haile
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By Bartee Haile THE FLESH-AND-BLOOD DEALEY BEHIND DALLAS’ PLAZA
already on the scene.
Nov. 4, 1940 was “Dealey Day” at the University of Texas as “Mr. After the purchase of an existing G.B.,” founder and guiding genius of the Dallas Morning News, was paper fell through, Belo sent honored with a testimonial banquet by the journalism department. Dealey to Dallas to start one from scratch. The inaugural edition of Seventy years earlier, George Bannerman Dealey walked down the The Morning News hit the mostly gangplank at Galveston with his English family. Forced by adverse unpaved streets on October 1, economic circumstances to seek a promising place for a fresh start, the 1885. The proud father was 26 Dealeys chose Texas over New York. years old. An older brother was hired right off the boat by the Galveston News, In those early days, the Dallas and 11 year old George focused on filling in the gaps in his weak Morning News and the Galveston education. That did not mean the schoolboy had a lot of free time on his News were literally two sides hands. When not in class or studying, he did odd jobs like delivering of the same coin. Dealey made telegrams for Western Union and running errands for a German-owned history with a telegraph link by cotton company. printing an exact copy of the parent Never before had two No one could have imagined what an historic day Oct. 12, 1874 would publication. newspapers separated by so many be. That was the day George Dealey, just turned 15, went to work for miles published simultaneous the Galveston News. Hired as an office boy, he started at the bottom but editions. did not stay there very long. In no time at all, the tail was George had been on the job just a few days, when he met publisher wagging dog both in terms of Willard Richardson. “The Napoleon of the Texas Press” took the time to circulationthe and revenue. While the talk to the fresh face and asked how much he was making. When young lion’s share of the belonged Dealey replied three dollars a week, the newspaper pioneer patted his to Dealey, who credit was given an shoulder and said, “Well, maybe someday you’ll get more.” increasingly free hand to run the In retrospect it was a shame that Richardson did not live long enough northern “branch,” the rocketfor the new hire to benefit from his experience. In his 30 years at the like rise of the Trinity River town helm of “The Old Lady by the Sea,” he had turned an obscure handout was a critical factor as was the with a circulation of less than 200 into the biggest and most important stagnation and subsequent decline of Galveston. newspaper in the Lone Star Republic and later the State of Texas. Dealey advanced from office boy to mailroom clerk to head of that Col. Belo passed away in 1901 department while still in his teens. Then in the early 1880’s, he was and was succeeded by his son. promoted to the dual position of traveling agent and staff correspondent But the sudden death of A.H. Jr. in which took him to every part of Texas and provided a deep understanding 1905 followed within a few short weeks by the unexpected demise of its communities and people. of the next two replacements Soon Dealey was ready for his next challenge – running the Houston caused the Belo family to turn to office of The News. He did such a bang-up job in the Bayou City that Dealey. However, he declined to no one else merited serious consideration to oversee the giant step the fill the vacancy arguing instead Galveston paper was about to take. that a Belo should occupy the office of president in name only if Alfred H. Belo, the Confederate colonel from North Carolina who necessary. That was why Dealey’s assumed complete control after Richardson’s death, recognized the need official reign was postponed for 14 to expand into North Texas. If he did not act fast, all those readers and years. all those advertising dollars would be lost to newspapers out of St. Louis
In 1923 the tail finally sold the dog. For years the Galveston News had been financial drag on the company, and Dealey easily found a member of one of Galveston’s wealthiest clans who felt it might be fun to own the local newspaper – W.L. Moody, Jr. In contrast to traditional journalists, Dealey not only saw a future in radio but viewed it as a natural partner of the print medium. Eight years after WFAA went on the air in 1922, the voice of The Morning News became the first 50,000-watt station in the South owned and operated by a newspaper. The death of George B. Dealey in 1946 moved even the New York Times to mourn the passing of the dean of American newspapers. Among the avalanche of tributes was this from a close friend who repeated Dealey’s belief that “the business of a newspaper (is) always to be a newspaper first and a money making business second.” What heresy that must sound like to the bean-counters who have closed the doors of so many big-city dailies. The grateful citizens of Big D honored George B. Dealey with the downtown plaza that bears his name. It is too bad that since a November afternoon in 1963 Dealey Plaza is now seen as a tragic landmark. Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 or haile@ pdq.net and invites you to visit his new web site at barteehaile.com. www.MyCounty-Line.com
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23The Wizard of ID
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, by Parker & Hart
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Eastland DaVita Dialysis Center Gradually Taking New Patients
October 21, 2013 This was my Facebook post from Monday, October 21st at 3:47 in the afternoon: “Well, Ruthie and I received a phone call today..... Looks like she reports to the Eastland Dialysis Center tomorrow morning to fill out some paperwork and meet her new dialysis team! Today is (hopefully) her last dialysis session in Abilene!!!!” That turned out to be exactly the case! On Tuesday, October 22nd, Ruthie reported to the Eastland DaVita Dialysis Center and sat down for her first 10am dialysis session. It was exactly four years ago that Ruthie was diagnosed with End-Stage Renal Disease, ‘ESRD’, also known universally simply as “kidney failure.” One of the first things she did upon facing this very personal challenge was to meet with several Eastland Memorial Hospital administration members and board members in an effort to bring their attention to the needs for a local facility to offer hemodialysis for ESRD patients. At the time, we only knew of about a dozen individuals and families who were facing the same challenges as we were. But over time we learned that hundreds of individuals needed these services in and around the Eastland area. We were on a fast track to learn everything we could about ESRD treatment options and when we learned that normal people could treat themselves (in some cases) with home-based dialysis treatments, we simply couldn’t believe that many small town medical facilities couldn’t even support basic emergency dialysis needs. Through our own experience, we realized that even though we might be only minutes away from emergency care, Ruthie still had to be transported hours away to other facilities even if she were hospitalized for unrelated, non-critical reasons. There was one instance in particular where I had to give Ruthie one of her peritoneal dialysis treatments in an emergency room environment under the observation of an emergency room nurse simply because that facility had no personnel or equipment to deal with a peritoneal dialysis patient. That was during a stay in Dallas while Ruthie was undergoing evaluations to qualify for the transplant list. It was the Baylor Emergency Room and we ended up leaving Dallas at 3am and driving all the way to Abilene to meet her dialysis nurse at the Abilene Center as they unlocked the doors so Ruthie could be treated for peritonitis ---
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Top: A typical treatment day at the Eastland DaVita Dialysis Center. Above: The Eastland Medical Professional Park entrance. Right: Dedication monument from the Duffy White Family
an infection of the peritoneal membrane. you receive that phone call soon. We know how The need for dialysis treatment is literally a life important that phone call is going threatening need. Most people that aren’t familiar with to be for you and your family. dialysis have no idea how demanding the treatment schedule is nor do they truly realize how difficult it is in our rural location to integrate dialysis treatments Donations may be made to: with other, more mundane, medical care. Farmers & Merchants Bank Ruth Norris Benefit Fund Having the Eastland DaVita Dialysis Center finally 930 East Main Eastland, TX 76448 able to begin to support a growing number of dialysis (254) 629-3282 patients is a blessing beyond measure and Ruthie and I could not be more pleased to have played even the Credit Card donations can be made online at: smallest part in making that happen. If you’re still on the waiting list, we pray that
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Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com