2A ● MAY 10, 2012
TRI COUNTY LEADER
Living Out Loud
B ULLETIN BOARD May
S 6 13 20 27
M T 7 14 21 28
1 8 15 22 29
W T 2 9 16 23 30
3 10 17 24 31
F
S
4 11 18 25
5 12 19 26
Community Activities
Bluegrass Jamboree in Whitehouse Bluegrass Jamboree is set for Saturday, May 12 at the TASCA building, 10495 CR 2167 (Jim Russell Rd). Bands scheduled to perform are Wise County, Church Hill and Country Grass. TASCA members $4, guests $5. Music starts at 6 p.m. For additional information call 903-871-3217.
Troup majorette bake sale The Troup majorettes will hold a bake sale at the Brookshire’s in Troup on Saturday, May 12. The girls are raising money to help pay for their uniforms.
AARP driver safety program offered AARP is offering their driver safety program for drivers age 50 and older the first and second Monday of each month. The next course is set for Monday, May 14, 1-5 p.m., at Pollard Methodist Church. The cost for AARP members is $12 with non-members paying $14. To register for a class or to express your interest for an evening or Saturday class, call Jim Linney at 903-839-7789.
Henry M. Bell Masonic Lodge meeting Henry Marsh Bell Masonic Lodge #1371 will meet Monday, May 14 at 7 p.m. at the lodge hall. All Masonic Brothers are welcome to attend.
Wildcat EE Club meets The Wildcat Extension Education Club meets at the Whitehouse YMCA, Monday, May 14, 7 p.m. “Fast Food with a Slow Cooker” will be the subject.
TGHS meeting date moved The quarterly meeting of the Troup Genealogical/ Historical Society has moved their meeting date to May 19 due to a conflict with May elections. Suzanne Cross Shelton will bring the program at the meeting that begins at 2 p.m. at the Troup Library. Shelton has just published a family history and cookbook entitled “The Pages of our Years.” The public is invited.
WH Recycle Center open Whitehouse Recycle Center is open Wednesdays from 7-10 a.m. and 3:30-4:30 p.m. and the first Saturday of the month from 8 a.m. to noon. Bring your recyclable paper, newspaper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum cans and tin cans. The Recycle Center is located on Railroad Avenue.
Troup Recycle Center open Troup now has a self-service recycling receptacle. Bring your recyclable paper, newspaper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum and tin cans to the Allied Waste Recycling bin placed across from the downtown fire station at the corner of W. Bradford and N. Georgia.
School Activities
Troup bands hold concerts Troup bands will hold their end of school concerts on Thursday, May 17 beginning at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. Come and hear the sixth grade, middle school and high school bands as they conclude their musical year.
Government Activities
WH P & Z to meet The City of Whitehouse Planning and Zoning commission is set to meet Monday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the Whitehouse City Council and Court chambers at 311 E. Main.
Arp trustees to meet The Arp ISD Board of Trustees will meet Monday, May 14 at 7 p.m. in the Arp High School Library.
Troup trustees to meet Troup ISD trustees meet Tuesday, May 15 at 7 p.m. at the Troup ISD Administration Office at 201 N. Carolina.
God given, not man made “Wake the neighbors! Get the word out! Come on, crank up the music, climb a mountain and shout! This is life we’ve been given, made to be lived out … so live out loud.” +++ Just about the time I finished watering Monday night the sky began to flash, the clouds began to boom and down came the rain. Isn’t that about right? I just considered it an enticement for the rain. It’s like washing your car. Do that and it wll surely rain. Ever ything looks greener and grows better with God’s water. I have been faithful to keep my little gardens watered and tended so far this year. I even watered through the drought of last summer. I was conservative, watering by hand and only enough to keep things alive, and I didn’t loose anything. But on the rare occasion we would receive some rain, man did things perk up. The water out of the hose just doesn’t work the same magic as the rain does. It has been sort of the same with this weight loss thing for me. When I got out of the way and prayed about every hunger pang that came, asked
for guidance as I chose what to eat and what not to eat and especially asked God to make me think about something else ever y time the thought of Suzanne Loudamy Aussie cheese fries came to mind, changes began to happen. I won’t say it has been effortless and I won’t start bragging and buying new clothes because I’ve only lost eight pounds. But it has been a great week and not horrible to bear. I was anticipating Saturday and Sunday to be pretty tough days. We catered a wedding reception on Sunday and spent all day Saturday preparing food. For two days mounds of strawberries and twenty pounds of cubed cheese tempted me. It got really tough as I stood over the mixer adding sweetened condensed milk to the fruit dip made of cream cheese and marshmallow creme because it wasn’t quite sweet enough.
The little pigs in a blanket did me in. They sounded like that little pig on the Geico commercial with the pinwheels, “WEEEEE!” I ate them! I quieted their little squealing snouts by dipping them in raspberry chipotle sauce and devouring them. But it was OK. I only ate two or three, not the whole plate full! There was actually some control. It wasn’t a free-for-all. It is all on His power though. I have absolutely no will power. I never have. That is probably my weakest character flaw. Actually, I guess I should say it is my second weakest. The first would be that I do not rely enough on His grace and His strength. I always try to do things on my own. Maybe this time I can do a lot more listening and a lot less talking. He speaks softly and I’m usually making too much noise to hear. This one week of success has been totally God given, not man made and it has given me promise to continue. +++ If you have a thought to share, please send it to me at reporter@tricounty leader.com or call 903-839-2353.
Bob Bowman’s East Texas Casablanca’s East Texan
When you talk to East Texas movie buffs about their favorite all-time films, the one everyone places near the top is Casablanca, a seventy-year-old love stor y made in 1942 star ring Humphrey Bogar t and Ingrid Bergman. But few knew that an East Texan, Dooley Wilson, played a significant Bob Bowman role in the film—not necessarily as a part of the plot, but as the piano player who sang “As Time Goes By,” the classic theme which ranks among filmdom’s top movie songs. An African-American, Wilson was born as Arthur Wilson on April 3, 1886, in Tyler. He reportedly played in black clubs around Tyler before moving to Chicago, where he earned his nickname in 1908, the result of his signature Irish song, “Mr. Dooley” while playing at the Pekin Theater. He performed the role in whiteface. Because of his role in Casablanca, history has forever associated Wilson with the piano. But Dooley never played one. He only sang and sometimes used the drums. Dooley performed on Broadway in the early forties and his breakthrough appearance came in the role of Little Joe, a stereotypic lazy rascal in the musical, “Cabin in the Sky.” He also played an escaped slave in “Bloomer Girl” and his performance of the song, “The Eagle and Me,” was included in a Smithsonian compilation of American theater songs. While Casablanca established Dooley’s reputation on the
silver screen, it wasn’t his first film. He had already played in more than 20 motion pictures when the Casablanca film came along. For his role, he was paid $350 a week. By comparison, Sydney Greenstreet was paid $3,750 a week. If you remember the film, Sam was a singer and pianist employed by Rick (Humphrey Bogart). “As Time Goes By,” written by Herman Hupfield, appears as a continuing musical and emotional motif throughout the film. Dooley’s rendition of the song is remembered for itself, as well as for its cinematic associations. About a year ago, a television show ranked the movies’ top songs—and “As Time Goes By” was among the top three, along with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Singing in the Rain.” Since Dooley couldn’t play the piano, his playing in the film was actually done by Elliott Carpenter, who was placed on the set where Wilson could see him and imitate his hand movements. The only black people on the Casablanca set, Wilson and Carpenter remained lifelong friends. Dooley almost didn’t get the Casablanca role. Ella Fitzgerald, a popular singer in the forties, was considered for the part and Dooley’s Sam might have been Ella’s Molly. Ironically, Humphrey Bogart’s role as saloon owner Rick was originally supposed to be a young Ronald Reagan. George Raft, another popular actor in the forties, was a second choice. Dooley died on May 30, 1953, in Los Angeles. He was buried in Rosedale Cemetery, a favorite resting place for politicians, notably former mayors of Los Angeles. (Bob Bowman of Lufkin is the author of more than 50 books about East Texas history and folklore.)
Life Narrated
Winding down the school year Tonight, I went to the high school for a band booster meeting. The parking lot only held a few cars. The hallway was completely empty when I walked into the building. It was a strange feeling to walk into the building this late in the school year and see NO ONE. While it was 7 p.m. there seems to always be a volleyball game, a theater practice, Liz Reeves some sort of meeting, a janitor walking down the hall, a teacher who stayed late ...something! Maybe things changed five minutes later, but for those few moments that I was standing there tonight, it was empty and silent. I stood there for a minute, taking in the smells of the empty school. I know it’s not the same for everyone, but smells carry such strong memories for me. Then again, I’m very sensory-focused, so maybe I’m the only person who can get misty at the scent of Deep Woods scented OFF bug repellant (because it reminds me of childhood church camp.) I stood there, breathing deeply all those first days of school when I was a kid. I could almost feel the pink rubber erasers between my fingers, the weight of the bag of school supplies under my arm, the tightness of the new shoes saved for the first day. I took a brief moment to stand there and take it all in. The meeting was to start soon and I knew someone would walk in and I’d look like a loon standing in the middle of the hallway, sniffing the open space with my eyes shut. I could explain that I was enjoying some fond memories, but I don’t think they would understand. I’m afraid they’d expect me to burst into song and start spinning with my arms outstretched, so I went into the meeting. The truth is, I never stepped foot inside this particular school when I was a kid. It wasn’t built until many years after
I graduated high school. I’ve only been to this school as a parent. But somehow, it holds all the same smells as every WISD campus I ever went to. Maybe it’s the janitorial supplies that I get that nostalgic high from. Maybe it’s some sort of school-grade floor wax that no one else uses. Perhaps there is a secret air freshener spray that is fogged into the air vents at night so that the schools all maintain the same smell. I don’t know what it is, but there was a distinct mixture of cafeteria food, school supplies and something else I couldn’t quite place. Excitement, maybe? Does it have a scent that is especially pungent at this point in the year when the kids are aching to run out and frolic in the sunshine for three months? As I sat through the meeting tonight, it struck me that we are “this close” to winding down this year. I’ve had a countdown to summer going on my computer for weeks now. I know that today is May 1. But hearing the new officers for next year being voted in, teasing the outgoing president about circling around her and holding hands to sing kum-bah-ya, discussing majorette tryouts and incoming elementary and junior high kids, finalizing plans for the band’s end of the year concert ....it made it a little more real. In a few weeks, I will have a junior, a junior higher and a middle schooler. How quickly they’ve slipped from toddlers to tweens to teenagers. Oh sweet Lord, slow down this carousel. It’s happening too fast. I’m not ready to walk down the aisle and welcome grandkids, but I suspect it will happen faster than I can blink an eye! I’m such a sap for ‘firsts’ and ‘lasts’. This time of year certainly brings that out in me. Maybe that’s why I seem to have a nose that can sniff out the first day of Kindergarten in the middle of a high school hallway in May. Enjoy these last few weeks of school, friends. Take the time to stop and smell the roses. (Or at least the janitorial supplies!) (You can contact Liz Reeves by email at Lizreeves2@aol.com)
F IRST UNITED M ETHODIST C HURCH Rev. W. S. “Doug” Blanton, Pastor
Sunday Worship Service 10:00 AM Children & Youth Sunday School See solution page 5
Corner of Carolina & Calvert in Troup
Come Home to the Heart of Troup
Sunday School 10 am Worship 11 am Children’s Choir ~ Wed. 6 pm Adult Choir ~ Wed. 7 pm