Shelby County Today

August 18, 2023 - Roles were reversed at last Wednesday's monthly meeting of the Timpson Area Genealogical and Heritage Society. Two long-time Timpson citizens were interviewed by students staffers of Gary High School's Loblolly magazine, while TAGHS members looked on. Advised by Gary High School Journalism teacher Nerissa Coligan, nine Loblolly staffers were present as J.T. Rhodes and Ronnie Wolfe, who have been involved in East Texas agriculture all of their lives, answered questions posed by the student journalists.

Loblolly staffer McKenzie Coleman provided an introduction to the program and some historical background on the origins of Loblolly, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. “ Loblolly was established in 1973 by Gary High School teacher Lincoln King after he had seen a copy of the oral history magazine Foxfire, published by high school students in Georgia. Mr. King said he thought that East Texas students were just as smart as those in Georgia, and if they could create a magazine of oral history, so could we. The Freshman Class took on the Loblolly project in 1973 and began investigating and preserving the rich cultural heritage of East Texas. Armed with cassette recorders and cameras, the students went out into the community and interviewed local citizens with stories to tell. They even developed their own black and white photographs in a darkroom at the school. Although the students were nervous and reluctant to interview local citizens, they soon found that the people they were interviewing were eager to share their stories and had much to teach modern youth,” Coleman said.

“The first printing of Loblolly was 500 copies, which sold out almost immediately, and a second printing had to be ordered. Over the first twenty-five years of its existence, Loblolly published fifty-six issues of the magazine and five books, including a cookbook,” continued Coleman. “Publication of Loblolly went on hiatus in 2003, but back issues were available through Panola College and, beginning in 2015, online through The Portal of Texas History. The Class of 2017 expressed an interest in bringing The Loblolly back to life their Senior year. Though there was no official class for creating the magazine, they formed a club and worked on their own with the support of Gary High School teacher Nerissa Coligan, a GHS graduate and former Loblolly staffer. That year's stories were published in a section of the school's online newspaper. Mr. King was retired by then but volunteered to help bring the publication back to life. Although the technology used to create the magazine has changed, students still must sit down face-to-face with the person being interviewed. Fifty years after it began, Loblolly has published sixty-seven magazines and six books, with another one on the way”.

Following Coleman's remarks, Loblolly staffers Sid Burgess and Avery Caldwell were joined in the front of the room by J.T. Rhodes and Ronnie Wolfe and the audience was able to watch an actual Loblolly interview take place. With the participants seated in a semi-circle, Caldwell began by confirming that Mr. Rhodes gave his consent for the recording and publication of his statements followed by asking him his full name and date and place of birth. She asked about his family and why his chose agriculture for a career. Questions about memories of his youth and what valuable lessons he had learned during his life followed. He recalled growing up on the land where he and his wife Jeannie currently reside and watching his father grow tomatoes, cotton, corn and food crops using mules and a plow. His parents' home had neither electricity nor indoor plumbing. Asked what advice he would give to the youth of today, Rhodes replied “Work hard and stay away from drugs”.

Mr. Wolfe's interview began the same way as Mr. Rhodes's and he was asked the same questions. He recalled growing up near Gary and attending Gary schools. His family life was much the same as that of Mr. Rhodes, growing up on a farm with few conveniences and lots of hard work. Unlike Mr. Rhodes, however, Mr. Wolfe did not pursue agriculture as a career. “In 1950 my mother and I were planting cotton and I asker her why were do doing it. She replied 'So we can eat, and if you don't get a college education you're going to do the same thing'. That's when I knew I was going to college.” Wolfe exclaimed. Wolfe said he became a public school teacher but retained his love of making things grow and still has a garden and some livestock. Asked what got him through hard times in his life. Wolfe replied without hesitation “My faith”. Both men recalled taking crops of tomatoes to the tomato sheds in Timpson or Gary and the heartbreak of seeing crops almost ready for harvest destroyed by hail. In a profound understatement Mr. Rhodes observed “Growing tomatoes was labor intensive”. Wolfe said that some of his chief pleasures in life have been playing the fiddle, hunting, and working on guns. Rhodes and Wolfe shared much more about their lives in East Texas and you can read about it in the upcoming issue of Loblolly.
 
The Timpson Area Genealogical Society meets at 2PM on the third Wednesday of each month in the meeting room of the Timpson Public Library on the corner of Austin and Bremond Streets in downtown Timpson. The TAGHS library is located within the Timpson Public Library and is open and staffed from 9AM until 5PM weekdays. Telephone 936-254-2966 and ask for the Genealogical Library.

From left: Gene Hutto, Joy Hutto, Mike Wulf, Ike Reeves, Mary Fausett, Robert Hall, Larry Hume, Lee Jarvis, Mike Langford, and Joel Bradberry.

August 11, 2023 - The Shelby County Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8904 offered their service to the employees of Portacool on Thursday, August 3, 2023 by catering a meal at the John D. Windham Civic Center for an informational gathering the company was hosting.

Post members and Post Auxiliary members met early Thursday morning at the Center Fire Department to cook chicken quarters and sausage which were served for lunch along with potato salad, green beans, and whole kernel corn.

VFW Post 8904 and Portacool have had a supportive relationship for many years. Portacool has many times honored veterans of VFW Post 8904 during the month of November for Veteran's Day with a meal hosted at their corporate office along with a donation to the Post. In a previous press release from Portacool, they stated, "As a token of appreciation, Portacool and its employees made a donation to the VFW Post 8904 in honor of the many veterans across the country and those that work at Portacool for their sacrifice and service to this great country."

During this time of recovery, VFW Post 8904 was honored to be able to return the favor and provide the meal to Portacool. Thank you to Portacool for being a supporter of our community and an employer of veterans.

August 11, 2023 - SAKS Of Love continues in its journey of ‘Sending a Kingdom of Sacrifice of Love’ with a partnership with Hope Community Medicine which is ‘Founded in Faith, Focused on Family.’ The two joined to bring more to families in need. On Saturday, August 5, 2023, a ribbon cutting was held at SAKS Of Love’s new location inside Hope’s Tenaha Clinic, 164 Wall Street, Tenaha, Texas 75974 signifying the start of a new community partnership. 

Tammie Luman, Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, congratulated Christina Leary, Executive Director of SAKS Of Love on its growth since the last ribbon cutting was held in March of 2022. Although the organization was appreciative of their previous location, they are thrilled to be where they are now.

Christina Leary expressed appreciation, “We want to say thank you for taking out of your busy schedules to be with us today.” Leary then introduced the team: LaShalla McCollister, Board Chairwoman; Frejai Tate, Vice Chairman; Ariel Higginbotham, Secretary/Treasurer; Antoinette Polley, Representative of The Community; Vicky Amy, Representative of Families; Whitney Cleveland, Representative of The Community; Kevin Jones, Representative of The Elderly; Pam Cleaver, Volunteer Coordinator; and Lorenzo Leary, Chief of Operations.

Leary added, “This has been a hard journey, a long 45 days. I can’t thank this group right here enough. We have done night after night, day after day, we’ve worked on our breaks, we’ve brought our kids up here, our families up here, we’ve ate dinner up here. We didn’t think we would be here today. I’m just so grateful.” She gave thanks to her family and all who have supported them along the way.

“Today, I wanted families to come in here, get the shoes that they need, get the clothes that they need, and feel confident about being parents. We wanted to bring a shopping center for parents to have a one stop shop.” Also, available to families on Saturday was a barber for kids to get haircuts.

Leary spoke about the journey to being in the location and described her and Mike Belgard’s first encounter. God’s hand was on the partnership that has developed between SAKS Of Love and Hope Community Medicine.

The partnership with Hope Community Medicine is an excellent opportunity to reach the community and offer additional preventive health and mental wellness supplies, services and options.

Christina wanted to let the community know that although we now are in this beautiful location, SAKS Of Love still needs your help. All the support, whether $2 Tuesday donations, item donations, or prayers, it is all still needed.

Caroline Horton gave away items in loving memory of her son, Brandon, and his legacy of love. Brandon Horton passed away on May 6, 2023.

Mike Belgard spoke about Hope’s journey to this partnership, “One day we had a meeting and I said, ok, we do a lot of medicine and we’re doing mental health, and we’re doing women’s health, and we’re doing all of these health projects, but there’s something that is missing. That is, there are a lot of determinants of health, there are a lot of things that determine how healthy people are… can they get good food, do they have a place to sleep at night, do they have clothes to wear, do they have clean water to drink.” Belgard challenged his staff to find ways to address those determinants of health. “We’ve got a mobile clinic coming within the next month.” Belgard described the goal of the mobile clinic is not to just bring medical care but to also distribute those additional needs such as clothing and food. About that time, when they were considering what to do, Christina Leary called and it was God’s perfect timing and partnership.

Belgard summarized the connection, "Our God is a great and mighty and powerful God and he uses the least to do the most. God does extraordinary things with ordinary people and that is what he has done here. There is a reason we are all here today." 

SAKS of Love is open on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Saturdays of the month. On the 2nd Saturday, they serve the homeless. SAKS of Love serve Shelby, Angelina, Panola and Nacogdoches Counties. For more information, contact SAKS of Love at 936-800-8323 or on their Facebook page or https://saksoflove.org/.

Related article: SAKS Of Love Celebrates Tenaha Location with Ribbon Cutting

From left: Jerry Pinkston (R.S.F.), David Chadwick (R.S.F.), Ashton Campbell, Brooke Lane, Fred Wulf (R.S.F.), Laticia Bomar (R.S.F.), Frank Parker (R.S.F.), and Vicky Hudson (R.S.F.) 

August 10, 2023 - The Catherine Pinkston Roughrider Scholarship Foundation (R.S.F.) placed on August 2, 2023 a memorial plaque honoring the memory of Rick Campbell - a businessman, philanthropist, and Shelby County Judge. Present at the installation of the plaque into the display cabinet was Campbell's children, Brooke Lane and Ashton Campbell. The memorial contribution was made by family and friends and the scholarship was awarded the first time in 2022.

A native of Center, Rick Campbell graduated from Center High School in 1977. He then attended Tyler Jr. College and the University of Texas. Rick was involved in many organizations including Shelby Savings Bank, where he served as director and later as Chairman of the Board of Directors. He also served as a Trustee for Center ISD, Shelby County Beef Committee, Chairman of the Bone Hill Foundation, President of the Board of Directors of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce, multiple leadership roles related to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and Area Go Texan Committee, President of the Center Rotary Club, Director of Sheriff’s Posse, Member of the Poultry Festival Steering Committee, Member of Sharon Temple of Tyler, Member of Sam Samford Lodge #149 in Center, Member of First Baptist Church of Center, attended First United Methodist Church of Center, and 27 years as a Center Volunteer Firefighter. Rick received numerous honors and awards including Rotarian of the Year, Alumni of the Year of Tyler Junior College, Conservation Service Award for Ducks Unlimited, Friend of 4-H Award, Honorary Chapter FFA Degree, Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Young Citizen of the Year, and the Distinguished Service Award.

Rick owned the Center Livestock Company with his father, James Campbell, and was a founder of Port-A-Cool. After selling Port-A-Cool, Rick was honored to serve as Shelby County Judge. He generously donated to many charities and organizations, even helping build several new churches in the East Texas area. Rick loved to hunt, play golf, and spend time with his friends. He loved Shelby County, Texas but, most of all, he loved his family.

To view the obituary for Rick Lane Campbell, click here.

For more information about the Catherine Pinkston Roughrider Scholarship Foundation, visit online https://roughriderscholarship.org/.