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PG 13 - Movie Over at 9:25pm
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Box office opens at 7:00pm. Showtime at 7:30pm.
Admission is $8 for adults and $7 for children.
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Around Town
From left: Garden Club members Judy Matthews, Pam Sykes, Janette Wittmann, Carole Ann Chance, Marsha Barnett, Carolyn Bounds, and Cherry Jones.
May 10, 2023 - Center Garden Club members celebrated National Arbor Day a bit early this year on April 14th by purchasing a redbud tree for planting on the Community House grounds.
The club thanks member Marsha Barnett and her husband Billy for actually planting the redbud. The last Friday in April is designated as National Arbor Day while Texas Arbor Day is set for the first Friday in November.
Center Garden Club plants trees in both November and April annually and urges everyone to plant and nurture trees in celebration of the myriad of ways trees enrich our lives.
May 9, 2023 - Shelby County Aggie Moms would like to congratulate our Spring 2023 Texas A&M Graduates.
They are:
- Jodi Blount, Bachelor of Science, Allied Health, (2019 Graduate of Chireno HS)
- Sam McSwain, Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology (2019 Graduate of Center HS)
- Sadie Ramsey, Bachelor of Business Administration in Management (2020 Graduate of Timpson HS)
We are proud of our Aggies and wish them all the best!
Graduations will be held in College Station, Texas, May 11 and May 12, 2023. Whoop and Gig’EM
May 8, 2023 - Many Shelby County residents and visitors were presented the opportunity to time travel a little bit, as a retake of a photo from 1923 was done on Friday, May 5, 2023.
Participants in the photo event mostly staged at the inside corner just across from the Rio Theatre where photographer Lawrence Davis climbed a tall ladder to get the shot.
Buster Bounds was also taking an aerial view of the proceedings with a drone camera.
Native to Center and son to the late Joe Louis Jones (former Shelby County Historical Courthouse docent, and historian), Ben Jones and his wife Michelle, had seen on Shelby County Today that the photo was being taken and traveled from College Station to participate in this event. They remarked May 4 was his father’s birthday.
Once the photo was completed, the crowd dispersed and the regular hustle and bustle of traffic on the square continued.
Print availability will tentatively be announced a week from the publication of this article.
Related article: Center Square Photo’s 100th Anniversary; Retake May 5th
May 8, 2023 - Shred Day is scheduled for this Friday, May 12th from 10:00am until 2:00pm. The Shredding truck will be on the downtown square in front of the Chamber offices.
The Shredding service is provided free to the public as a service of the Shelby County Beautiful Clean program of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce and our generous Presenting Sponsor, Republic Services and our generous Gold Sponsor, Farmers State Bank.
For more information please contact the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce at (936) 598-3682 or info@shelbycountychamber.com.
May 5, 2023 - The Fannie Brown Booth Library staff would like to thank all of the Friends of the Library who worked with the Spring Book Sale. Some worked with set up of the sale. Some worked during the sale. Some worked with breakdown of the sale. Some took part in all of it. Please know that all of you and your hard work are deeply appreciated. We would also like to thank the ones that attended the book sale and purchased books. We hope you found a treasure, whether it be an old favorite or a new favorite author. The money raised from the Book Sale will be used to purchase new books for the Library. Again, we thank you for your part in making our Spring Book Sale a success.
May 3, 2023 - Most of you have seen the old picture of the downtown square – the one with the oxen and horses on the flat and unpaved square with a fence around the Courthouse lawn instead of the step-up we have today. It was taken on May 5, 1923 by local photographer Roy R. Loving.
On May 5, 2023 a photo will be taken in honor of the photo’s 100th Anniversary. We would love for everyone to be on the square and in the picture. The photo will be taken around 2:00pm on Friday, May 5th. It will be a fun comparison to the changes on the square in the past 100 years. More information will be available at a later date.
Below is the article written about the event, published on May 9, 1923 in The Champion.
“A four-up ox team appeared on the streets here Saturday and it created more attention than anything else in town. Horses were hard to get to pass the team as it stood on the street and the general citizenship inspected them. It was noticeable that the horses were afraid of the oxen and cared nothing for the many automobiles around them. This is a reverse of conditions of only a few years ago.
"While the ox team was “parked” on the square Photographer Loving took a street scene picture with the ox team, a Cadillac touring car and Federal Truck parked with the team. This picture will be printed in this paper at a later date, also a picture of a street scene in Center 19 years ago. The ox team here referred to belongs to Mr. McDaniel, north of town, and he has two of the four-up teams. There only a few teams in the county at this time and the only thing that they are used for is logging and that only in sections where it is hard to get mule teams in the woods.”
Thank you to J.J. Ford for finding the above article.
It was during this time that Mr. H.B. Johnson (the Chamber’s first Chairman of the Board) was responsible for passing two major bonds, one of which was used for paving the streets around the square and to extend the pavement down the main streets leading into the square. The streets were paved a year or so after the picture was taken.
It was the task of the Chamber to get all the stores in Center to close in order for the male employees to work on the road projects. At that time, roads into town were “pretty bad” and not maintained. All males over the age of 21 years, were required to give five days a year working on the roads, or hire someone to take his place.
Electric lights were also introduced around this time period.
May 3, 2023 - Morrison Insurance Agency in Center celebrated their 100th anniversary on April 28, 2023.
Shelby county Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors and community members were at the location to join in on the festivities.
Tem Morrison, Morrison Insurance Agency, addressed those in attendance giving all the credit to the businesses customers and naming members of the staff.
“Couldn’t have made this without our customers, they’re the ones that deserve credit,” said Morrison. “The staff that we’ve had, various people, but now we’ve got JoLynn Fountain, Monica Watson, Connie Morrison. They’re our current staff, doing a great job. So, I’d like to thank everybody for coming out.”
Deborah Chadwick, Shelby County Chamber of Commerce President, presented Morrison with a crystal award commemorating the 100th anniversary of the business.
Related article: 100th Anniversary Celebration Morrison Insurance Agency
May 2, 2023 - Some of the holidays we celebrate honor great Americans, while others recognize great moments in our history. But this one “Loyalty Day” celebrates everything, from the moment we delivered our Declaration of Independence to the British, to the moment we gathered on the Center square May 1, 2023.
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Loyalty Day is a celebration of America and everything our country stands for. Loyalty Day asks us to pause for a moment and look back at where we’ve been, and ahead to where we want our nation to go.
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Originally observed as “Americanization Day” in 1921 and enacted into public law by congress in 1958, loyalty day celebrates the legacy of freedom and the shared ideals that bind our great nation together. While initially established to counterbalance the May 1 celebrations of the communist party in the United States, this day has endured as a permanent fixture on America’s calendar.
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Even as the communist threat has greatly diminished over the years but perhaps is being revitalized, Loyalty Day remains a day worth recognizing.
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On Loyalty Day, we must remind others and ourselves that there is no substitute for loyalty, and we must pledge to maintain a free society in which loyalty is respected and encouraged.
Loyalty Day is a day set aside for the reaffirmation of Loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedoms.
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Post Commander Richard Lundie placed our Loyalty Day wreath to display for all to see on the Shelby County Veterans Memorial.
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What American freedoms are you thankful for?
I am thankful that we can gather in a group without fear of reprisal. We can voice our opinions among our fellow citizens. I am even more thankful that every time our VFW and auxiliary visit, we will always find a group of loyal Americans.
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Loyalty Day is not an official holiday but rather an observance that many are unaware of and would have gone unnoticed in Shelby County if it were not for those gathered on the square.
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Center Mayor pro tem Leigh Porterfield closed the program with the singing of “God Bless America.”
April 28, 2023 (Proclamation) - Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison signed on April 26, 2023 a proclamation for the Shelby Soil and Water Conservation District proclaiming April 30 to May 7, 2023 as Soil and Water Stewardship Week.
The proclamation reads as follows:
Whereas, healthy soil and clean water is a benefit to everyone, and
Whereas, effective conservation practices provide the soil, water, animals, plants, and air that can ensure a rich standard of living, and
Whereas, our security depends upon the robust management of natural resources, and
Whereas, stewardship calls for each person to help conserve these precious resources.
Therefore, I do hereby proclaim April 30 to May 7, 2023 as Soil and Water Stewardship Week.
April 27, 2023 - Morrison Insurance Agency is celebrating their 100th Anniversary on Friday, April 28, 2023 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Everyone is invited to stop by and celebrate with the Morrison family and staff. There will be door prizes and refreshments
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Morrison Insurance Agency has its beginnings in 1923 when H.B. Johnson founded Johnson’s Insurance Agency. In 1925, Tommie Eugene Morrison (T.E.) and H.B Harris started Morrison and Harris Insurance Agency. Thomas Earl (Tommy) Morrison joined them in 1949. In 1952, Johnson’s Insurance Agency merged with Tommy Morrison’s Agency and formed Johnson & Morrison Insurance Agency. Tommy Morrison and H.B. Johnson were partners for twenty-six years, and friends for life. Thomas Earl (Tem) Morrison, Jr. joined his father in 1978, when Mr. Johnson retired. The name changed to Morrison Insurance Agency. Jane Morrison, wife and mother, joined the business in 1984, after receiving her license. Mrs. Morrison rarely missed a day of work, and just recently retired. Connie Morrison started working in 2018. She is licensed in personal insurance and handles the accounts receivables/payables.
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Together, this family business has continued to grow and prosper. Their staff (extended family) have been, and continue to be, committed to the business and their customers. Joy Miller, an experienced agent having previously worked at Stockman Insurance and Bounds Insurance, was with Morrison’s for nearly 25 years, retiring just after her 90th birthday. JoLynn Fountain started in the insurance industry in 1980 at her parent’s agency and has been at Morrison Insurance for 25 years. JoLynn’s primary focus is commercial insurance. Monica Watson has over 25 years of experience in insurance having previously worked at State Farm. She started working at Morrison’s in 2015, left in 2019 but is back with the company specializing in personal and some commercial insurance.
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Morrison’s Insurance Agency is an independent Insurance Agency representing many superior rate companies. This provides them the opportunity to shop for their clients to get the best rates possible.
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Congratulations on 100 years of business in Shelby County and Thank You!!
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Morrison Insurance Agency is located at 125 Shelbyville Street on the downtown square. Call and make an appointment at 936-598-2791.
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