Shelby County Today

June 11, 2015 - Traffic in Shelby County was slowed down considerably in certain areas as a large convoy rolled through on U.S. 96 hauling enormous tanks on Wednesday, June 10, 2015. As the convoy transitioned through Center on Hurst Street at 1:30pm, utility trucks could be seen moving in place ahead of the haulers to raise power lines and move any other obstacles out of the way.

Police officers on motorcycles from another area also assisted by directing traffic along the route. Previous to the tanks entering the intersection of Moffett Drive and Timpson Street, the pole holding the stoplights on the northbound side was unbolted and lifted out of the way and the convoy continued toward Tenaha.

A member of the convoy stated the convoy began in Houston and they were traveling to Arkansas. The tanks had coverings on them which had the name Hormecal on them which is a company out of Spain who manufactures equipment mainly for water works and steel works.

Although there were delays, and a brief power outage of about 20 minutes near the north circle in Center, the convoy moved through relatively quickly considering the size of the equipment they were moving.

For those curious about the equipment, Hormecal can be found online at the following link - http://hormecal.com/ing/em.html

June 10, 2015 - The Center Garden Club issued a proclamation on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 declaring June 7-13, 2015 as National Garden Week.z

Center Garden Club members gathered in the Community Room for a meeting on the second floor of the Shelby County Courthouse in Center. The proclamation was presented to Charles Rushing, Mayor Pro Tem, who received the proclamation on behalf of the City of Center.

June 8, 2015 - The 2015 Shelby County Sheriff's Posse Rodeo Queen pageant winners were announced by Ann Blackwell, pageant coordinator, Saturday night at the Shelby County Expo Center.

Gracie Leach won her division and was crowned Rodeo Princess. She also received the horsemanship award. Leach is the 10 year old daughter of Mark and Jennifer Leach of Shelbyville.

Cheyanne Barrett was announced to be the Duchess division winner and received the horsemanship award. She is the 12 year old daughter of Raymond and Chelene Barrett of Cleveland, Texas. Sherry Sells was 1st runner up in the Duchess division. Sherry is the 12 year old daughter of Travis and Natalie Sells of Clayton, Texas.

Morgan Leann Patton was crowned the 2015 SCSP Rodeo Queen and will receive a scholarship. She was the horsemanship winner as well. Morgan is the 17 year old daughter of Janna Patton and Gordon Wallace. She is a junior at Joshua High School in Crowley, Texas. Scarlett Addington was 1st runner up. Addington is a 21 year old junior at Lonestar College in Kingwood. Her parents are Brett and Susan Addington of Dayton.

June 5, 2015 - D-Day was the focus of a VFW Post 8904 ceremony held on Friday, June 5, 2015 with Larry Hume, Post Quartermaster, leading the program.

"We're here today to commemorate the 71st anniversary of one of the most important dates in our country, commonly known as D-Day, the codename was Operation Neptune. D-Day was the turning point in World War II on June 6 [1944], which is tomorrow, saw the start of the largest air and sea operation in military history."

Hume continued by describing the amount of military involved in the operation. On D-Day the allies landed around 156,000 troops of which 73,000 were Americans. The amount of equipment used was staggering and the airborne landings on both flanks of the Normandy Beach 2,395 aircraft, 867 gliders of the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces were used on D-Day. It also involved huge naval forces including over 6,900 vessels, 1,213 navy combat ships, 4,126 landing ships and landing craft and 736 ancillary craft and 864 merchant vessels.

195,700 personnel were assigned to Operation Neptune, 52,889 from the United States, 112, 824 were British and over 4,900 from other allied countries. By the end of June 11 over 3,000 troops, over 54,000 vehicles and over 140,000 tons of supplies had been landed on the beaches and while there's no official casualty for D-Day the total allies casualties on D-Day are estimated at 10,000 and the United States lost approximately 6,603 men.

"Today we take time to reflect on what took place on the beaches of Normandy and appreciate the sacrifice made by so many to ensure the continuation of our free market economy and our federal republic," said Hume. "Their sacrifice helped us keep the freedoms we enjoy, and the irony is that among those freedoms they sacrificed for was the freedom to choose to ignore this day if you so wish and many do as you can see today."

Hume thanked all who were present and those that regularly attend VFW ceremonies. In honor of those who sacrificed on June 6, 1944 and the days following a memorial wreath was placed on the Shelby County Veterans Memorial by Newton Johnson, Senior Vice. Taps was then presented by Mike Langford, Post Commander.