Shelby County Today

February 5, 2023 — Ouachita Baptist University has named 382 students to its Fall 2022 President’s List.

To be named to the President’s List, a student must compile a grade point average of 4.0 and be classified as a full-time student, with a minimum of 12 academic hours and no incomplete or failing grade for the semester.

Ouachita Baptist University, a private liberal arts university, is in its 137th year as a Christ-centered learning community and is ranked nationally by U.S. News & World Report. Ouachita continues to break enrollment records, reporting its highest headcount in 56 years during the Fall 2022 semester. Learn more about the university’s highly personal approach to higher education, reflected in a student/faculty ratio of 13:1, at www.obu.edu.

The following Texas students are included in the President’s List and are listed in order of hometown:

Amarillo, Texas — Jacie Sellars, Peyton Stafford
Arlington, Texas — Emily Adams
Carrollton, Texas — Jeremiah Mainor, Keith Mathews
Celina, Texas — Jill Parsons, Ashlyn Vana
Center, Texas — Keelan Williams
Combine, Texas — Addyson Miller
Coppell, Texas — Jenae Wilson
Cypress, Texas — Hannah Smith
Dallas, Texas — James Savarese
De Kalb, Texas — Kaitlan Kinney, Hope Murphy
Denton, Texas — Hannah Hickman
Dripping Springs, Texas — Tiffani Chew
Euless, Texas — Alyssa Strauss, Andy Strauss
Forney, Texas — Elijah Christenson
Fort Stockton, Texas — Taylor Hansard
Fort Worth, Texas — Tyler Andruss, Braden Tucker, Hope Waid
Franklin, Texas — Ali May
Frisco, Texas — Genevieve Cooper, Mackenzie Davis, Kate Ellis, Lauren Gaharan, Priscilla Leverett, Danielle Schager, Josh Watson, Brock Wollent
Garland, Texas — Emma Dennis, Jackson McCaleb, Joni Schneider
Georgetown, Texas — Chloe Jetton, Jackson Pickard
Gilmer, Texas — Joshua Ray
Hawkins, Texas — Isaac Edwards
Heath, Texas — Dawson Miller
Keller, Texas — Ava Dunagan
Kingwood, Texas — Garrett Richards
Lantana, Texas — Chad Gscheidle
Lindale, Texas — Sydni Watts
Longview, Texas — Izzi Breaux, Nathan Clark
Lumberton, Texas — Torrie Weems
Magnolia, Texas — Brendan Watson, Sarah Grace Wisener
Marshall, Texas — Jeff McCoy
Maud, Texas — Jaycie Anderson
McKinney, Texas — Abigail Dahl, Emilio Garcia, Cameron Marchant
Melissa, Texas — Bella Blankenship
Mesquite, Texas — Kyndall Fomby-Bell, Maddy Moore
Midlothian, Texas — Lindsay Hachat, Emily Shipman
Montgomery, Texas — Kaitlyn Montgomery, Kendall Wilson
Mount Pleasant, Texas — Olivia Nethercutt, Nathan Scolaro
Murphy, Texas — Brooke Steinman, Hayley Wolfe
Nacogdoches, Texas — Ellie Davis, Brooklyn Perkins, Abigail Powers, Anna Claire Powers
North Richland Hills, Texas — Finley Nipper
Oak Leaf, Texas — Connor Bjerke
Omaha, Texas — Heather Brown
Paris, Texas — Hannah Tullos
Pflugerville, Texas — James Jolly
Plano, Texas — Meghann Bledsoe, Holly Hatcher, Brock Wade
Ponder, Texas — Jillian Roberts
Powderly, Texas — Caroline Smallwood
Prosper, Texas — Taylor Bass, Maegan Royster
Red Oak, Texas — Colton Schrader
Richardson, Texas — Emily Pease
Rockport, Texas — Lorraine Soto
Rockwall, Texas — Tag Pacot
Round Rock, Texas — Jake Goltzman
Rowlett, Texas — Jacob Smith
Sherman, Texas — Jackson Lipscomb
Spring, Texas — Mary O'Sullivan, Lacy Ornelas
Texarkana, Texas — Tucker Anderson, Reganne Dumas, Ryan Pickelman, Lily Sewell
Troup, Texas — Emma Bynum
Wake Village, Texas — Ben DePriest
Wylie, Texas — Mikaila Fatheree

February 3, 2023 - The University of Texas at Tyler announced students who were named to the fall 2022 President's Honor Roll and two of those recognized are from Timpson, Texas.

To qualify for the President's Honor Roll, a student must have completed, in one semester, 12 or more semester hours of undergraduate college-level credit with an "A" in all courses. To be considered for this recognition, a student must qualify as a matriculated student pursuing a first bachelor's degree. This recognition is made in fall and spring semesters.

President's Honor Roll students from Timpson are Kamryn Courtney in the Soules College of Business and Mia Mahan in the School of Nursing.

With a mission to improve educational and healthcare outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 80 undergraduate and graduate programs to 10,000 students. UT Tyler recently merged with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (now known as The Health Science Center at UT Tyler). Through its alignment with The Health Science Center at UT Tyler (HSC) and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.

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February 1, 2023 - A large group attended Joe’s Italian Restaurant’s New Member and Grand Opening ribbon cutting on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. Chamber Ambassador President Stephanie Elswick welcomed owners, Ben Ponari and Linda Metaliaj, to the downtown square, “We are very happy to welcome [Ben] and Linda to our community. We are very happy to have another restaurant on the square, and that’s Italian food. And we all love Italian food.” Elswick then presented them their new Chamber of Commerce membership plaque to proudly display.

Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors had some questions for the new owners. One question was concerning lunch specials and Linda advised they do have daily lunch specials available from 11am until 3pm. Lunch specials are Lasagna, Manicotti, Cannelloni, Spaghetti, and Ziti Napolitan (spicy marinara sauce) for $9.99.

Joe’s Italian Restaurant is a family owned business and they have three other locations in Texas: El Campo, Temple and Killeen. Ben Ponari has been the owner for 8 years but has been in business for 10 years and is the manager of the Center location. They offer an extensive menu including appetizers, salads, pizza, subs, pasta, seafood entrees and dessert. They also have kid friendly menu options.

From left: Owners, Ben Ponari and Linda Metaliaj, and Chamber Ambassador President Stephanie Elswick

Joe’s Italian Restaurant is located at 130 Nacogdoches Street in Center on the Historic Downtown Square and is open Tuesday through Sunday 11:00 am until 9:00 pm. Available options are dine in or carry out. Catering available. Find them online on Facebook at Joe’s Italian Restaurant - Center, TX or call 936-427-5009.

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January 31, 2023 - The Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, community members, and family celebrated with Diamond B Coffee owners Marty and Codi Brandon on Friday, January 27, 2023. The celebration included the opening of the coffee shop and its new chamber membership as well as Marty's birthday.

Ambassador President Stephanie Elswick welcomed the business to the community and the chamber. "We are here, of course, to welcome Marty and his business to our community. Several of us have supported Marty and love everything that he does and we are so happy that you are a member of our Chamber." Elswick also announced it was Marty's birthday!

Marty Brandon started off by introducing his help who were able to attend the ribbon cutting. He introduced Hunter Gibson, Rebekah Mcghen, and Layla Hennigan. Brandon then introduced his family, wife Codi and son Shyloh, and told about their journey from Dallas to Shelby County and Diamond B Coffee. The move to East Texas was something Brandon had been wanting for years. He described visiting family when he was younger, "When I would come down here, I would build good memories... I was with my grandparents, you know the rare times you get to see your grandparents when you live a long way away, so, it just seemed like God's country to me then as a kid." He spoke about coming as an adult on long weekends hunting and that's how he got to know Center, "Ya'll are the best town!"

The coffee shop serves delicious coffee and espresso drinks, both hot and cold. Also available are homemade breakfast items, baked goods which pair perfectly with coffee, and lunch sandwich plates. A must try menu item is Marty's famous breakfast quiche.

Diamond B Coffee is located at 500 Hurst Street and is open Monday thru Friday 6am until 6pm and on Saturdays 6am until mid-day. Orders can be placed ahead via the Toast Takeout app.

History of Diamond B Coffee

Diamond B Coffee opened on October 17, 2022 by owners Marty and Codi Brandon. The shop was a realization of a long-held dream for Marty to move to God’s country, Deep East Texas!

Having grown up in the Dallas area with family in Timpson and Appleby, Marty visited the area on long weekends. As a young boy he dreamed of moving here and being a cattle rancher. As life would have it, this proved to be difficult. In high school he found a passion for haircutting, he got a scholarship for beauty school, had two great children and by 20 was a dad with responsibilities and bills and no way to uproot his life. Seemingly stuck in the big city forever he worked as hairdresser and later a general contractor.

In 2021 he found himself in a new set of circumstances, single with the kids grown and gone, and 9 grandchildren by the way, and thoughts of moving to the country were revived. For the last 20 or so years he had been hunting in the area to get at least some time in the country. His deer lease was in Neuville which meant going to Center for food and hunting accoutrement. It was during this time he fell in love with Shelby County and Center in particular.

Marty was and is a coffee addict and was a bit of a home barista, often making lattes for friends and family to show off his skills, he would say "wouldn't it be great to open a coffee shop.” Having the prospect of moving to the country in mind, the ideas started to flow. He felt, “I have to start over career wise because none of my businesses transferred.” With this in mind the idea of opening a coffee shop became a reality.

From left, front row: Codi and Marty Brandon with son, Shyloh

During 2021 while preparing to move Marty and Codi began dating and very soon it was apparent that Codi and her son Shyloh would be coming with him. They were Married on 2/22/22 at 2:00. (He should be able to remember his anniversary!!) So they closed up shop, sold his house, moved into their R.V., and put all they had into Diamond B's remodel and opening inventory. When they opened, Marty said, "The credit cards are full, the bank account is empty, and I have never been happier.” 

When thinking of a name for the coffee shop Marty remembered the dreams of moving to east Texas and that as a child he had drawn a brand for his "future" cattle ranch. Scratching it out for Codi he asked what she thought and immediately she concurred “that's it.” Though not a cattle ranch it is a registered brand in Shelby County now and is the inspiration for the coffee shop's theme.

Diamond B is in Marty's words, Artisan coffee made by folks who love to serve people. Diamond B focuses on technique and quality at every step of the process. Searching out the best roasts for each type of their coffees, hand prepping every espresso shot, even using a lever machine instead of the automated ones flooding the coffee world to pull the espresso shots. The "Drip" roast is a dark rich coffee that is great black or dressed up as you like. They even make their own cold brew coffee in house using another roast specifically for that taste profile.

Diamond B offers many food options for breakfast and lunch, ranging from sandwiches, breakfast tacos and kolaches to the now famous Keto Quiche and more. They make many pastries such as muffins, cakes, scones made from scratch, cinnamon rolls, and cookies.

Diamond B currently does not have a drive thru so they rely on technology to accommodate their customers in a timely manner. They use the Toast Takeout app for order ahead and have it ready and waiting for you. They have reloadable cards for gifting or just keeping loaded for your own convenience. Soon they will do curbside carry out and are experimenting with delivery.

Diamond B is not a ranch but it is still the vehicle that allowed the Brandons to get to east Texas. Marty often says "if Diamond B failed and I had to get a job, it was worth it because now I'm here. And who knows, maybe the Diamond B ranch is in my cards in the future!"