July 8, 2024 - I have been thinking recently about the disappearance of barbershops in our town. I can recall that during the 1930’s and 1940’s there were three barbershops in our small town, perhaps even into the 1950’s.

The first barbershop of record in San Augustine was the Lockhart Barber Shop located at 112 North Harrison. In a three story building, the facility was also a tailor shop and a storage house for furniture owned by C. J. Childers. The building was owned by city mayor Lamar Blount, and was a total loss when it burned in October of 1919.

June 10, 2024 - You may be like me and enjoy puns. They are short and to the point, and sometimes require a bit of thinking in order to get the point of the pun. What is a pun, anyway? Going way back in time we find an Italian word “puntiglio” which means “a fine point.” It is hence a verbal quibble, and is most likely the source of the English word “punctilious.”

May 3, 2024 - It seems that children see things regarding church through kid’s eyes, and they don’t always hear it right. One of my earliest memories is that of being in church with my father, Cecil. I recall that I kept trying to talk out loud during the service and Dad would tell me to be quiet. After church Dad was holding me in his arms when Bro. Russell Smith walked up and asked me how I liked the service. I replied, “Well, I didn’t like it.” Bro. Smith inquired as to why I didn’t. I told him, “Because nobody gets to say anything but you.”

February 23, 2024 - I heard someone say that they had purchased a new Ford Galaxy with “all nine yards of goodies”. I once heard a woman say that she really gave that other woman a piece of her mind, giving her the “whole nine yards”. I am sure we have all used that phrase from time to time. But, what does it really mean? So we are giving some one or some thing nine yards of what? As with most of these sayings, its history is unknown.

February 9, 2024 - I did not know it in the middle 1940s when I was in elementary school in San Augustine, Texas, but I was breaking the law.  In fact all we students were lawbreakers.  Some of you might recall this event that the courts now say was very detrimental to our very souls.  Yet, most of us grew up to be intelligent and useful citizens in spite of the learned judges’ opinions.