A Draw for Downtown, the 20th Annual Quilt Show
Amidst a busy week of final preparations for the annual Quilt Show, Billie Ruth Standbridge, a charter member of the Lone Star Heritage Quilt Guild, shared some interesting details on it’s growth and development. “It’s nothing short of amazing that we went from a small group of ladies who simply liked to sew to a club that produces beautiful works of art and is recognized by other groups across the state. From the ground up, by pooling our resources and knowledge, we learned how to organize and put on a successful 2-day quilt show that quilters want to come to, and will drive a long way to see”. The 20th annual Lone Star Heritage Quilt Show will be held in downtown Sulphur Springs at FBC The Roc, 115 Putman Street, on Friday September 20 and Saturday September 21, 2019. Admission is $5 per day for adults, and free for children under age 12.
Visitors can expect to see over 120 handmade quilts, displayed in rows you can browse as you walk past. By the time the show opens on Friday at 9am, judging will have been completed and the winning quilts will be easy to spot because ribbons and awards will be pinned on them. Look for this year’s Featured Quilter, Cecilia Anderson. A separate Special Exhibit has been arranged by the Sharon Feldt Family Foundation. Enjoy programs by Brenda Jechke, an author, teacher and quilt judge. Vendors will be selling quilting fabrics, notions and supplies, and even some quilts. There will also be some light concessions offered during the show. Local businessman Craig Johnson will offer a welcome to visitors at the 9am opening each day.
Billie Ruth and long time member Deanna Hasten enthusiastically agree that the Lone Star Heritage Quilt Show can compete quality-wise with other bigger shows, including the Houston’s ‘Quilt Festival’ and Paducah’s ‘American Quilt Society Festival’ and compares size-wise with the Tyler show. “Our September date was strategically selected to fit in well with the Texas circuit of quilt shows. This year’s fundraising showpiece is ‘Tessella’, a quilt designed, pieced and quilted by four of our members. All year long, most of us are personally putting in hours and hours of individual work on this hobby. We re-create vintage patterns we like and we design modern ones. New and unusual ways of combining geometric shapes and color have yielded stunning visual effects. Guild President Wilma Moss’ articles on this art have been published. We’ve each learned a lot since we began and some have become quite professional on the long-arm quilting machines! We each have our own projects going at home, we volunteer for group projects like making lap quilts we donate to babies and children in the hospital, and we help teach new members who are getting started with this art. Our annual Quilt Show has acquired a following, bringing people from all over the state, boosting tourism for Sulphur Springs. That’s gratifying for us!”.
I asked Billie Ruth how the successful quilt guild got started. “Elise Brewer was the one with the vision in 1998. She put an ad in the newspaper asking for interested persons to join her in a quilting club, and at first, she got no response. But tried again and membership slowly began to grow. That first year, we held monthly meetings and some of us didn’t even have experience quilting! But gradually we realized that we wanted to connect with other clubs and individuals, so we came up with the idea of putting on a show to attract other quilt lovers. Our first fundraising project involved each member being assigned a swatch of fabric by color, and making a block at home using the entire piece….with no particular rhyme of reason to the theme! Well, we got a lot of variety, and when I looked at the collection of blocks we had, I couldn’t picture it as ever being attractive. But Elise took the blocks home, made them uniform in size and formed an attractive handmade quilt top. After it was quilted and bound, we decided to raffle it off, and we did! An early member, Cecilia Anderson, won it and still owns it. That was the first of our fundraising quilt projects and we still raise money for the show in that way, plus assistance from our sponsoring donors”.
Sulphur Springs City Council Special Workshop Update
About 60 concerned citizens gathered in the City Council Chambers on Monday evening, September 16th, to hear council members discuss the “vision” of Sulphur Springs. The special workshop meeting was called by Mayor Norman Sanders, to discuss ideas and hear about past projects and long range plans for the city. Mr. Sanders tells KSST News that he is thrilled of the progress that the city has made with downtown, Coleman Park, and other projects, but wants to plan ahead for the next 20 years. He stated that he would like to build on the past successes, and plan for expansion of industry and the subsequent infrastructure needs that expansion would bring. One topic of concern raised by council member, Jimmy Lucas, was the ability to maintain future proposed projects with the current staff that the city already has in place. Mr. Lucas wants to seek out options of using free labor in the future to help out those departments he believes are underserved. Erica Armstrong also noted the need for “volunteerism” to help beautify the city. Armstrong said that encouraging local service clubs to donate their time in different areas could benefit the city and help foster civic pride.
Many citizens spoke during the public forum portion of the meeting, all in support of the job that the city has done in completing past projects and the ability to do so within strict budget requirements. A consistent theme from those citizens that spoke was the fact that Sulphur Springs is unique in the public spaces that the city enjoys for a city of our size. Some citizens spoke of the need for more housing in general, as well as more affordable housing. Although no quick solutions for encouraging more building inside the city limits were offered, the council as a whole seemed interested in that topic.
Mayor Sanders told KSST he was pleased with this first meeting and looked forward to having more of these “strategic planning” sessions for the future.
City To Hold Sept. 24 Hearing Regarding Special Election Called For Proposition A
If you have comments, questions or thoughts regarding the upcoming special election for Proposition A, then be sure to mark Sept. 24 on your calendar. A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. that Tuesday at City Hall, 201 North Davis St., to notify Sulphur Springs residents of the scope and budget impact of the proposition.
Sulphur Springs City County at their regular July meeting called for the Nov. 5 election this summer in order to create funding for city parks improvements as well as a new activities center for senior citizens.
Proposition A would allow $200,000 per year of the funds generated from the 1/2 of 1 percent sales and use tax dedicated to Sulphur Springs-Hopkins County Economic Development Corporation. Instead of economic development by the EDC the funds would go to the city for use by Sulphur Springs Parks Department at Pacific Park and the Senior Activities Center.
In order to redistribute the funds the matter must be approve in an election. For the last 20 years, the city has received $150,000 in funds for the EDC to help pay for park improvements which included Coleman Park. The funds would be borrowed, and the $200,000 per year would pay off that debt, if passed.
That will fund $3 million worth of bonds: $1 1/2 million to go to Pacific Park and $1 1/2 million for a senior center. We will also add to that another half-million dollars in grant funding from Texas Department of Parks and Recreation to go with the Pacific Park money. So that’d be a total of $2 million to go towards Pacific Park,” Sulphur Springs City Manager Marc Maxwell told the council when presenting the election proposal at the July City Council meeting.
Pavilion proposed for Pacific Park 
Proposal for a new Grays Building
While the two funding sources are not dependent on the other, both would go a long way toward funding the improvements the community asked for at community park planning meetings.
The funding may be used for construction and maintenance of specific categories of projects including buildings, equipment, facilities and improvements, according to Texas Local Government Code Annotated Section 505.152.
Major improvements have been proposed for Pacific Park, including a new, expanded Grays building to serve as a community center. On the other end of the park would be a sports pavilion that would include a basketball court and volleyball court, or provide space where chairs could be set up. These improvements would also mean a new playground and multipurpose area with backstop where baseball or other activities could be played and carried out.
Also proposed, if all of the other taxing entities relinquish an Oak Avenue property north of the railroad tracks to the city, is using the site to construct a new center better equipped to handle the multiple activities held for senior citizens.
Sulphur Springs Independent School District Board of Trustees agreed to “strike off” the property to the city during their August meeting. Hopkins County Commissioners Court on July 1 agreed to sign over their ownership to the city. Hopkins County Hospital District Board of Directors as of their August meeting had yet to vote on the matter.
Asbestos at the current site would be address as the abandoned nursing home facility is removed. A parking lot would be located on one end of the property and a new senior citizens activity center would be constructed on the other end.
Fall Festival Creative Arts Contest By Johanna Hicks
Interest is building for the Creative Arts Contest! Last month, I gave information about the Arts and Crafts Show, in which vendors sell their hand-crafted items. This week, I’m focusing on the Creative Arts Contest, which is just as it says – a contest.
All Hopkins County residents are invited to enter this event. There are numerous categories (outlined below), and there is an age division to suit everyone. Entries must not have been entered previously, and must have been made within the past year (September 2018 through October 2019). Individuals may enter as many categories as they wish. The entry fee is just $1 per person, which helps defray the cost of expenses. Students entering as a class and 4-H members do not have to pay.
The contest will take place in the Sulphur Springs High School Conference center. Entries may be taken directly to the high school on Thursday, Oct. 24, between 4:30 and 6 p.m., or Friday, Oct. 25 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. No entries will be taken after this time unless approved by the registration committee. You may also take entries to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Hopkins County Office, 1200 West Houston St., Monday, Oct. 21, through Wednesday, Oct. 23, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Judging will take place on Friday, October 25 starting at 10:00 a.m. Best of Show and Reserve Best of Show winners will be selected from blue ribbon winners in each category and age division, for a potential of 8 winners in each of the 12 categories. All entries will be on display to the public on the conclusion of the judging – approximately 1:30 p.m. till 5:00 p.m. on Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Please note: pictures of Best of Show and Reserve Best of Show recipients will be made at 1:30 p.m. Winners will not be notified, so please be aware of the time. Following pictures, all entries may be picked up.
Below is a list of categories and classes:
- Art – entries must be suitable for hanging, except children’s entries: oil, water color, pen and ink, rub out, pencil, acrylic, paper tole, crayon, spray paint, and chalk
- Bake Show – please bring items in disposable containers. Entries requiring refrigeration will not be accepted for food safety purposes. All entries will be sampled by judges, so food safety is of utmost importance. Baked items will be discarded at the conclusion of the exhibits hours unless picked up. Items will be judges on flavor, appearance, color, and texture. Classes include: breads (six if entering sweet rolls, muffins, biscuits or dinner rolls); cakes; pies; cookies (6); candy (6 pieces)
- Clothing – Soiled items will not be accepted. Please bring on hangers, if applicable. Classes include: after-five; children’s wear; everyday living; wearable art (must have made or decorated the item) – shirt/t-shirt, jacket, vest, miscellaneous
- Creative Crafts – no kits allowed except in youth and children’s divisions. Classes include: crafts (plastics, candles, leather, metal, misc.); ceramics; stained glass; painted household accessories; Miscellaneous (collage, glass, mosaic, paper mâché, scrap art, other)
- Decorated Cakes – will not be cut! Judged on appearance, difficulty, originality, and workmanship. All entries not picked up at end of the public viewing will be discarded.
- Food Preservation – all containers must be official canning jars. Foods processed in mayonnaise jars, pickle jars, etc., will not be judged. All exhibits must be clean, rust-free, and in unbroken jars. Two-piece canning lids must be used. Items must have been canned within the last 12 months and will be judged on quality of product, pack uniformity, container, consistency, and general appearance. Jars will not be opened and tasted. Classes include: canned vegetables, canned fruit, jams, preserves, fruit butters, jellies, pickles, relish, pickled vegetables, dehydrated foods, and miscellaneous (honey, vinegars, juices, etc.)
- Handiwork – classes include: knitting, crochet, embroidery, needlepoint, sewn items (other than clothing), beadwork, beaded jewelry, other fabric/fiber work (weaving, macramé, string art)
- Holiday/seasonal – classes include: Christmas (card holders, stockings, aprons, tree ornaments, tree skirt, wall hanging, centerpiece, misc.), tablecloths (any holiday/season), decorations (other then Christmas), wreath/door hanging, nativity scenes
- Horticulture – entry must have been possession of exhibitor for the 3 months prior to the fair. Each entry must be grown in Hopkins County. Exhibitor will be responsible for upkeep of their entry during the fair. No artificial plants accepted. Classes include: agriculture (vegetables, fruits, other (nuts, acorns, etc.); cut flowers; potted plants; hanging baskets; succulents; dried; gourds, herbs
- Photography – All photos should be appropriately mounted, matted or framed. Size must be 5 X 7 or larger. No professional entries accepted. Easels may be brought for display purposes or be ready for hanging with wire, string or hook. Categories include: portrait, scenic, still life, animals, people, special effects, floral, architectural, or grouping (two or more photos in a multi-photo frame). All classes are available in black and white and color.
- Quilts – classes include: hand-quilted; machine-quilted; multi-stitch (combination of hand and machine quilting); baby quilts; quilted items (wall hangings, table runners, pillows)
- Woodworking – Classes include: kits; inlaid wood (inlays of metal, pearl, etc.); Mosaic wood art; furniture; wall hangings; wood carving; yard art; rustic art (items made from barn wood, tree limbs, etc.); birdhouses; toys
We also have a separate division for residents in assisted living and nursing home facilities, with 12 categories.
Age divisions are: children (ages 10 and under); youth (ages 11-19); adult (ages 20-69); and older Texans (70 and above). We hope to beat last year’s 279 entries! We are Hopkins County strong!
Diabetes Support Group
This group meets the 4th Tuesday of each month at noon, at the Extension Office. Sue Potts, RN and diabetes educator, facilitates the meeting and encourages anyone with diabetes (and their loved ones, friends and neighbors) to attend. There is no charge, but the information and encouragement you receive is priceless. If you have questions, contact our office at 903-885-3443.
Closing Thought
Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who put them into action are priceless. – unknown
Coach Owens Examines Close Loss to Terrell in District Opener On Saturday Morning Coach’s Show
Wildcats Football Coach Greg Owens Dissected Friday (September 13) night’s district opening loss at Terrell, 15-13 on KSST Radio and Cable Channel 18’s Saturday Morning Coach’s Show. One thing was obvious Friday. The Wildcats were able to bottle up the Tigers’ Wing-T Offense. Coach Owens said the defense played a phenomenal game. He said the defensive line dominated things and were led by end D’Andre Peoples. Coach Owens said the inside linebackers held up while the outside linebackers did super jobs. He praised outside linebackers Aidan Walker, Kylan Wade and Cameron Hargrave. Coach Owens said the defense was aggressive and they tackled well. Safety Chase Haney also had a pass interception. For the most part the offense struggled. Still they scored a couple of touchdowns and back Caden Davis had another big night. Davis rushed for 161 yards on 21 carries. Da’Korian “Choc” Sims added 96 yards on 14 carries. However Coach Owens said the offense had trouble getting into sync with penalties constantly disrupting drives. Despite all that, Coach Owens noted that the Wildcats still had opportunities to win at the end. He said the team played with great effort. He said the offense has to make plays and finish drives and he said special teams were a negative. There were missed field goals and extra point kicks, bad or mishandled snaps and a fumble returned for a touchdown. One positive was another successful Wildcats onside kick. Now the Wildcats play Royse City at The Prim Friday night for Homecoming. The Bulldogs have opened the season 2-0 with wins over Frisco Centennial and Garland. They had a bye Friday night. Coach Owens said the plan is to turn things around Friday and get a win.
Lady Cats Volleyball Team is Able to Work Around Injuries to Get 3-0 Win over PG Friday
The Lady Cats Volleyball Team went on the road Friday (September 13) and came back home with a solid win. The Lady Cats defeated Pleasant Grove, 3-0 by the score of 25-21, 25-22 and 25-21. Lady Cats Volleyball Coach Bailey Dorner said several Lady Cats were out with injuries so she had to move some of her players around. She noted that Sadie Washburn had 11 kills and she said Aliyah Abran had 3 blocks. Coach Dorner said Abron did well playing out of position as a middle hitter. Despite the 3-0 win, Coach Dorner said her team could have played better. She said they did not get a lot of points off of serve and that allowed Pleasant Grove to stay closer to the Lady Cats and it made for a long match. The Lady Cats improved their season record to 18-9. They play Wylie East on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the main gym at Sulphur Springs High School. The Lady Cats lost to the Lady Raiders in the Garland ISD Tournament on August 9. Coach Dorner said both of those sets were close and she said she hoped the Lady Cats could turn things around at home Tuesday.
Lady Cats 14th, Wildcats 15th at Regional Cross Country Course Preview Last Saturday in Dallas
The Wildcats and Lady Cats Cross Country Teams met up with some solid competition from the Metroplex at a Regional Course Preview last Saturday (September 14) at the Jesse Owens Sports Complex in Dallas. The Lady Cats were 14th out of 23 teams and the Wildcats were 15th. Sulphur Springs Cross Country Coach Ross Hicks said his teams were a mixed bag Saturday. About half of the runners were great and the other half did not have their best races. The Lady Cats were again led by Sydney Washburn and Laney Hurst who both finished in the top thirty. Coach Hicks said they competed well. The third Lady Cats finisher was Kenia Herrera who Coach Hicks said had the fastest final mile for the Lady Cats. Freshmen Makayla Jimmerson and Mattie Bridges were the fourth and fifth Lady Cats’ finishers. Coach Hicks said both did not have their best races and he said he talked with them about it. For the Wildcats, they were again led by senior Christian Palomino who was 28th in the race. Coach Hicks said Palomino was very disappointed in his race. Coach Hicks said Palomino was one spot away from going to the state meet on the same course a year ago. He said Palomino’s time was more than a minute off of his time last year. Sophomore Jose Mejia finished up right on the heels of Palomino. Sophomore Evan Patrick was the third Wildcats finisher. Coach Hicks said he is getting faster and faster. Camden Fuller finished next for the Wildcats. Coach Hicks said he seems to be turning into a leader. The next Wildcats finisher was senior Chase Berry, who Coach Hicks said had stepped up the last month. Coach Hicks said he feels both teams have a lot more in them and he’s trying to get it out of them. Next on the Wildcats and Lady Cats schedule is another strong meet this Saturday, this one at Myers Park in McKinney hosted by Lovejoy. Coach Hicks said they have an Elite Meet and one for other 5A and 6A schools.
Thirteen Make List of 2019 Homecoming Court for SSHS
Sulphur Springs High School Assistant Principal Vanessa Abron has released the list of this year’s Homcoming Court. Thirteen girls made the list. They are Hatie Tellez, Peyton Miesse, Hannah Morrill, Lasca Lobin, Sable Erdmier, Shelby Aulsbrook, Brynna Irving, Ashlyn Bimmerle, Ana Diosdado, Aley Owens, Jasmine Clayton, Kaylee Malone and Heather Bowen. The girls will do interviews with media members Tuesday morning (September 17). They will have practice on the indoor field at the Multipurpose Building Thursday morning. They will be recognized at a pep rally in the main high school gym Friday afternoon. All of the members of the court will be introduced and the Homecoming queen and two princesses will be announced Friday before the Homecoming football game against Royse City Friday evening. High school students will vote on the nominees during Homecoming week this week.
PJC Sulphur Springs News
Stephanie Thornburgh, an advanced welding student, works on her TIG welding skills in the Welding Shop on the PJC-Sulphur Springs Center campus. Observing are advanced welding student Jake Newman, left, and Instructor John Plemons. For information about the PJC welding program, call 903-885-1232.
