PJC Sulphur Springs Clinical Medical Assistant Class

Students in the Clinical Medical Assistant class at the PJC-Sulphur Springs Center watch as Instructor Joyce Vargas, left, demonstrates a medical procedure. Observing are, from left, Cassandra Pemberton, Kacee Robberds, Daisy Smith and Cameron Harris.
Lady Cats Lose to Tourney Host Edgewood
The Lady Cats’ basketball team came out on the short end of a double overtime game Friday morning (December 7) in an Edgewood tournament. The Lady Cats lost to tournament host Edgewood, 62-59.
The Lady Cats had to play both overtimes and several minutes of regulation without point guard Sadavia Porter who picked up her fifth foul with 3:21 left in the fourth quarter. Porter left with 20 points and 2 three point baskets. Still the Lady Cats fought into overtime and a second overtime. Edgewood made a few more plays in the second overtime.
Autumn Tanton led all scorers with 25 points including a three-point basket. Danielle Godbolt had 7 points and a three-pointer. Kate Womack had 6 points with a three-pointer. Aliyah Abron scored 1 point.
For the second straight morning, the Lady Cats struggled early. Edgewood was red hot from behind the arc and led 17-7 after one quarter. The Lady Cats outscored Edgewood, 18-8 in the second quarter and the game was tied 25-25 at the half. The Lady Bulldogs led 39-36 after three quarters but the Lady Cats evened the score after regulation at 47-47. Both teams scored 6 points in the first overtime to make it 53-53. Edgewood outscored the Lady Cats, 9-6 in the second overtime.
The Lady Cats complete pool play Friday at 6:40 p.m. against Kaufman. The Lady Cats are now 1-2 in the tournament with a win over Wills Point and losses to Gilmer and Edgewood.
The Lady Cats are now 9-3 for the season.

Heart Of Hope Receives Donation From Local Corvette Club
Heart of Hope, a local pregnancy resource center, recently received a $1,000 donation from the Sulphur Springs Corvette Club. The local 501(c)3 charity located at 407 S. Davis St in Sulphur Springs is a FREE pregnancy resource center offering support to the mother and father. Director Pat Phillips stated, “At the center, we offer free pregnancy test, one free sonogram, and parenting classes if the mother and/or father are interested.” Pat started as a volunteer since the center’s beginning and now is director of the facility along with her husband and co-director, Stephen Phillips. They are proud to offer their services free of charge to the community as they are supported by donations from individuals as well as organizations like the Corvette Club. For more information about their services, or if you would like to make a donation, call (903)440-1665.

Lions Win First Game in North Hopkins Tournament
The Saltillo Lions’ basketball team won their first game in a North Hopkins boys varsity tournament Thursday (December 6) over Yantis, 72-48. The Lions outscored the Owls in each quarter leading 20-10 after one quarter, 36-24 at the half and 57-39 after three quarters.
Chris Boekhorst led the Lions with 24 points. Matthew Gurley scored 18 points. Ben Moore added 16 points. Levi Hoover had 8 points. Andrew Redburn, Edi Olayo and Dillon Beadle scored 2 points apiece. The Lions were a perfect 6 for 6 from the foul line.
They improved their season record to 7-4. Friday the Lions have two more games in the North Hopkins tournament. They play Campbell at 10:55 a.m. and Prairiland at 5:35 p.m.

Lady Cats Are 1-1 in First Day of Edgewood Tournament
A scoring drought came at the wrong time for the Lady Cats’ basketball team Thursday afternoon (December 6). In their second pool play game in the Edgewood tournament, the Lady Cats went scoreless in the fourth while Gilmer scored 15 points to turn a 7 point Lady Cat lead into an 8 point Lady Buckeye win. Gilmer won 41-33.
The teams were tied 15-15 after the first quarter and 22-22 at the half. The Lady Cats had a strong third quarter outscoring Gilmer 11-4 to take a 33-26 lead into the fateful fourth quarter. Sadavia Porter led the Lady Cats with 18 points including one three-point basket. Autumn Tanton scored 8 points. Te”Arria Rose hit 1 three-point basket for 3 points. Danielle Godbolt and Nylah Lindley had 2 points each. The Lady Cats hit 37% of the shots but only 2 of 12 from behind the arc. Porter led the Lady Cats with 5 rebounds. She also had 3 steals, 6 deflections and 4 assists. The Lady Cats had only 11 turnovers.
Earlier Thursday, the Lady Cats bested Wills Point in a pool play game, 44-23.
Pool play continues for the Lady Cats with two more games on Friday. They play host Edgewood at 8 a.m. and then face Kaufman at 6:40 p.m. The Lady Cats are now 9-2 for the season.

Wildcats Win First Two Games at Forney Winter Classic
The #8 ranked Wildcats’ basketball team won their pool with two solid victories in the 2018 Forney ISD Winter Classic Thursday (December 6). The Wildcats topped North Mesquite, 52-43 and then took care of McKinney Boyd, 62-42. The Wildcats now face Wylie, the #14 ranked team in Class 6A, in a semifinal game in the Gold Bracket Friday at 5 p.m. in the Main Gym at North Forney High School.
Against North Mesquite, the Wildcats seemed to build their lead a little in each quarter. Wildcats Coach Clark Cipoletta was able to play all eleven players on his roster. Sadaidriene Day Day Hall led the Wildcats against North Mesquite scoring 20 points. Keaston Willis had 13 points including 2 three-pointers. Jeremiah Roland added 12 points including 2 three-point baskets. Duece Berry and Grayson McClure both scored 3 points hitting 1 three-point basket each. Cameron Kahn had 2 points.
The McKinney Boyd game pitted Coach Cipoletta against former Wildcats Coach Jeremy Josey. Cipoletta was Josey’s assistant coach in Sulphur Springs for two years. Against the Class 6A Broncos, the Wildcats were fast out of the gate scoring the games first 7 points. The Wildcats led 19-7 after one quarter and 36-11 at the half. They coasted during the last two quarters and once again Coach Cipoletta was able to play all eleven of his players. Sadaidriene Day Day Hall again led the Wildcats with 13 points. Keaston Willis had 12 points with 2 three-pointers. Jeremiah Roland added 11 points including 3 baskets from behind the arc. Cameron Kahn scored 7 points. Xavier Cork and DQ Pitts had 5 points each. Pitts hit a three-pointer. Duece Berry hit a three pointer for 3 points. Boo Wilkerson, Kai Taylor and Lamodrick Johnson had 2 points each.
The Wildcats improved their season record to 10-2.

Tira News Dec 7th, 2018
By Jan Vaughn

We want to express our sympathy to the family of Danny Rawson. He passed away on November 28th. A memorial service will be held on a later date at the DFW National Cemetery. Please be in prayer for his wife Judy, daughter Michelle, son-in-law Con, and granddaughter Sophie.
The community Christmas party is this Saturday, December 8th, at 6:00 p.m. at the Tira Community Center. We will enjoy a meal and time of visiting with neighbors, and then we will hear the Christmas story. I’ve heard that Santa is planning to stop by to visit with the kids. Brisket will be provided. Please bring a side dish and/or dessert to share. Also, we are collecting canned meats for the Tira Food Pantry. Hope to see you there!
Yvonne Weir reported that the Weir Family Christmas was held on Saturday. She commented, “We had a good time, but our numbers were low” The children of the late Herm and Helen Weir were all there.
Natalie, Dustin, and Maria spend the night with Yvonne and Robert, Dustin’s parents.
On Sunday, the My Heroes bowling club had a Christmas party at the Tira Community Center. Yvonne reports, “There was lots of food, fun, and folks.”
Joyce Dodd shared that the Tira Methodist Church has a new pastor, Clyde Bostick. He and his wife, Olivia, have 4 children - 3 boys and a baby girl. She says, “He’s a young retired serviceman, who was a chaplain in the service.” She adds, “They’ve just bought a house in the Commerce area. He is very interested in getting more people involved with Tira Methodist and building the youth population up. He seems to have a lot of enthusiasm and energy.” The church service is from 11:00 to 12:00 on Sunday mornings. Joyce comments, “We don’t have Sunday School, but we do have a Bible study twice a month (every other week) on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. at the church. Beth Hargrave is our teacher and she is an excellent one. Always well prepared and very knowledgeable on our lesson. Our next study will be on December 11th. We would love to have everyone join us. It lasts about an hour.”
Brenda Allen, of Yantis, Regina Taylor, of Sulphur Springs, and Yvonne Weir and I went to the Wally Jolly Christmas at the Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen on Friday evening. We stopped for dinner at Cotton Patch Café in Greenville on the way. Regina’s daughter, Bridgette Hammers, is a worship artist at the church and she opened the program with inspiring worship songs and Christmas carols.
Chip and I took our daughter and granddaughter, Tiffany and Jaidyn, to the Choral Society performance of “A Starry Night” on Saturday evening. Tiffany did a sign language interpretation to one of the musical numbers. Director Carol Allen led the choir and orchestra in the wonderful presentation.
The Tira City Council quarterly meeting was held on Monday, December 3rd. Evelyn Horne, Tami Joslin, and Yvonne Weir were sworn in for another term on the council. The group discussed routine community business and decorated the center for the Christmas party. Joyce Dodd gave a food pantry update and shared that Martha Payton’s brother and an anonymous donor have been contributing to the cause. We always appreciate the donations. The council, also, expressed appreciation for the Tira Volunteer Firefighters. We hope they will join us at the party and be recognized for their commitment.
Landon and Laiken Joslin recently kicked off their Christmas holiday season by taking the kids, Dixie, Rylan, Brailon, and Slaiden, to IHOP for green pancakes, and then to see The Grinch at the movie theater.
I always need and appreciate input from my friends to help keep me informed of news in our community. If you have any news pertaining to Tira residents, past or present, please contact me, Jan Vaughn, at 903-945-2190 or 903-438-6688 or [email protected].
A Year in Review: 2018 Hopkins County Water Conservation

Developed by Dr. Mario A. Villarino,County Extension Agent forAgriculture and Natural ResourcesHopkins County, Texas
Relevance: Water quality and conservation have emerged as predominant issues across Texas as indicated through local input, elected officials/legislative actions, and numerous other indicators. Water for domestic and agricultural use is becoming increasingly limited in Texas. The steady influx of new people presents challenges to continued water availability. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) projects that by 2060, an estimated population of 46.3 million will reside in Texas and require approximately 22 million-acre feet of water per year. TWDB also projects an annual shortfall of some 7 million-acre feet of water given existing infrastructure.
Response: Programs/activities were designed to educate youth and adults on water conservation and factors contributing to water quality that heighten awareness, increase knowledge and results in adoption of best management practices to protect and conserve water.
- 4 Planning Meetings
- Kids Camp (Water Camp)
- Water Trailer Presentation (Ag in the Classroom Component).
- Basic Vegetable Training
- Homeowner Septic System Training (16 participants)
- Basic Tree Training
- 12 Master Gardener Meetings
- Dairymen Fall Conference (DOPA) (30 participants)
- Native Plants Result Demonstration
Results:
1. 82% (14/17) indicated mostly or completely satisfied with the accuracy of the information.
2. 82% (14/17) agreed to be mostly or completely satisfied with the information being easy to understand.
3. 82% (14/17) indicated mostly or completely satisfied with the helpfulness of the information provided.
4. 82% (14/17) agreed to be mostly or completely satisfied with the relevance of the information provided.
5. 82% (14/17) indicated mostly or completely satisfied with the instructor’s knowledge level of subject matter.
Impact:
a) 58% (10/17) of the attendees indicated to anticipate economic benefit as a direct result of what they learned from trainings offered by Extension.
b) 76% (13/17) would attend another activity offered by Extension.
c) 58% (10/17) indicated to consider the information provided by extension quite or extremely valuable.
Volunteer committees assisted in the planning of educational event. Educational activities include classroom instruction conducted by teachers, volunteers, or the agent. The volunteer committee was involved in the planning of the Water Day/Fair which follows the completion of classroom instruction. The more volunteers are involved in the program, the greater likelihood of success and the opportunity for the program to grow.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Services in Hopkins County would like to recognize the help of master volunteers (Master Gardeners and Master Wellness) during the implementation of this plan.
A data omission on the results portion of the press release title: year in review 2018 4-H Hopkins County Agricultural Plan submitted 11/27/2018. The values corresponding to answers “I do not know” and questions not answered were omitted from the table making the calculated percentages inaccurate with data as presented.
