Sulphur Springs Public Library’s Summer Reading Program Concludes Record Year
Sulphur Springs Public Library’s Fun with Mary Poppins Summer Reading Program has come to an end.
On May 31, 275 attended the summer reading program kickoff and we had a record number of checkouts that day – 437 – in one day!!!
We saw a record number of checkouts for June – 5017 – that broke last year’s record by almost 500! We signed up 244 new patrons and 520 attended our programs.
There have been 335 reading logs completed and 67 young people have completed their three logs as of Friday, August 3rd.
So far, this has been a record-breaking year. That is not only good for the library, but it is good for the children. When a child completes the three reading log challenge, they will have read 8 ½ hours this summer!
Hope Cain, Librarian noted: “Why is summer Reading Program so important to our children? When not engaging our brains, we lose some of what we learned. Children are at risk of losing some of the advancements they make during the school year if not actively engaged in reading and learning.
“Reading aloud benefits all children and teens, especially those who struggle. One benefit is when a student hears the book being read; she will build listening comprehension skills with grade-level and above books. This will increase her knowledge and expand her experience with text, so that she will do better when she reads on her own. The library has a section of children’s audiobooks and eAudiobooks available.”
Wildcat Football Season Ticket Sale Ends
Only about 52 Wildcats’ football season tickets remained as season ticket week concluded at the high school Media Center at noon Friday (August 3). Season Ticket Coordinator Lynette King said 12 scattered single seats remained in chair back sections C, D and E. About 40 seats, many of them together, were left in the rail back section B. Anyone interested in season tickets now will have to go to the high school front desk when it is open.
Lady Cat Volleyball Host Cumby, Commerce in Monday Scrimmage
Lady Cats Volleyball Coach Justin Maness lost six seniors off of last year’s district champion team. Coach Maness conducted special varsity tryouts during two a day workouts Wednesday and Thursday. (August 1-2) This year’s Lady Cats team is now made up of six returnees and the six new ones.
New to the varsity are Aubrey Oliver, Kate Womack, Sydni Washburn, Sadie Washburn, Taylor McElfresh and Maddie Millsap. They join returnees Autumn Tanton, Erika VanBenthem, Sadie Stroud, Abbi Baier, Lexi Whisenhunt and Madison Vickery. Erika Van Benthem sprained an ankle Thursday and will be out for awhile.
Coach Maness said the special tryouts were the best two days he has experienced, especially here, in terms of energy and level of play. He said it was hard to distinguish between the new players and the returnees. The Lady Cats practiced Friday and will workout again Saturday in Wildcats Gym before a home scrimmage Monday against Cumby and Commerce. The Lady Cats play Cumby at 10 a.m. and Commerce at noon. In between Cumby and Commerce play at 11 a.m.
The regular season begins Tuesday at Sherman with matches against North Lamar and Sherman beginning at 4 p.m.
Video Presentation: Chamber of Commerce Showcase Called a Successful Evening
Over 140 people attended a Chamber of Commerce Networking Event at Sulphur Springs Country Club Thursday night. It was an opportunity to meet new people, make new connections, meete fellow Chamber members, and be a part of the community. Chamber CEO Lezley Brown called the evening a success for the chamber and the community.
Friday Morning Pursuit Ends in Arrest
A pursuit began when an individual was identified stealing from a business in Winnsboro and Hopkins County Criminal Investigator Dennis Findley recognized the vehicle and individual Friday morning in Hopkins County. The chase began along State Highway 154, State Highway 11, State Highway 19, and FM 1567 ending at a house where the wanted subject barricaded himself.
DPS, Hopkins County CID, Deputies, K9 Unit, and Sulphur Springs Police converged on the house. The subject gave himself up.
The subject has not been identified pending arraignment.
Registration Underway at PJC-Sulphur Springs Center
READY FOR COLLEGE
Sylvia Feijen, left, who graduated salutatorian of her 2018 class at Saltillo High School, is busy registering for fall classes at the PJC-Sulphur Springs Center. Giving moral support is her mom, Jeanette Feijen, and helping with the paper work is PJC Advisor Carey Gable.
“The Courtyard”, a Proposed Residential/Business Enterprise for Downtown Sulphur Springs
April 3, 2018 – As we have mentioned here before, Billie Ruth Standbridge loves her hometown’s downtown district so much that she built her home there. Now, upon moving into the new residential/business construction this Spring, “Ms. Downtown” has unveiled another project, “The Courtyard” for the 200 block of Main Street in Sulphur Springs, Texas. The Courtyard will offer upstairs apartments for downtown dwellers and three retail spaces, or storefronts, downstairs. Construction is expected to begin early this Fall, with completion projected for Fall 2019.
Her new Standbridge House residence at 214 A Main Street was carefully planned to take advantage of the space she owned between Main and Tomlinson Streets. A garage and elevator provides secure access from the rear of the home, with a front entryway and three levels of living space, balconies and terraces, for a total of 2,000 square feet. Below her home, one retail space was built and offered for lease. That new store, “Landers Creek Outfitters” at 214 Main, will celebrate it’s opening on Wednesday August 8, 2018 at 12 noon with a ribbon cutting by the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce. Retailers J.P. and Christie Mosely plan to cater to the male population, carrying sporting equipment and clothing, guns and gear.
The same economy of space and luxurious design will be employed in the residential and retail space proposed for The Courtyard. The complex of five apartments and three business spaces are drawn into in the design by Plano architect Adam Panter, who is a Sulphur Springs native. Standbridge says that the spaces will be available for lease, and that leasing agent Craig English can be reached at 903-439-2343. There will be two street-facing 2BR 2BA apartments, two 1BR 1BA apartments and one efficiency apartment. There will be access to 5 garages and an elevator at the rear of the complex. Balconies and landscaped terraces will be part of the charm of “being downtown” for those who will live, work and shop at The Courtyard.
Billie Ruth Standbridge is a Sulphur Springs native, a retired educator, a long-time member of the Downtown Business Alliance and owner of a number of downtown properties. The Courtyard, a BRS Enterprise, is the newest of her projects which enhance the practical appeal of downtown Sulphur Springs. She has earned the title “Ms. Downtown!”
Billie Ruth Standbridge
Murder Trial Set to Begin Tuesday in Eighth Judicial District Court
Jury selection begins Monday in Eighth Judicial District Court. Gavin Heath Gilbert, 17, will be tried for Felony 1 Murder. Gilbert is in Hopkins County Jail being held on a $2-million bond for murder and $500,000 bond on each of the four counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. The trial for the murder charge is set to begin Tuesday morning.
Gilbert was arrested in December of last year when a call to Hopkins County Deputies alerted law enforcement to a shooting that occurred on County Road 1185 near the South Liberty Community. Tyrese Pryor, 18, was in a vehicle that was driven to the Hopkins County Fire Department. Pryor had two gunshot wounds. He was transported to CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital where he was pronounced dead by Justice of the Peace B. J. Teer. Gilbert was arrested when the Texas Ranger, DPS, and the combined Hopkins County/Sulphur Springs SWAT team served a warrant around 2 a.m. the next day following the shooting at the Gilbert home, according to Sheriff Lewis Tatum. Tatum stated a disagreement between Gilbert, who was on foot on the county road, and five individuals in the vehicle led to the shooting. Four shots were fired into the vehicle with two rounds striking Pryor.
Local Man Arrested for Assaulting Wife
Officers at the scene of the assault reported Stark’s wife showed signs of the assault that included choking and restricting her airway until she blacked out. The victim had visible injuries.
Stark is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Assault Family Violence Impede Breathing, a Felony 3. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.
When Sulphur Springs police were called to an altercation in the 1000 block of North Davis Street, the aggressor in an assault had left the scene. However, one officer soon found John Ralph Stark, 35, of Sulphur Springs, westbound on Houston Street. When found, Stark exhibited sign of intoxication on alcohol and it was obvious he had been in an altercation.
