High School Graduation is Upon Us! By Johanna Hicks
High School Graduation is Upon Us!
School is winding down for the year, and for many, this will be the end of familiarity and the beginning of the unknown. High school seniors are the “big men on campus”, and then all of a sudden, they become freshmen again, thrust into new surroundings and the unknown. Temptations and radical thinking will bombard these young people. As a parent, I encourage you to stay true to your belief system and don’t be easily swayed to follow the wrong crowd. Alcohol and drugs are a huge problem in our society. Nobody ever had the dream of growing up to be an alcoholic or drug addict. However, this can be avoided by making wise decisions and sticking to them!
College is not for partying, although good clean socializing is possible. Attending college to pursue higher education is the main focus. College can be expensive, but more and more scholarships and financial aid are becoming available. Why would you want to waste your (or your parents’) hard-earned money by skipping classes or shirking your assignments? And as for the fun aspect – there are many opportunities to enjoy fellowship with classmates. Most campuses have faith-based student organizations that offer meals, special programs, retreats, banquets, trips, and more. Most campuses also have sororities and fraternities, but be cautious with these. Some have good academic and service-based reputations, while others are known for their partying and moral indiscretions. Do your research in order to make informed decisions.
Most of all, remember that there are people who love you and want to see you succeed. Think of all the individuals who have had an impact on your life, whether they are parents, teachers, grandparents, relatives, or other adults outside your family or school. Tell them you appreciate their influence, because kind words and thoughts often go unspoken.
Hats off to you, class of 2017! Don’t do drugs or alcohol, make wise choices, and follow your academic or career goals.
Almost Final Call for “Dinner Tonight – Cooking with Chef Cruz”
Calling all hunting enthusiasts! If you have overlooked this event, you might want to reconsider. A team of Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Agents worked diligently to bring this event to East Texas, and we want you to be a part of the action! Here are the details:
- What: “Cooking with Chef Cruz”
- Where: Hidden Lakes Hunting Lodge, Yantis
- When: Tuesday, June 6
- Time: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
- Cost: $25
- Includes: cooking demonstrations with Red Stag Venison, Duck, Quail, Buffalo and side dishes
Each attendee will receive a goody bag with full-color recipe cards for six complete menus, along with recipes from the Texas Beef Council, rub mixes, handouts for proper storage and handling of wide game, and many other goodies. Door prizes will also be given. A tasting panel will provide feedback on each dish.
For registration information, drop by any Extension Office in Hopkins, Hunt, Wood, or Rains County, or go to: Http://hopkins.agrilife.org and click on events. Scroll down to “Dinner Tonight – Cooking with Chef Cruz”. Directions to Hidden Lakes Hunting Lodge can be found on the registration form.
Don’t delay! Seating is limited and as of this writing, we only have 35 spots remaining! Call my office at 903-885-3443 if have questions.
Closing Thought
Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens – Jimi Hendrix
Johanna Hicks
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Family & Consumer Sciences
1200-B W. Houston
P.O.Box 518
Sulphur springs, TX 75483
903-885-3443 – phone
903-439-4909 – Fax
[email protected]
Know Your Native Plants By Mario Villarino
Know your native plants: Queen Anne’s Lace or wild carrot
It is hard to miss the abundance of flowering Queen Anne’s Laces in Northeast Texas at this time of the year. If for some reason you have not notice yet, pay attention in the south side of Sulphur Springs (Highway 154 south and highway 11) and you might notice road ditches covered with it. According to the University of Arkansas –Extension horticulturist (retired) Gerlad Klingaman, Queen Anne’s Lace is one of our most common roadside wildflowers or weeds, depending on your perspective. Mr. Klingaman admired the delicate, lacy character of the white flower in early summer, but to him it’s not a weed. Not everyone agrees. As I mowed my lawn at home, I have left part of my front property currently covered with Queen Anne’s Lace untouched to observe the diversity of pollinators visiting the patch. I am curious to find out how long until my neighbors start to wonder why the patch was left not mowed!. Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota), a member of the parsnip family, is the wild progenitor of the cultivated carrot. It’s native across much of southern Europe and central Asia but has spread throughout all regions of the United States and Canada. It’s most at home along roadways that are periodically mown to keep down really tall vegetation, but it’s never a serious lawn weed because it can’t tolerate close mowing. In our climate, Queen Anne’s lace behaves as a winter annual with seeds germinating in the fall. The slender, white, branched taproots forms lacy leaves reminiscent of the cultivated carrot. Though the taproot is as woody as a tree limb, it gives off the distinctive carrot smell when crushed. The summer plants send up 3 feet tall, branched, hairy stems bearing flowers and lacy leaves. The terminal flower cluster (an umbel) is the largest and may reach 4 to 5 inches across. Side branches form freely, but the umbels are usually half as large. The umbels are made up of hundreds of tiny white blossoms, except for one central floret that’s a deep purple. Speculation has it that this tiny purple floret in the lacelike array of white flowers may have been an example of floral mimickery. It probably looked like the alluring end of a female bug, inviting amorous males in for a visit, only to do pollination work instead. When the seeds mature, the umbel curls inward and forms a nest-like collection of bristle-armed seeds that cause them to stick easily to passing pets or pant legs. As the seeds begin ripening, the plant dies. The widespread occurrence of Queen Anne’s lace is probably due to reversion of the cultivated type to wild forms. The first cultivated carrots were from Afghanistan, but they were either white or purple. The purple color came from anthocyanin pigments, the same pigment found in beets. The stubby, yellow and then orange anthocyanin-free carrots we know today appeared as mutants in the 16th century. Apparently, there was not an organized environmental movement at the time, because the frankenfood label didn’t appear until genetically engineered crops arrived in the 1990s. A French seedman, Henri Vilmorin, demonstrated in the 1840s that in three simple crosses using wild plants it was possible recreate the carrot grown in the garden. So, it seems likely that the reverse happened when a few cultivated plants were allowed to go to seed without supervision. Reversion occurred, and Queen Anne’s lace filled the waste places of the world. Carrot breeders must carefully inspect all of their seed production fields, because the presence of a single wild plant can ruin an entire seed field. For more information on this or any other agricultural topics please contact the Hopkins County Extension Office at 903-885-3443 or email me at [email protected].
Mario Villarino DVM, Ph.D.
Hopkins County Extension Agent for Ag and NR
1200B Houston Street
Sulphur Springs, Texas 75482
903-885-3443
Spring Football Practice Ends; Spring Game Friday at 6 p.m.
Owens on Spring Football
At the conclusion of spring football workouts for the Wildcats, Football Coach Greg Owens gave the spring practice a grade of A-plus saying it was another great spring. He called the attitude of the players great. It ended with what Coach Owens called a really good day Wednesday. Drills included ones for certain end of game or quarter situations. Coach Owens said blitz drills continued to be beneficial for offensive and defensive players. He said he was able to mix in some special teams work designed to make sure players get on and off the field for special teams. Fans are expected to see some of this also during Friday’s Spring Day at 6 p.m. at the SSHS Track Field, weather permitting. Wet weather would force the game inside in the Multipurpose Building. Putting a damper on things a little Wednesday were some injuries. Coach Owens said none appeared to be season ending except an ACL knee injury. He said he continued to be impressed with the retention level during spring football. After practice, Coach Owens said he met with next years seniors to get their input concerning an issue that has cropped up for the team. He said he sought the seniors’ input because they have a lot invested in the team.
Abron’s Defensive Outlook
After the last football workout of the spring, Wildcats Defensive Coordinator Triston Abron met with some of his seniors for next year and told them they have the potential to be at the top or even the top team in the district defensively this coming season. Coach Abron said his entire defensive scheme was installed earlier this spring and lately players have been working to polish it. He said last year’s defense would have been near the top of the district except for a bad Marshall game and one long run allowed against Greenville. Coach Abron’s defense will return nine starters from last year’s team. He said guys who stepped in this spring to replace last year’s seniors have done a remarkable job. He said the defense in the spring picked up right where they left off last fall. Coach Abron said he is happy where the defense is right now.
football
Early Morning House Fire in Pine Forest Area
An early morning house fire Thursday on County Road 3385 in the Pine Forest area called out the Hopkins County Fire Department to assist the Pickton-Pine Forest and Saltillo Volunteer units. The fire started sometime around 3:30 a.m. while a man prepared to leave for work for the day and his wife was preparing him a meal.
The wife stepped away from the kitchen range for a brief time and the fire was out of control when she returned. The frame structure was destroyed by the fire, according to County Fire Chief Andy Endsley. Endsley said he and others had stayed at the scene until 11 a.m. Thursday morning to insure the fire was out.
Video Presentation: Annual SSHS Honor Student Breakfast May 18, 2017
Twenty-eight Honor Students, members of the Sulphur Springs High School Class of 2017, along with their families and favorite teachers were guests at Thursday mornings annual Honor Student Breakfast in the Hopkins County Civic Center.
Principal Derek Driver introduced Superintendent Michael Lamb who recognized special guests present. Leesa Toliver, President of the SSSD Board of Trustees introduced board members present. Students were presented by high school counselors Karey Brice, Leslie Harred, and Mary Jenkins.
Honor students included Valedictorian Lydia Burleson, Salutatorian Tori Mattison, Jesse Allen, Sarah Anderson, Cindy Arrellano, Sarah Berning, Emma Boyett, Summer Brooks, Matthew Calhoun, Christian Corona, Jaye Doughtie, Mandy Eckhardt, Sadie Evans, William Fain, Emily Johnson, Owen Lee, Abbey Martin, Tori Moore, Andrea Mora, Brynn Offutt, Payton Pierce, Jessica Rivera, Dane Rutherford, Andrew Sant, Faith Singleton, Jaime Stahl, Story Thompson, and Kimberly Weems.
SSHS Fishing Team Going to State…Again!
According to Fishing Team coach and sponsor Norman Sanders, the 20 students in the SSISD angling program have had a great year, and are about to take their boats to Lake Ray Roberts to State competition this weekend. Three 2-man teams have risen to the surface…Braden Katchinska/Matt Reynolds…Skyler Long/Sloan McGahee…and Sam Scott/Hagan Hunt. …and will enter competition with about 200 other high school teams from Houston, Odessa-Permian, Northeast and Southeast Texas. The tournament is May 19-21, 2017. The SSHS anglers have fished in 5 open tournaments this year, earning points for the most weight in a 5-fish limit at weight-in. Last month, the qualifying tournament for state hopefuls was held on Lake Palestine, and total points earned qualified our teams to compete against the top 40 percent of Texas high school fishing teams. All teams are members of the Texas High School Bass Association. About six years ago, Norman Sanders, a campus police officer at Sulphur Springs Middle School took the bait to sponsor the Fishing Team and has taken students to State each year.
Stolen Firearm, False ID, Arrested
Hopkins County Interdiction officer Harry Washington and Criminal Investigator Corley Weatherford made contact with Kalvin Jerome Davis, 29, of Killeen Wednesday. Davis was wanted for possession of marijuana in Killeen but had in his possession a stolen firearm which he tried to hide from the officers. He had also tried to hide his identity with false identifying information.
Davis attempted to hide the stolen firearm in the back of the patrol vehicle when arrested on the Killeen warrant. Also in a bag he was carrying were numerous bottles of Promethazine Hydrochloride along with his Texas driver’s license and Social Security card.
Davis is in Hopkins County Jail being held bonds totaling $80,000. He is charged with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, Tamper Fabricate Physical Evidence with Intent to Impair, Theft of Firearm, and the Killeen charge of Possession of Marijuana more than 4oz but less than 4lbs.
Disturbance at Local Hospital Leads to Arrest
A disturbance at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital in Sulphur Springs led to the arrest of two individuals for possession of suspected methamphetamine.
During the investigation of the disturbance, Marsha Deeann McRight, 38, of Lone Oak retrieved a backpack from a Hyundai Elantra. With consent to search, the investigating officer found a loaded syringe along with suspected methamphetamine and numerous syringes in the bag. McRight and Michael Carl Spradling, 38, of Talco were arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 more than 1-gram but less than 4-grams.
McRight and Spradling are in Hopkins County Jail with each held on a $10,000 bond.
Fourth Suspect in Church Burglary Arrested
Hopkins County Investigator Wade Sheets said the arrest of Dayton Wallace Hargett, 29, of Hughes Springs finalizes the arrests for the burglary of Weaver Baptist Church and a residence on CR 3600. Three individuals were arrested and Hargett fled the scene of the arrest.
The group had pushed open a set of double doors to gain access to the church according to the findings of Hopkins County Deputies Kelly Wiser and Todd Evans, who responded to the call of a possible burglary of the church building. Deputies were told of an address on County Road 3531, the location of a possible suspect. Under Miranda, the suspect admitted to making entry inside the church. The individuals admitted taking the property when deputies told the four that they would finger print a red cup found on the church porch. Property taken in the church burglary and another recent burglary were discovered inside the residence on the county road.
Hargett was also involved in taking four vehicles and numerous tools and other items at Dangerfield-Lone Star ISD. He was also involved in the robbery of 83-year old Mount Pleasant woman.
Hargett is in Hopkins County Jail Charged with Burglary of a Building and with Burglary of a Habitation. He is being held on a total of $50,000 in bonds.
