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Stephenville kept its dream of a fifth state football title alive by defeating Kilgore Friday. The Yellow Jackets meet El Campo for the championship…Page B1
Empire-Tribune STEPHENVILLE
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STEPHENVILLE, TEXAS H CITY OF CHAMPIONS
TREE OF ANGELS
HOLIDAY FUN
Victims of violent crime remembered
Festival lights up square Tuesday
BY JESSIE HORTON
jessie.horton@empiretribune.com
Tree of Angels was initiated in Austin in 1991 by People Against Violent Crime and Verna Lee Carr. The event recognizes that the holiday season is a difficult time for victims and their families no matter how many years or days have passed since their loss. This special event honors surviving victims of violent crime and the victims’ families by making it possible for loved ones to bring an angel ornament to be placed on a special Christmas tree. The ceremony also allows the community to come together in support of those victims and their families. According to Laurie Gillispie at the Erath County District Attorney’s office, “it is a reverent forum for the community to join together to See TREE on Page A2
Community members will honor victims of violent crimes Tuesday night at the Tree of Angels ceremony. E-T file photo
BY SARA VANDEN BERGE
sara.vandenberge@empiretribune.com
The courthouse square in downtown Stephenville will light up with all things Christmas Tuesday as the Chamber of Commerce and SPARD host an annual holiday event. Holly Jolly Christmas will be held from 6-9 p.m. and include an
array of festive activities the whole family will enjoy. “The best part of the entire evening is getting to celebrate this joyous time of year with your family and friends in a community we all love,” said Chamber President July Danley. Event-goers will not want to miss one of the evening’s highlights - the
official lighting of the Christmas tree at 6 p.m. by Stephenville Mayor Kenny Weldon who will be assisted by Santa Claus himself. There will be pictures with Santa, horse-drawn carriage rides, caroling in the courthouse by student choirs, dance and theater performances and holiday shopping. See HOLLY JOLLY on Page A2
BACK TO STATE
Head coach Joe Gillespie, his staff, team and thousands of can fans celebrate a fourth-quarter touchdown that put the final nail in Kilgore’s coffin Friday night. The Yellow Jackets won the 3A Division I semifinal 42-32 at Newsom Stadium in Mansfield, and meet El Campo at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Cowboys Stadium for the state championship. See full coverage in B Section. RUSSELL HUFFMAN/E-T
NEW EQUIPMENT
ECVFR receives nearly $40K in grant funding BY JESSIE HORTON
jessie.horton@empiretribune.com
Over the past few months three grants have come through from the Texas Forestry Service for the Erath County Volunteer Fire Department totaling $39,300. Coordinator Chris Gable said the department applied for the grants earlier this year and were pleased to be approved for all three. The first grant allowed the department to purchase 38 sets of wildland firefighting gear, which cost between $375-$450 each - an estimated total of $17,100. According to Firefighter Tommy Shelton the wildland gear is lighter weight, which not only allows firefighters to move easier, but is cooler when fighting fires in the Texas heat. Another grant allowed the department to purchase six sets of structural gear, which costs about $1,700 each — an estimated total of $10,200. The jackets and pants are heavier, thicker and protect firefighters from
Good morning, Subscriber
Lauren LaMontagne, Stephenville, TX
20 pages H Vol. 113, No. 246 H ©2012
Floyd Croft and Tommy Shelton with Erath County Volunteer Fire Department get their new brush truck ready and show off the new wildland fire gear the department purchased with grant funding from the Texas Forestry Service. With this funding, the department was able to purchase 38 sets of new gear and other new equipment. JESSIE HORTON/E-T
chemicals and direct heat. The latest grant, received a few days ago, is a $12,000 grant that will allow the department to purchase other types of equipment and gear they need. Gable said the department initially planned to purchase new nozzles for hoses on the trucks when they applied for the grant in February. But when the grant did not come through, the department used other funds to get the nozzles and will make new plans for the funding. “It’s a good feeling to have the extra funding going into such a busy season for us,” Gable said. “I know, with as dry as it is right now, we will be busy soon and will have plenty of equipment that will either need to be replaced or repaired and this will help.” “We were luck enough to be able to receive all three of these grants and with them we will be able to better serve the people in this county,” he said. “We do our absolute best to always be prepared for any situation that may occur and these grants will definantly be helpful to us in continuing that.”
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