


Mrs. Mary Edmundson was born August 31, 1919 in Brownsville, Texas. Her father was a government veterinarian who rode the Texas bor der taking care of the livestock and animals. She had a brother who was a Methodist minister. She loved to dance on the beach in South Texas before it was known as South Padre Island. Ms. Edmund son married young and had two children Bill and John Edmundson.
She worked for Dr. Pepper bottling company in South Texas before moving to Dal las where she working for a printing company until she was 80. She then moved to Waskom to be closer to her eldest son Bill. Ms. Mary waited until she was 101 to
move into Marshall Manor Nursing and Rehab. She recently celebrated her 103rd birthday with a big cele bration!
Her son Bill, is known at Marshall Manor as the donut man, as he nev er misses a morning to bring her, the staff and other residents a box of donuts. Ms. Edmundson also looks forward to regular visits from
her son, John and his wife Linda Edmundson, who live in San Anto nio, Texas. Ms. Mary is a ray of sun shine to all of those who know her and when ask what she wants to do during the coming year she states, “Just take one day at a time.” Her daughter in law, Linda, said, “We are very grateful for Marshall Man or. She is happy, well cared for and content. We are all blessed.”
Ienjoy this time of year. Like many others, it is in part due to the change in weather. Knowing that you can step outside and it is not triple digits is refreshing. Crisp morning air, as you start the day, has a way of invigorating you like nothing else really can. Being able to enjoy an evening sitting outside tak ing in the fresh air, while sharing conversation with your family about your day, is also a plus of the fall season.
Fall is a time of year that is synonymous with the word tradition.
If you live in East Texas, you know there is a strong tradi tion and love for Friday Night Lights. Not just the football game, but all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds it. The band playing the team’s fight song from the stands, the cheerleaders doing their routines and communities coming together around a common goal of willing their favorite school onto victory.
In this issue, we celebrate another Marshall tradition by vis iting the 40th annual FireAnt Festival. I am sure many of you reading this have made many memories over the years during the festival. I can picture you now smirking as you recall those memories.
Temperature changes signal the holiday season is quickly ap proaching, and more traditions are on the horizon. For most of us, this means small scary and some cute creatures knocking at our door asking for sweets. Quickly after the candy is eaten and the costumes are put away, we turn our attention to planning the perfect Thanksgiving meal.
The Thanksgiving table usually brings a unique tradition from house to house. It could be that one food item your table needs to have that is not commonly found, or that one family member who will always fall asleep after they over fill their plate. The tryptophan gets someone every year. Of course it goes with out saying, some of our greatest traditions are wrapped around Christmas and New Year. Who has not made a new year’s reso lution, to break on the very first day of the year?
As I reflect on these various traditions, it becomes very clear that people are at the core of these traditions and, more impor tantly, the great memories that we bank.
As we enter the holiday season we often speed up and worry about all the things we need to check off our list, instead of be ing present in the moment. I encourage you to take a little extra time this fall and winter to enjoy those people around you and all the wonder ful memory making opportunities Harrison County has to offer.
Alexander Gould agould@mrobertsmedia.comAlexander Gould agould@mrobertsmedia.com
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Johnnie Fancher jfancher@marshallnewsmessenger.com
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Jessica Harker
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East Texans looking for an escape without the hassle of traveling long distances can look no further than their own backyard.
Deep in the picturesque Pineywoods of East Texas, an es cape from the daily hustle and bustle of life can be achieved through a quick weekend getaway to Enoch’s Stomp and Vineyard’s newly constructed villas.
The tiny cabins offer all the luxury one would expect from a vineyard getaway with the scenic beauty of rows and rows of grapes on the vine, an onsite restaurant, live events and wine walks.
Enoch’s Stomp co-owner Jon Kral said the two tiny cottag es offer guests an escape from daily life in a country setting.
The villas, named the Verdot and Petit Verdot, set up next to the vineyard’s pond are available for daily and weekend rentals.
The studio style layouts come with kitchenettes in each, bathrooms with walk in showers and king-sized Murphy beds. The open floor plan villas each come with covered decks and outdoor seating so guests can enjoy the morning
Enoch Stomp’s villas, named the Verdot and Petit Verdot, are set up next to the vineyard’s pond and available for daily and weekend rentals.
and afternoon views.
Amenities include refrigerators, microwaves, Keurig cof fee makers, linens, bathroom toiletries, hair dryers and con tinental breakfasts are provided.
Rentals start at $260 per night and include on site parking. The vineyard is located at 817 Ferguson Road in Harleton, and reservations can be made by visiting the vineyard’s web site at http://www.enochsstomp.com or by calling (903) 9189895.
Harrison County Fire Marshal Duana “DJ” Couch is the first woman in the county to hold that prestigious title. It’s nothing new for Couch though, who has spent the last 30 years of her law enforcement career becom ing the first woman in many roles across Harrison County.
“I’m very humble; I don’t like to think of myself as differ ent than anyone else,” Couch said, “I really believe we are all here for a purpose.”
Couch spent her childhood living in Texas before moving to Shreveport and then Dallas as a young woman working in real estate and other office jobs.
It was in 1991 when Couch said she wanted to move back to her hometown, to be closer with her parents, and found work as a dispatcher at the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office.
“I worked for the first six months without pay, just trying to get my foot in the door there,” Couch recalled.
That was when former Sheriff Bob Green approached Couch and asked if she would be interested in moving down from dispatch and training as a peace officer, which she readily accepted. This was the first glass ceiling Couch broke through, studying and eventually working to become the department’s first female lieutenant.
Couch also met her now husband working at the sheriff’s office, Sgt. Mike Couch, who worked as a narcotics officer through the department. The pair married in 1995 and have two children and two granddaughters.
“We got to work together for a long time, and he really taught me a lot,” Couch said, “Working with him was always amazing.”
Couch briefly worked at the Marshall Police Department around 1995 as well, where she spent a short amount of time before the new Harrison County Sher iff Tom McCool reached out to her and requested she come back to the sher iff’s office, which she did.
For the next 25 years or so, Couch worked at the sheriff’s office, holding a number of positions and carrying a wide range of responsibilities for the department. During her career, Couch said that she worked for the narcotics and evidence collection divisions of the department, having seized over $1 million in funds throughout her career.
the head during a call she was responding to.
“We got a call about a possible location for the trailer, and I was close and responded to the call, and I found it,” Couch said.
She explained that at the time her doctors and fellow offi cers said she was not expected to recover due to her injuries.
“I had a long conversation with God during that time, and he told me that my work wasn’t done here yet,” Couch said, “God has always been in charge of my life.”
Couch did make a full recovery and returned to her work with the police force for many years until 2015, when thenfire marshal Thomas Mock reached out to her about joining his team.
Couch once again took on the challenge, studying and working to continue her education before officially joining the fire marshal team and being recognized as the first wom an to do so in Harrison County history.
Through all of her years of training, Couch has accumu lated around 10,000 hours of continued education, including training and continued education classes which have allowed her to propel forward in her career.
She worked with the fire marshal for a number of years before 2020, when Mock retired from his position and Couch took over as interim fire marshal. Then in November 2021, Couch officially took over the position as the first female fire marshal in the history of the county.
“I absolutely love what I am doing, I really love my job,” Couch said, “But no I had no idea that this is where I would be. I didn’t even think I wanted to be in law enforcement when I was younger.”
In her position as fire marshal, Couch coordinates a wide range of city departments and duties, including the response to and investiga tion of fires within Harrison County.
Additionally, Couch is the first woman from the sheriff’s office to re ceive a purple heart after she was shot in
Couch said her personal experi ence with having her home burn down puts her in a unique po sition to empathize with the people in the community she encounters during this part of her job. She tries to let them know what’s going on, that it’s going to be OK and that ma terial possessions don’t mean everything.
“It’s terrifying when you lose everything, and that’s something I can relate to,” she said.
Along with her responsibilities co ordinating fire investigations in Harrison
and
“My husband thinks I am crazy, and I am definitely not fearless, but what’s the fun of it if I let that stop me?”
County, Couch is also responsible for the emergency man agement coordination within the county, as well as coordinat ing between all of the police and fire departments operating within the area.
The fire marshal’s department is also responsible for the permit approval and fire and life safety inspections of com mercial and residential properties within Harrison Coun ty, along with many more responsibilities all coordinated through the department.
“I really feel like I am where I am supposed to be. Some where that I can devote my time and use it to help people and do unto others, offering people a peace of mind and support,” Couch said.
In her free time, Couch said she loves to be with her family, spending their time hunting and enjoying the outdoors. Her biggest dream, and the only item on her bucket list, is to one day jump out of an airplane with a parachute.
“My husband thinks I am crazy, and I am definitely not fearless, but what’s the fun of it if I let that stop me?” Couch said.
HALLSVILLE — If you’re looking for a home-cooked meal served with a side of down-home humor, look no further than Miss Minnie’s Place in Hallsville, where customers are treated like family and food is made fresh and hot Monday through Saturday.
“We do breakfast and lunch,” said Chrissy Rogers, who owns and operates the establishment with her husband Lance.
“Everything is made to order. And the entertainment is free because I cut up with my customers,” she said, teasing how customers not only enjoy the good meals, but also her fun sense of wit.
“We treat them all like family. I have a sign up there that says: ‘sarcasm served daily’ — just like (with) family,” she quipped.
Along with the daily dose of humor, customers also enjoy the weekly specials served on the menu, Monday through Friday. “We do the specials every day, except Saturday,” said Rogers. The most popular is the “Thunder Thigh” Thursday special.
“It is a boneless chicken thigh. It’s got jalapeño and cream cheese in it wrapped in bacon,” Rogers described. “It’s baked
in the oven and served with a homemade cheese sauce on top, like a queso sauce.”
Other daily specials include chicken spaghetti or smothered hamburger steak on Monday; stuffed bell pepper or smoth ered pork chop on rice with one side on Tuesday; beef tips and rice or fried chicken with one side on Wednesday; the thun der thigh or fried or grilled pork chop on Thursday; and meat loaf or fried or grilled catfish with French fries, coleslaw, pinto beans and hush puppies on Friday.
Sides include, but are not limited to, mashed potatoes, cab bage, macaroni and cheese, black-eyed peas, pinto beans and fresh collard greens. Customers also enjoy sinking their teeth into the yummy appetizers, ranging from homemade onion rings to fried pickles and fried zucchini.
“For the kids, we do the chicken strips, steak fingers, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese, French fries, mashed potatoes — all that — and mac and cheese,” said Rogers.
And just like home, fried bologna sandwiches and warm, homemade cornbread are also cooked in Minnie’s kitchen.
Meatloaf is also a hot item, and is served on a first come, first served basis. “If I have meatloaf left over on Saturday, I have a few customers I text and (say) first come, first served,” she said.
The restaurant’s top breakfast sellers are the breakfast tacos
and pancakes. “I have sweet cream pancakes,” said Rogers. “I bring them warm syrup, too.”
Miss Minnie’s Place serves breakfast Monday through Fri day from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., then lunch until 2 p.m. On Satur day, breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., but customers can order off the lunch menu, as well.
For those with a sweet tooth, Miss Minnie’s Place offers fresh pies, ranging from key lime, banana cream, coconut pea nut butter and peanut butter topped with a meringue. “The peanut butter is where it’s at,” said Rogers, noting how popular it is.
“We do make sugar free for our diabetic friends that can’t have it,” she added, noting they serve cookies, too.
Rogers personally whips up most of the sauces, including a mean jalapeño sauce that diners truly love. “They put it on their hamburger steak, their meatloaf — whatever,” she beamed.
“I have a gentleman, we call him ‘Chili Mac,’ because every body has a nickname; and, when he comes in, he calls me ‘The Sauce Master,’ because I make most of them. I make the tartar sauce and cocktail sauce. I make the homemade Thousand Island dressing, ranch, jalapeño ranch and I make homemade salsa.”
The homemade salsa, also a favorite, is one of her motherin-law’s special recipes. Donisha Hudson, affectionately called
the “hostess with the most-est,” also can’t get enough of the popular jalapeño sauce.
“I put it on my chicken spaghetti — everything,” said Hud son.
The meals are made with love from many of the restaurant’s cook Ms. Flo’s own special recipes.
“She’s been a cook around here for a long time,” said Rog ers, sharing the two of them both worked at the forerunner restaurant together.
Miss Minnie’s Place originally opened under its namesake, a dear lady named “Minnie,” five years ago. At the time, Rog ers worked as Miss Minnie’s waitress and manager. She and her husband acquired the business upon the retirement of the previous owner.
“It’s been here since Feb. 19, 2017 — five years ago,” said Rogers. “I started as a waitress/manager (under ‘Minnie’). One day she approached my husband and me, and said: ‘Hey, think about it.’”
It’s been a labor of love for the couple since as they enjoy providing fresh, home-cooked meals in the community they call home.
“My husband grew up here; he graduated here in Halls ville,” said Rogers, noting they are also Hallsville residents.
“I’m a city girl turned country girl,” she said, sharing that she’s originally from Phoenix, Arizona.
When asked what’s been most fulfilling providing a restau rant in their Hallsville community, Rogers said “making bellies happy.”
“They’re happy bellies. You feed them, they’ll come back,” she said.
And they do. The customers have become so much like fam ily that they’ve all been given nicknames. Additionally, Rogers knows her customers so well that she knows what meal they’ll be eating for the day. “Whatever day of the week it is, I’ll tell you what they’re eating,” she said.
“We couldn’t make it without the community,” said Rogers.
Perfectly situated on heavily-traveled U.S. 80, Miss Minnie’s Place not only attracts the local crowd but has become the goto eatery for travelers passing through as well.
“I had a couple that was actually going on vacation from Ba ton Rouge, saw us on the Internet and swung in here as they were heading to Colorado,” said Rogers. “She put us on Face book, took our picture out front. They said when they swing back through they’re going to come back on the way back to Baton Rouge.”
Miss Minnie’s Place is located at 201 W. Main St. in Halls ville. For more information, call (903) 660-0101.
The 40th annual FireAnt Festival took place Saturday, Oct. 8 in downtown Marshall. The day’s activities included a parade, the Tour de FireAnt race, kids’ races, carnival rides, shopping and more.
Anyone walking into Marshall High School on a Fri day morning will be greeted with the sweet smell of freshly-made coffee thanks to the school’s Interact Club, who hosts the Mav Café every week to fund the club’s ongoing service work throughout the year.
Volunteers from the club’s 130-plus members come to the high school well before their fellow classmates on Friday mornings, preparing the products needed to make the seven different coffee drinks for sale for students and staff at the
school.
The café offers specially made frappes, cappuccinos, iced coffee drinks and, new this month, boba tea options that all go to fund the club’s ongoing projects.
“It was all their idea, they wanted to do something to start raising money for the club, so they got the idea to sell coffee at the school,” said Ruth Jones, the club’s advisor and MISD librarian.
The Mav Café was the brainchild of three of the club’s of
ficers, President Kimberly Gasper, Parliamentarian Lindsey Hernandez and Treasurer Alyssa Vences, who were joined by their fellow officers Vice President Marisol Solache, Sec retary Julius Johnson, Historian Denise Corona and Liaisons Magaly Ramirez and Angie Pham, to create the new ongoing fundraiser for the club.
“We have a lot of visually minded people in the club, so we wanted everything to be very pretty, it all had to look good
and taste good,” Gasper said.
The Mav Café is completely run and operated by the stu dents, with officers taking the lead in organizing members into volunteer groups, not only for the café but for the other numerous projects that the organization takes on throughout the year.
Group members participated in the Fall Sweep clean-up effect held recently in Marshall, volunteered for Wonderland
of Lights and the FireAnt Festival, helped the New Town Neighborhood Association paint houses, and even raised do nations for local children in the foster care program.
Solache said that all of the events are completely volun tary to participate in, with the only requirement that students complete a set number of volunteer hours this year. Howev er, she added that the group is never in need of volunteers, with students always willing to spend their time working for one of the many causes.
“It really is about the rotary motto for us, ‘service above self’; we want to work to make our community better, not only at the school but in Marshall,” Gasper said.
The interact club is the high school arm of the local Rotary Club, which all of the officers said offered their full support of the club and its members once they started up again this year.
Local rotary club President Hannah Luce even regularly at tends the club’s afterschool meetings, listening in on what stu dents are involved with and offering club support as needed.
However, Jones said that the students rarely need additional support, with her role largely regulated to supervising as of ficers take charge, organizing club projects, keeping track of funds, and managing a volunteer group of over 100 students.
Officers are not above using cupcakes to entice fellow students to join the organization, growing the group from just about 10 initial members before the COVID-19 pandemic to
the hundred that actively participate in the group today.
In fact, it was the group of current officers that made the push when classes were moving back to in-person and offline to contact Jones about serving in the role of advisor so that students could once again participate in Interact Club.
“I just remembered all of the fun we had and all we were able to do before school was closed down, and we really wanted to have that again,” Gasper said.
Officers added that they are always looking for additional volunteer opportunities for club members and want to grow in any way they can to support the community.
“I want them to know that they always have a family here, and they are one. They all work together, organize all of this togeth er. It’s a lot of work and they are able to do it all,” Jones said.
SCOTTSVILLE — Each summer in Harrison County, burn survivors from Texas, Louisiana and beyond gather for a week of stress free fun, fellowship and acceptance.
Camp I’m Still Me in Scottsville has been a home to child burn survivors for the past 31 years as it invites burn survi vors, aged 4 to 17, to come spend a week each summer in an environment that offers them acceptance, healing and hope.
“They can come here and not be judged in any way,” Camp I’m Still Me Director Eileen McLain said. “They can come here and just be themselves. We have children who come here for the first time and on day one they’re wearing long sleeves, but by day two or three, they’re in shorts and tank tops because they know they don’t have to hide their scars. They know they can be themselves and be accepted.”
McLain said campers love the camp so much that once they age out of being a camper, they continue to return each summer as a camp counselor — volunteering their time to
help other child burn survivors at the camp, just as they themselves were once helped.
“For a week each June, the kids can come here and play games, have dances, go fishing, do arts and crafts, swim, have movie night and just enjoy an event filled week with no bullying and no judgment,” McLain said. “The counselors are volunteers and former campers, so campers have some one to talk to who knows what they’re going through.”
McLain said after taking a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the camp returned this summer with about 35 campers, all burn survivors who were treated for burns at a local hospital.
“Any child is welcome to come if they are a burn survivor and meet the criteria,” she said. “When a child burn patient is sent to LSUS in Shreveport or Baton Rouge General, they are recommended and provided information about Camp I’m Still Me by the doctors and staff. We just welcomed our first autistic burn survivor this past summer.”
Campers enjoy the fun at Camp I’m Still Me in Scottsville. Each summer, burn survivors come to Harrison County to have fun and relax while finding acceptance and healing.Reading about the historic Marshall-Longview game in our archives means finding a lot of little gems. The first recorded game, as far as anyone can tell, took place in 1909, and it quickly morphed into something for the history books even as Marshall dipped down in enrollment and the realignment brackets.
Y.A. Tittle, who played for Marshall from 1941 to 1943 and would later find success in the NFL, recalled for us in the Oct. 17, 2008 paper that the Marshall-Longview game was a big one.
“That rivalry was always strong and tough because we al ways had a lot of kids in high school that said that was the game of the year. Longview was a powerhouse in East Texas football at that time and they were always our next to last game of the year (Tyler was the last). But we never even came close to beat ing Longview until my senior year.
Tittle credited Coach Odus Mitchell, who came to Mar shall in 1941 and built up the program, as the reason for that change his senior year.
“We had a string of great players like Byron Gillory and Billy Dinkle, who were all-state and Coach Mitchell had a great ability to recognize talent and put it in the right position (to suc ceed). He was almost like a kid himself. He brought a lot of enthusiasm to Marshall.”
Tittle also discussed the one thing that stuck out in his mind about that game his senior year.
“I remember I suffered the worst injury I ever had,” he told the News Messenger. “I hurt my left knee badly when Longview’s left tackle Grigg, who weighed about 280 pounds (Grigg was the heaviest player on Longview’s team, weighing in at 253 pounds according to a report in the Nov. 18, 1943 issue of the Marshall News Messenger), rolled over on my knee. It bent my knee up. It crippled me considerably. I had a splint on after that. It was the only one (injury) that ever kept me out of a game.”
David Weaver, in a Nov. 7, 1997 story titled “Memory of ‘The Streak’ stirs Maverick-Lobo rivalry,” spoke to former coach Charlie Flowers about one of Marshall’s particularly good runs.
“Everything was coming up roses for Charlie Flowers on Thanksgiving Day, 1951. As head coach of the Marshall Maver icks, he was overseeing a 14-7 victory against the rival Longview Lobos at old Maverick Stadium on West Houston Street in Mar shall and was the envy of every Marshall fan among the 6,000 in attendance that afternoon.
“Then it hit him, literally. Flowers, now retired from coach ing but still active as an insurance executive with his own agen cy in Marshall, remembers vividly what took place that Thanks
giving as the final seconds were winding down in what was his finest hour of the 1951 season.
‘I was standing there on the sideline, calling the plays like I always do, and we were getting ready to win the ballgame,’ Flowers recalls. ‘I heard somebody come from behind me hol ler ‘Hey, Charlie,’ and I turned around to see who it was. The next thing I saw was some woman’s hand coming straight at my face. That woman slapped me right there on the sideline and then scooted across the field to the Longview side. I never saw her again.’”
In that same story, Flowers also recalled the rivalry bor dered on pure hatred. “People think it’s a big game today,” Flowers said. “But back then, it was a really big game. We knew going in that we had to beat Longview or we would be in trouble around here. There were times where I had to where (sp) a disguise to get out of the dressing room because there were Longview folks standing around outside, asking for me. I’m not joking about that, either.”
Somewhat more recently, the big game drew pranks from students on both sides. The police report in the Oct. 9, 1999 is sue of the paper was simply headlined “Vandals steal Marshall, Longview city signs”: “High school football rivalry between the Marshall Mavericks and the Longview Lobos made its mark on both towns this week, as vandals associated with both schools removed all the city limits signs for Marshall and at least five
from Longview, from their moorings.
“Friday morning the Longview signs, at least one or two having been defaced by their liberators, showed up on the Marshall High School campus. Most of the Marshall signs are awaiting repatriation from the Longview High School campus, according to Lt. Ronnie Rogers of the Marshall Police Depart ment, who worked at Marshall High School Friday morning and personally removed the Longview sign found fastened to the lamp post in front of the school.
Replacing the four missing hand-carved “Welcome to Mar shall,” signs may be an expensive proposition. City Hall records show they cost $10,220 when they were made in 1991.”
Reporter David Weaver, in another 1999 article, probably described “The Rivalry” the best. “No one truly knows what really started it all. Perhaps it was some wisecrack over a bever age, or perhaps it was some action taken by either side deemed unforgivable by the other. Or perhaps it should just be blamed on Mother Nature, for placing the two sides so close to one an other geographically.
“Whatever the reason, and no matter when it began, the rivalry between Marshall High School and Longview High School on the football field stands as one of the longest and most bitterly fought in Texas high school football history. When you get right down to it, no one really cares how it started. The most important thing is winning it – every year.”
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