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Volume 6 Issue 72

National News and Opinions mixed with Local Small Town History and Story Telling.

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~Mike Norris, Owner & Publisher

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

Monthly Issue

AUGUST ,

2013

In This Issue:

On The Cover Growing Up Small Town Texas Conservative Michael Ramirez Time Well Spent In Sickness & In Health Tumbleweed Smith Good Neighbors Treasure Hunters Love Lessons Huddle Up! Breckenridge Wall Distribution Map Word Search Cisco Loboes Territory Welcome to Rising Star This Week In Texas History B.C. The Wizard of ID

COVER ART:

Michael Ramirez, July 1st, 2013 Existing regulations plus new ones in the pipeline are projected to close more than 280 coal plants in the coming years, according to the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All. B:510-152550100200

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vol.6 Issue 72

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On The Cover: The Economic Impact of Obama’s Climate Action Plan With 497 billion tons of recoverable coal in the United States—enough to provide electricity for 500 years at current consumption rates—coal has the potential to be an important resource long into the future.

However, when Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama pushed his cap-andtrade plan in 2008, he said that if “someone wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can.

It’s just that it will bankrupt them because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.”

Congress rejected his and other cap-and-trade plans, but in his recent speech on climate change, President Obama vowed to go around Congress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In case anyone thinks the Administration has since backed off from the anti-coal agenda, Obama climate advisor Daniel Schrag just this week said that “a war on coal is exactly what’s needed.”

In a speech on June 25, President Obama called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing power plants, which would adversely affect coal-fired plants the most. These regulations are part of a broader effort from the President to significantly reduce coal as an affordable, reliable energy source—the effect of which is to drive up prices for American families and businesses.

The EPA’s constant attacks on coal threaten to close off access to this dependable energy source altogether.

In March 2012, the EPA proposed a rule that would prohibit new power plants from emitting more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt of electricity generated. Without the addition of carbon capture and sequestration, a prohibitively costly and technologically challenging requirement, the regulation would effectively ban the construction of new coalfired plants. Whether the final rule reflects the proposed rule remains to be seen.

Last year, the EPA finalized new mercury and air toxics standards that will force utilities to use maximum achievable control technology standards to reduce mercury emissions and other hazardous air pollutants. By the agency’s own admission, the rule will cost $10 billion by 2015 but have only $6 million in purported benefits from mercury reductions. In addition, the EPA is also regulating coal combustion residues and cooling water intake structures and is considering more stringent smog standards, all of which make the use of coal power more expensive.

Most recently, the Supreme Court granted the EPA’s request to review its cross-state air pollution rule, which would compel companies to retire three to seven gigawatts of electricity generation and retrofit up to 576 plants.

The President’s recent announcement also threatens existing plants and would adversely affect the more than 1,100 coal-fired generators at nearly 600 plant locations that currently generate 40 percent of America’s affordable, reliable energy.

Yet prior to the implementation of these new regulations, U.S. air quality has improved significantly over the past several decades. Emission of toxic pollutants has dropped as much as 96 percent since 1980. But the crusade against domestic energy production goes on.

While it may not be clear exactly which policies will be used, it is obvious that zeroingout coal-fired electric power plants is a goal of this Administration’s environmental team.

Heritage analyzes the economic impact of setting such a target and looked at the first 16 years of a 20-year phase-out of coal power: 2015–2030.

The analysis shows significant economic losses extending beyond the obvious areas of coal mining and power generation. In particular, they find that by 2030: • Coal Industry employment falls by more than 500,000 jobs (more than 40 percent); • Manufacturing loses over 280,000 jobs; • Aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) decreases by $1.47 trillion; • Domestic Electricity prices rise by 20 percent; • Natural gas prices rise by 42 percent.

Is this the economic environment we wish to impose on our children under the banner of environmental activism? Fewer jobs, a weaker industrial nation and an even greater dependence on foreign energy?

It’s time to pull the plug on this Administration and all of it’s anti-American policies.

The County Line

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Source: The Heritage Foundation -- Issue Brief #3978 on Energy and Environment, June 27, 2013

by David W Kreulzer, Ph.D., Nicolas Loris and Kevin Dayaralna

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3Growing Up Small Town

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, Mike W. Norris

Buffalo Wild Wings Induced

Texas-Sized Small Town Rant In this issue, I’m throwing a fit on just about everything --except maybe the kitchen sink!

by Mike W. Norris

So I’m sitting here at Buffalo Wild Wings in Abilene and I’m trying to collect my thoughts for this month’s article.... there’s so many things to talk about that trying to narrow my field of view is more difficult than usual.

I’m not sure why I thought that the noise of BWW would help in any way, but I chose here over Texas Road House because of the free wifi access. But from my table, I can see no less than 20 television screens and there’s a clamor of noise so high that my earbuds can’t even begin to drown it all out -- even though I’m streaming WBAP at full volume! Believe it or not, this is actually not too far off the mark of how my brain works all the time. At any given moment, I may be thinking about what needs to happen for this month’s issue of The County Line, or I might be brainstorming about any item accompanying any of my casual hobbies or interests. As I sit here, I am distracted from all of my normal “imaginary noise” and I am forced to focus on matters at hand. However, at the moment I am curious as to why these fries are like the bottom of the basket and broken into a hundred little snippets -- like friettes! I told my waitress that I didn’t need any eating utensils but a fork would now be nice -- no correct that, I could use a spoon to eat these fries! *haha* So here I am, wondering if anyone is trying to read over my shoulder what the geek with the keyboard and the tablet is trying to do in such a noisy place while he nibbles on his cheeseburger sliders...if they only knew that the mind of a genius was at work here! (yea, right) (Insert new Captain Morgan Spiced Rum commercial on the big screen to my left -- that’s funny, haven’t seen that one!)

So what was I saying? Oh yea, I’m trying to focus here. So it looks like the September 11th attack on the US Embassy is making more news lately. The Obama Administration seems to be actively intimidating members of the CIA to keep them from breaking any new details about the attack or what we were doing there in the first place. It’s just a “phoney scandal”, right? Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

(OK, grown man just stood up at his table and shouted across the room at his kid that seemed to be in a hurry to leave....and I’m just noticing that there are far more blonde women on ESPN Sports Center than there are guys of any hair color and I wish my waitress would come by so I could get a napkin for the ketchup on my fingers so I could type with both hands!)

Let’s see, what else has been going on the last few days in the news?

We just shut down a bunch of embassies and US interests world-wide because of what? Suddenly we take terror--Ooops, I mean “man-made disasters” seriously? We don’t have any evidence of any specific threats, but all of a sudden we shut down all these installations?!?!

How about this, Mr. “Commander and Chief”, if we have credible evidence that terrorist strikes on US interests are imminent and probable, then in the place of shutting down

those interests, may I suggest that we deploy a couple hundred armed soldiers to those locations and dare those bastards to make a move?!?! Bring it, you little terrorist, thirdworld, propagandist, uneducated dimwhit.

Allah is waiting for you and we’ll give you a first-class, one-way ticket the instant you poke your little head out from behind the rock you’re hiding behind.

An assault on United States territory and her people (as a matter of purpose and policy) is an act of war...and we either stand and defend our national interests or we invite further assault.

Don’t believe me? Look at our southern border.

Under this Obama Administration our country has become a spineless, empty shell of an international superpower. We are a pale shadow of what we once were and it is a direct result of this Obama Administration’s total and utter failure to act in our country’s best interests -- on multiple levels, not just Foreign Policy.

Speaking of our country’s best interest....how about that Keystone Pipeline, Mr. President?

Our President claimed in a speech just last week that the Keystone Pipeline would only create about 50 jobs?!?! Really Mr. President?

Is that in addition to the 4,000 workers that TransCanada HAS ALREADY HIRED FOR A 485-MILE SOUTHERN SEGMENT OF THE PIPELINE THAT IS ALREADY UNDER CONSTRUCTION??????

ALREADY HIRED....HIRED & WORKING. ALREADY GETTING PAID. People, this president is a LIAR. The State Department (which I thought was a division of Mr. Obama’s Administration) estimates that the project could help create -- directly and indirectly -- as many as 42,000 jobs...including jobs for suppliers and subcontractors, food services, lodging and who knows how many janitors and hotel workers will serve such a workforce over the lifetime of the project?!?!

Yes, it is true that the project will eventually only require about 50 permanent, full-time workers once it is completed and under normal operating procedures transporting millions of gallons of oil down here to Texas for refining....but in the mean time, President Obama is IGNORING the tens of thousands of Americans (and/or illegal immigrants from who knows where) that -WOULD- be gainfully employed and -NOT- sucking on the United States economy for the next 3 or 4 years! The Continued on page 11...

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

4Texas Conservative ■

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, Chuck Norris - The Man

In God We Trust United We Stand

By Chuck Norris

Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com.

Walker, Indiana Ranger JULY 23, 2013

Before Indiana became a state in 1816, territorial Gov. William Henry Harrison organized the Indiana Rangers in 1807 to safeguard the Buffalo Trace -- the main travel route between Louisville, Ky., and Vincennes, Ind. The Indiana Rangers were a rough and tough band of men and women who were well-trained and ready to protect new settlers and tradesmen.

They were forerunners of the popular Texas Rangers, of whom I am an honorary member and on whom I based my television series “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

I think the Hoosier State and the rest of the country saw the spirit of the Indiana Rangers resurrect this past week in the Fort Wayne resident and feisty grandmother Melinda Walker.

Walker was asleep in her town house with her 5-year-old grandson this past Sunday, when she was awakened by three male robbers, who were demanding cash and her flat-screen TV, according to The Blaze.

The men said they had a gun and threatened to take it out and use it.

One of the robbers kept saying, “She doesn’t think we have a gun. Take it out and clean it on her,” Walker told WANE-TV. She feared for her grandson’s safety, she said. “All I thought of was, ‘You’re getting away from my grandson.’”

So in the midst of the assault, Walker grabbed a nearby miniature toy guitar, which accompanies her grandson’s “Guitar Hero” game, and began swinging it at the intruders.

She explained: “I just reached down and picked it up, and I told them to get the hell out of my house. ‘Get out of my house! Get out of my house!’” She added, “I just kept smacking one of them.”

As the robbers backed up toward her stairwell, Walker shoved the one man “that wouldn’t shut up,” and he flew halfway down the stairs.

The thugs were up against an indefensible American institution: a grandmother! They knew they had met their match, so all three men fled empty-handed.

Walker reminds me of some tenets that our Founding Fathers rooted in the early republic: the right to protect life, limb and property, as well as the right to bear arms in the Second Amendment.

Founder Samuel Adams, delegate to the First Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence and governor of Massachusetts, said, “Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.”

Richard Henry Lee, another signer of the Declaration of Independence and a framer of the Second Amendment, wrote: “To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them.”

According to http://www. monticello.org -Thomas Jefferson’s estate’s official website -- Jefferson cited in his “Legal Commonplace Book” the following passage, which came from his own Italian copy of Cesare Beccaria’s “Essay on Crimes and Punishments”: “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.

Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed one.”

Our fourth president, James Madison -- who penned the first drafts of the U.S. Constitution, co-wrote the Federalist Papers and sponsored the Bill of Rights -- wrote: “The advantage of being armed (is an advantage that) the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation. ... In the several kingdoms of Europe ... the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”

The fifth U.S. president, James Monroe, added: “The right of selfdefense never ceases. It is among the most sacred and alike necessary to nations and to individuals.”

John Dickinson, member of the

Continental Congress, governor of Pennsylvania, member of the Constitutional Convention and signer of the Constitution, recognized the right of self-defense as so unceasing and permanent that he called it a right “which God gave to you and which no inferior power has a right to take away.”

And no inferior power includes juvenile thugs in Indiana, who should feel lucky that Melinda Walker didn’t have Smith & Wesson by her side.

Though Walker had been burglarized twice before, I bet robbers will think twice before they try to break in to her house again.

To conclude, Grandma Melinda was asked whether she had a message for her intruders. She replied brazenly: “I may not be a strong woman. I may not be a well woman, but you’re not going to get my stuff.”

I guess you could call that tough-spirited, guitar-wielding grandmother “Walker, Indiana Ranger.”

(Want some tips on how to protect your house and loved ones, especially if you’re a woman? Go to http://www.SafetyChick.com.)

Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @ chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at http:// chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators. com. www.MyCounty-Line.com

©CHUCK NORRIS DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM - Reprinted under license by Mike Norris

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5Michael Ramirez ■

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7Time Well Spent ■

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, by Kathy Spencer

The

Second Commandment

By Kathy Spencer MyCounty-Line.com Staff Writer

The community of Ranger, Texas has been a wellspring of historical events in days gone by. The making of an oil boomtown in the early part of the last century was the pinnacle. Life in Ranger is a small town atmosphere.

It has its struggles like all small towns today. However, there are several organizations that exemplify the brotherly love that is experienced only in a small town and towns are made up of its people. Most of the early inception of several charitable organizations here began from a calling that one individual received and followed through on doing good works. With the help from Ranger resident volunteers and others from the area, citizens in crisis, illness, joblessness are being reached. I spoke with a few of these special people and some of the common bonds each of them held was a positive attitude and the gratification experienced in serving those in need.

Where can you purchase a King Size Bedspread for a mere 25 cents?

The answer is, “THE QUARTER STORE”. It is located on Pine Street in Ranger, Texas behind the swimming pool. This service to others is the brainchild of resident Betty Scifre who is herself a volunteer, along with 4 other regular volunteers. She moved here from Kansas and missed the unique store she was familiar with in her area there. THE QUARTER STORE is sponsored by Ranger Ministries United which applies these funds to home delivered meals. Donations of articles are made through the public and sold on Tuesday and Thursdays from 8:00am to 11:00. Clothing, household items, books, furniture and some pretty amazing things go into and out of this establishment at a quarter a piece. This is a twofold benefit to Ranger and surrounding communities.

HOPES KITCHEN is located at the corner of Oak and Hunt in Ranger, Texas. It was created to fill a need that arose within the congregation of the Church of God of Prophecy. All are welcomed to a wonderful lunch on Wednesdays and Fridays. The cooking is done on a volunteer basis of the members of the church. I had a tasty lunch of pasta primavera, Italian bread and Cherry Crumble Cobbler along with an inspiring conversation with Wendy Erwin. She spoke of the volunteers from the church and the community that took the time and effort to make all of this possible. Hope’s Kitchen feeds over 100 souls a week through the donations of funds for food and supplies. Once again, a positive and bright outlook on the work being done to help others through rough times was evident. Wendy mentioned the satisfaction of seeing the program blossom. Brother Buster Robinson was excited to, “Just be a blessing to the community.”

Rita Charmin, wife of the President of the Ranger Citizens Task Force, and I got into a brainstorming session during our visit, (which is exactly how the Task Force began), through generating ideas, plans, and implementing actions to improve life in the town of Ranger. Clean up days twice a year and the “Backpack Buddy” program are just a few of the efforts to fill a need that our neighbors here in town may have. Through the cooperation of the Administration and Faculty of the Ranger Independent School District and the Task Force, elementary students that may have difficult situations are provided with enough food on Friday afternoon (via backpack) to meet their nutritional needs as well as younger siblings, through the weekend until Monday mornings back at school. Rita told me that this kind of volunteer work is a, “Free Feel Good.” I saw that spark of positive inspiration again in her eyes. Roaring Ranger Day is coming up in

September and volunteers are very welcome to join in or vendors that are interested in participating. They meet every Thursday night to fill backpacks and hold their meetings.

All are welcome to attend at their new headquarters on the loop next to Vasquez’s Station.

Kristi Mastdon, (a veritable dynamo of a woman) saw a need in Ranger through her work with other animal rescue organizations. She and about six core helpers, along with the 30 plus, (yes, 30 plus), foster rescuers, make up a team of incredible successes. So many abandoned pets have been cared for and placed in loving homes through the efforts of RESCUE RANGER PETS. Their success is due in part to the monetary donations to Eastland County Veterinary Clinic. Just call 254-629-8766 and give what you can to help this phenomenal bunch.

These are just a few of the numerous grassroots efforts here in Ranger. The good works of others in caring for their fellow man, The Second Commandment of Love One Another.

Editor’s Note: Kathy submitted this article before taking a position with another rival media outlet based here in Eastland.

With her departure, I am once again a one-man-band and under a huge amount of stress to bring the paper together each and every month while dealing with our other normal abnormalities.

If you know of someone in your community, old, young or in between, who has a talent for writing about news and events in your local area, please ask them to contact me or to feel free to submit articles for consideration to be published each and every month right here in The County Line.

If you know someone with an outgoing personality and is friendly, good spirited, optimistic, dependable and has a knack for face-to-face interaction, please have them contact me about our sales opportunities.

Thank you.

MikeN mike@mycounty-line.com www.MyCounty-Line.com

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

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A Night Out In Fort Worth

So this little girl comes running over to of sorts...)

Ruthie last night next to the live lobster tank at Red Lobster, and she points to the lobsters and Kylie hands me the pad and I draw something looks at Ruthie and says, “Hi! Do you know like looks like a horse with big ears. why they have rubber bands on their claws?”

Kylie - “That’s not a dragon! It has to have Ruthie - “Hi there! No.” big teeth, like this...” and she holds her hands up in front of her face with her fingers all curled Little Girl - “So they won’t kill each other! up like claws....

Look at them climbing on top of each other, see?”

Ruthie - “Ohhhhh, yes! I like it!”

Ruthie - “Yes!”

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month’s County Line’s and I held it back-side up so that the pictures of Ruthie’s back page were visible. I turned to the woman and as I headed her way I called to her, “You’re Kylie’s mom, I suppose?”

She smiled and looked totally embarrassed and said, “Yes, we’re sorry if she bothered ya’ll.”

I handed her the newspaper and held it so she could see the picture of Ruthie and Sherrie on the back cover and said, “Please have a look at this and tell Kylie ‘Thank you’ for talking to Ruthie...it really meant a lot to us and she really liked her. Ya’ll have a great weekend.”

This continues for about 3 or 4 minutes...this little girl just would not leave Ruthie alone and Little Girl - “My name’s Kylie, what’s Ruthie looked more alert and more engaged than yous?”

I’ve seen her in months. She was completely focused on talking with little Kylie...sitting I wiped my eyes as I got into the Jeep and put upright in the edge of her wheelchair. I half Ruthie - “Ruth. Ok?” on a friendly smile for Ruthie.... expected the little girl to jump up in Ruthie’s at any moment and I was trying to figure Little girl’s mother cautions her to not put her lap out how let her family know that the whole “Where we goin’ now Bobbie-Bob?” face against the lobster tank and not to jump up spectacletowas OK when the hostess called my to try to look over the edge.... name.....our table was ready.

“I ready go home, now.”

Kylie - “I didn’t hear your name. What was Just as quickly as the whole thing had started ...and so we did. your name?” it was suddenly over. And as elated as I was to see Ruthie so much herself for those few short Thanks for reading.

Ruthie - “Michael! Ummm, Sherrie!” minutes, it was bitter sweet and I held my breath as we walked to our table in order to keep from Me - “No honey, what is YOUR name...you bursting out in tears. said it but she didn’t hear you.”

We had no family there to see it, no friends...

Ruthie - “Ohhhh. Ruthie!” just a restaurant full of strangers who had no idea how much that little bit of childishness Kylie - “I like dragons! Do you like meant to Ruth and certainly no idea of how much it meant to me or how my heart was dragons?” breaking inside.

Donations may be made to: Ruthie - “Oh?” Farmers & Merchants Bank When we left the restaurant last night, Kylie’s Ruth Norris Benefit Fund mother (a complete and total stranger!!!) was Me - “Yes, we like dragons.....”

930 East Main Eastland, TX 76448 parked behind us and she was changing Kylie’s (254) 629-3282 little sister in the car. After I got Ruthie and her Kylie - “Look, here is a dragon....” and wheelchair loaded up in the Jeep, I debated on Credit Card donations can be made online at: she begins drawing on a little etch-a-sketch, what to do -- if I should approach the woman or erasable pad.... not.....after a quick mental debate on whether or not she would think I was trying to attack Me - “Oh, can I see?” (I fancy myself an artist her in the parking lot, I picked up one of last

www.PeachyTurtle.org

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10Tumbleweed Smith ■

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, Bob Lewis

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By Bob Lewis Across the River to Boquillas

For people living on either side of the Rio Grande in villages near the Big Bend National Park, the river has always been only a technicality, just something to get your feet wet while going back and forth between Texas and Mexico. All that changed dramatically in 2002 when the border was closed as a result of the 9-11-01 terrorist attacks.

Affected most were the tiny settlements on the Mexican side, which had depended on tourists from the US for much of their existence. When the border closed, the villages of Santa Elena (across from Castolon), Paso Lajitas (across from Lajitas) and Boquillas (across from Rio Grande Village in the national park), lost businesses and most of their residents, who had to move further into Mexico to find work. Also lost was perhaps the most important thing: contact with friends across the river. The border remained closed until April 10th of this year when people were allowed to cross the river between Rio Grande Village and Boquillas.

For Lilia Falcon, who has a restaurant and curio shop in Boquillas, the re-opening has been a blessing. “My father, who worked hard building the business in 1973, died in 2000. Two years later the border closed, so we had to close the restaurant and store. I had my mom to take care of, my oldest daughter was 10 and I had a new baby. The border closed on Mother’s Day, so it was very sad.” She re-opened the restaurant the day tourists were allowed back in the town. Boquillas now has 2 restaurants, a hotel, a bar and residents will rent a room for $20 a night. She says a room by the river will be ready for fall, when the real tourist season starts. Boquillas has a population of 130 with 32 families living there now. The population used to be much larger. The village has no electricity but several structures have solar panels. Boquillas has new life.

I went to Boquillas on July 4th. I had been told to make sure I had my passport, which is required to get back to the US. Rio Grande Village has a

$6,000,000 immigration station where you receive a briefing from a park ranger who tells you what you can and cannot bring back from Mexico. Then you go to the river and either walk across it or pay a man 5 dollars to take you across in a rowboat. While you are crossing the river, Victor, standing on the southern side of the river will serenade you with his strong voice, and then welcome you to Boquillas.

He’ll sell you a walking stick for $5 or a scorpion made from wire, also $5. I heard he put three kids through college selling those items. You have a choice of taking a horse, burro or pickup to town. Mexican immigration officials will stamp your passport. We walked around town, had a meal, took a brief pickup ride to the Buzzards Roost hotel, then returned to the boat, crossed the river, slid our passports into a machine and talked to a customs official in El Paso by phone. After a few questions, we were free to go.

There is no government fee to cross the river. The border is open from 9 to 6 Wednesdays through Sundays only.

It is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Care for a Drink of Sarsaparilla?

I start out in Texas then go to Colorado and Wyoming. I go as far as Rapid City, South Dakota.”

Ricky was a restaurant owner and toy salesman before starting his soft drink enterprise. He is a sarsaparilla entrepreneur.

“I’ve sold units in Indiana, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. So we’re scattered across the country. It’s just short of a franchise.

They’ve bought their units from me and of course they buy their cups and formulas from me.”

Ricky is a popular attraction at annual events and is invited to be in the same spot every year. His drinks are pricey, but people don’t seem to mind. “I have a 32-ounce collectible mug that sells for seven dollars. The customer gets to keep it and for the life of that mug the customer can bring it to any festival where we are and get a refill for three dollars. We have a 32-ounce tumbler that we sell for five. There again, if you bring it back you get a refill for three dollars. We also offer our drinks in a one-litter bottle that they can take with them. We try to use only American products. All of our soda is homemade, made with pure cane sugar instead of corn syrup. That’s what makes our drinks so good. We also sell our syrup so people can take it home and put it on ice cream.”

Sarsaparilla has quite a history. “It started out as a medicine, made from the roots of the sassafras tree. They added sugar to it to make it more palatable. The difference between that and root beer is root beer has ginger and wintergreen in it.”

Ricky started out selling his stuff from a covered wagon, then switched to a stagecoach. He made both of those.

“So I figured we needed a saloon. That’s what I made for this year. I try to have something different every year.” Before he got his saloon, his drink ingredients were outside, exposed to the elements and bees swarmed around the sweet stuff. “They don’t come in the saloon,” says Ricky. “Bees are not allowed in here. This is a no-bee zone.”

Ricky Atkins of Vega has started a company called Wild West Sodas. He makes old-fashioned soft drinks. “We have sarsaparilla, a root beer, a cream soda which is outstanding, a black cherry and an orange cream and we also do specialty drinks. One of the favorite drinks is called a rattlesnake.

People ask me how it tastes and I tell them it tastes like chicken. Actually the rattlesnake has sarsaparilla, black cherry and cream soda.”

He sells his drinks from a stand that looks like an old western saloon. He pulls it behind his pickup and calls it a mobile saloon. It has a counter and glass enclosures on either side of it that contain all sorts of interesting items. “There is a rataconurtle, which is a rattlesnake and turtle with raccoon feet. When I go north I tell people it’s a Texas tick. His name is Willie, for Tumbleweed lives in Big Spring and produces will he bite.

THE SOUND OF TEXAS syndicated radio Ricky takes his mobile saloon and series. His website is tumbleweedsmith.com old-fashioned soft drinks to fairs and festivals all over the country. “I www.MyCounty-Line.com personally do forty-three shows a year.

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

11Growing Up Small Town

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, Continued...

man doesn’t care about that, he only cares about distorting the truth for political posturing and securing more votes for his Democrat cronies.

Mr. President, get out of the way of the Keystone Pipeline. You are opposing the nation’s best interests in this matter, unless, of course, you truly don’t care how many unemployed Americans there are or how dependent the United States is on Middle Eastern oil. Plainly, Sir, your actions speak louder than your words.

OK, I can tell that being in this loud and rowdy environment is not good for my demeanor, so I’ll wrap this article for now and come back to it when I’m in a less “rah, rah” state of mind....

Here I am, back at the house, surfing the web, looking for things to comment about...and the whole time I’m cruising the boundless Interwebs, my next topic was literally staring me in the face!

The English Royal Family Tree has sprouted a new twig, err, heir. Oh my gosh! I don’t know why it hasn’t occurred to me before now, what with every magazine cover in any Walmart check out line featuring pictures of the royal mom and little Lord Bundle of Whoopity Doo. Why are the people of this country so blatantly in awe of “the Royals”???? If I’m not mistaken, we Americans went to war against “the Royals” for what they stood for and represented against Freedom and Liberty oh so many generations ago and now we have a whole civil-minded generation of pop culture wannabe’s practically drooling over the idea that English royalty still procreates in this modern era. Don’t get me wrong, I love fantasy roleplaying games and like to collect fantasy swords and would just love to own a full set of

platemail armor...but my fascination with kings and queens, lords and ladies, knights and commoners lives and breathes in the fantasy worlds of Arthurian legend or deep in the dark Interwebs of massive multi-player roleplaying games such as EverQuest, Dungeons & Dragons Online or Lord of the Rings Online. I could not care less about princes and princesses exploring the modern day challenges of simple common-folk by figuring out how to use a freaking baby seat in the back of the royal Land Rover.

By the way, I was curious why all the magazines like to call the mother of the newborn royal baby as just plain “Kate Middleton” and call the father as “Prince William” but none of them ever call Kate or William by HIS last name. I must not be the only one who wonders because the Google search box lists “prince william last name” as a #3 popular search term. I found out why it’s not used. Basically it takes too much space to put it in print.

So The County Line will be one of the few places you will ever see their full titles -- His Royal Highness Prince William Mountbatten-Windsor Duke of Cambridge and Her Royal Highness Catherine Elizabeth Middleton The Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn and Lady Carrickfergus.

I’ll just call them Will & Kate and maybe when the boy becomes a teenager we’ll have a sitcom about them on the Disney Channel called “The Fresh Prince of Who Cares.”

Give me a break people...we have MUCH more important things to worry about here in our own country and Little Lord Fauntleroy is far down that list. The British Royal Family is not our concern. Have the White House send the little prince a birthday present bust of Winston Churchill (if they still have any laying around) and

let’s get our eye back on the ball here at home -- mainly we need to concentrate on dealing with our own want-to-be king, His Royal Obnoxious Prince Barack Hussein Obama the Second Community Organizer of Chicago Illinois.

The United States of America does not need a king, we do not want a king, and truth be told, I don’t believe the United States of America will suffer a king. Whether you want to admit it or not, a president who willingly and purposely circumvents Constitutional protections to enact executive “laws”, or who refuses to enforce existing laws, or who openly opposes due process, is in direct violation of his Oath of Office and in direct violation of The Constitution of The United States of America. That is -THIS- president, Lords and Ladies, and two hundred years ago there wouldn’t have been an American afoot who would have been afraid to say that he is acting more like a king and less like a servant bound to the will of The People.

Let that trickle down to our doorsteps and you have Americans oversees who are afraid to acknowledge that fact for fear of their own lives and here at home we have the NSA domestic spying program, the IRS political interference hack jobs, unregulated infringement of our personal rights to privacy and property, unreasonable security measures which restrict our freedom of travel, over regulation of our domestic energy industries which effect every man, woman and child in America, the forced abdication of our personal rights of ownership to our own healthcare and wellbeing through the implementation of Obamacare, and the unprecedented levy of new taxes all around our country to sustain the government engine -- including our own local property tax fiasco! And

that doesn’t even touch on the efforts by any number of political support factions who are moving specifically against our Second Amendment Rights in any way that they can.

It is the duty of every American to look beyond racial and political favoritism and call this man out for what he is doing, not who he is. He is executing the office of President without restraint or respect for The Constitution of the United States of America and he should be impeached for failing to execute his Oath of Office. We went through the motions of impeaching Bill Clinton because he lied under oath when he said he “did not have sexual relations with that woman.” Obama has allowed his Administration to run rickshod all over The Constitution and he takes no responsibility for it whatsoever.

Regardless of allowing American citizens to be killed overseas without lifting a finger to protect them, this President refuses to allow the actions of his Administration to be directly linked to his responsibility and authority of his office and in that respect he is either unfit for that office due to incompetent leadership, or he is unfit for that office due to directing his Administration to conduct all these things while denying any involvement directly -- in either event, he refuses to take responsibility for the Office to which he has been elected and therefore is unfit to hold such office.

He is not a leader, he is a politician. He is not a president, he is a community organizer. He is not a king; he is not above the law of the land. He is a man appointed to his position by The People of The United States of America and he is directly answerable to We The People. ~mwnorris www.MyCounty-Line.com

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

12Good Neighbors ■

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, Clint Coffee CLU ChFC State Farm Insurance® Agent

What To Know Before You Renovate That Fixer-Upper

The idea of buying an older property and renovating it into your dream home or a moneymaker is appealing to many people.

But with that excitement also comes a lot of potential problems.

It’s important that you know what you’re getting yourself into. Before taking on a fixer-upper, consider if it’s the right type of property for you and what it will actually take to renovate.

Decide What’s Right for You

Pros and cons. While a lower sales price, potential for resale profit, and a sense of personal satisfaction are certainly possible, there can also be a lot of unseen costs associated with buying a home that needs repair.

Patience is required. Depending on the size of the renovation, a fixer-upper can take anywhere from a month to more than a year to complete.

Be aware that you and your family’s lives may

be disrupted for a significant amount of time. If this doesn’t work for your lifestyle, it’s best to think about a different type of property.

Money. Renovations can be very costly.

If you won’t have much money left over for renovations after your down payment and closing costs, you may want to consider a house you can live in while it’s being fixed up.

Whatever you decide, remember that there will be extra expenses no matter how carefully you plan.

What to Consider When Looking

Location, location, location. It’s the golden rule of real estate and also applies to fixeruppers. Do your research. Check average home prices and schools in the area. Take a stroll around the neighborhood to see if the homes are well maintained. Buying the worst house on the best block that you can afford can be a great option.

Condition. This can vary widely from a house requiring cosmetic repairs to a total gut rehab. If you want to minimize renovation costs, look for a home that has “good bones” — a solid roof and foundation, natural light, good floor plan, quality construction, and a coherent design.

Layout. Many older homes are chopped up into several rooms and their layout may not work for you. While it is certainly possible to knock down walls and rearrange the floor plan, it can sometimes be expensive or impractical.

Keep this in mind when thinking about your renovation budget.

Configuration. Search for houses that have the approximate square feet and number of bedrooms and bathrooms you desire. While it is possible to add these things when renovating, they can really add up, especially if you expand the footprint of a house.

Minor renovations.

These can include:

Patching and painting walls Refinishing floors Laying tile or carpet Installing light fixtures and switches Fixing broken windows Installing new or refacing existing kitchen cabinets Replacing doors Painting the exterior Adding a deck Major renovations.

These can include:

Replacing HVAC systems or adding central air Fixing foundations Replacing the roof Installing new plumbing, sewer lines, or wiring Replacement windows Kitchen and bath remodels Building garages and additions Financing

Federal Housing Administration offers a 203k loan that allows borrowers to purchase a property while also financing the cost of rehabilitation.

Don’t over-improve.

Consider how adjacent houses have been finished. If most have lower-end finishings, it’s probably not best to spend your money on granite countertops, copper bathroom fixtures, and marble floors. Your fixer-upper should be in line with — or just slightly above — the standards of homes in your neighborhood.

Purchasing a home is probably one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make. And while it may seem overwhelming, a fixer-upper can be a great way to get good value for your money.

Do your homework, talk to professionals you trust, and make a smart, informed decision.

Repairs and Remodeling

Budgeting. When considering a property, a fixer-upper calculator can help you get started with a rough estimate of renovation costs. A reputable contractor can also assist in the process.

www.MyCounty-Line.com

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

13Treasure Hunters ■

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, Jerry Eckhart

By Jerry Eckhart To see more of Jerry’s treasure finds, search Facebook for “Jerry Eckhart” Treasure Hunters September

Although it is late June as I write this, it won’t appear until the AugustSeptember issue of County Line. That will be right in the middle of the hottest part of the summer. So far, rain has been sparse and it will probably continue to be so. Also, there should not be much cooling off of temperatures. That means the ground will become more like solid rock than dirt and there will be few out there swinging their metal detectors.

Most treasure hunters won’t even try to dig when it is this dry. There will be too much damage to the ground and lawns. If you try to refill a hole in dry conditions, the soil you removed will not stay when you put it back into the hole. Because of the dryness, most of it will blow right back out when the wind picks up.

Because of that, most reputable treasure hunters find other ways to turn up treasure. They will haunt yard sales, antique stores or auctions.

Places such as those have many things which capture a treasure hunter’s interest. A person never knows just what they will find until they get out and look. The nice thing about that is that yard sales can be scanned early in the mornings while it is cool. Auctions are often held in the evening or in air conditioned buildings so that is another advantage.

It never ceases to amaze me that what one person is ready to dump is exactly what someone else wants.

Occasionally a treasure seems to fall right into our laps. We are surprised, but none the less grateful. These unexpected surprises can range from finding a collectible coin in our change to winning a drawing, raffle or perhaps winning the lottery. I will grant you that most of us won’t win the lottery, but just might come up with a lesser treasure..

me what it was until I came to get it. I was still laid up from the most recent of two surgeries on my knee and another two week stay in the hospital. I simply could not make the trip comfortably and explained that to him. About a week later, he called and said he was going to bring it down. The only clues he would give were that it was more than 100 years old and that it had been owned by a direct relative.

When Cousin arrived, he was carrying a long, black, wooden case that had all the appearance of a violin case. It is either a fiddle, I thought or a Tommy gun. It was a fiddle and I was glad because I sure would have had a problem if one of my ancestors had been toting a Tommy gun.

perhaps longer. The violin had been passed down from one family member to another until now. My cousin had forgotten all about it until his family started cleaning out the attic and found it. My cousin decided to get it back to me so I could preserve it.

The old fiddle is worn, parts are broken, u in spite of that, it is a real treasure to me. It tells part of the story of things that happened to my ancestors more than a hundred years ago. Perhaps you have an old treasure laying around. If you do, don’t just toss it away because it is worn out. Think of the stories that artifact may have to tell.

As he handed it to me, he said, “This belonged to your great uncle, Harley Morris. He left us when he caught a freight and headed to California in 1910. It has been in our attic for years.”

Such a treasure came into my possession recently. No, I didn’t win the I had no doubt as to the lottery or even get a good scratch off, but it was a treasure anyway. About authenticity of his statement, the end of June, I got a phone call from a distant cousin of mine. He told because his property has been me that he had something he wanted me to have, but he wouldn’t tell in his family since the 1870’s,

www.MyCounty-Line.com

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

14Love Lessons Learned So Far

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, Vicki Stiefer

By Vicki Stiefer The Man Crush

I’ve been talking to a couple of guy friends of mine, husband included, and there are so many new terms that men use these days. It’s not just buddy or pal anymore. Those descriptions have graduated to bro and homie and on to man friend and bro-mance. One word has been popping up lately that caught my attention and that is man crush. The definition is one man having a crush on another in an affectionate way that is not sexual. For example, one friend of mine likes Tom Selleck and watches his current TV show. When I look at Tom Selleck I see him as the sex symbol he most undoubtedly is. The only man who can wear the same mustache through the decades and it looks even cooler and sexier with each passing decade.

My friend John likes Tom Selleck for an entirely different reason. He says the fatherly figure that Selleck portrays in his latest TV show is the kind of father he wishes he had and the kind of father he hopes to be to his kids. He’s got a man crush. He admires the integrity and character of the man Selleck is portraying. My husband feels the same way. I spoke with several men and only one of them had a man crush on their biological dad. Other men looked up to Presidents, Wrestlers, Founding Fathers, Military Heroes, and throw in one who liked John Gotti and you are well rounded. He said he liked John Gotti because regardless of his crimes he protected his family and took care of business. Taking care of business seems to be the man crush’s modus operandi. What do all these men have in common? They take care of business. Society is filled with all of the talk about father daughter relationships, but what about father son relationships?

Selleck plays is Commissioner of the New York Police Department and widower who stands tall in the face of adversity and takes care of his family. He is a gentle giant who doesn’t have all the answers and is not afraid to say so. He’s not egotistical, but knows when and how to stand up for what is right. So is it hero worship that leads a number of men, in my very unscientific poll, to man crush on other men?

I think men in today’s society are crying out for good leadership.

Even as adults in their adult lives they are searching for good men in a female dominated society.

I know my husband has made several comments in our marriage about my Dad and how he’s the patriarch of the family. My Dad didn’t have a good role model.

My Grandfather was there for him in the formative years but in my Dad’s late high school years and early college, Grandfather became an alcoholic. Dad watched You hear all the time that the father daughter relationship is the most alcohol tear his family apart. He important relationship of all. If a daughter does not have good strong father figure she turns to drugs and men in search of her would-be Dad. She will be pregnant at 14 and live a most tumultuous life in the forever search for a good father figure. What about the sons of the world? What if their Dad is a no-show in their early life? Gloria Steinem put the focus on women nationwide, but what man has stood up seriously on the world’s stage to say young boys need good role models. Young boys need a Dad to show them the way. A father of 5 boys told me raising a man is ugly and challenging, but the end result is a man with dignity. A man who is able to respect his life and his surroundings; one who can influence every man around him. The character that Tom

has recovered though. One thing you have to remember about strong patriarchal men. They are far from perfect. However, they have owned up to their trials and tribulations, worked through the damage and are self aware. Don’t be afraid of that word-self aware.

It is not a new age word for the likes of Shirley MacLaine or Tom Cruise. Being self aware is a state of mind. You learn what your vices are and then you figure out how to live with them.

I think a man crush is a very big deal. Bigger than being someone’s homie or pal or buddy. Having a man crush makes a man examine himself and pick out what he does not like. A man has a choice once the realization happens. He can pick and choose what he wants to change or he can keep on barreling down the path he currently rides down. The choice is ultimately up to him. www.MyCounty-Line.com

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

15Huddle Up! ■

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www.MyCounty-Line.com ~ AUGUST 2013 v6.72 ~ www.Facebook.com/mycountyline , Matt Swinney

By Matt Swinney

As we are in the “dog days” of summer, I thought I would start my who had 432 receiving yards and high school football previews by first previewing the Ranger Bulldogs. five touchdowns. Also returning will be running back/linebacker The Bulldogs, under new head coach Brian Ramsey, return 10 Samuel Joiner. offensive and 10 defensive starters from last year’s 1-9 team. Ramsey comes to Ranger after spending last year as a defensive coordinator at The defensive leaders will need Van Vleck. The Bulldogs, according to Dave Campbell Texas Football to be linebacker Cruz Cervantez, magazine, are picked to finish sixth in the eight team District 7-A, defensive end Ryan Harris, and Division 2. The Bulldogs weren’t able to come out on top last year, but defensive back Matthew Majors. the Bulldogs will need a good season from Quarterback/Safety Marcuz The Mavericks will start the 2013 Young. Young, a two-year offensive and three-year defensive starter, season as they host the Sweetwater threw for 562 yards and nine touchdowns. Other players to watch in 2013 Mustangs at Maverick Stadium. are: Running back/Defensive back Dylan Montez, and Lineman Elijah On the final stop on our high Elizando. The Bulldogs start the 2013 campaign on Friday, August 30th school football tour, we head ten as they battle the Santo Wildcats at O.C. Warden Stadium. more miles on I-20 to the town of As we head down the road on our high school football tour bus, Cisco, otherwise known as Lobo we leave Ranger and head down Interstate 20 ten miles and head into country. The Loboes, under head Maverick country. We are not talking about the Dallas Mavericks, we’re coach Brent West, will try to win talking about the Eastland Mavericks. the Class 2A Division II state championship after making it to The head coach Brian Hulett returns five offensive and five defensive the area round in 2012. starters from a team that was 10-3 and was Class 2A Division I Regional Finalist. They are picked in a lot of high school publications, including The Loboes went 9-2 in 2012, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine, to finish first in District 4-2A led by District MVP running back/ Division I, but it’s always tough to three-peat as District Champions. linebacker Mason Reed and he will need to be a leader on both sides The Mavericks lost a lot of their depth and size, but the Mavericks do of the ball again this year. Reed return with quarterback Josh Moylan, who threw for 2,434 yards and 26 rushed for 1,344 yards and 29 touchdowns. Moylan’s favorite target will be tight end Mason Thayer, touchdowns and had 114 tackles

on defense. The Loboes will have a new signal caller in 2013 as Colton Kent will make the switch from wide receiver to quarterback.

Safety Landen Lewis, Cornerback Kotie Hoover, and Defensive End Vernon Owings are some defensive starters returning for 2013.

The Loboes will kickoff their 2013 campaign at home as they host the Albany Lions at Lobo Stadium.

So, make sure and support your local football team in Eastland County. Good luck to the Bulldogs, Mavericks, and Loboes in 2013!

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No matter which team you’re rooting for, you can create your own custom team sports apparel and accessories!

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Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

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If you do business in Breckenridge, contact The County Line to advertise here for an unbeatable low, monthly cost!

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Independent Reps Do you enjoy talking to people and meeting new people???

There are thousands of small businesses in our area that would benefit from getting to know The County Line. And we’re looking for people like you to help spread the word and introduce The County Line to them and their customers!

We don’t look for “one-time” ad sales...we want to partner with business owners just like us!

The last thing they need is more hassles and the they don’t want advertising that never gets seen or heard from!

They need someone who will listen, someone who has the talent and skills to bring their ideas to life, and a devoted audience that is eager to get its hands on every issue!

We Believe in Small Business because we ARE a small business!

If you’re interested in being part of something that truly has growth potential and truly needs the right person for the job, then what are you waiting for?

Contact us on:

www.Facebook.com/mycountyline -orVisit our website at: www.MyCounty-Line.com eMail: pickme@mycounty-line.com

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

18The County Line

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■ , Mike W. Norris The County Line Distribution Area

■ The

County Line Word Search

Published by Michael W. Norris d.b.a. Wolverine Design P.O. Box 1156 Eastland, Texas 76448 http://www.MyCounty-Line.com info@mycounty-line.com

Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

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Visit www.MyCounty-Line.com Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com

20This Week In Texas History

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, by Bartee Haile

By Bartee Haile Daring Young Texan on the Flying Trapeze

The unique and fascinating life of Vander Clyde ended where it started, his birthplace of Round Rock, when the celebrated star of the trapeze and high-wire died by his own hand on Aug. 5, 1973.

“The first time my mother took me to the circus in Austin, I knew I would be a performer,” Clyde once said of the big-top experience that gave him his calling. “From then on, I’d work in the fields during the cotton-picking season to earn money in order to go to the circus as often as possible.”

Hour after hour, the youngster practiced “walking” an imaginary high-wire on which his mother dried clothes in the backyard. Confident he was ready for the real thing, he answered an ad placed by the surviving half of an acrobatic duet called the “Alfaretta Sisters.”

For a 14 year old boy, Clyde was exceptionally well-developed and coordinated. He aced the audition in San Antonio and agreed to fill the vacancy left by a recent death in the family in spite of his employer’s unusual condition.

“She told me that women’s clothes always make a wire act more impressive and asked me if I’d mind dressing as a girl. I didn’t, and that’s how it started.”

After a successful apprenticeship as an Alfaretta, Clyde moved onto “Erford’s Whirling Sensation.” In this one-trick-pony of an act, he and two other performers hung by their teeth from a spinning contraption.

In 1919 Clyde soloed under the stage name “Barbette.” “I do wire walking and perform on the trapeze and flying rings,” the smoothtalking self-promoter never tired of explaining. “These feats are merely incidental to the surprise which is sprung at the end of the act.”

Clyde’s convincing female impersonation, complete with expensive gowns and feather headgear, had the audience believing he was indeed a woman. Then he suddenly shattered the illusion by removing his wig and striking body-builder poses that showed off his muscular and undeniably masculine physique.

Four years on the vaudeville circuit led to a European tour managed by the William Morris Agency. “Barbette” was a sensation wherever “she” went, but it was in Paris that Clyde’s alter-ego attracted a devoted cult following.

The French frenzy was due in large part to the rave reviews of artist Jean Cocteau, who in a 1923 letter to a friend in Belgium wrote, “Next week in Brussels, you’ll see a music-hall act called ‘Barbette’ that has been keeping me enthralled for a fortnight. The young American who does this wire and trapeze act is a great actor, an angel, and he has become a friend to all of us.”

However, things did not go quite as well for Clyde in London.

Supposedly caught in a “compromising position” with another man, an allegation never proved, his contract was cancelled and he was banned

for life from England.

Clyde weathered the scandal with no serious damage to this career. He continued the “Barbette” masquerade in Europe and the United States, including regular appearances in the major cities of his native state.

Under the heading “Thrilling Acrobat,” a reporter for the Dallas Morning News gushed in June 1927, “Barbette, who has rightly been termed ‘a sensational European novelty,’ opens with a gorgeous splash of color, emanating principally from the beautiful gown employed. For the first few moments it appears as though one were going to witness a style Editor’s Note: If you’re into cross-dressing circus acts, then here you go! As for me, I’ll pass. show, but once Barbette gets into Orson Welles tapped Clyde’s action, all else is forgotten.” creative genius for the circus At the peak of his popularity, scenes in his Broadway musical a fall, pneumonia, polio or a “Around the World.” Even Disney bizarre combination of the three was willing to overlook his risqué brought about Clyde’s unexpected past in exchange for the aerial retirement in 1938. He needed ballet for “Disney on Parade” in surgery and a year and a half of the late 1960’s. rehabilitation just to walk again, Following a tour of Australia but there was not much the doctors with the Disney road show, Vander could do for the constant pain.

Clyde wandered back to Round On the bright side, Clyde’s Rock not in a nostalgic return to extraordinary talent did not go his roots but to live with his sister. to waste. He worked as artistic After more than three decades of director for Ringling Brothers and intolerable pain, he took a fatal other circuses and choreographed overdose of prescription pills in several all-women trapeze acts. the summer of 1973.

As a motion picture consultant, he supervised the circus scenes for Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, “Till the Clouds Roll By” (1946) questions and suggestions at P.O. Box and “The Big Circus” (1959) and 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 or haile@ and invites you to visit his new taught Jack Lemmon and Tony pdq.net web site at barteehaile.com.

Curtis the finer points of female impersonation for the 1959 comedy “Some Like It Hot.” www.MyCounty-Line.com

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2013 EASTLAND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL VOLUNTEER BENEFIT TOURNAMENT

The Eastland Memorial Hospital Volunteers would like to thank the following Sponsors for their continued Support.

Without you, this tournament would not be possible!

GIFT OF HEALTH SPONSORS $1500 or MORE: AccessCare; Bird Electric; Billye Bradley; Jeff & Vicki Bradley; Stanley Ford INTEGRITY SPONSOR $1000 or More:

Basic Energy Services; Eastland Co Newspapers; Kennedy Financial

MIRACLE SPONSORS $500 or More: Crowder Construction; EBAA Iron; Financial Corp; First Financial Bank; Frac Tech Services; Insurance Partners; Jim & Leslie Keffer; KASS Land Services; Kelly & Glen Swift; Ken & Sammie Blades; McAnear Machinery, LP; Mike Batteas Pump Service; Production Meter Testing; W H Hoffmann, Jr. RECOVERY SPONSORS $300 or MORE: AG Texas; B&W Clinic; Bent & Bermuda Grass Of Texas; Bill & Helen Meyer; Earl & Mary Ragland ; Edward Jones; Girling Home Health; Jim Farrar; Larry & Vicki Armstrong; Larry & Cathy Vernon; Lyn Smith; Martha Pigeon; Michael Norris (County Line); Moylan Construction (MOTEC); Robert Deluca, DO; Tommy & Mary Warford; Watson Electric (Ben Bundick); W.B. Byrd & Associates WELLNESS SPONSORS $200 or MORE: Aaron Insurance Co.; Bryan’s Signs; Dirk & Vicki Zollinger; Eastland Drug; Ernie’s Spanish Kitchen; J & W Services; John Liddell; KATX 97.7 Radio; KRP Insurance; Sandy Hazelip; Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange; White’s Ace Hardware HOLE SPONSORS $100 or MORE: Arther Business Products; Blake Fulenwider Dodge; Brandon’s Dozer Service; Buck Wheat Resources; Cafe Rico; Cindy Carlton; Delta Flex Travelers, LLC; Diagnostic Management Group; Donnie Cate CPA; E & E Kustom; Eastland County Tire; Eastland Count Vet Clinic; Edwards Funeral Home; Elite Plumbing; Emmett & Kay Lasater; First United Methodist Church; Fullen Motor Co.; Germania Insurance; Guardian Title; Hanlon Gas; Hayden Photography; I-20 Bail Bonds; J & J Air Conditioning; Joel’s Paint and Body; Ken’s Motorcycle Shop; Kimberly Fullen-State Farm; Lazy 3 Animal Clinic; Marci & Lee Roy Pearson; Microplex News; Pam Thomas; Pat & Donna Hogan; Raymond James & Assoc.; Russell’s Auto; Security Title; Solid Rock Sports Camp; Sonic Drive-In (Cisco); Sonic Drive-in (Eastland); Stephenson Oil & Gas Inc.; Sterling Monument; Town & Country Real Estate; Tucker Farm; Williamson Surveying EAGLE SPONSORS $75.00: Joey Carlin Insurance

Briley Well Service; Clint Coffee State Farm; Everisto’s Tire; Greer’s Western Store;

AUCTION DONORS: Classic Creations Jewelry; Colleen & Al Heyser; EMH Sunshine Shoppe; Gold Lantern; Higginbotham Brothers; Janice Winge/Telitha Bush; Ken & Sammie Blades; LaQuinta Eastland RAFFLE DONORS: Bealls Department Store; C & H Monograms; Coats Furniture; Cookie Petree; Eastland Drug; EMH Sunshine Shoppe; Lighthouse Hospice; Lynda Walls, LMT; Meghann’s Market; Natures Massage (Krystal Duncan); Sammie Blades; The Cliffs Resort; Trish Garrett; Vanessa Wilson, LMT; Vicki Armstrong DOOR PRIZE DONORS AND OTHER SPONSORS: Andrea Bacon; Ben E. Keith; Bombshell Beauty Parlor; Clint Coffee State Farm; Comet Cleaners; Commerce Street Floral; Eastland Dry Cleaning; EMH Sunshine Shoppe; First Financial Bank; Flying Scissors Salon; Francies Deli; Golden Touch Tanning; Great Times Furniture; Hardin’s Bar-BQue; Heaven Sent Floral; ICON Investments; Janie’s Salon; Jay Way; Kokomo Construction; Louise’s Cafe; Main Street Oil & Lube; Mane Street Salon; Marcia’s Creations; Maverick Barber Shop; Natures Salon; Pizza Heaven Express; Pizza Pro; Pulido’s Mexican Restaurant; Redstone Barber Shop; Sammie Blades; Security Title Company; The Dog HouseBreckenridge; The Station; Vicki Armstrong; West Texas Golf HOLE-IN-ONE-SPONSOR:

Dr. Simpson & Family

Special Thanks to our Volunteer Auctioneer: Earl Ragland Extra Special Thanks to LAKESIDE GOLF COURSE and their wonderful Staff, and to the Lakeside Ladies Golf Association for their assistance with our tournament!

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