www.MyCounty-Line.com --- DECEMBER 2013
Big Country Ce ntr al Texas E d i t i o n
Volume 6 Issue 75
National News and Opinions mixed with Local Small Town History and Story Telling. Representing the Small-Town Conservative Viewpoint, Values & Patriotism!
~Mike Norris, Owner & Publisher
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Monthly Issue
DECEMBER , In This Issue:
On The Cover Growing Up Small Town Texas Conservative Michael Ramirez Home Is Where the Heart Is Tumbleweed Smith Good Neighbors Treasure Hunters Love Lessons Huddle Up! Breckenridge Wall Cisco Loboes Territory Welcome to Rising Star This Week In Texas History B.C. The Wizard of ID In Sickness & In Health
COVER ART:
Merry Christmas to all the County Line friends and family. From Mike, Ruth & Sherrie Norris
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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A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar plums danc’d in their heads, And Mama in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap — When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below; When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name: “Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer and Vixen, “On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Donder and Blitzen; “To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! “Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!” As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys — and St. Nicholas too: And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound: He was dress’d all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnish’d with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys was flung on his back, And he look’d like a peddler just opening his pack: His eyes — how they twinkled! His dimples: how merry, His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry; His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath. He had a broad face, and a little round belly That shook when he laugh’d, like a bowl full of jelly: He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laugh’d when I saw him in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And fill’d all the stockings; then turn’d with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose. He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle: But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight — Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
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3Growing Up Small Town
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, Mike W. Norris
by Mike W. Norris
I read this article, published on TheBlaze.com, just a millions of Americans would lose their health insurance. Yet he knowingly couple days ago and I believe it is worth sharing: committed fraud by personally lying to the American people. Not once, but repeatedly. He didn’t just tell intentional lies to pass I Told You So: Obama Really Stole The Election Obamacare, he told those same lies during by: Wayne Allyn Root re-election campaign to deceive the I don’t mean to say, “I told you so”…But I told you his American voters and get reelected. so. Did Obama commit intentional fraud? In October of 2012, just before the election, we heard Without a doubt. own administration miraculous unemployment reports that made it sound like internal estimatesHis were that MOST the economy was turning around. Hundreds of thousands Americans covered by employer of jobs were supposedly created. Happy days were here would lose their insurance. Obama’splans own again. “Bravo Obama,” said the adoring mainstream projections show that 80 percent of small media. It was the biggest one month jobs increase ever. businesses were doomed to lose their But I smelled a rat. I warned again and again in the insurance. media that “the books were cooked.” I screamed this Did Obama commit intentional fraud? was pure fraud and the voters were being scammed. Without a doubt. I accused Obama and his friends in the government employees union of fixing the election. Democrats and All of this was known while he told us the mainstream media (I know, I repeat myself) called “If you like your insurance, you can keep those charges “preposterous.” They said it was impossible it.” Obama’s re-election was based on this fraud. Who would have re-elected Obama to fake jobs reports. they knew most of us were about to lose Surprise, surprise, guess who was right? It turns out if our insurance, our doctor, our hospital, our government employees faked the jobs reports to re-elect medical choices, and our livelihood- based Obama. They wanted the man who protects their bloated salaries, obscene pensions, and corrupt unions, to be reelected. They would stop at nothing to keep the gravy train rolling, so they made up reports about job increases out of thin air. The entire election was pure fraud. Based on fantasy. Americans walked into the voting booths hearing fresh news that indicated the economy was improving and jobs were dramatically increasing. It was all fake. The numbers were made up out of thin air by pro-Obama government employees. The voters of America made their final decisions based on pure fraud. Worse this fraud endangered our entire economy. The Federal Reserve bases billion dollar decisions, like interest rate hikes and quantitative easing, on jobs reports. If those job increases don’t actually exist, the Fed is moving in the wrong direction. Crimes were committed that falsely elected a President and could cause billion dollar damages for years to come to the U.S. economy. But wait, that’s only the latest reported fraud that stole the election. Even before the election Obama knew that tens of
on a doubling or tripling of insurance rates? But even that wasn’t enough. Still worried about his re-election chances, Obama ordered the IRS to distract, intimidate, persecute and destroy his political opposition- Tea Parties and conservative critics like me. Rather than spending time and money on stopping Obama, many conservatives were forced to waste our time, energy and money fighting IRS attacks. The IRS attack directed by Obama effectively neutered the energy and passion of the Tea Parties, conservative fundraisers, and critics that only two years before had produced the biggest landslide since 1936. With the IRS running roughshod over Tea Parties, the energy was gone, and Obama was re-elected. Pure election fraud. You question whether Obama ordered the IRS attacks? Well, during this exact period of IRS persecution, the head of the IRS visited the White House more than Continued on page 11...
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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. Common Core State Standards
In 2007, a group of governors and state education chiefs got together to try to remedy the declining and degraded U.S. public academic system. Their goal was to establish a new set of standards that better prepared kids for college, careers and their everchanging, hyper-connected and globally competitive world. In short, as a result, the Common Core State Standards were born. In 2010, standards were published and made available for mathematics and English language arts. Though standards for science and social studies are still in development, the goal is for states to have 85 percent of their curricula based upon the full spectrum of those standards. CCSS advocates pitch that the initiative is a step in the right direction from the disastrous No Child Left Behind federal system. But not everyone is catching the CCSS fever. In particular, there are concerns about federal overreach into and control of their local academic arenas. By 2009, 45 states had signed on to join; Virginia, Nebraska, Texas and Alaska declined CCSS adoption. Minnesota partially adopted the language arts standards but rejected the math ones. And some other states have since jumped ship in other ways. In August, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Oklahoma and Utah withdrew from the assessment groups designing tests for the CCSS. And Congress.org noted, “Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Utah are all currently considering full withdrawal with other fiscally conservative states sure to follow.” And in September, Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order restricting Florida’s involvement with the CCSS national assessments because of concerns over federal overreach of the program. I commend the governors and state education chiefs who tried to improve the substandard and dilapidated state of U.S. public education, despite decades of attempts by federal and state governments to improve it. But there are good reasons that so many states have rejected or are questioning the ultimate value of the adoption of CCSS. Let me tell you my core problems with CCSS and why I believe that the standards are not the solution for America’s broken educational system. (I’m going to unfold these problems in depth with solid evidence in successive weeks, concluding with what I believe would be a far better option than CCSS.) My first issue with CCSS is one that is hot on the blogosphere and in the news: The feds have abandoned their commitment to stay out of local academic affairs by using CCSS to usurp power over public schools and influence young American minds. In fact, one of the biggest defenses by CCSS advocates is their belief that the federal government -- particularly the White House -- is in no way behind the standards’ implementation, development and utility. PolitiFact examined the words of Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who said last July that CCSS is being “used by the Obama administration to turn the Department of Education into what is effectively a national school board.” PolitiFact categorically evaluated Rubio’s statement as false. But recent evidence shows that Rubio is right and PolitiFact is wrong. The feds already have started invading local school districts via CCSS in three ways: funding, influencing classroom curricula and siphoning student information from schools. Let me explain each in turn. First, if the feds are so far removed from CCSS, why is it that the Department of Education has funded it with $350 million and motivated states to adopt the standards by rewarding Race to the Top grants and waivers from No Child Left Behind? (Please read and ponder that question again.) For example, according to Politico, in August, the Department of Education granted NCLB waivers to eight school districts in California that agreed to the White House’s
pro-Common Core preferences. Politico further reported that the Council of Chief State School Officers, which represents state superintendents, has shared that it regards district-level waivers “as an example of federal overreach -- and a direct threat to their authority over schools.” Politico also noted, “California teachers unions also oppose the plan, warning in a June letter that the waiver sets up a ‘privatized “shadow” system of education in California’ that leaves children ‘susceptible to market exploitation and profiteering.’” I don’t know about you, but I’ve yet to see the federal government funding anything that it didn’t eventually have its hands into. The Foundry explained: “The waivers are set to expire for 34 states and the District of Columbia at the end of the 2013-2014 school year. The Department (of Education) is offering renewal but is requiring states to reaffirm commitments to its policies. (Notice: “its policies”!) This includes increased emphasis on ‘college and careerready standards,’ which most states have interpreted to mean Common Core national standards and tests.” I know that Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who is a former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools (interesting that it’s Barack Obama’s former turf), is working desperately to distance the federal government’s connection to and influence over CCSS. But if Duncan is going to be successful in maintaining that separation, for starters, he needs to drop the funding (monetary coercion) and refrain from using first-person plural pronouns when discussing who is responsible for the Common Core State Standards as he did when he told a group of journalists in June: “We’ve set a high bar for states.” I am personally challenging state and federal representatives to get on board to stop this Common Core insanity. I will be researching each politician to see who is and who is not supporting CCSS, and before this series is complete, I will be publishing their names in my columns, and they reach millions. I’m sure my readers will find my list of names helpful the next time they walk into the voting booths! Stop Common Core right now! --Last week, I explained what the Common Core State Standards are and how, despite the federal government’s saying it’s staying
out of the classroom standards business, there is much evidence to show that the feds are intricately linked to them. The first way I demonstrated that was by pointing out that the feds have spent $350 million of taxpayer money, funding and giving grants and waivers to muscle and bribe states and local school districts to accept CCSS. And all of that was done without a single act of Congress, meaning the federal government -- including the White House -- dumped protocol again to dodge accountability. With their monetary tentacles reaching over state lines and into classrooms, their second step is to inject their progressive agenda into curricula taught in elementary, middle and high schools. And that is easily accomplished because their educative minions pervade academic arenas and CCSS curricula creators. Common Core advocates pride themselves in saying that the standards don’t set curricula, that they only set goals (or what they call “benchmarks”) that educators utilize to help their students reach the academic stars. They say states and local school districts, administrators and educators will fashion curricula. In fact, the Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee, a group under the California County of Superintendents Educational Services Association, issued a form titled “Frequently Asked Questions (About) Common Core Standards,” in which it is categorically stated: “The Standards don’t dictate the details of academic curriculum.” Even Education Secretary Arne Duncan regurgitated the vision of Common Core this way: “Tight on goals but loose on means -- that’s our theory of change. It’s the exact opposite of how No Child Left Behind was structured.” (There’s that plural fed-ownership language again, “that’s our theory of change.”) “Tight on goals but loose on means” -sounds like a good plan, right? Here’s the problem. You’ve heard the version of the golden rule, “He who has the gold makes the rules.” Here’s the academic version: “He who sets the standards controls the curricula and even the educators.” Despite how CCSS defenders say that dictating standards doesn’t lead to determining the content taught in classrooms, that’s exactly Continued on page 11...
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7Home Is Where the Heart Is
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, Monica Payne
By Monica Payne Monica has home schooled all of her five children after making the switch from career educator to at-home family educator. THE ATYPICAL DAY
“No school today!” makes you want to play sick, because you know it really means “Today we clean!” Hello! My name is Monica. My husband and I are happily married and have been blessed with five beautiful children; Shealee(21), Sean(17), Shani(11), Shannen(10), and Sherylan(8). God has been gracious to us and kept us strong through years of refining fires. We are not completed works just yet, and continuously make many mistakes. We hope that through the retelling of our journey, you may be encouraged on yours; whatever your personal journey may be. We are parents. We are homeschoolers. We are the Payne’s. While I am aware that the word “typical” means different things to different people, and normal is never really so, our homeschool does not fit any mold out there. I would like to assert your family’s “typical” doesn’t either. When we began homeschooling, there was a huge learning curve and it has taken years to realize that our family’s life didn’t have to mirror that of what I thought “normal” was. We learned along the way how to adapt our lifestyle to the individual learning styles of our children and ourselves. Typical days are school days here at Payneville Academy. And, this year, goes something like this… Once my husband has left for work at around 6:00am, I begin my day. I do my quick morning routine and then spend some time curled up in bed with my Bible, the Bible Concordance, my prayer journal and my favorite markers. All of my children are either sleeping or quietly working (playing) in their own beds and I have only the gentle roar of the camper’s air conditioner in the background. Even our dog Ginger is still sleeping peacefully. I usually spend about two hours studying, writing, or just simply processing before laying back down for a little more rest before the troops arise. Around 9:00 Sherylan is up and about. She enjoys making the family breakfast and will bake either biscuits or muffins. She closes the doors to my room so she doesn’t wake me. I listen contentedly as she shuffles through our makeshift outdoor kitchen to prepare our breakfast. She will sit outside enjoying the solitude as she writes in her prayer journal and waits on breakfast to bake in our NuWave oven. She brings her creation inside, eats her share and continues to prepare herself for the day; undoubtedly forgetting to brush through her beautiful long hair yet again. By the time Shani and Shannen begin to stretch and drag themselves out of bed, she will have completed much of her schoolwork. Depending on the day, and how the stars are aligned, Shani or Shannen will get up next. They seem to take turns and compete over who gets to be the first one up. The loser will stay in bed a little while longer just to nurse the defeat. Once up, they both will rush through their morning routine quickly gobbling up their share of Sherylan’s gift to the family and try to play catch up to their sister. Sean waits for the rush to be over and only gets up once all has quieted down with his three younger siblings back on their beds reading or working quietly. Sean may have already been up (while I was studying quietly) having completed his schoolwork or he may start now depending on his mood. By 10:30 much of the hustle and bustle has calmed and I get up to continue
my day; loading the crock pot for supper and rounding everyone about to go to the showers. (Living in a campground has the added benefit of no waiting on a shower.) We prefer to ride our bicycles to the washhouse and will also start the laundry while we are there. Once we return from our showers, we will have what we call “morning meeting”; though it tends to happen more at lunchtime. Our morning meetings consist of The Pledge of Allegiance, The Pledge to the Bible, our Code of Excellence, some singing, Bible memory and an overview of the family calendar. Then we all take turns breaking for lunch, each of us making our own and cleaning up after ourselves (or supposedly so). Once lunch is over, we can finally get down to the business of checking off schoolwork that has been done. I am writing a language arts curriculum designed specifically for our homeschool. There are many workings and reworkings that we are doing to figure out what is best for our family and each child. So we spend much
of the afternoon going over this new curriculum. As each child is checked off for the day they will go about their own musings while I continue work on the curriculum. Sean works on Native American regalia. Shani rides her bicycle, and studies the people in the campground, coming back to tell me about this girl or that lady. Shannen rides his bicycle, designs great Lego structures, or follows a myriad of other interests. Sherylan will ride her bicycle or read. Sometimes they all come together to work on a project or enjoy one someone else has made. (They spent three days learning about bicycle parts by disassembling our older bicycles after one caused an accident from a faulty kickstand. They also spent a week or more designing, building and enjoying trebuchets.) Once Daddy calls to say he’s headed home at around 5:00pm, we all get together and clean everything. Living in a camper means we have to put away all of our school materials Continued on page 8...
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8Home Is Where the Heart Is
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, Monica Payne
before we can do anything else. This has been a good thing for us. We’ve had to learn to do things differently than when we lived in our house. The children have less room to roam and have to stay together. I won’t allow any but Sean to leave the campsite alone. It has taken some adjustments, but we’ve begun to adapt not only our homeschool, but our lifestyle. We see it as just another adventure in our lives. I realize that many would think that our school day ends there, but it doesn’t. After Daddy comes home, we take a well-deserved twenty minute downtime. Then we begin preparations for supper. We eat outside at the campsite picnic table. There is plenty of room and no television to distract us from enjoying each other’s company. On cold nights, Sean will start a fire and we will sit around it giving narrations (a special type of summary) of what we did in school that day. Maybe someone read something that just had to be shared. Or a child made a connection that he hadn’t thought of before. Each of us takes time to share what we are learning- even daddy and me. We clean up from supper and come inside to watch a little television together (we have one show each weeknight we enjoy watching). At 9:30 we turn everything off and sing a few hymns, and then Daddy will lead us in Bible Study. We take turns getting ready for bed and retreat one by one into our nice warm beds to begin it all anew the next day. You will notice there aren’t many specific times placed on things. That’s because we work in a progression rather than a schedule. It seems to work better for us that way. When we place times on events, we are always playing catch up and never getting anything done. In a household of six different people, with each member having their own unique learning style which transfers over into routines, an expected progression helps organize everyone better. You may have also noticed that each child’s routine is a bit different. That is because of their learning style. There are four different learning styles- the efficient learner, the social learner, the active learner, and the systematic learner. And each of my children who are still at home has a different style, making a schedule impossible to keep. Sean is my efficient learner. This is the type of learner everyone wishes they were. He can learn something by simply going through the material. No fancy notes, no excess. Simply the quickest most efficient way from point A to point B. While learning modalities play Continued on page 12...
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10Tumbleweed Smith
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, Bob Lewis
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By Bob Lewis A Love Affair With a House
Our house sits on the edge of a canyon. Just beyond is a mountain, the home of Scenic Mountain State Park. The house is situated such that at the summer equinox, a stream of sunlight comes down our entrance walkway and sends a shaft of light exactly in the center of the front door. In the fall, the bright gold of sunset drifts through the trees, creating dark shadows on the green grass. It truly has a magical feel to it. We moved into the house on November 2, 1971 and the house has always been special to us. We are the second owners of the house. Dr. Milton Talbot, who was our pediatrician, commissioned the house, which was completed in 1960. Milton was president of the Big Spring Little Theater, and I was involved with that group. Occasionally he would have a theater board meeting in his house. The first time I was in the house I couldn’t believe a place like this existed in Big Spring. I fell instantly in love with it. I was a bachelor then, fairly new in town and wasn’t making much money. The house was designed by Harwell Harris, who Frank Lloyd Wright called “the only other great architect besides myself.” Harris put the front door as close to the center of the house as possible, utilizing a long walkway to the entrance door, often with a garden or lily pond beside it. Other design elements in Harris’s homes are floor to ceiling sliding glass doors in all the rooms, wide overhanging eaves all around the house, indirect lighting throughout the house and built in furniture. Years passed. I got married, became a father and got busy with my career. The Talbots moved to Austin and the house stood vacant for a year. Apparently nobody wanted a California-style house with a Japanese garden. In 1971 my wife and I were considering building a house. We looked at land east of town where a friend had seven acres of land for sale. I put a check in my pocket and we went there to buy it. But we learned that the land had a gas line running beneath it and we decided not to buy the property. Instead, we went straight to the realtor’s office and made a down payment on the Talbot house. It was a big financial move for us and we worked hard to get the house paid for in five years.
Our two sons grew up playing in the canyon. It has two caves, Lemon Cave and Rabbit Ears, which provided many adventures for young boys. They would leave in the morning and come back only for meals. Our deck hovers dramatically over the drop-off of land. The sliding glass doors bring the outside in and the house is perfectly adapted to its setting. It sits below street level and juniper cedar lines the driveway. Oak, pecan and elm trees surround the house. A lacebark elm sits in a tree well off the dining room. Its graceful leaves and branches add much to the view at mealtimes. Since seventy percent of the outside walls are glass doors, there is a constantly changing show of light and shadow. I take many pictures of the house because I see new angles and views daily. RANCH HOUSE, an architectural publication, did an article on the house. I feel so lucky to be living in a home that we love. The Talbots loved it, too, and their children often inquire about it or come by to see it. Art Works From Twigs
woman gives birth.” Janys does lots of whimsical art. She makes things from twigs and calls her creations twigsters. “I was out walking with my husband one day and I saw this cottonwood twig on the ground and I told him it looked like somebody on ice skates. I took it home and made my first twigster. It was a Santa Claus on ice skates, skating along on a piece of bark that I made to look like ice. I made cowboy characters out of twigs and everybody loved them. They’d be sold before I could finish them. People would hear about them and come to my house to buy them. I gave a speech to a women’s group once and had a twigster with me and before the meeting was over someone bought it. After that they were just buying them like hotcakes because they were fun. I love to laugh and find every way I can find to do it. The whole time I’m making these twigsters I’m laughing to myself.” Janys and her husband lived in the panhandle town of McLean for a while. “It was like being in a book. Everybody was a character. I liked that because it was real life with incredible depth. Watching the ranchers come in, all covered with mud and blood and torn up boots and hats really spoke to me about the energy of the place. I had to talk about it, had to sing about it.” She composed music about whirling windmills on the prairie and played it for me on her piano. When I heard the music, I could imagine the fan blades on windmills turning in the wind. She has written both music and lyrics to songs about the west. Janys told me she wanted to make a piece of whimsical art for me and asked me to send her some tumbleweed twigs. My wife and I went out to a few country lanes and found some fine specimens. I put them in a box and shipped them to her. Can’t wait to see my twigster.
Janys Frazier of Waco started doing art when she was 57 years old. “My sister came to visit me and she brought some papier-mâché, took a piece of it, laid it on the table and said, ‘make something.’ And all of a sudden there was a face and instantly my whole being caught fire and I knew this was my real passion. I believe there’s not a human being in the world that does not have artistic talent. They just don’t know it until something brings it out. And who you are will emerge when you get into the arts.” Her sister in law asked her to create an elephant. “It was so difficult to do and took forever. I was ready to throw it away many times. But it has become my most famous piece. It has been cast in bronze and is now being sold through Tumbleweed lives in Big Spring and produces THE SOUND OF TEXAS syndicated The Safari Club.” She did a large bronze statue of a woman radio series. His website is tumbleweedsmith.com with a baby that is in Waco’s Providence Hospital. “It’s inside the new mother and infant wing. It’s three-quarters life-size, about five feet two. I made her because I wanted young mothers just walking into motherhood to realize the huge bond that forms between mother and child when a www.MyCounty-Line.com
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11Growing Up Small Town
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any other person. The head of the IRS employees union visited Obama the night before the IRS attacks began. If any of this were known before the election would Obama have been re-elected? If any of this were known before the election would Obama have been re-elected? But it gets worse. The voting ballots of our military troops were suppressed. And, why do you think Democrats fight so hard against voter identification? We’ll never know how many Obama supporters voted illegally, or multiple times. We’ll never know how 59 inner city voting districts in Philadelphia wound up with 30,000 to -0- vote totals in favor of Obama. Or, similar totals in multiple districts around the country, including all-important Ohio. We’ll never know the affect of voter intimidation by Black Panthers at Philadelphia polling places, or Democrat judges ordering GOP poll watchers out for several hours at Philadelphia polling places. Then just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. Think Benghazi. Never hesitant to commit fraud, Obama told a story about a nonexistent protest, over a movie no one in the Middle East ever saw. This fraud was either committed to cover up the disaster of Obama’s foreign policy, and provide cover for his statement that Al Qaeda was effectively
crushed, or to provide cover for an administration giving arms to rebels who turned around and used those same guns to kill our own Ambassador and three other brave Americans. Either way if the truth about Benghazi was known, would America have re-elected Obama? Add it up. The 2012 Presidential election was stolen based on the cover-up of murder in Benghazi, a mafia-like conspiracy to use the IRS to silence free speech and destroy Obama’s political opposition, fraudulent health care promises, and fraudulent jobs reports. The Gambino crime family hasn’t got anything on Obama. In 2000 Democrats talked about a President getting elected under “illegitimate terms.” Well look who perfected the art. Barack Obama committed pure fraud to win re-election. If this doesn’t rise to the level of impeachment, nothing ever will. So folks…what are we doing about it? ~credit: theblaze.com
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Conservative, Continued...
what it does. Proof of the link is found in the fact that when Common Core standards are completely implemented in 2015, at least 85 percent of states’ curricula will be based upon them. Get it?! Of course, in public, advocates, including Duncan, state categorically -- loud and proud -- that the feds are completely handsoff when it comes to CCSS curricula. Duncan told one group of journalists back in June: “The federal government didn’t write them, didn’t approve them and doesn’t mandate them. And we never will. Anyone who says otherwise is either misinformed or willfully misleading.” “Never will”? Mr. Duncan, I don’t know what political pipe dream you live in, but to say that the federal government “never will” write or influence any portion of any national educational standards or curricula when it has the Department of Education overseeing the whole ball of wax is about as unrealistic as saying that the feds “never will” get involved in the health care business. Sure, local districts and states can create and control their curricula, just as we citizens can keep our medical plans if we like them! That’s all federal fantasy, not based upon historical facts of the feds’ overreaching, influencing and controlling anything and everything that is national. Duncan and President Barack Obama don’t need to have a meeting in the Oval Office to draft modes in which to shape and influence academic curricula. They only have to post their leftist minions in positions of influence throughout the academic world; those people will do their dirty work for them. And it’s already happened! In fact, concerned parents and educators across the country just had their curricula fears grow legs when CCSS English lessons for elementary classrooms were discovered with partisan political statements in them. These are the types of covert moves that experts and citizens have warned about and hoped never would become a reality. Fox News reported recently: “Teaching materials aligned with the controversial national educational standards ask fifth-graders to edit such sentences as ‘(The president) makes sure the laws of the country are fair,’ ‘The wants of an individual are less important than the well-
being of the nation’ and ‘the commands of government officials must be obeyed by all.’” What?! Do those statements sound like the principles upon which our republic was founded or socialist dogma and indoctrination? The statements are in a worksheet titled “Hold the Flag High,” in which students are instructed about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War and assigned to make sentences describing a U.S. president’s duties “less wordy by replacing the underlined words with a possessive noun phrase.” And remember that Common Core standards have been applied to only two subjects, mathematics and English language arts. Consider what secular progressive agenda awaits when other standards, such as those for social sciences, roll out. And yes, 45 states already have swallowed the entire CCSS pill, without ever looking at or considering CCSS benchmarks for all the remaining school subjects. Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin cited University of Arkansas professor Sandra Stotsky, who said months before this revelation that federal partisan politics invaded CCSS curricula: “An English curriculum overloaded with advocacy journalism or with ‘informational’ articles chosen for their topical and/or political nature should raise serious concerns among parents, school leaders, and policymakers. Common Core’s standards not only present a serious threat to state and local education authority, but also put academic quality at risk. Pushing fatally flawed education standards into America’s schools is not the way to improve education for America’s students.” And while the protests, debates and storms rage about CCSS, the children of America remain the sacrificial guinea pigs in this political, crippled and inept system that we call public education. 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.
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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
Protect Your Home From Moisture Keeping moisture out of a home reduces the chance for structural deterioration, mold growth and air quality problems. Bolster your home’s moisture resistance with these tips. Identify red flags. According to Phillip Carter, urban regional extension agent with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, common signs of unwanted moisture include: • • • • • • • •
Excessive, continuous condensation around windows Musty smells Standing water, especially under the home and around the foundation Surface discoloration and stains Mold A higher-than-usual water bill from unseen plumbing leaks Decaying wood and other materials throughout your home Flooding events, such as bursting pipes or excessive rain, that release large volumes of water into or outside your home
Be on the lookout. Make regular home moisture inspections a priority. “It’s important to inspect more—around walls, on the roof, under sinks, near water lines and so forth,” says Carter. “A lot of the problems I see may be hidden leaks and by the time people notice them, they have a real mold problem.” Control humidity. Your home’s relative humidity should be roughly 30 to 50 percent, says
Carter, who recommends buying an inexpensive hygrometer to keep tabs on your home’s humidity levels. Some tips to combat humidity: Run a dehumidifier, decorate with moisture-absorbing houseplants and set your air conditioner’s fan to automatic. Get more tips for conquering humidity from State Farm®. Right-size your air conditioner. All too often, people invest in oversized units, says Carter. “And that’s not good, especially in the South, because it doesn’t run long enough to remove enough moisture from the inside air and can cause tiny water droplets to collect on surfaces,” he adds. Also keep your unit’s condensate drainage line to the outside clean and clear of debris. “Keep plants and shrubs trimmed several feet back to ensure good air flow,” says Carter. Monitor drainage. Your gutters and downspouts should drain away from your house. “Water should never linger near your home’s foundation,” says Carter. Carter recommends checking your gutters every two weeks for leaves, acorns and pine needles. “Take a leaf blower and water hose with a strong jet to remove trapped debris,” he says. Vent. Proper circulation prevents warm, moist air from condensing on cooler surfaces through evaporation. Carter recommends these ventilation best practices: • • • • • •
Ventilate your attic and crawl spaces Vent all interior exhaust fans to the outside Run bathroom ventilation fans while showering and for 5 to 10 minutes after showering Install louvered doors or louvered devices installed into walls to provide air circulation for small rooms and closets Use ceiling fans Open doors and windows when possible
Beef up barriers. Carter recommends boosting your wall and attic insulation based on your climate. (Find your recommended level of insulation from EnergyStar.gov.) “This way you don’t have a huge temperature contrast,” says Carter. He also recommends adding a 6–8 milthick vapor barrier under your house to keep vapor from going up through your flooring. The information in this article was obtained from various sources. While we believe it to be reliable and accurate, we do not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information. These suggestions are not a complete list of every loss control measure. The information is not intended to replace manuals or instructions provided by the manufacturer or the advice of a qualified professional. Nor is it intended to effect coverage under any policy. State Farm makes no guarantees of results from use of this information. We assume no liability in connection with the information nor the suggestions made. See more at: http://learningcenter.statefarm.com www.MyCounty-Line.com
■ Home
Is Where The Heart Is, Continued...
a huge part as well (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile), he generally watches the lesson and does a few practice problems and he’s got it. In his routine, he doesn’t spend a whole lot of time on bookwork. He spends the majority of his time exploring and researching his interests. Shani is my social learner. She really enjoys observing and learning from others. She needs interaction to really understand new concepts. Her routine works around others, while she waits for someone else to work with her on her schoolwork, she uses the time to get her chores done. Her schoolwork takes more time because she enjoys visiting with her family as she works, and this actually helps her to learn. Shannen is my active learner. He has to be moving. He generally is jumping from one subject to another and then back again. You never know how far he is in his work until he’s finished because he does everything different every day. He will work for about ten to twenty minutes and then ride his bicycle down the hill a couple times. If you try to make him sit still and do his work, he will never get anything done. Or if he does get it done it will have no lasting impression on him. Sherylan is my systematic learner. This is the type of learner many teachers want their students to be. As long as she understands the system, “read this, then write that”, she can teach herself the material. You can give a systematic learner a workbook and she is happy to sit and work through it all day long. She is the most consistent and her routine is very systematic.
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She could work in a schedule, but a progression works well too. Her problem is when her system becomes second-nature is doesn’t allow for additions, like brushing her hair. She is so structured in her routine and has left brushing her hair out so often, it would take a jackhammer to insert it now. All of that being said, typical days do not typically happen around here. So many other things are happening in our lives (like football season), it just doesn’t always (or even usually) work the same way twice. Today for instance, has already gone atypical. I didn’t go back to sleep after finishing my prayer time, instead I am working on this article. And Sherylan hasn’t gotten up yet, nor any of the other children and its already after 10:00am. This is probably due to the fact that I called an end to a very typical day yesterday and made it atypical by choice, choosing to have everyone spend the day cleaning our campsite and camper, because it was no longer up to my “code”. Now, since they worked harder than usual yesterday, they are sleeping in to recuperate. Just one of the joys of homeschooling- atypical days are just as productive as typical days and sometimes even more so. To learn more about how to schedule your lifestyle around your family members’ individual learning styles, check out Cathy Duffy’s book 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. As we continue our journey together, I hope you will come back again. We will have more atypical days to share I am sure. We homeschool. Do you? ~mp
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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”
When Santa Ruined Christmas Eighty-six years ago, on December 23, 1927, Santa Claus ruined Christmas for many Cisco residents. On that date, a locally known man, Marshall Ratliff, disguised as Santa Claus and accompanied by three other men, Henry Helms, Louis Davis and Robert Hill entered the First National Bank of Cisco and robbed it of $12,000 cash. The robbery was supposed to be fast and quick, with no one getting hurt and the robbers escaping with an estimated hundred thousand dollars in loot. It turned out to be a deadly comedy of errors from the beginning. As Marshall Ratliff tossed a potato sack to the teller, it was discovered there was only about 12,000 dollars in cash and a large amount of supposedly cash transferable bonds. The second snafu happened when a little girl, Frances Blasingame spotted Santa entering the bank and pulled her mother inside so she could talk to him. They stepped right into the middle of the robbery. When Mrs. Blasingame realized what was happening, she pushed her way through the side screen door into the alley and despite the shouts of the robbers to stop, she fled across a vacant lot to the Cisco City Hall (now the Lela Latch Lloyd Memorial Museum). The City Hall also housed the jail and Police Dept. There, she rushed in, screaming, “They’re robbing the bank. They’re robbing the bank.” Chief of Police, Bit Bedford calmed her down enough to get the story, grabbed his shotgun and accompanied by Officer George Carmichael rushed to the First National Bank. Another officer joined them. Bedford took up a position at the corner of the hardware store on Avenue D, while Carmichael concealed himself at the opposite end of the alley. It didn’t take long before word of the robbery spread. Armed citizens came to the aid of the police and quickly surrounded the bank while the robbers were still inside. A massive shoot out began. Bullets flew inside and outside the bank (you can still see where bullets hit the brick wall of a nearby building). During the shootout, Chief of Police of Cisco, G.E. “Bit’ Bedford and policeman George Carmichael
were shot and died a few days later. Bank robber Louis Davis also died from wounds received in the battle. The robbers attempted to escape to their stolen Buick which was parked next to the side door in the alley. It was during their escape that the Chief of Police, Officer Carmichael were shot. Holdup man, Louis Davis was mortally wounded as he tried to make his way to the car. Ratliff and Helms grabbed Laverne and Emma May, two other little girls
who were in the bank at the time, and using them as shields scurried to the car. As they did, Ratliff was shot in the chin and began bleeding badly. He ripped the Santa Mask off his face and tried to staunch the flow as the car lumbered out of the alley. One of the tires had been shot out which made the big Buick hard to handle, but it continued south along Avenue D pursued by a mob of angry, armed citizens. Not only were they incensed Continued on page 17...
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
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By Vicki Stiefer On Fire for Christmas
I struggle sometimes with Christmas as I watch all the non-believers out there try to dampen my holiday by putting up billboards that say the Nativity is a myth. They try and disprove the story that has lasted over 2000 years and is powerful enough to still be told today. It will be told at my house this Christmas with the good book overlooking a Nativity scene. Recently my husband and I have taken on a new family verse:
stop he unhooked his seatbelt and wormed his way out of the window while EMT’s looked at him like he should be a ghost. That was 10 years or so ago and he will tell you to this day that God was watching him. Because of that moment he continues to have hope.
coupon bag lady 3 people in front of me at the cash register would give it up and swipe her debit card so I can get on my way. I think we’ve been conditioned to only be nice towards the end of the year. Such as we are I think that’s OK. We’re human after all. If you have trouble with this holiday then take heart and keep the faith. You will make it! If you love this holiday and things have moved right along as you planned then Merry Christmas and Congratulations everything worked out. Either way, have a great holidays with your family and friends.
Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their “Christmas waves a magic strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and wand over this world, and behold, not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” everything is softer and more ~Norman Vincent What a verse huh? It makes me feel better every time I read it and beautiful.” Peale when I look at the nativity scene each holiday season the verse above exactly describes how I feel. I am tired. I know you are too. Sometimes Norman Vincent Peale has it right. Christmas is fun but it’s a lot of work and the Nativity assures me that I People are nicer and the patience have a purpose and I am steadily working on fulfilling all that God has of most people is at a higher level. planned for me. My husband and I take the time to read the bible and Why just Christmas? Faith Hill “Christmas is a day of meaning discuss. We pray together and let God into our marriage every day. We sings about Christmas in your and traditions, a special day spent put him first so that he will bless us and our families. I know we are not hearts all year long, but seriously, in the warm circle of family and alone. do people believe that? I’d like friends.” ~Margaret Thatcher think they do. From my own A quote from Ronald Reagan: says, “Christmas can be celebrated in to experience I don’t have the spirit of ~vs the school room with pine trees, tinsel and reindeers, but there must Christmas in my heart 365 days a be no mention of the man whose birthday is being celebrated. One year. Shortly after New Year’s I’m wonders how a teacher would answer if a student asked why it was yelling at someone who cut me off called Christmas.” ~Ronald Reagan on the highway or I’m wishing the www.MyCounty-Line.com We live in a nation where only 82% of Americans define themselves as Christian. That’s tough for me to accept, but alas those people are out there. Sometimes I wonder if they haven’t had their God moment yet? You know the one, where all of a sudden you realize that if God wasn’t watching over you the car accident would have taken your life, or you made it through a difficult situation that seemed impossible. A friend of mine was coming home from work early in the morning and turned his car upside down. He was sliding down the highway with his window down and when he passed a couple of construction cones it was at that moment he realized he should be dead. When the car came to a
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 ~ DECEMBER 2013 v6.75 ~ www.Facebook.com/mycountyline , Matt Swinney
By Matt Swinney Friday Night Lights in Texas...Out of Control Pee-Wee Style
It is not difficult to explain why The Lone Star State is in love with sports. We’re really a football state over most other sports. Sorry baseball, soccer, basketball but you play second fiddle to the pig skin! Texans love their cowboys, dancehalls, beer and football! After all, we don’t sit down after a huge Thanksgiving meal to a mean game of soccer. Football is what we crave; it’s tough and rough and when they take a hit on the screen we groan in our chairs sharing the pain, spreading the support and cheering them back up and on to the next play. Do you think, though that we take things too seriously below the high school level? Just a couple of months ago Crowley, Texas parents fought in the parking lot after their kids pee-wee football game. What are they fighting about? At that age, it’s just a game and kids more than anything need structure and to understand what winning and losing means. The parents in Crowley should be more worried about handing out an “E-for Effort” trophy to every single kid rather than throw fists in the parking lot. I really hope at least they were sober and if they were, well that’s pretty pathetic. This country is not producing the strong young men it used to. When I was growing up I was taught to handle a bully with a swift right hook. Normally they left me alone. A couple of them needed a swift right and then a quick left but they got the message and the problem was solved. These days we teach everyone to have self confidence and do the best you can, but you and I know that when you’re best isn’t good enough, you have to go back to the drawing board. What were the parents in Crowley teaching their kids? Wait, was it, “It’s OK baby, I’ll fight your battles for you.” Or maybe it was, “It doesn’t matter if you lost, you’re all winners. Now let’s go have some ice cream together.” What will those same kids do when they don’t get a job after school? Will they run home like sissies to their mommies to call the mean ole company who dared not hire them?
Crowley is not alone, back in July of this year in Colorado a fight broke out between dads at a little league game because of a pitch. Really Dads? You have so little self discipline that you can’t even have a rational conversation? Give it up Pops, you can’t live vicariously through your kid and he’s not going to pay your bills with a rich lucrative contract either. He’s playing little league and thinking about riding his bicycle and digging in the dirt. When he goes home from the game he will watch Superman or Batmannot game footage. I love sports, my life is sports, The majority of my career in radio has been in sports and I keep room in my head for stats by letting other information go. I played little dribblers and other sports growing up. I played throughout college and to this day I know that if you win you celebrate and if you lose, you figure out a way to try harder and get it done the next time. Why do you think when athletes on TV are interviewed they say something
like, “I can’t focus on that. I’ve got to look forward to the next game and take care of business.” You never hear of a press conference where the professional coach says, “We did the best we could. I am proud of their effort.” Take Oklahoma State University football Coach Mike Gundy in his press conference a couple of years ago. He wasn’t passing out participation trophies he was yelling about being a man and making the decisions that count. He screamed at the media and I quote, “You make me wanna puke!” He threw a water bottle and stormed out. That press conference is what tough guys watch while they eat breakfast and head out to face the day. Not with self confidence and ‘Ring around the Rosies’ playing in their heads. Instead the drummer in their head is playing AC/DC’s Hells Bells and they go out and take care of business. So I ask all parents to take care of business. Slow your roll and let a kid be a kid. ~ms 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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Hunters, Continued...
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about the bank robbery, undoubtedly some of them had the $5,000 reward offered by the Banking association in mind. As they approached 14th Street, they spotted a brand new Oldsmobile driven by fourteenyear-old Woodrow Harris. They forced it to stop and commandeered the vehicle. As young Harris realized what was happening, he switched the car off, removed the key, stuck it into his pocket and fled with his parents and grandmother to safety behind a nearby house. The robbers switched passengers and loot to the Harris vehicle only to discover the car would not start without the key. The entire process had to be reversed and once again, they fled in the crippled Buick which was now almost out of gas. In their haste and confusion, with the makeshift posse on their heels, they fled, forgetting the sack of money and leaving it in the Harris automobile, along with the dying Davis. They made good their escape to thick brush on the south side of Cisco, where they forced the two little girls to hand them a large, heavy suitcase. The frightened girls thought the suitcase was full of gold and told it to their friends as such. This lead to a long lasting legend of lost loot. The story of this lost loot was reported in some adventure magazines as recently as 1993. Instead, the heavy suitcase was filled with ammunition for the some ten guns the robbers were carrying. After an intense manhunt involving several hundred searchers, the remaining three outlaws, Ratliff, Helms and Hill were captured alive. All had numerous gunshot wounds but strong enough to jail and be tried. During their trials, Ratliff was sentenced to 99 years in prison, as was Hill. Helms was given a death sentence as witnesses testified that he was the one who shot Chief Bedford. This was questionable, but readily accepted by the jury due to the notoriety of Helms. He tried pleading insanity and began acting as if he were insane. The ploy didn’t work and he was subsequently electrocuted. Hill quietly went to prison. Later, Marshall Ratliff began to act as if he were insane and did such an excellent job of it that he fooled the jailers when he was returned to Eastland for another trial, not for insanity, but for having robbed with a firearm. He was kept in the Eastland County jail in Continued on page 18...
Published by Mike W. Norris dba Wolverine Design ● PO Box 1156 ● Eastland, Texas 76448 ● http://www.mycounty-line.com
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Exciting News from McDonald’s In Eastland
Jerry Meyerson wants to share with McDonald’s many customers and friends exciting news for the Holidays. To celebrate his fourth year of ownership, Jerry is going to have the following specials for the Holidays: STARTING on November 29, (Black Friday) and continuing for every Friday in December, McDonald’s will be offering FREE Small Brewed Coffee or a FREE Small Iced Coffee. All you have to do is stop by and ask. The offer will be good from open until close for these 5 Fridays; November 29, December 6, 13, 20, and 27. Also, STARTING on December 2, 2013, McDonald’s Eastland will be offering CONES for only $.59 cents each and any SUNDAE for $.99 cents each. The Sundae is offered with the following toppings; Hot Fudge, Strawberry and Caramel. The other exciting news from Eastland McDonald’s is the new DOLLAR MENU and MORE. This new menu adds six new sandwiches to the menu. Three new sandwiches are priced at $1. They are the Buffalo Ranch McChicken, the Grilled Onion Cheddar Burger, and the BBQ Ranch Burger. On the $2 menu there are three new sandwiches; the Bacon Cheddar McChicken, the Bacon McDouble, and the Bacon Buffalo Ranch McChicken. We still offer on the DOLLAR MENU and MORE the Double Cheeseburger for $1.49 and the McDouble for $1.19. All of these sandwiches are offered in Value Meals that include a drink and a fry. Please stop by Eastland McDonald’s to celebrate the holidays and try one of the great specials or one of the new sandwiches from the Dollar Menu and More.
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Hunters, Continued...
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Eastland, Texas during the trial. While there, he continued his insanity act so well that the jailers became careless. One day, they became slack and left his jail door unlocked. Ratliff captured one of the jailers, Uncle Tom Jones, killed him and attempted to escape. The jailer, Pack Kilborn, caught him downstairs and returned him to his cell. When citizens heard of the killing, a lynch mob grew one by one until there were enough to storm the jail, and break into Ratliff’s cell. They dragged him out and lynched him over a telegraph pole and line across the street from the jail. A granite marker was recently placed at the site. Several years ago, I talked with an older man who told me he was in the lynch crowd. “I was about nine years old and when I heard my parents talking about how he was going to be hung, I sneaked out and went to watch. I was so small and everyone was so crowded around, I never did get to see them hang him, but I was there.” Recently, the Lela Latch Lloyd Museum met a person that had three guns that were used in the bank robbery. The owner placed them on loan along with signed affidavits by Frank Sparks, who was District Attorney of Eastland County at the time. The guns were used as evidence in the trial of the robbers. The affidavits were signed and notorized on April 30, 1955. They had been in Sparks’ possession since the time of the trial. These three pistols are; a .38 Caliber W.C.F. pistol, No. 200751 (Colt Bisley Model), .45 Caliber Colt Pistol of the Peacemaker style, NO.156058 and a .45 Colt Model 1911 automatic pistol. The two Colt Revolvers are thought to have been in the possession of Marshall Ratliff at the time of his capture and the Model 1911 automatic is thought to have been in the possession of Henry Helms. Other pistols and at least one shotgun were used in the bank robbery, but no one has any idea as to where they are now. A small automatic pistol belonging to the bank was also taken by the robbers. If anyone has information on these remaining guns would certainly be appreciated. The Lela Latch Lloyd Memorial Museum was the Cisco City Hall at the time of the robbery and housed a jail and the police station as well as city offices. This building is significant in that it was here that Mrs. Blasingame and her daughter fled to and reported the bank robbery. It was in this old City Hall that the $12,000 in stolen loot was taken when recovered and counted. The old long counter that served as a payment counter in the City Offices, and on which the money was counted, still remains as an integral part of the building. The money was secured in the City vault until released to bank officials. It seems only fitting that the outlaws’ guns should be housed here as well. The museum features other items pertinent to the Santa Claus Bank Robbery as well. There are several original newspapers reporting the robbery, a portion of a downspout with a large bullet hole in it an extensive story in one magazine of the time, and now the guns. Because of the value of these guns and in accordance with the wishes of the current lender, the guns are kept locked in the vault and only taken out for display when a museum officer is there. They are not available to anyone, individual or entity for display at any other location. This story only covers the bare essentials of the Santa Claus Bank Robbery. There are enough exciting details revealed in A.C. Greene’s book, “The Santa Claus Bank Robbery,” and in Dr.Duane Hale’s book, “The Psychological Impact Of The Santa Claus Bank Robbery Upon Eyewitnesses” to keep the reader enthralled for hours. ~jme
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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 “Little Phil” Made Life Miserable for Conquered Texans
[The History Press will publish Bartee’s first book on Jan. 14, 2014. You may pre-order a signed copy of “Texas Depression-Era Desperadoes” at barteehaile.com or by mailing a check for $26.65 to “Bartee Haile,” P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549.] The dictatorship of Gen. Philip Sheridan in occupied Texas officially ended on Nov. 29, 1867 four months after the president sent the pipsqueak packing. Celebrity status in the North, the product of a popular poem that exaggerated his exploits, and a cozy relationship with Gen. U.S. Grant gave “Little Phil,” who stopped growing at five feet five inches, free rein over the conquered Confederate states of Texas and Louisiana. Absolute authority allowed him to indulge his battle-hardened prejudices against secessionists.
Sheridan then turned his attention to grinding Texas into submission. To do his dirty work, he depended upon Charles Griffin, an obedient major general who believed as strongly as his superior that a “Texas Unionist” was a contradiction in terms.
Taking advantage of the military concentration in the more populous interior of Texas, Comanche raiding parties ravaged the defenseless frontier. Inundated by pleas from terrified settlers, Sheridan grudgingly sent an aide to investigate the situation.
As early as March 1867, Griffin argued for the removal of Gov. James Throckmorton, the most prominent Unionist in the state. Even though his anti-secessionist credentials were impeccable, Griffin accepted as an article of faith that all native Texans were traitors.
Going no farther west than Waco, the emissary spoke only to Unionists who minimized the menace. He wrote to Sheridan, “I am convinced that many of the people who are moving in from the frontier are doing so to better their condition and not from any fear that they may have from the Indians.”
When the southern forces west of the Mississippi surrendered seven weeks after Appomattox, Sheridan loudly denounced the terms as too But Throckmorton’s worst sin generous. From New Orleans he strenuously objected to allowing was his courageous condemnation Texans to go home rather than to prison and to letting them keep their of the criminal conduct of the weapons. occupation troops. Time and again On May 29, 1865, the same day his word became law on both sides of he insisted upon applying the law the Sabine River, Sheridan sent Grant a telegram that made crystal clear equally to soldier and civilian, an his intentions. “Texas has not yet suffered from the war and will require idea Griffin rejected out of hand. some intimidation.” The burning of Brenham in September 1866 was a case in point. Sheridan sent 1,800 troops to Galveston to begin the long occupation When drunken soldiers disrupted and by the end of June was present to personally pursue his twin their dance, local blacks sought objectives. He had to move fast to bring down Emperor Maximilian in protection at a white gathering. Mexico and to close the border to the flood of fleeing Confederates. The blue coats followed and To show the French sponsors of the Austrian archduke that he meant provoked a violent confrontation business, Sheridan mobilized thousands of seasoned soldiers along the that erupted in gunfire. Rio Grande. Ignoring specific instructions not to meddle in Mexican The troopers returned to camp, matters, he left huge quantities of arms and supplies within easy reach rallied their comrades and marched of Maximilian’s opponents. on the Brenham business district. For assistance in blocking the Rebel exodus to Mexico, Sheridan After looting several stores, the appealed to the secretary of war, but William H. Seward welcomed rioters burned an entire block to the mass migration and refused to act. However, Grant as usual came the ground. through for his favorite and issued strict orders prohibiting the departure In response to a demand from of any American from a southern port. Gov. Throckmorton, Griffin Sheridan savored success on both counts. Weeks before a firing squad investigated the incident. He later put Maximilian out of his royal misery in June 1867, the general bluffed reported with a straight face that the French into abandoning their Mexican beachhead and completely the civilians not the soldiers had cut off Confederate emigration. been at fault.
That was good enough for Sheridan but not the governor. Throckmorton went over the banty rooster’s head to President Andrew Johnson, who was infuriated that nothing was being done to contain the Comanches. Compelled to transfer his cavalry to the Texas frontier, Sheridan got even by removing Throckmorton as “an impediment to Reconstruction.” But “Little Phil” had his own surprise coming. Convinced the general was an insubordinate tyrant utterly unfit for the task in Texas, Johnson reassigned him to Missouri. The presidential order reached Sheridan on Jul. 31, 1867, the day after he dismissed the governor from office. Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 or haile@ pdq.net and invites you to visit his new web site at barteehaile.com. www.MyCounty-Line.com
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Merry Christmas!
November & December 2013 Let’s see...where to begin. First of all, we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and an upcoming Happy New Year! This will be our last issue for 2013 and what an unbelievable year we have had!!! We started off 2013 in the hospital at Hendrick’s Medical Center in Abilene. Ruthie had suffered a heart attack in October 2012 and followed that up with a stroke in November 2012. She was hospitalized practically the entire time from October to January... so this year is pretty special to us because we are just hoping to finish out the year with her safely here at home with us and not stuck in some hospital bed! So far, so good! We just travelled to Fort Worth this week to meet with a new vascular surgeon to look at Ruthie having another dialysis shunt (or fistula) surgically installed in her arm. We liked her doctor and we were able to go ahead and get her into radiology for an unltrasound vein mapping of the blood vessels in her arms. She will have to get this done very soon after the new year because her dialysis “perma-cath” (the access catheter in her neck that is used for dialysis) has been showing signs of infection. The weekend after Thanksgiving, Ruthie went to dialysis and came home running a fever. It quickly spiked and she had a seizure. Just about the whole family was here at our house because they came over to decorate the house for Christmas as a surprise for Ruthie while she was in dialysis. Poor Ruthie barely got to look over everything before she went to bed... and 20-minutes later we had to call 9-1-1 for them to come take her to the ER because she wouldn’t stop seizing. It was pretty scary since she had never had a seizure that lasted for more than a couple minutes and with all the little nieces and nephews here it was especially scary. But Ruthie was well cared for; she was transferred from Eastland to Abilene and she spent several days resting and recovering. Unfortunately, while she was in the hospital being cared for around the clock, I was stuck at home with the flu and spent a miserable 3 days without hardly budging off the recliner! Talk about poor luck, we had a double dose for Thanksgiving! BUT...that is behind us now and we are looking forward to the Christmas Holidays being much more relaxing and we are so hopeful that Ruthie gets to spend the entire holiday with us here at home! PS: We have already been enjoying some great days Christmas shopping and exploring the Christmas lights and decorations all over Eastland, Abilene,
Stephenville and Ft. Worth. We are extremely blessed and fortunate to have Ruthie home for the holidays! So we just want to share a little Christmas cheer and hope that your holiday is as special as ours! God Bless!
With the help of Crystal Richey’s husband David and a local pastor, Rimiro Lopez, the team of five cleared ice from the walkway and a parking space for patients to exit their cars and enter the building. David and Jimmy valet parked the cars after the patients were safely inside the facility. Thankfully, this dedicated team weathered the Now some recognition for the Eastland DaVita storm and provided life treatments even during the Dialysis Center Personnel: treacherous weather conditions. Patients who receive kidney dialysis depend on the ~Jessica Martin, Facility Administrator care team of the dialysis center to be present at work even during a winter ice storm. Thankfully, coming in to work is just what Jimmy Aguilar, Patient Care Tech, Crystal Richey, RN and Jimmy Jones; Group Facility Administrator did on that very icy morning on Sunday, December 8th. Donations may be made to: Farmers & Merchants Bank For the safety of the patients and staff, treatments Ruth Norris Benefit Fund normally provided on Saturday were scheduled one 930 East Main Eastland, TX 76448 day later. For Jimmy Aguilar a commute normally (254) 629-3282 driven in 2 ½ hours took him over five hours to complete. Crystal Richey, RN from Granbury had Credit Card donations can be made online at: a very lengthy five hour drive as well. Jimmy Jones from Austin; in town to provide some training to the staff, became stranded in Eastland Friday evening.
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