Kaufman County Life Winter 2013

FREE ISSUE

Winter 2013

Vol. 3 Issue 4

JUDGEMENT CALL They have the power to make life altering decisions on the lives of Kaufman County residents

HOLIDAY HELPERS

RODEO LEGACY

A small corps of dedicated volunteers is ready to help make the holidays merrier for Kaufman County youngsters

The Gay family has left a legacy not only locally, but across the nation in the world of rodeo

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Wine & Dine, Page 27 Health & Wellness, Page 27

Taking great care of Kaufman.

Exceptional care close to home.

At Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman, we offer quality care for Kaufman, Terrell and the surrounding communities. The employees and medical staff physicians provide our neighbors great care, commitment and compassion. We have proudly served our community for more than 30 years and now offer a broad array of health care services just down the road. To find a physician on the Texas Health Kaufman medical staff, visit TexasHealth.org/FindAPhysician or call 1-877-THR-WELL. Digestive Health • Emergency Services • Heart and Vascular Pain Management • Orthopedics • Physical Therapy Podiatry • Surgical Services • Women and Infants • Wound Care

2 on KAUFMAN WINTER Doctors the medicalCOUNTY staff practiceLIFE independently and 2013 are not employees or agents of the hospital. © 2013

a slice of

V

Life

ariety could be the theme of this edition of Kaufman County Life.

Readers will find stories ranging from a behind-thescenes look at a local seasonal entertainment venue in Thrillvania, to providing insight into how the county’s judicial system functions and who’s who at the Kaufman County Courthouse.

At Thrillvania, writer Paul Bottoni shares the idea that the theme may be “let the scares begin” as the cast of characters providing thrills take on the mantra of their monster.

While the focus may be on giving guests a thrill, those people behind the scenes claim their fellow actors and actresses have become like one large family.

Staffer Gary Lindsley spent substantial time visiting with several of the county’s judges on what kind of cases their courtrooms handle and why. I think you’ll find their explanation interesting.

Todd Jorgenson helps readers change gears as he introduces us to the Gay family. While they call the Terrell area home, their fame goes far beyond Kaufman County.

Rodeo is the reason the livestock producers have become a mainstay at events throughout Texas and the rest of the West.

Todd’s story gives us some background on the Gay family itself and their historic role over a period of decades of helping the cowboy sport of rodeo gain a mainstream following.

As we move into the holiday season of Thanksgiving, Christmas and the new year, it is a fitting time to see how one Kaufman County organization plans to make Christmas merrier for hundreds of local kids who might not otherwise be receiving much in the way of presents.

Paul Bottoni gives readers some history on the decades-long Toys for Tots movement and how it ended up in Kaufman County. While the Marine Corps League has been involved with the national drive for years, this will be only the second year the group has been active locally.

Along the same line of extending a helping hand to others who may be in need, Gary Lindsley shares the story of The Share Center. Based in Terrell, the volunteer-driven organization provides services throughout the county.

Gary shares the genesis of The Share Center and how it has evolved over the years. If you have not heard about or are not familiar with The Share Center, his story should provide insight on this group meeting a vital need.

From all of us working on Kaufman County Life, we want to wish you a joyful holiday season and pass along best wishes for 2014. May you be blessed.

— Regards, Mike Elswick, Publisher

Magazine PUBLISHER & EDITOR Mike Elswick CONTRIBUTORS Paul Bottoni, Don Johnson, Todd Jorgenson, Gary E. Lindsley PHOTOGRAPHY Paul Bottoni, Don Johnson, Gary E. Lindsley SALES Stephanie Elswick, Advertising Director, Beth Brown CONTACT kaufmancountylife@mail.com 150 Ninth Street, Terrell, TX 75160 972-563-6476 Kaufman County Life assumes no responsibility for the content of articles or advertisements, in that the views expressed therein may not reflect the views of the publisher, employees or contributors.

This publication and all of its contents are copyrighted.

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KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE WINTER 2013

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Winter 2013

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Order in the Court

Get to know three of the men who administer justice for the county.

14 Thriller

A former Disney haunted mansion serves as the centerpiece for the Thrillvania haunted attraction in Terrell.

10 Rodeo is Life

T he Mesquite Rodeo changed the sport forever, and with it, the Gay family’s legacy.

22 Holiday Helpers

Toys for Tots and the Terrell Marine Corps League gets ready for the season of giving for kids in need.

24 Holiday Traditions

Kaufman County communities offer several options for holiday traditions.

Regular Features

18

Character Counts

27

Wine & Dine

27

Health & Wellness

Photograph by Don Johnson

The Terrell Share Center is much more than a food pantry for those in need.

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Judges of Kaufman County 86th District Court Judge Howard Tygrett

Kaufman judges face variety of cases

By Gary E. Lindsley

JUDGE HOWARD TYGRETT

Judges, on a daily basis, may handle cases ranging from settling estates to child support to murder.

Kaufman County is no different from any other community in the country. Handling the more serious cases in the county are Judge Howard V. Tygrett of the 86th Judicial District Court and B. Michael Chitty of the 422nd District Court.

Judge Bruce Wood is, in essence, the chief executive officer of Kaufman County. He runs the county’s commissioners court which handles the county’s business. Wood, though, also handles probate cases, which entail resolving estates.

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KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

Raised in Dallas, Tygrett spent 29 years in private practice in there as a lawyer handling estate planning and probate and civil cases. He handled cases in Kaufman County for another five years.

A resident of Terrell, Tygrett ran for the 86th Judicial District judgeship in 2002 and defeated David Mallard in the Republican primary and Bill Conrad in the election. He faced no competition in 2006 and 2010.

Tygrett said his decision to run was a combination of where did he fit in Kaufman County and where was the need.

“We needed to get out of the old-boy

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system and go to a modern judicial system,” he said. “We had gone from a rural county to one-third modern. If your son was charged with [drunken driving], the right phone call could have it dropped. I was tired of seeing that.”

After a year as judge, Tygrett knew what he was doing and loved it.

“Probably the most important cases involve children [in family court],” Tygrett said. “A young child cannot speak, we speak for them.

“I had a case where a father was doing things to his 5-year-old son,” he said. “The son was going to have to testify. Bikers were here to support the young child.” They gave the boy a jacket, and after he testified, Tygrett saw

the boy wearing the jacket the bikers had given him.

What is satisfying to Tygrett is though he may send someone to jail, he tries to find a decision that will bring about positive change.

“A woman walked up to my wife and said, ‘You don’t know me, but when your husband sentenced my son to 5 years [in prison], I hated him. But he was spiraling down.

He turned his life around.’

“She said she would vote for me,” Tygrett said.

Another case, he said, involved an attorney, Bruce N. Patton. Tygrett sentenced him to 2 years in jail for evading arrest after fleeing a traffic stop.

“A young officer pulled him over for speeding and while [the officer] was waiting for a drug dog and talking to Patton’s passenger outside the car, [Patton] took off,” he said.

Patton was eventually arrested, convicted and sentenced to two years.

“He said that sentence saved his life,” Tygrett said. “He said God turned him around.”

During Patton’s trial, Tygrett said there were other lawyers in the court room.

“I am glad I had all those lawyers in here,” he said. “They came up to me and said he gave me no choice. Patton’s case was most rewarding to me.”

Then there was the family court case in which Tygrett let a woman keep her child.

“She said she had turned her life around,” he said.

Tygrett also ruled over a July 2012 trial involving a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas who lived in northern Kaufman County near the Hunt County border.

James Patrick Crawford was found guilty of two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of aggravated assault, directing gang activities, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and engaging in organized criminal activity.

“A WOMAN WALKED UP TO MY WIFE AND SAID, ‘YOU DON’T KNOW ME, BUT WHEN YOUR HUSBAND SENTENCED MY SON TO 5 YEARS [IN PRISON], I HATED HIM. BUT HE WAS SPIRALING DOWN. HE TURNED HIS LIFE AROUND.’ ” The charges stemmed from an August 2011 gang-related shooting involving the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.

“He got life in prison,” Tygrett said. “He got such a high sentence in part because he had been previously found guilty of serious offenses.”

Tygrett, whose wife, Linda, is a registered nurse and

422nd District Court Judge B. Michael Chitty

health coordinator for the Head Start program at Terrell ISD, is considering running again in 2014.

“It will be the last time I can run age wise,” said Tygrett, who is 73 years old.

JUDGE B. MICHAEL CHITTY Chitty, born and raised in Terrell, was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry on Jan. 29, 2004 to serve as the first judge of the then newly created 422nd Judicial District Court. He was elected to a four-year term in November 2004, 2008 and 2012.

Prior to becoming a judge, Chitty practiced general law from 1973 to 2004, handling cases ranging from probate, real estate, deceptive trade practices, criminal, commercial, municipal and bankruptcy.

“This court was created because of the increase in population,” Chitty said. It also was created because of a backlog of court cases, he said.

Chitty said he sought the position because several people had asked him to do so.

“Judge Tygrett urged me and my wife and I talked about it,” he said. “I thought I could do a good job.”

Chitty said there were 11 candidates for the new judgeship with Perry interviewing several of them after filling out extensive applications. “I was interested in public service,” he said.

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Chitty said as a lawyer, he had been exposed to types of cases he would be ruling over as a judge.

“When I was appointed, there was a substantial backlog,” he said. “A portion of the caseload from the 86th was placed on my docket.”

Chitty immediately began hearing cases in an effort to help reduce that backlog. “I heard a criminal case [in which] a defendant was in jail for three years,” he said.

“Five-hundred and 50 people were in the county jail.

“We got that whittled down,” Chitty said. “We were able to eliminate a lot of the backlog. We seldom have an inmate in jail for nine months before trial.”

He said he has some serious cases in his court, just as Tygrett does. One such case involved Martin McKee. McKee was convicted of murdering Fiona Olander, 30, and her 10-year-old daughter, Korryn Threadgill, in November 2009. Their bodies were found in a ditch in Kaufman County on County Road 280, off Farm-To-Market Road 987.

Chitty said because it was a capital murder case, it was an automatic life sentence.

“We have literally disposed of thousands of cases,” he said. “One year I tried 46 felony cases to verdict. There have been some very difficult cases.”

Another case involved a mother and daughter in which Daniel J. Griffin murdered the mother and raped the daughter. Chitty said the suspect was found guilty of murder and sexual assault and received two life sentences.

where he forced her to have oral sex and sexual intercourse.

“He told me that if I didn’t cooperate, he was going to kill [the sisters] and make me watch,” said the daughter, who also said that he’d promised she could see her mother, who at the time she testified she did not know was dead.

The witness then told jurors that Griffin tied she and her 17-year-old sister up in one of the bedrooms before leaving with Christina Harrison.

At some point, the youngest daughter freed herself and ran to her mother’s room.

“Then I found my mom,” she said, sobbing. “I shook her, but she didn’t move. She was on the floor and there was a lot of blood. I heard [her 17-year-old sister] coming, but I couldn’t say anything. I just ran out of the house and to a neighbor’s house where I told them, ‘He killed my mom.

Daniel Griffin killed my mom.’”

Chitty said Griffin will be eligible for parole after serving 60 years.

While he has hearing murder, sexual assault and rape cases since becoming judge in 2004, Chitty also has heard a variety of other cases.

In early October, he presided over a child support case involving Keith T. Anderson. Anderson was going to have his probation revoked for not following the terms of a previous court agreement.

Chitty believed Anderson was appearing in court to agree to a 90-day jail term with 20 days served, plus paying $122,000 in child support. Anderson told Chitty he was uncomfortable with “I KNOW EVERY DAY IS NOT GOING TO BE A JOYOUS DAY, the plea because that is not what he beBUT IT IS AN IMPORTANT JOB THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. lieved had been worked out between his attorney and the district attorney’s office.

WHILE IT IS NOT A HAPPY JOB, IT IS A SATISFYING JOB “You make it seem I have to accept it,” Anderson said to Chitty, while a bailiff BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING IMPORTANT WORK.” told him to remove his hands from his pockets.

Griffin was charged with the October 2006 murder of As Chitty said that was not so, Kaufman County AsCheri Lynn Duggan, then 38, the mother of his 19-year-old sistant District Attorney Marc Moffitt, with his hands in girlfriend, at her home in Silverado Estates, 5 miles east of his pockets, said punishment ranged from 180 days to two Kaufman off County Road 101, and the sexual assault of years.

Duggan’s youngest daughter.

“I will rule based on the facts and evidence,” Chitty said.

The murder during the trial in 2008 was called a “retaliAnderson delayed making a decision and the case was ation” slaying of the former Kaufman High School lunch- rescheduled. room worker and mother of three as well as the sexual asIn September, Chitty ruled over a gun range case that sault of her then 15-year-old daughter by Griffin. resulted in a split verdict.

Griffin was dating Duggan’s 19-year-old daughter, “It was a unique case involving a new statute,” he said.

Christina Harrison, when the two moved into the home “It was interesting because it presented issues never dejust weeks prior to the incident. cided before in Texas.” The jury heard nearly three days of In a tearful recount of events, Duggan’s daughter testimony in a case that pitted the county against Adam described to jurors how Griffin bound and gagged Christina Morgan, who owns a narrow strip of land, about 100 acres, Harrison and their 17-year-old mentally challenged sister in and is the owner of Morgan Security Consulting LLC. and one room before escorting the 15-year-old to another room North East Texas Tactical.

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KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

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Photographs by Don Johnson

The jury determined that the range was in operation before Sept. 1, 2011, when a new law went into effect regarding a governmental agency bringing a lawsuit against a range. However, it also ruled that the range did not meet the standards of the shooting range industry in Texas.

Morgan, a veteran of both Iraq wars, does consulting work for the U.S. State Department and frequently deploys to Afghanistan.

He bought the land at 5701 Farm-To-Market Road 2578 in April 2011 with the intention of providing a range for shooting precision rifles. Targets would be as far away as 1,500 yards.

The late Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland in 2012 was able to obtain a temporary injunction to shut down the shooting range for safety reasons.

During nearly three days of testimony, the eight-woman and four-man jury listened to people living near the range property claim that they feared for their lives as well as the lives of their children and animals because of ricocheting bullets.

Members of at least one other family, though, did not have a problem with the gun range being next door.

At issue was whether the shooting range was in operation before a new law went into effect on Sept. 1, 2011.

The date was important because if the shooting range was in operation before then, the county would not have any standing in bringing a lawsuit against Morgan as well as shutting down his range. But part of that law also includes a stipulation about meet-

ing industry safety standards in the state of Texas.

“I was not surprised it was a split decision,” Chitty said.

Then there was the case in which Chitty presided over a case involving a county justice of the peace, Eric Williams, who was accused of stealing county computers.

“It was one of those cases where you don’t get to pick and choose,” Chitty said. “Whatever cases are filed in my court have to be fair and impartial.

Both sides were well represented and were zealous.

“My job was to make sure the trial was fair and impartial,” he said. “I believe I did that in that case. I was not surprised by the verdict.”

Williams was convicted and removed as justice of the peace.

He also lost his ability to practice law.

Williams and his wife, Kim, have been jailed since April in connection with the murders of ADA Mark Hasse, DA McLelland and his wife, Cynthia.

Hasse and McLelland prosecuted Williams’ theft case.

The case, since becoming judge in 2004, that has been most disturbing for Chitty was the Griffin case involving the murder of the mother and rape of one of the daughters.

“Three children were left without any parents,” he said. “The brutal violence was terrible. All crimes where the victims are impacted are very difficult. Victims have to live with it the rest of their lives.

“I know every day is not going to be a joyous day, but it is an important job that needs to be done,“ Chitty said. “While it is not a happy job, it is a satisfying job because you are doing important work.”

JUDGE BRUCE WOOD

Kaufman County Judge Dr. Bruce Wood

Wood, who has been the county’s judge since 2011, runs the commissioners court and also hears probate cases.

“We have come a long way in the county to return it to financial stability, but the work is not done yet,” Wood said. “I want to see it through. When I started [Jan. 1, 2011], we were $1.6 million in the red. My first priority was to get the county on sound financial footing.”

It was not easy, Wood said. It required a team effort of employees, department heads and commissioners to turn the $1.6 million deficit into a $1 million fund balance a year later.

“That was the year we had 12 furlough days, 12 days that our courthouse was closed,” he said. “Employees gave up 12 days of pay.”

Then there was an estimated $9 million in uncollected fees and taxes, | Continued on page 25 KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

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Rodeo is

Life

NEAL GAY DIDN’T SET OUT TO CHANGE THE SPORT OF RODEO. HE BEGAN LIKE MANY OTHER COWBOYS, RIDING BULLS AND WRESTLING STEERS WHILE CHASING BUCKLES AND MODEST PRIZE MONEY.

B

Story By Todd Jorgenson

ut Gay’s career in the rodeo ring wasn’t the reason he was inducted into multiple halls of fame or had a street named after him in Mesquite.

Rather, the bulk of his legacy came behind the scenes — as one of the sport’s top stock contractors, as the patriarch of a family that has become synonymous with rodeo success, and as a founder and longtime managing director of Mesquite Championship Rodeo.

“You could say I’ve been in it for a long time,” Gay said.

For almost all of his 87 years, Gay’s life has revolved around rodeo. There are reminders of that connection sprinkled throughout Mesquite Rodeo Ranch, where Gay lives with Kay, his wife of 57 years.

The family has owned the ranch, which covers more than 1,000 acres northeast of Terrell, for more than 30 years. It includes a moderately sized house with charming 10

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Western décor that is jammed full of rodeo paraphernalia in every nook and cranny.

There’s a vintage barn and chuckwagon, along with bulls and horses scattered throughout vast pastures of tall grass. In the middle lies a rodeo arena, and adjacent to it the original Mesquite Rodeo building that wound up on the property several years ago almost by accident, with the ticket office since converted into a bunkhouse.

After competing for more than a decade during the 1940s and 1950s, Gay became an entrepreneur at age 31 when he and fellow rodeo cowboy Jim Shoulders partnered in the opening of a permanent weekly rodeo in Mesquite. That was in 1958, when Mesquite hosted only an amateur rodeo and had not yet been enveloped by urban sprawl.

Thus began a partnership between the city and the rodeo than has been mutually beneficial for more than a half

Photographs by Don Johnson

THESE DAYS, AS HE GLANCES AROUND HIS HOUSE AND HIS RANCH, NEAL GAY ENJOYS TELLING STORIES ABOUT THE GOOD OL’ DAYS, AND ADMITS HE TAKES PRIDE IN HIS LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SPORT HE LOVES.

century. Gay was instrumental in helping Dallas earn the right to host the first National Finals Rodeo in 1959. And several years after it opened, the fledgling rodeo began to thrive with the construction of Interstate 635, which allowed for easy access from Dallas.

The Mesquite rodeo grew steadily until the early 1980s, when it landed a weekly television contract with ESPN and later with TNN, where for 13 years it gave audiences from coast to coast — along with fans of the movie Urban Cowboy — the chance to experience a sport that many of them had never seen.

“Television can do a lot for you,” Gay said. “People got to scheduling their vacations to come to Mesquite for the rodeo.”

Crowds flocked to Mesquite for a sport that previously was relegated mostly to small-town obscurity. The rodeo eventually outgrew the facility, which was replaced by a new climate-controlled arena in 1986 that still stands today. It has since been renovated and expanded to include a convention center and hotel.

“The further we went, the better it got,” Neal said. “It really helped the rodeo in terms of exposure around the country.”

As the ratings grew, the television exposure turned bull riders into rock stars who became household names. The rodeo even saw one of its bulls — Joe Kool — become notorious for his degree of difficulty.

“He was gentle and didn’t have any horns, but he could buck,” Gay said. “Not too many people rode him.”

Among the visitors during the rodeo’s heyday was President Ronald Reagan, who made a special request to see Joe Kool and some of his cowboy adversaries.

“The sport of rodeo gained a lot of fans there,” said Kay Gay, who served as rodeo secretary in Mesquite for many years. “The cowboys themselves became kind of famous.”

Neal and Kay Gay were fixtures at the rodeo each week, and so were their three sons, all of who began their rodeo careers as teenagers. Don Gay is an eight-time world champion bull rider who remains one of the sport’s most decorated competitors. Pete Gay went to the national finals three times. Jim Gay competed at a young age before spearheading the family’s burgeoning stock-contracting operation.

“I always liked football but didn’t get along much with the coaches,” Jim said. “I started riding bulls just for the KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE WINTER 2013

11

fun of it. I did it different from Pete and Donnie.”

He said that while Pete and Don went to about 200 rodeos each year, he entered only about a quarter of those.

Jim considered rodeo more of a hobby, and was more interested in operating rodeos than competing in them.

Don was an inaugural inductee into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979. When Neal was inducted in 1993, the Gays became the first father-son tandem to be enshrined.

All three brothers were inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboys Hall of Fame in 2007.

After retiring, Don was a television commentator for many years. He currently works for Stephenville-based Frontier Rodeo Co. Meanwhile, Jim’s two daughters, Megan and Summer, each are active in the sport, riding and working regularly at the ranch.

“Everybody in our family, we all like the business,” Neal said.

He has seen many changes to rodeo on a nationwide scale during his lifetime. It’s a much more affluent sport now, with cowboys garnering endorsement deals and earning salaries comparable to professional athletes in

Just outside of Terrell, the original Mesquite Rodeo building serves in support of the Gay family’s current operations, raising horses and bucking bulls for rodeo competitions around the country.

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KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

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other sports. That’s much different from the 1950s.

“We rodeoed for our families to eat,” Neal said. “I was taking a risk with my life.”

Stock contracting and rodeo operation has always been a vital component to the Gay family business. Even at the height of the Mesquite rodeo’s popularity, Neal Gay still ran about 16 other rodeos every year through his Rafter G Rodeo Company.

Rafter G has supplied bulls to the prestigious Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo for decades. And Jim Gay continues to operate top regional rodeos each year in Mineral Wells and Gladewater, among others. He also started Rodeo Terrell in 2011 in an effort bring a high-quality annual event each fall to his family’s hometown.

“That’s where the backbone of the sport is,” Neal said of smaller, tradition-rich rodeos.

Breeding bulls has been lucrative, he said. Whereas the family used to purchase bulls for $250 apiece, now those with the best pedigrees are sold for as much as $50,000. While Rafter G doesn’t have 25-30 employees as it once did, Neal said the quality of the | Continued on page 23

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Scare Tactics Photograph by Don Johnson

By Paul Bottoni Each weekend in October, the monsters of Thrillvania Haunted House Park come out to play.

They flock from throughout North Texas for the chance to score a scare, cause shrieks, and perhaps provide a laugh or two.

By night they’re zombies, ghouls, clowns and other creatures of nightmares. By day, they’re Starbucks baristas, store managers, information technology specialists, and hold typical 9-to-5 jobs.

The actors of Thrillvania make the park tick, and along with support staff, give the place its identity.

“There are some haunts that have tried moving away from actors and just having animatronics with a rigged scare, but you can’t do that,” said Jody Joiner, an assistant manager at the park. “We couldn’t function without actors. They’re the life’s blood of the park.”

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KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

T

o the right of Thrillvania’s ticket office is an inconspicuous wooden fence gate that leads to a large red and white tent.

It is under here where the actors, security workers, ticket takers and other employees gather before the park opens.

Costumes are doled out. Make up is applied. Props are issued. “Can I get someone to come get some chainsaws?” an attendant shouts nonchalantly. A young man in clown garb readily responds to the request, and soon returns with three in tow. Not to worry — the blades have been removed. The goal is to scare, not to maim.

It’s the last full weekend of Thrillvania’s season, which began at the end of September and runs through October.

The park is open Fridays and Saturdays, but with Halloween night approaching, Thrillvania will be open on Sunday, and an hour earlier than normal. It doesn’t seem to faze the staff. They gather

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around wooden picnic-style tables that are designated for support staff and the park’s attractions: Thorn Hall, Cassandra’s Labyrinth, Verdun Manor, the pumpkin patch. The actors start the transformation by visiting the makeup department and getting into costume.

“It’s one huge haunt family,” said Lance Marcus, a Thrillvania veteran actor.

It’s Marcus’ fifth season at the park.

He roams the midway as a zombie, a character he’s evolved throughout the years to be an undead police officer.

He and other actors arrive at the park a few hours before opening to check in.

The next stop is the costume department where actors pick up their garb, though some have their own attire and masks.

Finally, it’s time for makeup, where artists put on the finishing touches. Some actors, however, require more detailed work. That’s when they go to see artists like Roz Guzman, a 12-year Thrillvania

Right: Tim Forker gets a coat of white face paint as he is transformed into a scary clown by makeup artist Laura Slate.

Below, from left: Lance Marcus starts to take on the persona of an undead security officer who roams Thrillvania.

Diana Risher receives detailed makeup from Roz Guzman before taking her place in the scare park.

A wall of glowing skulls greets visitors to the clown house, one of four major parts of Thrillvania.

linchpin, who was busy creating a bloody gash on an actress.

“I’ll use latex as the base with cotton balls on top of it, then cover it up with colors of makeup on top of it,” Guzman said.

The entire process usually lasts an hour, depending on the amount of detail needed, among other things. “She handles the more grotesque detailing,” Marcus said with a chuckle.

Thrillvania was primarily the vision of one man — Lance Pope.

Pope, Joiner and Mike Malec met while working at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington in the late 1980s. Though they worked in separate parts of the park, they met at the common break area for employees. It was during those times when Pope asked Joiner and Malec to visit his haunted house near the University of Texas at Arlington campus.

When Joiner took his girlfriend one night, they were stuck behind a group that included a man who was a fright skeptic.

“He was saying things like, ‘This is stupid. This place is so lame.’ He gets to the front porch and the person is waiting to let him in, and all the sudden the front door swings open

and a werewolf reaches out and grabs the guy, jerks him off his feet into the house and the door slams shut,” Joiner said.

“People walked out of line; they left. Back then, people didn’t do that kind of stuff.”

Malec visited the haunted house after Pope asked if he wanted to work there.

“I went to this place and it looked like a freaking museum,” said Malec, who serves as the park’s general manager.

“I thought, ‘Whoa! This can’t be a haunted house. I’m used to black plastic and cheesy cloth. He had all these ornate molds and everything.’ It was crazy. It was high-level detail.”

Thrillvania’s main attraction, Verdun Manor, was designed

by Disney engineers in the 1960s to be a traveling haunted house. High moving costs put an end to that idea, and the house found a home at the State Fair of Texas. Pope purchased the detachable seven-piece house in 1989, and renamed it Verdun Manor. He then moved the house to Forney, where he operated it until moving to land in southeast Terrell off Interstate 20 in | Continued on page 28 1996.

KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE WINTER 2013

15

THPH102-0101_KCL_Bariatrics.indd 1

Who Cares ABOUT YOUR Weight Loss surgery?

Jane Cauley cares because she knows what it takes.

“Surgery is one day of your life,” Jane says. But the days she cares most about are all the other days.

Jane is there for her weight loss patients with diet and exercise plans, encouragement, compassion and support. She celebrates the days when her patients regain the ability to play with their kids, fly comfortably and gain confidence. Changing lives is Jane’s passion, and she loves every minute of it! Find out who cares at texashealthrockwall.com.

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Rockwall is a joint venture owned by Texas Health Resources and physicians dedicated to the community, and meets the definition under federal law of a physician-owned hospital.

2/28/13 11:01 AM

CHARACTER COUNTS

The Terrell Share Center

BETTY GLAESER AND HER TEAM LOVE TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY, PUTTING FOOD ON THE TABLE AND CLOTHING IN THE CLOSETS OF MANY IN NEED EACH WEEK. Story and Photos By Gary E. Lindsley What started as an idea of three women to help the hungry morphed from a small food pantry to a multi-service organization that not only serves Terrell, but Kaufman County as well.

Betty Glaeser, Wanda Messingill and Katherine Shumpert started their food pantry in 1995 when Minnie Beard’s house on Rockwall was donated to the Rockwall and Brin Church of Christ.

The pantry was called the Beard Family Benevolence Center and remained in the small house until 2005. The agency then moved nearby to Jones Street where they became The Share Center.

When Glaeser moved to Terrell from Nashville, Tenn., she brought her experience as a volunteer at a food pantry into play by talking with other ladies at the church. Talk led to acquisition of the Beard home and it took off from there with both Glaeser and Messingill going for training to run a food bank.

They decided to model Terrell’s program after a client choice program that caters to what people need.

“If you don’t give people what they need, they will go 18

KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

WINTER 2013

from pantry to pantry,” Glaeser said. “When you have client choice, you let them take what they need.”

The agency, which is a mission of the Rockwall and Brin Church of Christ, had a goal when it first opened of feeding people caught in the 1990s’ welfare reform.

Many families in Terrell were not able to quality to continue to receive public assistance after the reforms took hold.

When the pantry first started, it was serving the children of sharecroppers and pickers, the disabled and senior citizens.

Glaeser said today, The Share Center is serving “our next door neighbors and the people we attend church with.”

“Some are the working poor, but most are laid off or had hours cut and can’t afford to pay rent and have funds left to buy food,” she said.

Glaeser told of a small business owner that had called from another area who had lost his business, as well as almost everything else he had, and was struggling to furnish a place to for his family to live.

Like other people in the similar circumstances, he was so humiliated that he needed help that he would not go to the pantry in his area.

Marla Robinson, representing one of the 350 to 400 families a week assisted by The Share Center, is seen at the location. The center’s client choice program allows people being assisted to choose clothing, food and household items for themselves.

The Texas Food Bank Network, according to Glaeser, said 17 percent of the county’s residents are food insecure.

Glaeser said that in 2012 the Share Center served 5,068 people with a week’s supply of food an average of 9.8 times thanks to Feed America, the North Texas Food Bank and the Walmart Distribution Center.

She said while the county’s unemployment rate continues to hover around 9.8 percent, that does not include people who have given up looking for work.

A poignant picture of those affected in Terrell alone is, according to Glaeser, that between 75 to 80 percent of Terrell ISD students are taking part in the free lunch program.

The Share Center, as of Sept. 30, provided 1.4 million pounds of food to its clients.

“We continue to serve 350 to 400 families weekly,” Glaeser said. She started out serving about 25 people in the kitchen of the small house on Rockwall. “We are still trying to take care of people.”

The center’s client choice program includes allowing clients to choose clothing, food and household items for themselves.

a second language, budgeting help and parenting and computer classes.

“We have five interviewers who talk to [our clients] about their education,” Glaeser said. “If they can’t read, we suggest they take classes at the library.”

After the center’s interviewers get to know the clients, they began making recommendations tailored to their needs.”

Glaeser said The Share Center does have success stories, such as the young woman who was a victim of domestic abuse and had her children taken away from her.

That young woman, she said, now has a home, as well as one of her children. “We send a lot of people to Healing Hearts Ministry for services we can’t do,” Glaeser said.

One of the things The Share Center staff and volunteers try to overcome is the idea that if peo“WE ARE ABOUT TAKING CARE OF PEOPLE IN ple seek help at the center they then have to join KAUFMAN COUNTY. OUR MISSION IS TO HELP the church.

“We would love them to go to our church, but PEOPLE HELP THEMSELVES.” we don’t press them,” Glaeser said.

The center also works with the courts for people to do their community service for minor offenses by workA colored card system is used for people to use for shoping at the center. Teenagers also volunteer for community ping. The cards list basic items and other items that are posted on the shelves. The color of the card determines the amount of service hours for college credit. Glaeser said more than 200 volunteers each year provide 22,000 hours of service at the food and clothing the clients are allowed to choose.

“We try to give 1.28 pounds of food per person per meal center.

Since its inception, The Share Center has been recogor approximately 27 pounds of food per person per week. nized for its programs. In 2011, it was named the Member The Share Center not only provides food to families, but it also provides school supplies and backpacks for TISD Agency of the Year by North Texas Food Bank.

The honor is presented annually based on criteria that students, partners with Toys for Tots, partners with the Hulsey Public Library for literacy classes and other orga- include community access, food quantity per persona and accounting and reporting. nizations in Terrell.

The center provides services to more than 46,000 peoGlaeser said the center’s mission is to help people help ple annually through the food pantry alone. themselves. The center, besides feeding the hungry, pro“We are about taking care of people in Kaufman vides job and furthering educations referrals and clothing.

The Share Center’s volunteers also help clients build self County,” Glaeser said. “Our mission is to help people help esteem and provide counseling, GED assistance, English as themselves.” • KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE WINTER 2013

19

New Year ... New You THERE IS HOPE FOR THOSE COMMITTED TO CHANGE. Story and Photo By Mike Elswick

Dr. Martin Lumpkin, PhD, says changes in habits for the new year are not impossible, but to be successful does take commitment and the realization there will be setbacks along the way to a better lifestyle.

Terrell psychologist Dr. Martin Lumpkin says making plans to change habits takes a lot more than wishing for those changes to take place.

Lumpkin said the end of one year and beginning of another is a good time for many people to take stock of where they are in their lives and look at changes they may like to see.

“It’s good to take time to pause and look at life and see what’s going on in our lives,” he said. Whether it’s exercise or diet, people have the ability to make major changes.”

Lumpkin has been in private practice, served at Terrell State Hospital, teaches at University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas and has done consulting work. He also conducts Mindfulness workshops geared to stress reduction and helping people raise their quality of life.

December in terrell Please join as we celebrate

December 7

Breakfast & Pictures w/ Santa

8:30-11 a.m. First United Methodist Church Day School. Fellowship Hall (corner of Ann & High St.). Photos w/ Santa available for additional fee.

Call 972-563-6274 for additional information.

Social Science Club “Christmas in a Small Town

Lighted home tour. Tickets each: $15/Advance, $20/day of tour.

Tickets available at Terrell Chamber of Commerce, American National Bank, Tanger Visitors Center & on-line: www.SSCOTerrell.com. Call 972-551-3055 for additional information

December 7 & 8

December 9

Merry Christmas Terrell

I See Christmas

7 p.m. First Baptist Church 10:50 a.m. Children’s Play, First United Worship Center.

Methodist Church. No admission charge.

No admission charge.

Call 972-563-6274 for additional information.

Call 972-524-1800 for additional information.

December 15

December 14 “Winter in Wonderland” Parade

Christmas Cantata

10 a.m. Parade, Downtown Terrell.

10:50 a.m. First United Methodist Church.

All entries must be approved.

No admission charge.

No four wheelers or go carts. Call 972-563-5703 Call 972-563-6274 for additional information. or additional information.

December 15 Christmas Cantata

6 p.m. Lifepointe Church.

No admission charge. Call 972-563-1595 Reception Afterwards - All invited. * “Walk with the Wise Men” On Sabbatical; performances resuming 2014

20

KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

WINTER 2013

3rd Annual

Small Business Saturday

*** Shop Home for the Holidays 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 30 Visit each of the participating Terrell businesses for a chance to win a gift basket worth more than $500.

“Small Business is BIG Business in Terrell!”

Lumpkin said any time people reflect and contemplate their lives and reflect it is a good thing.

“It’s really pretty simple. Repeated behavior tends to then become the familiar place from where we operate from — where we just do it automatically,” Lumpkin said.

“And then when we feel something strange and unfamiliar is going on, and no matter how good or bad the habit is, we find my way back to it.”

psyche a failure expectation,” he says.

“Prepare for it and then really lay down some plans,” Lumpkin says. For someone who wants to start running to improve their health, he recommends taking small steps, perhaps set small goals.

If the goal is to work up to running 30 minutes a day for five or six days a week, he recommends perhaps starting out running for a short period combined with walking and work up to the goal.

THERE’S REAL WORK IN HABIT CHANGING AND THAT One of the biggest chalMEANS WORKING IN TIMES WHEN WE’RE UNINSPIRED. lenges for anyone dedicated to making major lifestyle PEOPLE HAVE TO OVERRIDE THOSE IMMEDIATE FEELINGS OF changes is how they handle NOT WANTING TO DO SOMETHING IN THE MOMENT BECAUSE relapse.

“That may be in come casOF THE STRONGER DESIRE TO BRING ABOUT CHANGE. es, the biggest issue of all,” he Habits become a way of thinking, the way we feel about says. “We’ve got to learn to translate relapses as the expected and not as failures so we can get back on the course ourselves, he said.

For people who may want to take on a new habit, from I just got off of faster.”

Lumpkin says those relapses are usually a normal part dropping additions to losing weight or quitting smoking, of the habit changing process.

Lumpkin says there is hope — but it is not easy.

“All this sounds incredibly easy, but it’s not,” he says.

“There are probably 101 ways to change habits, but to make them stick you need to believe in them and be “The good news is that if you stay with it long enough the dedicated to making the long term effort to making those change itself becomes the familiar pattern.” • changes stick,” he said. “A person has to believe in it and be attracted to it.”

There is real work in habit changing. It takes a lot of dedication, Lumpkin said.

While making a resolution for the new year may spark some inspiration, all too often, that inspiration can be short-lived.

“There’s real work in habit changing and that means working in times when we’re uninspired,” he says. People have to override those immediate feelings of not wanting to do something in the moment because of the stronger e" ent in Hospice Car desire to bring about change. nm lig A ew N "A ch go A person needs to determine what their reason for d modalities whi ze li ia ec sp g in er Off mptom wanting change is. Lumpkin said the motivation needs al methods of sy beyond trandition ional to be more than simply knowing they “should change.” ot physical care, em management for Most likely a person needs to find a way to deeply want to erns. and spiritual conc change regardless of where the pressure from the outside to encourage that change comes from — whether it be a physician or a spouse.

“I think we move way too quickly as Americans into this action phase. We need to contemplate change, we need to get in touch with the mixed feelings,” he says. Some peoVolunteer Opportunities Available ple when dealing with additions and change you have to Serving Kaufman and look at your social life, do I have to change where I go and Surrounding Counties! friends that I’m with — do I really want this?”

People really need to look at their motivations for wanting to change and realize that going down the road to 303 E. College Street change can be lonely.

Suite C, Terrell “If you start down the change road impulsively and you fail at that time and time again you’re building into your

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KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE WINTER 2013

21

toys for tots IT’S A DECADES-OLD SCENE WITNESSED EACH HOLIDAY SEASON – A WHITE BIN DECORATED WITH A RED TRAIN LOGO OUTSIDE A STORE IN WHICH NEW, UNWRAPPED TOYS ARE PLACED TO EVENTUALLY WIND UP UNDER THE TREE OF THE CHILDREN THAT MOST NEED THEM. Story By Paul Bottoni Next to the bin stands a Marine, likely clad in their dress blues, there to accept donations.

The Toys for Tots drive dates to the 1940s, and this holiday season the Terrell Marine Corps League will once again participate in the program.

“Last year was our first year, and we started real late so we were pretty disorganized but we still managed to help a lot of kids,” said Cheyrl Mobley, commandant for the Terrell Marine Corps League. “We learned what worked and what didn’t. This year, not only are we going to help Terrell, but the surrounding rural areas, as well.”

One of Mobley’s goals for joining the Toys for Tots program was to bring its reach from Dallas and Fort Worth to

the rural areas of North Texas, and that’s the task the group has been given.

“There is no reason for a child in Kaufman County to not have a Christmas or a gift under the tree,” she said. “I was a single parent of five, so I know how hard it is to provide a Christmas for your kids when you have bills to pay and debt.

“It’s all about the kids. In the Marine Corps League, we have several members that had years in their lives when they didn’t have a Christmas, so they’re very adamant,” Mobley said. “No kid should know what it’s like to have an empty Christmas tree, but no parent should have that feeling of not being able to provide.”

It all started in 1947, when Major Bill Hendricks and members of the Los Angeles Marine Corps Reserve unit

From left, Kip Gandy, Tim Perkins, Frank Laywell, Cheyrl Mobley, Kelly Dudley, Hugh Wilson and Phil Collins of the Marine Corps League of Terrell.

22

KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

WINTER 2013

gathered and handed out 5,000 toys to needy children, according to the Toys for Tots website. The following year, the Marine Corps adopted the program, expanding it to a nationwide program conducted by the Marine Corps Reserves. Walt Disney even designed the program’s train logo, which is still used more than 65 years later.

thing about Toys for Tots is that it doesn’t matter if there is five or 500 on the list, we’ll be able to help all the kids that sign up.”

The Marine Corps League consists of former Marines and associate members that are family members or from other service branches. The group performs color and honor guard duties, as well as helps with charities and families of veterans, “IT’S A GOOD FEELING KNOWING YOU’VE HELPED THEM whether that is moral support or pickGET SOMETHING UNDER THE TREE. IT MAKES FOR A NICER ing up a phone to find resources they can use to find a solution.

CHRISTMAS FOR THE KIDS.” Teresa Conn, whose late husband served as a Marine during the Vietnam Since that holiday season in 1947, the program has War, joined the group when it formed about five years ago. distributed more than 469 million toys to more than 216 She said that the fact the group was accepted to join the needy children. program is impressive.

The Terrell detachment was given approval to partici“It’s a pretty big deal,” Conn said. “We are responsible pate from Toys for Tots organizers about three weeks before for a large area. We’re responsible for Rockwall, Kaufman, Christmas Day in 2012, Mobley said. The league was able to Terrell, Forney, Wills Point, Elmo. It’s a wide range. With provide toys — one big and one small each — to about 805 the economy being what it is, we serviced 800 kids last year children during the three-week turnaround. and we’re expecting upwards of 1,000 this year because Since its formation, the Marine Corps League had we’ve encompassed a larger area.” helped the Terrell Kiwanis Club with its annual K-Toys for “We’re looking at a pretty hefty list this year,” Mobley Kids drive. said.

In its first year, Mobley said she and fellow members The Marine Corps League began accepting applications Jerry Persall and Mike White went to Walmart to stand from families on Oct. 1, and will continue to accept toys outside and drum up donations for the Kiwanis toy drive.

“We stood for a few hours and collected a little over $100 until early December.

Mobley said that one positive of the program is that each and went in and bought some toys to take to Kiwanis. That’s child on the list is ensured to benefit, receiving one large actually how we got started. The next year it just took off, and one small toy. and has grown from there,” she said.

Conn said she hopes the prominence of Toys for Tots will “As the need grew, and grew, and grew, and it became lead to more kids benefitting from the program. more difficult to cover the need, we thought, ‘We’re Ma“It’s a very heartwarming experience because you have rines. We need to jump on board with Toys for Tots.’ We got grandparents out there that are raising grandkids, and you the approval last year to do that, and now we’re in full gear have single parents that are already struggling,” Conn said.

— and growing,” Mobley said.

“It’s a good feeling knowing you’ve helped them get someNow that the league is participating in the Toys for Tots thing under the tree.

It makes for a nicer Christmas for the program, the Kiwanis Club of Terrell will focus on other kids.” charitable community efforts.

The Marine Corps League is still seeking places to “A lot of angel trees have shut down. The Kiwanis Club isn’t doing toys because the growth has been so much that hold events and donation bins. For more information, call nobody could keep up with it,” Mobley said. “The great 214-612-8320 or email terrelltoysfortots@gmail.com. •

••• Rodeo | Continued from page 12 livestock is as good as ever.

The Gay family sold the Mesquite rodeo in 1999 to Dallas investor Tom Hicks, who also owned the Texas Rangers baseball team and Dallas Stars hockey team at the same time.

However, the Gays continued to operate the rodeo and provide the stock until 2009, when it was purchased

again by a different ownership group.

That ended the family’s involvement in Mesquite after more than 50 years, but there were no hard feelings.

“When you do something for so long, you think about that,” Jim Gay said.

“It’s just business. It wasn’t personal.

They weren’t trying to sneak it out from under us. Our contract was up.”

These days, as he glances around his house and his ranch, Neal Gay enjoys telling stories about the good ol’ days, and admits he takes pride in his lasting contributions to the sport he loves.

“I was a regular hoodlum in south Dallas and now I’ve got this,” he said.

“I’ve been blessed.” • KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE WINTER 2013

23

With the arrival of the holiday season are annual community traditions.

KAUFMAN ...

The city of Kaufman will host its annual Christmas tree lighting at 6 p.m. Dec. 5 at the courtyard next to city hall.

A lighted Christmas parade will follow at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6, which will feature light-adorned floats. The parade will travel from around the downtown area and end at the county courthouse annex parking lot.

Kaufman’s “Christmas on the Square” will be held Dec. 7. The day’s events will include a 5-kilometer fun run and walk at 9 a.m.; breakfast with Santa from 10-11 a.m.; an outdoor Christmas market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and free photos with Santa from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., as well as horse and carriage rides, cookie decorating and hot cocoa. For more information, contact kaufmanheritage@gmail.com.

FORNEY ...

The city of Forney will host its “Christmas on Main” event from noon to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7. The event will include shop and food vendors, free Christmas crafts and rides, letters to Santa and military personnel, a parade and a Christmas tree lighting with carol singing, among other things. For more information, call 972-564-7329.

TERRELL ...

The holiday season will kick off in Terrell with the Small Business Shop at Home for the Holidays event on Nov. 30 in which numerous locally owned businesses will participate. Customers can fill out tickets at each participating store for a chance to win a gift basket that will include items donated by each business.

The annual Terrell Christmas Parade will be held at 10 a.m. Dec. 14. This year’s theme is “A Winter Wonderland.” The parade starts in the parking lot of Memorial Stadium and goes through downtown Terrell. Terrell Chamber of Commerce president Danny Booth said the chamber hopes to include more floats from community organizations. For more information, contact the chamber at 972-563-5703.

The Social Science Club of Terrell will also host its annual Christmas in a Small Town Home Tour from 2-8 p.m. Dec. 7. The tour takes people to various homes in the community that are decorated for Christmas. Tickets cost $15 in advance and $20 on the tour day. Money raised will go toward local organizations, scholarships and projects. Tickets can be purchased at the Terrell Chamber of Commerce, Tanger Visitors Center and American National Bank in Terrell.

2012

Terrell

Christmas Parade

24

KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

WINTER 2013

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Kaufman County Judges | Continued from page 9 according to Wood. A priority was placed on collecting those fees and taxes.

“A great deal of my time is spent with administrative duties,” Wood said. “I am the CEO of the county and work with not only four commissioners but also with elected officials.”

The county, he said, faces several opportunities and challenges in the near future, including growth. Kaufman County is the ninth fastest growing county in Texas.

“With this growth comes the need for additional and better maintained transportation systems as well as meeting the challenges of serving the public with effective and convenient county services,” Wood said.

While his first year as county judge was challenging because of finances, 2013 was personally challenging for him because of the Hasse and McLelland murders.

“It has been a challenging year for all of us, for the courthouse family as well,” Wood said. “We did not know what we were dealing with initially. Plus, [Hasse] was murdered in broad daylight,” he said.

An offshoot of the murders was that the media, including media from around the world, overwhelmed the community of Kaufman, Wood said.

Out of the murders and a general need to modernize operations and ensure more security for courtroom operations came a proposal to build a $19.85 million justice center at the site of the county’s jail.

That proposal along with a $56 million transportation bond proposal were on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. While the transportation bond issue overwhelmingly passed, the justice center bond failed by less than 60 votes.

Wood said those outcomes resulted in county officials having a lot of work to do. On the transportation issues officials will be moving forward implementing plans to improve highways and roads in the county.

On the justice center proposal, official are going back to the drawing board and planning sessions on how best to address security, overcrowding and efficiency issues within the county’s judicial system.

Wearing his hat as a probate judge, Wood hears three or four uncontested cases a week. Wearing his hat as a probate judge, Wood hears three or four uncontested cases a week.

“Some of them have been the result of tragedy or automobile accidents,” he said. “Some have been suicides. You do have some emotional people from time to time.”

Besides running the commissioners court and ruling over probate cases, Wood also conducts mental competency hearings at Terrell State Hospital.

There are times when he rules that a person be temporarily committed for 90 days.

“An attorney is appointed and the DA represents the state and gives reasons why there is a need for a 90-day commitment,” Wood said. “Most often it is for not taking medication. Or they may be on the wrong medication.”

Of all the challenges so far, it was the county’s financial situation that was the toughest, he said.

“We were broke,” Wood said. “Once everyone became aware of it, we were able to turn it around.” • KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE WINTER 2013

25

COOK’S CORNER

Kitchen tip from Iris When using garlic, which is plentiful in many of the dishes served at Italrican, Iris likes to start with fresh peeled garlic which can be purchased for about $6 for a threepound bag. “I cut the tip and then hit and smash the garlic and the peel comes off,” she says. She then places the peeled garlic in a mini chopper, adds a little extra virgin olive oil and lets the mixture “grind until it’s like butter.” Iris said garlic “can be slapped on about anything.” Besides using it in many recipes at Italrican, she personally likes it on everything from a tortilla to a grilled cheese.

ITALRICAN SHRIMP ALFREDO bout a dozen raw medium-sized peeled and A devined shrimp ¼-cup Romano cheese Slightly less than ¼ cup Parmasian cheese Slightly less than ¼ cup Asiago cheese ¼ cup buttermilk 2-tablespoons butter Dash of salt Sazon seasoning Ground blend of fresh garlic and olive oil Favorite brand of pasta Follow directions on package of about 6-8 ounces of favorite pasta putting pasta in about 2 quarts of boiling water and salt to taste. Be sure to remove the pasta while it is still firm. Pasta can be cooked ahead of time, drained and cooled off. Coat bottom of wok or skillet with olive oil, and place on stove on medium heat. Place cool pasta in pan and sautee along with some of the blended garlic and olive oil mixture and a teaspoon or two of sazon — to taste to give the dish flavor and color. Add buttermilk, butter and three cheeses and cook several minutes until cheeses are melted and mixed throughout the pasta. Add the raw shrimp, cover and cook for about 5 minutes over low heat until shrimp are cooked thoroughly.

26

KAUFMAN COUNTY LIFE

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I

Story By Mike Elswick

talrican is the answer to prayers for Iris Albertorio.

For Terrell area diners and people pulling off of Interstate 20, Italrican could be the answer to a hungry craving for a meal packed with flavor.

She recently opened one of Terrell’s newest eateries just off State Highway 34 on the north Interstate 20 access road next to Boo’s Liquor. Iris says the name of the restaurant is derived from the blending of her family background and some of her favorite food types – Puerto Rican and Italian.

“It’s a fusion of both,” Iris says. “When you think of Spanish dishes you think ‘hot and spicy,’ but with Puerto Rican, it’s not hot, but flavorful.”

Iris is a Texas transplant who grew up in New York City surrounded by a mixture of cultures – and ethnic cooking. She has been in Texas about 13 years and in Terrell six years. Prior to taking the leap of faith into the restaurant business she worked in marketing.

“I’d been layed off twice and prayed to God to show me where to go with my life,” she said. That introspection led her to a realization that cooking is a gift she could share.

“I’d always cooked for family, church members and co-workers and never used cookbooks,” Iris said. “It was a lot of experimenting and trial and error with some disasters thrown in. But over the years I’d received a lot of encouragement to go into the business.”

Doors started opening for the Italrican venture when a friend told her about the lease space on the I-20 frontage road and details, along with a lot of hard work, eventually resulted in her dream restaurant.

“My food is totally different,” she says. “It’s a blending or fusion of Italian and Puerto Rican.”

Those tastes have resulted in many compliments and a lot of repeat business. But Iris warns that everything on the menu is prepared from scratch after it is ordered and that takes time.

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Thrillvania | Continued from page 15 Though the park is only open for a stretch of weekends in the fall, several people live on the property to care for the land and attractions. Attractions are changed, even if only minutely, each offseason.

It is the 27th season for Verdun Manor and Thrillvania, and though Pope died in 2002 at age 37, his mark can still be seen at the park.

“He’d definitely be proud that we’ve been able to hang on to what he had accomplished,” Joiner said.

“We’ve tried to create more.”

The park changes with the times. Once vampires and werewolves were popular monster draws. Now, thanks to blockbuster movies and TV show “The Walking Dead,” zombies are the rage.

Thrillvania hasn’t gone unnoticed by the world outside its North Texas bubble. The park was once included on the Travel Channel’s “America’s Scariest Haunted Attractions” Above: Brian Donahue is Milkshake television show. the clown, but not one to generate That’s how Marcus, a laughs.

California native who had Top: Verdun Manor, a former Disney traveling haunted house, waits for worked at Disneyland as Thrillvania attendees. an actor, learned about the 28

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park. He was drawn by Thrillvania’s Disney connection via Verdun Manor.

“I came here as a guest, and on the first night I loved it so much that I volunteered that night,” he said.

That was in 2008, and Marcus has returned each season since.

He, like all the actors, has his favorite scares, which include surprising people by sitting in a portable bathroom and greeting people in the parking lot.

However, it’s not all about the screams. Sometimes, a dose of comedy is needed.

“If we can’t scare you, we’re going to make you laugh,” Marcus said. “You have a certain amount of people who come through here and they want to be scared, but then you have people who come that don’t want to show it. So you have to make sure they laugh.”

The roles aren’t given to just anyone. Even the most seasoned Thrillvania actors must audition for their position.

“Everybody has to audition,” Malec said. This is to ensure the most enthusiastic people are on board.

Being an actor at Thrillvania is similar to being a mascot or a theme-park persona — you must never break character.

Although this rule is broken sometimes when dealing with small children. Also, hands must be kept to themselves — the actors are not allowed to touch their scare victims.

Before leaving the red-and-white tent, each station has a group meeting so everyone is on the same page. It’s all part of the structured behind-the-scenes organization that helps the park flow as smoothly as possible.

Each meeting ends with a chant, the type of yell seen when football teams break a pregame huddle.

Once the actors leave the tent, they shed their personal identities and become the monster.

Let the scares begin. •

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• Be self-disciplined

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