Lifestyle

The Van Zandt County Genealogical Society held its monthly meeting Oct. 22, at the County Library in Canton. 

Guest speaker Jack Pollard of Smith County gave a point presentation about his father Thomas G. Pollard.  Mr. Pollard spoke about family traditions and the migration of his ancestors to Van Zandt County.  He also shared stories about his father from the book “The Man From Edom” written by his mother Edna Martin Pollard.   Thomas G. Pollard, who was a State Senator, was born in Martins Mill, moved to Edom and then to Tyler. 

The monthly meetings of the Van Zandt County Genealogical Society are held the fourth Saturday of each month, except December at 2 p.m. at the County Library, located at 885 Hwy 859 in Canton.  The program for November will be Show and Tell, with members showing their historical memorabilia. 

For information about the program or the genealogical society, contact the Library of Genealogy and Local History at 903-567-5012.   

There were princesses, a veterinarian, a policeman and even an Indian in attendance at Storytime at the Van Zandt County Library on Friday, Oct. 28.  Ms. Rhonda was dressed as a scarecrow and read ‘Eek Halloween’ by Sandra Boynton, whose illustrations are always fun.  Another book was ‘The Hallo-Wiener’ about a dachshund in a hot dog costume, this was written by Dav Pilkey who writes the Captain Underpants Series. The next book was ‘Nothing at All’ about a scarecrow. The last book was ‘Room on the Broom.’  The craft was a creepy black spider.

Storytime is held at the Van Zandt County Library, 317 First Monday Lane, Canton at 10 a.m. Friday mornings.  

Ms. Rhonda read stories about fall during Storytime at the Van Zandt County Library.  One book was about a squirrel that did not want to leave his house and was always prepared for any emergency until he discovers that he is a ‘flying’ squirrel and can jump into the unknown and return home.  One of the books told about all the fun things to do in fall like jumping in leaves, apple picking, the county fair, hayrides and carving pumpkins.  The last book was titled ‘Those Darn Squirrels’ which was a story about a man that loves birds and hates squirrels. However, after the birds flew south he was lonely and the squirrels held a meeting and decided to give the old man a present.  Storytime is held at the Van Zandt County Library 317 First Monday Lane, Canton at 10 a.m. every Friday. 

Top: Kevin and Jeaneane Lilly, owners of the McDonald's located at 136 ES Commerce St., opened a dog park named after their own four-legged family member, Layce Lilly, with a grand opening event held Oct. 7.

Bottom left: Berta Winn, Local Store Marketing Coordinator/Public Relations representative for Lilly Enterprises, shares a cool treat with one of the visitors to the grand opening of the Layce Lilly Dog Park located behind the Wills Point’s McDonald’s location.  

Bottom right: An afternoon of fun in the sun at the newly opened Layce Lilly Dog Park included Cooper getting a frozen treat from Dr. Buck VanTrease of the Van Zandt Animal Care Center Oct. 7.

The theme for Storytime at the Van Zandt County Library was trucks and tractors. The first book that Ms. Rhonda read was ‘Good Night Tractor.’  The second book was ‘Get to Work Trucks’ which was about construction vehicles.  The last book was ‘Farmer Dale’s Red Pickup Truck’ that tells of Farmer Dale hauling a load of hay and some bossy animals that he meets along his way.  Peschoolers are invited to Storytime at 10 a.m. every Friday at the Van Zandt County Library 315 First Monday Lane, Canton.

For more stories like this one, subscribe to the Wills Point Chronicle or pick up a copy from one of our vendors. 

The theme for Storytime this week was bedtime.  Ms. Rhonda read ‘How Dinosaurs say Goodnight’, ‘Bears in Beds,’ Max and The Won’t Go to Bed Show’ and the last book, ‘Don’t let the Pigeon Stay up Late.’  These stories created lots of giggles for our great crowd today, librarians said.  The moon and stars craft was lots of fun for the pre-schoolers.  The next theme for Storytime will be toys and tractors. 

For more stories like this one, subscribe to the Wills Point Chronicle or pick up a copy from one of our vendors. 

Hannah Seigler participated at The 70th Annual American Shetland Pony Congress July 5-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. Seigler won Congress Champion in Foundation Mares 13 to 17 Years Older with 12 horses. This was a rare opportunity for a small town girl to participate in such high stakes.

For more stories like this one, subscribe to the Wills Point Chronicle or pick up a copy from one of our vendors. 

The Van Zandt County Genealogical Society held its monthly meeting Saturday, Aug. 27 in the Buchanan Room of the County Library.  

Guest speaker for the meeting was Larry Turner of Wills Point who spoke on the attack on Pearl Harbor.  This year marks the 75^th anniversary of the attack.  He related the story of four young men from Van Zandt County who were serving on the USS Arizona at the time.  The four men were Van Wood, B.J. Johnson, D.C. Ayers and Raymond Johnson.   

The next society meeting will be our all-day seminar on Saturday, Sept. 24 at St. Therese Catholic Church, 885 First Monday Lane (Hwy 859) in Canton.   The speaker for the seminar will be Don Rainey.  Mr. Rainey will speak on “The Battle of Kings Mountain”, “Finding Your Revolutionary War Ancestor”, “Early American Migration Routes” and “Writing Your Family History with Historical Context”.  For more information, please call the Library of Genealogy and Local History at 903-567-5012.

The American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Van Zandt County Event Leadership Team held their Wrap-Up Party late last month.

Keeping the “Make Cancer a Fairytale” theme, the wrap-up event was a swim party based on “The Little Mermaid.”

The 2016 Relay For Life of Van Zandt County raised almost $50,000 from September 2015 through August 2016, to help save lives, help local cancer patients and support efforts to eliminate cancer suffering and death.