Photo by David Kapitan
The Wills Point Police Department and city of Wills Point teamed up May 26 to host their first ever Kites with Cops event at Lester Park. The event included free kites, as well as free food and drinks for attendees.
With the year winding down, we here at the Wills Point Chronicle decided to look back at some of the biggest and most talked about local and area stories featured in our pages over the past 12 months.
In what has become a common refrain both locally and nationally, elections once again generated plenty of ink in 2018. Other events that generated headlines locally in 2018 included the accomplishments of the Tiger athletic and band programs, as well as the city’s ongoing efforts to upgrade and update its aging infrastructure.
Van Zandt County cities wrapped up a solid year of sales tax revenue gains with a solid month of collections according to the office of Texas State Comptroller Glenn Hegar, growing by approximately 4.02 percent overall when comparing December 2018 with totals for the same calendar month in 2017.
Outside of Canton, which saw a slight dip for the month, Edgewood, Edom, Grand Saline, Van and Wills Point all ended on the positive side of the ledger.
The Texas Education Agency issued a press release Dec. 12, announcing that it had completed the final 2018 state academic accountability ratings for 1,200 school districts and charters and more than 8,700 campuses.
The press release noted: "The final ratings include the results of an appeals process that provides districts and charters an opportunity to contest preliminary ratings. Preliminary state accountability ratings were announced by TEA in August.
Photo by David Kapitan
The Wills Point Tigerettes marched in the parade wearing Santa hats and carrying oversized candy canes.
The Wills Point community was treated to a double dose of local Christmas events, celebrating both Dec. 8 and 15 after Mother Nature intervened to put a damper on the Wills Point Chamber of Commerce’s initial plans.
The chamber’s original plans called for the 2018 Christmas on the Bricks celebration, including Breakfast with Santa, the inaugural Christmas Pageant and the annual Christmas Parade, to take place throughout the day Dec. 8.
Calvary Baptist Church will be having a candlelight Christmas Eve service beginning at 6 p.m. There will be inspiration Christmas music, a Christmas Eve message and communion.
Calvary Baptist Church is located at 800 Tawakoni Drive, Wills Point.
The Wills Point ISD Board of Trustees entered their regular monthly meeting with little to decide, taking on an agenda with no major administrative reports and just one action item centering on the yearly retention of a law firm to represent the district.
Despite such a light load, the meeting lasted longer than expected with several recognitions and two speakers addressing the board during public comment.
Photo by David Kapitan
Wills Point High School Life Skills students have toured several local businesses to see how they operate during the 2018-’19 school year. Stops have included the Wills Point Post Office as well as The Print Project.
In support of our current Government/Community unit of instruction, the Wills Point High School Life Skills students, with teachers Christopher Rotan and Christy Wilson, have visited several local businesses to see how they operate including the Wills Point Post Office and Print Project.
The Wills Point City Council held its final scheduled meeting of 2018 on Tuesday night, greenlighting the transition to a new city prosecutor while hearing a presentation from the Wills Point Police Department on their efforts to acquire a new k-9 for the city.
Business opened with council members handling a bookkeeping item to name a new prosecutor for the city. Joshua Wintters, who has been serving in that capacity for the city, tendered his resignation effective Dec. 31, 2018 due to the start of his upcoming term as judge to the Van Zandt County Court at Law.
Photo by David Kapitan
Area youngsters had an opportunity to share their Christmas wishes with Santa in person during the Breakfast with Santa event held last week.
DAVID KAPITAN sports@vanzandtnews.com
Mother Nature left its mark on another community event last week, splitting apart local Christmas celebrations that were all originally slated to take place Dec. 8 in the downtown area. Original plans called for the 2018 Christmas on the Bricks celebration, including Breakfast with Santa, the inaugural Christmas Pageant and the annual Christmas Parade, to take place throughout the day Dec. 8. Due to impending inclement weather, the Wills Point Chamber of Commerce opted to split local events into two days, with the Breakfast with Santa, Christmas Pageant and BRICK$ BUCK$ drawing all happening as originally planned, and the parade, vendors and live entertainment all being pushed back a week to Dec. 15.
Photo by David Kapitan
A small sampling of the volunteers that made this year's Wills Point Community Angel Tree possible gathered for a group picture prior to distributing collected gifts and food items to local families in need Dec. 7.
The Wills Point Community Angel Tree (“WPCAT”) has become a holiday staple locally, serving as a community-wide annual donation program that provides Christmas gifts for children in families facing financial hardship during the holiday season.
Each year, organizers look to provide that each qualifying child (from newborns to high school seniors) receives a new outfit with shoes and a coat along with three of their wish list items, and that each family receives a box of food and a turkey.
