Efforts to gain funding for a memorial playground to honor the passing of five people with ties to the Wills Point community will continue this weekend with plans underway to host a spaghetti dinner, talent show and silent auction at the Russell Memorial United Methodist Church’s Deen Building beginning at 5:30 p.m. May 13.
On Nov. 19, 2014, Wills Point Primary School teacher Trudi Hardman, her husband Michael, a former teacher in Wills Point who was employed at John F. Kennedy Elementary in Terrell at the time of the accident, and three children from their blended family, Adam and Kaci Hardman and Dakota Watson, were killed in a single-vehicle accident on their way to Florida for a family vacation.
Council members Oscar Rogers, Lance LyBrand and Kyle Anderson were all sworn into office for a new three-year term.
By David Kapitan Staff Writer
The city of Wills Point has dodged the election bullet each of the past two years, cancelling elections in both May 2016 and May 2017 due to a lack of challengers running against incumbents that had refiled.
Despite not having any elections, the city of Wills Point still needed to take care of traditional election business on Tuesday night, swearing in Mayor Mark Turner and councilmembers Oscar Rogers, Lance LyBrand and Kyle Anderson into office for new two-year terms.
Once the swearing in ceremony had been conducted, the council went to work on an agenda that included approving an amended game room ordinance, approving a signage request from the Texas Department of Transportation and an ordinance that will help to further update the Van Zandt County Regional Airport.
The Rolling Oaks Fire Department invites you to its annual pancake breakfast cooked by the firefighters. The station will be open for breakfast from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, May 21, followed by the department’s monthly meeting which you are invited to attend. The breakfast is $5 per person, and includes pancakes, sausage and drink. Children eat free. The ROVFD is a fully volunteer department and relies on donations. The station address is 139 VZCR 3832 off FM 751.
The Texas House has passed and the Senate has considered in committee legislation that would create a misdemeanor offense of using a handheld device to read, write, or send a text based communication while operating a moving vehicle that is not stopped. Regrettably, the proposed solution will actually increase vehicle accidents.
Distracted driving that results in a vehicle accident (18 percent of all accidents) is a serious problem that needs a serious solution. But research does not support the banning of hand-held electronic devices to solve this issue. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (a premier organization on the issue) has multiple studies that show no decrease in accidents when cell phone bans were implemented. In fact, in many instances, accidents actually increased after the ban. Also, the data shows that prohibiting the use of cell phones has done little to stop the use of cell phones while driving. Banning is not the answer.
Organizers hoping to build a memorial playground in honor of five people that passed in a tragic accident in late 2014 announced recently that they would be hosting their largest fundraising event yet, a spaghetti dinner/talent show/silent auction at the Russell Memorial United Methodist Church’s Deen Building May 13.
On Nov. 19, 2014, five people with ties to the Wills Point community, primary school teacher Trudi Hardman, her husband Michael, a former teacher in Wills Point who was employed at John F. Kennedy Elementary in Terrell at the time of the accident, and three children from their blended family (Adam and Kaci Hardman and Dakota Watson), were killed in a single-vehicle accident on their way to Florida for a family vacation.
Virginia Sides stands on her property Sunday morning April 30, taking in what was left of Sides Pea Farm on Van Zandt County Road 2909 after a series of tornadoes ripped through the eastern portion of Canton. Sides surveyed what remained of the family-owned farm, which now lies in ruin and lamented the total loss of a harvest. Sides Pea Farm was decimated by a series of twisters that ravaged through Canton Saturday, April 29, leaving behind a 50-mile wake of destruction.
The Wills Point Police Department announced this week that after a months’ long investigation, a suspect had been arrested stemming from a public disturbance call at Ramsey’s Roadhouse back on Feb. 25. Randy Wayne Reed, a 47-year old from Forney, turned himself in to authorities at the Van Zandt County Jail April 29 on charges of causing injuries to a child/elderly/disabled person.
The Wills Point ISD is nearing the finish line of its 2017 election cycle, clearing the final hurdle before the May 6 Election Day with the close of early voting at 4 p.m. May 2. Items on the ballot for eligible voters to weigh in on includes the fate of the WPISD’s proposed $36.2 million bond proposal as well as which first time candidate will represent the district’s board of trustees Place 7 for a three-year term beginning later this month. After two days of early voting, the district announced that it had received more than 400 votes. The pace of voting slowed down considerably over the final days of early voting, closing at 831 ballots cast (including provisional ballots) by the close of early voting earlier this week.
Members of the Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial Board expressed their appreciation to the VZC Commissioners Court by presenting a special framed picture during the commissioners regular meeting April 11.
The Myrtle Springs Cemetery Association has scheduled work days for May 6 and 13. Workers should bring their own yard tools, saws, trimmers, etc. and should be at the cemetery by 8 a.m. each morning, event organizers said.
The Cemetery Association will hold its annual memorial service at 2 p.m., Sunday, May 21, under the tabernacle at the cemetery. A business meeting will follow. The cemetery is located near the intersection of I-20 and VZCR 3442 in Myrtle Springs. All persons interested in the cemetery are urged to attend.
Contributions may be mailed to the Myrtle Springs Cemetery, PO Box 1092, Canton, TX 75103, or may be made the day of the memorial. Contributors can designate their donation to perpetual care or the general fund.
