Nick Kornegay directed the Concert Band through a series of five selections during the annual dinner concert.
By David Kapitan Staff Writer
The Wills Point Tiger Band hosted its signature event of the spring semester April 21, welcoming a large crowd of parents, friends, family and community members to the high school cafetorium for the 18th annual “An Evening of Music” dinner concert.
The annual showcase allows the Tiger Band to highlight its work in a variety of ways, including performances from ensembles, as well as the Symphonic and Concert Bands. Additionally, the award-winning WPHS Winterguard also performed at the event.
The evening full of performances opened with the Concert Band, under the direction of Nick Kornegay, playing five selections: “Sketches of Canada”, “Butterfly’s Ball”, “Serenade for a Picket Fence”, “Grand Galop” and “Malaguena”.
Ashley Chaney of Wills Point stands with her daughter, Madison, 10.
By David Barber Senior Reporter
“CPS changed my life”
Ashley Chaney said her life changed forever the day that Child Protective Services came into her home and removed her 8-year old daughter almost two years ago.
Chaney had been in an abusive relationship involving drugs when CPS was called leading to Chaney recognizing the fact that her life needed to change for the better.
“My life was very unmanageable when CPS became involved in my life,” recalled Chaney. “Having CPS involved changed my life. I thought CPS were bad people in my eyes at first but honestly, they saved my life and were a blessing in disguise. I thank CPS, CASA and my support system including my family and friends.”
Chaney was born in Tyler and grew up in Wills Point where she attended school. She is a 2000 graduate of Wills Point High School.
“I lived in Garland, Lindale and Lake Dallas before moving back to Wills Point. I always knew I would come back, said Chaney.
The Wills Point Independent School District School Board announced the hiring of two principals during a special board meeting on April 19. The middle school principal position will be filled by interim principal, Kimberly Calvery and the primary school principal will be Kimberly Cole-White.
“We received 66 applications for the Middle School position, and four candidates were interviewed,” Superintendent Scott Caloss said in the press release. “The committee unanimously recommended Mrs. Calvery to me. My interview with her, coupled with her references, only confirmed the committee’s endorsement. I have had the unique opportunity to observe Mrs. Calvery in a leadership role as an assistant principal, she will be a great addition to our campus principal team.”
Calvery assumed the role of principal immediately following the school board approval of her contract.
The Better Business Bureau recently issued a press release, warning against the rising danger of skimmers to steal banking information. The release states:
“Next time you use the self-checkout lane at a store, be sure to take a second look at the machine you use to swipe your credit or debit card. Scammers are installing "skimmers," devices that collect the data from credit, debit or ATM cards, on these machines.
How the Scam Works
You are checking out at the supermarket or another large store, and you decide to use the self-checkout lane. You ring up your purchases and swipe your credit or debit card to pay the bill. You may not notice anything strange about the card processor, but scammers have attached a skimmer to some registers. These devices "skim" your card's information off the magnetic strip.
Kutter Titsworth was all smiles as she rode the merry go round at the 24th Annual Wills Point Bluebird Festival April 22. Additional photos on 7A of this week's Wills Point Chronicle.
Any concern that voters within the Wills Point ISD would be suffering from voter fatigue heading into the May election cycle were emphatically blown out of the water this week with the district announcing that voting over the first two days (April 24-25) topped 400 votes.
According to the district’s central office, voting totals reached 402 ballots cast in an election that will ultimately determine the fate of the WPISD’s proposed $36.2 million bond and one contested seat on the board of trustees.
$36.2 million bond
The biggest and most talked about election item on this year’s ballot has been the Wills Point ISD’s proposed $36.2 million bond item which, if passed, would reshape the district in profound ways into the future.
The 7th annual Scott Westfall Memorial Golf Tournament will be held Sunday, May 7 at Twin Lakes Golf Course.
The event is sponsored by Crossroads Church, but donations are being accepted in the form of team sponsorship, cash, hole sponsorship, or donated prizes for distribution.
“We would like to ask the public to partner with us again as we seek to stand beside those in times of crisis,” said Senior Pastor Mark Robertson.
Contact tournament coordinator Stuart Thomas at 972-571-9686 or at stewpop@ gmail.com for detailed information concerning the tournament.
Locust Grove Annual Cemetery Memorial Service will be at 11 a.m. Sunday, May 7 in Hiram Community.
Decorating of the graves will be held prior to the program and lunch will follow.
“Bring your favorite food for a great time of fellowship. A cemetery meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. All members and guests are welcome to attend,” said organizers.
Donations can be mailed to Christine Toomer, 5951 County Road 120, Wills Point, 75169 or Judy Tanner, P.O. Box 145, Wills Point, 75169.
Turner Baptist Church will host a ladies’ retreat from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., April 29.
Special guest speakers will be Spriggs of Faith.
“Come join us for great fellowship, special music, worship, lunch, drawings and testimonies from three women on their walk upon Earth,” said event organizers.
For more information, contact Rose Christie at 903-292-9425.
Van Zandt County cities followed what was mostly a positive month in March with an even better one in April, seeing the number of cities that collected more in sales tax revenue collections when comparing against the same month from the prior year climb from four to month.
According to the office of Texas State Comptroller Glenn Hegar, Canton, Edom, Grand Saline, Van and Wills Point all moved in a positive direction with each collecting more money than they received in April 2016.
The city of Wills Point helped show the way locally, seeing both the largest dollar change and largest percentage change of any city in the county. In April 2017, Wills Point received a payment of $103,925.41. That total was $22,211.29 or 27.18 percent higher than the $81,714.12 received at the same time last year.
