The U.S. Small Business Administration announces the availability of disaster loans for Van Zandt County residents affected by the Dec. 26, 2015- Jan. 21, 2016 disasters.
For those residents affected by the severe winter storms, tornados, straight-line winds and flooding, low interest rate loans are available.
Application filing deadline is May 31, 2016.
“If you are located in a declared disaster area, you may be eligible for financial assistance through the U. S. Small Business Administration,” said SBA Director Herb Austin.
Volunteers are needed for the Tailwind Regional Balloon Fest May 13 and 14 and organizers of the event are making sure those who volunteer their time get a few perks.
“There are so many fun ways to be a part of the Tailwind Regional Balloon Fest and this year, we are raising the stakes for anyone who wants to volunteer,” said Austin Melton, Canton Visitor’s Bureau coordinator. “If you volunteer and work your shift, not only will you get a free T-shirt and entry to the festival, but you will also be entered to win a free hot air balloon ride -- a $250 value and an experience for the memory books!”
There is a much needed support program in the WPISD to feed the less fortunate high school kids. There is already a backpack program for the younger kids that provides them with nutritious food on the weekends that is supported by the schools and different organizations. There are several kids at the high school level, though, who are in need of help and we are in the process of putting together a food pantry to help these kids.
Organizers are planning a fundraising ‘Gospel Glory Concert’ to be held April 9 at 7 p.m. to help this cause. The concert will be at Wills Point High School.
Volunteers with Keep Wills Point Beautiful and the city of Wills Point announced this week that their annual clean-up event, originally set to take place from April 1-3, has been moved to June 3-4 due to a scheduling issue.
The two entities traditionally schedule for the event to be held in proximity to Texas Trash-off Day (scheduled for April 9 this year).
According to www.dontmesswithtexas.org, the “trash-off is the single largest one-day cleanup event in the state and serves as Texas’s signature event for the Great American Cleanup, the nation's largest community improvement program.”
A VZC genealogy research workshop for beginners and experience family history researchers will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 16 in the Buchanan Room of the VZC Library, 317 First Monday Ave. (Hwy. 859), Canton.
Pre-register at the Library of Genealogy and Local History which is located at the county Courthouse Annex at Terrell Street and Hwy. 19, Canton or by calling 903-567-5012.
Cost is $10 per attendee and must be paid by April 11.
A light lunch, water, tea and coffee will be provided, organizers said.
If Van Zandt County’s Janet Baker invites you over for a cookout, you should definitely go. Baker came in first at the 903 Brewers Second Annual Steak Cook-off held in March in Sherman.
Sponsored by the Steak Cook-off Association, the competition featured 31 cooks from Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas including several previous world champions.
The Tailwind Regional Balloon Fest is back for its fifth year May 13 and 14. This will be the second year the event has been held on First Monday grounds.
“We cannot be more excited to host this great event along with our new title sponsor Kevin Lilly’s McDonald’s,” said Austin Melton, Canton Visitor’s Bureau coordinator. “There have been a lot of changes in the past couple of years, including the festival moving to the west side of the First Monday grounds.”
Some of the changes to look for this year, according to Melton, include:
On Saturday, Feb. 27, Landon Reece Palmer was honored at his Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony at First United Methodist Church in Canton.
He is the son of Ronnie and Stephanie Palmer of Wills Point and grandson of Sue Foster of Wills Point, Judy Palmer of Goodlettsville, Tenn. And Jackie Foster of Paris.
He is a member of Troop 378 of Canton, which is sponsored by the First United Methodist Church in Canton.
His Eagle project took over two months to complete.
The local chapter of AARP is planning a day trip for April 19th and would like to invite others to join them. They will depart from Canton and will travel to Sulphur Springs where they will take a docent-guided tour of the Southwest Dairy Museum. Here visitors may experience the making of dairy products as well as viewing a series of historical vignettes depicting life of a dairy farm family before electricity came to rural America.
Next they will visit the Leo St Clair Music Box Collection, one of the largest of its kind, and the Sinclair Collection of World War II memorabilia documenting the activities of the "Patchers"- the Texas National Guard during WWII.
