I'm back in print! Last week the holiday weekend caused me to be too late to get it to the paper, but it was online on the Shepherd Chamber website and Facebook page. It is always on www.sanjacintocountybulletinboard.com.
This is a wonderful website where, for free, events may be placed by local organizations and charities. It is a digital community hub with information for newcomers on services and businesses. The owners Linda and Gerald Deeter do a great job keeping people informed.
•The Garden Club met last week and we played flower bingo. Members brought plants for prizes, and we used dried beans on our flower bingo cards. The Yearbook, another Linda Deeter production, has a beautiful new logo on the front.
The next meeting will be on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 1:30 p.m. The theme "Native Plants" will include a trip to Massey's Homegrown Quality Plants. Located at 1502 Shraderville Road in Shepherd, it will be a great opportunity to visit this business and perhaps buy a plant (or two).
•Last week Women's League of San Jacinto County met for lunch and had a guest program which was very interesting. Sheriff Sam Houston talked about the goals of the Sheriff’s Office and how a great deal of updating of machinery, vehicles and soon, computer programs had been done.
The heads of departments told the members of their work. Chief Stan Jolly, Lt. Wayne Schultz, Capt. “America” Ronnie Taylor and Lt. Eric Hellman spoke about their particular roles within the department with great praise for Sheriff Sam for his guidance, support and hard work.
County Treasurer DeeDee Bailey and Constable Rae Phillips are also in the photo.
On Oct. 8, the program will be "A Walk in the Park" with Park Ranger Eric Rosenthal. Mary Gray Catering creates the wonderful lunches and the locale is Coldspring Community Center at 11:30 a.m., lunch at noon.
•Coldspring Methodist Church is hosting a weekly grief support group on Thursdays from 6-8 p.m. It will meet till Dec. 3 and seeks to “find hope and healing after the death of a loved one.” Call Dianne Griffith at (713) 851-6026 or register at grief share.com/findagroup.
•Earl Brown was Mayor of Shepherd some years back. He had retired from his work in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice when he became Mayor, but later went back to work there, recruiting. He retired again and had a large party at Cafe East in Humble last week. His family and friends from his childhood along with his coworkers from the prison system came together to praise and recognize his work over the years.
Gregg Cones sang for the crowd, and we all enjoyed the food which is Asian, from Japanese, Chinese and others. It was eat as much as you like. Some of the group were asked to speak about their experience working with Earl. Everyone commented on his leadership skills and good heart in helping others. I was able to comment about his time as Mayor of Shepherd. He was the first black Mayor and was always in his office when people came with questions and problems, ready to serve.
•The Democratic Party of our county met last week at The Corral Restaurant in Coldspring. Discussion revolved around an upcoming voting and voter registration training hosted by Texas Rural Democrats at Shepherd, in the Family Restaurant on South Byrd. This was open to all interested in working during the elections and before.
Contact the Shepherd Chamber of Commerce at (210) 995-7420 or the Coldspring Chamber at (936) 653-2184.
Yvonne Cones is president of the Shepherd Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Coldspring Chamber of Commerce.
