Reading Kaitlan's Story

Wow!!!! Back in July 2007 , I put a newspaper article that ran in the local newspaper, the Bosque County News, dated July 20th, 2007, on the website ViolatedRights.com to highlight the malicious injustice done to my niece Kaitlan Head, the banned valedictorian. There are also some very interesting comments at the end of the article.

Obviously, there are quite a few folks who find this human interest TRUE story very compelling, as the story and the comments have been viewed 2,888 times as of today, November 14th, 2008, almost a year and a half after the fiasco occurred!

WOW!!! Again, WOW!!!

Apparently, the story is being e-mailed to friends of folks who have read about the banned valedictorian and are passing the story along for others to also read. You can easily find this newspaper article and the comments by doing a search for "Kaitlan Head" or "banned valedictorian Kaitlan" and selecting the article on ViolatedRights.com or going to the website ViolatedRights.com and doing a search for "banned valedictorian" on the website itself.

Update on Kaitlan:

Kaitlan has been so successful in her job as one of the managers of the local Sonic, that she has chosen--at this time-- to continue to make more money than most adults in Central Texas are making per year, rather than quitting work and going to college as she had originally planned before the idiot from Alaska, Carla Sigler, did her vicious deeds and maliciously derailed Kaitlan's life and college plans.

What is it with idiots from Alaska? In my opinion, it appears that Sarah Palin, Alaska's governor, has the same vindictive, law-breaking, pathological liar- mindset as Carla Sigler! Must be something in the frozen Alaskan tundra water!

Kaitlan has both worked and went to school successfully and on her own initiative since a very early age. Kaitlan has an excellent head for business, as well as being extremely intelligent, so it is no surprise that she is a success and a high-achiever, no matter what she does.

It is not beyond the realm of possibility that one day Kaitlan will purchase her own successful Sonic franchise! Pretty good for a young lady who will turn TWENTY years old in December!!!!

The great thing is that Kaitlan will be able to pay for her own college education whenever she decides the time is right for her to get her college degree... Or not--that will be Kaitlan's decision.

I guess this proves that every cloud has a silver lining, though there will never be Mercy for Carla Sigler and the despicable things she did to harm a child for revenge.

I have known two people like Carla Sigler ---one is in prison for life without parole, and the other one was murdered.

It is very gratifying to realize that so many folks are reading the story of Kaitlan, and then are deciding to share it with their friends, as it could be anyone's child that Carla Sigler's disgraceful and shameful vendetta harmed.

Thank you, America, for caring.


UPDATE on January 16th, 2009:

I have to say WOW, again! I am amazed that---- as of January 16th, 2009, at 10:00 AM Central Standard Time ----- Kaitlan's Story of being the Banned Valedictorian and the Attached Comments on the website ViolatedRights.com have been viewed a total of 6,870 times!

That means that------as of November 14th, 2008, a timeframe of barely two months----- 3,982 people have read this TRUE STORY of the malicious and despicable things done to Kaitlan by School Superintendent Carla Sigler and the small town School Board to obtain revenge against an adult.

Again, THANK YOU, AMERICA, FOR CARING!!!!

UPDATE as of February 2nd, 2009:

WOW!! WOW!!! Again and again, WOW!!! So many folks have been viewing Kaitlan's Story of being the Banned Valedictorian on the website ViolatedRights.com that --apparently-- more bandwidth is needed, as the site comes up as temporarily offline! This happened once before, and it wasn't long before the site was back up and running.

As of yesterday night at 9:30pm CST , Kaitlan's Story of being the Banned Valedictorian had been viewed 8,806 times. On November 14th, 2008, Kaitlan's Story had been viewed only 2,888 times. That means that almost 6,000 people have read Kaitlan's Story in two and a half months!!

Kaitlan's Story on ViolatedRights.com is quite intriguing and a TRUE human interest story with some controversial comments at the end of the article. Hopefully, the site will be back up soon.

You can read the same article that ran in the newspaper, The Bosque County News-- that is on VilolatedRights.com-- at the website Texas Zero Tolerance also. Just Google "banned valedictorian kaitlan" to find it and go to the hompage of TZT (Texas Zero Tolerance) and look at Reported Cases. Though the TZT website does not have any of those interesting comments with it, it is still interesting reading!

As I said before, it could be anyone's child that was harmed to get revenge against an adult.

Again, THANK YOU, America, for caring!

NOTE: The website ViolatedRights.com (that was temporarily down on February 2nd, 2009) is BACK UP and running! The story of Kaitlan Head--- my niece and the Banned Valedictorian--- and the accompanying Comments have now been viewed 8,993 times as of this morning, February 4th, 2009, at 7:00am CST. The article and comments have been flagged as a Favorite by 71 people.

Sadly, this could have been anyone's child that was treated so shamefully. Again, Thank You, America, for caring enough to read Kaitlan's Story.

ANOTHER UPDATE: I vowed to celebrate when the number of folks reading the story of my niece, Kaitlan Head ( the Banned Valedictorian whose story is on the website ViolatedRights.com ) reached 10,000. Well, it is time to have a heckuva Party!

On February 14th, 2009, Kaitlan's Story had been read a total of 10,402 times!!! On November 14th, 2008, Kaitlan's Story had been read 2,888 times since I put it on the site in July 2008, a timeframe of sixteen months. Now, Kaitlan's Story has been read by 7,514 people in a three-month period.

I wanted to tell the truth of what had happened and about the outrageous injustice done to Kaitlan by Carla Sigler and the small town school board who harmed a child to get revenge on an adult. Kaitlan's Story is interesting on its own, but the comments by the "yokel" and me are what make it fascinating reading. Sadly, this could have happened to anyone's child.

Again, Thank You, America, for caring!!!

Monday, February 16th, 2008:

Footnote: Due to so many folks reading Kaitlan's Story at one time, you may get a notice that the Bandwidth Limit has been exceeded and cannot be accessed at this time. Please try again, as this unique story and the comments are well worth the wait!

Again, Thanks, America, for caring!

UPDATE ON MARCH 2, 2009:

I just checked the now up-and-running-again website, ViolatedRights.com, and it is just totally awesome that so many people are reading Kaitlan's Story! The total amount of views as of today are 10,720, with 75 people marking it as a favorite! A huge amount of people have read this true story and the accompanying comments since November 14th, 2008, when the total views were only 2,888. That is a stunning amount of people-- 7,832---to have read Kaitlan's Story in just three and a half months--especially with the website down several weeks!

Kaitlan's Story is a fascinating and compelling TRUE story--the scary part is that it could happen to anyone's child. I have been told the comments are what make it an exceptional read. I would have to agree!

Again, please let me say THANK YOU, AMERICA for caring!

Blast From the Past & A Little Ranch Gal Journal

Since moving my journal to Blogger and renaming it--from Blast from the Past to A LittleRanch Gal's Journal, many folks tell me they are unable to find it. So if you are looking for something I have written about, here are some of the subjects I have covered in previous posts:

Cranfills Gap, Cranfills Gap School, Cranfills Gap School Board, Bosque County District Attorney, Carla Sigler, Superintendent Carla Sigler, Kenny Wiese, Jeff Rose, Shelly Stuart, Kathie Witte, Virgil Tindall, Jackie Ray Sorrels, Katie Rose Glenn, Janet Cox, Sandy McMahan, Kevin McMahan, Carol Nelson, David Witte, Justin Witte, Waco, Hilltop Lakes, banned valedictorian, Sarah Sellers, salutatorian, Buster Mangham, Clifton Record, James Scott, Doug Holmes, Sue Wernecke, Laura Rose, John Cullar, Smith County, Noah Powell, Donnie Kinsey, Juanita Head, Aunt Sister, Billy Willis, Hank Thompson, John William Head, Billy Head, Sally Lee Allen, David Crockett Allen, Malinda Amira McMurry, Sally Head, Sue Lee, Kaitlan Head, Charles Head, Evan Moore, Bosque County News, KXXV, Channel 25, Channel 10, KWTX, cousins, Cold Springs, Proctor Springs, Cameron Park, Frank Curre Jr, Armistice Day, Veteran's Day, horseracing, horses, Waco High School, West Junior High, Brook Avenue Elementary, uncertified teachers, discrimination, favoritism, violated rights, nepotism, Normangee, Bryan, Lover's Leap, Gaplionlover, Heart of Texas Fair, Tyler, 2220 North 4th Street, 2224 North 4th Street, and too many others to name.

Hopefully, this will help find my journal. Thank you for reading it!!!!

Fall and It's About Time!

Fall is here, finally! I am ready for some cool weather,as this was a really hot Teaxas summer...though not as hot as it could have been, as we had fewer one-hundred-degree-plus days than usual.

Cooler nights and days mean geese flying over, going south for the winter..haven't seen many yet, only out in front of some of the cooler weather......The American Indians always said that the higher the geese fly, the colder the winter will be. The few geese I have heard and seen were flying really low, so that's good in a way..really hard on all the outsdie animals when we have a hard winter. The flipside of not too cold a winter is that it is not cold enough to kill all the bugs it should! So....guess we will just take what we can get!!!!

Just a Note: For anyone looking for information on this blog concerning Carla Sigler, Kaitlan Head-- the banned valedictorian-- and the Cranfills Gap school or the Cranfills Gap school board, such information will still be contained in previous blogs and was a part of my blog that was moved to this new website when AOL journals were closed down by AOL in October 2008. All of my journal, Blast from the Past, was moved to Blogger.com at that time. Sorry for the inconvenience to anyone.

Either way you flip it, I am ready for Fall!!!!!!!

My Aunt Sister's Memories

My Aunt Sister was born Juanita Blanche Head on March 31st, 1921, in a woodframe dogtrot house in the Winona/Sandflat/Red Springs area of Smith County, Texas, near Tyler and Lindale. I have a photo of that dogtrot house --taken in 1909 when the house was new--with my grandfather Billy (John William Head), my grandmother Sallie Lee Allen Head, and my uncle Perry Head--just two years old-- standing in front of it.

My father, Ralston Cecil Head, was one of Sister's older brothers and the brother closest to her in age, and they were close all their lives. Ralston had been born in 1917 in Waco, Texas, in a house on St. Charles Street. Almost all the Head childen had been born at Winona. Of course, all children were born at home in those days, with the doctor--if any--coming to the house for the birth of the child.

Aunt Sister had many wonderful memories of life in Texas when she was a child in the 1930's and 1940's in Waco. She remembered her mother (Sallie Lee Allen Head) doing all her cooking on a big black cast iron woodburning cookstove. Delicious and wholesome food was one of Sister's best memories...that, and Family and lots of people, friends and neighbors, in and out of the old house the Heads lived in at 2224 North 4th Street. Even after the Head family moved permanently to Waco in the 1920's, breakfast was always bacon, ham, or sausage, eggs, and biscuits--never toast-- and homemade jelly, with fresh milk, butter, and cream straight from the family cow. The coffee pot was always perking on the stove, as the Heads drank coffee, not Tea.

Dinner and supper might be chicken-fried steak, fried chicken, or pork chops, biscuits or cornbread, with plenty of fresh vegetables from the huge garden behind the house. What was not consumed right away was canned or preserved for the winter months when there was no garden. Everybody took their turn working in the garden, hoeing and pulling weeds, or just watering the tender plants. Sister's mother, known as Mama Head, was a wonderful cook and did all the cooking, plus all the chores --the gardening, milking the cow, washing clothes, making lye soap, canning--basically whatever needed doing. Mama Head made beautiful patchwork quilts from scrap fabric that adorned the iron bedstead and sewed clothes, too..

All of the Head children first attended Brook Avenue Elementary Public School, until the sixth grade. Mama Head was a member of the PTA and would come to school to visit each of her seven children, coming early so she would be able to spend about ten minutes with each one. Sister remembered having to heat water over a fire to bathe for school, as their old house did not have running water, and certainly not hot water. In the summer, a kid seldom took a bath--- you just went to the nearby Brazos River to swim and get clean at the same time, or just down the hill to Cold Springs to cool off and get clean.

In Waco in those days there were only West Junior High School and South Junior High School--North Junior High did not exist at that time. All the Head kids went to West Junior, then on to Waco High School, the only high school in town. Sister's youngest brother, Durward Allen Head, also known as "Son Head", was a superb athlete at Waco High School. When I attended school there in the 1960's, the principal, Mr. Carpenter, asked me if I was kin to Son Head. I told him yes, Son Head is my uncle, my daddy's brother. Mr. Carpenter said Son Head was one of the best athletes to ever attend Waco High School. None of the schools had airconditioning or any of the luxuries we have today that we so often take for granted. All the kids from the same neighborhood would meet and walk to school together and then walk home again in the aternoon. School was a rather fun place to be---at home there were chores--- and all the Heads liked learning how to read, write, and cipher.

Aunt Sister said that when she was about ten years old, in the summertime she would go to Winona, a small town near Tyler, Texas, with her Aunt Laura and Uncle John Talbert, who lived there. They would bring a load of sweet potatoes in their truck to be sold in Waco. They would sometimes stay a week with Billy and Sally Head, then go back to Tyler. Sister would go with them with them to Winona for the week until her parents would come to visit Uncle John and Aunt Laura, or another trip to Waco was planned. Many family members still lived near Tyler, and they would visit back and forth. Almost every weekend, some of the Head family went to Winona.

Aunt Sister said some of the Head kinfolks were the first to have a car. William Lee Brady was a cousin to me. I did not know William Lee very well as he was older than me and ran around with my older cousin Sally Frances Head, whose parents were my Aunt Dixie Denton Head and Uncle Red (David Rankin) Head. William Lee later had one of the first air-conditioned cars, and all the cousins loved to ride around with him, even if it was just in the pasture! Williiam Lee's family raised roses and watermelons. You always came back from a visit to Winona with plenty of both in your trunk! Sister remembered when William Lee was born and saw him and my older cousins grow up.

Aunt Sister died at the age of 85 on September 5th, 2006, having lived a long and full life, full of memories of a time long ago.

The Last Liberator

Oxford, Iowa-------James Hoyt, Sr., the last of four American soldiers who found the German Concentration Camp Buchenwald on April 11, 1945, has died at the age of 83. James, a true American hero, was buried in a military graveside service on August 14th, 2008, in Oxford, Iowa. 

James Hoyt, Sr. was born in 1925 in Oxford, Iowa, where he lived all his life. After coming home from World War II, James married the love of his life, Doris, raised their six children, and was a mailman for over thirty years.

 At the age of nineteen, James was one of four soldiers of the U.S. Army, Sixth Armored Division, who discovered Buchenwald, one of Germany's concentration camps, which was well-hidden in deep woods.

Along with three other U. S. Army, Sixth Armored Division soldiers-- all Americans--James was one of the first Liberators of Buchenwald.  The discovery by American forces of Buchenwald saved the lives of many thousands of starving and dying people who were prisoners of Nazi Germany.

These first Liberators saw firsthand the unspeakable horrors the Germans had inflicted on their prisoners......thousands of bodies piled high, human hearts that had been taken from living people in medical experiments, a lampshade made from the skin of a human arm--- because a German officer's wife liked the tatoo that was on that arm----unspeakable atrocities you had to see with your own eyes to believe.  

James, a humble and unassuming family man, seldom spoke of those horrors and--sixty-three years later--still suffered from Post Traumatic Syndrome. Until recently, few knew James' story. However, a book, "The Oxford Project" will be soon be available to the public that details his remarkable experiences.  

With the passing of James Hoyt, Sr., all four of the American soldiers known as the Liberators of Buchenwald are now dead. 

Secretary of the United States Army Pete Geren, said that heroes like James Hoyt and the sacrifice James Hoyt and so many others like him had made for their country so many years ago should not be forgotten.

Secretary Geren said,  "It's the memory of heroes like James Hoyt and the memories of what they've done that we must ensure that we keep alive and share with the current generation and future generations. Mr. Hoyt, as a young man, saw unspeakable horrors when he was one of the soldiers to discover Buchenwald Concentration Camp, and these are experiences as a country and a world we can never forget." 

James Hoyt, Sr. declined the opportunity to attend the Fiftieth Anniversay of the Liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp, saying it would bring back too many horrific memories.

 On the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp, one of the liberators who was with James Hoyt, Sr.,  --Frederick Keffer--  had participated in that event. Though now deceased, Captain Frederick Keffer, U.S. Army, Sixth Armored Division---- in speaking of the horrors of Buchenwald and what it meant for the world--- wrote these words:

"MEMORIES OF EVIL GET ERASED, FOR LIFE MUST GO ON, AND NEW GENERATIONS CANNOT BE LOCKED IN THE PAST. BUT THEY WOULD DO WELL TO REMEMBER THE PAST."

My own father, Ralston Cecil Head, was a Medic with thirteen battle stars. Ralston was a veteran of the slaughter of the bloody North Africa Campaign. Ralston was also a true hero of World War II. My father always said that if we are to learn from the past, we must remember the past and the evil therein, and do what we have to do to stop that evil, to make sure it never happens again.

Wise words from wise men.

Farewell, James Hoyt, Sr., True American Hero. I salute you and all the other American heroes in our military---our veterans--living and dead--and our brave soldiers of today, ever vigilant for our Freedom.

 God Bless America.

 

A New Place

Great News!

Dale Heitmiller has a new restaurant in Hubbard, not that far from Waco! It is known as "Dale ""OUTLAW"" Heitmiller's Restaurant" and seats about sixty people.

I haven't had a chance to get over that way and eat there yet, but I know the food and atmosphere will be totally awesome! Dale learned from the best-- his parents, Donna and K.K. Heitmiller, who ran the fabulous Heitmiller Steakhouse in Elm Mott for so many years.

My bestest and oldest friend ---since we were both four years old---Sandra Gunter Krumnow and I have eaten twice at Heitmiller's Steakhouse on I35 since it has been under the new ownership, and it is still the same excellent dining experience as it was before the new ownership. The restaraunt has been renovated and a few nice changes made, improving on a good time eating-out, if that is possible.

I am so glad Heitmiller's Steakhouse will still be here in Elm Mott, as it is very handy for Sandra and me when we want to get together over a good meal. I also wish Dale and Donna, his mother, the best of luck in their new venture in Hubbard. I know they will work hard to make it a great experience to dine at their new place. 

Donna Heitmiller and Dale Heitmiller both have the knack of knowing how to provide great food and how to please the customers and make them feel welcome so they will want to come back time and again. And that is the secret to doing business successfully, especially the restaurant business.

 I look forward to dining at Dale's new restaurant in Hubbard one day soon. 

Best of luck, Donna and Dale, on this new venture! 

A Little Confusion

I ran into an old friend today and  told him I planned to go eat at  Heitmiller's Steakhouse while it was still there. My friend said he eats there a lot, and it was still the same great food and great atmosphere--that K.K. would be proud.

As he understood it, however, Heitmiller's would still be there, but it would be harder to get to, as the side road would be only one way, not two way, as it is now. So, I hope I did not create any confusion about Heitmiller's still being there in 2009. It is too good a thing to not be there!  

Hopefully, my buddy is right that it will still be there, just  a little bit hard  to get to is all! I apologize if I created any confusion.  Heitmiller's Steakhouse is a Waco tradition we would all greatly miss!

Heitmiller's Steakhouse

I met K.K. and Donna Heitmiller back in the 1980's when they first opened Heitmiller's Steakhouse, a wonderful restaurant with great food and  a great atmosphere. They and their son, Dale Heitmiller, made the place what it was--just totally awesome! Heitmiller's Steakhouse was always on the top of the Waco steakhouses and restaurants listings, and was known as THE PLACE TO GO for a great meal, great surroundings, and a memorable dining event. 

Usually it was K.K. who would come around to each table and ask how every little thing was. If he knew you--and he knew almost everyone who came in, or he would soon know you, and would never forget you--- or you wanted to visit with him, he would take a seat at your table and visit or get acquainted.

K.K. had worked as a top car salesman at Steakley Brothers Chevrolet in Waco many years ago, and thus already knew a lot of people from Waco and the surrounding area.  K.K. had worked at Steakley with my cousin, Billy Merritt, who, along with his wife Dorothy Lewis Merritt,   has sold cars for many years at his own business, Lake Air Motors, located on Franklin Avenue in downtown Waco. I think Billy's son, Stephen Merritt, mostly runs the business now.

Yep, Donna, K.K., and Dale always made a visit to Heitmiller's Steakhouse not just enjoyable, but very special. At Heitmiller's, there was always great food, a great place, and a great friendly and personal atmosphere where you always felt welcome. You just about felt like Family!

After K.K. died a few years ago, Donna and Dale still made you feel like family. It was the same atmosphere and great food. K.K. would have been proud that his legacy of great food, friendly atmosphere, and that family feeling  had been carried on.

I ran into Dale one day last year, and he told me that Heitmiller's Steakhouse had been sold. Dale said that the State of Texas was going to take the part of the side of Interstate 35 that Heitmiller's sat on --for the widening of the highway by 2009--so he and his mother had decided to go ahead and sell the place now.

For many years, my bestest old friend and my childhood dearest friend, Sandra Gunter Krumnow, and I had metonce a month or so to eat at Heitmiller's Steakhouse, to catch up with each other's happenings in our lives and just enjoy a good meal at a good price. We usually ordered one of the Senior Specials--a juicy, delicious small steak with all the trimmings at a very right price for our pocketbooks! We would sit and reminisce about the good times in our past. Heitmiller's is also where much of the planning for our Waco High School Class of 1964 40th Reunion in 2005 took place.

 I met my dear friend, Sandra, at the ripe old age of four, when she and her family moved to a house two blocks down North 4th Street from my house at 2220 North 4th Street. Sandra and I rode our tricycles and our bicycles together and spent very few hours apart. I can't tell you how many hours we spent at her house playing ping-pong on the screened-in front porch! We were friends all through school, and we have stayed in touch all these years.  We have been best buds since 1950, literally eons ago!  Let's see...that's a friendship of 58 years! Doesn't seem that long when you have lived it.....just seems a long time when you say it!

Sandra's house on North 4th Street is still there---right across from the old Waco High School Athletic Field. That place is now the Giraffe, Elephant, Rhinocerous, etc part of the Cameron Park Zoo. The old house still looks good. It is catty-cornered to the beautiful white 1860's Georgian mansion called Earle-Harrison House, that fronts on North 5th Street.

Nell Pape, the Waco old-money-cotton- millionairess and Waco philanthropist, convinced the Historical Waco Foundation to save this wonderful piece of history. The huge two-story house was moved to the vacant lot beside Sandra's house in the 1960's or '70's.  Today, it is used regularly for weddings, receptions, parties, and all kind of events, as well as being a living history of the Old South.  

Sandra and I plan to go eat at Heitmillers sometime soon. We have not been there since the place sold. I am sure they still have great food, as they always have a crowded parking lot. I just don't know if the great atmosphere and the family feeling that was so impressive that came with K.K., Donna, and Dale as owners will still be there. We will just have to see. And have a steak while we're at it!

By the way, if you  like a good steak and a pleasant atmosphere, you might want to stop at Heitmiller's Steakhouse one day soon, as it appears it won't be there much longer, but will soon be only a thing of the past, as 2009 is just right around the corner!  

 

 

A Costly Incident

It can be said in most all places and in most all circumstances that enough money is a necessity. Money can usually accomplish many things that would not be possible without it. Sometimes money can buy influence and power. Money is pretty essential to whatever you want to do in today's modern world. It is said that money makes the world go 'round and that money talks. You have to have enough money to make it in our world today. It does seem to take a certain amount of money to survive, as even a kid today needs a little money.

 I have often been reminded to count my blessings that I live in the good ole United States of America, where--- as the rule rather than the exception-- one can receive medical treatment at a hospital in a life-threatening situation, whether you have the money for the treatment or not.

The incident of my daughter-in-law Esther Powell, my son Jimmy's wife, being bitten by the copperhead snake a few weeks ago reminded me to be truly thankful we are in America. In some third world countries, they would let you die if it were a matter of life and death if you did not have the means to pay for treatment to save your life.

Thankfully, Esther and Jimmy do have health insurance that will pay  two-thirds of the total cost of Esther's treatment for the snakebite. That's the good news, for both of them and for the hospital.  

The bad news is how much the total bill is going to be. The first-round of anti-venom for Esther cost $13,000 and the next three rounds cost $6,500 EACH. Add on the cost of the Emergency Room visit, and then three days in the hospital, and you are looking at a bill of between $42,000 and $50,000!!!!

Thankfully, Esther is doing very well, almost good as new. And in regard to all that money-- as my son Jimmy, Esther's husband put it--"Esther is worth it!!"  

 

Some Cast Iron Memories

A few summers ago, my daughter-in-law Spring, wife of my youngest son Bobby, asked me how to make Fried Squash. That dish had been served at one of the functions of her church, Ten Mile Baptist Church, a little white wooden-frame building way out in the country near Normangee, Texas, that her family has attended since the early nineteen hundreds. 

I often make Fried Squash when fresh yellow summer squash is in season. I call the dish "Summer Squash Coins"  because of the round shape of the golden-fried slices. To eat fried squash, I slather on the catsup-- no salt-- but tons of black pepper, just as I do with Fried Okra or Onion Rings. (For those with a salt-restricted diet, the catsup has more than enough salt for good taste.)

The way Fried Squash, Fried Okra, or Fried Onion Rings --actually anything deep-fried-- are made is quite simple and about the same. Probably folks have been cooking this way for centuries, as all are quick and easy dishes. But it is fried food, and for many of us today, that is a no-no. But if you want a food that brings back an old-fashioned taste, deep-frying vegetables is the thing. Almost any food can be and has been deep-fried by somebody, somewhere.

It's easy to make this squash dish. First, get out your iron skillet. I use my biggest skillet --the really heavy one stamped, "Wagner Ware--Twelve Inch Skillet--Made in the USA"--the one I don't use all that much any more, that takes two hands to hold it, and was my main skillet when I was cooking for my family of five at Hilltop Lakes back in the '70's and '80's. I bought it new in 1976, when Bobby was about a year old, and it is now a collectible, being it is "Wagner Ware."

 A word of caution about Cast Iron cookware:   Wagner Ware and Lodge are both good brands. Unless the iron cookware says "Made in the USA", don't buy it, as it is inferior iron and won't heat as well as American-made. Never buy an iron skillet with a wood handle either. Cast Iron cookware will be here for centuries, but the wood handle won't. Long ago, when a house would burn down, the only thing not burned up would be the cast iron cookware and the cast iron dog-irons used to hold logs in the fireplace.

Back to the cooking:   Next you fill the iron skillet with vegetable oil, about two inches or so deep. I like Wesson Oil, as I like corn oil best, but any vegetable oil will do. Due to corn being used to make the fuel Ethanol, the cost of anything with corn in it--whether horse feed, chicken feed, or cereal for the kids--is much higher than it used to be. Another factor in the price of any kind of goods is the outrageous cost of the petroleum products used to get it to the store---by truck, train, or whatever. 

My grandmothers, Ann Jones Ellison and Sally Lee Allen Head, and my mother, Marie Ellison Head, all cooked with homemade lard (pig fat), and then used Crisco when vegetable shortening came out. We sometimes used Mrs. Tucker's Shortening, too, but Mama like Crisco best. Crisco was also used by Mama and long-time family friend and childhood playmate of my daddy-- Cotton Kling, a very kind man that I loved dearly-- to make snow-white homemade lye soap in a big black cast iron kettle over a corncob fire.   

Pig lard was rendered from your own pig you had raised and butchered at home, which country folk did in America as late as the 1950's, and especially in World war II when meat was rationed, and you couldn't buy it if you were even able to find it for sale somewhere. 

In those days, there wasn't a grocery store on every corner like there is today. I personally think the availability and ease of obtaining food--lots of food, more than we really need--is a leading cause of the obesity epidemic in America. We no longer have to catch it, kill it, dress it, and then cook it--we just go buy it!  Way too easy to overeat with all that food right at hand, with no effort on our part.

 I am sure there were no "good fats"-- trans or otherwise-- in pig lard, but you used it because it was what you had or could afford to cook with. A lot of people loved the taste of foods cooked in lard or baked with lard, and you could buy it at the store if you didn't kill a hog. Even in today's modern stores, I have seen lard on the shelf, bought usually to make homemade tortillas.

 I remember the wonderful taste of homemade lard biscuits spread with lots of homemade butter and  homemade wild grape or red plum  jelly. Truly a feast to a  hungry little kid--- a simple treat, but, oh, so good!

Back to the cooking:  (I keep getting sidetracked with memories of how it used to be done!)     

 For deep-frying, you want to use an iron skillet, as it heats more evenly than any other kind. I cook ONLY with iron skillets and stainless steel. None of that nasty chemical non-stick Teflon stuff that peels -off -as- the- food -cooks -and -gives -you- cancer- because- you- have -eaten -Teflon -all -your -life for me! 

Course, you don't know what pan the food in a restaurant is cooked in, so we all probably eat a lot more of that Teflon chemical than is good for us. The fumes of Teflon coating when heated will kill a bird, so I can't help but wonder what happens when you eat it! That's one reason I'd rather cook my meals at home, though I do love to eat at Luby's or a good steakhouse. I don't like to cook in aluminum pans either. 

Now for how to make  "Fried Squash Coins":   

Once you have washed the summer squash, slice it thinly in coin shapes into a deep mixing bowl. It should be a bit wet, so add a little milk or water, just enough to moisten each slice. Then add a mixture of half flour--I use self-rising, but regular flour will do-- and half cornmeal to the squash, using a fork to turn the slices and evenly coat each one. Add more milk or more flour-cornmeal mix if needed, until each slice is coated. You don't want a batter to form, so don't use much milk or water. 

 NOTE: I don't usually measure anything --I just add what looks right. This is easy if you have been cooking for a long time, like me.  Also, I don't use any cornmeal--only flour--I like Self-Rising Flour best--- if making Onion Rings, chicken-fried steak, or fried chicken. The secret of a crispy crust on the steak or chicken again is the hot oil. 

I have been told many times that I make the best chicken-fried steak and the best fried chicken, and I believe the crispy crust is what it makes it so delicious.  Many of my daddy's childhood friends told me the best chicken-fried steak they ever ate was cooked by my grandmother, Sally Lee Allen Head, back in the '20's and '30's, in an iron skillet full of hot lard, on a woodburning cast iron cookstove! 

On the stove, your oil in the iron skillet should now be hot. You want the oil pretty hot but not smoking, so the flour coating on whatever you are cooking--chicken-fried steak, fried chicken, fried squash--whatever-- will form a crust the minute it is dropped in.  My grandmother Mama Head would sprinkle a few drops of water into the hot lard.

 I swear I also remember her spitting into the lard, if her hands were full, to see if it were hot enough yet! I assume the hot oil would kill any germs, but I don't recommend that practice today.  If it sizzles but is not smoking, the oil will be hot enough. HOT OIL is the secret to a crispy crust!

 Once the squash is in the hot oil and not overcrowded-- so each slice will brown-- you MUST stay right beside it, as the thin slices will cook very quickly. Turn once, cook to desired crispness, remove from skillet with a slotted spoon, and drain on lots of paper towels. Serve immediately as the crispiness is lost quickly. This dish takes a little more effort than we modern Americans are used to, but is well worth it.

 For many years--just as most Americans did-- the Head family had a huge garden and grew all their own fresh vegetables...tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, squash, okra, carrots, radishes, lettuce, corn, Green Beans, Blackeyed Peas, Crowder Peas, Idaho potatoes, little round red new potatoes, and even watermelons and cantaloupes. Back then, no one had to worry about Salmonella or E-Coli contaminating their vegetables.  Unlike today, Mama Head didn't need the Federal Drug Administration to tell her anything, as she knew exactly where those vegetables came from and knew they were safe to eat.

 Though I was very young, I have memories of Mama Head cooking and baking on her big, black cookstove made of cast iron. There was always a stack of cut wood on the back porch or in the back hallway, ready to be fed into the cookstove.  Beside it-- and beside the smaller cast iron pot-bellied stove used for winter heat-- there was a wooden box filled with small pieces of wooden boxes that had held produce such as apples, oranges, or grapefruit.  

I liked to look at the pictures --usually a horse head or a pretty lady--on the paper labels on the produce boxes. When broken up into small pieces, the soft, thin wood of those produce boxes made perfect kindling,  necessary for starting a fire or controlling the temperature of the stove's heat. To my very young mind, it was just amazing that you could put plain old wood--kindling and little tree logs --into that big old cookstove, and it came out food!

Hope you enjoy your Fried Squash! 

Happy 232nd Birthday, America!

Congratulations, America, on achieving your 232nd birthday!

In 1776, Colonial America was considered a foolish upstart whose goal of freedom and independence from mother country England would never be attained. The rest of the world certainly never thought America --as a country-- if achieved at all, would last long. 

Our American ancestors had a dream of Liberty and Independence for the United States of America. Their dream was to create a new way of life--Freedom--in a new country, unlike anything that previously had existed in the world.   

Facing seemingly insurmountable odds, those Colonial Americans never gave up on their dreams and did all within their power to make their dreams reality. They had Faith, Hope, and Courage that seemingly impossible things could be accomplished.

 We Americans of today can take a page from those early American country-makers to overcome our current problems. We can continually strive to make the world a better place for ourselves, our descendents, and the rest of the world.   

History tells us the way to peace and prosperity in a country like ours is really fairly simple:  Make good laws, follow the laws, and do the right thing. So many of our troubles--as a people and as a country-- stem from someone not following the law and failing to do the right thing. 

I believe those Colonial Americans would whole-heartedly approve of those who have the courage to speak out against injustice and fight for what is right, just as they themselves did 232 years ago. As a result of their bravery, the impossible was accomplished, and that upstart-- the United States of America-- flourished and became the greatest country on Earth.  

One of the lessons of every Fourth of July--America's Birthday--Independence Day--is that, no matter the circumstances, we--- as Americans,  unique and special folks in this unique and special country---still strive to make good laws, follow those good laws, and do the right thing. 

One of the best strengths of the greatness of America is our ability to be one country, in spite of our many differences. United we stood Long Ago, before we were a country. United we stood as a country in the Past. United we stand as a country Today. United we will stand as a country through the Ages.

Happy Birthday, America! I wish you many, many more!

Remembering a Special Someone

While reminiscing, my daughter, Jon Marie, said she had two special memories of a special someone, that someone being Donnie Kinsey, the young man who became a great cowboy and that I wrote about in my previous entry.

Like all of us, Jon Marie said she had many memories of Donnie, but two remembrances stood out the most. One special memory is of Jon Marie, her brother Jimmy, and Donnie raising orphan calves on the bottle in the horse barns and pens beside the Cracker Barrell at Hilltop Lakes back in the late  1970's. (Note: My last child, a son, Robert Lee Powell-- aka "Bobby" --was born in 1975 at Madisonville, Texas, after we had lived several years at Hilltop Lakes.)

A huge cattle spread, Granada Ranch, was just up the road, and sometimes a mama cow would not take her calf, or would have twin calves, but would only take one, or the cow would die giving birth to the calf. When that would happen, the ranch foreman would give my kids the calves to raise on the bottle.

The baby calves were a special attraction for many a city kid visiting Hilltop who loved being allowed to hold the milk bottle while the baby calf nursed from it. Jon Marie and Jimmy liked having the calves, especially since wanna-be-a-cowboy Donnie Kinsey was always available to help, and Donnie made everything more fun. 

 About three years older than Jon Marie, Donnie liked all animals, but horses and cattle best. Like my own kids, Donnie enjoyed country living, being in the great outdoors and a part of nature.

 Donnie taught most of the calves to lead and made big pets out of them. I have photographs of Donnie and my kids feeding the baby calves with a bottle as well as brushing and leading the calves. I remember one heifer calf named Princess, and she was treated like one. I think the calves enjoyed the kids as much as the kids enjoyed the calves. Raising the calves was a good lesson in responsibilty.

Jon Marie and Donnie have always been special friends. They both loved riding and took out many a trailride together. It wouldn't be a stretch to say they were sweet on each other, but they really never dated, as Donnie was three years older. Each knew the other was someone special to them, almost family, in fact.

When it was time for Jon Marie to graduate from High School, she wanted to ask Donnie, her special friend, to be her date for Senior Prom. At that point, however, Donnie had been out of school for a while and wasn't living the school life anymore. Donnie had a job and was living in the real world now. Jon Marie thought he would say No, so instead, she asked Jon Whitney from Cranfills Gap to be her prom date. 

Jon Whitney was a classmate and running buddy of Jon Marie's cousin, Robbie Wooten. Jon Marie spent several weeks each summer visiting her Aunt Sue and cousins Robbie and Amy, in Cranfills Gap and was acquainted with many of the Gap young people.

One friend and classmate of Robbie's, Doug Hunter-- a handsome George Strait lookalike-- in particular had a crush on Jon Marie. It was fun to run around the Gap with Robbie and his buddies Justin Tergerson, Jon Whitney, and Doug Hunter, and whoever else happened to drop by.

Some of the Gap boys even came to visit Jon Marie and our family at Hilltop Lakes.  Robbie is my nephew, my sister Sue's son, and he and my son Jimmy were always close, as Robbie is just six months older. Robbie and his buddies liked to play golf at the Hilltop Lakes Golf Course.

A favorite memory we all have is of Jon Whitney, when they went to the Golf Pro Shop, the man asked Jon his name three times, and three times Jon said, "JON!" Finally, the man said what is your FULL name, and then Jon said Jon Whitney. We teased Jon for years about having just ONE NAME----JON!!!!

Jon Whitney was very pleased to accompany Jon Marie to her prom, though Donnie Kinsey had been her first choice. Jon wore a white John Travolta-style suit and his vest matched Jon Marie's turqoise dress.  They were quite the attractive couple and had a really good time.

Jon Marie will be talking to Donnie Kinsey sometime soon. Though their paths went separate ways, they kept up with what was happening in each other's lives. I know it will be a time for special memories for both of them. You never forget the dear old friend who was someone special to you, who meant a lot to you,especially in your childhood days. They will have a lot of happy memories to talk about when reminiscing about the good old days.  

"I Want To Be a Cowboy!"

 Hilltop Lakes Resort City in the 1970's  was a unique place where folks could buy a lot, or even a house and a lot, and then enjoy all the amenities of being a property owner.  Located centrally and about the same distance from both  Dallas and Houston and just off Interstate 45, Hilltop Lakes has been a top vacation spot from the early 1960's to the present.

 Hilltop Lakes has a Texas-shaped swimming pool, a nice restaurant and lodge, an awesome golf course, beautiful lakes for fishing, boating, and swimming, a patio for showing outdoor movies, and hundreds of deer everywhere. It is still a great place to visit, take vacations, or live.

When my husband Noah Powell, my daughter Jon Marie, my son Jimmy, and I moved to Hilltop Lakes in 1970, it was officially to run the Quarter Horse Races and train Quarter Horses year round at the racetrack. We ended up running the Riding Stables and taking out Trail Rides and putting on Hayrides, too. We managed all the horse barns and pastures and handled anything that had to do with horses at Hillltop. 

 I ran the Cracker Barrell, a gameroom full of old nickel pinballs lining the walls and green-plush-topped twenty-five-cents-a game pool tables in the middle.  Back then, folks dropped their little four and five-year-old kids off at the Cracker Barrell --with a handful of change-- to stay all day and play games, knowing they would be watched and be safe. In that day and age, Hilltop Lakes was a wonderful place to visit and to live. Many of these youngsters loved to spend the day playing with my little son, Bobby Powell, born in 1975 at Madisonville, Texas, who stayed with me at the Cracker Barrell.

With four or even five trail rides going out in one day in the spring, summer, and fall, Noah and I stayed busy leading the rides. In the peak summer season, we always hired  teenage boys or girls to lead the hourlong trailride as it wound through the woods and by the picturesque lakes. Our trailride leaders either had their own horses or would ride one of ours and were usually good riders who had a lot of experience with horses. 

One summer day, someone really special came into our lives. I remember it happening this way:    

 I noticed a handsome little boy who looked to be about twelve years old hanging around the Cracker Barrell. This kid had lots of dark curly hair and was very polite. I realized he especially seemed to like the trailride horses, petting them and picking grass for them to eat. Between trailrides, the fifteen or twenty trailride horses were kept in a big corral, still saddled, but with their bridles removed, so they could have access to all the fresh water they might want on those hot summer days.

You could tell this skinny little kid really liked horses. After the third day of hanging around and sizing up the horses and the way things were done, this kid came up to Noah and me and introduced himself. I will never forget what he said:   "Hi, my name is Donnie Kinsey. I just moved here from Houston, and I want to be a cowboy! And I want a job taking out the trailrides!"

Laughing, but liking his looks and polite manner, Noah and I looked at each other, both of us thinking-- due to his size-- he wasn't old enough to be hired to take out trailrides. Donnie told us he was older than he looked, so Noah asked him if he had ever ridden a horse. He replied with a firm No, but he knew he could ride a horse-- It didn't look that hard! 

So we went outside to the corral where one of the rent horses, a blazefaced bay gelding with four white feet, was tied to the fence. This particular horse was named Dynamite, and there was a reason he was named Dynamite. If you got him away from the rest of the horses, he could be difficult to ride. He would rear up a little bit and keep rearing up until he was back with the other horses, usually scaring his rider half to death.  Only an experienced rider was ever put on Dynamite.

Noah looked at Donnie and said, "This horse is named Dynamite. Untie him, get on him,  ride him down to the racetrack, and ride him back. If you can do that, I might just hire you!"  Donnie untied Dynamite, hopped on him, and started kicking him to get him to move. Dynamite moved off a little way, then, as usual, began his rearing up, trying to come back to the barn and the rest of the horses.

However, Donnie was not having any of that and instinctively pulled Dynamite's head so he would keep going in a circle-- just as an experienced rider would have done. For a full five minutes, Dynamite tried to have his way, but Donnie wouldn't let him. Finally Dynamite gave up, and Donnie rode him down to the track and back without a problem, pulled up in front of us, and jumped off.

"Well, do I have the job or not?" he asked.  Noah said, "How old are you?"  Donnie answered back, "I'm older than I look!" We all laughed, and Noah told him he was hired. Donnie WAS older than he looked, and he turned out to be one of our best trailride leaders as well as a wonderful, dear friend to our children and to us.

Donnie fulfilled his dream of being a cowboy. He has been foreman and ranch manager for some of the biggest ranches in the country and even managed a big ranch in a foreign country. He is an expert on cattle and horses. It was a great honor that Donnie always gave the credit (or the blame, as his family put it!) for his becoming a cowboy to Noah Powell, his ideal cowboy, and to me, Dorothy Powell, his ideal cowgirl, all those many years ago.

Time passed, and things changed. I moved back to Waco in 1985, and had not seen Donnie until about three years ago, when old-time horsetrader and dear friend Alton Thornton called me one night. Alton said some man said he knows you, and this man looks like Tom Selleck. ( Just by that, I knew it had to be Donnie, as he made a very handsome man and could be Tom Selleck's double!) Alton said this man wants your phone number, that you and Noah Powell are the reason he is a cowboy!

And that is how Donnie Kinsey came back into my life again. I kept up with Donnie and knew he and his family had moved back to the Bryan area, but hadn't heard much lately. I knew his daughter, Brianna, loved horses, too-- just like her daddy did as a kid--  and that she was a cowgirl, just like Donnie was a cowboy.  I knew that Donnie kept and rode good horses and still lived the cowboy life. 

A few days ago, my friend in Bryan called and said she had news about Donnie. Her daughter, Tina, who went to school with Donnie and my kids, had just gotten word that Donnie has cancer. It had started in his kidneys and apparently is now inhis blood. The classmate who told Tina was asking that Donnie be put on all their prayer lists, so it doesn't sound good for Donnie.

 Donnie is about  46 or so years old now. All of us who know and love him are praying for that skinny little kid we remember, who is a natural horseman and who became the great cowboy he wanted to be.  I know I will never forget the privilege of having such a wonderful kid who made such a wonderful man calling me Friend.     

Update:     My oldest son Jimmy Powell and his little son, Noah E. Powell ( named for Jimmy's cowboy daddy), went to visit Donnie not long ago. Donnie was very upbeat, with a courageous and positive attitude of savoring every moment and living every day the very best you can. And that was always what the boy Donnie and the man Donnie were all about anyway.

Donnie had the bad kidney removed and is undergoing radiation. As I understand it, the cancer that started in the kidney is now in the bone marrow. Nadell, Donnie's mother and my dear friend of many years, had the same thing a few years ago, but hers was detected early on. Nadell had the kidney removed and is doing fine.  

Recently, a childhood friend of Donnie's also visited with him. John Bullard Johnson, who now lives in Oregon but grew up with all the Hilltop Lakes gang, said Donnie told him he was going to fight this thing with all the power that he, the Lord God, and the Great Spirit of the Cherokee Nation could muster! Donnie, never forget that many, many people love you and our prayers are with you.

A Special Blessing for you, Donnie:                  

The Lord bless and keep you and make His face to shine upon you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and grant you Peace.

With much love, always, from your second mother, Dorothy, and your second family, the Powells. 

  

BABY SNAKES!!!

After being bitten recently by a copperhead snake, now every time my daughter-in-law Esther goes outside her house, she keeps a garden hoe handy. She is in much better health, though still recovering from a snakebite that happened on May 31st, 2008. My oldest son, Jimmy--who is a prankster like his cowboy father--likes to tease his beloved Esther by telling her not to worry about what happened to the snake, as it surely died from biting her!

One day last week, Esther was in their double garage, which has a large storage shed attached. She was cleaning out these buildings, as my three granddaughters wanted the shed fixed up as a large playroom or small apartment for them, with airconditioning, heating, and so on. For a long time, no one had  lived in the house way out in the country--a beautiful place with huge old oak trees and lots of shade-- that they had bought last fall, so a lot of cleaning up is still required.   

I  have jokingly informed the girls they need to fix it up nice, so that when Mamma (Me!) comes to visit, she will have her own private little place to stay.  Not really, of course, as I love staying in the big house with all the family. The three girls and one little boy always have a jigsaw puzzle laid out or some project going on. The girls and I usually do some cooking, making candy or a special dessert.  The oldest girl, September, is quite a cook already. I have taught her how to make my famous vanilla fudge and my candied pecans.

Jimmy heard Esther calling him to "Come a'running!", and when he got there, she had killed a baby copperhead in one of the buildings. About that time, Jimmy and Esther both realized there were a LOT of baby copperheads, squirming all around on the cement floor! To say the least, not one of those baby snakes survived Esther's hoe and Jimmy's shovel.

 I read on the Internet that copperhead snake babies are born alive, and as many as eighteen snakes can be born. They don't get any special care from Mama or Daddy Copperhead. Once born, they are on their own, catching their own mice, lizards, and insects and usually hanging out together until they are older.

The baby copperhead is a greyish-tannish  snake with faint markings like the adult copperhead, but sporting a distinctive sulfurish-yellow-colored tail. Like the adult, the baby copperhead snake blends in with the leaves or ground and does not retreat but "freezes" when in danger, so you can be right beside one and never even know it.

Apparently, Daddy and Mama Copperhead have decided to make Esther and Jimmy's home THEIR home. I told Jimmy the best thing he could do would be to have a lot of cats who would catch all the mice and lizards, thus removing the snakes' source of food. Also, a cat would alert you to a snake's presence. A dog who gets along good with cats would be nice, too, as a dog would bark at a snake and let you know it is there. (They had a puppy, but she went up to the highway and was run over by a car.)

I have always kept a lot of cats and never had any rats at the horse barn or the house. The few field mice that come up don't last long under all those watchful eyes. I would be willing to part with a few of my good mousers, if Jimmy and Esther want any of them.  With two new litters of the cutest kittens , I will soon be needing  to find good homes for some of them. 

 Maybe the girls can help me name them the next time they come up.  We could call them "Mouser, "Snaker," and "Hunter",  and hope they live up to their name. Just so the girls don't name one "Copperhead!"  

SNAKE!!!!

About two weeks ago, my daughter-in-law Esther was cleaning out the flower beds at the front of the house near Bryan, in Brazos County, that she and my son Jimmy bought last Thanksgiving. My grandson --her little son-- two-year-old Noah, was playing beside her.

As Esther reached to pick up some of the old plant growth from winter, something bit her on the hand, right at the side of her pinkie finger. Seeing a grayish snake hanging to the side of her hand, Esther flung it away and realized she had been painfully bitten.      

Esther, a very calm and level-headed person, knew Jimmy was at work at Nucor Steel, a full hour or more away, so she called her sister Ginger for help. Thankfully, Ginger was home in Normangee and came to the rescue, rushing Esther to St. Joseph's Emergency Room in Bryan and taking care of little Noah.

 Esther had called Jimmy, and he was on his way to the hospital.  By the time Jimmy got there, Esther's hand was swollen and blood tests determined the snake that had bitten her was poisonous. Esther became very ill from the snakebite, stayed three days in the hospital, and had severe swelling and several rounds of anti-venom before she was well enough to come home. 

Two weeks later, Esther is doing better, but still not feeling all that well. All of us still shudder when we think about how close a call it was for Esther, and that little Noah had been right beside the snake, too, and neither one of them knew it.  

Leon County, Madison County, and Brazos County have always had their share of poisonous snakes, most commonly the copperhead snake. More than likely, that is the type of snake that bit Esther, as the young copperhead is a grayish snake with a yellowish tail. (Somehow, I don't think Esther was really trying to see what was the color of the tail of the snake that bit her!) 

If copperhead snakes can't get away from danger, they "freeze", and as long as you don't get too close or grab them, they remain motionless, and most people never know they're there. The copperhead doesn't slither away immediately, as most snakes do. Perhaps they think since they were there first, YOU should be the one to leave. I know one thing, I won't argue with them over space--they can have it!

In the early 1970's, my husband and I and our two children---(Bobby wasn't born yet!)--- moved to Hilltop Lakes, Texas, a resort city, to run the Racetrack and manage the Horse Barns. For almost twenty years, Hilltop Lakes hosted Quarter Horse races, officially sanctioned by the American Quarter Horse Association. Even though the track had a very short pull-up turn, it was one of the best places to run Quarter Horses in Texas, and we saw many racing legends, both horse and human, right there at Hilltop.  

Noah Powell, my husband, had ridden as a jockey at Hilltop Lakes and won quite a few races. A Hilltop Lakes Quarter Horse Race Meet had been the destination of our first real date away from home. Noah had also raced there when he was a racehorse trainer, so it was a dream-come-true to be able to live there and run the track. At that point in our lives, we lived and breathed horses.

 Time proved Hilltop was a wonderful place for our kids to grow up, as well as a wonderful place to live.  We ended up also running the Hilltop Lakes Riding Stables, Hay Rides, and the Cracker Barrell Gameroom. For several years, we had a small family grocery store --Powell Grocery--located in part of the Cracker Barrell, of which I was Owner/Operator.  

Being cowboys and cowgirls with a passion for horses, we rode almost every day at the Hilltop Lakes Rodeo Arena. One evening after riding,  I rode Snip-- one of our most gentle and trusted horses-- into the hallway of one of the big twenty-five-stall covered horse barns.Riding in front of me in the saddle was my little son, Jimmy, then about three or four years old.

 I usually rode up to the door of the tackroom, slid Jimmy or Jon Marie, my daughter--both very good riders for their age--off onto the ground beside the horse before I dismounted. Just as I started to let Jimmy slide to the ground, good old gentle Snip began having a fit and rearing up, putting my head into the rafters.

 Looking down, I saw a huge copperhead snake, coiled and  ready to strike, right where Jimmy would have landed! Reining Snip away, we galloped back to the arena and told Noah, who came and killed the snake, which had not moved at all. My son, Jimmy, is now forty, and I still thank Snip--dead these many years--for watching out for us that day.

In the early 1980's, I ran our little grocery store and Noah was head honcho for TIPCO, an Oklahoma City-based oil company. We still ran the Horse Rides and I was usually the one that fed all the rent horses. One evening, I was feeding, and in the hallway of the big barn was a motionless copperhead snake, coiled, with his head up about six inches in the air. I walked all around the snake for several minutes, peering closely, but there was not a sign of life---not even a flicker of an eyelid!

Figuring that Noah's oilfield crew was playing another practical joke on me, I wondered how in the world those guys got that "dead" snake to keep it's head up like that! Laughing, I decided to throw the feedbucket at the "dead" snake. When the bucket hit it, that "dead" snake came alive! I ran one way--screaming at the top of my lungs-- and the snake--not "dead" at all-- ran the other way!

It is funny now, but could have been deadly, due to my ignorance, as I got stupidly close to a snake I thought was "dead!"  I now have a lot of respect for the copperhead snake which "freezes" when in danger. I bet that snake had a real story to tell, too!  

You Got It!

I am ceasing and desisting from writing anything else that is negative about Cranfills Gap, the school or the town. The main reason is that it has caused a rift between my sister and me--whom I love dearly, but do not agree with on a very few things in this life. I don't want to risk alienating her further, so we have agreed to disagree, but still be sisters!

All my sister Sue Lee has ever wanted was that the school stay open and be as it was years ago, which can be accomplished by just following the law. With tender loving care and everyone being very aware of small town issues (Like low enrollment), the Cranfills Gap school will not only survive but flourish. If the law is followed, that will happen. Tender Loving Care within the law for everyone should be the rule. (That's also a good rule for the town!)

I still think a lot of Mr. Scott as an administrator and wish him luck wherever he may go. It's too bad that he--like many others--did not acknowledge problems and controversy and then work with both factions to find a resolution.

Mr Scott has not addressed the false allegations and harmful rumours still being made against my sister or the personal attacks still being made on me and my family that have kept this controversy going. When I am attacked or my family is attacked, I have always responded. I have never faced injustice without fighting back, and NO ONE---not one person---ever tells me what to say, do, or think!

Sweeping problems under the rug--moving on without solving the problems or at least trying to--doesn't make the problems go away. The problems are still there, just swept under the rug--leaving everyone like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand.

Mr Scott and others have never acknowledged that it takes two dissenting views to keep controversy going and apparently wants to blame one side only. And every one is entitled to their own opinions and views, even if they may be right or wrong.

Life is tough. Stuff happens. The one given is that we will all survive, perhaps not in the way we originally planned, but we will survive. The Gap school has teetered in the danger zone of low enrollment for years.

The lesson to be learned from all this is simple: Follow the law and treat people right, and good things will happen--for the school and for the town.

Which is what we all really want, including me.

My Statement on Mr. Scott's Statement

What a statement Mr. Scott makes in the most recent issue of the Clifton Record!  James Scott, soon to be former 2007/2008 Superintendent of the Cranfills Gap School District, says about his resignation that he thinks "harm" and "revenge" played a part in the current problems of the Cranfills Gap school.  

I believe "harm" and "revenge" did play a part in the current woes of the Gap school;  however, Mr. Scott--like so many others in Cranfills Gap-- fails to mention that the "harm" and "revenge" were done in 2007 by former Superintendent Carla Sigler. 

Apparently, Mr. Scott thinks that "harm" and "revenge" did not play any part in what happened to 2007 Valedictorian Kaitlan Head, who just happens to be my niece.

Apparently, Mr. Scott thinks that "harm" and "revenge" are now playing a part in the current troubles. 

 Apparently, Mr. Scott does not believe that actions have consequences.

 Apparently Mr. Scott does not believe that one should be held accountable for one's actions.

 Apparently, Mr. Scott --like many others in Cranfills Gap--does not believe that the actions of Carla Sigler played any part in the current woes of the Gap school.

Apparently, Mr. Scott--like many others--won't even mention Carla Sigler's name or assign her any blame when talking about the current controversy and the serious rift and bitter division in the school and the community.

Apparently, Mr. Scott--like many others--won't admit that low enrollment is what may close the Gap school.  The only person responsible for low enrollment is Carla Sigler. 

 All those students that left did not leave because of the "harm" and "revenge" Carla Sigler did to Kaitlan Head to hurt Sue Lee. Though what Carla Sigler did to Kaitlan Head for "harm" and "revenge" was shameful and despicable, all those students had left before that happened.  All those students were already gone the way of the wind when Carla Sigler decided to get "revenge" on Sue Lee by "harm" to Kaitlan Head.  Those students did not leave because of Kaitlan Head or Sue Lee. Those students left because of Carla Sigler, never to return.  

Accountability is not the same as "harm" and "revenge". I believe God will get you for actions of "harm" and "revenge". Apparently-- and thankfully--God is doing a fine job of holding those accountable that need to be held accountable for their actions of "harm" and "revenge", so that no one has to resort to "harm" and "revenge" as Carla Sigler did. 

Thank you, Lord!

P>S> You can read Mr. Scott's Letter of Resignation online just as I did by Googling Clifton Record and read the article entitled Gap Supt Resigns.  

  

 

  

GAP CONTROVERSY CONTINUES

The following Letter to the Editor appeared in the June 4th, 2008 issue of the Bosque County News. My letter is a response to the May 28th, 2008 Letter to the Editor written by Katie Rose Glenn. Katie, a Cranfills Gap alumni who recently married and is expecting her first child soon, did the Cranfills Gap graduation ceremony slideshow of the Class of 2008.

Katie is heavily involved in the Gap school and the town and is the daughter of Jeff and Laura Rose (Whom I have written about on this blog). Katie is also older sister to Janie Rose, who graduated this year. Katie is also the niece of Kathie and David Witte and kin to Janet Cox (All of whom I have written about on this blog, too!)

Katie's letter said to stand up for the Gap school and town and blamed any troubles Cranfills Gap might be having on the media and citizens bickering and congregating at the gas station, as well as on ridiculous reports and ridiculous behavior in the past year.

I disagree with Katie as to why Cranfills Gap school and the town of Cranfill's Gap are having all these problems, so I wrote an answer to Katie's letter. My response to her letter appears below:

Bosque County News

Letter to the Editor

"GAP CONTROVERSY CONTINUES"

In her letter, "Stand up for the Gap", (May 28, 2008), Katie Glenn blames the current woes of Cranfills Gap on everyone but the correct culprit, the 500-pound gorilla in the room that no one will talk about, former 2006/2007 Cranfills Gap Superintendent Carla Sigler.

Bitter division in the community and low school enrollment can be laid squarely at the feet of Carla Sigler. Her policies of nepotism, discrimination, favoritism, and malicious retaliation, as well as her failure to handle school and teacher issues, drove many students away from the Gap school, never to return.

Sigler returned to Alaska in 2007, but comes back to the Gap to visit friends. Her influence is still widespread. The school board, the school, and the town itself are full of Sigler supporters who deny she had any detrimental effect at all.

An end to the controversy is a truly worthy goal to strive for. That may never happen, however, because, as one Sigler supporter down at the local feedstore bluntly put it, "Too much has happened. It will never be over!"

NOTE: I wrote this Letter to the Editor before Carla Sigler came to town and gave the Gap High School Graduation speech. I had no idea when I wrote the letter that Sigler's speech about monkeys and her words to live by would fit in with my letter (Gorilla!) so well.

Thus, I leave you with these wonderful words of wisdom from the infamous Carla Sigler herself :

"BANANA? BANANA? POOP? POOP?

Congratulations, Cranfills Gap Seniors!

Congratulations, Cranfills Gap Seniors! I attended the Cranfills Gap High School graduation ceremony yesterday and wish to congratulate each and every senior on their acomplishment.

Especial congratulations go to Miss Ashley Thiele, who, even though she lost her father, Marvin Thiele, to cancer not long ago, was the Valedictorian of the 2007/2008 graduates of Cranfills Gap. Wonderful job, Ashley! Your father would have been extremely proud of you. We are all extremely proud of you. I know you will be a success in whatever you undertake. You will be a fabulous nurse!

 My niece Kaitlan Head was the Valedictorian of the 2006/2007 graduating class of Cranfills Gap, but Kaitlan was illegally and maliciously banned last year from her own graduation ceremony by corrupt and vindictive Former Gap Superintendent Carla Sigler and derelict and incompetent Cranfills Gap School Board members Kenny Wiese, Jeff Rose, Kathie Witte, Shelly Stuart, Virgil Tindall, and Ray Sorrels.

 Kaitlan and Ashley grew up together and have been best friends for many years, playing together, studying together, and helping each other excel in school. I believe they had a positive effect on each other, especially when the going got tough in their lives. These two young ladies were there for each other, as loyal and true friends should be. 

 Former Cranfills Gap Superintendent Carla Sigler was the Guest Speaker at the graduation ceremony, but it doesn't matter what Carla Sigler wore or didn't wear, what Carla Sigler did or didn't do, or what Carla Sigler said or didn't say. The graduation was not about Carla Sigler---it was about the kids, the graduating seniors.  

So, again, I say "Congratulations, Cranfills Gap Seniors!"  May God bless and keep each and every one of you on a safe and exciting path on the Journey of Life that lies ahead of you. May you exceed your potential and achieve all your goals.

 May you find happiness, peace, and contentment as you travel the road that lies ahead, as well as security, accomplishment, and using in full the unique talents God has given each of you. May you  strive to be the best you  can be, every day of the Journey.

May you love much, laugh often, and live well. Grab the brass ring and hold on tight!  Appreciate every moment you are given, and don't waste a second of it.  LIFE IS GRAND!!!!!!! 

Wishing you the best! You truly are Champions!!!  Congratulations, Cranfills Gap Seniors!  

 

Would You Let Your Kid Go to Cranfills Gap School?Part 3: Nepotism, Favoritism & Discrimination

What if other children were favored over your child at the school he or she attended because of who those children were kin to? What if your child was treated differently from other children because you and your family did not support the actions of a former school adminstrator, but the other children's families did?  What if this treatment was detrimental and damaging to your child? Would you leave your child in such a school? Most parents would not.

No student in an educational setting should suffer from favoritism, discrimination, or nepotism. Favoritism and discrimination are against the law; however, just because it is against the law doesn't mean it won't happen. Just because the law is against nepotism--favoritism shown to relatives in employment issues--doesn't mean it doesn't happen, too.

Many instances--some extemely shameful-- of nepotism, favoritism, and discrimination against both children and adults occured under the tenure of former 2006/2007 Cranfills Gap School Superintendent Carla Sigler. Students left in droves when parents chose not to tolerate such treatment of their kids or other children. Some parents felt if adults were treated that way, kids might be, too.

Carla Sigler went back to Alaska in 2007. Now that she is gone, many parents would love to send their kids to the Cranfills Gap School, but will not do so for several reasons. Carla Sigler still has strong ties to Cranfills Gap and visits occasionally. Her influence is still widespread. The school board and the school itself is full of those---administrators, staff, teachers, and even students-- who still rabidly defend her every action, even when it has been proven how detrimental those actions were to the school and the town. 

These concerned parents feel their children might be discriminated against and other children favored because of Carla Sigler or who they might not be kin to or friends with. These concerned parents are not willing to take the chance that nepotism, favoritism, and discrimination might hurt their children. And who can blame them?   

Would You Let Your Kid Go to Cranfills Gap School? PART TWO: Uncertified Teachers

What if you found out your Special Education child had been taught by an uncertified teacher for the last few years? Under the laws of the State of Texas, a school district must notify parents of students in classrooms that have an uncertified teacher for a period of thirty days, telling the parent that the teacher is uncertified and that the parent has the option of obtaining a certified teacher for their child.  

Certification of a teacher by the State Board of Education--SBEC----means that the teacher has been trained, is knowledgable about, and is qualified to teach the subjects he or she plan to teach. Some teacher-applicants take the teacher certification test many times before they pass it.

 Other teacher-applicants take the certification test repeatedly, but are unable to ever pass it. With all the heavy emphasis on testing required by the state and federal governments, it is essential to have a teacher who is certified teaching your child.

But if your child had the misfortune to have been a student at Cranfills Gap ISD in 2007, your Special Education child would have been taught by an uncertified teacher, and none of your Special Education ARDS required by law would count. Your child would have been done a great disservice, and the school district and the teacher would be breaking the law.

This is exactly what happened in 2007 when Cranfills Gap ISD Special Education teacher Laura Rose had been teaching Special Education for several years without being certified to teach Special Education. One day, another Cranfills Gap ISD teacher, Science teacher Michelle Dubay, inadvertently discovered that Special Education teacher Laura Rose was not certified to teach Special Education. 

When Dubay tried to bring the matter to Superintendent Carla Sigler's attention, a series of unexpected events developed. All Carla Sigler had to do was contact the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and get an emergency update for uncertified teacher Laura Rose.

 Incredibly, rather than simply fix Laura Rose's illegal non-certification, Carla Sigler chose to suspend certified Science teacher Michelle Dubay with pay. Sigler then falsely accused, ostracized, and persecuted Michelle Dubay, and even went so far as to leave a threatening message on Dubay's answering machine. 

After a school board meeting where Sigler had refused to discuss Dubay's contract, Sigler sent Dubay a letter stating that the school board had decided not to renew Dubay's contract. However, Michelle Dubay had been at that particular board meeting and knew no action had been taken on her contract, so she knew that was a lie. Subsequently, Michelle Dubay won a big settlement against Cranfills Gap ISD for the way it was all handled by Carla Sigler. 

At the school, Sigler left uncertified teacher Laura Rose in the classroom teaching illegally. Sigler had removed certified and highly qualified teacher Michelle Dubay. Sigler had new uncertified teacher Sue Wernecke teaching Dubay's classes for the several months left in the school year--again, with no notice--as required by law--to parents that an uncertified teacher was teaching the class. Sue Wernecke then taught the entire 2007/2008 school year --this past year---teaching Michelle Dubay's classes under an emergency certificate but has never been certified to teach those classes.

During the 2006/2007 school year, my sister, Sue Lee, a longtime Cranfills Gap school board member, fought constantly but unsuccessfully to convince Carla Sigler and the Cranfills Gap School Board that teacher Doug Holmes by law had to have a Local Permit to teach Technology. Carla Sigler accused Sue Lee of bringing this up over and over for the sole purpose of harassing her, Carla Sigler. 

After Sigler left the district in 2007, Cranfills Gap School Board President Kenny Wiese announced that by law DOUG HOLMES DOES NEED A PERMIT, just as Sue Lee had repeatedly told them. However, as recently as just a month ago, Doug Holmes still had no permit to teach Technology.  

After talking to the school attorney a few weeks ago, current 2007/2008 Cranfills Gap ISD School Superintendent  James Scott accepted Doug Holmes resignation, and then turned right around and hired Doug Holmes back as an at-will employee with the same pay, the same benefits, and the same teacher retirement eligibilty.  

Now that's a great deal for Doug Holmes, but here's the kicker, Folks: All those Cranfills Gap students who took Doug Holmes' classes may not get credit for those classes unless they can pass an examination...all due to Doug Holmes not having the required local permit!

And that's a shame! It isn't the fault of the students, but rather the failure of Carla Sigler and the Cranfills Gap School Board members to care enough to make sure they are following the law. For one full year, it was repeatedly brought to their attention, but rather than check with the school attorney, they chose to ostracize Sue Lee, who knew the law when they did not. For another year, they knew for certain that Doug Holmes had to have a Local Permit, but allowed him to teach without one anyway. Apparently they did not care whether it would affect students or not.  

So, tell me, would you let your kid go to Cranfills Gap School, where they don't know the law, don't care enough to find out the law, and then won't comply with the law?

Would You let Your Kid Go to Cranfills Gap School? A Vicious Teacher--PART ONE

What if your little child came home from school one day and told you his teacher had gotten mad at him, hit him with a book, and twisted his little arm? What if MANY little children came home from school and told their parents this very same teacher had gotten mad at them, hit them with a book, and twisted their little arms?

 What if it was a known fact that this teacher really did hit the students and viciously twist their little arms, that what the kids were saying was true? You would expect that you, as a concerned parent, could go to an authority figure--the principal or the superintendent--and report the incidents, and that abusive teacher would be out of a job and nowhere near little kids.

 But if your little child had the misfortune to be attending  Cranfills Gap ISD, that vicious teacher would still be in place TWO YEARS LATER!  Yes, that teacher would still be in place--- still mistreating the little kids--her students-- whenever she was angry with them.  

That is exactly what happened when former 2006/2007 Cranfills Gap Superintendent Carla Sigler was notified by many concerned parents that this teacher was mistreating their children.    

One board member, whose own child had been exposed to this vicious teacher, voted against renewing her contract, but apparently failed to tell other board members about it.  Superintendent Sigler repeatedly told worried parents that it was being handled, but in reality it wasn't! 

Another board member-- to whom parents had complained when Superintendent Sigler repeatedly failed to take care of the issue-- also voted against renewing this abusive teacher's contract for another year. But the five remaining board members apparently agreed with Carla Sigler that this teacher was not a problem.

 When Carla Sigler left Cranfills Gap ISD in June of 2007, she arranged   that this same vicious teacher would still be in place.  And guess what? Before the year was out, that same teacher was once again mistreating her students-- the little kids. 

Only after an outcry from enraged parents was this teacher forced to resign. But, again, guess what?  This vicious teacher is currently still in place until the end of the 2007/2008 school year.  This is the shameful way the Cranfills Gap ISD chose to handle the vicious teacher issue.

Some of the parents have been so concerned they have come and sat in the room to keep an eye on this teacher.  And folks wonder why so many students have left the Cranfills Gap School District! Who could blame them?

Scholarship Clarification

Scholarship Clarification:        

At the Cranfills Gap Academic Achievement Awards Banquet in 2007, former Cranfills Gap School Superintendent Carla Sigler awarded the Highest Academic Achievement Award to fourth-ranked student Justin Witte.

Carla Sigler purposely did not make any mention of the academic accomplishments of the three students ranked higher academically than Justin Witte.  Carla Sigler thus deprived Valedictorian Kaitlan Head, Salutatorian Sarah Sellers, and Honor Student Ashley Crye of the honor and recognition they had earned, worked hard for, and deserved. 

If Carla Sigler had mentioned that these young ladies were all three academically ranked higher than Justin Witte, how would she explain the fact that she gave the Highest Academic Achievement Award to a student who ranked  FOURTH in his class? Ah, there is no way to explain it, so she made no mention of their achievements and didn't even mention them at all.   

Everything Carla Sigler did was for a reason.

 In my opinion, the reason Carla Sigler made no mention of the three students ranked higher than Justin Witte and awarded him-- the fourth-ranked student-- the Highest Academic Achievement Award that night was to be able to divert scholarship funds to Justin Witte for his college education.

Documentation obtained under the Texas Open Records Act shows that Justin Witte used $4,250 in scholarship funds for his college education at TSTC in Waco.  My clarification is that this $4,250 amount did not include the several hundred more dollars that Justin Witte received as the recipient of a scholarship from the Cranfills Gap Volunteer Fire Department, of which Justin Witte's father, David Witte, is the Fire Chief.  

So just how does a student academically ranked fourth in their class get the honor and recognition of the Highest Academic Achievement Award as well as lots of free money for a college education? It all depends on who you know, and what they are willing to do-- in this case, illegally and unethically--to help you, obviously their favorite student.  

And it helps to have supposedly moral and ethical Christian parents who are upstanding citizens of the town. Your mother, Kathie Witte, is a shaker and mover in the town, involved in civic events as well as being a Cranfills Gap school board member.  Your father is David Witte, the Mayor of Cranfills Gap and the Chief of the Cranfills Gap Volunteer Fire Department, also a mover and shaker and civic leader.  

 Yes, your parents are both good citizens who are willing to go along with the deception, even though it harms other people's children. Why?Because that's a lot of money,  it's there for the taking, and-- with the help of dear friend Carla-- you can take it. Besides, there will be nothing anyone can do about it, and who will ever know?

Well, God knows. And now a lot of other folks know, too. Along with the many other things that have happened, this is just another shameful chapter in the tragedy that is Life in Cranfills Gap after Carla Sigler.