THE LIBERTY
GAZETTE
Liberty County’s Only Home-Owned Newspaper
Vol. 54, No. 44
Agenda
FRIENDSHIP
QUILTERS
DAYTON - The Friendship Quilters of Dayton
will meet Wed., Nov. 12, at
10 a.m. at Calvary Baptist
Church on FM 1960. Suzy
Seed will present this
month’s program on
Round Robin vests and
jackets. The quilters meet
the second Wednesday of
each month and everyone
is welcome.
RETIRED SCHOOL
PERSONNEL
LIBERTY - Area retired school personnel are
invited to Novrozsky’s,
2315 Hwy. 90 E., Thurs.,
Nov. 13, for a meeting of
the South Liberty County
Association of Retired
School Personnel at 11 a.m.
Meetings are held through
May on the second Thursday of each month.
ANNUAL JOB FAIR
FOR VETERANS
HOUSTON
On
Thurs., Nov. 13, the 3rd
Annual Hiring Red, White
& You! job fairs will occur
across the state and all veterans, veteran spouses and
dependents are invited. An
area event will be held
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at
Minute Maid Park, 501
Crawford Street. This will
be an opportunity for qualified veteran applicants to
connect with more than
120 regional employers
with good job opportunities. For more information
and to pre-register, go online to the Workforce Solutions
website
at
wrksolutions.com/hrwy or
call 888-469-5627. Admission and parking are free
with pre-registration.
NEW LOVE LADIES’
MEETING
LIBERTY - Area ladies
are invited to join New
Love’s ladies’ meeting
Sat., Nov. 15, at 1:30 p.m.
with Susan Richardson at
the FLNB Corner, 1822
Sam Houston Avenue. For
more information, call
936-336-2846.
AMBASSADOR
LUNCHEON
DAYTON - The Dayton Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Luncheon for November will be
held Mon., Nov. 17, from
12-1 p.m. at the chamber
office. If you are interested
in getting more involved in
the community or with the
Dayton Chamber, this
luncheon is the place for
you. An incentive point
program makes it worthwhile for any member to
join and new members are
always welcome. For information, call the chamber office at 936-257-2393.
CHAMBER SCHEDULE
FOR NOVEMBER
LIBERTY-DAYTON The Liberty-Dayton Area
Chamber offices are
scheduled to be closed Veterans’ Day (Tues., Nov. 11)
and for the Thanksgiving
holidays (Wednesday-Friday, Nov. 26-28).
COFFEE WITH THE
MAYOR
LIBERTY - The next
Coffee with the Mayor will
take place Thurs., Nov. 20,
at 7:30 a.m. in the council
chamber of Liberty City
Hall. This is an opportunity for citizens to discuss
ideas or projects or voice
any concerns they may
wish to express.
The Dayton Chamber of Commerce’s annual Diva Night last Thursday evening featured lively music, fine food and shopping opportunities for ladies only. Above, Betty
Marshall, nurse practitioner, and friend Vernie Edwards were manning (womaning?) a
booth featuring Arbonne products for healthy living. It’s probably acceptable to address
Betty as “Dr. Betty,” since she holds a Ph.D. in nursing.
Veterans’ Day dates back to First World War
Kevin Ladd
Staff Reporter
The First World, sometimes
known as “The Great War,” was
formally concluded on June 28,
1919, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed in the Versailles Palace of Versailles
outside the town of Versailles,
France. The actual fighting,
however, ended seven months
earlier when an armistice, or
temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations
and Germany went into effect on
the eleventh hour of the eleventh
day of the eleventh month. For
that reason, November 11, 1918,
is generally regarded as the end
of “the war to end all wars.”
President Woodrow Wilson,
one of the key participants in the
treaty discussions at Versailles,
proclaimed November 11, 1919,
as the first commemoration of
Armistice Day with the following words, “To us in America,
the reflections of Armistice Day
will be filled with solemn pride
Chambers wins
second four-year
term over Fontenot
in the heroism of those who died
in the country’s service and with
gratitude for the victory, both because of the
thing
from
which it has
freed us and because of the opportunity it has
given America
to show her
sympathy with
peace and jusWILSON
tice in the
councils of the nations.”
The original concept for the
celebration was for a day observed with parades and public
meetings and a brief suspension
of business beginning at 11 a.m.
The United States Congress
passed a concurrent resolution
seven years later on June 4,
1926, requesting that the President Calvin Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe
November 11 with appropriate
ceremonies.
In 1953, Alvin King, the
owner of a shoe repair shop in
Emporia, Kansas, had the idea to
expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those
who died in World War I. His
cause was taken up by the Emporia Chamber of Commerce as
well as U.S. Congressman Ed
Rees. The bill was approved by
Congress in 1954 and signed
into law by President Dwight D.
Eisenhower on May 26, 1954.
Congress amended this act
on June 1, 1954, replacing
“Armistice” with “Veterans,”
and it has been known as Veterans’ Day since. Although originally scheduled for celebration
on November 11 of every year,
starting in 1971 in accordance
with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Veterans’ Day was
moved to the fourth Monday of
October. This proved to be very
unpopular with veterans’ groups
and the public in general. In
1978, it was moved back to its
original celebration on November 11.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Care packages once again
being gathered for troops
LIBERTY-DAYTON - Once
again, donations are being gathered to send holiday packages to
our military service men and
women serving in Afghanistan
and Pakistan. The Liberty VFW
Post will be accepting donations
Wed., Nov. 12, from 5-8 p.m. in
the west side parking lot of the
VFW Post on Main Street in
Liberty. American Legion Dayton Memorial Post 512 will be
accepting donations that same
day, Wed., Nov. 12, from 5-8
p.m. at the Calvary Baptist
Church gym (located behind the
church) at 3401 FM 1960 in
Dayton. A second collection day
will be Sat., Nov. 15, between 9
a.m. and noon at Dayton collection site only. Ron Heinen of the
American Legion Dayton Memorial Post 512 is once again
spearheading this effort.
Two units will be the recipients of these care packages. The
first unit is deployed until May
2015 and is serving with a joint
coalition unit. It has 30 males,
but no females. There is no PX
available to this unit. Personnel
have access to a microwave, but
can’t cook otherwise (no stove).
To cook anything would require
a camp stove, which they do not
have. The chow hall is so far
away they can only go about
once a day and there is no Marine supply unit anywhere
nearby. This group has a coffee
pot and would like some quality
coffee; they have instant. This
unit would appreciate just about
anything in the way of food and
snacks that they can get.
The second unit, a composite
unit stationed in Pakistan until
June 2015, is made up of four
males and one female and does
supply 80 other service members. This unit, too, has no access to a PX. Personnel are able
to cook and are in need of spices,
pasta, peanut butter, jelly, pancake mix (that needs water only),
canned corn beef hash, sloppy
joe mix, soups, and anything that
can be put on bread, which they
can get. Favorites for this group
include Slim Jims, fruit snacks,
tuna, nuts, tobacco dip pouches,
and protein powder.
Both units’ main needs are
food. Additional food items to
send can include fruit snacks,
cookies, crackers, chocolate,
canned fruit, single portion drink
mixes, beef jerky, chicken Vienna sausage, Ramen noodles,
tuna, chewing gum, canned
spaghetti, chili, popcorn, hard
candy, breakfast bars, Pop Tarts,
peanuts, gummy bears, coffee
creamer and sweeteners. Tobacco products are also acceptable. Keep in mind, the packages
may take anywhere from three
weeks to two months to arrive.
Hygiene items for both men
and women are needed but are
not high demand items though
baby wipes in resealable packets
that can be easily carried in a
pocket are. Additionally, washcloths, single sheets, pillows and
pillow cases are all in demand.
All-metal thermoses (no glass
insides) and hand warmers are
highly requested by these service
men and women. Used paperback books, warm black or olive
green boot socks, tools, pocket
knives, envelopes, writing paper,
black ink pens, CDs and DVDs
are also appreciated. Please do
not send any glass, breakable
items, pork products, alcohol or
Playboy-type magazines.
Soldiers appreciate hearing
your well wishes and receiving
your letters. Many receive mail
only once a week on Sunday and
can only respond, if at all, by the
following Sunday, with the usual
three-week to two-month transit
time. If you would like to hear
back from the soldiers, enclose a
pre-addressed postcard or envelope and paper. Remember, not
everyone will have an opportunity to write back.
Dayton ISD voters
narrowly approve
$87.8 million bond
Kevin Ladd
Staff Reporter
DAYTON - Voters in the
Dayton ISD last Tuesday turned
out in big numbers to narrowly
pass an $87.8v million bond
issue election. The unofficial
vote totals showed 2,188 voting
for the measure and 2,092 voting
against it – a margin of 96 votes.
The vote was a big victory
for Superintendent Dr. Jessica
Johnson, who took office only
about one year ago, and made
numerous public meetings answering questions about the
bond issue.
The biggest two items will
build two new elementary
schools that would accommodate grades K through 5. Projected cost figures on those two
schools would be a total of $57
million. The school district will
also expand the Kimmie Brown
Elementary campus to accommodate the same number of students.
Other projects include:
• The construction of a sepaSee BOND, Page A-3
Kevin Ladd
Staff Reporter
LIBERTY COUNTY - In unofficial returns from last Tuesday’s general election, Liberty
County Court-at-Law Judge
Tommy Chambers won a second
four-year term over Democrat
Walter P. Fontenot. Chambers, a
Republican, received 9,336 to
Fontenot’s 3,033.
Republican Larry Wilburn
won the JP Precinct 4 race with
3,445 votes over Democrat
David Boyer’s 873. Boyer
passed away several weeks ago,
but his name was still on the ballot.
New officials coming into office for the first time include
See CHAMBERS, Page A-3
JOSHUA SUNDGREN’S GIFT
As an Eagle Scout project, local Boy Scout Joshua Sundgren delivered 50 handcrafted fleece blankets to the Liberty
County Children’s Protective Services Board at their monthly meeting on October 23. During the meeting Sundgren
described the process and commented, “I hope that the blankets will bring some comfort and cheer to the kids who
get them.” The colorful blankets will be gifted to the foster children at their annual Christmas party. The board sincerely
thanks Joshua for generously donating his talent, time, resources, and humanity.
L-R: Wendell Null, Cyndie Abshire, Ena Stoesser, Donna Hebert, Joshua Sundgren, Mary Kay Hicks, Marilyn Gilliland,
John Hebert.