Nominations for ‘Best of’ now being accepted

Coldspring Chamber of Commerce has started preparations for the Best of Banquet Awards which will be in February 2023. The venue and date will be announced shortly.

To vote for your favorite business, police officer, citizen of the year, to name just a few , go to the web site and you can either print a copy of the ballot and fill it in, then drop it off at the Chamber Office or vote online. If you need a hard copy, call the Chamber.

The categories range through everything from pest control to resale shop, from RV park to bank, etc. You can only vote once, and your ballot must have an original signature. Photocopies will be discarded.

•Shepherd Library has a wonderful raffle with lots of donated prizes. Hosted by Friends of Shepherd Library, the prizes include a beautiful handmade quilt, a liquor basket, a Roku, electronic cube and Firestick basket, a Tablet and ear buds, a very large stuffed Giraffe and more.

Tickets will be $2 each or 3 for $5 and prizes will be drawn on February 10 which is Super Bowl weekend.

•Over the last few weeks I have noticed a lot of online emails which offer prizes and free gifts. Nearly all of them are scams. When you click on the link, you will be hacked.

To find out if they are for real, go to the email address and beside the last letter you will find a chevron. Click that for the real sender. Usually it will be a long jumble of letters and numbers. The real email address will stay the same. I have had offers from well-known companies which on inspection were scams.

•Marsha Brown is a new member of Coldspring Chamber Board. She is well known for her work with Coldspring Library and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. This is doing well with 80 applicants so far in our area. This Library is for very young children and offers free books to ages newborn to 5 years old.

Newborns can’t read you may think, but their parent or older sibling can read to them and when a child is brought up with the habit of looking at and reading books, they have a wonderful start on their education. These books arrive once a month and are free.

To find out more call Marsha Brown at the Coldspring Library (936) 653-3104.

•For some years I have wanted to start a museum which would tell the history of our East Texas area. We have a museum for the Old Jail and other buildings in Old Town Coldspring. This would be a more personal history of some of the people and families who have lived and still live here.

Many are able to trace their ancestors back hundreds of years. Photos, maps, letters and posters are often lost when a person dies, and this history is gone forever.

A photo from Dale Everitt shows the 101-year anniversary of his grandfather Claude Everitt and grandmother Alverta Ellisor’s marriage in Jackson’s Store in Everitt. Dale is one of those who can trace his family way back; the town Everitt is named after them.

So, save those memories when you can and hopefully, one day we will have a museum for them. Recorded histories are also very important. Have your older family members tell their stories.

•Shepherd ’s Christmas in the Park on Liberty Street, by Shepherd Library, is on Saturday, Dec. 3. Come out and enjoy our fabulous musical artists. Santa will be in the Gazebo from 4 to 6 p.m. The parade starts at 6 p.m. but will start lining up at 4 p.m. for judging to begin.

Vendors may set up in the park any time and are responsible for their clearing up and bringing their own set ups.

Dec. 10 is Coldspring’s day. Parade at 6 p.m., vendors round the Courthouse, entertainment all day.

Contact the Shepherd Chamber at (936) 628-3890 or the Coldspring Chamber at (936) 653-2184.

Yvonne Cones is president of the Greater Shepherd Chamber of Commerce, and secretary of the Coldspring Chamber of Commerce.