Banquet honors the best

LaShonda Carr was honored with a Pineywoods Nurse of the Year award. Courtesy photo

Coldspring Chamber will have the Best of San Jacinto County Banquet on Saturday to be held in Jones Hall at the Jones Complex.

The awards will be presented to the winners voted Best and will receive recognition in the newspaper as well as on the Chamber website and other locations. Call the office if you want to enjoy this special evening. Time is short and no tickets will be sold at the door.

The evening begins at 6 p.m., there will be a silent auction and a photographer will be there to record the occasion.

•CABMA will host the annual Trash and Treasure Garage Sale on Feb. 25. Vendors who want to hold their sale round the Courthouse in Coldspring should reserve their space as soon as possible. Cost is $10 which also includes your sale being put on the map which will be available at local stores.

The deadline to have a sale put on the map is Feb. 17. The event runs from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Call (936) 653-2332 for information.

•Shepherd Library held its first Tea Party of 2023 on Thursday. Ladies were able to borrow a hat for the delightful gathering with different teas being available, as well as sandwiches, cookies and assorted goodies.

A Trivial Pursuit game about the subject of tea was conducted by Director Terri McIntyre and caused a lot of amusement from the guests. The library raffle is showing most of the prizes to be won inside the library, tickets are $2 each or S5 for three. Tickets will be on sale outside some local stores on Friday and Saturday.

The library can be reached at (936) 628-3515. The drawing will be held on Feb. 10.

•This week I met Amanda Maggio, who is a program coordinator with AccentCare of Belcher Street in Cleveland. She was very happy after awarding LaShonda Carr, LVN of Woodland Park, the Pineywoods Nurse Award Nurse of the Year. The prize is a seven-night trip to Panama in a 5-star hotel. LaShonda won’t be going alone since the prize includes a partner.

Maggio also talked about the online Auction in Antigua, which is a fundraiser for prizes for the nursing profession. The prize trip is a seven-night stay at St. James Bay Antigua Resort & Spa. You can bid on this at www.pineywoodsnurseawards.com, or you can go to Facebook where you can also donate to this worthy cause.

Maggio gave me information about the upcoming Mobile Mammogram coming to Cleveland on Feb. 1.

In honor of World Cancer Day, The Rose as the mobile center is called is hosted by AccentCare at 400 E. Belcher St. If you are uninsured, are at least 35 years old and have a mammogram order from your primary care physician, you may qualify for financial assistance.

Call (936) 433-5376 to talk to Amanda Maggio.

•Have you heard of Linda Deeter? She is the next subject of my San Jacinto County residents who work to make life better for those in need.

Linda is known as an award-winning artist. She loves nature which is one of the main topics of her art. She is also a webmaster for several local organizations where she has an opportunity to show her artistic ability. Linda says that her paintings celebrate God.

“I preserve on canvas what God gave,” she said.

Recently she painted a large backdrop for her church’s Nativity scene. She had to climb a ladder to paint the top half. But, of all the things she does, Linda’s greatest passion is for Quilts for Kids. With her friend LaDonyce Hamilton, who owns quilting center The Red Barn, Linda started the Coldspring Chapter for Quilts for Kids.

This is a national organization, but the two women created their own non-profit so that their quilts could be distributed locally instead of being sent to the HQ in Pennsylvania. The quilts are for children who are ill, in hospital or in a crisis in their lives. Quilts are given to first responders in our area, all law enforcement officers have quilts and so does the Children’s Hospital in the Woodlands. Quilts are free.

The quilting group are in Linda’s words “an awesome group.” They donate their time and materials which must be new since many sick children are vulnerable to infection.

If you want to know more about this group, go to Facebook page called Coldspring Quilts for Kids.

Linda is a very modest lady who tried to dissuade me from writing about her. However, by talking about her volunteer work, she has allowed others to know about this heartwarming work. The group has made and given away 2,100 quilts so far.

With her husband of almost 57 years Gerald, they enjoy the beauty of our area and the many friends they have made over their years here.

•Linda and I are members of SJC Women’s League, another fine group which works to give away the money made from their fundraisers. The next one will be the annual Style Show which is always a very enjoyable event.

Sadly, members are asked by President Kay Capers to remember in their prayers Sylvia Roesler, who just lost her husband, Gene, and her sister, Linda Winkleman (also a member), who is in the ICU in hospital.

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 a member of the Coldspring Chamber of Commerce.