Trinity County News - Breakout

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I went to Austin this weekend and it was hotter than Trinity. I was mad when my son called to tell me it was raining on FM 356. I didn’t believe him, and two days later, he added insult to injury by claiming it rained on Sunday. The funny part of this story was I went to Austin to attend a “baby shower.”

I will not bore you with my 13th great-grandbaby’s party, but I will tell you today’s baby showers are not like the ones we had when we were having children. This event was held at a hotel and was a grand affair.

There was elaborate decorations and magnificent food. The dessert table and the champagne table were well-attended by the guests. There was a diaper raffle and other games. Guests received prizes for winning and even gifts for just coming to the party. You were invited to bring baby books instead of congratulatory baby cards.

This is a new shower tradition, and this baby had a library collection of nearly 50 children’s books (given to her) when the party had ended. Do you remember when you did not know the gender of the baby until it was born? Well, I knew I was old, when I was thankful that I did not have to carry anything away, or clean up after the affair, and I was chauffeured home to take a nap before bedtime.

•Don’t forget this is homecoming week at TISD. The Homecoming Court for the 2023 King and Queen candidates are Creek Copley, Bryan Crabtree, Cole Odom, and Trent Foley for King; and Chelsea Loftin, Brooke Arnold, Yasmin Moore and Katlynn Burbank for Queen.

The second annual Tiger Tailgate Party will be held on Friday near the softball field concession stand from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Each day of the week, students will dress in an attired theme with the Orange Out attire ending on Friday.

The 2023 Homecoming Ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Tiger Stadium.

•Monday is Labor Day.

•On Sept. 12, First Methodist Church of Trinity hosts a women’s celebration in the fellowship hall at 131 N. Elm St. at 6 p.m. The guest speaker is Rachel Norris, whose program “In His Hand,” a life-telling story of her 20 years of making pottery and the layers of her relationship with God.

Light refreshments will be served, and the public is invited to attend. For more information about this program, and Rachel Norris, please call Laura at (936) 594-3826.

•Trinity VFW Post 6899 is hosting a Trinity County Memorial Auxiliary fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. The post is located at 400 W. Caroline St. in Trinity, with events inside and outside the VFW Hall. Come and enjoy a fun filled day of barbecue, cornhole, auctions, music, raffles, and much more.

Barbecue plates are $10 and live music is provided by Jesse Rose starting at 8 p.m. and ending at 11 p.m. There is a beer garden for the adults, and a free bounce house and water slide for the children. For more information, contact Dawn Bray at (936) 355-9634.

•On Sept. 17, the Knights of the Columbus of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church is sponsoring a blood drive in the parking lot of Brookshire Brothers on Highway 19 South. It starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. This is a very important event, and our community desperately needs your support.

•The main event that comes in September every year is the Annual Trinity Community Fair and Livestock Show. This is the 74th year for this last free fair in Texas. The carnival is coming, the children and their animals are ready, the queen has been selected and the vendors have been calling for weeks ready to sell their wares.

As I told you, I will be selling Coca-Cola Items in my two booths I have to benefit Martin Senior Service Center at the fair. The Center also will have an outside booth to sell sausage on a stick and turkey legs. Please come by and support both of us as we need the money to help support the Trinity County shut-in meals.

Trinity Lions Club will be selling homemade wood art, crafts, and furniture at the fair to support our TISD Senior Scholarship program. Each year we try to provide two $500 scholarships to students who excel in their grades and activities to win this honor for 2024.

On Sept. 29 and 30, the week following the fair, is the second annual Westwood Shores Subdivision Garage Sale on FM 356 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day.

•Scholarship Night 2024 is being held Oct. 10 at the Trinity Community Center next to McDonald’s at 6 p.m. This scholarship is designed to educate Seniors of 2024 on the local scholarships available to them, and to help them fill out an application if needed. For more information about this event, please call Tricia Hortman at (936) 662-2137.

•Many events are scheduled for October and if I have new ones each week, I will list all occasions until they drop off the schedule.

On Oct. 6 and 7, First Methodist Church of Trinity will host its annual rummage sale inside the fellowship hall on Elm Street.

Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church’s Fall Festival Fundraiser to be held from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 15 outside and inside the fellowship hall at the Church, 401 Prospect Drive. Games, food, music, vendors, and money prizes abound for the lucky participants who play the games. For more information, please call Melinda at (832) 525-5536.

•I have not said anything about the opening of the new hospital, but I know it is awaiting a final inspection, but all the T’s must be crossed, and all the I’s must be dotted before they can open. If it happened while I was away, I will report on it next week and get ready for its Grand Opening.

•The Eddie and Maxie Dance at the VFW Hall will be held at noon Oct. 7. The cost is $12, and the band is Bobby Enloe and the Texas Country Music. Call Dawn for details.

•First Methodist Church of Trinity is hosting their Pumpkin Patch downtown from Oct. 15. until Oct. 31.

•On Oct. 21, there are two events happening on that day but do not conflict as their times follow each other’s event. One, the Trinity Volunteer Fire Department is hosting the annual East Texas Fireman’s Convention and Seminar from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Trinity Volunteer Fire Station. The other event that day is the SAAFE House Purse Bingo Fundraiser at the Trinity Community Center next to McDonald’s which starts at 5 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m.

•On Oct. 28, the Wall of Honor Fundraiser for the Trinity Veterans will be held at Scheelbillies on FM 356 at noon. Details will be coming soon and announced next month with all their wonderful prizes and activities. Watch this space.

•Also on Oct. 28, the Trinity Senior Class is sponsoring a Haunted House at the THS Campus from 8 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. The cost is $5 each person. For more information, please call the Trinity High School office at (936) 594-3560.

Last but not least is the Oct. 31 Treats on the Street at 6 p.m. on Elm Street sponsored by the Trinity Police Department. If you want to participate, call the Police Department at (936) 594-2505 and sign up for a booth and pass out candy to Trinity families.

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Dry pine needles contributed to the reignition of a fire near Glendale.

TCNS staff

TRINITY COUNTY — While weekend thunderstorms helped break up the hot weather, the rainfall did little to lessen fire dangers.

Keith Johnson, assistant fire chief with Trinity Fire and Rescue, said that regardless of the rain, the trees are dry and dropping pine needles. Burning stumps ignite the needles and then fire begins to grow.

For instance, the fire departments in Trinity County again were called out to Glendale and Ghost Branch Road over the weekend, the fourth call in to the area; Trinity also provided mutual aid in Polk County.

The Groveton Volunteer Fire Department responded to several fires as well, one that burned 13 acres near Bud Jones Road, one near Bill Rasbeary Road, both started by lightning strikes.

Also, a fire on 94 near Lufkin, which involved Groveton and Apple Springs departments, which may have been started by a wheel on a vehicle sparking on the pavement; and another fire caused by a downed power line.

Johnson reminded residents the county burn ban still is in effect.

According to the Texas Forest Service, weekend rainfall produced a mosaic pattern of fuel dryness, and many regions will maintain dry to extremely dry fuel this week, with high potential for wildfire activity.

Numerous lightning strikes Sunday across East Texas, Central Texas, the Cross Timbers, and Western/Eastern Hill Country will have an opportunity to emerge Monday through Wednesday.

Many areas of East Texas, Central Texas, the Cross Timbers, and Eastern Hill Country received less than 1 inch of rain. These regions will support moderate significant fire potential Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday where dry to extremely dry fuel persists and is exposed to elevated to near critical, post-frontal fire weather.

Additionally, mostly dry conditions are expected after Tuesday.

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By Tony Farkas
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GROVETON — The Trinity County Jail has been granted a variance to allow it to house more prisoners, but the issue of too many prisoners in too little space still exists.

At the Trinity County Commissioners Court meeting on Aug. 22, Sheriff Woody Wallace told the court that the jail, which only could house seven prisoners, will now be able to house 15. However, some remodeling will need to be done.

Wallace said that he will need to spend $8,000 to put in beds and showers, and once done, the county will need to fund mattresses and other items.

Wallace did say that the inmate population is subject to court times and availability, and said that many court dates have been reset, causing a logjam.

The additional prisoners housed locally will mean the county doesn’t have to pay a fee to a nearby facility to house inmates. As of Aug. 22, the county had 46 inmates in custody. Additionally, Wallace said that many of the nearby counties have stopped accepting new inmates.

Wallace said that in July, the county spent $59,380 for inmate housing, $5,000 in transportation costs and $8,000 for inmate medical needs.

However, until the new beds are installed, inmates still will be held elsewhere; the county approved an interlocal agreement at the meeting for housing prisoners in the Grimes County Jail. The cost will be $75 per inmate per day.

In other business, the court:

•approved bond renewals;

•approved a constitutional amendment election for Nov. 7; and

•discussed budget items and the necessity of sending a preliminary budget by Aug. 31 to the state.

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The Apple Springs and Groveton fire departments fought a large grass fire on Monday. COURTESY PHOTO

Special to theNews-Standard

AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced that he has issued a disaster declaration for 191 Texas counties, including Trinity County, in response to widespread wildfire activity throughout the state.

Additional counties may be added as conditions warrant.

Fire departments throughout Trinity County have been battling blazes; in Trinity, illegal burning has led to additional work; Groveton VFD has been called out to small fires and mutual aid for nearby cities; and on Monday, the Apple Springs VFD battled a large brush/grass fire, which currently is under control.

This fire was started when a hay baler caught fire off of Duke Road, made worse by hot, dry weather.

“The State of Texas continues working with local officials to respond to critical wildfire activity across the entire state,” Abbott said. “I issued a disaster declaration to surge the deployment of additional resources and assistance to 191 counties currently experiencing dangerous wildfire conditions.

“As we continue to respond to wildfire conditions across the state, Texas is ready to provide any additional resources and aid to impacted communities,” he said. “I commend the bravery and service of the hundreds of emergency personnel and firefighters who have swiftly responded to the wildfires to protect their fellow Texans and communities. Texans are encouraged to remain weather-aware and heed the guidance of state and local officials.”

According to the Texas A&M Forest Service, wildfire activity is expected to continue as high temperatures and dry conditions persist. Critical fire weather is forecasted for Central and East Texas, with the risk increasing mid-week.

At the Governor’s direction, the following state firefighting resources remain deployed by the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) across the state in support of wildfire response operations: