Special to the Booster
WOODVILLE – The Lettermens Club will host its annual scholarship banquet fundraiser at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16 at the Mayme Brown Center, located at 405 Cobb Mill Road in Woodville.
The banquet, which is named the Melvin D. Houston Fundraising Scholarship Banquet, in honor of the late, great Woodville Eagles coach, is in its thirteenth year. At this year’s banquet, the organization will celebrate Glinda McKinley, who will be honored with the organization’s lifetime achievement award.
Johnathon Kegler will serve as guest speaker for the event. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased from Mark Hadnot, who can be reached at 409-377-0379, or from any member of the Lettermens Club. Participants can also pay at the door and leave donations.
The Lettermens Club will continue to support the youth in the community to achieve their educational careers and become productive members of the community.
Donations for the Scholarship Fund can also be mailed to: 510 Hyde Street, Woodville Texas 75979
By Chuck Davidson
CHESTER – On Monday night, August 28, only one voter turned up to hear about the proposed tax rate and budget for Chester ISD. Board President Wade Read called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. with four trustees, three district employees, and one community member present.
Chester ISD Superintendent Paul Drake gave a quick overview and business manager Austin Odom presented the details for both issues. The proposed tax rate is $1.0573 per $100 valuation, up from the current $0.9427; due to the passage of the $5.195 million bond.
The balanced budget proposed for the 2023-24 school year is $3, 125,256, up from $3, 026, 893. Community member Chuck Davidson stated his support for both issues and the meeting ended at 6:25.
The special meeting of the board then convened at 6:26 with consideration of several 2022-23 budget amendments, discussion, and then approval. The board then approved as proposed the new school year 2023-24 proposed budget and the adoption of the proposed 2023-24 tax rate. An amendment to the superintendent’s contract was also approved and the board then adjourned at 6:31pm. The next regular meeting is set for Monday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m.
By Mollie LaSalle
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WOODVILLE – Last Saturday evening saw a good turnout for a monthly car and motorcycle show around the courthouse square.
The idea for a car show belongs to Trey Deckard, who is the manager at Lakeway Tire.
He said “The locals have been trying to get us to do this for a long time. Ever since I took over the shop, they’ve been trying to get me to do this”.
The first one was held at Lakeway Tire, and Deckard quickly realized that location was not suitable. The second show was moved to the courthouse square in July, after Deckard talked with city council members about moving it, and with only four days’ notice, they were approved.
“I told everybody I know, called and texted people, and I don’t do Facebook, so my wife put together a flyer, posted on Facebook, and around town, and word got out from there,” Deckard added. He also said that the county and the city have been very helpful, once the word got out, and the police department said if it gets too big, they’ll start shutting down the street around the square. “This gives something for people to do, something for the kids, it’s already double the size it was last month (July),” he added. People are finding out about it, and a couple of people showed up from Vidor and Trinity.
Deckard is thinking about going to city council about having some food vendors for the next show; he said he was told it has to be non-profit. The shows are all planned for the last Saturday of the month so it the date will be easy to remember. The next one is set for Sept. 30, so come on out to the courthouse square if you want to see some cool cars and bikes.
Rainfall across the county throughout Sunday brought strong gusts of wind that resulted in some downed trees in Woodville, namely at the Tyler County Hospital. TCH head of maintenance Clif Flowers is shown above, securing the area around a downed pecan tree. DONNA HAMMER | TCB
By Chris Edwards
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GEORGETOWN – Jesse Collins, a longtime educator and businessman in Woodville, died in Georgetown at the age of 93 last week.
Collins, along with his late wife Georgia, were also longtime volunteers at Heritage Village, and were instrumental in getting the Spinners and Weavers’ Guild running as well as setting up the Village Buggy Barn.
Collins was born May 4, 1930, in Hemphill, and he wound up in Woodville, with his family, graduating from Kirby High School in 1947.
He returned to Woodville in 1951, after attending the University of Texas, and taught at Warren High School. He also enlisted in the Texas National Guard Corps of Engineers around that same time to serve in the Korean War, but his unit was never called up. He served in the Guard for 30 years and put in more than 40 as an educator. He taught at Spurger High School, as a math and science teacher, and several other schools in the state, and wound up retiring from education at Woodville High School.
He and Georgia opened GC Fabrics in downtown Woodville, which eventually expanded to become a JC Penney catalog store.
The two were heavily involved in the Tyler County Heritage Society and helped establish both the Fiber Arts Building and the Buggy Barn and were charter members of the Spinners and Weavers. They relocated to the Austin area in 2015, after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Georgia Collins died in 2019, and the two had been married for 62 years.
According to Stringer and Griffin of Woodville, which is in charge of Collins’s arrangements, a memorial service for both Jesse and Georgia will take place in Woodville later this year when the weather is cooler.