Stories From Those Who Came Before

Remnants of the Past In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. This short rhyme is taught to schoolchildren across the nation to help teach kids about Christopher Columbus. But, who and what did he and other European explorers discover? According to William Denevan in his book, The Native Population of the Americas in 1492, he estimates the Americas held a population of approximately 112 million people. There were vast groups of peoples and cultures spread out across the continents not to mention full-fledged empires like the Aztecs, Inca, and Maya. Even here in Texas, explorers found multiple civilizations of people who thrived and traded with each other. The Spanish incorporated many of their words and used their infrastructure when growing their empire. My family and I took a trip last Friday to one of the vestiges of the Pre-Columbian cultures here in Texas at Caddo Mounds State Historical Site and Mission Tejas State Park.   Both parks a

 Interruptions Anyone who has attended church regularly for long enough can tell you that church services do not always go as planned. In 2020, churches have had to stop meeting in person for months at a time due to COVID not to mention technical issues like cameras, microphones, and technology not working or cooperating. In decades past, things still did not always go as planned, just like today, but the culprits were not always the same. This first story is from Max. Max attended Providence Baptist Church along with his family and friends including Robert Singleton. Max and Robert like many friends would stay the night at each other's house. Now Robert’s house was located actually in what is now my front yard off FM 637 near the end of Providence Road.  Robert's family had a donkey they would use on the farm.  One Sunday, Max and Robert decided they would ride the donkey to church instead of riding in the car with the rest of the family. So, they rode the donkey down Pr

  Treats for kids For as long as I can remember, my grandfather has eaten a bowl of ice cream every night and has since he was a child. Blue Bell’s Homemade Vanilla ice cream is the favorite culprit, sometimes with some frozen pecans or a little chocolate syrup, or as a Dr. Pepper float. This habit started at the Hamilton Store, which was on Hwy 287 near the current location of the Eureka Masonic Lodge but has subsequently been torn down, replaced by a house. The school bus would stop at the store, dropping off several kids. The Rash kids would get off the bus, go into the store to buy ice cream and snacks before getting back on the bus for the rest of the ride home. They would charge them to their father's account. Ice cream cones, RC Colas with Zero Bars crushed in them, and Coca Colas with peanuts in them were some of their favorite snacks. He used to tell us one of his favorites was to get an ice cream cone in each hand then smush the dips together and use the cones as ha

  This week is the last week of the 2020 football season for the Mildred Eagles. It has been an interesting season that will be one for the history books. There has been no season like it in living memory with the shadow of COVID hanging over the season. The Eagles have had some struggles with COVID with a player coming down with it but fortunately have not had to cancel or forfeit any games due to COVID. For the Eagles, nothing has gone to plan this season. They came into the season with high hopes but then struggled as injuries mounted and having a player transfer. They had three girls tryout for the team and play as kickers and have done really well. One even went down to JV where she played on defense in addition to kicking duties. The team struggled at times while showing flashes of their talent. In honor of this being the last week of the season, I thought I would include a couple football-related stories. Every player has a routine on game day. Something they like doing or