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As Judy Blume once said, “Our fingerprints don’t fade from the lives we touch.” I honestly cannot think of a better quote to tackle 2021. A community builds memories and feelings of home and security. While spending time researching previous history in Richards, we came across some wonderful gems. W.E. Richards was a south Texas banker and organizer of the Valley Route and Townsite Loan Company. He completed the 1940 census on which he listed his occupation as a “broker.” Our town was named after Richards by railway officials in hopes of what could be brought to the community financially. Once the idea of a town took root, the people knew they would need a place to complete their financial transactions- thus the Richards State Bank was formed. The Richards State Bank was organized by Green Davis and O. A. Hamilton. The featured picture was submitted by a fellow history enthusiast, and features Clem Boyd Teague, Rush Wood, and Jesse D. Bookman (middle).
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Well the big news for the week is snow fell Sunday afternoon, Jan. 10, and fell for several hours. This was the first snow like this or years and hopefully it will be many more years before we see it again. I saw some snowmen on FM 244 between Keith and Iola. I’m sure the children enjoyed making them. Some people received as much as five-inches of snow.
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While a handful of Illinois men squabbled over the patent rights of the invention of barbed wire in the late 1870s into the 1880s, John W. Gates, a fellow Illinoian, was in Texas selling miles and miles of the fencing that changed the state nearly overnight.
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A few years ago, we started a new holiday tradition in our household. I put the Christmas tree up and all the grandkids come over to decorate it. So that’s what we did again Sunday evening. Since Abbygail is 13 and the tallest by far, she gets to put the angel on the top of the tree and decorates the top portion. Then Luke (7), Brooklyn (6) and Colton (5) fill in the rest. While the kids were decorating, us grownups visited around the dining room table catching up on the latest and snacking on our family’s famous Hoffart’s sausage and the kids favorite – macaroni and cheese. It’s those little things in life that are so important!
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The reception for my upcoming birthday was fun. The weather turned out somewhat less special and kept some of my guests at home, but it was good to celebrate because I can still have another celebration on my actual day. Thank you to all my friends and relatives who came out and to my crazy family who put the gathering together.
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Merry Christmas Grimes County!
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This past weekend several people braved the weather and cold to participate in the Richards Christmas Parade. It was great to see that even Santa showed up, leaving his sleigh behind to ride in the oh so shiny Richards VFD Fire Truck. One couldn’t help but smile at the Volkswagen bug in the parade, and the overall happiness of everyone there. Parades come from the middle French word meaning “to prepare,” started showing up around the mid-1600s and was accompanied by a show of something by groups of people. Parades usually bring smiles and memories of catching toys and candy as a small child. Richards did not disappoint and will continue to provide some of the best small-town parades there are.
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COVID-19 testing is being offered at the Bedias Civic Center Wednesday Dec. 23, and again Monday, Dec. 28 through Wednesday, Dec 30, from 8 a.m. till 4 p.m. each day. Testing is free and consists of a cheekswab test. No appointment is necessary. You are requested to stay in your car for the drive thru testing and photo identification is required.
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