Law enforcement personnel honored Saturday
Individuals who protect and serve the citizens and businesses of Grimes County will be honored by Grimes County Crime Stoppers Saturday, Jan. 28. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for the annual catered awards dinner at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 1962 SH 90 in Anderson. The event is free for officers and their families and by donation for the general public. Law enforcement supporter, State Representative Kyle Kacal, will be the guest speaker.
Thanks to many of our local businesses and individual donors, 34 of Grimes County’s finest left the 2022 awards dinner with a door prize. Please consider donating an item or gift certificate for this year’s law enforcement door prize drawings, and/or an item for the live auction fundraiser and/or a cash donation to help defray event expenses. Grimes County Crime Stoppers is a 501(c)(3) organization. To make your donation pledge and schedule pickup, call Marilyn Bettes, 817-729-9096 or Debbie Grimes, 936-870-7353.
Saturday morning Don and I woke up to an unusual day, neither of us had to be anywhere in particular. So before crawling out of bed, we decided we were going to have breakfast at Stella’s Café in College Station and then to the movies to see “The Man Named Otto” starring Tom Hanks and his son in real life, Truman Hanks. Truman was cast as the young Otto in flashbacks of the movie. As usual, this is a “must see” movie of Hanks that I encourage everyone to experience.
Our neighbors in the blue house, Ray and Lovenieh Merola, are enjoying the visitation of their daughters from Spain. Andrea arrived before Christmas from Valencia and Melinda arrived Saturday from Madrid.
Ray and Katelynn Smith were married Aug. 13, 2022. They recently announced they are expecting their first child. A gender reveal party was thrown at the home of Ray’s parents, Kevin and Martha Smith. It is a boy! Beckham Alexander Smith is expected to arrive on or around June 27.
The month of January is usually not very eventful. The holidays are over, but football playoffs are happening. The weather is usually kind of yucky. But in our families, we always had two special birthdays. Don’s dad, John Sowell, was born Jan. 21, 1930 and my dad, Frank Hoffart, was born a year and one week later on Jan. 28, 1931.
These two men were well known in their own right. John’s “claim to fame” is being employed by Mrs. Baird’s Bread for over 44 years before his retirement on Feb. 1, 1998. He traveled many miles around the Navasota area and was seen on a daily basis delivering products of the Baird family. Frank, on the other hand, ran and operated his general merchandise store, Hoffart’s, in Dobbin for 54 years before we closed it the last day of June 2007. John and Frank met many years ago since John was our “bread man” all the years I was growing up. We have sadly lost these men who were known for their hard work, dedication and honesty. John died June 15, 2020 and Frank left us on Dec. 15, 2009.
Happy Birthday to those celebrating this week: Jan. 25 – Fr. Giovanni Hung Nguyen; Jan. 26 – Theresa Dietrich, Brac Jones, David Hejny, Jr. Tennyson, Jennifer Backhus; Jan. 27 – Janice Pasket, Donna Blankenship, Justin Crenshaw, Deacon Ted Baker; Jan. 28 – Brandon Belinowski, Pam Szymanski, Bryce Allen, Tonya Wyatt; Jan. 29 – Martha R. Smith; Jan. 30 – Kristin Backhus, Bernice Briers, Kagan Stephens, Valerie Busa, Becky Greenwood, Ryder Snow; Jan. 31 – Marcy Pavlock, Ben Leman, Brad Countryman and Kyle Backhus.
Happy Anniversary to those celebrating this week: Jan. 28 – Cody and Brianna Small, 9 years and Jan. 29 – Thomas and Linda Phillips, 16 years.
If you have special news about what goes on in your family or life, let me know by calling 936-870-6842 or emailing me at gailmsowell@yahoo.com.