Mobile Food Bank open Thursday
Grimes County Mobile Food Bank will be open Thursday, July 13 from 9:30-10:45 a.m. in the back-parking lot of the Grimes County Fairgrounds in Navasota. Any resident of Grimes County will be served and will only need to show their driver’s license when they complete the once-a-year Client Assistant Intake form. For more information contact Chris Albright, caanavasota@gmail. com or 713-962-2144.
The family of my son and daughter-in-law Clint and Diana Branch of College Station had a very busy summer. After we returned from our Hoffart family vacation in New Braunfels, their family went separate ways. From June 20-29, our granddaughter 16-year-old Abbygail Branch got the opportunity to travel to Ireland to study Agriculture with the College Station High School FFA group of 10 girls, their teacher and chaperones. They toured Ireland from coast to coast starting with a walking tour of Dublin. The next day they took a guided tour of Dublin and visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral and EPIC, the interactive museum of Irish Emigration and ended the day with an Irish Folklore Evening. The following day they traveled to Kilkenny to tour a potato farm, Kilkenny Castle, St. Mary’s Cathedral and spent the rest of the day helping on a farm with horses and cows.
They continued with handson exploration the day after with local farming in the region including a strawberry farm. The group enjoyed a locally grown dinner that evening. The following day they traveled via the Cliffs of Moher to Galway where they toured Eyre Castle and Lynch’s Castle, visited an oyster farm and watched a sheepdog demonstration at a local sheep farm. The last day they traveled back to Dublin and enjoyed a farewell dinner that evening. Abby said her favorite part was seeing all the architecture of the castles and cathedrals as well as learning about the different culture of farming.
Eight-year-old Brooklyn Branch attended Pine Cove Camp in Columbus once again this summer July 2-8. She enjoyed horseback riding, ziplining in the lake, canoeing, the water blob, a silent dance party, prayer time and she learned lots of camp songs about Jesus.
Last summer was Clint and Diana’s 20th wedding anniversary and they took a trip to Antigua. This summer was the 20th wedding anniversary of Clint’s stepbrother and his wife, Joe and Heather Snow. Joe and Heather asked Clint and Diana to travel with them July 1-5 to celebrate this event in the Dominion Republic. The Branch family has one more trip before school starts, their annual RV trip to the Frio with a large group of all their RV buddies next week.
Chad and Theresa Guidry of Iola have been building a new house for several years and it was finally ready for move in December 2022. Because of various events between then and now, a housewarming party was held at their home July 8. A delicious barbecue meal was served while family from Louisiana and local friends visited and listened to the live music provided by Chad, brothers Karl and Dave Waitz of Plantersville and Chuck Bolin of Burton. A pleasant evening was enjoyed by all.
Happy Birthday to those celebrating this week: July 13 – Susan Wisnoski, Kyleigh Backhus; July 14 – Joey Schulze, Pam Evans, Cynthia Todd, Laveta Malek; July 15 – Maren Darst,Andrea Merola; July 16 – Darrell Dietrich, Dianne Kolbasinski, Ivey Perry; July 17 – Erin Kimich, Weston Allen, Johnny LeFlore, Marla Gurka, Matthew Flournoy; July 18 – Marion Szymczak, Tony Pavlock, Frank Matejicek, Alexia Nobles; July 19 – Bailey Wehmeyer, James Kubacak, Logan Shead, Keaton Hare, Trever Pavlock, Lizabeth Rankin.
Happy Anniversary to those celebrating this week: July 14 – Tommy and Barbara Szymczak, 50 years; July 14 – Dennis and Pam Johnson, 33 years; July 15 – Travis and Tammi Hughey, 6 years; July 16 – Doug and Kodi Burdette, 12 years; July 16 – Zack and Monica Hurst, 12 years; July 16 – Steven and LaShonda Keen, 18 years; and July 19 – Donny and Kaci Yargo, 20 years.
If you have special news about what goes on in your family or life, let me know by calling 936-870-6842 or email me at gailmsowell@yahoo.com. I would love to share with others.