The Leonard Graphic (Leonard, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 28, 2016 Page: 1 of 10
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Lea Ann Thomas, Crossroads Hardware, Susan Perkins
and Brian Harless honored for 2015 achievements
Early voting for
Council under way
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Tigers’ trio of key wins moves
Spring Bash this
team up in 13-3A standings
Saturday, April 30
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Continued to Page 6
MEEr THE^
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Place 4 Candidates
of
SHOUT IT ALOUD. DO NOT HOLD BACK. RAISE YOUR VOICE LIKE A TRUMPET.
the
MAY 5 2016
Nat’l Day of Prayer May 5
Councilmember
VoZ. 126 Issue No. 17
Thursday, April 28,2016
In Continuous Publication Since 1890
There's NO excuse for child abuse!
APRIL IS CHILD ABUSE AWARENESS AND PREVENTION MONTH.
You can help. One minute of your time can make a difference for a child's lifetime.
" I
Named the 2014 Leonard Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year!
Leonard Phillips
(Incumbent)
Council Place 2
Jane Blackerby
Jim McIntire
Mayor
Willie Johnson
Steven Bolin
Lea Ann Thomas accepts her award for the 2015
Citizen of the Year from Leonard Chamber of
Commerce President Steve Long Monday evening.
Thursday, May 5 will be the
National Day of Prayer event
nation wide and Valley Creek
Baptist Church has coordinated
a local event for the Leonard
area. The event will be held on
the Leonard city lawn by the
gazebo, unless rain chases it
inside to the Leonard Community
Center. It will be at 7 p.m. on that
evening and everyone attending
is encouraged to bring a lawn
chair and bug spray. Pastor
Adam Spore of the First United
Methodist Church of Leonard
will be bringing the message.
The Pentecostal Church of Jesus
Christ in Leonard will be leading
the music for the event.
Everyone is encouraged to
come out and join in praying for
our nation.
Council Place 4
Leonard Phillips
David Norman
Dion Ponius
Laura Westbrook
By Betsy Blevins
Editor and Publisher
Thank you,
Leonard Phillips
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WAKE UP
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Head Baseball Coach Craig Coheley (center)
recognized seniors (from left) Ryan Reed
Nixon, Colson Coheley, Mackenzie Crossland
(bookkeeper) and Chase Taylor (manager) at
Senior Night.
I believe we have made
remarkable progress due to
the circumstances our City has
faced. The City is operating and
functioning better than it has in
years.
I ask you to vote for
me, Leonard Phillips, in the
upcoming election. I will
continue to make decisions
and vote what I believe is best
for the City and citizens of
Leonard.
Leonard Police Department
is planning their 2nd Annual
Spring Bash for Saturday, April
30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the
downtown Leonard square.
While the event is free to
the community, the PD is using
it as a fundraiser to purchase
much-needed safety equipment
for which there is not funding
otherwise. Grants are not there
for small departments, and the
budget is tight. On the list of
things needed are body cameras,
traffic cones, flares, traffic vests,
lockout kit, floor jacks, etc.
"It's helping us help the
community," said Chief Brian
Meserole.
Chief Meserole wanted to
make it clear that funds raised
will not be used to purchase
firearms, ammo, tasers, etc. -
misappropriation of funds by
our former City Adminstrator.
The City was in debt and
turmoil. Over the last year,
the City had to make difficult
decisions and take actions to
try and recover. We are making
i ^r^imwk
of special recognition - and
two standing ovations - for his
service to the community and to
the country.
“The person we are
recognizing epitomizes what
the word ‘service’ means,”
said Chamber President Steve
Long. “This person not only
serves this community in a
large capacity, and is a friend to
many, but has also devoted their
life in service to this country.”
Harless joined the Marine
Corps in 1988 just out of
high school. After his time
in the Marines, he continued
his service through the Army
National Guard. In 2007, he
began the Q Course, which is
the rigorous training program
for entry into the United States
Army Special Forces. Harless
completed the course in 2008,
Continued to Page 8
only things needed for officer/
traffic safety.
Event planning is still under
way, but as of press time there
was a silent auction, raffles, two
bounce houses, dunking booth
(with Officer Helms inside), free
hot dogs, bake sale, vendors, etc.,
on the agenda.
Vendors may donate a
portion back to the department,
and a donation box will also
be set up, but Chief Meserole
wanted to reiterate that this is a
free community event that he
wants the residents to come be a
part of - the donation box is only
for those who wish to directly
support the PD.
Businesses are donating
items for raffle, and anyone
wishing to do so can contact
Chief Meserole at 903-587-2234.
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[Editor's Note:
Councilman Phillips was
out of town last weekend and
did not get the questionnaire
before we published last week's
Meet the Candidates column.]
With the balance of the
season hanging in doubt, the
Leonard Tigers baseball team
responded to the call ringing up
three key victories last week.
The victories moved the Tigers
into a third place tie with rival
Whitewright in the 13-3 A
standings.
"We responded very well
to the pressure last week,"
Head Coach Craig Coheley
said. "We had lots of players
come through with clutch
performances. I am very
proud of the team, but we
can't celebrate long. Tougher
opponents are ahead."
Leonard, 12-9 overall and
8-5 in league play, pulled off the
biggest win of the year Saturday
mH
To get to know each of
the candidates running for
Leonard City Council, see
last week's and this week's
issue of The Graphic's
Meet the Candidates
section.
I was
Leonard City
Council in
May of 2014.
I was only a
member for
two months "
when the
City became
aware of -
n
night, rallying in the bottom
of the sixth to defeat Caddo
Mills 4-2. That victory was
sandwiched between a come-
from-behind 14-9 win over
Lone Oak on the road Friday
and a 12-6 win over Commerce
at home on "Senior Night"
Monday.
"All three victories were
huge... but that Caddo game was
special," Coheley said. "If we
had lost, we were pretty much
going to be almost eliminated
because they would have held
any tie-breaker advantage over
us. But we responded. Led by
Ryan Nixon's determination
on the mound the boys found a
■■I
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75 tents
progress at this time.
I believe our progress
was made possible by the
new addition of new City
Council members, an outside
temporary City Administrator
(who was instrumental n
finding our highly qualified
City Administrator), new City
Administrator, and new Public
Works Director. We are now
on the right track and moving
forward with progress for our
City.
Below is a list of
accomplishments the Council
has made during the last year:
- made a budget and are
staying within the budget
spending WITH
authorization
- credit cards have to be
checked out and returned with
Monday night was filled
with lots of fun and laughs,
and even a few tears, as the
community celebrated the
year 2015 at the 2016 Leonard
Chamber of Commerce
Banquet. With the theme
“Roaring 20s” there were
gangsters and flapper girls a
plenty, a 1920s swim team, a
couple of golfers in flat caps
and knickerbockers, and even a
cigarette girl and “champagne”
(ginger ale) waiter making
rounds. The event was top
notch, all the way from the
decor, to the food, to the emcee,
to the entertainment — and on
down to those honored with the
annual awards.
Brian Harless was
presented with a certificate
Early voting for the
Leonard City Council races
started Monday. Those
wishing to vote early may
do so Monday, April 25,
through Tuesday, May 3, at
Leonard City Hall during
the normal business hours
of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with
the exception of Thursday,
April 28, and Tuesday,
May 3, when there will be
extended voting hours from
7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Election day is
Saturday, May 7, with polls
open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
at Leonard City Hall.
Those on the ballot are
as follows (first name listed
is incumbent):
receipts
- mileage/gas usage for city
vehicles is recorded
keeping track
attendance
- bills paid on time
- work orders completed in
a timely manner
- water/sewer problems
being managed aggressively
(not waiting on a grant)
- Council members are
now using a check-and-balance
(reviewing all reports, expenses,
bills, etc.)
As a citizen and a taxpayer
you would assume that all of
the above items would be an
every day happening. I can
assure you that in the past these
items were not consistently
carried out.
As a
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Blevins, Betsy. The Leonard Graphic (Leonard, Tex.), Vol. 126, No. 17, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 28, 2016, newspaper, April 28, 2016; Leonard, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1239930/m1/1/: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Leonard Public Library.