Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 26, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 6, 2016 Page: 1 of 12
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PRICE 500
EMORY, TEXAS - TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2016
Vol. 130, Issue 26 - 1 section, 12 pages plus inserts
POINT
Historical church
closes its doors
Page 3
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JIM inn
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1
Page 7
A tradition continues
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TARL HAHMOR
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RAINS ISD
Public hearing to be held at December 13 meeting
THIS
WEEK
A public hearing regarding the district’s Finan-
cial Integrity Rating System of Texas’ (FIRST)
report will be held during the December regular
meeting. While the public hearing has been on
previous board agendas, various situations have
forced the board to push the hearing until next
Tuesday, including last month’s Rains Varsity
Volleyball Team’s playoff game being held on the
g
M
On Tuesday, December 13, the Rains Indepen-
dent School District Board will meet for its regular
December meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Adminis-
tration Building, located next to the junior high
school.
On Sunday, December 4, a part of Rains
County history officially closed its doors.
The Point United Methodist Church located
on FM 47 in the city of Point, held its final
worship service. With declining attendees on
Sundays, the church had been sharing Pastor
Susan Gross with Lone Oak United Methodist
Church for the last few years.
Recently, Point UMC members Marvin
Henson and Clodell Briggs provided the Rains
County Leader with an early history written
by Mary Kantenberger. She began her detailed
writing with the words, “The greatest achieve-
ments usually begin with the most meager
beginning, and the erection of the Method-
ist Church of Point, Texas is no exception.”
She explains that in 1913, A.J. Rabb, F.C.
Montgomery, J.O. Ferguson and D.S. Peoples
began a fund to build the current Methodist
Church building. Glen and Ernest McFadden,
Many people regard Rains High
School Theatre teacher Christopher
Collins in high esteem, for his abili-
ties to direct plays, reach students
through his teaching and community
involvement. However, Collins was
recently recognized for his play-
writing talents. He won the 2017
Texas Educational Theatre Associa-
tion PlayFest Award for Best Play
Among Texas Residents for his play
Calling the Shots.
On Collins’ website, ponderlake.
com, a summary of the play reads:
“Charlie Bagley, the mayor of a large
city, is well-loved, but has a hard
time keeping his sarcasm to himself.
But he is far from unmatched; his
wife, Dana, keeps up every step, and
their ex-con butler isn’t far behind.
“When the mayor’s daughter,
known for her lax morals and lack
of discretion, brings home yet anoth-
er boyfriend, the audience gets the
sense something isn’t right, espe-
cially when all the cinema posters in
the city are being filled with bullets.
“Add a next-door neighbor with
multiple personalities, an egocentric
movie star couple, a visit from the
eccentric mayor of Dusseldorf, Ger-
many with her narcoleptic, nudist
son, and the appearance of a popular
handgun, and nobody knows how it
will end, except for the playwright,
of course.”
Winners of the award, according
to http://www. tetatx. com/home/con
ventions/theatrefest/playfest, “Suc-
cessful submissions will receive a
$200 check, and slot at the T.E.T.A.
TheatreFest Convention for mount-
ing the play.”
The “dark comedy/sarcastic/crime
comedy” production will be per-
formed next month at the Texas Edu-
cational Theatre Association’s annual
conference to be held in Galveston.
along with cousin Clarence McKnight, led
construction of the building which took a mere
five weeks. According to Kantenberger, many
church members helped with construction. In
the beginning, W.E. Edwards served as pastor
of both Point UMC and Emory UMC. In the
early 1960s, for the first time, the Point Meth-
odist Church held its own pastor.
Kantenberger describes the building, in its
infancy, as having no classrooms and parish-
ioners using two side doors to enter. Attendees
sat in opera seats as makeshift pews, with a
wood stove providing heat during the winter
months. Then, in 1932, the church was over-
hauled, under the direction of Pastor J.E. Ful-
derson. Pews were installed, the main building
was enlarged and redecorated and two class-
rooms were added. A piano was first used in
the church until, in the 1950s, Mrs. Rita Davis
Alexander and Mrs. C.P. Davis donated an
organ to the church until a new one was pur-
h
e
Wildcats &
Lady Cats
earn district
honors
same day of the board’s regular meeting day. A
special meeting was called in lieu of that meeting
so that board members, staff, teachers, parents and
students could attend the playoff game.
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) (which
issues the FIRST report) states on its website, tea.
texas.gov, “The state’s school financial account-
ability rating system, known as the School Finan-
cial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST),
ensures that Texas public schools are held account-
able for the quality of their financial management
practices and that they improve those practices.
The system is designed to encourage Texas public
schools to better manage their financial resources
to provide the maximum allocation possible for
direct instructional purposes.”
According to the site, Rains ISD received a
“superior” rating for the 2015-2016 based on
2014-2015 data. To receive a superior rating, a
district must earn a score of at least 70 out of 100
points. Rains ISD received a score of 80. When
attributing points to a district, TEA looks at such
items as “did the school district make timely pay-
ments to the Teachers Retirement System, Texas
Workforce Commission, Internal Revenue Service,
and other government agencies?” and “was the
school district’s administrative cost ratio equal
to or less than the threshold ratio?” The district
scored well on both items. For a full report of
Rains ISD’s score, visit http://tea4avwaylon.tea.
state.tx.us/First/forms/District.aspx?year=2014&
district=190903.
Recently, Quinlan ISD posted an “Open Letter
to Our Communities,” a letter written by Rains
ISD Superintendent John Rouse along with the aid
of the superintendents of the Quinlan, Kaufman,
Terrell, Athens, Royse City, Kemp, Malakoff and
Mabank ISDs. Rouse explained, in a phone inter-
view with the Rains County Leader, that the Texas
84th Legislature enacted House Bill (HB) 2804,
which uses five domains: Student Achievement
(determined by STAAR test results), Student Prog-
ress (determined by STAAR test results), Clos-
ing Performance Gaps, Postsecondary Readiness,
and Community and Student Engagement to give
school districts a rating between “A-F.”
In the letter, the superintendents state that the rat-
ing system is unfair to students, teachers, schools
and communities and “is based on an unfair test.”
According to TEA’S website (http://tea.texas.gov/
2804implementation.aspx), the bill “will be used
to evaluate districts and campuses regarding three
goals:
• Preparing students for postsecondary success
• Reducing achievement gaps among students
from different racial and ethnic groups and socio-
economic backgrounds
• Informing parents and the community about
district and campus performance.”
However, the superintendents’ letter lays out
several reasons, and arguments against the bill
and the early implementation of the rating system.
Rouse stated that in January, the TEA will issue
letter ratings to Texas school districts, as if the rat-
ings standards had been in place during the 2014-
2015 school year. The ratings given to the districts
in January, and in 2018 for the 2016-2017 school
RAINS COUNTY
Collins wins playwriting
award for Calling the Shots
By LAUREN WITHROW
Rains County Leader staff
By LAUREN WITHROW
Rains County Leader staff
By LAUREN WITHROW
Rains County Leader staff
see PUBLIC page 11
see HISTORIC page 11
Leader photo by TREY HILL
Point United Methodist Church, located at 250 S. 1st Street in Point, officially closed its doors on Sun-
day, December 4. The church was built and dedicated in 1913.
Contributed photo
Lake Country Neighbors (LCN) continues an annual tradition of buying Christ-
mas gifts for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) children in Rains
County. Marsha Baumann (left), LCN liaison for CASA, presents gifts to Peggy
Walker, Supervisor for the Lake Country CASA office serving Rains County. LCN is a
501(c)(3) organization performing community service throughout Rains County and
the surrounding area. LCN is open to all women that would like to contribute to the
community through service and partnership. Contact information is at lakecountry
neighbors.com.
Western K
Gateway toX
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Capital
December 7,
1941,
a date which will
live in infamy.
F E
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Letters to
Santa are
due by
Dec. 9!
27
Mains Countu Leader
Your Hometown Newspaper Since 1887 Web: www.RainsCountyLeader.com
I I Email: ramsleader@earthhnk.net
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RAIN
REPORT
Nov. 28.....................1.27
Total for Nov............2.55
Dec. 3........................0.80
Dec. 4........................0.03
Total for Dec............0.83
Total for year.........34.05
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Hill, Trey. Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 26, Ed. 1 Tuesday, December 6, 2016, newspaper, December 6, 2016; Emory, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1471090/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rains County Library.