The Wylie News (Wylie, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 30, 1972 Page: 2 of 10
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Wylie-Sachse Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Smith Public Library.
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P<mc Tivo-The Wylie Neii s-Thursday, November 30, 1972
? 1
The Wylie News
"Our job is to serve responsibly, constructively and imaginatively."
THE WYLIE NEWS. INC. - Publisher!
MAILING ADDRESS: P. 0. Box 369, Wylie Texas 75098
OFFICE: First State Bank Building Phone: 442-5M5
Subscription Rates: Collin County, $2.50 Per Year: Outside
Collin County, $3.00 Per Year.
Published every Thursday, Entered as Second Class matter at the Post
Office of Wylie, Texas 75098, under an Act of Congress of March, 1897.
Any erroneous reflections upon the standing, character, or reputation of
any person, firm, or corporation which may appear in the columns of The
Wylie News will be gladly corrected if brought to the attention of the editor.
ADVERTISING RATES : Card of Thanks - $1.00 for the first 20 words,
over 20 words 5? per word ; Resolutions of Respect and Legal Notices-
ISC per line ; Classified or Want Ads-5f per word for the First Insertion,
4C per word each additional insertion; Display advertisinj^rates furnished
upon request.
ASSOCIATION
1 ^ \\>
A
" I MAY DISAPPROVE nF WHAT YOU
SAY, BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE
DEATH YOUR RIGHT !'0 SAY IT."
MB" ll
CAVE-INJ!
.'.yAfdi'*- •
Rural Development Act
The Town Of Wylie
by Beb Fulkerson
Rural Texas areas, subject of much
concern -ner their loss of population
in recent years, have a chance to re-
verse this alarming trend through the
new Texas Rural Development Act,
passed by the b2 nd Lesislature.
The Texas Rural Development Act is
designed to help with up to 40 percent
of the cost )f financing new or ex-
panding industry in rural areas for
qualifying nonprofit foundations.
The Legislature passed this act strictly
to help the ailing economy of rural
Texas.
The Texas Industrial Commission,
charged with administration of the new
law, is holding regional public hearings
in four cities during the month of
November to determine just who is
eligible for this aid.
Officially, rural areas are defined in
the act as those losing population during
the last two federal census, or, those
areas gaining less population or less
manufacturing empl >Iment than the
average for the state's Standard Me-
tropolitan Areas.
All of rural Texa should attend these
hearings to find nut more about the
new act, and to r,ako the first posi-
tive step in doing something about the
economic losses rural Texasniisfated.
A good newsman
doesn't mind his own
business.
■,- 2
Mrs. Lura Belle Smith
FIRST STATE BANK
Member F.D.l.C.
Wylie, Texas
"She loved a - s'v i ugh
may well describe the
First Grade teacher of
many men and women who
went through the Wylie
School System. It was not
unusual to go to Mrs.
Lura Belle Smith's class-
room to find two students
nestled in her lap, or
one getting a special hug.
"They needed special at-
tention today. Their mo-
ther is in the hospital."
This may well have come
from the lips of Mrs.,
Lura Belle, as she w.is
affectionately known.
Mrs. 1 ura He lie was born
just west of Wylie on
April 11, 1899. Her
parents were early set-
tlers in this area, hav-
ing been brought here as
children. Uriah James
Smith, her father, was
the son >f a Presbyter-
rian minister, who came
originally to Texas from
NasnevUle, Tennessee.
Her mother, Alberta Wal-
lis smith, was a small
child when the family
moved to this area from
Corinth, Mississippi,
To them were born
14 children. Twelve
lived to maturity, Mrs.
Lura Belle being the
youngest child. On the spot
that she w,i, born tnis
witty lady lived for the
first forty-two years of
her life.
At the age of " Mrs. Lura
Belle en'ered the Wylie
Schools. Her teacher was
Miss Kittie Billingsley.
In 1918 two thing- hap-
pened to change the life
of Mrs. Lura Belle. Her
farher died and she gradu-
ated from High Sch >oU
A Mr. Smith wa^ the -u-
perintendent of the Wylie
Schoils that year and Miss
Ethel Burch was princi-
pal.
I"our brothers took over
the farm - Charlie. Tom,
Buck, and Will. It was
necessary for Mrs, Smith
to help out around the
farm in the summer.
She credited Mrs. Amy
llowrey with becoming a
teacher. She related tnat
it was Mrs. Howr.'y. also
a teacher, who insisted
that she go to McKinney
to take the necessary ex-
amination for a teacher's
certificate, which was the
only basic requirement in
those days.
After passing the exam,
she taught eight years be-
fore enroling at North
Texas State at Denton
where she received her
B.S. degree.
Mrs. Lu-a Belle became
a Christian and joined the
Corinth Presbyterrian
Church at an early age.
This small Presbyterrian
Church was between Wy-
lie and Murphy, and ac-
cording to Betty Taylor,
niece of Mrs. l ura Belle,
it was a small church
remembered only by a
few which was dissolved
to Parker Presbyterrian.
She later became associ-
ated with the Wylie Metho-
dist Church.
After getting her degree
Mrs. Lura Belle taughr
one year at Parker, two
at Kreymer and fifteen at
Liberty Grove, all in this
area.
she returned to Wylie
Schools at the beginning of
the 1944 term/ and, at
retirement in 1904, she
had r>unded out her for-
tieth year in her chosen
- jfesslon.
In 1942 the brothers de-
cided to quit farming and
move to town. Brother
Will had just died, and
all the rest moved to the
locale of Mrs. Smith's
residence for the rest of
her life - on Birming-
ham ust in front of tne
Poet's Corner
I Ik* ( ill
The Persian cat, perfumed and fair
Strayed out of the kitchen door for air
When a Tom cat lean and lithe and strong
And dirty and yellow just happened along.
He sniffed at the perfumed Persian cat ,,
As she tried to give him I he Old High Hat
And thinking a little time to pass ,,
He whispered "Kiddo, you sure have class .
i
'That's fitting and prope
As she arched a whisker over her eye,
"I'm ribboned, I sleep on a pillow of silk
And dally I'm fed on certified milk
Now I should be happy, I should indeed;
No one Is more highly pedigreed
Yet I'm never contented with what I ve got—
I should be joyful, but joyful I'm not '.
"Cheer up" said the Tom cat, with a broad smile,
"And make new friendships, once in a while--
You need to escape from your back-yard fence;
My Dear; what you need is experience. '
He spun big tales of the outside world
And tried to entice her to give it a whirl,
Suggesting to her, with a giggling laugh
Atrip for the t'
jer" was her reply
sker over her eye,
X, Willi a '""S"
two, down the primrose path.
Now , the morning after the night before
The cat came nome at the hour of four,
The innocent look from her eyes had went
But the smile on her face was one of content. (
After many a dav some children came
To the Persian cat of pedigreed fame
And they were not Persians, but black and tan, .
And she told them their Pa was a traveling man. <
■t
Well there Is a moral, I'll be bound!
For you of the lofty pedigree.
If you would retain your fair renown
Then you need to keep good company.
If you are a genuine aristocrat
And can stand to know the truth unvarnished—
You can't consort with an alley cat
And Keep your snow-white page untarnished.
■i
Author unknown—Slightly revised for Pauline Sedge-
wick
by Frank W. Hooper;
old red brick Wylie Ele-
mentary School.
In 1944 she married Al-
bert "Blackie" Smith of
Mt. Pleasant. Although
they never had children
she raised two of her
sister, Mame's, children
upon her death. Lura was
two when she came to
her aunt's home, and her
brother, Jimmy Gardner,
was five, Mrs. Smith also
helped with the raising of
other nieces and nephews.
First grade was her as-
«■ . signment and it was a
big thrill to her to see
"tne minds of the six
and seven year olds be-
gin to develop and unfold."
This to Miss Lura Belle
was her biggest reward,
"it has been most inte-
resting to have numerous
ones of my first graders
across the years bring
back their grandchildren
to see their first grade
teacher and to visit with
me. It has been a thrill
to see them," she said
at retirement.
After forty years of teach-
ing between 1500 and 2000
"kids" Mrs. Lura Belle
Smith retired from the
teaching profession ac-
tively. In that time she
had taught second and
some third generations.
Living across from the
school, it was not unu-
sual for ex-students to
drop by her home for a
friendly chat or to take
by report cards to show
their progress. She wan
not just an ex-teacher but
a friend and confident.
It was a hard decision
to make - that of retir-
ing. She made it after
being unanimously re-
elected by the school
board for another term.
Mrs. Smith was very ac-
tive in school activities
and interested in the Ex-
Student Associations, al-
ways adding much to them.
Very active in the P.T.A.
Mrs. Lura Belle was
chairman of the welfare.
She saw that many cold
and hungry children were
given the proper food,
clothes and love that It
takes to warm a little
child.
All Wylie was grieved by
the loss of this person
extraordinay in so many
ways, when she died on
September 28, 1966. Her
burial was in the Wylie
Cemetery.
Not many people have left
as indelible mark on this
town as has Mrs. Lura
Belle Smith - FlrstGrade
teacher extraordinay
This article has been one
which I have long wanted
to write but the informa-
tion was not at hand. Re-
cently I ran across the
interview given by Mrs,
Smith at the time of her
retirement. Mrs. Charles
(Betty) Taylor,a niece of
Mrs. Smith, was kind e-
nough to fill in all data
not in the article. Other
bits of Information I
learned from first hand
knowing this wonderful
person.
W? read an article the
ot'uer day concerning the
American Hot Dog which
sent our blood to tne boil-
ing point. This article,
in a sense, was down-
grading the hot dog. Why,
any full grown, red
blooded American knows
that to down-grade the hot
dog is just about as un-
patriotic as an American
can get. We just about as
soon hear someone cri-
ticize the Constitution of
the United States as to
belittle the hot dog. In
fact,a person would be
better off trying to set
aside the Santa Claus
myth, than talking about
our hot dog.
The hot dog is an insti-
tution. It wouldn't sur-
prise us if the American
Indian wasn't roasting hot
dogs before our fore-:
fathers set foot on the
North American Soil, and,
it's just possible that they
had hot dogs right along
side the turkey the day
our forefathers and the
Indians had that famous
Thanksgiving lunch to-
gether.
One objection this article
had to the hot dog was
that it had too much fat
in it. Another thing they
said they pump water into
them so they can cram
them into their hide. Also,
there is such stuff as so-
duim erythorbate, as-
corbic acid and sodium
nitrite added to them.
Now we don't know
anything about all this
stuff except we know it
all goes to make a good
hot aog. We never heard
of anyone having an un-
pleasant experience from
eating them, except when
they ate to many. Of
course that can happen
if you eat to much water-
mellon or too many navy
beans.
Just think whit this coun-
try would he without the
hot dog. There could
be no such thing as a
picnic or a baseball game.
As far back as memory
goes the hot dog is as
much a part of a base-
ball game as the umpire.
Did you ever hear any-
body (yell "kill the um-
pire" without a hot dog?
A picnic or a possum
hunt without a hot dog?
We very well remember
back In the teens when
East Fork bottom wis
about a mile and a half
or two miles wide, with
plenty of tlmbe r and brush
In it , and lots of possums.
It ain't that way now. If
you shoot a gun on one
side of the bottom you
are liable to blow some-
ones windows oui on the
other side. Back In those
days us boys did a lot of
possum hunting at night.
Leave the hot dogs at
home? We had rather
leave the hounds at home*
We would hunt in the
fall and winter. Along
about 9:30 or 10;00 at
night when we got cold
and hungry We would atop
and build' us a fire in'
a ditch. Now that was
when the hot dog roast--
ing took place . Who':
cared about the pos-
sum's. It was the hot
dogs we were after.
Nope them good old days
are gone, except for the
hot dog. Anyhow, most
of us guys are too old
now to walk through the
woods until 9:30 at night.
By that time most of us
are in bed. But please
leave us the hot dog
as a memory of days
gone by.
Our parting remark is
"LONG LIVE THE HOT
DOG."
We came across the fol-
lowing words the other
day which we believe
are worth reeating :
are worth repeating:
They were taken from
the concluding speech of
the 1972 Convention of
the Boys' Clubs of A-
merica.
"Let us never forget
our real American
Heritage. As a nation,
wr llways have, and we
always 'shall, look up;
not down, look outward,
not inward, look with
hope, not greed, with a
deep - down - in - our -
hearts faith, that God
will continue to sustain
us as we search for a
better world for all manf
kind. THAT is A t
merica's heritage." ;
You can't say the In-
come Tax is not fair-
It gives every individual
an even chance
poverty. ;
Would you believe thit
executives at the Trear
sury Department are
paying $2.45 for a me<i}
which cost $14.31 to pre>-
pare? Also, the lawyer^
at the Justice Depart-
ment pay $1.66 for jst
$7.10 lunch.
Tuesday morning, No:-
vember 21, some loc.il
residents woke to a big
surprise. There was
blanket of snow on the
ground. However, thos^
people that were sura-
prised were foreigner^.
Us native born fexan*
are used to any kind <jf
weather hanpenlt.p at arty
time. It takes more rhatti
weather to surprise its
old-timers. But , whft
got us all riled u p wis
the stutt was all owjr
our windshield.
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The Wylie News (Wylie, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 23, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 30, 1972, newspaper, November 30, 1972; Wylie, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth342224/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Smith Public Library.