Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 13, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 4, 2001 Page: 1 of 16
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Bains Counto leader
Your Hometown Newspaper Since 1887
Vol. 114, Issue 13-1 Section, 16 Pages
EMORY, TEXAS - TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2001
PRICE 50C
NEWS BRIEFS
County budget/tax hearing scheduled
The Rains County budget and tax hearing is scheduled for September
4 at 7:30 p.m. in the courthouse annex. All citizens are invited.
Rains Farmers’ Market meeting
The Rains County Farmers’ Market meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m.
September 4 in the Meadows Room of the Rains County Public Library.
Shirley Weeks will give a program on “Fall Canning.” Everyone is invited
to come.
Senior parents and class meeting
There will be a meeting of the senior class and their parents on
Wednesday, September 5, 2001, at the high school cafeteria. All students
and parents are urged to attend this meeting. We are planning fundraisers
and need all input. For more information, call Debbie Jones at 447-2243,
Tabbie Privett at 473-2409 or Debbie Myers at 473-0085.
Lake Tawakoni AARP meeting
The Greater Lake Tawakoni American Association of Retired Persons
(AARP) Chapter 4522 will hold its monthly meeting on September 6 at the
First United Methodist Church in Quinlan. Guest speaker will be Doyle
Ray. He will speak on ways to invest your money now and in the future.
There will be a covered-dish dinner before the meeting. Come out and sup-
port your local chapter.
Alba Postmaster Sam Fazel to retire
Alba Postmaster Sam Fazel is retiring. Come by the Alba Fin and
Feather on Thursday, September 6, between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. to wish him
well and show him your appreciation for all the years of service to Alba and
surrounding communities.
Local AARP meeting Thursday
The local AARP, chapter 4669, will have a covered-dish fellowship at
the NETO building in Emory on Thursday, September 6, at 6:30 p.m. There
will be a short meeting. Guest speaker will be Lee Roland. Everyone is wel-
come to come.
Benefit luncheon Friday for local club
The Rains County branch of the Boys and Girls Club will host a ben-
efit barbecue luncheon with all the trimmings at the Rose Community
Center Friday, September 7, from 11:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. A plate will be
a $5 donation. All monies will be used to help save the Boys and Girls Club
of Rains County and are tax deductible. Save the kids!
Blood drive at Franklin Bank
A blood drive will be held at Franklin National Bank on September 8
from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Franklin Bank is located on Hwy. 19 South at
Willow Springs Road in Emory. Build your family blood supply savings
account before the need arises - START TODAY!
Remember, you can make your blood donation in the name of Bobbye
Thorp’s mother, Helen Holster, who has been diagnosed with acute
leukemia and needs blood transfusions.
Senior Advisory Council fundraiser
The Senior Advisory Council of Rains County will sponsor a refresh-
ment stand on the square in Emory on September 15 during the classic car
show to raise funds for completion of the pavilion at Green Acres Nursing
Home. The menu will include barbecue sandwiches, chips, drinks, nachos
and cookies. Please come out and support us in this effort.
Dance teams to perform at fair
Rhythm Elite, Rhythm Express and Strictly Rhythm, the three perfor-
mance teams from Dance Dimensions in Mineola, will perform at the Rains
County Fair on Friday, September 14, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Rhythm Elite is locally and nationally recognized for their talent in
jazz, pom, hip-hop and team performance. Three local girls are members of
Rhythm Elite. Staci Schellinger is a senior at Rains High School, Kelli
Stone and Julie Weddle are both eighth graders at Rains junior High.
The director/instructQr of Dance Dimensions, Koni Riley, is a former
Stephen F. Austin pom squad member, a former Dallas Mavericks dancer
and is currently a dancer for the Dallas Sidekicks soccer team, the Sizzle.
Miss Koni will perform with the teams during the hour-long show that is
guaranteed to be an hour of hot music and great dancing.
Helping Hands Ministry talent show
Helping Hands Ministry will host a talent show fundraiser to raise
money for the Helping Hands*Ministry. The H.H.M. provides less fortunate
children of Rains County with new coats, new shoes, new clothing, new
backpacks and provides beds and bedding for those children that are with-
out beds. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, H.H.M. gives meals to families
that would have to go without a holiday meal. You may sing, dance, do
gymnastics, play an instrument, etc. Individuals or groups are welcome.
Your act must be family oriented. The talent show will be held in the Rains
High School cafeteria at 6:00 p.m. on November 3. There will be a $5 entry
fee for each act; deadline for entry is September 13. The first rehearsal will
be September 22, and the second rehearsal will be October 27. Make checks
payable to: Helping Hands Ministry, P.O. Box 65, Emory, Texas 75440. For
more information, contact Kimberly Watkins at 765-3904 or Margie Beck
at 473-2222 ext. 100.
Life Tech takes over ambulance service
by Carolyn Hill
Rains County Leader staff
Life Tech, an ambulance service
headquartered in Stephenville, offi-
cially took over ambulance service
in the county on Saturday, Sep-
tember 1, after their bid on the ser-
vice was accepted by the Rains
County • Fire Prevention District
Board of Directors on Thursday.
Life Tech was the only company
submitting bids. They presented
three options to the board. Steve
Arnold, President of Life Tech,
attended the meeting to explain the
different bid options.
Option one placed two fully
equipped ambulance units in the
county with the first response unit
manned by Life Tech personnel and
the second response unit manned by
volunteers. The bid specified that
the company would provide classes
for those who volunteer; i.e. ECA,
and volunteer fire departments and
Leader photo by EARL HILL
SAME SPEEDY CARE - The ambulance unit has a new look and a few of the faces are new, but the new ambu-
lance service covering the county promises to be as responsive and caring as always. Paramedic Mark Smith (left)
and EMT Rodney Dyer (right) are shown with one of the Life Tech ambulance units that will be stationed in the coun-
ty. Paramedic Jon Wedeking, EMT Traci Burge and EMT Ashley Whitehurst will also cover Rains County for Life Tech.
Smith and Wedeking are former ETMC EMS employees who switched to Life Tech to stay in the county. The com-
pany is looking for one more paramedic to round out the county’s emergency team.
would also train the mutual aid
from area counties. Option one
required a $96,000 subsidy from the
district.
Option two placed two fully
equipped units in the county with
the first response unit manned by
Life Tech personnel and the second
response unit also manned by Life
Tech personnel on a call-in or
stand-by basis. This option required
a $132,000 subsidy.
Option three placed one fully
equipped unit in the county manned
by Life Tech personnel for first
responses. Second response calls
would be covered by mutual aid
from surrounding county or area
ambulance providers. This option
required a subsidy of $84,(XX).
After some discussion, Arnold
said that, under option three, the
company would place a second
ambulance unit in the county to be
manned by volunteers and that the
firemen or anyone in the county
could attend the company’s training
classes.
The board voted to accept option
three at $84,(XX) paid in monthly
installments. A second motion
passed to extended the contract for
a period of three years.
Several East Texas Medical
Center EMS employees who cui
rcntly work the ambulance service
in Rains County indicate at the
meeting that thev ", u,J change
employment in order to remain in
the cour‘y.
Ambulance service to the conn
ty’s residents was not interrupted
Life Tech was available in the coun
ty Saturday morning and is already
responding to calls. Just like with
ETMC EMS, the ambulance will he
on call 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. As of press time Monday, the
second or back-up ambulance was
expected to be delivered within the
week and will be manned by volun
leers. Hopkins County, who de-
clined to place a bid on service in
the county, has already indicated
they will respond to mutual aid
calls.
see LIFE TECH page 2
County fair to open with gospel singing
County fair season passes on sale
Season passes to the 2001 Rains County Fair are now on sale at sever-
al locations throughout the county. Passes are available at the First National
Bank of Emory and at their Alba branch, also at Hall’s Pharmacy in Emory
and Randy’s Grocery in Point. Adult passes are $12, children, four to
twelve years of age, are $8 and children three years of age and under are
admitted free. The fair opens September 10 and runs through Saturday,
September 15, with pageants, music, singing, midway rides and fun for all
the family.
AARP driving program to be held
AARP will have the AARP 55 Alive Mature Driving on September 19
and 20 at 1:00 p.m. at the Rains County Public Library. For more informa-
tion, you may call Margaret Mierzwik at 473-3342 or Mildred Robbins at
473-2722.
Art exhibits due
Saturday morning
by Jaxie Morgan
Rains County Leader staff
The 2001 Rains County Fair will
officially kick off Monday night,
September 10, with cooler tempera-
tures compared with last year’s
scorching temps and prolonged
drought.
Those interested in entering
items in the creaive arts exhibit for
judging and showing should bring
their entries to the exhibit building
at the fairgrounds on Saturday,
September 8, from 9:00 a.m. to 1 :(X)
Court bans
wild animals
by Carolyn Hill
Rains County Leader staff
From now on, if you talk about
having a wild animal around the
house in Rains County, you better
be talking about a spouse with an
attitude.
The county commissioners’ court
voted Thursday, August 30, at a
special session to prohibit residents
in the unincorporated areas of the
county from owning certain danger-
ous wild animals, including, lions,
coyotes, or bears.
The ban came in response to a
new state law, passed by the 77th
Legislature, which became effective
September 1 and requires counties
to either regulate, through permits,
fees, and inspections, ownership of
certain animals or pass an order
prohibiting them. Without a county
animal control officer, the licensing
and collection of permit fees would
fall on the office of the county trea-
surer, and the inspections and en-
dled by the sheriff’s office.
Rather than regulate the animals,
the court chose to ban them.
The list of dangerous wild ani-
see W*LO n»» .3 . -
p.m. Categories include everything
from canning, quilting, and wood-
working to horticulture, antiques
and photography—and everything
in between. A complete listing of
categories and rules ean be found
on page 10 of this issue.
Commercial exhibitors are to set
up Saturday and Sunday from 1:00
to 4:00 p.m.
Baked goods and horticulture en-
tries are to be brought in from 7:45
to 9:(X) a.m. Monday, September
10. The creative arts entries and
baked goods will be judged at 10:00
a.m. The judging is not open to the
public. The exhibit building will be
open daily from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.
week days and 3:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Saturday.
Nightly fair activities begin
Monday night with the Rains 4-H
doggers performing at 6:30 p.m.
followed by the gospel singing at
7:00 p.m. In keeping with the annu-
al tradition, senior citizens are ad-
mitted free on this night. There will
be no carnival rides Monday night..
Preliminary judging for the Wee
Miss, Petite Miss and Little Miss
pageants begins at 1():(X) a.m. Satur-
day at the Rains High School Li-
brary. The pageant will be held on
Tuesday, September 11, beginning
at 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday is also the first arm band
ride night: ride all the rides you
want from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. for
one price of $10.00. Other arm band
nights at Thursday and Saturday.
Wednesday, September 12, steers
will be weighed in at 5:00 p.m. at
Mike Willis’s on FM 515 then taken
to the fairgrounds. Lambs and hogs
will be weighed in from 4:(X) to
6:00 p.m. at the fairgrounds.
Breeding beef and dairy cattle are
also to be brought in and placed
from 4:00 to 6:00.
The fair association was lucky to
secure Skidboot the Wonder Dog
and his trainer, David Hartwig, for
this year’s fair. Skidboot has
appeared on The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno and Late Night with
David Letterman and is a regular at
the State Fair of Texas. He will be
performing in the livestock arena at
7:(X) p.m. Wednesday night anil
again on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
(See related article in this issue.)
Also, KMOO 99.9 FM radio will
be broadcasting live from the Rain-.
Fairgrounds on Wednesday, Thurs
day and Friday nights, and possibly
Saturday too.
Wednesday night is the exciting
Junior Miss and Miss Rains County
pageants starting at 8:00 p.m.
Preliminary judging is at the Rains
High School library beginning at
4:(X).
The Cutest Babies Contest is
Thursday, September 13, beginning
at 7:00 p.m. with three age groups
for boys and girls.
Friday, September 14, is a school
holiday to allow students to partic-
ipate in the junior livestock show.
Judging begins at 8:30 a.m. with the
market lambs, followed by market
hogs, steers, breeding beef and
see FAIR page 3
Taxable values show steady increase
by Jaxie Morgan
Rains County Leader staff
The dust has now settled. With
the six taxing entities in Rains
County having set or already adopt-
ed a proposed tax rate, it’s interest-
ing to see how this year’s rates, val-
ues and levies compare to years
past.
Most of the net taxable values
have increased steadily over the
past seven years, except for a year
here and there, according to the
accompanying tax charts from the
Rains County Appraisal District.
The city of East Tawakoni’s
appraised values have increased
from $19,337,568 in 1995 to
$24,961,090 in 2001. However, the
- tax-rate-lta* dropped from QA241 in
1995, which brought in $82,010.63,
to 0.2207 in 2001, which will bring
in $55,089.13—a decrease of 33%
from '95 to ’01. The East Tawakoni
City Council will meet at 7:30 p.m.
on September 18 to officially adopt
this year’s tax rate.
Emory has seen its property val-
ues grow from $20,361,705 in 1995
to $28,416,284 in 2001, while the
tax rate has varied only slightly.
This year’s rate of 0.2465, if adopt-
ed, will bring in $70,046.14, an
increase of 36.95 from 1995. The
Emory City Council will meet at
6:30 p.m. on September 6 to final-
ize this year’s rate.
Point’s property values have
fluctuated between a low of
$9,554,599 in 1998 to a h;gh this
year of $11,971,875. This year’s
proposed tax rate of 0.2246 will
bring in $26,888.83, up 47.5% from
1995’s levy of $18,228.56.
Rains ISD, which grants home-
stead exemptions and over-age-65
tax freezes, has a net adjusted tax-
able value of $246,348,889 for
2001. The (ax iate of 3r.5534,
which is ten cents lower than last
year and has already been adopted,
will generate $3,960,433.86. Over-
all, the school district’s levy has
increased 37.96% from 1995 to
-2Q0L __
Rains County, which has the
largest net taxable value, is propos-
ing to leave its tax rate the same for
the fourth year in a row. However,
with the increase in appraised val-
ues from $206,864,226 in 1995 to
$311,405,950 in 2001, this same tax
see VALUES page 5
v v* Vs
RAIN
REPORT
y* by Henry Potts
[*. Aug. 30 ..........1.30\
Aug. 31 ..........120»
'Sept. 1...........1.00V,
K Total for week.....3.50 v
v' Total for month ... .5.20 Vs
'Total fqr y^ar.. .^31.83
i
i
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Hill, Earl Clyde, Jr. Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 13, Ed. 1 Tuesday, September 4, 2001, newspaper, September 4, 2001; Emory, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth766157/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rains County Library.