Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 3, Ed. 1 Tuesday, June 29, 2004 Page: 9 of 40
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Shindig honors
Tommy Hamill
TUESDAY, JUNE 29. 2004
Hams Countu Leader
Ex-Iraqi hostage
visits in Point
By Xlinda Painter
An unabashed
Shindig Show au-
dience smothered
tommy Hamill ev-
ery chance it got
Saturday night.
Returning from
his ordeal yi Iraq
on May 2. 2004;
Hamill can be con-
sidered the poster-
child for the U S.
involvement in that
war Rejected by
the U S. Marine
C orps because of a
minor physical ail-
ment. he joined the
Halliburton truck-
driving team to
deliver precious
goods and luel to
the armed services
in Iraq.
Many of his
well-wishers were
family members
from the Rabc re-
union: however. L
total strangers ex-
tended their hand
in friendship and
gratitude for the
young hero's safe
letum.
Standing on
stage by his side
uni holding on
dearly was his wife
Kellie Hamill
thanked God lor
Ins escape from an
linqi prison and the
audience applaud-
ed his account of
the adventure.
Kicking things
off. Joe Cason
stepped m and
introduced the eve-
ning's emcee.
Steve Meet His
handsome smile
greeted the audi-
ence and Provi-
dence must have
selected his open-
ing song.
With the huge
IS. flag as a
backdrop and a
few still misty eyes
in the audience.
Meet broke into an
old. Merle Hag-
gard favorite.
You’re Standing
mi the lighting
Side of Me" The
audience roared
its approval. The
appearance of the
celebrity, with the
first-hand story of
his escape, and the
patriotic fervor of
the crowd set the
tone for the show.
Cnergi/.ed by
TOMMY HAMILL
STEVE FLEET
CALLIE MAXWELL
CODY MAXWELL
the crowd’s
applause for his
opening number.
Fleet introduced a
familiar duo- to
theatre, Cody and
Gallic Maxwell.
These two charm-
ing teenage per-
formers and song-
writers are from
Dodd City.
Callie was
exceptionally pret-
ty onstage as she
did a number she
1 wrote last summer.
I “Callie’s Yodeling
I Song.” Then, as a
I duo, Cody joined
I her to play
I “straight man,” as
I an animated Callie
I helped him out
with “Long Tall
Texan.”
Featured guest
performer for this
evening was David
J Cline from Com-
bine, near Seagov-
ille
Songwriter and
performer, David
began his career in
country music in
1995. It’s still
undecided whether
he got his son
Brian started
singing or vice
versa. Both have
become very pop-
ular in Europe and
Australia. .
To date, David
has many songs
and four CD
albums to his cred-
it. His deep, mel-
low voice and
natty on-stage
appearance makes
him a crowd pleas-
er anywhere he
goes. He and his
wife Becky are
planning a conceit
tour in Australia
next January.
Guests like
Steve Fleet, David
Cline and the
Maxwell teen-
agers, have made
the Shindig Show
popular around the
three-state area.
Following a gig
with legendary
Willie Nelson in
Fort Worth, Del
Puschert and Char-
lie Munford will
return to the
Shindig stage on
July 10th for a
“hollerin’, good-
time show.”
Leader photo by BONNIE BURCH
A TREASURE FOUND AT LAST - Rains County resident Jane Har-
man points to a piece of debris recently found in her flower bed that
most likely is an item that fell from the Columbia space shuttle Seven
astronauts lost their lives about 40 miles above the earth when the
spaceship disintegrated on February 1. 2003. over East Texas
Point resident
finds piece of
space shuttle
By Minda Painter
April 9ih. 2004. an army con-
voy moved south along the high-
way toward Baghdad. Fuel
trucks from the north, escorted
by armored personnel carriers
and humvees. sjx.’d through the
sand hills until they were deci-
mated by heavy gunfire. As the
tankers received fire and broke
down, drivers and crewmen
hailed out and headed for the
nearest humvec to escape the
ambush.
Tommy Hamill. age 43. was
one such driver. When his truck
tailed, he scrambled out of the
cab and raced toward a depart-
ing vehicle. However, his prog-
ress was slow and Ins ride out of
hell sped off without him
Perhaps it was the AK 47
round that smashed through the
door of his tanker and lore away
the flesh of his forearm that
slowed him. But he shxxl alone
in the middle ol the road until
his attackers corralled him.
That day you saw Tommy on
the hourly TV news. Home-
movies by a Muslim extremist,
showed him huddled in the back
of an Iraqi vehicle, bound and
alone. Then it sped away. It car
ried the hopes and tears of a
young man just captured in the
Iraqi desert.
Saturday night. June 26.
Tommy Hamill emerged again.
TOMMY & KELLIE HAMILL
T his time he was in a more lov-
ing and admiring atmosphere.
He was visiting the Rabe family
reunion in Point and dropped by
the Cotton Pickin' Theatre to see
the Saturday Nile Shindig Show.
Kin to the Rabes and Casons
by marriage. Tommy and wife
Kellie are vacationing here in
Last Texas, staying in Garland
with Kellie’s dad. Wallace
Green. Her stepmother. Georgia
Rabe Green, is sister to Edith
Trimble and the Rabe brothers,
Benny. Danny J.. and Eddie, all
ol YVoosley. and Jimmy, of
Emory.
The couple will relax a while
m the area and return home to
Macon. Miss., early next month.
After talking to Tommy for a
long while, if he had his
"druthers," I think he would
return to his job in Iraq, to do his
hit m ihe service ol his country
and his President
By BONNIE BlIRCH
Rams County Lcatkr Malt
DAVID CLINE
Tyler’s Sandy Duncan
stars in The King and I
Tyler native Sandy Duncan
returns to the Music Hall in-Fair
Park Tuesday. June 29. to star as
\nna in the national tour of
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The
Tiny and I
Duncan made her profession-
tl theatrical debut as a 12-year-
>ld in a Dallas Summer Musical
production of The King mul / in
1958 and went on to become a
major star o! stage, film, and TV.
Set in the 1860s in the exotic
capital city of Bangkok. The
King and I is the story about a
powerful and stubborn king,
played by Martin Vidnovic, and
a determined governess named
Anna. Based on the real-life
adventures of English widow
Anna Leonowcns, The King and
I is a fascinating talc about a
clash of customs. Over lime,
Anna earns the admiration of the
royal family and eventually she
w ins the respect of the king him-
self Despite their many differ-
ences, Anna and the King of
Siam fall in love.
The King and I features opu-
lent settings, a beautiful story of
honor and forgiveness, and is
filled with memorable songs
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such as '‘Hello Young Lovers,”
"Shall We Dance?” and “Getting
To Know You.”
The show will run through
July II followed by Big River,
The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn. This production, which
runs July 20 through August 1,
includes deaf, hard-of-hearing
and hearing actors performing
each role in a synchronized bal-
let of speaking and singing.
August 10 through 21, Little
Shop of Horrors comes to the
DSM for the first time. It, is the
story of a man-eating .plant
named Audrey and the people
who care for her.
Dein Perry's Tap Dogs Re-
booted comes to the Music Hall
for a one-week special August
24 through 29.
August 31 through September
12, Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat returns
to the Music Hall. One of the
most popular shows in DSM’s
64-year history, Andrew Lloyd
Webber’s adaptation of the Bib-
lical story is as colorful as
Joseph’s coat of many colors.
Jesus Christ Superstar moves
into the Music Hall at Fair Park
to play September 28 through
October 17 as the 2004 State
Fair of Texas musical.
Tickets to The King and I and
all shows are on sale now at The
Box Office at 542 Preston Royal
Shopping Center, Dallas, all
Tickctmasler locations, or by
phone at 1-214-631-ARTS; or
online at www.ticketmaster.com.
For groups of 20 or more, call 1 -
214 426-GROUP.
First boom.....then thud!
Those were the sounds in
sequence that Jane Harman
heard as she lay in bed on Satur-
day morning, February 1, 2003.
Since husband Jack was gone on
a horse trail ride. Jane was by
herself and thought, “My good-
ness. What was that?”
Unable to sleep, she turned on
her television and learned that,
along with the seven astronauts
aboard, the Columbia space
shuttle had disintegrated over
East Texas. At that instant. Jane
knew the thud she heard close to
her house was a piece of that
space shuttle. What she didn't
know was that it would take over
a year to find it.
The Harmans live on 22 acres
outside Point, and their house is
in a very wooded area. Jane
decided to get her grandkids to
help her and was sure they'd
soon find the piece somewhere
in the leaves. When their search-
es proved fruitless, she said she
dismissed the issue and figured
it would show up someday.
That someday was in late
March of this year when she was
raking leaves in the flower bed
against the side of the house.
There it was! A funny looking
thing that husband Jack identi-
fied as a marine electrical junc-
tion box, which would be con-
sistent with an object that might
come from the shuttle. Jack was
previously a safety engineer
with Travelers Insurance Com-
pany and had more than a pass-
ing knowledge of such things.
Then came the challenge of
finding officials or an agency
that would take responsibility
for the item. Jane said. “We
called our senator in Greenville,
contacted several officials, went
on the Internet, got hold of
NASA, and no one seemed
interested in retrieving the
piece.” Obviously dismayed, the
Harmans ultimately called a
computer-savvy friend, Wesley
Rawles, who went on the Inter-
net and finally contacted Weston
Solutions. Inc. - a company
hired by NASA to recover the
Columbia debris.
Last Thursday. June 17. G1S
Analyst Curt Hayworth with
that company arrived at the Har-
man home. He showed Jane
identification from Weston
Solutions Inc. and NASA-Fort
Worth and retrieved the item.
She shared. "Yes. he thinks w hat
I had was from the Columbia
shuttle. He saw scarring and liq-
uid burns and said that because
there were serial numbers on it.
they would help to identity the
piece.” Hayworth will contact
the Harmans when he has evi-
dence that the item came from
the Columbia shuttle.
He explained the steps in-
volved when his company
recovers debris They are the
following:
I) Weston Solutions, Inc.
picks up the debris.
2) It is then sent to NASA in
Palestine, Texas, where it is put
in a hangar in a weather balloon
station.
3) The debris is then sent to
NASA at the Kennedy Space-
Center in Florida.
4) It is analyzed there and
then sent to NASA at the Hous-
ton Space Center.
Although the exact reason tor
the explosion may never be fully
understood, on April 23, 2003,
an independent investigation
team all but arrived at a firm
conclusion. The determination
was that a seal on the left wing
was struck by foam during
liftoff and is believed to have
fallen off the next day. creating a
gap that let hot gas enter the
spaceship during re-entry. (Info
taken from the Internet.) Unlike
other space missions during the
last few years, which were
mainly devoted to building and
supplying (he International
Space Station, the Columbia
mission was purely devoted to
science.
Meanwhile, the Harmans be-
lieve they participated in a part
of American history by comply-
ing with directives given by
NASA that people who think
they have found Columbia
debris on their property should
report and turn over the finds to
NASA. The debris belongs to
the United States government
and may be helpful in determin-
ing what caused the disaster.
i
em e • ^ f r*
DAY CAMP ATTENDEES Kevin Horton (left) and Jasmine Robinson
show their paintings they made during the A. C. McMillan Day Camp.
A. C. McMillan Museum
sponsors day camp
Recently, the A. C. McMillan
African American Museum
sponsored a day camp for
youngsters needing to he
involved in meaningful, creative
activities during their summer
vacation. Since several had
never been to the museum (or
any other museum), after regis
tration. the first activity was to
learn what a museum is and the
importance of having a museum
in the community. All agreed
that even though a museum is an
institution much like school, it is
much more fun because people
to come to the museum and the
activities are designed to he both
educational and fun.
Some of the specific activities
included reading, writing, play-
ing games with words, coloring
(with crayons, pencils, markers,
and with paints and brushes),
and taking trips to Rubye McK
eown Park for some outdixvr fun.
On Wednesday for lunch, all
participants and sponsors en-
joyed a picnic outside the home
of museum volunteer Florcne
McMillan
Nearing the end of the three-
day activity, several children
thought that the camp should
have been lor the entire week;
and Kevin Horton stated. "The
camp should be held again next
year and I plan to attend!"
Children participating in Ihe
day camp activities were Tyson
Marin. Kevin Horton. Lauren
Robinson. Taylor Anderson,
Hayes McMillan. Brian
Thomas. Jason Thomas, Tevin
Norris. Tannicle Norris. Rekeiya
Harrison, Jasmine Robinson,
T.J. McMillan, and Derrick
McMillan. Adults that assisted
with the day camp and picnic
were Modis McMillan. Florcne
McMillan. Liz Robinson, Ad-
dine Thomas. Yashika Anderson,
Tonya Young, and Gwendolyn
M. Lawc (camp director).
Leader Honor Roll ! Ladonia Rodeo and
Frontier Days set
The Leader would like to take this opportunity to
thank the following subscribers. Hope you enjoy it!
USE LEADER CLASSIFIEDS!
Robert, Joyce, and Susan
Hum, Fannon Garrett. Ray Wil-
son, Roger D. Hooten, Gary Bar-
croft, Lany T. Upchurch, Lois
Watson, Win. B. Connell, Johnny
Briggs, J.W. and Ava Hogue,
Justin Smith. Joe Applewhite.
Lee Roland, Lummie Porter.
Peggy Gandy, Viola Dodson,
David F. Keeler, Jerric Staggs.
Paul W. Gannon. Laura Ottc.
J.H. Mierzwik, Ina Rhodes.
Jeanette and Douglas Fletcher.
La Rue and Jim Moore. Dvina Id
Holt, F.A. Motsick. Linda Dar
row, Marvin Berry, Robin Gar-
ner, Kate South. Betty Culber-
son, Kcriy Culberson, Mike
Lykins, L.N. and Linsey While.
Jack Horton, Billy Hooten.
Karen Johnson. Carolyn and
i^Lyndell Rivers. Vic
Parpait, J.D. and June Hubble.
J.W. Parkman. Milhurn F. Walk
er, J.P. Fitzgerald. Dean Swain.
Jerry Hardin. R&D Tile, Chris
O’Bier. Clyde W Rhodes II,
W.D. Cotten, Jeff and Sarah Nie-
mann. Donald D. Turner. New
Millennium Shop. Don and
Juanita Briggs. Jerry Tally. Dr
Mcril Taylor, Rachel Elder.
Sharon Jaynes. Stanley and
Elaine McArcc. Hams D. Hass,
Joyce Butfington. Pauline Mt-
Aree, George and Donna Alex-
ander. Richard Bryan. Verna
Spence. David and Opai Baker.
Linda Bailey. Lonnv Smith.
Dorothy Harrell. Kathy Grimes.
Billy and Barbara Lynn. BAY
Middleton. Guy Morgan. Phillip
and Lou Jennings.
The 39th annual Ladonia
Rodeo & Frontier Days will be
held Thursday. Friday and Sat-
urday. July 8. 9 and I Oth at 8:30
p in. at Eastman Arena located
on I NI 64 at CR '360. Ladonia.
Hook' open Monday. July 5:
entry lees S60/SKM) IR: rough
stock 2:<X) to 5:00 p in ; timed
events 5:00 to 10:00 pm To
enter call 903-846-5151.
There will be eight events:
bull riding, bareback riding, sad
die oronc. steer wrestling, call
roping, break-away roping, team
roping and barrel racing.
Prior to the rodeo perform-
ance: Thursday night, mutton
bustin' (sheep tiding) for kids
six years and under, limited to
15 contestants
Thursday. Friday anil Satur
day night: kids fxxrt find, six
years and under; kids calf
scramble. 10 years and under.
Saturday night there will be a
dance featuring Stacy Mus-
grove and the Stony Creek
Band.
An outstanding comedy act
features Paul Meyers of Deni-
son and sponsored by Greenville
Ford, Lincoln. Mercury.
For additional information
contact Discha or Billy Joe
Threlkeld at 903 367-7244
******
Mary Julian was a visitor in
the Leader office recently to
renew her subscription.
******
Susan Hum was a recent visi-
tor tn the Leader office to renew
her subscription.
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Hill, Earl Clyde, Jr. Rains County Leader (Emory, Tex.), Vol. 117, No. 3, Ed. 1 Tuesday, June 29, 2004, newspaper, June 29, 2004; Emory, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth767760/m1/9/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rains County Library.