The Examiner (Navasota, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 16, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 20, 2013 Page: 4 of 26
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Page 4A
November 20, 2013
This Week In Grimes County
1973,1983,1993,2003
1973
• Nathaniel Wallace of
Houston, 78, who was re-
ported missing from
Sweetbriar Nursing Home
about two weeks prior,
was found in Cleveland.
He had hitch-hiked his
way there a day after his
disappearance and rented
an apartment.
• Local dogs were
found randomly killed by
strychnine poisoning.
• Burglars reportedly
got away with stealing a
portable eight-track
player and 25 assorted
tapes, amongst other
items.
1983
• Computers provided
an extra measure of learn-
ing enthusiasm for 15 se-
lected Navasota I.S.D.
second graders at Nava-
sota Primary School.
• Navasota Mayor
Marcus Mallard an-
nounced he would not be
running for a third term.
• The Navasota High
School Rattlers prepared
to face the Brookshire
Royal Falcons in their
quest for the state cham-
pionship title.
1993
• Grimes County com-
missioners re-examined
the appointment of Larry
Adams of Iola, as Precinct
1 constable, after Sheriff
Bill Foster raised concern
over an alleged federal
lawsuit. Adams was ac-
cused of falsifying an ac-
cident report and injuring
a Madisonville man.
• Anderson-Shiro
C.I.S.D. celebrated its
100th anniversary with a
fall festival.
• The Navasota Police
Department encouraged
residents to participate in
the new Help End Auto
Theft Program
(H.E.A.T.).
2003
• The 29th annual Ren-
aissance Festival drew
275,000 visitors, the sixth
highest attendance in fes-
tival history.
• Navasota Principal
Don Lightfoot reported
31 students were enrolled
at Carver Learning Cen-
ter.
• Iola High School’s
Lady Bulldogs won the
Region III tournament
and advanced to state.
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Editor & Publisher
SCOTT MCDONALD
publisher@navasotaexaminer.com
Managing Editor
ROSEMARY SMITH
editor@navasotaexaminer.com
Sales Representative
ANA COSINO
ads@navasotaexaminer.com
Bookkeeper
Carrie Little
bookkeeper@navasotaexaminer.com
Circulation
John Williams, Ina Lindley
Contributing Writers
Gail Sowell, JJ Wilson, John Maxwell, Jacki Peacock,
Beverly Igo, Mary Lois Boatman, Debra Busa,
D. Surface, Danny Stone
USPS 375160
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Navasota Examiner
PO Box 751# 115 Railroad St. Navasota, Texas 77868
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MEMBER
B >1 2013
TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION
Serving Navasota &Grimes County since 1894
y
Texas Gulf Coast
Press Association
Letters to the Editor
Grimes County people
are the best!
My husband and I were involved
in a car accident last Saturday, a few
miles outside of Iola. People not only
stopped to assist, but also called au-
thorities, directed traffic, checked on
the injuries of everyone involved,
and were very helpful in every way
possible.
One told me people in Iola always
had time to help people in distress.
One told me we are all like spokes in
a wheel — every spoke is needed.
Thank you, everyone.
Evalynn Christiansen,
Houston
An old, worn out umbrella
Scott
McDonald
Examiner
Publisher
I read a story about a
10-year-old boy named
Tommy who was forced to
go live with his reclusive
grandfather in another
state for a summer. The
granddad was a widower
who kept one bedroom as
a shrine to his wife who’d
died of lung cancer a
decade earlier.
Tommy was a video
game junkie. He never re-
ally experienced hard
work or being outdoors.
He and his grandfather
didn’t see eye to eye and
he wanted desperately to
go back home almost as
soon as he got there. But
Tommy’s mom had to
work so many jobs as a
single mother and couldn’t
afford childcare. So
Tommy simply bit the bul-
let and dealt with his
dilemma.
He mowed the yard
every other week. He
pulled weeds, chopped
firewood for winter, swept
the driveway every day
and even had to wash
Grandpa’s car on occa-
sion.
He ate three square
meals a day and was up at
dawn and exhausted by
sundown. Over time
Tommy and his grandfa-
ther, who appeared to be in
his 70’s — ancient to
Tommy — began to form
a little bond. Grandpa
would play guitar — he
was a regular on the
Louisiana Hayride in the
1960’s — almost every af-
ternoon on the back porch
as they escaped the heat.
One time Tommy asked if
he could go into
grandma’s “shrine” bed-
room. Grandpa said yes.
Inside the room there
was picture of grandma —
she looked so much like
mom, Tommy thought.
Then there was the closet.
It had a bolt lock on it.
Well, to make a long
story short, Tommy kept
asking Grandpa what was
in the closet, and Grandpa
kept saying nothing. Then
the answer became “per-
sonal things” and then
“living history.”
Before Tommy left to
go back home at the end of
summer, his grandfather
gave him a souvenir to
take back with him to Dal-
las — a ratty, old, worn
umbrella from the closet.
Grandfather lived in the
Mississippi Delta town of
Natchez and Tommy lived
in a Dallas suburb. After
50 years, the umbrella
made it back to Dallas.
Grandfather told
Tommy the history of the
umbrella. Well, Grandpa
was old and his years got
shorter every breath he
took. He told Tommy the
story of the time he lived
in Dallas and took off a
day from work to go see
President John F. Kennedy
as he paraded through
town. He talked about the
excitement on the streets.
He talked about the large
crowds on the Nov. 22,
1963 day. And he told of
the time he opened his um-
brella on that bright, sunny
day and turned to his side,
just before the bullets went
off that killed President
Kennedy.
Yes, Tommy’s grandfa-
ther had been hiding for 50
years. The so-called um-
brella man involved in the
JFK conspiracy was right
there. Tommy had no con-
ception of what he was
hearing, but he sensed by
the old man’s demeanor
this was serious stuff. He
hung on to every word of
his grandfather’s, even
vowing to keep it a secret.
I read that piece about
Tommy 10 years ago be-
cause I wrote it 10 years
ago. I was Tommy, and
most of this is fictional.
However, I did have a
grandfather who worked
in Dallas and attended the
JFK parade. My grandfa-
ther had a good job work-
ing in a multi-story
parking garage. On more
than one occasion, my
grandfather engaged in
conversations with the
guys who ran the strip par-
lor adjacent to the garage.
Jack Ruby and his buddies
would park on the second
floor and enter the parlor
from the garage. Ruby and
his friends would leave the
parlor and have secret
meetings in the garage. No
telling what my grandfa-
ther knew.
My first job out of col-
lege was working for The
Dallas Morning News. I
worked out of the office
downtown and spent
countless days and weeks
in the area where Kennedy
was shot. I became in-
trigued by the story of
conspiracy so I started
going down there myself,
seeing the grassy knoll, the
book depository building
and the manhole covers
where potential shooters
could have risen.
I researched it through
newspapers, museums and
websites. This is where I
found my grandfather to
look a lot like the umbrella
man so notably docu-
mented in history. They
said he was a light-skinned
Cuban. My grandfather,
being a leather-skinned
Caucasian, resembled the
man in those pictures.
Shortly after the assassina-
tion, my grandfather and
his family left for another
state in the middle of the
night with no explanation
to his family. It happened
three more times. Their
furniture and clothes al-
ways caught up with them
somehow.
I never could get my
grandfather to tell me what
he knows, or knew, about
that day in Dallas or the
days leading up to it, the
days after it or any time
that has passed since then.
I put things together for
a fictional story called
Tommy and the Umbrella
that never really came
fruition. But on this 50th
anniversary of the assassi-
nation of President
Kennedy, I thought I’d
share it with you.
Anderson-Shiro CISD to break
ground for an athletic complex
Anderson
News
By Gail
Sowell
• Anderson-Shiro
C.I.S.D. will begin a new
chapter in the history of
this school as they break
ground for the new athletic
complex. The ground-
breaking will take place
this Thursday, Nov. 21, at
9 a.m., at the high school
campus.
• The annual 20 Guns
for 20 Bucks event will
take place at the Grimes
County Fairgrounds on
Thursday, Nov. 21, starting
at 7 p.m., with a ribeye
steak dinner.
Admission is $10 at the
door and the 20 gun raffle
tickets are $20 each. This
event is put on each year
by the Plantersville-Stone-
ham Bunch that supports
the youth of our county.
• Come play bingo at
the Sunshine Center on
Main Street every first
Wednesday of each month.
Coordinator Evelyn Szym-
czak says bingo will be
held on Dec. 4, from 10:30
until 11:30 a.m. All seniors
are invited to participate.
For more information, call
Evelyn at 936-873-2818.
• The Grimes County
Horse Committee is hav-
ing a Pee Wee Western
Show at the Grimes
County Fairgrounds on
Dec. 7, to raise funds for
their 2014 Fair Horse
Show Awards. This event
is for children ages 3-12.
Events will include
stick horse races, boot run,
SEE ANDERSON PAGE 9A
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McDonald, Scott. The Examiner (Navasota, Tex.), Vol. 119, No. 16, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 20, 2013, newspaper, November 20, 2013; Navasota, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth807350/m1/4/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Navasota Public Library.