COUNTY LIFE
Orchids blooming at new Nocona greenhouse
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
Color has begun to peek through the glass of the new state-of-the-art Colorchids greenhouse recently completed in Nocona, as plants have arrived and are being shipped out.
The 63,000-square foot greenhouse is part of an expansion by Colorchids which was created 10 years ago by Ben Van Wingerden. It was no surprise he chose this type of farming. He grew up in the industry where his father built greenhouses for a living in Virginia. After college he began looking for a product where he could use his marketing skills. He recalls it looked like a lot could be done with orchids.
“I was attracted to this product, which is how I came to select the crop. Nowadays you build the greenhouse around the crop you want to grow. It’s really modern farming, but instead of corn we grow orchids indoors,” explains Van Wingerden.
The young entrepreneur says he started out with an idea for a national brand with local supply.
“It’s something we believe in because for us everything is so spread out. Our goal is serve local markets versus having one giant greenhouse shipping them all over. Freight will always be a problem and a big cost getting yourself to market,” explains Van Wingerden.
Read the full feature in your weekend Bowie News.
Give blood to save lives and at the time help the Nocona Volunteer Fire Department on March 24.
The blood drive will be from 1-6 p.m. in the H.J. Justin Building in downtown Nocona. First time donors generate $100 in funding and returning donors generate $15 per blood donation.
Go to the Nocona Firefighters Facebook page to scan the QR code to pick a time.
Gold-Burg High
Gold-Burg High School’s one-act play “Lady Precious Stream,” by S.I. Husung will be presented at district competition on March 19 in the Graham Auditorium.
The performance order will be Saint Jo, Prairie Valley, Universal Irving, Forestburg, Universal-Flower Mound, Gold-Burg and Bellevue. Plays begin at 10 a.m.
Nocona High
Nocona High School will be competing in the district one-act play competition on March 27 at Seymour High School.
Chrissy Shubert, theater arts teacher, said they will perform “Antigone in Munich: The Sophie Scholl Story,” by Claudia Haas produced by Stage Partners.
There will be a public performance of the play at 6 p.m. March 13 in the Nocona School Auditorium.
The plays will begin at 10 a.m. and Nocona is the sixth play of the day.
Prairie Valley High
Prairie Valley High School will present “Wild Strawberries” by Jerry Ayers for its University Interscholastic League one-act play contest on March 19 in Graham Memorial Auditorium.
PV will compete in 1A-District 18. The play is directed by Jesse Kincy. It is a comedic farce set in Italy during the Renaissance.
Read the full stories on these productions in the Thursday Bowie News.
Two marble panels collapsed and shattered at the Montague County Veteran’ Memorial on the courthouse square March 4 due to high winds.
This is the second time the monument has been damaged by high winds.
On Nov. 10, 2021 a panel fell over breaking into pieces and another panel shifted. It was a long process to get the slab replaced as the black marble came from India.
County Judge Kevin Benton recalls in 2021 there were delays first in finding the specific marble that was needed and then the first panel broke as it was being worked on and the artists had to start again.
Then the panel had to be shipped to its new home. It was an expensive proposition costing about $16,000. The panels are very large with the small ones weighing in at one ton.
Benton and Commissioner Bob Langford said Monday the wind deductible for the insurance is very high at $50,000. When that first panel was replaced county officials opted to have dowels placed in the panel that went into holes in the base to create a more secure attachment.
Langford said at that time they looked at possibly resetting the whole monument with dowels, but it was cost prohibitive at more than $30,000. He added the installers also indicated they really didn’t want to tackle something like that due to the possible liability if the panel is damaged.
Benton said they are talking to a company to see what is the best way forward with the repairs and what the costs could be to replace them.
Pictured: A precinct crew was removing the broken marble panels on Monday. (Photo by Barbara Green)
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