COUNTY LIFE
Christmas villages sparkle
Bennie Walker shares his memories, traditions
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
Christmas is all about memories and traditions, and no where is that more visible than the home of Bennie Walker as it twinkles and shines with his vast collection of Christmas villages.
As soon as you step into the living room you will hear the happy sounds of toy trains, the swish of an ice skater on a rink and the soft whirl of the ferris wheel from different parts of the holiday town. It is definitely a place where the holidays shine and Walker is happy to share it with his friends and family.
Walker is a longtime Bowie resident and a 30-year retired educator. At 73 he retired twice. He was with the Texas Education Agency, taught at Bowie 13 years, followed by a brief time at Chico before retiring in 2001. In 2002 he returned to teach at Valley View for seven years, before retiring again, and then returning to Valley View.
After retiring again Walker left the school to be available full-time for Mary, and as her illness progressed they decided to move to Missouri, where their oldest daughter’s family lived and she wanted to help care for her mom. Walker says they had planned to stay for a few years, but two weeks later Mary would be gone and Bennie came back to Bowie.
He is a man still grieving for his wife, especially as their 50th anniversary would have been celebrated this year.
“We knew each other six weeks before we got married,” exclaimed Walker. “Two weeks after I met her I asked her to marry me. We were married 42 and a half years when we lost her. She is buried at Truce Cemetery and I usually go out on Sunday.”
Read the full story in the weekend edition of The Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
editor@bowienewsonline.com
Springtime in Texas came to Montague County Saturday bringing tornado warnings, heavy flooding and 6 to 10 inches of rain across the county.
Due to significant damage Montague County Judge Kevin Benton signed a disaster declaration for incidents on April 19-20 stemming from severe weather conditions. This will make the county prepared for any assistance if the governor does a similar declaration.
Benton said he is still waiting on the repair estimates from the commissioners for road repairs, but that will take a while. He said the team from the National Weather Service was here Monday surveying everything and they saw evidence between Lake Amon Carter and Fruitland of an EF-0 tornado and a similar one on Upper Montague Road.
Read the full story on the storm and related damage in the Thursday Bowie News.
Top photo – Black Road in northern Montague County looked like a gully washer after the Saturday storms. Only one road remains closed, Tage Cemetery Road, due to a damaged bridge. The other roads are “passable,” according to the county commissioner, but still are pretty rough caution is urged by drivers and please report them to the precincts or county judge. (Courtesy photos)
Spring has sprung and it is time to nominate top yards from your neighborhood to be considered for The Bowie News Yard of the Month. Top yard honors will be given for April, May and June.
The first award will be made for April and nominations may be submitted through May 1. The winner will be announced in the May 8 edition.
Call the Bowie News office at 940-872-2247 or email it to editor@bowienewsonline.com. Please include the address and name of the resident if you know it or a contact phone number for the nominee. The contest winner gets to show off the brightly colored Yard of the Month sign in their yard during the month.
Do you have unwanted computer components such a desktop computers, laptop computers, LCD monitors, keyboards, mice, scanners, printers, battery back-up units, etc., that you don’t know how to dispose of properly?
If so, members of the Montague Emergency Communications Team can help as they host the annual Computer Recycling Day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 19 at the Bowie City Hall parking lot at the corner of Mason and Pecan.
The team will recycle your unwanted computer components and insure they are disposed of properly, in an environmentally friendly manner. It is the perfect time to clean out that closet of nonworking or old electronics at your house.
They also will insure any computer hard drives are destroyed, thus preventing anyone from gaining access to personal information which may be left in the memory.
They also can accept sealed lead acid (SLA), nickel cadmium (NiCad), nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries for recycling. They cannot accept computer monitors or TV with cathod ray tubes.
This is a public service being offered at no cost to the community.
Any proceeds will benefit the Team and the Montague County SKYWARN program.
For details email kirk-@higginstx.com.
-
NEWS2 years ago2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS1 year agoSuspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
-
NEWS2 years agoSO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS2 years agoWreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS2 years agoMurder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
NEWS2 years ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
NEWS2 years agoBowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
-
NEWS2 years ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint