COUNTY LIFE
Take time to remember those who gave all for America
Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Memorial Day 2020 occurs on Monday, May 25.
Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, it marks the beginning of the summer season.
Early Observances of Memorial Day
The Civil War, which ended in the spring of 1865, claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history and required the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries.
By the late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.
Did you know? Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time.
It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. And some records show that one of the earliest Memorial Day commemoration was organized by a group of freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day.
Decoration Day
On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed.
The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.
On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, and 5,000 participants decorated the graves of the 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried there.
Many Northern states held similar commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years; by 1890 each one had made Decoration Day an official state holiday. Southern states, on the other hand, continued to honor their dead on separate days until after World War I.
Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars, including World War II, The Vietnam War, The Korean War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.
Source: The History Channel
Spring storms have been creating dangerous conditions for the past two weeks, and Mother Nature continues to douse North Texas with rain this week.
For January through April the City of Bowie water plant staff recorded 14.56 inches of rain, including a whopping 11.76 inches in April alone. For the first six days of May the rain has totaled 1.55 inches.
Nocona received a bit more rain for this period, a total of 19.28 inches according to Texas Mesonet. In April it recorded 9.89 inches and in March 3.25 inches. For the first six days of May 4.36 inches was recorded.
Lake Amon G. Carter is still more than 100% full and threatening to go
over the emergency spillway when it reaches 927 msl. The lake is considered full at 920 msl and as of May 6 it was 924.47 msl.
Last week, the city sent out flood warnings for those downstream in the path of water that could flow out of the lake across this spillway. One month ago the lake was full at 920.06
City Emergency Management Coordinator Kirk Higgins said Monday as of now no water has come out of the spillway, but he does not expect that to continue if the rain does not stop. The lake continues to be closed due to flooding.
Lake Nocona was at 828.44 msl on May 6 and is considered full at 827.5 msl. Just one month ago the lake was 88.4% full at 825.60 msl. Its boat ramps were closed briefly last week due to flooding, but have since reopened.
Last week’s heavy rainfall continues to plague city streets and low-lying areas. While not unexpected the creek that flows in the Nelson Street area east toward Pillar was raging full of storm water last week topping the creek bed going into the streets and under nearby houses.
Public Works Director Stony Lowrance said a section of Rock near Pillar has been closed, although Pillar remains open. A section of the curb and road on the creekside has broken away and fallen into the ditch creating hazardous road conditions. A small part of the street had been coned off as a small section had caved in last month.
Lowrance said they are keeping a close eye on this area as rains continue, noting this is not an unexpected problem as the Rock and Pillar Street has been debated in the city council as being the next major capital project for the city. Nearby Nelson Street drainage was completed in late 2024 and while it alleviated flooding issues in that area, it also is sending more water down to an intersection where the culverts are in the same deteriorated and eroded conditions as those were under Nelson Street that were replaced.
Top photo: A section of the curb and street near Pillar and Rock has collapsed into the creek bed following last week’s rains. (Photo by Rosie Cole)
Nocona is saddling up for the 73rd annual Chisholm Trail Rodeo May 9-10 at the rodeo grounds in Nocona.
The rodeo will be nightly at 7:30 p.m. with a parade on Saturday at 3 p.m. Rodeo gates open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance.
Along with the traditional rodeo events including bareback riding, saddle bronc, ranch bronc, bulls, ladies barrels, tie-down roping, ladies breakaway roping, steer wrestlers and team roping, there will be a calf scramble nightly for ages 8 and under and 9-12. Winners receive buckles. Friday night there will be an FFA calf scramble benefiting participating FFA chapters.
Mutton bustin’ will be conducted for those age eight and under at 7 p.m. nightly. The top five are back to performance. Enter onsite by 6:30 p.m. each night. Entry fee is $20 with buckles to the winners.
Read the full story and meet the rodeo queen and princess candidates in the Thursday Bowie News.
The Montague County Commissioner’s Court will meet at 9 a.m. on May 12.
A brief agenda of business awaits the court in its regular session.
The court will consider approving the Law Enforcement Support Office application.
Consider applying to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a scrap tire facility permit.
Discuss precinct one removing excess dirt and debris from bar ditches and giving it to Gary Brewer, Rickey Joyce and David Steadham.
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