News

The annual Children’s Fall Festival, including costume contests, will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Canton Civic Center.

Admission is one can of food. The canned goods will be donated to Manna Food Bank.

The event is sponsored by New Frontiers Cowboy Church. For more information, call 903-873-8049.

The Civic Center is located at 800 Flea Market Rd. in Canton.

For more stories like this one, subscribe to the Canton Herald or pick up a copy from one of our vendors. 

The East Texas Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist will host an Open House in conjunction with its monthly meeting scheduled Oct. 22 at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Tyler Nature Center, 11942 FM 848 in Tyler.  

All ETCMN members, guests, and anyone interested in the Master Naturalist Program or considering joining the 2016 Master Naturalist Class are invited to attend.

The program, designed to introduce the Master Naturalist program to area residents and perspective members, will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a light supper provided by chapter members and an ETCMN projects display.

About 7:15 p.m., Lance Homeniuk, co-president of ETMN, will offer a presentation on Texas Parks and Wildlife Citizen Science Projects – what the projects are, what the stated goals are, and how volunteers play an important role in accomplishing those goals.   

County toad tax, state amendments on ballot

Early voting for the Nov. 3 State Constitutional Amendment and Van Zandt County Special Road Tax election begins Monday, Oct. 19.

Early voting will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday until Oct. 30 at the Plaza Museum, 119 N. Buffalo St. in Canton.

County voters are being asked “to adopt or reject the Special Road Tax not to exceed” 10 cents on $100 property valuation to be used for county road and bridge maintenance.

There are seven constitutional amendments on the ballot.

Approval of Proposition 1 would increase the residence homestead exemption for public school property taxes from $15,000 to $25,000.

Proposition 2 would allow extend a residence homestead exemption to the surviving spouse of a totally disabled military veteran.

The children’s shelter in Van Zandt County held an open house after six weeks of work repairing, refurbishing and repainting the property.

“More than 40 people attended the Oct. 10 open house,” according to Kerry Cartier, president of the shelter’s board of directors. “People told us, with fresh paint in every room and newly stained trim, the inside of the shelter looks like new.”

The children’s shelter provides the physical facility for temporary placement of children with nowhere else to go. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services contracts with Azleway Inc. of Tyler to place children in the shelter.  Azleway contracts for house parents to provide care for the children.

A team of Azleway employees and shelter board members spent six weeks getting the shelter ready for the open house. The team included Cartier, J. W. and Leta Parker, Matthew Patton, Dawn Richmond, Brandon and Mandy Russell and Frank Tillman Jr.

Oct. 5 4 p.m., First Monday Grounds – Theft >$2,500 <$30,000

Oct. 5 8:09 p.m., Hwy. 64 – Arrest: Possession of controlled substance PG 1 <1G – Karla Prough, 55, Canton

Oct. 6 12:20 a.m., eastbound I-20 mm 526 – Arrest: Driving while intoxicated – Tracey underwood, 46, Terrell

Oct. 6 3:21 p.m., 2000 block of North Hwy. 19 @ Hwy. 243 – traffic accident

Says accounting on forefront of concerns 

In the March 4, 2014, primary election, Judge Don Kirkpatrick defeated incumbent Van Zandt County Judge Rhita Koches and captured over 68 percent of the votes.

With no democratic opponent in the November 2014 election Kirkpatrick was set to take office in January 2015.

Judge Koches resigned Aug. 1, 2014, and Kirkpatrick was sworn into office Aug. 4, 2014, to fill the unexpired term of Koches and also to begin his four year term.

 When asked to describe his first 14 months on the job in one word, Kirkpatrick said it had to be “challenging.”

One of Kirkpatrick’s campaign promises was to take Van Zandt County in a different direction.

The Edom Art Festival is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17 and 18.

For over 40 years, the tiny hamlet of Edom has hosted a festival for working artists.  

Artists from all over the southwest show and sell their work including pottery, jewelry, woodworking, metal smithing, sculpture, painting, glass blowing, weaving, and mixed.

For many years artists were included in the Edom Festival of the Arts by invitation only.  Now the show is open to artists throughout the country through a jury process and 60 to 70 are selected “for their diversity and uniqueness,” festival organizers said.

Every festival includes a free Kids Art area where children “can explore their creativity by painting their own canvas. For a small donation they can take their art home or it will be used in the future to decorate the festival grounds.”

The Canton High School Band has been to several contests recently and has had a great amount of success at them, according to Director Mike Bartley. 

On Oct. 3, the band went to the Mesquite Invitational and won Best in Class, as well receiving awards for Outstanding Colorguard, Outstanding Music, Outstanding Drumline and Outstanding Visual in Class 4A. 

Later that day the Mighty Eagle Band went to the Midlothian Marching Showcase and won Best in Class at that contest as well.

On Oct. 10, the band went to the Sounds of Fall Contest in Princeton and competed against 23 other bands, winning Best in Class 4A and first place overall in the preliminary competition. 

The historic US 80 Hi-Way Sale will begin at 8 a.m. daily Friday through Saturday, Oct. 16 through 18. and should draw crowds from far and wide looking for a bargain, according to the East Texas Tourism Association.

Organized to promote and increase tourism trade and traffic along US 80, the first coast-to-coast, all-weather highway in America, the 2,400 mile route begins in Savannah, Ga., makes its way through East Texas and concludes in San Diego, Calif.

The three-state event will cover a 392-mile route – one of the nation’s longest –from Mesquite, through Louisiana to Jackson, Miss.

“We intend to keep the name and legacy alive,” said Mary Ramos, ETTA director. “There will be hundreds of sales going on … more than you can shop in a day. This is a great fund-raising opportunity for churches, civic clubs and individuals.”

Each city along the route is responsible for its part in the sale. 

From 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 17, the ABC Room will host a Sip and See Open House introducing its new building to the community. 

At the beginning of the open house there will be a dedication ceremony. 

“Our new room will be dedicated in memory of Dan Perez Jr.,” said Karen Forester, ABC Room board president. “Dan worked tirelessly finishing our building. He and wife, B.J., are cherished friends of the ABC Room.

Perez died May 31.

Mrs. Perez has recently joined the ABC Room board of directors. 

Originally called the Rainbow Room, the ABC Room provides emergency resources for children taken in to state care.

The new facility is located at 124 W. Dallas St. (Hwy. 64.) Parking is in the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Department parking lot.