While there will be plenty of opportunity for Lakeside Baptist Church to take a look back, the focus of the 30^th anniversary celebration at the church Sunday, Dec. 9, will be on looking at the future as well.

Van Zandt County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Sandra Plaster has been busy as of late hearing animal seizure cases with a case scheduled for Friday, Nov. 30.

In the first hearing held Nov. 20, Judge Plaster granted   warrant to the SPCA to seize approximately 75 live and 30 dead animals which included  dogs, cats, horses, goats, donkeys, pigs, chickens, rabbits and turkeys. The hearing for the seizure will be held at 9 a.m., Friday, Nov. 30 in the VZC Pct. 2 courtroom in Canton.

The Special People Christmas Party will be from 2-4:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 at the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall in Canton. 

Cookies and sugar-free cookies are needed.  For info, call Bubba at 903-567-1229.  “All special people are invited to attend,” stated organizers.

Van Zandt County cities enjoyed a solid month of sales tax revenue collections for the month of November with four out of six cities, Edgewood, Edom, Grand Saline and Van, all showing growth according to the office of Texas State Comptroller Glenn Hegar

Number for Canton and Wills Point were less positive with each seeing collection figures dip when comparing November 2018 with the same calendar month of the previous year.  

First Baptist Church Canton is will host "The Christmas Gift,” the church’s second annual toy giveaway, from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 14.

“Through the generous donations of our church family, we are planning to bring the joy of Christmas to families in our community.

The 2018 Star Quilters Quilt show was considered a success. “there were lots of beautiful quilts and quilted items. The guild had a bazaar, silent auction, door prizes, vendors with lots of fabric, patterns, notions, and threads to start new projects. The embrodiery group from Tyler were our guests. Following is a list of winners from our show,” said Quilt Guild officials.

“Prime Time” will be in Canton as the Canton Texas Area Chamber of Commerce has announced that Pro Football Hall of Famer and NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders will serve as the Grand Marshal for this year’s Canton Christmas Parade sponsored by the chamber.

The parade is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13 with the parade lineup to begin at 5:30 p.m. at Canton Junior High School, according to Canton Texas Chamber of Commerce Office Administrator Jayla Bray Melton.

Frigid temperatures and biting winds swirled through the crowd during the Armistice Day Ceremony at the Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial held Nov. 12. 

Among those who braved the harsh weather and attended the tribute were numerous families, friends and veterans who came to hear Brigadier General Robert Hastings Jr of the Texas State Guard remark on the soldiers who fought in the War to End All Wars, World War I. 

The Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial held the 12^th annual Turkey Shoot Saturday, Nov. 17. According to Veteran’s Memorial officials, there were “ a lot of turkey winners who hit the bullseye to win a turkey.” The Memorial also thanked the VZC 4-H Club for supplying 22 rifles along with volunteer work. Walmart and Brookshires donated the turkeys. 

Early Voting for the Tuesday, Nov. 6 General Election will begin Monday, Oct. 22 and continue through Friday, Nov. 2.

All Early Voting will take place in the old Canton City Hall building in downtown Canton and the Early Voting hours will be as follows, according to the Van Zandt County Clerk’s office:

Monday, Oct. 22 through Friday, Oct. 26: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.