News

High flying flags and grand openings were the highlight of the day Thursday, March 19 at Canton City Hall. Local dignitaries, business owners, chamber members and guests filed inside the council chambers to hold an official grand opening of the new Canton City Hall.

Construction for the new city hall began in Summer 2015 and was completed in early December 2016.

In an interview from December 2016, Canton City Manager Lonny Cluck said that the process of building a new city hall complex began last summer.

“Summer 2015 is when we started the construction process. We tried to break the process up and use local contractors so local people could make money. Although you want to involve the community and get local people to help you build it, it costs you time even if it saves you money,” said Cluck.

A request for new mobile radios for all Van Zandt County constable vehicles was approved by the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court during its regular meeting Feb. 28.

Bob Keltner, the Precinct 4 reserve constable, made a presentation to the commissioners requesting the purchase of the mobile radios for $3,400.

After the commissioners discussed where the funding for the request would come from, Van Zandt County District Attorney Chris Martin spoke and volunteered to have the money taken from the bond forfeiture funds of the DA’s office to pay for the mobile radios.

It was pointed out that no taxpayer money was being used for the purchase and the request was approved unanimously by the commissioners.

In other business,

On Sunday, March 5 Sgt. Steve Hall of the Canton Police Department was dispatched to Walmart in Canton on an assault call.

Upon arrival, Sgt. Hall reported that he met with a mother and her son who is 8 years old. According to the boy, he was with his mother at Walmart and went to the bathroom at the rear of the store. He was approached by a teenage boy who proceeded to grab the boy’s face and tried to put his head in a toilet. The 8-year-old bent the teen’s fingers and the teen then released him and ran out of the bathroom.  

The suspect is a white male, around 14 or 15 years of age and was wearing a black cap, has brown hair, and was wearing a light gray jacket, a colored superhero shirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes.

Despite the fact that their main speaker was forced to cancel his appearance due to illness, the Canton/Edom TEA Party meeting went on as scheduled Mar. 3 as those in attendance heard a report from TEA Party member Tom Maddox, a member of the Texas Border Volunteers.

The main speaker was scheduled to be Dr. Stephen Steinlight, a Senior Policy Analyst for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) in Washington, D. C.

“Dr. Steinlight was unable to be here tonight due to illness,” announced Canton/Edom TEA Party director and founder Dr. Dwayne Collins. “I spoke to his wife. He became ill while in Florida doing a number of speaking engagements there and the decision was made that he needed to fly back home to New York. All of his appearances in this area including Tyler, Longview and here were cancelled. He wants to come back at a later date and we will be working toward that.”

It is time to “spring forward” for the start of Daylight Savings Time which goes into effect Sunday, March 12.

Beginning at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 12, move your clocks forward one hour to 3 a.m. or adjust your clocks before going to bed Saturday night. The time change will remain in effect until Nov. 5.

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The Canton Fire Department came together to honor firefighters Feb. 22 at the Canton Civic Center.  Chief Bud Sanford welcomed the firefighters to the catered banquet and said that the Canton Fire Department  received 1,962 calls for service, with 62 percent of those being medical calls.

Chief Sanford continued, remarking that the fire department was “reaching new horizons.”

“We are reaching new horizons at the Canton Fire Department, and I want to thank the firefighters, theif families, the City of Canton and Champion EMS for helping us obtain those horizons.”

Keith Webb of Garland Fire Department was the guest speaker, his speech centered around “the firefighting family.”

The Forge Bar & Grill and Moore’s Store to host the third annual Motorized Barstool Races in Ben Wheeler
Saturday, March 18.

Now in its third year, The Forge and Moore’s Store are ready to host the fastest two minutes in Ben Wheeler history!

This family friendly event attracts hundreds of people to downtown Ben Wheeler to enjoy food, live music, local merchants and of course, the famed Barstool Race. Each year, participants race their motorized barstools down a small strip of Hwy 279 in downtown Ben Wheeler. Each barstool is built at home by the participant following the rules provided by The Forge and Moore’s Store.

The Poe House

Adrian Poe, who has worked in the restaurant industry for a quarter century, is opening a new restaurant in Canton. The Poe House, on East Dallas Street just east of Highway  19, is in the building that housed the recently closed Mama’s Boys.

Poe is chef and co-owner of the restaurant with his wife and stepfather. He has worked at various establishments in the Dallas area, and the Poe House is the fruit of his 10-year dream of owning his own restaurant.

“I just want to make good food that makes people smile and makes them want to come back,” Poe said. The restaurant, with 14 employees, will offer all-day breakfast, a variety of sandwiches, and more, and will be open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily except Monday at first, with plans to extend hours as business grows.

Poe and his wife are selling their home in Heath and plan to move to the Canton area as soon as they can.

The Freestate Master Gardener Program will meet at the Van Zandt County Library in Canton  March 9.

The meeting is open to the public.  Refreshments will be served at 8:30 a.m.

 A presentation by the Canton High School Debate Team debating  if “GMO's dangerous or not,” will begin at 9 a.m.

Visitors are asked to RSVP by calling the County Ag Extension office at 903-567-4149. There is limited seating.

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A 4H project gone wild, is what Barbara Metch calls Metch Polled Herefords. Herefords became a part of Barbara Metch Holan’s  life at age 10, when she started to show steers. Metch was recently featured in the Texas Polled Hereford newspaper for her contributions to the cattle industry.

In a feat that is quite remarkable, Barbara’s first show Grand Champion Polled Hereford Steer went on to win Grand Champion Steer.  By age 11, she acquired a new heifer and began her next steer project.

Barbara said that “showing and working with the cattle people was a way of life from then on,” sparking a love for Polled Herefords that transcended through her life.   

Leadership started at an early age for Barbara, she became involved in the 4-H Club programs and currently works as a leader and manager of local 4-H clubs.