News

The Van Zandt County Choir will perform at State Capitol Building Rotunda on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. 

Residents from Van Zandt County are invited to be a part of the choir and sing. Rehearsals are 7 p.m. Mondays at the First Baptist Church Choir loft through Feb. 27 at 303 Athens St., Canton.

The choir leaves at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 7 from the Canton Courthouse Annex parking lot and will return the same day about 8 or 9 p.m. depending on traffic, organizers of the event said.

Sign-up online at www.firstcanton.com/VZChoir.  For more information or questions contact John Bell, Minister of Music & Pastoral Care at 903-567-4157 ext. 107 or email: john@firstcanton.com

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With flu and flu-like symptoms continuing to spike nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued a list of preventative tips and other helpful information to help mitigate the illness.

Flu vaccination can reduce flu illnesses, doctors' visits, and missed work and school due to flu, as well as prevent flu-related hospitalizations. If you have not gotten vaccinated yet this season, you should get vaccinated now — it's not too late!

Healthy people can get very sick from the flu and spread it to friends and loved ones. The following are the most important steps to help protect your family against the flu this season.

Take three steps to fight flu

-The first and best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated every flu season.

-Everyone 6 months of age and older is recommended to get vaccinated against the flu every year, with rare exceptions.

The Canton Texas Chamber of Commerce held its annual membership meeting earlier this week at The Bunker in Canton with over 65 members in attendance.

Lunch sponsors Prothro Wilhelmi and Company, PLLC and Country Place Senior Living in Canton provided members with a brief overview of their businesses and thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve the CTCC membership.

The purpose of this first of four quarterly lunches was to introduce the CTCC’s new board of directors, 2017 Program of Work and financials.

2017 Chairman Ben Hendley and CTCC Office Administrator Laura Mendoza introduced this year’s executive board and board of directors which are: Chairman Ben Hendley, Vice Chair Stephanie Smith, Treasurer Cristy McDowell and Secretary DeAnne Callen. Board members are Brad Blakemore, Ken Martin, Ben Carter, Misty Kimbrough, Stacy Crossley, Trisha Leggon, Amy Melton, Rick Mendoza and Nicholas Varela.

On Jan. 3, the Texas Lions Camp began accepting applications from children with special medical needs for week-long sessions during the summer of 2017.

The 500-acre facility in Kerrville is owned and operated by Texas Lions Club members. The facility serves physically disabled, vision/hearing impaired and diabetic children from across Texas. The camp is provided free-of-charge to parents/children because more than 24,000 Texas Lions and their friends support the camp.

Texas Lions Camp offers five sessions for children with physical disabilities, one session for children with Down syndrome and two sessions for children with Type 1 diabetes. Camp sessions begin on a Sunday and conclude with an awards program on Friday evenings. The complete summer 2017 schedule, which kicks off June 4, is available online at www.lionscamp.com.

The Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office is proud to announce the completion of its first Sheriffs Citizens Academy under the authority of Sheriff Corbett. 

The Sheriff Citizens Academy was first introduced to members of the Van Zandt County Precinct Watch Program with the goal of providing Precinct Watch Members with a better understanding of the policies, procedures and aspects of law enforcement that members of the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Department face on a daily basis. 

Starting soon, Van Zandt Newspapers will be strengthening our coverage of the local business scene with the launch a new column, titled “VZ Business.”

Local business owner Kevin Tanzillo will pen the column, which will focus on business happenings throughout the county. Kevin is a former newspaper and magazine editor who has been writing about business for nearly 30 years. He and his wife, Kristine, operate Dux Public Relations and Marketing, based in Myrtle Springs.

We encourage local companies to send news about their businesses – such as new business openings, expansions, major developments, changes in ownership, and other happenings – to us at VZCbiz@gmail.com.

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A van failed to yield right-of-way to a 18-wheeler coming off of Interstate 20 Feb. 2 around the State Highway 19 westbound exit.  Both drivers of the vehicles walked away with minor injuries.

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When Mal Fowler received a phone call from the East Texas Coaches Association, he was not expecting to receive the news given to him from the organization.

Kyle Preston, the ETCA Vice-President, informed Fowler that he had been named as one of the 2017 Hall of Honor inductees for the ETCA.

Fowler retired from coaching in 1993 after serving as head football coach for the Canton Eagles in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Prior to coming to Canton, Fowler was the head football coach at Van High School for 26 years over two different time periods as his Van Vandal team won the Class 2A state championship in 1979.

Fowler will be recognized during the 2017 ETCA Hall of Honor Banquet set for Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Northridge Country Club in Texarkana.

The Canton City Council has budgeted $100,000 of taxpayer’s funds and began the process of obtaining water rights on Grand Saline Creek. Recently, citizens in the proposed area voiced concerns about and dissent about the project after noticing aerial survey road markers and the looming possible threat of eminent domain.

Stemming from arguments in 2011, landowners around the proposed lake area formed the “Concerned Citizens Against the Proposed Grand Saline Creek Lake” and created more community awareness of the city’s intentions, but despite efforts, the topic has resurfaced.

Canton City Manager Lonny Cluck said that planning for a long-term water solution was “necessary,” and “if Canton does not buy water rights to Grand Saline Creek, someone else will.”

Finding reliable resources of health and wellness information can be a challenge. Since 1906, Texas AgriLife Extension Service has provided Texans with guidance in various health areas and is now training volunteers to provide more communities with the education and tools needed for healthy living.
The Master Wellness Volunteer Initiative is an AgriLife Extension program that will provide volunteers with 40 hours of training in health and nutrition education and in return, the volunteers agree to give back 40 hours of service. The volunteer opportunities are diverse – giving presentations for local community groups, assisting with periodic cooking schools given by Texas AgriLife Extension Service, passing out information at health fairs, and much more. Previous health or wellness training is not required, but an interest in living healthfully and helping others do the same is.