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Enola Gay Mathews
May is bringing blessings to Sulphur Springs. Two bright spots for our city occurred under sunny skies on Wednesday, May 1. The first was the much-awaited 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting for the Sulphur Springs Senior Citizens Center building at 301 Oak Ave. Although move-in time is still ahead, the first event scheduled in the facility is the Ms. Hopkins County Senior Classic Pageant on June 1, 2024. Already, nine contestants have signed up and at least one more is needed. Ladies aged 60 and older may apply.
A bronze marker was created for the dedication of the new building. In his dedication speech, Mayor John Sellers noted how the construction was funded through a Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs grant with matching funds from the City of Sulphur Springs, and that the Sulphur Springs project was the first in the state to reach completion under the program.
The second local ribbon- cutting on May 1 occurred at noon at the Signature Solar Products complex on Bill Bradford Road. As owner James Showalter cut the ribbon provided by the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce, a large gathering of people was there, and Showalter invited everyone in for tours, refreshments and to meet the staff.
I wrapped up the month of April with a trip to the Bob Wills Music Festival in Turkey, Texas. Young and old crowded in for the dance in the high school gym, and to hear stories told in the Bob Wills Museum. Bob Wills was born in 1907 on farm land between the forks of the Little Red River, a region once owned by Charles Goodnight. Wills was a performer of country dance music for his seventy-one years of life, best loved for the spark of excitement his bands brought to the ranch dances during a depressed era for West Texas inhabitants. He’s considered “still the King” by lovers of Western Swing music.
Passing through Bonham, Texas, I was reminded of another good place to visit, the Sam Rayburn House Museum. As a boy picking cotton near Bonham, he aspired to become a politician and did so. Rayburn’s record is unmatched as the longest- serving House Speaker in American history, and his tenure as a congressman, from 1913 to his death in 1961, spanned 48 years, nearly 25 terms, and 8 presidents.
Another bright spot in Bonham is the TNT Cafe at 805 East Sam Rayburn Avenue. Over breakfast, I learned that the diner was once Sparky’s, then Watson’s Diner, and now is owned by two sisters, Shanna and Terry. The entire staff, except for the dishwasher, is family. It’s open seven days a week serving three meals a day plus pie and coffee anytime, with a friendly down-home atmosphere.
The NETx Choral Society concert is this weekend; Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the SSHS Auditorium. On Tuesday, May 7, Alliance Bank has an all-day event in the downtown lobby.
We have had a wet spring so far. Let’s count our blessings and look out for our neighbors.