I enjoy keeping up many long-time friendships through this column and our podcast, collecting stories which are also meant for you to enjoy.
Do you know former Hopkins County Judge Cletis Millsap and retired school administrator Dr. Juan Harrison? Read on. Their recollections of holidays past will surely boost your Christmas spirit!
Cletis Millsap
Apparently, Millsap’s early fascination with trains blossomed into service, when as a public official, he served on the board of a short line rail service based locally. He remembers paging through the Sears catalog, or 'wish book,' to find toys he wanted for Christmas, including a Lionel train set.
He explained, “My family would travel to Dallas to go looking at Christmas lights. I guess when I was about six years old, one of the most exciting things I noticed was a display of Lionel trains. The locomotive was all lit up and traveling on the oval track, and boy, I really wanted one. I made sure my mother knew to tell Santa Claus what I wanted. Then, on Christmas morning, under our Christmas tree, there was a Lionel train all lit up and running on its track. That was about the best present ever.
'We lived on Whitworth Street then, and I attended first grade at Austin Elementary with Mrs. Allen as my first-grade teacher. The teachers back then really made the season feel special for us students.
'Later, during my years in county government, the square was lit up, carolers sometimes came to the courthouse to sing to us, and there would be little office parties during the day while we worked. Christmas was always a wonderful season.”
Millsap feels that today, with the downtown renovation, the music and the lights the City puts up, and foot traffic on the broad sidewalks, all of that adds up to the festivity that former Chamber of Commerce Director Billy Sam Elliott would describe as a “Charles Dickens” scene. Our downtown is definitely an elevated atmosphere of Christmas for residents as well as visitors to Sulphur Springs.
Dr. Juan Harrison
Dr. Harrison’s Christmas memories are of growing up in a poor family.
“We might get just one gift; usually a gun for a boy and a doll for a girl, and then maybe an apple and an orange. If you know where AJ’s Fish House is at Alba, that’s about where our house was.”
Now, Harrison and his wife, Sherry, find joy in practicing a Christmas tradition that blesses others. They provide wrapped presents for the children of the families who visit, and a bountiful Christmas meal spread at their home.
Harrison also explained why, in retirement from his career at various school districts he has served, he still mows yards.
“I first got an old weedeater and a second-hand lawn mower before I ever went to college, and I could make money with it. Later, when I was running school districts, I still mowed yards. Now that I’m retired and don’t have to, I still mow yards. I like being outdoors, and the work makes others happy.
'I have found that living in a small town is like being in a Hallmark movie where everybody knows each other. If we think about good friends, our families and freedoms, we’d realize that we are really rich.
'I’ve also found that if you’re generous, you’ll be happy, but if you keep your gifts to yourself, you’ll be miserable. That goes for our time, too, so it’s good to spend it being busy helping and serving.
'The wisdom and humor I discovered firsthand from the wonderful people of local school districts I’ve served in can be found in a series of books called 'Mostly True Stories,' available on Amazon.”
Watch for some of those wisdoms here in future columns. Right now, it’s time for my wish to you, one of a season of love and abundant blessings for you and yours.
Robert Newsom
Two weeks before Christmas, Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom was asked to share some of his childhood memories of Christmas with our readers. He graciously agreed, and here are highlights from the conversation.
“I’m excited about Christmas, but I always have been! As a small child, we lived in various places in Texas. My dad, Jack Paul Newsom, was a farmer at first. In the 1950s, farming as an occupation took a downturn, so my dad got his degree and began teaching school and coaching.
'I remember moving finally to Odessa, Texas, where we lived for about 10 years. Then, when I was 16 years old, we came to Hopkins County. Those growing- up years made for some of the most memorable Christmases.
'When our parents said, 'Don’t go into the living room and look for Santa Claus,' I did it anyway. I remember that my sisters Millie and Vickie and our baby brother, Jack, and I would all slip into the living room to try to figure out if Santa Claus had arrived, until our parents heard us. We’d hardly ever sleep on Christmas Eve! I had wanted a train set, and the year I got mine, I’d been in there sneaking around the Christmas tree and nearly stepped on the train track in the dark before I skee-daddled back to bed.”
“I started public school in 1957 at Hughes Springs, Texas, where my dad was a coach. Later, he coached at Sam Houston High School in Odessa. After we moved to Hopkins County in the 1960s, he coached at Sulphur Springs High School and worked our dairy farm at the same time. Our family attended Wesley United Methodist Church.”
“My mother, Billie Jo Tibbels Newsom, was an elementary school teacher. In my early memories, she’d cook breakfast for us all, and then she would leave for school. We kids would do our farm chores and then get dressed and go to school. Then that evening, she would cook supper. I remember realizing that other families went out to eat, but we always ate at home. In Sulphur Springs, my mom taught at Travis and Douglass campuses. She lived to be 90 and was an amazing woman, an inspiration to me.”
“Farming remained a part of our family, and my dad, my brother, and I were all dairy farmers in Hopkins County. I don’t tell this story much, but it was on the farm that I was called to be a lawyer. In the evenings, it was my habit to go back to the dairy barn alone and have my prayers and quiet time with God. And one night, surrounded by the sound of cows, I felt like I heard God say ‘I want you to go to law school.’ In fact, I heard it twice. When I went back to the house. I asked Robbie if she’d ever thought about me becoming a lawyer, and of course, we hadn’t. But one year later, we had sold the cows and were in Lubbock, Texas in a double-wide trailer with me enrolled in law school!”
“Robbie and I have now been married for 52 years, and Christmases have changed from when our boys were little. This year, we’ll have Christmas at their homes, and then we’ll have what we call a Newsom Christmas, where brothers, sisters, the cousins, and everyone all come together. Of course, our parents are gone now, but we know where they are. My wish for Christmas is that we can all realize how blessed we are here in Hopkins County. Actually, I don’t think it gets any better for me than what I’ve got right now!”