Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.

Community & Opinions

The Underrated Role of Auntie

Article Image Alt Text

On this Sunday afternoon I am at my sister Sara’s home, watching her nestle her youngest grandson as he sleeps soundly on her shoulder after his afternoon feeding. Fred is my newest greatnephew. He joins the others of his generation who have given me another chance to snuggle, squish,andkisschubbycheeks. Just this past week another nephewsentphotostohisaunts andunclesaboutanewdelivery arriving in next April. My siblings and I had strong bonds with our parents’ siblings. Our aunts and uncles wrote letters, flew or drove to Texas for visits, and hosted us on our family vacations. I learned from the best how to nurture this special family dynamic. My nieces and nephews are more than physical extensions of my brothers and sisters. Christopher and Michael have been the boys I did not have. I spent their youngster time at ballparks or golf courses or halftime shows and drove cross country with each on epic road trips when they were college students. Our golf games, though few, are now famous for brotherly smack talk and their aunt pretending to be an Irish PGA commentator in the middle of their backswings. But the mundane history we share is my favorite. I am the one who taught them how to go to the back yard when everyone is in the front yard saying good-bye after a big holiday meal and hurl leftover burned rolls over the rooftolandontheunsuspecting relatives. The art of the ambush is still a family tradition thanks to my auntie skills. Early on, my nieces were the built-in family playmates for my two girls. Today, they are each other’s confidantes. It is easy to see in them the best of my brother and my sisters. These beautiful adult nieces and I now share music and film appreciation, wickedly delightful senses of humor, heartfelt conversations about family relationships, favorite sports teams, and stories about their parents when we were brothers and sisters growing up in Snyder, Texas. I’ve also come to realize these “kids”—including my two daughters—are wise beyond years from where I was at their ages.

Commissioners learn jail receives certificate of compliance

Article Image Alt Text

In the regular monthly

Join Spur’s historic Palace Theater in #GivingTuesday Nov. 1–29

Article Image Alt Text

Spur’s 1929 Palace Theater has come a long way in recent years, successfully reopening in 2018 to show movies in digital format. Despite the setbacks of Covid-19 closures and destructive weather events, the theater, under the management of the Dickens County Historical Commission, has pushed forward, steadily making repairs and improvements with the help of local donors and grant-making agencies. The theater was also the beneficiary of a $12,000 grant from Humanities Texas to support cultural programming and promotions—but these funds, stemming from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, don’t address equipment or capital needs.

Reader’s Remembrance: Spur’s Dixie Dog

Article Image Alt Text

Note: I have written about the Dixie Dog below. I thought it might be of interest to some readers. I wish the Dixie Dog could open again as it meant so much to our family. —Virginia (Ginger) Walker Davis My family, Dick, Louise, Ginger, Bob and Richard Walker, moved from Presidio, Texas, to Spur in 1948. My dad worked for West Texas Utilitiesandmymomanddad opened the Dixie Dog Drive In a few years later. The Dixie Dog was one of the best decisions my mom and dad ever made. My mom was in charge and ran a tight ship. Many wonderful women and teenagers were employed, and they became family. I have so many fond memories of the Dixie Dog. After we first opened, I was thrilled to work there. I loved the opportunity to visit with my high school friends which kept me from my job. Finally, my mother took steps to alleviate the problem. She told me I had a new job working at the local bakery. After I had worked there a month or so, she said, Are you ready to come back to the Dixie Dog to servethecustomers?Ibecame more serious and curbed my desire to visit with my friends. My mother was a very wise woman! Another memory I will never forget occurred during my college years at McMurry College. Every time I would come home for a weekend my dad, who often worked on weekends, would ask, “Gin, do you want your regular?”

Early voting begins Oct. 24

Article Image Alt Text

Early voting in the Nov. 8 general election begins Oct. 24 and runs through Nov. 4. Applications for voting by mail must be received by Oct. 28, according to the secretary of state’s office. Texans are eligible to vote by mail if they are 65 or older; sick or disabled; are expected to give birth within three weeks of Election Day; will be absent from the county where they vote during early voting and on Election Day; or are in jail but otherwise eligible. If voting by mail, Texans are urged to carefully read the instructions before putting their ballot in the mail. More than 12% of mail-in ballots were rejected in the March primary for not complying with tighter voting regulations enacted in the last legislative session, according to kut.org. Meanwhile, the latest poll shows the race between Gov. Greg Abbott and Beto O’ Rourke has tightened since the Sept. 30 debate between the two, the Corpus Christi Caller Times reported. The latest poll by Marist College shows Abbott’s lead has dropped to 4 percentage points.

Aging

Article Image Alt Text

“We turn not older with

2022 Community Calendar

Article Image Alt Text

2022 CommunityCalendar

What's happening

Article Image Alt Text

Submit your community announcements (maximum 75 words) to news@thetexasspur.com for events within the coming month, to run up to 4 issues

JGISD board chooses auditor, approves joint election in Sept. meeting

Article Image Alt Text

In the regular monthly meeting of the Jayton-Girard Independent SchoolDistrictboard on September 20, trustees voted unanimously to choose Bennett, Bennett & Trice, PLLC to perform the financial audit for the fiscal year-end. Trustees unanimously approved four actions regarding the November election: They appointed Craig Harrison, elections administrator, to serve as joint elections officer and joint early voting clerk for Kent County. They designated the Kent County Elections Office, located at 101 Main St., Jayton, Texas, as the main early voting polling place. They agreed to conduct a joint election on November 8, 2022, with all cities and schools with territory inside Kent County that may require a November 8, 2022 election. They agreed to the Joint Election Contract with Kent County for 2022 elections as presented. In other board action, the principal’s report included: enrollment, gridiron success, drills, school safety, baseball/ softball district update, FFA Greenhand Day, football, cross country, band, robotics, OAP, debate, and Career Day in Aspermont.

Being aware: one woman’s breast cancer journey

Article Image Alt Text

For nearly four decades now, the U.S. has recognized October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is a time annually devoted to educating everyone about breast cancer— and the importance of early detection and access to timely, high-quality care.