KILGOROUND

I ALWAYS LIKE UPDATING you guys on kids that have left the Kilgore area, for college, the military or whatever reason, and are doing well (see one of them on page 8 today - Kilgore native Jess Todd helped Arkansas beat No. 1 Vanderbilt over the weekend in college baseball). But here's a former KHS student athlete who, while not participating in sports any longer, is enjoying life and getting a good education at Texas A&M. Jared Hargrave, a former KHS soccer standout, is now a senior at A&M, and on his way to graduate school afterward. He's also in the process of helping his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, plan a pretty big undertaking, a chili cookoff and concert (what better event for a Kilgore native to help plan than a chili cookoff?). It's not just any chili cookoff. This one donates lots of money - like $102,000 last year - to area charities. It's held this weekend, Friday and Saturday, in Snook, about 15 miles from College Station. And our young Hargrave is co-chair. Best of luck, Jared, in this and future endeavors, and if you see Ma and Pa Hargrave - that'd be Gail and Kerry - tell them congratulations for raising a fine young man. +++ IF YOU'VE TRIED E-MAILING me at the newspaper, my normally-reliable email address went out in February, and about just as suddenly, it came back over the weekend. So I had like 1,500 e-mails to go through. Sorry to everyone who wrote and didn't get a response. Most everyone that deals with me knows I do a lot of my contacting through e-mail, and as I mentioned, it appears to be just fine now. If I write the e-mail in this column, though, it will have hyphens inserted. If you'll check the top of the sports section today, you'll find my e-mail address. +++ HERE'S SOMETHING I don't do a lot, but I'm asking for a favor from you guys. I have the 2004 Class 4A state title game between Kilgore and Dallas Lincoln on DVD, but I'm looking for as many of the games from that season as I can find - honestly, it's just for personal reasons only. I just want to go back and watch them again. If you have a copy of any of those games, particularly the playoff games, and you wouldn't mind if I borrowed them for a night or two, give me a call (or write my again-functioning e-mail). I promise I'll take very good care of them, and you'll get them back within a day. +++ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY to Johnnie V. Johnson, Jennifer Gough, Ricky Murphey Jr., Christie Marie Woodard, E.H. O'Neal, Alicia Pace, Mrs. Jack Butler, Billy Waye Linson, Krystal Kingsbury, Michael Mc- Carthy, Angela Renee Sheffield, Melvia Joyce Green, Danny Eason, E.N. Irwin, H.H. Harper, Felicia Borchardt, John Walker Jr., Nancy Ballenger Roberts, James Miller, Tracy Davis, Devaris Smith, Roderick Pierce, April Beverly, Pam Besser, Malia Kinlaw, Shirley Holman, Sasha Marie Mauldin.

Celebrating with you: a lot of the younger crowd. Singer Mariah Carey (37), actress Elizabeth Mitchell (of "Lost;" also 37), singer Fergie (32), and actor Michael York (65).

Celebrating anothre year together today Mr. and Mrs. John Polk, Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Brasher, Brian and Tammy Dorsey.