KILGOROUND

THANKS TO ALL the local Relay For Life fundraising teams for all their efforts again this year, as the Kilgore Relay For Life approaches this weekend. The Relay For Life will be at the youth sports complex on Highway 135, and will begin at 7 p.m. Friday night - it lasts until 7 a.m. Saturday morning. Hopefully, you'll have some nice weather this weekend, and it won't play a part as it has in recent years. +++ WEATHER MAY PLAY a big role in tonight's sports activity, but hopefully not. The Kilgore High School baseball team is scheduled to host Henderson at 6 p.m. tonight. In case you haven't heard, the Bulldogs got a big win at Hallsville on Saturday (see page 8 today) that helped them quite a bit in their chase for a playoff berth. A win tonight would help even more. Thunderstorms were in the forecast at press time this morning. Hopefully, they'll still be able to get the game in. See the News Herald's sports section to- morrow for either a game story or an update. +++ CONGRATULATIONS TO Kilgore College men's basketball coach Scott Schumacher and to everyone who helped make the NJCAA Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Classic another success this year. The event, played Saturday at KC's Masters Gymnasium, featured two all-star basketball games with young men from around the country. Game 1 between the Division II and Division III allstars was entertaining, but the real show for me was the second game, pitting the allstars from our conference against the Division I national all-stars. The Texas allstars, led by KC's own Marcus Thornton, won the contest, and the second half was a lot of fun to watch. The Texas all-stars had the game well in hand, but all the kids were good sports and tried to give the audience what they wanted to see: all kinds of dunks and big plays. It was kind of like street ball in Masters Gym, and for that one night, that wasn't a bad thing. It was a lot of fun to watch. +++ THE KILGORE ROTARY CLUB will pay tribute to local student athletes on Thursday at the Devall Student Center on the KC campus, its annual Rotary Scholar Athletes Banquet. The banquet, set for a 6:30 p.m. start, will pay tribute to Kilgore High School senior athletes Shelby Savony and Travis Perkins, Sabine's Megan Freeman and John Miller, and Kilgore College's Kirby Myers and Julian Anczewski. Each of those students receives a cash scholarship and some gifts, not the least of which is a flag that has flown over the U.S. capitol building. +++ HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY to Patricia Ross, Luther Charles Williams, Moriah Harbuck, David A. Clark, Arvie Lou Daniel, Mrs. Joe Beckham, Travis Crews, Jack Bewley, Donna VanMeter, Elaine KinKaid, Gail Franklin, Kasey Brooks Parr, Alejandro Garza, Gary Allen, Jonathan Garcie Also celebrating: "The Six Million Dollar Man," Lee Majors (68), actress Joyce DeWitt (Janet, I believe, on "Three's Company," one of my least favorite TV shows of all time), actor James Russo (54), director (and mega-liberal) Michael Moore (53), actress Valerie Bertinelli (47), and comedian George Lopez (46). +++ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY today to Mr. and Mrs. Dan Stalcup, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd W. Skinner, Bobby and Irene Kirk