KILGOROUND

FROM THIS DESK it doesn't seem like a lot of meals...

FEMA has sent 750,000 meals to Texas to help feed the Hurrican Ike evacuees.

That will feed 125,000 people three meals a day - less than half the population of Brazoria County alone - for only two days. Now we understand why volunteers and donations are so important to the evacuees who find themselves in Kilgore, dodging coastal storms.

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SABINE Elementary School is looking for volunteer mentors who can provide a positive role model for the youngsters. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to spend 30 minutes to an hour monthly with their students.

TO get involved, call Barbara Kenna, program coordinator, at 903-984- 5320.

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one step ahead of the news: October is National Cotton Gin History month. (Sort of gives niche market a whole new meaning.)

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THE PEANUT BUTTER Emporium in Overton makes a crunchy peanut butter that is absolutely without peer. It's like peanut butter with actual peanuts in it. Take it from a guy who does PB&J at least twice a week, their Honey Roasted Crunch is the best peanut butter you will ever, ever eat. Ever.

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AT Tropical Storm Gustav's denouement two weeks ago, when the evacuees from Beaumont were receiving their departure instructions, one of the displaced folks housed at First Baptist Church stood up and asked: "When do we get our check?"

SHE was chagrined when told no checks would be issued.

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BUDDY HOLLEY would say that Tuesday'll be the day, Peggy Sue.

TUESDAY evening on the heels of our first post-Ike day — assuming we survived the storm metaphorically hyped by the weather channel as a meteorological Armageddon — Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation will present Johnny Rodgers in "Buddy Holley and Beyond."

RODGERS will "cover" every Buddy Holley hit you can remember — and likely some you don't — beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Dodson Auditorium.

THE really good seats are $15 and $20 but you can get into the balcony for $10.

TICKETS are available at the door.

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HAPPY soggy birthday (Sunday) to Marie Adkins, Marie Tarnawa, Helen Wylie, James Griffin, Crystal Polk, Randy Shelburne Jr., Taylor Clinton, John Lockman, Rose Reeves, Jayleen Cabrera an Marie Tarnawa.

HAPPY birthday Monday Mae Rucker, Robin Shaw, Jamie Harris, Johnnie Kinkaid, Judy Oglesby, Brittany Stone, David Spinks, Epiphany Dennis, Trampy "Bubba" Nel.

AND HAPPY anniversary MondayLaVante and Jeanette Dunn.