KILGOROUND

OK, ALL OF YOU people headed out to downtown tonight for the Christmas parade better bundle up, if this morning was any indication. The parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church near this office on East Main Street this evening, and continue down East Main past St. Luke's United Methodist Church, onto Kilgore Street and then wrapping up around Subway Restaurant. +++ SPEAKING OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, I'm sad to hear of the departure of Rev. Bill Ingersoll, not just a friend of mine, but a friend of this community. Rev. Ingersoll and his wife Roberta are relocating to Illinois, I understand, and I certainly wish them well with God's continued blessings. +++ I'VE BEEN OUT of town for some time, visiting my family, and just returned. But keep your eyes on our sports section and I'll have lots of all-district stories soon from both football and volleyball. +++ HOPE YOU GUYS HAD a better Thanksgiving than this guy in Florida. Forty-six year-old Christopher Ford of Indiantown came home Thursday and was apparently upset about what his girlfriend had prepared for dinner. The two began arguing, according to the Sun Sentinel, and Ford became aggravated to the point that he grabbed a sweet potato pie — a hot one — and hurled it into her face. I guess it wasn't all too funny to the lady, who was treated for blisters. Ford probably wishes he had that pie back — he was charged with domestic battery, spent the night in jail and released Friday on a $5,000 bond. +++ BASKETBALL IS ON everyone's minds right now. Kilgore High School's boys play their first home game tonight, and they're hosting Gladewater. Freshmen tip off at 5 p.m. and junior varsity and varsity play afterward. The KHS girls teams are in Canton tonight in that same format. The Kilgore College teams are also both home on Wednesday, with the Lady Rangers playing a Region XIV Conference game at 5:30 p.m. against Arkansas Baptist, and the Rangers in the nightcap at 7:30 in a non-conference game against Northwestern State University (La.) junior varsity. +++ THE KILGORE HISTORICAL PRESERVATION FOUNDATION is hosting its annual Holiday Happenings in Historic Homes tour on Saturday from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. This is the 12th year of the event. Tickets are $10, which includes all the tour's stops. The homes included are the Stroope-Thrower home at 1000 East Houston, the Walkup-Simpson home at 2036 Broadway, the McCartney-Crews home at 2201 Broadway, and the Kilgore Public Library on Highway 259, near the city pool. +++

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY to Peggy Garner, Brandon Smith, Michael Lynn Sadler, Mary Watson, Sarah Smalley, Evelyn Smith, Judy Fisher, Troy Wyatt, Reginald Pegues, Allison Leigh Barbee, Lucinda Mumphrey, Ernest Mumphrey, Michael Clements Jr., Nita Beale, C.J. Fertitta, Huong Thi Pham, Rozella Simpson, Martha McElroy, Norman Copeland Jr., "Lil" Joe Gibson, Javier Lee, Kathyrn Penrose.

Celebrating their birthdays with you today: singer/ media favorite Britney Spears (27), singer Nelly Furtado (30), country singer John Wesley Ryles (58), actress Julie Harris (83), actress Lucy Liu (40), and news anchor Stone Phillips, which I have a great story about but can't write in the paper, is 54. Ask me about Stone's trip to Philadelphia, Miss., sometime. +++ HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TODAY to Mr. and Mrs. Erby Muckelroy, Jerry and Signe Reeves.