DAILY DIGEST

MONDAY

TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets 5:30-6:30 p.m. Mondays at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. For more info call Linda Myhand at 903-834-6794 or Linda Brotherton at 903-736-8837. Come lose something you don't want to find!

RUSK COUNTY REPUBLICANS will meet 6:30 p.m. Aug. 17 in the Community Room of Henderson Savings in downtown Henderson, on North Marshall Street. Guest speakers will be candidate for state representative, Michael Wooten, and David White, political director for Rick Perry's campaign. Everyone is invited.

SQUARE DANCING LESSONS begin Aug. 24, 7 to 9 p.m. for 15 weeks, at the Kilgore Community House on Kay Street. Offered by Kilgore College Continuing Education Department, the class is open to all singles, couples and teenagers (high school students with parents). Advance registration is not required and new students may register the first night of class. For more info or to register, call 903-983- 8661.

TUESDAY

KILGORE CITIZEN POLICE ACADEMY will meet Tuesday nights at KPD for 8 weeks beginning Sept. 1. The free academy familiarizes citizens with all aspects and operations of the police department. Students also have the option to ride with a patrol officer and witness the street activity officers encounter on a day-to-day basis. Must be at least 21 years old with no felony convictions; class size is limited. Deadline for applications, available at KPD, is Aug. 25. For more info call 903-983-1559.

TEXAS DEMOCRATIC WOMEN OF GREGG COUNTY meet 5:30 p.m. every third Thursday at Longview Community Center, 500 E. Whaley St. All Democrats, male and female, are welcome. For more info visit www.TDWGC.com or call Mollie Barber, president, at 903- 753-1658.

THE WHITE ELEPHANT resale shop at the train depot on Commerce Street is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every Tuesday. Proceeds benefit the Kilgore Improvement & Beautification Association. Donations welcomed.

FOREVER IN GOD WE TRUST will host U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert at 7 p.m. Aug. 25 in the gymnasium behind Forest Home Baptist Church. Everyone is welcome. Gohmert will discuss several issues, including how to keep God in our country and regain some of the rights we have lost. For more info call Dale Sistrunk, 903-984-6825.

CALLING ALL AGGIE MOMS, new and old, their students and families to a get-together 7 p.m. Aug. 18 at Mill Run Activity Center, 210 Millpond Dr., Longview. Refreshments and Aggie door prizes to kick off the new school year as well as honoring founding president Grace Sneed. Contact Kellye Stagner for information, 903-240- 1306.

THURSDAY

BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOE DRIVE is this week. Kilgore Rotary Club and Kilgore Crisis Center are partnering together for a back-to-school shoe drive. Reminder for those who have signed up: Shoes will be distributed Thursday, Aug. 20, from 1:30 a.m. until 7 p.m., and Friday, Aug. 21, from 9:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., at First Baptist Church, 501 North St., Kilgore. Shoes are made available to children in grades K- 12. For questions, please contact Debbie Dudley at 903- 987-1383.

THURSDAYS IN THE PATCH will feature George A. Faber II in concert at the World's Richest Acre Aug. 20. Sponsored by the Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation, the concert is free and begins at 7:30 p.m.(not 6:30 p.m.). Faber is a KHS grad and director of Visual and Performing Arts for Tyler ISD. He has performed with and for: Otis and the Metro Band, Jon Faddis, Dorsey Summerfield, Chubby Checker, Percy Sledge, East Texas All Stars, Kenny Price, Ronnie Stoneman, Jon Fedcock, Vince DeMartino, Dr. John Webb, Steve Weist and others.

COUNTRY PATCHES QUILT GUILD meets 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Aug. 20 at the Pope John Paul II Family Life Center, 2904 Arrow Lane, Longview. Jackie Muehlstein will give tips and tricks for quilters. Visitors welcome. For more info call 903-757-2645 or visit www.countrypatches.org

ON THE ROAD TO REMEMBER Nationwide Tour for Missing Persons will stop at Henderson Plaza Shopping Center, 2309 US 79, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 20. Concert by Cal Riley. Bring lawn chairs and look over the photos of missing people, including several from East Texas.

SATURDAY

GUNS & HOSES BENEFIT SOFTBALL GAME for Cpl. Kevin Stewart 6 p.m. Aug. 22 at Driller Park. Hosted by members of the Kilgore police and fire departments. The Fire Safety House will be on location. Stewart was severely injured in an auto accident on July 17 while on duty. All proceeds will help his family with expenses while he recovers.

UPSHUR COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL will present "Seussical the Musical," by the Henderson County Performing Arts Center Touring Company in an abridged production, 7 p.m. Aug. 22 at the Gilmer High School Auditorium. For ticket information call-903-843-3370.

"THE GIFT OF ADD/ADHD" symposium will provide parents, clinicians and educators with current information that they can use to build on and maximize a child's strengths. The program will be 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 12 in the UT Tyler Robert R. Muntz Library, Room 401. Registration before Sept. 3. Continuing education credit is available. For registration fees and more info or a registration brochure, call 903-595-2235.

SABINE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS REUNION for the graduating classes of 1992-95 will be Sept. 19 at The Summit in Longview from 6 to 11 p.m. For more info contact Cori Childress at cori98ny@aol.com or check out the event page on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=44476449 957

SUNDAY

CENTRAL EAST TEXAS ORCHID SOCIETY will meet 2:30 p.m. Aug. 16 in the Gencov Room, Chamber of Commerce Building, 315 N Broadway, Tyler. The program will be planning for the 2010 orchid show. At every meeting: show and tell plant display; raffle plants; snacks provided by members. Guests welcome. For more info visit www.centraleasttexasorchidsociety. org

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH will host Dr. Gerre Hancock in recital 4 p.m. Aug. 30. Dr. Hancock is head of the School of Sacred Music at the University of Texas in Austin and is one of America's most highly acclaimed concert organists and choral directors. The concert is free and the public is welcomed.

FYI

KILGORE COMMUNITY CRISIS CENTER is in need of cash donations for its annual shoe drive. Please bring or send donations to the Center at 905 Broadway. The shoe drive for school-age children will take place Aug. 20-21 at First Baptist Fellowship Hall. For more info contact Julia DeFreece at 903-984-3019.