KILGOROUND

Don't forget Saturday is the "Guns vs. Hoses" softball game at Driller Park that will raise money for KPD Cpl. Kevin Stewart, who was injured in a serious car wreck on July 17.

Kilgore Police Department and Fire Department employees are playing to raise money for Kevin's family as he recuperates. He's out of the hospital and back at home, but it's going to be a while before he's able to work.

Saturday's game begins at 6 p.m., but there will be many events going on at the same time, including a BBQ dinner cooked by firemen and policemen, tours of the Fire Safety House, police patrol cars and fire trucks, and various games and activities. Admission is $1 and barbecue plates are $5.

If you can't attend the benefit, donations can be mailed to: The Kevin Stewart Benefit Fund, c/o Citizens Bank, P.O. Box 1700, Kilgore, Texas 75663; or dropped off at the bank at

301 E. Main St. or any CB branch.

+++

My sincerest apologies to Nerline Faber. I misspelled her name (Merline) in the story I wrote for Saturday's edition about her son George, who is coming to town for the "Thursday in the Patch" concert this week and bringing his "George Faber Trio."

The concert begins at 7:30 at the World's Richest Acre. It's free and should be a great night on the town. Bring your lawn chair and stay a while.

+++

Music producer, author and photographer Hank O'Neal, of New York City, will celebrate the opening of his newest photo exhibit, "The Ghosts of Harlem: Sessions with Jazz Legends" tomorrow night at WBGOFM/ 88.3 STUDIO in Newark, N.J.

The exhibit features 29 photographs of musicians who made music in Harlem from 1985-2007, including Dizzy Gillespie, Cab Calloway, Illinois Jacquet, Earl Hines, Doc Cheatham, Milt Hinton, Maxine Sullivan and Andy Kirk. The photos are from Hank's book "The Ghosts of Harlem," which was first published in France in 1997 but is now making its American debut.

Born in Kilgore in 1940, Hank's press release says "he first experienced the joys of photography when he watched his father print World War II pictures and family portraits in a kitchen darkroom. At age 12, he won a Brownie Hawkeye camera in a drawing and soon began taking and processing his own pictures."

After the war, the O'Neals moved from Texas to Syracuse, N.Y. Beginning in 1963, he worked for the CIA for 13 years, but "the nature of his employment allowed him the flexibility of pursuing other interests, including photography and music. He moved to New York from Washington, D.C., in 1967 and still lives in the culturallydiverse Greenwich Village."

His other books include "The Eddie Condon Scrapbook of Jazz" (1973); "A Vision Shared" (1976); "Charlie Parker: The Funk Blues Date (1995); "Gay Day: The Golden Age of the Christopher Street Parade" (2006); and "Bereniece Abbott" (2008), about his long-time friend, teacher and fellow photographer.

Hank's portraits have been on exhibit at galleries and museums across the nation, including The Witkin Gallery, The Howard Greenburg Gallery and The Longview Museum of Fine Arts in Texas.

He was in Kilgore a few weeks ago to promote the LMFA show, and said he is donating all of the photographs he has taken along U.S. Hwy. 80 to the museum.

For more information, visit hankonealphoto.com.

+++

Celebrating birthdays in the coming days areWesley Payne, Jim Campbell, Jerry Nestleroad, Elaine Thompson, Cammy Mallett, Wilma Mannings, June Clark, David Henley, Joe Fette, Claud Wallace, Donny Lopez, Jimmie Palmer Jr., Donna Bruner, Mary Stewart, LeAnna Carter, Liz Rushing, Diamond Tralar, Braden Grush, Gary Hurt.

Willie Evans, Darryl Gandy, Mary Mitchell, Brandon Duke, Debbie Chisler, Rona Cain, Byron Benson, Sabrina Warren, Kaylein Kalmus, Janet Burton, Angela Taylor, Johnny Allen, Norman Pace, Susan Bessham, Wallace Chelette, Christina Ledbetter, Mrs. Wayne Gossage, Michael Craig Haynes, Kevin Robinson, Amber Grush.

Don Bowne, Carmel McElyea, Kimberly McElyea, Albert Knight, Duane Deen, Nell Compton, Vickie Eyman, Kenneth Yancey, John Truitt, Madisyn Miller, Rebecca Owen, Robin Bryant, Zachary Wallace.

Celebrating anniversaries in the coming days are Cletis and Elaine Guthrie .

Mr. and Mrs. John Wayne Hunter.

Michael and Kami Hail.