Almost two decades ago, when I came to town to purchase the News Herald, two local businessmen took me to lunch at Meadowbrook Country Club. Many of you know them.

“The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

THEY ARE KNOWN in Texas and surrounding states for home-made ice cream. Only their home- made is actually cranked from the use of a John Deere engine and their bucket is of a 10-gallon size compared to the old-fashioned 1-gallon ice cream freezers still found in the heat of the summer on the…

“They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.”

“Everybody’s got to believe in something. I believe I’ll have another beer.”

Big Brother is watching you.

Garage sales are a little ridiculous if you think about it.  As a society we spend untold millions trying to protect the sanctity of our homes from intrusion, and then we hold garage sales, where the entire point is to lure nosy strangers onto our property to rummage through our personal belongings.  I spend most of my time at garage sales fighting off my three daughters from hauling merchandise back into the house.  And let’s face it.  The stuff we put up for sale at these events is one “Thanks for coming” away from the city dump.  I mean, who really wants to purchase a Target sack full of used My Little Pony underwear?  (Oh, never mind, I actually got a dollar for those.)

Scott Mulvahill has shared the spotlight with a number of big name artists – Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, Peter Frampton, Steve Curtis Chapman and more – but he’ll have a Kilgore stage to himself next week as he brings his skills on the double-bass to the Texan Theater.

Rain roared through the City of Kilgore’s Oktoberfest celebrations last year, and lead organizer Sonya Waters’ is ready to see the event in its full, eight-hour run Saturday.

“I no longer listen to what people say, I just watch what they do. Behavior never lies.”

Dozens of Kilgoreites and those from surrounding towns made their way to the Avalon Faire grounds last weekend for a day of Oktoberfest fun. From 12 p.m. to 9 p.m., guests enjoyed traditional food, showed off their lederhosen and dirndls, gave their all in games and contests and, of course, …

“We the people, elect leaders not to rule but to serve.”

Oh, to be young enough to dance the night away... how many times have we heard that phrase and wished it to be true? For, Inez Deutsch, a young lady of 99 years of age, she doesn’t wish it, she lives it with the full determination of being happy and a mission of making others happy the remai…

If you want to build a city, you have to start with visionaries and then you have to have heroes.

Press Release

“Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,

Fall officially begins Monday, Sept. 23, and toward the end of this week Mother Nature has given us a smidgen of what is in store. In Kilgore, we know Fall has arrived by watching for the arrival of the pumpkins that initiate the annual Pumpkin Patch at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. Th…

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

Summer tends to hang around in East Texas like a lingering house guest who should have taken the hint when you started freely walking around the living room in your underwear. In fact, our hottest weather often rears its glistening, blistered head right around the time we all start to go pumpkin-spice wackadoodle and break out our fall wardrobe–even though we’ll soon be wringing vats of sweat out of our flannel and corduroy.

“Don’t let the mind limit what an able heart can do.”

In past years, Avalon Faire’s Oktoberfest has peaked at about 535 attendees – Adi DiShion’s certainly eager to beat the record Sept. 28. A big part of the appeal, she says, is the event’s family-friendly focus: adults can enjoy their traditional libations, certainly, but the faire-grounds also feature activities geared for children and other revelers from noon to 9 p.m. that Saturday afternoon and evening.

SAFFE Day's ready to help its Everyday Heroes with special needs 'Shoot for the Moon' Sept. 21.

A major concern across the nation this week has set off alerts and rightly so as it is one that affects our youth. When that happens everyone stands ready to protect in whatever means possible. Vaping, the use of an E-cigarette (electronic or battery operated) is the culprit in this case.

It’s a well-known truism that one need the right tools if one is to do the job right.

“I used to think I was indecisive, but now I’m not too sure.”

“No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”

When it’s hot in Texas, it’s hot and when it’s not, it’s not. It has truly been a hot few weeks lately with Labor Day being one that had everyone seeking a cool spot. Charlie’s Sno-Balls & Seasonal Tanning was the hot spot for a cool down with colorful icy treats especially upon that day…

Ever since I read John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil while working at a bookstore–when I should have been dusting shelves or replacing the urinal mints in the men’s room–I’ve had a strong desire to visit Savannah, Georgia.  As luck would have it, my wife recently invited me and two of our girls tag along with her on a business trip to the Hostess City of the South while my eldest and most expensive daughter stayed home to attend dance team practices and victimize my VISA card.

4 Star Cinema’s fall Kilgore Film Festival says “Hello” Wednesday night with “The Farewell.” It’s the first of six movies in the September/October lineup at the Hwy. 259 venue, including several new out-of-the-mainstream narratives and three documentary features.

“It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.”

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not enough; we must do.”

Labor Day is upon us. It is a day that honors the American labor movement and contributions that workers have made to the development and growth of our country. It is always celebrated on the first Monday in September allowing workers to celebrate a long weekend of last official holidays off…

In January 1931, call it 89.5 years ago, 76 residents – all eligible to vote in Texas elections – petitioned Gregg County Judge W.R. Hughes for an election to incorporate the rural hamlet of Kilgore.

“Labor Day symbolizes our determination to achieve an economic freedom for the average man which will give his political freedom realty.”

“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”  

For the past dozen summers, my family has made the drive of nine or more hours (depending on the number of putrid gas station restrooms we visit) to Orange Beach, Alabama.  This year, in addition to my wife and three daughters, I was accompanied by my mother, my in-laws and two of our nieces, so the drive basically took the entire month of July.

In a world filled with various diets and the latest fads for weight-loss and body-building, it is common to find serious problems getting tossed in to the mix. Gluten-free products address a real health issue called Celiac disease; much like sugar-free products for diabetes, it has been caug…

“Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it’s unbelievable.”