Join us for an evening of spooky fun…and M**der! M**der Mystery guests must arrive between 7 & 7:30 p.m. Appetizers and a Halloween-inspired dinner will be served. Please RSVP as quickly as possible so we can assign characters. There is both a Friday AND a Saturday night event. Please make sure to select the proper date when purchasing your tickets.
All of the underworld is invited to Dracula’s birthday celebration. As the members of the haunting and haunted gather at the desolate Transylvania castle, this will be an evening away from mortals where the supernatural community can come together to celebrate and carouse!
During the night of spooktacular fun, one of the party-goers will end up in a grave they have dug for themselves. Desperate to avoid becoming victims themselves, the ghoulish guests will seek out the culprit in their midst.
Perhaps the murderer will be the bewitching witch with a cross to bear? A mollified mummy who needs to keep things under wraps? Or possibly a vindictive vampiress who was once bitten twice shy?
What lies ahead is a hauntingly complex night during which the spooky and the spirited collide to solve a mystery designed that will leave you spellbound. It’s enough to have a skeleton shaking in their bones!!
Image from https://members.lufkintexas.org/events/details/annual-huntington-catfish-festival-16001
Catfish Festival Saturday, October 1, 2022, from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM at Centennial Park, Huntington, Texas.
Great food and fun for the entire family!! Live music, catfish plates, catfish cook-off, food vendors, arts & crafts, games for the kids, face painting, bounce houses, Roselake pony Rides & Petting Zoo, rock climbing, exhibits & raffle. Bring your family and friends! Fun for all!!
Image from African American Heritage Project (AAHP)
The African American Heritage Project (AAHP) is holding a barbecue fundraiser on Saturday October 1, 2022, 12pm – 2 pm. Proceeds will be used to continue the restoration work on the historic Clay House located in the Zion Hill Historic District.
The AAHP will serve mixed plates of barbecue, sides and desserts for a donation of $15.00. The barbecue will be held at the Clay House, 720 Bois d’Arc St. in the historic Zion Hill District which is adjacent to the Oak Grove Cemetery and the original Zion Hill First Baptist Church. Tickets can be purchased from any AAHP board member or at the event. Options to eat in or carry-out. There will also be a silent auction showcasing regional artwork and local businesses.
Texas Transportation Commissioners on Thursday approved more than $520.9 million in new construction projects statewide, with more than $12.4 million earmarked for projects in the Lufkin District.
Commissioners also approved more than $75.9 million in maintenance projects, which included more than $1.7 million for the Lufkin District.
Shelby County was approved for a $9.4 million construction project on US 96 that will include widening of the road and adding shoulders from 1.06 miles south of SL 500 in Center to just south of FM 417. Moore Brothers Construction Company, Lufkin, will serve as contractor. No timeline for completion has been set.
Angelina County was approved for $2.6 million in roadway rehabilitation and reconstruction on FM 326 from US 69 to one-half mile north of US 69. Moore Brothers Construction Company, Lufkin, will serve as contractor. No timeline for completion has been set.
Commissioners also approved $439,626.00 earmarked for bridge maintenance in various locations districtwide. THK Construction, Longview TX, will serve as contractor. No timeline for completion has been set.
Maintenance projects approved for the Lufkin District include more than $1 million earmarked for Angelina, Houston and Trinity counties that will used to purchase limestone rock asphalt. Vulcan Construction Materials, LLC, Birmingham AL, will furnish the materials.
More than $667,780.00 was also approved for preventative bridge maintenance in two separate contracts that is earmarked for various locations districtwide. Garret Shields Infrastructure, Garland TX, will serve as contractor.
As these projects are scheduled to begin, pre-construction meetings will be held and completion dates set. As signage and traffic control is set for these projects, motorists are urged to stay alert and obey all traffic control through and near work zones.
The kickoff to football season is here again, and with it comes pizza, beer, wings and more.
In a poll of 2,000 American men conducted by OnePoll and commissioned by Nutrisystem, 37% said they usually gain weight during football season from September to January, with 53% claiming they gain 10 pounds or more.
But football season doesn’t need to wreak havoc on your overall health, wellness and weight loss goals. Just ask pro football Hall-of-Fame quarterback, Dan Marino.
“After playing pro football for 17 years, my knees took a beating and I had to have both of them replaced. Couple that with the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I couldn’t exercise or do the things I wanted to stay active, so I put on some weight,” says Marino. “I knew I needed to make a change, turned to Nutrisystem and lost 26 pounds.”
To help football fans stay on track this season, Marino is sharing his best tips to lose weight and get healthier.
Make a Commitment: It all starts with a commitment. You make a commitment to yourself to get healthier and then you find a game plan to do it. When you see results, you’re motivated to keep going to reach your goal.
Keep it Simple: Men, especially, need things to be simple. If your goal is to lose weight, look for programs like Nutrisystem that are easy, take the guesswork out of dieting and deliver your favorite foods made healthier right to your door. Plus, they have great game day foods like popcorn, pizza and burgers to ensure you’re making good choices.
Seek Support: Studies show that individuals lose up to 20% more weight when dieting with a partner. Find that teammate who will help motivate you to stick with your wellness goals.
Focus on Protein: Protein keeps your hunger in check and will keep you from grabbing those not-so-good for you game day foods. Aim to get your protein from foods like meat and fish, eggs, dairy products, nuts and nut butters. For an afternoon snack, I always grab a Nutrisystem shake, which is packed with protein to keep me full until dinner.
Get Moving: Get up and off the couch! Call up your friends and organize a game of football or shoot some hoops. I love to hit the golf course and I often walk instead of grabbing a cart. This way, I’m getting in extra exercise.
For more great tips to feel your best this football season and beyond, visit Nutrisystem’s blog at leaf.nutrisystem.com.
The most important thing to remember is keeping up with your health and wellness doesn’t need to be hard. It’s all about balance. If you find yourself over-indulging as you’re watching the game, that’s okay. Commit to getting back on track the next day.
Bee Martinez (TFCL), left, and Rachel Lauren (TFCL), right, stand with Greg Sims who started Thanksgiving in the Park in 2017.
Fall is approaching and with it one of our favorite holidays here at Texas Forest Country Living.
Thanksgiving is usually a time for family, food, and football, especially here in deep East Texas. But for one man, it’s a great time to give back.
Greg Sims has been operating Thanksgiving in the Park for almost five years now. As he shares a story of two men and a woman who came to the event with TFCL, it’s evident he holds this project close to his heart.
The story goes that as the three were leaving, Sims told them to have a nice holiday. The woman turned and said that she’d had a nice holiday because of them.
“It was so touching and so heart felt, the way she said it and you knew you made an impact on somebody’s life; their holiday,” he said. “It was just one of those moments where it’s like ‘this is why I do this.'”
Thanksgiving in the Park started out as a simple conversation with a friend. This friend made a lot of food for his family on Thanksgiving, but often had quite a bit left over. Sims’ friend made a comment on how he wanted to give the food out to the homeless who roamed around the park and that’s when Sims knew he could help, having the resources and connections.
Sims has worked eight years as a social worker and enjoys the opportunity to help those in his community.
“Just to be able to affect some sort of change in [people], positive change, it goes above and beyond what a job provides for most. It’s just seeing that difference when they come in and when they leave. It’s worth more than any paycheck.”
Now going into their sixth Thanksgiving, Sims is very appreciative for the people who volunteer.
“Without them, it would be me and a tub of green beans out there trying to feed people and that would never work,” he said. “I value all of them greatly and could not do any of these plans without them.”
Rachel Lauren and Bee Martinez interview Greg Sims about his career and the origins of Thanksgiving in the Park.
However, social work wasn’t Sims’ first choice.
“I changed my major like a million times,” he said. He tried out different options but none of them felt right to him.
Then, December 21, 2009, Sims got hit by a drunk driver. During his healing process, he talked to a social worker. Their conversation sparked something for Sims. He felt that is what he wanted to be.
“You see people at their worst possible in their life, and of course that’s draining on anybody,” Sims said. “You just have to focus on helping them find resources. When you see the end result, it makes it all worth it.”
Like hearing someone’s holiday has become a good one because of a man’s desire to give back to the community.
Thanksgiving in the park is always on Thanksgiving day, located at Kiwanis Park in Lufkin, Texas from 11 A.M. to 1 P.M. New volunteers are always welcomed and are greatly appreciated.
The Texas Comptroller’s office approved and paid out a record $309 million in unclaimed property during the past fiscal year, Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today.
This is the third time the Comptroller’s office has returned $300 million or more in unclaimed property in a fiscal year. In fiscal 2019, the Comptroller’s office returned a then-record $308 million to its rightful property owners; in fiscal 2020, the Comptroller’s office returned $300 million in unclaimed property.
“The $309 million represents more than 160,000 claims paid to their rightful owners, and the fact that my office has returned $2.1 billion to Texans since I became Comptroller is a testament to the hardworking folks in our Unclaimed Property Division,” Hegar said. “I encourage everyone to visit ClaimItTexas.org to see if the state is holding some of their unclaimed property.”
In addition, the Comptroller’s office will be implementing a new way to quickly return unclaimed property to owners this year — sending a check to the owner without requiring them to file a claim. This process was authorized by Texas House Bill 1514 in 2021 and will be limited to unclaimed properties under $5,000 that the agency reasonably believes it can link to the correct owner.
The Comptroller’s office has returned more than $4 billion in unclaimed property to its owners since Texas’ unclaimed property program began in 1962. The state is currently holding more than $7 billion in cash and other valuables through the program.
The $309 million in unclaimed property returned in fiscal 2022 includes forgotten utility deposits or other refunds, insurance proceeds, payroll checks, cashier’s checks, dividends, mineral royalties, dormant bank accounts and abandoned safe-deposit box contents. Businesses generally turn property over to the unclaimed property program after it has been considered dormant for one to five years.
There is generally no statute of limitations for unclaimed property the state holds, which means there’s no time limit for owners to file a claim — they can do so at any time.
For more information about the unclaimed property program, or to search for unclaimed property and begin the claims process, visit the Comptroller’s unclaimed property website, ClaimItTexas.org, or call 800-321-2274 (CASH).
