The Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce has packed its calendar for the week, and the item most business owners will want is free.
The Chamber’s Business Development Series workshop, “How to Grow Your Business with AI,” runs from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Thursday, Oct. 22, at The Chamber, 2516 North St. Heather Nichols of Big Harvest Marketing leads it. There’s no charge, but seating is limited — register online at Nacogdoches.org or call 936-560-5533 to hold a spot.
The plan is to keep it practical: using AI as an assistant for brainstorming and planning, getting first drafts of social posts and emails out of it, writing clearer instructions to get more useful results, spotting repetitive work that could be handed off, and picking one manageable place to start. “You don’t need to be a tech expert to join the conversation,” the Chamber says — just bring the business problems you’d like to tackle.
Wednesday at The Chamber
Two things land Wednesday, Oct. 21, both at The Chamber. Professional headshots run 2 to 3 p.m. — $50 for members, $75 for non-members, and the package includes two high-resolution downloads with retouching. Chamber Lift Off, a free Member Success Orientation for new, current and prospective members, follows from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Oct. 21 is also National Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day, and the whole week, Oct. 19-23, is Chamber of Commerce Week in Texas.
Ribbon-cuttings and a construction kick-off
Thursday, Oct. 22 brings the Regents Academy construction kick-off and a ribbon-cutting for Rogue Prosthetics. American Legion Post 86 gets its ribbon-cutting Thursday, Oct. 29. The Chamber’s board of directors meets Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Around town
Friday, Oct. 23 has Nac Snack Friday and the Nacogdoches Crime Stoppers Catfish Cookout fundraiser. Saturday, Oct. 24 is the busiest day on the list: SFA Homecoming, the NAC Arts Market, the Nacogdoches Farmers Market, the Pioneer Harvest Festival at Millard’s Crossing Historic Village, and Books, Booos & Burgers at Fredonia Brewery. Lamp-Lite Theatre opens “The Odd Couple” Thursday, Oct. 22 and runs it through Sunday, Nov. 1. “Nevermore: A Night in the Mind of a Madman” plays Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24. Ginger Gore Russell’s MFA exhibition is up from Tuesday, Oct. 20 through Saturday, Nov. 7.
The Chamber is at 2516 North St., Nacogdoches. Call 936-560-5533 or go to Nacogdoches.org.
Most people hear the word “budget” and picture a spreadsheet they’ll give up on by Valentine’s Day. So let’s not call it that. Let’s call it a plan: you decide where your money goes before it gets there.
After 33 years in the credit union industry, I’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of families and observing the habits that contribute to financial success. Families who do well are mindful of their spending, distinguish needs from wants, prepare more meals at home, and consistently save first instead of waiting to see what’s left at the end of the month. Small, disciplined habits often lead to long-term financial stability.
Very often, the people who come out ahead aren’t the ones who earn the most. They’re the ones who decide ahead of time.
Here’s a simple way to start this week. All you need is a pen, a sheet of paper and last month’s bank statement.
Write down what comes in. Use your take-home pay, not the number on your offer letter. If your hours swing from week to week — and in timber, construction and healthcare they often do — use your lowest normal month. Extra money in a good month is a bonus. It isn’t the plan.
Write down what has to go out. Rent or house payment, utilities, car payment, insurance, phone, groceries and gas. These bills show up whether you think about them or not. Check your statement instead of guessing. Most of us guess low on groceries and gas.
Look at what’s left. That’s the money you actually get to make choices with. If the number is small, or below zero, that isn’t a failure. It’s information. You can’t fix what you haven’t looked at.
Give every dollar a job. Some people like the 50/30/20 rule: about half to needs, 30% to wants and 20% to savings and paying down debt. It’s a starting point, not a law. If housing takes more than half your pay, adjust the other two and keep going.
Hunt for the small leaks. Go through that statement line by line and circle anything that renews by itself. Streaming services, apps, a gym you haven’t seen since spring. One $9.99 charge doesn’t hurt. Six of them is $60 a month and $720 a year.
Pick one change. Not ten. Cancel one subscription, pack lunch two days a week, or move $25 to savings every payday. One change you keep beats ten you drop by Friday.
Check in once a week. Fifteen minutes on Sunday night is plenty. Compare what you planned with what happened, and adjust. A plan that never changes is a plan nobody’s looking at.
Over the next eleven weeks I’ll cover emergency savings, credit scores, the holidays, buying a car, teaching kids about money, paying down debt and getting ready for tax season. None of it takes a finance degree. It takes a little attention, once a week.
Got a money question you’d like me to answer here? Send it to carlak@aspirecu.org. I may not use your name, but I’ll do my best to use your question.
Some of the most important work in our community happens quietly, behind the scenes — and for 25 years, Kalin’s Center has been making a meaningful difference in the lives of children and families across our area.
The Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce invites you to join us for a special 25th Anniversary Celebration and Ribbon Cutting honoring Kalin’s Center, the Children’s Advocacy Center serving Houston and Trinity counties.
For a quarter of a century, Kalin’s Center has provided a safe, child-friendly environment for children affected by abuse, assault, or neglect. Through specialized interviews, family advocacy, therapy, and other services, the center helps children and their families navigate difficult circumstances with compassion, dignity, and support.
This is more than a ribbon cutting — it’s a celebration of 25 years of caring, serving, and helping make hope and healing possible.
Kalin’s Center 201 Renaissance Way, Crockett, TX 75835 1 PM
We hope you’ll join us in showing Kalin’s Center some hometown love! Come celebrate this special milestone, connect with fellow community members, and help us honor an organization whose work truly matters to our community.
Kalin’s Center 201 Renaissance Way Crockett, TX 75835 936.545.9455
Angelina College’s Visual Arts students from the recent fall semester will be displaying their talents in an exhibition scheduled to run from Tuesday, Oct. 27 through Wednesday, November 11 in the Angelina Center for the Arts Gallery on the AC campus.
An artists’ reception will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27 in the ACA foyer.
Students in instructor Le’Anne Alexander’s Visual Arts courses include those enrolled in drawing, design and painting courses.
Participating students and their specific classes are as follows:
ARTS 2316 (Painting I): Ella Cassin, Yolanda Crain, Christopher Gonzalez, Logan Jetty and Summer Ray.
ARTS 1316 (Drawing I): Isaac Booth, Samantha Burns, Brynn Jones, Amber Lookingbill, Katherine Lopez, Amy Masi, Randi McDaniel, Mercedes Olivares, Kaylee Owens, Melissa Segura, Jaylen Sweats and Wes Wright.
ARTS 1311 (Design I, 2D): Preston Alvarez, Saturn Bryan, Rachel Couch, Yolanda Crain, Daniel Dye, Rudy Garcia Torres, Barbara Glossup, Justice Helton, Alexis Jones, Brynn Jones, Emily Miller, Jazmine Ramirez, Starla Torres and Zykevia Williams.
Admission to the reception and gallery is free and open to the public.
For information on AC’s Visual Arts programs, contact Le’Anne Alexander at lalexander@angelina.edu.
Gary Stallard’s email address is gstallard@angelina.edu.
The last full week of October is the busiest stretch left on the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce calendar, and most of it lands between Oct. 29 and Halloween.
The Senior Expo and Angelina College’s “Autumn Reflections” instrumental concert both fall on Thursday, Oct. 29. The next day, Friday, Oct. 30, brings the SFA Teacher Career Fair and Chick-O-Treat. October closes on Saturday, Oct. 31 with the 5th Annual Trick or Trot 5K & Fun Run.
Before that
Angelina College’s Riff Runners Fall Concert is Friday, Oct. 23. The college’s Visual Arts Student Exhibition reception is Tuesday, Oct. 27 — that show runs through Nov. 11, and Texas Forest Country Living covered it separately.
The chamber’s October ribbon cuttings and Reverse Raffle Remix are not repeated here. The raffle ran in Texas Forest Country Living separately, and the ribbon cuttings were held back in October by the publisher.
The Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce is at 1615 S. Chestnut Street, Lufkin, TX 75901. The phone number is 936-634-6644 and the full calendar is at LufkinTexas.org.
(Photos by Maryane Pala, Kylee Reeder, Macie Jones, Jaden Sowell and Isa Aguinagua)
Hey, sports fans,
Our soccer teams played their final regular-season home matches this past Friday, and the teams came away with a pair of big (and windy) wins after celebrating their sophomores with a Sophomore Day ceremony. The Roadrunners have managed to climb into first place in the Region XIV South Zone standings with just two matches to play.
Region XIV held its annual Basketball Media Day on Wednesday, and the coaches gave their predictions on the upcoming season through their coaches poll. (Click the provided links for the coaches’ reactions and comments.) The Roadrunner men, picked second in the conference, will host a home scrimmage this Tuesday.
The official rosters for both basketball teams are now up and running on the Angelina Athletics website (links provided below).
Finally, our Roadrunner baseball team hosted a youth baseball camp on Monday, where kids took advantage of a school holiday by prowling the grounds of Poland Stadium and learning some new skills.
We are AC, and we’re ready to Run ‘Em.
Here’s a quick rundown of recent events, along with what’s coming up next:
Roadrunner soccer vaults into first place in Region XIV South Zone
Just a couple of weeks ago, the Roadrunner soccer team was fighting a battle for third place in the Region XIV South Zone.
This week opened to the ‘Runners holding onto the first-place spot, and the team responded with an 11-0 blowout over Texas Southmost College Friday at AC.
Diego Ramirez scored four goals, Leeyon Phelan scored twice and Gabriel Moore, Victor Martinez, Jhosua Jory, Ryudai Seki and Sebastian Pacheco each added goals in the match.
Just before Friday’s match, the Roadrunners held a Sophomore Day ceremony, recognizing sophomores Yumeki Matsumoto, Gabriel Moore, Albi Zyla, Sebastian Pacheco, Diego Ramirez, Jhosua Jory, Ryudai Seki, Kanta Maruyama, Angel Benitez, Ethan Narvaez and Victor Martinez.
The win kept the Roadrunners (5-3-2, 5-2-2) atop the Zone standings, just ahead of second-place Coastal Bend Community College (4-3-1, 4-2-1). AC will travel to Louisiana State University-Eunice on Friday for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, then close out the regular season with a road trip to Beeville to face Coastal Bend CC on Monday, Oct. 26.
Lady Roadrunners soccer tops Texas Southmost
The depleted Lady Roadrunners haven’t allowed the plague of injuries to slow their efforts, and the team picked up a big win on Friday, knocking off Texas Southmost College by a 3-1 final.
Beatriz Almeida scored twice for AC, getting assists from Gisela Oyonate and Aundrea Barreiro; and Olivia Loyola scored off a feed from Esmeya Galesloot in the 28th minute.
Prior to Friday’s kickoff, the Lady Roadrunners celebrated their sophomores in a Sophomore Day ceremony, honoring Sara Gonzalez, Esmeya Galesloot, Madelyn Huebel, Beatriz Almeida, Lucrezia Benelli Becchi, Emma Brachet Chanal and Aundrea Barreiro.
The Lady ‘Runners (4-6-2, 4-4-2) will close out their regular season on the road this week, facing Louisiana State University-Eunice at 5 p.m. Friday in Eunice.
Roadrunner basketball coaches at Region XIV Media Day
Region XIV held its annual Basketball Media Day this past week at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, where coaches released their pre-season polls and predictions for the upcoming 2026-2027 season.
The Roadrunners were picked to finish second in the conference, while the Lady Roadrunners were picked fifth in the proposed standings.
Read what the coaches had to say about their teams’ expectations by clicking the link:
Meet the teams: Lady Roadrunner, Roadrunner basketball rosters available for viewing
Both the Lady Roadrunners and Roadrunners have released their official rosters for the upcoming 2026-2027 seasons, and those rosters now are available for viewing on the Angelina College Athletics website. Click the provided links to meet the players:
AC’s baseball and softball teams are nearing the ends of their respective fall seasons, but both groups still have some upcoming action on the slate.
Here are the fall schedules for both the Roadrunner baseball and Lady Roadrunner softball teams. NOTE: These are exhibition games, so there won’t be any live streaming available, nor will there be stats or final scores posted.
As always in East Texas, the potential exists for schedule changes because of inclement weather. We try to put out the word as soon as we get it, but the quickest way to confirm game days and times is to visit the AC Athletics website (angelinaathletics.com) to view the most updated schedules. We’ll also send out word on social media (AC Athletics Facebook and Instagram, etc.), but the on-line schedule will always serve up the most recent updates.
Live streaming reminder
All AC Athletics regular-season home games are live streamed on TSBN Sports (a free streaming service for fans), with most of the conference road games also available for streaming. (This does not include baseball and softball fall games, as those are not considered official games.)
Once TSBN posts its schedules, AC fans simply need to visit the AC Athletics web site, look at the scrolling schedule in the middle of the page and click the blue “Video” link.
TSBN also offers an app great for smart phones, devices and smart TVs. (You’ve GOT to see those matches and games on the big screen.)
Reminder II: Admission to ALL Angelina College Athletics sporting events is free, as is the TSBN live streaming. Any other links offering streaming are scams.
Reminder III: For the most current schedule updates (especially for potential weather issues) visit the official Angelina College Athletics website (angelinaathletics.com). Fans can also receive updates on the AC Athletics Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram pages.
Upcoming schedules
Tuesday, Oct. 20: Roadrunner Basketball vs. Strength ‘N Motion (scrimmage), 5 p.m. at Shands Gymnasium on the AC campus.
Friday, Oct. 23: Lady Roadrunner Soccer at LSU-Eunice, Roadrunner Soccer vs. Texas Southmost College (Sophomore Night), 7:30 p.m. at the Larry Phillips Family Sports Complex on the AC campus. Roadrunner Baseball at University of Texas-Tyler, time TBA in Tyler, Texas. Lady Roadrunner Softball at University of Texas-Arlington, 4 p.m. in Arlington, Texas.
For any other information, contact Sports Information Director Gary Stallard at gstallard@angelina.edu.
We’ll see you at the games.
Gary Stallard Email: gstallard@angelina.edu Phone: (936) 465-4614
Join us for a homemade breakfast like Grandma used to make. Breakfast will be served following the first school program. If you can’t stay, salute our veterans and fix a plate to go.
Location: VFW Post 10351 Date & Time: November 11, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Looking for funding to start or grow your business?
Join us for our next Lunch & Learn: Access to Capital — Loans, Grants & Funding Options, presented by Dianne Amerine with the Angelina College Small Business Development Center!
FREE, Free, Free, just register!
Tuesday, October 27 12:00–1:00 PM Polk County Chamber of Commerce
Learn more about the financing and funding options available to small businesses and entrepreneurs.
October’s Power Networking Breakfast, presented by Amerigy Energy, is shaking things up with POWER PLINKO!
Drop the chip, see where it lands, and be ready to talk business. You might share a recent win, make an ask, tell us something we didn’t know about your business, or find the referral you’ve been looking for.
You may already know the people in the room, but you might be surprised by what you don’t know about their business.
Grab some coffee, take your shot at Plinko, and let’s see where the morning takes us! Be sure to register so we know you’re coming!
Hudson Water Supply customers can go back to using their tap water normally. The corporation rescinded its boil water notice at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 16, after bacteriological tests came back negative.
“Water test results have come back negative and it is no longer necessary to boil your water for consumption, you may resume normal water use,” the corporation told customers.
The notice had been in place two days. A main line break on Wednesday, Oct. 14, left customers on 94 West, FM 706, FM 3150, FM 2497 and surrounding areas with low pressure or no water. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality then required the system to notify all of its customers to boil water before drinking it, cooking with it, making ice, washing hands or brushing teeth. The instruction was to bring water to a vigorous rolling boil for two minutes and let it cool, or to use bottled water instead.
Samples were collected and sent for testing, the corporation said Thursday, and the notice stayed up while it waited on results. In a 9 a.m. update Friday it was still in effect, with an explanation of the wait: a lab needs 24 to 48 hours to process bacteriological tests. An hour later the notice was lifted.
The corporation used that same Friday update to make a point about what a boil water notice means. “A boil water notice does not mean the water is contaminated,” it said. “It is the first precautionary step taken to protect the public from potential waterborne disease.”
Hudson Water Supply Corporation’s office is at 3032 Ted Trout Dr. in Lufkin. Customers with questions can call Brad Naron at (936) 875-2146.
