Sabine County Businesses are invited to participate in our first annual salsa cook-off.
Rules:
Salsa must be fresh and homemade, NO COMMERCIALLY MADE.
Ingredient listing must be available.
Entrants will provide half-gallon of their salsa for tastings to the public.
Tables maybe decorated festively for the cook off. All must be ready by 10 AM when doors open to public.
Awards will be presented for the top 2 contenders in each category(below).
Judging will be by general public and will be by blind testing—meaning each business will have a number( not to be shared with public) so public judges, and votes on the number they like. Winners will be announced around 2PM
Categories:
Mild, Spicy, and Sweet
Other Info:
Kid Zone available with games, bounce house, etc.
Food truck: Cajun taco truck, ice cream truck, and taco plates with rice and beans will be available for purchase.
Music by DJ
Registration Info: $20/per business entry
Email sabinecountytxchamber@gmail.com for registration or call 512 576 747 or 409 525-9948
With funding from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), The Coalition, Inc. recently partnered with the Angelina County Sheriff’s Department and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) to conduct minor alcohol stings in an effort to decrease the consequences of alcohol purchased by minors. Under the direct supervision of law enforcement officers, juveniles under the legal age to drink/purchase alcohol were used as decoys to enter businesses that are licensed to sell alcohol and then attempt to purchase alcohol.
“Ensuring that alcohol is not sold to minors is a critical responsibility for businesses, and compliance checks serve as a proactive measure to protect young people from the risky behaviors that result from underage drinking. By conducting regular checks with alcohol retailers, we not only deter illegal sales but also strengthen a commitment to safety that benefits everyone,” says Sharon Kruk, Executive Director of The Coalition, Inc. “Our partnerships with the Angelina County Sheriff’s Department, TABC and TxDOT on this project protect youth and build a safer, healthier community for everyone.”
During the February and May minor sting operations, none of the stores sold to minors. We commend these retailers for not selling alcohol to minors and thank them for helping protect youth from the dangers of underage drinking:
Brookshire Brothers #52, 885 A Hwy 69 South, Huntington;
Tobacco Barn #52, 885 B Hwy 69 South, Huntington;
Huntington Travel Center, 191 Hwy 69 South, Huntington;
Dollar General Store #7405, 790 Hwy 69 South, Huntington;
Brookshire Brothers Express #81, 198 Main Street, Zavalla;
Coleman’s, 188 Old Hwy 147, Zavalla;
Dollar General Store #10131, 231 Hwy 147, Zavalla;
Family Dollar Store #32691, 199 E. Main Street, Zavalla;
Family Dollar #26758, 593 Hwy 69 South, Huntington;
Little Boots Food Mart, 101 North US Hwy 69, Huntington;
Zak’s Food Mart #1, 1910 North Timberland Drive;
Family Dollar Store #26064, 419 North Timberland Drive;
Gas N Go #1, 401 North Timberland Drive;
Murphy Express #8988, 204 South Timberland Drive;
Family Dollar Store #21899, 730 South Timberland Drive;
Big’s #3850, 3019 South John Redditt Drive;
A2Z Food Mart #1, 904 South John Redditt Drive;
Big’s #3819, 103 North John Redditt Drive; and
Lucky’s, 1701 North John Redditt Drive.
Sale of alcohol to a minor is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $4,000, confinement up to a year in jail, or both. Persons 21 or older can be held liable for damages caused by the intoxication of a minor under 18 if the adult knowingly provided alcoholic beverages to a minor or knowingly allowed the minor to be served or provided alcoholic beverages on the premises owned by or leased by the adult.
The Coalition, Inc. is funded in part by a grant from TxDOT to reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes in Texas. Since 1988, The Coalition has focused on eliminating the use of harmful substances by affecting public policy, laws, attitudes, and behaviors, all to foster healthy life-long choices for the local community. For more information on how to prevent underage drinking, contact The Coalition at 936-634-9308.
Business team hand Project manager working and update tasks and Gantt chart scheduling virtual diagram with tablet and laptop in office.
East Texas Business Cuts Costs and Chaos by Unifying IT Services
By Alec Castleberry
For one East Texas distribution company, the breaking point came during a Friday morning email outage. With a full team unable to communicate, customers left waiting, and no clear answers from any of their IT vendors, they realized what many local businesses are now facing: fragmented IT services cause more problems than they solve.
One Company. Too Many Vendors.
They had a cybersecurity provider. A separate phone system installer. A different vendor for networking. And the office manager? She was stuck chasing support tickets across three different companies.
The result? Missed alerts, delayed responses, and overlapping costs—all while the business grew more dependent on reliable technology.
A Unified Strategy with Castleberry Services
After a near-miss with a ransomware threat, the company turned to Castleberry Services. The plan: bring everything under one roof.
Castleberry assessed the company’s systems and implemented:
Simplified infrastructure and network upgrades
Centralized cybersecurity and monitoring
Eliminated redundant vendors and overlapping services
Ongoing support from a single, responsive team
Big Savings. Bigger Relief.
Within three months, the company:
Cut IT costs by more than a quarter
Reduced downtime dramatically
Got back to running the business instead of managing vendors
Local Lessons Learned
If your business has tech headaches but too many “fixers,” it might be time to rethink the whole approach.
East Texas businesses don’t need five IT vendors—they need one that can do it all. And that might just be the smartest switch you can make.
Yes, we are having our 4th of July Parade, so have your business, organization, school, church, or just work friends together and be part of the party on wheels! https://forms.gle/efnhRpSPTw6bv5bX8
Free, awards and our favorite colors on the road!
Time to have your kid’s bicycle decorated! Meeting point will be at the Crockett Bank’s parking lot, check the details out! https://form.jotform.com/251665606778167
Are you a vendor? Spots are still available—don’t miss the chance to be part of this exciting community event!
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M Forest Service awarded $155,000 to Central Texas landowners for wildfire mitigation practices through the Mechanical Fuel Reduction Grant this spring.
The cost-share reimbursement grant offers financial assistance to landowners to reduce the risk of home loss to wildfire in Central Texas using fuel reduction practices including hand-cut and mulching treatments.
“The Mechanical Fuel Reduction Grant helps landowners take proactive measures that will help protect their homes, land and community,” said Victoria Wenkman, Texas A&M Forest Service Community Resilience Program Specialist. “Private landowners and local fire departments are the first lines of defense to wildfire. Creating fuel breaks and defensible spaces on their own properties can help reduce the risk and severity of wildfires.”
Before mechanical fuel reduction.After mechanical fuel reduction.
Fuel reduction includes the removal of excessive or hazardous fuels such as vegetative debris, immature trees, shrubs and dead or downed branches. Shrubs and small trees can serve as ladder fuels which can carry a ground fire into the crown of trees, increasing the complexity of the fire.
Fuel breaks are a removed section of vegetation that can decrease the intensity of fires, protect first responders by providing wide access lanes and slow incoming wildfires.
“A fuel break can also benefit native vegetation and wildlife, allowing for shaded fuel breaks where large native trees remain and smaller invasive species are removed,” said Wenkman.
Defensible spaces are natural or manmade areas spanning at least 30 feet around a structure where combustible material has been cleared or removed, providing a barrier between an advancing wildfire.
Funding reimburses landowners for the costs associated with creating defensible spaces and hand-cut fuel breaks using chainsaws or mechanical mulching using mechanical brush cutters, forestry mulchers and similar pieces of equipment.
Thirty-nine Central Texas counties were eligible for funding this spring. Since 2005, those counties have experienced a combined 1,722 wildfires, burning 1,010,398 acres.
The Mechanical Fuel Reduction program will accept new applications this fall from landowners in 33 Central Texas counties from Aug. 1 through Sept. 12, 2025.
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The biggest news at Angelina College Athletics this past week was the hiring of two new head coaches, both of whom bring familiarity to their respective programs. Kassie James (softball) and Jon Phillips (baseball) will guide the Roadrunners and Lady Roadrunners beginning immediately, and both coaches sport impressive resumes. I’ve added links to their full stories below.
I’m also including (again) the AC men’s soccer team released its full schedule of instructional and ID camps for the summer. I’ve added an easy link and graphic containing that information.
Our youth summer camps with Camp Roadrunner continued this week with basketball. Soccer’s camp was a wash because of weather, but the program will have another camp starting July 7.
Here’s a quick rundown of the past week’s events, along with what’s coming up next:
AC Hall of Famer James Takes Softball Helm
As a player on the 2014 and 2015 Lady Roadrunner softball teams, Kassie James was a two-time NFCA All-American and a national champion.
Now, she can add “Lady Roadrunner Head Coach” to her impressive list of accomplishments.
James this week was named the new head softball coach, and she’s bringing 10 years of valuable coaching experience (and connections) to the position.
AC earlier this week named Jon Phillips the new head baseball coach – just the third head coach in the program’s history.
Phillips spent the past few years with Bossier Parish Community College, so he’s more than familiar with the rigors and challenges of Region XIV baseball. This past season, Phillips helped guide the Cavaliers to a first-place finish in the conference’s North Zone, along with a national ranking.
Camp Roadrunner Basketball Wraps Up Summer Session
From running drills to learn fundamentals to some full-blown, five-on-five competition, this past week’s Camp Roadrunner basketball sessions saw boys and girls getting their dribbles on.
With Angelina College coaches and players guiding the sessions, the attending youngsters (nearly 60 in all) learned what it takes to continue their improvement while also have a great time.
Roadrunner Soccer Sets Summer Camp Schedule
Along with the already-announced Camp Roadrunner youth camps for Summer 2025, the Roadrunner men’s soccer team has added both a Developmental Camp and an ID Camp to its list.
The Developmental Camp for players ages 8-14 will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. June 26-27 at the AC Soccer facility at the Larry Phillips Family Sports Complex.
The ID camp, used to identify prospective future Roadrunners, is for grades 9-12 and will take place from 6-8 p.m. on August 1 at the same location.
Click the following link for all registration and other information:
Over the past few years, Camp Roadrunner has become a “gotta do” event for youngsters throughout East Texas, with the recreational and youth sports camps drawing bigger crowds every summer.
Following are the remaining dates for each Youth Sports Camp:
Soccer: July 7-10
Live Streaming Reminder:
All AC Athletics regular-season home games will be 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 (formerly known as Twitter), and Instagram pages.
Upcoming schedules: No further games scheduled until August.
For any other information, contact Sports Information Director Gary Stallard at gstallard@angelina.edu.
