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Starting today 9/21/2011, Wednesday, The TurningPoint Church, Hale Center will begin having its Mid-Week Bible study online and by conference call. You can know learn the Word of God in the comfort of your own home and even ask questions and see the bible study notes on your computer. The TurningPoint Church is committed to teaching the Word of God to those who may have never had access to the Bible.If you have a computer you may log on at www.freescreensharing.com fill in your name, email address an the follow access code: 454318116.....Also in order to hear the bible study you may call on your cell phone the following number: 559-546-1200 and the password is 454318116#. When you log on to the computer you may download the bible study notes that will be provided. We look forward to having you participate is what we feel will be a great opportunity to learn God's Word if you have never attended a bible study before. For all questions you may contact Dr. Robert L. McKenzie at 806-317-8833.
Meeting Dashboard - Free Screen Sharing - Online Meetings, Web Conferencing Tools| FreeScreenSharing www.freescreensharing.com
Submitted by Jeanette Steen, Hale Center, TX
Please also pass this on to any prayer circle at your churches. This drought has been rated by the National Weather Service as THE WORST in recorded weather history. That means it's worse than the "Dust Bowl" years, folks.As evidenced by people living in all areas of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma,and ever-increasing areas in other parts of the country, the drought condition is reaching critical status; cattle are being auctioned off; crops have burned up; and drinking water is becoming a concern. Please join us in this prayer circle. Let's make this one of the largest prayer circles ever. It will be as though everyone is holding hands around the world.
"Father, You said whatsoever any two or more come together and agree and ask in Your Son's name, it shall be given. We come to you, humbly, and ask that you bring down the rain to our parched lands. Our farmers and ranchers need it desperately, as well as our firefighters. We ask this all in Jesus' name. Amen".
Sea turtles lay their eggs during the early hours of the morning usually before the sun comes up. The volunteer sea turtle patrol makes their rounds at sunrise
to stake off nests and mark them as protected. Anyone disturbing a nest or a sea turtle risks a fine or imprisonment, whether the nest is on public or private property.Northeast Florida's sea turtle nesting season is from May 1 through Oct. 1. Most of the nests in Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra are Loggerhead turtles. A female turtle must be at least 25 years old to lay eggs and mother turtles nest every two years.
The turtles lay about 100 eggs in a carefully dug "egg chamber" in the sand. Then, after the eggs incubate for about two months, 2-inch-long hatchlings emerge, searching for the ocean. A condo or vehicle light in the distance can disorient the hatchlings, who will head away from the sea instead of toward it, become dehydrated and eventually die. These misguided hatchlings are called "wash backs" and create another task for sea turtle patrol volunteers. Homeowners along the beach have restrictions upon the types of lighting they may use in their yards and the back of their homes. Vehicles are prohibited on the beach but "beach cruiser" bicycles are welcome.
In my own layman's observation it seems that nature compensated for the loss of sea turtles in the gulf oil spill last summer. The number
of nests found on the St John's County beaches (from Ponte Vedra south through St Augustine) grew from a previous average of 275 nests to a record 905 nests in the summer of 2010. A morning conversation with a turtle patrol volunteer in July, 2011 indicates that this nesting season is as good as or better than last year’s. July is the peak time for egg laying with at least one new mound discovered every morning. The volunteer also told me that there seems to be an increase in leatherback turtles which are usually rare on the St John's county beaches.Living on the coast is very different from the panhandle of Texas. It took me a while to feel at home among palm trees, Spanish moss, and Egrets. Did you know that you are never more than 60 miles from a beach anywhere you go in Florida?
Brenda Steward Faus, HCHS Class of 1978
1978 HCHS graduate Brenda Steward Faus and her husband Bryan will be glad to welcome their middle son, Ben Faus, back to the U.S. Ben has been studying abroad through Baylor University at St. Andrews University in St. Andrews, Scotland. Ben is an honors college major at Baylor with an emphasis in Philosophy. He will return to Baylor as a senior and plans to pursue a career in vocational ministry. Ben enjoyed studying at St Andrews under Dr. N.T. Wright, a leading New Testament scholar and former Bishop of Durham in the Church of England.
St. Andrews University is located on the shores of the North Sea on the east coast of Scotland. The University was the location of the courtship for Prince William and his new bride Kate. They recently returned to St Andrews to help the school celebrate its 600th anniversary. St. Andrews is the 3rd oldest English speaking University, just younger than Oxford and Cambridge, established between 1410 and 1413.
The city of St. Andrews is also known as the birthplace of the game of golf. The "Old Course", as it is called, was a favorite morning running track for several of the visiting Baylor students. Of course, castles and cathedrals are a big part of the UK. Ben was privileged to visit several. He also enjoyed a brief stay in London. What an exciting time to see St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey at such a historic time.
Ben also enjoyed some travel while in the UK. He and fellow students stayed in a Manor House in Oxford during spring break. A highlight of that trip was a visit to The Eagle and Child Pub where The Inklings had their daily meetings. The Inklings was an Oxford writers' group which included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Belfast, Ireland was another travel opportunity for Ben during spring break. Belfast was filled with history of the Catholic and Protestant conflict of the 1970's and also the home of the construction site for The Titanic.
The Faus family is very grateful for the financial support that God has provided for Ben's studies at Baylor through academic scholarships and work/study opportunities.
Somewhere in the wee hours of the night, around 2 or 3 a.m. (?), Preston and Eunice Greenhaw called our house and told us to go outside and see the Northern Lights. We all hurriedly donned robes and out we went. Looking to the north that night I saw three "splotches" of colored lights. One "splotch" looked just like a green waterfall. Another looked exactly like Christmas ribbon candy with red, yellow and green coloring. Over the years, I have forgotten what the thrid "splotch"looked like, but each was totally different. And so beautiful! The most amazing sight I have ever seen.
Now here's the sad part. I was cold in my summer weight robe, feet bare on the very cold sidewalk...and soooo sleepy. I looked for a while and thought about how cold I was, how sleepy I was, and how warm my bed was. I went to bed thinking, "I'll stay longer to see them next time." Never thinking that this would be a once in a lifetime event! I'm wondering if anyone else saw those beautiful lights? I'm really looking for verification, because when the men in the white coats drag me kicking and screaming to the loonybin someday, I'll still be saying I saw those colored Northern Lights!
--Rita Johnson Pierce, Texas
Rita's Website
Best of America by Horseback is a top quality television series that takes viewers across the world to beautiful riding locations. Hosted by Tom Seay, the show is scenic, educational and informative. It is designed to give horse owners the confidence and knowledge to travel to these wonderful locations with their own horses, as well as show riding vacation locations that supply horses for those that do not have their own.
Best of America by Horseback television series features a different riding location each week. Host Tom Seay will show you how to get there, the facilities available for you and your horses, and of course, the trails.
Tom Seay will ride the trails at every location and highlight the terrain, footing, and the difficulty level of the trails. He will show you the access to the camping area and if it is adequate for larger rigs, level, and what each facility offers. You get an inside look at the stalls, paddocks, tie lines or whatever is available at that location and meet local riders for the inside scoop on their favorite trails, vistas, etc. Each program features educational and informative segments about planning trips and traveling with horses, spotlights on products for horses and riders, and music from talented artists all over the country.
The "On the Road" segment covers travel tips, such as tips on changing a flat tire on your horse trailer while traveling, what questions to ask when checking out a riding location
to assure you and your horses will have a pleasant and safe riding experience, and helpful information to consider while planning your first or next riding vacation with your own horse. The "Trailer Tips" segment gives good consumer tips such as what to look for when purchasing a horse trailer and what questions to ask to make sure you get everything you need."Trail Tips" features nationally known horse clinician Kerry Kuhn. Kerry travels with Best of America by Horseback giving public clinics daily and is available for private clinics. He has been training horses since he was 12 years old and loves helping people communicate with their horses, making them better, more confident riders. He knows being a confident rider makes trail riding and all horse related activities more enjoyable for both the horse and rider.
"Product Spotlight" showcases products on the market for you and your horses, farms and even your rigs. They show you what each product is designed to do, how to put them together and how they work.
And what camping trip
with your horse would be complete without sitting around the campfire listening to good cowboy, country western, or bluegrass music? The producers of Best of America by Horseback held music auditions in Texas, Georgia and Washington D.C., for musical talent for the show. They found a great variety of talented musicians and feature the best of them in the shows. One of their favorite musicians discovered at the talent show is Del Shields. Del is a cowboy singer, songwriter and poet, who regularly travels and performs with Best of America by Horseback.Before Best of America By Horseback, Tom and Pat Seay had been in the television business for many years, but had taken a break from the fast paced, stressful life of running a television station
to taking guests on day trips and overnight trips by horseback for more than 15 years. They both missed producing outdoor TV shows, but loved traveling and riding their horses all over the country. So, they came up with the concept of this new series and felt RFD-TV would be the best channel to reach the most horse owners and outdoor lovers.The producers welcome input from viewers and riders for future featured riding locations. Please go to the website for information on the Best of America by Horseback Membership Club. Our show is also available on rfdtv.com (via their Country Club which is free for 1st month and can be canceled any time) - both live streaming during airing of show, and archived shows are also available for viewing any time.
Official Website: www.bestofamericabyhorseback.com
To get more information and a background on our show on RFDTV, click here:
In the United States, we are fortunate enough to be able to participate in free and fair elections. Regardless, many Americans do not take part in the state and national elections that occur every 2 years. Only about 50 percent of Americans usually feel compelled to go to the voting booth for even a presidential election. Here are a few things to think about BEFORE you ignore the next election.
Not all American voters have always been allowed to participate in elections. Women, however, didn't receive the right to vote in the United States until 1920 (the 19th Amendment). There are still some states that do not allow felons to vote. A citizen of the United States must first register in order to vote in a state or national election. Each state has its own registration deadline. Once you are registered, you will receive a voter registration card that will have your polling place listed on it. On Election Day, proceed to your polling place. Once there, you will find instructions on how you will vote. You can also mail in an absentee ballot if you are going to be away from your polling place on Election Day. Consult the County Elections Coordinator for further instructions. Voting may lead to a change in the state constitution or which political party is in power. Voting in every election is how one person makes his/or her voice heard to those people in charge.
Vote for the next generation. Decisions we make today impact our children, grandchildren and all generations that follow. Make choices that will improve their lives by voting. It also sets a good example and encourages civil responsibility. Vote or lose your right to complain. If you don't bother to cast a ballot you can't whine about problems with the world. It doesn't matter whether your vote ends up going for the winner or loser.
A society must cast ballots for decisions to be made. Together we decide our future. Be part of that future by voting.
Richard Castillo
Election Coordinator for Hale County
County Clerks Office
I wanted to share with you the progress and performance of the two Hale Center Little League teams of the 9 and 10 year olds. We enter the Plainview Optimist League this year with a total of 9 teams for the 9-10 year olds. Hale Center Blue was coached by Troy Valdivia (unknown names of Asst. Coaches) and the Hale Center Gold team was Coached by Head Coach Isaac Sandoval and Assisted by Travis Parker and Terry Timms.
I spoke with Troy Valdivia last week at the Hale Center Summer Camp and for them it was a rough season. At the beginning of the year we were very concerned because they had a lot of talent and Troy Valdivia is a very good coach and does amazing things on the field when working with the kids. During the season he had a lot of his kids quit and later had to forfeit the tournament due to a lack of players. I hated to see this happen to them, but they gave it a good run for the money and most of all, the kids had fun and progressed through the season.
The Hale Center Gold team finished third place out of the nine teams this year. We stayed very competitive and were very lucky that our kids stuck with us through the season. Mr. Sandoval is a wondeful coach, very competative and teaches the kids a lot during the season. I learned a lot this year from assisting him.
"What's It Mean?"
Well, yesterday I had a revelation that I couldn't wait to share. You can pass this along...if you impress people-tell them you read it here. If they're unamuzed, just take your lumps and leave my name out of it!Yesterday, Sally & I started a movie, and at the beginning was the (now updated) robed lady holding a torch with the iconic "Columbia" appearing over her head. "Columbia" - I thought...Why Columbia? We have Columbia Records, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), several cities named Columbia, The shuttle, Columbia and the Nation's capitol is in the "District of Columbia.
After a little brief research, (thanks Wikipedia)...here's what I found;
(pronounced kah-lum-bee-a), is a poetic name for the Americas and the feminine personification of the United States of America. It has inspired the names of many persons, places, objects, institutions, and companies in the Western Hemisphere and beyond.
Columbia is a New Latin toponym, combining a stem Columb- based on the surname of the explorer Christopher Columbus and an ending -ia, common in Latin names of countries (e.g. Britannia "Britain", Gallia "Gaul"). The meaning is therefore "Land of Columbus."
So..."Columbia", just another way of saying, "Land of Columbus". The new colonies and eventual United States were often referred to with the use of the name, "Columbia" though serious consideration of using it as official reference to the United States was never documented.
I just found it interesting! Oh, BTW...the movie? Sally & I watched Julie And Julia with Meryl Streep. Guess what - it wasn't awful!
For more on "Columbia" fromWikipedia, Click Here....