Lion President Vic Whadford called the meeting to order with Lion Billy Watson giving the invocation, Lion Jim Cromwell led the pledges and Jim Richings led the singing. Special guest was Boots Burfoot.
Lion Charlie Burfoot introduced our guest speaker who was Jim Walker and wife Waldine. They have recently built a house of straw, hay, logs, brick, rock and mortar in the country just South of Rusk on CR. 1105. They bought 12 acres of land in a wooded area on a creek.
He purchased a backhoe and cleared enough ground for the house and also made a dam across the creek to build a small pond. He used the timber for logs to build the house. He brought several booklets of pictures that were made of the house while it was being built. He built a tin roof and then went underneath and poured a concrete slab. He used square bales of hay stubble to place around the slab, leaving a space for all the doors and windows. They used wire mesh around the bales of hay and they made metal pins and placed them in the concrete slab which were used to place straps and pull the hay as tight as possible to make the walls.
The building is only 810 square feet and is comfortable for 2 people, except for closet space which is never enough. They have a window air conditioning unit and in the summer they raise the windows at night and close them in the morning. They have ceiling fans and most of the time they do not use the air conditioning until it reaches above 80 degrees. They have a wood stove that supplies heat in winter. They made the ceiling out of bamboo.
The house itself cost $17,000. and the land was $8,000. So for $25,000. they have a nice little home. They invite the public to come out and see it anytime and they assure you that you will feel as comfortable as 3 little pigs in a straw house.
Please visit our Lions Club any Thursday at noon on Highway 84 West.
Living
Walkers present house of straw to Rusk Lions
- Living
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Field Day
About 61 children with special needs from five schools competed and played at the Cherokee County Special Education Coop's annual field day on Friday.
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Bob Bowman's East Texas: Casablanca’s East Texan
When you talk to East Texas movie buffs about their favorite all-time films, the one everyone places near the top is Casablanca, a seventy-year-old love story made in 1942 starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
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Lescroart’s ‘The Hunter’ a psychological drama
The Hunter
By John Lescroart
Rather than a straight mystery by this prolific writer of suspense, The Hunter is a psychological drama, set in motion when Wyatt Hunt, a private investigator, receives an enigmatic text on his cell phone: How did your mother die?
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Preserving a wild and scenic river
The Neches River has been a lifeline for Cherokee County residents for centuries. Not only has the river provided a water source for irrigating crops, it has also provided fishing, recreation and transportation for residents living on the stretch.
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‘After high school comes college’
Children are classified as future leaders of the United States and educators are going above and beyond to guide them along the right path.
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The Book Shelf
In order to escape a violent stalker who is protected by his wealthy parents, beautiful, intelligent Ellie Sullivan leaves home, assumes a new identity and pursues a career path as a surgeon. Jogging on the last day of her residency, she observes a couple fleeing from an FBI sting gone wrong.
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Civic Theater announces cast members For ‘Dearly Departed’
Living and dying in the backwoods of the Deep South are seldom tidy, but, in the case of the dysfunctional Turpin family, are rib-tickling hilarious!
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Middle School student accepted to summer program
Jacksonville Middle School 8th graders and Duke Scholars Evan Murphy and Swanson Traylor have recently been accepted to the Duke Summer Studies program at Texas A&M.
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Church event aids Relay for Life
Jacksonville First United Methodist Church recently held a 1OK/5K run benefiting the Cherokee County Cancer Relay for Life. The event route, designed by Paul Travis and Greg Wade, was ran by 70 participants from several states.
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Lion Vic Whadford Speaks to Rusk Lions About His Life
PDG Lion President Ardys Brown opened the meeting by calling on Lion Billy Watson for the invocation, Lion Jim Cromwell to lead the pledges and Lion Jim Richings to lead the singing. Special guest was Boots Burfoot.
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