Shepherd Chamber of Commerce




Mikki Renouard talks at Women's League luncheon

Shepherd Chamber of Commerce

16 N. Liberty St, Shepherd, TX 77371

210-995-7420

www.shepherdchamberofcommerce.org

Coldspring Chamber of Commerce

31 N. Butler St., Coldspring, TX 77331

936-653-2184

www.coldspringtexas.org

The Eagle comes in to land on its nest at this Mother's Day table.

The Blue Bird table had a painting by the mother of April Plunkett.

Barbara Justice presents scholarship awards at Coldspring Oakhurst event

Tractor Supply ground-breaking ceremony in Shepherd

Wanda Gardner made her hat for Mother's Day luncheon at the Senior Center in Coldspring

Did You Know?

by Yvonne Cones


Mothers' Day Tea Party was the title of the Master Gardeners Annual Fundraiser which they sponsor every year. The theme to decorate the tables was 'Birds' which gave the hostesses plenty to choose from! Each table was personally decorated from the china, silverware, glasses to bird depictions of many kinds. I loved all of them but chose two to show. The Eagle was a tremendous work of art and there were beautiful paintings, ornaments and even a Christmas Tree.


Dr. Judi Benestante, President of the SJC Master Gardeners, welcomed everyone, explaining how each member contributed to this event. She was dressed for the occasion with a stylish birdlike hat. The setting was the Methodist Fellowship Hall in Coldspring and the Silent Auction was a wonderful collection of items, many of them plant or flower themed.


Women's League held their last lunch before the summer break. The next meeting will be on the second Thursday in September. The guest speaker, Mickey Renouard, and her husband John, had flown from Utah to gve their presentation. They founded a non-profit organization in 2010 called 'Who Lives?'. Traveling and working in Tanzania and Kenya they saw the deaths of many people, children especially, because of the lack of clean drinking water. In fact women walked for hours to muddy, filthy pools to collect water in pots and carry them back home. Between 3 to 4 million people die from the diseases in the water. So, they worked out a plan on how to drill wells economically in each village and now have 138 drill teams in Africa. These teams have dug over 14,000 wells! The web site to go to is WHOlives | Providing easy access to clean water, better health, and economic opportunity, through the use of the Village Drill. This was a most inspiring talk.


Women's League held a swearing in ceremony for the new Board for the upcoming year, starting in September. Many remain in the same positions. Go to the Facebook page to see more. Our President is still Mary Ann Pittman who has done a wonderful job as did all the Board members.


WorkForce Solutions of Deep East Texas sponsored the 'Youth Career Summit' at COISD on May 1. Twenty seven companies showcased their industries. Students asked questions and took home information about the firms present and 497 students attended this event, a successful day for every one. Barbara Justice hosted this event for WorkForce Solutions as well as presenting the scholarship awards to grads at the COISD Awards Night.


Tractor Supply is coming to Shepherd! The ground breaking ceremony was held last Tuesday at the site on Lilley St. facing the frontage Rd on 59S. Work started and more news will be forthcoming soon.
SJC Senior Center had Mother's Day lunch on Friday. The Red Hat Ladies came in their amazing hats! The 'Queen' of this organization, Wanda Gardner, told me she had made her hat. It is fabulous and has a wonderful humorous aspect too.



President of Master Gardeners, Judi Benestante, addresses the Mother's Day Lunch.