Our Texas Hideaway: September 2009

You've made it to East Texas

With piney woods tall,

Our Tea Party Groups

Say, "Welcome Y'all."

The Tea Party Express started in Sacramento and is traveling to over 30 cities before ending their trip in Washington, D.C. on September 12. Several buses from East Texas are leaving next week to meet up with the Tea Party Express in Washington D.C. They may have added another bus yesterday with excited participants at the Whistle Stop.

This is the snack and drink table. We had decorated cloth bags with treats for all of those traveling with the Tea Party Express. Some of the quotes on gift items:

The Constitution is the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen. John Adams

Let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constituion. Thomas Jefferson

A lady asked Dr. Benjamin Franklin (following the creation ot The Constitution of the United States)... Well Doctor, what have we got a republic or a monarchy - "A republic," replied the Doctor, "If you can keep it."

Anyone who says the American Constitution is obsolete just because social and economic conditions have changed does not understand the real genius of the Constituion. It was designed to control something which HAS NOT CHANGED AND WILL NOT CHANGE-NAMELY HUMAN NATURE. The 5,000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen

It was a very short stop as they were an hour behind schedule and still had rallies in Little Rock and Memphis.

There were at least 1000 people that lined the Rest Area on I30 about 2 hours east of Dallas. Roger and John Tweedell contacted the Tea Party coordinator to see if they would take I20 and stop for a rally with us near Hideaway, but their schedule was too tight. So they found this rest area on their route and convinced them to stop just for 15 to 30 minute Whistle Stop and they agreed!! We showed them a rousing East Texas Welcome!

Anxiously Awaiting Their Arrival

Someone in the large crowd of those waiting was concerned that we might be making extra work for the ladies who were cleaning the restrooms. So they took up a collection to give a tip to the workers. I talked to them afterwards and thanked them and said I hoped we hadn't made a mess for them. They said it was cleaner than at the end of a usual weekend.

I am in the red shirt, and we are passing out hand decorated cloth bags with lots of treats for the Tea Party Express Participants. There is also a pamphlet with information about our local tea party groups and interesting facts about East Texas. The Hideaway photo has a lovely picture of our golf course and a notation -

"Real Grass, Real People, Real Issues - Not Astro Turf!"

We all said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the National Anthem and God Bless America and heard a few words from some of their group as they stood in the back of a pick up truck. Yes this is East Texas!

The number of people and enthusiasm was beyond our wildest dreams!
We missed not seeing Griff Jenkins, but we were told he was at a wedding. Hope it was a fun wedding Griff!
FOX News the Best In The Nation
We keep our TVs tuned to your station
Other Networks have an agenda to share
But FOX gives us the news - Balanced and Fair

One of the treats in their welcome bag was "Calm" Tea and "Passion" Tea that had rose petals in it. The label said, "Stay calm but question with boldness and passion and enjoy these teas with rose petals from your East Texas friends. 20% of the commercial roses in the U.S. are grown in Smith County, Texas.

Lloyd Marcus, whose songs and testimony on the Tea Party Express web page, are just unbelievable, began by saying, "I'm not African American. I'm American!!!!" Listen to his songs and hear his testimony.

Time to Say Good Bye

As we loaded water onto the buses, we got to meet Ron and Kay Rivoli's traveling companions. This is just one of their two adorable dogs. Listen to their great song on the Tea Party Express Web Page.

A Little About East Texas - (This is information from the pamphlet included in Welcome Bags.)

Tyler is the county seat of Smith County, Texas. The city is named for President John Tyler in recognition of his support for Texas's admission to the United States. In 2008 Tyler was estimated to have a population of 108,772. Tyler has been nicknamed the "Rose Capital of America", because of its large role in the rose-growing industry. About 20% of commercial rose bushes produced in the U.S. are grown in Tyler and Smith County. It has the nation's largest municipal rose garden and hosts the Texas Rose Festival each October, which draws more than 100,000. Some of the homes from the spring azalea tour were featured in the March 2009 Southern Living Magazine.

Hideaway is a largely residential city and gated community in Smith County, Texas, located directly north of Interstate 20 with 3 lakes and 27 holes of golf. The land that now encompasses Hideaway was originally included in the large plantation owned by Texas Governor Richard B. Hubbard.

Sitting just north of the lush Tyler rose fields and to the south of the world renowned fishing of Lake Fork, is Van, Texas. Oil is what put Van on the Texas map. In 1929, Van was transformed from a small farm community to an oilfield mecca which was basically an overnight boom.

In 1930 in Rusk County, Marion "Dad" Joiner, the renowned wildcatter, was drilling the Daisy Bradford No. 3 and discovered the giant East Texas oil field, which, with an estimated recovery of 6 billion barrels of oil, became the largest oil field in the world at that time. Recognizing the significance of the East Texas discovery, H. L. Hunt moved quickly and purchased the Daisy Bradford No. 3 and nearby leases from Joiner. The Daisy Bradford No. 3 continues to produce to this day. This East Texas field provided the financial base for the founding of Hunt Oil Company in 1934.

Noonday, a small town south of Tyler in Smith County, Texas, has a reputation for growing the sweetest onions on earth! While that could be debated among other parts of the country which make the same claims, there is no doubt that the onion growers in the Noonday area grow some of the best onions money can buy. To be a "Noonday Onion", it must be grown in the fertile soils within a 10 mile radius of Noonday. Every year, growers vie for the sweetest onion at the Noonday Onion Championship in May.

Grand Saline is named for the large salt deposit in the area currently mined by Morton Salt. In the center of Grand Saline sits the only building in North America made of pure rock salt. Grand Saline is home of one of the largest, purest salt domes in the nation with a supply estimated to last 20,000 years.

Lots of blueberries, peaches, and pecans (Pecan is the state tree.) are grown here, as well as sweet potatoes in Van Zandt County and surrounding areas. The soil that was so good for sweet potatoes was also a reason why Chris, the Bulb Hunter (Southern Living March 2008) started the Southern Bulb Company in that area. They cultivate rare and heirloom bulbs to gardeners across the southern U.S. and other warm climates.

East Texas has a rich history, beautiful scenery, and a wide variety of food is grown in our region. Recently there has been a “growing” concern about the direction of this country – a direction that is growing away from the Constitution, “…the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen.” (John Adams) In nearby towns concerned citizens are meeting, learning about our Constitution, studying current legislative issues, and trying to determine what we can do.

Thank you for traveling to Washington, D.C., and taking the time for the “East Texas Whistle Stop.” God Bless You and God Bless Our Country.