Wednesday's Internet Edition, August 27, 2008.
packed with activities
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| HIGHWAY 36 CLOSED- Extremely heavy rains in the western part of the county last Wednesday morning sent Waring Creek out of its banks and forced the closure of Highway 36 for approximately three hours. The loaded cattle truck to the right in the picture above was swept to the shoulder of the road just before the highway was closed. The flood water swept across the highway west of the Waring Creek bridge near Gentry’s Mill. The truck with the driver still in it remained in a precarious position until the water receded, but no damage was suffered. Tropical Storm Edouard had minimal impact on the Texas coast, but went directly across Hamilton County, dropping torrential amounts of rain. Comanche and Mills counties also received large amounts of rain. As much as 10 inches were reported in western Hamilton County. In the City of Hamilton, six inches was a commonly reported amount. The totals fell off rapidly to the east of Hamilton with reports from the Jonesboro area of one to one and a half inches. Staff Photo |
The Dove Festival pageant, set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23, in the Chandler Craig Audi-torium at Hamilton High School, will kick off the cele-bration.
About 30 Hamilton beauties had entered the Dove Festival pageant by press time this week. The final deadline to enter is Friday. Former Dove Festival queens Candace Stroud and Harmony Thompson are co-chairs of this year’s pageant.
The newly crowned queen and her court will be featured in the Dove Festival parade at 10 a.m. Aug. 30.
Most of the day’s activities will be held on the square downtown, while rodeos and dancing will be featured at the Circle T Arena.
Vendors will set up around the square Friday evening and early Saturday, according to the Hamilton Chamber of Com-merce office.
Runners will gather for the Dove Festival 5K early Saturday morning, Aug. 30, with the start set for 8 a.m. There are routes for 5K and one mile, and the run is open to walkers and runners. Awards will be an-nounced at the finish line after the run, which is sponsored by the Hamilton Wellness Center.
Finals for the benefit donut-eating contest will begin at 9 a.m. at the Donut Shop. Proceeds will go to the Tiffany Cole Scholarship Fund.
Also at 9 a.m., the Hamilton Economic Development Corp. will officially dedicate the downtown gallery, complete with a ribbon-cutting.
After that, Frances Ramsey invites everyone to her new gallery on the southwest corner of the square to view the Ramsey Collection.
Parade chairman Mark Sepolio says this year’s parade will begin at 10 a.m., with lineup as usual along Bell Street beginning at 9 a.m.
Entertainment will kickoff on the stage at 11:30 a.m. featuring Abbi Clair, followed by Clepper-George at noon.
The Master Gardeners will host a dedication at 12:30, and there will be a ribbon cutting at the new Pecan Creek Park at 12:45 p.m.
Gunfighters will stage shootouts on the courthouse square near the stage at 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Dove Festival Day.
A pickling contest is set for 1 p.m., with winners to be an-nounced at 3:45 p.m.
Hamilton Civic Theatre will present a children’s puppet show on the stage at 1:45 p.m.
Danny Bingham will take the stage at 2 p.m., followed by local band Southern Under-ground at 4 p.m.
Gospel singing will begin at 5:45 p.m. featuring Leon Joplin and the New Bluegrass Combi-nation, Cindy Bankston, Duby Todd, Angie Logan and Caitlin Harbin, James Rogers, Eliza-beth Hunter, Gene Barnet, Ronnie Blair and others. Ann Tatum is chairing the gospel singing.
The Dove Festival Rodeo will be held Friday and Saturday at Circle T, and a dance will be held there on Saturday.
Also in the works are a quilt show in the Fine Arts Building sponsored by the Woman’s Council and a softball tourna-ment in the new park. Saundra Lengefeld is chairing the quilt show and Ryan Polster the softball tournament.