April 27 Edition

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." - Isaiah 54:17

Happy birthday this week to: Robert Dyer - April 27, Megan and Morgan Searcy and Norma Thompson - April 28.

We Eagles are sad at the passing of Mrs. Peggy Towery last Saturday at the age of 86.

Daisy Blackmon celebrated her past birthday with family and friends at the West Saline Community Center last Sunday afternoon.

Donnie McClellan is engaged to Marie Crank of Texarkana.

Last Thursday's initial community development meeting went well with about 25 people in attendance. Herald editor Britt Tallent MCed the discussion and we examined what the attendees thought were the strengths of our community, our weaknesses, and where we want to be in a decade. Further plans are afoot.

One interesting thing brought up was a desire to have a sort of home town festival... perhaps based around the Battle of Marks' Mills. I remember now some of the school yearbooks from the 1950s showed some pictures of a halloween parade through downtown New Edinburg. I'll see if I can't scan and share them later.

Speaking of Marks' Mills: last Saturday was the 151st anniversary of that battle, and if I remember nothing else about it, I will always remember a stunt my father pulled on me when I was about 7. At the time, we lived on the Banks Road where Carlton McClellan lives now, and our neighbors were Margie Bowers and the Smiths. 

Back in the 70s, the weekend trip to Fordyce or Warren was a big deal... or at least it was to me... and my Mom did her grocery shopping on Saturday morning. On that particular April 25th, as he was going to work, my Dad told me that on this day the ghosts of the Confederates killed at Marks' Mills would be marching up the Banks Road. Now, understand, I was 7. I gave up a trip to Fordyce and the comic books that would have been acquired, to stand in Margie Bowers' yard and wait with excitement to see ghosts silently marching up the road to their destiny.

I stood out there a solid two hours. At one point, Howard Smith came out of his house and looked at me. I said "I'm waiting for the ghosts to march by." He simply said "all right" and went back inside.

As you've probably guessed by now, the ghosts didn't appear, and I felt cheated. When my Dad came home, I let him know right off the bat no ghosts came by and I missed a trip to town because of all this. He stared at me in disbelief and said "Oh my God, you didn't really believe me did you?"

Be careful what you tell your children.

Go Eagles.

April 21 Edition

"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:" --- Job 19:25

Birthdays this week include: Kim Allen - April 22, Daisy Blackmon - April 23.

Here's hoping all the turkey hunters had some luck last weekend as the season opened. I'm not hearing very many optimistic reports...

Chapel Hill Baptist Church will be holding revival services next week, April 27-29, at 7 pm. Services will be led by Brother Rick Bolin.

Kickstart Cleveland County will be holding its second community meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at the New Edinburg Community Center. The meeting is open to anyone interested in possibly starting a community development initiative in the New Edinburg area.


Greenland Food Pantry will be open Tuesday, April 28th at 9am. Those with low incomes and in need of supplemental food are welcome to come by.

Robert Boney is still in St. John's Place for rehab. He'd probably love it if any of his old friends/girlfriends/relatives came by the visit.

If you have items of interest for this column, please share them before Monday in order to get in that week's edition. This column will appear on the internet (sometime) at http://WeAreTheEagles.blogspot.com. Go Eagles.

April 13 Edition

^"11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light." -- Romans 8:11-12

Birthdays this week include: Sheila Currier - April 13, Blake Spears and Bobbie Moseley - April 14, Johnnie Green & Ella Green April 15.

Bro. Tony Atkins of New Edinburg First Baptist Church is undergoing problems with lung cancer. It's confined to one lymph node, and surgery may be done soon. Please keep him in your prayers.

Also keep in your heart the family of the late Sue Carolyn Wheeler Smith, NEHS Class of '51 and the sister-in-law of Bobbie Moseley.

Last week's house fire at the home of Sylvester and Rae Nell Wright really got out of hand with a return visit that night from the Fire Department followed by a third visit the following morning as a car parked behind the remains of the house caught fire. So, between the trailer fire on Farm to Market Rd and this fire, the department was in action off and on for about 40 hours.

A benefit was held at the West Saline Community Center to help the family of the late Eric Abeyta of Kingsland. Good BBQ plates and live entertainment was on hand with an attendance of about 150 and about $1400 raised for the family.

There will be another benefit given there at our old school with the aim of raising funds to repair the gymnasium floor so that an indoor place for children to have games can be provided. A local contractor has stated he and his crew can easily make the repairs. The event will start at 5:30pm on Saturday, April 18. Admission is $5.00 and the live entertainment will Warren local "Big Chuk." 

If you have items of interest for this column, please get them to me before Monday of each week.  This column will appear on the internet at http://WeAreTheEagles.blogspot.com.  

April 6 Edition

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." --- Roman 5:10

Birthdays this week include: Tommy Green - April 10, Melinda Huddleston & Dustin Briant - April 12

I hope everyone had a great Easter despite the rainy, cool weather.

Easter Sunday noon saw the New Edinburg Fire Department responding to a fire on the Farm to Market Road where an abandoned trailer apparently exploded. An unnamed witness reported the fire and said she saw a man running away from the trailer. No one was injured.

The next morning, Monday, the old Kleinbeck home in the middle of town burned. It was a total loss, but fortunately all residents were away at the time. The house was the residence of Sylvester and Rae Nell Wright and family.

Robert Boney is alive and well and in St. John's Place in Fordyce for rehabilitation after receiving a stint for his aneurysm.

Bro. Tony Atkins reports First Baptist Church had the biggest attendance ever for their Easter Sunrise Services.

Some local history about the First Baptist Church courtesy of The Eagle Democrat,  Wednesday, October 25, 1967:  "The First Baptist Church of New Edinburg has a distinction of having been built and located in three counties without moving more than 100 yards and without ever crossing a county line.

At the time of the erection of the church, the town of New Edinburg was in Bradley County. Some years later, a new county was formed from parts of adjoining counties and New Edinburg and the Baptist Church found themselves in Dorsey County. Still later, the name of the county was changed, honoring President Grover Cleveland.

The church was organized almost 100 years ago in 1868 with Elders Solomon Gardner and John T. Craig consitituting the Presbytery. The church was in the Judson Baptist Association. After 1901, the church agreed that it could no longer see eye to eye on ecclesiastical matters with its present larger connection and joined the General Association, the American Baptist Association, and later the North American Baptist Association.

The first building was completed in September of 1869, after which the church adopted a resolution to the Methodist of the community expressing appreciation for being allowed to use the Methodist house of worship for its services for a season.

In early years, at almost every monthly conference, some-Brother or Sister was excluded from worship for some kind of unbecoming conduct: the men usually for imbibing too freely of alcoholic beverages and the women for "tipping light fantastic toe..." [Note: that's archaic language for dancing...]

In those days, revivals were popular, and one mighty one was conducted under the persuasive preaching of Rev. W. E. Penn in 1890. Results, fifty church additions and 122 professions of faith.

A new church was erected in 1936 and it was dedicated in 1937. The building, at the time of completion, consisted of an auditorium and six Sabbath School rooms. The Sunday School is first mentioned in church records of 1883. The church has had three buildings, the current one replacing one that was put up in 1890. This one replaced the orginal church structure. The middle building had an 84-foot steeple."

Go Eagles.