By LORETTA FULTON The following article by Loretta Fulton first was published in the Abilene Reporter-News June 29 July will be a momentous month for Dennis and Janelle O’Connell, but June wasn’t bad either. On July 7, the couple will celebrate 40 years of marriage and on July 20 they will depart for Thailand for their 20th mission trip with
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By DANNY MINTON When you go into battle, chances are you are going to face an injury or wounds of some type. My battle injuries have not come from war since I have never been able to serve our country in this manner. My battle scars come from sports. In baseball, I’ve had “strawberries” from sliding into a base and
Read moreIDLE AMERICAN Commentary by Dr. Don Newbury Radio listeners heard it from the lips of England’s Prime Minister–the inimitable Winston Churchill. In the 1939 radio broadcast, he said Russia “is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” Fast forward 80 years to Uncle Mort’s 107th birthday party on July 4. This old Churchillian quote fits my kin quite well,
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By LORETTA FULTON The 116th edition of the annual Original West Texas Baptist District Assocation got off to a rousing start Monday night, with praise and worship music, scripture reading and words of welcome from representatives of several Abilene institutions. The opening musical program held at New Fellowship Baptist Church set the tone, literally and figuratively, for the coming five
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By LORETTA FULTON In her recurring dream, Elizabeth Flores is holding her baby daughter, Harley, in a small room in Agreda, Spain, waiting for a priest to take her. “I’m handing her over to be baptized,” Flores said. In reality, Harley Flores is 15 and a student at Abilene High School. But in May, Elizabeth and Harley actually were in
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HARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE Travel courses are a way for students to experience new places, but for Dr. Priscilla Selvaraj, a May term trip to India was going home. Selvaraj led six students from May 15-26 for a psychology class titled “Discovering Self through Experiencing Diversity.” As an associate professor of psychology and counseling, Selvaraj wanted her students to study
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By DANNY MINTON To whoever was walking down an alley near Oleander street in Dallas and found the sack with a nickel in it, I’d like to tell you how it happened to be there. It was put there one summer around 1953. My brother was 3, and I was 5. These were the days that you let your kids
Read moreIDLE AMERICAN Commentary by Dr. Don Newbury Attention drawn to “red light cameras” has a broadened focus in Dallas. Some “Big D” traffic signals–designed to be effective for 25 years–have been in service since 1940, with almost all in use since 1980. If tell-tale cameras had been that old, there’d have been black-hooded photographers straddling elevated supports trying to apply
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By LORETTA FULTON National Pollinator Week, June 17-23, didn’t pass unnoticed in Abilene as FaithWorks hosted a celebration in its garden, which of course, features pollinator plants. With the help of the Big Country Master Gardeners, the garden on the north side of the building has been transformed from a once empty spot to a place of respite. Rolando Rios’
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Spirit Of Abilene 