By Danny Minton I recently heard the story of a man named Hody Buford Childress. After hearing it, I had to check into his life a little more. Chances are most of those who read this have never heard of him. It’s likely that he would have just as soon kept it that way, but after he passed away on
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Maybe folks started listening for “goofs” when radio became a luxury during the Great Depression. (Until then, I suppose they occurred most often in simple, face-to-face communication, or maybe with megaphones.) For the longest time, Harry von Zell’s alleged foul-up–purportedly heard from sea to shining sea when radio was yet young–has to be among
Read more
By Loretta Fulton Meals on Wheels Plus employees and volunteers got good news and sad news this week. The good news is that Betty Bradley, executive director, was honored with the 2026 Sister Alice Marie Quinn Award from Meals on Wheels America. The sad news is that Bradley, who was named Meals on Wheels first executive director in 1975 after
Read more
CHRISTIAN SERVICE CENTERDec. 13, 1965–Organized under the direction of 16th and Vine Street Church of ChristJanuary 1967–Grew to include four other congregations, each assuming some financial responsibilityMay 1, 1968–Turned the oversight and major financial responsibilities over to then-College Church of Christ, now University Church of Christ1968–Moved to 901 Mesquite St.2005–Incorporated as Christian Service Center of Abilene, Inc., in January2013–Started major
Read more
By Danny Minton It was Aug. 28, 1963, when Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and gave his now-famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Here are a few excerpts expressing thoughts he was trying to convey to all Americans. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise
Read more
By Isaiah Core The Texas state motto is “Friendship” and was adopted in 1930 by the legislature. The word Texas is derived from the Caddo word “Tejas” meaning friend or ally. In our modern world you may be inclined to look negatively at our state government, culture, political atmosphere, and even local governments. The internet is no help because you
Read more
By Nancy Patrick People who have known me only as an adult express surprise when I tell them that I was one of the quietest students in all my classes. Because of my extreme shyness, I sometimes felt intimidated by more outgoing children who seemed confident and self-assured. One of my elementary school teachers actually told my mother during a
Read more
By Jim Nichols It appears to be a child’s toy, small pieces that seem to relate a story that you get to make up as you play. “Invented” in the 1890s in Japan, they were adopted by Russian society soon and are often known as “Russian dolls” or “Matryoshka dolls” today; a more descriptive term is “nesting dolls.” Originally made
Read moreTHE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Allen Saunders , an obscure Canadian cartoonist, is cited for an inscription in his 1956 “Mary Worth” comic strip. No doubt it had local impact, but much more the next year when repeated in the Reader’s Digest . “Life is what happen to us while we’re making other plans” has been quoted often. Sometimes, though, it simply
Read more
