WEDNESDAY VOLUME XXIX NUMBER 28 Section 1 8 pages
July 17, 2024 Home of the ‘Lone Star Flag’ and Peyton Parks
Montgomery County’s Only Locally Owned Newspaper
Established 1995
Montgomery County News
Montgomery, Texas 77356
50 Weekly
PRE-SRT POSTAGE PD #80 MONTG. TX
PBOX Magnolia, TX 77353
AG Paxton Texas Rebel Joan of ARC Sends Weekly Honors Three Members Letter to U.S. Gas Prices Average gasoline prices in Texas have risen 7.0 cents per gallon in the last week, a v e r a g i n g $ 3 . 1 2 / g t o d a y, according to GasBuddy's survey of 13,114 stations in Texas. Prices in Texas are 15.2 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 3.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 2.3 cents in the last week and stands at $3.83 per gallon. According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Texas was priced at $2.71/g yesterday while the most expensive was $4.28/g, a difference of $1.57/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.71/g while the highest was $4.28/g, a difference of $1.57/g. The national average price of gasoline has risen 2.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.49/g today. The national average is up 5.2 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 5.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. Historical gasoline prices in Texas and the national average going back ten years: July 15, 2023: $3.15/g (U.S. Average: $3.54/g) July 15, 2022: $4.05/g (U.S. Average: $4.55/g) July 15, 2021: $2.85/g (U.S. Average: $3.16/g) July 15, 2020: $1.91/g (U.S. Average: $2.20/g) July 15, 2019: $2.49/g (U.S. Average: $2.79/g) July 15, 2018: $2.65/g (U.S. Average: $2.87/g) July 15, 2017: $2.04/g (U.S. Average: $2.24/g) July 15, 2016: $2.03/g (U.S. Average: $2.21/g) July 15, 2015: $2.55/g (U.S. Average: $2.78/g) July 15, 2014: $3.45/g (U.S. Average: $3.60/g) Neighboring areas and their current gas prices: Midland Odessa- $3.04/g, down 11.2 cents per gallon from last week's $3.15/g. San Antonio- $3.10/g, up 15.7 cents per gallon from last week's $2.94/g. Austin- $3.12/g, up 9.9 cents per gallon from last week's $3.02/g. “Much like last summer, the nation's average price of gasoline has remained somewhat stuck in the mid-$3 per gallon range with a mixed bag of prices: small declines in some states and modest increases in others as we wait for what could be the next major trend," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "Hurricane Beryl had no major impact on prices, but some drivers in Texas had trouble finding gasoline due to power outages, a situation that continues to improve. For now, we'll continue to see small price fluctuations as we await news of any hurricane-fueled refinery disruptions or other supply challenges as we head into the busiest weeks of the summer travel season." SOURCE GasBuddy
Index Community........2, 3, 4, 7, 8 Commentary...................3, 4, 5 Church Directory..............5 Legals.................................6 Business Directory.............8
Left to Rt Seated: SIGNERS: Barbara Eddleman, Kelly Hall, Cindy Dittrich. Standing Celebrating: Karen DeBerry, Mr Bill Hall supporting and honoring wife Kelly Hall, Sponsor of Kelly Hall: Lyn Howard, President Jenny Lehr, Registrar Danean Myers, Registrar Committee & 2nd Sponsor of Kelly Hall: Elaine Collings. by Elaine Collings The Rebel Joan Of Arc 2721 Chapter Members gather for their celebration of members at their “Signing Party”, at the new Boutique of “Sweet Magnolias” located at 33418 Lago Vista Real, just off 1488, in Magnolia. “Sweet Magnolias” is owned by Prospective Member KELLY HALL who is one of
the excited “Signers” for her Ancestors. Other RJOA excited “Signers” of their Ancestors Applications for The United Daughters of the Confederacy are RJOA Member: BARBARA EDDLEMAN, and RJOA M e m b e r C I N D Y DITTRICH. K E L LY H A L L i s Signing her 1st Application for United Daughters of the Confederacy under Nathan
Culp, Co. H 63rd Regiment, Alabama Infantry, CSA. B A R B A R A EDDLEMAN signs her new Supplemental Ancestor Forms for ‘four’ new finds: William McQuatters, Co. J 3rd Regiment, Louisiana Infantry, CSA. Samual Hood, Co. F 2nd Regiment, Louisiana Infantry, CSA. Albert Johnson, Co. C 11th Regiment, Georgia
Infantry, CSA. Evan Johnson, Co. E, 60th Regiment, Georgia Infantry, CSA. CINDY DITTRICH signed for two new Ancestor finds: Uriah Jackson Wyrick, Co. L 8th Regiment, Tenneessee Cavalry, CSA. James Wyrick, Co. B, 2nd Regiment, Tennessee Calvary, CSA. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THESE LADIES WHO STRIVE TO HONOR T H E I R FA M I L I E S HISTORY! CONGRATULATIONS T O R J O A AWA R D WINNING REGISTRAR: DANEAN MYERS FOR HER DEVOTION IN FINDING ALL POSSIBLE ANCESTORS FOR HER RJOA SISTERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. After the Celebration and Champaign toasts, the ladies then lunched at the fun Citizens Grill in Magnolia. What a delightful day to celebrate each other and being together honoring our History. Submitted by: RJOA Chairman of Public Relations: Elaine Collings, ehcollings@gmail.com Photo Committee: Shelia Williamson
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Beauty and Beast The Musical: Arguello’s ‘Belle’ is Masterful by Ruben Borjas Jr. I’ve been to France before, but not to its 1750’s version, where a small village and surrounding woods has been transported t o C o n r o e ’s C r i g h t o n Theatre. In ‘Beauty and The Beast: The Musical,’ you will find an arrogant prince, cursed to a life with a grotesque facade, while a beautiful young lady has a passion for books but doesn’t quite fit in with village life. An assertive brut of a man will make his play for a wife, and a search for a missing father yields to self-sacrifice and the adventure of a lifetime. For Stage-Right of Texas, it is the final event of their 2023-24 season. Beauty is based on the Disney animated film in 1991, and 1994 stage play. The play begins when an enchantress happens upon a castle during a storm, and offers a rose as payment for shelter to an arrogant prince. When he refuses, she turns the man into a h i d e o u s B e a s t ( Ry a n Dinesen), and his servants into objects found around a wealthy man’s residence. To break the curse, the
beast must find a way to love someone, with the k i c k e r, t h a t s h e m u s t express love for him too. Years later, a beautiful young lady, Belle (Melisa Arguello), the daughter of an odd inventor, in a village not far away, has visions of saying goodbye to her provincial life. She is harassed by the womanizing Gaston (Gerald Eddins) in his hopes of one day marrying Belle. On a trip to a fair in another village, Belle’s father Maurice (Richard Franks), nearly becomes a meal for the wolves, before he finds refuge in the same castle in which the Beast resides. He enters, and is thrown into the castle’s dungeon by the owner. Back in the village Belle finds Gaston’s side-kick LeFou (Luis Ayala) has found her father’s scarf. LeFou tells her where he found it. She looks for her father, finding the castle, and discovers him locked up. Belle selflessly surrenders herself for her father’s freedom, and so begins her true adventure with the Beast to find an everlasting love. The singing in Beauty
was hit and miss. Melisa Arguello’s Belle came to the plate and homered every time. Her voice was magical and uplifting, crisp and clear, and enjoyable. Even with a mishap with the sound system in ‘No Matter What,’ the song with Richard Franks, Arguello saved it, o v e r c o m i n g F r a n k ’s h u m b l e o ff e r i n g , a n d garnering a great applause. Gerald Eddins’ Gaston, in Act One, appeared winded at times, with his voice suffering, but he did much better in the second act. The First Act just seemed to drag on, with the a u d i e n c e ’s a t t e n t i o n waning, and was attributable to the dragging transitions that needed a traffic cop for the show to stay on time. ‘Be Our Guest,’ with its riding high, would have made a perfect end, with performances by Lumiere (Carlos Holstein), and Cogsworth (Stephen Hill) standing out. Ryan Dineen’s Beast, ‘If I Can’t L o v e H e r, ’ w a s v e r y c o m m e n d a b l e . Thankfully, in the Second Act, all the singing overall was much improved. The stage fog would
have been nice, but dry-ice wasn’t to be found, another bad omen that Hurricane Beryl had beset upon the region. And for a second week run, and on a Sunday matinee at that, I would have expected all the issues of ‘tech week’ to have been hammered out. Not only were my eardrums nearly burst with an (Apple Watch ‘Loud Environment’ notification) obnoxious noise coming from the sound system during ‘No Matter What,’ the Belle and Maurice song, thankfully the actors kept in character, but looked deeply concerned. Following the segment during transmission, another unscripted incident took place causing laughter, when the concrete seat on a moveable set piece fell off leaving poor Silly Girl (Ellie Williams) having to drag the thing off-stage, leaving a trail of concrete dust in its wake. The lighting was insufficient in numerous scenes, and all-in-all, I thought it was an overly d a r k s t a g e . I n Ry a n See Arts, page 2
Senate Urging Passage of The SAVE Act
A U S T I N – Te x a s Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to the United States Senate detailing the pressing need to support legislation passed by the United States House to safeguard American elections by requiring people to provide proof of citizenship before being allowed to vote in federal elections. Current federal law prohibits states from requiring proof of citizenship, even though federal law also prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections. “The situation at the United States-Mexico border has devolved dramatically since Joe Biden assumed the presidency in 2021. Millions of aliens have been intentionally released into communities across the nation and countless other ‘gotaways’ have escaped detection altogether,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Aside from undermining the sovereignty of the States, endangering the safety of Americans, and flooding the country with human trafficking and illicit contraband, this disaster has opened the door to the abuse of our electoral system by partisan political activists who aim to mobilize illegal aliens to vote in this country’s elections.” “Although federal law prohibits those who are not U.S. citizens from voting in federal elections, it also paradoxically prohibits States from requiring voters to have proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. Under any circumstances, this federal prohibition against citizenship verification makes little sense, but it is especially troubling given the current scale of the illegal immigration crisis,” Attorney General Paxton continued. “I am calling on Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (“SAVE Act”), which would require voters to provide proof of citizenship, thereby preventing the e f f e c t i v e disenfranchisement of citizens.”