Welcome to SantaAnnaNews.com

Have You Forgotten?

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?-- Darryl Worley country music singer/songwriter. I never will.. September 11, 2001. Where were you when the world stopped turning?-- Alan Jackson country music singer/songwriter. The September 11 Digital Archive will help you remember.

By now you may know that I enjoy listening to country music. I think that I get it from my late Grandad, Ernest Coder who played in an country band in the late 20's on WBAP in Ft. Worth, and also from my Dad, Dan Pelton who always listened to a lot of instrumental country and a lot of Marty Robbins' music of which El Paso was always one of my favorites, and also my Step Dad, Tex Wright who always listened to country music while he was driving.. he drove a truck for a living when he first met my Mom and up until we moved from Garland to Santa Anna in 1975. I used to go with him on Christmas and Summer Vacations from school and he would tap out the rhythm of the music as we rolled down the highway. WBAP was one of his favorite stations and the Louisiana Hayride was one of his favorite programs along with Mystery Theater.

Anyhow I think that the country music of today has really done a great job of portraying our country and what it stands for, with the exception of the Dixie Chicks which for all practical purposes are no longer in the country music business. I never did like the Chicks too much, but I really like the music of Shedaisy which resembles the Chicks and has taken up where the Chicks' left off. I was watching CMT on Sunday and there was an interview of Shedaisy and they told about one of their new songs, Come Home Soon, that is about those that are left at home when soldiers go off to war. The Shedaisy website has several letters from some that are left behind while their loved ones are defending our country.

Remembering those that have served and those that are serving our country.

You know sometimes it doesn't hit you until it is personal.

Clay Hubbard tells me that Allen Tucker is now in Iraq. I believe that Maricela (Marty) Siller is also in Iraq. Please pray for their safety and families while they are gone.

Please remember these Santa Anna folks that are serving our country in combat, training, or support: Maricela (Marty) Siller, Eddie Dawson, Ike Garza, Clay Hubbard, James Watson, Austin Voss, Randy Casey, Mike Montgomery II, Mark Rutherford, Allen Tucker, and James Culpepper.

1216 American soldiers or sailors have died in Operation Enduring Freedom as reported by the Department of Defense and the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. Pray for our country, its' leaders, and our soldiers and sailors.

Many service men and women return home safely. Operation Tribute to Freedom Homecoming Photographs.

Rain, rain, go away.. come again some other day!

Well I hope that you like rain.. I learned a long time ago from some old farm and ranch customers to take rain whenever you can get it. Most of them were always waiting on a rain for their crop to grow or wanting it to stop so they could plow or harvest. I like to see it after I have just mowed the grass. Monday night I poured out 3.5 inches but I am not sure the last time I emptied the gauge. Tuesday night I poured out another 3 inches. Cindy said the City Lakes were catching a lot of rain.

Not a lot of news the last couple of days.. Cindy and I have been a little under the weather.. trying to keep from really getting sick before the Holidays so there is not a lot of news, although I am working on a couple of different things.

Update! I poured out another 1/2 inch of rain Wednesday evening for a total of around 7 inches this week. The Sun parted the clouds Wednesday afternoon and it sure was nice to drive home from work without my wipers on. The Pecan Bayou was right up to the bridge by Humphrey Pete's and the roadside park was closed. CC Woodson was cut to the two inside lanes and they were going to close it off at dark. KOXE said that Lake Brownwood was 3 1/2 feet over the spillway. Cindy and I got to go out there a couple of years ago and watch it. The Lake Brownwood water district, or whatever it is called, has a nice scenic overlook over the spillway near the dam. If you get a chance go check it out.. it is kind of a mini Niagara Falls.

Cindy got to get out of City Hall today to go out to the City Lakes and see the North lake, Lake Santanna, go over the spillway and Lake Sealy filled up. City Director of Public Works (just in case you didn't know his official title) and Cindy's boss, Douglas Watson, said that the last time it went over was in 1998 when we last had a bunch of flooding in the area. She took the camera along and took a few photos for us.

The Lady Mountaineers took on the state ranked and Division II State Champion and Texas Cup winner Priddy Lady Pirates in round one of the Priddy Tournament at 6:00 Thursday but came up a little short and I believe the score was 56-42. They gave the Priddy Girls a good game tying it up a few times in the first half after spotting the Lady Pirates a few points. Some of our girls got to play several games against the girls from Priddy a couple of years ago in Summer league basketball so they knew what to expect. The Priddy girls play a very fast paced game with lots of fast break and run and gun ball. Coach Libby and our girls have been gearing up for this type of game play and have proven in the last couple of games that they can play a faster paced game. The boys played the Priddy Boys team and came up a lot short losing I belive 68-38. Both the Girls and Boys will be taking on the Evant teams on Friday afternoon - Girls at 12 noon and the boys at 1:30. They will need your support so bring your Black and Gold and we will see ya at the game.. that is if I can talk my Boss Man into letting me go!

For more game photos see the new photo albums on the Sports page!

Cindy and I traveled to Sidney to watch the Varsity girls take on the Sidney girls Tuesday night. The Lady Mountaineers came out a little slow but won I believe 59-26. They switched off the scoreboard before I could get a shot. My camera lens also fogged up on me during the second quarter so I don't have as many pictures and can maybe get them up by Wednesday. The JV girls played the May JV right before the Varsity and I thought someone said they lost but Cindy tells me that they won 40 to 24.. we didn't make it in time to see any of it. The Varsity boys played Lohn in Lohn and Jessica tells me they lost but I don't have a score yet.

Cindy and I traveled to Cherokee along with several other Santa Anna folks to watch a little basketball Saturday afternoon. It was cold and rainy and we thought we were getting there just in time for the JV Girls game, but the Varsity was just starting. Originally the games were scheduled for Friday night and since the Cherokee football team had a Friday playoff game they rescheduled for Saturday. The JV girls started at 2:30 so we missed it but I understand they came up a little short of winning.

The Varsity Lady Mountaineers gave the Cherokee Lady Indians a little head start and I thought it was going to be another one like the Baird game, but they came around and really played a great game of basketball winning 56-52. I was really impressed by Coach Libby's adjustments to the game play of Cherokee. I am experimenting with a new photo album software called JAlbum for use on the Sportspage. The software will hopefully make it easier for me to load the high quality pictures that I want. It allows for quick viewing of thumbnails and full size viewing as well. Please be patient with me as I work on tweaking this new project. As it is now the thumbnails are very low quality and the full size pictures are original. I will reach a medium where the thumbnails are better and the full size are still originals along with a slide show of medium quality photos. There are actually two versions out there right now.