A little Texas rain couldn’t dampen the community spirit at the Kaufman County Fall Homestead Day, held Oct. 3 at the Kaufman County Fairgrounds.

Trinity Valley Community College has been awarded nearly $3 million through the U.S. Department of Education's Title III Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP). The award launches a five-year initiative focused on expanding academic opportunities, enhancing instructional facilities, and strengthening workforce development programs across the region. Through this investment, TVCC will develop new degree and certificate pathways, modernize hands-on learning environments, and equip students with the skills and credentials needed to succeed in high-demand ca- reers throughout East Texas.

National First Responders Day takes place on October 28 and commemorates the heroic acts of the men and women who are there first on the scene of an emergency. This day is all about showing appreciation for firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, police, and others who risk their lives to save others.

Thank goodness for the cooler nights and mornings and how about that nice rain we enjoyed last week! We haven’t experienced that first blast or Arctic air just yet but it’s coming and not a moment too soon. I had the opportunity to travel up to southeast Oklahoma to the Choctaw Hunting lodge for an early season doe hunt and was blessed with a couple of fat doe for the freezer, nothing like have venison early in hunting season for meals at upcoming hunting camps! My good friend Larry was there hunting one of the big black bear the mountain country is known for and helping host the Littles on their whitetail hunt.