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Our invitation just arrived for this year's Mad Hatter's Tea at Gilbreath Memorial Library.

This year marks the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Mad Hatter's Tea, sponsored by the Standard Club of Winnsboro.

Here's the information you need, along with some interesting details about the long history of the Standard  Club and the library that was included with the invitation. . .

This year marks the 100^th anniversary of the annual tea hosted by the Standard Club of Winnsboro to raise funds for the Winnsboro Library.

The first tea event was held in 1910, to raise money for books to be used in the new Carnegie Library – and the tradition continues today.

When the Library opened in 1910, the City was able to provide only some furnishings.  The Standard Club, organized in 1901, assumed the responsibility of appointing a librarian, paying her salary and campaigning for donations of cash or books; the library opened with fewer than  200 volumes. 

The Gilbreath Memorial Library was opened in 1987, and has come to be one of Winnsboro’s greatest assets.  It was built with the combination of a generous bequest, private and public funds.  The Library’s collection strives to keep pace with the community’s needs and has a present total of more than 36,338 books, 2,759 videos/DVDs and 1,677 audio tapes. 

Over the years, the Standard Club has sponsored the annual fundraising project for the purchase of books and other circulating materials,  Standard Club members continue to be volunteers at the library and advocates of literacy and enhancement programs for children and adults.

What:                    Mad Hatter’s Tea

When                    April 7^th, 2010.  From 11:00 o’clock am to 1:00 o’clock pm

Where:                 Gilbreath Memorial Library

                                916 North Main Street

                                Winnsboro, Texas

Why:                     In support of the Gilbreath Memorial Library.

The event is free to the public and all Library supporters are invited to join us in this celebration.

• All the food is prepared and donated by the Standard Club.
• Entertainment will be provided by the Winnsboro Elementary School Singers.
• The Anniversary celebration cake is being prepared by Frostings.

All donations received go directly to the Library.

KaBOOM is an organization with a great vision: A great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.

H.Y.P.E. has just learned that their application video has placed them in a group of 10 finalists for playgound equipment to put in Martin Luther King Park.

On Monday, March 8, we need as many people as possible to view this video. IMPORTANT - for your view to count as a vote, you must view it on Monday.

Say what you will about the economy, but in Winnsboro, there are four new businesses that clearly believe the best is yet to come.


Rick Murray in front of
the massive doors of the "pit."

In January, Rick Murray, best known as a top chef and owner of Cibo Vino's, opened ciboBQ in the location previously occupied by Lou Viney. This restaurant is devoted to the fine art of traditional Texas BBQ with slow cooked brisket, pork shoulder, ribs, sausange and red hot links.

The meat is cooked over hickory and red oak in the room-size "pit". Sides are kept to the basics that say, "This is the real deal." Potato salad, coleslaw, beans and peach cobbler.

ciboBQ
111 E. Broadway (Hwy 11)
Winnsboro, TX
903-342-0028
www.cibobq.com



Try your favorites at the new
Chinese & Asian restaurant,
Oriental House

The Oriental House brought more than Chinese food to town. Their buffet features Thai and other specialties as well. Plus, it's one of the very few eateries that's open 7 days a week, 11:00 am - 8:00pm.

The food is fresh and flavorful and the prices are family friendly. Lunches start at $4.99. The lunch buffet is $6.95. The dinner buffet is Monday-Friday starting at 5:00 pm and all-day Saturday and Sunday for $7.95. Discounts for children and seniors are available.

Testimony to the popularity of the new restaurant, the parking lot is jammed at lunch and dinner. Arrive slightly after lunch or before the dinner rush and you're more likely to find more room in the parking lot and in the dining rooms.

Oriental House
907 S. Main St. (Hwy 37)
Winnsboro, TX
903-347-1203




Winnsboro Emporium is a new retail shop owned by Conrad Wolfman, best known for being a professional videographer. Conrad is a collector of art and books. His shop is a reflection of his many interests. It's the type of quirky store you can't wait to visit again just to see what's new. Consignment goods. Local talent. Conrad says maybe even some live music.

Convenient shopping hours: Monday-Friday 11:30 pm - 8:00 pm; Saturday 10:00 am- 8:00 pm. Find Winnsboro Emporium on fecebook.com. The plan is to have an Open House on March 13 and be open for business on March 15.

Winnsboro Emporium
316. N. Main St.
Winnsboro, TX
903-342-6140


Just off Main Street, Kellye Hubbell Interiors has opened shop in the building more recently occupied by Frosting! Kellye has experience in both residential and commercial interior planning and design. She's happy to help you with a single room, and entire house (in the city or at one of the nearby lakes), an office or entire office complex.

In addition, Kellye offers a selection of accessories and gift items.

Kellye Hubbell Interiors
108 E. Elm St.
Winnsboro, TX
903-342-0894
www.KellyeHubbellInteriors.com

Sue Hitzemann of the Winnsboro Area Merchants Association (WAMA) just alerted us that the Winnsboro Spring Festival is planned for May 1-2 this year. As always, there will be arts & crafts, food, and live music throughout the weekend.

WAMA is working with the Raiderette's Booster Club on the event. Vendors can reserve their spots now by calling Sue at 903-342-5267 or Missy Duke at 903-342-3399.

Hi again -

OK, the snow is long gone (although we may get a bit more tomorrow if Weather.com is correct). Until we get the video page up that will be the home of various Winnsboro videos, here's the YouTube link to Stephen Marshall's Snow in Winnsboro 2010 video.

And Stephen also just shot a video for WAMA (Winnsboro Area Merchants Assn.) you can view here.

Cheryl Ford, President of the Main Street Partnership, sent a wrap up of the successful 2nd Annual Progressive Dinner held on February 2, with almost 100 guests in attendance.

The event started with appetizers being served at businesses in the historic Main Street district. Strolling from one store to the another, guests enjoyed a short walking tour of the downtown area.

The 12 participating businesses included the Antiques Mall and Jans Antiques, State Farm, Hornbuckle Flowers & Gift, Flowerland, CopperLeaf Spa, Ladles to Linens, Preston Morton, Bell's Pharmacy, Art and Espresso, Tickled Pink and Redneck Ranch.

Dinner was served at Cibo Vino's, Double C Steakhouse and Brewbaker's Pub. Guests gathered at Crossroads for dessert, light music and videos. Desserts were provided by Art and Espresso, Frosting! and Creative Cakes.

By all reports, the guests enjoyed the chance to visit shops they hadn't been in previously and enjoy a night out that was a change of pace in the middle of winter.

In case you've missed all my romance-laden communications, here's a quick round up of what's going on in town this weekend.

Three of our favorite B&Bs have special packages including Thee Hubbell House, Oaklea Mansion and The FARMHOUSE at Hunter's Moon Farm.

Thee Hubbell House, Double C Steakhouse and Crossroads have the Great Romance Package which includes the Master Suite at Hubbell, dinner at Double C and music at Crossroads.

Oaklea Mansion is offering $35 one hour massage for any guest staying two nights. The FARMHOUSE will welcome you with chocolate and champagne when you stay two nights.

The events start Thursday night with a return visit from Andrew McKnight performing at the First United Methodist Church. He weaves quite a speel with his Americana music laced heavily with the sounds of the Appalachian mountains.

A noon on Saturday, Tinney Chapel will be hosting a free Valentine's Day chili lunch at their location just a couple of miles south of town. You probably have to be from Texas to appreciate their reason: Nothing says love like chili.

Those lovebirds Adler and Hearne are performing at Brewbaker's Valentine Dinner and Concert, Saturday, February 13. The $30 ticket includes dinner and the performance with your choice of Royal Beef Tendeloin or Rainbow Trout.

Saturday also mean Rhett Butler will be back at Crossroads performing at the final concert in the current venue. Mayor Carolyn Jones is sponsoring this very special concert.

It's all here waiting for you. Come and enjoy yourselves!

Last night during the-rain-that-wouldn't-stop, our lights started flickering. Typical behavior during a thunder storm, but not plain old rain. Even so, we disconnected our electronics, which is the regular drill when bad weather shows up.

But a funny thing started happening. Certain lights and wall plugs that weren't working suddenly went live. Rooms that were lit one minute were dark the next. The trouble seemed to rotate through the house in a strange, random pattern. Huh. Called our neighbors. No flickering there. Hmm.

It seemed like a mystery that might be normal in a haunted house. But this is a ranch house on Coke Rd. Come on!

So we called Eddie Pierce, owner of B&E Electric and explained the strange behavior of the lights and plugs. The microwave trying to pop corn while humming a new tone we'd never heard. The dead, then live, wall plugs. He gave us even more odd things to look for and, sure enough, those described our situation exactly. (Some lights getting insanely bright, for example.)

At 8 am this morning he was at our door and checked things out. Not the breaker box. Not the meter. Oh great. Please don't let the problem be underground. We called SWEPCO and, in the absence of other urgent calls, "Big Ed" Hawley rolled up in a matter of minutes, a big "it's a great morning" smile on his face. Eddie explained what he'd already determined from his insepction.

By then the coffee was brewing and we watched Big Ed dig a big hole around the green box where our connections to the outside world reside. Pretty soon, two more guys arrived and the trio worked to get us reconnected. Eddie and Lew talked vintage cars.

Finally, Eddie had to go to his next customer. Shortly after that, the lights came on as the guys wrapped up the repair. We cheered. They told us the technical term for what caused the problem, but I think a rascally squirrel was the real culprit.

So why am I telling you all this?

People, like Eddie, operating service businesses in a small town like Winnsboro, treat you more like neighbors than customers. And, surprise, so do the service guys from big companies like SWEPCO. They want to make sure you can get your life back to normal as soon as possible. They approach the job like you're friends down the block, not a customer number in a database.

And that says a lot about them and SWEPCO. Thanks guys! The squirrels could take a lesson.