Dateline Wharton
Upcoming events in and around our community

Ballroom dancing

Ballroom dancing classes will be held Fridays in October at First Presbyterian Church. The charge is $3 per person. Couples and singles are welcome.

Senior flu shots

The Wharton County Junior College Senior Citizen Program and Girling Home Care will be offering flu shots for seniors from 1-3 p.m. today at the LaDieu Senior Center on the WCJC campus. Bring Medicare card and driver's license. Cost of $20 for those without Medicare. Blood pressure checks with EMS students. For more information, call 979-532-6430.

Senior Bash reunion

The "Senior Bash" reunion of area nursing facilities will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today at the American Legion Hall. The activity is chaired by Bessie Matthews of the Wharton Nursing and Rehab Center with the cooperation of all the nursing homes participating. Music will be provided by The Sulaks, Bill Havins and Ozzie Ullmann. There will be food, refreshments and fun. Contact Matthews at 532-5020 for information.

American Legion fund raiser

American Legion Post No. 87 will hold a chicken spaghetti dinner with salad on Thursday, Oct. 18. meals will be served from 5-7 p.m. Tickets are $6 each. Desserts will be available. Contact Johnnie Gonzales, 282-9610 or Fred Lara, 532- 1621, for information.

Carmel Parish Bakesale

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish Bakesale is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 19 starting at 7 a.m. at the Plaza Theater. The parish is also accepting donations of baked goods for the sale. Contact Connie Rodriguez at 532-4052 or Cathy Pennington at 532- 5176 to arrange a donation.

You'll believe a bat can fly

The Plaza Theatre on the Square in Wharton will present Bram Stoker's classic horror tale, Dracula, this month. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. on Fridays, Oct. 19 and 25 and Saturday, Oct. 20 and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays, Oct. 21 and 28. Special midnight show at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27. General admission is $10, seniors, students and groups of 10 or more $8 each. Theatergoers are encouraged to come in costume. For reservations or tickets, please visit www.whartonplazatheatre. org or call 979-282-2970.

Books of the World Project

The Rotary Club of Wharton and the Interact Club of Wharton High School will be collecting used books for the "Books of the World Project" from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Wharton County Junior College parking lot at the corner of the Boling Highway and Alabama Road. The used books will be taken to Mclean Cargo in Houston. Volunteers will hand stack the books onto shipping pallets which will be loaded into 40-foot ocean containers. Through this Rotary project, these discarded books will be distributed to teachers in South Africa who desperately need them in their schools. For more information, contact Bruce Williams at 979-282-9837 or 713-898-1941.

Spaghetti Cook-off

Teams representing the county's various law enforcement agencies will hold their second annual Spaghetti Cook-off on Saturday, Oct. 20 at the main hall of the Wharton County Fairgrounds in Crescent. The gates will open at 2 p.m. with judging at 5 p.m. and spaghetti served at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance and $6 at the door. Advance tickets can be purchased at the Wharton Feed Store, at Briggs and Veselka CPA in El Campo, from any Wharton County 100 Club officer or at your local law enforcement agency. For ticket information, call 532-3856 in Wharton or 543-1040 in El Campo.

Tiger Stars dance camp

The Wharton High School Tiger Stars Drill Team will conduct a dance camp for grades K-8 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20. Girls attending will learn a Tiger Stars routine and perform in the Showcase that evening. Pick up an information packet in the school offices - Hopper, Sivills, Dawson, Wharton Junior High and/or Wharton High School. Come join the fun and be a Tiger Star for a day.

Boling High Class Reunion

The Boling High School Class of 1992 Reunion is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20 at the Boling Fire Station. The doors will open at 11 a.m. and the cost is $10 per family including food and drinks. All members of the class are also invited to join their fellow graduates for the Boling High Homecoming game on Friday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Boling Football Stadium. For information, call Teresa Castillo (Merecka), 533-0235; Shawn Chilek, 657- 0051; Laura Rolf, 533-3135; Charlotte Rowland (Wheeler), 657-0621 or Glenn Wittig, 657-1122.

Avila benefit dance A benefit dance for Cat Avila is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20 at the American Legion Hall in Wharton. Food will be sold starting at 5 p.m. Music will be provided by DJ Infidel from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Admission is a $5 per person donation. An auction is also scheduled.

American Legion Dance Club

The Wallis American Legion Dance Club will be holding a dance from 8-11:30 p.m. on Oct. 20 at the Wallis American Legion Hall. Music will be provided by Daniel and the Boys. The public is invited. The dance is free to club members and $7 per person for the general public. For information, call Alvin Marek at 979-478-6548.

Holy Family blood drive

Holy Family Catholic Church in Wharton will sponsor a blood drive from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 21 in the CCD Building. For information, or to schedule an appointment, contact Shirley Chilek at 532- 3356.

Mt. Scilla homecoming

The members of Mt. Scilla Baptist Church are inviting family, friends and loved ones to come and celebrate 140 years of worship at their homecoming worship service at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 21. Rev. Carl Spradley, pastor.

New Gulf book fair

Everyone is invited to attend the Scholastic Book Fair's Book Fair Blizzard at the New Gulf Elementary Library. The book fair will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily Oct. 22-Oct. 26 and from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22 during the New Gulf Elementary Parent's Night .

Drainage plan meetings

In order to obtain more public input and participation in the Wharton County drainage master plan, a series of public meetings have been scheduled, one in each commissioner's precinct, to provide general information about the study. All concerned citizens are welcome. Engineers and county officials will be available to make presentations, answer questions, and gather any additional and pertinent information. The meeting schedule is: Boling Community Center - Oct. 25, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.; Louise Fire Hall - Oct. 29, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.; El Campo WCEC Edison Room - Oct. 30, 7-9 p.m.; East Bernard Community Center - Oct. 31, 7-9 p.m.

The Peddler Show

The Peddler Show returns to Rosenburg and the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds this Oct. 26-28. In celebration of the 30th year of the show, all shoppers turning 30 in 2007 will received free admission. Regular admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and free for children under 12. Shopping hours are 1-9 p.m. on Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. For additional information, visit www.Peddler- Show.com.

Glen Flora VFD fund raiser

The Glen Flora VFD will hold its annual fund raiser from 6 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Wharton County Youth Fairgrounds. Activities for the evening will include games, door prizes, dancing and an auction. For more information or to make a donation, please call Peggy at 979-332-3458 or 979-677-3502.

Wharton VFD Annual Dinner

The Wharton VFD Annual Dinner will be held on Sunday, Oct. 28 at the Wharton Fire Department. The meal will feature a half barbecue chicken plate with bread and tea and will be from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The cost is $7 per plate with dine-in and drive-through plates available.

Camp Zion Rising Star

Camp Zion Rising Star Baptist Church will have its Homecoming for Family and Friends Day at 3 p.m.on Sunday, Oct. 28. Everyone is invited.

Shiloh Baptist Church

Shiloh Baptist Chuirch will hold its 53rd Annual Homecoming Service at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28. The guest speaker will be Rev. Donald Archie and congregation from Alvin. Dinner will be served. Rev. Carl Neal, pastor, Deacon Leroy Watkins, chairperson.

St. John's Fall Carnival

St. John's Lutheran Church will be holding a Fall Carnival from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31. There will be free games, prizes, a hayride and pony rides. Food will also be available. The church is located at 614 Pecan St. For information, call Carol Koenig at 532- 4012. .

Texas Home Health

Texas Home Health is sponsoring a fund raiser for the Wharton County Senior Meals on Wheels Program on Wednesday, Nov. 7. It will be a drive through pickup lunch served from 10:30 a.m.to 1:30 p.m. at the Wharton County Junior College LeDue Building. Tickets are presale only and cost $6. The goal is to sell 700 tickets for the Wharton Senior Meals on Wheels Program, please help us reach our goal. Delivery is available to Wharton, El Campo and East Bernard businesses with 10 or more purchases. Contact Jena Myska at 713-705-3332 for tickets.

Christmas Bell parade The Wharton Chamber of Commerce's "Ring the Christmas Bell" Parade will be 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 20. The route will be from East Milam Street, then around the courthouse square, turning south on Fulton and west on Burleson. There will be entertainment before the parade, and a community Christmas Tree will be officially lighted about 6:45 p.m. Santa will be available after the parade for children and for photos in the gazebo. Parade entry forms are available at the chamber office, 225 N. Richmond Road, Wharton. You can pick them up at the chamber office or the chamber can mail, fax or email a copy to you. Call 532-1862 or e-mail helpdesk@whartonchamber.com.

DAV Super Raffle

The Disabled American Veterans of Wharton County will be holding a 100 Gun Super Raffle. Tickets are $20 each with the drawing held Dec. 3. Proceeds will benefit the DAV Chapter 72 Transportation Fund. The raffle is being sponsored by Everyday Heroes Inc. For tickets, contact Bruce Williams at 979-282-9837 or Chester Houston at 979-531-0916.

B&G Club registration

The Boys & Girls Club of Wharton is now registering for the 2007-2008 After-School Program. Membership fee is $20 per person and operating hours are from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The club is open from 3 to 6:30 p.m. for kids ages six to 12 and is open until 7 p.m. for teens.

Varner-Hogg

The Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site will now be open five days a week from Tuesday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with tours of the Plantation House available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admittance into the park is $1 per person. Tours are $6 for adults, $2 for students and free for children under 6. For additional information, contact Angela Pfeiffer at 979-345-4656, opt. 5, ext. 3.

Community Calendar

A calendar of local events is maintained by the Wharton Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. Before scheduling an event, check with the chamber for possible conflicts. And notify the chamber, 532-1862, as early as possible to get your event on the calendar. There is no charge.

Dateline Wharton is a calendar of upcoming events in Wharton and surrounding communities. Normally space permits only events that will occur in the next two weeks. It is intended for special activities open to the public rather than regularly recurring meetings.