Texas County law enforcement picked up a win in our softball game against Wright County on Sept. 9. More importantly we raised some money for “Shop with a Hero” and escaped the game without any major injuries. I would like to thank everyone that participated and donated to help with the game.
I think everyone that was alive on Sept. 11, 2001, pauses each time the 11th rolls around in September and thinks about where they were and what they were doing when they heard about the terrorist attacks that morning. I’m no different, I recall coming home after an overnight shift and turning on the news before catching some sleep. There are many adults now that weren’t born yet when that event occurred. Just like Pearl Harbor many generations before, it’s our duty now to educate them about the heroism of the first responders that day and the courage of a few good people to take down another plane before it reached its target.
On Sept. 14, I conducted an auction of personal property seized pursuant to a court judgment. This is one of the parts of my job that the law enforcement academy doesn’t prepare you for and I’m no professional auctioneer like another sheriff I know. However, it is an occasional duty of the sheriff and something that news archives reveal has been done by sheriffs of Texas County for over 175 years. We had a decent crowd and thankfully the bidders were in a good mood and joked around with others to keep the mood light and overcome my lack of auctioneer skills.
Then on Sept. 23, 2023, we were back in action with softball, taking on the local firefighters. This match resulted in law enforcement taking the win and $2,600 raised for “Shop with a Hero.” Again, special thanks to our volunteer umpires, announcer, helpers and those who donated or purchased items. The final score was law enforcement 96, fire 93. Some folks have asked me how the score gets that high, since the point of this game is to raise money, runs can be purchased for donations as the game goes along. After the donations we settled on heading into the 9th inning with the score even at 93. After a scoreless 9th, law enforcement scored 3 runs in the top of the 10th inning and held the firefighters team scoreless in the bottom half.
September is one of the busiest months of the year for festivals, public events and parades. The Roby fair and parade kicked off, which is one of the most well attended events of its type in the entire county. I was given the privilege of escorting the parade. September is also right in the middle of high school football season, and I enjoy participating in the homecoming parades in Cabool and Houston. Chief Deputy Rowdy Douglas (Houston Alumnus) and I (Cabool Alumnus) renewed our annual car wash bet with the loser of the Cabool vs. Houston football game having to wash the other person’s patrol vehicle. It was a close game, but Houston prevailed so I ended up washing Rowdy’s vehicle the next week.
The Raymondville School District added a school resource officer, Deputy Sheriff Art Williamson, who began his duties at the school on Sept. 25. With the addition of an SRO at Raymondville every school district in Texas County now has either an SRO or a school protection officer (non-commissioned security) or a combination of both. The school officers do a great job of adding protection and interacting with students. The deputies have stayed busy this month with a number of domestic dispute calls and stealing complaints.
