Cloth may not be sewn in Wal-Mart's future

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

Nobody objects to grandma's making a quilt for the new baby.
The ruckus is about where grandma's going to buy the fabric for the quilt.
On Tuesday, a sewing-loving grandma marched outside the Seguin Wal-Mart, protesting the national chain's decision to get rid of its fabric departments.
Doreen Taft was circulating a letter that said Wal-Mart's booting of the fabric department would devastate rural customers who sew. In that letter, she said with no Wal-Mart, she'd have to go to New Braunfels for fabric.
Joy Graham, a resident of rural Thorndale, said she very much agrees with Ms. Taft's stance.
'If we can't buy fabric at Wal-Mart, then residents in rural areas like Thorndale and Rockdale would have to drive 40 to 60 miles for cut fabrics,' Ms. Graham said. The lifelong recreational seamstress said they would have to drive to Round Rock, Bryan, College Station or Temple for 'cut fabrics.'
In February, Mrs. Graham started a petition that read, 'Keep fabric department in Rockdale, Wal-Mart, Texas.'

Sights to be seen on leisurely trip

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

Up a hill, around a curve and between the limestone quarries, the train that thought it could, did.
Albeit, two hours later.
But speed wasn't the point of Sunday's 33-mile trip from Cedar Park to Burnet.
It was 'for us to be on the great big choo choo train,' said 3-year-old Megan Maddry from Harker Heights. Dressed in pink, the little girl grinned as she sat next to 'the biggest window (she'd) ever seen.'
Miss Maddry was part of 'the Temple group,' as so dubbed by Train Conductor Steve Barry.
The 50 Temple people were assigned to Rail Car A of the Hill Country Flyer, an authentic passenger train built in 1922 by the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. They had boarded the train at 10 a.m. after a bus trip from Temple to Cedar Park.

Camera catches grin for berry soda label

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

The Rosebud kindergartner doesn’t know what Fu Fu Berry Soda tastes like, but she loves the way it looks.
Six-year-old Reagan Maxfield looks at the pink drink, sees herself and then giggles. Her face is printed on the label of the Jones Soda product.
The youngster owes her soda-bottle stardom to the photographer — her 18-year-old cousin, Lynnsay Crittenden of Temple.
“The label turned out so good. I surprised myself with how good it was,” Lynnsay said. “But then again, it’s hard to take a bad picture of Reagan. She is so photogenic.”

Locked up, not lost: Female inmates laugh for God

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

A series of three locked fences led the way to the chapel.
About 150 women stood in a single-file line as they waited to pray.
Each woman wore a white jumpsuit with orange cuffs. Most of them also wore a green overcoat, for the night wind was cold.
When the clock chimed seven, armed guards issued the order for the lot of women to move.
As each woman entered the chapel, she was no longer a 'female offender,' the official term for those imprisoned at the Hilltop unit of the Gatesville prison. To the man standing on the far side of the chapel, near the Crucifix, each woman was a child of God. That man was their chaplain, Wallace Nelson.

Faiths unite in prayer for peace

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

Two Hindus, a Muslim and a couple of Jews joined a pair of Christians on a stage. Their prayer is that one day that sentence won't sound like the beginning of an offensive joke.
Praying for unity and acceptance, representatives of the major faiths within the Temple community met Feb. 11 at First Presbyterian Church. The occasion was the third annual Interfaith Service of Prayers for Peace, Unity and Justice.
'This is a historic night,' said host pastor the Rev. Margaret Boles. 'Never have we had so many people from so many faiths come together in prayer. It's a beautiful, blessed opportunity.'

Couple finds love where they left it 25 years before

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

The little girl was 6 years old when her daddy left.
Confused and sometimes sad, she watched him marry another lady. She watched her mother marry one man, then another and another.
The little girl knew about the hurt feelings that caused her parents' divorce, but, in her eyes, the shouting was about anger, not hate.
'My parents loved each other so strongly that they couldn't get along,' said Gayla Rogers of Belton - that little girl now 32.
Throughout the 25 years when her father was 'just someone who showed up on Christmas and birthdays,' Gayla believed that mom and dad would one day rediscover the way to each other's arms.
And they did. Jimmy and Pamela Wilson of Belton married for the second time on Aug. 19, 2006.

Cheers to the Chief

By TOMIE LUNSFORD
Telegram Staff Writer

At least seven generations of the chief's clan came to celebrate his 90th birthday.
The festivities on Feb. 4 at Heights Baptist Church in Temple were neither a day late nor a day early. Woodrow Wilson Robbins, the man of the hour, was born Feb. 4, 1917.
Woodrow is a name full of character, summoning thoughts of Woodrow Wilson, 28th U.S. President, or Woodrow McCall, Gus McCrae's pal in Larry McMurtry's 'The Lonesome Dove.'
Family members say the Robbins man of that same name is full of bravery, wit and warmth, 'just like the famous Woodrows.'
They call W.W. Robbins the chief because he was Chief Petty Officer Robbins of the U.S. Navy for the majority of his adult life. In 1950, he implemented the Navy's first recruiting station in Temple.