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This just in. . . and I, for one, can't wait to shop for fresh, homegrown produce.

FARMER’S MARKET

April thru October 2010
Saturday's beginning AprilL 3, 2010
8AM until sell out
JACK CROSS PAVILION - WINNSBORO CITY PARK

The Winnsboro Farmer’s Market is gearing up for a great season
of Fresh Produce, Eggs, Dairy Products, Jams/Jellies/Preserves,
Plants and lots more!

Here’s what to expect at the April Farmer’s Market:

• FRESH EGGS
• HOMEMADE JAMS/JELLIES, PRESERVES
• GOAT MILK SOAPS AND LOTIONS
• GOURDS, MUSCADINE VINES, SPRING VEGETABLES
• JERSEY GIRLS HOMEMADE CHEESE AND YOGURT
• HOT SAUCE, SQUASH RELISH, GREEN BEANS
• LANDSCAPE GARDENING PLANTS, NATIVE PLANTS,
• ANNUAL FLOWER SEEDS, ANNUAL VEGETABLE SEEDS, TREES
• AND MORE!

These items are home grown, home made, and raised by our local
farmers and gardeners so come early for the best selection and help
make this Farmer’s Market a real success!

To register for a space or for more information call 903-342-3654

www.winnsborofarmersmarket.com

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

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.

Hi again - when I found out about the open invitation for a free Christmas dinner at Tinney Chapel, I asked Joe Dan Boyd to write a guest blog. As always, he captures the essence of the event perfectly. Anita

If you are alone on this Christmas Day, December 25, perhaps your family is out of town, or for whatever reason, you have nowhere else to go for a home-cooked meal and old-time friendly fellowship, please drive two miles south of Winnsboro on FM 312, then turn east on County Road 4620 for one-fourth mile, to Tinney Chapel—the quintessential country church, twice voted best in rural ministry by the North Texas Methodist Conference.

There, at 449 CR 4620, from 2 pm to 4 pm, expect a full-course meal from the ladies of Tinney Chapel, followed by the kind of coffee and conversation that reminds us all of flaming fireplaces, red-nosed reindeer, lamps in windows, hosannas in the highest, memories in a manger scene and ultimately the Reason for the Season.

For most of us, Christmas is one of the two most memorable meals of the year, ranking right up there with Thanksgiving turkey and crimson cranberries.

My Grandma Tinney, who helped raise me after I was orphaned at a young age, was no society type hostess, but she loved people, and always expected both family and friends to fill her rambling farmhouse for each year’s Big Dinner on Christmas Day. No invitation required: Just show up for the open latch, the larder, the ladle, the lamb and, of course, the love!

My Grandma Tinney introduced me to Tinney Chapel as an infant, and if she were still alive, and could be with us these days, she’d still want a crowd: our church’s 8,000-sq. ft. family life center would strain at the seams! I’d be grateful if all of you could have known her and the richness of having “company all over”—people drawn together by a single warm personality.

The next best thing might be today’s Tinney Chapel Folks, all of whom are steeped in the same rural roots and agrarian appreciation that made Grandma Tinney so special. Visitors to our church always say they have never been made to feel more at home than here at this 109-year-old monument to frontier Texas hospitality.

Please remember to be our guest on Christmas Day, December 25, for an unforgettable experience--and absolutely free!

Get all the details here.