News

Early days in Ennis: Dateline 1881

Thanks to a friend of this column, Margie Callum, I’m sharing with you this week, an early history of Ennis as recorded in a little volume called The Ellis County Illustrated Annual for 1881, published in 1880 by the Ennis Saturday Review, one of the city’s earliest newspapers. As Margie wrote in

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Where the South begins

A number of years ago a Chicago high school student went to Nicaragua during his summer vacation to do volunteer work. He accompanied a medical team to a tiny mountain village. Life in the village was primitive. Most of the children had no clothes and were inadequately fed. The houses, built right on the ground, were made from old lumber and banana leaves. The medical team vaccinated the villagers against polio, measles, and DPT. Sometimes they had to turn children away because they had already gotten the disease. The high school boy found this especially heartbreaking.

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Ennis band treks to Orlando

A familiar far trek to central Florida awaits the All-State Ennis Marching Band next week, March 11-17, when they return to Orlando. It will be their first trip since 2019, when the national pandemic put a damper on travel.

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5 tax prep tips

Tax season isn’t something most people look forward to, particularly if they suspect they owe money. However, a few tax prep tips can make the process of filing a return and, if necessary, paying back taxes as pain-free as possible.

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Charlie Mae Presley’s memories of ‘Miss Katie’

Community activist and volunteer Charlie Mae Presley, widely known in Ennis and throughout Ellis County for her work with many local charities and service organizations, has been mourned by her family and friends since her death at age 93 on Jan. 18, 2021. A celebration of life event was held for Charlie Mae at the J.E. Keever Mortuary Chapel in Ennis on Jan. 22nd.

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EISD, TSTC team-up for dual credits

Coinciding with National Career and Technical Education Month, the Ennis Independent School District will partner with Texas State Technical College in Red Oak to provide dual enrollment classes to high school students starting the fall of 2022.

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Little takes on Edge in county judge race

Tuesday Primaries include a pair of interesting races for Ellis County residents, including one for County Judge between the incumbent, Todd Little, and former Ellis County Sheriff, Chuck Edge. The other is for the County Tax Assessor, also with an incumbent, Richard Rozier, and a challenger, Paul Christenson.

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Bristol benefit for man recovering from cancer

A local family and their friends are hoping a benefit to aid a man’s recovery from cancer will be a success when it takes place on March 5 at 5 p.m. at the Magness Party Barn in Bristol, 1132 Stacks Rd.

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EISD academic team grades well

Students from Ennis ISD on the University Interscholastic League Academic Team traveled to Canton to complete against a field of 24 schools in a tune-up for the annual district event in March. Several EISD teams took first, including Number Sense, Science and Calculator Applications.