By Bobby Tingle

 

Pinehurst is a wonderful place to call home, but it is time to move back to Orange.

Dal Sasso Realty provided a wonderful place to conduct the business of running a newspaper since Hurricane Ike ran The Orange Leader staff out of its downtown location.  For years, our home was on the corner of Front Avenue and 1st street on the banks of the Sabine River.

For a brief period, we set up our office on Martin Luther King Drive where we print our paper at Triangle Press.

But for the most part, we have resided across the hall from Dal Sasso Realty in their building behind Wienerschnitzel and Burger King.

Dal Sasso Realty is a wonderful landlord.

ChrisLeigh and Barbara have taken good care of us, although recently we see less and less of each one.

Barbara is somewhat retired and only works a few days a month.  Chris Leigh apparently has a grandchild who takes up a good bit of her time.

Grandchildren are the best.

Austin showed up a few years ago and started hanging around.  He recruited Emily who joined the team.

We will certainly miss them.

February 2 is our moving date.  We open for business in our new home at 1008 Green Avenue February 4.

You may know the building as Orange Insurance.  We have customized the space for our needs. We will be right next door to the Greater Orange Area Chamber of Commerce and the Smith Law Firm.  Lanmark Staffing will be just on the other side of the lawyers.

Come by to see us after February 4.  We may be still putting it all together that week and the next or two but business will carry on just like it has for the past 140 years.

We will be glad to be back in Orange!

 

Rodeo in Orange

 

Sabine River Ford is sponsoring the 2nd Annual Pro Rodeo and Livestock Show at T2 Arena the first weekend in February.

I was able to sit down and talk with Sabine River Ford Managing Partner Jim Surber and T2 Arena owner Chad Havens earlier this week.  You can read a report about our conversation in the Wednesday, January 23 edition of The Orange Leader or on our website. Tickets are available at Sabine River Ford on Green Avenue.

Havens has a first-class arena here in Orange.

After talking with him you realize just how busy the T2 is.

Havens hosts competition and clinic events year round.  He brings riders in for barrel racing, team roping, and calf roping but is reluctant to host a mounted shooting event.

Mounted shooting, according to Havens, is a fairly new event.  It involves riding a horse with a six-shooter strapped to your hip around the arena.  As your horse gallops around the arena, you draw your six-shooter and fire at targets along your course.  Supposedly the targets are balloons. The six shooters are specifically designed for this competition. No real bullets are involved.

It sounds interesting.

Cowboy Church of Orange County and Orange County Sheriff’s Posse also have rodeo arenas where they stage events.

Here is hoping we will continue to attract cowboys from across the planet to Orange County.

One day we may be the rodeo capital of South East Texas.

Just sayin’.

 

50 years strong

 

Lamar State College Orange is celebrating 50 years serving the needs of students and industry from downtown Orange.

Director of Marketing and Public Information Director Amy Moore and her team put on quite a celebration this week.  You can read more about it in today’s edition of The Orange Leader or on our website, www.orangeleader.com.

Lamar State College Orange has transformed the downtown area since their humble beginnings 50 years ago in an old bowling alley.

Lamar Orange has wonderful programs for students seeking technical and academic certificates and degrees.

President of Lamar Orange Dr. Thomas Johnson states their job is to ‘improve the lives of students, respect our students, and serve the needs of the community.’

You can read more about their mission and programs on their website at www.lsco.edu.

Here’s hoping their challenges ahead are huge due to progress and development in Orange County creating a demand for an ever-increasing workforce.

 

Bobby Tingle is publisher of The Orange Leader.  You can reach him at bobby.tingle@orangeleader.com.