Old World Meat Market

It’s about meat, or MEAT in the vernacular of the hungry summer grill master. Brisket smoking long and slow, pork chops, really thick pork chops, and of course, steaks—ribeyes, T-bones, the regal porterhouse—all with a char and a sizzle and juice that runs pink and warm when your knife slides through the beef. Got the picture?

Welcome to Texas, Neighbor

Out-of-staters can make fun of our drawl, our quaint sayings—heck, they can even tease us about being the second largest state. But never let a non-Texan say we’re not just darn friendly.

It’s not just my opinion. Ask anyone from another state and they will—when properly cajoled—tell you we’re a bunch of nice folks.

Witness to History: Photographer John Friar

John Frair, a former United Press photographer, spent a career recording the great and near great, the tragic and inspirational events of the past on film. In June, Frair will display an exhibition of his travel photography at the Creative Art Center in Bonham. The photographs chronicle trips to London and the West County of England, Belgium, Spain, France and Paris.

Travel in Style

Too cool to be comfy? It’s no road hog, but it will get you there and make you the talk of the campground. Called the Basecamp,® this retro styled pull-behind is the progeny of Airstream, Nissan Design America and outdoor outfitter Kelty.

Summer Diversions

If you don’t have your summer travel plans made by now, you’re slacking big time. The price you’ll pay is higher transportation and accommodations costs. Booking early pays big dividends. You can use those Internet travel websites and once in a while get some killer bargains. But a good travel agent can get you those same deals when given a little time and a lot of flexibility on your part.

Judge Jake Loy

Drive across the Red River Bridge from Denison into Oklahoma without paying a toll, and you have State Representative Jake J. Loy to thank. Go fishing or to a livestock show at Loy Park, and you have County Judge Jake J. Loy to thank. You can even listen to a recording of trumpet player Tommy Loy, and you can thank a doting Uncle Jake J. Loy.

Play Ball!

The importance of baseball in towns such as Sherman or Denison, in a time before instant entertainment attached us to the living room sofa, is hard to imagine. Accounts of the games were the lead sports stories every day, and the coverage easily eclipsed that of the big leagues.

First Among Equals: Former County Judge Horace Groff

There is a large map of Grayson County set into the floor just inside the main entrance of the courthouse in Sherman. The county’s boundries—Fannin County to the east, Collin to the south, Denton to the southwest, Cooke to the west, and the Red River and Oklahoma to the north—are delineated by dark strips of metal, and the four county precincts that existed at the time the courthouse was built in the 1930s are shown in different colored stones.