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Chamber’s new Reverse Raffle Remix puts $10,000 on the line Oct. 17

By
Bobbie Langston
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The Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce is trying something it hasn’t done before, and the last ticket left in the drum walks out with $10,000.

Reverse Raffle Remix, presented by Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, is Saturday, Oct. 17 at The Grand on First.

It runs backward

A reverse raffle works the opposite way from the raffles most people have played. “Instead of winning when your number is drawn, you are eliminated,” Chamber President and CEO Tara W. Watkins wrote in announcing the event. Numbers come out of the drum through the night until one ticket is still standing, and that ticket takes the $10,000.

There’s a way back in. The Chamber is selling “insurance” during the evening — buy it and your number goes back into the drawing for a second chance.

Tickets and tables

A ticket covers admission for two, dinner for two and one entry in the reverse raffle. The event flyer lists $175 for a non-investor ticket and $150 for a Chamber investor ticket.

Table options are available for anyone who wants to bring a group of coworkers, clients or friends.

The rest of the night

Along with the raffle there’s music, bucket raffles, a whiskey and wine pull, a live auction and more prizes.

“This is a brand-new event for us, and we would LOVE to have a great crowd there to help us kick it off,” Watkins wrote. “Come eat, visit, laugh, win a few things, and maybe even leave $10,000 richer!”

Tickets and table information are at members.lufkintexas.org or LufkinTexas.org. The Chamber’s number is (936) 634-6644.

Free Oct. 13 Webinar Looks at Cutting Winter Feed Costs with Forage Brassicas

By
Bobbie Langston
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Winter feed bills are the part of a cattle operation nobody looks forward to. A free online program on Tuesday, Oct. 13, from 6 to 7 p.m. will look at one way to shave them down — planting cool-season forage brassicas and grazing them instead of hauling hay.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is hosting the session as art of its 2026 “Ag in the Evening” Zoom lecture series. There’s no charge. To attend, register at tx.ag/RegisterBrassicasForbsWebinar. Login information goes out to participants after they register.

The speaker is Vanessa Corriher-Olson, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension forage specialist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Research Center at Overton and a professor in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences. Overton sits in the middle of East Texas cattle country, and the research center there has spent years on the question of how to keep something green in the pasture when the Bermuda goes dormant.

Brassicas are her answer for part of the year.

“Brassicas fit well into forage-based production systems by extending the grazing season into late fall and early spring,” Corriher-Olson said.

What the hour covers

Corriher-Olson will walk through the different members of the forage brassica family — kale, rape and turnips among them — and what each one does in a grazing system. She’ll also cover planting, fertilization, forage quality and grazing management, which is where most producers trying brassicas for the first time run into trouble.

Anyone who can’t make the date has options. Recordings of earlier “Ag in the Evening” sessions are posted on the East Texas Beef and Forage Extension YouTube page.

For more information, contact Corriher-Olson at vacorriher@ag.tamu.edu.

Handbag Bingo (Sabine County)

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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October 3 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

A fun night, a good cause, and your chance to snag a gorgeous bag while supporting the fundraiser. Grab your friends, sip something sweet, and let’s bingo for a purpose!

Sunday, October 3rd @5PM

Sabine County Chamber of Commerce

409-787-2732

View Organizer Website

101 N Oak St. Hemphill, TX 75948

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Music Bingo (Tyler County)

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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October 5 @ 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Location: Dogwood Diner, 202 W. Bluff Woodville
Date & Time: October 5, 2026 at6:30 PM

Tyler County Chamber of Commerce

Dogwood Diner, 202 W. Bluff Woodville

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FOOD TRUCK MONDAYS (Polk County)

By
Diana De Leon Bon
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October 5 @ 11:00 am – 8:00 pm

FOOD TRUCK MONDAY IS BACK!

We’re excited to bring Food Truck Monday back to the Polk County Chamber of Commerce on Monday, October 5th!

Chamber Parking Lot – 1001 US Hwy 59 Loop N., Livingston

11 AM – 8 PM (Some Vendors will leave after lunch)

We’re excited about the food trucks already signed up and can’t wait to see everyone back out supporting local!

Glammas Tasty Treats
Roll’en Thunder BBQ
Cousins Maine Lobster – Houston, TX

Food truck vendors, there’s still time to join us! If you’d like to set up on October 5th, reach out to the Chamber to get signed up.

Come hungry, grab lunch or dinner (or both), and help us kick off the return of Food Truck Mondays! 

Livingston-Polk County Chamber of Commerce

(936) 327-4929

View Organizer Website

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Fall is The Time to Tackle Fire Ants in East Texas

By
Bobbie Langston
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Closeup large colony of red fire ants swarming along stone wall base outdoors. Worker ants moving in dense cluster showing active nest activity and pest infestation behavior

By Cary Sims, County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Angelina County, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Just last week, I stepped into a soft mound of soil in a landscape and immediately knew I had made a mistake. I moved quickly, stomped my foot, and managed to get all of them off before I got stung.

We know it all too well.

Most of us who spend much time outdoors have learned that lesson the hard way. Fire ants may be one of the most aggravating pests we deal with in East Texas, but fall is actually one of the better times to do something about them.

As temperatures moderate, fire ants become active foragers. That makes this a good time to broadcast a fire-ant bait across your lawn or other areas where fire ants are a problem. The ants pick up the bait and carry it back to the colony, where it is shared with other ants and eventually affects the queen.

That is very different from simply spraying or treating the mound you can see.

The two-step method

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension recommends the “Two-Step Method” for heavily infested areas. Step one is broadcasting a fire-ant bait over the entire area. Step two is treating individual nuisance mounds that remain after the bait has had time to work.

A properly applied broadcast bait can reduce fire-ant mound numbers by 80% to 90%. It won’t eliminate fire ants permanently, because new colonies will eventually move into the area, but it can make a tremendous difference.

Timing and application

Timing and application are important. Fire ants need to be actively foraging for the bait to work. A simple test is to put a small amount of bait near an active mound. If the ants find it within 30 to 60 minutes, they are looking for food and conditions are favorable for treatment.

Apply bait when the grass and soil are dry, and check the forecast for rain. Late afternoon or evening can be a good application time, particularly when daytime temperatures are still warm. Always follow the product label for the exact application rate and weather restrictions.

Picking a bait

There are many fire-ant baits on the market, and they don’t all work at the same speed. Some provide relatively quick control, while others work more slowly and provide longer-lasting suppression.

Don’t get hung up on a particular brand. Look at the active ingredient, make sure the product is labeled for the site you intend to treat, and follow the label directions.

Look in the fine print on the labels for products containing indoxacarb, hydramethylnon, pyriproxyfen, fenoxycarb or abamectin.

And don’t forget your neighbors. Fire ants don’t recognize property lines. If you and your neighbors treat your yards at about the same time, you can reduce the number of untreated areas from which new colonies can move back in.

Fall fire-ant control isn’t complicated, but it does require a little patience. Don’t expect to see every mound disappear overnight. The goal is to get the bait into the colonies now so you can start next spring with far fewer fire ants.

For more information on fire-ant control, visit the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Texas Imported Fire Ant Research and Management Project at fireant.tamu.edu.

$3 million in federal funding will study the US 59 gap between Nacogdoches and Lufkin

By
Bobbie Langston
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Photo by Nancy Windham, TFCP

The stretch of US 59 between Nacogdoches and Lufkin is one of the pieces still missing from Interstate 69 in Deep East Texas. It now has the money to start closing that gap, at least on paper.

U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions announced $3 million in federal funding in Nacogdoches this week for a feasibility study and environmental clearance on that section of highway. The City of Nacogdoches is the recipient.

What the money does

It doesn’t pave anything. A feasibility study and environmental clearance are the steps that come before design, right-of-way and construction on a federal highway project, and nothing else moves until they’re done.

According to Sessions’ office, the funds will be used to complete that work on the remaining gap along US 59 between Nacogdoches and Lufkin. The project begins the process of bringing the road up to interstate standards so it can be designated as part of the I-69 corridor. The office lists mobility, safety and freight movement as the goals.

The office originally asked for $5 million for the project in its fiscal 2026 funding requests.

Where the gap sits

Work is already underway on both ends. On the north side of Lufkin, TxDOT’s $63 million upgrade of US 59 through Redland, from Loop 287 to FM 2021, adds frontage roads and rebuilds the main lanes to interstate standards. TxDOT expects it to wrap up this fall, weather permitting.

In Nacogdoches, the US 59/Loop 224 south interchange was scheduled to be finished in late 2026, TxDOT officials said in 2024. North of town, reconstruction of the US 59/US 259 interchange, estimated at $213.3 million, is set to start construction in spring 2029.

The section between those projects is the gap. And it matters for more than looks. A TxDOT planning director told the Nacogdoches Rotary Club in 2024 that a road has to connect to an existing interstate before it can be signed as one.

Why it matters here

About a quarter of the traffic on US 59 at Nacogdoches is trucks, according to TxDOT, and traffic volume there is expected to grow 70% between 2020 and 2050. The highway is also a hurricane evacuation route for the Gulf Coast.

Local support for the upgrade goes back years. When TxDOT asked the public in 2014 how to bring I-69 through the Nacogdoches area, 70% of participants backed upgrading the existing US 59 instead of building on a new route. Earlier this year, Angelina County commissioners passed a resolution supporting construction of I-69 between Lufkin and Nacogdoches.

The Texas Forest Country Partnership thanked Sessions after the announcement and said the money will help move forward planning for safer travel, freight movement and economic growth across the region. Staff with State Rep. Joanne Shofner’s office also attended.

Zavalla gets $5.39 million to replace its failing water system

By
Bobbie Langston
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Water pipe

Zavalla is getting a new water system, and the city won’t owe a dime for it.

The Texas Water Development Board approved $5,392,157 for the City of Zavalla at its meeting in Austin on Thursday, Oct. 1. The money comes through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund as principal forgiveness, which means the city doesn’t repay it and doesn’t put up a local match. Angelina County Judge Keith Wright announced the news Thursday night at the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce’s Elected Officials Reception at Crown Colony.

What the money buys

The money covers planning, design and construction, and most of the work is underground. According to the board, the city will replace about 31,000 feet of water distribution line — roughly 30% of the system, much of it asbestos cement pipe. The project also includes:

  • Four 300-gallon-per-minute service pumps and twenty 10-gallon-per-minute submersible pumps
  • Three test holes, followed by a new well rated at 86,000 gallons a day
  • A 100,000-gallon elevated storage tank and two 30,000-gallon ground storage tanks
  • Demolition of the city’s existing elevated and ground storage tanks
  • New water meters

Design work is expected to wrap up in 2027. Construction is scheduled to start in September 2027 and finish by June 2029. The project qualified in part as a green project because crews will use trenchless methods to replace pipe, which means less digging up of streets and yards.

Why Zavalla needed it

The city’s distribution system is more than 60 years old. It averages about 48 line breaks a year and loses around 10.3 million gallons of treated water annually — close to 30% of everything the plant produces. The old tanks, wells and service pumps didn’t meet state minimums, and the city has faced enforcement from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Residents have lived with the results. This July, leaks and electrical trouble at the pump house left the town without reliable water for nearly a week. Angelina County Emergency Management, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, and the cities of Lufkin and Diboll stepped in, and bottled water was handed out while the system was patched. County emergency management coordinator Ricky Conner said at the time that the problem had been building for a few years.

Zavalla has fewer than 1,000 residents, which made it eligible for the board’s help as a disadvantaged, small and very small rural system.

Mayor Pam Hooks, who has asked residents for patience through the outages, had a short message for them this week: “Hang in there, it’s coming soon,” she told the Lufkin Daily News.

Crockett’s October fills up, and the Christmas dates are set

By
Bobbie Langston
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Road Trip

Houston County doesn’t have many free Saturdays left this month. The Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce has the list, and it runs from a luncheon in Lufkin to a music festival in Lovelady.

October

The Janelle Grum Family Crisis Center of East Texas holds its 4th Annual Passion for Purple Luncheon on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at the Pitser Garrison Convention Center in Lufkin. Meet and greet is at 10:30 AM, the luncheon at 11:30 AM. Tickets are $50 for an individual and $500 for a reserved table, which seats eight with the option to add two. The keynote speaker is Melissa Dohme-Hill, a domestic violence survivor who speaks on trauma and relationship abuse prevention. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and proceeds go to the center’s 24/7 crisis hotline, shelter, counseling and advocacy work.

Saturday, October 10 is a double booking. TG Sheppard, who has 21 number one hits behind him, plays the Ritz Theatre in Crockett at 7:30pm, and tickets are $50 at www.pwfaa.org. Earlier the same day, 10 AM to 2 PM at Bear Hall, there’s puppy yoga with adoptable puppies from the Crockett Animal Holding Facility, a pet costume contest for kids, and food and drink trucks. The facility had just taken in 19 more puppies on top of the 10 it already had.

The Chamber’s October Mid-Morning Coffee is Thursday, October 15th at 9:30 AM, hosted by Family Crisis Center of East Texas at 1512 East Loop 304 in Crockett. Coffee and snacks are free. Anyone who speaks about their business pays $2 per minute, or $1 per minute for Chamber members, and that goes to the Chamber scholarship fund.

The Ritz screens Ghostbusters on Thursday, October 22nd at 6:30pm. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students. The Ritz Theatre is at 620 East Houston, Crockett, 936.544.7099.

Stesti Brewing Company’s 3rd Annual LOVESTOCK festival takes Lovelady on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at 1328 FM2915. Ten acts are booked, including Meredith Crawford, Zach Aaron and Mustang Red. Tickets are online or in person at Stesti Beer Garden, and the weekend starts Friday night, October 23rd, at the beer garden.

Salmon Lake Park hosts the 50th Annual Salmon Lake Bluegrass Festival at 247 Salmon Lake Road in Grapeland, tickets at slpbluegrass.com.

Then Christmas

The Christmas Parade, presented by Houston County Career Women, steps off November 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM on the Square in downtown Crockett. Line-up begins at 4:00 PM on 8th Street, and this year’s theme is Cowboy Christmas — Boots, Bows & Mistletoes.

Two days later, Saturday, November 21, 2026, the 45th Annual Christmas in Crockett fills downtown for the day. The Chamber says the event was featured in the USA Today Travel Edition this year.

The Crockett Area Chamber of Commerce is at 1100 Edmiston Drive, Crockett, 936.544.2359.

Lufkin’s Bistro 2026 Rescheduled for November 7

By
Misty Boggs
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LUFKIN, TEXAS –

Visit Lufkin has announced that Lufkin’s Bistro 2026, originally scheduled for Saturday, October 3, has been rescheduled for Saturday, November 7, 2026, in Downtown Lufkin.

After reviewing the available weather forecast and speaking with our presenting sponsor, participating restaurants, and key event partners, Visit Lufkin made the collective decision to reschedule Bistro in order to protect the quality of the event experience for everyone involved.

The decision was made due to ongoing weather uncertainties and the amount of advance preparation required to safely and successfully produce the event. Lufkin’s Bistro is an outdoor downtown event that requires multiple days of setup, coordination, equipment placement, restaurant preparation, sponsor logistics, volunteer planning, and street-level event operations. With so many partners, guests, and moving pieces involved, Visit Lufkin made the decision to reschedule in order to protect the quality of the event experience.

All previously purchased Bistro tickets and reserved tables will be honored for the new date. Ticket holders do not need to purchase new tickets or take any immediate action.

“Lufkin’s Bistro is one of our community’s most anticipated events, and we know how much planning goes into this evening for our guests, restaurants, sponsors, volunteers, and downtown partners,” said Tara Hendrix, Director of Visit Lufkin. “Because Bistro requires a significant amount of setup before event day, we wanted to make this decision early and responsibly. Rescheduling allows us to give everyone the polished, enjoyable, and memorable evening they expect from Bistro.”

Lufkin’s Bistro will still feature local bites, libations, live music, dancing, photo moments, and tables under the stars in Downtown Lufkin. The event remains a 21+ ticketed experience.

Visit Lufkin extends its appreciation to presenting sponsor Brookshire Brothers, participating restaurants and food partners, beverage and tasting sponsors, volunteers, downtown businesses, and guests for their flexibility, patience, and continued support.

Updated event information will be shared through Visit Lufkin’s website, social media channels, and direct ticket holder communication.

For questions, please contact Visit Lufkin at 936.633.0359.

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