Lifestyle

   Officers were chosen and broad strokes of the mission were pained at the inaugural meeting of the reconstituted Matagorda County Rural Rail Transportation District (MCRRTD) Monday, Sept. 9.
   “The district has been around for some time and it’s also been inactive for some time,” said Mike Ferdinand, executive director of Matagorda County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC).
   STP President and CEO Tim Powell was elected president of the group that will advocate for rail projects in Matagorda County.
   Elected vice president was Jessica Russell, Bay City Community Development Corporation executive director, while Ferdinand asked to be the secretary.
   Ferdinand, who guided the board through its initial organizational meeting, said he wanted the secretary’s job because former MCEDC executive director Owen Bludeau was secretary when the rail district last met several years ago.

   In a first among the nation’s nuclear plants, STP has become a leader in all-hazards emergency training.
   STP has long established Matagorda County’s emergency training in case of a situation at the nuclear plant.
   That training pays off in plant and community emergency drills and during the emergency response during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
   “There are many other hazards out there,” Roger Aguilera, STP’s Manager of Plant Protection and Emergency Response, told those attending STP’s media day last week.
   Active shooter has become one of the top threats, Aguilera said, adding that he is working with Sheriff Skipper Osborne.
   Osborne later acknowledged the increased training with STP.

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This year’s Boys & Girls Club Red Carpet Fundraiser features “Downton Abbey,” as the movie of choice Thursday, Sept. 19, at Schulman’s MBG.
   The event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with a social hour and silent auction until 6:30 p.m. then dinner and the movie following from 7-10 p.m.
      Dinner features roast beef, mashed potatoes, carrots, and a dessert.
   Tickets are $65 per person and sponsorships are available with preferential seating from $250-$1,000.
   Tickets are limited and available at the Boys & Girls Club in Bay City or by calling Janet Peden at 979-245-4001.

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   Van Vleck ISD rededicated Burl McKinney Stadium after months of renovations Friday, Sept. 6. 
   In front of a packed crowd at the Leopards first home football game, VVISD and friends and family of Burl McKinney celebrated the rededication of our stadium.
   Burl and his wife Mary Ann came to Van Vleck in 1962. McKinney taught physical education and coached. 
   He started the physical education program at the Van Vleck Elementary School. He was assistant athletic director until he became the athletic director in 1964, a position he held until 1972. In 1972, McKinney was named principal of Van Vleck Elementary School, a position he held until his death in 1987. 
   In 1988, the football stadium at Van Vleck was rededicated in his honor.
   Superintendent John O’Brien said, “We are so excited to rededicate of stadium, Burl McKinney Stadium. 

   Official Rice Festival festivities kick off with the 74th annual Rice Queen Pageant at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at Keye Ingram auditorium.
   The annual Rice Dish Roundup winners will be announced at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 1, at the fairground multipurpose building.
   The carnival officially opens Thursday, Oct. 3, from 4-11 p.m. and includes carnival rides and midway games by Reed Exposition Midway along with vendor booths inside and outside the rodeo arena.
   Friday, Oct. 5, has Exceptional Day from 9-11 a.m. with the festival being open to the public late that evening from 4 p.m. until midnight.
   The highly anticipated Rice Festival Parade starts at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, downtown around the square.
   The festival is open immediately following the parade from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
   The festival wraps up between 1-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6, before the carnival pulls up stakes and heads back out on the road.

   “It: Chapter Two” is leading box offices in theaters worldwide after its debut weekend with over $190 million.
   The film is rated R for disturbing violent content and bloody images throughout, pervasive language, and some crude sexual material.
   It Chapter Two is a supernatural horror film and the sequel to the 2017 film It, both based on the 1986 novel by Stephen King.
   The film is directed by Andy Muschietti and written by Gary Dauberman. Set in 2016, 27 years after the first film, it stars Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, and Andy Bean as the adult versions of the Losers’ Club.
   Jaeden Martell, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Wyatt Oleff reprise their roles as the younger Losers, while Bill Skarsgård also returns as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

   Blackcat Head Coach Patrick Matthews stressed that players and coaches alike have to put a better plan on the field than what happened when Bay City lost 43-7 at Bellville last Friday night.
   “Our team laid an egg in the first quarter,” Matthews said of the Blackcats 26-0 deficit in the first quarter.
   “We must figure out if we’re the team we want to be,” he said, when the Blackcats host Gregory-Portland (GP) Friday night.
   “This will give us the chance to see how far we’ve come,” Matthews added.
   GP appears to be the offensive opposite to run-oriented Bellville.
   Where Bellville piled up 283 yards rushing against Bay City’s 147 yards.
   GP heavily relied on passing in its two wins this season.
   The Wildcats put up 254 passing yards against Victoria East in a 29-7 victory, and 231 aerial yards in beating Corpus Christi Carroll, a 45-12 win, in G-P’s opener.
   “That’s the system they run,” Matthews said.

   The Bay City High School Aristocats attended the Crowd Pleasers Team Camp at T Bar M from July 15th-17th in New Braunfels.
   They worked extremely hard bonding together as a team, and also learned three new dance routines.
   While there, they received awards including Elite Dancers, All-Star Dancers, and various ribbons.
   Aristocats Director is Wendy Hankins, and Assistant Director is Klaudie Stone.