Feb. 24, 2011 - Services for O. L. Nichols, Jr., were held Wednesday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m. at Coker Mathews Funeral Home in Greenville. Rev. Bill Eason officiated. Interment followed at Celeste Cemetery. Nichols passed away Feb. 21, 2011, at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

From the Feb. 24, 1961 archives of The Leonard Graphic:

Butch Fowler Sells FFA Angus Steer To Farley & Hill Grocery and Market

Butch Fowler bought his FFA project, an Angus calf, October 8, 1960 for $70 from Floyd Flanagan when he weighed 350 pounds.

For 120 days Butch fed the calf a total of 900 pounds of F.F.A. feed which was composed of combined maize, cotton seed meal, syrup and salt. The calf gained a pound and one-half daily during this period, making a total gain of 186 pounds.

Butch sold the steer to L. C. Hill Monday, February 20, 1961. It weighed 536 pounds and brought 26c per pound.

Feb. 24, 2011 - Valley Creek Baptist Church will host a Revival with Paul and Vanessa Cherry from Feb. 27 through March 2. On Sunday, Feb. 27 the services will be at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., then Feb. 28 through March 2 they will be at 7 p.m.

The church is located at 3615 FM 896 (Valley Creek Road) north of Leonard.

Feb. 24, 2011 - The Leonard Public Library would like to inform the public that they have IRS forms for tax season available free of charge. Any person needing any kind of tax form may pick them up at the library, located on the west side of the downtown Leonard square. For more information, contact the library at 903-587-2391.

Feb. 24, 2011 - Guitar students of Lillian Tuscana - commonly known as 'Ms. Lil' - performed a recital for family and friends on Saturday, Feb. 19, at 3 p.m. in the Leonard Community Center.

Feb. 17, 2011 - Billy Longino was recently notified that he was nominated for Raiders Who Rock, a program that recognizes students at Texas Tech University that display certain values.

From the Feb. 17, 1961, edition of The Leonard Graphic:

Chamber of Com. Representatives To Attend Housing Meet

At the Tuesday night meeting of the Chamber of Commerce President Tom Hymer appointed a committee to attend a workshop on housing designed for the elderly in Dallas. The committee is Jack Barbee, Fate Parker, Joe Gaulden and Houston Hurst. They will attend the workshop February 27 and 28 at the Hilton Holtel in Fort Worth.

The chamber is paying the expenses for these men. The trip will be made in an effort to secure more low-rent housing for Leonard.

Feb. 17, 2011 - Johnny Edgar Russell, age 67, went home to be with his Lord on Monday, Feb. 14, 2011, at his home in Leonard.

Russell was born on Feb. 20, 1943, in Woodbine to Robert Lemuel Russell and Thelma Jane (Walker) Russell. He was a high school graduate from Callisburg High School. He married Rose Marie Thetford on Sept. 6, 1963, in Gainesville.

Feb. 17, 2011 - Funeral services for Patsy Ruth Yates Broyles, 77, of Leonard, were held Monday, Feb. 14, at the First Baptist Church in Leonard at 10 a.m. with Danny Henderson and Dewey Watson officiating. Burial was in the Leonard Cemetery. She passed away Friday, Feb. 11, 2011, at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital-Wilson N. Jones in Sherman.

Feb. 17, 2011 - I am constantly confused by the information coming from the leaders of our country. Whether it be local, state or federal, we get the same information - our financial situation is critically in trouble. We are always in debt, and working with a deficit balance in our pockets. Local governments are millions in debt, state governments are billions in debt, and the federal government is trillions in debt, and yet they keep spending and spending.