November 2010

VIEW FULL CALENDAR: 2010

	Local Organizations
Every Thursday	Rotary Club 12:00 Noon @ Lakeside County Club
Every Wednesday	Kiwanis Club 7:00 AM Breakfast @ Family Life Center, First Baptist Church
Every Tuesday	Lions Club 12:00 Noon @ Texas Cattle Exchange
3rd Tuesday	Eastland Sons of Confederate Veterans, Camp #488 6:00 PM @ The Eastland County Museum
2nd Monday	Eastland Economic Development NOON @ City Hall
3rd Monday	Eastland City Commissioners 6:00 PM @ City Hall
2nd & 4th Mondays	Eastland County Commissioners 9:00AM @ Courthouse
2nd Monday	Eastland ISD 6:00 PM @ School
3rd Wednesday	Eastland Communities Senior Organization 12 NOON @ Park Hill Senior Building Also, GAME DAY every Wednesday and Friday from 9:00AM to 2:00PM
3rd Thursday	Eastland Memorial Hospital 11:00 AM @ Hospital
3rd Thursday	Eastland County Water Supply District 6:00 PM (Dates & times are subject to change)
3rd Wednesday	Eastland County Child Welfare Board NOON @ 1331 E. Main St
2nd Tuesday	Eastland Memorial Hospital Volunteers 5:30PM @ Hospital
2rd Thursday	Artists of Eastland County 6:30PM @ Eastland Senior Citizens Center
	Get your organization listed

Eastland News

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Former DA makes syrup on the family farm

01/14/2010 - By Tumbleweed Smith
Talkin' Texas

Mike Siebert makes syrup on the family farm near Flatwood, just out of Eastland.

“My grandfather made a living here with two mules and a walking plow,” says Mike. “He farmed cotton in the early 1900s.”

Mike was the district attorney in Eastland before taking up syrup-making.

“It’s just something I enjoy doing. I’ll have to admit making syrup is kind of an unusual hobby.”

It’s something he tried years ago.

“I bought a syrup mill from a gentleman in Carbon probably 30 years ago and tried to make syrup then, but we ended up with what I call green glue. The mill sat unused because I was busy raising a family and trying to make a living like most people. After I retired I got to thinking about it and decided to try it again.”

Mike says syrup-making in the past was a big part of country living.

“Somebody in all these little communities scattered around had a sorghum mill. Families would harvest cane in the fall, then gather at the home of the person who had the mill. They’d make syrup for the next year. It was a social gathering, a social event and at the same time allowed them to have some sweetening for their families for the coming year. Sugar was expensive and some people couldn’t afford it.”

He makes syrup from sweet sorghum cane. He planted his first batch in 2007. “That year we had 55 inches of rain, which was unheard of. It took off and it was unbelievable. We had to get the old mill in running order. That was the start of our syrup-making.”

Mike strips the cane and runs it through a press that squeezes out the juice. He strains the juice then cooks it in a 60-gallon vat over propane burners. The cooking evaporates the water that’s contained in the juice.

“The total time that it’s boiling, you have to constantly skim the impurities off the top. It’s nice to have some friends and neighbors over to help with the skimming.”

One of Mike’s friends made a video of the syrup-making process and put it on YouTube (search for Flatwood sorghum syrup-making). Mike labels his product Sieb’s Flatwood Sorghum. He gives most of his syrup to friends.

Mike not only grows cane, he also grows a corn patch every year. He picks it the old-fashioned way -- by hand. He also cleans it by hand, sitting under a shade tree with his pocketknife. Once he gets all the bad kernels out, he shells it in an old John Deere corn sheller. He makes corn meal and gives it to his friends and family.

“It makes outstanding cornbread. And being a country boy, cornbread and syrup or cornbread and gravy with blackeyed peas is pretty hard to beat.”

The rural life appeals to Mike. He has a barn full of horse buggies and wagons. He’s thinking about getting them in shape to be in parades.

He hasn’t had time to miss the courtroom.

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Temperature: 79.0°F | Humidity: 81% | Pressure: 29.73in (Rising) | Conditions: Mostly Cloudy | Wind Direction: SSW | Wind Speed: 0.0mph

Tonight - Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 70s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

EASTLAND, TEXAS

FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING... THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR * THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS...BELL... BOSQUE...COLLIN...COMANCHE...COOKE...CORYELL...DALLAS... DENTON...EASTLAND...ELLIS...ERATH...FALLS...FANNIN...GRAYSON... HAMILTON...HILL...HOOD...HUNT...JACK...JOHNSON...KAUFMAN... LAMPASAS...LIMESTONE...MCLENNAN...MILLS...MONTAGUE...NAVARRO... PALO PINTO...PARKER...ROCKWALL...SOMERVELL...STEPHENS... TARRANT...WISE...AND YOUNG. IN NORTHEAST TEXAS...DELTA... HENDERSON...HOPKINS...LAMAR...RAINS...AND VAN ZANDT. IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...MILAM AND ROBERTSON. * THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING * THE REMNANTS OF HERMINE WILL TRACK NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH OKLAHOMA TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL HAS LARGELY COME TO AN END...ANY ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL ONLY WORSEN ONGOING FLOODING PROBLEMS. * ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF 1 TO 3 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE IN EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE WATCH AREA. SPOTTIER AMOUNTS WILL OCCUR ELSEWHERE...BUT WILL FALL IN AREAS THAT HAVE ALREADY SEEN CONSIDERABLE RAINFALL. EXCESSIVE RUNOFF WILL CONTINUE WELL AFTER PRECIPITATION HAS COME TO AN END...RESULTING IN DANGEROUS CREEKS AND STREAMS. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY RAIN WHICH MAY LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. YOU SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA. && $$ 25 Issuing Weather Forecast Office Homepage

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