Lapis Lenore, a home-schooled student from Temple, dressed in the style of the fantasy characters she creates to display her work at the Cultural Activities Center. Artworks 2022 officially opens with a reception on March 25. David Stone photo

By DAVID STONE, Our Town Temple

The artwork is everywhere, and the exhibit doesn’t officially open for more than a week.

Art teachers from Temple public and private schools are hanging and displaying hundreds — maybe thousands — of paintings, drawings and sculptures throughout the Cultural Activities Center in preparation of Artworks 2022.

“Teachers started displaying art projects last Monday and the walls are literally covered from baseboard to ceiling,” said Mary Black Pearson, executive director of Development & Marketing at CAC. “This has been going on for years and it gets bigger and bigger.”

While the exhibit is already gathering attention — several students were at the CAC on Friday dressed in costume to match the subjects in their art — the official kickoff will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 25.

“We will have a reception and ribbon-cutting for exhibit, and we expect a full house,” Pearson said. “The kids will be bringing parents and grandparents to the opening reception — they are so proud of their work. This is a major event.”

Pearson said the exhibit will be on display until May 15.

“Almost every day during Artworks I hear someone come in and it’s usually a student bringing in their family,” Pearson said. “They count out loud from the ceiling or floor so they can identify their work. They’ll say: ’That’s me, fourth from the top.’ It’s very sweet.”

Students from Temple ISD, St. Mary’s Central Texas Christian, Holy Trinity and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor all participate, Pearson said.

“Some of the work is truly amazing,” she said.

Meagan Foster, a Western Hills Elementary School art teacher, is one of many local educators in the CAC halls last week armed with tape and boxes full of art.

“This is my sixth year at Western Hills, and every year we bring art to display,” Foster said. “It varies by year, but this year I’m displaying about 350 pieces.”

Foster’s students range from kindergarten to fifth grade, and many of the works she is displaying are mixed media.

“We do a lot of multi-layer paintings, drawings and weavings,” she said. “The weavings are made from paper or yarn, and students love to weave little bags.”

Foster said many of her older artists are into 3D sculptures.

“I even had a student make a sculpture using aquarium rocks,” she said. “Very creative.”

A hallway at the Cultural Activies Center is lined with artwork from Temple’s public and private schools, home-school programs and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. The pieces be on display through mid May. David Stone photo

Art teachers are taking advantage of every inch of space to hang and display art projects at the Cultural activities Center. David Stone photo

3D art is on display in advance of Artworks 2022. David Stone photo

A student in Meagan Foster’s Western Hills Elementary art class finishes up an entry for Artworks 2022. Foster is displaying more than 350 pieces of art this year, and hundreds of pieces have already been hung and diplayed at the Cultural Activities Center in Temple. Courtesy photo

MONDAY | MARCH 14, 2022

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Higher gas prices taking big slice out of food delivery incomes

By DAVID STONE, Our Town Temple

The cost of a gallon of gas in Temple dropped more than a penny over the weekend, but don’t get too excited — it’s still up about 85 cents from a month ago and is expected to resume its upward climb later today.

The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gas in Temple was $3.962 as of 5 a.m. today, and diesel fuel was selling for an all-time record $4.962.

To counter soaring gas prices, Domino’s Pizza is paying customers to not have their pizza delivered.

The pizza delivery giant is offering $3 to customers who order online and pick up their own pizza rather than having it delivered. The money is not a kickback, however; it has to be used on a future purchase.

“Carryout customers who order online can claim a $3 tip to use on their next online carryout order,” the company said in a news release.

Domino’s is not the only delivery business affected by orbiting gas prices.

Record-high fuel costs have prompted Uber, a personal transportation and delivery service, to charge customers a new fuel fee to help offset costs for ride and delivery drivers.

The temporary surcharge will be either 45 cents or 55 cents for each Uber trip and either 35 cents or 45 cents for each Uber Eats order, depending on location, the company announced over the weekend. The money will go directly to Uber drivers, and the surcharge will be in effect for at least 60 days.

The surcharges are based on the average trip distance and the increase in gas prices in each state, Uber said.

Prina Lewis has been delivering for DoorDash for about three months and it has been a great source of second income — until gas prices started steadily climbing

“Before the gas hikes it took $40 to fill up my vehicle and now it takes twice that,” she said.

Before the increases, Lewis would deliver four days a week during her spare time and would typically bring in an extra $400 a month. Now that income is cut in half as gas prices are forcing her to pump the brakes.

DoorDash drivers can select which orders they want to deliver depending on customers’ tips and how far they have to deliver. Many drivers are refusing smaller orders and orders to poor tippers.

Extra fuel costs mean stretched budgets and more families living paycheck to paycheck as consumers are hit not only with higher prices at the pump, but also with higher prices across for goods and services that rely on truck, train and jet transportation.

“It’s typical for gas prices to rise in the summer months, but this sort of spike is highly unusual and experts predict costs will continue to rise in the coming months,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

“Seasonality is part of the impact, from summer gasoline, but the bulk is still the Russia situation,” De Haan said. “The risk, the possibility that there will be further disruption and escalation is being priced in. The US does only obtain small amounts of crude oil and products from Russia, but it’s also a global commodity and US sanctions have far-reaching effects on the ability for other countries to buy oil from Russia as well.”

Various wire services contributed to this report.

SPRING MARKET & FOOD-TRUCK FRENZY

A vendor makes cotton candy at Saturday’s Spring Market & Food-Truck Frenzy in Downtown Temple. Despite a chilly start, the day turned out exceptionally nice for shopping and sampling a variety of foods. David Stone photo

While mom and dad were shopping and visiting with friends, the younger crowd enjoyed a bouncy house obstacle course and other games during Saturday’s market day Downtown. David Stone photo

An attendant at the always popular Chef Flaco’s booth prepares a sample of salsa for a customer. The booth featured hot sauces, chips, queso and many varieties of salsa from mild to wicked hot. David Stone photo

AROUND TOWN: parking garage progress

Progress has been made on the footprint of the 4th Street Parking Garage, viewed from 6th Street with the Hawn Hotel renovation in the background. The current 4th Street partial road closure will be extended southward through the Avenue A intersection starting Tuesday. Crews will be repairing the roadway, which was excavated during ongoing construction. The extended closure is expected to last two days, according to Kiara Nowlin, the city’s Communications & Public Relations manager. David Stone photo

TC to offer customer-service training

Our Town Temple

Temple College and Go2Work are sponsoring a free customer-service training class the week of March 28-April 1.

The class will run 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in Berry Hall on the Temple College campus and will cover topics such as workplace skills, interpersonal communication, customer service, technology and the hospitality industry.

Those who complete the course will be eligible to earn a customer-service credential. After the course, participants will have the opportunity to attend a job fair with local employers who are hiring.

There is no charge for the class but seats are limited. Anyone interested in attending should visit the Go2Work website to begin the application process.

Before the course begins, participants will attend workshops on resume writing and interviewing provided by Workforce Solutions of Central Texas.

Go2Work is a non-profit organization providing job training and employment opportunities to unemployed Bell County residents.

Go2Work’s goals are to engage, train and employ qualified job seekers to meet local employer needs.

Through Go2Work, prepared employees are connected with local employers who often hire the graduates immediately upon training completion.

For more information, contact Loretta Garcia at (254) 742-4554 or Loretta.Garcia@workforcesolutionsctx.com.

AROUND TOWN: brilliant blue sky

An old water tower stand in East Temple against a beautiful blue sky in this photo taken over the weekend. Paint on the old tower is chipping awaiting, revealing part of the old “Temple Football” lettering underneath a cream-colored coat. David Stone photo

NEWS FROM EVERYWHERE

In the late ‘70s and into the ‘80s, there was a popular ice cream shop located in South Loop Shopping Center. What was the name of this business?

ANSWER IS AT END OF TODAY’S ISSUE

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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On this day in 1964, Dallas night club owner Jack Ruby was convicted of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. On Nov. 24, 1963, Ruby, then proprietor of the Carousel Club, had shot and killed Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy, in the basement of the Dallas City Jail, during Oswald's transfer to the county jail. Millions of witnesses watched on national television. Although he was defended by Melvin Belli on the grounds that "psychomotor epilepsy" caused him to black out consciously while functioning physically, Ruby was convicted of murder with malice. His conviction was overturned by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and Ruby was awaiting a retrial when he died in prison in 1967. Ruby denied involvement in any conspiracy, and maintained to the end that he shot Oswald on impulse from grief and outrage.

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On this day in 1940, livestock leaders met in Fort Worth to form the American Quarter Horse Association. Among those in attendance were rancher and quarter horse breeder Anne Burnett Hall and King Ranch president Robert J. Kleberg. The series of meetings led to a charter, by-laws, and election of officers of an organization to “collect, record and preserve the pedigrees of Quarter Horses in America….” The origin of the American quarter horse dates to colonial times when the speedy horses earned fame for their performance in quarter-mile races—hence the name. The quarter horse in Texas is forever linked with the history of the open range and the cowboy. After the Civil War cattlemen needed swift yet sturdy mounts to drive longhorns to northern railheads in Kansas and elsewhere. Quarter horses were mated with mustang mares to produce a strong, speedy equine with great endurance. No formal registry of the animals existed until the American Quarter Horse Association undertook its publication. Soon after the formation of the group, the King Ranch-bred Wimpy, grand champion stallion at the 1941 Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth, earned the designation of P-1 in the AQHA Stud Book.

Our Town TUNES

OurTownTemple@gmail.com | (254) 231-1574

TODAY’S TEMPLE TRIVIA ANSWER: Polar Bear-Ashburns Ice Cream was located in a free-standing building in the parking lot of the shopping center that also included Gibson’s Discount Center (later Walmart), Piggly Wiggly and Circuit City.