In Bonham, a Community Celebration for North Texas Giving Day will be held on Thursday, Sept 17 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at the Creative Arts Center at 200 W 5th Street. Garden gates will open at 6 p.m. Admission is free. Credit Union of Texas will bring their food truck and be serving up free brisket nachos. Fannin Bank will be serving up glasses of cold sweet tea and homemade desserts. Neighbors Place Winery will be on hand, selling drinks. Some local artists will be set up, painting and drawing en plein air. Local musician Alonzo Beavers will be our opening act starting at 6:00 p.m. and The Buzz Andrews Band takes the stage at 7:00 p.m.

ETAMU's newest bachelor's degrees allow working professionals in schools to earn a degree and teacher certification in a competency-based format. photo by East Texas A&M Marketing and Communications

TCU Press will publish Living and Writing in West Texas: Two Speeches by Elmer Kelton on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, bringing the late author’s own account of his life and craft back into print. The hardcover ($26.95) carries a new foreword by Western author Patrick Dearen and an afterword by longtime friend and bookseller, Felton Cochran. The release falls in Kelton’s centennial year. Born April 29, 1926, in Andrews County and raised on a ranch near Crane, Kelton would have turned 100 this spring.

Mark your calendars for an event so fun, we have to tell you about it a month in advance! Join us at the Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site for Farming Heritage Day on Saturday, September 26 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. See antique tractors, meet some farm animals, speak with local farmers and ranchers, connect with community groups, and enjoy some food as you celebrate farming with us at Sam Rayburn’s historic home during this free event. This event is sponsored by the Friends of Sam Rayburn and the East Texas A&M University College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

Today, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation (DGLF) announced the award of more than $300,000 in youth literacy grants to Texas non-profit organizations, libraries and schools. The funds are part of more than $4.1 million recently awarded across the country for recipients to use the funds for professional development opportunities and/or to purchase books, technology, equipment or materials to help extend a brighter future for K-12 students.

1862 – American Civil War: Union soldiers find a copy of Robert E. Lee's battle plans in a field outside Frederick, Maryland. It is the prelude to the Battle of Antietam. The Battle of Antietam, also called the Battle of Sharpsburg (particularly in the Southern United States) took place during the American Civil War on September 17, 1862, near Antietam Creek and Sharpsburg, Maryland, between the Army of Northern Virginia, led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and the Army of the Potomac, led by Union Major General George B. McClellan. Part of the Maryland Campaign, it was the first field army–level engagement in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War to take place on Union soil. It remains the bloodiest day in American history, with a tally of 22,726 dead, wounded, or missing on both sides. Although the Union army suffered heavier casualties than the Confederates, the battle was a major turning point in the Union's favor.