The Fannin County Master Gardeners Home and Garden Expo next Saturday, March 28, at the Multi-Purpose Center will feature four knowledgeable speakers on topics of interest to gardeners. Dr. Garett Slater will start the day at 9:00 with his presentation “Pollinator-Smart Gardening: What to Plant, When, and Why.” Michael Cook, an AgriLife Extension agent who specializes in viticulture and enology, will be speaking on “Growing Grapes as Easy as 1, 2, 3.” Fannin County Master Gardener Sharon Kilpatrick will present her program, “the Buzz about Bees” and Tree Gibbs, Advanced Master Gardener - Entomology, will speak on the ten most prevalent and damaging insect pests in our North Texas vegetable gardens. Door prizes will be given out at each speaker session.

The City of Sherman has joined the affiliate network of Keep Texas Beautiful (KTB), a statewide nonprofit dedicated to litter prevention, community beautification, and environmental stewardship. Through this partnership, Keep Sherman Beautiful becomes part of a growing network of Texas communities working together to create cleaner, greener, and more vibrant places to live.

“It’s a simple concept, just a person in a chair behind a small table. But what happens at the stand is something far more meaningful. We are offering a moment of comfort and perspective from someone who has lived enough life to share a little wisdom,” said Andrew Jones, Director of the Cultural District. “In a world that can often feel overwhelming, sometimes the best thing a person can offer is a simple conversation and a listening ear.”

The Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site will be celebrating goats and gardens on March 19 from 12:00 – 3:00 p.m. Enjoy learning about goats and their dairy products as well as the benefits of maintaining your own garden at this free come-and-go event during Spring Break.

Ruby Blaylock is learning the ins and outs of professional sports management at her internship with the Texas Rangers this semester. | Photo Credit: Jason Connel, ETAMU Marketing and Communications

1973 – The Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family, which came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Burst of Joy is a Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph showing Robert L. Stirm (1933-2025), a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, meeting his family after five years as a POW in North Vietnam due to the Vietnam War. The photograph was taken by Slava "Sal" Veder, an Associated Press photographer, on March 17, 1973, at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, California. The image was widely published in newspapers and magazines and became one of the most recognizable photographs of the war's human aftermath. The photograph depicts Stirm being reunited with his family after spending more than five years in captivity as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. On October 27, 1967, Stirm was shot down over Hanoi while leading a flight of F-105s on a bombing mission, and was not released until March 14, 1973. The centerpiece of the photograph is Stirm's 15-year-old daughter Lorrie, who is excitedly greeting her father with outstretched arms, as the rest of the family approaches directly behind her. Despite outward appearances, the reunion was an unhappy one for Stirm. Three days before he arrived in the United States, the same day he was released from captivity, Stirm received a Dear John letter from his wife Loretta informing him that their marriage was over. After Burst of Joy was announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, all of the family members depicted in the picture received copies. The depicted children displayed it prominently in their homes, but not Colonel Stirm, who in 2005 said he could not bring himself to display the picture.