Grapeland Mayor Honors Six Citizens

GRAPELAND - Grapeland Mayor and current Citizen of the Year George Pierson helped share the love as he honored six citizens during the city’s February council meeting.

Pierson said he chose to give kudos to Martha Childress, Joann Walker, April Bridges, Velda Parker, Susan Rowden and Constable ‘Red’ Smith because they have all made a difference in the community. Pierson said the six honored individuals make Grapeland shine and grow, while also having positive ideas and comments for the city.

“I know beyond a shadow of a doubt what these individuals are doing,” Pierson said. “They are showing their concern and they are showing their action.”

According to Pierson, Childress is dedicated to Grapeland and its festivals. He said she helped ‘train’ him during his first year of mayor, and her business sense and input is valued.

He joked Walker deserved the award because she keeps her husband under control, before thanking them both for donating half an acre of land to be used as a retention pond when water overflows from the city’s streets. Walker also walks around her husband’s business, Grapeland Farm and Ranch, to wait on people when she doesn’t have to, Pierson said. He shared one comment she made during Christmas in Grapeland that motivated him.

“She said, ‘If the city of Grapeland doesn’t grow, it will be like fruit dying on a vine,” Pierson said.

Bridges is another person who Pierson said he appreciated for keeping officials up to date on what happens at the local chamber of commerce. He thanked her for taking the initiative to put an idea, such as the city’s new entry signs, into action.

Parker, who is also the city’s postmaster, was additionally recognized for previously serving as the Building and Standards Committee chairperson and continuation as a board member.

“I think we’ve seen some old buildings being torn down,” Pierson said. “I think we’ve seen our city looking better.”

Rowden is another postal service employee who runs the mail routes, helps with clerical work in the city’s offices and is part of the volunteer fire department. He said an example of her work is when his property caught on fire last summer.

“She had made her mail route, and then she turned around and got on the fire truck and headed out,” Pierson said.

Smith was honored for overseeing clean-up in the city when the park or streets needed to be picked up. He’s in charge of the jail’s inmate work crew, and Pierson said he’s recently helped the city with clearing the outside, inside and top of the old nursing home - which is proposed to become the new city hall.

“He didn’t want to stop cleaning,” Pierson said.