Mr. Hal’s Tomatoes Will Be Missed

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I’m helping spread the word, Hal Vaughn is not growing tomatoes this year. Hal has been battling chronic back problems for a while, and is recuperating from a recent surgery that hopefully will give him some relief. Last year he said he almost had to crawl in the garden to pick tomatoes and would not have been able to grow and harvest them without the help of Allen Rogers.

Hal told me he has been growing tomatoes almost his entire life. During the last quarter-century he earned the reputation for growing some of the finest tomatoes in these parts, peddling them from his house and selling them to local restaurants, markets and grocery stores.

Now for the good news, Hal is still growing watermelons for the carnival contest and other contests. Hal has won the carnival contest six times counting a tie in 2023 when his melon and Jerry Vaughn’s melon both tipped the scales at 163.9 pounds. He has six watermelon plants this year and reported they survived the cold, wet spring and starting to grow. Allen Rogers and Hal’s son, Clay Vaughn, are helping with the plants until he recovers from back surgery. Hopefully we will see some big melons later this year from Hal and Allen.

There could be a few more competitors in the carnival’s big melon contest. Kenny Harmon has a few plants, and Hal said Lee McMinn and Tom Hill are also trying their luck with the big melons.

It was good to catch up with Hal Tuesday morning, especially as the last several days at the Herald office have been quiet. The start of June always signals two slow summer months in the newspaper business. Thankfully the Watermelon Carnival and start of school gets things going again in August.

I also enjoyed visiting with Trudy Story and Michael Redwine Monday. Trudy was by the office early afternoon and Michael later, and both commented on how much they miss Betty Shearer. Trudy said the newspaper will never be the same without Betty’s Week. Michael remembered how Mrs. Betty would always make sure there was plenty of food at gatherings, especially at Woodland Hill Baptist Church.

Our longtime readers will recall that Betty Shearer was blogging years before social media or even the internet were popular, sharing highlights about life in the Valley, her favorite foods and countless other topics on the front page of the Herald from 1989 until shortly before her death in 2022.

And during the almost 63 years she worked at the newspaper, from 1958 until she was diagnosed with cancer in 2021, she rarely missed a day.

We also kept up with her son, Jim Shearer, a longtime professor at New Mexico State University and I should report that he has retired. Jim and his wife, Celeste, recently moved from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Pittsburgh, Penn as of late May. They are planning a visit to see their Mississippi friends and family sometime late fall or early winter.

I had several people ask me about writing a front page column, something similar to Betty’s Week, but it wouldn’t be the same. Plus she never missed a single week in all those years, and I’m pretty sure that I am not that reliable!