Dog book about Marshall to help Friends of Animal Shelter

May 14, 2016

By Becky Holland, editor@pineywoods.news
MARSHALL – In 1955, my parents, James and Gerry Holland, drove a little over 750 miles from middle Georgia to Marshall, Texas. Through hearing a visiting minister at a revival hosted by my grandfather, my parents became interested in East Texas Baptist College. The minister happened to be on staff at the college, and knew my father felt the call to preach.

Upon arriving in Marshall, my parents discovered a quaint, sometimes eccentric, family-oriented community centered around faith. It was there that they worked and went to school, and were joined later by my mother’s sisters, who also went to school here. My brother was born in Marshall. My aunt’s husband was from Marshall. My other aunt met her husband at East Texas Baptist College. One of my sisters was born here, and we ‘adopted’ her from here. Daddy was ordained at Second Baptist Church. My aunt taught school here for a few years, and my uncle pastored here. My oldest sister and cousins attended East Texas Baptist College as well.

This rural community that seemed to be the connection for bigger adventures – i.e. go to Dallas one way, Houston the other, Shreveport the other and Oklahoma the other – was the beginning point for our family.

Which is why in 2013, when I saw the opportunity to come live here, I jumped at the chance – maybe because of the ‘fantasy’ I held of exploring the history of the community that led my family members together and down life’s journey or maybe because of the fact that I would have the chance to say, ‘Hey, I lived there too,’ or maybe because I needed a job, who knows. I came.

With that in mind, I thought, why not do a little booklet showing the “top” spots that people need to check out while in Marshall. Adding a little humor and part of pop culture, and borrowing lines from some websites that have the history of the specific spots, I put together a digital e-book called “Toby Does Marshall.” Yes, it is full of photographs of my dog in front of the various buildings and spots in the city of Marshall, Texas that we believe people should stop by and check out. I want people to see exactly what Marshall does have to offer. This is such a good place to be a family.

You can find the book on Amazon by clicking here. You can download on your digital device (even your phone) and have it handy when you are bored and want to pass some time away. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Friends of Marshall’s Animal Shelter, headed by Amanda Smith.

It may be a little cheesy, but in putting the pages together, I discovered so much about this community that I didn’t know. We also included a listing of some of the top restaurants to eat, as well as some general information.

Credit for most of the information should go to the places that we linked to in the pages.

There won’t be a hard copy of this e-book, but we are working on some other publications involving Marshall. Thank you for your support.

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