Get the Best Crowds to Your Next Event
By P.A. Geddie Planning and implementing events is a passion of mine that started as a child. My little brother and the other kids in my neighborhood were often the "crowd" for my productions of backyard carnivals, theatrical performances, bug clubs, and sing-a-longs....
Focus on Editorial Content For Promotions Strategy
By P.A. Geddie A great "advertising" strategy is to focus on getting editorial coverage in key publications. Make sure your message is getting viewed in as much CONTENT as possible. When consumers started skipping TV commercials through TVO devices, savvy advertisers...
Celebrating 15 Years and Living the Dream in the Upper East Side of Texas
As we began to make plans for the approaching 15th Anniversary of County Line Magazine, we discovered quite a few other businesses celebrating their 15th as well in the Upper East Side of Texas and wondered if there was something special about that particular year...
Womack Widens Thread of Soulful Country Music
By Tom Geddie Lee Ann Womack is back. Not with a vengeance but with what may be her best collection of songs ever. The Jacksonville native took six years to make and finally release an album it seems like she always wanted to make: The Way I’m Livin’. The dozen songs...
Ceremony Attracts Descendants
As people gather in the woods between Tyler and Edom July 13 to remember one of the most horrific days in the history of East Texas, the crowd will include descendants of the Cherokee leader slaughtered, along with much of his family and 800 other native Americans....
Kyser Capo Strikes a Winning Chord
What is that thing seen holding down strings on guitars played by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Vince Gill, Dwight Yoakam, Patti Griffin, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis, and thousands of other musicians around the world? It’s a capo, most likely a Kyser capo that’s...
Cliburn Defined by Big, Small Moments
By Tom Geddie Some people’s lives are defined by a single big moment, or at least it seems that way. For Van Cliburn, the biggest moment was back in 1958 when, as a 23-year-old East Texan at the height of the Cold War, he played Tchaikovsky’s "Piano Concerto No. 1"...
East Texas Helped Jennings Make It
By Tom Geddie Think of Eric Clapton’s song "Tears in Heaven." Think of Steve Winwood’s "Higher Love" and "Valerie." Or Dionne Warwick’s "I’ll Never Love This Way Again," Barry Manilow’s "Looks Like We Made It," and Whitney Houston’s "Didn’t We Almost Have It All." And...
Sissy Spacek Takes Quitman Roots to Hollywood Fame and an Ordinary Life in the Hills of Virginia
Sissy Spacek’s memoir, My Extraordinary Ordinary Life premiers this month. It’s divided into four sections: Texas, New York, California, and Virginia. Texas, as in Quitman, Texas, is the biggest section, perhaps because in Sissy’s words, "All the things that are most...
Teens Interview Local Veterans
The next few pages contain a representation of the many men and women who were willing to sacrifice their lives to protect America’s freedom. Their bravery, determination and love for this country and the people who are its heart make them heroes to all who call this...
Women’s Roles in World War II
Patriotism was at its utmost during WWII and women were equally struck with their sense of duty. The difficulty, no branches of the service allowed women to serve. A woman’s place was in the home if she were married. Only a few proper jobs were available for single...
Headlines of the Day
Local papers kept the public informed of neighbors and friends For those of us not old enough to have been a part of the Second World War, it’s relatively easy to sit in the air-conditioned comfort of our armchair and write of the events occurring 60 years ago. We can...
Coming Summer 2025
County Line Magazine archives are being entered into The Portal to Texas History, a gateway to rare, historical, and primary source materials from or about Texas. Look for the County Line issues there soon.