[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 31 (Thursday, February 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  THE MADISONVILLE METEOR'S CENTENNIAL

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                            HON. JOHN BRYANT

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 16, 1995
  Mr. BRYANT of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to call to this 
body's attention the history of one of the most enduring institutions 
in the Fifth Congressional District of Texas, which I am privileged to 
serve in this House of Representatives.
  For the last century one of the major agricultural centers of this 
district has been Madison County and its county seat of Madisonville. 
And, not coincidentally, during the last 100 years that beautiful 
section of our State has been served, informed, and led by the 
Madisonville Meteor.
  The Meteor publishes its centennial edition on the very appropriate 
date of February 22. That is, of course, the birthday of George 
Washington, the father of our country. While this part is pure 
coincidence, I am proud to note that George Washington, the 
Madisonville Meteor and I share the observance of the same birth date; 
however, I do stipulate that my birthday was several decades later than 
the Meteor's and a full 215 years after President Washington's.
  Despite all of its accomplishments under the leadership of a century 
of dedicated publishers, editors, and staffers, the Meteor could be 
most proud of its biggest and longest-running error--the mistake it 
made in selecting its own name.
  The story goes that the newspaper's founder, Thomas J. Stevens, 
showed up amid the rolling, tree-lined hills of Madison County with a 
wagon full of printing equipment and a plan to produce a newspaper that 
would be so full of local news and advertising that area residents 
would find it indispensable. Maybe so, Mr. Stevens' first hired man 
observed, but he personally figured the paper would be a short flash 
and then disappear, leaving no more than a footnote to the history of 
Madison County. Kind of like a meteor causing a quick flash, then 
disappearing forever, he reckoned.
  So why not call it the Madisonville Meteor, reasoned the amused 
publisher?
  A succession of publishers have enjoyed the irony of the name and the 
call to civic duty. Edna Keasling now publishes this venerable weekly 
that manages to retain its down-home charm and interests, while more 
than holding its own on the electronic lanes of the post-nuclear 
information superhighway.
  Publisher Keasling has noted that of more than 5,000 issues of the 
Meteor, the two most popular and most consulted are the ones marking 
the centennial of Madison County, created in 1853 and organized in 
1854, and the 50th anniversary of the Meteor.
  There will be a strong new light glowing at the Meteor as Ms. 
Keasling, editor Daniel Humphries, sports editor Mark Kuchera, 
typesetter Melissa Fautheree, compositor Marta Nichols, bookkeeper-
circulation staffer Deenna Tobias, circulation staffer Carolyn Standley 
and darkroom operator Martha Fautheree pool their talents on Wednesday, 
February 22, to present Volume 101, No. 1, of the Madisonville Meteor.
  I join the Meteor's many other friends in anticipating the first 
edition of the misnamed but well-placed newspaper's second century.
  As an enduring example of our Nation's unique marriage of free speech 
and the free market, the meteor has earned our thanks and 
congratulations. just as it will when our descendants celebrate Volume 
201, No. 1, of the Meteor as it begins its third century.


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