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When I was in the seventh grade, as a part of our course in world geography, we, as students, had to learn all about the various European explorers who discovered lands and sea routes to different parts of the world. This kind of learning, unfortunately, is no longer taught in our schools today. Of course, if I were to ask you who Christopher Columbus was, most of you could tell me that he discovered North America. You probably even remember the little ditty, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” But did you also know that he discovered the Caribbean Islands and Central and South America? Do you also remember that though he came from Italy, he sailed and made these discoveries for Spain? Let me throw a couple of other explorers at you. Does the name Samuel de Champlain ring a bell? He was the French explorer, navigator, and cartographer, meaning he was a map maker, among other things, who between 1603 and 1609 made twenty nine trips across the Atlantic Ocean, charting and designing maps of the lands and sites that he discovered. He is the guy who is given credit for discovering the Great Lakes between Canada and North America and he established the first French settlement in what is now called Quebec City. How about Eric the Red, the Viking Norseman who discovered and led the first European settlement on the island of Greenland, the largest island in the world! And folks, this was around the tenth century, in the year of our Lord, 982 AD. And if I may but post one more, Vasgo de Gama, who was the Portuguese explorer who was the first European to reach and establish a sea and trade route to the nation of India. This happened sometime between 1497 and 1499. With the exception of Columbus, I’m sure that none of these names mean anything to you but we had to learn not only who they were, but what they discovered and when they discovered them! I remember sitting at my desk in my bedroom and looking up and making the statement that was the title of a famous musical play, “Stop the world! I want to get off!” Could you blame me?

The M’heya Farmers Market’s second month of operation continued to draw new vendors and customers, according to founder Sharon Kirkpatrick of 7777 Ranch and Bee Kind Honey.

Members of the Mexia Lions Club screened Mexia’s A.B. McBay Elementary School students for vision problems and discovered quite a few that will need follow-up with an exam by an eye doctor.