THE TRUE ONLINE GUIDE. BLESSED COMMUNITIES. TREASURED HERITAGE. BOUNDING IN SHOPPING , DINING & PLAYING. HOME OF AUTUMN TRAILS, AZALEAS & DOGWOODS.
PLEASE ENJOY THE BEAUTY OF THE WINNSBORO, TEXAS AREA. This video is presented as a courtesy with a single license for use for WinnsboroTexas.org and AutumnTrails A's Association and C.G. Willis. All Rights Reserved of original copyright holder; please contact for use or redistribution. CONTACT US. Thank you.
TRAILS COUNTRY
TRAVEL TOURISM NEWS
Wood County Recognized with Award as “Best Weekend Road Trip” in Texas
Wood County, Texas [9/12/2023] — The Wood County Economic Development Commission (WCEDC) announced today that Wood County has been recognized with a prestigious award as a premier tourist destination for other Texans.
Official Best of America recognized Wood County as the “Best Weekend Road Trip” for other Texans, and memorialized the honor with a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCx3iOJdZeg&feature=youtu.be
"We are ecstatic to receive this award which is a reflection of all the hard work put forth by the people who live in Wood County,” said Christine Thomas, Executive Director of the WCEDC. “Everyone, residents, and businesses alike, has played a role, whether through their tax dollars or volunteerism at the many exciting events that we host throughout the year.
“It’s also important to recognize the businesses in Wood Country which have done a great job of welcoming visitors, in turn making Wood County a regular destination for people from Dallas and Houston and all points in between,” she added.
“These are exciting times. We look forward to building upon the recognition, doing everything we can to maintain our attraction to the tourist community.”
This is not the first time the county has been recognized. Last year, it was highlighted by CultureMap at https://sanantonio.culturemap.com/news/travel/07-19-22-travel-texas-wood-county/ [Read full release here]
READ News Around Winnsboro Area
For Winnsboro ISD's 2025-26 CALENDAR, CLICK HERE.
[August 2, 2025 - Staff Reports] Trails Country Reporter (TCR) will publish the East Texas area school calendars up within the next week as area districts begin their back-to-school days mid-summer. The first day of fall / autumn is September 22, 2025.
For Winnsboro ISD, students start back on Wednesday, August 13. Staff started back on August 4, and it is unknown if WISD Superintendent David Wilcox is working at the helm, on vacation, on personal leave, or just absent from the post.
For the integrity of public interest and request, TCR has received information from two vetted confidential informants that Mr. Wilcox is not at work, and has left the state, packed up his house and listed it for sale. Three of our sources stated he handed his resignation in to a board member over two weeks ago, however, this is NOT verified and no comment from the district when asked. A tendered resignation is not official until accepted by the board in PUBLIC forum by a majority of the board, or he is otherwise dismissed from his contract.
Texas Administrative Code S109.1001(1)(3)(B)(i) explicitly requires the superintendent’s contract be posted on the school district’s website. TCR cannot find it after an exhaustive 3-week search.
On August 1, The WISD administration fulfilled TCR's open records request of 7/29; the superintendent's contract is here, readable and downloadable. READ THIS FIRST.
(1) TERMS OF CONTRACT. To understand some of the contract technicalities, after talking to several area superintendents, the contract generally does not specify severance (financial) arrangements for leaving the employment, either through resignation, retirement or dismissal; those terms are usually negotiated at the time and needs arises.
(2) TIMING IS CRITICAL. For current law thru 9/30/2025, the maximum allowable amount of severance is one year of base pay, or $186,883.20. On September 1, 2025, a new state law goes into effect, capping superintendents’ severance pay at 20 weeks, or for Mr. Wilcox, that computes to $71,878.15. (Unaudited numbers)
(3) BACKGROUND. In 6 years, the WISD Board of Trustees approved the Superintendent’s contract and amendments for overall 31.6% increase in base pay over 6 years, an average of 5.27% per year. The Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for the same time period totaled 23.2%, or an average of 3.86% a year.
(A) It is ONE CONTRACT, dated 3-2-2020, and renewed by attached amendments dated 3/23/2020 (3 years through 6/30/2023, base pay $142,000 CONTRACT
(B) 2/22/2022 (4-years through 6/30/2026, base pay raised to $160,000) AMENDMENT
(C) 1/23/2023 (4.5 years through 6/30/2027, base pay raise to $168,000) AMENDMENT
(D) 1/4/2024 (4.5 years thru 6/30/2028, base pay raised to $181,440, plus retention stipend of $25,000 paid by 12/31/2024) AMENDMENT
(E) 1/24/2025 (4.5 years thru 6/30/2029, base pay raised to $186,883.20) AMENDMENT
OPTIONS AND SENARIOS.
So, this NEW info triggers lots of honest and valid questions that need to be asked and should be asked, with consequences that can cascade into serious financial consequences for the district.
If the WISD board of trustees pay any more than the state law allowable amount, what happens? According to verified info, Texas Foundation School Program (FSP) is Primary Source of state funding for Texas public schools, and ANY amount over the maximum allowable by will be taken out of WISD's FSP money usually received from the state. Meaning WINNSBORO LOSES ALOT OF MONEY. Just as an example, if any departing employees asks for (and gets) $800,000 severance (rumor not vetted), the state funds to WISD can be reduced by as much as $725,000 for the students education.
WATCH THE BOARD. Will the trustees get Mr. Wilcox back to work, admit he is on leave, is that paid or not paid leave? What is his legal address now? If the board pays Wilcox a severance BEFORE Sept. 1, how much? The board knows NOW by this article they can save money by delaying the vote on accepting his resignation. Will they do the right thing? For the school district bottom line, for the students, the kids, the faculty. Is there even a temptation to do favors to vote now before Sept. 1 for a large sum?
BEST SOLUTION. If they wait until after September 1, and pay a lesser amount capped by law, will it include a contingency provision to place all severance in a trust pending the outcome of any school district and/or law enforcement investigation cloud currently hanging over Mr. Willcox and the District.
Next public meeting of the WISD Board of Trustees is Monday, August 4, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. at the Admin Conference Room, 505 S. Chestnut St., Bldg C.
OP | ED. C.G. Willis, Editor.
WISD Administration is not providing comment at this time, and probably cannot talk about current district public affair because legal counsel has probably advised them to make no comment while several different cases are under investigation since early summer.
Several multiple agencies have confirmed active investigation into former and current district personnel, of these including the Wood County Sheriff's office, and the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Other agencies involved include the Texas Rangers and Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), largely centered around the arrest of former coach (who left in February 2025) accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student, and another coach arrested for failure to report. News agencies are delayed and limited in getting open records from law enforcement for any activity open investigations.
At the July 21, 2025 WISD board meeting, the trustees went into executive session for two and half hours, with district's attorney departing after 1.5 hours. When the board came back into regular session, no action was taken. (Consider, Action, Discussion was not even listed on the agenda for the post Executive session item.)
When observing a public meeting, make sure an actionable item is actually listed specifically on the agenda by the words “Discuss, Consider, Take Action”, even after coming out of an executive session.
If an employee is separating, applying keen financial acumen is the better choice to pay severance AFTER September 1, 2025 with contractual contingency claw-back provisions, capped at 20 weeks, the new state law. This is a tactical win for the WISD budget, the students, faculty and administration.
Under state law, in a nutshell, failure to report child abuse of sexual activity of adults on minors is a misdemeanor; if coupled with conviction of engaging in activities to cover failure to report, it can be enhanced to a felony. By the way, current contract review reflects the district may terminations only for felony convictions or a crime involving moral turpitude.
It is the opinion of this editor that future school districts contracts allow termination for misdemeanor convictions related specifically to the failure report child or sexual abuse of a student or minor, or misdemeanor conviction of contributing or failing to report the delinquency, or bullying of any student or minor.
If citizens are not happy with the WISD board actions, options include a recall election. That is a procedure that allows voters to remove an elected official from office before their term ends. It typically involves collecting signatures from a specified number of voters within a set timeframe to trigger a special election.
Let’s not jump to conclusions and continue to gather facts. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. We must focus on solutions. Ask your elected officials to be more transparent where they can be during these trying times. Is there accountability? When you meet someone, everyone is fighting a battle you may not see. Are you kind while handling tough situations? Are you operating with vetted fact? We certainly don’t have all the facts here, and want them.
The students are watching. Our kids are watching. The taxpayers are watching. The citizens are watching. The media. If you see something, say something. Fear is a liar. Where’s the integrity, the trust, the peace, the unity.
Do the right thing. Winnsboro Strong.
PLEASE SHARE THE BEAUTY OF THE WINNSBORO, TEXAS AREA. THIS PROMOTIONAL VIDEO SOURCED UNDER OPEN RECORDS AND PUBLIC DOMAIN ACCESS AT YOUTUBE.COM; PROMOTED BY THE CITY OF WINNSBORO AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; PAID FOR WITH PUBLIC FUNDS. THE OFFICIAL CITY OF WINNSBORO WEBSITE IS LOCATED AT WWW.CITYOFWINNSBORO.ORG.
Wood County Area. It's East Texas.
Wood County has a population of 45,000 plus
and Market Trade Area of 250,000 in an eight county contiguous radius census tract.
the East Texas area of Wood, Smith, Hopkins and Franklin, counties.
Over 90 named Lakes / Bodies of water, Dining, Shopping, Great Living.
It's Proximity: The Wood County Area is Rural yet is close enough
to major metropolitan. areas of the Dallas / Ft. Worth (85 Miles) Area and Tyler (40 miles).
It's just A tank away for a day!
It's laid back at a different pace than many suburban cities crawling with traffic, smog and lines.
It's Shovel Ready for Measured Growth.
Planned Potential. Good Folks. In the Right Corner
of Texas.
Click on the puppy dog to link to the
Winnsboro Animal Shelter.
Winnsboro History Museum
Be sure and visit the Winnsboro Historical Museum: The museum is open from 1-4pm on Fridays and 10am-4pm on Saturdays. Location is 100 Broadway at the old Train Depot, on the southeast corner of Broadway (Hwy. 11) and Main (Hwy 37) in Winnsboro, TX. Call (903) 347-2634 and schedule group visits by appointment.
TRAILS COUNTRY REPORTER & PRODUCTIONS
HUMAN INTEREST STORIES, TOURISM, VISITORS, THINGS
TO DO, SHORT STORIES TO READ NEWS, EVENTS, WEATHER LINKS, CommUNITY info; Wood County, TX & Other Areas of the Northeast Texas and East Texas Piney Woods Forest Trails, Tourism, History, Heritage.
CLICK MOST ANY IMAGE TO LINK TO MORE INFORMATION.
Click here for Wood County Co-op (TX) and SWEPCO.)
Wood County TX Conditions @ NOW FROM WOOD COUNTY AIRPORT, TEMP, RAIN, WIND NOAA National Weather Service NOW
KETK Tyler - East Texas Matters KLTV Channel 7 Weather
WFAA Dallas Area Weather TXDOT Drive Texas Current Road Conditions
Internet & Phone Outages - Around the World
Things to See & Do
LOCAL EVENTS & AREA LAKES INFO
WOOD COUNTY & AREA LAKE INFO
Four County Lakes PLUS world renowned Lake Fork CLICK ON ANY BLUE LINK FOR LOCATION, MAPS, BOAT RAMPS, AMENTIES
- LAKE FORK - Lake Levels, Boat Access, Maps, Sabine River Authority Info, Lake Fork Chamber Links & Resources
- In the Counties of Wood, Hopkins & Rains
- Lake Winnsboro TPWD
- Lake Winnsboro ACCESS (points for boats)
- Lake Holbrook TPWD
- Lake Holbrook ACCESS (points for boats)
- Lake Quitman TPWD
- Lake Quitman ACCESS (points for boats)
Beach in Wood County
Come enjoy one of the most incredible white-sand beaches and some of the clearest water in the Pineywoods of Northeast Texas at beautiful Lake Hawkins.
https://lakehawkinsrvpark.com/facilities/beach/
Beach / Day Use, Open 8 am to dark
$5/person* (Cash, credit card, Apple Pay accepted)
Children 4 and under are free
* $10 per person for HOLIDAYS and holiday weekends (Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day). We reserve the right to shut the gate at any time due to capacity limits. No need to call and reserve a day pass. Just show up and pay at check-in window. Recreational Facilities, Beach Area, Picnic Area, Boat Ramp, Fishing Pier, Volleyball Courts, Dock, Swimming, Other Amenities & Services, Ice, Restrooms, Showers, Store.
LAKES OF WOOD COUNTY
Current Lake Levels, Access, Docks, Fishing, Marinas, Parking and More: www.trailscountryreporter.com/lakes-a-z-list.html;
Lake Winnsboro (get worms at Tractor Supply in town at 801 E Coke Rd · (903) 342-0009 (opens at 8 a.m.), or the Winnsboro Lake Store Marina at 630 Co Rd 4890 · (903) 629-3214 (Also opens at 8 a.m.)
It's good business here in the Piney Woods of East Texas!
How to Appear for FREE on this Website: Publishing your community events on the calendar is FREE. Linking to your current Website (in our area) is FREE. No membership required, no strings attached. Business Card Sized Ads are just $30 a month. Over 50,000 website hits a year! *Just Click here for more info; contact us!