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McBroom of A&M-Commerce appointed<BR>to Caddo Museum Board

By Mary Lou Hazel, Media Relations

Dr. Randy McBroom of Texas A&M University-Commerce has been appointed to the board of directors of the proposed Valley of the Caddo Museum and Cultural Center.

McBroom, who serves as Assistant to the President for Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, is a Fannin County representative on the board.

The Museum and Cultural Center will highlight Fannin, Lamar, Red River, and Delta Counties and be located in Paris near the Love Civic Center. The heritage of the Caddo Indian Nation will be honored with the facility to house a variety of objects including ancient Indian pottery, the flora and fauna species found in the four counties, an aquarium, and astronomy facilities.

Archeological excavations in the region point to evidence of ancient Indian artifacts on residents' land, including the Gene Stallings Ranch in Lamar County.

Excavations by the Texas Historical Commission and the Valley of the Caddo Archeological Society uncovered artifacts that date back 2,000 to 3,000 years ago and are believed from the Fourche Maline Indian culture, Stallings said.

"It was exciting when they found those artifacts," said Stallings, member of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents and a former football coach for the University of Alabama, A&M Aggies, and Dallas Cowboys.

Stallings, McBroom, and other representatives of the four counties serve on the board of directors for the museum. Spearheading the effort to plan the museum is District Judge Jim Lovett of Clarksville.

"The museum board meetings are very interesting," said McBroom who lives near Bonham and will serve a two-year term as a director. "They are a dynamic group," McBroom said of the board.