Archives for April 2009

The Hedley Fire Department is striving to purchase a new Jaws of Life.

The department’s current Jaws of Life is more than 25 years old; and in order to ensure better safety of those in life-threatening situations, officials say a more efficient version of the tool is needed.

Hedley City Secretary and volunteer fireman Randy Shaw is one citizen who believes the purchase will be beneficial to the community.

“Having a new Jaws of Life will enable the fire department to be more effective if we have to respond to a wreck,” Shaw said. “Since the equipment we have right now is old, it is worn out and not very dependable.”

According to Kathy Spier, an Amarillo fire chief has been contacted concerning the Amarillo Fire Department’s Jaws of Life and has provided information toward getting a grant. The fire chief also provided the name and number of a sales representative, from whom Amarillo gets some of their equipment and who has agreed to come to Hedley to do a demonstration of the Jaws of Life on an old car.

“The Jaws of Life are mostly just used to get people out that are trapped in their vehicles due to a car wreck,” Shaw said.

“We haven’t had to use it very often, but if we ever get into a situation and we do need it, we’re going to need it bad.”

In order to raise enough money to obtain the life-saving mechanism, an area-wide potluck invitational for the Hedley Volunteer Fire Department and the Ladies Auxiliary is to be held May 1 at 6:00 in the Hedley Baptist Church Fellowship Hall.

Four pit hams have been donated – two from Lowe’s Family Center in Clarendon and two from the Thriftway in Memphis.

The only food needed from the community is desserts, salads and vegetables. Anyone interested in this event is invited to join and help the Hedley Fire Department accomplish their goal.

If anyone wants to send a donation to the Fire Department, it can be mailed to the Hedley Fire Department, c/o Randy Shaw, PO Box 185, Hedley, Texas 79237.

Clarendon College Regents received a nice surprise during their regular meeting April 16 – the deed to the CC campus in Pampa.

The board was scheduled to receive five undeveloped acres south of the existing M.K. Brown Academic Building on W. Kentucky Street. From the Clarendon College-Pampa Center Foundation; but when foundation president Don Lane addressed the meeting, he announced the college would be getting the 14-acre campus as well.

President Bill Auvenshine was very pleased with the foundation’s gift.

“Clarendon College is extremely grateful for the work the Pampa Center Foundation has contributed through the years by taking the initiative years ago to provide higher education to the citizens of Gray County,” Auvenshine said.

CC began offering classes in Pampa in 1972 and operated for many years in a former elementary school building. Community leaders in Pampa secured funding and built the center’s current facility in 1999 and maintained ownership of the building while the college paid the operating expenses.

Also at the April meeting, regents learned that Shane C. Wilbanks had accepted the board’s offer of $832,500 to purchase 55 acres that joins the Pampa campus on the east side, opening up several possibilities for future growth, according to Auvenshine.

“This will enable Clarendon College to complete a three-phase master plan in Gray County,” the president said. “Phase One is construction of a two-building vocational complex south of the existing building. Phase Two is construction of a library, student center, and a larger vocational center, and Phase Three is construction of dorms and additional classrooms.”

Auvenshine said Phase One will begin immediately and that the entire master plan should be completed within 20 years. Regents approved an architect to begin plans for the vocational complex

To finance the new buildings in Phase One and the 55-acre purchase, CC will work with Gray County, which will issue $4 million in bonds for that purpose. CC will then lease the buildings and property from the county with funds from the Gray County maintenance tax until the bonds are paid.

The college’s plans in Pampa will not harm the home campus in Clarendon, according to the president.

“In no way does this compete with Clarendon,” Auvenshine said. “It is too far for towns north and east of Pampa to commute to Clarendon, and our dorms are maxed out. Those students will commute to Borger (and Frank Phillips College) before they drive to Clarendon,” Auvenshine said.

In other college business, regents approved a lease agreement written by CC’s attorneys with US Wind Energy to place wind turbines on the Clarendon campus. The agreement now goes back to US Wind for its approval.

The board also approved the purchase of another wind turbine simulator with 14 students now enrolled in the wind energy program. Auvenshine said Texas Tech is trying to get federal stimulus funds it would use to partner with Clarendon and other community colleges on wind energy programs.

Regents also reviewed and approved faculty contracts for the following people for the 2009-2010 academic year: Emily Baker, Equine/Ranch Horse Coach; Charla Crump, Div. Dir./ Speech; Angela DeMine, Office Tech/PC; Gene Denney, Psychology & Sociology; Pam Denney, Div. Dir./Business & Technology; Russell Estlack, Biology; Scarlet Estlack, Div. Dir./Biology; Cynthia Ewing, Desktop Publishing; Skip Frazier, Education/History; Jason Green, RFO; Bill Huey, Drama/Theater; Rusty Kennedy, Women’s Basketball Coach/Atheltic Director/Business; Mary Nell Kiser, Cosmetology; Jack McCarty, Computer Technology; Melissa McCoy, Developmental Studies; Candra McKee, Softball Coach; Andy McLatchy, Government; Kent Miller, HVAC; Jimidene Murphey, English; Kelcie Newton, Volleyball Coach; Phyllis Norton, Vocational Nursing; Linda Rowland, Math; Mike Silva, Baseball Coach/PE; Tony Starnes, Men’s Basketball/PE; Peggy Stewart, Vocational Nursing; Robert Taylor, Business Administration; Hannah Thompson, English; Johnny Treichel, Ag/Judging Coach; Laban Tubbs, RFO; Frank Vance, Math; and Larry Wiginton, Chemistry.

The sign-up period for the fourth annual “Trash To Treasures” garage sale event begins Monday.

This year’s citywide garage sale is slated for Saturday, June 6; and a large participation is again anticipated.

Garage sales in Hedley, Howardwick, and the surrounding area are also welcome to sign up.

“This event has been a huge success the last three years, and we’re hoping it will be equally successful this year,” said Roger Estlack, publisher of The Clarendon Enterprise, which sponsors the event.

“People realize that it makes sense to have these garage sales on the same day to draw a bigger crowd.”

Residents who wish to participate in this year’s “Trash To Treasures” are asked to come by the Enterprise before 5 p.m. on Friday, May 29, to sign up for the promotion.

For just $20, each household will get a 50-word advertisement in the Big-E Classifieds and the exclusive “Trash To Treasures” garage sale kit, which includes tips for holding a successful sale, price stickers, and two yard signs.

In addition, the Enterprise will print a city map the week of the event indicating the location of each sale and will promote the citywide garage sale in area newspapers and with local radio ads.
For more information about the fourth annual Trash To Treasures, call 874-2259 or come by the Enterprise office at 105 S. Kearney.

A local woman was killed in a car accident in Howardwick on last Thursday, April 23.

According to Texas Highway Patrol Trooper Bobby Chambless, the wreck took place at approximately 8:03 a.m. on Swanson Street. Betty Hammock, 73, of Howardwick ran her 2004 Jeep Cherokee off the roadway into the west ditch and into a sign. Instead of rolling sideways, the vehicle rolled end over end half a turn and came to rest on its roof.

Chambless said Hammock was not wearing her seatbelt when the wreck occurred. She was rushed to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo, and at 9:45 a.m. she was pronounced dead.
The initial cause of the accident is still under investigation. The official cause of death is still unknown, but it is a direct result of the accident, Chambless said. An autopsy has been requested.