Season gets closer
Archives for August 2010
Five garage sales this Saturday
Attention Garage Sale Fans: There are five sales going on in or near Clarendon this weekend with everthing from skis and clothes to furniture and toys to the ever popular “miscellaneous.” Don’t miss out on all the great bargains and be sure to tell them that you saw it on ClarendonLIVE.com!
SKELTON/SHELTON/THORNBERRY GARAGE SALE – 315 W. FIFTH STREET. Dresser, mirror, desk, file cabinet, sofa, skis & boots, men’s/ladies’ clothes, maternity clothes, space heaters, lots of household misc. Saturday, August 14, at 8 a.m.
YARD SALE – Saturday, August 14. 141 Saints Roost Drive, North of the Howardwick Entrance. Large Women’s Clothes.
WORD/THOMPSON GARAGE SALE @ 619 ALLEN ST. This Saturday August 14th at 8:00 a.m. 32” Television, toddler‘s bed, cd/dvd storage, power wheels, Cricut Scrapbooking machine, clothing for men/women/boys, Halloween costumes and other seasonal decor items, furniture, boys room decor, home décor, lots of toys, Chevy rims & auto parts, welding torch, lots of misc. items.
GARAGE SALE – Eads Furniture Building. Saturday, August 14 at 8 a.m. Lots of clothes and miscellaneous. Everything must go.
ESTATE SALE – 201 W. 4th, Clarendon. Friday, August 13; Saturday, August 14; and Sunday, August 15, from 9 a.m. to ? Please No Early Birds. Everything goes except appliances. 35-1tc
What’s the next step for city streets?
Streets have been a problem for Clarendon for decades; and although the Board of Aldermen has tried to tackle the issue many times, it continues to plague the city. We have a great community, but many of our streets are frankly an embarrassment and a disgrace.
A typical example of this is the streets around the baseball fields. We have better ball park facilities than most towns our size, but you can’t drive past them without risking the well being of your car or causing brain damage to your passengers. Drive too fast down Sixth Street with your infant, and the little tyke could well end up with shaken baby syndrome.
Currently a city crew is trying its darnedest to patch our thousands of potholes. They have made some progress, but it’s a massive undertaking to say the least, and it’s seems clear that they don’t have all the resources they need for the chore.
City Hall also had planned to seal coat about ten blocks this year, but estimates came in higher than expected (big surprise), and they only had enough money to do nine blocks. Some city leaders wanted to seal coat as many of the new streets as possible and take care of what’s still paying for, and others wanted to seal coat or work on older streets. The results last week: No action.
The streets that were paved in 2005 do need to be seal coated on a regular basis to preserve them, but the larger problem is the older streets. Spending $20,000 to seal coat streets such as Fourth from Koogle to Jefferson would be a waste of time and money because frankly there isn’t much left to seal.
The city has two years left on its payments for the new streets. The original plan five years ago was to pay for those streets and then do another big paving project. That’s still a good idea, but what do we do in the meantime to keep people from losing their front end on the way to the post office? Two years is a long time, and the city can’t afford to wait until 2012 to think about a solution.
City Hall should develop an aggressive plan to tackle this issue – smoothing out the rough places while protecting the investment that has been made in the new streets. Figuring out how to do that with the limited resources available to the city will be a challenge, but a solution needs to be found because this has gone on long enough.
A recent poll on ClarendonLive.com found that 65 percent of those responding wanted the streets to be the city’s top priority. It is time for city leaders to deliver on this issue. If it means other priorities have to take a backseat, that’s fine. We can delay adding new office space in City Hall or codifying ordinances (for the second time) if it means seeing real results on the roads.
As city leaders look for a new administrator, knowledge of street and infrastructure improvements needs to be at the top of their “wish list” as much as knowledge of municipal finances and grant writing, and other qualifications. We don’t need our top man (or woman) putting dirt in potholes, but we do need someone who knows how it should be done and knows how to allocate the resources to see that business is taken care of.
Mosque not the main issue at Ground Zero
Conservatives across the nation are all abuzz about a planned mosque near Ground Zero – the former site of the World Trade Centers in New York.
A planning board in that city gave the project a green light, but opponents say the planned 13-story Islamic center would be an insult to the people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, and a sort of victory for the terrorists.
I disagree. The insult isn’t so much the planned mosque as it is the vacant spots where the Twin Towers once stood.
Generally speaking, a mosque or a synagogue or a church is a celebration of our religious freedom in this nation. As New York Mayor Bloomberg correctly pointed out, the firemen rushing into save people that fateful day didn’t stop to ask what God the person believed in.
It’s been nearly nine years since the towers fell. Long before now, they should have been re-constructed exactly as they were, or new, more magnificent towers should have been erected in their place.
The fact that we’re left with two holes in the ground is a sad commentary on the state of our nation. We’ve gone from a country that did great things and built buildings that soared to great heights to a country that wrings its hands in fear of offending someone.
Instead of second-guessing “Freedom Tower” designs and protesting the construction of a house of worship, America should just move forward and come back stronger than ever before.
Let them build the mosque but rebuild the Twin Towers, too. Now that would be a testament to the greatness of America.
Harrison Glynn Beall
Harrison Glynn Beall, 72, died Thursday, August 5, 2010, in Amarillo.
Services were held at 2 p.m. Saturday, August 7, 2010, in the Clarendon Church of Christ with Greg Beall, Chris Moore, and Glenn Walton, officiating. Interment followed at Citizens Cemetery in Clarendon. Services were under the arrangement of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
Mr. Beall was born on January 5, 1938, in Shamrock to Augustus Griffin and Thelma Una Carter Beall. He had been a resident of Amarillo before moving to Howardwick 11 years ago. He married Clariece Wheeler on February 14, 1989, in Amarillo.
Prior to his retirement, he had been an insurance broker for over 25 years with many different companies. He was awarded rookie of the year and national record holder of any from American Founders, two-time national salesman of the year for Campbell Soup Company as well as Clorox. He was also awarded as national salesman of the year for Mrs. Smith Pie Company and Johnson Wax.
He had also been recognized by Who’s Who of America and past member of Kiwanis Club and Lions Club. He was a member of the Clarendon Church of Christ.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and his first wife, Peggy.
Survivors include his wife, Clariece Beall of Howardwick; four sons, Billy Sarrels and wife Missy of Amarillo, Greg Beall and wife Andrea of Lubbock, Ted Sarrels and Jeff Sarrels and wife Sherri all of Amarillo; a daughter, Kim Beall of Vacaville, Calif.; 15 grandchildren; and four great grandchildren.
The family will be at 354 Sailfish in Howardwick.
The family requests that memorials be to Navajo Mission Work c/o Clarendon Church of Christ or World Bible School c/o Joseph Ezenweze.
Signing up
City’s seal coat plan dies after estimate goes too high
A plan to seal coat the city’s newest streets died during a called session of the Clarendon Board of Aldermen last Tuesday, August 3.
The city had planned to seal coat ten blocks and had budgeted $20,000 for the work, but cost estimates came in higher than expected and reduced the number of blocks that could be done to nine.
City engineer Che Shadle encouraged aldermen to proceed with the work.
“You’re not doing a lot, but you’re doing something,” Shadle said.
Alderman Larry Hicks voiced concern about seal coating the best streets rather than focusing efforts on the worst ones.
“The damage (on the bad streets) is structural,” Shadle replied. “We’re trying to protect the good streets. It’s like water coating a fence.”
Shadle said the best way to repair Fourth Street, an example of a bad street, is to rip it up and start over.
Hicks asked if the city could do anything with $20,000 to make Fourth and Sixth streets better. Shadle replied, “No.”
Alderman Will Thompson said the city should plan to look at the worst streets in 2012, which is when tax notes on the 2005 paving project will be paid off.
Thompson moved to seal coat ten blocks for $22,000, but his motion died for lack of a second.
In other city business, Aldermen voted 3-1 to accept a proposal from Kyle Hill to create new office space in City Hall for a $4,340 contingent on available funds. Thompson opposed the measure.
The board also voted to purchase a 1998 pickup from Greenbelt Water Authority for $1,100; and aldermen discussed budget and tax issues.
A public hearing on the proposed 2010-2011 budget will be held August 24.
Jeffers leaves city post
Clarendon Interim City Administrator Phyllis Jeffers stepped down suddenly last Friday, August 6, due to health problems.
Mayor Chris Ford said he received a call from Jeffers Friday morning, and he immediately notified the Board of Aldermen and then met with city employees Friday afternoon.
“Phyllis has done an excellent job for us,” the mayor said.
Jeffers had served Clarendon since April following the forced departure of former administrator John Webb.
The city is under contract with Texas First Group to provide interim administrator services for $45 per hour. Ford said the group has a man on standby ready to serve Clarendon if aldermen want him.
At press time, the board was preparing to meet Tuesday night for its regular meeting to determine how to proceed – bring in another interim or move ahead with selecting a new fulltime administrator.
Ford said the city has nine applications for the position.
“We are actively seeking (a new administrator),” Ford said. “We’ve got one local applicant, a couple from as far away as Missouri and Colorado, and the others from around Texas.”
Donley County courthouse in state magazine
Clarendon is getting some good press as part of a “True, Texas” series in the September issue of Texas Highways.
The magazine calls True “a collective community of imagination” that features landmarks and icons from across the state that symbolize one idea of the authentic Texas.
The Donley County Courthouse is featured as an example of the buildings across Texas which “reflect the independence and fortitude of a resolute people determined to create order… out of a wilderness.” The Clarendon edifice “shines among the 230 historic Texas courthouses.”
Other landmarks in “True, Texas” include a water tower in Bandera, the Majestic theatre in Eastland, a café in El Paso, the town mascot in Muleshoe, and many others.
“These institutions and icons are fragile,” said editor Charles Lohrmann. “Each one reflects a sense of purpose and commitment to keep a locally focused vision alive.”
Broncos on schedule for a great year
Last year was a great year for the Bronco football team, and this year’s team is looking for things to go just as well or better as they continue with their pre-season practices.
According to head coach Gary Jack, the kids are tending to business and working hard.
“Things are going well for us,” Jack said. “Our Midnight Madness went well with about two to three hundred people in attendance. Things look very promising with about 45 kids on the team. The older kids look good and the younger kids are doing a great job.”
The Broncos will have a scrimmage at Bronco Stadium Saturday, August 14, at 10:00 a.m. against Nazareth to get a feel of how things are going.
“The scrimmage will tell us where we are at and what we need to get ready for,” Jack said.
The Bronco Boosters will be hosting Meet the Broncos Tuesday, August 17, at 7:00 p.m. at Bronco Stadium.
The Bronco football team and high school cross country teams will be introduced at this time. All Bronco fans are encouraged to attend and show their support for all Bronoco and Lady Bronco athletes.
SWEPCO sets new electric demand record
SHREVEPORT, La., – Extreme summer temperatures of 100 degrees and above and high humidity across Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas last week sent usage of electricity by customers of AEP Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) to a new all-time high level.
A new peak customer demand was established Wednesday, August 4, 2010, with a record 4,990 megawatt (MW) load on the SWEPCO system, breaking the old mark of 4,950 MWs set August 4, 2008, when the Shreveport temperature was 102 degrees.
The record 4,990 MW load (0.8 percent over the previous all-time high for the summer) was set at 5:00 p.m. last Wednesday when the Shreveport temperature was 101 degrees. The SWEPCO peak load for 2009 was set on July 13, with a 4,750 MW load when the temperature in Shreveport was 102 degrees.
Many SWEPCO customers will see higher electric bills because of the hot weather, increased electricity usage in August, and higher natural gas costs. Company representatives will work on an individual basis with customers experiencing difficulty paying an electric bill.
Customers may want to take advantage of SWEPCO’s Average Monthly Payment (AMP) plan, which allows residential customers to pay approximately the same amount each month for their electric service.
Also, the company’s Neighbor To Neighbor energy assistance program helps families pay their electric bills during times of special need, such as extreme hot temperatures or financial emergencies. SWEPCO provides ongoing support by contributing annually to the program during the summer months ($50,000 was given across the company’s three-state service area in 2010). Since the program began in 1993, almost $1.9 million dollars in funds generated from SWEPCO and over 10,000 of its customers have helped some 18,500 families in SWEPCO’s service area.
Contact SWEPCO 24 hours a day toll-free at 1-888-216-3523 for details on these programs.
SWEPCO serves 474,000 customers within a 25,000 square-mile service area.
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