Clarendon Live

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Archives for May 2011

Lonnie Robinson

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Lonnie Robinson, age 76, died Monday, May 16, 2011, in Amarillo.

Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. today, May 19, 2011, in Citizens Cemetery in Clarendon with Rev. Darrell Burton, officiating. Interment will be in Citizens Cemetery with US Navy Honors. Arrangements will be by Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.

Lonnie was born September 9, 1934, in Franklin Furnace, Ohio, to Homer and Sophronia Daniel Robinson.

He married Elva Mitchell on October 24, 1959, in Amarillo. He was a US Navy veteran for four years where he was a firefighter. He had been a resident of Amarillo where he worked with the Amarillo Fire Department for seven years and with Owens Corning for several years prior to his retirement.

He had been a resident of Clarendon since 1990. He enjoyed fishing, bowling, watching basketball, loved to ride horses, tell stories and make people laugh. He attended the Martin Baptist Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Larry Robinson and Leroy Robinson; and a grandson, Bryan McFarland.

Survivors include his wife, Elva Robinson of Clarendon; two sons, Lonnie Robinson and wife Dawn of Helena, Montana, and David Robinson of Houston; two daughters, Deana Allen and husband Foy of Raceland, Kentucky and Chandra Larance and husband Ron of Amarillo; two sisters, Janet Brammer and Gladys Lewis; 12 grandchildren; four great grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

The family will be at 718 South Goodnight in Clarendon, and they request that memorials be sent to American Cancer Society.

Broncos defeat Nazareth for Area Championship

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The Clarendon Bronco baseball team stifled Nazareth 8-2 in the Area round of the playoffs and earned the right to advance in post-season play. They were solid in their win and are looking to a trip to the state baseball game in June.

The Broncos began the game on a good note and scored all their runs in the first four innings. Nazareth’s pitcher came alive in the last half of the game to shut down the
Broncos’ offense.

“I was thinking we would break it open at any time, but we were not able to do that,” coach Brad Elam said.

“Naz’s pitcher kept us off balance and we were not able to score the runs we have the past couple of games.”

Elam is proud for the wins but knows the last few games have been good for the Broncos’ hitting. “These last three games have been good because we have seen quality pitching and that will get us better,” Elam said.

In the first inning of play, Brayden Phillips doubled, Johnny Gaines tripled Phillips in and Troy Chambless drove in Gaines. In the next inning, Diego Santos scored when Justin Shillings hit a triple and Phillips drove in Shillings.

The other four runs came from Gaines, Chambless, Trevor Cobb, and Dusty Rice. Phillips finished three for four with two runs scored and an RBI.

“Defensively, we did make some mistakes that we are going to have to clean up as we advance,” Elam said.

“Pitching, Johnny Gaines did an outstanding job limiting them to four hits, while striking out 16,” Elam said.

The Broncos will take on Stamford in the Regional Quarterfinals Friday and Saturday, May 20-21, in Lubbock, Texas at Westerner Field. The Friday game will begin at 6:00 pm and the Saturday game will be played at 1:00 p.m. If a game three is needed it will begin thirty minutes after the end of the second game.

They are looking for revenge, as Stamford was the team that knocked them out of the play offs last year. The Bronco team is also very appre ciative of the great fan support and packed stands at all of their games.

Bronco pride

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Jency Burton, Jentry Shadle, Emily Clark, and Danielle Ford show their team spirit at the Clarendon v. Nazareth Area Playoff game last week. The Broncos took down the Swifts, 8 - 2. Enterprise Photo/Kari Lindsey

City needs Chamber of Commerce

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The Clarendon Board of Aldermen last week lowered the boom on the Chamber of Commerce, cutting off $20,000 in annual funding for the organization.

Clarendon has for many years given the Chamber a share of the Motel Bed Tax revenue collected by the city, and in recent years has occasionally questioned how that money was spent. Three months ago the Chamber didn’t answer that question satisfactorily, and the city gave the Chamber 90 days to produce accurate financial records. The city never really accused the Chamber of misspending the Motel Bed Tax funds, but they did say that the Chamber’s record keeping was inadequate.

The Chamber has had its critics – including your editor from time to time, but it is an important asset to our community. And Judy Burlin has done a lot of good work for Clarendon as the head of the chamber. She did her best to present a positive image of her community and was always enthusiastic in her support of the town and its people. Clarendon owes her a sincere “thank you” for her service.

But now the city has cut of the funds, and Chamber Executive Director Judy Burlin has resigned. So what’s next?

City officials all seem to agree that they want the Chamber of Commerce to have funds from the Motel Bed Tax, but they want clear record keeping, which isn’t too much to ask when you’re giving someone $20,000 a year.

Our community needs and deserves a good Chamber of Commerce – one that promotes tourism, encourages support and growth of local businesses, and can answer any question about our community when a prospective business or family considers moving here.

The Chamber board now must act quickly but judiciously to hire a new Executive Director and set a positive course for the organization. In other words, the board must lead and show the city that the Chamber is worthy of their money. To do that the board needs to step up and show that the Chamber can be run effectively, efficiently, and professionally.

Like so many great tasks, it will take everyone pulling together to get the Chamber back on its feet. The board, the members, the community, and city officials will have to make an effort to give Clarendon the Chamber of Commerce it deserves and needs.

Meanwhile…
This weekend could be the beginning of the end for many things… this newspaper, your way of life, or perhaps the planet itself.

About a year ago, the Enterprise received a postcard which proclaimed that Jesus Christ would return on May 21, 2011, and that the earth will be destroyed five months later. Now a lot of interesting mail comes through our place, but rarely does it predict the end of the world, at least not with such a specific date.

I generally shy away from religious topics in this column, but I find it curious when someone predicts the world’s end with such certainty. Don’t they fear ending up with egg on their face like has happened to so many “Chicken Littles” in the past? I’ve been witnessing the signs of the end times for many years, but so far the end hasn’t come. I’ve seen several people confidently labeled as the “anti-christ.” Mohamar Khadafi, Saddam Hussein, George W. Bush, Osama bin Laden, or Barack Obama – just pick your favorite.

The problem with knowing the exact date of the end of the world is that it makes everything else pointless. Your mortgage is due on Thursday, but you expect the world to end on Friday, so why bother? If this postcard is correct, then our senior high school students are wasting their time with finals, and you and I shouldn’t worry about the interest rate on those credit cards. In fact, now is the ideal time to take advantage of 18 months with no interest anywhere you can get it.

The prediction also creates practical dilemmas. Jesus is coming Saturday, but I have to be at a cousin’s wedding all day that day and the house is not anywhere near clean enough for the Lord’s arrival. And besides all that, I’m a little perturbed that the world is supposed to end two days short of my birthday. That’s not fair at all.

I’m going to go out on a spiritual limb here and say that no man – or postcard – knows when Jesus is coming or when the world will end and that we’ll still be printing this newspaper in a week, in a year, and beyond. In fact, if the world ends on October 21, 2011, we will offer full refunds to all subscribers on October 22.

Plainview man runs, can’t hide

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A Plainview man was in the Donley County Jail Monday after he fled from state and local law enforcement last weekend.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said State Trooper Kellan Roberts had clocked a blue four-door Dodge pickup going at a high rate of speed on US 287 west of Clarendon shortly after midnight Saturday.

The vehicle fled north on SH 70 before turning onto County Road P and then turning back toward Clarendon on County Road 12. The vehicle end up in the bar ditch, and the driver, Raymond Morales, took off on foot. The sheriff’s office and the Department of Public Safety searched for the suspect, and a DPS helicopter was called in from Amarillo to assist with the search.

After 2 a.m., the sheriff’s office received a 911 call that a Hispanic man had run up to apartments on North Sully Street and was seen hiding under carport there. Morales was arrested and booked into the jail, the sheriff said.

Morales was facing numerous charges including, Evading Arrest – Felony, Driving While Intoxicate – Third or More, Assault on a Peace Officer twice, and Failure to Identify. Morales also has an outstanding warrant out of Hall County for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a bond surrender warrant out of Randall County.

Two passengers with Morales were also found in his pickup. Phillip Torres, Jr., and Phillip Torres III, both of Hall County, were charged with Public Intoxication.

Broncos slam Follett, 19-4

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The District Champion Broncos took on Follett last week in a regular season game that had no bearing on the District standings or the playoff race. It was, however, a great hitting game for the Broncos as they won 19-4.

“It was our best hitting game of the year pounding out 19 hits against a decent Follett team,” coach Brad Elam said. 

Offensively, the Broncos flexed their muscles in the rout.  Bradley Watson and Brayden Phillips combined for seven hits, six runs, and 10 RBI, according to Elam. 

“Watson opened the game with a double and Phillips added his fourth homerun of the year,” Elam said.  “Johnny Gaines had a couple of hits and Troy Chambless drove in three runs.” Cole Ward added to the scoring frenzy with four runs scored and Dusty Rice had two hits, three runs scored and four RBI.  Caleb Mitchell was able to slam two hits and score three runs. 

“The bottom of the lineup delivered seven hits and 10 runs,” Elam said.  “Defensively, we didn’t fare so well making six errors.” 
Phillips (four innings) and Watson got the call from the mound and together threw a four-hitter.  They struck out six batters and did not walk any players.  “Both (guys) pitched extremely well,” Elam added. The Broncos will take on Nazareth in one game on Wednesday, May 11, at 6:00 p.m. on the West Texas A&M campus.

Train wreck

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A single BNSF coal car overturned Monday evening southeast of Hedley, but a spokesman for the railroad said there were no injuries due to the accident and a cause was not known at press time. The rail was re-opened in about two hours, the spokesman said. Enterprise Photo / Kari Lindsey
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