‘Crazy Christmas’
Archives for December 2015
All I want for Christmas…
Designer now consulting on water park
The effort to build a water recreation facility in Clarendon is making progress as a steering committee continues to pursue that goal.
City Administrator David Dockery says local officials are now working with Waters Edge Aquatics Design to develop preliminary designs and site evaluations for the local project.
Waters Edge engineer Dave Schwartz met with the city council appointed steering committee November 23 and emphasized the need for careful planning, conceptual drawings, and a feasibility study as critical objectives for a successful project.
Dockery said Schwartz’ comments echoed the advice given to the committee by fundraising advisors from the Amarillo Area Foundation.
Schwartz also told the committee that planning and building a water park will take quite a bit of time. Dockery says the project may be as much as three years away from completion.
Waters Edge is the same company that designed and built the new water park in Wellington and specializes in the design and construction of water recreation projects.
Dockery said Schwartz is consulting with engineers this week and the company will present a complete proposal for design and evaluation services in mid-January, and a single benefactor has already agreed to pay for the cost of the preliminary design work.
Project planners will also be consulting with David Driskill and the Texas Tech University College of Architecture, the same group recently contracted by the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation to develop master plans for the city’s central business district.
Earlier in November, the steering committee approved setting up a dedicated fund at the Amarillo Area Foundation specifically for Clarendon’s water recreation project. The move allows people to make fully tax-deductible donations to the project. Those interested in supporting the project can mail a contribution to the Donley County Affiliate Fund at Amarillo Area Foundation, 801 S Fillmore St, Ste. 700, Amarillo, TX 79101, and note Clarendon Water Recreation Project in the memo.
The project began in July when an anonymous donor approached the city with the offer of a $500,000 challenge grant for the purpose of building some kind of water recreation facility in Clarendon. The city council subsequently appointed a 13-member committee to guide planning and fundraising, and town hall on the subject was held in October.
County commissioners discuss incentive for wind farm
The Donley County Commissioners’ Court discussed a possible tax abatement agreement for additional wind farm activity during a called session Friday, December 11.
Judge John Howard said the Salt Fork Two project will be an expansion of the current project underway in the northwest corner of the county.
At least 15 percent of the new project is expected to be in Donley County while the remainder of be constructed in Carson and Armstrong counties. The project will in this county will consist of between 20 and 30 megawatts.
Howard said the court is waiting on paperwork to be drawn up to finalize the agreement.
In other county business, the court met in regular session on Monday, December 14, with several items of business to consider.
A proposal to lease-purchase a new motorgrader for Precinct 2 was approved. The five-year agreement finances approximately $109,000 at 2 percent interest.
The court also approved a lease for a new copier/printer in the sheriff’s office and voted in favor of making a $500 donation to the High Plains Food Bank.
A proposal to upgrade the control system for the heating and cooling system in the Courthouse was considered but set aside due to its $50,000 price tag.
The court approved a contract for collection and assessment of taxes by the Donley County Appraisal District and voted to cast its votes for the appraisal board for Lon Adams and Jerry Green.
City council prepares for USDA application
The Clarendon City Council met in regular session December 10 with several items to consider on its agenda.
Aldermen approved renewing the city’s contract with the Donley County Appraisal District for assessment and collection of property taxes, and the city approved a motion dividing its votes for the appraisal board for Lance Thornberry, Britton Hall, and Wilma Lindley.
The council took no action on a presentation from McKinstry on wastewater and water infrastructure.
No bids were received for contract animal control services, and City Administrator David Dockery says the city will now fill that need with a full time staff position.
The aldermen adopted a conflict of interest policy and a fund designation and capital improvement plan as necessary steps for pursuing USDA funding for a water infrastructure project. A public hearing related to the possible application for USDA funding will be held Tuesday, January 5, 2016.
An update was given on the water recreation project.
Dockery reported that Clarendon will host a quarterly meeting of the Texas Municipal League in Amarillo next month. At that meeting, Clarendon College’s Ashlee Estlack will give a presentation on branding and marketing, Jo Shaller will perform cowboy poetry, and Steve Hall and Jesse Lincycomb will provide musical entertainment, Dockery said.
Editorial: Blue Bell is back in time for Christmas
The wait is over, and happy days are here again. Blue Bell Ice Cream has returned to local stores. Let the angels sing and the people rejoice!
The year 2015 has been a trying one for Texans. We have faced the kind of adversity that tested whether we had the fortitude of early pioneers who lived without modern conveniences. It was a summer that tried our souls and gave us a glimpse of what life must have been like during the Great Depression… or at the very least greatly depressed many of us.
Back in the spring, the troubling news began to spread that there was some contamination in our beloved brand of ice cream. And then, to our shock and horror, Blue Bell voluntarily recalled all of its products from the market for safety concerns.
Your humble editor was like many ice cream aficionados who refused to give in to the fear of some lower lifeform. Bacteria? Sickness? Death? I’ll take my chances. Give me the ice cream.
At our house, we went into full World War II rationing mode. I’d studied history; I’d heard the stories of living through hard times. I knew how to handle it.
We had partial half gallons of Mint Chocolate Chip and Homemade Vanilla. We no longer just served up scoops of ice cream. For the time being, it would be special occasions only, and then only limited samples… a small scoop or less. Enough to keep us alive, but not enough to endanger our supply.
Soon t-shirts and memes began showing up online proclaiming “I survived the Blue Bell famine of 2015.” I refused to participate, because the fact was we had not yet survived… the ordeal was not over.
As the summer wore on, we were doing fine. As other people bemoaned being out of ice cream, our family was safe and secure with its reserve. And then late in the summer, a miracle happened. As we dug through the freezer looking for who knows what, we uncovered an unopened, untouched pint of Dutch Chocolate Blue Bell. Praise God!
Opening that gift from the almighty was an emotional time, particularly for my wife and daughter. It was like the good old days had returned. The strict rations were quickly imposed so we did not get swept up in the moment.
And so life continued. We told ourselves that desperate times called for desperate measures, and we did the unthinkable. We sampled other brands, choked down their lesser quality fare, and tried to squelch the feelings of guilt we had for straying from our true love. Ultimately, that always led to going back for a ration of our favorites.
Then tragedy struck in September. In our hustle and bustle to get to school and work one morning. The freezer somehow got left partially open. When we returned home that evening, our Blue Bell was ruined! Oh, the humanity! What would we do now? We would have to wait, like everyone else, for the promised Second Coming.
Much like the famous advertisement that proclaimed “When you’re out of Schlitz, you’re out of beer,” we were out of ice cream. There was no substitute to be had.
But hope began to blossom. It was preceded by Internet rumors and the scalawags who like to offer false promises online. Soon, however, it was real… Blue Bell was back. But only in the central Texas area. It’s progression northward and westward was slow, and then frustratingly arrived in Childress and Memphis before landing in our own Lowe’s Family Center this week.
Now, we are made whole again. Our lives are fulfilled and happy. And we have learned an important lesson as we go become engulfed in the magic and miracle that is the Christmas season. We have been taught humility and hardship, but most importantly we have been reminded to hold close to the people… and the ice cream… that we hold most dear. Because we never know when something precious might be taken from us.
We have learned that we must live life to the fullest, and never take for granted that Blue Bell will always be there. This holiday season, treasure it, enjoy it, and share it.
Meanwhile…
The Chamber of Commerce’s “Christmas in Clarendon” has come and gone; and all in all, it was successful. Last Saturday saw a big crowd downtown, shopping with our local merchants, visiting Santa Claus, and enjoying food and special deals on Kearney Street.
Wouldn’t it be great to see that kind of activity every weekend? Our merchants would appreciate it, and it would make a world of difference in our local economy. Every dollar spent at a local store circulates through our town and helps pay taxes for local services, helps local charities, and generally helps our community be more vibrant.
If you didn’t make it downtown last Saturday, remember our local merchants all across town still have plenty of deals for you to take advantage of this season. Let’s make it a merry Christmas for everyone and find those perfect gifts right here at home.
Dear Santa
Sound of Christmas
TxDOT hands out safety awards to employees
CHILDRESS – Safety: Mission Zero is just one of the mottos at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), and certainly one of the most important. At TxDOT, mission zero means; zero injuries, zero incidents and zero fatalities.
Approximately 200 employees in the 13-county Childress District were recently honored for their outstanding driving record and no injury record at the annual TxDOT Safety Awards Banquet.
“Safety has always our top priority,” said Marty Smith, Childress District Engineer. “Our goal every year is to work 365 days without a single injury or incident. When an employee does that, we think it deserves notice, so we have a safety awards event to say congratulations and thank you.”
TxDOT Donley County employees receiving an award in years combined for safe operator and no injury awards in 2015 include: Eloy Camacho, two years; Randy Crump, 18 years; Brian Miller, 20 years; Mike Ritchie, 46 years; Derek Shields, six years; Fu Benavidez, 43 years; Roy Bertrand, 16 years and Clay Christopher, 20 years.
Broncos drop game to Vega
By Sandy Anderberg
The Clarendon Broncos were narrowly defeated last Tuesday night on the road falling at the hands of the Longhorns at 60-67. The Broncos lagged behind throughout and missed crucial free throws in the loss.
“We did not play good defense and make free throws against a good Vega team,” coach Brandt Lockhart said. “We were able to cut the lead to five points with a minute left after being down 13 points in the third quarter.”
Three Broncos managed double figures in the game with colt Wood and Keandre Cortez leading the way with 12 each. Marshal Johnson added 11, and Bryce Grahn and Junior Ceniceros helped with eight apiece. Chesson Sims had five, and Bear Smith added four. Wood also had five assists and four steels, and K. Cortez had two steals. Johnson had six rebounds, and Grahn had four rebounds and five assists.
The Broncos took on Panhandle JV in the opening round of the Panhandle Tournament and breezed by them at 68-31. The Panthers led after the first quarter, but the Broncos came alive in the second quarter of play, overcoming the five-point deficit to take a nine-point lead into the break.
Defensively, the Broncos turned up the heat and Panhandle was unable to answer back. Johnson hit 17 points and had seven rebounds, and Ceniceros put in 13 points and had four assists. Smith also finished in double figures with 11 points and had seen rebounds and three steals. Wood had eight points, three steals and three assists, and Sims had six points on the board. Grahn helped with five points, three assists, and four steals; and K. Cortez had five points and three steals. Damarjae Cortez helped with three points.
After the Panhandle win, the Broncos went head to head with Spearman and earned a 53-34 win. Ceniceros put in 13 points with seven rebounds, and Johnson had 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Broncos. There really was never any doubt as to the dominance by the Broncos, which left Spearman struggling. Grahn had seven points and five steals while Wood had seven points and five assists. Sims and D. Cortez had four points each, and Smith had three. D. Cortez had two points, four assists, and two steals.
The Amarillo Flames defeated the Broncos in the next round at 39-32. Neither team was able to find dominance in the game and the Broncos, as a team was unable to put points on the board.
Ceniceros finished with 17, and Johnson had 10. Wood had nine, Grahn two, and Sims one. Johnson recorded double-double with 13 rebounds, and Ceniceros had six rebounds and two assists. Grahn added two assists and five steals, and K. Cortez had two assists in the game.
The Broncos advanced to the championship game with Panhandle and despite fighting hard, were defeated 35-50. They struggled to get anything going offensively and could not contain the Panthers. Ceniceros and Grahn finished with 11 apiece, Johnson and Wood had six, and Smith had one. Johnson grabbed nine rebounds, and Ceniceros had six. Wood racked up four steals.
“I thought we improved defensively during the Panhandle Tournament,” Lockhart said. “We were able to advance to the championship game against Panhandle. I was very proud of our defensive play against Panhandle, but did not shoot well. Keandre Cortez had a great tournament defensively.
The Broncos will play in the Gruver Tournament December 28-29.
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