Clarendon Live

The Clarendon Enterprise - Spreading the word since 1878.

Archives for September 2019

Ceremony kicks off pool work

by Leave a Comment

Project officials turn dirt on the new Clarendon Aquatics Center Tuesday afternoon after four years of planning and fundraising. Shown here are project designer Steve Shank, first donor Ella Estlack, Clarendon EDC Secretary/Treasurer Roger Estlack, second donor Ben Estlack, Lloyd Finley of A&S General Contractors, Dan Reece of Texas Parks & Wildlife, project steering committee member Jim Shelton, City Administrator David Dockery, committee member Walt Knorpp, Mayor Sandy Skelton, County Judge and committee member John Howard, (hidden from view – committee member Cindy Shelton), committee member Derlene Gray, Alderman Eulaine McIntosh, Alderman and EDC member John Lockhart, Alderman Larry Jeffers, Alderman Jacob Fangman, (hidden – Alderman Nathan Floyd), and committee member John Morrow. Enterprise Photo / dusty green

City officials and approximately 100 spectators gathered at the site of the future Clarendon Aquatics Center Tuesday afternoon to break ground on the $2.7 million project.

“We are extremely pleased to reach this milestone after years of efforts,” City Administrator David Dockery said afterward. “We are so grateful to have these residents and students help us with the ground-breaking for this momentous occasion for the City of Clarendon.”

Before the dirt was turned, Mayor Skelton recognized those in attendance and reflected on the work that had been done since an anonymous donor first offered half a million dollars to get the project started four years ago.

Project designer Steve Shank of WatersEdge, the Kansas firm that has designed this pool and the one in Wellington says this will be a great facility for Clarendon.

“This is going to be a good pool and the citizens here will love it,” Shank said.

Accident claims life of local woman

by Leave a Comment

A Clarendon woman lost her life in a two-vehicle accident last Thursday afternoon near Goodnight.

Tojuanna Pierce, age 60, was pronounced dead at the scene by Donley County Justice of the Peace Pat White, according to a report from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

DPS Sgt. Cindy Barkley said Pierce was a passenger in a 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe, driven by 58-year-old James Powell, also of Clarendon. The couple was traveling in the outside lane of eastbound US 287 when they were struck from behind by a 2002 Peterbilt truck tractor-trailer driven by Galyean Sawyer, 22, of Childress.

The Santa Fe spun around clockwise and travel into the center median. Once in the center median, the vehicle struck the far slope of the median and then spun around counter clockwise before coming to rest facing east. The unsecured passenger, Pierce, was ejected.

The semi-truck crossed over the center median, jackknifed and came to rest across both westbound lanes.

Powell and Sawyer were both wearing seatbelts, the DPS said. Powell was transported to Northwest Texas Hospital with serious injuries where he was listed in stable condition late last week.

Economy leads to dip in CC enrollment

by Leave a Comment

Clarendon College’s fall enrollment is down from last year’s all time high but still secured a spot in the record books as the institution’s third highest enrollment in 121-year history.

The fall head count following the 12th class day last Wednesday settled at 1,589, which is down from last year’s figure of 1,639 and only one below the second highest enrollment of 1,590 set in 2017.

A strong economy and low unemployment typically leads to lower college enrollments, according to CC President Robert Riza.

“Unemployment is at 2½ percent right now,” Dr. Riza said. “If you can pass a drug screen, you can get a job.”

Riza said low unemployment hurts general enrollment as well as career technical programs, but he also said he still feels strongly about the programs being offered by CC.

“Our students are getting employed from our programs,” he said. “And it’s important to remember that we’ve pushed some of these career technical certifications down into the high schools. Some kids with a certificate can start making mid-30s to low-40s right out of high school, and that may be more than their parents make. That makes it hard to argue they should go to college.”

Some families also opt to send kids straight to universities over community colleges when they feel good about the economy, the president said.

Enrollment in Dr. Riza’s first fall semester enrollment in 2014 was 1,211, and Clarendon College has posted growth every fall except this one since then. This fall’s enrollment is still more than 31 percent higher than 2014’s headcount.

Enrollment on the Clarendon campus this fall is 316 compared to 340 last year, and residence halls in Clarendon are at 95 percent capacity.

Enrollment at the CC centers in Childress and Gray counties are down. Pampa is at 176 compared to 196 one year ago; and Childress is 32 compared to 34.

A total of 110 students are enrolled in strictly online classes, also known as distance education, this fall compared to 125 one year ago.

The main driver of CC’s enrollment growth has been dual credit offerings, which the college now has in 22 area school districts. That enrollment segment actually increased this year with 776 students taking dual credit classes up from 735 last fall and 678 two years ago.

“Over the last five years, we’ve increased dual credit head counts by about 225 percent,” Riza said. “Our credit hours through dual credit are up about 250 percent.”

Clarendon High School has 26 students enrolled in dual credit this semester. Hedley has 12.
The number of Donley County residents enrolled in traditional college classes is up this year with a total of 37 compared to 29 last year. Nine of those students are enrolled in CC’s Honors College.

Running owl

by Leave a Comment

Hedley High School’s Elijah Booth carries the ball against Northside last week. The Owls lost 62-14. Also last week, Hedley Junior High won their game against Northside, 55-39. HHS YB Matthew Martinez

Tojuana Lynn Sullivan

by Leave a Comment

Tojuana Lynn Sullivan, 60, of Clarendon died Wednesday, September 11, 2019, in Goodnight.

Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 21, 2019, in Robertson Funeral Directors Saints’ Roost Chapel in Clarendon with Jeremy Pierce officiating.

Tojuana Lynn Sullivan

Cremation & Arrangements are under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.

Tojuana was born March 21, 1959, in Channing, Texas to Daphine and Charlie Sullivan. Both Daphine and Charlie were school teachers and had recently moved to Channing. They tried for many years to start a family and Tojuana’s arrival was received as a tremendous gift. When she was born, Charlie took Daphine’s hands and laid his head on her hospital bed and through tears said to her, “I am so proud of that little girl.”

Tojuana grew up in towns across the panhandle as Daphine and Charlie’s careers progressed and they worked to advance their educations. She was soon joined by a brother, Jon Sullivan. The two were frequent partners in crime and kept their parents on their toes.
Although Tojuana graduated from Mobeetie High School, she always considered Clarendon her hometown. She attended Clarendon College after completing High School, and she settled into a tiny house on the family farm as she began her own family with the birth of her daughter. She moved to Lefors before her son was born and raised her family in Lefors and, briefly, Midland. She also spent time living in Houston and Seguin and lived in Wheeler after her mother passed away in 2012, devoting herself to caring for her father at the end of his life. She moved back to Clarendon upon his passing in 2014.

Tojuana was a beloved Mom and Grandma (or “Pa-Pa” as her grandbabies called her, and no matter their age, she always called them “the grandbabies”). As a friend, she is widely known for her devotion and generosity of spirit. She was fiercely devoted to her children and grandchildren and dedicated the focus of her life to caring for her family.

She was intensely creative and adventurous and loved gift giving and traveling far and wide across Texas and anywhere else life might take her. She was a talented artist and baker and a social butterfly.

Tojuana was a lifelong Christian and was an active member of Lefors Church of Christ for decades. In addition to immersing herself in the work of the church and in motherhood, she spent many years providing a loving environment for babies and children in her home as a childcare provider. Tojuana spent many years as a school volunteer and later became a Pre-School teacher for Lefors ISD.

She was preceded in death by her parents.

She is survived by her brother, Jon Sullivan and wife Kristie of Wheeler; her ex-husband Ricky Pierce of Claude; her daughter Brandie Neal and husband Adrian of Clarendon; her son Jeremy Pierce and wife Amanda of Fort Worth; her grandchildren Xavier, Orian, Isabella, Dahlia and Charlie Neal of Clarendon.

Linda Sue Smith

by Leave a Comment

Linda Sue Smith, 76, of Clarendon died Friday, September 13, 2019, in Clarendon.

Services were held on September 17, 2019, at the First Presbyterian Church in Clarendon with Nancy Ruff, officiating.

Linda Sue Smith

Arrangements are under the direction Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
Linda was born on October 8, 1942, in Amarillo to Charles Ross and Lillie Elizabeth Rapstine Hughes. She married James Montye Smith on September 13, 1975, in Amarillo. She moved to Clarendon in 1994 and was a member of the First Presbyterian Church. She was employed by the City of Clarendon, as a secretary, for 13 years.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a son Ross Welch; a grandson Kenny Welch; and a stepson Joe Smith.

She is survived by two sons Mark Welch of Mayer, Arizona and Rusty Welch of Beaumont; a stepdaughter Sara Ussery of Franklin, Tennessee; a stepson Mike Smith of Newport Beach, California; five grandchildren Christy Maxwell, Chris Welch, Cory Welch, Mark M. Welch, and C.J. Welch; three great-grandchildren Wade Brown, Chloe Maxwell, and Jacob Defreese; three step-grandchildren Ryan Ussery, Jennifer Hoover, and Nicole McFadden; four step-great-grandchildren Olivia, Madison, Ayla, and Jamison.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be sent to the Donley County Associated Ambulance Authority.

Sign our online guest book at www.RobertsonFuneral.com

CISD Trustees accept Norrell’s resignation

by Leave a Comment

Clarendon ISD Superintendent Mike Norrell resigned effective immediately Monday night at a meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Mike Norrell

Board President Wayne Hardin said Norrell resigned for personal reasons and that his decision to leave was not due to anything illegal or anything involving the school or its students.

“It was a total bombshell,” Hardin said. “No one foresaw this. It was totally out of the blue.”

Hardin said Norrell contacted him about 2 p.m. Monday to tell him he was leaving. Hardin then consulted with the district’s attorney to get the proper notice of the resignation added as a supplement to Monday’s regular board meeting agenda.

Hardin, along with Trustees Reneé Mott, Chuck Robertson, and Robin Ellis, were in attendance that night and unanimously accepted the resignation. Three other trustees were absent.

The board president said Norrell had spoken with campus principals and personnel in the administration office Monday afternoon to make sure the district continues to run smoothly. Hardin will be communicating with the Region 16 Education Service Center to guide the school in finding an interim superintendent after which a search for a replacement for Norrell will begin.

Norrell had been superintendent of Clarendon schools since April 2015.

Chamber social to be held Sept. 12

by Leave a Comment

The Clarendon Chamber of Commerce will hold its next Business After Hours and its third Totally Locally $500 drawing at Saye’s Tack Store this Thursday, September 12.

The come-and-go event will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and will provide Chamber members and prospective members an opportunity to learn more about what’s happening in the local business community. Refreshments will be served.

In addition to learning more about Saye’s, one of the highlights of the September After Hours will be the Chamber’s third Totally Locally drawing. Shoppers can sign up for the drawing at eleven local stores, and one will win $500 in Clarendon Cash at the After Hours.

A list of participating businesses and more information is on the ad on page six this week.

St. Mary’s makes plans for new home

by Leave a Comment

The design for the new St. Mary’s Catholic Church is based on the 1892 original building.

The last pre-20th century catholic church building in the Amarillo Diocese was demolished here Monday as St. Mary’s parishioners make plans to be in a new home by the end of next spring.

The 1892 building that has housed the Texas Panhandle’s oldest catholic church was torn down after being severely damaged by an automobile more than two years ago.

Preservation architect Chuck Lynch told the Enterprise he knew the building had to come down after surveying the damage that had been done to it.

This Jack Sorenson painting of St. Mary’s is based on an original photograph that shows the church the way it originally appeared.

“It was one of the most dangerous things that I’ve seen,” Lynch said.

Looking at the building not long after the accident, Lynch said he told parishioners that he was concerned about anything of value inside the building because, he said, “it’s going to fall down.”

Lynch the automobile had traveled about 40 feet, missed trees, and then struck the side of the building concaving the east wall and convexing the west wall. Lynch said the floor was damaged and stress had been put on the roof.

“There was very little foundation to the building,” he said. “There was no engineering done in 1892, and someone at some point had tried to level the building and left leveling jacks under it. That was all that was really holding it up.”

Lynch said fixing the building would have cost three times what building a new building would cost, and the old building was no longer meeting the needs of the church.

“There was very little plumbing, no bathrooms,” Lynch said. “You couldn’t get a wheel chair down the side aisles.”

Church members have also noted that the building had suffered several bad remodeling jobs over the last century, particularly the removal of the original gothic church and bell tower.

Several elements of the original church were salvaged from the building, including the restored high alter, the stained glass windows, some original flooring, and some original bead board that was found behind drywall. Those items and other will be worked into the new building in a way that Lynch says will honor the past.

“We’re trying to rebuild in honor of what was there originally but with modern codes,” he said. “Original elements will be a nice tribute. The new building will also have a proper sacristy and confessional and should be more functional than the old church.”

The new building will connect to the church’s new Parish Hall and will seat up to 140 where only about 60 could fit into the old building.

Prior to Monday’s demolition, Bishop Patrick Zurek prayed with parishioners outside of the old building and asked God’s blessing on the work ahead. Father Arokia Raj Samala oversaw the demolition of the building and kept a close eye on its progress.

Two for the Road season 3 to premier at Mulkey

by Leave a Comment

Nikki and Dusty Green, stars and producers of the PBS series Two For The Road, will premier their third season at the Mulkey Theatre September 21.

The locally produced PBS series Two for the Road will hold a special season three premier event next Saturday, September 21, at the Mulkey Theatre in Clarendon.

Stone Ranch Media announced last week that the highly anticipated third season of the international travel and adventure show, produced and hosted by Howardwick residents Nikki and Dusty Green, will premiere on Panhandle PBS Thursday night, October 3, at 8:00 p.m.

The new season of the three-time Lone Star Emmy nominated show follows the Greens and their adventures around the world once again, this time as they explore more than a dozen countries across four continents, including Bolivia, Iceland, Vietnam, the Galapagos Islands, Ireland and more. The thirteen new episodes will begin running concurrently on PBS stations nationwide in early October as well.

“We are incredibly proud and excited to finally get season three out there,” said Dusty. “We’ve been blessed to be able to visit and film in some truly spectacular places for this new season. And a lot of really amazing places in fact that a lot of folks might not be familiar with, or have ever heard about. It’s all coming together really beautifully and we can’t wait for folks to see it.”

The Greens, who continue to shoot, produce and edit the series entirely on their own out of their home studio in Howardwick, say they also hope that viewers will notice a few key differences in the new season from the past two seasons, from overall improvements in production and voiceover to a greater focus on storytelling.

“Yes, one thing that’s different about this new season is that we hope viewers will notice more of a focus on storytelling,” Nik said. “In the past two seasons, there’s been a lot of adventure, a lot of adrenaline for sure. And there’s still plenty of adventure in the new season too, but this time we wanted to focus more on these really touching stories and these fascinating people that we’re meeting out on the road.”

“And the visuals too,” Dusty said. “We put a lot more effort in on the production side in terms of really trying to capture the spectacular beauty of these places. So, there are lots of big, epic, lingering drone shots for example. We really want folks to feel like they’re being drawn into these places we visit, like they’re right there along for the ride with us.”

The first season of Two for the Road premiered in the fall of 2016, and since then the show has grown to be available in more than 90 percent of television households across the United States, via nationwide broadcasts on local PBS affiliates like Panhandle PBS and the popular public television lifestyle network Create TV.

And as the show’s audience continues to grow and the Greens continue to travel and film around the world, they say it’s their home and their roots in the Texas Panhandle that keep them both grounded and motivated.

“It doesn’t matter where in the world we’ve been or what we’ve been doing, we always love coming back home. The folks here in Donley County especially have always been so kind and supportive, and we really hope to make them proud,” Nik said. “In fact, we mention Clarendon a couple of times in a couple of shows in the new season, so we hope everybody enjoys the shout-out.”

Details of the season three premiere event in Clarendon on September 21 are still being finalized, but the Greens say it will feature the first two episodes of the new season, which follow their adventures in Bolivia. In addition to the screening, a free ice cream social is planned at Stocking Ice Cream Parlor before the Mulkey event, and an after party is in the works at the Whistle Stop. Admission will be free and open to the public, although a $5 per person donation is suggested at the Mulkey event, with all proceeds going to benefit the Donley County Community Fund.

Two for the Road is produced by the Greens through their company Stone Ranch Media and is distributed by the National Educational Telecommunications Association. And as in seasons past the series is presented nationally to the public television system by Panhandle PBS in Amarillo. And even with the premiere of season three approaching, they say production has already begun on season four of Two for the Road.

“We’ve already shot one episode for season four and production will really ramp up again in November,” Nik said. “We just feel so blessed and thankful to be able to do what we do, and we really want to thank everyone for all the love and hope they enjoy the ride.”

Verified by MonsterInsights