Helping the Less Fortunate
Archives for November 2020
Chamber promoting shopping at home
Join the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce in celebrating Small Business Saturday, November 28, and support your local merchants.
Local businesses have sales and specials planned for Saturday, so stop in a see what they have to offer and be sure to check out this week’s Holiday Gift Guide.
The Chamber’s next $500 drawing for the Totally Locally program will be held virtually through Facebook Live on the Chamber’s Facebook page on Thursday, December 17.
See the following stores to participate in the Chamber’s Totally Locally program: A Fine Feathered Nest, BeYOUtiful Whimsy, Broken Road Liquor, The Buckin’ Bean, Clarendon Country Club, Clarendon Outpost, Cornell’s Country Store, Country Bloomers, Every Nook & Cranny, Floyd’s Automotive, Henson’s, J&W Lumber, Loaded Nutrition, Mike’s Pharmacy, Saye’s Tack Store, Speed’s Tire Unlimited, and Studio E Creative.
Late Night Shopping is also once again planned for Thursday nights in December: December 3, 10 and 17. Stores will be open late until 8 p.m. and will offers sales and discounts.
Shop locally and support those who support our community.
COVID causes cancellations, delays of local holiday events
The continuing rise of COVID-19 cases has led to multiple holiday functions in Clarendon being canceled or postponed this season.
The Christmas in Clarendon craft fair scheduled for this Saturday has been cancelled, according to the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber still encourages everyone to Shop Small this Saturday as well as Black Friday.
Check out the related article on page one of this week’s Enterprise as well as the Holiday Gift Guide in this week’s edition for information on upcoming promotions for local businesses.
The Courthouse Lighting ceremony this Saturday will be a drive-by viewing only this year. The lights will be turned on at 6:00 p.m. as planned, but there will not be music or Santa.
The Lighting Committee asks everyone drive by and enjoy the lights. To eliminate traffic congestion, enter the square from Third and Sully, driving south, turn right onto Fourth passing the Annex, turn right onto Jefferson passing the jail and another right onto Third, finishing up back at the corner of Third and Sully. The Committee appreciates everyone who provided funds and prayers and everyone who helps decorate.
The Mulkey Theatre and the Donley County Community Fund board also has postponed Sunday’s scheduled Polar Express event. Organizers hope the event can be rescheduled next month if cases of COVID-19 subside. The Mulkey will be open and showing Elf this weekend on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday afternoon at 2:00. Donations to the community fund made through Monday will still be accepted and amplified by the Amarillo Area Foundation.
The Saints’ Roost Museum’s annual Christmas party fundraiser, which would have been held next weekend, has also been postponed.
Museum officials said even a “COVID-style” virtual drawing presents challenges and risks the Museum Board is not willing to accept. The Board feels this change of plans is best for the safety of all. Watch for a rescheduled date in the Spring of 2021.
All tickets already sold for the Museum fundraiser will be held over until the event is rescheduled. If you have already purchased a ticket and have questions or concerns, please contact the Board member from whom you purchased the ticket.
Casper has NFR gold on his mind
Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo
MIAMI, Texas – Life as Wyatt Casper knew it changed dramatically March 8.
The 2016 intercollegiate national champion saddle bronc rider had been trying to make a living in his game of choice for years, and 2020 had already started as the best season of his professional life. That day eight months ago made everything better.
Casper won saddle bronc riding at The American, which paid $100,000 to the winners of each event. Since he had earned a spot at the unique rodeo as a qualifier, Casper also earned a portion of the $1 million side pot – only 10 or so contestants are invited, so the field that was finalized with cowboys and cowgirls who went through a series of qualifying events.
Only one other qualifier, tie-down roper Shad Mayfield, won; those two cowboys each earned $500,000 in the side pot, and life ceased to be normal for either.
“It was definitely a life-changing event,” said Casper, 24, of Miami, Texas. “Bronc riding is a lot like a roller coaster. There are a lot of ups and downs. In years past, I was getting on horses that weren’t as good as the ones I’m getting on now. I’ve been getting on good horses, and my confidence is through the roof. I’m just out here having fun.”
While he banked $603,000 from Arlington, Texas, in March, only $50,000 of that counted toward the world standings. That’s still a large sum of money, and it propelled Casper to the top of the leaderboard; he never relinquished it through the rest of the season.
In fact, he heads to his first National Finals Rodeo as the No. 1 bronc rider with $145,138. He owns a lead of nearly $34,000 over the No. 2 man, 2017 world champion Ryder Wright.
Here’s the caveat to Casper’s ProRodeo season earnings: Subtract the $50,000 from The American, and he still earned more than $95,000 through the rest of the COVID-infected 2020 campaign; that figure would be fourth on the money list and still give the Texas cowboy what he craves: A shot at the world championship.
“I don’t want people thinking that I just got to the NFR because of The American,” he said. “That dang sure helped, but I still won a lot of money besides that.”
And, of course, he did it in a season that was affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic. The sport came to a screeching halt in mid-March and didn’t return until late May. When it did, rodeo wasn’t the same. More than half the events on a typical schedule were canceled, and many of those were some of the larger events that offered big prize money.
One of the biggest events on the calendar, RodeoHouston, was shut down midway through its March run. Before it closed, though, Casper competed but suffered a compression fracture in one of his upper-back vertebrae. The timing of the break allowed him to heal.
“I took two weeks off and couldn’t lift anything,” he said. “I stated doing more stuff at the third and fourth week, then after that, I was out building horse pens and working around the house. We were in the process of buying some land and putting up a house out there, so I had stuff to do and little time to do it.
“It played out in my favor pretty good. While I was hurt, nobody else was getting on either. By the time I was healthy enough to return, rodeo was just about to get started again.”
By the time it did, he had already secured his qualification to the NFR, which will take place Dec. 3-12 at Globe Life Field in Arlington … just across the road from where he won so much money at AT&T Stadium.
“I think it’ll help that I’ve had success there before,” said Casper, who credits his sponsors – Cinch, TD Angus, MVP Exceed 6 Way, The KingStar Co. and Western Hauler – with helping him get up and down the road. “I think we’ll go in there with the same feeling and have our minds set on one thing, and that’s winning. It will feel a little more at home.”
Home has changed some in recent years. Casper was raised in Balko, a community of around 600 people in the Oklahoma Panhandle, a stone’s throw from Texas. He grew up roping with his family and began riding bucking horses while in high school to increase his chances at winning all-around titles.
“Rodeo is all I wanted to do when I was little,” he said. “My parents didn’t start roping until they met each other, and my dad and grandpa picked it up as a hobby. I’m almost a first-generation rodeo cowboy.”
He’s definitely the first saddle bronc rider. His talent earned him a scholarship to Clarendon College, where he was coached by three-time NFR qualifier Bret Franks.
In 2017, he and his wife, Lesley, married. In November 2018, they welcomed a son, Cooper. A year ago, they added Cheyenne, who will celebrate her first birthday while the family is in Arlington and while her dad is battling for a world championship.
“We’re blessed,” Casper said. “Where The American put me money-wise, I was super fortunate to sit at home with my family instead of going out and getting a job during the break from action. I thought it was awesome. It’s actually going to be tough on us next year when stuff starts going full swing and I’ve got to be gone for three months.”
He didn’t have that opportunity in 2020, and he’s OK with that. Still, with rodeo being his primary source of income, he made the best of a tough situation.
“I felt like everything was scattered out,” he said. “We went to a lot of rodeos I never thought we’d enter, ones I’d always look over. We dang sure appreciated those committees for putting on the rodeos and going to battle for us. Without them, we probably wouldn’t be having an NFR.
“We were excited to rodeo, excited that there was something going on.”
Because of that, he has a significant opportunity to cash in on the most coveted prize in the sport: a Montana Silversmiths gold buckle awarded to the world champions.
Eugene “Gene” Johnson
Eugene “Gene” Johnson peacefully passed away on November 10, 2020. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Howardwick. He entered fully into the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; And again re-united with his beloved wife, Anita Johnson, of 64 years of marriage.
Gene was born April 2, 1937, in Amarillo to Oscar and Minnie Johnson. He joined the Air Force and was stationed at Petaluma, California where he served his country proudly until his honorable discharge. He worked for the United States Postal Service and retired after 35 years of service. He was known and loved by family and friends as a kind man (who was never heard to say an unkind word about anyone) and was known for his great sense of humor.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Anita; a sister, Jewell; and two brothers, Grayton and Kenneth Johnson.
He is survived by his brother and sister in laws, Gail and Bert Compton and Bob and Laura Lindsey all of Amarillo; niece, Jaci and Bill Garner and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Due to COVID-19, graveside services are pending.
Cremation and Arrangements are by Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
Sign the online guestbook at www.robertsonfuneral.com
Kimberly Dawn Kidwell
Kimberly Dawn Kidwell, 49, of Amarillo died Tuesday, November 17, 2020 in Amarillo.
Graveside service were held on Saturday, November 21, 2020 at Dreamland Cemetery located in Canyon. and will be officiated by Uncle Wayne Hollinshead of Quanah. Arrangements are under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon. Everyone please wear Kimberly’s favorite color pink.
Born to Virgil (Bud) Kidwell and Karilyn Noble Kidwell in Amarillo and as she called it her HOME TOWN! A proud “Amarillo By Morning” Girl!
Kimberly spent her first 5 years in Amarillo, and then 3 years doing mission work in Chicago with her parents. Even though Amarillo was her “Home Town” she also lived in Sandersville Ga., Borger, Plainview, Crosbyton-McAdoo, Quanah, and Panhandle.
She lived independent in Plainview and Quanah. She very much enjoyed having her own apartment. Kimberly loved life and being social. Some of her passions included Special Olympics, Down Syndrome Buddy Walks, The Panhandle Floozies (The Red Hats), Sunday School class, singing in the church choir, performing sign language songs, all kinds of crafts and making homemade gifts. She dearly loved a good gambling trip (right Extra Mom Shirley?). She very much loved the cruises she took with family to Alaska (two times), New York and up to Canada and then her trip of her life time to Hawaii.
She is survived by her mom Karilyn Kidwell and a special friend Glen Phelps; aunts and uncles Gary and Marilyn Grimes, Ronnie and Janie Tyra, all of Amarilllo, Barbara Rector, Dave and Betty Kreyling, all of Pampa; cousins D’Wan Grimes of Austin, Jason and Kendra Cantrell of Dimmitt, Katherine and Leland Borden of Linden, Shad Tyra and Terry Lewis of Amarillo and many more loving cousins and friends that she considered family.
Kindly make memorials to Panhandle Down Syndrome Guild, P. O. Box 20783 Amarillo, Texas 79114; Snack Pac for Kids, 2406 SW 3rd Ave Amarillo, Texas 79106; Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church (Christmas Baskets), 316 Valley Ave. Amarillo, Tx 79108; or to the charity of your choice in memory of Kimberly Kidwell.
PLEASE wear mask and practice social distancing. Thank you.
Sign the online guestbook at www.robertsonfuneral.com
Dorothy “June” LaBoon
Dorothy “June” LaBoon, 85, of Howardwick passed away on Monday, November 16, 2020, in Amarillo.
Cremation and arrangements are under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
June was born on June 19, 1935, to Fred and Ada Clark Wortham in Whitesboro, Texas. After graduating high school, June spent her career as a secretary for various companies. June lived in Claude prior to moving to Howardwick approximately 13 years ago.
June loved to crochet, making many beautiful creations in her lifetime, most recently kitchen towels with toppers and matching scrubbers. She also loved gardening, canning and craft projects. She loved to take care of the birds and deer, evidenced by the multiple feeders and deer that could be seen around her house every day at dusk. She watched each year for the new fawns and gave them all names. When health allowed, on a pretty day, June could be found outside taking care of her garden and flower beds.
She is preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Fred Wortham, Jr.; two sisters, Ann Gilbert in Ruston, Louisiana, and Ada Vieno, resting in Albuquerque, New Mexico and two grandchildren, Jason Ponder and Jaimee Ponder.
She is survived by her son, Arthur LaBoon, Jr. of Sterling, Virginia; daughter, Judy Ponder of Beaufort, South Carolina; three grandchildren, Morgan Booth, David Greene, and Ryan Greene; five great-grandchildren, Addison Mater, Shaelyn Mater, Brittan Harrison, Christopher Gorley, and Zachary Booth.
Please sign our online guest book at www.robertsonfuneral.com.
City sets second highest sales tax revenue record
Clarendon beat a record recently set in August for the second highest monthly sales tax revenue when Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar distributed monthly allocations to municipal governments.
The city’s November allocation was $51,013.66, reflecting an increase of 15.36 percent compared to the same period one year ago.
That’s greater than the previous second highest allocation of $49,677.44 in August of this year. The best month on record for the city was May 2019 with an allocation of $56,593.
City officials attribute these increases to taxes on online sales from national retailers finally making their way to Texas cities.
The November allocation brings the city’s calendar year-to-date total to $410,227.35, an increase of 4.40 percent over the same point in 2019.
Hedley was also up 2.71 percent to $1,558.06 this month and is 6.70 percent ahead for the year at $10,159.763.
Howardwick’s sales tax revenue almost tripled from $798.77 last November to $2,310.42 this month, with the city now 36.36 ahead for the year at $18,236.37.
Statewide, Hegar distributed $890.5 million in local sales tax allocations for November, 4.8 percent more than in November 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in September by businesses that report tax monthly, and on sales made in July, August and September by quarterly filers.
PPP deductibility needs to be fixed now
By Brett Wesner, National Newspaper Association
The coronavirus pandemic has laid much of the American economy on its back – but a bright spot made the disaster less crippling than it might have been. That is the Paycheck Protection Program, which funneled money to workers through small businesses.
More than five million small businesses took the PPP loans, representing 50 million jobs, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Congress in June. It persuaded small businesses to keep people on the payroll instead of laying them off. That helped the economy.
Congress said the loans would not be taxed. But Congress is letting the IRS tax the businesses anyway. Unless new legislation is passed by the end of the year, the tax could finish off many of the businesses that are trying desperately to hang on through this impossible economy.
The way the government is going to punish the businesses that saved 50 million jobs is to deny the deduction of payroll, rent and other expenses that they paid out with the PPP money. The Treasury Department, which sets policy for IRS, doubled down this week by reiterating that businesses will have to pay taxes on that money, even though they normally would be able to deduct these business expenses.
A bipartisan group of senators and representatives have been pushing for a change, but not pushing so hard that they are accomplishing the one thing that is needed to fix this problem: pass a new law.
“When we developed and passed the Paycheck Protection Program, our intent was clearly to make sure small businesses had the liquidity and the help they needed to get through these difficult times,” Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said when he introduced the Small Business Expense Protection Act, S 3612, with a bipartisan group of senators. “Unfortunately, Treasury and the IRS interpreted the law in a way that’s preventing businesses from deducting expenses associated with PPP loans. That’s just the opposite of what we intended and should be fixed. This bill will do just that.”
Unemployment this year hit nearly 15 percent – the highest the nation has seen since the Great Depression. If businesses had not kept their payrolls running through PPP, unemployment would have zoomed even higher. Yet businesses made the leap of faith – kept their people working, spent the PPP money as directed and now for their good citizenship, they are going to be punished with a tax.
The power to tax is the power to destroy. Chief Justice John Marshall was right. Congress should wake up. It didn’t spend trillions in tax dollars to prop up the economy only to allow one agency to undo its good work. PPP deductibility must be fixed now.
The National Newspaper Association represents 1,600+ community newspapers across the United States.
Donley COVID cases rising; Second death reported
Donley County has added 23 more confirmed cases of COVID-19, and County Judge John Howard, MD, said a second death has now occurred locally because of the disease.
“If you want a more important number, we have had 91 positive tests at the clinic in the month of November,” Howard said. “Of those, nine have been hospitalized. That’s what everybody needs to know. That’s a rate of one in ten people going to the hospital.”
The Clarendon Family Medical Center reported 44 active cases on Monday afternoon, and the clinic conducted 68 tests in the period from November 17 through November 23, bringing the total number of tests conducted locally to 666. Of those 193 have been positive, and 473 have been negative.
Combined with the known cases that have tested outside of the county, there have now been 224 confirmed positive cases and two deaths in Donley County since the pandemic began.
Because of discrepancies between regional and state reporting and a lag of the state updating local officials, Howard suspects the number of positive cases in Donley County is probably actually closer to 250.
Clarendon Family Medical Center spokesperson Marsha Bruce says people need to take the virus seriously.
“If you don’t believe in COVID-19, that’s fine,” Bruce said. “You don’t have to get a test, but if you’re sick, stay home.”
Bruce also said there is no apparent “hot spot” and that the virus is “everywhere.” She also said there is no truth to the notion that if you get, you’ll be immune to getting it again.
“People do get it again,” she said.
Last week, Bruce said symptoms of the disease also vary widely and said the clinic has seen a lot of cases with gastrointestinal issues – nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea as well as people who think they just have a sinus infection.
As reported previously, Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, has expressed frustration with the state reporting system, not only for the time lag but also how the state is handling the results of rapid tests like those now being conducted at the local clinic.
The state, Howard said, will not count a positive rapid test as a confirmed COVID-19 case unless it is backed up by the more invasive swab test.
“They will report those as ‘probable’ or ‘pending,’ but I assure you the only way you’re going to get a positive rapid test is if in fact you have COVID,” Howard said.
The state’s online dashboard, therefore, will not show the same number of “confirmed” COVID cases in Donley County as reported in the Enterprise, and Howard also said the online dashboard of the Childress Regional Medical Center is “in no way official.”
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