Winter blast cancels judging contest

Blowing snow and hazardous driving conditions forced the cancelation last week of the annual Clarendon College Invitational Judging Contest.

CC Judging Coach Johnny Treichel said he and CC President Bill Auvenshine agreed to cancel the event early Friday afternoon because of schools and judges pulling out of the event and because of road conditions. Some area highways were closed by the state.

“Basically the schools from up north could not get here, and the schools from down south were afraid to even try,” Treichel said.

The judging contest is one of the biggest events held in Clarendon each year and usually more than doubles the city’s population of 1,974.

Treichel said registrations for the contest scheduled for last Saturday had totaled 2,079 students; and with parents and coaches, he was expecting a crowd of nearly 2,500 before the weather hit.

“Had we gone ahead and had the event, I think we would have had less than 100 people here,” Treichel said.

In addition, West Texas A&M University holds its contest the day before Clarendon’s, and that event was also canceled. Many schools attend the event in Canyon on Friday and then come to Clarendon College.

Auvenshine said last Friday morning that most area schools had canceled classes for the day and that the college campus was experiencing a complete white out by noon Friday. Clarendon College also canceled classes for the day for the first time in more than 20 years, he said.

The president’s office said registration charges would be refunded to the schools, and early estimates were that the college would lose about $20,000 because of the cancellation.

Treichel said the cost could have been much greater if the event had gone on.

“I know we’re losing money, but had someone been in a wreck trying to get here and gotten killed, it would not have been worth it,” he said.

Local businesses and restaurants in particular also took a hit when the event didn’t happen. Many eating establishments ordered extra food for the day of the contest.

“It hurt us quite a bit,” said Bronco Burger owner Jerome Martinez. “You’re expecting a big crowd, and you order more food. Now our next orders will just have to be smaller.”

The contest was started more than 25 years ago by the late Jerry Hawkins, and Glenda Hawkins said this week she could not remember it ever having been canceled before.

Treichel said he will hold an “organized practice” this Thursday to help make up for the missed contest. He’s expecting between 300 and 500 people to attend that event.