It’s Show Time

New activity center to open this weekend

It’s almost show time, and workers are staying busy getting the new Donley County Activity Center ready for its big debut this weekend.

County Extension Agent Leonard Haynes said the building won’t be 100 percent completed when the Donley County Junior Livestock Show gets underway Friday, but it will be finished enough to get the job done.
“We’ve had a lot of volunteers working over the holidays,” Haynes said. “We won’t have the (livestock) wash racks ready for this year, but we will be out of the weather for a change.”

The bathrooms and kitchen are functioning, and the heat is running in the main show room in anticipation of the cold weather coming later this week.

Thirty tables have been purchased along with 236 chairs, and more are being borrowed from the Saints’ Roost Museum for the weekend crowd, which is expected to be bigger than usual this year.

“It looked like a Christmas Party last Saturday when we had all the kids in here unboxing the chairs and tables,” Haynes said.

Ground was broken facility in August on the 18,000-square-foot located one mile north of Clarendon on State Hwy. 70, and Larry Gray with the Friends of Donley County says the group needs more funds to complete the building.

“We owe about $130,000 and need an additional $50,000 to really finish,” Gray said.

Kitchen cabinets, heating and air-conditioning for the front of the building, and finishing offices for the Extension Service are some of the things that remain unfinished.

To contribute to activity center or to get more information, call Gray at 874-2095 or by mail to the Friends of Donley County, PO Box 661, Clarendon, TX 79226.

Volunteers will gather after lunch this Wednesday and Thursday to finish setting things up for the show, and animals will begin being moved in and weighed Friday.

The show will start Saturday, January 9, at 8:00 a.m. beginning with the sheep and goats, followed by the heifers, steers, gilts, and barrows. The Buyers’ Meal and Premium Sale will begin at 6:00 p.m.

The Livestock Association encourages everyone to come out this weekend to support the local youth and also to see the new facilities. Anyone wishing to donate to the livestock show may contact Gray at 874-2095, Haynes at 874-2141, or Lon Adams at 856-5323.