Ashlyn Tubbs

Several Donley County FFA and 4-H members did well while competing at state and national 2010 livestock shows against thousands of youth and their animal projects.

Tres and Hannah Hommel were the only two representing Donley County at the National Western Livestock Shoe in Denver, where they showed their swine.

4-H members attended the Fort Worth Livestock Show to exhibit Market Steer, Swine, and Breeding Beef Projects. Jacob and Kae Hewett exhibited their Breeding Beef projects and received 9th and 10th in the heifer division and 2nd with their Braunvieh Bull; Jacob Pigg placed 9th in the Market Steer division and qualified for the Premium Sale; other youth exhibiting steers include Tres and Hannah Hommel, Brittney and Kelsey McAnear, Kaden Bennett, Rowdy Speed, Annie Patten, John and Jayson Pigg, Trevor Cobb, Joseph Russell, Seth Ruthardt, Caden Farris and Chris Blackburn.

At the San Antonio Livestock Show five youth exhibited their Market Swine. Kati Adams of Hedley had a 12th place Landrace; Misti Scott placed 10th with a Chester; others competing include Austin Adams and Lee and Shiann Cook.

Nine youth competed at the San Angelo Livestock Show. Caylor Monroe placed 1st with a light weight Cross; Austin Adams got 4th showing a Spot; Reid Copelin placed 6th in the York division; Misti Scott exhibited a 3rd place Chester and 6th place Duroc; Dalton Benson received 10th place with a Duroc; Madison and Lilly Carr exhibited their Breeding Guilt projects and Madison placed 11th with her Chester; Lilly placed 6th in the Pollands; also competing was Tres and Hannah Hommel with their Market Steers.

Wrapping up the show season, a total of 26 youth traveled to Houston to exhibit Market Steer, Swine, Sheep and Commercial Steer projects. 
In the Market Steer Division, Kelsey McAnear placed 7th in the Short Horns; Annie Patten placed 9th with an Angus; Trevor Cobb placed 4th in the Maines; Kaden Bennett placed 10th in the Limousine Division; Caden Farris received 6th place with a AOB steer; Chris Blackburn placed 5th with a Polled Hereford; Rowdy Speed and Brittney McAnear got pulled for consideration but did not get high enough to place.

Also exhibiting were Jayson and John Pigg, Joey Russell, and Seth Ruthardt. 

In the Market Swine Division, Austin Adams received Reserve Breed Champion with a Polland; Kati Adams placed 6th with a Spot; Colton Kingston placed 12th with a Hamp; others exhibiting were Wyatt Wheatly, Kyle Lindsey, Kolby Foard, Grayson Morris, Reid Copelin, Misti Scott, Dalton Benson, and Lee and Shiann Cook. 

Krista Reynolds also exhibited her Market Lamb at the Houston show, and Cedar Stevenson competed in the Commercial Steer project competition.

Two new Crestline Commander ambulances are expected to arrive at the Associated Ambulance Authority on March 18.
The ambulances cost a total of $252,000, which will be partially paid for with the help of a $35,000 grant from the Texas Department of State Health and $24,000 that the ambulance service has saved for the purchases. The sale and trade-in of two older ambulances will provide about $10,000, and the balance will be covered by a five-year note.
“Everyone on the hospital board is thrilled about the new ambulances,” Donley County Hospital District Administrator Anna Howard said. “We’re ready for them to get here.”
The need for the new ambulances is due to two of the present units’ mechanical problems and constant malfunctioning. All three ambulances are out of warranty, so repairs to them require out of pocket fees.
“The board figured it would be cheaper to go ahead and get the new ambulances,” Howard said. “The 2004 ambulance that will be traded in has been malfunctioning since 2005, and it actually has been a part of a litigation process because of continuous malfunction.”
Another reason the hospital board decided to purchase the ambulances now is because new emission laws and requirements going into effect starting in 2011 are going to cause ambulances to go up in price by $5,000-8,000 per unit.
“We decided it would be more economical to go ahead and get the ambulances now because of the increased cost of ambulances in the future,” Howard said.
Over the past seven years, the number of calls to the ambulance station have gradually increased from 553 total calls in 2003 to 749 in 2009. From the beginning of this year, there have already been 104 ambulance calls.
“Usually January and February are our slow months,” Howard said. “If it keeps it up, then we could very well get into the 900s, which is a large amount for a small rural ambulance department.”
Howard said the increase in calls is possibly due to the economy.
“People can’t afford to go to the regular doctor to take care of routine illnesses, so they wait until it gets really bad, and then call emergency vehicles to treat their sickness,” Howard said. 
The rise in calls has caused two, even three ambulances to be out running at the same time.
“The two new units are a necessity,” Howard said. “It has become a regular thing that both ambulances are running together. We need two ambulances that don’t malfunction due to this increase in yearly calls.”
The Ambulance Authority is looking forward to the new ambulances arrival.
“We’re just waiting patiently waiting now, hoping the units don’t break down before the new ones get here,” Howard said.

Through support and participation from many citizens, the City of Clarendon received the PEP (Partners for Environmental Progress) Recycling Award in the region for the second year in a row.

In one year, the city’s community recycling program diverted 388,878 pounds of trash, which is 197 pounds per citizen.

“When we were contacted by Elizabeth True at PRPC with the congratulations that we had won the award again, I was very excited,” said John Web, City Administrator. “Citizens of Clarendon, who are taking their time to recycle, are doing a good job of keeping Clarendon green.”

Since the initiation of the recycling program in 1998, many additions have been made. Webb said that the program is continuing to improve over time.

“We owe it to Joe Neal Shadle (who is the supervisor over recycling and sanitation) and his employees, who are very conscientious of keeping the city clean,” Webb said.

One difference that the recycling employees are making in the community is trimming trees.

“We’ve been trimming overgrowth in the alleys, and I’m hoping that citizens have seen a difference in the alleys that we’ve been cleaning up,” Webb said.

The City of Dalhart was awarded the PEP Composting Award for diverting the most wood and yard waste from the landfill.

According to Webb, Clarendon was not too far behind their statistics of four million pounds of grass, leaves, and yard waste.

“Hopefully in 2010 we are looking to possibly expand, and we’re going to start talking about getting a big wood chipper,” Webb said. “We want to improve our composting program because even with the composting that we’re doing right now, we’re pretty close to what Dalhart got.”

Webb would like to express his appreciation to all who took part in making this achievement possible.

“As I’ve said many times in the past, the recycling employees go the extra yard and they’re receiving recognition for their efforts, and I think that’s great,” Webb said. “And our big thanks goes out to all the citizens of Clarendon who are taking their time to recycle.”

National Adoption awareness month
By Ashlyn Tubbs, Clarendon Enterprise

Irene Oatman is known to many as a friend, mother, grandmother, and even great-grandmother. But to one little girl, she is known as a hero.

Oatman and her husband, Harvey, took the initiative to adopt their great-granddaughter, seven-year-old Amnesty after she was put up for adoption when she was just five years old. Oatman was 65 and had been retired for six years at the time, but her age did not get in her way of keeping Amnesty in the family.

“I’ve cared for her off and on since she was an infant,” Oatman said. “She’s such a joy for me to take care of and laugh with.”

There are many children who are not as fortunate as Amnesty, though. In the state of Texas alone, there are more than 6,000 children who are waiting for safe and loving homes, some of them from Donley County.

Ten years ago, November was declared National
Adoption Month to help raise awareness of the need of adoption, so these children can hopefully find a family of their own.

“Right now, we have nine children in Donley County who are in foster care,” said Ann Huey, chairman of the Donley County Welfare Board. “Four of them are available for adoption, but three of the four are special needs children, and it’s going to take very special families to adopt them.”

According to Huey, most people are looking to adopt babies, therefore those in need of adoption are mostly children over the age of six, minorities, and those who have special needs.

“The saddest thing is that when foster children turn of age and are released from the system, probably around 90% of them return to the home that they came from, so what have we accomplished?” Huey said. “The best thing to do is adopt. We really encourage adoption of these children in homes.”

The restrictions to being an adoptive parent have gone down from what they used to be. These days, people can be single, homosexual, any race, or have a biracial marriage and still be able to adopt a child in need.

“Things have come a long way,” Huey said. “They never would’ve allowed the things they do today when I was in my twenties. They have really become lenient.”

There are many safety precautions involved in the process of adoption. An adopted child must be provided a safe, appropriate home (with home studies done to ensure it) with his/her own bed. A person cannot adopt unless they have a job, no felonies, and complete the necessary training.

“Families who adopt students through the agency should have the understanding and be willing to learn the dynamics of neglect and physical or sexual abuse,” Huey said. “That’s what the training is about.”

Children are usually put up for adoption after they are taken by CPS and placed in protective custody, either because they came from a drug family, both their parents are imprisoned, or they were neglected or abused.

“Most of the kids that I visit have had at least one or more parents in prison, usually for drugs or other related offenses,” Huey said. “They’re picked up because their parents simply can’t take care of them.”

As a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) volunteer, Huey is fully aware of the treatment some children receive in foster homes and facilities.

“Seeing a child grow up in a foster care environment is really heartbreaking,” Huey said. “You can put a baby in a home with all older children, and the baby is pushed aside; or you can put an older child in a home where they wind up being used as the maid, which is obviously inappropriate.”

Huey and her husband Bill recently had the opportunity to adopt a child, but they decided not to after the realization that she would be 78 once he graduated. He is now living with a young couple who has another child and is doing rather well.

“We adored him,” Huey said. “But I didn’t think that at 78, I would be able to do the things an average mother would be able to do. It broke my heart, but we still keep in contact with him today and his picture is still on my desk.”
Huey admires Oatman for her willingness to adopt Amnesty.

“I give Irene an incredible amount of credit,” Huey said. “I don’t think I could’ve done it at my age. She is a really special lady to do that.”

In many ways, Amnesty has helped Oatman out in life just as much as she has done for her.
“Now, we’re just busy,” Oatman said. “We’re more involved in the community and with the school because of Amnesty.”

Oatman strongly encourages adoption and foster care to all those interested. Her life has been touched by her experiences of being a foster parent and an adoptive parent to Amnesty, who frequently says, “Well, we just have to look at the bright side of it.”

“To me, there’s always love to give,” Oatman said. “And you’ve got to go into it with the expectations that you’re getting nothing back, but you’re doing this because you feel like God is leading you to do it, and that you’re helping to improve someone’s life.”

Due to several confirmed flu cases at each campus of Clarendon ISD, school officials and teachers are encouraging students and parents to take precautions to help maintain health during this flu season.
No significant number of flu cases have been reported from the Hedley school.

Students who start to exhibit flu-like symptoms, such as fever, headaches, coughing, sore throats, body aches and possible vomiting are encouraged to wash their hands frequently, cough into their shoulders and elbows instead of their hands, stay home when they are sick to keep from spreading it, and go to the doctor or remain home in order to lessen spreading and the severity of the illness.

“Getting out around people when you have the flu symptoms is the best way to spread it,” CISD nurse Debbie Thompson said. “The flu is the most contagious right before you break out with a fever or most of the symptoms, but a lot of people don’t realize that they have the flu until they get out and are exposed to people.”
Student absences at school have increased over the past two weeks because of flu illnesses. According to Thompson, the majority of the cases have been from the elementary.

“We’ve run out of the antibacterial gel that was in classrooms last year, so we’re requiring now that when the kids go to the bathroom, they have to use the soap in the restrooms,” Clarendon Elementary principal Mike Word said. “We may even take a couple of breaks during the day to go have students wash their hands to make sure their hands are clean.”

Thompson says it is currently unknown whether the students are suffering from seasonal flu or H1N1 (otherwise known as the “Swine Flu”) without further testing.

State and local health authorities, however, say that a positive influenza test at this point is probable H1N1 because seasonal flu has not been seen and usually doesn’t arrive until late December.

“We don’t need a scare about the H1N1 flu because the H1N1 flu and the seasonal flu pretty much have the same symptoms, and both viruses are treated with the same medication,” Thompson said. “If you are healthy and take care of yourself just as you would with the seasonal flu, then you have no reason to be afraid of H1N1.”
All cases of the flu in CISD have been mild. Students have recovered from the virus and returned to school within 72 hours.

“I see more people this year that are being responsible enough to not get around people when they have the flu,” Thompson said. “That really helps reduce the risk of catching the flu, and it also causes the severity of the virus to be low.”

It’s still not too late to receive flu vaccinations. The Texas Department of State Health Services will be giving flu shots October 15, and although there is a shortage of children’s vaccine in shot form, the nasal mist vaccine will still be available.

“I strongly encourage parents to take their kids to get vaccinated if possible because that is the number one protection against the flu for kids and adults,” Thompson said.

This school year, an unfamiliar face has been spotted in the halls and classrooms of Clarendon High School.

This “foreign” face belongs to 16-year-old Shelia Spielhofer, an exchange student from Germany, who will reside in Clarendon with Megan and Billy Boone for the remainder of this school year until her departure back home in June.

“I thought that being a foreign exchange student would be fun, and I wanted to learn the English language better. I thought that coming here on my own would teach me more independence to help me out in life,” Shelia commented. “I also wanted to experience America’s culture. I see it all as an adventure.”

Megan and Billy Boone made the decision to get a foreign exchange student because they viewed it as a great experience and an opportunity to learn a new culture.

“We love traveling, going places and meeting new people, so even though getting a foreign exchange student was totally unexpected, we knew she would fit well in our family,” Megan said.

Shelia is the daughter of Josef and Eleonore Spielhofer. She has one older sister, and she resides in the town of Marktl, which has a population of about 3,000 people. Her home is located outside the small town in a forest surrounded by mountains, an exceedingly scenic view.

“It’s so different to me here because there are no mountains,” Shelia remarked. “In Texas, it’s so flat! I lived right by mountains in Germany, but I didn’t like it much because I had to climb the mountains with my bike.”

According to Shelia, the school system in Germany is different to the one used by Clarendon High. She attends school in Germany at Kurfürst-Maximilian, and she says that instead of students migrating to different classrooms for each subject, the teachers themselves do the walking while the students remain in the same classroom for the entire day. There are also no electives offered, so students have to participate in sports, theater, band, etc. outside of school.

“I think the school system in America is better because you have not all serious classes, and it’s more fun and is not as difficult as in Germany. I think you have a better community because you have competitions, like in athletics and theater and stuff that everyone gets together for,” Shelia said. “In Germany, when school is out everyone goes everywhere because it’s not mandatory that students do athletics, theater or anything like that.”

Shelia doesn’t draw the line at being bilingual; she also knows Spanish, Latin and a little bit of French and Italian on top of English and German.

“Spanish is by far the easiest subject in school this year since I already know it, so I really enjoy that class,” Shelia said.

Shelia’s hobbies and talents include playing the piano, acting, singing, dancing, and listening to music. Her favorite movies include Twilight, Spider-Man, School of Rock and the Simpson’s Movie. She usually spends all her time hanging out with her friends in Burghausen, a town of about 20,000 people.

“Burghausen is way bigger than Clarendon, and there is a lot more places that teenagers can go to hang out; like if we want to we can play pool, darts or even go to a disco,” Shelia said.

Since Shelia has arrived in America in August, she has had many new experiences. These include football games, pep-rallies, playing basketball and band, and seeing a tarantula for the first time. She also looks forward to prom and celebrating Thanksgiving for the first time and Christmas the American way.

“Band is so new to me and especially the costumes because they’re so funny! The first time I saw them I couldn’t stop laughing,” Shelia said. “I also like the football games. They remind me a lot of soccer, since it’s the main sport of Germany, and it’s mainly for guys too.”

After graduating from high school, Shelia is considering returning to the U.S. to continue her studies. She plans to pursue a career as a commercial designer or an actress.

As can be inferred, Germany and America have many differences and similarities to one another. For example, the weather. Even though Shelia lives in the warmer southern part of Germany, she stresses how much hotter it is in Texas. Germany also receives much more rainfall than Texas, and in the winter it snows quite often, sometimes even reaching up to two meters high, in contrast to Texas’ mild winters.

Another difference between Germany and America is the people who inhabit the countries.

“I love that the people here in America. Everybody is so friendly!” Shelia said. “In big cities in Germany, the people are real busy and unfriendly, but when we were in New York City, the people were so friendly because we were standing around with our maps looking lost and people would come up to us and ask if they could please help us. I thought this was really cool because this would never happen in Germany.”

Strong faith is also a factor of American life Shelia is experiencing that sets America apart from Germany.
“It’s amazing how you all believe so good in God. People here are much closer to God than most in Germany, like the people here pray before they eat, unlike in Germany, and not many people go to church often either, but they do here and I like it,” stated Shelia.

In Germany, the legal driving age is 18, and the drinking age is 16, which, of course, is a huge difference from America. Shelia claims that she would much rather abide by America’s laws though.

“I really like that people can drive at 16 here. It seems much more comfortable that way to me, because I hate depending on my mom to take me around everywhere,” Shelia noted.

One of Shelia’s favorite times of the year is Christmas. In Germany, St. Nicholas visits homes on December 6 and fills the empty stockings with little things. Instead of opening presents on December 25 in the mornings, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th in the evening. A huge family feast is held, and afterwards the children wait patiently outside the living room for the “little Christmas kid,” which is like an angel, to arrive and bring the presents, until a bell ring signals them that the presents have arrived. Then everyone runs in the room, opens presents and listens to Christmas songs together.

There are a lot of foods in America that Shelia has been missing out on for some time now. According to Shelia, Germany has no such thing as Dr Pepper, nachos, popcorn chicken, cobbler, oatmeal, Pop Tarts, Dairy Queens, or Sonic Drive-Ins, and the candy in America is way brighter in colors and sweeter than the candy in Germany.

“If I could take one thing home from America with me, it would definitely be Pop Tarts. I love them so much,” said Shelia.

Although Shelia misses singing in her choir, dancing with her dance crew, her art class, her family and friends, she is overall enjoying her stay in America rather well.

“I really love living with the Boones. They are very good to me, fun and nice,”

When asked if she would encourage other families to get a foreign exchange student, Megan said “absolutely.”
“I think that having a foreign exchange student can teach you a lot and show you how people can be a lot alike, even though they’re a world apart,” Megan said. “We get along great and just because we’re from two completely different cultures doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from each other. I strongly encourage people to get out of their box and do it.”

The Associated Ambulance Authority hopes to receive a brand new ambulance soon through a Local Project grant received from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The grant, which was applied for in May, is for $35,000, the maximum amount that can be received for an ambulance.

The Ambulance Authority currently has three Basic Life Support and Mobile Intensive Care Unit Capability Ambulances, but one of these vehicles has proven to be quite troublesome.

According to Donley County Hospital District Administrator Anna Howard, a 2004 model Ford Ambulance has had multiple mechanical problems that have cost $13,000 in repairs, and it still isn’t working properly.

“The closest hospitals are about an hour away from Clarendon, and all three of our ambulances have over 100,000 miles on them, which is a lot,” Howard said.
Howard says an ambulance usually costs between $100,000 and $150,000.

The grant will cover some of that cost, but the purchase will require additional money that the Ambulance Authority has saved. The Ambulance Authority will continue to seek low interest loans and any other grants available towards a new ambulance.

Any donations towards the new ambulance are asked to be taken to the Associated Ambulance Authority.
“We’re running approximately 800 calls a year, and we feel that it’s very important to the community to have mechanically sound and safe ambulances to provide the best pre-hospital care to Donley County,” said Howard.

A Solid Waste Implementation Grant given through Panhandle Regional Planning Commission and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has provided the City of Clarendon with new equipment that will help the city win the title of top recycling community in the Panhandle once again.

According to City Administrator John Webb, the supervisor over the Recycling and Sanitation Department, Joe Neal Shadle, was able to procure from PRPC a Scarab compost turner for $16,000 and a power washer for $300.

“This equipment was received with grant money, so it basically came with no cost to the city,” Webb said. “We really appreciate PRPC and TCEQ, and I’m very thankful that Joe Shadle went an extra yard for the people in Clarendon by seeking out that grant.”

The power washer will clean out the city’s garbage trucks and maintain sanitation.

“We’re trying to get maximum performance from our trash trucks because they’re so old, and that’s a compliment to the guys who keep them going.” Webb remarked.

Leaves, grass, yard waste and shredded paper are just a few of the components run through the new compost turner to generate better compost. Shadle claims that the compost created works better for his garden than actual fertilizer.

Anyone interested in trying out the homemade compost is urged to come by the recycling center.

“We’re just trying to keep yard waste out of the landfill so it’s a lot less costly to the citizens and the city,” Shadle said. “This way we use grass how nature intended to.”
Shadle also hopes to have yard waste dumpsters next year.

“Joe Shadle and all of the employees at the recycling center are doing a good job and striving to make Clarendon the best recycling city in the Panhandle for the second year in a row,” Webb said.

The Clarendon Independent School District will experience many changes this upcoming school year as the A/B block schedule switches to a traditional eight period day.

This means that students will have the same classes everyday instead of every other day, and there will be a six week grading period instead of nine.

“Having a shorter grading period will allow students who fall behind to catch up easier,” Clarendon High School Principal Larry Jeffers said.

According to Jeffers, the schedule change was a direct result of the failure rate and the TAKS scores.
“We feel that daily contact instead of every other day contact with teachers will help improve students’ grades,” Jeffers said.

It is a common belief of many teachers that in the A/B schedule, many students tend to procrastinate school work and never get it completed. An eight period day will help students learn better work ethics and time management.

If high school students continue to put off school assignments, then they will have to attend a mandatory detention/tutorial called Thursday Night Live, which is a new ZAP (Zeros Aren’t Permitted) policy that will be in effect this year. Students will not be able to participate in any extracurricular activities until they have all their assignments completed.

Computer teachnology teacher Susan Taylor is only one of the teachers at Clarendon High who is expecting the new ZAP policy to show some results.

“I’m hoping that Thursday Night Live will work out because some students get to a point where lunch detention doesn’t bother them anymore, but maybe if they have to come in after school on Thursday, it would actually make them want to get their work done. I’m anxious to see how it turns out,” said Taylor. “I think that it’s sad that as high school students there has to be an outside motivation instead of an intrinsic one.”

Extracurricular absences will also be affected by the schedule change. Instead of allowing students to miss ten A days and ten B days for a total of twenty absences, they will only be permitted ten this year.

Some students aren’t too excited about the schedule change, such as High School Student Council President Brandi Mays.

“I think that this year is going to be hectic and a really big adjustment for us because we’ve been so use to A days and B days for several years,” Mays said.

Even teachers are going to have a hard time switching back to eight period days.
“For my teaching, the schedule change is going to be hard because in my classes, by the time students log in and log off, 30 to 40 minutes isn’t long enough to get any work done,” Taylor said.

To the relief of many high school students, open campus lunch will still be allowed, except reduced to 44 minutes instead of a full hour.

“The only bad thing about the schedule change is that we’ll have to carry so many books around, and the shortened lunch will definitely make a lot of students upset,” said Mays.