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Morgan Wheatly

Jimmy Lee Smith

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Jimmy Lee Smith, 77, of Vernon, died on Friday January 30, 2015, in Vernon, Texas.

Funeral service were held on Tuesday February 3, 2015, at the Sullivan Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Ronnie Lawson officiating. Interment will follow at Eastview Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Sullivan Funeral Home.

Jimmy was born on September 11, 1937. He was the son of the late Andrew “Drew” Smith and the late Marie Jackson. He married Shirley Glenna Blackwell on August 17, 1957, in Channing, Texas, she preceded him in death on March 6, 1989. He received an Associates degree from Vernon College. He was a member of the Vernon Masonic Lodge. He was a steer and cattle livestock judge for several major livestock shows. He was an inventory coordinator for the Chevy House. He had worked for the Waggoner Ranch for 38 years starting out as a Cowboy and Straw Boss, then Foreman and Ranch Manager. He had owned Double Heart Horse Ranch. He was a member of the Rock Crossing Baptist Church. He received the first ever Tom Blessinggame Working Cowboy Award. He appeared in commercials as the Marlboro/Winston Man.

He was preceded in death by one son, Jay Lee Smith on May 16, 2014, and three brothers, Charles Smith, Billy Smith and Joe Carroll Smith.

Memorials may be made to the Red River Valley Museum.

Online condolences may be made at www.sullivanfuneralhomevernon.com

 

WOWW

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Pictured with Hedley Elementary students, Mr. Tom Panger from Amarillo demonstrated chalk art on Wednesday. Mr. Panger came to Hedley School as part of the WOWW (Windows on a Wider World) program that Hedley is a member of. Mr. Panger’s drawing took a little over an hour to complete. Enterprise Photo / Kari Lindsey
Pictured with Hedley Elementary students, Mr. Tom Panger from Amarillo demonstrated chalk art on Wednesday. Mr. Panger came to Hedley School as part of the WOWW (Windows on a Wider World) program that Hedley is a member of. Mr. Panger’s drawing took a little over an hour to complete. Enterprise Photo / Kari Lindsey

City taps Dockery as administrator

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By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

David Dockery was named the next Clarendon City Administrator during the regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen Tuesday night, January 27.

City officials made the decision after meeting behind closed doors for about 40 minutes. Dockery later accepted the position and is expected to meet with Mayor Larry Hicks soon to finalize contract details.

Hicks said Wednesday morning that a start date for the former Johnson City administrator has not been set.

The Board of Aldermen held a marathon day-long meeting Saturday, January 24, and interviewed five candidates for the city’s top job. Mayor Larry Hicks said the city had strong candidates to choose from.

City Secretary Machiel Covey said Saturday’s interviews at the Burton Memorial Library were all held in open session with the board only going in to closed session periodically to discuss the candidates.

“Each one was given the choice of if they wanted it closed or open, and they were fine with it being open,” she said.

Covey said the board met from 10 a.m. to about 4:40 p.m. with a break for lunch. Individual interview times ranged from about 25 minutes to over an hour.

Hicks said having the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission assist with the search and interview process was invaluable to the city.

Candidates on Saturday were G.A. “Buster” Poling, Jr., former city manager of Bovina; Peter D. Kampfer, Alamosa, Colo., county administrator; Jeff Poindexter, a wastewater treatment plant operator in Amarillo; Gary Campbell, self-employed online marketing businessman and Clarendon’s representative on the Greenbelt Water Authority board; and Dockery, the former city administrator in Johnson City.

Dockery was a finalist to be Clarendon’s administrator in 2010 but withdrew prior to interviewing. Hicks said Dockery was persuaded to keep his job at that time by Johnson City officials due to some projects that were underway in that city.

 

Election sign-ups underway

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The sign-up period is underway for citizens interested in serving on the boards of six local governments.

Filing for ballot places began Wednesday, January 28, at the cities of Clarendon, Hedley, and Howardwick; the Clarendon and Hedley school districts; and the Donley County Hospital District.

The City of Clarendon has the mayor’s position and two seats on the Board of Aldermen up for election this year. Those jobs are two-year terms and are currently held by Mayor Larry Hicks and Aldermen Doug Kidd and Sandy Skelton.

Hedley has three two-year positions up on its Board of Aldermen, seats that are currently held by Aldermen Tonya Metcalf, Kathy Spier, and Dusty Wilkinson.

Howardwick has its mayor and two aldermen’s positions up for election for two-year terms. Those are now held by Mayor Mike Rowland and Aldermen Jim Cockerham and Gail Leathers.

Two positions are up on the Clarendon ISD Board of Trustees. The three-year terms of Wayne Hardin and Wes Hatley are expiring.

Hedley ISD also has two there-year terms on its board available for election. Dana Bell’s term is up, and there is an open seat available that was formerly held by Mark Howard, who school officials say has moved out of the district.

Three seats are up on the board of the Donley County Hospital District. Those two-year terms are currently held by Wayne Tubbs (Place One), Carey Wann (Place Two), and Melinda McAnear (Place 3).

All local boards are elected on an at-large system, although hospital board members do have to run for a specific place on the board. Applications and more information are available at each entity’s administrative office.

Filing continues through February 27, 2015. This year’s elections will be held on May 9.

 

Tickets on sale for annual Chamber Awards banquet

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Tickets are on sale now for the 2015 Chamber Awards banquet to be held Thursday, February 12, at the Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center.

Dr. Don Newbury will be the headline entertainment at the banquet, and the Chamber will honor three of Donley County’s top citizens with the Saints’ Roost Award and Man and Woman of the Year and also recognize outstanding youth from Clarendon and Hedley high schools.

Newbury, the former president of Western Texas College in Snyder and Howard Payne University in Brownwood, is an acclaimed speaker and noted writer with his column, The Idle American, appearing in about 150 Texas newspapers, including the Enterprise.

Newbury has addressed more than 250 annual Chamber of Commerce banquets across the United States and conducts seminars to stimulate community pride, and speaks for chamber boards at planning retreats.

This year’s Chamber event with the Valentine’s theme of “Clarendon – Sweetheart of the Panhandle” will begin at 6 p.m. with a reception and a silent auction followed by the banquet, entertainment, and awards at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $20 per person and must be purchased in advance at the Clarendon Visitor Center at the Mulkey Theatre or at The Clarendon Enterprise.

Businesses are also invited to purchase blocks of tickets by sponsoring tables at the event. Table sponsors will get to decorate their tables to reflect their business and the theme of the banquet with a prize given for the best table decoration.

For more information, contact the Clarendon Visitor Center at 874-2421 or the Enterprise at 874-2259.

 

Editorial: Conservative train goes full steam ahead

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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick helped set the tone for the Legislative session last week by partially squashing the voice of the minority party.

You can read the details of the new rules in the Texas Senate in a piece by the Texas Tribune that is reprinted in this week’s Enterprise, but suffice it to say that the action falls right in line with comments this column made two weeks ago regarding Patrick’s agenda.

Roger Estlack, Editor
Roger Estlack, Editor

In a nutshell, the Republican majority has made it difficult for minority interests to stop or slow legislation it considers harmful or ill conceived. The State Senate has 31 members, and for nearly 70 years it took 21 members to bring any bill to the floor for a vote. Now it will only take 19 members. And with the Republican dominance in the Legislature, it pretty much neuters any opposition to the conservative agenda.

Nearly two decades ago, when your editor was new to the job, a Clarendon College employee approached me about helping get a College Republicans chapter started at CC. The sponsor for the group knew that I had been a CR member at Texas Tech and was looking for some tips on how to have a successful organization here.

I agreed to come to a meeting and then proceeded to tell them what I thought they needed to do.

“The first thing you need to do is organize a Young Democrats chapter,” I told them as they sat in stunned silence.

“Why would we do that?” one of the officers asked.

“Because,” I replied, “otherwise you’re not going to have any fun or get anything done.”

In College Republicans I learned two very valuable things: 1) fanatical conservatives are no better than leftwing wackos (they just want to limit your freedom in a different way), and 2) parties need other parties to thrive.

Our best functions were debates with the Young Democrats and College Libertarians. Our intramural games were with the Democrats. Our food or coat drive contest challenges, etc., were successful because of the competition between the other parties. We thrived off each other, and, I think, made each other better.

In a generation, we have seen the Democrats go from being the majority party in Texas to being the vocal minority and now to having even that limited voice muzzled. That can’t be good, and Republicans should be wary that the wheel of fortune – and changing demographics – may one day reverse their current status.

Politicians always like to talk about the “democratic process” and what a great “democracy” we live in. But pure democracy can be the worst kind of evil, which is why our state and federal founders developed a system of republican (small “R”) government with checks and balances and protections for minority views. The heavy-handedness of the current majority, however, teeters on bringing Texas in touch with absolute democracy where the will of the majority (fifty percent plus one) can override any other concern.

You like open government and private control of groundwater in West Texas? Well, with absolute democracy and no voice for the minority, crony politicians can corrupt government functions and a majority of urban Texans can do what they want to with rural groundwater.

And what happens in a generation or two when the left is back in power? Perhaps a conservative nightmare comes to life with free abortions in clinics across the state, mandatory Pre-K classes, and strangling regulations on oil, gas, hunting, and fishing. Won’t that be fun?

According to the Tribune article, the new Senate rules also eliminated committees focused on open government, jurisprudence, economic development, and government organization. What’s the reasoning behind that and what does it mean for Texans?

For now, the right has all the “might” in Texas, and it’s marching forward at an alarming rate. But conservatives would do well to consider the long term ramifications of what their steamroller approach can bring down the line. The pendulum will one day swing the other way, and we may not like it when it does.

 

Misty Renee McCampbell

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Misty Renee McCampbell, 42, of Clarendon passed away on January 20, 2015.

Misty Renee McCampbell
Misty Renee McCampbell

Memorial Services were held on Monday, January 26, 2015, at First Assembly of God Church in Clarendon.

Misty resided in Clarendon and was self-employed in her own house keeping business. Her greatest joy in her short 42 years on this Earth was her children & grandbaby. She was the apple of her parent’s eyes, a delight to her siblings, and a companion to many other family & friends.

She is survived by her four children, Stephino McCampbell, Shaquille McCampbell, Cedric McCampbell and Savannah Harkness; her grandbaby Anaiah McCampbell; her parents, Cal & Sherry West and Helen & Ted Graham; her siblings San & Kim West, Gina & Tim Teffeteller, and Kelli & JayR Dunn, and a host of other relatives and friends.

 

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