Jones 5K raises funds for playground
A new playground is on the horizon for Clarendon’s Prospect Park following the success of last Saturday’s second annual Chance Mark Jones Memorial 5K.
The Clarendon Lions Club hosted the event and announced that they had secured the $33,000 needed to purchase and install the new equipment.
Plans call for a bed of woodchips to be installed for safety around the new playground, but a grant application is pending that, if awarded, would pay for a more permanent and safer rubberized surface.
“This is playground will be a fitting memorial for Chance and a permanent way to raise awareness about child abuse,” said Boss Lion Ashlee Estlack. “We deeply appreciate everyone who has supported this project.”
Clarendon’s Ryan Hill and Misty Nobles were the top finishers of Saturday’s race, which drew 133 runners and walkers as well as many as three dozen spectators, supporters and workers.
Hill was the fastest man in the race and crossed the finish line with a time of 20:59, and Nobles was the fastest woman with a time of 25:16.
The Lions’ event was held during Child Abuse Awareness Month in conjunction with Clarendon College and volunteer help from several community members including the Donley County Child Welfare Board.
Lions officials also announced Saturday that club was partnering with the Bridge Child Advocacy Center in Amarillo to open a satellite in Clarendon that will serve the southeast corner of the Panhandle.
The annual 5K is held to raise awareness of child abuse and to honor the life of four-year-old Chance Mark Jones, who died on January 5, 2011, after more than two weeks of abuse.
Complete results are as follows: Top Men’s Time, Ryan Hill – Clarendon 20:59; Top Women’s Time, Misty Nobles – Clarendon 25:16; 19 and under – 1st Gavin Word 23:32, 2nd Jaxon McAnear 27:28, 3rd Jenci Hernandez 28:28; Ages 20-29 – 1st Cameron Word 27:43, 2nd Karissa Huffman 28:38, 3rd Alix Snure 35:33; Ages 30-39 – 1st Mark King 25:14, 2nd Jenny McIntosh 28:02, 3rd Erica McAnear 31:40; Ages 40-49 – 1st Michael Thompson 28:10, 2nd Joe Gifford 33:32, 3rd Robin McGonigal; Ages 50-59 – 1st Tim Sharp 25:35, 2nd Silvia Zaiontz 30:02, 3rd Gwen Sharp 37:58; Ages 60-69 – 1st Nancy Baxter 36:58, 2nd Bob Baxter 36:59, 3rd Martha Smith 38:07; Ages 70+ – 1st JoAnn DeBord 1:02:59.18, and 2nd Larry Capranica 1:02:59.85.
City fires employee for theft
A Clarendon city employee was terminated last week and will face fines in municipal court for theft of city services.
Disciplinary action on public works employee Nathan Jaramillo was the subject of an hour-long closed session during last Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen.
When the board reconvened in open session, aldermen voted unanimously to fire Jaramillo.
Sources have told the Enterprise that Jaramillo was discovered to be bypassing the city water meter at his house. Mayor Larry Hicks said following the meeting that the city would pursue action against Jaramillo in municipal court.
Disciplinary action on Public Works Director John Molder was also discussed in the closed session, and the board voted to require him to get supervisory training.
In other city business, aldermen approved purchasing a new trash truck at a total cost of $184,618.
City officials also discussed regulating eight-liner gaming devices. Mayor Hicks said deputies had asked the city for help in the form of an ordinance on the subject, and City Secretary Machiel Covey presented draft rules based on a Childress ordinance.
Alderman Doug Kidd said he was not in favor of any part of the proposal. “If they are breaking the law, the law can take care of it,” Kidd said.
Alderman Will Thompson said he was “on the other side of the fence” compared to Kidd.
The board took no action on the subject.
The board also took no action on water rates in the city. City Hall is still working on a proposed new tiered rate system that would protect low usage customers from the rate increase and possibly bring some rate relief to small commercial customers. A proposal will be before the board on April 24.
Molder reported progress on the Fifth Street waterline project. He said city crews were ready for taps to be made at Collinson Street and Bugbee Avenue ahead of laying six-inch line. The project will also include replacing two old fire hydrants along the line.
Never accept failure, NASA speaker says
Never quitting and never accepting failure were the themes of talks given by NASA engineer Jerry Woodfill Monday at Clarendon College.
College and public school students attended motivational and informational presentations by Woodfill, who was a warning systems engineer during the Apollo 11 moon landing and the Apollo 13 mission depicted in the movie of the same name.
Woodfill said he grew up in Indiana as student with average marks and that coverage of one good basketball game got him a scholarship to Rice University where he prove himself to be a less than stellar athlete.
“I had the lowest scoring percentage in university history,” he said and related tales of failures or embarrassments, including making an F- in one course of study.
Woodfill said he was near quitting engineering school when John F. Kennedy made his famous moon speech at Rice, and at that instance he recommitted himself to his studies so he could go to work for the space program.
Once at NASA, he witnessed failures that built a foundation for success, including the deadly Apollo 1 fire that took the lives of three astronauts but led to changes that would help keep Apollo 13 astronauts alive.
A morning speech at the Harned Sisters Fine Arts Center focused on motivational speaking and working for your dreams, and an afternoon speech at the Vera Dial Dickey Library focused more extensively on the Apollo 13 mission.
Woodfill went through 13 things he believes that saved the Apollo 13 astronauts. Chief among them was the time during the voyage to the moon when the explosion of the oxygen tank happened. If it had happened any earlier in the mission, it would have meant the astronauts would not have had enough resources to return home – or possibly met certain death if the explosion happened in earth’s atmosphere. If it happened later in the mission, the lunar lander would not have been available to use as a life raft.
Woodfill mixed humor and personal experience as he corrected what Hollywood got wrong in the movie and as he pointed out numerous occasions where Providence protected the spacemen.
Woodfill will mark 49 years working for NASA this June and says he plans to be around for his 50th anniversary on the job.
Dinner to support CC judgers going ‘down under’
By Ashlee Estlack, Clarendon College
The Clarendon College Meats Judging Team has had three members qualify to attend a global competition in Australia this summer.
Scotta Faulkenberry, Cody Shannon, and Morgan Boyer, along with their coach Tate Corliss, will take part in the Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging (ICMJ) Contest in Armidale, New South Wales, for two weeks in July.
The students were invited to this competition due to their membership on the Academic All-American First Team for the “A” division. Of the 5 students on this team, 3 will represent Clarendon College.
“This is the first time in the history of the Australian Intercollegiate Meat Judging Association that a Junior College Team has been invited,” CC Coach Tate Corliss said. “Historically only Senior College teams have competed.”
The goal of the Australian ICMJ contest is to expose and encourage students into careers in the meat industry in the global sector while competing internationally. Teams will come from across Australia and the Far East including Japan, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, and South Korea.
“While we are there we will get to learn how to calculate yield grades by Australian standards and many other different aspects of their meat industry through workshops and listening to speakers prior to competing in the competition,” Corliss said. “Contest content will be beef, pork and lamb carcass judging, placings, grading and reasons/questions as well as retail cut identification.”
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent junior college programs,” Corliss said. “We will represent Clarendon College as well as Texas and the United States in an international setting.”
A prime rib fundraiser dinner is scheduled for Saturday, April 26, at 6 p.m. at the Bairfield Activity Center to help with expenses associated with this trip.
The cost is $20 per meal and there will be silent auction items to bid on during this event.
To RSVP or to donate silent auction items, call or e-mail Johnny Treichel at 806-664-0159 or johnny.treichel@clarendoncollege.edu.
Opinion: Perhaps growing old is really a gift
For the first time in my life, I may actually be the person I’ve always wanted to be, even if becoming this person snuck up on me. Now, I’m not talking about my body, with all its wrinkles, saggy skin, droopy butt, etc. I’m still often shocked to see that older person who lives in my mirror. You see, I’m now officially “the elderly” according to the United Nations and the US Government.
I’m actually shocked that I’m considered elderly. I sure don’t consider myself to be all that old. However, I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, and my loving family for more hair and a flatter belly. As I’ve aged I’ve become kinder to myself and less critical of others. Perhaps most importantly, I’ve become my own friend. I don’t chide myself for eating an extra cookie or two, or for not making my bed, and keeping my home spotless. You see, I am entitled to overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have witnessed too many dear friends leave this world much too soon before they understood the wonderful freedom that comes with aging.
Who cares if I choose to read or play computer games until 4 am, then sleep until noon or so? I still love to dance to those outstanding 60s tunes whenever I choose. Whose business is it if I weep over a lost love?
I like being older. It has set me free. I like the person that I’ve become. Even though I’m not going to live forever, as I recently proved, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been while I’m alive.
Hints that we are aging start subtly, you first notice it first when others address you. Gone is the, “Hey kid,” replaced by “Yes, sir.” In the grocery cart the staples like bread, milk, and eggs are replaced by vitamin and fiber supplements, along with heating pads and assorted balms. No longer is that jump shot or 300 yard drive a sure thing. Your reflexes slow, your senses aren’t as keen, and hospital food starts to taste good.
Irony now accompanies sex, where women no longer need to take the pill, yet men rush to their doctor to take a different type of little blue pill.
Resistance to aging is futile. Nothing, except an early death, can keep it away. Luckily, with aging comes wisdom, patience, and years of experience bucking the system. So, whether you acquiesce willingly to the waves of time rolling towards you, or fight back with an army of plastic surgeons, personal trainers, and spandex (which does not look as good on older folks); following are a few signs that age is creeping up on you.
1. Your doctors are all younger than you.
2. You spend more time and money in the pharmacy than the grocery store.
3. You’re less interested in your abs and more concerned in your prostate.
4. Men begin urinating in Morse code – dot. dot. dash.
5. A good night’s sleep is just as important as good loving.
6. Your progressive state of inaction is mistaken for Zen-like wisdom.
7. Women are no longer referred to as “foxes” but as “cougars.”
8. Making new friends is a low priority unless s/he is a medical provider.
9. Coins that fall out of your pocket aren’t worth picking up.
10. You dump the Jet-Ski and motorcycle magazines and subscribe to mobility scooter magazines.
11. You spend less time with Excel and more time on Sudoku.
12. Country and Western music becomes appealing.
13. Elastic waist bands and thick rubber soles become important parts of your wardrobe.
14. You become a target for life insurance agents, Nigerian scam artists, and salespeople for retirement communities.
15. A rocking chair is not quaint; it’s comfortable.
16. You need a running start to get out of La-Z-Boy recliner chair.
17. You write notes to yourself – frequently.
As I’ve grown older I’ve taken an interest in reading epitaphs on tombstones throughout the world. I hope to “borrow” one or two to use on my headstone – if I decide to be buried rather than cremated.
On a tombstone somewhere in Texas: “Jesus called and Kim answered.” Along with the epitaph was a likeness of a grandmother with her ear to a portable phone, taking the call.
“Ann Mann: Here lies Ann Mann, Who lived an old maid But died an old Mann. Dec. 8, 1767”
“Anna Wallace: The children of Israel wanted bread. And the Lord sent them manna. Old clerk Wallace wanted a wife, And the Devil sent him Anna.”
“Here lies Johnny Yeast, Pardon me for not rising.”
“Here lies the body of Jonathon Blake: Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.”
“Here lays Butch. We planted him raw. He was quick on the trigger, But slow on the draw.”
“Sacred to the memory of my husband John Barnes who died January 3, 1803. His comely young widow, aged 23, has many qualifications of a good wife, and yearns to be comforted.”
“Sir John Strange: Here lies an honest lawyer, And that is Strange.”
Here lies Lester Moore. Four slugs from a .44. No Les No More.”
“I told you I was sick.”
And finally: “Here lies an Atheist All dressed up And no place to go”
I’m inclined to agree with Doris Day when she said, “The really frightening thing about middle age is knowing you’ll grow out of it.”
Remember that a life well-lived is dying young as late as possible. So, let’s all make a special effort to enjoy the rest of the time we have on this magnificent planet.
Clarendon ISD preparing for tornado safety
After several trial runs, Clarendon public school students had their first unannounced tornado drill Tuesday morning, taking advantage of improved shelter facilities.
In less than seven minutes, 350 students from Pre-Kindergarten through junior high as well as teachers and other school personnel were safely ensconced in an area under the school cafeteria and library known by alumni as “the bomb shelter.”
Meanwhile, 125 high school students and other personnel got to safety in the high school basement in about three minutes.
Clarendon ISD Superintendent Monty Hysinger said the shelter provides ample room for students to get situated by class and for teachers to take roll.
During a pre-announced drill last Friday, students all got to shelter in about five minutes, indicating that the school can take cover very quickly with just a little notice.
In the event of severe weather in which a tornado watch has been issued, Hysinger said teachers would be made aware of the situation and be ready to take action immediately.
Starnes, Howard play with All-stars
Ryann Starnes and Deborah Howard have played a lot of basketball together during their four years of high school at Clarendon, recently wrapping up their third straight district championship and third straight trip to the regional basketball tournament.
Last Thursday and Saturday, they played together one last time as they were teammates on the East squad for the Golden Spread All-Star tournament.
The All-Star competition has been going on for 44 years and the objective is the promotion of high school basketball in the Texas Golden Spread area.
Starnes and Howard played with and against players from all sizes of area schools, including 6-man schools such as Miami and Valley as well as large schools like Pampa, Canyon, Tascosa, Palo Duro, and Amarillo High. The girls fit in well with the other all-stars, and their coach showed confidence in them by giving them plenty of playing time.
Their East team won the first game of the tournament and played in the championship game Saturday afternoon at the WTAMU United Bank Center.
It was obvious that they had played many games together, as Howard penetrated and often found Starnes open for a three-point attempt. Ryann scored in double figures in both games. In addition, both girls made the finals in the 3-point shooting contest.
Although they fell a bit short in the championship game, it was a great way for them both to finish their high school careers, together seeking a victory one last time.
CHS track athletes bring home the gold
By Sandy Anderberg
The Clarendon Broncos and Lady Broncos made a great showing in the District track meet in Panhandle last week, bringing home several gold medals and qualifying in several events for the Area meet. The top four finishers get to advance to the Area meet to be held April 18 at Panhandle.
On the Broncos side, Caleb Cobb won gold in the 800-meter dash in a time of 2:16.49 and Charles Mason fresh off of an injury took the gold in the long jump at 22’4″.
On the women’s side, cousins Sarah Luttrell and Abby Johnson won gold three races and one field event. Luttrell won the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.47 (13.21q) and took the long jump at 16’ ¼”. Johnson stormed through the field in the 400-meter run at 1:01.74 (101.91q) and won the gold in the 200-meter dash with a final time of 27.74 (27.39q). The Lady Broncos 400-meter relay finished a close second at 52.42 (Amelia Weatherton, Taylor Gaines, Taylor DeGrate, and Luttrell) and finished third at 4:30.85. Those running the relay were Myra Castillo, MaRae Hall, Hannah Howard, and Johnson. Both relays advanced to the Area meet.
The junior varsity Bronco 400-meter relay won gold with a time of 48.68 and was run by Clay Koetting, Riley Shadle, Wyatt Papa, and Keandre Cortez.
Koetting brought home gold in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:37.58 and gold in the pole vault at 10’. Cortez outran the field in the 100-meter dash with at time of 12.09 and Marshal Johnson grabbed the gold in the discus with a throw of 110’11″. Mikeal LaRoe was golden in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:17.59.
The Broncos finished fifth as a team with 33 points, the Bronco JV took second with 144 points and the Lady Broncos were second with 118 points.
Bronco individual results: 400-meter run: Cobb 3rd 55.61 (57.83q); 200-meter run: Cobb 6th 26.24; discus: Montana Hysinger 5th 97’5″; shot put: Hysinger 4th 35’7 ¼”.
Bronco JV: mile relay: 3rd 4:16.85 (Cortez, N. Shadle, LaRoe, Lockhart); 110-hurdles: R. Shadle 2nd 19.53; 100-meter dash: Papa 2nd 12.83; 400-meter run: 59.13, Lockhart 5th 1:04.89, N. Shadle 7th 1:07.54; 300-meter hurdles: R. Shadle 3rd 51.00; 200-meter run: N. Shadle 5th 29.37; high jump: R. Shadle competed; pole vault: N. Shadle 4th 7’6″; long jump LaRoe 4th 17’ ¼”; triple jump: R. Shadle 5th 33’10 ¾”; discus: Taylon Knorpp 3rd 97’7″, Jacob Bishop 7th 79’2″; shot put: Johnson 3rd 37’4 ¾”, Bishop 4th 31’1 ½”.
Lady Broncos: 400-meter relay: 2nd 52.42 (Amelia Weatherton, Taylor Gaines, Taylor DeGrate, Luttrell); 100-meter hurdles: DeGrate 3rd 17.80 (1785q); 100-meter dash: Weatherton 2nd 13.72 (13.58q); 400-meter dash: Castillo 4th 1:05.46 (106.94q), Hall 7th 1:09.15 (106.94q); 200-meter dash: Luttrell 2nd 29.09 (27.74q), Weatherton 3rd 29.29 (29.54q); 1600-meter run: Sarah Williams 5th 6:39.87, Kelsey McAnear 10th 7:52.75; long jump: Gaines 3rd 15’6″, Weatherton 6th 15’2″; discus: Berkeley Alexander 5th 77’5″; shot put: Alexander 3rd 30’5″, Karlee Adams 6th 24’10 ¾”.
Hedley competes at district golf tourney
The District 2-1A golf tournament was held at the Clarendon Country Club on Monday, April 7th.
The boys division was won by the McLean Tigers with a total score of 417. Darrouzett boys finished in second with a score of 451 and had Brady Miller finish as the first place medalist with a score of 87.
The Hedley Owls finished in third place nine points behind at 460. Team member scores were Travis Ruthardt with 100, Clay King 110, Wyatt Wheatly 122, and Denver Chambless and Kyle Lindsey ended the day with 128. Cooper Hudson from Lefors was second medalist with 89 and third medalist was Travis Ruthardt with a 100. Travis will be competing at the regional meet in Levelland. Other teams included Higgins, Fort Elliott, Lefors, and Miami.
The girls division was won by McLean with a total score of 447 and Higgins finished second at 511. Shaley Goad from Fort Elliott was top medalist with an 88 and Camryann Richardson from McLean was second medalist with a 98.
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