Beer now available at local stores
The natural drought still lingers, but Clarendon long “dry” spell came to an end last Thursday, February 13, with the first package sales of beer since 1902.
More than three months after Donley County voters approved a local option to legalize the sale of alcoholic beverages, Budweiser trucks rolled up to Allsup’s convenience store and Lowe’s Family Center to stock coolers that had been running in anticipation for weeks.
Allsup’s sold the first beer in the city to Billy Curry and Danny Nugent at 11:25 Thursday morning, and sales since then have been brisk, the store says.
“It has been awesome,” said Allsup’s clerk Trish Voyles. “We have been busy every day, and there hasn’t been any problems. Our sales are definitely up, and that’s good for the town.”
Manager Haskell Sorrells said that Friday was Allsup’s busiest day so far and that while alcohol sales have been great, other merchandise is selling better also.
“I’m seeing deli items and lots of other stuff selling more,” Sorrells said. “Customers are excited and have come in whooping and hollering.”
Sorrells said alcohol sales are allowed between 7 a.m. and midnight Monday through Saturday and from noon to midnight on Sunday.
Lowe’s manager Buddy James said sales at his store have been steady and were about what the company expected. The supermarket had its first beer sale about 20 minutes after Allsup’s.
Lowe’s began stocking wine last Friday, and one clerk said she was surprised by how many local people drink wine.
CEFCO’s two Clarendon convenience stores have also applied for beer and wine permits, and state permit applications are pending for two Clarendon restaurants – Bar H BBQ & More and JD SteakOut. The Broken Road Café at Giles and the Bar H Dude Ranch have applied for state permits as well.
Candidate deadline is this Friday
With only a few days left before the sign-up period closes, the City of Hedley is the only one of seven local governments that has drawn enough candidates to have a competitive election.
As of Tuesday morning, four other local entities had drawn just enough candidates to fill the seats available in this spring’s election, and two more were still one candidate short.
In Hedley, the terms of Mayor Leon Ward and Aldermen Lonnie Roby and Carrie Butler are up this year. All three incumbents are running for reelection, and challenger Diana Postma has filed for the board, setting up the need for an election this May.
The City of Clarendon has three spots open and three candidates at press time. Aldermen Larry Jeffers and Beverly Burrow are seeking re-election and John Lockhart has also filed to run for the board.
The Clarendon College District has three seats available on the Board of Regents, and the positions are held by Dr. John Howard, Dr. Bill Sansing, and Jack Moreman, and all three have filed to run again.
Incumbent Ted Wright and challengers Troy Monroe and Michelle McCann have signed up to run for three positions on the Hedley ISD Board of Trustees.
The Donley County Hospital Board has four positions up this year. Those seats are held by Jan Farris, Jeannie Owens, Mark C. White, and Lori Howard. All four are signed up.
H.L. Baird and Sam Grider are running for the city board in Howardwick where three positions are open.
Clarendon ISD has two trustee positions up this year, and incumbent Weldon Sears has filed for re-election.
Filing for local positions runs through Friday, February 28. Elections will are scheduled for May 10.
Primary election Tuesday
Republican and Democratic voters will head to the polls next Tuesday, March 4, to determine who they want to see on the ballot this November.
As of this Tuesday morning, 205 people had early voted in the Republican Primary, and 14 voters had cast early ballots in the Democratic Primary. Early voting continues by personal appearance at the Donley County Courthouse Annex through this Friday, February 28.
Voting next Tuesday will take place at the locations listed below. Check your voter registration card for your precinct.
Republican Voters
: Precinct 101 – Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center, Precinct 102 – Howardwick City Hall, Precinct 201 – Donley County Courthouse, Precinct 301 – Assembly of God Fellowship Hall, Precinct 303 – Hedley First Baptist Church, and Precinct 401 – Church of Christ Family Life Center.
Democratic Voters
: Precincts 101, 102, 201, 301, and 401 – Donley County Courthouse Annex; and Precinct 303 – Hedley Lions Club Den.
Several candidates are running on the Republican ticket, which includes contested races for two offices.
The office of county judge has four Republican candidates – Randy Bond, Gary Campbell, Jack Craft, and Dr. John Howard; and three men are running as Republicans to be the next Commissioner of Precinct 2 – Daniel Ford, John Grady, and Mitchell Martin.
Other Republican candidates on the primary ballot are Pam Mason for Precinct 1&2 Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace Denise Bertrand, Precinct 1 Commissioner Dan Sawyer, and County Treasurer Wanda Smith. Katherine Williams is not on the ballot but is a write-in candidate for Republican County Chair.
In the Democratic primary, the following local candidates are running: Precinct 1&2 Justice of the Peace Connie Havens, Ricky Rattan for Precinct 4 Commissioner, and County/District Clerk Fay.
Early voting runs through February 28. The primaries will be on March 4.
NJCAA penalizes CC cross-country team
The Clarendon College men’s cross-country program has been placed on one-year probation by the National Junior College Athletic Association following a random audit.
CC President Dr. Robert Riza informed the Board of Regents about the penalty during last Thursday’s regular board meeting and said the problem was simply that the college’s former athletic director had “sloppy paperwork.”
Riza said the college received notice by the NJCAA three weeks ago that it would audit CC’s indoor track and field program. During the course of the audit, CC officials and the NJCAA discovered some problems with letters of intent signed by members of the men’s cross-country team, athletes who also participate in indoor track and field competitions.
“You are allowed a certain number of letters of intent,” Riza later told the Enterprise, “and, if one of those athletes ends up not coming here, you are allowed to release them and add another one. We’re allowed letters for ten men and ten women to run cross-country, and we had one or two too many.”
Probation for the cross-country men means they cannot participate in regional or national playoffs next fall and the number of scholarship positions CC can offer for that program is reduced from ten to six.
“We broke the rule, and we’re going to take the punishment,” Riza said. “This is just a situation where paperwork was sloppy.”
CC is already taking steps to make sure this problem never happens again, Riza said. A new full time athletic director, Brad Vanden Boogaard, is already in place, and he will be attending NJCAA training this summer. In addition, new eligibility checklist procedures are being implemented, and CC coaches will be receiving training also.
On a positive note, Riza told the board that more than 90 student athletes from Clarendon had been listed on the athletic director’s fall honor roll for having a 3.0 or higher GPA, and 11 of those students had 4.0 GPAs.
Riza updated regents on an employee survey which found that “meeting students’ needs” is the college’s top priority and that the maintenance and housekeeping staff ranked the highest in terms of friendliness and teamwork. The survey also gave low ranking for communications and collaboration between the administration and the faculty and staff, which he said he expected.
The president also reported meeting with representatives of Cielo Wind Energy and said the company is inquiring about tax relief – not a tax abatement – for its proposed wind farm in northwestern Donley County.
Riza also briefed the board on his plan to use some S3 grant funds to offer TSI testing in area high schools as a way to help lower the number of students needing developmental classes in college.
In other college business, the Board of Regents: approved proposals from four vendors to purchase nursing equipment totaling $56,974 as part of a Title III grant; extended a food services contract with Great Western Dining for three years; renewed a lease with the Donley County Industrial Foundation for property on West First Street for storage and welding classes; and ratified the resignation of men’s basketball coach Tony Starnes, the retirements of Sharon Hannon and Gene Denney, and the hiring of Roger Schustereit as Interim Dean of Instruction, Melvin Balogh to coach volleyball, Emily Palmore for testing, and Meriem St. Laurent for an assistant at the Pampa Center.
CC meats team wins in Ft. Worth
The Clarendon College Meats Judging team has done it again.
The team recently returned from Fort Worth where they won by 67 points.
Hailey Dimitroff was High Point Individual, Kiersten Scott placed 3rd high, and Jessica Humphrey placed 4th high. Lane Harrington also competed.
In the Alternate Division, Shelby Lee was High Point Individual; Derick Shurr, 2nd High; Sabra Barnett, 3rd High; Mitch Garvin, 6th High; and Augustus Holbein, 7th High.
The team will attempt an undefeated spring with their remaining contest March 5-7 at the Houston Livestock Show.
The Meats Judging team is coach by Tate Corliss.
The Clarendon College Livestock Judging team competed again last week, this time in San Antonio.
The team consisted of Brianna Peraza, Ben Raulston, Conner McKowen, Morgan Boyer, Scotta Faulkenberry, and Clayton Goodwin.
They ended up 11th overall in a very tight contest. Their team totaled 4000 points but they were only 60 points away from the winning team.
“I am proud of this group and feel like they have made a ton of progress this semester,” coach Johnny Treichel said.
The team will travel to Houston next so be sure to encourage them to do their best at that contest as well.
CC students recieve PLA scholarships
The Panhandle Livestock Association raised more than $2,500 in the silent auction at its 2014 PLA Winter Meeting to assist young agriculture students with their education.
Scholarship recipients from Clarendon College included Kuley Duke of Durham, Okla., Caleb Urbanczyk of Amarillo; and Zakary Maddux of Cheyenne, Okla. Scholarships also went to West Texas A&M students Pecos Martin, Shelby Calderon, and Laura Burandt.
“We’d like to thank the Panhandle Livestock Association for all of their support and continued contributions to the students of the Clarendon College Ranch and Feedlot Operations Program,” CC RFO Instructor Laban Tubbs said.
The Panhandle Livestock Association began raising money in the 1980s to establish a scholarship fund at Clarendon College. Their goal was to raise $20,000 to set up an endowed fund. This was accomplished in 1992. Since then, PLA has set up three additional endowments. Currently there are two funds at Clarendon College and two at West Texas A&M totaling more than $100,000.
Lady Broncos runners up at regional tournament
By Sandy Anderberg
Friday night the Lady Broncos experienced a big high as they defeated Sundown in the Regional Semi-Final game at the Texas Dome in Levelland.
The ladies put together a great game and won 56-53, which put them in the Regional Final game against Plains on Saturday. The Plains Cowgirls proved to be a tough competitor and the Lady Broncos finished short of their goal at 41-49.
On Friday, the Lady Broncos flexed their muscles against Sundown jumping out to a four-point lead after the first eight minutes. The advantage the Lady Broncos gained in the first quarter proved to be the points they needed to get the win as Sundown matched the Lady Broncos nearly point for point in the final three quarters of play. The two Taylors, DeGrate and Gaines, finished in double figures with 18 and 17 points to lead the Lady Broncos.
DeGrate also added eleven defensive rebounds to record a double double. Camra Smith hit three three-pointers for nine, and Ryann Starnes added six. Deborah Howard, Brittney Braim, and Skyler White each helped with two.
The win put the Lady Broncos in the finals where they struggled with cold shooting against a good Plains team. Clarendon trailed Plains by eleven points at the break, but they were still very much in the game.
The Lady Broncos were able to come out in the third period and fight back to outscore the Cowgirls by five points in the third quarter of play. Foul trouble hit the Lady Broncos as Gaines and DeGrate went over the limit and time ran out on their comeback. But the Lady Broncos never quit until the final buzzer, which has been typical of their determination all season.
Starnes finished with twelve points and Gaines added ten. DeGrate and Smith had five, while Howard added four, Phara Berry put in three, and Haley Ferguson had two.
Coach Molly Weatherred was disappointed in the loss, but not how her girls played over the weekend.
“I was very proud of the Lady Broncos all weekend long at the Regional Tournament,” Weatherred said. “Friday night against Sundown, I thought we played really well and I thought the girls competed and hit big shots. Saturday was a little different. I thought the girls still really competed and played hard, but we got in foul trouble early and some girls had to sit for a while.
“We did not shoot the ball well, only shooting 23 percent. Overall, things just did not go our way. However, I am so very proud of these young ladies. They had an amazing season and they are such a wonderful group of girls. I thought they truly competed and fought till the very end, and as a coach that is all I could ever ask for.”
R.A. “Doc” Bryant
R.A. “Doc” Bryant, 78, died Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014.
Services were held on Tuesday in Washington Avenue Christian Church with Charlie Cox officiating. Private burial will be held. Arrangements are by Cox Funeral Home, 4180 Canyon Drive.
Doc was born on Sept. 26, 1935, in Denton to J.B. and Ruby Bryant. He lived most of his life in Amarillo where he was a member of the 1954 graduating class of Amarillo High School. He joined the Navy reserves at age 16 and retired after 34 years of service. He served active duty in Vietnam, as well as Gulf Port, Miss. He married Yvonne Webb on Dec. 31, 1955, in Amarillo. Doc worked as an electrician all of his life. First with his dad, and later owning and operating Bryant Electric. Doc was a loving husband, dad and grandfather.
He was a 32nd degree Mason as well as longtime member of the Khiva Shrine, where served as potentate in 1989. He took his work and service to the shrine to heart and had a great passion for helping burned and cripple children get the very best care in the world. He also played an active part in the Khiva Mule Skinners. He was a longtime member of the Tri State Fair board of directors where he continued to play a vital part of putting the fair on every year. Doc was an original member of the Coors Cowboy Club and realized the importance of the club’s mission of “Promoting Amarillo the Cowboy Way.” In each of these organizations, Doc was not just a member, but was always one to roll his sleeves and do the hard work that was necessary. More than anything, Doc loved being Grandpa to his family. He was a charter member of Saint Paul United Methodist Church and was a member of San Jacinto United Church for many years. He will be dearly missed by his family and many friends.
He is survived by his his wife, Yvonne of Amarillo; two daughters, DeeDee Hommel and husband Frank of Clarendon and Angela Bullard of Amarillo; two brothers, J.B. Bryant Jr. of Amarillo and Robert Bryant of New Mexico; three sisters, Nora Pennington of Burleson, “Tria” Godwin of Canadian and “Myrt” Wilder of Plainview; six grandchildren, Anastasia, Sebastian, April, Laura, Alice and Cori; and seven great-grandchildren.
The family suggests memorials to the Khiva Shrine Travel Fund, to provide transportation of children to hospitals for medial care 305 S.E. Fifth. Ave., Amarillo, TX 79101.
Mary E. Watson
Mary E. Watson, 96, of Clarendon passed away February 15, 2014, in Clarendon. Her funeral was held Wednesday, February 19, 2014, at the Sharon Missionary Baptist Church, east of Rocky with Pastor Denver McGuire officiating. Burial followed in the Lone Star Cemetery under the direction of Jackson Funeral Home of Frederick.
Mary Elizabeth (Robinson) Watson was born July 7, 1917, at Rocky, Oklahoma to Samuel Kimbrell and Ada Catherine (McElmurry) Robinson. She attended Mountain Park Schools, graduating from Mountain Park High School in 1937. On June 22, 1937, she and Noble Carl Watson were united in marriage at Roosevelt, Oklahoma. He preceded her in death on October 9, 1998. She enjoyed cooking and was previously employed by the Rocky School Cafeteria, Cordell Christian Home and the Rocky Senior Citizens where she retired in 1988. She was a faithful member of the Sharon Missionary Baptist Church.
She is survived by one brother; S.K. Robinson and his wife Pat of Manitou, Oklahoma; four grandchildren, Jeffrey John Watson and his wife Kim, Anthony Lee Watson and his wife Jolena, and William Glenn “Bill” Watson and his wife Sybil all of Amarillo, Texas, and Noble Stanton Watson and his wife Pam of Clarendon, Texas; fourteen great-grandchildren; and twelve great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Noble Carl Watson; one son: Bobby Carl Watson; four sisters, Dorotha Linderer, Betty Lou Robinson, Effie McBride and Reba Hollis; and two brothers, Ray and Jack Robinson.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Sharon Missionary Baptist Church in memory of Mary Elizabeth Watson.
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