Morgan Wheatly

A busy weekend is in store for Clarendon and should generate several visitors for the city.

Trade days, a rough stock rodeo, and college commencement activities will be drawing people to Clarendon.

Hundreds of people will be attending graduation exercises at Clarendon College Friday as students receive associate degrees and certificates during three ceremonies at the Harned Sisters Fine Arts Center over the course of the day.

Commencement for those graduating with an Associate of Science degree will start at 10 a.m., the Ranch & Feedlot Operations ceremony is at 1:30 p.m., and Associate of Arts, Associate of Applied Science, and certificates of completion will be awarded at 6 p.m.  Doors will open one hour before each ceremony.

The monthly Whistle-Stop Trade Days will be open Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and features more than 100 different vendors carrying a wide variety of goods along with food booths, live music, and a beer garden located on the north side of the building.

Also on Saturday, the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association is hosting its second annual Saints’ Roost Rough Stock Challenge rodeo. Activities will begin at 1 p.m. with a washer pitching contest that will run most of the afternoon before the rodeo begins at 6 p.m.

The Rough Stock Challenge will feature Ranch Bronc Riding and Bull Riding. The Buster Bledsoe Band will entertain on the COEA Slab after the rodeo.

Admission for the Rough Stock Challenge is $10 for adults and $5 for kids ages six to 12.

Clarendon High School students will also hold their prom Saturday night.

The sign-up period for Clarendon’s 12th annual “Trash To Treasures” garage sale event is underway, this year’s sale is slated for Saturday, June 3.

Garage sales in Hedley, Howardwick, and the surrounding area are also welcome to sign up for the big day.

Residents who wish to participate in this year’s “Trash To Treasures” are asked to come by the Enterprise before 5 p.m. on Friday, May 26, to sign up for the promotion.

For just $25, each household will get a 50-word advertisement in the Big-E Classifieds and the exclusive “Trash To Treasures” garage sale signs. In addition, the Enterprise will print a city map the week of the event indicating the location of each sale and will promote the citywide garage sale in area newspapers and with local radio ads.

“The more people who have garage sales during Trash To Treasures, the better everyone will do,” said Roger Estlack, publisher of The Clarendon Enterprise which sponsors the event. “Sign-up fees are what cover the cost of area advertising, so we can reach more people and have better attendance if we have a larger number of sales.”

For more information about the Trash To Treasures garage sale event, call 874-2259 or come by the Enterprise office at 105 S. Kearney.

Clarendon High School has announced that its top students for the Class of 2017 are valedictorian Hannah Howard and salutatorian Cire Jauregui.

Both girls will be honored during commencement ceremonies May 26 at the Clarendon College Harned Sisters Fine Arts Center at 8 p.m.

Howard is the daughter of Bruce and Gwynne Howard.  She has a weighted GPA of 5.843. She has been very involved in school activities while attending Clarendon High School.  She has played basketball four years, ran cross country three years, ran track two years, and has been a member of the Bronco Band three years.  Howard has also been very active in UIL academics where she has been a regional qualifier in science for the last three years and placed fifth at the regional contest in Odessa this year.

Howard has served as vice president of her senior class and was chosen Lions Club sweetheart this year.  She has been an A and A/B honor roll student and has received Honor C’s in French 1, 2, and 3.  She also received an Honor C in Pre-AP English 1.  Howard has been named the Top Student in science, English, and family and consumer science.  She is a member of the Clarendon High School chapter of the National Honor Society.  Howard has already received 30 college hours through the dual credit program with Clarendon College.

Howard’s hobbies include singing, playing the guitar and piano, and making crafts.  She also enjoys watching Hogan’s Heroes and Monk, and playing card games with her family.

Howard plans on getting her associate degree at Clarendon College and then transferring to West Texas A & M University where she plans on majoring in elementary education.

Jauregui is the daughter of Nicole and Larry Beames.  She has a weighted GPA of 5.785.

Jauregui’s activities include three years of Bronco Band where she served as section leader her sophomore and junior years.  She has served as a student member of the School Health Advisory Committee for four years, worked on the yearbook one year, served as guest photographer this year, and was an active member in the theater department all four years.  Jauregui enjoyed and was successful in UIL math and number sense going to regional three of her four years.

Jauregui received many Honor C’s during her four years at CHS.  She was named the Top Math Student her junior year and Top Student in math and social studies this year.  Jauregui is an A Honor Roll student and a member of the Clarendon chapter of National Honor Society.  She has served as class secretary this year and has been a member of the Clarendon Student Council for 4 years.  Jauregui has also been a member of the Clarendon Gifted and Talented Program. She was also a Lions Club Sweetheart this year.

Jauregui has been very involved in giving back to our community.  She has packed boxes and delivered boxes for the food bank, has helped raise funds for the MS Foundation, and has helped sponsor a food drive for the Snack Pack 4 Kids Program.  Jauregui has also taken part in the Anti-Drug Fair put on for the Clarendon Elementary by the CHS STUCO.  She has helped distribute flags for Veteran’s and Memorial Days and coordinated and lead the summer reading program at the Burton Memorial Library.

Jauregui’s hobbies include playing with her rescue dogs Star and Bear, cooking with her mom, reading and binge watching Netflix shows.

Jauregui is going to attend the University of North Texas in Denton as a recipient of the Terry Foundation Scholarship.  She will be majoring in mathematics while participating in the Teach North Texas program in hopes she will one day teach math.

A representative of Clarendon’s nursing home is seeking to reassure citizens this week amidst swirling gossip about the facility.

The 61-bed Clarendon Care Center re-opened after it was purchased by Meridian Health Care about nine months ago, according to Corporate Admissions Coordinator Micha Robnett, who said he wants to set the record straight about what is being done with the facility.

“We offer skilled nursing for patients and residents with behavioral problems from dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other disorders,” Robnett said. “We believe even patients with issues of aggression need and deserve care and respect.”

Robnett said Clarendon Care Center currently has 17 residents and that, despite rumors, there are no registered sex offenders currently living in the facility. He further stated that the home only accepts male residents and said that if the home were to accept a registered sex offender, the man would be in his 70s to 80s, suffering from something like Alzheimer’s or dementia, non-ambulatory, and ten years would have to have passed since an offense.

“I’m not going to put someone here who is inappropriate or who would be a threat to someone’s kids or grandkids,” Robnett said.

For the safety of the patients, Robnett said the facility is surrounded by a 10- to 12-foot wrought iron fence that has only two security gates. Even with the secure environment, the center tries to make the residents feel as comfortable as possible with activities like dominoes, horseshoes, fishing trips, and grilling hamburgers.

Meridian also operates facilities in Brownfield and Ralls, Robnett said, and is owned by six investors, all of whom are medical professionals with more than 20 or more years in geriatric practices.

Clarendon Care Center currently employs 48 people and is administered locally by Jason Black.

Robnett said the facility will grow over time to fill all 61 beds and could ultimately employ 150 or more employees, but he said growth will be slow, adding one or two residents per week.

Robnett also said that citizens who have concerns or questions are welcome to stop by and visit the facility. The company plans to hold an open house later this year.

Clarendon Care Center was built in the 1970s by the Donley County Hospital District. The district sold its Medical Center Nursing Home in 2008, and the facility was operated privately as Community Care Center of Clarendon until it closed in 2015.

The Clarendon Enterprise received ten awards and a former local publisher was honored during the 107th annual Panhandle Press Association Convention in Amarillo last Saturday, April 22.

During the annual PPA Better Newspaper Contest, the Enterprise received two first place plaques in the categories of Best Front Page Layout and Best Special Section for its fall/winter Welcome Guide.

The paper got second place honors for Sports Photos by Morgan Wheatly, Kari Lindsey, and Roger Estlack; Headline Writing; Society/Lifestyles; and Best Online Newspaper.

The Enterprise received third place for Serious Columns, Editorial Writing, News Writing, and Spot News Photos by Roger and Elaina Estlack. Ben Estlack’s “Cub Reporter” column also received praise from the judges in the Serious Columns contest.

Former Clarendon Press publisher Don R. Richards of Lubbock was inducted into the PPA Hall of Fame during a banquet Friday night. A fourth-generation journalist, Richards was born in Stonewall County and is a native of Jayton, where his father owned the weekly newspaper. He received his undergraduate degree in journalism from Texas Tech University where he served as editor of the student newspaper, The University Daily. He was editor of several West Texas community newspapers, including The Clarendon Press for a time in 1974, and was publisher of The Azle News. He currently serves as publisher of The Banner of Love, one of Texas’ oldest continuing religious newspapers, and is publisher/co-owner of the Hale Center American weekly newspaper. Richards also practices law in the areas of Public Utility Law, Media Law, and Administrative Law.

Also inducted in the Hall of Fame was Shamrock native Toby Brooks, who established The Irish Star-News in March 1993. He later purchased the Wheeler Area-News and combined both publications to become the County Star-News, which now covers all of Wheeler County, and in January of 2003, Brooks became a general partner in Community Printers, a web offset printing press in Shamrock which would go on to publish a great number of newspapers in the Panhandle, western Oklahoma and surrounding areas. Brooks sold his newspaper in 2012 and now lives in Belton.

The PPA was led this year by Muleshoe publisher Larry Thornton, who will continue on the PPA board as Immediate Past President. He is succeeded by Booker’s Joni Yara as president. Other board members include Vice President Robin Patterson of Dumas and Secretary/Treasurer Roger Estlack of Clarendon along with directors, Tara Huff of Fritch, Rob Langrell of Clovis, Ginger Wilson of Childress, Jeff Blackmon of Shamrock, and Mary Dudley of Perryton.

The PPA represents 31 member newspapers in the Panhandle region. Next year’s convention will be in Childress on March 22-24, 2018.