Ball skills
Museum fundraiser to be held June 12
There will be food, live music, and boot scootin’ this Saturday, June 12, at the COEA Dance Slab to benefit a new “Wheels of History” Transportation Complex at the Saints’ Roost Museum.
Due to COVID restrictions in December 2020, the Museum was unable to host its Annual Christmas Reverse Drawing Benefit. Now, the Museum and Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department are working together on the event to raise funds for a new transportation building.
Tickets are $50 and may be purchased at the Donley County State Bank or from any Museum Board Member or Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department Member. Gates open at 6 p.m. The Martin Band will provide live music. Some lucky person will win $5,000 with the remaining proceeds going toward the building project.
The “Wheels of History” Transportation Complex will be built on the museum grounds to house: a 1906 Bain chuckwagon, restored and donated by Johnny Brumley; a 1927 Seagraves fire truck donated by the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department; a 1923 Model T donated by Dr. Keith C. Hudson; and a buggy purchased by W. J. Lewis, Jr., and donated by Bobby and Jenks Boston.
A total of approximately $200,000 will be needed to construct this new building to preserve these valuable pieces of transportation history.
If you purchased a ticket for the original Museum Christmas Party Benefit that was scheduled for December 5, 2020, your ticket remains valid for the upcoming fundraiser on June 12.
Sandell to screen Florida George Line concert June 12
The Sandell Drive-In will host Florida Georgia Line this Saturday, June 12, for its next big on-screen concert.
Tickets are on sale now at encorenights.com/fgl. Also appearing on the concert will be special guests Nelly, Chase Rice and Rachel Wammack.
The next in the Encore Drive-In Nights concert series, Saturday’s performance will be broadcast to hundreds of outdoor drive-ins and select cinemas across North America and around the world.
The one-night-only show will highlight the Diamond-selling duo’s biggest hits as well as new fan favorites from their current Life Rolls On (BMLG Records) album, including consecutive chart-topping singles “Long Live” – dubbed “The Song That Will Have You Grabbing a Cup To Toast” by Billboard – and the “country-rock jam tailor made for summertime” (The Tennessean) “I Love My Country.”
“We’re so excited to start playing shows again and can’t wait to bring this special one to all of our fans around the world,” said FGL’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley. “The night will be full of hits, good vibes, and a few surprises. Everybody come on out June 12.”
“We are so excited that Encore Drive-In Nights concerts are back and who better to welcome summer than these party-starters themselves?” said Walter Kinzie, CEO of Encore Drive-In Nights. “This show provides fans all across the country, including those that don’t typically go to concerts, the chance to see FGL like never before.”
Previous Encore Drive-In Nights concerts pioneered in-person entertainment in the COVID-era last year with performances by Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani, Metallica, Kane Brown and other amazing musical guests for one-night-only concerts broadcast to fans at outdoor venues across the country. Just last month, Bon Jovi was the feature act on-screen.
Car passes for the Florida Georgia Line Encore Drive-In Nights show, which can be used by up to six people per vehicle, go on sale today at encorenights.com/fgl with drive-in tickets being sold exclusively through TIXR. A limited quantity of general admission tickets will be available for just $68 per car for 48 hours before prices increase to $79 then $89 per car + fees. For more information, visit the Sandell Drive-In’s Facebook page or encorenights.com.
Tickets for drive-in locations are being sold exclusively through Tixr, a specialist in large-scale experiential commerce solutions whose flexible proprietary technology platform is perfect for scalable artist-centric events. Tixr and Encore have worked to expand the offerings in 2021 to include merchandise, food and beverage options, and have introduced payment plans and flex-pricing to make tickets more accessible to fans.
This season, artists can broadcast their performance to a new global network of indoor theaters as well, thanks to an exclusive distribution agreement between Encore Drive-In Nights and Trafalgar Releasing, allowing fans that do not have an outdoor venue nearby to have an amazing concert experience at their local cinema. Indoor cinema locations and tickets can also be found at
2021 garage sale event includes 25 entries
Bargain shoppers will be in for a treat during the 16th annual “Trash to Treasures” garage sale event that will be held in Clarendon and Howardwick this Saturday, June 5.
A total of 25 individual garage sales are scheduled to be held. A complete description of each sale is printed on the official Treasure Maps located on the last page of this week’s Enterprise.
From furniture to antiques, this weekend’s sales will feature hundreds of treasures just waiting to be uncovered at bargain prices. Sales generally start at 8 a.m. and run throughout the day.
“Trash to Treasures” is being promoted with advertising dollars in area communities thanks to the support of the official sales depicted on the maps. Many people from neighboring counties are expected attend this year’s sales.
First Saturday events start June 5
A new community promotional campaign is focusing on monthly activities and events starting this weekend and continuing throughout the year.
“First Saturday Clarendon, Texas” is a movement and marketing campaign to pool resources and centralize support behind a once-a-month weekend of activities, trade days, shopping and fun in Clarendon and Donley County.
Saturday, June 5, marks the official return of Whistle-Stop Trade Days, and “First Saturday Clarendon, Texas” coincides with that event as well as the annual Trash to Treasures Garage Sale event, which is also this Saturday.
The volunteer led effort designed by Studio E Creative builds on the success of the Whistle-Stop and encourages businesses, organizations, and anyone else planning an event to consider having it on the weekend of the First Saturday of each month.
“This campaign will leverage the community’s collective reach to attract more people to come to Clarendon,” Studio E’s Ashlee Estlack said, “and not only come to Clarendon, but also to encourage them to ‘stay a little longer’ than just an hour or two.”
The campaign endorsed by the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce and the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation. The Chamber board in April agreed to consider holding future events and promotions on the first Saturday weekends, and the CEDC board also agreed in April to include “First Saturday Clarendon, Texas” in its current regional marketing and to highlight First Saturday events on the ClarendonTX.com website.
“People come to town for the Trade Days,” Estlack said, “but they want and need more to do for that day to make the trip worthwhile.”
This Saturday, for example, people can enjoy the food trucks, live music, and fun of the Whistle-Stop and also check out 25 Trash To Treasures garage sales, enjoy time at the Clarendon Aquatic Center, and spend some quality movie time in Cinema City at either the Mulkey Theatre or the Sandell Drive-In.
July’s “First Saturday Clarendon, Texas” will feature the annual Saints’ Roost Celebration in addition to the Whistle-Stop, the aquatic center, and movies.
First Saturday events are being sought for August and September to go along with trade days. First Saturday in October will see the return of the Lions Clubs members from across the Panhandle as they bring their fall cabinet meeting back to the Mulkey Theatre.
If you know of something happening on the first weekend of each month, it can easily be added to the promotion mix by calling or texting 806-662-4687, emailing ashlee.estlack@gmail.com, visiting the “First Saturday, Clarendon Texas” Facebook page, or by filling out the contact form at ClarendonTX.com/FirstSaturday.
First customers
Clarendon Aquatic Center opens
CHS alumna graduates 73 years later
For most Clarendon High School graduates, commencement in Bronco Stadium on May 21 was the culmination of about 13 years of work and the steppingstone to their futures. But for one graduate, it was more meaningful, and the wait had been much longer… 78 years, in fact.
Jeane Spencer Bartlett’s family moved to Clarendon when she was just a young girl. She and her twin sister, Imogene, had started school back home in Pittsburg, Texas, but their father’s work as a highway construction superintendent drew them to the Panhandle. The girls and their siblings settled in, attended Clarendon public schools, and made friends as they advanced through the grades. Then just days before graduation in 1943, the unthinkable happened.
“Daddy got an assignment for job in Okmulgee, Okla., that took him there in April,” Bartlett said. “When we moved, Daddy promised us that we could come back to Clarendon for graduation. But when the time came, he said, ‘No, you can’t go.’ We sat in the stadium in Okmulgee and watched those kids get their diplomas, but we hadn’t gone to school there long enough to graduate with them. I got my diploma from Clarendon by mail a few weeks later.”
The broken promise bothered her a lot at the time; and, as the years went by, she would sometimes face the regret that she never got to have that experience in a cap and gown with her friends.
The Oklahoma job only lasted a short while, and the Spencer family returned to Clarendon, the place that Jeane would always refer to as her hometown as she lived out an impressive professional career.
In 1945, she took a job in the classified department of the Amarillo Globe-News. Five years later, she became the secretary to the publisher and held that job for 25 years before being promoted to lead the Globe-News’ human resources department and putting in another 25 years there. For 30 years, Bartlett led the Globe-News’ spelling bee contest. Her work made her a legend in Panhandle journalism circles; and after her retirement in 2001, she was inducted into the Panhandle Press Association’s Hall of Fame in 2004.
“I didn’t look at as something big,” she said. “It was just a job I loved.”
Bartlett had entered the workforce with no intention of ever getting married. She felt like it just wasn’t something for her. But a few years after starting at the newspaper, a young man in the paper’s production department started pursuing the young Jeane Spencer. In 1959, she and Harry Bartlett were married and would remain inseparable for nearly 62 years.
In recent years, the couple moved into a retirement center. As Harry’s health failed, he was moved from their apartment to a room of his own, and Jeane would go stay with him during the day. Last year, in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, she made the choice to give up her apartment in order to have a room next to Harry’s, so that she could continue their daily companionship. And there she would stay, isolated from her family, as Harry slowly slipped from the bonds of earthly life, passing away in March.
Now 94 years old, she reflects on a long, full life, but recently the pain of that lost graduation nagged at her, and she told the story again to her niece. Together, the family decided to do something for their Aunt Jeane, and they contacted Clarendon School Superintendent Jarod Bellar. He and CHS Principal Larry Jeffers agreed to honor Bartlett and her late sister along with the Class of 2021.
It was all a big surprise for Bartlett, who thought she was just coming to Clarendon to impart some family history.
“These kids told me they wanted to see where our family lived,” she said. “We went and saw the house and different places. They told me at the restaurant about graduation that night.”
The family presented Jeane with a corsage with her sister’s name on it and had arranged for her to have a cap and gown to wear. Then they went to Bronco Stadium.
Students stood on either side of Bartlett’s walker as she moved across the grass and helped her to the stage, where she was recognized as a graduate, and presented with a bouquet from the Class of 2021.
“They were the sweetest kids,” she said. “They were so nice to me. I felt so honored. For a 94-year-old to wear a cap and gown, what an honor!”
Jeffers recognized Jeane and her late sister and then drew cheers from the crowd by stating, “We truly believe, ‘Once a Broncho, always a Bronco!”
With the sun setting beautifully in the west, the crowd applauded as Bartlett waved and blew kisses.
A week later, Bartlett still got misty-eyed as she recalled her long awaited high school graduation.
“Clarendon was always important to me,” she said. “It was such a nice town and still is. This is really an honor, and I am just so grateful for what they did for me.”
Weekend accidents keep responders busy
Donley County emergency personnel were kept busy with multiple accidents this past weekend, beginning Friday morning with an accident between Hedley and Lelia Lake on US 287.
DPS Trooper Lynn Mays said a man driving with a group of motorcyclists was on his way to Amarillo when he went into the median and rolled his bike. The man was fortunate to have only suffered a broken leg, Mays said.
Later that day, a pickup traveling eastbound on US 287 in Lelia Lake drifted into the curb then went across the center line into oncoming traffic and was hit by a westbound semi-truck. Mays said no injuries were sustained in that accident.
Mays said another accident on Saturday in Hedley was a single vehicle rollover involving a car with three people. The driver, who had an open container, had to be transported to the hospital. Sunday evening, Mays said another accident occurred at Greenbelt Lake when a car rolled over on the road to Kincaid Park in a case of Driving While Intoxicated. There were no injuries in that case, Mays said.
Zero COVID cases reported since 4-23
COVID-19 continues to be held at bay in Donley County as vaccination rates rise, according to the Clarendon Family Medical Center.
Clinic spokesperson Marsha Bruce said Tuesday the clinic has not had a positive case of the virus since April 23.
The clinic gave 27 COVID-19 tests durign the month of May, Bruce reported.
Total tests given for the disease now number 1,448 at the clinic with 1,082 negatives. Positive tests since the beginning of the pandemic at the clinic number 366; and when combined with tests given elsewhere total 409.
Thirteen Donley County residents have died from the COVID-19 virus.
Bruce said 65 percent of people over the age of 65 have had one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine and 54 percent are fully vaccinated.
The Texas Tribune reports that overall 24 percent of Donley County residents are fully vaccinated as of May 30.
Reader Comments