Roger Estlack

The Clarendon Chamber of Commerce recognized Ted Shaller with the 2024 Saints’ Roost Award for his lifetime of service and commitment to the community during the annual Chamber Awards Banquet last Thursday, February 29.

Man of the Year honors went to Steve Reynolds, and Machiel Covey was named the Woman of the Year.

The Donley County State Bank was named the Business of the Year, and the Bread of Life Ministry was named the Volunteer Organization of the Year.

The Saints’ Roost Award is the highest honor given annually by the Chamber to recognize a lifetime of volunteering and community service.

Shaller was recognized for his long history of working to help people in need. He has served on the Donley County AgriLife Extension Advisory Board and on the Appraisal Board. More than 20 years ago, he established what later became known as the Christ’s Kids Outreach Ministry, one of the great charities of our community. As a member of the Lions Club, he has worked tirelessly to raise funds for special projects and recently helped increase donations to a community blood drive by a factor of five by getting out and promoting the event. You’ll find him everyday, quietly performing mission and other volunteer work, always seeking to serve and never giving himself any recognition.

The Man of the Year for 2023 was Steve Reynolds also has a long history of serving others. As a member of the United Christians Breakfast, he was one of the men who could be depended upon to cook for others at that ministry. For more than ten years, he has worked with the Bread of Life Ministry, sorting food and preparing boxes during the distribution days, and then afterward he delivers food to about 20 shut-in households. He’s a man with a heart for serving others, and he always has a smile.

Machiel Covey was named Woman of the Year for working for working with the VFW and her many hours of service to the community. She spent about eight years volunteering with the VFW, serving as its secretary for five years and helping with all fundraisers. She supports community events, decorates chamber banquet tables, helps with the chuckwagon cookoff, participates in Independence Day festivals. She helped oversee the placements of flags at Citizens Cemetery and on the Courthouse lawn for Memorial Day and Veterans Day. As a member of the Clarendon Lions Club, she has continued to help with the flag service and has become active in the Texas Ramp Project and chairs the local ramp building team. She is also active with the Friends of the Library. As city secretary for 14 years, she helps keep our city running smoothly and is a member of the Team Municipal Clerks Association. Through it all, she holds the welfare of the people of Clarendon close to heart.

The Chamber of Commerce named the Donley County State Bank as its Business of the Year. Serving the community since 1906, the bank has been led by the Knorpp family. Wesley Knorpp started as a cashier in 1906 and later became president in 1920 and held that position until 1949. He had faith in his fellow man and received enjoyment in watching and helping others to prosper. W. Carroll Knorpp became president in 1960 and had worked at the bank from 1928 until he retired in 1995. Like his father, he was praised for his generosity, a man whose word was his bond, and for his warm heart wrapped by a gruff voice. Following Carroll and Wesley’s footsteps, Walt Knorpp, Todd Knorpp, and their family have continued the tradition of a local bank that believes in our community and its citizens and takes pride in all the things that make Clarendon great.

The Volunteer Organization of the Year was the Bread of Life Ministry, which started in 2011 as food pantry at the Methodist Church, serving about 30 families per month, and it has grown to a community-wide, faith-based ministry that serves more than 150 families and almost 500 people every month. It was founded by Katherine Monroe, but many people have followed in her footsteps with more than 20 regular volunteers who take time out of their day once a month to organize and distribute food to our neighbors. Other organizations in the community join to help, but the dedicated members of this organization make sure that people have the food they need to be secure.

The Chamber also recognized outstanding youth from Clarendon and Hedley.

Cutter Seay was named the Young Man of the Year from Clarendon. He is active in UIL Academics, participating in Congress Debate, Informative Extemporaneous Speaking, Social Studies, Number Sense, and Film; and he is member of the Golf team and an officer in the Student Council, NHS, FFA, and the Babble-on Historic Society. He serves on committees at the Donley County Senior Citizens Center, is part of the Junior Museum Program at the Saints’ Roost Museum, and does community work at the historic S.W. Lowe House. He’s a writer with published works in a book and several newspapers. He is taking several dual credit classes with Clarendon College and has earned several Honor C’s. He plans on attending university to achieve a degree in architecture with a minor in history.

Courtlyn Conkin was named the Young Woman of the Year from Clarendon. She has been a member of Student Council for 4 years and is president during her senior year. She has been a member and president of FCCLA for two years, and she is an NHS member and a Student Liaison for Shattered Dreams. She’s been active in basketball, tennis, and cross country for four years and has been a football trainer and baseball manager. She volunteers with Snack Pack 4 Kids and the food bank. She earned an Honor C in family consumer science her sophomore year, was top student in interpersonal communications her junior year, and is in the top five in her class. She’s earned 33 hours of dual credit from Clarendon College. She has been All district basketball for three years, Offensive MVP her junior year, and Academic all-district for four years. She was the Team MVP for two years in tennis, Class officer for four years, and homecoming candidate two years. She plans on attending Clarendon College to get her associate’s degree and then attend Texas Tech University to get a degree in Kinesiology to become a Physical Education Specialist.

Liam Branigan was named the Young Man of the Year from Hedley. He has participated in football, track, One Act Play, FFA, and UIL Mathematics. He is a member of the Hedley National Honor Society as well as the collegiate honor society. He has participated and set several state records in the United States Powerlifting Association in the 13–18-year-old division. He plans to attend West Texas A&M University and study engineering next fall.

Flor Silvestre was named the Young Woman of the Year from Hedley. She is a member of the Hedley Lady Owls basketball team. She was crowned as the 2023 Hedley High School Homecoming Queen. She enjoys reading, sleeping, listening to music, and hanging out with friends and family.

This year’s Chamber banquet followed a 1970s “Peace Love Local” theme with many in attendance dressing the part and was catered by Great Western Dining. Approximately 185 people attended the event, which was held in the Bairfield Activity Center.

Entertainment for the evening was provided by the band “Geezers Gone Wild” of Amarillo and Borger.

Tables were sponsored by the City of Clarendon, City of Howardwick, Clarendon College, The Clarendon Enterprise, Diamond K Horses, Donley County State Bank, Donley County Senior Citizens, Herring Bank, Pilgrim Bank, Saints’ Roost Museum, and Shelton & Shelton Law Offices.
Chamber President Ashlee Estlack named the Donley County Senior Citizens as having the Best Dressed Table during the banquet.
Estlack noted that for more than 100 years, the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce has strived to improve the economy and living standards in our community.
“Although our organization was founded many years before, this July will mark the 100th anniversary of us chartering as a non-profit organization with the State of Texas,” she said.
This year’s corporate sponsors were Best Western Red River Inn; Budweiser; The Clarendon Enterprise; Country Bloomers Flowers & Gifts; Greenbelt Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Greenbelt Water Authority; Liberty Electric, Plumbing, Construction & Heating & Air; REFZ Sports Bar & Grill; and Robertson Funeral Directors.

Hundreds of structures and homes, two lives, and thousands of head of livestock were destroyed last week by wildfires fed by dry conditions and high winds across several counties in the northeastern Panhandle.

Last Tuesday, smoke filled the air in Donley County, and that evening about 1,000 or more people evacuated from Pampa to Clarendon as the fires threatened that city.

Several local buildings and churches here were opened to allow those in need to take refuge here, and local volunteer firemen also provided mutual aid in fighting area fires.

The Smokehouse Creek Fire, which started in Hutchinson County, burned a total of 1,075,000 acres and has been declared as the largest in Texas history. And it was only one of multiple fires that threatened homes and livelihoods in the past week.