Roger Estlack

There will be a meeting on Thursday, July 13, 2000, at JAMZ at 6:00 p.m. for any Ex-Bronchos or Ex-Broncos interested in helping to finalize plans for an all school reunion that will be held in September on the weekend of Homecoming.

There are many classes from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s that will be participating in all phases of that weekend.

We would also like to get the information to anyone who graduated from Clarendon High School in the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 90s.

So if you think your class would be interested and you would like a copy of the letter, please try to be at the meeting.

Cool weather and light rain greeted attendees to the 122nd annual Saints’ Roost Celebration last Saturday on the Courthouse Square.

All day a cool breeze kept visitors comfortable, and the occasional sprinkles did nothing to inhibit the festivities. It was the first time in recent memory that any moisture had fallen on the morning event. The official high for the day was 86° F.

The day started off with the Craft Fair and Old Settlers Reunion. Floyd Crawford was named the oldest person in attendance at 98 years of age, and Stina Cain was awarded the certificate for having traveled the greatest distance to be at the celebration. He came from New Jersey.

Approximately 1,000 people enjoyed barbecue served by the Shriners. That number was down slightly from last year’s total.

The Clarendon Lions Club held Cow Patty Bingo prior to the parade. Vic Jeter and Jimmy Johnson had their lucky squares pooped on.

The Western Parade was held shortly after 2 p.m. The parade boasted 69 entries this year, 12 more than last year, and was sponsored by Community Bank and the Herring National Bank.

The Clarendon High School Junior Historians had the first place float with their depiction of “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” Second place went to the Donley County Horse Club.

Boys Ranch was named the top riding unit in the parade, and the Donley County Horse Club was second in that division also.

The best antique car was owned by Wondell Luttrell with second place going to the Community Bank.

The best general entry was the Clarendon Vet Clinic, and Kim Fowler was second.

Sunday’s festivities started early with Cowboy Church being held at the rodeo arena at 7 a.m. Rodeo slack roping was held most of the day at the arena.

The Saints’ Roost Museum held their annual Open House and free Sloppy Joe Supper on Sunday afternoon. Approximately 150 people attended.

Prior to the supper, the museum board honored the late James Owens in a small ceremony for his family and friends. W.H. Skelton presented a short narrative of Owens’ contributions to the museum and the community. A plaque will be hung in the foyer of the museum in Owens’ memory.

The celebration continued Mon-day morning with Merchants Western Days downtown with games and concessions east of the Post Office. W.H. Skelton told stories at the Burton Library on Monday afternoon about growing up in Clarendon in the 1920s and 1930s.

Monday evening, the museum board hosted bingo at the Lions Hall, and a street dance was held in front of the Courthouse with Clarendon’s KEFH-FM radio station and disc jockey Pat Robertson providing the dance music.

The street dance was very successfull with an estimated crowd of 500 to 600 people at its peak. It was only scheduled to last until 1 a.m. Tuesday, but people were reportedly still dancing at 2 a.m. Several comments were heard that the community should hold dances like this every month during the summer.

Also Monday night was the time for the long-awaited truck give-away by the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce. Bob Hoggard of Suisun City, Calif., was announced as the winner of a new pickup from Chamberlain Motor Co. during that night’s rodeo.

Tuesday, July 4, was the final day of the celebration. Those events, including the winners of the turtle race and the bicycle parade, will be reported in next week’s issue.

The Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association held the annual rodeo June 30 and July 1 and 3. Results of the rodeo will also appear next week.

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen met in regular session June 27, 2000, at 7 p.m.

The issue of the municipal airport was taken up again. The city has been trying to reach an agreement with hanger owners regarding the lease of space at the airport.

At the previous city meeting, several current and former pilots and hanger owners had said they felt as though the city was asking them to shoulder the entire operating cost of the airport.

Last week, Alderman B.J. Land said he recognized the importance of the airport to the city but recalled that a bond election to build the airport had failed in the 1960s.

“I’m reluctant to spend taxpayer dollars on it when they voted it down,” Land said.

Alderman Bobbie Kidd responded by saying, “That was 30 years ago. You’ve got a whole new set of voters now.”

Kidd said the city has been spending tax dollars on the airport for 30 years and compared not doing so to charging for the use of the City Park.

“You might as well put a quarter slot on the swing set,” Kidd said.

The board approved a motion to look up the history of the subject for review and discussion with the renters and to place the matter on the next agenda. The motion carried.

In other city business, the board voted to remove Alderman Kent Womack from office.

City regulations allow for an alderman who misses three meetings to be removed from the board. Womack had not attended a meeting since March 28, 2000.

The board approved a motion by Land, seconded by Alderman Mac Stavenhagen, to appoint Michael Tibbets to fill the remainder of Womack’s term, which will expire next May.

The Mason and Hanger agreement was discussed, and the board voted to stay with the original agreement. Mason and Hanger has a lightning detector at the city airport.

The utility ordinance was discussed and adopted. The ordinance sets the current fees for water, sewer, and sanitation charges. No changes were made to the schedule of fees.

Librarian Carolyn Blackerby reported on the technology grant that was awarded to Clarendon ISD. The library will be getting some new equipment under the school’s grant.

“I’d like to commend the participants of the grant writing team for the hours they put in and the work they did for the benefit of  the community,” said Mayor Tex Selvidge.

Engineering firm proposals were reviewed for the application for the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs program. The board selected McKae Engineering to do the work.

Bob Hoggard is glad that he stopped by to say “hello” when the Chamber of Commerce held its roadside refreshment stand during Memorial Day weekend.

Thanks to that stop, he won a new pickup truck from Chamberlain Motor Company in a drawing held at the Clarendon rodeo Monday, July 3.

Chamber Executive Director Judy Burlin persuaded Hoggard to buy a $20 chance on the truck, but he said he never thought he would win.

“I just thought it was a waste of money, but that it was probably for a good cause,” Hoggard said via telephone Monday night.

Hoggard grew up in Hedley and lived and worked in Donley County for most of his life. He now works for a power company in Suisun City, Calif.

Chamber President Alan Graham says 1,103 tickets were sold for the truck give-away, and he expressed the chamber’s appreciation for the community’s support of the fundraiser.

WASHINGTON, DC – US Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) voted last week for a prescription drug coverage plan that, he says, will modernize Medicare without forcing seniors to join a one-size-fits-all government bureaucracy.  The measure passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 217-214.

The bill is called The Medicare Rx 2000 Act.  Modeled after the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (which is the health care plan for all federal employees), the bill will give seniors the option of either staying with their current health care plan or choosing a prescription drug plan that better fits their needs. 

Under this plan, seniors who choose prescription drug coverage will receive a prescription drug card that can be used at a local pharmacy, through the mail, or even over the Internet.  Wherever they choose to buy their prescriptions, they will receive a discount.

According to Thornberry, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the plan will reduce seniors’ drug costs by a s much as 25 percent. 

Just as important, he added, it will do this in a way that gives seniors the option to choose the type of health coverage that best suits them, rather than force them into a one-size-fits-all government bureaucracy – which, he pointed out, is what some of the other plans being discussed would do. 

Thornberry is a member of the House Budget Committee.  In this role, he helped write the budget approved earlier this year, which set aside $40 billion for the kind of prescription drug benefit plan that was approved.

In addition to his efforts in this area, Thornberry has also been working with other members of the Rural Health Care Coalition (on which he serves as a member) to provide rural hospitals with relief from the Medicare cutbacks which have occurred over the past few years.

Several new activities have been added to this year’s Saints’ Roost Celebration which will be held June 30 through July 4.

Cowboy Church will be held on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. with special guest Bunk Skelton of Cowboy Ministry in White Face, Texas.  They will have Cowboy Gospel Music for the service.  The church will be held outdoors weather permitting at the rodeo grounds.  In case of inclement weather, the service will be held indoors.

The Clarendon Merchants will hold Western Days on Monday, July 3, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the empty lot east of the Post Office.

Events such as Hat Judging, for ages 12 through adult; Dummy Steer roping, for ages seven and up; Stick Horse Barrel Races, ages two through six; and Stick Horse Bronc Riding, ages two through six will be held throughout the day.  Kids participating in the Stick Horse events are asked to bring their own horses.  Prizes will be awarded to the winners in each event.

There will also be other games, bike decorations, face painting, and concessions.  Willard Skelton will be story telling in the Burton Memorial Library, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

A free street dance will also be held Monday, 8:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. at the Courthouse Square.  The dance is sponsored by the Saints’ Roost Museum, Donley County Extension Service, Donley County Senior Citizen Dance Club, and Clarendon Chamber of Commerce.  Bingo will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Lions Hall sponsored by the Saints’ Roost Museum. 

These new events have been added to the roster of yearly favorites including the Saints’ Roost Celebration Rodeo which will be held on Friday, Saturday, and Monday beginning at 7:30 p.m.; the Fair on the Square, Shriner Barbecue, and Western Parade on Saturday; and the Bicycle Parade, Depression Lunch, and Turtle Race on Tuesday. 

For a time listing of these and other activities held in conjunction with the Saints’ Roost Celebration, please see Qué Pasa

The Clarendon Enterprise brought home the Sweepstakes Award from the Texas Press Association’s 2000 Better Newspaper Contest this past Saturday in Arlington.

This is believed to be the first time a Donley County newspaper has won the top award from the TPA.

“We’ve won four first place plaques in the last two years from the state convention,” said publisher Roger Estlack. “This year we had two first place wins, and we placed in nearly every category that we entered.”

Points are awarded for every first, second, third, and fourth place win to determine which newspaper wins the Sweepstakes Award.

Judges from the Nebraska Press Association awarded first place to the local paper in the General Excellence category, which judges the entire paper as one entry.

“In all the entries in this division, I could not find one that stood out until I came to this last one, the Enterprise,” the judge said. “Your front page attracted attention immediately. It seems to give the readers a package they will look forward to.”

The Enterprise also took first place honors in Page Design with the judge saying, “This paper is a pleasure to read.”

The paper received second place certificates in the categories of News Writing, Photography, Feature Writing, and Advertising.

In regards to the News Writing, the judge said, “I liked that you could give us a story and not need 20 or 30 inches of info. You sorted out pertinent info, gave it to the reader, and got out.”

The paper was also awarded a fourth place certificate for Editorials.

This year 199 newspapers submitted 1,423 entries to the TPA contest. The awards were announced during the 121st annual TPA Summer Convention.

The Enterprise competed in Division 9 for weekly newspapers with circulations of 1,200 or less.

“If the current trend holds, we’ll be competing in a different division next year,” Estlack said. “We’ve seen an increase in circulation over the last six or eight months that will move us into Division 8.”

Division 8 covers newspapers with circulations of 1,201 to 2,000.

Willard Skelton and Ethelyn Grady have been named the 2000 Pioneer Man and Woman of the Year by the Clarendon-Donley County Chamber of Commerce.

Skelton was born here in 1916 and has lived his whole life in Clarendon. He was a traveling salesman for about 30 years.

Grady, age 79, was born northeast of Clarendon. She was a teacher and student counselor at Clarendon ISD for many years before working 13 years as a dispatcher at the Donley County Sheriff’s Office.

Both of these pioneers were featured earlier this year as part of “Donley County Remembers” – a series of senior interviews appearing in The Clarendon Enterprise.

Skelton and Grady will be honored during the Saints’ Roost Celebration this weekend.