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The Clarendon Enterprise - Spreading the word since 1878.
By Sandy Anderberg
The young Bronco team ended a tough pre-District season at home last Friday night against the Lockney Longhorns and despite playing strong, were narrowly defeated 20-29.
Lockney was able to get on the board first with a long touchdown pass early in the game, but the Broncos fought back to take the lead at the end of the quarter when senior Mason Sims hit Colton Caudle down the middle for six. Grant Haynes ran in the two-point conversion.
Lockney opened the second twelve minutes with the ball, but the Bronco defense stayed strong in the red zone and kept them out of the endzone. A field goal attempt by the Longhorns was partially blocked by the Broncos to get back on offense. They struggled to get anything done and offensively and Lockney was able to find the endzone before half time to go to the locker room with only a 14-8 lead in the game.
Two more Longhorn touchdowns put the Broncos behind 15 points, but they were able to cover that spread in the final ten minutes of the game when Sims found the endzone twice to get within nine points.
The Broncos were plagued with penalties and turnovers in the game, which stifled their momentum in several offensive series. Injuries to at least two players late in the game worked against them.
The Broncos will have an open night on October fourth and begin District play at Wellington on October 11 at 7:00 p.m.
The Clarendon City Council voted to discontinue any further exploration of developing an independent municipal water supply during a called meeting last Thursday, September 26.
The city had spent several months looking into the possibility of creating its own water supply separate from the Greenbelt Water Authority, including having an engineering firm study the availability of groundwater in the city and negotiating a limited escape clause in its agreement with Greenbelt to allow Clarendon to breakaway from the five-city system it has be a part of since the 1960s.
City officials also consulted with a financial advisor about the idea and explored funding from USDA.
During Thursday’s meeting, City Administrator Brian Barboza said after reviewing the advice of the financial advisor and considering the city’s trouble with staffing, he did not recommend pursuing the project.
“My gut feeling is to not go this route because we’re good where we are with Greenbelt Water Authority,” Barboza said.
Alderman Ashlee Estlack said she had concerns about the financial impact of adding more salaries or higher salaries to the city budget to run a water supply.
“I don’t feel we’re in a position to take this on,” Estlack said. “This would be a 40-year debt. I’d rather be in partners with other cities.”
Estimates were that it would cost about $5 million to develop a water system, and that figure would become $8 million with interest over time. The city would trade off payments to Greenbelt for payments on debt to become independent, but officials did not believe there would be savings to justify the added burden.
Mayor Jacob Fangman said he did not see any savings in moving forward, and council members also worried that projected budgets were not accurately showing the added costs that would come with running a water system.
Alderman Mandy Smith also felt like the council should focus its energy on improving infrastructure in the city.
Alderman Eulaine McIntosh said she felt that continuing in the future it would be better to cooperate with neighboring cities for water although she had some misgivings about the original Greenbelt contract.
Greenbelt General Manager addressed some of McIntosh’s concerns, and Clarendon’s Greenbelt board representative, Cameron Word, also said he believes the Greenbelt system truly works for the betterment of all its member cities, which includes Clarendon, Hedley, Childress, Quanah, and Crowell.
Kidd said Greenbelt also has a payroll of about $600,000 and all but one of its employees lives in Clarendon. The other person lives at the lake.
While the Greenbelt Reservoir is suffering from drought and low water levels, Kidd said the lake had a 40-year lifespan. The water authority is also developing new groundwater sources with $18 million in funding from the Texas Water Development Board.
Estlack also reminded the council of what the Greenbelt system has done for Clarendon.
“We reap benefits that other member cities don’t,” she said. “We have the employees and the economic impact that has come from people going to the lake.”
Aldermen Tommy Hill and Terri Floyd also agreed with comments the other council members had made before the council voted unanimously to stop pursuing an independent water system.
In other city business, the council approved the budgets of the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation and the hotel tax fund budget of the Clarendon Chamber of Commerce, with Estlack abstaining on each vote. The council also voted to change the deductible on the city’s insurance from $250 to $1,000 to save on the premium cost.
The Crosstimber Ranch wagon team from Mustang, Okla., claimed the championship of the Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff last Saturday, September 28, beating out 12 other teams.
Competing in the Saints’ Roost Museum’s 30th annual cookoff, Crosstimber was first in Overall Cooking, second in Best Wagon & Camp, and placed in four out of five food categories to win the title of best Overall Wagon & Cooking.
The 17th annual Junior Cookoff the day before the big event drew 11 contestants, who were paired with experienced wagon teams to prepare dessert for the cooks’ dinner Friday night.
First place was Matthew Newhouse cooking with DT Wagon, second was Connor Askew cooking with the J-D Wagon, and third was Brindle Ross cooking with the Break-Away Wagon. All the winning youth were from Clarendon.
Other junior participants were aleb Askew from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Rafter Z Wagon, Kassie Askew from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Slim Pickins, Stetson Duncan from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Wild Cow Ranch, Monroe Newhouse from Clarendon, Texas cooking with L-C Wagon, Margot Richter from Borger, Texas cooking with Cocklebur Camp, Braxton Ross from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Double Nichols, J.T. Shelton from Clarendon, Texas cooking with Honey Do Spoiler, and Elika Wilson from Clarendon, Texas cooking with D bar B Wagon.
The Junior Cookoff is sponsored each year by the American Chuckwagon Association.
The trade show was held throughout the day Saturday, and live entertainment was provided. The museum also held an open house for its new Wheels of History building.
Competing wagons served a menu of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, beans, and cobbler. Wagons came from as far as Tennessee and Colorado to attend this year’s cookoff.
Prizes totaling $3,250 were paid out to the winners. Complete results were:
Overall Wagon & Cooking: 1) Crosstimber Ranch.
Overall Cooking: 1) Crosstimber, 2) Break-Away Wagon of Stamford., 3) Wild Cow Ranch of Fritch, and 4) Texas Back Then Wagon of Vernon.
Best Wagon & Camp: 1) DT Wagon of Watertown, South Dakota, 2) Crosstimber, 3) J Bar D Ranch of Amarillo, and 4) Break-Away.
Best Meat: 1) Double Nichols of Amarillo, 2) Wild Cow, 3) Crosstimer, and 4) Texas Back Then.
Best Beans: 1) Cocklebur Camp of Odessa, 2) Crosstimber, 3) Rafter Z of Stephenville, and 4) Wild Cow.
Best Potatoes: 1) L-C Chuckwagon of Chattanooga, Okla., 2) Wild Cow, 3) Texas Back Then, and 4) Break-Away.
Best Bread: 1) Honey Do Spoiler of Pampa, 2) Texas Back Then, 3) Crosstimber, and 4) Break-Away.
Best Dessert: 1) Crosstimber, 2) Break-Away, 3) Wild Cow, and 4) Slim Pickins of Sanger.
The cookoff fed 650 ticket-holders plus more than 60 wagon team members.
Artist Malcolm Byers put the finishing touches on the Clarendon ranch heritage mural last Friday, marking the completion of a labor of love that began in June.
The project on the south wall of the REFZ Sports Bar & Grill building at the intersection of US 287 and Kearney has already generated positive comments from hundreds of locals and travelers alike. The art is 70 feet long and 22 feet tall and includes the images of pioneer ranchers John and Cornelia Adair, Alfred Rowe, and Col. Charles Goodnight along with a chuckwagon camp scene that symbolizes the cowboys who worked on ranches throughout history as well as the European influence that helped back some of the biggest ranches in Donley County.
Byers, who grew up on a ranch near Bushland, says he spent about 300 hours on the project which was done all with spray paint and consists of about 60 colors.
“I can’t stress enough how welcoming everyone was with me,” Byers said. “People who grew up on the JA Ranch were giving me facts about the ranch. Ferrol [Shelton] shared pictures of Afred Rowe, and others just stopped to talk.”
Byers thanked local artist Jack Craft for giving him a placed to stay as he wrapped up the project, and the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation board which commissioned the project and spent about a year developing the design with the artist.
“I appreciate y’all’s patience so much,” he said of the CEDC board. “It is rare to have clients who will give you the time and space I had.”
Byers has completed dozens of murals in places like Amarillo, Austin, Dallas, and Claude and as far away as Nashville and Indiana, but none have had the level of detail the Clarendon mural has.
“I think this the most ambitious project I’ve done,” he said. “I spent so much time on it because of the visibility it was going to have.”
The 2024 Hedley Cotton Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, October 11 and 12, with food, music, and fun for the whole family.
A chili supper at the Hedley Senior Citizens will kick things off Friday at 5 p.m. followed by music with Johnny Woodard in the Hedley Lions Den starting at 7:00.
Saturday’s activities start with all-day bingo starting at 9:00 at the senior citizens. A corn hole tournament will start at 10:00, the kiddie parade will be at 11 a.m. on Main Street followed by the big parade at 2:00 p.m.
Hedley ex-students will reunite at the school at 3:00, and drawings for several fundraisers will be held at 6:00 p.m.
Small nonfarm businesses in Donley and Hall counties along with 27 other Texas counties and neighboring counties in Oklahoma are now eligible to apply for low‑interest federal disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration
These loans offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by drought in the following primary counties that began Sept. 17. The deadline to apply for economic injury is May 23, 2025.
Small nonfarm businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred.
For information call (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
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