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The Bronco football team has been preparing for the upcoming season since two-a-days began two weeks ago.
They put their skills to the test at Nazareth and walked away with good results from their effort.

According to head coach Gary Jack, the Broncos did a good job in the scrimmage and they gained a lot of insight as to what they still need to work on.

“We did a good job against Nazareth,” Jack said. “Our first team guys dominated on the field, and we scored six or seven times to none for them. We saw a lot of what we needed to see that gives us things to work on.”

Jack said their numbers are down from last year and will not be able to support a junior varsity squad.

“We have a small freshman class coming in, and the sophomore class is fairly small, too,” Jack said. “We have a couple of players injured, and that hurts us. We don’t have the depth we had last year.”

But Jack is quick to say that the guys are working hard and is optimistic about the season.

“We’re doing well,” Jack said. “We just need to stay away from the injury bug.”

The Broncos will have one more scrimmage before the regular season begins.

They will take on West Texas High at Bronco Stadium on Thursday, August 18, at 5:00 p.m. The Broncos’ first game of the season will be August 26 at New Deal at 7:30 p.m.

A young Ethiopian girl of about four years old climbs onto the lap of Laura Wilson. Her small feet are bare, and her nose needs wiping. She lacks the attention of a caring, attentive mother. Reaching up with cold fingers, she touches Laura’s face and begins to giggle.

Her giddiness, despite the hardships in her life, makes her an inspiration.

“She was so happy, and that’s something you cannot teach a child her age,” Laura said. “That’s how all the children were. They were so happy and had nothing but precious smiles.”

Moments such as this one occurred frequently on the Community Fellowship Church’s mission trip to Ethiopia on July 7-21. Team members included Ronny, Laura and Lauren Wilson, Brandon and Jill Frausto, Michael and Emily Keough, Jaclyn and Linda Benson. All eight agree that the trip changed their lives.

“God called us to serve these people for a special reason,” Ronny said. “This was a group of people that we have to take under our wing and help. They have so little, and our little helps them so much. You can’t imagine the blessings that were showered upon us.”

Before attending the trip, the team fasted in order to prepare themselves mentally and physically for their upcoming adventure.

“We chose to do a Daniel fast, which only allowed us to eat fruits and vegetables with no sugar, meat, dairy, or anything processed for 40 days,” Jill said.

During their stay, they served mostly at orphanages and schools, reaching out to people of all ages.

“We brought suitcases and supplies with clothes, school supplies, money, and toys,” Jill said. “We went and fed the street people, visited the Sisters of Charity with over 800 mentally ill, orphans, young girls who had babies or sick people. They slept everywhere, with two or three to a bed. It was absolutely crazy. We talked to the kids, did crafts with them, taught them songs, did plays, and mainly just loved on them.”

The team will go down in history for their selfless service. Literally.

“The Gafat people were so blessed by us coming that they believe that we are the answer to 700 years of praying and actually wrote us down in their history,” Emily said. “It’s really humbling.”

The team members were also served by those they were serving. Each of them have a positive testimony of their time with the Ethiopians.

“The one village that had nothing asked us for nothing,” Jill said. “They wanted to bless us and give us everything. The Ethiopians have absolutely nothing, and they’re happy. They know that their duty is to serve God, and that’s all they have to live for. They don’t live for things. Here in America we take everything for granted. We can have everything and still not be happy. They would give you anything just for speaking to them.”

Brandon and Jill will continue to financially support one woman who touched their lives.

“At one point we were swarmed by little kids trying to sell us little chips,” Jill said. “A little angel dressed in red came up and saved us. Her name is Ester, and she is an amazing woman of God. She spoke English but not that well. She ended up staying with us throughout our orientation meeting and as the night went on, she told through an interpreter that it was late and she needed to go but she just couldn’t leave.

She just felt that God was there with us, and she wanted to stay the night with us, so she did. She wants to become a missionary and Brandon, and I want to help her out with that.”

Michael and Emily said they are blown away by the poverty in Ethiopia, and are currently sponsoring a child there.

“She is a beautiful little girl,” Michael said. “We gave her a doll that opens and shuts its eyes, and you would’ve thought we gave her gold the way she was with it. It broke our hearts to see this poverty, and we know that we can help.”

Brandon and Jill said that they will continue to serve in third world countries and touch others’ lives, as well as their own. To help support the missionary work, contact the Community Fellowship Church at 874-0963.

“We have a hope for the Ethiopians, that they can be able to live and not stress about all the things they have to worry about, like where their next meal is coming from,” Jill said. “There is still a lot of work to be done. This has changed our lives, and we will continue to take a stand and help out so we can make a difference in their lives.”

It’s 2 a.m. when the peaceful silence in a local home is broken by the sound of an emergency pager going off. A man pulls himself from his slumber and quickly heads off to help someone he may not even know, while his wife remains behind to wonder what danger might await him.

This is the life of a volunteer fireman and his family – answering calls for help at all hours and facing unknown peril in the process. But they do it week in and week out as a way to serve their community and lend a hand to their fellow man.

They ask for nothing in return, but this month the community has an opportunity to express its appreciation to the members of the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department at a fundraising dinner on August 27. The event, being organized by the Clarendon Firebelles, follows a February incident in which four firemen were very nearly injured while working an accident and one fire truck was totaled by a careless motorist.

Felicia Powell said she and other Firebelles are organizing the benefit dinner to recognize the firemen’s contributions to the community and to help raise funds for much needed equipment. For Felicia, supporting the fire department is nothing new. Her husband, Jeremy, has been a Clarendon fireman for 16 years.

“I’m very proud of him, and it’s something he loves,” Powell said. “I want people to realize that it is so important what our volunteer firemen do. They put their lives on the line every day for Clarendon and Donley County, and they are really just a bunch of great guys.”

Felicia’s role, like those of other firemen’s wives, is not an easy one, and she admits to worrying when the emergency calls come in, especially late at night.
“I wonder if he’s going to be okay, and I toss and turn worrying after he leaves,” she said. “I just make sure I wake up and tell him I love him and to be careful because I don’t want to not have said that in case he doesn’t come home.”

For his part, Jeremy Powell says he and his fellow firemen are on the fire department because it has to be done.

“We do it to fill a need for the community,” he said. “We do get something out of it… the satisfaction of a job well done. That’s something I enjoy and will continue to do as long as I can tell I’m making a difference.”

Jeremy, who is the First Assistant Chief of the Clarendon department, said many people have a misconception that volunteer firemen are there for a joyride or a thrill.

“Most of the stuff we do isn’t fun at all,” Jeremy
said. “When it’s 115° and you have to go battle a wildfire, that’s not fun. When you have to go out in the freezing cold, that’s not fun. When you have to wake up at 2 a.m. and then go to work all day, that’s not much fun.”

And then there is all the work that must be done outside of responding to calls. Jeremy said he tells all prospective volunteers that for every one hour they are responding to a call, there is two hours of work to be done at the fire station.

“We have guys who spend a lot of time on their own doing maintenance on the trucks, for example,” he said. “We try to do all the maintenance that is possible ourselves, so we don’t have to pay someone else to do it.”

And, of course, there is the danger that comes with the job. Responding to fires presents obvious hazards, but firemen also have to watch out not to get run over when responding to an accident. Which is what nearly happened in February.

The department responded to a two-vehicle accident west of Clarendon, and Powell and others were busy helping extricate the driver of a mini-van. Eastbound traffic on US 287 was reduced to one lane, and that lane had been stopped completely to get a wrecker into the scene of the accident.

Then an elderly driver came barreling down the closed lane, narrowly missing firemen Michael Newhouse, Jackie Bell, Chris Wilson, and Chuck Robertson all of whom managed to get out of the way before the man crashed into a 1998 model quick attack fire truck.

“We set that truck there for that purpose,” Jeremy said. “We try to set something like that up for that very reason – so that someone runs into a truck instead of running into where we are working. There is a lot of traffic on 287; and if you try to shut it down, it can be pretty hairy quickly.”

Because it was well cared for the truck probably would have lasted the department another 20 years, Jeremy said. But the accident totaled the vehicle, and it was not insured for replacement cost. Insurance paid about $20,000, but a new truck is likely to cost between $75,000 and $80,000.

A portion of the funds raised at the benefit dinner will go toward replacing the damaged truck, and other funds will go to help meet other expenses.

Jeremy said the city and county together provide more than $40,000 in funding for the department, but that is not enough to pay for everything. Fortunately, the department usually receives between $15,000 and $20,000 a year in donations. But this year has been harder than most.

“Last year was slow, but this year we’ve spent a lot,” he said. “The cost of diesel hurts us, too.”

Jeremy said the department is very grateful for the Firebelles and their efforts.

“They assist us when we’re on a call, they bring us food and water, and they work with EMS to help get us cooled off during these wildfires on hot days,” Jeremy said. “They do a good job, and we are grateful to them.”

The firemen’s benefit dinner will be held on August 27 at 6 p.m. in the Donley County Activity Center. The brisket dinner will be $20 per plate, and tickets must be purchased in advance by August 13. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

To purchase tickets or make a donation, stop by The Clarendon Enterprise or call a Firebelle at 806-477-2621, 806-220-8321, 806-663-1465, or 806-683-6311.