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Area residents were on edge as several tornadoes touched down in and around Donley County on April 22, 2010.   This video was captured near Ashtola by the Enterprise storm chase team The Twister Chicks – Anndria Newhouse, Terra Kidd, and Sarah Hatley.  (Video may take a few seconds to load. Refresh this page to replay the video.)

The presidents of Clarendon College and West Texas A&M University signed a new partnership last Wednesday that streamlines the path to a four-year degree and creates many benefits for students at CC.

The “Destination WT” agreement provides greater educational opportunities and services for students transferring between Clarendon and other area colleges and WTAMU.

“Our flagship university in the Panhandle is and always was West Texas,” CC President Bill Auvenshine said during a ceremony at the Bairfield Activity Center. “Most of our transfers go to WT, and our do very well there. It is our pleasure to pledge our support to WT.”

WTAMU says 454 of their current students identify themselves with a connection to Clarendon College. A total of 120 former CC students graduated from WT last year, and 123 are set to graduate this year.

WT President J. Patrick O’Brien said an educated population is the key to economic vitality in the region and said the new partnership will help local students who declare as freshmen their intent to transfer to West Texas A&M.

“This agreement will ease the transfer process,” O’Brien said. “They won’t have to apply for admission, and we will waive the application process and fees.”

Additionally, Clarendon College students who are destined for WT will be allowed to participate in selected WT student activities without cost; and upon transfer, will receive a $1,000 scholarship. If the Clarendon College student is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor fraternity, the scholarship is increased to $1,500.

“It is a win-win situation, and we are tickled to death about it,” O’Brien said.

Students will be encouraged to earn an associate’s degree and/or as many transferable academic credits as possible before transferring to WTAMU. In turn, the partnership agreement will include a reverse transfer process where Clarendon College is able to award associate degrees to former students who earn the required credit at WTAMU.

At the center of “Destination WT” is a Transfer Plan for each student that outlines coursework for both the associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. The Transfer Plan will simplify degree requirements and help students obtain their degrees more quickly.

Academic advising help through coordinated efforts between WTAMU and the student’s respective community college will help ensure progression toward each degree.
O’Brien will sign similar agreements with Frank Phillips College in Borger on May 3 and with Amarillo College on May 6.

The “Destination WT” program is limited to students who have earned less than 25 transferable credit hours and are enrolled at Amarillo College, Clarendon College or Frank Phillips College. However, any student at these institutions may utilize the published Transfer Plans.

For more information about “Destination WT,” call the WTAMU Office of Admissions at 651-2020.

The Lady Broncos did it again with an unblemished District record at a perfect 10-0 and won the District Championship.

Last week the ladies knocked off Follett, Booker, and McLean plus defeating the Alumni to go 23-4 overall and 10-0 in District play.

In the first game of the week, the Lady Broncos smashed Follett in five innings at 20-0. Junior pitcher Danielle Ford and Jency Burton were on the mound, and Ford got the win to increase her record to 18-1 for the year.

Dominique Mason was behind the plate. After scoring nine runs in the first inning, the Broncos added 10 more in the second. They added one more in the fifth to seal the win. Follett was unable to get anything going offensively.

“Caitlyn Christopher hit a grand slam in the game,” head coach Gary Jack said. “She also added a double, two singles, and drove in nine runs. It was a big game for her.”
On Wednesday, the Lady Broncos took on Booker and stopped them 7-3. The ladies struck first in the opening inning and put one run on the board. They added another in the third, but let the Lady Kiowas score three runs to take the lead. But the ladies battled hard and were able to add two runs in each of the fourth and sixth innings to get the win.

Once again Ford and Mason teamed up on the mound and behind the plate.

“We had one bad play where we had three errors, and they scored their three runs,” Jack said. “We hit the ball well against them, but left people on base.”

The Lady Broncos played back-to-back games and traveled quite a bit and Jack thought that might have made them a little out of their rhythm.

On Friday, the ladies took on McLean and defeated them 8-3.

“Once again we played well and were really one hit away from getting a run-rule on them,” Jack said. “We played pretty decent.”

Saturday, the Lady Broncos played their annual Alumni game and won 11-1.

“We had nine or ten come back and play the Alumni game,” Jack said. “We did well against them, but they did a good job, too. Danielle (Ford) struck out eight hitters, but they were able to start hitting later in the game. It was a really fun game for us and it has been a good year so far.”

Because the Lady Broncos are District Champs they will receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs. They will play their first post-season game in a couple of weeks. They are planning a warm-up game, but that is yet to be announced.

Bernice Ende from Trigo, Montana, leads a nontraditional lifestyle.

Inspired by watching black and white westerns such as Hop Along Cassidy and John Wayne when she was a child, the 56 year old former ballet teacher is a “longrider,” traveling thousands of miles each year on horseback and calling a tent home.

Last week, Ende’s current 2,700 mile journey from London, Texas, to Montana led her to Clarendon, and she made her temporary home at the Clarendon rodeo grounds.

“I would like to say thank you to the community for their hospitality and to Joe Neal Shadle for opening up the Cowboy Church and making sure I had everything out here,” Ende said.
“Everyone has been so helpful.” 

During her stay, Ende made a guest appearance at the monthly Friends of the Library meeting on April 14 and shared her experiences.

“I think she’s an amazing woman,” Librarian Jerri Ann Shields said. “Anyone who sleeps with her dogs and horses is amazing.”

Ende’s previous rides include 3,000 miles in 2009, 3,000 miles in 2008, 5,000 miles in 2006-2007 and 2,000 miles in 2005. This will be her fifth time to cross the Rocky Mountains.

“On my first ride I was so afraid I wasn’t gonna make it because I had no place to go,” she said.

“But this is my life. It doesn’t matter about getting to the end anymore. It didn’t change until about 700 miles into this. The journey takes you, not you take the journey. There is no going home. For me, this is home.”

From Clarendon she will go onto McLean, Wheeler and Allison, and then into Oklahoma.

“I’ve been in the state of Texas for three months,” Ende said. “This state is huge! My pockets are bulging with hospitality from my stays here. It has definitely been a chapter of its own coming through Texas.”

Her companions on her journeys are Hart, a 14-year-old paint gelding that replaced Hope, her former mare after she recently broke her shoulder and had to be put down; Essie Pearl, a three-year-old Fjord packhorse; Claire, a nine-year-old dog of “unknown origin,” and Francis, a three-month-old West Texas cattle dog. Both dogs get the privilege of riding on Essie Pearl in a box.

“Both my dogs are ditch puppies,” Ende said. “When I found Claire I took her out of the ditch, and then I began teaching her how to ride in a wheelbarrow and bicycle basket, so riding on the horse was nothing.” 

Ende dedicates her rides to her mother.

“In honor of my mother, I have five siblings who I stay in touch with by riding,” she said. “All of my routes take me to see my sisters.”

Her gear and possessions she travels with include a tent, sleeping pads, wool blanket, sleeping bag, food department, Coleman burner, one spork, one knife, tin cup, vet supply, toiletries, water bottles, rain gear, ponchos, two sets of clothes, and riding and reading material.

Food found in the “Lady Longrider’s” diet consists of a tortilla with cream cheese and vegetables, coffee and meat cooked with her portable Coleman burner, and wild plants and berries.

“Some of the plants I eat include lambsquarters, nettles, watercress, dandelion greens, and pecans,” Ende said. “I eat a lot of all those things, and of course all the wild fruits.”
While there are those who would suffer from withdrawals when isolated from technology, Ende actually enjoys it.

“I love not having everything,” Ende said. “I don’t use a phone but about four times a month, and I’m experiencing the amazing diversity in our country that you cannot find on TV.”
Ende walks about ten miles a day and rides an average of 20-25 miles on a good day.

“It’s so physically demanding, and I hope I have another five years in me,” she said.

“I sleep on the ground, and everyday I’m packing hundreds of pounds on and off the horse, not to mention walking and encountering the heat and cold.”

Ende said that a critical part of longriding is learning how to accept help and not caring what others think of you.

“Longriding has been a teacher to me,” she said. “At first I was afraid to ask for water at houses, but since I first did it I’ve never been turned down.

“It’s humbling being in the presence of people who care about you riding and who want you to continue.”

According to Ende, other requirements include mental perseverance and faith.

“You find out what you’re made of when a storm comes around and your holding on to your tent telling yourself you’re going to stay,” she said.

Ende has discovered that enduring these hardships is worth it.

“When you live your life at four miles an hour, something changes in you,” she said. “When you travel by car, you travel fast and smooth. But when on a horse, you have a view and your elevated 12 feet off the ground and can see all around without watching where to go. There’s just a quality of life that comes from the horse.”

Out of all the places she has traveled to, the desert scene is one of Ende’s favorite. In order to cross a desert she must follow storms and drink out of puddles.

“In the desert there is no one in any direction, and there are coyotes howling and birds singing, and you’re around a fire,” she said. “It’s the most wonderful feelings of contentment and satisfaction, and it’s embracing.”

Ende said the only reason she rides is to “bring smiles to people’s faces.”

“It’s not about me, it involves all of us,” she said. “It’s about our country, sharing stories and the goodness in our people. It’s a reminder of living a simpler life and of not being afraid to find your passion in life.”

Thousands of people have told Ende they wish they were a longrider and want to join in on her journeys.

“It is a romantic image, but it’s not easy,” Ende said. “It’s not a once in a lifetime dream for me; it’s my life.”