Farm 2 Table
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Farmers market opening here July 17
If fresh produce and locally made food is what you’re looking for, Donley County Farm 2 Table is ready to serve you this Saturday, July 17, from 9 a.m. to noon at Cornell’s Country Store.
The new farmers market will run the first and third Saturdays through September, and organizer Deanna Cornell is happy to see the new community project get off the ground.
“People are excited,” Cornell said. “I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback from vendors but more so from consumers. I’ve had zero complaints.”
Eleven vendors are scheduled to have tables at the first market this Saturday.
“We’ve got produce, aloe vera, baked goods, pork, beef, eggs, and more,” Cornell said.
Items at the market are all things that were either grown locally or made in local kitchens, she said.
Cornell’s Country Store is hosting the market in their garden center, which they completed in 2020 right before the COVID-19 shutdown. They were left with a big space and wondering what else it could be used for. Cornell later was inspired by a farmers market while visiting her son in Nashville.
“Zach and Liberty sell eggs there, and they have flowers and berries also,” she said.
With information from that market, Cornell started making plans for a market here and got a good response from locals.
“I really have a heart for Texas-made and locally-made,” Cornell said.
Cornell’s has proven the market for locally produced food with their own beef this year. Demand has been strong for homegrown beef, which will be available during the market Saturday.
For more information about the market, contact Deanna@CornellsCountryStore.com or check out the Facebook group online – Donley County Farmer’s Market.
Bigger crowd enjoys 2021 celebration
A beautiful Saturday morning was the perfect setting for the 144th annual Saints’ Roost Celebration July 3 at the Donley County Courthouse as Clarendon continued its tradition of celebrating America’s independence from the British crown.
Unseasonably cool temperatures with a bit of cloud cover greeted the crowd, which grew steadily as the morning went along. Soaking rains the week before and a brief shower that morning had the humidity higher than usual, but most folks agreed it was good trade off to avoid the typical hot July weather.
Unlike last year, social distancing was no where to be seen and masks were a rarity as booths returned to their usual locations and arrangements following the height of the pandemic last summer. Sanitizing stations were the main reminder that, for the unvaccinated, the threat of COVID-19 has not fully passed.
The Chamber of Commerce’s Kids’ Parade started the day with the youngsters peddling or driving in front of the Courthouse. A new “motorized” division was up first with Zaylee Jaramillo, first; Jack Trollinger, second; and Dawson Hall, third. In the 0-4 age group, Kendal Danner was first; Luke Leeper was second, and Zayne Portillo was third. Paden Kidd won the 5-8 age group with Lydia Balogh second and Memory Farmer third. The 9 and up age group was won by Meredith Artho in first place, Gage Kidd second, and Kase Zongker third.
The Herring Bank Parade followed the kids’ event and was very festive with nearly all of the entries following the parade theme, which recognized the opening of the new Aquatic Center this year: Make A Splash in Clarendon. The Bronco Cheerleaders’ float was the best in its category and the girls also won the Grand Prize as the best entry overall. Jerry Green’s Farmall tractor was the Best Farm Equipment, Zack’s Cheese was the Best Animal Entry, Shelby and Kutter O’Keefe had the Best Other entry, and Steve Carthel won the Best Car/Truck trophy for the second year in a row.
There was no organized Old Settlers Reunion this year.
The Al Morrah Shrine Club served 640 plates of barbecue this year, which was up significantly from 450 last year but still down slightly from 2019’s 660 plates. A portion of the proceeds from the annual barbecue are used in conjunction with the Khiva Shrine Temple in Amarillo to help pay for the transportation of kids to the Shriners’ burns and crippled children’s hospitals.
A celebrity dunking booth was set up by the Bronco Cheerleaders. Eager kids and donors lined up to cool off several notable people including school administrators, members of the state champion Bronco Basketball team, and County Attorney Landon Lambert.
The Donley County 4-H raffled off a gun, and Adam McDaniel of Kansas won it. The Clarendon Lions Club’s Cow Patty Bingo was won by Kierston Watts, Jacob Fangman, Sarah Mendez, and Halee Kotara. William Hoggard won the gun safe from the Bronco Band Boosters, and Mary Ruth White won the Chamber’s quarterly Shop Donley County drawing for $500.
Henson’s annual Turtle Race was also held Saturday afternoon. There were altogether 164 kids racing in three divisions, up from 98 youngsters last year. In addition, 46 adults entered a grown-up category.
Winning turtle jockeys were Kilynn Miller for the 0-4 division, Khloe Shadle for the 5-8 division, Caleb Askew for the 9-16 division, and Mandy Jaramillo for the adult division.
IC Cattle Co. wins 2021 Ranch Rodeo
The IC Cattle Company took top honors at the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association’s annual Ranch Rodeo last Friday and Saturday during the 144th annual Saints’ Roost Celebration.
IC Cattle’s scores beat out 19 other local and regional ranch rodeo teams as working cowboys put their skills to the test. The team was made up of Randy Crump, Chance McAnear, Elwin McClesky, Cooper McClesky, and Tanner Hart.
The Circle M8 / Barnes team team finished second with Phillip Reynolds, Chance Holcombe, Blaine Brunson, and Jayde Smith; and the Huddleston Performance Horses team was third with Randy Crump, Gatlin Duncan, Jared Stoker, Jody Padilla, and Cutter McLain.
The Top Hand for the rodeo was awarded to Chance McAnear, and the Top Horse award was won by Ky Finck.
This year’s attendance for the three-day junior rodeo and ranch rodeo was 1,287, up significantly from last year’s 771 during the COVID-19 pandemic but still down from 2019’s attendance of 1,391.
The Junior Ranch Rodeo was won by Slash R team comprised of Sterlin Mitchell, Jaxon Stoker, Brazos Roberts, Blaine Roberts, and Ry Reynolds. The second place team was Rockin’ JM with Sterlin Mitchell, Ry Reynolds, Hazen Lamb, Grady Wilson, and Brazos Roberts; and the Spires team was third in the junior competition with Blaine Roberts, Brazos Roberts, Ry Reynolds, Brooks Myers, and Kale Brunson.
Top Hand winner for the Junior Ranch Rodeo was Sterlin Mitchell, and Ry Reynolds rode the Top Horse.
Junior Calf, Donkey, and Steer Riding and Mutton Bustin’ were held all three nights. Overall Mutton Bustin’ champion for the three nights was Rance Peters.
Overall Calf Riding Champion was Sheperd Green, the Overall Donkey Rider was Chance Anderson, and Steer Riding champion was Eli Ritchie.
Nightly winners of the junior events were as follows:
July 1 – Calf Scramble – Kelby Brownlee, Case Jones, and Parker Haynes; Mutton Bustin’ – Emma Howard; Calf Riding – Briggs Martin, Donley Riding – Lane Hardin; and Steer Riding – Brigs Martin.
July 2 – Calf Scramble – Reece Myers, Eli Ritchie, and Jayla Woodard; Mutton Bustin’ – Cutter Gaither; Calf Riding – Sheperd Green; Donkey Riding – Chance Anderson; and Steer Riding – Eli Ritchie.
July 3 – Calf Scramble – Parker Haynes, Caleb Askew, and Gray Bennett; Mutton Bustin’ – Rance Peters; Calf Riding – Colton Henson; Donkey Riding – Chance Anderson; and Steer Riding – Eli Ritchie.
Terrapin jockeys
End game
Final Game
Flower Power
A pop of color can make all the difference in a neighborhood, but one group of women has taken that to a new level.
Flowers planted and tended by Joan Copelin, Teri Rummel, and Diana Ross have made quite an impact around their cluster of apartments in Clarendon at the corner of Carhart and Montgomery streets.
The beautiful blooms have been a work in progress for about three years according to Ross.
Typically the grounds of the Clarendon Housing Authority are cared for by a paid employee, but these ladies take pride in caring for their yards and flowerbeds themselves as well as those of their immediate neighbors.
“Diana does the mowing,” Copelin said. “We like it mowed more often, and she catches the grass.”
Copelin said credit for the flowers at their complex really goes originally to Eva Turner, who developed a reputation for having beautiful lilies for more than 30 years. Taylor can no longer care for flowerbeds, but the ladies say she appreciates what they are doing.
Neighbors Glenda Day and Sybil Brown also enjoy and appreciate their efforts.
The beds are expanded or changed from time to time. A new bed of sunflowers was recently put in across the alley from the ladies’ apartments, spreading the beauty beyond the boundaries of their usual grounds.
There is no plan or guide to their annual flower gardens. The ladies just make it up on the fly and add rocks they pick up in different places for borders.
“If it grows, it grows; and if it doesn’t, we put something else out,” Ross said.
CC wins three national rodeo titles
By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo
CASPER, Wyo. – Cole Franks wasn’t quite sure what to get his dad for Father’s Day.
He and some of his teammates from the Clarendon (Texas) College rodeo team collaborated to provide the perfect present: three national championships in one fell swoop.
Franks is a sophomore at his hometown college, and his dad, Bret Franks, is the rodeo team’s coach. The Clarendon cowboys began competition last week with the goal of winning the men’s team title; they got a little more than that to go with it.
Cole Franks won three rounds and placed in a fourth to win the bareback riding crown. He also added points in saddle bronc riding, and that helped him to the coveted all-around championship. Of all the awards and accolades he received last week at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, one sticks out more than the rest.
“Of the three, the team title means the most because since the first day of school, that was the top goal of this team,” he said. “We’ve all been pushing each other for it. We’ve been doing everything we could to make it possible.
“Winning that is a combination of doing something together as a team and for helping Dad win his first national title. It might even mean more for Dad. All of us on the team wanted to win the title, but I know Dad was really wanting to win that team championship.”
Cole Franks was joined at the college finals by bull rider Dawson Gleaves and bronc riders Keene Justesen, Brody Wells, Cash Wilson and Weston Patterson. Five of the six Bulldogs earned points, which also help toward the team standings. Clarendon finished the seven-day championship with 890 points, 100 points better than the runner-up, Panola (Texas) College, which was the defending men’s team titlist.
“We had a great week,” said Bret Franks, who just finished his sixth season leading the Clarendon rodeo team. “The boys came up here and were ready to compete, and they did. The good thing about my guys is that they’ve all been rodeoing, so there wasn’t a whole lot of practicing or worrying about whether or not they’d be ready.
“The thing I’m most proud about is that before I even took this job, I lived in Clarendon. With a facility like the college has, I feel like I could have a national championship within five years if the college got behind a coach. It’s just an awesome facility, and it’s a good place to be. The people are friendly, and the board of regents are awesome and have been very supportive. Yes, this is my sixth year, but we didn’t have a CNFR last year, so this was my fifth try.”
The Bulldogs earned the opportunity to battle for the team title by winning the men’s championship in the Southwest Region. That allowed Clarendon to have a full team of six cowboys in Casper. With more players, there are more chances for points, and Clarendon took advantage of that. Three of the cowboys earned their way into four spots in the championship round, with Cole Franks qualifying in both events.
Weston Patterson finished as the runner-up to the national champion in saddle bronc riding. Cash Wilson was seventh, and Franks finished 12th. But the coach’s son has excelled in bareback riding, even though his dad was a three-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in bronc riding.
“I’ve coached Cole all the way up in just about everything in rodeo,” Bret Franks said. “I have great friends. Between (bareback riding world champions) Jeff Collins and Mark Gomes, he’s been around winners, and we all have the same mindset. Cole knows how to listen and respond.
“What I coach is fundamentals. It’s pretty simple; there’s no science to it other than the mentality of it. There are four or five things you have to do in bareback riding fundamentally. If you do those things really good or better than everybody else, you’re going to be successful. That’s the way I’ve always taught Cole.”
Strong fundamentals work at all level of sport. Good athletes know well the drills that help them focus on the basics of the game. Great athletes are just the best at fundamentals all the way through and excel at the rest of their given ventures.
“Most of my coaching is not about what I did but more about what I wish I would have done,” he said. “I had marginal success doing what I did. I know what I should have done to be more successful.”
The proof is in the three national titles that will make their way to the tiny campus in the Texas Panhandle. They will join the saddle bronc national championships earned by Clarendon cowboys Wyatt Casper in 2016 and Riggin Smith in 2019.
“What we do is not a secret; we work harder than everybody else,” Bret Franks said. “That’s the way it’s going to be. If I find out somebody’s working harder than we are, then we’re going to find a way to outwork them in the end. That’s why I get kids to come to Clarendon. The kids I get want to be better. It’s really amazing when you see kids like that. They are in it to win it.”
That was his son’s mindset. Cole Franks also won the bareback and all-around championships in the region, then carried that momentum into the college finals. He’s also progressing well in ProRodeo, where he was in the top 20 in the world standings as of last week and was No. 1 in the bareback riding Rookie of the Year race.
“I wanted to win four rounds, but to win three rounds and place in the other is so cool,” said Cole Franks, who won the first, second and fourth rounds and placed fourth in the third go-round; he also accounted for 395.5 of the team’s point total. “I knew I needed to make the short round in the bronc riding for the all-around sake and the team’s sake. I hadn’t been on a bronc in two or three weeks before the college finals, so I just wanted to do the best I could on the horses I drew.”
He did that and a lot more. He’ll cherish the unity of his teammates and the direction he and others received from his dad, their coach.
“We were there to win the thing,” he said. “We had a meeting right when school was out, and the plan was to go up to Casper and have fun, but when it comes down to it, we were going up there to win, not just have fun.
“But we had a lot of fun winning.”
Coming through!
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