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For most Clarendon High School graduates, commencement in Bronco Stadium on May 21 was the culmination of about 13 years of work and the steppingstone to their futures. But for one graduate, it was more meaningful, and the wait had been much longer… 78 years, in fact.

Jeane Spencer Bartlett’s family moved to Clarendon when she was just a young girl. She and her twin sister, Imogene, had started school back home in Pittsburg, Texas, but their father’s work as a highway construction superintendent drew them to the Panhandle. The girls and their siblings settled in, attended Clarendon public schools, and made friends as they advanced through the grades. Then just days before graduation in 1943, the unthinkable happened.

“Daddy got an assignment for job in Okmulgee, Okla., that took him there in April,” Bartlett said. “When we moved, Daddy promised us that we could come back to Clarendon for graduation. But when the time came, he said, ‘No, you can’t go.’ We sat in the stadium in Okmulgee and watched those kids get their diplomas, but we hadn’t gone to school there long enough to graduate with them. I got my diploma from Clarendon by mail a few weeks later.”

The broken promise bothered her a lot at the time; and, as the years went by, she would sometimes face the regret that she never got to have that experience in a cap and gown with her friends.

The Oklahoma job only lasted a short while, and the Spencer family returned to Clarendon, the place that Jeane would always refer to as her hometown as she lived out an impressive professional career.

In 1945, she took a job in the classified department of the Amarillo Globe-News. Five years later, she became the secretary to the publisher and held that job for 25 years before being promoted to lead the Globe-News’ human resources department and putting in another 25 years there. For 30 years, Bartlett led the Globe-News’ spelling bee contest. Her work made her a legend in Panhandle journalism circles; and after her retirement in 2001, she was inducted into the Panhandle Press Association’s Hall of Fame in 2004.

“I didn’t look at as something big,” she said. “It was just a job I loved.”

Bartlett had entered the workforce with no intention of ever getting married. She felt like it just wasn’t something for her. But a few years after starting at the newspaper, a young man in the paper’s production department started pursuing the young Jeane Spencer. In 1959, she and Harry Bartlett were married and would remain inseparable for nearly 62 years.

In recent years, the couple moved into a retirement center. As Harry’s health failed, he was moved from their apartment to a room of his own, and Jeane would go stay with him during the day. Last year, in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, she made the choice to give up her apartment in order to have a room next to Harry’s, so that she could continue their daily companionship. And there she would stay, isolated from her family, as Harry slowly slipped from the bonds of earthly life, passing away in March.

Now 94 years old, she reflects on a long, full life, but recently the pain of that lost graduation nagged at her, and she told the story again to her niece. Together, the family decided to do something for their Aunt Jeane, and they contacted Clarendon School Superintendent Jarod Bellar. He and CHS Principal Larry Jeffers agreed to honor Bartlett and her late sister along with the Class of 2021.

It was all a big surprise for Bartlett, who thought she was just coming to Clarendon to impart some family history.

“These kids told me they wanted to see where our family lived,” she said. “We went and saw the house and different places. They told me at the restaurant about graduation that night.”

The family presented Jeane with a corsage with her sister’s name on it and had arranged for her to have a cap and gown to wear. Then they went to Bronco Stadium.

Students stood on either side of Bartlett’s walker as she moved across the grass and helped her to the stage, where she was recognized as a graduate, and presented with a bouquet from the Class of 2021.

“They were the sweetest kids,” she said. “They were so nice to me. I felt so honored. For a 94-year-old to wear a cap and gown, what an honor!”

Jeffers recognized Jeane and her late sister and then drew cheers from the crowd by stating, “We truly believe, ‘Once a Broncho, always a Bronco!”

With the sun setting beautifully in the west, the crowd applauded as Bartlett waved and blew kisses.

A week later, Bartlett still got misty-eyed as she recalled her long awaited high school graduation.

“Clarendon was always important to me,” she said. “It was such a nice town and still is. This is really an honor, and I am just so grateful for what they did for me.”

Donley County emergency personnel were kept busy with multiple accidents this past weekend, beginning Friday morning with an accident between Hedley and Lelia Lake on US 287.

DPS Trooper Lynn Mays said a man driving with a group of motorcyclists was on his way to Amarillo when he went into the median and rolled his bike. The man was fortunate to have only suffered a broken leg, Mays said.

Later that day, a pickup traveling eastbound on US 287 in Lelia Lake drifted into the curb then went across the center line into oncoming traffic and was hit by a westbound semi-truck. Mays said no injuries were sustained in that accident.

Mays said another accident on Saturday in Hedley was a single vehicle rollover involving a car with three people. The driver, who had an open container, had to be transported to the hospital. Sunday evening, Mays said another accident occurred at Greenbelt Lake when a car rolled over on the road to Kincaid Park in a case of Driving While Intoxicated. There were no injuries in that case, Mays said.

Kids of all ages will make a splash in Clarendon this weekend as five years of planning and work will culminate in the opening of the Clarendon Aquatic Center.

A grand opening and ribbon cutting will be held Friday, May 28, from 3 to 5 p.m. This is open to the public, and there will be no swimming at the grand opening.

Opening Day for the Aquatic Center is Saturday, May 29, with the doors opening at 1 p.m.

When asked how it feels to finally be opening the pool, City Administrator David Dockery said it’s fantastic.

“We’ve worked for many years to accomplish this, so getting to the point of opening this weekend is just fantastic,” he said.

The facility will be open regularly from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and will be closed on Mondays. However, with the Memorial Day holiday coinciding with opening weekend, the center will be open for Memorial Day from 1 to 7 p.m.

The center will be open through the summer and will close on Labor Day.

The center will also be open on Tuesday mornings from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. for senior citizens to swim.

Swim lessons are something that residents have asked about, and Dockery said that the city is looking into swim lessons as an offering at the new facility.

“We are trying to find someone qualified to provide swim lessons,” Dockery said. “So we are definitely looking into that.”

Private parties can be planned after regular hours. Anyone wishing to hold a birthday party or similar event after regular hours is encouraged to call City Hall right away at 806-874-3438 to get on the calendar so that lifeguards can be scheduled appropriately. Parties can be scheduled at the aquatic center after hours at a rate of $125 per hour.

Annual passes will allow frequent users of the facility to save money over the course of the summer. Annual passes are $100 per individual and $250 for a family of up to four members and $50 for each additional household family member.

Day passes will cost $5 for everyone over the age of 17, $4 for ages 4-17, and free for ages three and under.

Donley County high school graduates for 2021 received several scholarships and awards during commencement exercises last Friday and Saturday, according to Clarendon and Hedley high schools.

CHS held its commencement in Bronco Stadium on Friday, May 21, and 1943 class member Jean Spencer Bartlett was recognized and walked across the stage with the Class of 2021. Bartlett’s family moved just prior to graduation in 1943; and although she received her diploma 78 years ago, she never got to wear a cap and gown and formally graduate.

CHS presented three graduating seniors with annual awards. Aaron Roys received the Fighting Heart Award presented to a boy athlete who demonstrates self-discipline, self-sacrifice, teamwork, leadership, dependability and achievement. Jade Benson was honored with the Best Girl Athlete Award for exhibiting teamwork, leadership, dependability and achievement. The Knorpp Cup Award was presented to Aubrey Jaramillo based upon scholarship, citizenship, achievement, leadership, and participation in activities.

Scholarships and college financial awards announced for Clarendon graduates were as follows:

Roxana Erin Adams received a PEAK Scholarship for $750 per semester and a $500 Clarendon Masonic Lodge #700 scholarship to Clarendon College.

Ethan Cole Babcock received a $500 scholarship from Capital Farm Credit and the Donley County Retired School Personnel Association Scholarship for $300.

Shylee Elizabeth Morrow received the Walter B. Knorpp Salutatory Scholarship to Clarendon College.

Malerie Madison Simpson received the State of Texas Valedictory Tuition Waiver to Texas Public Colleges and Universities and the Walter B. Knorpp Valedictory Scholarship to Clarendon College.

Brooke Janae Duncan was awarded a PEAK Scholarship for $750 per semester.

Patrick Ivan Gonzalez earned the Cross Roads Peanut Scholarship for $500, a WTAMU Regents Scholarship for $4,000, and a WTAMU Merit Scholarship for $1,000.

Kaylin Renee Hicks was presented with the Homer Estlack Memorial Scholarship to Clarendon College for $250.

Aubrey Beth-Kristine Jaramillo received the Jacob Dean Smith Memorial Scholarship, a cheer scholarship to Wayland Baptist, the Lions Club Sweetheart Scholarship for $500, the Jack Roach Memorial Scholarship for $2,000, the Ralph and Janie Hill Memorial Scholarship for $2,500. and the Les Beaux Art Club Scholarship for $300.

Kailee Joanne Osburn earned a PEAK Scholarship for $750 per semester.

Tyler Michael Paul received the Betsy Ellerbrook Memorial Scholarship, the Herring Bank Scholarship for $500, and the Tex Selvidge Memorial Scholarship.

Hedley High School held its graduation Saturday morning in the Owl Gym and recognized the following scholarship winners:

Emma Lambert received the Lila Kate and Kylie Allison Monroe Memorial Scholarship for $300, a Herring Bank Scholarship to Clarendon College for $500, and a Clarendon Masonic Lodge #700 Scholarship for $500.

Cara Lambert was presented with a University Interscholastic League Scholar Award, a Capital Farm Credit Scholarship for $250, a Lila Kate and Kylie Allison Monroe Memorial Scholarship for $300, a Panhandle Area School Board Scholarship Award for $500, and a cross country scholarship to Clarendon College.

Zach Wells received a Cross Road Peanuts Scholarship for $500, a West Texas A&M Scholar Award for $6,000. He was also named the 2021 Highest Ranking High School Graduate of Hedley ISD, which exempts him from tuition and fees for his first year at a public college or university in Texas.

Esteban Carreon received funding from the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which covers the cost of tuition and fees to in-state public colleges and $1,000 for books and supplies per year, and the Hazelwood Act for up to 150 hours of tuition exemption, including most fee charges, at public institutions of higher education in Texas. He also received an additional award of $4,500.

Jordan Upton received a cross country scholarship to Clarendon College.