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Worship service draws large crowd to Sandell
Sunday’s community worship service at the Sandell Drive-In was attended by a large crowd and plans are being prepared for an even better service this weekend.
Howardwick Baptist Church pastor Jim Fox said 150 or more people attended the worship service.
“I had 100 bulletins and ran out,” he said. “Every car had two to four people in it and some dogs came, too.”
With most local churches having canceled services or relying on digital broadcasts, the community worship service at the Sandell allowed people a way to congregate while still staying in their personal vehicles.
A stage was set up in front of the drive-in’s big screen, and audio was piped through the Sandell’s FM broadcast system it typically uses for motion pictures.
“It was fantastic, and it’s going to be better this week,” Fox said. “Mr. [John] Morrow was excellent and provided a great facility.”
Fox said Kentucky Fried Chicken buckets were available for worshippers to drop donation envelopes in with their churches’ names written on them, and those funds will be distributed to the respective churches.
Worship will be held again this Sunday, April 5, at 10 a.m., and Fox says he hopes to have first responders there to have a special prayer time for them.
First United Methodist pastor Buddy Payne will have the opening prayer, Fox will have a message on 2 Chronicles 7:14, Church of the Nazarene pastor Allen Posey will preach, and Community Fellowship pastor Larry Capranica will close the service.
Hunting for bears
Recognizing local heroes
Keeping kids fed
Local schools continuing to serve lessons, meals
Clarendon and Hedley students will not be attending school through at least April 3 following an executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott last Thursday as officials across the state work to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Despite not being able to physically be in the classroom, students still have work to do with lessons being prepared and distributed this week in the form of digital delivery or homework packets or other methods.
Superintendents of both schools had previously announced on Wednesday that would suspend classes through March 27 before Abbott trumped local districts with the closure order. School personnel moved quickly to find new ways to deliver educational materials to their students.
“With the rapidly changing landscape caused by the COVID-19 (Coronavirus), we are continuing to monitor and make adjustments as necessary in order to make educated decisions for the students and staff of CISD,” Clarendon CISD Superintendent Jarod Bellar said.
“The health and safety of our students, staff, and community are our priority as we navigate this difficult time.”
Extracurricular activities at both schools are still canceled at this time, and the University Interscholastic League has also postponed all practices and workouts.
“Please know that this decision does not come lightly,” Hedley Superintendent Garrett Bains said. “We recognize that this decision will cause significant difficulties for parents.”
Both schools also began offering food service again on Monday. The food service is available for all kids up to age 18 whether they are enrolled in a Donley County school or not even residents of the county.
Clarendon CISD is serving breakfast from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., and lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Breakfast and lunch is a grab-n-go option where parents and guardians will drive to a designated area between the cafeteria and the elementary school entrance on W. 5th Street.
Parents will not have to get out of their car. Clarendon CISD will pass out meals based on the number of children in the household.
Clarendon officials served 39 breakfasts and 56 lunches on Monday. That number was up to 112 for breakfast on Tuesday after the district began deliveries to Howardwick and north of US 287 in Clarendon.
Hedley CISD also began food service no Monday with deliveries to bus stops in for students in Clarendon and Memphis at 10 a.m. Parents and guardians who live in Hedley can pick up their grab and go meals from the school beginning at 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. by pulling up to the bridge on the east side of the school where personnel will bring meals to them.
Clarendon and Hedley will also begin distributing instructional packets Thursday, March 26. Parents should contact their students’ respective campuses if they have not already been contacted about this process.
COVID-19 fears hit local stores
Local businesses are already feeling the impact of COVID-19 even with no cases of the virus yet reported in the Panhandle region.
Reports from other parts of the nation of people stockpiling or hoarding supplies became a reality here late last week when people began buying up local inventories of toilet paper and other goods. Many, if not most, of the buyers were from out of town. Several told an Enterprise correspondent that they were returning from ski trips in the Colorado mountains to their homes in the Dallas and Houston areas.
Sources told the Enterprise that Lowe’s Family Center did more business on Friday than it did the day before Thanksgiving, which is typically its busiest time of the year. Limits were put on how many packages of toilet paper and paper towels could be bought on Saturday. On Sunday those limits were extended to most other items in the store when biscuits and eggs started flying off the shelves. Customers are only allowed two of any one item.
Tuesday afternoon, Lowe’s shelves were bare of Lysol spray cans and sanitizing hand wipes such as Clorox wipes. Beans, rice, eggs, milk, and bananas were among food items that were quickly disappearing from store shelves.
On Monday, Dollar General released a company statement saying it would dedicate the first hour of each shopping day to senior shoppers, as well as amend store operating hours beginning March 17. Clarendon’s Dollar General was also hard hit by people buying up staple goods.
Additionally, all Dollar General stores plan to close one hour earlier than current close times to allow employees to clean and re-stock store shelves, as well as for their health and wellbeing. Stores will continue to maintain current opening hours.
Throughout the community, businesses are doing what they can to protect the safety of their staffs and customers. The state has also released guidelines governing procedures and visitations at daycare centers and long-term care facilities.
Gov. Greg Abbott last week declared a state of disaster in all Texas counties due to the virus, and President Donald Trump declared the virus a national emergency. Both actions free up state and federal resources to combat the spread of the disease.
Small businesses and non-profits impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak maybe eligible for to apply for disaster loans. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has designated COVID-19 as a qualifying event for the provision of Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) for businesses and private non-profits in affected communities. Texas is currently working with SBA to qualify for this declaration.
The SBA says some organizations that have suffered substantial economic injury may be eligible for an EIDL of up to $2 million, which will provide the necessary working capital to help businesses survive until normal operations resume after a disaster. EIDL assistance will only be available to small businesses when the SBA determines they are unable to obtain credit elsewhere.
For information, contact the SBA by calling toll free 1-800-659-2955.
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