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Early voting began Monday in the 2022 general election as voters across the state began casting their ballots for the state’s top offices.
Registered voters in Donley County can cast early ballots by personal appearance at the Donley County Courthouse Annex through Friday, November 4.
Turnout has been good so far in Donley County with about 120 people casting ballots.
The Lady Bronco cross-country team competed in the Regional Cross-Country Meet on Monday, October 24, and finished fifth as a team.
The fifth-place finish was one spot out of the top four teams that earned the right to advance to the State Meet in November. There were 164 runners in the event.
Madi Benson finished in the 18th spot out of 164 runners with a time of 13:27.6.
Benson, who was only just under a minute off the first-place time, is a freshman and has been running solid all season long.
Berkley Moore ran the course in a time of 13:54.3 for 34th place, and Presley Smith was 38th with a time of 13:55.6.
The rest of the team were fairly close together at the finish line. Avery Sawyer was 40th at 13:59.9 with Kenidee Hayes right behind her in 41st with a time of 14:00.4. Gracie Ellis crossed the finish line in a time of 14:20 for 51st place and Aliyah Weatherton was 133rd at 16:09.8.
Bryce Williams was the lone qualifier for the Broncos and finished 51st out of 162 runners with a time of 19:42.5.
Williams and the Lady Broncos qualified for the Regional Meet by placing high up in the district meet on October 12. Williams ran fourth in the district meet with a time of 19:15, and Kaleb Mays ran 15th at 22:09.
Hayes was third in the finishers at 12:40, and Benson was right behind her at 12:45. Moore ran the course in a time of 12:50, and Smith was 13:00. Ellis turned in a time of 13:05 for seventh, Sawyer was 14th at 13:45 and Weatherton was 16th with a time of 14:00.
Taking the top spots in the junior varsity division were Tandie Cummins with a time of 12:40 and Makenna Shadle in second at 14:28. Kennadie Cummins was third at 14:38, Gracie Wilkins was fourth at 14:51, and Trystan Brown was fifth at 14:53. Gracie Clark ran sixth with a time of 15:01, Kimbrasia Ballard was eighth at 15:25, and Laney Rummel was 10th with a time of 15:58.
Hayden Elam was 11th at 15:58, Finley Cunningham was 14th at 17:14, and Courtlyn Conkin was 15th with a time of 17:18. Kashlyn Conkin was 16th at 17:22, and Millie McAnear came in at 22:02.
The Broncos reigned supreme over the Memphis Cyclones in a district matchup last Friday night on the road.
The 6-2 Broncos are perfect in district play with two games remaining.
The Bronco defense made a huge showing in the 48-14 win as they stopped the Cyclones all game long. Their solid play allowed the Bronco offense great field position on nearly every possession. Colton Benson made the most tackles with 12 and recovered a fumble in Memphis territory and Colton Caudle posted eight tackles and a fumble recovery.
Mason Sims had seven tackles, Quay Brown snatched two interceptions, and Wilson Ward fought hard for two tackles and added one fumble recovery and one interception.
Offensively, the Broncos stuck to their game plan using senior Jmaury Davis throughout the game both rushing and receiving. Davis scored a 57-yard touchdown with only one minute off the clock to give the Broncos the first score of the game. Lyric Smith hit Davis in the endzone for the two-point bonus after the TD. The Bronco offense had one big play after another throughout the game with a variety of players getting into the action. Their speed and quickness impeded the Cyclone defense and is something they will carry into their final two district games.
Harrison Howard was 11 of 15 passing for 139 yards and four touchdowns in the game. Howard leaned on receivers Davis and Smith for big yardage and TD’s but also hit Ward twice for 29 yards and one touchdown.
Davis had 18 carries for 201 yards rushing and two catches for a total of three touchdowns. Smith found the endzone three times as well and racked up 48 yards receiving.
The Broncos’ early scoring gave them the definite advantage in their win as they held a 28-8 lead at halftime.
Thirty outstanding 4-H members from the Panhandle area were honored at the 65th annual Gold Star Banquet hosted by District 1 of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service on October 18 at West Texas A&M University.
Among those recognized were Donley County 4-H members Brenna Ellis and Levi Gates.
To qualify for the Gold Star Award, the highest 4-H honor at the county level, a 4-H’er must be at least l5 years old, have completed three years of club work, be an active member and complete a record book.
Other area 4-H members honored were: Armstrong County – Haley McLaughlin and Brooks Myers, Briscoe County – Vanessa Beltran and Benjamin Trevino, Carson County – Molly Babcock and Payton Ogletree, Collingsworth County – Hunter Stark, Dallam County – Erin McDaniel and Jolie Bowers, Deaf Smith County – Avery Detten, Donley County –, Gray County – Rebecca Scott, Hall County – Braylee Brooks, Hemphill County – Haeleigh Thompson and Leah Moreno, Moore County – Bentlee McKay, Ochiltree County – Karson Pribble and Tatum Oquin, Oldham County – Lynlee Spinhirne and Mason Neelley, Potter County – Bailee McAlister and Emily Schooler and Ransley Bates, Randall County – Emily Fields and Kade Lawrence and Kyle Guerrero, Roberts County – Landry Dukes, Sherman County – Samantha Unruh, and Wheeler County – Wes Shaw.
The annual Gold Star Banquet was supported by the Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative, Hereford; Rita Blanca Electric Cooperative, Dalhart; North Plains Electric Cooperative, Perryton; Swisher Electric Cooperative, Tulia; Greenbelt Electric, Wellington; and Lighthouse Electric, Floydada.
Dr. John Howard has announced his retirement from medical practice and the sale of the Clarendon Family Medical Center effective November 1, 2022.
The new owner and medical supervisor of the clinic will be Dr. Dustin Pratt of Childress.
“During the forty years I have practiced medicine I have witnessed much change,” Howard said. “Some of the advances in technology and therapeutics are nothing short of miraculous. One thing which has not changed, however, is our commitment to our patients and their care. With that in mind, and after a great deal of deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that it is time to pass the reins at the clinic to a new generation.”
Howard said he has been looking for a succession plan for the clinic for some time and said the continuation of the clinic has always been a top priority for him.
“It is not the Howard Medical Center,” the doctor said. “It is the Clarendon Family Medical Center because I always intended it to be a lasting thing for the community.”
Howard also said that the importance of the clinic to the community was made very clear over the last two years during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I believe all of this has been providential,” Howard said. “I feel very comfortable with the plan. I see the need – the increasing need – for rural practitioners. I view the employees as my clinic family, and it was important to take care of them, too.”
Howard said Dr. Pratt is interested in both the business side of medicine as well as the patient care side, which is rare in doctors, and he said Pratt shares his commitment to quality care for patients and West Texas values.
Looking to the future, Howard will focus his energies on what is already a full-time job – that of serving as the Donley County Judge.
“I’m on the ballot this November,” he said. “I’ve still got several unfinished plans for the county business, and we still need improvements to the courthouse.”
After 24 years in Clarendon, Howard and his wife, Lori, have no plans to move. They have enjoyed their time here and are proud to have raised their family here.
“Clarendon is home,” he said. “It has been my privilege to care for our patients and our community for the past twenty-four years. I pray for God’s blessing on each of you, your families, and our community.”
Led by a couple of event victories and several other top placings, the Clarendon College men’s rodeo team won its home event October 13-15.
“We had a lot of people step up and do good for us, and that’s what it takes to win in our region,” Clarendon College rodeo coach Bret Franks said. “I think the Southwest Region is the toughest in college rodeo, so any time you can win in this region, it’s a big deal.
“Winning at home makes it even better.”
Sam Petersen of Helena, Montana, won the bareback riding title, scoring 82 points to win the first round and 77 points to finish second in the championship round. His two-ride cumulative score of 159 points was good enough to claim the overall title. Petersen is now in second place in the Southwest Region’s bareback riding standings.
Fellow bareback rider Weston Patterson finished fifth in the first round and also placed in fourth in steer wrestling. He earned two spots in the short round but was unable to finish because he was in a battle for the saddle bronc riding title in ProRodeo’s Prairie Circuit, which had its finals this past weekend. Patterson finished the season as the circuit’s champion and will advance at the national circuit finals rodeo, called the NFR Open, in July.
“When you have pro athletes that are competing at the college level, you realize they have some goals they want to meet,” Franks said. “This was a good opportunity for Weston to win a PRCA championship and set himself up good for next season, and I didn’t want him to miss out on that.
“I was worried our chances to win this weekend would be hurt by him not being here for the short-round, but everybody else stepped up big and helped us pull through.”
Dylan Hancock of Golconda, Illinois, also walked away with a title, scoring 159 cumulative points to win saddle bronc riding. He was 75 points in the long round to advance to the short go-round, where he had the highest-marked ride of the rodeo, an 84, to win the final round and the average title.
Teammate Slade Keith of Stanfield, Arizona, won the first round and finished in a tie for second in the championship round; he finished second, just a point behind Hancock in the aggregate. With the points he earned in Clarendon, Keith moved regional lead in the saddle bronc riding standings.
“I was really proud of how many kids we had in the short round,” Franks said, noting that bull rider Hadley Miller of Boyd, Texas, competed in the final round but didn’t place. “I think it says something to see that many black vests in the short-go at our hometown rodeo.”
For the women, Quincy Sullivan of Peralta, New Mexico, stopped the clock in 2.3 seconds to finish as the runner-up in the first round of breakaway roping. She placed fifth in the final round and finished fourth overall. She is eighth in the regional standings.
The Bulldogs men finished with 495 points to outlast Southwest Region leader Western Texas College. That helped Clarendon College move up to third place in the Southwest Region with seven events remaining on the 2022-23 schedule.
“We’ve made some good strides, but we need to keep putting ourselves in position at every rodeo if we want to win the region,” Franks said. “I think we have the ability to do that.”
By Ted Harbin, TwistedTed Rodeo
The Clarendon Broncos suffered a couple of early losses in their 2022 football season but have since turned it around as they move closer to a District Championship with only three games remaining in their season.
The Broncos’ 48-6 win over the Quanah Indians put them at 5-2 for the season as they prepare for a road trip to Memphis Friday night to take on the Cyclones.
Junior quarterback Harrison Howard had a good game in the air as he posted 133 yards passing. Howard hit his favorite receivers for three of the Broncos’ seven touchdowns.
After an opening 28-yard kick-off return by Quay Brown to put the Broncos at Quanah’s 46-yard line, Lyric Smith grabbed a 14-yard pass and bolted into the endzone nearly untouched for the Broncos’ first score and then fought off a defender to add the bonus. After Quanah went four and out, senior Texas Tech recruit Jmaury Davis snatched a pass from Howard and dodged several defenders for six more points and set the precedent for the remainder of the game. Davis looked impressive as later in the first quarter he returned a Quanah punt 65 yards for six.
The Broncos scored four more times before time ran out in the first quarter with touchdown runs from Davis and Anthony Brown who picked converted a fumble into six points. Wilson Ward kicked four extra points in the game.
The Indians were only able to manage one touchdown right before half time.
Davis carried the ball once for 21 yards and had 79 yards receiving and Smith carried once for five yards and caught two Howard passes for 79 yards. Brown had three carries for 23 yards and Josiah Hearn carried three times for 12 yards and one TD.
The Bronco defense was solid once again with several players racking up tackles. They did a great job of containing the Indians behind the 50-yard line for all of the first quarter and several minutes of the second.
The Clarendon City Council approved a bid for downtown revitalization work during its regular meeting October 13.
Aldermen unanimously approved a bid from Carter Sand & Gravel of Pampa for about $314,000, which came in under the budgeted amount for the grant-funded project.
Three other bids came in higher than the budget for the project with the high bid more than $300,000 higher than the winning bid.
City Administrator said work will likely begin in November on the project that will remove and replace all the sidewalks in the 100 block of South Kearney Street and install ramping and street lights.
The project is expected to take 90 days to complete.
The council also accepted and approved a proposal from OJD Engineering to provide a study on the availability and quality of groundwater in the city, which is seen as a first step in the consideration of possibly developing a municipally-owned water system. The study will be billed on an hourly basis for a total not to reach $50,000.
Prior to the meeting the council met in closed session for about 45 minutes for consultation with an attorney regarding the house at 602 S. Bugbee. No action was taken following the closed session.
In other business, the city approved the budgets of the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation and the HOT fund budget of the Chamber of Commerce. The council also adopted a fund investment policy for the city for the new fiscal year and named the city administrator and city secretary and fund investment officers. Foster & Lambert was selected to perform the audit for the fiscal year 2022.
The Clarendon Lions Club will celebrate its 100th anniversary this Saturday, October 22, with a full day of local and district Lions activities.
The day will start with the Lions District 2-T1 Fall Family Festival, beginning at the Mulkey Theatre with donuts, mimosas, and coffee at 9:30 followed by rapid fire presentations on expanding community service throughout the Panhandle.
Local and area Lions will then gather on the north side of the Antro Hotel site to recreate a picture that was taken there in 1930 with Lions founder Melvin Jones. In addition to area Lions, Past International President Jimmy Ross and International Director T.J. Tijerina are expected to attend.
Attendees will then participate in a Strides Walk to Prospect Park to raise diabetes awareness, followed by service projects after lunch.
At 2:30 Lions and any interested community members are invited for Bingo and Cornhole at the Lions Hall. Prizes will be awarded.
A ribbon cutting and open house will be held at the newly renovated Lions Hall at 5 p.m., and the Lions will gather at the Bairfield Activity Center for their Centennial Banquet at 6:30, which will feature awards and reflections on the Lions’ history here since the club was chartered on October 28, 1922.
Follow the Clarendon Lions Club on Facebook for more about this year’s Centennial Celebration.
The Clarendon Chamber of Commerce last week began a new program and named Kaitlyn Davis of Lowe’s Family Center as the local Employee of the Month for October.
“We know that retail and service workers are the backbone of our small businesses,” Chamber Vice President Ashlee Estlack said. “We want to give them the recognition they deserve for their hard work and dedication while providing great service to visitors and locals.”
The community at large is asked to help select future honorees. Those interested can nominate someone who is Donley County Proud, works hard, and has gone above and beyond in a retail or a service position.
Winners will be chosen monthly and will receive $25 in Chamber Bucks to spend across Donley County at chamber member businesses.
Nominees must be currently employed at the business they are representing in the nomination.
Each month, the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors will select a winner based on the information from the nomination form. If an applicant isn’t selected, the committee will carry the nomination forward to the next month. Each month the winner will be featured on social media and in The Clarendon Enterprise.
Nominations can be made online at ClarendonTx.com/employeeofthemonth.
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