News

Several new activities have been added to this year’s Saints’ Roost Celebration which will be held June 30 through July 4.

Cowboy Church will be held on Sunday at 7:00 a.m. with special guest Bunk Skelton of Cowboy Ministry in White Face, Texas.  They will have Cowboy Gospel Music for the service.  The church will be held outdoors weather permitting at the rodeo grounds.  In case of inclement weather, the service will be held indoors.

The Clarendon Merchants will hold Western Days on Monday, July 3, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the empty lot east of the Post Office.

Events such as Hat Judging, for ages 12 through adult; Dummy Steer roping, for ages seven and up; Stick Horse Barrel Races, ages two through six; and Stick Horse Bronc Riding, ages two through six will be held throughout the day.  Kids participating in the Stick Horse events are asked to bring their own horses.  Prizes will be awarded to the winners in each event.

There will also be other games, bike decorations, face painting, and concessions.  Willard Skelton will be story telling in the Burton Memorial Library, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

A free street dance will also be held Monday, 8:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. at the Courthouse Square.  The dance is sponsored by the Saints’ Roost Museum, Donley County Extension Service, Donley County Senior Citizen Dance Club, and Clarendon Chamber of Commerce.  Bingo will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Lions Hall sponsored by the Saints’ Roost Museum. 

These new events have been added to the roster of yearly favorites including the Saints’ Roost Celebration Rodeo which will be held on Friday, Saturday, and Monday beginning at 7:30 p.m.; the Fair on the Square, Shriner Barbecue, and Western Parade on Saturday; and the Bicycle Parade, Depression Lunch, and Turtle Race on Tuesday. 

For a time listing of these and other activities held in conjunction with the Saints’ Roost Celebration, please see Qué Pasa

The Clarendon Enterprise brought home the Sweepstakes Award from the Texas Press Association’s 2000 Better Newspaper Contest this past Saturday in Arlington.

This is believed to be the first time a Donley County newspaper has won the top award from the TPA.

“We’ve won four first place plaques in the last two years from the state convention,” said publisher Roger Estlack. “This year we had two first place wins, and we placed in nearly every category that we entered.”

Points are awarded for every first, second, third, and fourth place win to determine which newspaper wins the Sweepstakes Award.

Judges from the Nebraska Press Association awarded first place to the local paper in the General Excellence category, which judges the entire paper as one entry.

“In all the entries in this division, I could not find one that stood out until I came to this last one, the Enterprise,” the judge said. “Your front page attracted attention immediately. It seems to give the readers a package they will look forward to.”

The Enterprise also took first place honors in Page Design with the judge saying, “This paper is a pleasure to read.”

The paper received second place certificates in the categories of News Writing, Photography, Feature Writing, and Advertising.

In regards to the News Writing, the judge said, “I liked that you could give us a story and not need 20 or 30 inches of info. You sorted out pertinent info, gave it to the reader, and got out.”

The paper was also awarded a fourth place certificate for Editorials.

This year 199 newspapers submitted 1,423 entries to the TPA contest. The awards were announced during the 121st annual TPA Summer Convention.

The Enterprise competed in Division 9 for weekly newspapers with circulations of 1,200 or less.

“If the current trend holds, we’ll be competing in a different division next year,” Estlack said. “We’ve seen an increase in circulation over the last six or eight months that will move us into Division 8.”

Division 8 covers newspapers with circulations of 1,201 to 2,000.

Willard Skelton and Ethelyn Grady have been named the 2000 Pioneer Man and Woman of the Year by the Clarendon-Donley County Chamber of Commerce.

Skelton was born here in 1916 and has lived his whole life in Clarendon. He was a traveling salesman for about 30 years.

Grady, age 79, was born northeast of Clarendon. She was a teacher and student counselor at Clarendon ISD for many years before working 13 years as a dispatcher at the Donley County Sheriff’s Office.

Both of these pioneers were featured earlier this year as part of “Donley County Remembers” – a series of senior interviews appearing in The Clarendon Enterprise.

Skelton and Grady will be honored during the Saints’ Roost Celebration this weekend.

A new grant will expand technology education beyond the classrooms of Clarendon ISD and across generations.

The Texas Education Agency awarded $674,698 to the school district last Tuesday from the 2000 Technology Integration in Education (TIE) initiative, a state program funded through the federal Technology Literacy Challenge Fund.

The 100 percent grant will provide funds to purchase multimedia computer equipment and software for the school, the Saints’ Roost Museum, and the Burton Memorial and to provide training for teachers.

“Teaching an Old Town New Tricks” is the title given to CISD’s program, which will integrate new technology into the curriculum from kindergarten through high school. The school hopes to prepare local students and citizens for the future while also using computers to preserve local history.

CISD Technology Coordinator Marva Thomas said she was “elated, exhilarated, and overwhelmed” about receiving the grant.

Thomas, along with high school business teacher Melody Hysinger and former junior high English teacher Helen Estlack, prepared the district’s grant application. The CISD Technology Planning Committee also provided input.

The bulk of the work on the grant was done recently, but the project has its roots in a technology needs assessment survey taken by the district in 1997.

“We had about 90 to 100 man hours go into writing this grant,” Thomas said. “Now we have a year to get everything organized, spent, and done.”

The grant will allow CISD to address the needs of the entire community through partnerships with the museum and the city/county library. Training for teachers and collaborative partners will be done through Clarendon College, Thomas said.

The effort to make computer technology available to older citizens in Donley County will center in the Burton Memorial Library and the Clarendon High School Library, each of which will receive new equipment under the grant.

When the program is up and running, the school library will be open two nights a week for use by participants in an adult literacy program and by students preparing to take the GED test or other similar examinations.

The Burton Library will provide space for citizens and students to study local genealogy and will receive two new computers with genealogy software and a new printer under the grant.

“We are so thrilled,” said city/county librarian Carolyn Blackerby. “We’ve been keeping our computers together with Band-Aids.”

Blackerby said the new computers will be used to supplement the old ones and will ease overcrowding on the computers by the staff. She also feels the school’s program is pulling the community together.

“It’s helping everybody work together,” she said.

Museum officials were also excited about the school’s grant, which will fund two new computers, two printers, a scanner, and a digital camera for that organization.

“We’re very happy,” said Judi Synek, vice president of the museum. “The museum’s computers were hit by Y2K and have been useless.”

Synek said the museum will use the new machines to properly catalogue its collection and could make the computers available, too, for genealogy purposes.

Altogether the state awarded $33 million in federal funds to 25 school districts and educational consortiums for technology-based projects. Clarendon was the smallest district to receive funding, and the local project was the only one funded in the entire Panhandle region.

There were more than 160 grant applications from across the state. The state awarded priority to applicants that addressed the state’s Public Access Initiative.

The TIE initiative grants address the recommendations in the State Board of Education’s Long-Range Plan for Technology, 1996-2010, in three areas: teaching and learning, educator preparation, and development and administrative and support services.

More information regarding TIE awards and future grant opportunities can be found on the TEA Web site at www.tea.state.tx.us, under Technology.

By Cheryl Johnson

Plans are shaping up for Clarendon’s 122nd annual Saints’ Roost Celebration, and there are plenty of activities for young and old to enjoy during the five-day celebration.

Because Independence Day falls on a Tuesday this year, activities will be held across five days.

The celebration begins on Friday, June 30, with the Coffee Memorial Blood Center’s Summer Blood Drive Promotion at Chamberlain Motor Company.  The drive will begin at 10:00 a.m. and continue until 3:00 p.m.  Hot dogs, soft drinks, and T-shirts will be given to all those who donate blood.  This year’s sponsors of the drive are Chamberlain Motor Company, The Donley County State Bank, Herring National Bank, and Clarendon Insurance Agency.

The annual Saints’ Roost Celebration Rodeo kicks off on Friday at 7:30 p.m.  This year’s rodeo is sanctioned by both the TCRA and KPRA.  A drawing for a $200 beef certificate will be held during the rodeo.  The rodeo dance will begin at 10:00 p.m. with Harvey Kinikin at the Rodeo Grounds.

The celebration gets in full swing on Saturday, July 1, beginning with the VFW breakfast at 7:00 a.m. at the VFW Hall.  The annual Craft Fair on the Square begins at 10:00 a.m. and runs throughout the day.  The Old Settlers will meet for a reunion at 10:30 a.m.  The Shriner’s will begin their barbecue at 11:00 a.m. and serve until the food is all gone.  Tickets for the barbecue may be purchased from any Shriner and all profits benefit the Shrine’s crippled children’s hospital.  The line up for the Western Parade is 12:30 p.m. at the City Park and the parade will begin at 2:00.  The Lions Club will hold their Cow Patty Bingo at 3:00 p.m.  The day concludes with the rodeo at 7:30 p.m. and the dance at 10:00 p.m.

On Sunday, July 2, a Cowboy Church will be held at 7:00 a.m. at the Rodeo Grounds.  The rodeo slack roping will be held at 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.  The Saints’ Roost Museum will hold their annual free Sloppy Joe supper at 5:00 p.m. at the museum.  The Museum will hold an Open House to honor the late James Owens and will present a plaque to his family at that time.

An evening of bingo will be held at the Lions Club from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.  Proceeds will benefit the Saints’ Roost Museum. The rodeo will hold their last day of events on Monday, July 3 beginning at 7:30 p.m.  A free street dance with KEFH-FM will begin at 8:00 p.m. by the courthouse and will continue until 1:00 a.m.

The celebration winds down on Tuesday, July 4 with the Bicycle Parade at 10:00 a.m. down Kearney Street.  Line up for the parade begins at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot north of the Post Office.  The Depression Lunch of beans and cornbread will begin at 11:00 a.m. in front of the Main Street Ministries building.  The First Baptist Church will also sell drinks and desserts to compliment the beans.  The VFW and the local Boy Scouts will present a patriotic ceremony at the War Memorial at 2:00 p.m.  The celebration concludes with the annual Turtle Race at Henson’s at 3:00 p.m.  Sign up your turtle at the store from now until the Fourth.

 Clarendon is the place to be for good family fun and entertainment, and this celebration is one you won’t want to miss.

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen met in regular session June 13, 2000, at 7 p.m. in the Board Room of City Hall.

The hanger rental at the airport was discussed. Current and former local pilots expressed concern that they were being asked to carry the entire expense of operating the airport. The pilots outlined the benefits of the municipal airport.

City alderman raised the airport rent to $40 per month on October 1, 1998. The fee had been $25 per month.

“I think what you’re asking is out of line,” said former pilot and hanger owner Dr. R.L. Gilkey. “You spend more on the park than the airport. It’s less than one-half of one percent of the city budget.”

Gilkey recalled the airport was built with a grant and said he didn’t think the city wanted to loose the airport.

“An airport is a necessary part of a viable community,” said former pilot Dr. Charles Deyhle, Sr. “A city without an airport is like a house without a toilet.”

Hangers at the airport are privately owned, but the city owns the land on which the buildings sit.

The pilots pointed out that they already pay taxes on the hangers and on the planes, and the said they felt it was unfair to have to pay a high rent to the city for a using a municipal airport. They compared Clarendon’s hanger rates to other communities, most of which were lower or free.

City officials say they have no intention of shutting down the airport. The city says some hanger owners have simply stopped paying the monthly fee since the increase went into effect. They want the hanger owners to sign an annual contract for renting the space at the airport.

For their part, most of the pilots say they might agree to a contract depending on the rates and the wording of the contract. But pilot Troy Skinner pointed out, “We’ve never needed a contract before.”

Skinner said to start with hanger space was free at the airport, then he said the city raised the rate to $25 per year and then later to $25 per month. Payment was never a problem, he said, until the city went to $40 per month.

Alderman Smiley Johnson made a motion to charge the pilots ten cents per square foot per year. The motion died for lack of a second. The board then approved a motion to table the matter.

 In other city business, the aldermen adopted a resolution authorizing the city to apply for a solid waste grant. The city is seeking $52,800 to implement a program to be known as the Citizens Collection Center Project.

The aldermen also approved a resolution to hire HOWCO Services, Inc., of Lubbock for grant administration services.

Roger Estlack discussed the annual pioneer edition of the newspaper. The aldermen approved a motion to advertise for the city for July Fourth.

The ordinance concerning water, sewer, and sanitation charges was discussed and tabled until the City Attorney can be present.

Employment was discussed for full time and part time help. The board voted to interview and hire two employees.

City Superintendent Jim Roberts reported on street and sewer work being done.

The replacement of one city alderman was discussed, and the matter was tabled until the next regular meeting.

By Jackie Boyd

The Area I FFA Leadership Conference was held in Clarendon earlier this week. 

About 200 FFA members graced the Clarendon College campus Monday through Wednesday for wild games, crazy stunts, and a lot of exceptional leadership training.

The Leadership Conference was a three-day event in which Area officers conduct several different workshops and leadership clinics.

Chapter officers attended workshops to learn what is in store for the FFA in the new year.  It also gave Chapter officers a chance to learn new activities and leadership skills to take home and use in their local FFA Chapters.

“It is a great learning opportunity,” said Will Edwards, who is the Dumas FFA advisor. “The kids go home with so much enthusiasm they can’t wait for school to start so they can share the new ideas they learned at the conference with other members of the chapter.”

Some of the leadership workshops the FFA members attended included “Think on Your Feet” and “Create Your Own Success.” The main goal of the workshops was to get the kids to think for themselves and to come up with goals to help them with their success in the FFA, as well as in their personal lives.

This was the 18th annual Conference to be held at Clarendon College.  For more information about the Area I FFA Leadership Conference contact Jerry Hawkins at 874-3571.

The Donley County Commissioners’ Court last week approved a contract for architectural services for the restoration of the 1890 Courthouse.

The contract was an important step for the county to keep with the project timeline set up by the Texas Historical Commission (THC).

The court met over several days in order to negotiate the best terms for the county with Volz & Associates, Inc., – the same firm which prepared the Courthouse Master Plan.

“We’re right up to date on sending things to the THC,” said County Judge Jack Hall. “We don’t plan on putting anything off.”

The contract was signed on June 14 and sets the fee of the Austin-based architect at approximately 13 percent of the project cost.

Hall said the next step for the county is to abate the asbestos and lead paint in the building. Notices for those services will be printed next week, he said.

The county is also working with 18 other counties who have received courthouse grants from the state to get the THC to change the way it plans to issue reimbursements for expenses related to the projects. The state agency has proposed to issue checks on a quarterly basis.

“I talked with Rep. (Warren) Chisum the other day to set it up where it would be paid through the comptroller’s office on a monthly basis,” Hall said.

The judge and other counties are concerned that they could end up financing huge construction costs for two or three months while waiting for payments to come in from the state. Hall expressed confidence that the payment plan would be changed.

Another hurdle the county is facing is the relocation of offices and records from the courthouse. The county has not yet found any office space to use during the project.

“We’re definitely open to suggestions,” he said.

The County Extension Service presents a particular problem, he said, because they need cooking facilities and space for their many different projects. One commissioner has reportedly suggested renting a house for the Extension Service, but Hall says no such house has been found.

In Austin last week, the county’s architects submitted the schematic design of the project to the THC.

“The schematic design recapitulates the Master Plan with more detail,” said architect John Volz. “The THC will have a two weeks to make comments, and then we’ll proceed with design development.”

In the meantime, Volz says his office is busy preparing the format for the construction documents and will be returning to Clarendon in the near future to make a more detailed assessment of the building.

“We’ll be spending a lot of time in the attic trying to determine the original roof lines,” he said, “and we’ll probably have the county excavate an area near one of the walls to determine the depth of the footings.”

Volz said any old photographs of the courthouse, especially of the interior, would be very helpful.

In May, the county was awarded a $2.9 million grant from the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program to fully restore the building.

IRVING – Valor Telecommunications of Texas, LP, announced last week that the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) unanimously approved the company’s application to provide local phone service to those Texas communities currently served by GTE. 

The action clears the way for Valor to assume operational control of over 300,000 local access lines – including the Clarendon and Hedley exchanges – on September 1, 2000.

“Valor is committed to ensuring that rural Texas is not left behind when it comes to having access to advanced telecommunications technologies,” said Anne K. Bingaman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Valor. 

“To accomplish that goal, Valor plans to make a substantial investment in the Texas communities that Valor will soon serve.  We believe the plan approved by the Commission yesterday is a win-win for both Valor and our customers.”

In the application approved by the PUC, Valor detailed the service and infrastructure improvements the company will make beginning immediately after the September 1, 2000 closing. Included in those commitments is the promise that Valor will fully deploy high speed Internet access through Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service to ten exchanges – Andrews, Brownfield, Crockett, Dumas, Glen Rose, Lamesa, Levalland, Pecos, Perryton and Texarkana.

Other exchanges would be guaranteed deployment of DSL within 15 months of a formal request for a minimum of 75 DSL lines.

The possibility of DSL service coming to Donley County is welcome news for local Internet users, several of whom complain of slow connection speeds.

Valor spokesperson Robin Buckley told the Enterprise that customers would probably have to make individual requests for DSL, but she did not know where those requests would need to be directed.

“We’re not down to that level of detail yet,” she said Monday, “but customers will be getting that information soon after September 1.”

Valor also promises to provide local dial-up Internet access in all exchanges within 18 months.

As for changes in everyday service, Buckley said the first difference will just be that phone bills will come from Valor and customer service numbers will change.

She said there will be no rate increases when Valor takes over from GTE, and Expanded Local Calling fees and services will remain unchanged.

Local GTE employees will become Valor employees, she said.

In addition to the PUC, Valor worked closely with members of the Texas House Select Committee on Rural Development, particularly Chairman Barry B. Telford of DeKalb and State Rep. David Counts of Knox City to develop its plan and to ensure that rural communities in Texas have access to broadband telecommunications services.

Valor, originally called dba Communications, will provide service to over 520,000 business and residential local access lines in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.  Oklahoma and Texas regulatory authorities have approved Valor’s applications to provide local phone service in those states.  Approval is pending in New Mexico.  Valor will begin providing local phone service in Oklahoma on July 1, 2000, and in New Mexico and Texas on September 1, 2000.

In 1999, Valor Telecommunications Southwest, LLC, and three operating subsidiaries were formed to purchase GTE’s telephone properties in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.  Upon closing of these transactions with GTE, Valor will be providing local phone service to over 500,000 business and residential local access lines in these three states, which will put it among the top 20 local phone companies in the country.

Valor is a privately-held company whose major investors include:  Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, Vestar Capital, Citicorp Venture Capital and a group of twelve prominent Hispanic investors with long-standing ties to the Southwest United States.  Valor’s corporate headquarters are based in Irving, Texas, and it will have offices in all three states. 

For more information, visit Valor’s web site at http://www. Valortelecom.com

Friends of the Library Literacy Council members are Sue Church, Martha Smith, Ayesha Abdullah, and librarian Carolyn Blackerby.

Enterprise Digital Photo.
 
A new literacy program will soon be underway in Donley County.
The Burton Memorial Library received two grants last week, one in the amount of $518.03 from the Golden Spread Literacy Fund, and another from the Viburnum Foundation for $3,000.

The funds will be used to buy books and start-up materials for the Friends of the Library Literacy Council. The council was formed after a survey identified a need to improve adult literacy in Donley County. Panhandle Community Services, the Department of Human Services, and the Donley County Sheriff’s Office participated in the study.

The local council has trained tutors who will provide reading instruction for adults on a one to one basis.

If you know someone who wants to learn to read, improve existing reading skills, needs help filling out forms, or needs help studying for the GED test, please call Ayesha Abdullah at 874-2794 or the Burton Library at 874-3685.

There is no cost to the student, and all calls are strictly confidential.