Archives for June 2025

Mark your calendars and get ready to celebration America’s Independence during the 148th annual Saints Roost Celebration in Clarendon July 3, 4, and 5.

All the traditional activities will again be offered, and it’s time now to sign up for events, booth space, and more.

The complete line-up for this year’s celebration is as follows:

Thursday, July 3 – The annual Depression Lunch benefiting the Downtown Ministry Center will be held at 11 a.m. on July 3, but due to sidewalk renovations and traffic congestion expected the year, the event will be held at the Lions Hall. The COEA Junior Rodeo will close out the first day of the celebration activities Thursday, July 4, at 7:30 p.m. with a dance to follow the rodeo.

Friday, July 5 – The Clarendon Lions Club will hold a Bag Bingo at the Lions Hall July 4. Bingo starts at 11 a.m. and is $40 per person. The bag bingo features several great prizes including designer purses, coolers, gift baskets, and more. Seating is limited so tickets should be purchased as early as possible at the Enterprise or by calling or texting 806-662-4689. A Mexican Pile-On lunch comes with your bingo ticket purchase. The Lions barbecue cookoff will be held at a later date this year.

The Clarendon Country Club July Fourth Golf Tournament is also scheduled, and more details are available at 806-874-2166. The first night of the COEA Ranch Rodeo will follow that evening at 7:30 p.m. with live music by Tanner Lane and dancing on the Slab afterward.

Saturday, July 5 – The big day will begin July 5 with the Arts & Craft Fair on the square at 9 a.m. sponsored by the Donley County 4H. Booths must be reserved through the Donley County 4H by calling 806-874-2141.

The theme for this year’s parades is “Candy Land” because life is sweet in Donley County. Parade entries should reflect the classic board game or favorite candies. Entry forms are available at the Visitor Center and online at ClarendonTX.com/parade.

The Chamber of Commerce’s Liberty Electric Kids’ Bicycle & Tricycle Parade will begin at 9 a.m. The Kids’ Parade will line up and register at 8:30 at Third and Sully. Pre-registration by July 2 at 5:00 p.m. is required to win the kid parade prizes. Entry forms are available at the Visitor Center and are online.

Line up for the Herring Bank Parade begins at 9 a.m. at Prospect Park with the parade taking off at 10:00. The Herring Bank Parade features $850 in cash prizes with $250 available for the best float, $150 for the best car or truck entry, $150 for the best animal or riding unit, $150 for the best tractor or farm equipment entry, and $150 for the best “other” entry. Only entries registered by 5:00 p.m. on July 2 are eligible to win the prize money.

Following the parade, the Al Morrah Shine Club Barbecue will again be held on the square. Tickets are $20 per person and support the Shriners’ work to help crippled and burned children. Tickets will be available on the square or in advance at the Visitor Center and the Enterprise.

The Chamber of Commerce will not be sponsoring the Lawnmower Races or the Best of Donley County competitions this year, but they welcome other organizations to pick up those activities or sponsor new ones during the big day. For information or to get your event on the schedule, contact the Visitor Center.

The Coffee Memorial’s Bloodmobile downtown for a blood drive July 5 as well. Donations are always needed and appreciated.

The Henson’s Turtle Race will take place at 1:30 p.m., and the Ranch Rodeo will close out the celebration at the COEA Arena Saturday night beginning at 7:30 p.m. with live music on the Slab afterwards by Seth Ward & the Silence.

For more information and schedule updates, contact the Visitor Center at 806-874-2421 or visit ClarendonTX.com.

Clarendon High School graduating seniors were recognized having been offered approximately $452,674 in scholarships, awards, and grants during commencement exercises May 23 at the Harned Sisters Fine Arts Center.

There may be more awards not reported for the Class of 2025, and some students may not use all the awards they were offered.

The following are awards that have been announced:

Joshua Mason Allred received a Texas Tech Merit Scholarship for $6,000 per year for four years, grants of $7,000 per year for four years, and an Onita Thomas Memorial Scholarship for $200.

Lauren Denise Ceniceros will receive a WTAMU Merit Scholarship of $1,000, the Lions Club Scholarship of $500, and grants of $10,545.

James Dalton Coles was awarded a Tarleton Scholarship of $2,500 per semester, McMurry University of $15,000 per year, an Alaska Fairbanks award of $5,000 per year, an Out of State Tuition Waiver for $300 per semester, and Grand Canyon University award of $6,000 per year.

Maloree Kait Wann received the Texas Tech University Thoma Scholarship for $90,000 for Full Tuition, a TTU Federal Pell Grant of $740, a TTU Dean’s Offer of $1,200, the TTU Bagley Foundation End Scholarship for $2,000, the TTU FR Pres Merit Scholarship $6,000, the TTU CASNR Gen AG & NR Scholarship of $500, the Bill Talley Scholarship of $1,000, and the Walter Knorpp Salutatorian Scholarship to Clarendon College.

Emily Grace Clark was awarded the Panhandle-Plains Higher Education Foundation Windmill Scholarship of $3,000 per year for four years, a Hardin-Simmons University Trustee Scholarship for $22,000 per year for four years, the WTAMU Merit Level Scholarship $6,000 for one year, the Ministerial Alliance Scholarship of $150, and the Walter Knorpp Valedictorian Scholarship.

Shelbi Kayann Coles received an LCU Scholarship for $9,000 per year, a WTAMU Distinguished Merit Scholar Level Placeholder $500 per semester, and Harden Simmons award of $18,000 per year.

Kennadie Leigh Cummins received a Vernon Athletic Scholarship of $16,072, The Pinky McCully Scholarship of $500, a Rock Crossing Baptist Church Scholarship for $500, the Jim & Pat McAnear Scholarship for $400, and the Ministerial Alliance Scholarship of $150.

Tandie Renae Cummins was awarded a Vernon Athletic Scholarship worth $16,072, Small charitable foundations scholarship of $1500, the Jim & Pat McAnear Scholarship of $400, and the Ministerial Alliance Scholarship of $150.

Hayden Elia Elam received the WT Merit Scholarship for $1,500.

Benjamin Allen Homer Estlack was the recipient of a Texas Tech Presidential Scholarship for four years for $26,000, the James E. Sowell Engineering Scholarship for four years for $26,000, a Texas Tech Alumni Scholarship for $3,000, the Donley County Retired School Personnel Association Scholarship of $350, an Onita Thomas Memorial Scholarship for $200, and the Panhandle Press Association Scholarship $1,000.

Grant Renner Haynes was awarded a West Texas A&M Scholarship of $1,000, a TCAAA Scholarship of $2,500, a Texas Big Game Scholarship of $2,500, the Donley/Hall County Farm Bureau Scholarship for $500, the Texas Farm Bureau Scholarship of $3000, a Jim & Pat McAnear Scholarship of $400, the Bill Talley Scholarship for $1,000, and the Ministerial Alliance Scholarship for $150.

Bryce Alan Williams received an academic award of $14,000, an athletic scholarship of $9,000, the John Michael Morrison Scholarship of 1,000, the Greenbelt Electric Scholarship of 1,000, and a Jim & Pat McAnear Scholarship for $400.

Chelsea Shayne Wright will receive a WTAMU Academic Merit Scholarship for $1,500, a Rynlee Dawn Burrow Memorial Scholarship, and a Dalton O’Gorman award.

Daniel Allen Estlack will receive a Onita Thomas Memorial Scholarship of $200.

Jaythan Joseph Green received the Homer Estlack Memorial Scholarship for $500, a John Tom Morrow Masonic Scholarship of $500, and the Gret Betts Masonic Lodge Scholarship for $500.

Riley Rose Jantz will receive a Distinguished Merit Scholar Level Placeholder Scholarship of $1,000 and a Federal Pell Grant of $7,395.

Koltyn Wesley Shields got an Onita Thomas Scholarship of $200.

Erin Jade Wagner received the John Tom Morrow Masonic Scholarship of $500.

The Jericho Gap 5K/10K was a big success Sunday morning, helping kick of the 2024 Route 66 Festival in the Panhandle.

About 70 people registered for the event to commemorate the history of Donley County’s own historic community on the Mother Road.

“We’ve been workin’ hard behind the scenes for this Jericho Gap 5K/10K, and today we just want to say a big ol’ Texas-sized thank you to every soul that made it possible,” organizer Blanca Schaffer said on Facebook. “From the bottom of our dusty, Route 66-lovin’ hearts – thank you to the businesses, the volunteers, and every runner who showed up, laced up, and brought the energy.”

Schaffer acknowledged local officials, vendors, and landowners for helping make the race happen, and said the runners themselves gave the event heart, “from cancer survivors to archaeology buffs, from our youngest racer at 10 to our legendary 86-year-old participant.”

The Route 66 Festival continues this week, and Jericho will be the center of attention one more time as a stop along the Route 66 East Bus Tour of the Panhandle. For more information, go online at VisitAmarillo.com/TX66Fest.

Premier Commercial Group was selected to lead a $3.1 million restoration project on the 1890 Donley County Courthouse last week during a called session of the Commissioners’ Court.

The County selected Premier to be the Construction Manager At-Risk for the new project based in part on the work the company did on the courthouse following damage caused by a 2021 freeze. Commissioners also considered a proposal by Phoenix One, the company that originally restored the building in 2003.

The new project will focus on exterior brick on the south wall, which is slowly pulling away from the building. Premier will also replace or conserve sandstone on the building that is spalling or flaking, but the scope of that work is secondary to repairing the brick wall.

The Texas Historical Commission’s Courthouse Preservation Program has awarded $2,594,974 for this project with the county matching the grant with $457,937 in its own courthouse maintenance fund.

The Donley County Courthouse is the oldest functioning courthouse in the Texas Panhandle.

Construction started on the building in the spring of 1890 at a cost of $35,000 and county offices moved into the building in February of 1891.

The building was one of the first courthouses restored by the Courthouse Preservation Program at a total cost of $4.2 million in 2003.

Clarendon College Regents met with architectural firm Parkhill during a called meeting May 14 to discuss bringing the Harned Sisters Fine Arts Center into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, a project that could cost the college about half a million dollars.

CC President Tex Buckhaults said the meeting with Parkhill stems from a December 2023 ADA survey of the Clarendon campus, which found “overwhelming” ADA issues on campus.

“It was a 48-page report that we have been working through since 2024,” Buckhaults said.

While some issues were able to be addressed in-house, other issues will require substantial investment and the input of architects to meet federal standards. Buckhault said the college chose to focus on the fine arts center first because of how important it is to the community with so many events held there each year.

Parkhill will charge CC about $180,000 to create plans for renovations and oversee the project. Work would actually begin after the first of the year.

The project will focus on making the building accessible, improving accessibility of restrooms, and creating accessibility to the stage from the auditorium. Breeze-ways on the east and west sides of the building would either be completely or partially enclosed with matching brick to allow for expansion of the foyer restrooms and installation of a lift in the auditorium to the stage.

Another lift near the current southeast auditorium exit, would give accessibility to a new exterior sidewalk along the eastside of the building where a large planter box currently runs towards the front entrance.

Buckhaults says the college will be able to pay for the work with money currently in reserves and says the project is expected to take about 30 weeks when it gets underway next year, which would impact college and high school graduation exercises.