Roger Estlack

Clarendon merchants are ready to roll out the welcome mats as the community gets into the holiday mood with Small Business Saturday sales and the fifth annual lighting of the Courthouse.

The Clarendon Chamber of Commerce encourages everyone to shop local businesses, and the Chamber’s Christmas committee has lined up several activities to make shopping at home fun, including a downtown Christmas Craft Fair, three nights of Late Night Shopping, spinning the wheel for prizes, and taking selfies with elfies.

As part of Small Business Saturday this weekend, a Christmas Craft Fair will be held from noon to 8 p.m. at the Arena of Life Cowboy Church. Everyone is encouraged to come downtown and check out what the vendors have available there. Starting at 4 p.m., the VFW Auxiliary will be holding their annual soup and chili supper, also at the Cowboy Church. Serving will continue through the Courthouse Lighting until the food runs out.

Activities on the courthouse lawn get underway at 5 p.m. with Santa Claus and caroling featuring local children’s groups. The lighting will be at 6 p.m. with the Spinning of the Wheel to come afterwards at Saye’s / Flying ‘A’ Tack on Kearney.

Hundreds of dollars’ worth of prizes including $400 in Clarendon Cash are on the Wheel this season. Participating merchants began on Monday giving tickets for a chance to spin the Wheel with purchases of $25 or more. On Small Business Saturday, the participating merchants will give double tickets.

Three lucky spinners will be drawn during each Late Night Shopping on Saturday, November 24, and on two Thursday’s December 6 and 20. On the final Late Night Shopping on December 20, a fourth ticket will be drawn to win all the remaining prizes on the wheel.

Merchants giving out Wheel tickets include Buckin’ Bean, Cornell’s Country Store, Floyd’s Automotive, Every Nook & Cranny, Turquois & Rust, Henson’s, Speed’s Tire Unlimited, Clarendon Outpost, Country Bloomers, Mike’s Pharmacy, JD SteakOut, Signs Plus, and Saye’s / Flying ‘A’ Tack,

Nine local merchants are also participating in the Selfie with an Elfie promotion. Elves have been hidden at Buckin’ Bean, Floyd’s Automotive, Every Nook & Cranny, Turquois & Rust, Henson’s, Clarendon Outpost, Country Bloomers, Mike’s Pharmacy, and Saye’s / Flying ‘A’ Tack. Customers who find the Elf can take their selfie with it and then post it to facebook.com/ClarendonChamber with the hashtag #ClarendonElf to have a chance to win a photo session by Savannah Askew worth $200. The Selfie with the Elfie winner will be named December 20 during Late Night Shopping.

Local merchants are ready to help you find something for everyone on your Christmas list with their Black Friday and Small Business Saturday specials on November 23 and 24. Details on local sales are printed in the Holiday Gift Guide included in this week’s Clarendon Enterprise and also available by clicking here.

Small Business Saturday began in 2010 when it was founded by American Express to help small businesses get more exposure during one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year.

According to small business advocates, every $100 spent in locally-owned stores returns $68 to the local community through taxes, payrolls, and other expenditures. That same money spent in another town or online returns nothing to your local community.

Shop at home this holiday season and remember the important role your local merchants play in keeping your community strong.

Howardwick Mayor Greta Byars last week joined her counterparts in Clarendon and Hedley last week in signing a proclamation declaring November 27 as “Giving Tuesday” as part of an effort to raise awareness about the national campaign.

One countywide organization offers the opportunities to make donations go even further during this time.

The Donley County Community Fund (DCCF) is participating in The Panhandle Gives campaign for nine days from November 19 through November 27.

All funds raised locally during this time will be matched through the Amarillo Area Foundation.

Donations can be made online by clicking here. Contributions can be mailed to Donley County Community Fund, c/o Jacob Fangman, Box 906, Clarendon, TX 79226. Checks should be made out to The Panhandle Gives, with “Donley CCF” written on the memo line.

Council training and continued friction with the volunteer fire department were the highlights of last week’s city meeting at Howardwick on November 13.

A special meeting preceded the regular meeting with attorney Bryan Guymon providing information on how to conduct city business and how the council can follow the Texas Open Meetings Act.

For about an hour, Guymon reviewed best practices and answered questions from aldermen, Mayor Greta Byars, and City Secretary Sandra Childress.

Guymon stayed for the council’s regular meeting, and the aldermen approved a motion to select his firm as the city’s official attorney. Among the first business, his firm will consider is the renewal of the Red River Water Authority franchise agreement with the city. The current agreement expires in January after a 40-year period, and Red River is seeking a new contract for 40 years.

In her mayor’s remarks, Byars discussed a proclamation she signed designating November 27 as “Giving Tuesday” and called on Roger Estlack to discuss the campaign benefiting the Donley County Community Fund.

Continuing disagreements with the fire department was evident when the council looked to pay the bills for the month and voted to charge back several expenses to the department, including fuel expense for attending a parade in Hedley and fuel expense to pick up meat in Oklahoma, which one fire official later told the Enterprise had been donated.

The council later voted to have the fire chief make a report to the city meeting each month. Volunteer fireman Coy Cooper was in attendance to represent the department and said the HVFD would make a report if it was placed on the agenda. The aldermen agreed that they wanted to hear from the department’s chief, who is currently Will Jordan.

“I haven’t seen him here since I was elected (in May),” Alderman Johnny Floyd said.

In other business, the council opened bids to sell surplus equipment and accepted a bid of $120 for a compressor to Ken Carden. The council also discussed developing a city website but agreed that more information was needed before a decision could be made.

A high-speed chased came to an abrupt end when the suspect ran into a pile of railroad scrap iron near Hedley Sunday night, November 11.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said a DPS trooper began pursuit of a white Volkswagon Jetta about 8 p.m. after he clocked the vehicle going 91 mph in a 75 mph zone west of Clarendon. Blackburn said the pursuit went through Clarendon and reached speeds of more than 130 mph before the suspect exited into the south Giles rest area.

The Jetta then came back onto US 287 with no lights, traveling west in the eastbound lanes and at some point crossed back over to the westbound lanes. The suspect was met by the Donley County Sheriff’s Office in Hedley; and while attempting to evade the sheriff’s office, he ran the car astraddle a pile of railroad iron in some tall weeds on the west side of town.

Douglas Dean Sowell, age 23, of Lubbock was taken into custody and charged with Unauthorized Use of Motor Vehicle and Evading Arrest in Motor Vehicle. About the time of the arrest, the Jetta was reported stolen out of Amarillo, the sheriff said.

The District 1 4-H Fall Roundup was held November 1, 2, and 3 at West Texas A&M University in Canyon.

Donley County 4-H had 34 members compete in four different contests; Food Challenge, where teams compete against each other to create a dish with surprise ingredients in a given amount of time like the TV show “Chopped,” Food Show, and Horse and Beef Quiz Bowls, Jeopardy like contests.

In the Food Show, Chardy Craft placed third with her Main Dish, and Izzy Craft competed in the Nutritious Snacks category.

Local kids also competed in the Food Challenge. Team A was Aubrey Stidham, Zane Cruse, Elliot Frausto, and Haiden Norman; and Team B was Tandie Cummins, Kennadie Cummins, Koltyn Shields, and Parker Haynes. Competing in the Beef Quiz Bowl was Senior Team Ryan Ward, Caton Grahn, Cutter Goodpasture, and Chardy Craft.

Donley County youth did very well in the Horse Quiz Bowl. The Junior Team 1 placed first with Gracie Ellis, Lindley Hill, Parker Haynes, Whitney Williams; and the Junior Team 2 placed third with Addi Havens, Elliot Frausto, Makynna Williams, and Presley Smith.

The Intermediate Team 1 also placed first with Bryce Williams, Grant Haynes, Laney Gates, and Levi Gates. The Intermediate Team 2 was third with Maloree Wann, Waite Dushay, and Mary Jo Dushay.

Also competing in the Horse Quiz Bowl were Senior Team 1 Tanner Burch, Mycah Woodard, Jodee Pigg, and Izzy Craft; and Senior Team 2 Grace McCurdy, Kasie Hinton, Darcy Grahn, and Dalley Neas.

Supporters of the Mulkey Theatre are being offered a new naming opportunity now that final bids have been approved to finish the rehabilitation project.

Through the “Take Your Seat” campaign, a $100 will be used to purchase a theatre seat and inscribe a seat plaque with the donor’s name, that of a loved one or of a company name. Future theater patrons who share that seat in the years to come will see the inscribed name as they enjoy a movie or performance.

In addition to a beautiful, permanent nameplate on a seat, donors will also receive a certificate listing the seat number and location and priority access to ticket sales to the Opening Gala and live performances during the theater’s first year of operation one-week before tickets go on sale to the general public.

A total of 204 seats are available for naming on the main floor of the Mulkey on a first-come, first-served basis. Money for five seats has already been turned in since the opportunity was first announced last week. Donors who come by the Clarendon Visitor Center can select the location of the seat based on availability.

Donations to the Mulkey Theatre through the Clarendon Community Fund, an affiliate fund of the Amarillo Area Foundation, are tax deductible under 501(c)3 regulations of the Internal Revenue Service.

For more information, contact Bob Weiss at the Visitor Center at 806-874-2421.

The mayors of Clarendon and Hedley have signed proclamations declaring November 27 as “Giving Tuesday” as part of an effort to raise awareness about the national campaign.

The proclamations by Hedley Mayor Carrie Butler and Clarendon Mayor Sandy Skelton encourage citizens of both cities to give back to their communities in ways that are personally meaningful, and one countywide organization offers the opportunities to make donations go even further during this time.

The Donley County Community Fund (DCCF) is participating in The Panhandle Gives campaign for nine days from November 19 through November 27. All funds raised locally during this time will be matched through the Amarillo Area Foundation.

DCCF board members are reaching out to county-wide residents asking for donations.

“Participating in this campaign is an opportunity for our local fund balance to grow,” Jacob Fangman, local DCCF chair, said.

In the last two years, the DCCF has awarded $3,000 in grants to local non-profits in Hedley and Clarendon while growing its fund balance to more than $17,000. Applications for this year’s grant cycle are being accepted through November 16. Applications are available at the Clarendon Visitor Center or from Fangman at Herring Bank.

GivingTuesday is a national event held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday giving season to inspire people to take collaborative action to give back to their local communities and the causes they support.

Contributions can be mailed to Donley County Community Fund, c/o Jacob Fangman, Box 906, Clarendon, TX 79226. Checks should be made out to The Panhandle Gives, with “Donley CCF” written on the memo line.