Hedley Owls recognized with All-District honors
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Local sales tax revenue falls
Clarendon’s sales tax revenue for the month of November dipped nearly nine percent, but the city is still running ahead for the year-to-date according to figures released by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs.
The city’s sales tax rebate this month totaled $34,500.38, which is down 8.7 percent from the same period one year ago; but Clarendon’s sales tax revenue for the calendar year is now $289,154.97, which is an increase of 1.44 percent.
Howardwick and Hedley also were down for the month but ahead for the year.
Howardwick was down 27.64 percent at $943.13 for November but was still 12.93 percent ahead for the year-to-date with $7,040.42.
Hedley sales tax revenue for November was down 25.66 percent at $1,167.33 but the year-to-date figure was up 4.06 percent at $12,460.92.
Combs said state sales tax revenue in October was $1.62 billion, up 6.6 percent compared to October 2009.
“Total sales tax collections have now exceeded year ago amounts for a seventh consecutive month,” said Combs. “Once again growth was posted in major sectors like the oil and gas industry, retail trade and construction. We will need to keep monitoring revenue from these and other sectors to see if tax collections maintain an upward trend.”
Combs sent Texas cities $367.2 million in sales tax allocations, up 7.2 percent compared to November 2009. So far this calendar year, city sales tax allocations are down 0.2 percent compared to the same time period last year.
November sales tax allocations to local governments represent September sales reported to the Comptroller in October by monthly tax filers and July, August and September sales reported to the Comptroller in October by quarterly tax filers.
The Comptroller’s December local sales tax allocation will be made on Friday, Dec. 10.
Henry Carroll “Boopie” Massingill
Henry Carroll “Boopie” Massingill, 67, died Tuesday, November 23, 2010, in Clarendon.
Services were held at 2 p.m. Saturday, November 27, 2010, in the First Assembly of God in Clarendon with Rev. Matthew Stidham, Pastor, and Rev. Chris Ford, Associate Pastor, officiating. Interment followed at Citizens Cemetery in Clarendon.
Services were under the arrangement of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
Boopie was born November 8, 1943, in Clarendon to Henry Allen and Julia Grace Holman Massingill. He married Cherry Lou Pickering on May 29, 1964, in Memphis. He had been a lifelong resident of Clarendon.
He loved hunting, fishing, making bird houses, working in the outdoors, and helping other people. He was a member of the First Assembly of God in Clarendon.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and his sister, Louise Fetters by 20 hours on November 23, 2010.
Survivors include his wife of 46 years, Cherry Massingill of Clarendon; three daughters, Rhonda Howell and husband Joe of Clarendon, Theresa Houck of Amarillo, and Kelly Tuttle and husband Brent of Clarendon; two brothers, Les Thompson of Summerville, South Carolina and Hal Massingill of Bakersfield, California; one sister, Alana Moreland of Bakersfield, California; six grandchildren, Lindsey Robertson and husband Chuck of Clarendon, Abbie Massingill of Canyon, Glen Houck of Amarillo, Amanda Reynolds of Memphis, Amber Houck of Amarillo, and Tyler Tuttle of Clarendon; two great grandchildren, Jaxon Robertson and Brayley Taylor; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family request memorials be to Donley County Sr. Citizens or a favorite charity.
Undefeated
Giving thanks
Broncos fall to Seymour, 14-7
The Broncos’ stellar season came to abrupt halt in the Area round of the playoffs ending a year that was one for the record books. It was the first time since 1981 that the Broncos were named District Champs and a win would have been the first time since 1972 that the Broncos made it past the second round. But it wasn’t their day.
The Panthers may have won on the scoreboard, but the Broncos reestablished their position in 1A football as a team to not be taken lightly. Game after game this season the Broncos proved they could play with the best of them after posting only two losses overall.
“Our expectations were high for this game,” head coach Gary Jack said. “We felt we were ready and had a great week of practice. We expected a tough game, and that’s exactly what it was. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
Jack felt the Broncos were not as sharp as they had been. Several things could have
played a part in the loss, but Jack is not making excuses. There was a lot of emotion running through the team and things just really did not click the way they had been, Jack said.
Defensively, the Broncos played outstanding, but offensively they could not get things going like they had in the past.
“It was a good defensive game,” Jack said. “But offensively, the things we had been doing that worked were not working for us. We could never get into a flow. The defense definitely dictated both sides of the ball. One or two plays either way could have changed the outcome of the game.”
Jack gave Seymour credit.
“They are a good team, and they played well,” Jack said. “We didn’t think anybody would slow us down and they did.”
The Broncos’ only score came on a four-yard run by senior Chris Crump with Johnny Gaines kicking the extra point. Clarendon racked up 249 total yards and was virtually even with Seymour in the stats book. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, the Broncos were moving the ball down the field and had a chance to tie the game at 14 all. But the Panthers intercepted a Gaines pass on the nine-yard line and ran the clock out.
Despite the loss, the Broncos had a great year and Coach Jack is extremely proud of them.
“I will miss the seniors,” Jack said. “They played hard and were great leaders. I’ll have good memories of the entire team and the seniors. What a run these kids had this season.”
Jack knows there is good talent coming up.
“We have a bunch of kids returning, and they have big shoes to fill.”
The Bronco underclassmen will be ready come fall; ready to rewrite the record books once again.
The senior Broncos are Johnny Gaines, Mike Crump, Chris Crump, David Roberts, Bradley Watson, Brayden Phillips, R.J. Nino, John Levario, Daniel West, Coby Braughton, Trent White, Clayton Shields, and Monty Holland.
Going up
Lady Broncos defeated by last second shot
Calls for ambulance service rising
In 2004, the highest number of monthly calls was 49. This year, the highest number is 96 calls in September, and there are two other months that have received 95 calls.
“We’ve never seen this much activity,” Ambulance Administrator Anna Howard said. “We’ve steadily crept up on our number of calls, but nothing like this year. For unknown reasons, this year has had an amazing jump.”
According to Howard, there are a few more medical calls than trauma, but on average they are the same.
“We don’t have a good explanation because it’s not all one thing,” Howard said. “Our car accident calls have actually decreased since I came here in 2002. We see all sorts of different medical issues, like strokes and heart attacks as well as trauma, so it’s hard to pinpoint what the problem is.”
The average age of the patients varies as well.
“Some wonder if the increase has to do with the higher elderly rate in Donley County, but some of these patients aren’t elderly,” Howard said. “The average age of the patients is pretty much even because there is the same amount of people in each group.”
The majority of the calls are from Donley County citizens.
“We don’t get that many calls from people out of town or just passing through,” Howard said. “In fact in October, we had 56 calls from Donley County citizens and 17 from non-citizens. We thought that was impressive.”
One hypothesis Howard has is that people are putting off going to their primary physician.
“They wait until they start feeling really bad and then finally call the ambulance.”
The amount of calls frequently requires two ambulances running.
“We’re definitely staying busy,” Howard said. “We are fortunate to be able to run two ambulances in Donley County because a lot of small places are struggling to actually get a crew for their ambulance. We staff two trucks 24/7 with personnel, and with the increased calls we even have to staff a third truck at times, but it hasn’t affected the payroll yet.”
The two brand new ambulances received in March already have 24,000 miles on them.
“The old ambulances we replaced got 8.6-9.0 miles per gallon, while the new trucks get 10.9 so that’s good,” Howard said.
“We hope to keep these ambulances until they get at least 300,000 miles on them.”
Howard said the biggest issue with the increased calls is the fuel cost.
“We are still in budget as far as fuel, but if it keeps up like this I’m sure we’ll be over it soon,” she said. “We’ll be $4,000-$5,000 over the fuel budget if we keep up with the call volume of 80-90 calls a month.”
The amount of calls has not affected the care patients receive, though.
“We have a great crew,” Howard said. “If we need a third crew, someone is always going to be there. We have enough people willing to serve the community as EMTs who will even on the rare occasion act as a first responder when all three ambulances are out to provide immediate emergency care until one of our ambulances arrive. To me, that’s unheard of in a rural community.”
David Patterson
David Patterson, 75, of Canyon died Friday, November 19, 2010.
Services were held at 10 a.m. Monday in First United Methodist Church in Canyon with the Rev. John McClean officiating. Burial was in Memory Gardens Cemetery.
Arrangements were by Brooks Funeral Directors.
David Patterson was born July 29, 1935, in Doyle, Okla., to John and Clara Burton Patterson. He was a graduate of Groom High School and then graduated from West Texas State University.
He completed his graduate work at Oklahoma University and did additional graduate work at Texas A&M University. He married Jackie Estlack on November 11, 1956, in Clarendon. He taught school in Hereford from 1960 to 1964 and was a professor of Mathematics at WTSU for 31 years, retiring in 1995.
David was a veteran of the U.S. Army Signal Corps. He loved antique cars, bluegrass and country music and enjoyed traveling.
He was the founder of Panhandle Council of Car Clubs and was a member of Amarillo Antique Auto Club, Early V-8 Ford Club, Studebaker Club, Porsche Club and First United Methodist Church.
He founded the Make-A-Wish Car Show in Amarillo which has been held annually for 27 years now and has raised $2 million for the Children’s Make-A-Wish Foundation.He will be remembered for his great sense of humor.
Survivors include his wife, Jackie; a daughter, Marcella Cropper and husband Chris of Fort Worth; a grandson, James Wilson, of Fort Worth; two sisters, Shirley Sustaire and husband T.C., and Charlotte Aldy and husband Roy, all of Groom; his mother-in-law, Ruby Estlack of Clarendon; and numerous nieces and nephews.
The family suggests memorials to Meals on Wheels, 2616 13th Ave., Canyon, TX 79015; Make-A-Wish Foundation, 411 S. Fillmore St., Amarillo, TX 79101; High Plains Food Bank, 815 Ross St., Amarillo, TX 79102; or a favorite charity.
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