News

The old house at Sixth and Bugbee was again on the agenda when the Clarendon City Council held its regular meeting last Thursday, April 23.
The structure narrowly avoided condemnation by the city a little more than five months ago when the owner of the house, Linda Lewis, was given six months to address specific code concerns.
Lewis did not attend last week’s meeting, but sent Julie Russell to speak on her behalf.  Russell said removal of one old balcony on the house had gone smoothly but attempted removal of a second balcony had revealed an infestation of bees. Work on the house has since been hindered because of the risk of agitating the bees.
The aldermen took no action on the house last week. Mrs. Lewis has until May 18 to satisfy the city’s code department and its safety concerns.
In other business, aldermen approved amending the city’s employee handbook regarding when a new employee receives medical insurance and life insurance.
Aldermen considered proposals for a new heating and air-conditioning system at City Hall, but they took no action because the three proposals differed in the efficiencies of the units that would be installed. The city will look at this issue again but will ask contractors to give proposals based on the same efficiencies.
The council approved paying for a plumbing bill incurred at the residence of Dennis and Ruth Petty. The couple had a muddy spot appear in their yard and employed a plumber thinking they had a leak on their side of the water meter. The leak turned out to be coming from an abandoned meter not theirs.

Herring Bank will host a Small Business & Ag Producers Appreciation Seminar next Tuesday, May 5, in Clarendon to show the Herring team’s support for local businesses.
The purpose of the event is to encourage businesses to plan for success, according to Jerry Woodard, Market President of Herring Bank in Clarendon.
“Our hopes are to spark interests among business owners and facilitate planning and being proactive instead of just reacting as things happen,” Woodard said.
The seminar, which will be held at the Clarendon College Bairfield Activity Center from 6 to 8 p.m., aims to provide local business owners with tips that will help them reach their goals for success. The covered topics will discuss solutions to help grow businesses in a number of areas.
Herring officials want to help attendees save time, understand the various legal aspects of business ownership, and walk away with great ideas on boosting business, and the bank assures that attendees will have fun while learning a lot.
This event is free to all attendees. Beverages and hors d’oeuvres will be provided for our guests’ enjoyment.
The topics and speakers for Herring Bank’s Small Business & Ag Producers Appreciation Seminar are: “Protecting Your Success” with Rodney Skelton (CPA), PFS Securities America Inc.; “Panhandle Groundwater” with groundwater conservation district general manager C.E. Williams; “the Role of EDC in the Community” with Clarendon EDC Interim Executive Director Jack King; “Wellness Benefits” with Clarendon physician Dr. John C. Howard, MD; “Common Legal Issues” with Clarendon attorney James T. Shelton; “Relationship Banking” with Herring Bank Credit Analyst Manager Andy Nenstiel; and “Tools to Simplify Your Business” with Herring Bank’s  Internet Banking & Social Media Specialist Erika Silva and Merchant Portfolio Administrator Jodi Maxwell.
“We have such great respect for our local business owners,” Woodard said. “Opening and running a business certainly isn’t easy, but what it does to strengthen our community is truly priceless.”
Herring Bank would like to extend a special thank you to our community partners for helping us make this event possible: Panhandle Groundwater, Clarendon Economic Development Corporation, Dr. John C. Howard, James T. Shelton, and PFS Securities America, Inc.
Herring Bank was established in Vernon, Texas, in 1899. The bank provides a full range of commercial and consumer banking products, as well as investment and trust services.
To RSVP for Tuesday’s event or for more information about Herring Bank’s Small Business Appreciation Seminar, contact Carol Cocke at ccocke@herringbank.com or (806)874-3556 x2127.

The Clarendon Enterprise received seven awards during the 105th annual Panhandle Press Association Convention in Amarillo last Saturday, April 25.
During the annual PPA Better Newspaper Contest, the Enterprise received two first place plaques in the categories of Best Feature Stories written by Roger Estlack, and Best Sport Photography for photos taken by Roger and Alice Cobb.
The paper got second place honors for Editorials, Best Website, and Best Society & Lifestyles featuring Bob Watson, Peggy Cockerham, Kathy Spier, and Ben Estlack. The Enterprise also tied for second place Best Serious Columns.  Ben Estlack’s “Cub Reporter” column also received praise from the judges in the Humorous Columns contest.
The PPA was led this year by Shamrock publisher Jeff Blackmon. He will continue on the PPA board as Immediate Past President and is succeeded by Clarendon’s Ashlee Estlack as president – the fourth member of the Estlack family to lead the Panhandle Press in its 105-year history.
Other board members include Vice President Larry Thornton of Muleshoe and Secretary/Treasurer Roger Estlack of Clarendon along with directors, Tara Huff of Fritch, Joni Yara of Booker, Amanda Rogers of Canyon, Mary Smithee of Canadian, and Robin Brooks of Dumas.
The PPA represents 35 member newspapers in the Panhandle region. The association’s 106th convention will be in Clarendon on April 14-16, 2016.

Booth space reservations and car show entries are now being taken for the third annual Mulkey Block Party scheduled for Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 23.

This year’s Herring Bank Car Show has been expanded to include motorcycles, and entry fees are $20 per vehicle. Entry forms are available online here and at the Clarendon Visitor Center.

Booth space for activities, food, or vendors is $50 each on a first come, first served basis. Forms for booth spaces are also available online here or at the Visitor Center.

“Insufficient Funds” will be back on stage to entertain for the evening. Steve Hall and Jesse Lincycomb, both of Howardwick, will provide the opening musical entertainment starting about 6 p.m., and a live auction benefiting the Mulkey Theatre Project will also be held.

Entertainment activities for kids are being lined up as well, including showing cartoons in the Mulkey.

For more information on the third annual Mulkey Block Party, to rent booth space, or to sign on as a sponsor, contact the Clarendon Visitor Center at 806-874-2421.

By Ted Harbin, Rodeo Media Relations
Bret Franks is a cowboy.
For the past two years, the Guymon, Okla.-born man has served as the Livestock and Equine Center director and ranch horse coach at Clarendon College, a community college in the Donley County seat. Now he’s adding rodeo coach to his list of duties, recently hired to take over the 30-year-old program.
“I feel like the Good Lord led me here,” said Franks, a graduate of Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell and a three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier in saddle bronc riding. “When the rodeo coaching job came up, it was the perfect fit. It was almost like it was meant to be.”
He was raised two and a half hours north in the Oklahoma Panhandle in an agriculture family. He participated in ag-based programs and attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M on a livestock judging scholarship. He transferred to Panhandle State on a rodeo scholarship and won the Central Plains Region bronc riding championship while there.
He began a 10-year career in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1993, qualifying for the NFR as one of the top 15 bronc riders in world standings in 1997, ’98 and 2000. He won the Prairie Circuit saddle bronc riding title twice and was the 2002 National Circuit Finals Rodeo champion.
From 1995-99, Franks served as rodeo coach at his alma mater, guiding the men’s team to the national championship in 1997 and 1998. He did that while also juggling a prolific rodeo career.
“I think the biggest thing I can bring to the kids on the rodeo team is my ability to coach the mental aspect of the game,” said Franks, who lives in Clarendon with his wife, Darla, and their sons, Clint and Cole. “With my 20/20 vision of the past, I can look at the mistakes and struggles I had in the sport, and I can help them deter those problems and challenges before they ever get there.
“I can help them mentally prepare to win.”
Though he slowed down his rodeo career considerably after the 2002 season, he always was close to the game. He was the livestock supervisor and rodeo coordinator for Carr Pro Rodeo from 2005-09, then took a job as assistant manager at Cattlemen’s II Feedlot in Hedley, Texas, just a short drive from his Clarendon home. He worked there for four years until the business closed, then began his duties at Clarendon College. The institution is the first Texas junior college to have a ranch horse team, which promotes the college and agriculture in ranches and stock horse events. As the Livestock and Equine Center director, he is in charge of all events at the facility, including ropings, barrel racing competitions, bull ridings, clinics and practices, just to name a few. Now he’ll add to that list.
“It’s a big undertaking and a huge responsibility, but I’m really looking forward to everything,” he said
Bret Franks has a powerful career of rodeo experiences to use in order to help teach the young rodeo stars at Clarendon College.

The Donley County Courthouse is turning 125 years old this year, and officials are taking steps to make sure the Jewel of the Plains is in tip top shape.
Twenty-four trees were planted on the Courthouse Square Saturday, replacing some trees that have died and planning for future shade on the west side of the square.
County Judge John Howard said lace bark elm trees were chosen for the east side of the courthouse for their hardiness and quick growth and that red oaks were placed behind the building.
The county is taking care not to obstruct the main views of the 1890 Romanesque Revival building.
During their regular meeting last Monday, April 13, commissioners discussed maintenance issues facing the courthouse house, including plaster repair near the round window on the building’s east façade, grip sealant for the courthouse steps, and expanded electrical capacity for the annual courthouse Christmas lighting.
Howard said Commissioner Dan Sawyer will work with electrical contractors on a proposal to add electrical outlets on the back of floodlights on the square.
Commissioners also approved allowing Trane to conduct an energy audit of the courthouse and other county facilities to determine if mechanical upgrades might pay for themselves through costs savings.
The county is also planning on purchasing 125th anniversary banners for light poles on the square and will be ordering patriotic bunting to go in the arches of the courthouse’s main entrance.
Howard said the commissioners’ court is committed to taking care of the courthouse and making sure it lasts for another 125 years.
Construction on the Donley County Courthouse began in 1890 and the building was opened the next year after a cost of $35,000. In 2003, the county, with state aid, donations and tax dollars, completed a full restoration of the building at a cost of $4.2 million. Today, the building is the oldest functioning courthouse in the Texas Panhandle.

By Tim Marema and Roberto Gallardo
Like most of the United States, Donley County saw an increase in the number of foreign-born residents over the last decade.
From 2000 to 2012, the number of Donley County residents who were born in a foreign country grew by 28 people to an estimated 91, according to U.S. Census data.
The percentage of county residents who are foreign born also increased during the period, from 1.6 percent to an estimated 2.5 percent.
The findings could be important locally because a new study by the Daily Yonder indicates rural counties with a higher percentage of immigrants are doing better economically.
The study looked at the nation’s 1,966 nonmetropolitan counties, including Donley County. Nonmetropolitan, or rural, counties have no cities of 50,000 or more residents and don’t have strong economic ties to a county that does.
The research showed that counties with a higher percentage of their population born in foreign countries generally had a higher per capita market income and more jobs. These same counties also tended to have lower rates of unemployment and better poverty than counties with a smaller proportion of immigrants.
In Donley County, the economic results were mixed throughout the period of the study.
• Total employment grew by 7.6 percent to an estimated 2,260 full and part-time jobs.
• Unemployment rose by 1.4 percentage points to 5.4 percent.
• And the percentage of people living below the federal poverty line fell slightly from 18.6 in 2000 to an estimated 18.2 in 2012.
The county’s overall 2012 population estimate was 3,700, a decrease of 4.6 percent over the past decade.
The connection between more immigrants and better economic performance did not surprise James H. Johnson Jr., a University of North Carolina business professor who has researched the economic impact of immigration.
“What people don’t understand is that immigration is a selective process,” he said. Immigrants tend to be younger and healthier than the general population, he said. “They are risk takers by definition. For them, the glass is always half full.”
But the demographic change can be challenging for smaller communities, said Daniel T. Lichter at the Cornell University Population Center.
“Whether communities take advantage of the potential of immigrant communities to improve the local economy depends on local leadership and how well they respond to immigrant populations,” he said.
The study is based on the 2000 U.S. Census and five-year American Community Survey data from 2012, the last year available when the study was conducted. The survey data is an estimate and has a margin of error that varies with county size.
More details on the study are available at www.dailyyonder.com/immigration2015.
Tim Marema is editor of the news site DailyYonder.com. Roberto Gallardo, Ph.D., is a Daily Yonder researcher and an associate extension professor at the Mississippi State University. The Daily Yonder (www.dailyyonder.com) is published by the Center for Rural Strategies, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in Whitesburg, Ky.