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2011 Firemen’s Appreciation Dinner
Toler
Rebecca Lou Harred Bryant Toler, 83, Wednesday, August 24, 2011, in Amarillo.
Graveside services were held Saturday, August 27 in Claude Cemetery in Claude with Lynn Robison, officiating. Interment was held in Claude Cemetery in Claude. Arrangements were under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon.
Becky was born December 14, 1927, in Claude to Hiram “Hi” and Montie Mae Harred. She married Thomas Lawson “T.L.” Bryant on February 2, 1946, in Floydada. Becky will be missed but not forgotten by all who knew her. The family would like to thank the nurses and staff of BSA Hospice for their loving care of Rebecca in her last
days.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; and her son.
Survivors include her daughter, Darla Morgan and husband Keith of Ardmore, OK; two sisters, Mary Robison of Clarendon and Roxie Stapp of Groom; her grandchildren, Debbie Estes and husband Kyle of Granbury, and Chad and Trent Bryant of Amarillo; and her great-grandchildren, Dylan and Drew Estes of Granbury, and Corbin and Journey Bryant of Amarillo.
The family requests that memorials be sent to BSA Hospice in Amarillo.
Firemen battle blazes for three days
Welcome thunderstorms last week brought unwelcome wildfires with them and caused 16 volunteer firemen to log a combined 576 hours over three days.
First Assistant Chief Jeremy Powell with the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department said storms that moved into Donley County about 9:15 p.m. last Wednesday, August 24, contained heavy cloud-to-ground lightning, and firemen began receiving multiple calls at 10:30 that evening.
The first fire was on the Milton Mann property on south SH 70 and burned less than five acres before being brought under control.
Other fire calls that evening ended up being in Armstrong County, Powell said. The Clarendon Fire Department noticed several “glows” to the southwest of Clarendon and investigated only to find muddy roads with more than an inch of rain between them and the fires. The fires seemed to be put out later by rain.
But by 1:10 a.m. on Thursday, the fire department began receiving calls about
multiple fires on the JA Ranch that were beginning to grow. The department responded with three units and a tanker to extreme southwest Donley County on CR CC to a grass fire reported to be 20 acres and growing.
At 5:00 a.m., the department requested for help from the county commissioners and their motor graders. By daylight, three county motor graders were on scene helping to contain the fire. Named “Lone Tree #1,” the fire was contained by 10 a.m.
At 10:30, Clarendon VFD units noticed smoke to the SW of their location and notified Silverton of a new fire in Briscoe County. Clarendon sent two units into Briscoe County to assist on this fire (named Lone Tree #2) as it would take Silverton over an hour to respond due to the remote location of this fire. Silverton arrived on the scene, and Clarendon returned to fire number one.
“By around noon, multiple fires begin showing up in Armstrong County, and Claude requested for help from Clarendon, but we were unable to pull off and leave the fires that we had,” Powell said.
Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. the Clarendon VFD still had units on scene of fire number one and noticed smoke to the northeast of their location. At the same time, fire number one broke back out and spotted across a creek bed.
“We kept some units on fire number one and sent the rest along with the county blades to fire number three which ended up being on the Sandy Camp Ranch,” Powell said.
Donley County sent three more motor graders and Clarendon and Memphis TxDOT responded with four dozers and two motor graders. Clarendon EMS was called due to some firemen suffering from heat exhaustion, and the Clarendon Firebelles responded with food and drinks for all involved.
That evening at 7:30 p.m., units from Silverton, Turkey, and Memphis, which had been working fire number two, pulled off that fire and came to take command of fire number one so Clarendon could use all its resources on fire number three. Memphis also moved units to fire three, which was brought under control at 11:30 p.m., allowing units to return to their bases.
The next afternoon, Friday, August 26, Lone Tree #1 broke out of the containment lines at about 4 p.m., and Clarendon again responded with six units, requesting assistance from the county and TxDOT.
Donley County Commissioner Andy Wheatly responded with his helicopter and, joined by
Commissioner Dan Sawyer, helped to coordinate efforts from the air. The Clarendon EMS and Firebelles also responded to help with firefighter rehab. This fire was
brought under control and units returned to their bases six hours later.
“Our firemen did a great job,” Powell said. “I had five firemen with me when we left at 1:30 a.m. on Thursday – Chancy Cruse, Junior Newman, Joel Horn, Ryan Hill, and Eloy Camacho – and they were still going hard late Thursday night with little or no sleep, and they did not go in until early Friday morning. It got very hot down there; and, combined with no sleep and the temperatures, we had some guys that went above and beyond the call.
“We all greatly appreciated the Firebelles and Clarendon EMS as they worked hard to help us keep going safely. We would also like to thank Machiel Covey who rounded up a hot meal for all of us Friday. We would also like to thank Randall and Julie Gates who made us a meal on Thursday.”
New Deal edges Broncos in season opener
The Broncos began the game with two early fumbles which resulted in touchdowns for the Lions in the first half. But Clarendon rallied back to put seven on the board before the break when Charleston Harris took it in from 25 yards out, and Tyler Burch added the kick. Both teams scored eight points in the third quarter and the Broncos’ score came when quarterback Chance McAnear hit Jerami Johnson with a 23-yard pass, and Chancy Williams added the bonus.
Things seemed to turn around somewhat for the Broncos in the final period of play as they put up 13 points on the board.
McAnear and Johnson teamed up again for six on a 27-yard pass, and Wes Williams ran it in from 23 yards out.
Head coach Gary Jack was disappointed with the loss, but felt the Broncos showed a lot of grit.
“We were down by 14 points early in the game and put ourselves in a hole,” Jack said. “We could have shut down right there, but our guys fought back and even took the lead in the third quarter. It was a crazy and wild game and we made too many mistakes early that gave them two scores. But it ended in a close game, and we learned from it. Most of the mistakes we made were little and things we can correct.”
Jack feels the Broncos will be ready for this week’s contest when Vega comes to town and knows more experience on Friday night is key.
“We have a lot of juniors and seniors that didn’t see a lot of playing time last year because of the numbers we had. It will take a game or two to get our confidence going. It is a learning process.”
Jack cited several players with good games. Williams had a good game running the ball, and Harris made some good plays. Jack said Jacob and Jayson Pigg and Jerami Johnson were solid on both sides of the ball. Trevor Cobb made some good catches for the Broncos and played good defense, and Chance McAnear had a good game calling the signals.
“Chance had a good game for us as a sophomore quarterback,” Jack said.
“He had to make some plays and decisions quick and did a good job for us.
“The game was a good test for us, and we will clean it up and be better next week.”
The Broncos play Vega at home Friday, September 2, at 7:30 p.m.
Moving day
Where’s the fire?
Mary Helen Strayhorn
Mary Helen Strayhorn, 89, died Friday, August 26, 2011, in Howardwick.
Graveside services were held Tuesday, August 30, in the Belle Vernon Cemetery in Friendship in Tennessee. Interment was held at Belle Vernon Cemetery in Friendship in Tennessee. Arrangements were under the direction of Robertson Funeral Directors of Clarendon & Friendship Funeral Home in Friendship, TN.
Mrs. Strayhorn was born February 1, 1922, in Dyer County, Tennessee to Robert & Georgia Dycus. She married John Strayhorn on February 17, 1940, in Covington, TN. She had been a resident of Amarillo prior to moving to Howardwick in 2002. She was a homemaker and a Christian.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; three sons, Stanley, Jimmy Lee, and Larry Joe Strayhorn; one brother; and two sisters.
Survivors include her daughter, Susan Langford and husband Tom of Howardwick; two
daughters-in-law, Yvonne Strayhorn of Kingsport, TN, and Judy Strayhorn of Dyersburg, TN; six grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; six great-great grandchildren.
The family suggest memorials be to a favorite charity.
Two thumbs up
Babcock bond still $1 million
A $1 million bond remains in place for accused child murderer Robert Babcock following a district court hearing in Clarendon last Thursday, August 18.
Babcock is charged with Capital Murder in the January 5 death of his son, four-year-old Chance Mark Jones. During last week’s court appearance it was revealed that his attorneys plan to pursue an insanity defense, and they are seeking additional psychological and neurological evaluations of their client.
Babcock’s mother, Gayle Edes, took the stand during the bond reduction hearing and testified that neither she nor her son have the resources to put up the $100,000 cash necessary to secure his bond. District Attorney Luke Inman questioned Edes about her relationship with Jones.
Inman also presented to the court the details of the original complaint against Babcock and brought up other cases in Texas where bonds were not reduced.
Judge Stuart Messer maintained the $1 million bond, citing the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s intent to pursue an insanity defense.
“I find the $1 million bond is appropriate to assure a court appearance and for the safety of the community,” Messer said.
The court also considered a separate $100,000 bond for Babcock on an unindicted domestic violence charge, and Messer reduced that to a personal recognizance bond.
Also during last week’s court appearance, Judge Messer set two more pre-trial dates – one on October 4 and another on November 29 – and schedule Babcock’s trial to begin January 17, 2012.
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