News

The Clarendon Economic Development Corporation will meet next Thursday to open bids for the restoration of the Mulkey Theatre’s marquee.

The CEDC Board of Directors met Monday and authorized advertising for bids for the marquee work as well as for new electrical circuits for the sign and for repairs to wood framing and plasterwork on part of the theatre’s overhang.

As of this week, fundraising for the theatre has reached nearly $16,000 either donated or pledged for the marquee restoration. That is three-fourths of the $20,000 goal set by the CEDC and the Mulkey Advisory Committee, and officials are confident that the remainder of the funds can be raised in the next few weeks.

“We want to see the marquee lit up this summer, and that means we have to get moving with taking bids and other steps,” said CEDC Secretary Roger Estlack.

Separate bids are also being sought for electrical work and structural repairs to the theatre overhang, but officials say that any volunteer labor or any donation of supplies toward those efforts will just help the project that much more by stretching dollars as far as they will go.

The 12 letters spelling MULKEY on the north and south faces of the theatre’s marquee have each been sponsored, but donations are still very much needed to finish the work. Donors who give $50 or more will be recognized inside the theatre, and donations can be made to Donley County Historical Commission, PO Box 905, Clarendon, TX 79226 and note “Mulkey” in the memo of your check.

Clarendon’s downtown merchants are also supporting the effort by selling paper light bulbs which can be purchased for $1 and are displayed in stores downtown.
For more information about how you can help “Bring Back the Mulkey,” visit www.ClarendonEDC.org or check out www.facebook.com/mulkeytheatre.

Clarendon College has a new face overseeing Bulldog and Lady Bulldog sports this week as John Green takes the reins as the college’s athletic director.

Green comes to Clarendon from Frank Phillips College in Borger where he spent 25 years as the AD and golf coach, and he was named the NJCAA Athletic Director of the Year in 2009, but he says sports will not be his sole focus.

“I’m a strong advocate of academics,” Green said. “We want to set kids up for success in life. Our games will be good entertainment, and I expect our kids to be role models.”

Green says he’s excited about the opportunities at CC, and says he looks forward to partnering with the community and local businesses. He anticipates having college students involved in the community and wants to hold tailgate parties before college games.

“We’re going to have fun,” he said. “I am so thrilled and excited about people I’ve met, and I have no doubt we’re going to have success.”

Green will establish a golf team at Clarendon College and says he’s already guaranteed President Phil Shirley the team will be nationally ranked and in the national tournament.

“We will have a largely international team with at least three from England,” he said, noting that he would recruit locally also. “I had ten British players at Frank Phillips, and we were ranked in the top 20 nationally every year.”

Shirley says Green is coming to Clarendon with unique credentials and the ability to start new programs and calls the new athletic director a “recruiter par excellence.”

Green said he hopes to use athletics as a way to promote academic and workforce programs at Clarendon because people can’t go visit a classroom but they can attend a ballgame.

“There are many great programs here, and we will work to expand them,” Green said. “We will support our nursing, ag, and other programs.”

Early voting by personal appearance began Monday for four local governments holding elections this spring and will continue through next Tuesday, May 10.

Howardwick voters are deciding the fate of a proposal to raise that city’s sales tax rate by one-quarter of one percent in an effort to raise about $3,350 annually for street maintenance. Mayor Del Essary is the only candidate on that city’s ballot – although incumbent Gene Rogers is a write-in candidate for one of two vacant seats on the board of aldermen.

Other local entities having elections this year are the City of Clarendon, Clarendon ISD, and the City of Hedley.

Clarendon Mayor Larry Hicks has filed to run for his office again, and three candidates are running for the two open aldermen’s positions – incumbent Janice Knorpp and former aldermen Tommy Hill and Terry Noble.

Clarendon ISD has three candidates for two trustees’ positions up this year. Incumbent Weldon Sears is seeking re-election, and Che Shadle and former board member Renee Betts are also candidates.

The City of Hedley has four candidates for its three alderman positions – incumbents Tonya Metcalf, Travis Ruthardt, and David Wells and challenger Michelle Copelin.

Positions on city boards of aldermen and the hospital board are two-year terms, and school board terms are for three years. All positions are elected at-large, but hospital board candidates must sign up for a specific place.

Howardwick and Hedley voters can cast ballots at their respective city halls. Ballots for the City of Clarendon and Clarendon ISD can be cast at the Donley County Clerk’s Office in the Courthouse Annex.

Early balloting continues through May 10. Election Day will be Saturday, May 14, 2011.

Clarendon College President Phil Shirley is upbeat after travelling to Austin last week as the State Legislature continues to wrangle with budget woes and the fate of funding for community colleges.

“I have hope, and my faith has been restored in the system,” Shirley told the Enterprise last Friday.

CC has balanced its budget for 2011-2012 under the assumption that its state funding would be cut by 13 percent, but Shirley said he was given words of encouragement by Rep. Warren Chisum.

“Everything is still in a holding pattern waiting for Susan Combs’ final projection,” Shirley said. “In two weeks we should know a great deal more.”

Shirley said the college dealt with the proposed cuts by “doing some cutting and keeping a sense of optimism.”

“We based our figures on good enrollment and keeping the doors full,” he said.

The college has raised tuition and fees by $4 per semester hour for students out of district and out of state and also eliminated seven positions, mostly through people quitting, closing obsolete programs, and letting two most recent hires go.

Asked how the college could eliminate positions and then create a new position – hiring John Green of Borger as athletic director, Shirley said Green will be a revenue generator for CC.

“[Green] is a recruiter par excellence, and he will work to keep the dorms full,” Shirley said. “By semester’s end, we have 70 rooms empty. If we can retain those students, he will make up his salary and more.”

Overall, Shirley says he thinks the future is looking good for Clarendon College as he finishes up his first semester as president.

“With the addition of John Green and the news from Austin, there is not a reason not to be optimistic and excited for the future,” he said.