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City conducting survey for grant
The Panhandle Regional Planning Commission and the City of Clarendon will be conducting a door-to-door survey in the early evening hours this week as part of the city’s application for a Community Development Block Grant.
Interim City Administrator Phyllis Jeffers says the grant, if it is approved, will replacing an aging main sewer line and also replace a sewer lift station. The project would not take place until 2011-2012.
The Community Development Block Grant program is intended to serve primarily low to moderate income families in rural communities. This survey must be conducted in order to attain the information necessary to describe the population who would benefit from the City’s proposed water system improvement project.
Questions to be asked on the survey include: the number of persons living in unit, the number of families living in unit; and income levels. Citizens do not need to identify themselves by name on the form. Only the address is required. Representatives of PRPC will compile the results of the survey.
If you have any questions about this upcoming survey, please call City Hall at (806) 874-3438.
Spider-kids
Aldermen okay fund requests
The Clarendon Board of Aldermen met in regular session June 10 with a full agenda, including three requests for funds from the city’s Motel Bed Tax.
Aldermen first considered a request to renew a contract with Galaxy Outdoor Advertising for a billboard just outside Amarillo where US 287 and I-40 split. The three-year contract proposal was for $275 per month, and the board approved the renewal.
Theresa Shelton addressed the board on behalf of the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association and requested funds to promote the 133rd annual Saints’ Roost Celebration. Aldermen approved $3,500 for this event.
Betty Ann Sansing also spoke to the board and requested support for the Les Beaux Arts Festival this October. A motion to give $5,000 to this event died for a lack of a second. Another motion to donate $3,500 to the festival was approved.
The board elected Alderman Larry Hicks as the city’s mayor pro-tem and voted to offer the municipal judge’s position to Trina Wright.
Aldermen also considered a request by Rick Woodrome for a livestock permit on his property. The board asked for verification of the space requirements being met prior to approval of the permit.
A discussion was held on the recruiting of a new city administrator. A future meeting will discuss the qualification and qualities the city wants in a new administrator.
Interim Administrator Phyllis Jeffers updated the board on the street project. Nathan Jaramillo is heading up repairs and is doing streets one at a time systematically. He is being assisted by Brad Hagood, Lee Tolbert, and Jesus Hernandez. Jeffers said the crew filled 218 potholes in two weeks and that Third Street alone took nearly 60 tons of asphalt. Jaramillo is also making downtown clean up a priority leading up to the Saints’ Roost Celebration.
The board also met in called session on Monday night to consider and approve a request for $750 from the Tourism Committee to promote a Summer Celebration on July 22.
Stay all night. Stay a little longer.
CISD begins renovations of facilities
In order to maintain Clarendon ISD’s facilities, several buildings within the district are receiving renovations over the summer break.
“Each summer we try to improve our facilities, and that’s what we decided to work on this year,” Clarendon School Superintendent Monty Hysinger said. “We need to keep our older buildings functional and extend the life of them for at least another 15 years.”
Hysinger said that their “biggest goal” is to replace the main water lines that feed all the areas in the Junior High and Elementary.
“The Elementary and Jr. High are two of our oldest buildings, and the old water lines that run overhead have really deteriorated over time,” he said. “They’ve even begun to leak in some places.”
The Ag building will receive several upgrades, including a ventilation system to the shop, new heaters, a drop ceiling and new flooring to the classroom, and energy efficient lighting. They will also block in unused windows and paint the building inside and out.
“These renovations are going to make the building very nice, and they’re long overdue,” ag teacher Don Hillis said. “It’s going to make the teaching and the working go a lot better, and the new lights in the shop are going to make it outstanding.”
Another building undergoing renovations is the Field House, which will receive a new paint job inside and out, blocked up windows, wall mount HVAC units, energy efficient lighting, electrical upgrades and concrete poured for drainage to stop water leakage into the facility.
Public restroom areas will also be redone.
“I think this is long overdo,” head coach Gary Jack said. “Very little has been done to the field house since it was built in the late 50s or 60s besides the paint job. I think it was time for the bathroom facilities to be updated. It will be nice. It is a well used facility, and I think we definitely needed that.”
The weight room will gain new lighting, HVAC units, more insulation, and paint to the inside.
“These improvements will make the weight room a much better working environment,” Jack said. “It can get to be over 100 degrees in August and September, and it will be a much nicer unit for us.”
Hysinger said that in order to alter the route in which high school students take to park their vehicles during school, they will put safety panels and gates between north of the Bronco Gym and the Bronco Stadium wall.
“This will provide more safety for kids dropped off by their parents at D-wing,” he said. “People will still be able to walk on the sidewalk though.”
Altogether, Hysinger estimates the different improvements to cost between $180,000 and $250,000, depending on the completion date, which is expected to be mid-July.
“These renovations are well worth what they cost in exchange for more years of useful service out of our buildings,” he said. “If we don’t take care of it now, it can get to a point where we can’t take care of it.”
A Cowboy Remembers
When Multiple Sclerosis disabled Jim Robinson from climbing into a saddle, he knew his “cowboying” days were over. But his memories live on.
As he put down the reins for good, Robinson picked up a pen and within a year complied his short stories into a book called Memoirs of a Texas Cowboy.
“Since I can’t do anything anymore, I wanted to pass my story on,” Robinson said. “I
don’t know if I’ll forget or not later, but I wanted to get it down so people could read it because it’s not that way anymore.”
Robinson will sign copies of his book on June 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Burton Memorial Library during a book signing event hosted by the Friends of the Library.
He will sign alongside locals authors Debra Kuhl, Delbert Trew, and Ronnie Ward and seven other Panhandle authors including Jodi Thomas, Terry Burns, Debbie Elliot Upton, Harry Haines, Gerald McCathern, Phyllis Miranda and Grace Ann Schaefer.
“I read Jim’s book and just loved it,” librarian Jerry Shields said. “We encourage everyone to attend this event because we have so many authors coming, and hope a big crowd is present.”
Although he never thought he would be an author, Robinson has had two stories published in an Albuquerque magazine and also attended meetings held by the Panhandle Professional Writers Association to help him get started on his book.
The first part of Memoirs of a Texas Cowboy takes place south of Lubbock, where he spent his childhood. The rest of the book is spent at Davis Camp on the JA ranch, where he had a lease for 40 years.
“That was a nice time in my life,” Robinson said. “I saw a lot of sights you can’t see from the highway and smelled smells most people won’t ever know about. I covered lots of country and most of it from horseback.”
One of the sights that Robinson writes about is an Indian campsite, where he discovered mysterious holes dug deep into the ground.
“Some of the Indian holes in the ground were 20 feet deep,” he said. “I hope that someone will tell me what they were for because I’ve never figured it out and no one has been able to tell me.”
He also saw things that strengthened his faith.
“When you see a calf take its first breath, you know someone designed that, it didn’t come from a gorilla or something,” Robinson said. “Someone gives the calf their instinct to go get their first drink of milk, and it’s a miraculous sight.”
The last time he got to see these sights was in 2004, one year after he was diagnosed with MS.
“I always thought that Band-Aids, heating pads and Bengay were all you needed, but it didn’t turn out that way,” Robinson said. “Working cattle, getting up and out, and all the things you see and smell while on horseback are now just memories to me.”
Even though MS took away the lifestyle Jim loved, he has learned to accept it.
“I’ve worked with lots of people with MS, and Jim has a great attitude towards it even as bad as things get,” said Michael Thompson, Robinson’s physical therapist.
Robinson’s book has allowed him to get out of the house and travel in order to sell it.
“I’ve been nearly everywhere in the Panhandle selling my book,” Robinson said. “I also plan to go to Canadian, Denton, Ft. Worth, and College Station.”
Memoirs of a Texas Cowboy is 53 pages long, and simple to understand. It is suitable for readers of all ages. If you are interested in purchasing it, you can contact Jim
Robinson or visit www.xlibris.com, or www.amazon.com.
“My book is for everybody,” Robinson said. “That’s why I left out all the colorful cowboy language. It’s just about what people did and things I saw.”
He also has an idea for a second book.
“I plan to write about the good ole days,” Robinson said. “The time before video-games or computers.”
Now that he is an “old-timer,” as he refers to the older cowboys in his book, Robinson shares these words of knowledge with young people:
“Follow your dreams,” he said. “My mom and dad told me not to cowboy because it did not pay very well, but if you’re happy with what you’re doing, then that’s good enough. Even if it is not financially rewarding, do what you love.”
Sts. Roost Celebration plans set
Plans are in place for a spectacular Saints’ Roost Celebration next month in Clarendon.
The 133rd annual celebration will be held July 1-3 with the Fourth falling on Sunday this year.
Activities begin Thursday, July 1, with downtown merchant sales and a junior rodeo at the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association’s area followed by a dance on the slab.
The fun continues on Friday, July 2, with more sales downtown, a Depression Lunch at 11 a.m., and annual Henson’s Turtle Race will be held at 1:30. The first night of the COEA Ranch Rodeo at 7:30 p.m. Music for the dance that evening will be provided by the Buster Bledsoe Band.
Saturday will be the big day of activities with a Donkey roping at the arena and the Kids Bicycle Parade at 10:00 a.m. downtown. The 4H Craft Fair also begins at 10 a.m. on the Courthouse lawn with the Old Settlers Reunion at 10:30 and live entertainment during the day. Contact the Donley County Extension Office for craft fair booth space.
The Shriners’ Barbecue Lunch will start at 11 a.m., and tickets will go on sale next week.
The annual Western Parade will be at 2 p.m. followed by the Lions Club’s Cow Patty Bingo. The Ranch Rodeo will be held at 7:30, and Greg Allen will open for Tommy Gallegher at the dance.
The celebration will also feature a Trade Show each night at the rodeo, and Guy Ellis is the contact for booth space. COEA will also be hosting the traditional calf scramble and other kids’ events prior to the rodeo.
If you have other events going on during the celebration, please contact the Chamber of Commerce to get them on the official schedule.
US 287 project will improve drainage
A $1.4 million highway project now underway aims to improve drainage along US 287 through Clarendon, according to officials with the Texas Department of Transportation.
TxDOT Area Engineer Chris Reed says the project includes burying some 18-inch drainage pipe in front of Lowe’s Family Center that will connect with existing drainage in front of Country Bloomers Flowers & Gifts.
On the east side of town, three foot by six foot drainage boxes will be put underground at Jackson Street near the Calvary Baptist Church to Hawley Street then under the
highway and outflow into a creek behind Evans Fertilizer.
“We’ll also be doing some curb and gutter repairs in various places and also some concrete paving repair in front of the (Herring) Bank parking lot,” Reed said.
In addition, the project calls for three inches of pavement from the east city limit to the west city limit to be milled up and replaced over a distance of 2.247 miles.
Officials have no plans to post reduced speed limits during the construction, but they are asking drivers to use caution and please watch out for workers during this time.
TxDOT says this $1,416,687 contract, awarded to J. Lee Milligan, Inc. of Amarillo,
Texas, will last approximately five months or 75 working days.
This isn’t the only project affecting local drivers this week.
A $2 million project is also underway to overlay the northbound lanes of US 287 from Clarendon to the Armstrong-Donley county line.
That project work is being done by Gilvin-Terrell and is expected to be completed the week of July 5, 2010.
For more information about these projects, call Chris Reed, TxDOT Childress Area Engineer, 940-937-7251 or Barbara Seal, TxDOT Public Information Officer, (940) 937-7288.
Museum dinner will recognize members June 11
Come to the Saints’ Roost Museum appreciation dinner Friday, June 11 and become a member.
By becoming a member, you will help preserve artifacts and events that comprise this area’s rich, unique history that does not need to be lost or forgotten.
Your membership dues will help meet day-by-day expenses. Your support in the membership drive makes it possible to provide a great museum for the community with exhibits focusing on ranching heritage, Native American culture, military, railroad memorabilia and other interesting aspects of pioneer life in Donley County.
The event will begin with an open house and an art show at 6:30 p.m. Kevin Johnson will display his work in the depot.
A barbeque dinner will follow at 7:00 p.m.
Annual dues are $25 and can be paid at the dinner or mailed to PO Box 781, Clarendon, TX, 79226. Your help and support is appreciated.
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