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Candidates start filing for county office

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Citizens interested in running for county offices have until Monday, December 13, to file and secure a place on the Republican or Democrat primary ballots.

Donley County positions up for election next year include judge, treasurer, clerk, commissioners in Precincts 1 and 2, and justices of the peace in both precincts 1 and 2 and precincts 3 and 4.

As of Tuesday morning, the following incumbents had filed for re-election as Republicans: Judge John Howard, Treasurer Wanda Smith, Clerk Vicky Tunnell, Precinct 4 Commissioner Dan Sawyer, and Precinct 2 Commissioner Daniel Ford. Two new candidates have also filed for the Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 and 2 position currently held by Pam Mason. Those candidates are Ashley Savage and Kristen Taylor.

Citizens interested in a JP position or commissioner position must live in the precinct served by that office. Other offices are countywide.

City delivers final verdict on old house

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The City of Clarendon Building Standards Committee met last week and took action on a dilapidated home that has bothered city officials for seven years.

The old Neece home, now owned by Linda Lewis, located at Sixth and Bugbee as been the subject of several city agendas and complaints.

During the December 2 meeting of the committee, Jerry Lewis asked the city again for more time and promised to make repairs to the roof of the house within two months. The committee did not agree to that. After listening to the testimony of Code Enforcement Officer Gret Betts and Fire Marshal Jeremy Powell, the committee declared the house as a dangerous structure and ordered its removal within 30 days. If the owners do not demolish the building, the city will take bids to do so and bill the owners.

In other city business, the city council met November 11 for its regular meeting and a short agenda.

Aldermen approved casting the city’s votes for the Donley Appraisal Board for Alderman Jacob Fangman and also approved a motion to reappoint Brandon Frausto, Taylor Shelton, and Jarod Bellar to the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation Board.

The council also approved a request from the Chamber of Commerce to close Third Street between Sully and Kearney for holiday events on November 27.

Aldermen also heard from City Administrator David Dockery with reports on the USDA project and the aquatic center.

Lady Broncos win Miami Tournament

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The Lady Broncos flexed their muscles in the Miami Tournament last week and brought home the Championship after winning four games. Overall, the ladies shot just over 60 percent from the free throw line and hit 26 three-pointers for the tournament.

The Lady Broncos won the Championship at the Miami Tournament last weekend. Courtesy Photo

The Lady Broncos easily got by Miami in the first game defeating them 51-30. The ladies played solid offense and clean defense as Miami struggled to get much going. The Lady Bronco defense only committed five fouls in the entire game, which help give them the edge they needed. Finley Cunningham led the way with five three-pointers for 15 points, and Aubrey Weatherton put eight points that included going four for four from the bonus line. Makenna Shadle and Hayden Elam put in seven points each and Jayde Gribble helped with six. Courtlyn Conkin and Madie Smith each added three points.

Highland Park was the ladies’ next draw in the tournament, and they walked off the court with a 43-31 win. A huge second quarter aided the Lady Broncos in their win. Smith led the way with 14 and Shadle had nine. Elam put in eight and Cunningham had six. Conkin, Gribble, and Weatherton helped with two points apiece.

They faced off against McLean in the third round and breezed their way to a 59-25 win. Another huge offensive effort in the second half sealed the win for Clarendon. Cunningham had a big game with 26 and Smith added 16. Shadle had six, Tandie Cummins put in five, and Conkin, Gribble, and Kennadie Cummins put in two points each.

The win over the Lady Tigers put the Lady Broncos in the championship game against Miami and they were never contested in the game winning 60-29. An early offensive surge in the opening minutes of the game gave the Lady Broncos the momentum they needed to get the easy win. Smith finished with 15 and Shadle added 13. Cunningham had nine and Gribble helped with eight. Weatherton put in five, Elam had four and Conkin, T. Cummins, and Gracie Clark added two points each.

Earlier in the week, the Lady Broncos earned an overtime win over Valley at 55-51.
The Lady Broncos held a fairly good lead in the opening minutes of the game, but Valley was able to take advantage of mistakes and missed free throws and close the gap at the break. The Lady Patriots were able to turn a four-point deficit after the third quarter and tie the game at 50 all at the end of regulation. But the Lady Broncos stayed the course and played stronger in the final three-minute period to get the win.

Weatherton put in 17 points and Smith added 13. Cunningham also finished in double figures with 12. Shadle added six, Elam had four, and Gribble put in three.

The Lady Broncos will participate in the White Deer Tournament December 9.

Franks continues his NFR streak

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By Ted Harbin

LAS VEGAS – Cole Franks seems to be a young man on a mission.

Still two months away from his 21st birthday, the bareback rider from Clarendon, Texas, has placed in three of the first four rounds of the National Finals Rodeo and pocketed $37,759. On Sunday night during the fourth round, he rode J-Bar-J’s Blessed Assurance for 86 points to finish in a four-way tie for third place, worth just shy of $10,000.

Cole Franks

“They’ve placed in every round they’ve been on that horse at the NFR,” Franks said. “He was a good one to get on in this pen.”

He’s had some good fortunate, but he’s also earned his money eight seconds at a time. Riding bareback horses is no easy task. The riggings are cinched tightly to the animal’s back, and the cowboys wear specially designed riding gloves with binds, then wedge their hands into the rigging. They are virtually locked onto the horse.

It can take a toll on the body, even on the easier to ride broncs. That’s what the bareback riders faced in the fourth round, the “Hopper Pen.” Unlike the “Eliminator Pen” they face in the third and eighth rounds, the horses out Sunday night were more user-friendly. It was a spurring contest, and it was difficult to judge the rides for the ProRodeo officials, which is why there were four cowboys tied for third.

“I just have to keep it going, just keep rolling,” said Franks, a second-generation NFR cowboy whose father was a three-time qualifier in saddle bronc riding. “It’s awesome to keep picking up checks. It makes you feel like you belong here a little more with all these guys.”

He’s actually one of three cowboys competing at ProRodeo’s grand finale that were part of the Clarendon College rodeo team coached by Franks’ father, Bret. Cole Franks and saddle bronc riders Wyatt Casper and Tegan Smith have all been in the money. Smith won the third round, and that set off a spark in the others.

“I went to the buckle presentation for Tegan (Saturday) night, and it made me think like, ‘I’m going to be here at the South Point for this,’ ” Franks said. “I was shooting for it today, but it didn’t quite work out. Just seeing those guys come in here and compete, it is just as awesome as coming in here and doing it by myself.”

Casper scores big in NFR Round 4

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By Ted Harbin

LAS VEGAS – In the City of Lights, something finally clicked for saddle bronc rider Wyatt Casper.

Wyatt Casper

“I was excited for the first round, and it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, and neither did two or three,” said Casper, who suffered no-scores in the first three rounds. “I feel like we’ve been in Vegas for a while. Getting this, I think, will spark a light in me.”

This was an 89-point ride on Vold Rodeo’s Sun Glow to finish second in Sunday’s fourth go-round of the National Finals Rodeo. That paid $21,336. It was a great way to get on the roll he needs at ProRodeo’s grand finale.

“I knew by having that horse, I was plenty capable to win the round today,” he said. “I’m tickled with 89.”

He wasn’t so tickled in the first three nights. He was bucked off his first and third horses, and he was flagged with not making his markout – securing the heels of his boots over the breaks of his horse’s shoulders – in the second round. It all added up to no scores and no money.

“It’s hard,” said Casper, the 2016 college national champion from Miami, Texas. “It feels like everyone might think you forgot how to ride broncs. I’ve just not been looking at all the negativity, just put it in the back of my head and forget about it.

“I just needed to remember how I got here, and that’s riding every horse the best I can every time. That’s what I tried to do tonight, and it worked.”

This is Casper’s second straight NFR qualification. He finished the 2020 season as the reserve world champion. Still, this is his first time to compete at the championship in its typical home in Las Vegas.

“This experience is really cool,” he said. “This is what I always dreamed of, riding here in Vegas. To finally come true, it is awesome. The crowd is energetic. It feels like they are right on top of you, and they pretty much are. There is a lot more pressure in this arena.

“I just go into each night … I feel the dirt. It feels like any dirt in any other arena.”

It’s also a bit different for his wife, Lesley, and their two children, Cooper and Cheyenne.

Having them with him during this 10-day championship is a valuable tool for the bronc buster.
“They’re good to have here,” Casper said. “They are a good distraction from the rodeo. It’s been good having them around.”

They bring normalcy to his life, which is anything but normal in the Nevada desert. They also make him realize that a few no-scores mean very little in the grand scheme of things.

Franks handles 3rd-round fight

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By Ted Harbin

LAS VEGAS – To most men, the thought of entering the ring with the greatest heavyweight fighters in the world wouldn’t be considered.

Cole Franks rides at the NFR in Vegas. Photo by Robby Freeman

Bareback riders aren’t like most men. They don’t mind a prize fight, and Saturday’s third round at the National Finals Rodeo was a 15-round bout. It was Cole Franks’ first foray in the NFR’s “Eliminator Pen,” and he matched up just fine.

“It’s really nerve-wracking,” said Franks, 20, an NFR newcomer from Clarendon, Texas. “When I was waiting on the draw last night, I was getting really anxious and couldn’t sit still.”

By the time he nodded his head, Franks was ready. He rode Four Star Rodeo’s Deep Springs for 85 points to finish sixth in the round, worth $4,352. He has pushed his NFR earnings to $28,071.

“I got really lucky that I drew one I had been on before, which worked out the jitters since I knew what to expect more,” he said. “I hadn’t been on any of these other horses before.”

This was the first night the toughest-to-ride horses in the world are scheduled to be out at this year’s NFR. They will return next Thursday for the eighth round, and they definitely earned their moniker by being true eliminators. High scores were hard to come by, and a couple of cowboys hit the Thomas & Mack Center dirt hard after being bucked off.

Franks had ridden Deep Springs for 82 points in Pendleton, Oregon, this past September, and that allowed him a bit more confidence when it came to trying to spur the strong animal.

“It was definitely a dog fight both times I had him,” Franks said. “he’s real strong and pumps his head, and the rigging drops out of there. He’s just real big and strong.”

The bareback riders get a bit of a break heading into the next two nights. Sunday’s fourth round will feature the “Hopper Pen” of bucking horses, the animals that are supposed to be the easiest to ride. Monday’s fifth round will expose the “TV Pen,” which will showcase the most electric bucking horses in bareback riding.

“I’m going to have to let it all hang out, because it’s going to be a spurring contest,” he said, referring to the cowboys spurring from the horse’s neck back to the rigging in rhythm with the animal’s bucking motion. “Really the only way you’re going to get rewarded (Sunday) night is if you make the perfect ride.”

Of course, as one of the top 15 bareback riders in ProRodeo, he knew it was going to be a battle over 10 December nights to decide this year’s world championship.

“It’s awesome to be part of this field,” Franks said. Everyone here makes you bring your best, too. Everybody here wants you to win just as badly as you want to win, and they’re going to push you to try and beat them.”

Franks finds comfort zone at NFR

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By Ted Harbin

LAS VEGAS – Throughout his first regular season in ProRodeo, Cole Franks looked like anything but a bareback riding rookie.

Cole Franks

He rode well, and did it often, and he pulled off some big wins along the way. He won the bareback riding and all-around national titles at the College National Finals Rodeo in June, helping his Clarendon (Texas) College to the men’s team title. He finished the 2021 regular season 12th in the world standings and the bareback riding Rookie of the Year.

“I was very nervous when I realized I was gunner (first out), and I knew it was either going to be really good or not good at all,” said Franks, who rode Hi Lo Pro Rodeo’s Midnight Kid for 87 points to finish in a tie for third place in the first round of this year’s NFR. “Everybody knows I’m a little slow in the chute, and I was really thinking about that.

“Then I realized I was gunner at San Angelo (Texas): First performance, first guy out in the long round, so I was like, ‘Maybe that’s where I need to be.’ I changed my mindset to start off and got some of the money.”

Just like he did when he won the first round in west Texas, Franks found his way to the pay window. He pocketed $13,716 and moved up one spot to 11th in the world standings. But winning is nothing new to Franks, whose father, Bret, was a three-time qualifier in saddle bronc riding and his son’s coach through his first two years of college. Cole Franks is now a junior at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri.

While his father was an NFR veteran, the younger Franks looked like one in his first ride inside the famous Priefert gates wrapped around the arena that hosts ProRodeo’s grand championship.

Only the top 15 contestants in each event at the end of the regular season advance to the NFR, which is a pressure-packed situation no matter how many times a cowboy has been in Las Vegas. Add into the fact that Franks is still in college, and it’s a small wonder he’s in position to make some big-time money over 10 days in the Nevada desert.

“It was surreal when I got here the other day,” Franks said. “There are so many emotions that I don’t even know what I was feeling. It was like a big boom. I don’t even know what emotion it was. It was just incredible.”

It was also incredible that he was matched with a horse that fit his style pretty well in Midnight Kid.

“I’ve seen that horse a few times, and from the very first time I saw him, I knew I wanted to put my riggin’ on that thing,” he said. “There’s no better place than to do it than here.”

He may be new to the City of Lights, but he looks pretty comfortable already. He’s pushed his season earnings to $101,110.

“Yeah, I like it here,” Franks said.

COVID-19 surging in Donley County again

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COVID-19 is surging in Donley County with the number of active cases doubling in the last two weeks.

Clarendon Family Medical Center reported 32 active cases Tuesday, up from 26 one week ago and 16 two weeks ago.

The total number of positive cases confirmed at the clinic for November as of Tuesday morning was 82 compared to 37 in October.

CFMC spokesperson Marsha Bruce said the total positive cases of COVID-19 recorded by the clinic is now 614 since the pandemic began. Again, those numbers only reflect patients who have been tested by the local clinic and does not include local residents who test positive outside of Donley County.

Clarendon CISD nurse Debbie Thompson said as of Tuesday that a few students are quarantined due to having a family member with COVID, but there are currently no COVID positive cases among students are or staff.

Eighteen residents of Donley County have died from COVID since the pandemic began last year, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Vaccination rates continue to be very low overall in Donley County, according to TDSHS. Donley County Judge John Howard, MD, has said that most high-risk elderly people have been vaccinated, and the state data shows that 72.51 percent of residents age 65 and over have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 64.43 percent being fully vaccinated.

Vaccinations are now available to children as young as five years old, and the state reports that the vaccination rate for residents ages five and over is 42.6 percent with one dose and 36.49 percent fully vaccinated.

The Moderna vaccine is available at no charge at the local clinic for everyone ages 18 and over. The Pfizer vaccine is available in Amarillo for children ages five and over.

Late Night Shopping starts Dec. 2

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Clarendon Chamber of Commerce officials are hoping folks will continue to shop locally this month as merchants plan four nights of Late Night Shopping and prize giveaways.

Several merchants will be staying open late the next four Thursday nights, December 2, 9, 16, and 23.

Shoppers can register at any “Shop Donley County” merchant throughout the week for the prize drawings on Late Nights. You do have to be present to win, and the location of the drawing will be at different locations each week. This week’s drawing will take place at Loaded Nutrition / Rambling Ranch Boutique at 204 S. Kearney at 8 p.m.

Merchants known at press time to be open past 5 p.m. this week include Floyd’s Automotive until 5:30, Buckin’ Bean until 7:00, Clarendon Outpost until 10:00, Outpost Deli until 8:00, Cornell’s Country Store until 6:00, Broken Road Jr. Liquor Store until 7:00, Henson’s until 8:00, Every Nook & Cranny until 8:00, Loaded Nutrition / Rambling Ranch Boutique, and Saye’s Flying ‘A’ Tack until 8:00.

For the latest information about Late Night Shopping including participating merchants, visit ClarendonTx.com/ChamberEvents.

According to small business advocates, every $100 spent in locally-owned stores returns $68 to the local community through taxes, payrolls, and other expenditures. That same money spent in another town or online returns nothing to your local community.

Shop at home this holiday season and remember the important role your local merchants play in keeping your community strong.

Trade Days leading First Saturday fun

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First Saturday events return to Clarendon this week with the Whistle-Stop Trade Days leading off activities.

Trade Days will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday with great deals, unique gifts, food trucks, live music, and cold beer. Santa Claus himself is also going to be at the Whistle-Stop where admission is always free.

The Saints’ Roost Museum Christmas Party will be held Saturday night from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. at the Donley County Activity Center. The social event of the year features a live band, dancing, food, and the chance to win up to $5,000. Tickets are $50 per couple and are available at Every Nook & Cranny, the Donley County State Bank, and at the Museum.

Also this weekend, the Mulkey Theatre is screening “Clifford The Big Red Dog” Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Thanks to a sponsorship by Shelton & Shelton Law Firm, all children ages 12 and under will be admitted free of charge.

For information, call the Visitor Center at 874-SHOW.

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