This Sunday, March 10 is the start of Daylight Saving Time. Spring forward one hour before you go to bed Saturday night. Set your clocks ahead one hour. The time changes at 2:00 a.m. Sunday. It will last until November 3 when you can fall back. And next week is spring break week.
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The city council will hold its regular meeting Monday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m. at 619 Main St. All council meetings are open to the public. Three candidates signed up for the three expiring council seats so there will not be a city council election May 11. The three councilmen to be sworn in at a May 20 council meeting are Charlie Pope (incumbent), Alan Monroe, and Bruce Fleming.
Sign-up deadline for the special election for mayor is Monday, March 11. At press time Rick White, Ross Paiz, and Richard Morris, Jr. have signed up to run for mayor. The mayor election is for a one-year term to fill the unexpired term of J.B. Douglas who is moving to Amarillo.
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The deadline for the school board election was Friday, March 1. The terms of Loraine Anthony and Ricky Barnett are expiring creating two vacancies. Five candidates signed up for the two seats on the FISD Board of Trustees. They are Ricky Barnett, Victor Guerrero, Jose Cigarroa, Jason Rector, and Becky Riethmayer. The election is May 11, 2013. Voting location will be 619 Main St.
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The Friona public library will celebrate a 50th anniversary this year. Plans are underway for several special events to commemorate the anniversary. There is a story elsewhere in this issue from Friends of the Library membership chair Terri Ellis outlining some of the plans. We are fortunate to have such a fine library in our town. We look forward to following the celebration.
You can join Friends of the Friona Public Library during their membership drive. Dues are only $5 for individuals, $10 for family, $25 for businesses, and $200 for a lifetime membership. Send your check to the library at 109 W. 7th, Friona 79035, or drop by the library.
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TxDOT sent a notice that they will begin a project to add curb ramps along several state roadways, including in Parmer County. They will add or upgrade ramps to meet the Americans With Disabilities Act at several intersections. In Bovina they will be working on US 60, FM 1731, and SH 86. In Friona they will be working on Business SH 214 (Main St & 5th St), and US 60/SH 214. Traffic should not be affected by the work. It involves breaking out curbs and installing ramps. Cost will be $1,488,393.00 to install ramps along busy highways seldom, if ever, used by wheelchair accessible folks.
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This is not a warning, just a statement. Each week at least some of the information in Town Talk comes from Facebook. On occasion someone will be surprised that info about them is in the newspaper. They tend to forget about posting it on Facebook. If it is on Facebook it becomes public knowledge so we use information we find in Town Talk, mostly local news of interest such as anniversaries, illnesses, or personal accomplishments. On the other hand, the majority of stuff posted on Facebook is not worth reprinting in the newspaper.
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The first Class of 2013 senior banquet will be Monday, March 18, at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church at 6:30 p.m. The Methodist senior banquet is April 22. This school year is rapidly nearing an end.
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I made it over to St. Teresa’s Mexican dinner Sunday. Always enjoy visiting with the church ladies that cook and serve this annual feast. They had a small calamity earlier. The meat for the dinner was purchased ahead of time and kept in a freezer in the church kitchen. Somehow the freezer’s electricity came unplugged and 200 pounds of meat was ruined. They had to buy more. I hope they had enough customers Sunday to offset the loss since this is a fundraiser for them. P.S. For my taste, next to Leal’s in Muleshoe, the church ladies make the best salsa in the Panhandle.
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I stopped by the SnackPak4Kids volunteers Thursday while they were assembling the sacks of food for the next three weeks. The local program is now serving 26 children who get a sack of food on Friday so they will have something to eat over the weekend. A representative from Cargill Cattle Feeders showed up with 160 jars of peanut butter they collected in an employee team competition. Donations of Pop Tarts, peanut butter, or cash are accepted. Some of the food items are purchased from the Amarillo SnackPak4Kids operation. See Becky Jones or Jo Beth Gipson to donate. Or call me here at the Star, 250-2211. Thanks.
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Anniversaries to report this week are Tonya and Kelly Lookingbill 27 years and Rick and D’Lynn Jamerson 29 years. Both of these ladies deserve a gold star for putting up with Kelly and Rick that long. Congrats to you all.
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The first Friona Chamber of Commerce banquet was held in the school cafeteria February 17, 1956. Tickets were $1.50 and the cafeteria ladies served a ham meal. Tables were decorated with red and white carnations. Master of Ceremonies was W. L. Edelmon. Speaker was Ken Towery, Pulitzer Prize winning publisher of the Cuero Daily Record newspaper. Wright Williams was Chamber president. Other board members were Joe B. Douglas, Andy Hurst, Hank Outland, Herman Neff, Charlie Mercer, and D.M. Kelley. This week the 57th annual banquet was held at the community center.
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First Baptist church has welcomed youth minister Ryan Sickenger. He is a student at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview. His fiance, Alexis Walter, is also a student at Wayland and is joining him in his Friona ministry. They will be married June 2 in Albuquerque.
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At Prairie Acres, Lela Mae George is resident-of-the-month and Jennifer Baize is the employee-of-the-month. Jennifer is a charge nurse and has been at Prairie Acres since August 1997. Yolanda Martinez was honored for her five years of service as a medication aide.
Administrator Billy Ray Johnston is asking for volunteers to paint a hall at Prairie Acres. Be there with your paint rollers and brushes on Friday March 8 at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast and start painting at 9 a.m. Lunch will also be served.
The Prairie Acres family council meets the third Thursday of each month. Next meeting is March 21 at 7 p.m. Council president Cindy Rogers invites anyone interested to attend. The family council offers support to residents and employees of the nursing home.
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Sehn Ou, the energetic young guy and his wife now operating Hunan Thai & Chinese Restaurant visited the office this week. They are promoting the restaurant with lunch specials and an extensive menu. He said they are now serving steaks, not sliced into a Chinese dish but “whole steaks”. There is a coupon on our classified page for 3 free egg rolls with your meal. Clip it out and go visit the restaurant. I’m sure you will be pleased with this young couple and their food.
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Had a nice time at the Chamber of Commerce banquet Tuesday evening. A big thanks to Chris Alexander and Betty Lamb and all of the Chamber board and other volunteers that coordinated the banquet. It takes a lot of work to feed 300 people, decorate the community center and tend to the many details involved including gathering auction items and door prizes. Thanks to Parmer County Implement for furnishing the knives again this year. Pat yourself on the back Friona.
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Spring break next week. Might be quiet around town. Be sure to send us your news and/or photos of local interest. Enjoy the week. Until then!
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