Some folks have asked about Kids Inc. baseball and how to sign up. We found out that Jamie & Greg Lewellen and Aaron & Tonya Abarca are in charge this year. Jamie said that flyers and forms will hopefully be available next week. We will be giving you info in the paper as we get it.
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Cold weather, some sunshine, and some wind. No rain though. The county burn ban is still in effect. No outdoor burning especially during this extremely dry and windy weather. First day of spring is next Thursday, March 20.
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The worst part of Daylight Saving Time and moving the clocks forward an hour is hanging the clock back on the nail. Takes patience which some of us older folks often lack. Oh well, won’t have to change them again until November 2. The Amarillo newspaper had a big reminder on the front page to move clocks “back” an hour. Wonder how many people that messed up?
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Sometime in the last few days Jyl and Jayson Grimsley celebrated their 38th anniversary and Barbara and Gary Brown observed their 55th anniversary. Congratulations to these folks and everyone else who celebrated a birthday or anniversary.
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Ladies mark your calendar for Saturday April 5 and the Ladies Spring Luncheon. It will be at the First Baptist fellowship hall at 11:30 a.m. Ingram’s will sponsor a style show. Admission is a salad or dessert.
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Once again the Chamber of Commerce presented a successful banquet. It takes a lot of work by Chris and Betty at the Chamber office, the Chamber board, and a whole bunch of other volunteers to set up and decorate the room, cook and serve the meal, and then clean it all up. Chamber executive vice-president Chris Alexander gives a special thanks to the Girl Scouts and the 4-H students for their help in serving the meal and doing whatever was asked of them. Thanks, thanks, thanks to each and every one.
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Door prize winners at the Chamber banquet: winning $50 in Friona Bucks were Amy Mason, Enrique Rodriguez, Tricia Etue, and Erika Montana. Barbara Brown won a throw donated by Deaf Smith Electric, and Jacob Dominguez won the 50” TV donated by Kendrick Oil Co.
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Next Thursday March 20 from 2-3 p.m. at the Bailey County Coliseum in Muleshoe the AgriLife Extension ladies will present Celebrate Spring. Kathy Carr, Mandi Seaton, Shana Fleming, and Felice Acker will share craft ideas, snack recipes to use for gifts, and recipes for natural cleaning products. Admission is $10. For questions call Kathy at 806-272-4583.
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The Brumley family benefit dinner Saturday night raised $17,114.76 to help with medical expenses. Hats off to Ed Terry and Eldon Reeb at Veterinary Industries for putting the whole thing together. Lot of other people helped but Eldon and Ed planned the event from the start. It was well organized and successful with over 250 people attending the dinner.
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It appears Bovina will remain dry for now. The petitions necessary to get liquor sales on the May ballot were flawed. The city council voted not to put the liquor issue on the ballot. There were a few wording errors in the application and petition. Will it come back up later? Radford Venable, who was trying to get the issue on the ballot, told the Farwell paper he was done with it.
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How ‘bout golf: The West Texas A&M Fore County Golf Scramble will be held Friday June 6 at the John Pitman golf course in Hereford. Shotgun start at 1:00 p.m. Sponsorships range from Gold at $700 to Tee-Box at $100. Deadline to sponsor is April 11. The tournament gives scholarships to students from Oldham, Deaf Smith, Castro, and Parmer counties. More information from Vicky Buckelew at 806-651-2647.
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The annual Pudge Kendrick Memorial Golf Tournament will be held in Dimmitt June 21-22. Information will be available soon from Greg Lewellen. The condition of the Friona golf course prompted the move to Dimmitt. Greg said they were unable to reach an agreement with Muleshoe to move the tournament there. More details will be printed when they become available. We are told that current Friona golf course owner Dee King plans to sell and/or auction the property in the near future.
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Lynn Gowens had surgery in Amarillo this week.
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Congratulations to Matt and Alia Lingle on the birth of Caleb Ray, born Tuesday morning about 9:40 a.m. Matt is manager of the Friona Farmers Co-Op Gin.
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A new roof was being installed on the First Baptist Church this week, not a small undertaking. The roof is Spanish tile and is being replaced with Spanish tile. Church members say the roof being taken off is the original roof from 60 years ago.
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A number of local folks attended the boys state basketball playoffs over the weekend in Austin. Allan Haile took his boys Nathan, Mark, and Chris to the games. They saw former Chieftain basketball players Sawyer and Stetson Reed there. Kevin Cooper and daughter Debra were also in attendance. The coach of Water Valley, who won the 1A Division II state title by beating Nazareth, is Andy Copley, nephew of Terry and Vickie Copley of Friona who were on hand to watch the games.
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At Monday’s county commissioners meeting Gladys Spring gave a County Historical Commission report and they approved purchase of a road grader for Precinct 4. Although he doesn’t take office until January 1, future commissioner Steve Cockerham attended Monday’s meeting. Sheriff Randy Geries is in the market for a new patrol unit to replace the one wrecked recently. County Judge Trey Ellis says they have received the insurance settlement for the wrecked vehicle.
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Don’t forget the Red Cross volunteer meeting Saturday March 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the city council chambers, 619 Main St. The local Red Cross needs volunteers from here in our county so anyone interested is urged to attend the meeting. Lunch will be provided.
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The city is moving some water lines along Hwy 60 before the major construction begins in July. TxDOT will dig up Hwy 60 from Washington to Prospect St. and pour that section in cement. The project will take 4-6 months. The water lines are being moved to prevent them from being under the concrete highway.
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The Friona real estate market is quite volatile for a small town. As always it is difficult to find rental property here. Right now, Property Associates owner/broker Holly Campbell has at least 20 properties listed for sale. There is a broad price range for houses both in town and in the country. It wasn’t long ago the situation was just the opposite, with more buyers than properties for sale. I think Holly was down to three properties at the time.
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It appears the golf course is either to be sold or closed down after the high school golf season. The apartments that were scheduled to be built on city owned property between 6th and 7th and Woodland and Ashland will likely not be built. Financing was a problem for the Clovis builder that had a groundbreaking and promised to start construction on an apartment complex. That is no longer going to happen. We will watch these two situations with interest. See you next time. Until then!
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