Today, Thursday March 20, is the first official day of spring but the weather continues to alternate between winter and spring. Cold in the early mornings and temps in the 70s later in the day. We missed the rain that was forecast in the area over the weekend. I haven’t put away my coats yet. Guess spring is coming though. The city is advertising for a swimming pool manager already. Applications are available at city hall. I’m sure they will be looking for lifeguards soon too. The folks that pray for rain this time of year better get started. We are dry and dusty here.
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The EPA has declared this week as Fix A Leak Week. Check out your toilets, sinks, outside faucets and anywhere there may be a water leak and fix it. This could save thousands of gallons of water, not to mention save money on your water bill.
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The price of a gallon of gas went up again this week. Not long ago it was at $3.09. As of Wednesday it was $3.45 at Allsup’s but still $3.39 at Fast Stop. No I don’t know why it costs more here than in Hereford, Amarillo and other places.
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Amy Cook is back home in Friona after a couple of weeks in a Frisco rehab hospital. Let us hope there is a good recovery this time around. Her friends Becky Jones and Melissa Randolph went to visit her in Frisco during spring break. I’m sure that had something to do with Amy’s progress. And a great opportunity for Becky and Melissa to go shopping at that gigantic Frisco Mall. Or perhaps Neiman-Marcus.
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The Chieftains baseball team won three games and the championship at the Sundown tournament over the weekend. The team has a lot of experienced players this year and are showing some definite offense. They play Bushland Saturday March 22 at 12:00 noon. It kicks off the district round of play so come out to the ballpark and enjoy some Chieftain baseball.
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Congratulations to Esperanza and Lazaro Herrera on the occasion of their 43rd wedding anniversary. Esperanza is the boss lady at Fast Stop and has been for at least 18 years that I know of. She also celebrated her birthday last week. They went to Santa Fe, New Mexico and had a good time. Congratulations to a couple of really nice Friona folks.
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Then there is Andrea Geries King and husband Rhett celebrating their one-year anniversary. Andrea is pregnant and will add a grandbaby in September for Randy and Sarah Geries. Their youngest, son Ryan, is engaged and will be married in the summer. Then all four of the Geries children, Mandy, Amy, Andrea, and Ryan will be married. When I came to Friona they were all four in elementary and junior high. Have good memories of these four “kids” during their high school days.
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Friona high school junior Edgar Guerrero will head to Abilene this weekend to participate in the state powerlifting meet. This is Edgar’s second trip to state powerlifting and we wish him and the coaches a gold medal type weekend.
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They called Charlie Pope and told him his wife Britny was going to receive an award at the Chamber of Commerce banquet. They told him to keep it a secret from her but just make sure she was at the banquet. Then they called Britny and told her the same thing about Charlie. It was a good way to make sure both were at the banquet because they were named Citizens of the Year. And yes, they were both surprised.
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Monica Lea and Karen Tomlinson, representatives of the Panhandle Red Cross Chapter, were in Friona Saturday for a volunteer training session. Thirteen Friona citizens showed up for the day long class and registered as Red Cross volunteers. A burrito lunch from Hernandez was served for everyone. Several hundred cots were previously received through the Red Cross and have been divided among several churches and the community center to be used in the event of an emergency or disaster.
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The “Purple Toilet” is coming back to town. Beginning March 31 through April 11, the infamous “Purple Toilet” will be making its round here in the city. If the Purple Toilet ends up in your yard the Boy Scouts will remove it but not until you make a donation to the Parmer County Cancer Coalition. Then you can send it to its next location. Beware the “Purple Toilet” but it is for a good cause.
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Friona High School FCCLA teacher Patsy Allen has let it be known she is retiring at the end of this school year. She has taught in Friona ISD for 18 years but has 38 years total teaching, many of those years in Oklahoma. Patsy’s FCCLA groups have consistently qualified for state and national competition. She has always been cooperative with this newspaper in furnishing FCCLA news and photos. Thank you Patsy from us and your colleagues and former students. All the best.
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Monday we had a meeting of the Friona blood drive council to talk about the April 10 blood drive. We met at Headquarters with Janne Lawrence, a representative from Coffee Memorial Blood Center. The wind was blowing 25-40 mph and dirt was in the air again. It was also the day of the Friona high school girls golf meet. Teams from several schools were toughing it out and I don’t see how they could be having much fun, except at least they did not have to be in class.
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Here is the schedule for the senior class banquets: March 24 St. Teresa’s Catholic Church 6 p.m.; April 14 Calvary Baptist 6:30 p.m.; April 21 Methodist Church 6:30 p.m.; April 28 6th St. Church of Christ 6:00 p.m. All dates are on Monday. Seniors in the Class of 2014 are invited to attend all banquets.
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Friday March 28 from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. a reception will be held in the hospital conference room for Physician’s Appreciation Day. Stop by and visit with our doctors and staff. We do appreciate our local medical facilities and personnel. We are more than fortunate to have such a great facility in a town our size. Everyone is invited. Bet they have some refreshments.
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Maynard and Mildred Agee have moved to Jourdanton, Tx. Received a nice letter to the editor from their daughter, Krystal Huschke. She said Town Talk was Mildred’s favorite part of the paper so hello there Mildred. You missed a couple of great dust (dirt) storms this week. Enjoy your new home.
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Jim Atwell was in Lubbock Wednesday for surgery to have another stent put in. Leroy Burnett was diagnosed with cancer last week and was meeting with doctors this week about treatment. Funeral services for Laverne Black of Bovina were pending at Blackwell-Mullins Funeral Home at our press deadline Wednesday.
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I’ll be attending the Bovina Chamber of Commerce banquet Thursday night and the West Texas Rural Telephone Co-Op annual meeting next Tuesday with a Saturday Chieftain baseball game in between. WT Services manager in Friona, Annette Loflin, will receive her 5-year employment recognition at the WTRT meeting. Until then!
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