Local weather update: hot, dry, windy. Forecast: more of the same.
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Friona high school senior Kailey Lucas was the recipient of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Good Citizen Award during the DAR Honors Tea Sunday April 27 at the Hereford Senior Citizens auditorium.
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Friona Life Smarts coach Gayle Murdock was named National Coach of the Year at the National LifeSmarts Championship competition held in Orlando, Florida last week. Ms. Murdock is retiring after 39 years tenure with the Friona Independent School District. She received the award from NBC News consumer reporter Herb Weisbaum at the national awards ceremony. Congratulations Gayle.
A reception for retiring teachers will be held Wednesday May 28 from 3:00 - 4:30 P.M. at the administration building. We will remind you again later.
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Prairie Acres has a new conventional oven allowing for more baking and less frozen food items. Repair and update of resident rooms continues. The resident of the month is Johnnie Battey. Employee of the month is Nina Trevino, a restorative aide and Prairie Acres employee since 2011. We send special Mother’s Day greetings to Prairie Acres and Heritage Estates residents/mothers.
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Our volunteer firefighters and EMS were called out at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning to a one vehicle rollover on east Hwy 60 near the Black elevators. The Suburban rolled and landed on its wheels. The driver was able to get out before the SUV caught fire and burned. Firemen said it burned completely. The driver was not seriously injured and said he had a blowout that caused the accident. Thanks to our local first responders for their service to the community.
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Received a subscription renewal from Gary and Annie McLaughlin in Gatesville, Texas. That is down in Central Texas near my hometown of Hillsboro. If memory serves correct Gatesville has a women’s prison. The McLaughlins receive their Star online. They are one of our eStar subscribers. Thanks for signing up for another year.
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We had 14 members at our Noon Lions meeting last week. Our club sweetheart Holly Johnston was present. This week Holly qualified for state UIL in news writing. The Noon Lions will be cooking burgers and fries Saturday May 10 about 5 p.m. outside the high school gym in conjunction with the Campus vs. Cops basketball game which starts at 6 p.m. Burgers & fries are $5 and game admission is by donation. This is a fundraiser event for the Chieftain Challenge 5K obstacle course event to be held Friday May 16. Everyone is invited to attend. Come by and try our burgers and world famous fries.
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Shout out to John and Glendora Jordan. They will be celebrating their 30th anniversary May 19. Glendora is a nurse at PMC. My family got to know her well during our mom’s many visits in and out of the hospital. Congratulations John and Glendora.
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Saturday May 10 at 10:00 a.m. is the 126th commencement celebration at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. A news release says 561 graduates will be “commencing.” Speaker is Major General Dempsey Key who began his 37-year military career by joining the ENMU ROTC program in 1975.
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Victor Leal sent along a note that Leal’s Mexican Restaurant in Muleshoe was started on May 4, 1957 when his parents had saved $750 to either buy a house or start a restaurant. Victor says his mother chose the restaurant and folks have been enjoying Leal’s cooking for the last 57 years.
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Friona graduates Davy and Jeff Hamilton, owners of Hamilton Steel & Concrete, are a busy bunch of guys. Among their projects is a 50x175x16 building under construction to house the Perryton Museum. These young men are known for their high quality work and they have built buildings, and barns, and poured concrete all around the Panhandle.
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My sister Gena Rogers and husband Don live in the small unincorporated community of Rendon near Burleson. Rendon now has a pharmacy called Dandy Drugs, an interesting name for a pharmacy. Dandy Drugs is owned by Steven Kuper, whose mom is Renee Malouf Kuper of Summerfield and Sylvia Ingram’s sister. Renee’s daughter Christina Kuper Moore and her husband Joshua own Bi-Wize in Friona and the drugstore in Tulia. My sister Gena was ecstatic to have a drug store in Rendon and enjoyed visiting with Steven at Dandy Drugs and talking about Friona.
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Victory Family Worship Center hosted a banquet for the Class of 2014 at the church Monday evening. In addition to food and fun they gave away door prizes. Jakelin Sanchez won an iPad. Teri Reed and Jose Zamudio were winners of self portraits to be painted by an artist later. Gift card winners were Abayomi Salinas, Ricardo Soto, and Mykelti Rhodes. Other winners were Kellyn Lara, Robert Rios, Esdras Rodriguez, Cesar Huerta, Keren Ortiz, Lili Amezcua, Rebecca Bailey, and Brad Stowers.
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Chieftain junior Mason Loflin broke a bone in his left leg sliding back into 2nd base in Friona’s final regular season game. He missed the playoff series with Littlefield. Tuesday this week he had surgery in Lubbock. His dad Brent said they put in two screws and told them to come back Thursday. Report is Mason is looking at a 10-12 week rehab period which leads right up to the start of football practice and he will be the senior quarterback. Let’s wish Mason a full recovery during his rehab period.
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Don’t forget Saturday May 10 is the school board election. Voting is at 619 Main St. from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Bring your voter registration and a photo ID.
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The contractor hired to clean the city water well north of town and put a new top on it had a snafu when the new top they built didn’t fit. The project was supposed to be finished in March but is still delayed. The engineering company bypassed the water tank with temporary water lines and they hope the water tank will be back in business by the end of May.
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School banquets are not over yet. Monday May 12 is the local FFA banquet at 7:00 p.m. at the high school. The all-sports banquet is Tuesday May 13 at 6:00 p.m. at the junior high cafeteria with awards following in the junior high auditorium. All-sports meal tickets are $10 and will be sold only at the door. And the FHS prom is Saturday May 17 at the Hereford Country Club.
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Next Thursday May 15 is jam packed with activities. The Noon and Evening Lions Clubs will hold the annual Broom & Mop Sale at the city park all day. The high school Who’s Who will be held beginning at 8:30 a.m. At 1:00 p.m. at the high school the Class of 2001 will formally dedicate the marker honoring their classmate Dustin Campbell. The Friona Cemetery clean-up day is at 5:00 p.m., volunteers needed to help. At 7:00 p.m. the annual Choir Follies in the FHS cafeteria.
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By the time May is over I’ll be more tired than usual but appreciate everyone reading and supporting the Friona Star, now in its 89th year of publication. Watch for our Class of 2014 graduation edition May 22. Until then!
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