Yessir it did rain Friday. All day. Everyone received from 2” to 3” according to reports. Cooler weather is also upon us. Almost jacket weather. The first day of fall is Monday September 22. Co-Op Gin manager Matt Lingle said the rain did not hurt cotton since we have a late crop but the cotton needs heat, 90 degrees and above, for a couple of weeks. Only one day this week was forecast to be in the 90s.
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Received a subscription renewal from former resident Anita Hall, now a resident of Graham. She sent along this note: “Love hearing from all and reading how things are going in my home town. Keep up the good work. Love to all.” Thank you too Anita.
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Also received a subscription from Carolyn Rains, former Bovina resident. After the death of her husband Jack, Carolyn has moved to Ft. Worth to be near family. I first met Carolyn almost 20 years ago when she worked in the Bovina school cafeteria. All the best Carolyn.
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Our volunteer firemen answered a couple of calls last week. One was a hay fire at a dairy near Lazbuddie. The other was to a used school bus bound for Mexico that overheated east of town due to an oil leak but did not catch on fire. Thanks to our firemen for their volunteer service.
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A few recent anniversaries to report: Jimmy and Barbara Maynard 57 years, Alan and Nita Clark 47 years, Mike and Becky Riethmayer 45 years, Casey and Terry Sharrock 21 years, Ashley and Landon Wiseman 9 years, and Garland and Sara Buske 3 years. Congratulations and many more to each of these Friona citizens. If you have an anniversary coming up let us know. Your friends would like to know I bet.
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They have a new item at the Fast Stop Deli with a catchy name: Clux Deluxe, More Chicken for Your Bucks. A fried chicken patty on a bun. It costs $1.99. I tried one and it is tasty.
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Friona Noon Lions met last Thursday at Headquarters Restaurant. There were 13 members present, including new member Matt Leu, general manager at Cargill. Our sweetheart Aubrey Williams was present and we did not have a program. Boss Lion Andy Montana is pairing with Darrell Ray to announce the Chieftain football games on KNNK 100.5 FM radio. We have an October 10 tailgate with burgers and fries at the game here vs. Dimmitt. Out fall shotgun raffle will kick off about October 1. Tickets will be $10 to win a nice 12-gauge shotgun.
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State Senator Kel Seliger will hold a town hall meeting Monday September 15 from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. at the Old Depot in the Friona city park. Everyone is invited to attend for an up- close look at Texas politics.
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Pink Out! The Parmer County Cancer Coalition will sponsor a Pink Out night at the Chieftains October 24 football game vs. River Road. They are selling pink t-shirts for $10 short sleeve, $15 long sleeve, or $25 for hooded sweatshirts. Orders will be due no later than October 8th. Order forms are available at the school offices or call Jamie Lewellen at 806-206-0743. Shirts are also available for Bovina and Farwell. For more info see the photo and info on the front page.
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WT Services subscribers now have SEC and Texas Longhorn channels. It is part of an ESPN business requirement. The Texas Longhorn is on channel 52 and SEC is on channel 53. C-Span, which formerly occupied those channels, is now on channels 97 and 98. I clicked on the Longhorn channel at random at over the weekend and found different athletes and scholars sitting in plush chairs being interviewed. As far as I could tell the Longhorn channel did not carry the Longhorn game (loss) with BYU. There was a UT women’s soccer game on at one time. I’ll get around to checking out the SEC channel sometime in 2015 maybe.
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A Biggest Loser finalist from season 14 passed through Friona Saturday and met with a group of 4-H kids at the community center. His name is Joe Ostaszewski. He is riding a bicycle from Washington D.C. to Calabasas, California, home of the Biggest Loser Ranch. The goal is to help kids and young adults live a healthy, active lifestyle. In case you are worried he has to sleep outside, don’t be. His dad was following in a nice bus, which the 4-H kids signed, and a pickup is also in the caravan that carries a couple of extra bicycles. He is a former Florida State and Miami Dolphin football player. The Friona event was organized by Shana Fleming and Jeri Lynn White.
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Congratulations Sandra Randall, the Parmer Medical Center employee-of-the-month. Sandra spends her days in the hospital lobby greeting patients and visitors.
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Interesting sidelight at the county commissioners meeting this week. In 1927 a Lazbuddie resident deeded 10 acres of land to Parmer County to be used for the Lazbuddie ISD. The County Judge in 1927 was Mr. Ernest Lokey. This week, 87 years later, the commissioners approved deeding the land back to the Lazbuddie ISD.
In other action the commissioners approved a $5,437,645.67 budget and approved a 0.5296 tax rate per $100 appraised property value. Sheriff Randy Geries is looking for a jailer/dispatcher. If you or someone you know is interested contact the Sheriff’s office.
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The Chieftain/Squaw Booster Club is looking for bonfire wood. If you have tree limbs, pallets, or other wood suitable for burning take it to the bonfire site behind the old Sonic building. The bonfire will be held Saturday September 27.
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The St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Bovina will have their Mexican dinner Sunday September 28 and their Thanksgiving turkey dinner Sunday November 2. Details later.
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Friona High School open house is Friday September 12 from 4-6 p.m. All parents are invited to attend. Visit with your student’s teachers. It is a come and go event.
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Victory Family Worship Center will hold its annual Coats for Kids free coat giveaway Wednesday October 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the church, Washington and 9th St. They are accepting monetary donations to help buy new coats or will accept gently used coats but ask that they be dry cleaned before donating.
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Just noticed that Halloween, October 31, is a Friday night when the Chiefs host Littlefield here in their last home game which will also be senior parent night. I guess trick or treat can be over by game time maybe.
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We currently print our newspaper in Hereford at North Plains Printing, the press of the Hereford Brand. Rick Castenada, who has operated the North Plains press for 40 years, does an excellent quality job and Hereford is awfully convenient. However, at the end of September, North Plains Printing is closing down. The Roberts Newspaper group, owners of the Brand, decided to close the plant. Effective with the October 2 edition we will return to printing in Clovis. We printed there for several years before moving back to the Hereford plant.
It is not as convenient and our weekly printing costs will increase about 25-30%. The Clovis press uses narrower and lighter newsprint. Regular readers will notice a difference in handling the paper. But you will get used to it. That is all that will change. We promise. Until then!
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