Shackelford County residents who wish to be included in the Albany Ministerial Alliance’s annual Christmas basket drive need to turn in their applications before the Monday, Dec. 3 deadline.

Members of the community and of all local church congregations are invited to gather Sunday, Nov. 18 for the traditional community-wide Thanksgiving service. “We hope that a lot of people will plan to attend,” said pastor Sonny McCauley. The program is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.

An early deadline has been set for the Nov. 22 edition of The Albany News due to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. All advertising and news copy must be received no later than noon on Monday, Nov. 19.  The usual deadline for the weekly paper is Tuesday at 12:00 noon.

The 1980 romantic drama Urban Cowboy will be shown at the Aztec Theater this Saturday, Nov. 10 as the final movie of the 2018 Aztec Reel Deal movie series for season ticket holders, or for $6 per ticket for those that prefer to pick and choose which movies to attend.

Music, shopping, drawings for Albany Bucks, caroling, hot food, and a lighted parade are just part of the plans for the afternoon and evening of Saturday, Nov. 24 in downtown Albany.  “Special activities will start with live music downtown at 4:00 p.m.

OVER THERE The Men of the  West Texas Plains  in World War One They were known and loved. The Henry and Durham families of Blackwell, in Nolan County, knew John Pate because their children had gone to school with him. 

Singer, rancher, poet, talk show host, songwriter, actor, author, musician, and native Texan Red Steagall was in Albany last week on Wednesday, Oct. 31, to film a segment about the Fort Griffin Fandangle for his TV show.

The Lion football team held off the Haskell Indians Friday for a narrow 20-19 win to improve to 4-0 in district, setting up a District 7-2A showdown for the championship this week.

The Lady Lion volleyball season came to close Saturday with Albany falling to the Miles Lady Bulldogs in three sets at the area playoff. Playing in Brownwood, Albany lost 9-25, 15-25, 12-25 to end the season with a 12-16 overall record. Albany tied for third place in District 6-2A with a 7-5 mark.

This week’s Fifth Quarter fellowship will be held at the Feed Store Friday night. Nov. 9, following the Albany-Hamlin football game. The party concludes a series of fellowships hosted by local churches after home football games. All Albany junior high and high school students are invited to attend.