The Shackelford County 4-H Club met in the courtroom of the local Courthouse at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11 to elect officers for the upcoming year.

Selected to leadership positions for 2019 are Johnnie Hise - president, Laithe Leech - vice president, Hannah Snyder - secretary, and Connor Smith - treasurer. 

Attending the meeting were Shackelford County extension agent Michaela Bradford, club manager Kristie Smith, and around 15 local 4-H members.

Last Friday and Saturday, Dec. 14 and 15, Robert Nail’s Albany Nativity was presented as a Christmas gift for everyone who took the time to come to the Aztec Theater, pick up a free ticket, step inside, take a seat, and watch their friends and neighbors act out the true story of Christmas. 

“I am so grateful to all the cast, choirs, and crew who volunteered their time and talent to this production,” said director Lorna Ayers. “It is a privilege to be a part of something so special.”

Fandangle board president Steve Waller announced last Wednesday, Dec. 12, at the association’s regular meeting that he was stepping down from both the office and the board.

“We went through the director transition, we have selected a new marketing director, and we have several young, new board members that have joined the experienced directors,” said Waller. “I feel good about the direction the Fandangle is going, so it was a good time to step down.”

The last Albany Chamber of Commerce weekly lunch meeting of 2018 will be held at the Icehouse at 12:00 noon on Friday, Dec. 21. 

There will not be a Chamber luncheon on Dec. 28 because of the holidays. 

The weekly meetings of the Chamber will resume at 12:00 noon Friday, Jan. 4, 2019 at the Beehive.

The Chamber office will be closed for the holidays on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1.

The monthly meetings of both the Albany Merchants and the Chamber board of directors have been moved from Tuesday, Jan. 1 to Tuesday, Jan. 8.

The end to what was one of the best comeback seasons ever, the Lion football team was stopped by the Gruver Greyhounds just one step away from a storybook ending of reaching the state championship game last Thursday.

Albany lost the Class 2A Div. 2 semifinal playoff 30-17 despite leading until midway through the third quarter.

Both teams had to fight a constant 30 MPH north wind, but the Lions also had to overcome injuries to a couple of key players.

The Lion football team dominated the District 7-2A selection announced this week, including receiving the majority of the superlative honors.

Senior Cutter Edgar was named the district’s MVP, while senior Cameron Dacus was picked as the Offensive MVP and senior Ryan Hill was the Defensive MVP.

“I thought that we were really well represented, especially with the special awards,” head coach Denney Faith said. “You always wish there were a few more kids recognized, but the guys did very well and they are all very deserving.”

The Lady Lions earned a pair of wins last week and hosted Goldthwaite on Tuesday as they head into the Christmas break.

Albany dropped to 10-7 with a close 36-29 loss to the state-ranked Goldthwaite Lady Eagles on Dec. 18. Details were not available at press time but will be reported next week.

The Lady Lions will host Throckmorton at home on Friday, with the JV starting at 3:00 p.m., followed by the varsity girls at 4:00 p.m.

The varsity will take a week off before coming back to host a girls tournament Dec. 27-28.

Both Albany Cubs basketball teams won two out of three games at the Breckenridge tournament last Saturday, then they split games with the Abilene Hawks on Monday.

The Cubs will be off for the Christmas break until Jan. 10 when they will host Hawley.

The seventh grade boys lost the first round at Breckenridge to Eastland, 25-21.

“It was a good game, but we missed several lay-ups,” coach David Fair-child said. “The guys played good defense.”

Scoring were Houston Heatly 8, Adam Hill 10, and Lanxton Viertel 3.

The Lion basketball season finally got underway on Tuesday, after being on hold for several weeks while many of the players were involved in the football playoffs.

The varsity took the court against the Abilene Hawks, posting a 67-52 win in their first outing. Details of the game will be printed next week.

The varsity will be off for a week for the Christmas holidays, returning to the court at the Windthorst Tournament on Dec. 28 and 29.

The JV boys played in the Jacksboro tournament last Saturday, splitting games.

All ads and news articles should be submitted by this Friday, Dec. 21 at 5:00 p.m. for the Dec. 27 issue of the Albany News.

Typically, the deadline is at 12:00 noon on Tuesdays, but because Christmas Day falls on Tuesday, the staff plans to start working on that issue earlier in order to be off for a few days.

“Our printing schedule is not an issue this year,” said News editor Melinda Lucas. “But because we usually work on the paper on Monday and Tuesday, we need to get a jump on it so we won’t have to come in on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.”