Local grain producers are just beginning to harvest wheat, and John Ross Reames at Reames Elevator has only been able to cut his own fields three days, and only parts of those days. 

“It’s barely dry enough,” Reames said. “Our wheat is weedy, and the test weight is light.”

Reames expects it will take about two weeks to finish harvesting.

“Others have told me they expect to start combining this week,” he said. “But I don’t think we’ll have much wheat combined in the area. Most people in the county who still plant wheat end up grazing it out.”

Session 1 of the Big Country Beef Cattle Improvement Series will be held at the Trail Ranch in Shackelford County on Tuesday, June 25, and interested parties need to sign up by June 20, according to extension agent Michaela Bradford.

Tour highlights are expected to include discussions on prescribed burning, mechanical, chemical and IPT brush control, livestock and wildlife water development, food plots, grazing practices, and landowner incentive programs.

Participants should RSVP by contacting Bradford at 325-762-9435 by June 20.

At least 24 children ranging from kindergartners through eighth graders are attending an “Into the Wilderness” vacation Bible school at the First Baptist Church in Moran this week.

The VBS kicked off at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 9 with participants heading outdoors to cook s’mores over a fire pit.

The VBS offered children free food, games, and the chance to learn more about Jesus.

“We are studying how God helped Moses and Jesus when they were in the wilderness,” said organizer Jo Hise.

The theme verse is John 20:31.

Several Albany Lion baseball players received All-District honors for their regular season performances, including senior Joshua Dyer being named the District 8-2A MVP.

Three other Albany players were given superlative honors among the four 2A schools in the district. 

District 8 also included four 1A schools, which were represented in a separate set of selections.

Freshman Cooper Fairchild was named the 2A Newcomer of the Year, while junior Ben West shared Pitcher of the Year honors along with Hawley’s Dylan Frazier.

What started as a dead-even pitching duel through four innings ended with the defending state champion Big Sandy Wildcats breaking the deadlock with three runs in the fifth on their way to 4-1 win and a third consecutive appearance in the Class 2A final last week at Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

Big Sandy (36-4) repeated as the state winner on Thursday with a 7-1 win over Linden-Kildare.

Albany pitcher Ben West and the Wildcats’ pitcher Brandon Hendrix opened the semifinal bout firing from the mound.

Summer conditioning programs for both boys and girls entering grades 7-12 in the fall got underway on Monday at the high school campus.

The annual Father’s Day golf tournament, hosted by the Albany Golf Club, will be held this Saturday and Sunday, June 15 and 16.

Tee times on Saturday for the tournament include an 8:00 a.m. morning slot and a 1:30 p.m. afternoon slot.

The entry fee for the tournament is $240 per team and includes one mulligan per person on each tournament day.

The amount of rainfall recently made the tournament questionable, but it will continue as scheduled.

The tournament will follow a three-person scramble format.

Little League All-Star action is about to be in full swing with Albany fielding teams in two divisions.

The 8U select team also hosted one of four playoff brackets, as well as the finals, during the last week, with the Albany team making it to the final four.

Both the 10U and 12U All-Stars are set to start pool play on Saturday, most likely in games hosted locally, although the details of the pool games were not due to be set until Wednesday after the deadline for this edition of the News.

Albany 7on7 team members went 3-0 in their qualifying tournament in Archer City this last Saturday, meaning that they have now qualified for the state 7on7 tournament in College Station on June 27 and 28.

The team had a few more players available for this tournament, as some of those that were previously playing baseball joined the team for the games in Archer City.

Local players faced off against Wink, Holliday, and the host team Archer City.

The team is coached by Anthony Cedar and Spencer Newsom.

The 2019 Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star games were held last weekend, and four Albany senior athletes took part in the festivities.

Joshua Dyer played on the North baseball team, Ryan Hill was a member of the North men’s basketball team, Cameron Dacus was selected to the Red football team, and Cutter Edgar played for the Blue football team.

Dyer and the North baseball team won the FCA All-Star baseball game with a narrow 6-5 victory over the South team on June 7 at First Community Field at Angelo State University in San Angelo.