By Sidney Bartee

The United Pentecostal Church’s annual Back to School Bash will be held on Saturday, Aug.21 at the church on Cook Field Road, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

All students from kindergarten through 12th grade are invited to attend the celebration along with their friends and families.

After music and prayer time, a hot dog meal will be served in the Family Life Center.

There will be games and drawings, with several gift cards to be given to different age groups.

School supplies will also be given out to students.

By Sidney Bartee

The show will go on for CareFest 2021 on Aug. 28.

The event will feature nine well-known musicians and bands.

CareFest will take place at Happy Wife Happy Life Wedding and Event Venue outside of Albany.

The bands and musicians for this year are Roger Creager, Stoney Larue, Giovannie and the Hired Guns, Dylan Wheeler, Shea Abshier, Randy Brown, 360 Band, Cole Barnhill, and Jeff Martin.

The bands will begin to hit the stage at 2:00 p.m.

Three ticket options are available to purchase.

By Sidney Bartee

Members of the Ragin’ Red Band are hosting a Community Night, scheduled for the last evening of summer band rehearsals, Monday, Aug. 16, with a special program beginning at 8:00 p.m. at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

The AHS musicians will perform everything they’ve been working on throughout the last couple of weeks, including marching and playing the opener of their 2021 show, warm-ups and drills, and stand tunes.

Band members will be introduced and recognized for their hard work, said band director Will Vaughan.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions began their volleyball season Tuesday evening at Breckenridge after a weekend of scrimmages. Now, the Lady Lions face another busy weekend as they host their Summer Slam tournament.

The local girls won their opener against Breckenridge Tuesday night 25-23, 25-22, 25-15. Details will be reported next week.

Albany played four scrimmages last week, taking on Benjamin and Lingleville on Friday and Mineral Wells and Paradise on Saturday.

By Sam Waller

The field for the Albany Golf Club’s Labor Day tournament is almost full with just one spot remaining.

“I’m full up in the afternoon and have one spot available in the morning,” Golf Club board member James Waters said.

The two-person scramble is scheduled for Sept. 4-5. Entry fee is $160 per team. Morning entries will tee off at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with the afternoon group starting at 1:30 p.m. The field will then be flighted for Sunday’s round.

Waters said a waiting list will be started if the last spot is filled.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions football team has moved on to the next phase of its preseason with the commencement of full-contact workouts, and the players will cap their second week with their first intersquad scrimmage.

The Lions will visit Coleman on Friday for a controlled scrimmage in their first taste of outside competition.

Head coach Denney Faith said donning full pads for the first time is something of a new beginning to the preseason.

By Sam Waller

The Moran Lady Bulldogs opened their volleyball season Tuesday with a 3-1 victory on the road against Loraine.

Moran pulled away to win 25-20, 19-25, 25-20, 25-16.

“We played pretty well for the first game of the season,” Lady Bulldogs coach Joe Hise said. “We got up and stayed mentally strong through the third and fourth sets.”

Hise lauded the team’s mental approach in closing out the match after splitting the first two sets.

“They stayed up and were loud,” she said. “They stayed mentally high and were very scrappy.” 

By Sam Waller

The faculty and staff of the Moran Independent School District got a jumpstart on in-service training by participating in team-building activities at Tarleton State University in Stephenville.

“We got off to an awesome start,” Moran superintendent Dr. John Denson said. “We participated in activities on (Tarleton’s) Challenge Course and kind of came together as a team to start the year.”

Denson said the purpose of the exercise was to help staff members get to know each other better and learn to support one another.

By Sidney Bartee

Citizens of Moran will hold their annual garage sale on Saturday, Sept. 4, beginning at 7:00 a.m.

The deadline for community members to register a sale is 12:00 noon on Thursday, Sept. 2.

According to community volunteer Michelle Taggart, there is no cost for Moran residents to sign up.

“After community members sign up, I will put numbered signs in their yards, and then pick them up after the sale is over,” Taggart said. 

Maps and lists will be available on the day of the sale at the Moran Community Center.

By Melinda L. Lucas

A Shackelford County man was arrested just outside of Cisco after a high speed chase last Thursday, Aug. 5 and is currently being held in the Shackelford County Law Enforcement Center on a $500,000 bond.

Jerry Lee McGough, 50, of Moran was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, as well as with felony evading with a motor vehicle.

According to county sheriff Ed Miller, his office, along with the Texas Ran­gers had been investigating McGough for about a week, and a warrant was issued for his arrest on Wednesday, Aug. 4.