By Lynsi Musselman

The Feed Store reopened Monday for summer hours.

The Feed Store’s normal hours will be Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Thursday hours are 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., and the facility is closed Wednesday and Sunday.

On Tuesday, there was a kick-off dinner for high school students.

Feed Store youth minister Kathryn Hamilton said Tuesday was a dinner to get high school students gathered again to visit before the weekly dinner and Bible study begins.

By Lynsi Musselman

While churches across the state of Texas and in Albany adjust to ever changing guidelines and restrictions, they continue to prepare for the safest way to be with their congregations both in person and virtually.

First United 

Methodist Church

Pastor Tim Trimble said  the summer plans for UMC are being made week by week.

“Summer activities at church will be curtailed and added depending on how gathering together again progresses,” Trimble said.

Sunday worship remains at 11:00 a.m.

By Lynsi Musselman

The unofficial start of summer 2020 is here and camp planning is underway at First Baptist Church Albany.

Camp JAM will be July 16 to 19 for campers going into eighth through 12th grades.

First Baptist Church youth minister Campbell Terry said the Disciple Now style camp will be Thursday to Saturday.

Terry said spots are limited and the cost of Camp Jam is $50.

FBC also has a pre-teen  lock-in planned for July 24-25. The lock-in is for students going into fifth through seventh grades.

Callahan-Shackelford Counties Farm Bureau directors announce that substantial donations have been made to food programs in Callahan and Shackelford counties.

With the cancellation of Farm Bureau youth programs this summer due to the coronavirus, the Cal-Shack board decided to increase the budgeted amount supporting food programs for senior adults with funds that would have gone to youth sponsorships. 

Soon after the decision was made, the state office for Texas Farm Bureau announced plans to match funds being donated to senior citizen food services.

The City of Albany will test the emergency warning siren at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, June 10, as it does the second Wednesday of every month, depending on the weather.

The tests keep citizens familiar with the three warning sounds, and they are also used to make sure that the siren, computer, software, and radios are working correctly.

The siren should sound one of the three emergency tones at noon on that day, but the siren is not tested if the weather is questionable, according to Albany VFD fire chief Kyle Tischler. 

SEVERE WEATHER

By Lynsi Musselman

First Baptist Church is bringing camp to Albany this summer, after traditional out-of-town church camps were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Camp JAM will be July 16 to 19 for campers going into eighth through 12th grades.

First Baptist Church youth minister Campbell Terry said the Thursday to Saturday camp will have a Space Jam theme and will be in a Disciple Now style.

By Lynsi Musselman

This past Saturday, Albany seniors finally cele-brated one of life’s major milestones after missing out on all typical senior activities since Spring Break.

The storm clouds cleared just in time for the graduates to receive  their diplomas and step into the next stage of life.

Although in-person graduation was able to take place  after much deliberation, the traditional Project Graduation event had already been cancelled for AHS seniors.

By Lynsi Musselman

Both campers and parents seemed to be happier about their summer prospects after ResourceCare announced the dates for summer Day Camp 2020, after Governor Abbott lifted more restrictions for the state of Texas.

Camp will be held Monday through Friday, July 6 to July 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

ResourceCare program director Mindy Ary said there will be special registration times this year, June 2 to June 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Albany Youth Center.

By Lynsi Musselman

Pick-up dates for the June distribution of the commodity food program, provided by Shackelford County, are June 4 and 5.

Justice of the Peace James Breeden, who handles the program for the county along with Melissa Hobbs, said distribution will be back to one-on-one contact, and there will be help to load food for families.

Breeden also said that, depending on supplies at the Abilene food bank next week, there should be refrigerated/frozen food again and possibly produce.

By Lynsi Musselman

Throughout the pandemic shutdown, many organizations have been impacted, including Albany clothing ministry Closet Angels.

Donors and shoppers will be able to resume exchanging treasures when Closet Angels reopens, by appointment only, on Monday, June 1.

Closet Angels director Lori Reames said that to start out, shopping by appointment will be available each Monday in June.

“To accommodate more shoppers, there will be a time limit of 30 minutes for each appointment,” Reames said.