The Albany High School band will compete in the UIL Region 6, East Zone band concert and sightreading contest in Abilene next week.

The contest takes place at Cooper High School over two days, and Albany is scheduled to play on the second day, Wednesday, April 3.

“We have 26 band members in grades eight through 12, and we are coming along pretty well,” said Albany band instructor John Stockdale. “We have a good program; we just need to polish it. I am hoping that we can get in three or four more practices with everybody there.”

Several members of Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church joined other gardening enthusiasts at the Ben Richey Boys Ranch Albany campus this past Sunday to help the boys get their garden started.

“There were around 20 volunteers, plus our group,” said campus director Mike Bean. “They got here right after church, we had snacks and a light lunch, and then we all went to work. It was around 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. before the last ones left.”

One of those workers was organizer Alicia Burton.

The Albany wildlife team of Brodey Jones, Bryan Jones, Ryder Wilkins, Tyler Beard, Brady Karl, and Kasey Cauble brought back awards from the Anson Invitational CDEs Thursday, March 7. 

The team also participated in an invitational contest in Cisco this week and will take part in the Rolling Plains Wildlife contest and the Weatherford College CDEs next week.

Twenty-one Albany High School students are entered in the District 8-2A University Interscholastic League academic meet scheduled for next Wednesday, March 26, at Hawley ISD, and although the local participants have placed well in previous showings, AHS UIL coordinator Rick Davis said Albany is not the front runner for overall high point this time around.

“I’m afraid that there are too many contests where we don’t have any participants for us to be able to win district,” Davis said. “My main goal next week is to see how many we can qualify to the regional meet.”

Albany High School juniors and seniors will crown the 2019 prom queen and king during the Junior-Senior Prom to be held Saturday, March 23, from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. at the Whitney Theatre in downtown Albany.

The dance, hosted by the junior class and chaperoned by the junior class sponsors, is open to AHS juniors, seniors, and their dates.

Dates have to be enrolled in a high school, but can be from other high schools with prior approval by principal Edward Morales.

The Albany Junior Senior Prom is only two days away, but according to Tammy McBee with the local prom dress ministry, there is still time for participants to set up an appointment to try to find that perfect gown, suit, shoes, or tie.

“We open up the clothing ministry by appointment only,” McBee said. “We like to make sure that no one else is in the church while the girl is trying on gowns. We’ve met with people as early as 7:00 in the morning and as late as 9:00 at night.”

Six young adults from Albany spent spring break almost halfway around the world on a Christian mission trip to Uganda.

Current Albany High sophomore Tana Thompson joined AHS alumni Michael Cotter, Rachel Hill, Michala Huckabay, Autumn Owen, and Hunter Owen.

The local young adults were part of a 21-member Live Missions team led by former Albany youth minister Thomas Aly.

The group left Texas on Tuesday, March 5 and returned late on Friday, March 15.

Several local youth took show steers to Houston over spring break, and one of them, Albany eighth grader Gracie Price, placed high enough to earn a spot in the prestigious sale.

Price took sixth in class 1 light weight Shorthorn at the Junior Market Steer Show.

Other steer exhibitors at Houston this year included JT Holland, Hattie Jo Braly, Kenzie Neve, and Cade Neve.

Also selling market animals in the Houston sale this year were several local youth with qualified pigs, including Connor Smith’s Champion Poland China barrow.

Lindsey Lucas, a 2018 graduate of Albany High School, is continuing her softball career at Hardin-Simmons University and is hoping she will have a chance to play overseas this summer. 

Lucas, who has played softball since she was six years old, was a part of the Albany Lady Lion team that went to State in 2018. 

She currently has been invited to play softball in Italy with her HSU teammates this summer, if she can raise enough money to pay for her trip.

Tommy and Karen Noble of Albany are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Kallie, to Jack Griffin, son of Kevin and Terri Griffin of Danville, California. 

Kallie, an Albany High School graduate, earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sociology and a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy. She is currently employed as a flight attendant for United Airlines and lives in San Francisco, California.