With only about $500 added to the Albany Chest goal during Christmas week, the 2018 campaign is still short more than $9,000.

Board members are hoping that enough additional donations will come in before the official close of the drive on Dec. 31 to enable them to reach the $42,000 goal.

According to Paige Adair at First National Bank, the total for the Chest drive was $32,767 as of Monday.

Only $530 has been given since last week’s report.

The city of Albany will receive a sales tax allotment of $47,741 from the state this December. The amount is up 34.52 percent from the $35,488 payment received in December of 2017.

Payments to date for the 2018 year to the city of Albany are $543,476, up by 2.49 percent from the comparable time last year, when payments of $530,235 had been made.

The city of Moran will receive a net payment of $1,277 this period, for a 6.42 percent decrease from the $1,365 received in December 2017.

Donations are being rounded up for funding the 2019 Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Show, set for Jan. 31 through Feb. 2 at the local show barn.

“The stock show is the largest single extracurricular event our youth participate in,” said association president Bronco Askew. “It is important that the show receives the support of the community and surrounding area in order to remain successful.” 

Directors set Jan. 5 as the fundraising deadline.

Even with this week’s rainfall, local emergency responders remind county residents to make sure that any fireworks used in the celebration of the New Year’s Eve holiday are handled safely and legally. 

Dry conditions in the fall sparked the county commissioners to continue the county burn ban at their regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 17, and as of Wednesday morning, it was still in place.

Albany High senior Xavier Carrillo has completed the requirements to achieve his Eagle Scout award and the Life Scout plans to have his court of honor ceremony this winter.

His Scout troop, Abilene Troop 3, had planned their Winter Court of Honor and Christmas Banquet for Saturday, Dec. 8, but postponed the event due to inclement weather.

Several Nancy Smith Elementary School students and teams placed at the district A+Academics University Interscholastic League contest held on Wednesday, Dec. 12 in Hawley. 

Schools competing at the District 8-2A UIL meet were Albany, Cross Plains, Haskell, Hawley, Roscoe, and Stamford.

The UIL academic meet provided competition for students from second through eighth grade. Sixth graders joined the junior high classes in a middle school division. 

Elementary Results

With the help of 30 to 35 local volunteers, members of the Albany Ministerial Alliance distributed almost all of the 82 requested Christmas baskets on Sunday, Dec. 16.

Last week, Nancy Smith Elementary School sixth grade students divided the canned goods and other staples into the bags. 

Workers at The Feed Store assembly location on Sunday afternoon added perishable items to finish filling the food baskets. 

Students at the Albany Independent School District will be released for the day at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 20, and will break for the Christmas holidays at noon this Friday, Dec. 21.

The district will be closed for the winter break from Monday, Dec. 24 through Friday, Jan. 4.

A staff development day is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 7, and classes will resume at the normal times on Tuesday, Jan. 8. 

AJSH

Semester finals are continuing through this Friday at the secondary campus.

Texas dove hunters have an opportunity to bag the migratory game birds over the Christmas holiday season, starting this Friday, Dec. 21.

Dove season in Texas this year is Sept. 1 - Nov. 4, and Dec. 21 - Jan. 14. 

Dove Hunting Rules

Bag limits are still 15-birds per day, including no more than two white-tipped, with a possession limit of three times the daily bag limit.

Legal shooting hours are from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.

Sunrise in Albany this Friday, Dec. 21 will occur at 7:35 a.m., and sunset at 5:35 p.m. 

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.”