The fifth grade class from Nancy Smith Elementary School attended Camp Grady Spruce, an outdoor educational camp on Possum Kingdom Lake, immediately after the Thanksgiving holidays.

Accompanying the 27 local students were NSES principal Jonathan Scott, fifth grade teachers Candy Balliew and Teri Antilley, and high school science teacher André Raymond. The group left the local campus on Monday, Nov. 26 and returned from camp on the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 28.

The Albany Volunteer Fire Department honored member Joel Viertel with the 2018 Firefighter of the Year merit award at the annual Christmas party and meeting on Monday, Dec. 3.

According to chief Kyle Tischler, the members of the fire department nominate the individual for this award whom they believe has best met the five following qualifications:

The firefighter must not be on probation.

The firefighter must have shown to be highly active in the department through meetings and fire/emergency calls.

Next week, Dec. 17 to 23, is predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping, and delivery week of the year for the United States Post Office, and since the Albany Post Office is already hand-ling an increased volume of packages, they need customers to continue to pick them up in a timely manner.

“We had 486 packages come through here yesterday,” said local postmaster Laura Gilbreath on Tuesday. “We need everyone to continue to come and pick them up as soon as they can.”

Albany’s Cause for Paws’ mission is to give an affordable option to pet owners to get their cats and dogs fixed, according to the non-profit’s president Lacey Anderson, but that mission comes at a price.

“Our last fundraiser was a bake sale last spring, and although the funds we raised then were nice, we average spending about $1,000 a month, so it goes pretty quick,” said treasurer Buford Salters. “We had vet bills of over $1,200 this November. We want to get our balance back up because it is easier to ‘operate’ with funds.”

Retiring county judge Ross Montgomery was presented with a special award during Monday afternoon’s open house to show off the new repairs and restoration of the Shackelford County Courthouse.

Sharon Fleming, director of the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program for the Texas Historical Commission, commended Montgomery for his diligence in caring for the 134-year-old structure.

Winners were chosen from among the large number of participants in the 12th annual Lighted Christmas Parade that filled the downtown area last Saturday evening, and Albany Bucks were awarded to the top parade float as well as to those whose tickets were pulled out of the hopper in the drawings.

The rules for the drawings stipulated that “you must be present to win.”

The Old Jail Art Center is hosting two special events this Christmas season including free puppet shows and inexpensive gift-making opportunities. 

Puppet Shows

Holiday marionette shows will be presented by the master puppeteers from Peeler-Rose Productions on Tuesday, Dec. 4, and Wednesday, Dec. 5.

This Friday, Nov. 30 is the deadline for teens to be enrolled in the Ministerial Alliance sponsored Believe Trees gift program, and the deadline for families to enroll for the Christmas Basket program is almost here as well. 

Christmas Baskets

Applications for the Alliance sponsored Christmas Baskets must be returned to ResourceCare or to a participating church before the Monday, Dec. 3 deadline for the family to be eligible for a box of holiday food items.

Moran elementary and junior high students are preparing for University Interscholastic League district competitions this month.

The elementary students will compete in Strawn on Thursday, Dec. 6.

The junior high meet will be in Gordon on Thursday, Dec. 13.

High School Sports

The Lady Bulldogs lost 12-72 in Munday on Nov. 19.

The Lady Bulldogs and the Bulldogs both traveled to Gustine on Tuesday, Nov. 27 for games starting at 6:00 p.m., and will be in Woodson for tournaments on Nov. 29 to Dec. 1.

Everyone is invited to attend the Shackelford Courthouse open house on Monday, Nov. 26, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.

“We would love to have everybody show up,” said county treasurer Tammy Brown, who is organizing the event. “Several people from the Texas Historical Commission in Austin are planning to be here, and everybody from the area is more than welcome to come.”

Representatives of Premier Metalwerks and Komatsu Architecture, the companies that were in charge of the restoration, are also expected to be at the open house.