Retiring school board members Pam Davis (l) and Betsy Parsons (c) visit with each other and with Sara Head (r) during a well-attended special reception last Sunday afternoon at the Aztec.

First through fifth grade classes at Moran were able to attend Hardin-Simmons University’s 37th annual Western Heritage Day last Thursday, April 25. Western Heritage Day is designed to immerse children of the Big Country in western culture as it might have been in Abilene during the 1800s.

Organizers are busy putting the finishing touches on plans for this Saturday’s Wild West Day in downtown Albany, and they are hoping that the pleasant forecast and the plethora of family friendly activities will attract a big crowd.

The rain that was predicted for this Tuesday arrived in downtown Albany in a fairly dramatic fashion just after 2:00 p.m. that afternoon, when the dark sky opened up, and rain poured down so thick that the opposite side of Main Street was hidden from view for several minutes.

The list of honor students in the 2019 Albany High School senior class was released last week, naming Caroline Masters as valedictorian and Jillian Guinn as salutatorian. Masters, daughter of Tami and Brian Masters, has a four-year average of 96.937.

The annual Fandangle membership Sampler, presented at Collins Creek Ranch at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, was a big success, according to artistic director Lorna Ayers.  “The weather was beautiful,” Ayers said. “The turnout was great. And the show was fantastic!

The Albany Student Council will be hosting a blood drive at Albany High School next Monday, and seniors who donate blood for the second time this year will be eligible to wear a red honor cord at graduation. The Hendrick Regional Bloodmobile will be at the high school from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.

Parents who need to register their child in the Head Start program for the 2019-20 school year should go to the Nancy Smith Elementary School, room 107, on Monday, April 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Academic excellence will be recognized at the Albany High School Academic Banquet sponsored by Albany ISD, the Feed Store, and the AJSH Academic Booster Club on Monday, April 29, at 7:00 p.m., with a theme of “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.

The public is invited to come by the First Christian Church prayer Labyrinth, located on South Pecan Street across from the Old Jail Art Center, at noon next Thursday, May 2, to join the Albany Ministerial Alliance and millions of people across the nation in prayer for the United States.