At Monday’s meeting, Albany city council members reviewed unofficial year-end figures as of March 31, 2019, with city manager Billy Holson noting a few amended overages and stating that he is starting on a five-year capital improvement plan.

“We ended the year in good shape, and since we’ve accumulated some funding over the last few years for capital improvements, I intend to work on a long-range plan that will explain how we’re going to spend that money,” said Holson.

He added that city employees continue to work hard to keep expenses down as much as possible.

The 2019 Fort Griffin Fandangle Membership Sampler will be presented at the site of the historic Town of Fort Griffin next Saturday, April 20 at 6:00 p.m. and although the first wave of invitations to the Sampler were mailed out to members this week, there is still time for everyone to pay association dues and attend the event.

Adult participants are invited to bring their favorite bottle of wine or beverage to the Old Jail Art Center next Thursday, April 18, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., and leave with an encaustic painting that they create during the workshop.

Each third Thursday of the school year, adult visitors are invited to try out a new art medium in a casual workshop environment under the instruction of an experienced art educator.

Encaustic painting is also known as “hot wax painting.”

All Shackelford County senior adults (50 and up) are invited to attend the Shackelford County Resource Center’s April senior luncheon to be held on Friday, April 12 at the Albany Youth Center beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Members of First Baptist Church are hosting this month.

“The theme is ‘Carnival,’ and we will actually be having a carnival including game booths, cotton candy, popcorn, and prizes,” said program assistant Ragan Riley. 

The meal will be hamburgers, French fries, baked beans, and desserts. 

The wild west will come back to life, at least for a day, in downtown Albany this month at the first annual Chamber of Commerce Wild West Day on Saturday, April 27, and a host of activities will provide a multitude of entertainment options for all ages.

Main Street will be shut down to regular traffic from 11:45 until 1:15 p.m., and people dressed in period costumes will take to the street while Louann George plays a half-hour concert on the calliope.

Albany churches are observing Holy Week with a special midweek community service on Wednesday, sponsored by the Albany Ministerial Alliance, as well as special activities for some of the individual congregations.

Holy Week Service

This year, instead of hosting multiple mid-day services, the Ministerial Alliance is sponsoring a community worship time on Wednesday evening. 

The 6:30 p.m. service will be at the Aztec Theater on April 17, and everyone in the community is welcome to attend.

Madison Wilkins was named as Top Hand for the second year in a row at the 2019 Buyer-Seller Banquet on Saturday, April 6. Cutter Edgar and Wilkins were announced as the winners of the 29th annual Watt R. Matthews Memorial Scholarships. 

“We had a good banquet,” said Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Association president Bronco Askew. “We were not able to get a speaker arranged this year, but we hope to be able to do that again in the future.”

Although some pledges are still outstanding, the SCYLA was able to get checks out to all the youth, Askew added.

Communities across the country recognize those who help save lives in times of personal or national crisis during National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week, being observed locally April 14-20.

Shackelford County sheriff Ed Miller commended local 9-1-1 telecommunicators when he gave special recognition to one of the workers during Monday morning’s county commissioners meeting. 

“Our dispatchers take a lot of calls, and sometimes, they have to think outside the box,” said Miller.

Taylor and Callahan counties will host a Wheat Field Day from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on Friday, May 3 at various sites throughout the counties, beginning at the Taylor County plots located off Texas Highway 351 on County Road 521, also known as Mesquite Lane. 

The program is free of charge and includes a sponsored lunch at the Lions Club in Eula on Farm- to-Market Road 603. 

For further information and to RSVP by May 2, contact Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Taylor County 325-672-6048, or Callahan County 325-854-5835. 

Albany Sports Center sent a cheer team and two individual performer groups to compete at the Cheer & Dance/Drill Team America competition at SeaWorld, San Antonio last Saturday, April 6, and all three entries won awards in both their age group and in the overall.

“This was our last competition of the year, and the girls did very well,” said coach Kandi Ray. “The team won the elementary cheer division, got high point overall from among all of the elementary classes, and they were also the overall highest scoring team of the day from all age divisions!”