Special activities planned
By Kathy Thomson
The Fort Griffin Fandangle starts tomorrow, and special activities in Albany will begin several hours before the bugler sounds the opening of the Friday and Saturday night shows.
Free activities offered on all four performance days, June 21-22 and 25-29, include a quilt show, tracker organ concert, calliope concert, car museum, movie, longhorns on the Courthouse Square, and exhibits at the Old Jail Art Center.
Other no-cost events offered on one performance day only include the annual Fandangle Parade, Fandangle Pet Parade, Traditional Native American Dance Performance, OJAC Family Festival, and Historic Albany Walking Tour.
Shopping will be available daily at downtown stores and from vendors at the Bank Park.
Several activities are also scheduled at Fort Griffin State Historical Site, a few miles north of town.
Robert Nail Movie
The film Making a Difference: Robert Nail & The Fort Griffin Fandangle will be shown at the Aztec Theater at 3:00 p.m. each show day.
The public is invited to watch the free showing of a documentary about the Fandangle and its creator Robert Nail inside the air conditioned Aztec Theater.
Quilt Show
Members of the Albany Study Club will sponsor their annual quilt show inside the air conditioned Whitney Theatre in downtown Albany, and the free event is open to the general public from 3:00 until 7:00 p.m. on Fandangle days.
Also on display at the quilt show will be the Study Club’s annual raffle quilt.
Raffle tickets for the quilt cost $5 each, or five tickets for $20.
Tickets may be purchased from Study Club members, at the county library, or at the quilt show.
The Study Club uses the funds raised from the raffle to help support the Shackelford County Library.
Concerts
Local musician Sandy Abel will give an organ recital and present an informal lecture on the Historic Tracker Organ at the Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church from 4:00 until 5:00 p.m. each day of the Fandangle.
The MMPC organ was the first one built by Otto Hofmann and was installed in the local church in 1956.
Able has a Master of Music degree from Hardin-Simmons University and has been the church’s organist since 1995.
Louann George will play the calliope starting at 8:00 p.m. at the Prairie Theater.
The G.P. Crutchfield 1943 steam calliope was built by hand by workers at Marshall R. Young Oil Company and is thought to be the only musical instrument that requires a permit from the State of Texas to be played.
Museums
The Flying A Car Museum will be open afternoons until 8:00 p.m.
The museum regularly rotates the vehicles that are on display, so even those who have been to the museum before should drop by again to see the treasures that car club members have parked inside.
The Old Jail Art Center will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.
In addition to summer exhibits and displays of items in the museum’s permanent collection, the OJAC will also host several special free events this year including a Traditional Native American Dancer Performance, a Historic Albany Walking Tour, and a Family Festival: Fandangle Round Up.
For more information about activites at The Old Jail see the related article in this week’s edition of The Albany News or call the OJAC at 325-762-2269.
Longhorns
Several animals from the official state herd of longhorns at Fort Griffin State Historic Site will be on the Courthouse Square from 2:00 until 8:00 p.m. each night of the show.
Other members of the herd will be in the Fandangle and out at the fort.
Herd manager Will Cradduck will also have a trailer filled with some of the longhorns in the Fandangle Parade.
Special Food Options
Restaurants around town will be open for business as usual.
In addition, there are a couple of extra food options this Fandangle season.
The Fort Griffin General Merchandise Restaurant will serve a $17 per plate barbecue meal at the Bank Park from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., weather permitting.
The meal will include brisket, sausage, beans, coleslaw, bread, tea, and chilled sliced peaches.
Members of the Xi Chi Pi sorority will be selling homemade ice cream at the Bank Park from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Fridays, and from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Icehouse will have live music from 10:00 p.m. until 12:30 a.m.
Fandangle Parade
The annual Fandangle Parade will take place in downtown Albany at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 22.
Awards or certificates will be given to the winners in several categories, and there is no charge to enter.
For more information, see the related article in this week’s edition of The Albany News.
Pet Parade
Pets of all sizes, shapes, and colors are invited to participate in the free annual Fandangle Pet Parade to be held at the Bank Park at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 28.
Participants will be given a bag of dog treats donated by Gary Fambro, D.V.M.
Gift cards from EZ Feed & Supply will be given to the winners of various categories.
The overall grand prize will be free annual cat or dog vaccines donated by the Albany Pet Hospital.
For more information or to register for the parade call the Fandangle office at 325-762-3838.
Shopping Downtown
Albany merchants offer a wide variety of items for sale.
Several store owners have decorated their downtown windows with special memorabilia and/or historic items for the Fandangle season.
Fort Griffin
The historic partially restored frontier fort is located several miles north of Albany on US Hwy. 283.
In addition to regular self-guided tours of the fort, employees will offer guided tours of the fort at 9:00 a.m. on both Saturday, June 22 and Saturday, June 29.
Campfire Tales will offer visitors a chance to hear about the history and lore of longhorns, cattle drives, and frontier times while they are sitting around a campfire on the Great Western Cattle Trail at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 22.
Stars and Skies of Texas star gazing party will be held at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 29.
Camping sites are still available at Fort Griffin for both weekends of Fandangle, but they are filling up quickly, according to event specialist Eric Abercrombie.
“The Shelter is already reserved for both weekends, and the full hookups are also all spoken for on the first weekend,” Abercrombie said. “Only one full hookups site is still available for the second weekend, but we still have plenty of sites with electricity and water on both weekends.”
Fort Griffin is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Admission fees are $4 for adults, free for those five and under, and $3 for college students, those between six and 18 years of age, and anyone over 65. Special rates are available for families and adult tour groups.
Guided tours, Campfire Tales, and the star gazing party are all included in the cost of admission to the park. Camping sites require an additional fee.
For more information or to reserve a camping site, call 325-762-3592.
