By Donnie A. Lucas

Fans of Albany Live performances at the Aztec will have to wait until March to enjoy a show unless they already have tickets to the sold-out Charlie Robison concert on Feb. 18.

The local non-profit announced its spring series in December and have already had two sell-outs in as many months.

The series started on Jan. 14 with a sold-out return performance by Paul Cauthen, and the Robison show set for Feb. 18 sold out within a couple of weeks.

Next in the series is a concert by Sunny Sweeney, who is making her local debut on March 18.

By Sam Waller

The annual Albany Cub Scout Pinewood Derby was held Monday, Feb. 6 at the Scout Hut with Gannon Rankin taking first place overall.

A total of four Scouts from the Wolf and Bear Dens took part in the event. Scouts build cars out of a kit containing block of wood with four wheels and four nails for axles. Cars may be carved and decorated, but must meet length, width, and weight requirements. Cars are powered by gravity on a sloped track.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Representatives of local organizations and boards that award scholarships to Albany High School graduates are asked to contact Ann Riley at the AHS office by Monday, March 27.

The office will be closed for spring break March 13-17for spring break and will reopen for regular hours on Monday, March 20.

Riley added that the scholarship list will be uploaded to the district’s website and distributed to local seniors by Monday, April 10 informing them of the requirements for specific scholarships.

By Sam Waller

Nine Shackelford County high school seniors have been selected to participate in the 2023 Big Country FCA All-Star Festival.

The festival, scheduled for June 4-10, features 350 of the area’s top student-athletes competing in seven sports held in four cities.

As part of the leadup to the festival, Albany head football coach Denney Faith and Hawley’s Mitch Ables will participate in a lunch program on Thursday, Feb. 16 at Potosi Live restaurant. The coaches will speak on their teams’ 2022 football seasons, both of which ended in state championships.

By Sam Waller

Illness and winter weather wreaked havoc with the Moran basketball schedule over the last two weeks with two boys games and one girls being rescheduled, while two junior high games were cancelled.

The Lady Bulldogs concluded their season Tuesday, Feb. 7 at Baird. Results will be reported next week.

The Moran boys visit Cross Plains on Friday, Feb. 10 before playing their season finale Tuesday, Feb. 14 at home against Rising Star.

Girls Basketball

By Sam Waller

The Big Country Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Weekend of Champions girls camp drew more than 150 participants to Solid Rock Camp at Eastland on Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 4-5.

A total of 108 girls from eighth through 12th grade and 44 adult volunteers participated in the program.

“It went really well,” local FCA representative Paul Johnston, who oversaw the weekend event, said. “We had over 150 people out there – girls and adult women. It was tremendously impactful.”

By Sam Waller

The Baby Bottle Boomerang fundraiser to support Open Door Pregnancy Resource Centers is ongoing through Sunday, Feb. 19.

Local churches are participating in the annual program during which baby bottles are distributed to area residents to be filled with coins, bills, or checks which will be donated to the Open Door, a nonprofit faith-based organization that provides prenatal care and counseling.

Baby Bottle Boomerang is one of two major fundraising projects Open Door conducts each year. A banquet is held each October.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Rehearsals have started for Albany High School’s one act play, which will be presented at the district contest on Wednesday, March 8 in Haskell.

Director Chanel Hayner said that the play “Oz” will be presented locally as well; however, a date has not been set yet for that performance.

Tryouts for the comedy were held during the last two weeks for the cast of 12.

“Oz” was written by Don Zolidis as a take-off on the original “The Wizard of Oz.”

By Sam Waller

Albany exhibitors wrapped up participation at the Fort Worth Stock Show last week, as well as getting started at the San Angelo and San Antonio stock shows.

At Fort Worth, Chelsy Parsons had the champion lightweight division crossbred barrow after placing first in her class.

Slayton Parsons placed second in the Yorkshire class, Leddie Leech took third in white OPB and Creed Spencer had a sixth                    place crossbreed.

Also exhibiting barrows were Callan Edgar and Tatum Grady.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Several high school students and sponsors will compete in the Abilene Wylie Valentine UIL Classic on Saturday at Wylie High school.

UIL director Rick Davis said that this is the second practice meet of the season in preparation for the district contest set for March 22 at Stamford.

Albany is entering a computer science team for the first time in several years. Kolton Koemel and Chase McDaniel will be competing, with Matthew Howard serving as the sponsor for the event.