By Melinda L. Lucas
An Albany blood drive is set for today, Nov. 17.
Hendrick Regional Blood Center will park the bloodmobile at First Baptist Church at the usual time from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m.
The blood center depends on volunteer blood donors to supply 100 percent of the blood that is used for patient care at 17 area hospitals.
The Kiwanis Club blood drives are scheduled roughly every eight weeks throughout the year.
By Donnie A. Lucas
Twelve new members were inducted into the Albany chapter of the National Honor Society last Sunday at the high school auditorium.
The ceremony was conducted by current members, with the invocation and welcome by Presley Green, history of NHS by Ashley Richards, and the four principles of the society by other officers.
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Albany Junior High theater class presented the comedy “Once Upon a Clothesline” by Aurand Harris for the public on Tuesday, and in One Act Play competition on Wednesday in Stamford.
Results of the district contest Wednesday were not available at press time.
The play includes 12 cast members and three crew members, with teacher Melanie Turner directing.
By Donnie A. Lucas
Albany elementary and junior high students are entering the UIL competition window starting this week with the one-act play competition and writing events.
Students in grades two through five will compete in the elementary division, while students in grades six through eight are in the middle school bracket.
This will be the first time in three years that the contests will be held in person, with the elementary students competing in Cisco on Wednesday, Dec. 7. The middle school contests will be held in Hamlin, also on Dec. 7.
By Donnie A. Lucas
Albany students and staff members will be dismissed starting at 3:00 p.m. next Tuesday for the Thanksgiving holidays.
Unlike past years, classes will be in session for a full day rather than having an early release.
“The input we got back from teachers and parents when we were doing the calendar for this year was to eliminate early-release days,” secondary principal Glen Hill said. “That way, we gain extra days off during the Christmas break.”
By Sam Waller
For Friendship Baptist Church members, the annual Harvest Acres bazaar offers an opportunity to include people from outside the congregation in the congregation’s efforts to help those in need throughout the community.
The church’s sixth annual bazaar will start at 9:00 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Friendship Baptist Activity Center located at 600 Greer St.
Proceeds from the event are used to support local mission efforts.
By Sam Waller
Albany Methodist Church will host the Albany Community Thanksgiving Service at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20.
Church member Annette Harris said she felt the need to help bring the event back after it wasn’t held last year.
“Some people liked having this,” Harris said. “You really hate taking something away that is not that much trouble to get together.”
Pastor Brad McBee of First Christian Church will deliver a Thanksgiving-focused message on what really brought the Pilgrims to the New World.
By Sam Waller
Albany Methodist Church is conducting its annual pie drive to help the Abilene Salvation Army with its Thanksgiving meal.
Local residents can contribute by bringing homemade or purchased pies to the church’s Fellowship Hall by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
“If people want to bring pies and leave them on the table, I’ll take them over to Abilene before Thanksgiving,” church member Lance Thomas said.
By Donnie A. Lucas
Rehearsals continued this week for the 2022 production of “The Nativity,” scheduled for two performances on Dec. 10 and 11 at the Aztec Theater.
Practices for each scene started two weeks ago.
“The sets will start going up on the stage beginning Sunday and continuing next week,” director Lorna Ayers said. “There is only one rehearsal, and it’s on Monday during Thanksgiving week, but we start back in earnest on Monday, Nov. 28.”
Ayers said that is increasingly important for all cast members to participate when their scene is scheduled.
By Sam Waller
Deadline for two holiday programs conducted by the Albany Ministerial Alliance is rapidly approaching.
Applications for the Alliance’s Believe Tree for Teens and Christmas Basket campaigns are due Friday, Nov. 18.
Believe Tree for Teens provides gifts for approximately 40 junior high and high school students in Shackelford County each year.
The annual Christmas Basket food drive strives to provide a box filled with the ingredients needed for a traditional holiday meal to families in need of assistance.
