By Donnie A. Lucas

The 2023 UIL academic season will kick off on Saturday with local high school students attending the first practice meet of the year.

A total of nine students will travel to Haskell for the meet, competing oin a number of events.

“We have nine students who are able to attend the Haskell meet on Saturday,” high school academic UIL coordinator Rick Davis said. “This is the local livestock show weekend, so we are happy to have nine students who are not involved in the stock show to get the academic season started.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

Albany students and staff will have another holiday on Friday, Jan. 20 to allow participation in the Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Show which starts Friday and ends on Saturday at the county show barn.

While all students will observe the holiday, faculty and staff will have the day off if they have “comp” days already earned.

The school just observed the Martin Luther King holiday on Monday, Jan. 16, which also served as a “comp” day for staff members.

By Sam Waller

Four teams from Shackelford County 4-H will participate in the District 7 Food Challenge, scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 25 at San Angelo.

The teams, all composed of junior members, took part in a mock contest last month to prepare for the district competition.

“The kids have been practicing,” Shackelford County extension agent Kelsey Bell said. “I think they’re ready.”

By Sam Waller

The spring semester of a school year offers plenty of opportunities to get out of class for extracurricular activities.

That makes meeting attendance requirements that much more important, and Albany ISD administrators stress the need for students to be in attendance in order to fulfill those requirements.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Formal team photos of the Albany Lion state championship football team and their coaches can now be ordered in various sizes at The Albany News, open Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or by calling 325-762-2201.

The picture was taken in front of the Nail Stadium gates with all trophies won during the 2022 season.

Sizes range from 5x7 up to 16x20, with the order to be placed by the end of January.

Also, individual and group photos of the junior high basketball teams ordered earlier this month are now ready for pickup.

By Sam Waller

The weekly Chamber of Commerce luncheon will not be held this Friday, Jan. 20 to avoid conflicting with the Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Show.

Lunches will resume at the Beehive on Jan. 27 at 12:00 noon.

Annual Meeting

Board elections will be the main order of business for the Albany Chamber of Commerce at its annual business meeting, scheduled for noon Friday, Feb. 3 at the Beehive.

Chamber officer Lisa Barton said other business will also be discussed, but the voting on board members will top the agenda.

In addition to regular worship times, Bible study, and small group sessions, Albany participants in last weekend’s junior high Winter Retreat at Big Country Baptist Assembly at Lueders had a little fun during their service project of raking and picking up leaves at the facility.  First Baptist Church youth minister Eduardo San Lucas (at right, r) took several local students to the event, with the help of volunteer

Penny Prater.

By Sam Waller

Youth from across North Texas will convene next month for the annual Weekend of Champions leadership camps at Eastland’s Solid Rock Camp.

Separate boys and girls camps serving students from eighth through 12th grades will be held on consecutive weekends.

Local FCA representative Paul Johnston will lead the girls camp, scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 4-5, using the theme “Crown Him King.”

By Melinda L. Lucas

With just a little over a week left before the official deadline, a large percentage of the county-wide tax levies will be collected in the next few days.

Taxes assessed during 2022 are officially due next week, on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

By Sam Waller

Albany’s Cub Scout Pack 255 will hold its annual Pinewood Derby at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 6 at the Scout Hut.

Scouts from Tiger through Webelos are eligible to compete with cars carved from a standard pine block.

“It’s big event,” Wolf Den leader Tiffany Waddell said. “And Jacey Shack has made it very clear at every one of our meetings that he’s going to beat everybody.”

Scouts received kits with materials from making cars and rules for the competition. Entries must meet requirements for height, weight, width, and ground clearance.