By Sam Waller

Bethel Assembly will give Albany’s home­coming weekend a fall flair with its annual “The Patch” cele­bration.

The event will get underway at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2 at the Bank Park with a pumpkin market. Sales will continue until 2:00 p.m. or until the pumpkins sell out.

This year’s event will feature a decorated pumpkin parade that will begin at 11:00 a.m. Three cash prizes will be awarded. To enter, contestants can simply bring their completed pumpkins and walk the designated parade route. All pumpkins will compete in one division.

By Melinda L. Lucas

A couple of Albany High School FFA members participated in a tournament last weekend as part of the Texas High School Bass Association.

The events took place at Possum Kingdom Lake on Saturday, Sept. 18, according to FFA sponsor Chris Beard.

At the end of the day, Caden Price and Cole Read recorded a total weight of 7.48 pounds with three fish weighed in. They placed 33rd out of 228 high school teams at the tournament.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Plans for 2021 Homecoming activities set for next Friday, Oct. 1 are being finalized, with some additions to the parade happening this week and the full list of homecoming royalty announced.

The parade is set to roll through downtown at 5:00 p.m., followed by the homecoming football game against Olney set to kick off at 7:00 p.m.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Albany secondary students recently elected both class officers and student council officers for the 2021-2022 school year.

The student council selected senior Sarah Cotter as president for the organization for the coming year, with seniors Luke Ivy as vice president and Ty Everitt as secretary.

Other officers elected include juniors Gracie Price as treasurer and Cole Chapman as parliamentarian. Sophomore Jaci Chapman was picked as the group’s reporter.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Local organizations who plan to apply for funding from the Albany Chest need to finish and submit their applications by 5:00 p.m. Friday afternoon, Oct. 1.

Board vice chair Melinda Lucas said Monday that only a few applications had been received so far, and she emphasized that all organizations wishing to receive an allocation from the Albany Chest must submit a written request by the deadline.

By Melinda L. Lucas

A motorcyclist avoiding arrest because of reckless driving crashed inside the Albany city limits, ended up in the hospital with relatively minor injuries after attempting to escape from ambulance personnel, and later checked himself out of the hospital.

At press time, Trevor Lane, whose age and address weren’t available, had not been taken into custody, and his wheare­abouts were unknown.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Albany ISD trustees heard the 2020-2021 financial review during a meeting on Monday, Sept. 20, but no action was taken.

CPA Cameron Gulley presented the audit for last school year as “pending,” advising that no action be taken until figures are received from the Community Foundation of Abilene regarding Albany ISD’s investments.

Gulley noted that the Foundation account now has close to $5 million, and investment earnings through July were just under $500,000.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Shackelford County commissioners approved this year’s commitment to fund the county-wide contract with AirMedCare and awarded bids for fuel and mowing at their regular meeting on Monday, Sept. 20.

They also decided to leave the burn ban in place, taking no action because the current ban doesn’t expire until the end of the month. They will review weather conditions again when they meet in special session on Sept. 30, when the county’s  fiscal year ends.

Air Ambulance

By Melinda L. Lucas

A blood drive is scheduled to take place in Albany next Thursday, Sept. 30.

Hendrick Regional Blood Center (formerly Meek Blood Center) will park its bloodmobile at First Baptist Church at the usual time from 1:00 until 6:00 p.m.

Hendrick Regional Blood Center offers ­COVID-19 antibody testing at no charge for donors.

Those with eligibility questions can call Freddie Sosa at 325-670-2880. Other concerns or questions can be directed to Kelsey Caprio at 325-670-4271. 

By Donnie A. Lucas

Entries for the 2021 homecoming parade set to roll through downtown Albany next Friday, Oct. 1 are be accepted until noon on Friday, Sept. 24, according to the high school office.

Any individual, organization, or class group that would like to be included in the parade should contact Ann Riley at the AHS principal’s office, 325-762-3974, to reserve a spot in the lineup.

Entrants should begin gathering at 4:00 p.m. next Friday in the parking lot in front of the Robert Nail Memorial stadium.