By Jillian Lucas Children lined the streets of downtown Albany Saturday afternoon in anticipation of catching heaps of candy thrown from the floats and wagons of the 2021 Fort Griffin Fandangle Parade participants.

By Melinda L. Lucas Parents are reminded to stop by the Albany News office to pick up photo packets of players in various spring and summer sports league.  Packages that weren’t paid in advance or charged to established accounts can be ordered when paid for.

By Jillian Lucas Local ministries Closet Angels and Neighbors in Need will be closed June 28 through July 18. “Closet Angels will be closed for three weeks to allow volunteers to take vacations and also to catch up on processing a massive amount of donations,” said coordinator Lori Reames.

By Jillian Lucas A team of 12 from First Baptist Church is set to head to Del Rio Sunday morning, June 27, to help with a construction project.

By Sidney Bartee The First Baptist Church of Albany is offering multiple summer programs for students, including a large group of youth that will be gone next week for a five-day camp. Latham Springs On Monday, June 28, 47 students leave to go to Latham Springs teen camp in Aquila, Texas.

By Jillian Lucas Parents who need to pre-register their children for Head Start or pre-kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year are encouraged to start the process.

By Sidney Bartee The annual summer reading program held at the Shackelford County Library will be ending Monday, June 28. The final Story Hour of 2021 begins at 10:00 a.m. and ends at 11:00 a.m. The program has been meeting every Monday throughout the month of June.

By Sandy Morris The Old Jail Art Center  will offer virtual student summer workshops each week during the month of August for first through sixth graders. Camp videos will be posted each morning at 10:00 a.m. and will include step-by-step crafts and activities led by OJAC educators.

By Sidney Bartee The Old Jail Art Center is hosting a Family Festival “Critter Corral” this Saturday afternoon, with everyone invited to attend the free event and encouraged to visit the other exhibits on display at the museum.

By Jillian Lucas ResourceCare Summer Day Camp is less than one month away, and sponsorships are still needed to help provide a successful event. Ragan Riley, one of the camp directors, explained that funding is down this year. “We still need sponsors and monetary donations,” Riley said.