A blood drive is scheduled to take place in Albany this afternoon, May 23, and Hendrick Regional Blood Center (formerly Meek Blood Center) will park its bloodmobile at First Baptist Church from 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. 

Blood drives in Albany have been sponsored by the Kiwanis Club for over 20 years.

“We depend on volunteer blood donors to supply 100 percent of the blood that is used for patient care at 17 area hospitals,” said Frances Baker, who after many years as donor recruiter with the Hendrick Blood Center, is retiring at the end of June. 

Fandangle practices are going well, but some minor scheduling changes have been made, according to artistic director Lorna Ayers. 

“Indian practice on Wednesdays will be at 7:30 p.m. from now on instead of 8:00 p.m.” Ayers said. “I encourage everyone to go online and get a new rehearsal schedule.”

Another change in the practice calendar was the swap of Tuesday and Thursday rehearsals for the month of May to accommodate baseball playoff games.

“General practices will be on Tuesdays, and special scenes will be on Thursdays,” said Ayers. 

Despite the early morning storm that wreaked havoc on plans for this year’s Polo on the Prairie, scheduled to take place last Saturday, May 18, at the Musselman Brothers’ Lazy 3 Ranch in Albany, the rains failed to dampen a record-breaking fundraising effort, according to MD Anderson program director Sarah Watson.

A monthly country and western musical will get underway this month on Saturday, May 25 from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the Moran Community Center.

Moran singer-songwriter M.L. “Marty” Clifford is coordinating the new event, which will probably be held on the fourth Saturday of each month.

Proceeds will benefit local organizations such as the fire department, said Clifford.

There is no admission, but snacks will be available.

For more information, call 325-668-5084 or 254-631-9777.

Paul Cornelius with the Discovery Center Creation Museum  will speak at the Albany United Methodist Church this Sunday, teaching about Creation. 

He and his family will eat breakfast with church members at 9:30 a.m. and then meet with Sunday School classes at 10:00 a.m., followed by the Worship Service at 11:00 a.m. 

“The Discovery Center is a creation museum that exists primarily to provide scientific and historic evidence for the truthfulness of God’s word, especially as it relates to the creation/evolution issue,” explained FUMC pastor Tim Trimble.

The Fort Griffin State Historical Site is hosting “Trail Driver Cooking: Historic Foodways of the Western Trail,” a special outdoor cooking event, on Saturday, May 25.

Those who attend the demonstration will be able to watch cooks prepare authentic trail driver food and then be able to sample the prepared chuckwagon cuisine.

Parents whose children attended Nancy Smith Elementary School this spring and will return to the same campus next year are asked to go online and register for the upcoming school year using links for 2019-2020 Returning Student Registration link that were recently emailed..

The Ben Richey Boys Ranch once again hosted its annual Teacher Appreciation Dinner at the ranch’s local campus on Tuesday, May 14.

“About 120 teachers, school board members, administrators, faculty members, and other staff came to the dinner with their families,” said Albany campus director Mike Bean.

The dinner is a way for the Boys Ranch to show its gratitude to the educators of Albany.

“We put this event on every year so that we can show some appreciation to our teachers and faculty,” said Bean. “They do a lot for our kids in Albany, and they work very hard.”

Because of ongoing problems with pilfering of donated items, Closet Angels is now using a theft proof donation bin that is owned by Medina Children’s home.

“Unfortunately, it has been painted bright blue and has their signs painted on that read ‘Arms of Hope’,” said Closet Angels director Lori Reames. “We are not allowed to paint over this, so we want everyone to know this is where they need to deposit their donations to Closet Angels!”

Reames asked donors to first place items inside plastic trash bags before dropping them into the bins.

Splash Day will occur this Saturday, May 25, as the Albany City Pool officially opens up to kick off the summer season.

Those who wish to come to the pool and celebrate the beginning of summer with a swim will be able to do so for free on this special day.

Admittance to the pool during regular hours is $2.50 per person. Individual passes for the whole summer can be purchased at the pool for $75 per person. Family summer passes can be purchased for $150 and allow for all relatives who reside at the same address to have unlimited access to the pool during regular hours.