The Albany Athletic Booster Club has raised $2,900 of the $5,400 needed to purchase a new inflatable for students to run through at the start of games and other events, and club members are hoping that a raffle will bring in the rest of the funding.

Tickets are currently being sold for a football signed by the Lions’ varsity players.

The tickets are priced at $3 each, or two tickets for $5, and are available at home varsity games.

Drawing for the winning ticket will take place during the upcoming Homecoming weekend.

Run-Through Plans

Sixteen Albany fourth, fifth, and sixth graders are playing volleyball in a youth league based out of Breckenridge, and both of the local teams are doing well.

Lindsey Edgar and Misty Braly coach the younger girls, who won the first four games they played.

Ginny Ivy and Christy Chapman coach the older group, also 4-0 in their first four games.

The girls played in Albany at the auxiliary high school gym on Monday, Sept. 24, but scores were unknown at press time.

Monday was the last home game, said Ivy.

The Moran Volunteer Fire Department received $223 in donations at a fill-the-boot fundraiser Saturday, according to assistant fire chief Tyler George.

“I would like to say a big thank you to all that donated, and all those who continue to support our small department,” said member Michelle Taggart. “Anytime we have an event or fundraiser, we have a great turnout and everyone has a great time.”

The money will be used to pay for CPR training and certification for the VFD members, said chief Steve Taggart.

The West Texas Fair and Rodeo in Abilene ran from Sept. 6-15 and several Shackelford County Youth held their own against exhibitors from across the state, including three locals that won blue ribbons in the steer show, and three others that caught animals during the calf scramble on Wednesday, Sept. 12.

Results are listed below. 

Junior Steer Show 

Shackelford County 4-H member Johnnie Hise, a freshman at Moran High School, won several ribbons in the youth clothing division of the West Texas Fair and Rodeo this month and, after all the results from the category were tallied, she also won the overall award in youth clothing. 

Alton’s Sewing Machine Co. gives one $200 gift certificate to the youth exhibitor who wins the most points in youth clothing, and Hise earned the special award and recognition this year with the clothing items she had sewn.

The third annual Shifters Car Club Truck Show will entice nostalgia buffs and truck enthusiasts to downtown Albany this Saturday, Sept. 22, to see antique vehicles, hot rod pickups, and classic work trucks lined up side by side for judging and viewing. 

Everyone is welcome to come out, walk around the show for free, view the preserved and restored relics of a former time, and listen to the rumble of engines that relied on two- or four-barrel carburetors to mix the fuel and air mixture into the proper proportions.

Everyone is invited to celebrate the Chinese mid-autumn moon at a free family festival hosted by the Old Jail Art Center on Saturday, Sept. 22, from 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m.

“Come and enjoy traditional crafts, games, food, and music at this centuries-old Chinese Harvest Festival honoring family, gathering, and gratitude,” said education director Erin Whitmore. “Go on a virtual scavenger hunt for Chinese artifacts, create a moon-drum, add to our community Wish-Lantern, and try a traditional mooncake or dumpling.”

The biography of world champion bull rider Lane Frost is told in 8 Seconds, a 1994 movie that will be shown at the Aztec Theater this Saturday, Sept. 22 for $6 per ticket or as part of the Reel Deal series for season ticket holders.

The Aztec box office will open at 6:00 p.m. and the film is set to start rolling across the big screen of the historic downtown theater at 7:00 p.m.

A quorum of Shackelford County Hospital District directors okayed the proposed budget and tax rate at an abbreviated meeting on Monday, Sept. 17.

Three of the board members waited several minutes until a fourth could arrive in order to be able to take action, then they opted to defer other agenda items until next month so the director could leave to take care of sick family members.

A budget of $2,972,476 was approved unanimously on a motion by Jo Ann Estridge, with a second by Janna Ledbetter.

State Senator Charles Perry and State Representative Mike Lang will host a joint Town Hall meeting for Shackelford County residents next Wednesday, Sept. 26 at the Aztec Theater in downtown Albany.

The hour-long forum from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. will include a question-and-answer time along with a brief address from each elected official about the his legislative agenda, the state budget, and how the legislative process works.

The event is open to the public.