Several activities are crowded into the final two weeks of the fall semester at Moran including, of course, exams, but also classroom Christmas parties, a visit from Santa Claus, UIL contests, basketball games, the annual PTO holiday meal, and gathering presents for the Angel Tree. 

Parties

A group of students attended one of the puppet shows at the Old Jail Art Center in Albany on Wednesday, Dec. 5.

Master puppeteers Charlie Rose and Dan Peeler presented the marionette performances to Christmas classics.

The First Baptist Church of Moran’s Kool Kidz will have a Happy Birthday Jesus party on Wednesday, Dec. 12, beginning at 6:30 p.m.  

“Each class will do a short program then we will serve refreshments,” said organizer Jo Hise.

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Weekly printing of The Albany News continues to be a moving target with the usual press at the Abilene Reporter-News (ARN) still out of commission because of a Nov. 15 fire.

At least for the next few weeks, and possibly more long-term, the paper will be available online as usual on Thursday mornings, but won’t be mailed until early Friday morning. It will be on news stands Friday mornings as well.

Pick-up dates for the December distribution of the commodity food program are Dec. 6 and 7.

On Thursday, Dec. 6, certified eligible families in Moran should pick up their monthly commodity food at the Moran City Hall between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon.

Albany families who have been certified eligible for the December food distribution program can pick up their commodity food Friday, Dec. 7 at the rear door of the JP office (the former county jail) from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. 

Santa letters and holiday essays for the 2018 Christmas issue published by The Albany News should be submitted by the end of this week if possible.

Students in both Albany and Moran schools have been working on letters in their classes, but home school students and preschool children are welcome to bring their letters by the News office.

The Christmas season has officially begun and preparations are underway for the upcoming 2018 performance of the Albany Nativity.

The cast members have been busy rehearsing, costumes were sent to the cleaners, crew members are working on the sets at the Aztec Theater, and both a children’s and an adult choir are being organized.

Letters were sent home with local second through fifth grade students. The letters reminded parents that everyone that wants to be in the choir must be available for both performance nights, Dec. 14 and 15.

There is one month left in the annual Albany Chest campaign and many more contributions are needed in order to meet the 2018 fundraising goal of $42,000 set by the directors at the start of the campaign after they reviewed the submitted funding requests from over two dozen organizations. 

Groups that applied for money from the Chest this year include 24 previous recipients and two new applicants. All of the requests were considered by the board.

Applications from parents requesting that their children be included in the 2018 Toys for Tots program must be filled out and turned in to ResourceCare before the close of business on Friday, Nov. 30. 

As of Tuesday, 45 children were signed up. The program provided gifts for 71 underprivileged children last year, and case worker Makenzie Marshall expects more applications to arrive before the deadline.

ResourceCare also oversees Adopt-a-Senior, designed to provide wrapped Christmas gifts for the 37 adult seniors that are enrolled in Vittles by Vehicle.

Almost two dozen students from Albany Junior High and Nancy Smith Elementary will compete in Stamford at a UIL contest next week.

Stamford is hosting the District 8 UIL Junior High Speech Contest next Thursday, Dec. 6, and Cross Plains, Haskell, Hawley, and Roscoe are also expected to attend.

UIL junior high meets include grades six to eight, and Albany contestants from both NSES and the secondary campus are listed below.

SIXTH GRADE

Modern Oratory – Caroline Holson, Gabby Lopez, Kaylee McBee.

The Christmas season is underway and local churches are hosting numerous activities to spread Christmas spirit throughout the community.

Some pastors and congregations have not yet scheduled all of their Christmas events, and several could not be contacted before this week’s deadline. Any changes or additions will be publicized in a later issue, if requested.

Ministerial Alliance 

The Ministerial Alliance sponsored Believe Teen Tree present pickup will be from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at the Feed Store.