By Sandy Morris As Shackelford County begins to throw off the blankets and move from winter into spring, preparations are being made for severe weather that often accompanies warmer temperatures.

The City of Albany will test the emergency warning siren at 12:00 noon next Wednesday, March 10, as it does the second Wednesday of every month, depending on the weather.

By Sandy Morris The Whitney Theater was the site of the Albany Chamber’s Hereford Ball on Saturday, Feb. 27, 100 years after the original ball in 1921.

By Melinda L. Lucas At this time last year, the ­COVID-19 crisis just was beginning to affect Texas, and local school teachers were preparing to teach remotely for “a couple of weeks,” never dreaming that they would not see their students in person for the rest of the school year.

By Sandy Morris Pick-up dates for the March distribution of the commodity food program will be Thursday, March 4 and Friday, March 5. Certified eligible families in Moran should pick up their monthly commodity food at the Moran City Hall between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 4.

By Sandy Morris Local FFA and 4-H youth braved the winter weather and participated in the recent San Angelo and San Antonio stock shows, with the San Antonio show still going on this week.

By Sandy Morris Project Graduation organizers for the senior class will hold a ‘To Go’ lunch beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 28 at The Feed Store.  The menu will include chicken spaghetti, salad, bread stick, and dessert for a donation.

By Sandy Morris The Ministerial Alliance continues to work on plans for the Easter Community Service.  This year’s Easter event is called AWAKEN and will be held at the Aztec on Sunday, March 28. Alliance members are planning for the event to include out of town speakers and a worship team.

By Sandy Morris Local and area high school students who were unable to attend the Worship Night at the Feed Store on Wednesday, Feb. 24, will have another opportunity to hear featured speaker Riley Israel.

By Sandy Morris The Albany Band Boosters will hold a garage sale and bake sale at Friendship Baptist Church from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27. All money raised will go towards junior high and high school band trips, as well as improvements to the elementary band hall.