Students from Albany and several surrounding towns are invited to come to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) King’s Court at the Albany High School gym at 7:00 p.m. on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 23.

“This is the gym version of Fields of Faith, and I will be doing four of these around the Big Country,” said FCA Big Country East representative Paul Johnston. “We will not have any refreshments or anything for sale. This is a youth rally for students and their parents, and it is all about worship and helping students to buildup their faith.”

After donations to the Albany Chest 2018 exceeded the $42,000 goal set by the directors in early October, members of the board met last week to finalize the allocations to 26 different organizations that requested help.

At a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 9, the directors awarded a total of $42,450, which was $1,000 more than the recommended amount after the October session, but still less than the $50,000 that had actually been requested.

Shackelford County commissioners approved a request on Monday, Jan. 14 by the City of Moran and Fort Griffin SUD for a grant application that will funnel through the county coffers, but will not affect county expenditures.

The meeting was conducted by senior commissioner Steve Riley in the absence of new county judge Bob Skelton, who was attending the first required school of his term that started Jan. 1, 2019.

Also in Austin at school this week was new Precinct 2 commissioner Ace Reames.

Water System Grant

Moran Independent School District has a student holiday scheduled for Friday, Jan. 25, and for Friday, Feb. 1. 

Jan. 25 is a staff professional development day and Feb. 1 is a staff comp day.

The holidays correspond with the original dates chosen for the Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Association show (Jan. 24-26) and the rescheduled dates for the local livestock show (Jan. 31-Feb. 2).

Youth entered in the livestock show need to be at the show barn at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 to help prepare the facility for the upcoming event.

Next Wednesday, Jan. 23 is the registration deadline for local girls and boys from eight years old through fourth grade to sign up for the upcoming Little Dribblers basketball season.

Parents should complete and return the registration form and $30 fee to either the Nancy Smith Elementary School office or to organizer Clint Chapman by Jan. 23 so that teams can be organized later that week.

“The league will play in the practice gym, using nine-foot goals,” said Chapman. “Each team will have two games each Saturday.”

Albany High senior Jillian Guinn and Moran ISD senior Curry Pendleton were awarded 2019 DAR Good Citizen awards by the Lee’s Legion Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) at a ceremony at the Lord’s Old Time Gospel Church in Breckenridge last Wednesday, Jan. 9.

The public is invited to come out to Fort Griffin State Historical Site this Saturday,  Jan. 19, when the park hosts its second trout fishing day of the winter.

“As part of an annual rainbow trout stocking program conducted by Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD), we will be stocking our fishing pond multiple times with rainbow trout this winter,” said program specialist Eric Abercrombie. “In an effort to help the public take advantage of this great fishing opportunity, we will be hosting a trout-fishing day on Saturday, Jan. 19.”

Winners of the Lower Clear Fork of the Brazos Soil and Water Conservation District 2019 Poster Contest were announced recently. 

Nancy Smith Elementary School fourth graders Hattie Braly, Tatum Grady, and Leah Glick submitted the local overall winning entries, and their artwork advanced to the area contest.

Posters based on this year’s theme “Life in Soil: Dig Deeper” were submitted by students from Albany and Breckenridge.  

Each of the local winners was presented a ribbon and $50 by district representative Sara Head at an informal ceremony on Dec. 18.

The Lady Lions won two of three games during the local basketball tournament last week, improving to 13-8 for the season as they prepare to open district competition this week.

Albany will host the Cross Plains girls on Friday, Jan. 4, with the JV team taking the court at 5:00 p.m., followed by the varsity at about 6:30 p.m.

The Lady Lions will be on the road next Tuesday, Jan. 8 for games in Stamford. Tip-off will be at 5:00 p.m. for the JV and 6:30 p.m. for varsity.

Local Tournament

New Year’s Day 2019 wasn’t exactly balmy, with temperatures in the low 30s for most of the day and freezing drizzle on Wednesday, but it wasn’t the extreme of one year ago, when the mercury dipped down into the single digits on both New Year’s Eve and the next night, Jan. 1, 2018.

The nine degrees recorded on both those nights was nowhere near the all-time low in Albany of minus nine degrees that bottomed out thermometers on Jan. 5, 1947.