Congregations at Matthews Memorial Presbyterian, First Baptist Church, and First Christian Church are collecting shoe box gifts for the Samaritan’s Purse annual Operation Christmas Child, and will gladly accept donations for the program from now until Sunday, Nov. 18.

Friday and Saturday, Dec. 14-15 have been chosen as performance dates for the biennial Albany Nativity, with preparations already underway. The performances will be at 7:30 p.m. “The cast has been chosen and notified,” said director Lorna Ayers.

Shackelford County residents who wish to be included in the Albany Ministerial Alliance’s annual Christmas basket drive need to turn in their applications before the Monday, Dec. 3 deadline.

Members of the community and of all local church congregations are invited to gather Sunday, Nov. 18 for the traditional community-wide Thanksgiving service. “We hope that a lot of people will plan to attend,” said pastor Sonny McCauley.

OVER THERE The Men of the  West Texas Plains  in World War One They were known and loved. The Henry and Durham families of Blackwell, in Nolan County, knew John Pate because their children had gone to school with him. 

Singer, rancher, poet, talk show host, songwriter, actor, author, musician, and native Texan Red Steagall was in Albany last week on Wednesday, Oct. 31, to film a segment about the Fort Griffin Fandangle for his TV show.

This week’s Fifth Quarter fellowship will be held at the Feed Store Friday night. Nov. 9, following the Albany-Hamlin football game. The party concludes a series of fellowships hosted by local churches after home football games. All Albany junior high and high school students are invited to attend.

The final games of the youth flag football regular season are scheduled to take place tonight (Thursday) and the Super Bowl will take place next week, according to organizer Anthony Ceder.

Christmas gift ideas are quickly filling store shelves, and ResourceCare employees are hoping that donations will allow them to share holiday presents with all of the local children, teens, and seniors that request their assistance this yuletide season. Toys for Tots Marine SSgt.

All veterans in Shackelford County are invited to attend a special Veterans Day luncheon sponsored by the Albany Study Club today (Thursday) and are also requested to join local students at two separate Veterans Day ceremonies to be held at Albany High School tomorrow and at Moran ISD on Monday,...