By Melinda L. Lucas

In conjunction with the celebration of the Old Jail Art Center’s 40th anniversary celebration a couple of weeks ago was the opening of three new exhibitions, which will continue on display at the local museum through Aug. 20.

Although these particular collections were not the ones originally planned to coincide with the beginning of the museum’s fourth decade, OJAC executive director Patrick Kelly was more than pleased with how it all turned out.

By Melinda L. Lucas

A blood drive is scheduled to take place in Albany next Thursday, March 24.

Hendrick Regional Blood Center will park its bloodmobile at First Baptist Church at the usual time from 1:00 until 6:00 p.m.

The blood center depends on volunteer blood donors to supply 100 percent of the blood that is used for patient care at 17 area hospitals.

By Sam Waller

Checks for animals sold at this year’s Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Show will be distributed April 8, but exhibitors have a checklist of tasks to complete before being paid.

Checks will be distributed from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Albany Visitors Center parking lot.

Before claiming their money, students must have thank you notes written and ready to mail by April 1. Thank you notes must be placed in stamped, addressed envelopes and certified by Albany FFA advisor Chris Beard or Shackelford County extension agent Kelsey Bell.

By Sam Waller

Shackelford County 4-Her Grace Fry placed first in the junior horse judging Monday, March 7 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, highlighting a busy week for local 4-H and FFA members

Fellow 4-H member Luke Smith placed second with his barrow on Sunday, March 13 in the middleweight Hampshire class.

Faith Fry finished 12th in the senior age group of the horse judging competition.

By Sam Waller

The second phase of repair work on the Landreth Dam bridge has begun, closing the bridge to vehicle traffic for the duration.

Shackelford County Precinct 2 commissioner Ace Reames said work began Monday, March 14. The project is expected to take eight working days, according to a release from the Texas Department of Transportation Abilene District office.

“I haven’t been there to see what the contractor’s doing this week,” Reames said. “I know they closed the bridge Monday, and they were there working Tuesday morning.”

By Sam Waller

The Albany FFA team of Coy Lefevre, Ty Everitt, Cole Read, and Laithe Leech placed ninth out of 25 teams on Monday, March 7 at a wildlife judging contest at Anson.

Albany FFA advisor Chris Beard said the contest included segments on biological facts, game laws, safety laws, techniques, plant identification and which animals feed on specific plants, and habitat evaluation.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions and Lady Lions track and field teams dealt with weather and injury issues in addition to competition from larger schools last week at Jim Ned’s Tribe Relays.

The varsity boys placed fifth in the team standings with 77 points, while the girls were sixth with 45¼ points. The JV boys scored 19 points to finish seventh.

Albany was the only Class 2A school entered in the meet on Thursday, March 10, with the rest of the field made up of Class 3A entries.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions opened the District 8-2A softball schedule Monday, March 14 with an 18-2 victory over Cross Plains at Webb Park.

After taking the rest of the week off for spring break, the Lady Lions will host May at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 22 in their second district outing.

“I thought we played well overall against Cross Plains,” coach Jimmy Fuentes said. “We hit the ball well. We’ve been facing some pretty stout pitching, and that got us ready to hit the ball strong in our first district game and score a lot of runs.”

By Sam Waller

Albany senior Luke Ivy has been named to the Texas High School Coaches Association boys basketball Elite Academic All-State team.

The THSCA Academic All-State teams recognize high school athletes who excel with grade point average, class rank, and ACT/SAT scores. To qualify, students must be seniors who maintain an overall grade point of at least 92.

The honors are divided into elite, first team, second team, and honorable mention.

Ivy was one of 25 elite selections from all UIL conferences.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Softball Association will have four teams in three age groups comprising more than 50 players for the upcoming season.

“We have about 25 8U players, 16 or 17 10Us and 12 or 13 12Us,” ASA president Jacey Shack said. “This is the most we’ve had in some time, more than we had last year. We’ve grown the last couple of years, which I’m really happy about.”