By Sandy Morris

& Lynsi Musselman

While a slow start was not necessarily unexpected, Albany Chest directors are concerned about this year’s progress so far toward the $41,000 goal.

“The campaign has been underway over a month, and as of Tuesday, collections were less than $7,500,” said board vice president Melinda Lucas. “We knew that it was probably going to be a tough year because of the pandemic and everything else that’s going on, but this may be a little worse than we thought.”

By Sandy Morris

As COVID takes down another Albany sports opponent with the forfeiting of the bi-district game by Chico, members of the Albany Athletic Booster Club continue to adjust “send-off” plans. 

Spirit Drum

Beating of the spirit drum will begin the night before the game. The drum schedule, which was already full for this week,will be pushed forward to next week, although some adjustments may have to be made if there are conflicts.  

Playoff T-Shirts

By Donnie A. Lucas

Coach M.J. Reneau has had one unspoken dream for her varsity volleyball team throughout this season – to guide her squad to the state volleyball tournament, an experience she had her senior year in 2008 as a Lady Lion.

Now that dream is just one step away from becoming realized.

The Lady Lions (22-4) defeated Plains in four sets Tuesday in Coahoma to win the Class 2A regional semifinal title and advance to the regional final game against Wink (22-4).

By Donnie A. Lucas

The 2020 football playoff season was supposed to start this week for the Albany Lions with a bi-district bout against the Chico Dragons, but the game became the latest victim of the ongoing COVID-19  pandemic.

On Tuesday, school officials in Chico decided to forfeit the game due to COVID-19 cases within their program, leaving Albany with the bi-district title without even stepping foot on the field.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The JV football team wrapped up the 2020 season with another shutout, beating the visiting Wylie sophomore JV 28-0 last Thursday at Robert Nail Stadium.

The Lions finished the season with a 7-1 record, playing several games against larger schools because of cancellations due to the coronavirus.

“This was a good win for our JV coming off a tough loss the week before,” coach David Fairchild said. “We faced a good defensive front, and I was pleased with our offensive line.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Cubs and Lady Cubs will start the 2020-2021 basketball season on Monday, Nov. 16 with a full set of games.

The seventh and eighth grade girls will host Abilene Christian School starting at 5:30 p.m., while the boys will make the trip to Abilene Christian with the same tip-off.

The junior high teams will be in action again on Monday, Nov. 23 with the girls traveling to Cisco and the boys staying home to host the Loboes.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lions basketball teams opened the season last Friday in Hermleigh, dropping the game 51-24.

Albany was scheduled to be back on the local court on Saturday against Huckabay, but the game was been cancelled because of the volleyball playoffs, according to coach Tate Thompson.

The Lady Lions are also on the schedule to host Rule on Tuesday, Nov. 17 starting at 5:00 p.m.

Currently, the Lady Lions are able to put a combined team on the floor since several players are still involved in volleyball.

By Sandy Morris

 The canned food drive hosted by the Moran junior and senior classes is winding down this week. 

According to Moran ISD principal Jo Hise, the food drive has had a wonderful start.

“Last week, we collected 288 cans,” said Hise.

The third grade leads the contest with 105 cans.

Canned goods can be delivered to the school through the end of the week and will be delivered to local needy families. 

Toys For Tots

By Sandy Morris

It is a busy time of year for local 4-H and FFA members. 

Many stock shows have opened up their registrations, and validations have started. 

Both groups also are participating in fundraisers or food drives. 

4-H Food Drive

The Shackelford County 4-H will be holding a food drive on Monday, Nov. 16 from 6:00 to 6:45 p.m.

The group will be set up in the courthouse parking lot collecting food items for the Resource Center. 

By Melinda L. Lucas

After a longer than expected delay, thousands of tax statements should be mailed next week to Shackelford County land, property, and business owners.

According to Shackelford County Appraisal District (SCAD) chief appraiser Clayton Snyder, the statements normally go out by the second week of  October, but are about a month later than usual for reasons that have nothing to do with the local staff.