Gene Franklin Merrell, age 71, passed away of natural causes at home on Monday, Nov. 19, 2018. 

He was born on June 27, 1947 in Ft. Worth, Texas to Levi Eugene and Frieda Merrell. He was a graduate of Richland High School and continued on to Cisco Junior College with a full baseball and football scholarship. 

He married Bobbie Lee Gore on Jan. 27, 1970 and had three children – Melissa, Nicole, and Jeff. 

Retiring county judge Ross Montgomery was presented with a special award during Monday afternoon’s open house to show off the new repairs and restoration of the Shackelford County Courthouse.

Sharon Fleming, director of the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program for the Texas Historical Commission, commended Montgomery for his diligence in caring for the 134-year-old structure.

Winners were chosen from among the large number of participants in the 12th annual Lighted Christmas Parade that filled the downtown area last Saturday evening, and Albany Bucks were awarded to the top parade float as well as to those whose tickets were pulled out of the hopper in the drawings.

The rules for the drawings stipulated that “you must be present to win.”

Weekly printing of The Albany News continues to be a moving target with the usual press at the Abilene Reporter-News (ARN) still out of commission because of a Nov. 15 fire.

At least for the next few weeks, and possibly more long-term, the paper will be available online as usual on Thursday mornings, but won’t be mailed until early Friday morning. It will be on news stands Friday mornings as well.

Pick-up dates for the December distribution of the commodity food program are Dec. 6 and 7.

On Thursday, Dec. 6, certified eligible families in Moran should pick up their monthly commodity food at the Moran City Hall between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon.

Albany families who have been certified eligible for the December food distribution program can pick up their commodity food Friday, Dec. 7 at the rear door of the JP office (the former county jail) from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. 

The city of Albany will receive a sales tax allotment of $50,264 from the state this November. The amount is up 29.30 percent from the $38,873 payment received in November of 2017.

Payments to date for the 2018 year to the city of Albany are $495,735, up by 0.19 percent from the comparable time last year, when payments of $494,747 had been made.

The city of Moran will receive a net payment of $1,194 this period, for a 31.17 percent decrease from the $1,735 received in November 2017.

Santa letters and holiday essays for the 2018 Christmas issue published by The Albany News should be submitted by the end of this week if possible.

Students in both Albany and Moran schools have been working on letters in their classes, but home school students and preschool children are welcome to bring their letters by the News office.

The Christmas season has officially begun and preparations are underway for the upcoming 2018 performance of the Albany Nativity.

The cast members have been busy rehearsing, costumes were sent to the cleaners, crew members are working on the sets at the Aztec Theater, and both a children’s and an adult choir are being organized.

Letters were sent home with local second through fifth grade students. The letters reminded parents that everyone that wants to be in the choir must be available for both performance nights, Dec. 14 and 15.

There is one month left in the annual Albany Chest campaign and many more contributions are needed in order to meet the 2018 fundraising goal of $42,000 set by the directors at the start of the campaign after they reviewed the submitted funding requests from over two dozen organizations. 

Groups that applied for money from the Chest this year include 24 previous recipients and two new applicants. All of the requests were considered by the board.

The Old Jail Art Center is hosting two special events this Christmas season including free puppet shows and inexpensive gift-making opportunities. 

Puppet Shows

Holiday marionette shows will be presented by the master puppeteers from Peeler-Rose Productions on Tuesday, Dec. 4, and Wednesday, Dec. 5.