A second meeting for those interested in starting a Birding/Conservation Club in Albany and Shackelford County is planned for Monday, Feb. 3. The meeting will held at First Christian Church, starting at 7:00 p.m. FCC pastor Brad McBee is heading up the effort to form the group.

By Kathy Thomson Thirty-two dogs were entered in the Region 7 American Field Trial Clubs of America (AFTCA) Amateur All-Age Championship and the M. G. Perkins Amateur All-Age Derby Classic held at the Crooked Tree Ranch outside of Albany earlier this month, with top dogs selected in two categories.

By Kathy Thomson Ten local 4-H members competed at the District 7 Food Challenge at the San Angelo Fair Grounds on Wednesday, Jan. 22, and all three of their teams brought back ribbons from both the district show and the San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo Food Challenge contest.

By Kathy Thomson Huffman Heatly, the local winner of the Lower Clear Fork of the Brazos Soil and Water Conservation District 2020 Poster Contest was presented a ribbon and $50 by district representative Sara Head at an informal ceremony on Monday, Jan. 27.

By Donnie A. Lucas The Lady Lion basketball team finished the first round of district play with a 3-2 record, splitting games last week with Hawley and Haskell. Albany started the second half of district on Tuesday, hosting the Cross Plains Lady Buffaloes.

By Donnie A. Lucas The Lion basketball team played a pair of close games last week but were still searching for their first district win after losses to Hawley and Haskell.

By Donnie A. Lucas Albany players were awarded several spots on the All-Big Country Class 2A football team and one selection for the All-Big Country Super Team. Senior Tyler Beard was Albany’s lone pick for the Super Team, which includes all classifications from 1A through 6A.

By Kathy Thomson Due to scheduling conflicts, the sixth grade girls were the only Albany youth basketball team that was able to fill their roster and play games last weekend.  The fifth and sixth grade boys teams will be back on the road this Saturday, Feb.

By Kathy Thomson About 45 boys and girls have signed up for the third and fourth grade Little Dribblers season, and the first set of games will take place on Saturday, Feb. 8.

By Donnie A. Lucas The Cubs and Lady Cubs played Hawley on Monday, with the girls hosting at home and the boys playing on the road. The Cubs will host a two-day tournament on Thursday (today) and Saturday at the local gyms.  The seventh grade is scheduled to play Baird at 5:00 p.m.