Sky's the limit

Mac Etheredge sent me this photo of him taken on top of one of his turbines at Snyder Wind Farm, the tallest wind farm in North America. He's standing about 350 feet from ground.

The turbines, Vestas/3 MW, are 345 feet to the hub and another 144 feet of blade. Other landowners in the project are Carl Williams, Dwaine Williams, Kevin Holt and Jerry Etheredge.

For bearing, North is in front of Mac, kind of northeast. Dwaine Williams house is behind him, next to Hwy 180.

The owner of the project is Enel North America, Inc.

If you click on the picture, it will be larger and you can see the details. Thanks, Mac!

I'm fixing to give the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance headlines, but I wanted to clarify the Hog Fest activities for the weekend of October 11. Hog Fest and Hog Fest Bike Rally are two separate events happening on the same weekend.

Hog Fest begins Thursday October 9 with the Cake Baking & Pie Contest and Steak Dinner & Auction at the First Baptist Fellowship Hall in Roby.

Friday night, the Cook Off begins at midnight at the Roby Community Center.

Saturday the Cook Off continues while vendors, children's activities and bingo will comprise Hog Fest on the courthouse square and Community Center in Roby. That night Jack Terry & the Texas High Five band will play on the square.

Hog Fest Bike Rally will take place at the Rotan Rodeo grounds, the main event starting 8 a.m. Saturday. Gates will open on Friday. There will be vendors, children's activities, music and rally events all day long. Chase Scott Band, Brazos, Highway 36 and Lawless Flatz will play from 10:45 a.m. until midnight.

Okay, here's headlines from the Sept. 18, 2008 color issue of the newspaper:

• One man volleyball team comes to Rotan (photo)
• Big Country Electric hosts Rep. Joe Heflin (photo)
• Revised rules for Hog Fest cake & pie contest
• Mark Harris writes song, "Boots"
• First United Methodist Church in Rotan presents Spiritual Renewal Sept. 20 (photo)
  
• Obituary for Maxine Hommel Terry
• Roby City Council holds first meeting with new City Manager
• Notice to creditors
• Roby CISD public meeting announcement
• News Briefs: Roby UMC Men's breakfast; Angel Velez places at West Texas Fair
• Congressional candidate Dwight Fullingim hears voter concerns in Rotan & Roby (photo)
• Tumbleweed Smith: Charles Chupp is not your typical mayor
• Air Permit renewal by Longworth Gin
• Yellowhammers & Lions sports reports (photo)
• Rotan Homecoming Sept. 26, playing Cross Plains
• Roby Lions play Winters there
• Blood Drive Sept. 22
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• New fall items at The Newspaper Office in Rotan
• DAR meeting minutes
• Fisher County Historical Commission minutes
• Rotan School Board discusses cost of implementing softball program
• Sheriff's report
• Teacher of the week, Coach David Ritchie, Rotan (photo)
• Rotan city council approves budget, sets tax rate
• Carrion, Estes & Groat sign up for Roby School board
• Randy's Roundup by Congressman Randy Neugebauer

Hope ya'll are enjoying this perfect weather, it's my favorite time of year. Soon the wheat will be going in the ground, there have been a lot of serious costume conversations going on at our house, and the turkey is right around the corner. Have a good week!

I like Tina better

It's been a week of weather, hasn't it. We've had misty, drizzly days and it appears that the second planting period of this growing season has begun. Seeing the chrysanthemums and collard greens at the hothouse inspires me so that I feel like getting a bunch of seeds to plant, but I will save them the ultimate torture of my killing them. No green thumb here.

Here are the headlines for the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance Sept. 11, 2008 color issue:

• Rotan Cafe now open (formerly The Back Yard, photo)
• Commissioners Court approves county budget, lowest tax rate in 14 years
• Cross Roads Baptist Church celebrates Heritage Day today, services begin at 10:55 a.m.
• Fisher County Hog Fest Cake & Pie contest revised rules to be published next week
• First Baptist Church of Rotan holding revival until Sept. 17
• Quail Research Ranch holds field day
• AgriLife Extension to present Beef Production Program Sept. 23
• Obituaries for Jerrel Ray Marks and O. C. Day (photo)
• Public citations
• News Briefs: Reception for Joe Heflin; Hog Fest Bike Rally Cleanup; Senior 4-H meeting
• Artist Barry Arthur speaks at Sept. 8 FCAA meeting; Oct. 6 next meeting; Art Show to be held in Court House Atrium during Hog Fest, Oct. 11
• Fisher County Sheriff's report
• Fisher County youth participate in Texas Wildlife leadership camps
• Recipe Corner: Sweet Grilled Corn
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Birth Announcement for Brian Jeral Jenkins, Jr. (photo)
• Fisher County Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture Wild Hog Fest Cake Baking & Pie Contest, Thursday, Oct. 9, First Baptist Fellowship Hall Annex in Roby: Contacts & Contest Rules
• Yellowhammers & Lions sports report
• No game for Rotan Sept. 19
• Lions play Stanton in Roby Sept. 19
• Tumbleweed Smith: Men Should Stay Out of Women's Purses
• Engagement announcement for Shanna Diane Diggs & Rode Wayne Morrow (photo)
• Lane Landes, strong roots in Rotan
• New managers at Windword Inn (photo)
• Randy's Roundup
• Roby CISD approves committees, fields reports
• The Newspaper Office will be closed on Fridays during the month of Sept.
• Rotan High class officers (photos)

Gotta go, the Vikings play at noon! Go Vikes!

Hobbs Reunion set for October 18

I spoke with Pat Porter today and she said the newsletters will be coming out soon with more information about this year's reunion. It will start at 9 a.m. and the meal will cost $12.50. Remember that you can still order Hobbs Commemorative throws from Mac Etheredge.

You can contact Pat in several different ways to update your info or add someone else's:

Pat Porter
950 FM 3205
Rotan, TX 79546

325-735-3337 home or 735-2332 work

pporter@rotan.esc14.net (most reliable e-mail)
patporter2006@sbcglobal.net

Plan on joining everyone at the Hobbs School for this memorable occasion.

House done gone

I missed the moving of Randy Etheredge's house last week, but I talked to him and he told me they took it up north of Camp Springs. I thought a photo of the hole it left was pretty dramatic, although I would have rather had one of the house on the road.

Another thing I found out when I talked to Randy is that, like me, he's holding the records his grandfather kept when their land was purchased in 1941. It's funny to hear someone else tell the same story I've been hearing all my life, about all the families that bought land from a large ranch that was split up and sold. He could have been telling me my story. He was amazed that you could fill up a tank of diesel for $15 back then and I told him how my granddad wrote down everything that money was spent on, including haircuts.

I also talked to Jack Stein (KXOX) this past week. I was telling to him about the new radio program at Western Texas College in Snyder and that Tumbleweed Smith (Bob Lewis) would be teaching there. Jack told me that KXOX was one of the first stations to broadcast Tumbleweed, some forty years ago. "We were all younger back then," he said.

I heard from Ricky Niell up in Alaska, and his photos were recently published for the SimHQ September calendar. This is some spectacular aviation photography, so take a look!

Holler to Malcolm Crawford out in Snyder, TX. He is the fifth grade science teacher at Snyder Elementary and I sure appreciate the compliments!

There's some catching up to be done this week since I skipped last weekend. Let's jump right in!

Here are headlines from the September 4, 2008 issue of the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance:

• 2008 Dove season
• New game warden, George Pasley (photo)
  
• Monday mission to benefit Roby classroom supplies
• Windword Inn under new management (photo)
• Roby board adopts budget, sets tax rate
• Rotan school board adopts budget, sets tax rate
• Quail Research Ranch sets Inaugural Field Day, Sept. 12
• Agri-Life Extension 4-H volunteers honored at Silver Clover Banquet
• Obituary for Cleo "Shorty" Kenneth Hamlin
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Citation by public
• Notice of election-October 6, last day to register for this election!
  
• Public notice
• News Briefs: Hogfest Bike Rally meeting Sept. 6; Hogfest Biker Rally clean up Sept. 7
• Engagement announcement for Crystal Lynne Malone and Christopher Michael Baldree (photo)
• Hogfest cake baking & pie contest Oct. 9 (this lists all the rules and events)
  
• Yellowhammers and Lions sports roundup (photos)
• Fisher County Sheriff's report
• Rocky Roberts 2008 Cowboy of the Year (photo)
• Beat mosquitoes
• Randy's Roundup
• Tumbleweed Smith: Comanche is Restoring it's Depot
• Monthly climatological summary for Aug. 2008

August 28, 1008 issue:

• Results of Fisher County Fair entries
• Carrion, Estes & Groat sign up for Roby school board
• Hogfest cake baking & pie contest Oct. 9
• Jack Brown named new Roby City Manager (photo)
• Fraud alert issued by First National Bank of Rotan
• Big Country Electric First Aid training (photos)
• Fisher County school enrollments
• Burn ban lifted
• Obituaries for John Hanson Harrell and Flora Lorain (Spencer) Etheredge
• Citation by public
• Two plead guilty in District Court
• Two public notices
• Legal notice of application for fluid injection well permit
• Recipe Corner: Clay's Jalapeno Cornbread
• Tumbleweed Smith: Sunrise at Machu Picchu Lives up to it's Billing
• Meet the candidate, Joe Heflin (photo)
• News Briefs: Decorate the town; Immunization Clinic; Yellowhammer Athletic Booster Club
• Cyrena J. Morin receives B. A. Degree
• Yellowhammers & Lions sports report (photos)
• Rodeo Queen contestants and winners (photos)
• Fisher County Hospital board gives Helms raise, approves replacing hospital windows
• Consumer Alert: new Federal Trade Commission rule will let telephone customers avoid pre-recorded telemarketing calls
• Notice of tax revenue increase
• Random photos from the Fisher County Fair & Rodeo
• Brooke McCall receives Master's Degree (photo)
• Back to school safety tips
• Avoiding rabies
• Tax Planning by Gerald Rodgers: Protect Your Nonprofit Status
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker

Happy morning to you all and enjoy the cooler weather! Our thermometer is sitting at 64, so I better take advantage and get some things done outside. 'Til we meet again!