Snyder Saturday

On Saturday, we went on a Scurry County excursion that led us from the Sonic to a newly built bridge several miles south of Snyder. Walmart, Towle Park, an abandoned house serving as an owl nest, a collection of defunct pumpjacks, and an interesting guy and his dogs tooling back roads on a gator (John Deere) were all points of interest. My kids were actually having a good time with me. The sunshine was wonderful, despite the wind and cooler weather. Sometimes life is very good.

The photo today is of the new pavilion in Towle Park. There are many new additions and upgrades at the park. The removal of the fence around the pond was one of the best things that has happened there, and the addition of a nice fishing dock.

You can still go see the prairie dogs and feed the ducks and geese. Both are lifelong traditions for me and I'm not sure what I think about how long that is. I'm starting to realize that things I think of as new are at least 40 years old.

You can find out more about the area by reading The Handbook of Texas Online, the Scurry County Chamber of Commerce digital booklet on
Olive, or checking out the TxGenWeb Project for Scurry County.

Okay, pulling back into Fisher County, here are the headlines for The Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance, Feb. 26, 2009 newspaper issue:

• Roby Lady Lions basketball team capture Area Title (photo)
• Roby Lions basketball team earns Bi-District (photo)
  
• Tenaska Trailblazer Energy Project could be a reality in 2010 (photo)
• First Monday Missions benefit for girls softball, Mar. 2
• Shanna Spikes places ninth in San Antonio Stock Show (photo)
• County receives drug forfeiture money (photo)
• Veteran benefits seminar Mar. 14
• Carrion files for re-election; Pache Parks, Randy Sharp & Roy Rivas file for city council
  
• Obituaries for Betty Lou (Hull) McDaniel (photo), Wanda Warren (photo), Ida Kate (Kitty) Williams (photo), Jack Rister, Robert Walter Wright III
  
• Hospital board to hold meeting Mar. 6
• Hospital board meeting minutes for Feb. 23
• Pastor's Column: Charles C. Glidewell, Cross Roads Baptist Church
• Senior Citizens Valentine Banquet sweet success (photos)
• News Briefs: join Team Huck; hiring seminar
• Rotan High weekly bulletin
• Letter to the Editor from Cathy Posey, thanking 4-H members for Valentine Banquet involvement
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Tumbleweed Smith: Little Bitty Rugs
• Sheriff's report
• U.S. Senator John Cornyn: Wasteful spending dressed in Stimulus clothing
• Roby CISD weekly announcements
• Roby CISD honor rolls
• Mrs. Florence Wilburn's 96th Birthday Celebration today at Big Country Electric, everyone invited
• Roby schools track meet schedules
• Fisher County school sports reports, Yellowhammer tennis & track schedules (photos)
  
• National FFA Week photos - two-page spread
• Birth announcement for Gabriel Isaac Enriquez (photo)
• Randy's Roundup: Fiscal Irresponsibility; President Obama's Housing Plan; District Wrap-Up
• Bridal registries for Sunny Riggan & Lance Moore; Laney Marley & Trent Weesner at The Yellow Rose, located inside The Newspaper Office, Rotan
• Rotan FFA results at recent Ft. Worth Stock Show
  

I heard from Denny Cox that the Roby girls won against Strawn yesterday, so they will be heading to Austin on Thursday to compete for the State Championship title. Read about Saturday's game in the Abilene Reporter News.

The UIL website provides championship game schedules and other handy information.

Spring, winter, spring, winter...

It's that time of year when the seasons are confusing. On the one hand, you should already have your onions in the ground, on the other, you better have plenty of firewood cut. I know I've said it before, but I never get used to the moodiness of West Texas weather, even though I've lived here all my life.

I don't know what I had been researching when I suddenly became interested in the train line that used to be in Rotan. I believe my curiosity was peaked when I came across a 1962 picture of the Rotan M.K. & T. (Missouri-Kansas-Texas) depot. Then I started Googling and found out that it was referred to as "the Katy", and my imagination took over. I can just see us going to town to get on the train and casually saying that we would be "catching the Katy". I know that I don't like flying, have a certain feeling that I wouldn't like to be on a ship, but I love the idea of riding the train. Oh, it would be so fun, just to catch a train to Dallas, Louisiana or Albuquerque and spend the weekend. I was disappointed to read that Governor Perry's trans-corridor would not have a future. I was really looking forward to riding the train.

The photo today is from the Van Zandt Genealogical Society page on the ancestry.com website. The caption for the photo reads: "The first Texas Central train rolling into Rotan, Texas from Waco, Texas. George Nolen, roundhouse foreman, receives the train for servicing before it's return trip to Waco."

The article that is with the photo goes on to say that Nolen's youngest child was born on the railway grounds, in a boxcar.

According to the Handbook of Texas Online, The Texas Central line built an additional forty-two-mile extension from Stamford to Rotan during 1906-07. At this point, I wondered how the Texas Central and the Katy were associated, but in the same article it goes on to explain that "the Texas Central was acquired by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company (Katy) in 1910, but continued to be operated by its own organization until April 30, 1914. Effective May 1, 1914, the Texas Central was leased to the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company of Texas. For the next fifty-three years the Texas Central was operated under lease."

Wikipedia also had some interesting info on the Katy. There's a long list of links at the bottom of that article. I'm sure many of you out there don't need an article or link to tell you about the trains that used to inhabit this part of the country. I envy all of you those memories.

I'm only backed up two newspapers, so let's get right to it. Here are the headlines for the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance, Feb. 19, 2009 issue:

• Lady Lions clinch district (photo) - Yay, Lara, Tayler & Kim (I know them!)
• Rory Fanning walking across America raising money for Pat Tillman Foundation (photo)
• Roby Cafe under new management (photo) & I hear it's REALLY good
• Roby Lit Critters show strong at Wylie UIL meet (photo)
• Rotan School Board renews contracts for Spikes, Early, Hargrove & Ritchey
• Carrion files for re-election, Pache Parks files for Roby Council
• Rolling Plains Cotton Growers, Inc. annual meeting Feb. 24, Taylor County Fair Grounds
• Obituary for Jerry Clifton Stephenson (photo)
• Tarleton names Carissa Adkins to A honor roll; Shane Stuart earns BS in Agricultural Economics, Cum Laude; Jance Morris, Shane Stuart and Bethany Clements named Distinguished Students
  
• Pastor's Column: Bill Fitzgerald
• Rotan & Roby High School weekly bulletin & announcements
• Engagement announcement for Laney Marley and Michael Weesner (photo)
• Mayor Marshall completes required continuing education hours
• Fisher County Farm Service Agency: Billy Don Atkinson, Executive Director of FSA, reminds agricultural producers of the need for insurance coverage for crops; invites comments on interim rule for implementation of key eligibility requirements
  
• Letter to Roby School from Pat Tillman fund raiser, Rory Fanning
  
• Fisher County Softball Association met Feb. 12
• Congressman Randy Neugebauer's newsletter: votes against Stimulus Bill; Celebrating Black History month; YouTube & Facebook spaces for Congressman
• Tumbleweed Smith: Some of Abe's Kinfolks Live in Alto
• Neugebauer: A Stimulus Bil should stimulate the economy, not increase debt and grow government
• Rotan City Council appoints Debbie Hull to Rotan Housing Authority Board; next meeting Mar. 10
• You are invited to Mrs. Florence Wilburn's 96th Birthday celebration, Mar. 1, 2-4 p.m, Big Country Electric in Roby
• Sheriff's report
• Roby Softball & Baseball schedules
• Fisher County Basketball (photos)
• Fort Worth stock show photos
• DAR hosts Delta Kappa Gamma (photo of DA Ann Reed, Patsy Hamric, Dot Harris & Becky Brown)
• State Rep. Heflin appointed to House Committee on Agriculture & Livestock, House Committee on Elections
• Rotan ISD special board meeting Feb. 9 re: possibility of wind turbines in Rotan school district
• Letter to the Editor from Sheriff Mickey Counts re: private use of county resources

In Rosemary's Editor's Column, the thought for the day is: The person who never makes mistakes is the person who never does anything. Brothers, sisters, that says it all. You gotta take some chances, it's the best way to learn.

Feb. 12 issue:

• Big Country Electric Co-op sponsors annual speech contest
• Tenaska representative presents informative program to the Roby Lions Club (photo)
• Roby school board extends contracts for principals, athletic director
• Rotan Lions Club Pancake Supper successful
• Obituary for Wanda Faye Parker McClendon
• Pastor's Column: Wes Eastman
• Eli Speda files for re-election as Roby mayor
• Joanna Lee named to Dean's List at Stephen F. Austin State University
• Rotan High School weekly bulletin
• Fisher County Historical Commission received program about Dr. Frank Kiefer, an early doctor in the county
• Roby CISD weekly announcements
• Editor's Column: Fire safety
• Knight inks baseball scholarship (photo)
  
• Rotan Economic Development denies funds requests, approves budget
• Roby City Council discusses touch meters; changes to City Charter
• Stacie Whitefield member of Phi Theta Kappa International society
• Roby Jr. National Honor Society members (photo)
• State Rep. Heflin announces availability of new Top Ten Percent College Scholarship
• DAR compiles Valentine cards for veterans
• What's happening in 4-H
• Sr. citizen Valentine Banquet
• First Financial Bankshares named as one of top-performing banks in nation by Bank Director Magazine
  
• Recipe Corner: Rice Casserole (submit recipes to Clay Willingham, 412 N. Orange, Roby, TX 79543)
• Letter to the Editor from Sue Carillo re: brush pile
• Frank Cockrell Art Association to participate in Big Country Annual Meeting in Snyder Apr. 18; progress on Masonic Hall mural project; six murals completed in Roby museum; Larry Williamson presented sculpture program - next meeting Mar. 9, 6 p.m., Rotan Lions Club
• Fisher County basketball page (photos)
• Brent Whitefield graduates from Hallmark College of Aeronautics (photo)
• Commissioners Court lifts burn ban (now back in place), reviews bridge repair for TxDOT
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker, Cross Roads Church holds Valentine Banquet
• Luke Wells, Tanner Mann, & Lauren Meek to participate in Fellowship of Christian Athletes Murle Greathouse All-Star Classic
• Sheriff's report

An interesting link I found this week is from the Texas Board of Nursing, where you are able to verify a license online. It's easy to use and you only need a name to find results.

Enjoy your Sunday, and remember, it's been so long, now, that we've had serious rain, that's it's bound to be coming soon, just around the corner. Just around the corner...

Local radio man dies

Jack A. Stein, 78, died Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009 at the Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital in Sweetwater after a lengthy illness. Service is at 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 23, in McCoy Funeral Home chapel.

He is survived by son Jeff Stein of Sweetwater, daughter Jan Dickinson of Indiana, and sister Jill Shannon of Big Spring. He was preceded in death by his wife, Maxine.

Jack has been owner/co-owner of KXOX Radio in Sweetwater, Texas since 1957.

Ready for digital

We're ready for the changeover from analog to digital television. We simply traded in our rabbit ears for a set of cat ears. It's the latest thing on the cutting edge of technology.

90% chance of rain tonight, come on, come on!

It has been so dry here that I went to pick up an egg roll last night and it actually popped with a spark of static. You can't keep keep dirt off the TV screen, everything is gritty and dusty, and I think it adds to general malaise of the population. So that's why I say "Rain come on!" Of course, being West Texas, it won't be a gentle patter that you can sleepily dream through, but with high winds and stormy conditions. Oh, well, you can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need. That's what Mick Jagger says, anyway.

I was torn about what photo to put up today, but this post card I found of the old Roby Truck Stop finally won out. It's dilapidated, now, and I have never seen it in decent condition. Wish it was still open so we could go eat breakfast there. On the back it says that J. A. "Jodie" Williams was the owner and Rig Edwards was the Mobil distributor.

The other photos that were in the running was of the estate sale that was south of Rotan yesterday, or of the nine Hobbs Yearbooks I scored there, ranging from year 1958 to 1966. I figured I could get the same reaction if I just bragged about them. I don't know what I'm going to do with them, yet. Maybe hold them for reference, maybe sell them. If there's a picture anyone wants out of them or some info, email me at hobbsholler@hobbsholler and I'll try to help you out.

I have headlines from the last three papers for you. I think the one between the last time I wrote and the oldest date for today is missing. Which means, I'm missing the Jan. 15 issue. It's still a lot of something for nothing, so here you go-

Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance issue for Feb. 5, 2009:

• First National Bank Rotan not compromised by Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. data breach
• Senior Citizen Valentine Banquet Feb. 12
• Congressman Randy Neugebauer votes against stimulus package; remembers Buddy Holly, Big Bopper & Richie Valens Feb. 3
• Baseball sign ups
• Texas Independence Day March 2
• Softball sign ups
• Texas Rep. Heflin announces grand recipients
• Area gins finish up season: Rotan total 37,000 bales, Longworth 18,298
• Sheriff's report
• Tumbleweed Smith: Taking the Polar Express to the North Pole
• Kyle Shipp named to Dean's List at South Plains
• Rotan natives make Angelo State Dean's List: Presley Gaspar, Breanna Marquis & Theresa Soliz
• Angelo State Fall graduates from Rotan: Rebecca Duke, Branna Marquis, Mindy Murphree & Theresa Soliz
• 60th Wedding Anniversary for Billy & Marlene Carter of Odessa, married in Roby 1948 (photo)
• Turner graduates with honors from UT Permian Basin (photo)
• Terms expiring for Roby City Council & Mayor
• Delta Kappa Gamma notes (photo)
• RISD accepting sealed bids on vehicles until Feb. 16
• Texas Preservation Days Feb. 10-11
• Rick Rodgers: Who must file 2008 income tax
• Fisher County basketball (photos)

Jan. 29:

• Roby Lit Crit off to great start (photo)
• FC Hospital Board meets with Dr. Carreon, field report on Trauma Survey
• What's happening in 4-H
• 2008 All Big Country Super Team
• Academic All-District Honors
• Academic All-State Honors
• Upcoming Quail events, Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch
• Donations taken for Tracy (Posey) Lanbaren
• Grass fire burns 500 acres (photo)
• Obituary for Marie J. McCain
• Dean's List students: Lindsy Cave, Chanel Terry
• Graduating students: Chanel Terry
• Pastor's Column: Tim Schwertner
• Texas Rep. Heflin adds Reina Cisneros to staff
• Recipe Corner: Hamburger Patties with Ketchup Gravy
• Tumbleweed Smith: some TV Commercials Should Pay Viewers
• News Briefs: Juneteenth West Texas scholarship applications being taken
• AARP Public Service free income tax service
• 2008 Class 1A All-Big Country football team
• Roby Lions basketball fans (photo)
• State releasing $123.9 million in funds to help low income Texans offset high utility bills
• Shop at The Yellow Rose gift shop inside The Newspaper Office
• Fisher County Basketball (photos)
• Randy's Roundup: The Stimulus Plan; Troubled Assets Relief Fund

Jan. 22:

• Dickson retires from Rotan & National Gypsum (photo)
  
• Memories of John Ervin
• Gin report
• RISD Gold Performance Awards (photos)
• Retirement reception held for Mary Alice Ramirez, Roby CISD
• Local sales tax comparison allocation down
• Golden Spread Electric Coop names new President & General Manager; Big Country Electric is a member of Golden Spread
• Obituary for Alton Wayne Harris
• Sardis Cemetery Association meeting minutes
• Pastor's Column: Charles Glidewell
• Brandi Weathersbee on President's Honor Roll
• Denton announces closing of brush pile at city council meeting
• Graduates: Tyson & Chanel Terry (photo)
• Tumbleweed Smith: Some T & P Railroad Trivia
• Recipe Corner: Salsa Chicken Rice Casserole
• Adrian Daniel named to Dean's List
• HSU graduates
• DeeAnn Springfield certified as coder
• Randy's Roundup: Presidential Inauguration; Honoring Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.; Donating Computers to Locknery High School; National Sanctity of Human Life Day
  
• Fisher County Financial Report
• Rotan students vie for region band honors (photo)
• Rotan fifth grade enjoys concert
• Frank Cockrell Art Association hosted Nan Arnett in scratch art program (photo), next meeting Monday night, Feb. 9, 6 p.m. @ Williamson Branson office in Roby
• Fisher County Basketball (photos)
• The Rotan Plant, taken from Feb. 1948 gypsum newsletter

I want to tell you all once again that I think the Rotan paper is the best newspaper around. Photo subjects are identified, all news is relevant to the area, and AP stories are not stuffed in for filler. Someone told me last week that Colorado City has a pretty good paper, too.

Ricky Niell has a new page on his RazzleDazzleArt site featuring his Alaskan photography. He has beautiful pictures and he can help you experience what it might feel like to wake up and find a moose in your yard.

There's no telling what I was Googling when I ran across a list of a few old patents awarded to Fisher County residents. Never mind that a couple of the people were listed as living in "Boby" or "Kotan". We know what they meant.

Templeton Farm changes hands

After 67 years of family ownership, the Templeton Farm has been purchased by the Landes family. I'm glad that we own the two acres that our house sits on so that I'll always have a piece of family history.

My mom wants me to put a sign on the gate that reads "God's Little Acre" like Erskine Caldwell's book, but I really don't want to be called Darlin' Jill.

The photo is of a painting I bought yesterday that was done by Hoyt Mulanax, a popular local artist in Sweetwater. Among many endeavors, he painted the Nolan County Courthouse mural, one of three that is on the south side of Staton's Pharmacy on the square.

And now, here are the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance headlines for Jan. 1, 2009:

• Extremely dry conditions keep are fire departments busy (photo)
• Fisher County Jr. Livestock Show scheduled for Jan. 8-10
• The World's Favorite Crystal Ball
• Subscription renewals due
• New Year's Resolutions
• First Monday Missions Benefit for Uganada Mission Trip, Jan. 5
• Marriage announcement for Pam (Steele) Blank & Sheriff Mickey Counts
  
• Fisher County Hospital Board holds regular meeting
• Obituaries for Gene Hayes & Randy Gregg
  
• Flu Vaccine schedule
• Brazee 70th Wedding Anniversary
• Tax Planning by Rick Rodgers
• Sheriff's report
• Tumbleweed Smith: Holiday Visits
• First Kill buck (photo)
• DAR Christmas Party

Registration for both Western Texas College in Snyder and Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater is Jan. 8, with classes beginning Jan. 12. So if you're continuing your readin', ritin' & 'rithmetic, times a'wastin'!

Save the Texas Theatre 325-235-5488

It's tax deductible!

I was idly looking over my usual internet haunts and came across Robert Graham's Save the Texas Theatre photos on myspace. With a few simple captions he managed to captivate and draw me into the history of the old movie house. Give his album a look, and if you wish to donate to the cause, contact the Sweetwater Chamber of Commerce at the number listed above .

I guess the reason Robert's photos are singular to me is that we frequented the theatre during the same era. Through my seventh and eighth grade years there was rarely a weekend I didn't go to the show, and sometimes I went both nights.

This was where my friends and I came of age and all the girls asked each other who they would be "sitting with" come the weekend.

I also saw many movies before and after that period of time. Early memories include "Jaws" and "Ode to Billy Joe". Later, I cried at the end of a Pokemon movie I took my kids to see.

James Hallmark, father of our friend Sherolyn, used to have the theatre, as well as a photography studio (there are photos in almost every home in town with the Hallmark logo in the bottom corner), and she was included in every movie preview. It was just more proof of our privilege, more proof that we belonged, that we should munch popcorn and watch our friend as she walked under the studio portico in her cut-offs up on the screen.

Ah, I could go on and on, as anyone who knows me will tell you. Anyway, I'll get off Memory Lane to tell you that the Sweetwater Middle School SEEK classes raised more than $2,700 to go toward the renovation.

It's hard to understand why, in this booming town, there is no entertainment to partake in, but that's how it is, and it would be nice to be able to go to the movies once again in Sweetwater. I'm hoping that the project is a success.

TheTurkey is in!

Which is nothing like the doctor being in. I had Mr. Tom in the oven by 6 this morning. I really meant to do 5 a.m., but it took an hour of rolling around to get awake.

It seems like the animals sense that I am easily annoyed this morning because several of them have been unusually naughty. I must be getting old, because I used to say the same thing about my kids.

Speaking of getting older, I think I've come up with some sure signs of aging:

• When you can't find something in the store, you say they don't make it anymore
• Everyone looks 12
• You know when people (kids, which is anyone under 40) are stretching the truth, but it's so obvious, you don't even comment (it makes me cringe to think of my own truth-stretching)
  
• People keep asking you where your glasses are (What? I can read it if I hold it just a little farther away...)
• You're smarter than everyone (Wait, wasn't that my teen years?)

I've got a lot of headlines to give you, the most notable being the death of Sammy Baugh this week. There was a big to-do in Rotan and I wish I had thought to go to the funeral to get photos. I saw a clip on the news and it looked like they drew his casket on a buckboard wagon. The people on TV didn't even look cold, but the high was about 20 degrees that day. The Advance wrote a huge piece, with Kim Pease as guest writer.

George Maule used to talk about Sammy and seemed to think a lot of him. Those ol' time cowboys were really somethin'.

Let's get to it, now. Here's the skinny on the Dec. 25, 2008 issue of the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance:

• Fisher County bids farewell to the legendary Sammy Baugh (photo)
  
• Obituaries for Sam Baugh and Eugene Edward Spivey
• News Briefs: Youth Headquarters
• Pastors Column: Pastor Jack Dominguez, Rotan First United Methodist
• Fall graduates announced for Angelo State University
• Rep. Heflin congratulates 17 District 85 high schools among America's Best
  
• Marriage announcement for Adalia Johnson & Eric Gardner
• Rotan FFA new leaders (photo)
• Tumbleweed Smith: Why Did Things Have to Get So Complicated?
• Invitation to Melvin Clements 90th birthday party
• Fisher County Jr. Livestock Show Jan. 8-10
• Weather to the extreme
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Randy's Roundup: Using TARP funds to aid the U.S. automotive industry; Reimbursement for oxygen equipment; Time with family and friends
• 1/2 price After Christmas Sale at The Yellow Rose, in The Newspaper Office, Dec. 29
• Fisher County Basketball (photos)
• Fisher County gin report
• Birth announcements for Kayme Lynn Elrod, Madison & Mackenzie Solsbery, and Aubrey Frances Jackson (lovely color photos)
• Letters to Santa section (photos)

Dec. 18 issue:

• Newspaper subscription renewals due Jan. 1
• Rotan water rates increase
• Two arrested for possession of marijuana (photos)
• All State football honors (photo)
• Rotan Elementary Joy of Giving (photo)
• Obituaries for Ethel Edwards Ammons (photo), Glenn Bailey Baker (photo), and Juan C. Reyes, Sr.
• Pastors Column: Bro. Jerry Vincent
• Retirement reception for D.A. Mark Edwards (photo)
• Engagement announcement for Shaun Ann Shauna & Tyler Glen Murphree (photo)
  
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Sheriff's report
• Recipe Corner: Chicken with Rice & Gravy
• Album release party (photo)
• Tumbleweed Smith: Some Bad Advice, Some Good Advice
• Fisher County RV Club news
• Open letter to Nolan & Fisher County residents re: Tenaska Coal-Fired Plant
• Fisher County basketball (photos)
• Randy's Roundup: Curbing spending & debt; Progress in Iraq & Afghanistan
• Fire ant ag report

Dec. 11 issue:

• Commissioners Court approves election for adopting optional county road system
• Plaque of appreciation presented (photo)
• Christmas Parade winners (photos)
• Letter to the editor from Mayor Jerry Marshall
• Pastors Column: Corkey Wells, First Baptist Church, Rotan
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Roby School Board conducts regular meeting
• Recipe Corner: Garlic & Herb Cream Cheese
• City of Roby approves new resolution on Roby Community Center
• College & Career Day at Rotan ISD (photos)
• Tumbleweed Smith: Life Near Blanco
• New facilities open at Roby CISD (photos)
• Thanksgiving meal at Rotan Church of Christ (photo)
• District Food & Nutrition Quiz Bowl (photo)
• Fisher County Basketball (photos)
• Sheriff's report
• FCAA meets (photo)
• 4-H Happenings
• County Finances Treasurer's Report

Dec. 4 issue:

• 4-H Food Show participants (photo)
• Gin Report
• A very well written Letter to the Editor from Kenny Martin, former Executive Director of Rotan Housing Authority - apparently there was not a scandal, just some concerns as the Mayor is responsible for appointing the Rotan Housing Authority Board of Commissioners; Martin points out that "only the Rotan Housing Authority Board of Directors (not the Mayor, city council, or any other local board) has the jurisdiction to address Housing Authority issues"
• Fisher County Hospital Board holds regular meeting
• Pastors Column: Minister Wes Eastman, Rotan Church of Christ
• Recipe Corner: Maple Walnut Pumpkin Pie
• Engagement announcement for Sunny Riggan & Lance Moore (photo)
• Randy's Roundup: Bombing in Mumbai; New Capitol Visitor Center; Change of address
  
• Tumbleweed Smith: You'd Have to Call Bill Herridge a Gearhead
• Sheriff's Report
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Fisher County Basketball (photos)
• Fisher County All-District football selections (photos)

Well, that's the gist of it, as you all know, and if you want the whole gonzo, you need to get your own subscription (see link on right).

Merry Christmas to everyone, and also Happy New Year, since you know how I am and might not get back here for a month. Thanks to all for reading the Hobbs Holler!

One down, two to go

Holidays, that is. Then we'll be on to the new year and it all starts again, just like woman's work.

Today's photo is contributed by Ricky Niell. He snapped this eagle in October from his porch, about 100 feet away. Check out his site Razzle Dazzle Art for more photos. Click on the photo to get the full effect of the picture.

Don't get to thinking you can get your own shot of an eagle by going out to the river bridge and scouting trees. Ricky captured this frame in Alaska.

Okay, I'm on time for once! Seems that the newest hot topic is the Rotan Housing Authority. Once again, the Mayor is in the middle of the mix and there's a scuttle to figure out what went wrong. Checks and balances, people, checks and balances! The barn door keeps getting shut after the cow is out.

Anyway, here are the headlines for the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance Nov. 27, 2008 issue:

• Rotan City Council discusses Rotan Housing Authority issues
• Annual Christmas parades bring in the sights and sounds of the season: Rotan Dec. 4, Roby Dec. 6
• Roby NHS shatters goal in food drive (photos)
• First Monday Missions Dec. 1
• Letters to Santa due Dec. 11
• Obituary for Abner Asberry Aaron, Jr. (photo)
• Roby CISD honor roll
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Rotan Housing Authority fields questions in open forum
• Approximately 30 bales of hay destroyed in Sunday fire (photo)
• Rotan board reviews changes in handbook, approves additional early release days
• Playground airplane (photo)
• News Briefs: Senior day; Search for Miss Teen Fisher County 2009
• Rotan School book fair Dec. 1-5
• Tumbleweed Smith: A High School Class has Reunions Twice a Year
• Roby board hears audit from Gerald Rodgers, approves rules & regulations for weight room & activity room
• Hamlin Happenings
• The Yellow Rose inside The Newspaper Office has beautiful Christmas items for sale, ornaments starting as low as $2.00
• Fisher County Basketball (photos)
• Rotan board reviews changes in handbook, approves additional early release days
• Randy's Roundup: All bailed out; Letter to the Treasury, Federal Reserve & FDIC; Farm Bill implementation update
  
• How to cook a turkey: recipes from kindergartners
  

I checked out The Drudge Report after reading about it in Barbara Walters' autobiography, "Audition" (that lady has had one interesting life!). This site has all kinds of news and is straight forward, no fancy stuff.

I can't say it enough, look up your name on the Texas Unclaimed Property site. Or you can do like I do and search by a, b, c, etc. with the name of a town in the search box. This probably won't work for large cities because you would get too many results to display, but for Roby or Rotan it works fine, with just 10 or 15 results. So go ahead, see if you've got some money coming to ya!

Do you have your Christmas cards ready?

I don't know what the exact protocol is, but I thought it would be terribly clever if I had my cards ready to mail the day after Thanksgiving. How efficient I would seem! Unfortunately, my mind works faster than my physical self and the cards are still in the top of the closet.

I was telling someone the other day how I'm enjoying these lower gas prices (1.59 per!) and they said "Don't get used to it." Danged pessimists. That's like going on vacation but not enjoying it because it ends in two weeks. I'm going to take what I can get and be glad the cost went down two dollars instead of up two dollars.

Speaking of enjoying a short-lived thing, I snapped this picture of a very long snake (see all those wriggles?) sunning itself in front of the county barn at Claytonville. Already the days have shortened dramatically leading to Winter Solstice which occurs on December 21 this year.

I have been terribly negligent in my newspaper updates, so I better get right to it as this will be about as long as a book by the finish.

Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance Nov. 20, 2008 issue:

• Roby football Sweetheart & Hero (photo)
• Concerned citizens attend meeting of Rotan Rural Housing Authority
• Rotan Church of Christ to host Thanksgiving meal Nov. 25
• First Baptist Church in Roby to host meal Nov. 23
• Lady Yellowhammers Bi-District Champs (photo)
• Commissioners Court enacts burn ban
• Fisher County gin report
• Rotan and Project Merry Christmas brings Santa
• Newspaper Office early deadline for Thanksgiving edition
• Rotan Schools honor rolls
• Obituaries for Randy J. Rector (photo) and Troy Dee Faglie (photo)
• Veterans honored (photo)
• Allied trash schedule changes
• Pastors Column on Thanksgiving
• Sheriff's report
• Roby CISD lunch menu
• Tumbleweed Smith's Top 40
• Silver Star Cafe in Roby open Thanksgiving Day
• Engagement announcement for Brittany Nicole Lakey and Acey Deaton Dean (photo), Kayla Sue Posey and Joe Frank Gonzalez, Jr. (photo)
  
• Fisher County Hospital to auction surplus Dec. 2
• Delta Kappa Gamma (photo)
• Surprise season comes to an end (Yellowhammers) (photo)
  
• Roby CISD Revenue statement
• Fisher County basketball review (photo)
• Rotan Classes of 1946, 1947 photos
• 4-H Gold Star winner (photo)
• Fisher County Round-Up by Joy Walker

Nov. 13, 2008 issue:

• Local man injured in one vehicle accident (photos)
• DAR honors good citizens (photos)
  
• Christmas parade to be Dec. 4 @ 6:15 p.m. downtown Rotan
• Rotan 1946, 1947 Class Reunion (photo)
  
• Obituary for Elwanda Wanda Floyd
• Pastor's Column: Bill Fitzgerald
• Recipe Corner: Cream Cheese Squares
• First bucks photo
• Roby Band Sweetheart photo
• FCAA meeting minutes (photo), next meeting Dec. 8
• Rick Rodger Tax Planning: organize your vital records
• Joy Walker's Fisher County Roundup
• Fisher County Historical Commission meeting minutes
• Roby City Council reviews policies on Community Center
• Roby CISD weekly announcements
• Hogfest Bike Rally t-shirts for sale, 735-2488
• Yellowhammers & Lions sports reports (photos)
• Marriage announcement for Dayme Alison Mullins & Marcus Price Walther (photo)
• Rotan ISD honors Veterans on Nov. 11 (photos)
• Photo of wild hog
• Introducing The Yellow Rose gift shop inside The Newspaper Office (photos)
• Randy's Roundup: Honoring America's Veterans

Can't find the Nov. 6 issue!

Oct. 30, 2008:

• Cotton harvest has begun (photo)
• SWCD to convene local work group conservation programs meeting
• First Monday Missions to benefit Roby Christmas Toy Drive
• Early voting moderately heavy, early voting ends Oct. 31
• Benefit for Sylvester Cemetery
• Riley Branch named 2008-2009 National FFA Western Region Vice President
• Pastors Column: Jason Alton, Jason Trupp
• Birth Announcements for Cole Cash Maikell, Brogan Ford Bell, Kayden & Karlee Gilbreath (photos)
• 2008 Maberry Reunion
• Fisher County Sheriff's report
• Letters to the Editor from Dr. Brian Carrion, Carrie Jo Blackshears, Kelli Cleveland
  
• Rotan City Council meeting minutes
• Yellowhammers & Lions sports report (photos)
• Hambright to be inducted into Oil & Gas Hall of Fame (photo)
• Fisher County annual financial report
• Roby CISD academic & creative skills program
• News Briefs: Friends of Faith fall festival; 14th annual diabetes Texas style workshop; Roby Volunteer Fire Dept. Turkey Shoot; Project Merry Christmas Parade; Heritage House & F. C. Assisted Living Trick or Treat
• Randy's Roundup: Creating effective regulation; Remembering Richard Lopez; Travels through the 19th District
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Shelby Briggs first deer (photo)

Oct. 23, 2008:

• Two vehicle accident (photo)
• Fire Safety Program at Roby CISD (photo)
• Fall Men's Revival
• Early voting started
• DAR photo
• Commissioners renew lease at airport, vote to re-bid roofing project
• Rotan ISD board hears level III parent complaint, discusses softball program
• Dr. Mary Parish begins practice at hospital (photo)
  
• Rotan & Roby sales tax allocation comparison
• Obituaries for Frank Carmichael, Jr., Olga Victoria Gonzalez (photo), Roy W. Thomas
  
• Rotan Honor Roll
• Leila Vera Adams Morrow grave marker dedication
• Letters to the Editor from Shana Haas, Mayor Jerry Marshall, Addie Markham
  
• Senior Driving Safety course
• Tumbleweed Smith: Seven Years Under Sail
• Fisher County financial report
• Shane Cole Stuart selected for membership Delta Epsilon Iota Academic Honor Society (photo)
  
• Fisher County Commissioners Court proclamation
• Roby CISD school board fields reports from administration, approves budget amendment
• Undue influence and elderly financial exploitation
• Fisher County Roundup by Joy Walker
• Sheriff's report
• Hobbs Homecoming 2008 , 175 attend
• Rep. Heflin presented Texas Medicine's Champion of Rural Health Award
• Fair winners (photos)

I have put up the photos I took from the reunion, the link is at the top right on this page. I wish there were more, but my camera pooped out on me before lunch was served.

Enjoy this wonderful fall weather and I wish you a happy Thanksgiving!