2010 in Roscoe: A Retrospective



The past year has been a good one for the city of Roscoe, and in these final days of 2010 a summing up of the year’s events is in order.  I didn’t move back to Roscoe until September, so I asked City Councilman Ken Brawley to help me out on what happened before I got here.  Here’s what he wrote:

“This waning year started out cold and wintery, much more so than the past few years. Its beginning came on the heels of the first White Christmas in a very long time for Roscoe. The whole winter was very wet and no doubt a huge factor in the bountiful cotton and fruit crops that followed. We, as a City, made some tremendous strides. We got the trees along Cypress Street established—three more will be added this winter—and we got the Memorial Park finished and dedicated on Memorial Day. That day was marked by a visit from Susan King, State Representative, and a short talk by a retired Air Force General. The day was also marked by an all day festival down ‘on the bricks.’  Broadway and Cypress Streets were lined with vendors, and Tommy Alverson capped off a great day with a free concert that drew a very respectable crowd.

On the 4th of July another ‘on the bricks’ festival happened with Honeybrowne capping off another very successful day. Again the streets were lined with vendors, and the crowd was larger than Memorial Day. Our fireworks show was talked about all over Nolan County for weeks afterwards. Other wildly successful parts of that day were the Quarterback Challenge, Cow Patty Bingo, and the good times had by all.  Good things are happening in Roscoe, and this coming year is going to be even more amazing.”

Thanks to Ken for bringing me up to September when I returned to Roscoe to live for the first time since 1967.  I got back just in time to make the 2010 Roscoe High School Homecoming, its first since 2007, and enjoyed reliving earlier times with old classmates and other acquaintances, many of whom I hadn’t seen for years and had some trouble recognizing.

Homecoming was followed by the fourth annual Wind Harvest Festival, another big success for the city.   A large group of street vendors filled Broadway and Cypress downtown, and events included the first annual Steak, Stuffed Pepper, and Rib Cookoff, the Plowboy Mudbog at the baseball field, and an evening street dance “on the bricks” with music from the Dusty Creek Band and Gary P. Nunn, along with a big fireworks show.

This fall also saw a banner harvest for area farmers with a big cotton crop.  Many area farmers made over a bale to the acre and got higher prices for their cotton than ever before with a bale of cotton fetching  over $100 more this year than last.  This was also the best harvest in years for area fruits and vegetables, and there was an abundance of local produce.

In October, the City of Roscoe learned that the State of Texas had approved its application for a loan to improve city water.  The “loan,” which is 100% loan-forgiveness qualified, totals $1,765,000 with $1,265,000 going to the construction of a new reverse-osmosis water treatment plant that will provide the city with mineral-free water and $500,000 going to the much needed upgrade of existing city water lines.  Construction of the new water treatment plant is scheduled to begin sometime this spring.

New construction was also a feature of the Roscoe school as the elementary school was remodeled and renovated, and a new technology center was built along with conference rooms and offices.  The old high school building, in continuous use since 1938, saw its last classes ever earlier this month, and in January, it will be torn down to make way for a new cutting-edge building that will include classrooms and a new gymnasium. 

Roscoe Collegiate High School continued to blaze a trail for innovative teaching techniques and serve as a model for other high schools with its college preparatory courses that earn college credits for the students who take them.  Instruction now includes laptops for all the students and smart boards in all the classrooms.  Superintendent Kim Alexander and the entire high school faculty deserve to be commended for taking on the extra effort this innovation involves.  

The Plowboy football team had its first season under new head coach Jonathan Haseloff, and its star player, Caden Smith, was named the Most Valuable Player in the district, while several other Plowboys made the first and second all-district teams.  After a rough start, the Plowboys won enough games to once again make the playoffs. 

In October, downtown Roscoe saw the opening of a thriving new establishment, the Lumberyard, a restaurant built on the site of the old Higginbotham Bartlett lumberyard on Cypress Street.  In addition to providing food, the Lumberyard also serves as a sports bar with two wide-screen TVs.  It also has an outdoor stage with a dance floor where several well-known Texas country-and-western bands have already performed to sizable crowds.  These include the bands of Tommy Alverson, the Tejas Brothers, Mike Mancy, Charlie Shafter, James Lann, and Mike Kelly, among others.  Mike Mancy will be the featured band for the New Year’s Eve celebration on Saturday, and once again a big crowd is expected.  

All in all, it’s been a great year for Roscoe, and, as Ken Brawley predicts in his report, “this coming year is going to be even more amazing.”  Let’s hope he’s right!  Happy New Year, and here’s wishing you all a healthy and prosperous 2011!