Candidates Announced for City Election

Filing is now complete for Roscoe’s upcoming City Election with one uncontested race and two contested ones.  

Candidates for Mayor include the incumbent Pete Porter and challenger Ken Brawley, while five candidates vie for City Council Place 3: incumbent Don Graham and challengers Christi Pepper Beal, Billy Guelker, Juanita Garcia, and Virgil Pruitt.  

Place 2, the only other seat on the City Council up for election this year, is uncontested with incumbent Helen Perry running unopposed. 

Voting takes place on May 14, with early voting May 2 to May 10.  The RISD School Board election will be held simultaneously with the City election.  I have a list of candidates’ names for the School Board, but since this is Spring Break week for the school, I was unable to get confirmation on the names, so I’ll wait until next week to post the official list.

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IVAN JAY KREJCI

Ivan Jay Krejci, 50, passed away at his home on Monday night.  Funeral services are pending with McCoy Funeral Home.

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RATTLESNAKE ROUNDUP DRAWS LARGE CROWD

The big news around town this past week was not about Roscoe but the 53rd Annual Rattlesnake Round-Up at the Nolan County Coliseum in Sweetwater, which drew a weekend crowd of an estimated 30,000 visitors.  The event kicked off with a parade down Broadway on Thursday with horses, floats, and marching bands and then went non-stop through Saturday.

Prizes were awarded to snake hunters with an $800 prize this year for most pounds and a $400 prize for the longest diamondback.  There was also a brisket/chili cookoff on Saturday that included a prize for the tastiest rattlesnake meat, and the Girl Scouts sponsored a dessert cookoff and salsa challenge. The Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club hosted its 51st annual gun, knife, and coin show.  

In the Nolan County Coliseum were the usual rattlesnake events with Miss Snake Charmer in the pit with the rattlesnakes, rattlesnake lectures in one area, rattlesnake skinning in another, and rattlesnake venom milking in another.  All this snake handling was accompanied by vendors selling rattlesnake-related products of all kinds on the floor of the coliseum and other vendors selling everything under the sun in the barn next door with food vendors both inside and out.  And if all that wasn’t enough, there was also a carnival in town with plenty of rides for the kids.  

For the Texas take on the event, check the Eyes of Texas website here. For a national perspective, check out the CNN article here.  

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TRACK SEASON UNDERWAY FOR PLOWBOYS, PLOWGIRLS

Track season has begun and the Plowboys and Plowgirls have already attended meets at Rotan and Throckmorton with another scheduled for Saturday at Hamlin.

At Rotan the Plowboys finished fourth in a field of seven behind Munday, Haskell, and Rotan, while the Plowgirls finished fourth behind Munday, Hamlin and Albany.  Standouts for the boys included Cody Graham, 2nd in the high jump; Austin Carrasco, 3rd in the 300 hurdles; and the 1600 relay team, which finished 3rd.

For the Plowgirls, Jacinda Morales was 1st in the 1600 and second in the 800; Lynnsi Moses was 2nd in the 100 hurdles; Whitney Williams was 3rd in the 400; and Amber Craig was 3rd in the 1600.

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At the recent Regional Meet in Powerlifting in Sundown, Corey Hatcher became a state alternate by placing 3rd in the 242-pound class with a total of 1300 pounds from a 285 lb. benchpress, a 500 lb. deadlift, and a 515 lb. squat.