New Downtown Establishments Open for Business

The old Ag Center building is the new home of the Feed Store & More.

Although neither has yet had an official grand opening, both of Roscoe’s newest downtown commercial ventures are open and doing business.  

Still without its new sign, the Feed Store & More, in the old Ag Center building across the street from the Lumberyard on Cypress Street, is now in full operation.  A joint venture of Bruce McGlothlin and Chuck Harvey, it stocks feed for horses, cattle, lambs, goats, dogs, and pigs and is currently selling spring-cut alfalfa hay with some fresh-cut on the way.  You can also buy hen scratch and deer corn there.  More items will be available as time goes on.

Work hours are 7:30am-7:00pm Monday through Saturday, and 12:00-5:00pm on Sundays.  Amber Bollinger is the sales clerk, and the telephone number is 325-766-2211.  

Prices may vary from week to week because of the current situation regarding feed, but Chuck Harvey assures me that they'll meet or beat any prices you’ll find in Sweetwater. 

The Feed Store is only Phase One for the business.  A new general store, Ye Ol’ General Store, is also planned for the building next door where Dandy Fence used to be.  It is scheduled to open later this year.  

VP Tire & Service on East Broadway is now open.

VP Tire & Service, on 702 E. Broadway where Jesse Faust’s Garage once was, is being run by David Pantoja and Mark Diaz.  They started full operation on September 10 and sell both new and used tires, do general maintenance such as oil changes, flats, and brakes, and make minor repairs.  There are also plans to have a service truck.   Like the Feed Store & More, they are also waiting for a new sign.

Their hours of operation are from 7:30-5:00 Monday through Friday and 8:00-12:00 on Saturday.  

The owners vow that their prices are also as good as or better than what you find in Sweetwater not only for tires but also for labor.  For more information, contact David Pantoja at 325-280-1917.

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VICKIE’S GIFTS ADDING NEW SPACE

Vickie’s Gifts, owned by Vickie Haynes and in business on 211 Main Street for the past 13 years, is currently undergoing expansion with a new wing under construction.  

When it is complete, the store will have some 3000 additional feet.  Eight hundred feet of that will be a courtyard where items are sold, a thousand will be for storage, and the other fourteen hundred will be additional shop space.  The plan is to have everything complete by mid-November.  

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DOROTHA MAE (MRS. WILSON) SMITH

Dorotha Mae Ford Smith, 89, passed away on Saturday, September 17.  Funeral services were held on Monday at the Roscoe Church of Christ, followed by interment in the Roscoe Cemetery.

Dorotha Mae Ford was born August 17, 1922, in Beardstown, Texas, and grew up in Roscoe.  She wedded Wilson L. Smith on January 6, 1940, and was married to him for 67 years until his death on July 17, 2007.  

She is survived by three children, Jimmy Wilson Smith and wife Candy of Plano, Barbara Smith O’Neil and husband Pete of Dallas, and Stacey Smith Cheney of Plano, as well as eight grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren.  

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MERKEL DOWNS PLOWBOYS 39-0

The Plowboys endured another rough game as Class 2A Merkel proved to be too much for the Plowboys.  The outcome was never in doubt as the score was 33-0 at the half.  Baylor Mullins passed for 115 yards and two touchdowns for the Badgers as Merkel improved its record to 2-1 for the year.

Top rushers for the Plowboys were Eduardo Gallegos with 40 yards, Eric Padilla with 36, and Chris DeLeon with 32.   

The Plowboys are now 0-4 after facing two good 2A teams and two of the region’s class A powerhouses, with none of the games at home.  That is hardly the kind of schedule one would hope to have for a relatively young and inexperienced team such as the Plowboys.  

And, even though Friday night is their home opener, things won’t be any easier for the Plowboys as they face 3-1 Munday, whose only loss was to Stamford and whose average margin of victory for the last three games against Olney, Jim Ned, and Haskell is 37 points. 

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WEATHER REPORT

Although there was plenty of lightning and distant thunder last night, another week has passed without any rain.  

According to the U. S. Drought Monitor, conditions in Texas continue to deteriorate.   It is now in its worst single-year drought ever with practically the entire state in the most extreme drought category possible, as can be seen on the U. S. Drought map by clicking here.  

Texas has just finished its driest 11 months on record and also just experienced the hottest June through August ever in the United States.   The absence of any significant tropical activity along with the probability of a second consecutive La Niña winter give little hope that the current weather pattern will end soon.  

Happy Equinox, everybody!