Roscoe Featured in Weather Channel Series Beginning April 17

The Roscoe Wind Farm is once again the focus of a program on wind energy.

Many of you will recall the film crew from Los Angeles headed by a David DeAngelis that was in Roscoe for a couple of weeks last November.  They did a lot of filming and interviewing while they were here and told us at the time they thought the programs they were creating would air on the Weather Channel sometime this spring.

Now it’s official.  Last week the Weather Channel announced that on April 17, it will launch its new series “Braving the Elements” with a four-part series entitled “Turbine Cowboys.”  Roscoe and the Roscoe Wind Farm, which have already received much attention in the national and international media, will once again be featured as one of the episodes focuses on the Roscoe Wind Farm, one of the world’s largest. 

The exact date for the episode about Roscoe has not yet been posted but will be made available here in the Hard Times as soon as it is known. 

The “Braving the Elements” series will run on Tuesday evenings starting at 8:00pm, and the “Turbine Cowboys” portion will have episodes entitled "Climbing School," "Extreme Alaska," "Saved by Wind," and "Amazed in Mexico."
 
The show featuring Roscoe will no doubt be the one entitled "Saved by Wind," which has this subtitle: "Learn how the town of Roscoe, Texas transformed from a dying farm town to a thriving community in this web exclusive clip from Turbine Cowboys, the brand new series on The Weather Channel.”

You can access the 3-minute, 33 second video preview on the Weather Channel’s Turbine Cowboy home page by clicking here.

If you watch the video, you will notice that the show’s producers sometimes get Roscoe mixed up with Sweetwater, misspell Cliff Etheredge’s name, and commit a couple of other minor errors, but these glitches are more than made up for with some good images and descriptions of Roscoe and the surrounding area. 

Seeing the video preview is enough to whet interest in learning what the full thirty-minute program is going to be like.   

In addition, Roscoe will also be getting some footage in a documentary celebrating Earth Day entitled “Powering the Planet,” set to show on most PBS stations on Sunday, April 22.   I haven’t seen the schedule for KERA-TV, the local PBS station, past April 15 but will also inform you about it as soon as I find out.  

An online summary of the PBS documentary says that part of it is about West Texas citizens “who have taken sustainability into their own hands by becoming stakeholders in wind turbines.”  That sounds like us. 

Stay tuned for more details.

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FIRE CAUSES EXTENSIVE DAMAGE AT SMACKERS CAFÉ

Smackers Café, which re-opened just a little over two weeks ago, is once again closed after extensive damage caused by a fire that broke out in the back of the café last week.  

The fire, thought to be electrical in origin, was discovered around eleven o’clock on Tuesday, March 27, and both Sweetwater and Roscoe Fire Departments responded to the blaze.  The fire apparently started near a freezer and may have been the result of faulty wiring.

Having just opened, the Lamberts had not yet obtained fire insurance, so they are bearing the full brunt of the expense and are not certain about when, or if, they’ll be re-opening any time soon. 

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JACINDA MORALES WINS TWO EVENTS AT COLORADO CITY MEET

Plowgirl Jacinda Morales notched up two more victories in last Thursday’s Lone Wolf Relays at Colorado City, winning both the 400 and 800-meter races.  Her time in the 400 was 1:03.9 and in the 800 2:29.3.

Other Plowgirls who did well include Amber Craig, who was second in the 3200-meter run with a time of 14:22.9 and fourth in the 1600 meters with a time of 6:23.14, and the 1600-meter relay team (Jacinda Morales, Katie McIntire, Whitney Williams, Olivia Rovig), who finished third with a time of 4:42.19. 

The Plowgirls came in fifth place with an overall total of 55 points.

The Plowboys finished in eighth place in the boys’ division with an overall total of 38 points.  Jesus Leanos was second in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:02.29, and Devon Freeman was second in the pole vault with a vault of 11’0”.  Landon Jones was third in the discus with a throw of 108’4”. 

Teams competing in the meet included Sweetwater, Snyder, Forsan, Coahoma, Seminole, Grape Creek, Roscoe, Munday, and Colorado City.

Both the Plowgirls and Plowboys will participate in the District Track Meet, which starts today in Albany and resumes on Friday.

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† DAVID WAYNE PRITCHARD

David Wayne Pritchard, 47, formerly of Neosho, Missouri, died on Thursday, March 22, at his home following a short illness.  Graveside services were held on March 28 at Burkhart Cemetery in Missouri.

David was born February 13, 1965, in Stella, Missouri.  He served in the US Navy from 1986 to 1990, and currently owned and operated D and A Construction.  He married Amy Bradshaw on October 8, 1992, in Miami, Oklahoma.

Survivors include his wife Amy and five children: Eric Shane Pritchard, Bobby Lee Henderson, Brady Don Henderson, Kimberly Erin Wylie, and Casey Renae Pritchard; as well as 17 grandchildren and numerous uncles, aunts, and cousins. 

Online condolences may be posted at www.clarkfuneralhomes.com.

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WEATHER REPORT

After experiencing a hot weekend with unseasonal highs of 93°F on Friday, 94° on Saturday, and 95° on Sunday, the weather cooled to a high of 89° on Monday and only 77° yesterday.  The daily lows similarly dropped from 68° on Sunday morning to only 51° on Tuesday.

There was no precipitation, and although the rainfall of first three months has been enough to make everything green and bring out the wildflowers, area lakes are still down, and everyone could use a good rain.

Unfortunately, there is none in the immediate forecast until the weekend when there will be a 30% chance. 

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