City's July 4th Celebration is a Huge Success

Cypress Street and Old Town Park were packed for the free concert and street dance.

Roscoe’s July 4th celebrations just seem to get bigger and better every year.  From the morning parade down Broadway to the fireworks show that closed the day, everything seemed to run smoothly and to the enjoyment of all.  

Downtown, street vendors sold food, drinks, and merchandise on Cypress and Broadway and along the south wall of Old Town Park, kids played in the bounce houses and on other inflatables in the City’s downtown parking lot, and the Roscoe Historical Museum was open and received many visitors.  At the baseball field, a large crowd enjoyed watching souped-up vehicles tackle the blackland mud at the Plowboy Mudbog, and a huge evening crowd was on hand for the free concert and street dance followed by the fireworks show.

Texas Tech's Masked Rider gives Tech's familiar "Guns up" sign. 

The day began with a big parade down Broadway with a wide variety of floats, vehicles, and participants.  The Parade Marshal was Jessie Marth, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday, and there were fire trucks, vintage cars, riders on horseback, motorcycles, tractors, kids on bicycles, and, of course, plenty of candy thrown to the kids who lined the streets.  Even the Texas Tech Masked Rider was on hand for the event.

Here is a list of the parade’s prize winners:

      1. Best Bicycle - Wetsel Family
      2. Best Motorcycle - Brandon Gray
      3. Best Patriotic - Maryneal Volunteer Fire Department
      4. Best Antique Car - Danny Wann
      5. Best Float - Bob McNair
      6. Best Mardi Gras - Leyendecker Family
      7. Best Truck - Roscoe Junior High Cheerleaders
      8. Best Semi - Roscoe T-Ball

Parade organizer Valerie Pruitt extends special thanks to Amy Lara Castillo and Joanna Chavira for being Parade Judges, Zela Gail Belsher-Armstrong for driving the Parade Marshal, Danny Wann for loaning the Thunderbird, Jessica Stein and Katie for carrying the sign, Schyler Kimbrell for leading the parade, and Staci Armstong and Dustin Tatro for all their help.  Special thanks also to the Texas Tech Masked Rider crew.

She also wishes to thank all the businesses that donated or advertised--McVey's Native Nursery, Wildflower Boutique, TSTC, Compass Hospice, State Farm, the National Guard, Sonic, Stripes, RVFD, and the Lumberyard.  And finally, she thanks all the participants, who made the parade bigger and better. 

Mark Macy in Bug Nasty makes his run through the Roscoe mud.

The Plowboy Mudbog was also a huge success.  About 1500 people showed up to brave the summer heat and watch some of the best mud vehicles in the region compete against one another.  The Roscoe Little League made about $3000 from the gate and concession stand, and some of Roscoe’s baseball players picked up by Colorado City teams going to the state tournament were allowed to sell baked goods and wash mud vehicles to raise an additional $1000 for their trip.

There was a total of 59 entrants in the various classes, which was down from last year’s 90, but was actually a blessing in disguise.  For one thing, the smaller number allowed for an earlier finish to the competition, which last year ran on into the late evening, and, for another, the quality of the vehicles was better with a larger open class and participants from a wider range than ever.

The Abilene Reporter-News, which had a reporter covering the event, ran a nice article, which you can access by clicking here.

Additionally, the Plowboy Mudbog made international news when a photo of the Mudbog submitted by the Reporter-News’ Thomas Metthe appeared in The Guardian, an English newspaper.  The Guardian selected it for one of its photos of the week, along with such other international events as the World Cup, the Tour de France, the Calgary Stampede, and the running of the bulls in Pamplona , Spain.  You can see it by clicking here. 


 
Here are the top three finishers of the various vehicle classes along with their home towns:

Street
      1. Harley Rich                         Hobbs, NM
      2. Kyle Bradshaw                   Aspermont
      3. Shane Laird                         Big Spring
 
Super Street
      1. Justin Davis                         Seminole
      2. Anthony Montgomery    Big Spring
      3. Ryan Grammer                   Tonganoxie, KS

Modified
      1. Pam Alvarez                        Colorado City
      2. Von Rhodes                         Big Spring
      3. Jay Vickers                          Hobbs, NM

Super Modified
      1. Brandon Oden                     Colorado City
      2. Daryl Haag                           Colorado City
      3. Arden Alvarez                     Colorado City

Open
      1. Donny Scott                         Hobbs, NM
      2. Marc Macy                          Hobbs, NM
      3. Jim Martinez                       Ballinger

 

At six o’clock, the free concert and street dance began, and music filled the air from the stage set up between City Hall and Old Town Park.  Nine Mile Mountain, a local band with members from Roscoe and Sweetwater, got things started.  They were followed at eight o’clock by Jason Boland and the Stragglers, one of the best of the Red Dirt/Texas Country bands.  By the time they were done, an estimated crowd of 3500 was either watching or dancing in the street.

The concert was followed by another of Robert McBride’s fireworks extravaganzas, which was a fitting way to end the day and the celebration of our country’s independence.

As usual, the event organizers did an excellent job and deserve the thanks of everyone who attended the activities and enjoyed the day.

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HELEN PERRY RECEIVES CIVIC LEADERSHIP AWARD

On Saturday afternoon at the July 4th celebration, Mayor Pete Porter took the stage in Cypress Street before a large audience to present long time City Council member Helen Perry with a Civic Leadership Award for her unceasing dedication to the City of Roscoe over the years.  Her daughter, Bea Rocha, a 1974 RHS grad, delivered an eloquent introduction to the presentation, noting what an inspiration her mother has been over the years and citing some of her accomplishments. 

Helen Perry has served on the City Council for fourteen years and has just begun another three-year term.  She is a member of the American Legion Post 227 Ladies' Auxiliary, and has run or helped run the Roscoe Community Center for many years.  We appreciate her leadership, hard work, and dedication and wish we had more people like her.

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CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERS SPEED LIMIT CHANGE FOR FM 608 IN NORTH ROSCOE

City Manager Cody Thompson addresses the Council.

At last night’s monthly City Council meeting, the Council approved conducting a speed limit survey on N. Cypress St. and FM 608 on the City’s north side.  It also heard reports from the City Manager and Chief of Police and denied a variance to the City’s animal ordinance.

City Manager Cody Thompson reported that he met with the contractors for the water treatment plant yesterday.  They are still tweaking the water quality and working on the finishing touches.  The final meeting and completion of the project will take place in late August or early September.

Thompson also met yesterday with Scott Hay of E/HT, the Abilene engineering firm overseeing the current work on the City’s water lines.  The City still has about $162,000 from the money provided by the State, and most of that will be used to bore with casing two different lines under the Union Pacific railroad tracks to make sure the water system is looped correctly and we never have damages concerning the railroad.  Permits, insurance, bonding, etc., will also have to be obtained since most of the work will be in the highway and railroad right of way.

Following up on complaints from residents on the north side of town about speeding trucks, the Council also approved a speed limit survey.  Since FM 608 is a state road, any change to its speed limit will have to follow state rules.  These include a traffic count and a study of the average speed of vehicles on the roadway and will take two or three months before the results are known.  The study is being conducted by a group from Abilene.

The Council also denied the request of a resident on South Main Street for a variance in the animal ordinance.  The resident wants to keep a Shetland pony on his property, but he failed to attend the meeting to make his case.

Roscoe Chief of Police Felix Pantoja also gave the Council the Police Report for the month of June.  There were 3 arrests, 12 citations issued, 4 cases filed, 1 crash report, and 83 calls for service.

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NOLAN COUNTY GRAND JURY INDICTS THREE FROM ROSCOE

A Nolan County grand jury recently indicted three young men from Roscoe suspected of committing crimes in and around Roscoe.  Luke Clark, Tony Leyba, and Jeremy Solano were all indicted for engaging in organized criminal activity.  All were cited in court documents for entering a habitation with intent to commit theft on December 20, 2013, and each had bond set at $15,000.

Clark was also indicted for assault with a deadly weapon, a second degree felony.  Court documents state that he stabbed the victim in the torso with a knife.  His bond was set another $15,000 for that offense.

The Roscoe Police Department worked with the Nolan County Sheriff’s Department on the investigation.

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WEATHER REPORT

Summer skies over Roscoe.

Last Wednesday afternoon we got a little shower.  Here in town it didn’t amount to much, only about a tenth of an inch, but in some areas there was more.  East of town got about a quarter of an inch, but Champion got about an inch with as much as an inch and a half reported south of Champion.  Areas west and northwest of town didn't get a drop.

Other than that it was typical July weather with sunny or partly cloudy skies with high temperatures in the low to mid nineties and lows ranging from 68° last Thursday to 72° on Monday.

The outlook through the weekend is for more of the same—highs in the low to mid nineties and lows in the low seventies.  Skies will be sunny or partly cloudy with winds from the south at 10-15 mph.

There is no rain in the forecast.

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