Blackland Smokehouse Under New Ownership

Amanda and Cole Fullwood

Cole and Amanda Fullwood are the new owners of the Blackland Smokehouse in downtown Roscoe.  They bought the restaurant from Randy and  Fonda Williams last Monday and took over the operation on Tuesday.  They are planning no major changes and will be serving the same barbecue the Blackland Smokehouse has come to be known for.

They will be serving something special on Fridays.  This past week it was pulled pork tacos.  Their hours are 11:00am-2:00pm Tuesdays through Fridays, Friday evenings from 5:00-8:00pm, and Saturdays from 11:00-2:30pm.

Cole, the son of Scott and Lisa Fullwood, graduated from Highland High School in 2005.  Amanda is from Sweetwater and graduated from Sweetwater High, also in 2005.

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CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE THIS SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9

Shoppers in the Wildflower Boutique at last year's Open House.

Christmas Open House, the Sunday afternoon shopping event that went over so well last year, is back for an encore.  Between 1:00 and 5:00pm, it will include most of Roscoe’s downtown businesses: Vickie’s Gifts, Wildflower Boutique, Southern Belle Salon, the Turquoise Toad, the Lumberyard, McVey’s Nursery, and possibly others.

The event features shopping, refreshments, and door prizes.

The Roscoe Community Center will also host Trades Day that afternoon as well as the day before at its regular time of 8am-4pm.  To reserve a spot or for more information, contact Connie Baize at 325-338-1287.

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PLOWBOYS FALL TO MENARD 33-20, FACE BRONTE NEXT

The Plowboy offense against Menard Friday evening.

Roscoe’s tendency to start slowly cost them Friday night, as they let a good team like Menard (7-1 on the year coming into the game) get a quick jump on them that they were never able to overcome.  On Menard’s third play from scrimmage, their big running back Grant Emmons ran for about sixty yards down the field before being stopped, and two plays later he ran it in for a TD from nine yards out.  The extra point was good, and the Yellow Jackets were ahead 7-0.

Roscoe responded with a long drive down the field deep into Menard territory, but then Vincent Pantoja fumbled, a Yellow Jacket caught the loose ball on the bounce and dashed down the sidelines 70 yards for another touchdown.  The extra point was again good, and the score at the end of the quarter was 14-0 Menard.  Then, a couple of minutes later, Menard scored another TD when Eddie Duque ran to paydirt from 21 yards out.  After the extra point, the Yellow Jackets were up 21-0, despite the fact that the two teams seemed to be fairly evenly matched otherwise.

The final minutes of the second quarter were all Roscoe, though, as they scored two touchdowns, the first a 56-yard pass play from Cutter Davila to Kevin Lavalais, and the second a 24-yard run by Pantoja.  The momentum had shifted, and what had looked like a rout was now a ball game.  At halftime, the score was 21-14 Menard.

Menard received the second half kickoff and drove down the field into Plowboy territory.  Roscoe then held them for three consecutive plays, but then on a fourth and goal from the 21, Menard scored again on a touchdown pass to Emmons.  The extra point was no good, but the Yellow Jackets had extended their lead to 27-14.  Nevertheless, the Plowboys once again fought back and before the end of the third quarter scored again, this time on a four-yard pass from Davila to Max Nemir.  The extra point attempt was no good, but the score was now 27-20.

In the fourth quarter, Menard scored their final TD on a 39-yard run by Emmons.  They then attempted a two-point conversion that failed.  At the time, it didn’t seem to make any difference, but it could turn out to have major implications in determining the district runner-up, as you shall read below.  In any case, that pretty well finished off the Plowboys for the evening, who were unable to score any more, and Menard ran the clock out to win the game 33-20.

However, despite the 13-point loss to Menard, there is still a chance that the Plowboys could wind up as district runner-up, although for that to happen, three games this weekend will have to end a certain way; namely, Winters must beat Menard, Miles must beat Roby, and Roscoe must beat Bronte.

Winters and Menard play one another for the district title in Menard on Friday.  Winters is currently 4-0 in district play while Menard is 3-1, their district loss coming at the hands of Miles last week 36-10.  If Menard beats Winters, then they both finish 4-1 in district and are the champion and runner-up.  On the other hand, if Winters wins, they will be outright district champs, and Menard will be 3-2 along with Roscoe and Miles, assuming that Miles (2-2) beats Roby (1-3) and Roscoe (2-2) beats Bronte (0-4).

In case of such a three-way tie, the tiebreaker is computed like this: a team that beats another by 15 points gets +1, a team that loses to another by 15 gets -1, and any other win counts as 0.  Miles beat Menard 36-10 for +1, but lost to Roscoe 26-8 for -1, so Miles winds up with 0.  Roscoe beat Miles 26-8 for +1 and lost to Menard 33-20 for 0, so Roscoe winds up with +1.  Menard beat Roscoe 33-20 for 0 and lost to Miles 36-10 for -1, so Menard winds up -1.  So, then, if Menard loses to Winters to finish district play at 3-2, Miles beats Roby to finish 3-2, and Roscoe defeats Bronte also to finish 3-2,  then Roscoe will win the tiebreaker and will qualify for the playoffs as the district runner-up.

The Plowboys’ final regular season game is with Bronte in Bronte Friday evening.  Kickoff is at 7:30pm, and the Plowboys need to win.  Go, Plowboys!

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ROSCOE POLICE MAKE ANOTHER HIGHWAY BUST

Roscoe Police Officer Steven Spencer made another bust on I-20 last week.  On Thursday afternoon, he conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle in which the driver was a 27-year-old man from Pennsylvania.  The actions of the driver caused Spencer to suspect illegal activity, and he obtained consent to search the vehicle.  In a natural void in the trunk area, he located a large bundle that turned out to be marijuana.  He arrested the driver, who was then booked by the Nolan County Sheriff’s Office on a state jail felony (6 months to 2 years and a $2,000-$10,000 fine) charge for possession of more than four ounces and less than five pounds of a controlled substance.

Officer Spencer also wants everyone to be aware of a new kind of scam that is currently being used on people, especially the elderly.  Criminals are using the Internet to locate obituaries in which they can learn of relationships that intended victims have.  They will then contact someone and say that some relative is in the hospital or jail in some place like Mexico or Jamaica and needs money immediately to save their lives or to get out of jail or something similar.  The victim is urged to wire them money, but of course the money goes to the criminals.  This scam has been perpetrated on people in Nolan County.  Officer Spencer also wants to remind people never to give out vital information about themselves (social security or credit card numbers, bank account numbers, internet usernames or passwords, etc.) to anyone who contacts them and asks for it, even if they say they are from a bank or other legitimate organization or corporation.  A real bank will never ask someone to disclose that kind of information over the telephone. 

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ELECTION RESULTS

Voters and Election Volunteers in the Community Center yesterday.

Surprise, surprise.  The Republicans took almost all the state offices in yesterday's General Election.  If you thought Wendy Davis would win the Governor's race or Leticia Van de Putte the Lieutenant Governor's, or that Kinky Friedman would become Texas Commissioner of Agriculture via write-in votes, then you're obviously delusional.  

However, I don't think you could have expected as close a race as the one for Nolan County Judge.  With just 16 provisional votes countywide remaining to be verified, Whitley May (R) has a three-vote lead over Peter Sheridan (D) at 1312 to 1309.

Despite the general lack of suspense, there was a big turnout for a midterm election for Nolan County Precinct 6 in the Community Center yesterday.  In all, there were 331 votes in Precinct 6 and 2,714 countywide.  Here's the breakdown for the main races:

                                                                     Precinct 6         Nolan County
U. S. Senate
John Cornyn (R)                                                268                          2046
David Alameel (D)                                               47                             417
Rebecca Paddock (L)                                            7                               78
Emily Sanchez (G)                                                   4                               26

U. S. House of Representatives
Randy Neugebauer (R)                                     247                          1955
Neal Marchbanks (D)                                            63                           490
Chip Peterson (L)                                                   16                             144

Governor
Greg Abbott (R)                                                   273                          2088
Wendy Davis (D)                                                    51                             471
Kathie Glass (L)                                                         4                               26
Brandon Parmer (G)                                                1                               15

Lieutenant Governor
Dan Patrick (R)                                                     258                           1985
Leticia Van de Putte (D)                                        61                            485
Robert Butler (L)                                                        9                              90
Chandrakantha Courtney (G)                                0                                7

Nolan County Judge
Whitley May (R)                                                    178                         1312
Peter Sheridan (D)                                                152                         1309

District Clerk
Jamie Clem (R)                                                      225                          1834
Jerry Lou Hunt (D)                                               100                           758

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CHRIS CAGLE AT THE LUMBERYARD THIS FRIDAY 

Chris Cagle

Your only chance to see country music star Chris Cagle live could very well be his appearance at the Lumberyard Friday night.  The noted Nashville songwriter and singer is on an American tour and will stop over here on his way from a show in Houston to another in Kansas.

Born in De Ridder, Louisiana, Cagle grew up in Sugar Land and Baytown, Texas.  After graduating from high school, he attended UT-Arlington for a year and performed at nearby clubs.  In 1994, he moved to Nashville, where he worked odd jobs until he got his start writing songs for David Kersh.  His first album, Play It Loud (2000) featured “My Love Goes On and On,” which reached number 15 on Hot Country Songs, and “I Breathe In, I Breathe Out,” which reached number one.

Since then, he has produced four more studio albums: Chris Cagle, Anywhere But Here, My Life’s Been a Country Song, and Back in the Saddle, as well as one compilation, The Best of Chris Cagle. 

Top singles include “My Love Goes On and On,” “Laredo,” “I Breathe In, I Breathe Out,” “What a Beautiful Day,” “Chicks Dig It,” “Miss Me Baby,” “What Kinda Gone,” “Got My Country On,” and Let There Be Cowgirls.”

The show begins at around 9:30.  Tickets are $20. For reservations or more information, phone the Lumberyard at 325-766-2457.

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WEATHER REPORT: RAIN

Yesterday's rain created a big puddle in my driveway.

It’s been a mixed bag for the weather this past week with some days sunny, some partly cloudy, and some completely cloudy.  High temperatures have varied from 80°F last Thursday to only 64° yesterday—and that was at midnight.  During the day yesterday, temperatures were mostly in the high forties.  Lows have ranged from 61° on Monday to 40° Saturday morning.  Winds went from light breezes up to Friday to downright windy (with gusts in the 30-36mph range) starting on Saturday and continuing through yesterday.

But of course the big news for the week was the rain we got, starting at about 3:00am early yesterday morning and continuing all day long yesterday.  It varied between a drizzle and light rain most of the day with only occasional heavier downpours, but it all added up to somewhere between one and a half and two inches, enough to drench everything and create puddles all over town and in the fields.

The forecast is for continued cool and mostly cloudy weather today with a high of 58° and a low of 42° with a 20% chance of more rain.  Tomorrow the sun will come back out and high temperatures will rise into the upper sixties and remain that way through the weekend.  Lows will be in the forties.

After today, no more chances of precipitation are in the forecast.

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