Spring Super Sunday with Robert Earl Keen is This Weekend

Robert Earl Keen

Spring has arrived, and to celebrate it, the City of Roscoe is throwing its Spring Festival this Sunday, April 17. Roscoe retailers will be open from noon to 6pm, the museum will be open, and the Lumberyard will host what should be another great day of country music with the Austin Allsup Band opening around 3:00pm, Jason Eady & Courtney Patton following at five or so, and country great Robert Earl Keen, who is making his first appearance ever in Roscoe, beginning around 8:30 and playing until 10:00. He will sing some of his classic songs as well as new ones off his number one album, Happy Prisoner: The Bluegrass Sessions. Live music begins at three and will go on to about 10pm.

Unlike the free concerts on the streets, however, this one won’t be free as the price of the performers will be covered by the Lumberyard. Advance tickets are $30 or $35 at the door, and tables are $240. The format will be similar to last year’s Spring Super Sunday with Merle Haggard. For reservations, call the Lumberyard during business hours at 325-766-2457.

Roscoe businesses will have open houses that day from noon until 6:00pm, and the Roscoe Express will be carrying patrons from location to location free of charge. Participating businesses are the Blackland Smokehouse, Burritos Zacatecas, Main Street Antiques, McVey’s Native Nursery, Mexico Lindo, Pepe’s Imports, the Rockin’ S Cantina, Roscoe Thrift Store, Southern Belle Salon, the Lumberyard, the Wildflower Boutique, and Vickie’s Gifts.

Unlike as erroneously reported in the Hard Times, there will be no fireworks at the end of the show.

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“SISTERS ON THE FLY” TO PARADE THROUGH DOWNTOWN ROSCOE SATURDAY MORNING

One of the many painted trailers that will be coming down Broadway Saturday.

The Sisters on the Fly, a woman’s outdoor adventure and culture group, will be coming through downtown Roscoe about ten o’clock Saturday morning in a long caravan of vintage travel trailers. The occasion of their “Waltz Across Texas” is the centennial celebration of the Bankhead Highway, later US Highway 80, which ran through Roscoe.

However, unlike the military convoy that came through last October, the Sisters on the Fly are traveling from El Paso to Texarkana, so they will enter Roscoe from the west, go east up Broadway and then travel the old road to the WASP Museum. They will then tour the museum and grab a bite to eat before going up Broadway in Sweetwater about one o’clock on their way to Abilene, where they will stay overnight before continuing on east. While they make their way through Roscoe, through traffic will be blocked so the caravan can stay together.

Before they come through on Saturday, they will overnight in Colorado City and host a dance from 7:00-10:00pm at the old Railhead Building featuring Roscoe’s Lyndall Underwood and his Dusty Creek Band. Tickets are $10 each.

Roscoe’s Becca Frierson is one of the Sisters on the Fly making the Bankhead “Waltz Across Texas,” and she is hoping for a big turnout in Roscoe. The Sisters are a national group with almost 800 members in Texas alone. She says there will be approximately fifty vintage and not-so-vintage trailers that the Sisters have brought back to life with paint and artwork. She’s inviting everyone to come have a look as the caravan makes its way through town. It should be quite a sight.

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CITY COUNCIL HEARS PUBLIC WORKS UPDATES, MONTHLY POLICE REPORT

City Manager Cody Thompson reports to the City Council.

At its monthly meeting yesterday evening, the City Council heard the City Manager’s updates on Public Works, including water and sewer matters, as well as the Police Chief’s monthly report.

City Manager Cody Thompson informed the Council that work on the old sanitary sewer is progressing, but that it’s a big job with a lot of ground to cover. He also said that there has been some discoloration of the City water recently but wants to assure everyone that although the water may not be completely clear, it has checked out as being perfectly safe to drink. They also have identified the problem and are working to correct it.

The Community Center is getting a new president, but that will not affect the repair of the Center’s roof, which should take place within the next couple of weeks.

The construction of two new homes at Young Farm Estates is progressing, and AT&T is installing underground cables for television, internet, and telephone services.

City workers will attend a water and sewer licensing school in Abilene later this month and into May.

Police Chief Felix Pantoja reported to the Council that Officer Steven Spencer was relieved of duty on March 29 after being arrested in Dripping Springs for driving while intoxicated. The Department will start taking applications for a new full-time police officer on Monday, April 18. In the meantime, part-time officer Dickie Summers of Loraine is filling in when needed.

Pantoja also reported that on Monday night five vehicles in Roscoe were burglarized. He is urging everyone to remember to lock their vehicles and homes when unattended. He also wants anyone who notices any suspicious activity to call Dispatch at 325-235-5471.

He also reported that during the month of March, the Department had 78 calls, 3 vehicle crash reports, and 16 outside agency assists. He was unable to cite the number of citations issued because the citations system is currently down.

The City is accepting bids for people who want to run the City Swimming Pool this summer and hopes to award a contract at next month’s meeting. Interested parties should contact City Hall at 325-766-3871.

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PUBLIC HEARING MONDAY EVENING FOR PROPOSED EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER AT RCISD

The public is encouraged to attend the open meeting on the RCISD’s proposed Early Childhood Center from 6:00 to 7:00pm next Monday, April 18, in the E-On Center at the Roscoe School.

In February, the RCISD School Board approved a bond election on May 7 for a new Early Childhood Center. If approved by voters, it will be located on school property across from the Elementary School and will come at a cost of $5 million on a 30-year payout, which works out to an annual tax increase of about $48 per year per $100,000 home valuation.

Superintendent Kim Alexander will present the case for the new facility because of the ever-growing student enrollment at RCISD and the corresponding space constraints, as well as a proposed change to the Montessori system of instruction, which includes a move from a half to a full day for Pre-K students. The school is already recognized as a state and national leader in both college and career readiness, and improving the critical early levels will result in even greater success for our students as they gear up to compete in a global economy.

The meeting will allow the public to ask questions, provide input, and be better informed before making their vote on May 7.

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PLOWBOYS, PLOWGIRLS QUALIFY FOR AREA MEET IN ABILENE FRIDAY

At the 7-2A District Meet in Hamlin on Thursday, several Plowboys and Plowgirls qualified for the Area Meet to be held at McMurry in Abilene this Friday. District 7-2A has eight schools: Albany, Anson, Hamlin, Haskell, Hawley, Roscoe, Stamford, and Winters. The Plowgirls finished fourth overall, and the Plowboys sixth. In order to qualify and move on to the area meet, athletes had to place in the top four in any event.

Both Plowgirls and Plowboys did well in the events in which they participated. The Wilkinson sisters dominated several, and both will be busy again in Abilene. Bonnie won the 100 meter dash, was second in the 200 and 400 meter races, third in the pole vault, and fourth in the triple jump; while Lyndi won the 400 meters, was second in the triple jump, and fourth in the 100 meter dash. Other qualifiers were Karina Cisneros, third in the 1600 meter run, and Allison Acebedo, fourth in the 3200 meter run.

For the Plowboys, qualifiers were Kevin Lavalais, second in the 100 meter dash; Alfonzo Islas, second in the 3200 meter run and third in the 1600; Max Nemir, second in the 300 meter hurdles; and Jayden Gonzales, fourth in the pole vault. The Plowboys’ 4 x 400 relay team of Braiden Moore, Max Nemir, Juan Solis, and Kevin Lavalais also finished second.

Here are the complete results of the Plowgirls and Plowboys at the District Meet:

Plowgirls

Event                           Place          Athlete                   Time/Distance

100 meter dash             1          Bonnie Wilkinson         13.18
                                         4          Lyndi Wilkinson           13.43
200 meter dash             2          Bonnie Wilkinson         27.36
400 meter dash             1          Lyndi Wilkinson           1:03.85
                                          2          Bonnie Wilkinson        1:04.74
1600 meter run             3          Karina Cisneros            6:08.34
                                          7          Allison Acebedo            6:29.06
3200 meter run             4          Allison Acebedo            13:41.82
300 meter hurdles         5          Lynzie Atkison             56.75
Triple jump                     2          Lyndi Wilkinson           33’ 2”
                                          4          Bonnie Wilkinson         32’ 4½”
Pole vault                        3          Bonnie Wilkinson         7’ 6”

Plowboys

100 meter dash              2          Kevin Lavalais                11.19
1600 meter run              3          Alfonzo Islas                  5:10.85
3200 meter run              2          Alfonzo Islas                11:43.74
300 meter hurdles         2          Max Nemir                       41.41
4 x 100 meter relay        5          Plowboys                          45.48
 (Max Nemir, Kevin Lavalais, Juan Solis, Diego Garza)
4 x 200 meter relay       5          Plowboys                        1:37.12
 (Juan Solis, Francisco Garcia, Juan Huidobro, Diego Garza)
4 x 400 meter relay       2          Plowboys                        3:35.66
 (Braiden Moore, Max Nemir, Juan Solis, Kevin Lavalais)
Pole vault                        4          Jayden Gonzales                12’
Shot put                           7          Vincent Pantoja                 40’ 1”

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PLOWBOTS FALL JUST SHORT IN REGIONAL FINALS

by Dan Boren

The Plowbots' robot.

On April 2 and 3, the Roscoe Collegiate Plowbots traveled to Lubbock to participate in the U.S. FIRST’s Hub City Regional. In Lubbock, the varsity robotics team competed against 39 other teams from 6 states, Brazil, and Mexico. The Plowbots entered the contest confident after finishing 23rd at the largest and nationally highest rated Regional held in San Antonio, a few weeks earlier, where 70 teams had competed.

The competition this year was centered around a medieval theme where the teams were required to cross a variety of defenses or barriers, launch boulders into the windows of a castle’s tower, and finally to scale the tower. The Plowbots completed the qualification rounds with a record of 8-3. This record was good enough to qualify the team as the number 7 seed in the elimination round. Since 8 teams qualify, the Plowbots played their best of 3 series against the number two seed in the quarterfinals. Roscoe’s alliance quickly gelled together and swept the series to advance to the Semi’s. There, the upstart Plowbots upset the 6th seeded team, who themselves had just beaten the highly touted 3 seed in the quarters. The Plowbots found themselves in the finals with the number one seed alliance, which included two teams that had already qualified for the World Championships in St. Louis by winning a previous Regional. The Cinderella story Plowbots, along with their two teammates, quickly trounced the one seed in the opening match, shocking the nearly 2000 audience members. In the second round, a member of the Plowbots alliance was red-carded for not disengaging from one of the other alliances robots, so, with the match tied at one apiece, a rubber match was played.

The final match was close with lead changes going back and forth throughout the whole match. At the end of regulation, the score read: Roscoe’s Alliance 105, and the other alliance 98. However, the match was automatically reviewed before a final score was shown. After about 5 minutes of anticipation, the final score was posted with Roscoe’s alliance losing 113-105. The reason for the change was a referee’s decision to override a penalty called on the other team because their disabled robot had been pushed into a penalty zone by their opponent’s robot. The referee decided that, in fairness, they should not receive the penalty if they did not go in with their free will. Though disappointed, Roscoe’s alliance graciously accepted the decision and congratulated the winning teams, proudly representing their hometown.

The finish as Regional Finalists represents Roscoe’s best ever finish in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). With a strong class of upperclassmen returning for next year, supplemented with some promising underclassmen, the team is hoping to secure a trip to the World Championships. However, this season may not be over yet. On July 28th and 29th, UIL will be holding its first ever Robotics State Championships in Austin. Though the criteria for invitations have not yet been decided, it is likely Roscoe will receive an invitation because of its two fine finishes in San Antonio and Lubbock.

The team would like to thank their very special sponsors: N.A.S.A., West Texas Rock Resources, FIRST in Texas, Hunter Ranch and Reality, the Parrott Family, and Roscoe Collegiate ISD.

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WHISKEY MYERS AT THE LUMBERYARD FRIDAY NIGHT

Cody Cannon and Whiskey Myers

Whiskey Myers, a Texas Country/Red Dirt/Southern Rock band featuring vocalist Cody Cannon, will play at the Lumberyard this Friday starting at 9:00pm. The group, which just completed its latest album, Mud, to be released this summer, has three other successful CDs: Road of Life (2008), Firewater (2011), and Early Morning Shakes (2014), which reached number 10 on the U.S. country charts.

Top singles include “Ballad of a Southern Man,” “Early Morning Shakes,” “Dogwood,” and “Anna Marie.”

Tickets are $20, and a table of six is $150. For reservations, phone the Lumberyard at 325-766-2457.

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WEATHER REPORT: FINALLY, SOME RAIN

On Saturday a cold front moved through, bringing with it some rain. It wasn’t a lot. Roscoe’s official total was .3”, and that amount was indicative of what fell in the area, but it was the first precipitation we’d got in quite a while, so it was definitely welcome. Then, another light rain fell again yesterday, and this time the official amount was .53", and around a half-inch was pretty general both in and around Roscoe. So, the total for most people was somewhere around .8” for the week. We’re still way below average for the year, but more is in the forecast, so maybe things will start looking up as far as precipitation is concerned.

Temperatures were generally normal for this time of year, although yesterday’s high of 57° felt cool after the warm days we had immediately preceding. The high for the week was Sunday’s 84°F and the low was yesterday morning’s 50°.

Today should remain mostly cloudy with a high of 69°. Tomorrow and Friday will be sunny and warmer, but the weekend will be cooler with highs about 70° and a 50% chance of more rain on Saturday and Sunday, decreasing to 30% to 40% on Monday.

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