City Council Hears City Plans, Police Report, Awards Cemetery Bid

Cody Thompson addresses the Council at yesterday's meeting.

At its monthly meeting at City Hall yesterday evening, the Roscoe City Council got updates on City projects and plans, as well as the monthly Police report. It also accepted a cemetery maintenance bid and approved plans to open bidding for the management of the City Swimming Pool this summer.

City Manager Cody Thompson updated the Council on plans for Spring Super Saturday on April 8. The event will run from 11am to 7pm for all retailers and until 11:30pm for the Lumberyard. The Roscoe Express will shuttle visitors to local businesses, and the Roscoe Historical Museum will be open.

This year’s celebration will introduce two new exciting events in a new venue. In the open area just northwest of the railroad tracks on Cypress and across Business US 84 from McVey’s Nursery, a Tuff Truck Competition will open the festivities as drivers tackle obstacles and race for time, followed by a Crash Up Derby, which is simply a demolition derby by another name. All proceeds will benefit the Roscoe Volunteer Fire Department. Then live music will begin at 5pm at the Lumberyard with popular country singer Jamie Richards & Band, followed by country legend Charley Pride, this year’s star of the show. It should be quite a memorable evening.

Thompson also announced that the City’s annual Easter Egg Hunt in Old Town Park, across the street from City Hall, will be on Saturday, April 15, from 2:00 to 3:30pm.

Work has progressed at the City Shop, where a concrete slab for a new equipment building has been poured. City workers have also built forms for new sidewalks and will be busy pouring cement for driveways and sidewalks the next couple of weeks. Preparations are also underway for Spring Clean-up which this year will be from March 24-31. Dumpsters for trash, tree limbs, debris, and tires will be just east of the City Shop on 3rd and Laurel Streets near George Parks baseball field.

Applications for funding of water lines by the Texas Water Development Board have been completed, and sanitary sewer line improvements will soon begin. Tire stops have been installed in the city parking lot across Broadway from the Blackland Smokehouse and the Wildflower Boutique.

Roscoe Police Chief Felix Pantoja gave the Council the Police report as well as a mandatory racial profiling form, which documents the ethnicities of drivers stopped by the Roscoe police.

The Council approved the bid of Skeet Kimbrell of Roscoe to take charge of maintenance of the Roscoe Cemetery. It also approved the placement of advertisements for the management of the City Swimming Pool for the summer. For more information, contact City Hall at 325-766-3871.

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LARRY BLACK NAMED TEXAS AGRICULTURE CO-OP GINNER OF THE YEAR

Roscoe Gin Manager Larry Black

At its state meeting in Frisco on Monday, the TACC (Texas Agriculture Cooperative Council) named Larry Black its 2016 Ginner of the Year. Black is the Manager of the Central Rolling Plains Co-op’s Roscoe Gin and has been since 2002. The Roscoe Gin has undergone considerable remodeling and upgrading during his tenure, and it broke its record this year for number of bales ginned in a single season.

Congratulations, Larry, on a well-deserved honor!

Central Rolling Plains Co-op Board of Directors: Roddy Alexander, Leslie Rannefeld, Kenny Landfried, Larry Black, Ralph Stirl, Steve Moore, James Parrott, Larry Williams. Not pictured: Rolan Petty, Scott Etheredge, Ricky Bowman.

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CENTRAL ROLLING PLAINS CO-OP COMPLETES GINNING SEASON

The Central Rolling Plains Co-op Cotton Gin.

The 2016 cotton crop is in. The Central Rolling Plains Co-op Cotton Gin completed its ginning season last Wednesday, March 8, as it produced its final bale. That’s a little late as far as finishing the season usually goes, but this year’s late freeze extended it and increased the yield. Back in October at the gin’s open house dinner, most of those who wrote down their predictions for this year’s number of bales underestimated what this year’s result would be. The final total is 87,827 bales, even more than Gin Manager Larry Black expected, and a new record for the Roscoe Gin. The 109,991 bales in 2007 includes some 40,000 bales that were ginned in Inadale, the last year that gin was open,

 Here’s how this year’s total compares to the gin’s output for the previous nine years:

                                             2007           109,991
                                             2008             57,184
                                             2009             39,626
                                             2010             70,379
                                             2011               9,966
                                             2012             66,985
                                             2013             71,849
                                             2014             32,274
                                             2015             75,636
                                             2016             87,827

Since the ten-year average for the gin including 2016 is 62,172 bales, this year’s total is 25,655 bales, or 34%, above the average.

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PLOWBOYS, PLOWGIRLS HOST BLACKLAND DIVIDE RELAYS

Karina Cisneros, far right, finished second in the 1600 meter run.

The Blackland Divide Relays at Plowboy Field Friday afternoon was a chilly affair with a sharp northeast wind and temperatures in the upper fifties. Even so, there was a large crowd on hand to view the events.

The varsity boys’ teams finished in this order: Munday, Post, Stamford, Merkel, Colorado City, Roby, Hawley, and Roscoe. The varsity girls’ teams finished in this order: Post, Merkel, Munday, Stamford, Roscoe, Colorado City, Jayton, Roby, and Eula.

Bonnie Wilkinson once again stood out for the Plowgirls. She won two events, the 400-meter dash and the triple jump, and was on the Plowgirls’ 4 x 400-meter relay team, which placed second, and the 4 x 100-meter relay team, which finished fourth. Her sister Lyndi was first in the 800-meter run and was also a member of the two Plowgirl relay teams. Karina Cisneros finished second in the 1600-meter run.

Here is a listing of the Plowboys and Plowgirls who finished in the top six of their events, along with their best time or distance, whether seed or final.

Plowboys

Event                  Place          Athlete                     Time/Distance     
800 meter run     4             Braiden Moore               2:10
4 x 100 relay          6             Plowboys “A”                  47.52
  (Jose Ortega, Micheal Wright, Jayden Gonzales, Junior Martinez)
4 x 400 relay        4             Plowboys “A”                 3:47.47
  (Jose Ortega, Braiden Moore, Micheal Wright, Junior Martinez)
Triple Jump         4            Micheal Wright              38’ 2½”

Plowgirls
400 meter dash    1          Bonnie Wilkinson          1:01.42
800 meter run      1           Lyndi Wilkinson            2:32.91
                                 6          Karina Cisneros              2:51.41
1600 meter run    2           Karina Cisneros             6:17.73
4 x 100 relay          4          Plowgirls “A”                   52.84
  (Jaci Alexander, Lyndi Wilkinson, Anahi Ortega Solis, Bonnie Wilkinson)
4 x 400 relay         2           Plowgirls “A”                  4:17.40
  (Jaci Alexander, Lyndi Wilkinson, Lynzie Atkinson, Bonnie Wilkinson)
Triple Jump          1            Bonnie Wilkinson           34’ 3¾”
Shot Put                 6            Kinzie Buchanan             29’ 1”
Discus Throw       4            Veronica Cuellar             90’ 1”

The Plowgirls and Plowboys’ next meet is the Piper Relays in Hamlin this Saturday, March 18. The Plowboys JV is off for Spring Break. They will resume in Merkel on Tuesday, March 21.

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THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH LUNCH THIS SUNDAY
March 19, 11:30-1:30
Menu: Hamburger meal, dessert, and drink - $6 per plate
Roscoe Community Center

COMMUNITY CENTER RENTALS
Call Misty Reynolds – 325-338-1005

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TEXAS AG COMMISSIONER POSTPONES ROSCOE VISIT

Sid Miller

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who planned to lunch with local farmers and ranchers at the Lumberyard next Monday, has had to postpone the visit to an unspecified future date. His previously planned trip to Israel was unexpectedly moved forward a few days, causing him to cancel all his other plans for the first part of next week.

For more information, call 325-701-7823.

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Matthew Buckley placed fourth in his weight class at the Regional Powerlifting Meet in Lubbock last week.

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WEATHER REPORT: SPRING TEMPERATURES, BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS

The old cotton house at sunset.

The weather was a mixed bag this past week with some miserable weather as well as some that was gorgeous. It was also a week of bright nights as the full moon came on Sunday and the days immediately preceding and following all had moonlit night skies. And, since it was also the week in which Daylight Savings Time began, we’ve all been learning to adjust to the extra hour of darkness in the early morning and the corresponding extra hour of sunlight in the evening.

Wednesday and Thursday’s warm afternoons changed to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday’s chilly ones with strong breezes from the northeast. Sunday morning there was a fog thick enough to get everything wet, but the weekend forecast for rain turned out to be wrong. Yesterday afternoon turned out to be gorgeous with a high of 77°, the wind becoming calm in the evening, and the western skies having a beautiful sunset. The high for the week was Thursday’s 81°F, and the low was Sunday morning’s 38°.

The outlook is for a warming trend with a 71° high today, followed by 77° tomorrow, and then six days in a row with highs reaching into the eighties and lows within two or three degrees of 60°. Rain is unlikely as the forecast chances are either 0% or 10%. The first official day of Spring this year falls on March 20, i.e., next Monday.

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† PEDRO MEDINA

Holy Mass of Christian Burial for Pedro Medina, 39, of Roscoe was on Monday, March 13, at Saint Albert’s Catholic Church in Roscoe. He passed away at his residence on Friday, March 10. Burial followed at Roscoe Cemetery under the direction of McCoy Funeral Home.

Pedro had lived in Roscoe the past fourteen years and worked for Eagle Rail Car. He was a member of Saint Albert’s Catholic Church.

He is survived by his wife, Maria Solis; two sons, Brayn Medina and Pedro Medina, Jr.; a daughter, Venessa Medina; and his parents, Silvestre and Isidra Medina, all of Roscoe; a brother, Martin Medina & wife Gloria of Chicago, IL; two sisters, Adriana Medina & husband Filimon Carros of Mexico and Maria-De-Lourdes Medina & husband Reimundo Raigosa of Mexico.

Pallbearers were Brayn Medina, Alex Ortega, Miguel Ortega, Silvestre Medina, Manuel Palos, Pasquel Solis.

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† ALICE P. DENMAN

Graveside services for Alice P. Denman, 77, of Paris, will be held today, March 15, at Union Grove Cemetery by Bright-Holland Funeral Home with Patrick Cannon officiating. She passed away on Monday, March 13, at her home.

Mrs. Denman, the daughter of Henry Alexander & Pearl Vaughn Turner, was born Jan. 7, 1940, in Wood County, Texas. Her career with the Roscoe Independent School District spanned a number of years before her retirement. She was a member of the Roscoe Baptist Church.Her parents, three sisters, and two brothers preceded her in death.

Survivors include her husband, Ray Denman, whom she married on December 22, 1961, building fifty-five years of family and memories; three sons, Mark Denman of Reno, Texas, Matt Denman & wife Lisa of Reno, and Greg Denman & wife Sheila of Crawford; grandchildren, Molly Denman, Ross Denman, Raegan Denman, and Rylee Denman; along with several nieces & nephews and a host of friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, www.stjude.org or mailing address: 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105. Ph. 800-822-6344

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