City's Annual Spring Clean-Up Underway

Dumpsters are behind the R-O Water Treatment Plant at Broadway & Cedar.

The City of Roscoe's annual Spring Clean-Up began yesterday and runs through this Friday, March 23.  Hours of operation are 8:00am-7:00pm.

Dumpsters are located on the City property just north of the R-O Water Treatment Plant at Broadway and Cedar Street. Two dumpsters are for debris, one for tires, and one for tree limbs and wood.

Items which may not be placed in containers are as follows: paint, oil, oil filters, chemical containers, and tree limbs.  Air conditioners and refrigerators must be tagged land-fill acceptable.  There is no curb service, and since the Spring Clean-Up is for Roscoe residents only, anyone dropping off anything must be prepared to show a City of Roscoe water bill.  

For more information, contact City Hall during business hours at 325-766-3871.

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ROSCOE ROBOTICS TEAMS SHINE IN MEET AT TEXAS TECH

by Kristi Martin

Roscoe Elementary's Robotics Teams.

On March 3, the Elementary Gifted and Talented and 4-H Robotics teams went to Texas Tech in Lubbock to compete in the trial run. This year’s theme is the "Wild Things," and there were about 100 teams at the competition. We had eight teams compete, and three of them placed in the top ten. In fact, they placed 1st, 2nd, and 4th. They continue to work hard and will compete in "Game Day" on April 7th at Texas Tech.  

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RCHS TEAMS COMPETE IN HAMLIN’S PIPER RELAYS

At Saturday’s Piper Relays in Hamlin, athletes participating in the meet came from Albany, Benjamin, Bovina, Breckenridge, Childress, Clyde, Colorado City, Cross Plains, Earth Springlake, Farwell, Hamlin, Hawley, Jayton, Knox City, Lubbock Roosevelt, Merkel, Munday, Robert Lee, Roscoe Collegiate, Rotan, Seymour, Shallowater, Snyder, Throckmorton, Wellman-Union.

As a team, the Plowgirls finished third behind Clyde and Breckenridge, while the Plowboys finished tenth out of 24 teams. The top three boys’ teams were Shallowater, Snyder, and Cross Plains. Once again, Bonnie Wilkinson won the girls’ Triple Jump, and Kinzie Buchanan won the girls’ Shot Put.

Here is a list of the Plowgirls and Plowboys who placed in the meet.

Plowgirls

Event                           Place         Athlete               Best Time/Distance
Triple Jump                     1          Bonnie Wilkinson           35’ 8”
                                           3          Jaci Alexander                 32’ ½”
Shot Put                            1          Kinzie Buchanan             37’ 4½”  
Discus Throw                  7          Kinzie Buchanan             96’ 10”
4 x 100 meter relay        5          Plowgirls                           54.24
  1) J. Alexander 2) V. Martinez 3) K. Martinez 4) B. Wilkinson
4 x 400 meter relay       3          Plowgirls                        4:20.89
  1) J. Alexander 2) V. Martinez 3) K. Martinez 4) B. Wilkinson

Plowboys

100 meter dash              8          Kolten Hope                    13.01
200 meter dash              4          Micheal Wright              23.42
110 meter hurdles          8          Tristan Baker                  19.77
4 x 100 meter relay        6          Plowboys                         47.16
  1) Jathan Coale 2) Jayden Gonzales 3) Caleb Gray 4) Jr. Martinez
4 x 200 meter relay       6          Plowboys                      1:37.46
  1) Caleb Gray 2) Micheal Wright 3) Jathan Coale 4) Jr. Martinez
4 x 400 meter relay       7          Plowboys                       3:51.84
 1) M. Wright 2) Jayden Gonzales 3) Tristan Baker 4) Jr. Martinez
Triple Jump                   4          Micheal Wright             39’ 6½”

Plowgirls and Plowboys will be at the Post Invitational in Post this Friday. The meet begins at 3:30pm.

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RCHS DEBATE TEAM FINISHES 2-2 AT STATE TOURNAMENT

Roscoe's debaters, Rebecca Shaw and Alfonso Islas.

Roscoe High’s debate team, Alfonso Islas and Rebecca Shaw, finished 2-2 at the UIL state debate tourney. They beat Chireno and Crawford High Schools. They lost to Gladewater Union Grove and Blue Ridge High Schools.

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POLICE ISSUING CITATIONS FOR LOOSE DOGS IN TOWN

Roscoe Police Chief Felix Pantoja is once again asking dog owners to obey Roscoe’s leash laws. 

Police are now issuing citations rather than warnings to owners of dogs running loose in the streets.

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BLOOD BANK SEEKS VOLUNTEER DONORS FOR BLOOD DRIVE

The Meek Community Blood Bank of Abilene is looking for volunteers to donate blood next Tuesday, March  27, from 9:00am to 2:00pm.  The Bloodmobile will be located on 7th Street in front of the Roscoe Collegiate High School Special Events Center.  Donations will take approximately 30-45 minutes, and donors are advised to eat a good meal and drink plenty of fluid beforehand.  

To reserve a sign-up time or for questions, phone Nick Anthony, CD, of College Chiropractors at 325-766-3423.  Walk-up donors are also welcome.

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ROSCOE IN YEARS GONE BY: HOW THE PLOWBOYS GOT THEIR NAME

Before 1925, Roscoe High School’s football teams had no team names or colors and were simply referred to as Roscoe or Roscoe High, and the same lack of team names and colors was true of other schools as well. Sweetwater High’s football team was called the Salty Pups, but it was just a nickname and not officially recognized by the school. 

In the early 1920s other schools began to adopt team names and colors, and many Roscoe students wanted to do the same. My dad, who graduated from RHS in 1921, said that many of his friends wanted to call the team the Wildcats with school colors of black and gold, but nothing ever came of it.

However, according to what I heard while growing up, around 1925 a couple of Roscoe football players, one of them possibly Sam Fitzhugh, went on to play at Tarleton State, then known as John Tarleton Agricultural College. Right before a school holiday, the Tarleton coach asked them what they were going to do over the break. When they told him they were going to Roscoe, he said, “Bring me back a couple more of those Roscoe plowboys.” The story got around in Roscoe, people liked it, and so they decided to name the school’s team the Plowboys.

An interesting fact about Tarleton is that they named their team the same year, and they also became the Plowboys with the colors purple and white. According to their website, they got the name when the coach, William J. Wisdom, suddenly thought of the name Plowboys as he walked across campus. Could it be that the reason he thought of the name came from his request to his Roscoe players? That’s not mentioned in the official Tarleton history, but the connection seems more than coincidental. Concerning the school colors, Roscoe’s adoption of purple and white is said to come from the suggestions of the same Roscoe players who were on the Tarleton team at that time.

Tarleton’s colors are still purple and white, but their team name is no longer the Plowboys and hasn’t been since 1961 when they changed it to the Texans. As far as I know, Roscoe is the only school in Texas (or any other state) that has that team name, and I strongly suspect that the only Plowgirls are also the ones in Roscoe.

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WEATHER REPORT: SPRING IS SPRUNG

The Texas Red Oak in my front yard is budding out.

Spring is here. It officially arrived yesterday at the moment when the Earth’s axis didn’t tilt toward or away from the sun. According to the History Channel, the first day of spring is also a time when the sun rises due east and sets due west. 

The signs of spring are also beginning to appear. The fruit trees have been blooming for over a week now, trees are beginning to bud out, and the buzzards are coming back to west Texas. My brother David told me he saw his first of the year perched in a mesquite tree in Fisher County yesterday, and in the coming days, I’m sure we’ll see plenty more.

The weather is also slowly becoming more springlike. This past week was pretty mild as far as temperatures go. Highs were in the sixties and seventies with the exception of Sunday when it hit 80°F, and lows were in the forties and fifties with the exception of yesterday morning when it dropped to 35°. That’s all about to change, though, as things warm up starting with a high of 77° today, 82° tomorrow, and 89° on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Lows will also rise into the sixties for the weekend.

Then, starting on Monday, the meteorologists are predicting four days in a row when the chances for rain vary from 40% to 80%. Let’s hope they’re right this time, and we get a substantial amount. We can sure use it.

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