Roscoe Celebrates July 4th This Saturday

Restless Heart

Final preparations are underway for Saturday’s big July 4th Celebration, and the event’s organizers are planning a day to remember.

The day will begin at 8am with the Roscoe Lions Club Pancake Breakfast in the open building just west of the Smackers building on Broadway. Then at ten o’clock, the parade will come down Broadway, followed by the Plowboy Mudbog at George Parks Field beginning at twelve.

The Roscoe Community Center is sponsoring a city-wide garage with vendors at the Community Center between 8am and 3pm and at various homes around town. Maps to participating homes will be available at the Community Center.

During the afternoon, street vendors will be open and selling food and other wares along Broadway, Cypress, and Old Town Park, and the Roscoe Historical Museum will be open for visitors.

The Roscoe Express will be available to shuttle people free of charge between downtown and the Plowboy Mudbog during the afternoon.  There will also be free swimming from 1-5pm at the City Swimming Pool.

Music will begin “on the bricks” of Cypress with Grant Gilbert at around six-thirty. Then, Restless Heart will take the stage at eight and play until 9:30, followed by the ever-popular fireworks show beginning at about 9:45.

Here are more details about the various events of the day:

PANCAKE BREAKFAST

The Lions Club Pancake Breakfast will start at 8am and end at 10am before the start of the parade. Pancakes, bacon, coffee, and juice will be served for $5/plate in the empty building next to the former Smacker’s Café on Broadway. All proceeds from the ticket sales and breakfast will be used to support the Roscoe Lions Club charitable activities for the year.

PARADE

Once again, parade organizers invite your participation. They are looking for creativity and variety. Float awards will be presented to best overall, best western, and most patriotic. Prizes will also be awarded to the best antique vehicle, best motorcycle, best bicycle, and best semi. Anything is welcome!

The parade will start at 10:00am.  Line-up will be on West Broadway at 9:30am, and judging will be at 9:45am.

For more information, call Valerie Pruitt at 325-338-4666.

CITY-WIDE GARAGE SALE

The Roscoe Community Center at 100 Bois d’Arc Street is sponsoring a city-wide garage with vendors at the Community Center between 8am and 3pm and at various homes around town. Maps to participating homes will be available at the Community Center. The concession stand at the Community Center will also be open for drinks and snacks.

PLOWBOY MUDBOG

This year’s Plowboy Mudbog at George Parks Field will feature mudboggers from as far away as Dallas, Amarillo, and New Mexico. Registration for entrants begins at 9:30am Saturday morning at the northwest corner of the baseball field at Second and Sycamore Streets.  The driver entry fee is $30.

Entries will be in five classes:

1.    Street: 35” tires and under with limited engine modification.
2.    Super Street: 35” with engine vac under 13”.
3.    Modified: 36” to 39” with limited engine modification.
4.    Super Modified: 36” to 39” with engine vac under 13”.
5.    Open: 40” and over.

Since there’s an advantage in going last rather than first, each mud vehicle makes two runs, with the second run in reverse order from the first.

The public gate will open at 11:00am with mudbog action beginning at noon. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students 11 to 16. Kids 10 and under are free.  Proceeds will benefit the Roscoe Baseball Little League. The Little League will also run the concession booth.

Time permitting, there will also be a Plowboy Mudbog “Dash for Cash,” an entertaining event featuring kids running through knee-deep mud.

Spectators are encouraged to bring sun block, mosquito repellent, canopy, and lawn chairs. For more information, see the Plowboy Mudbog Facebook page, or contact Felix Pantoja at 325-514-8384.

CITY SWIMMING POOL

 Swimming at the Roscoe City Pool will be free of charge from 1:00-5:00pm.  The City Pool is located at 4th and Cedar Streets next to the City Park.

For more information, contact Pool Manager Tammy San Agustin at 325-574-3101.

THE FREE CONCERT AND STREET DANCE

The music stage will be set up on Cypress Street downtown between the Roscoe State Bank and Old Town Park. Grant Gilbert will open the show at around 6:30, followed by this year’s feature act, Restless Heart, who will begin around eight o’clock and play until 9:30 or so.

Grant Gilbert is an up-and-coming young singer/songwriter, originally from Santo, a small community near Thurber. He is now part of the music scene at Lubbock, where he attends Texas Tech. His debut EP, “Lost in Transition” is available on all music platforms. Singles include “Like I’m Your Whiskey” and “Goodbye Eyes.”

Restless Heart is a country music band from Nashville that’s been producing hits since 1984. At one point in the 1980s and ‘90s they had six consecutive No. 1 country hits and over the years have produced four gold-certified albums. Singles now considered country classics include “The Bluest Eyes in Texas,” “Wheels,” “That Rock Won’t Roll,” “I’ll Still Be Loving You,” and “Why Does It Have to be Wrong or Right?”

FIREWORKS SHOW

The fireworks show should once again be a memorable event that fittingly tops off the day. 

The show begins at about 9:45pm and will last about twenty minutes.


AFTER THE FIREWORKS

Lyndall Underwood & the Dusty Creek Band

Those who are still not done celebrating can then go to the Lumberyard, where until 1 o’clock there will be dancing and live music provided by Lyndall Underwood and the Dusty Creek Band free of charge.

So, if you're in the area on Saturday, make plans to attend, bring lawn chairs and coolers, and help us celebrate the country’s independence!

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WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS AWARDS $21K GRANT TO RCHS

Workforce Board Chairman Samuel Garcia and Donna Cutler of WTC present the check to John Bolton of RCHS.

On June 20, Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas awarded Roscoe Collegiate High School a grant of $21,000 to fund internships in the agriculture/vet technician-training program. The award funds are from the Texas Talent Connection Program.

The grant is managed by the Texas Workforce Investment Council in the Governor’s Economic Development and Tourism Division, and the Texas Workforce Commission will administer the grants, track progress, completion rates, hire rates and wages earned.

Other schools receiving grant money for related projects were Abilene ISD, Sweetwater ISD, Snyder ISD, and Cisco College.

For more information, contact Steve Collins, Business Resource Consultant at 325-795-4304 or steve.collins@workforcesystem.org.

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FIRE DESTROYS TOLLISON HOUSE ON OAK STREET

The Tollison Fire (Photo by Felix Pantoja)

A fire that broke out around midnight Saturday night destroyed the old Tollison house on Fourth and Oak Streets. The house, owned by Jay and Jim Tollison, was unoccupied, but tools and personal items were lost.

Roscoe Police are investigating the fire’s origin as possibly suspicious.

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KEEGAN COVINGTON SUFFERS SETBACK

Last week, Keegan Covington continued to improve from his gunshot wound, and on Friday the doctors released him and he was able to go home.

However, on Sunday night, his lung collapsed and he had to return to the hospital in Lubbock. Reports yesterday on the Prayers for Keegan Facebook page say he had a chest tube in his left side, and hopes were that he’d improve enough to go home again soon.

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WEATHER REPORT: STILL HOT, STILL DRY

Yesterday's sunset.

It’s been another week of uncommonly hot and dry weather. On both Saturday and Sunday, storms passed over the area without dropping more than a brief sprinkle—just enough to mess up the windshield on cars left outside. It was frustrating to watch both storms approach full of thunder and lightning, which continued as they passed overhead, and then to get no more than a sprinkle either day.

The lightning sparked a big fire on Nine Mile Mountain south of Sweetwater that kept local fire departments busy for a couple of days. The Roscoe Volunteer Fire Department was in the thick of the action and had two of their trucks break down in the process.

The weekend was especially hot with highs of 103°F on Friday, 105° on Saturday, and 106° on Sunday. Monday and yesterday were somewhat cooler, but not by much. The high on Monday was 96° and yesterday was 98°.  Lows were in the seventies all week. The lowest low was Thursday’s 71° and the highest low was 77° on both Saturday and Sunday. The heat was accompanied by high winds from the south or south-southeast. The windiest day was on Sunday when the average was 17mph with maximum high winds of 32 and gusts up to 43.

The forecast for the next few days is for continued hot, dry, and windy weather. Today and tomorrow’s highs are forecast to reach 100°, Friday’s 99°, and Saturday’s back to 100°. The outlook for next week is for daily highs of 98° or 99° with continued strong south winds. Lows will be in the mid-seventies.

And, once again, there is no rain in the forecast.

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