Fire Destroys Richburg Farrowing House

The farrowing house after the roof collapsed.

A devastating fire last Thursday night at the Richburg farm west of Roscoe destroyed the farrowing barn Allen Richburg used to breed, raise and house his show pigs. 

The damage was extensive enough that he is selling off his bred sows and boars, including many of those bred by Richburg Show Pigs. He has suspended his hog raising operation and doesn’t know when he will be able to resume.

The Roscoe Volunteer Fire Department responded to a 911 call made by someone who spotted the blaze while driving on I-20 Thursday night. Roscoe firemen paged out at 3:14am, while Sweetwater firemen and the Nolan County Sheriff’s Department arrived somewhat later. According to the official report, the barn was a total loss, and the blaze killed two sows, thirty-one piglets, and several kittens. One kitten was rescued but died later. Cause of the fire has still not yet been determined but is possibly electric.

Allen Richburg says he has been overwhelmed by the responses and kindnesses received following the accident. He wants to thank all of those who responded with prayers and sympathy on Facebook as well as all the Roscoe and Sweetwater firemen and Sheriff’s Department officers along with others who made donations or otherwise helped out.

--o--

BONNIE WILKINSON, JAYDEN GONZALES HEADED FOR STATE

Bonnie Wilkinson does the Triple Jump in an earlier meet.

Bonnie Wilkinson and Jayden Gonzales qualified for the State Finals at the Region 1-2A Track and Field Meet at South Plains College in Levelland last weekend. 

For Bonnie, who missed last year’s state finals because of an injury, it will be a return to Austin and a chance to repeat her win in the Triple Jump, which she accomplished there in 2017. In fact, her distance in last week’s meet was her best yet at 37’ 5½”, farther even than her state-winning jump of 36’11½” in 2017.

For Jayden, it will be his first trip to the State Finals, but he also will have a chance for a medal after tying for the highest Pole Vault in both the Area and Regional Meets. At last week’s meet, his vault of 13’ 2” tied for the best, but he was beaten in a subsequent “jump-off.” He also broke the school record with his 14’ 3” vault in the Area Meet, beating by 3 inches the old record set by Shae Sanford in 1993.

None of the other Plowboys or Plowgirls finished in the top or runner-up spots and so did not qualify to advance. Nevertheless, they can still consider their seasons successful as they made it to the Regional Meet before bowing out.

Here are the complete results for the Roscoe athletes:

Plowboys

Event                            Place          Athlete              Time/Distance
110 meter hurdles         12        Tristan Baker                 17.63
4 x 100 meter relay       10        Plowboys                        45.29
(Tyler Guelker, Jaythan Coale, Andrew Deleon, Gary Shaw)
4 x 200 meter relay        7        Plowboys                      1:46.13
(Tyler Guelker, Caleb Gray, Jaythan Coale, Gary Shaw)
Shot Put                           8        Brandon Lavalais          43’ 4¼”
Pole Vault                        2        Jaydon Gonzales            13’ 3”

Plowgirls

400 meter dash              5        Bonnie Wilkinson        1:00.58
4 x 400 meter relay       8        Plowgirls                        4:25.72
(K. Martinez, Sa. McCambridge, V. Martinez, B. Wilkinson)
Triple Jump                    1         Bonnie Wilkinson         37’ 5½”

The 2019 UIL Track and Field State Championships will be held next weekend, May 10-11, at the Mike A. Myers Track Complex in Austin.

--o--

PCCA PUBLICATION FEATURES BANKHEAD FAMILY
 

This is the photo that appears in the PCCA Commentator article.

PCCA Commentator, the magazine of the Plains Cotton Co-op Association (PCCA), is currently featuring the Bankhead family in an article entitled “Bankhead Family Grounded in Faith and Conservation.”

Written by Jayci Cave, the article describes changes the Bankhead family of Champion—Randall, Mary, and son-in-law Scott Schuchard—have made to their farming methods over the last few years. Their switch from the old, conventional methods to new ones that focus on replenishing the soil, such as no-till farming and the use of cover crops, earned Randall the honor of being named the 2018 Texas Soil and Water Conservation Board Outstanding Conservation Farmer.

In the article, the family members are interviewed, and some of their answers reveal their belief in co-ops, including Roscoe's Central Rolling Plains Co-op, and descriptions of some of their methods for improving and sustaining the soil, along with some of the problems involved.

The article may be found in this month’s issue of the magazine. It is also available online at https://www.pcca.com/article/bankhead-family-grounded-in-faith-and-conservation/.

--o--

CINCO DE MAYO CELEBRATION THIS SUNDAY

The Cinco de Mayo Celebration and Scholarship Dinner will be held this Sunday, May 5, at Roscoe Collegiate High School.

Dinner and student presentations will last from 11:30am to 2:30pm, while the carnival will run from 1:00-5:00. There will be plenty of fun and activities including a bounce house, face painting, mini-mercado, paletas, music, lotería (Spanish bingo), cakewalk, and other activities.

There will also be student displays and presentations, door prizes, tours, and more.

The dinner of Mexican pile-on, drink, and dessert will be $8 for adults, $6 for kids 4-10, and free for children under four. Proceeds will benefit senior scholarships.

--o--

WEATHER REPORT: BEAUTIFUL SPRING WEATHER

Yesterday's sunset.

The weather this past week has been just about as nice as it gets in west Texas. We didn’t get any rain, but with the showers of the previous week, things were still somewhat wet, the sun was shining, wildflowers were in bloom, grass was growing at record pace, temperatures were mild, and the winds were relatively light for this time of year. In short, it was nice and would be nicer if we had a few months of this kind of weather every year.

High temperature for the week was on Saturday afternoon, which topped out at 88°F. Sunday wasn’t far behind with a high of 86°. Highs reached the eighties every day except Thursday which topped out at 76°. The week’s low temperature came on Thursday morning at 51°. Other daily lows were around 60°.

The forecast is for a high of 82° this afternoon, but that will change as clouds roll in with a 50% chance of thunderstorms this evening and tonight. Tomorrow winds will shift to the northeast and the 50% chance for showers will increase to 60% on Friday before dropping to 20% for the weekend. Termperatures will reach only 68° on Friday and 75° Saturday before returning to the low eighties on Sunday and Monday.

Forecasts for next week are also mild with more chances of rain toward the end of the week.

--o--

† FIDEL “PANCHO” ALBARRAN

A mass of Christian Burial for Fidel Albarran, 59, of Colorado City will be held tomorrow, May 2, at 10:00am at St. Ann’s Catholic Church with Father Michael Udegbunam officiating. Burial will follow at the Mitchell County Cemetery. He passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 28, at his home surrounded by loved ones after a long courageous battle with cancer.

He was born on May 25, 1959, in Guanajuato, Mexico, to Eusebio and Angela Carillo Albarran. A communicant of St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Colorado City, Fidel was known as a hard-working man who loved God and his family. He was caring and passionate and was the type of person who would give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed it. A jack-of-all-trades, he was originally a roofer in Mitchell County, but many will remember him from his 15 years of working for the City of Roscoe.

In his spare time, he spent time with his grandchildren, who were motivators for him to fight the good fight against cancer for so many years. You could find him practicing baseball with them, getting their swimming pool ready, or driving them here and there on the golf cart. He also enjoyed watching the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys.

Fidel is survived by his wife of 34 years, Frances Albarran; sons Philip Castro and wife Linzee, and Diego Albarran; daughter, Brenda Martinez and husband Macario; grandchildren Lanee Castro, Mikell, Hunter, Novah, and Elijah Martinez, all of Colorado City; brothers Alberto Albarran and wife Esperanza of Mexico, David Albarran and wife Mikaela of Mexico, Eusebio Albarran, Jr., and wife Luz of North Carolina and Alfonzo Albarran of Mexico; sisters, Paulina Perez and husband Joe of Snyder, Reina Guerrero and husband Raul of Mexico, Josefina Francisco-Campos of Mexico, Bertha Comacho and husband Luis of Mexico, and Carmen Albarran of Jacksboro; several nieces, nephews, cousins, and dear friends are also left behind to cherish his memory.

He was preceded in death by his parents and by a grandson Ethan Martinez who passed in 2007.

--o--