Roscoe Hard Times: Thirty-five RCHS Seniors Receive Diplomas

The Roscoe Collegiate High School Class of 2019.

Thirty-five RCHS Seniors completed one stage of life and began another at the Special Events Center Friday evening as they received their high school diplomas while parents, relatives, and friends looked on. The class was the largest the school has seen for many years.

Twenty-six of the graduates had also been awarded their Associate Degrees from Western Texas College in Snyder in a ceremony ten days earlier. Eleven also received Structural Welding certificates from Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater.

Valedictorian for the class of 2019 is Alfonso Islas, Jr., who graduated with an overall grade average of 99.22. Salutatorian is Caleb Gray, who finished with an overall average of 95.0.

Here is a list of the Class of 2019:

Sara Angie Luisa Arenivaz* Felipe Alonso Marquez
Joshua David Benner* Φ Kadee Faith Martinez*
Caleb Michael Boren* Φ    Gilbert Ray Martinez ⱳ
Veronica Lee Cuellar* ⱳ    Isaac Alazae Olvera
Blake Curtis Dean* Jose Guadalupe Ortega* ⱳ
Andrew Deleon*        Jovana Lizet Peña*
Jasmine Michelle Lynn Foster*        Arthur Branson Pope*
Xavier Kayne Frith* ⱳ    Liberty Michelle Saenz*
Ty Blaine Fullwood*    Amanda Marie Sanchez* Φ
Magdalena Garcia    Cameron Brooks Setliff
Jayden Bryce Gonzales*       Gary Bradford Shaw
Caleb Wayne Gray* Φ       Shelby Madison Spencer ⱳ
Alfonso Islas* ⱳ Φ Joshua Ryan Stegge*
Austin Lane Lara* ⱳ       William Gage Turnbow*
Brandon Dorice Lavalais ⱳ    Coltin Wayne Watts* ⱳ
Nicholas Anthony Limones* ⱳ       Bonnie Blythe Wilkinson*
Adrian Mora Lomas* ⱳ Φ          Megan Michell Wolf
Olivia Hope Madden*

* = WTC Associate Degree
ⱳ = TSTC Welding Certificate
Φ = Phi Theta Kappa (WTC Honor Society)

Here are the top ten graduates gradewise:
              1. Alfonso Islas    6. Adrian Lomas
              2. Caleb Gray 7. Caleb Boren
            3. Joshua Benner    8. Andrew Deleon
              4. Joshua Stegge     9. Gage Turnbow
            5. Jovana Peña       10. Ty Fullwood

Jose Ortega and Bonnie Wilkinson are the recipients of this year's Devon Reece Freeman Scholarship.

Winners of the Bill Blakely Scholarship were Jovana Peña and Andrew Deleon.

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SWIMMING POOL OPENS TODAY

Are you ready for summer?

The weather hasn’t been showing it lately, but it’s beginning to look a lot like summer, especially if you’re a kid. The last day of school was Friday, and the City Swimming Pool is opening today at 1:00pm.

Like last year, the pool will be open Tuesday through Sunday, but the hours are slightly different. Tuesday through Thursday the hours are 1pm to 6pm, and Friday through Sunday 1pm to 5pm. Price of admission is $2.00 per day.

The pool may be rented for private parties beginning and ending between 5:00 and 10:00pm all week with Monday available for private parties only. The fee is $60 for two hours, $70 for three, and $80 for four and $90 for five, all with a $15 deposit. The price includes an approved licensed lifeguard. The pool may also be rented all day on Mondays (1-7pm) for $125. Also, if enough people sign up, swimming lessons will be offered in the mornings (10-12am). There will be no season passes this year.

For reservations or additional details, contact Pool Manager Candy Aguayo at 325-232-4086.

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ONE CAR STOLEN, OTHERS BROKEN INTO

One car has been stolen and several others broken into in criminal activity that took place early Monday morning, May 20, most likely between midnight and 5:30am. There were reports that four individuals in an unidentified pickup were responsible.

Besides the stolen vehicle, at least four firearms were reported taken. The crimes have been reported to the TCIC (Texas Crime Information Center), and the investigation is ongoing by the Roscoe Police Department.

The Roscoe Police Department requests that residents let them know of any suspicious criminal activity they observe. Contact the Roscoe Police Department at 325-766-3481.

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WEATHER REPORT: SUNSHINE, WIND, RAIN, TORNADO

Monday evening's tornado southwest of Roscoe. (Photo by Kerry Bankhead)

It’s been a wild week for the weather with slightly warmer temperatures, beautiful days as well as others with high winds, a couple of strong fronts that produced showers on Saturday and Monday, hail in some places yesterday, and at least one tornado that had the whole area on edge for a while Monday evening.

Temperatures were a little warmer than the week before with highs in the low to mid eighties and lows in the sixties. The only exception was the low of 54° on Sunday. High for the week was the 86° on Friday, which didn’t really seem that hot because it was cloudy all day.

The rain that had been predicted all week for Friday actually came early Saturday morning. Once again, we were far enough west that we got considerably less from the storm than towns to the east. Sweetwater got some ping-pong-ball-size hail, and a tornado hit Abilene, causing considerable damage. In Roscoe, we missed all the bad stuff, and the rainfall was half or less than what fell east of us. Kenny Landfried reported an official .47” for Roscoe on Saturday, and a half-inch to an inch fell over much of the area.

Sunday was beautiful with sunny skies and a high of 82°, and it was hard not to notice that with all the rain we’ve had this spring, the Roscoe area is as green as it ever gets. The rains have also necessitated more lawn mowing than I’ve had to do since retiring and moving back here nine years ago.

Roscoe is as green as it ever gets. Looking south at Cypress and 7th Street.

On Monday, another big storm was forecast for the big country, and tornado chasers were in the area. South winds were unusually high at around 30mph with gusts into the mid-40s. The storm rolled in around sundown with thunder, lightning, and threatening clouds. Wind advisories and flash flood, hail, and tornado warnings were on every local TV channel, radio station, and cell phone.

A tornado near Loraine was officially reported, and several people living south and west of Roscoe watched one move from the Champion area toward Wastella. Despite all the dire warnings, however, that storm produced almost no rain, at least not right around Roscoe. However, the Pyron and Wastella areas that had missed some earlier rains got downpours of up to three inches.

A second line of thunderstorms moved through later that night, and this time the rain fell where it hadn’t before. In Roscoe the official amount was .79”, but others got more. So, between the two lines of storms that crossed the area on Monday, everybody got something.

Looking at the month as a whole, this May has been unusually wet and cool. It hasn’t had a 90° day yet. In most years we would have a 100° day by now, and certainly several that broke 90°. This year, we’ve had only three 90° days, the last one coming over a month ago on April 21. (The high for the year so far is 94° on April 10). The average high for May in Roscoe is 85°. So far this month, however, it’s only 76°.

Yesterday was also windy and cool with strong southwest winds, but it did warm up somewhat in the afternoon. The outlook for the rest of the week is for warmer weather with highs in the mid to upper 80s and lows in the upper 60s. Strong winds will continue to be a problem, and meteorologists are currently giving our area a 40% chance of precipitation on Friday.

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A MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE TO LT. CHARLES M. FITTS

1st Lt. Charles "Bud" Fitts and medals.

1st Lt. Charles Milton “Bud” Fitts was the first serviceman from Roscoe killed in the Vietnam conflict.

The son of Marie and Eugene Milton Fitts, he was born in Roscoe on November 21, 1932, and attended Roscoe schools, graduating from Roscoe High School in 1948. After high school he moved to San Angelo, took some college classes there, and worked as a truck driver. He married Jeraldine Waddle of San Angelo, and they had two children.

In 1954, he joined the U.S. Army and was an enlisted man for six years before attending the Field Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill. In April 1961, he graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant and received Rotary Flight Training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He was promoted to First Lieutenant and departed for Vietnam with the Military Assistance Advisory Group in October 1962. He was a helicopter pilot there for the 93rd Transportation Group, 45th Aviation Group.

He was killed on January 11, 1963, a passenger on a CH-21C helicopter flying about 55 miles southwest of Saigon. It went down under hostile conditions and crashed on an island in the Mekong River. All seven men aboard perished.

His awards and decorations include Army Aviator Wings, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, 2 Good Conduct Medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and Vietnam Campaign Medal. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for a previous action.

His name is on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, on Panel 1E, Row 16. He is also remembered by the Concho Valley Vietnam Memorial and the Permian Basin Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Midland. Building 312 at Fort Rucker is named for him.