Happy New Year!

Christmas is over, winter has arrived outside, and tomorrow evening at midnight we’ll be saying goodbye to 2020 and celebrating the arrival of 2021 with high hopes that it will be an improvement over the departing year. But before we do, let’s take one last look at the year we and our community have just been through.

A REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2020 IN ROSCOE

Roscoe and the Coronavirus Pandemic

In years past, this Happy New Year issue has always begun with a review of Roscoe in the previous year, and it has almost always been a pleasure to recall the events, accomplishments, and highlights of the community during that span of time.

However, this year, 2020, has been a clear break from that happy pattern ever since last March, when the country suddenly found itself facing a pandemic, the first in over a century. No one really knew how to deal with it, and the actions that were taken were always controversial, with some calling for immediate action to prevent waves of death happening like those in Spain and Italy, while others regarded those fears as overblown, saying the so-called pandemic was just a stronger form of the flu that would go away with the season.

Everybody agreed, however, that no matter how the country responded, the best personal action was to immediately stock up on toilet paper and certain other items like paper towels, hand sanitizer, batteries, vienna sausages, and beer—just like for a hurricane. And by the time the first day of school was canceled, supermarket shelves all over the country had been stripped of such items. And a couple of weeks later when they did come back, customers were often limited to just one (e.g., one package of pasta, one loaf of bread, one can of beans).

Schools were closed and switched to remote learning with students doing all their schooling online. Roscoe Collegiate held out a week or so longer than the big city schools, but in late March, it, too, made the switch, complying with the governor’s order. Teachers had to learn on the fly how to accomplish their goals with the new method of delivery, and so did the students. And parents had to deal with kids back at home all day.

Roscoe Collegiate’s progress with innovative education initiatives had to take a backseat just to coping effectively with the new situation. Even so, they were able to make useful adaptations, such as Edu-Make It’s project for creating and distributing high-quality medical masks to area hospitals when they were in short supply. And, in May for the first time ever, graduation ceremonies were held outside at Plowboy Field in order to maintain the required social distancing.

2020 graduating seniors file into Plowboy Field on May 22.

Downtown business activity either came to a halt or was curtailed by Governor Abbott’s statewide executive order closing clubs, bars, hair salons, and other non-essential businesses and restricting restaurants to take-out orders. A county judge’s order prohibited visitors in rest homes.

The pandemic orders also effectively shut down Roscoe’s well-earned reputation as a live country music venue, and the absence of the usual stream of country music stars to the Lumberyard made downtown a much less lively place. Sweetwater was lucky to get the Rattlesnake Roundup in before such events were canceled, and there were almost no more after that.

 

This summer, Roscoe was one of the few places in the state to buck the trend and have its usual July 4th celebration with live music and fireworks. Country recording artist Jason Boland and his band were the headline act for the free concert and street dance, and a sizeable crowd was on hand for the occasion. The Plowboy Mudbog was held at the baseball field as usual, vendors lined the downtown streets, and fireworks followed the music and street dance.

 

The same was true with the West Texas Wind Festival in October. The size of the crowd may have been a bit less than usual, but all the events proceeded as normal, and those who attended enjoyed the day. Nashville star Mo Pitney was the featured performer, and his traditional country sound was a crowd pleaser. The Plowboy Mudbog went off without a hitch, and the fireworks show was as popular as ever.

During the summer, Texas and a few other states like Arizona and Florida were the country’s pandemic hot spots. Covid-19 raged in certain parts of Texas—the Rio Grande Valley, the coastal area around Corpus Christi, and cities like Dallas and Houston—but it was relatively mild in the Big Country, and there were few masks in public places. There were reports of coronavirus cases in Roscoe as early as March, and a couple more in July, but none were official or confirmed, partly because of the shortage of tests.

By the time August rolled around, everyone was growing weary of the coronavirus restrictions, especially younger people, whose personal danger from the virus is much less than for the older folks. We elderly people with health problems are naturally more willing to comply with precautionary orders, as our personal desires for adventure and romance are less important than taking the risk of catching a disease that may well kill us.  

The Plowboys played Stamford at Plowboy Field.

But even we were happy to see football return in the fall because it represented a return to normal life that had been missing since school sports had ended in the spring. No one knew if a regular season would be possible, and, as it turned out, several games did have to be canceled, but enough were played that district champs were determined and playoffs held.

With mandated precautions in place, regular fall classes also resumed and had to be called off at Roscoe Collegiate only once for a few days shortly before Thanksgiving.  

In early fall, the coronavirus numbers for new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths were down from the July peaks, and many hoped that the worst was over, but since then, the numbers have been rising again, and they are now at levels as high or higher than ever.

Covid-19 has recently become 2020’s leading cause of death in the United States, according to a December 17 article in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association),* and there have now been over 320,000 Covid-19 reported deaths in the U. S. since March.  

* Covid-19 had been the third-leading cause in October for people ages 45 to 84 and the leading cause for those over 85, but since then, deaths have tripled from an average of 826 to 2,430 per day, while heart disease and cancer cause approximately 1,700 and 1,600 deaths per day respectively.

Fortunately, a couple of promising vaccines have been developed, and the hope is that their use will be widespread by spring and effective enough that normal group activities can safely be resumed, all businesses re-opened, mask-wearing and other pandemic precautions be discontinued, and life return to normal.

So, keep your fingers crossed, and maybe by this time next year, we can all look back on the 2020 pandemic as an unfortunate temporary disruption that we managed to live through and overcome before getting on with our normal lives.

Collegiate Edu-Nation and the P-TECH Program

The RCISD Higher Education Center on Main and 3rd Streets.

Although the spring STEM Advisory meeting had to be canceled and the fall meeting carried out virtually via Zoom, CEN (Collegiate Edu-Nation), the endeavor to spread Roscoe Collegiate’s P-20 school system to rural schools nationwide, has moved forward and remains a bright spot on the education front.

Along with its partnerships with Western Texas, West Texas A&M, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech and other initiatives, the Edu-Nation movement has continued to develop and grow. Kim Alexander resigned as RCISD Superintendent so that he could devote full-time to running Collegiate Edu-Nation, and Andy Wilson has taken over his former position as Provost of RCISD.

As CEO of CEN, Dr. Alexander now focuses on spreading features of the school’s innovations to rural education nationwide. He, Marsha Alexander and the CEN Team are working full time with five member schools: Roscoe, Hamlin, Throckmorton, Floydada, and Cumby along with Van ISD in West Virginia and with Sunray and Lytle on deck for a total of eight school districts, 20 campuses, and approximately 5,000 students.

All these districts will eventually add the P-TECH program once their graduates are earning associate degrees like Roscoe’s do now, starting with Hamlin and Throckmorton in Summer 2021.

Amanda Sanchez and WTAMU President Walter Wendler.

One visible success of the P-TECH program in Roscoe this year was the conferring of a bachelor’s degree from West Texas A&M University to Amanda Sanchez in September. Still only 19 years old and just two years away from receiving her high school diploma, she was the first P-TECH program student to earn her degree while never leaving Roscoe and without accumulating any student debt. West Texas A&M President Walter Wendler and several other WTAMU administrators came down from Canyon to perform the ceremony and celebrate the event.

Amanda was just the first P-TECH student here to complete her degree. Several others, all RCHS grads, are currently enrolled in the program and working to earn their bachelor’s degrees here.

The Cotton Crop and the Weather

The Central Rolling Plains Coop cotton gin.

The weather this year was in some ways pretty much like the rest of the year; i.e., it began on a positive note before going south. In February and March, there was plenty of rainfall for farming and ranching needs with about 6½ inches of precipitation when the average is only about two. But then April, May, and June, which normally total around seven inches, got only a little over two, and none of that when it was needed for planting.

Farmers went ahead and dry planted their cotton, but most of it never came up, and in places where it did, it was so late that when that early ice storm hit in October, the bolls had not matured enough to make, and the plants had to be plowed up. As a result, most of this year’s harvest came from irrigated fields as the dryland crop was either poor or non-existent.  

The Central Rolling Plains Co-op finished ginning this fall’s crop last Monday, December 21, the first time it had finished before Christmas in many years. The final total this year was just 24,687 bales, a number less than half the average, a result that was not unlike just about everything else about 2020.

Other features of the weather for 2020 gleaned from Kenny Landfried’s official records for Roscoe include the following facts: the official amount of precipitation for the year was 18.01 inches, about 4 inches below the average. The hottest day of the year was July 15, when the temperature reached a blistering 110.4°F, the hottest day for at least the last ten years and probably longer. In all, 2020 had a total of 37 days in which the high temperature reached 100° or more (6 days in May, 2 in June, 13 in July, 15 in August, and 1 in September). That was the highest number since 2011, which had a record 81 days.

The coldest day was February 6 with a low of 12°. The last spring freeze was the 31° recording on the morning of April 13. It was the only day in April with a reading that low, and the entire month of March had no readings lower than 35°. Similarly, the first freeze in the fall came in October with a four-day stretch starting on October 26 that had readings below 32°--including October 27 in which the temperature dropped to 24° and October 28, when the high for the day was only 32°. This icy stretch was devastating for late crops including cotton and sunflowers as it came with .4” of icy precipitation. Then, the entire month of November had no readings below freezing until the very last day.  

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PLOWGIRLS DEFEAT HIGHLAND, HERMLEIGH

I didn’t learn about this previously unscheduled game until after last week’s Hard Times was posted, but on the Monday before Christmas, the Plowgirls picked up a game with Highland at Highland and won 55-50 in a contest decided in overtime.

Once again, the Plowgirls started slow but then won with a strong second half, just as they did in the previous game with Miles. Highland led at halftime 31-13.

Jacey Rodriquez led the Plowgirls in scoring with 18, followed by Shauna McCambridge with 14 and Kaidy Ornelas with 12. Carson Greenwood made 8 and Cameron Greenwood 3. McCambridge led in rebounds with 20, followed by Rodriquez with 8, Cr. Greenwood 6, Ornelas 2, Cm. Greenwood 2, and Kirsten Welch 1. McCambridge also had 8 shot blocks.

Scoring by quarters:
                              1         2          3          4         OT      T
Plowgirls             4         9         17        14        11       55
Highland            11       20         6          7         6        50

Yesterday evening, the Plowgirls beat Hermleigh at the Special Events Center 34-23

Jacey Rodriquez once again led the Plowgirls in scoring with 10 points. Carson Greenwood had 8, Cameron Greenwood 6, Kaidy Ornelas 6, and Shauna McCambridge 4. McCambridge had the most rebounds with 12, Rodriquez 6, Cm. Greenwood 2, Ornelas 1, and Cr. Greenwood 1.

Scoring by quarters:
                              1         2         3         4           T
Plowgirls            6        14         6         8         34
Hermleigh         4          8         2         9         23

The Plowgirls’ next game will be on Saturday afternoon at Christoval following the JV game, which starts at 1:00pm.

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PLOWBOYS FALL TO HERMLEIGH

The Hermleigh Cardinals defeated the Plowboys at the Special Events Center yesterday 46-19.

Antonio Aguayo led the Plowboys in scoring with 9 points. Zackary Jordan had 4, Richie Solis 2, Parker Gleaton 2, and Jax Watts 2.

Scoring by quarters:
                            1          2         3         4         T
Hermleigh       11        13        13        9         46
Plowboys          4          8          3        4         19

The Plowboys’ next game is with Christoval in Christoval on Saturday afternoon.

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VACCINATIONS BEGIN AS COVID-19 CRISIS CONTINUES

Cases and deaths remain near record levels in the US, but the explosive growth is leveling off, and many states are improving as hospital staffs begin receiving vaccinations. 

California is the currently the state hardest hit with more than 300,000 new cases last week. Other states where conditions are worsening are Arizona, Tennessee, Alabama, West Virginia, and Oklahoma. Texas is number 26 on numbers of cases per capita.

Texas reported a record number of hospitalizations for Covid-19 on Monday with 11,351 patients, which breaks the old record of 10,893, set on July 22. Counties with the highest infection rates per capita are Lubbock, Collin, Tarrant, Bexar, Denton, Dallas, and El Paso.

In the Big Country, the situation continues to worsen as well. Abilene also set a record for hospitalizations yesterday with 134 Covid-19 patients, 36 more than a week ago. The region’s ICU beds are still full, and Abilene hospitals have now had 198 total Covid-19 deaths with almost half of those (94) coming since Thanksgiving. 88 hospital staff are in quarantine, which is 17 more than last week’s 71. However, the number of active cases, has dropped to 2,141, 226 fewer than the 2,367 of last week.

Also, the Big Country trauma service area has had another week in which over 15% of hospital beds are filled by Covid-19 patients—19.21% yesterday—which means that bars will remain closed for at least another week and other businesses limited to 50% capacity. Our trauma service area is not unusual in this regard as most of the state’s other ones are also currently over the 15% limit.

More locally, in our four-county area, the numbers are mixed. Nolan County now has 305 active cases, which is 34 more than last week’s 271 and 103 more than the 202 of two weeks ago. And, once again, the little chart for Nolan County in the Hard Times’ right-hand column warns of a high infection rate. On the other hand, Mitchell County now has 51 active cases, a drop from the 56 last week but still more than the 31 two weeks ago. Fisher County has only 12 active cases compared to 16 last week. In Scurry County, however, the numbers are back up to 109 active cases, up from the 90 of last week.

Here are the Big Country’s county totals for the year as of yesterday (with last Tuesday in parentheses): Howard, 2,484 (2,414); Erath, 2,018 (1,910); Scurry, 1,891 (1,812); Jones, 1,811 (1,790); Brown, 1,226 (1,206); Nolan, 1,132 (1,091); Comanche, 783 (736); Eastland, 556 (524); Runnels, 543 (527); Mitchell, 455 (450); Stephens, 363 (370); Callahan 360 (330); Coleman, 245 (230); Coke, 218 (213); Fisher, 212 (210); Haskell, 141 (136); Knox, 132 (132); Shackelford, 75 (74); Stonewall, 38 (37); Throckmorton, 32 (31);Kent, 29 (29).
 
Selected west Texas counties yesterday (with last week in parentheses): Lubbock, 41,034 (39,498); Midland, 11,195 (10,022); Wichita (Wichita Falls), 9,852 (9,551); Ector (Odessa), 6,361 (6,360); Tom Green (San Angelo), 3,921 (3,829).

Texas now has had a total of 1,490,479 cases (1,413,684 last week), 284,555 of them active (275,658 last week), and 26,521 total deaths (25,606 last week).

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CENTRAL ROLLING PLAINS COOP GIN COMPLETES SEASON

The Central Rolling Plains Coop Gin completed its 2020 ginning season last Monday, December 21, and the final bale was number 24,687. To show how this number compares with those of previous years, here are the totals from every year since the gin had its first season in 2007:

                                             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
                                             2017              111,598
                                             2018               23,372
                                             2019               62,284
                                             2020              24,687

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WEATHER REPORT: MILD DAYS BEFORE THE STORM

Blue sky over Roscoe on Sunday.

This past week had several nice, mild days when it was a pleasure to be outside. The high on Christmas Day was 65°, and several kids took advantage by playing outside with their new gifts from Santa and others. Saturday and Sunday were also very nice days with warm afternoons and light breezes. Saturday’s high was 69° and Sunday’s 71°. Monday was cooler with a high of 56° but sunny and also nice. Yesterday was warm enough with a high of 72°, but the southwest winds were high, about 25mph with gusts over 45mph, so you needed to hang on to your hat while you were outside.

Then last night around 2am, the wind shifted to the north, and when it did, it continued to blow hard, just from a different direction. The cold front has brought moisture with it, and there is a good possibility of some much-needed rainfall in the area. I heard raindrops hitting my metal roof last night, and when I woke up this morning, I found a bit over a tenth of an inch in my rain gauge. Showers, a strong north wind, and cold weather are forecast for today with a high of 39°, and, as the temperature drops, a wintry mix with possible snow is in the forecast for tomorrow, along with a continued strong north breeze.

New Year’s Day will be partly cloudy as the sky clears and the wind shifts to the southwest. Then the weekend should be cool and sunny with highs of 43° Friday, 48° Saturday, 55° Sunday, and 61° Monday and lows above freezing.

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† RUBY LENORA ROBISON

Graveside services for Ruby Lenora Robison, 98, of Roscoe were at 2:00 pm Saturday, December 26, at Hillside Memorial Gardens Cemetery at Snyder with Rev. David Draper and Cory Cash officiating. McCoy Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements. She passed away at her residence in Roscoe Monday evening, December 21.

Ruby was born September 9, 1922 at Liberty Hill, Texas, to the late Frank and Lula (Morgan) Copeland. She was a homemaker, attended the Methodist Church, and was a babysitter in Big Spring for 30 years. She and Jeff lived at Lake J.B. Thomas for many years and she had been a resident of Roscoe for 20 years.

She is survived by her daughter, Jerry Bruns and husband Truett of Roscoe; grandchildren, Larry Bruns and Tammy of Stony Creek, New York, Misty Reynolds and Russell of Roscoe, Randy Franklin and Marita of Kalispell, Montana, Vicki Cash and Jerry of Wolfforth, Texas, and Melanie Gentry and Earl of Lubbock; eleven great-grandchildren and eighteen great-great grandchildren.

Ruby is preceded in death by her parents, husband Jeff, December 25, 1985, and her daughter Carolyn Yocum in 2012.

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† FRANCES IRENE BROOKS GERON

Graveside services for Frances Irene Brooks Geron, 98, formerly of Roscoe, are at 10am this morning, December 30, at the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Sweetwater with following burial directed by McCoy Funeral Home. She passed away Monday, December 28, at Sterling Hills Nursing Home in Sweetwater.

She was born July 7, 1922, in Loraine to Fye Fernando and Mary Alice (Raney) Brooks. She attended Highland Schools and was a longtime member of the Broadway Baptist Church. She married Arthur Dillard (A.D.) Geron on May 21, 1938, in Loraine. He preceded her in death September 26, 1989. She was a homemaker and loved her family.

She is survived by a daughter-in-law, Linda Geron of Sweetwater; a son-in-law, Arthur Ray Boyd and wife Schylon of Sweetwater; four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and eleven great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband; a daughter, Joyce Geron Boyd in 2003; a son, Jackie Geron in 2019, and six brothers and sisters.

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† RONNIE WILBERT PIETZSCH

Military graveside services for Ronnie Wilbert Pietzsch, 68, of Roscoe will be at 2:00pm Monday, January 4, at the Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Abilene with Billy Joe Jay officiating and military honors performed by the U.S. Air Force. Interment will follow under the direction of McCoy Funeral Home. He passed away on Friday, December 25, at Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital.

A visitation will be held 10:00am - 12:00 Monday, January 4, at McCoy Funeral Home.

Ronnie was born on June 11, 1952 in Sweetwater to Wilbert and Mildred Pietzsch. He was raised in Roscoe and was a graduate of 1971. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and stationed in Misawa, Japan, for two years. He worked for the United States Post Office and was a window clerk in Colorado City for many years. He retired after 42 years of service. Ronnie was a member of the American Legion Post 163 and was 4th Division Commander from 2013-2014. He also served on various state and national committees with the American Legion.

Ronnie is survived by his wife of 34 years, Wanda Pietzsch of Roscoe; son, Tommy Pietzsch of Sweetwater; daughters, Cathy Morgan and husband Chad of Sweetwater, Shelli Miller and husband Steven of San Angelo, Staci Cardwell of Sweetwater; four grandchildren, Amy Carver and husband Carey of Sweetwater, Austin Miller and wife Erin of Harrah, OK, Raeven Pietzsch of Chesapeake, VA, and Peyton Morgan of Sweetwater; three great-grandchildren, Devon Ford, Kiersten Williams, and Addy Miller; aunt, Laverne Brooks of Sweetwater; and a niece, cousins, and many other loving family and friends.

Ronnie was a proud veteran, he loved his family, and he will be dearly missed by his family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, and sister, Linda Tidwell.

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