The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 20, 1985 Page: 4 of 58
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Opinion
PAGE 4 A
THURSDAY, JUNE 20, 1985, ALBANY, TEXAS 76430
THE ALBANY NEWS
The Albany News
Since 1875
Oldest Journalistic venture west of the B^os
Editor/Publish*-!
Managing Editor
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
Moran Correspondent
Office Assistant
Office Assistant
Donnle A. Lucas
Mellnda L. Lucas
David Love
Donna Barranger
Audrey Brooks
Betty Law
Sunday Belcher
editorial
Gone
Fandanglin'-
See you
aL the show!
policy
THE ALBANY NEWS
PO Bex 278
Albany, Texas 76430
Second ciuss pwtagc paid al Albany. Texas 76430
USPS publication number 012400
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
RATES
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Albany & Moran $11.00
Including tax, Texas addresses 813.00 in-
cluding tax, other U.S. addresses 815.00,
foreign addresses available upon application.
ADVERTISING: National rate 82.10 per
column Inch. 15* per line. Local rate 81.75
per column Inch. Notices & classified ads 10*
per word per Insertion net. 82.50 minimum
paid in advance.
AFFILIATIONS
1985 MEMBER: Texas Press Association,
West Texas Press Association.
All letters to the editor must be signed by the
author and include a complete address and
telephone number. Only the writer's name
and city will appear in print. The complete
address and telephone number will be kept
on file. Send letters to THE ALBANY NEWS.
PO Box 278. Albany TX 76430.
CORRECTIONS
Any erroneous reflection upon the character,
reputati . n or standing of any individual, firm
or corporation will be corrected when notifi-
cation in writing is given to the publisher
within 10 days after publication.
ponderings by pat
By PitJones
When I first came to Albany in 1945,
I didn't even know what u "Fandangle"
was. It didn't take me long to find out
that I wanted to he in it, no mailer
what it was, because all my friends
were.
That first summer, I was a "Buffalo
Gal." The next year, I got to be one of
the "Ten Pretty Maids." 1 loved every
minute of it.
My sophomore year in AHH, Bobby
Nail called me away from my group of
girl friends and told me I looked like I
belonged in the saloon sentience. 1 was
horrified. I didn't want to ne a bar fly; I
wanted to be a "pretty maid" or a "buf
falo gal" again, with my friends.
But you didn't argue with Bobby;
you automatically did what he asked.
He was the most successfully per
suasive person I've ever known. Soon
he had me outfitted in a saloon dress of
black velvet and blue taffeta, opera
length gloves of black velvet., black
mesh hose, and black high heeled tap
shoes. 1 though I was the sexiest
looking thing alive. Looking back, I
suspect thai 1 looked like I was playing
dress up. He taught Jackie Miller and
me a flirtatious vamp dance. That was
my first year in the saloon and 1 re
mained there till I retired about ten
years ago.
One performance, John Hose was to
lift me up to stand on t he bar of t he old
Bee Hive. Our timing was off. Just as 1
squalled down so I could spring up,
John began to lift. He could not lift me,
as we both got too tickled to even try it
again. He got teased about weakness; I
got teased about being too heavy.
John and I conferred and the next
night, we were more than ready. When
time came for the lift, John gave a
mighty heave. At the same time, I
sprang into the air. With the lethal
combination of both these great ef
forts, John not only lifted me up to the
top of the bar, I went at least three feet
over it. When I came down, John and
the people behind the bar helped me
regain my balance. John and I still
lauph over that "lift."
1 m no longer in the Fandangle, but I
shall always be of it. It's a part of me. I
like to attend every performance and 1
watch with pride as my fellow
townspeople perform.
I never find it boring because as a
nonprofessional show, each perfor
mance is slightly different from every
other one.
We had a new geologist one summer.
He was a young single fellow. He'd
never heard of the Fandangle and so
we gave him tickets for the first perfor
mance of that year's show. The follow
ing week, I turned up with a couple of
tickets that we weren't going to use. I
offered them to that young man. He
politely refused them, and reminded
me that he had already been to the
Fandangle. I learned once again that
we all look at the same things different
ly-
Still there's a general excitement in
the nightly mixture of two or three
hundred people of all ages, dozens of
horses, mules, wagons, sets, props, and
music and lights. My part in it is to he a
good audience. And I can do that, as my
square dance callers says, "with
ENTHUSIASM!"
letter to the editor
To the Editor,
In the May 23 issue of ( his paper, t he
Moran School was the subject of the
Baling Wire and Memories column. It
is my intent to present addit ional infor
mation and another paint of view.
Most people here do consider the
school to be the lifeline of Moran; if t he
school closed then all else would be
lost. For this reason it is time changes
are considered. Due to House Bill 72,
state regulations, and the increasing
cost of educating students, the Moran
School can not continue in its present
state. Economically Moran can't afford
to keep a school of 18 grades. Most of
the Moran residents are elderly people
on limited incomes, increasing school
taxes would be an unfair burden on
these citizens. There is a way to save
the school, the town and give our
students an excellent education.
Recently school administrators
presented the school board a plan to
consolidate the high shcool and main
tain a school for grades K 8 in Moran.
The school district could save $250,000
a year. One teacher would be hired for
each grade. With this plan Moran
would offer an outstanding Elemen
tary education program that could
draw families with young children to
the area. The small class size, in
dividual attention and excellent
facilities would be advantages of the
Moran School.
The plan becomes even more appeal
ing when you consider that several
parents have already chosen to
transfer their high school age children
to other schools. These parents made
their decisions after evaluating the
educational opportunities available
and considering what was best for
their child. The question of football in
Moran did not affect the majority of
these students as implied in the article.
The article also listed successful
Moran Exes, but all of these graduated
long before anyone now attending
school in Moran had entered school.
What about the recent graduates of
Moran. I talked to several students
that have graduated in the past 10
years and went on to attend college.
Most of these students felt they had
not been prepared for college during
their high school years. As a result, the
students took additional basic courses
and worked harder to keep up on their
classes.
As much as smaller elementary
schools are an advantage, smaller high
schools are a disadvantage. In high
school the larger classes provide learn
ing opportunities, such as class discus
sions, competition with more students,
and the ability to meet and get along
with new people. These things help
prepare a student for college classes
that are sure to be larger than the
classes of Moran — not to mention that
a larger number of scholarships would
he available to the students and there
would be greater exposure to college
sport scouts.
Mrs. Brooks suggested that church
attendance would decline if students
attended schools in other towns and
that ministers should influence
students in their choice of schools. The
average number of high school
students attending all Moran churches
combined is three. I fail to see how
these three students could overwhelm
ingly affect church attendance. Along
the same line, if parents can not in
fluence their children to attend church
(and in many cases do not attend
themselves), how is the minister sup
pose to influence any decision made by
the student? As a parent I would feel
the minister was interfering in a family
decision if he did try to influence my
child in the matter. Where a child at
tends school is not a religious concern,
but one to be made by parents con
sidering their child's future.
Mrs. Brooks mentioned the scholar
ship awarded to Holly Stewart for
music and drama. This is a result of her
talent not her education at Moran. The
school did not teach classes in drama or
music during Miss Stewart's high
school years.
The fate of the Moran School does
rest with the citizens of Moran and each
should be concerned with educating
our children to the best of our ability.
How much longer can Moran support a
13 grade school, and which would be
hetter...an excellent elementary school
or no school at all? Consider the advice
of school officials with years of ex-
perience in the field of education and
study all options available to Moran.
Sincerely,
Rhonda Holson
Rubber Stamps
Seals Pricers
Self Inking Stamps
Door & Desk Signs Lapel Pins
4 Day Service On Most Orders
Albany News
up & down the street
By Elsa Turner
When Sunday Belcher mentioned
that Mr. George had dropped by the
News to check my whereabouts, I
knew that he had a an interesting story
to report.
Sure enough, when we crossed pat hs
in the post office next day, we chuckled
over his most recent birdwatching en
counter with his pet chaparral. And he
requested that I write it down.
Cecil and the roadrunner have been
pals for the past several years. Their
mutual trust has progressed to the
stage that, if the man sits still and
doesn't blink an eye or move a muscle,
the bird will gobble up the grain scat
tered at Cecil's feet.
The trust may have been betrayed to
some extent last Wednesday, however,
when Cecil got curious about the
roadrunner's actions. In the dim
shadows of a tree in the back yard at
the George home the bird was slapping
something vigorously against a rock,
pausing, repeating the action over and
over.
Now I don't have to tell you that
Cecil had a pretty good idea that his
pet was doing a bit of snakekilling.
What Cecil wanted to know was, what
kind of snake.
He walked out into the yard for a
closer inspection, a move that prompt
ed his feathered friend to grab up his
prize and hop to a fencetop. He wasn't
about to share that snake with
anybody, not even Cecil.
With characteristic George per
sistence the man eased slowly but
steadily nearer. Again the bird moved
away. Longer and longer the cat and
mouse drama continued until finally in
the Wakefield's back yard the paisano
released his prey as if to say, Cecil if
you want it that bad you can have it.
Whereupon the man's suspicion was
confirmed: the snake was a ground rat
tier about two feet long.
I don't know whether Jackie
Wakefield had watched the play in her
yard or whether Cecil knocked on her
door; anyway she was quite shocked at
the news. "Do you mean to say that
thing was in my yard?" she was report
ed to have demanded. This her next
door neighbor confirmed, then com
pounded Jackie's dilemma by disclosing
that Liston Todd, former owner of the
Wakefield property, had nearly put his
hand on a rattler while picking
vegetables and wound up killing not
one snake but two.
This story reminded me of a
previous event in the roadrunner
series which was reported in this col
umn quite a few months ago. With the
kind patience of the readers who saw it
then, I will repeat it for the benefit of
those who didn't.
Cecil sighted his pet in the back yard :
one day, carrying a strange looking ob
ject in its beak which was made out to
be a mouse in a trap. When Cecil moved
to release the trap, the bird flew
atop the fence and sat there, a comical
sight. Observing the action next door
Liston is reported to have quipped, "So-
your smart roadrunner is now setting
mousetraps?"
Community Calendar
JUNE 20 Nutrition Program Meal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
Lions Club Luncheon - Longhorn, 12 noon
Mental Health Clinic - Depot, 1-4:30 pm
JUNE 20-22, 27-29 Fort Griffin Fandangle - Prairie Theater,
dusk
JUNE 21 Chamber of Commerce Luncheon - Longhorn,
12 noon
Community Action Program - Depot, 10am-3 pm
JUNE 23 Golf Scramble - Golf Course, 1:15 pm
JUNE 25 Nutrition Program Meal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
Ladies Golf Assn. - Golf Course, 1:30 pm
Lioness Club Luncheon - Ft. Griffin Gen. Mdse.
Restaurant, 12 noon
Levis & Laces Square Dance - Youth Center, 8 pm
JUNE 26 Nutrition Program Meal - Youth Center, 11:30 am
Kiwanis Luncheon - Ft. Griffin Gen. Mdse., 12 noon
JUNE 27 Fandangle Parade - Downtown Albany, 6 pm
JUNE 29 Fandangle 5000 Run - Courthouse, 8 am
National
XLalBank of Albany
MEMBER FDIC
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Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 1, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 20, 1985, newspaper, June 20, 1985; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth402557/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.