By Lynsi Musselman

ASPIRE  will get underway at Nancy Smith Elementary School on Monday, Sept. 28 from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.

ASPIRE, standing for Active Student Participation Inspires Real Engagement, is for third and fourth grade students and is held weekly Monday through Wednesday.

Nickie Leveridge will be running the ASPIRE program this year.

Funding is provided by the United Way of Abilene through Resource Care, Albany Community Chest, and other local fundraising efforts.

Cub Academy

By Lynsi Musselman

This Sunday, Sept. 27 at 5:00 p.m., members of the Ministerial Alliance invite Albany residents to an all-community prayer event at the Feed Store. 

Ministerial Alliance president Jeff Turner said there will be a national call to prayer in Washington D.C. on Saturday, Sept. 26, and the Ministerial Alliance felt led to host one for the community of Albany.

“This is a no frills event, just prayer,” Turner said.

He added that all are welcome and every effort will be made to social distance.

By Lynsi Musselman

FBC will host a lunch and auction after church on Sunday, Sept. 27.

There will be a silent auction of items that were collected by local youth during Camp Jam in July. The items will be displayed and available for bidding while lunch is served in the fellowship hall.

All proceeds collected from the silent auction go to benefit First Baptist Church Aspermont.

FBC Aspermont’s church building, along with everything inside, was destroyed after it caught fire in June.

By Lynsi Musselman

Bethel Assembly’s ‘The Patch’ will take place on Saturday, Oct. 3 in downtown Albany at the Bank Park from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Church member Betsy Spraberry said the event will have the traditional pumpkin market with various sizes of pumpkins available for purchase. 

There will also be fall photo opportunities and a bake sale, all with organizers being aware and cautious of COVID-19 concerns.

By Lynsi Musselman

Another West Texas Fair and Rodeo in Abilene has come and gone after running from Sept. 4-19, with an extra week added to spread out events this year.

This past Friday and Saturday and last weekend of the fair included several Shackelford County youth participating in the junior steer show and in the youth open swine show.

“The kids did a great job preparing their animals for the shows,” said Chris Beard, FFA advisor. “All the exhibitors represented Shackelford County well during the span of the fair this year.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

Racking up almost 500 yards of offense while holding the Haskell Indians to just six yards of offense, the Albany Lions got right back on the winning track last Friday with a 43-0 win in Haskell.

Albany (3-1) will be on the road again this week in Anson to play the Tigers (3-1), who are coming off a big loss to Hamlin, similar to the loss Albany suffered at the hands of the Pipers the week before.

Tickets are available for Friday night’s game only at the Albany superintendent’s office – $5 for adults and $3 for students.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lion volleyball team split games last week, but the game they won was critically important.

Albany lost in three sets to the visiting 4A Graham Lady Blue, but defeated district rival Hawley in four sets on Saturday to lead the 2A bracket of District 6-2A.

The Lady Lions were on the road Tuesday in Rising Star, finishing the first half of play against district teams with a 25-1, 25-4, 25-5 win. Complete results will be printed next week.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The JV Lion football team improved to 3-0 for the season with a 28-0 shutout of the Haskell Indians last Thursday in their first home game of the season.

The JV will host Anson this Thursday (today) at about 6:30 p.m. after the two junior high games 

Albany churned out the offense behind the protection of the line.

“I was very pleased with our offensive line,” coach David Fairchild said. “I also saw a lot of second-effort blocking down the field.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

The eighth grade Cubs posted a 46-0 win over Haskell last Thursday in the first home game of the season.

The seventh grade got to scrimmage for one quarter against Haskell’s combined team, since the Indians didn’t have a separate seventh grade team to put on the field.

The Cubs will play two full games at home on Thursday (today) against the visiting Anson Tiger Cubs, starting at 4:00 p.m. for the seventh graders. The eighth grade will play at about 5:00 p.m.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The seventh grade volleyball team traveled to Hico on Monday, earning a win in two sets.

The eighth grade girls played Tuesday evening at Rising Star, but results of the game were not available at press time. 

Albany will host a full set of junior high volleyball games on Tuesday, Sept. 29 against Ranger. The seventh grade will start the action at 4:30 p.m., followed by the eighth grade at 5:30 p.m. Both games will be played in the old gym.

The Lady Cubs brought home a 25-7, 25-8 victory from Hico.