By Kathy Thomson

Several Albany residents competed at the Western Heritage Classic in Abilene this weekend, and locals placed well in various events, including the Ranch Rodeo, Fiddler’s Contest, and Parade.

Ranch Rodeo

Matthews/Nail Ranch of Albany won the Championship at the 35th annual Western Heritage Classic’s Ranch Rodeo on Friday and Saturday, May 10-11. 

The winning group gathered 113 points to win the title.

The city of Albany will receive a sales tax allotment of $46,577 from the state this May. The amount is up 6.60 percent from the $43,692 payment received in May of 2018.

Payments to date for the 2019 year to the city of Albany are $252,791, up by 14.45 percent from the comparable time last year, when payments of $220,869 had been made.

The city of Moran will receive a net payment of $1,669 this period for a 26.68 percent decrease from the $2,277 received in May 2018.

The Albany High School class of 2019 is invited to a decades-long church tradition, the senior Bible presentation at the First Baptist Church of Albany on Sunday, May 19 starting at 2:00 p.m.

Campbell Terry, youth minister at FBC, will present the complimentary Bibles to the seniors and will also deliver a brief message. 

Afterwards, graduates and their families and friends are invited to the traditional coke float party, held in the Fellowship Hall. 

Connie Meason, age 67 of Breckenridge, passed away Friday, May 10, 2019. Funeral services were held on Monday, May 13 at the First United Methodist Church with Rev. Matt Hall and Chip Pasche officiating. 

Connie Lynn Stubblefield was born Jan. 26, 1952 in Breckenridge, Texas to parents, Guy Stubblefield, Jr. and Ruth Evelyn Tomlin Stubblefield. She graduated from Breckenridge High School. 

On Nov. 27, 1981, Connie married Robert Meason in Fort Worth. She worked as a secretary for Texas A&M AgriLife Research. 

Roy Keith “Pete” Mauldin, age 83, passed away Friday, May 10, 2019. Graveside funeral services were held Tuesday, May 14 in the Albany Cemetery with Pastor Mitch Haynie officiating. Interment followed under the direction of Morehart Mortuary.

Roy Keith Mauldin was born on Feb. 28, 1936 in Albany, Texas to parents, Roy R. Mauldin and Minnie Matthews Mauldin. He was raised in Albany and later attended Tarleton State University. 

Alvin Douglas Morgan of Lake Wales, Florida and formerly of Albany, passed away Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at the Forsythe Hospice House in Auburndale.

He was born Aug. 23, 1936 in Ratliff City, Oklahoma to the late Biege and Emma Lou “Ella” (White) Morgan. He had been a resident of the Lake Wales area since coming from Texas in 1998. He was a Maintenance Foreman for Shackelford County, Texas. 

Doug enjoyed fishing, hunting, playing the card game Canasta, and spending time with his family and friends.

Three incumbents were returned to the Albany school board and city council at the end of Saturday’s local elections and will be joined by three newcomers.

Even with three contested races, well under 20 percent of the 1,706 registered voters in the city and 1,960 in the school district cast ballots, and more than half of those were during the early voting period.

All of the winning candidates will be sworn in during the entities’ next regular meetings in May.

Albany ISD Results

Albany junior Addison Asher medaled in two journalism events at the state UIL academic meet last Friday after qualifying for the state level in three events.

Asher brought home a silver medal for news writing, as well as a fourth place in feature writing. She also competed in headline writing. This was her first trip to the state meet.

“It was amazing that Addi qualified in three events, but to then medal was fantastic,” said journalism sponsor Donnie Lucas. “She worked hard preparing for state, and it paid off.”

Video footage posted on Facebook last week by Albany 2012 graduate Josh Hudman showing multiple waterfalls cascading 15 or more feet down a rock embankment to plunge into a deep pool of water surrounded by lush green foliage was, to the surprise of many, actually filmed last Thursday, May 2, near the spillway at McCarty Lake. 

The destination vacation worthy scene is on privately owned land only a few miles southwest of Albany.

“See Jane shop,” “Jack hunt and fish,” “drive carefully,” “stop wildlife squish,” “in Albany” was one series of “Burma Shave” type signs that stretched along the roadside, welcomed visitors as they drove toward town, and the local Chamber of Commerce is planning to put up similar styled signs on all five of the highways leading into Albany in the near future.