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 SOUTH PLAINS HOME UNDER WATER--The home of Carlan Crume, of Providence, was under water after Thursday night's storm, May 12, dumped 10-11 inches of rain. There were also reports of 15 inches of rain northeast of Providence. Staff Photo By Alice Gilroy Floyd County communities were hit by tornadoes, hail, and flooding Thursday night, May 12. Six tornadoes were reported in the Hale and Floyd Counties area, but touched down in unpopulated areas and were mostly short lived. The hardest hit area of Floyd County was the South Plains community where high winds, hail, and a confirmed tornado tore down power lines, broke out windows, uprooted trees, and destroyed Center Pivot Systems. The Providence community received 10 inches of rain and up to 15 inches northeast of Providence. Harlen Crume's home in the Providence community was underwater. Water was within 6 inches of pouring into windows, and neighbors gathered on Saturday to remove damaged furniture from the home. The house, built in 1956, has never been flooded. Lighthouse Electric Member Services Director, Larry Ogden, reported most of the damage to transmission poles occurred in the South Plains community. "We lost a line of transmission poles and distribution poles between Brett Marble and Danny Lambert's homes on Highway 207," said Ogden. "We also lost a few poles one mile north and 2 miles east of the South Plains community between Dwight Teeple and Glen Woods homes." A total of 30 distribution poles and 6 transmission poles were downed said Ogden. According to the National Weather Service at least 10 tornadoes touched down across the South Plains region in a span of 12 hours. One home and two barns were destroyed west of Ralls by an F2 and F3 tornado. Winds there were in excess of 200 mph. According to the KCBD website first reports of tornadoes came in as early as 2:00 p.m., near Plainview with a touchdown south of the Plainview airport. A second tornado was reported just 20 minutes later just southeast of Plainview. Nine miles north of Lockney, at 3:45 p.m. storm chasers reported softball size hail. As of 1:00 a.m., Friday morning, May 13, 90 watch/warnings had been issued by the National Weather Service for the South Plains area. The watch/warnings included, according to KCBD, 30 tornado watches/warnings, 50 thunderstorm watches/warnings, and 10 flash flood watches/warnings. According to a story on the KCBD website, National Weather Service Center lead forecaster Ron McQueen said the atmosphere over the South Plains contained the right amount of ingredients to create explosive tornadic conditions. "We had very high levels of gulf moisture early in the day that led with the surface heating to an extremely unstable air mass. At the same time, we had an upper level trough of low pressure coming out of the southern Rockies into the southern high plains, while a surface cold front was trying to slip southward with outflow boundaries."
SOUTH PLAINS
TORNADO--This photograph of the tornado that touched down in
the South Plains community, May 12, was taken with a cell
phone camera by Aurelio Jimenez, of the Lone Star Community.
CALIFORNIA STORM CHASER--A unique automobile, driven by California storm chasers, was part of the large parade of storm chasers following last Thursday's storms. The group also included photographers for National Geographic who eventually got stuck on muddy roads and were pulled out by Gale McPherson in the Lone Star Community. Photo
by Larry and Beth Bramlet
TORNADO BRINGS DOWN POWER LINES--A South Plains tornado took out a long stretch of power lines Thursday night, and broke out windows at several homes. Staff
Photo
COWS RUN FROM STORM--Cattle, belongng to Brett Marble, in the South Plains community broke through fences during Thursday nights storm and were gathered up by Marble and friends. Staff
Photo
CRUME HOME
FLOODED--Neighbors gathered on Saturday to load furniture
and belongings inside the flooded home of Harlan Crume in
the Providence community.
UNCLE'S (WEST TEXAS GAS) SERVICE STATION BURNS--Uncle's Service Station, in Floydada, on Hwy. 70 North, was gutted by a fire, Wednesday, May 11, that started near an electric cook stove in the apartment side of the building, according to Fire Marshall Darrell Gooch. The gas pumps were not affected by the fire, nor the west storage building. West Texas Gas Operations Manager Cindy Lane said, "We plan to build a temporary building on a location within a week to ten days to serve the public with fuel and the farmers with delivery of fuel. We are in the planning stages of rebuilding another convenience store on site. The old building has been declared a total loss." Staff
Photo
By Darwin Robinson The 76th Floyd County Old Settler's Reunion will be held Saturday, May 28th, in downtown Floydada. The theme of the day is "Pioneer Spirit - Remember the Heritage, Build the Future." The celebration will kick off Friday, May 27, 1:00 - 5:00 p.m., at the Floyd County Historical Museum, on the North side of the Square, with Open House and refreshments for the public. The museum will have exhibits of all kinds, including the Coronado Exhibit, the Rope Making demonstration and the Genealogy library. A special feature showing of the new video of "Coronado in Blanco Canyon" will be shown every 30 minutes on Friday. DVDs and VHS tapes of this historical video will be available for purchase. The all-day Saturday celebration will begin at 6:30 until 8:30 a.m. with a Cowboy Breakfast at the South End of the Ag-Extension building, sponsored by the Floydada Ex-Students Association. The Burritos will cost $2.00, while the coffee, or tea, will cost $1.00. Old Settlers Day Registration will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 12:00 noon at the North End of the Ag-Extension building. All types of Arts and Crafts will set up on the court house lawn from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The celebration will include the traditional parade, the Friends of the Library Book Fair and Bake Sale, the Wildflower Show, Nifty Fifty Auto Show, and Texas Pedal Pullers. Awards will also be presented to the Pioneer Woman & Couple from Lockney; Pioneer Man of the Year from Floydada; Recognition of Oldest Man & Woman present, and Person Travelling the Greatest Distance. There will also be entertainmnet under the pavilion from 11:30 a.m.to 1:15 p.m, and a noon lunch catered by Danny's Fins and Hens.
LOCKNEY BASEBALL TEAM WINS 2005 AREA CHAMPIONSHIP--The Lockney Baseball team won the Area Championship and will be playing in the Regional Quarterfinals in Lubbock, Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Moegle Field. Team members are: (back row, l-r) John Sherman, Brandon Hall, Monte Lass, Ky Johnson, Wes Davis, Hagen Johnson, Trey Graves, Mark Ford, Matthew Prather; (front, l-r) Tyler Kidd, J.W. McPherson, Nathan Hancock, Matt Reay, Reid Carthel; (front, center) Dahlen McCarter. Courtesy Photo
ZACHARY CUNNINGHAM
By Alice Gilroy Terri Bush, of Dougherty, has enjoyed her few days of face to face visits with her son, Zachary Cunningham, after months of emails to Baghdad, Iraq. Terri also received a double blessing of meeting her new daughter-in-law Melissa Cunningham. Joining the Army in September 2002, Cunningham eventually ended up studying in the field of Intelligence at Ft. Huachucha, Arizona. He is now an Imagery Analyst stationed at Camp Victory in Baghdad. "I look at satellite pictures, analyze them and then tell my supervisors what I see, said Cunningham." After intelligence training Cunningham moved into Air Borne school to "learn how to jump out of an airplane." Now serving under the 18th Airborne Corps, Cunningham is serving his rotation in Baghdad. Cunningham arrived in Baghdad November 17, 2004 and says he is "enjoying his job". "We are occupying part of Baghdad," said Cunningham. "We are just there to keep it stable while the Iraqi government takes over. We are handing back the country piece by piece." Cunningham says the Iraqis he has met are very appreciative of the Americans and are glad they are in the country. "In Camp Victory the Iraqis are doing lots of construction work there. Those Iraqis go through a lot of security and background checks. These are the Iraqis I get to talk too, as I spend most of my time behind the fence." "There is progress being made," said Cunningham. "The attacks are moving from the U.S. and coalition soldiers to the local people. The terrorists are trying to scare them into not supporting the new government." Cunningham says "it is not as bad over there as everybody thinks." "It is more violent in Los Angeles than some parts of Iraq right now," said Cunningham. "It's just that they don't use explosives in L.A." Working 12 hour days, Cunningham says they spend a lot of their spare time playing poker. "We also watch a lot of T.V., talk on the internet, play video games and watch bootleg movies." Cunningham's mom, Terri, is grateful for internet. "Internet and web cam are how I stay in touch," said Terri. "It has made it easier for me--and now I have Zachary's wife, Melissa, to talk to. Together we keep up on what is going on with Zachary." Married just a few days at the time of the interview, Zachary and Melissa say they met on the internet. They were married in Fayetville, N.C. (next to Ft. Bragg), and plan a larger wedding ceremony next year. Recently named "Soldier of the Month", Cunningham says he is not sure if he will reenlist. "I want to see what options are out there before I commit to anything," said Cunningham. Cunningham will be home for 15 days visiting his mom and stepfather Ron Bush, and then will return to Baghdad to finish the rest of his deployment.
EULA LEE ELLIS Services for Eula lee Ellis, 85, of Ralls and formerly Lockney were held Thursday, May 12, 2005 at the Ralls First Baptist Church. The Reverend Ken Bevel officiated. Burial followed in the Lockney Cemetery under the direction of Adams Funeral Home of Ralls. Mrs. Ellis was born November 27, 1919 at Caddo, Oklahoma to John Wesley and Lottie (Whisenhunt) Estoll. On September 11, 1943 she married James Ellis in Wapanucka, Oklahoma. She was a member of Grace Fellowship Church in Lockney. She and her husband lived in the Lockney area for 60 years and lived the last five in Ralls. She is preceded in death by her parents, three grandchildren and one brother. Survivors include: five children, Ann Sherrill of Lubbock, Kenneth and wife Linda McCool of Ralls, Claudine and husband Myron Cook of West Branch, Michigan, Carolyn and husband Joe Cate of Lubbock, Vernon and wife Debbie Ellis of Fresno, California; eleven grandchildren; twenty-one great-grandchildren; and 6 great-great-grandchildren.
RUTH STAPLETON HARRIS Family graveside services for Ruth Stapleton Harris, 94, of Lubbock were held Tuesday, May 17, 2005 at Lockney Cemetery in Lockney. Arrangements were under the direction of White Funeral Home of Lubbock. Mrs. Harris died Friday, May 6, 2005 in Lubbock. She was born October 13, 1910 in Dimmitt to the late Dr. George J. and Susan Laura McSpadden Stapleton. She graduated from Lockney High School and West Texas State University in 1936 with a BS Degree. She then received her MA in 1943. She married Clyde Dunn on October 26, 1948. He preceded her in death. Ruth then married Charles H. Harris and resided in El Paso. He also preceded her in death. She moved from El Paso to Lago Vista where she resided for 12 years before moving to Lubbock in March of 2004. She taught speech and drama in Pampa before retiring. She was a member of Beta Sigma Phi and the American Association of University Women. She was a world traveler, an avid bridge player and a Baptist. Ruth was also preceded in death by eight brothers and sisters. Survivors include: a nephew, John B. Stapelton of Universal City; a niece, Sandra S. Waggoner of Lubbock; great nephews, George Stapleton, Michael Stapleton, Randy Stapleton, all of California and Greg Stapleton of Flomot; special friends, John and Carroll Akard of Lubbock and Martha Armenedariz of El Paso. The family suggests memorials to Vista Care Family Hospice, 1010 Slide Rd., Lubbock, Texas 79416.
DILLON PATTERSON Services for Dillon Duain "G' Dad" Patterson, 83, of Levelland, formerly of Possum Kingdom Lake were held Friday, May 6, 2005 at the Chapel at Cal Farley's Girlstown, USA located 9 miles south of Whiteface on FM 1780. Mr. Patterson died May 4, 2005. He was born April 1, 1922 in Estelline to the late Felt and Jewel Patterson. He was raised in Floydada and graduated from Floydada High School in 1941. He proudly served our country in the Coast Guard during WWII. On April 27, 1947 he married Syble Roe in Floydada. He retired from Energas Corporation in 1985 after 38 years of service. He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister, Nita Merle Patterson and one nephew, Rett Patterson. He is survived by his wife Syble, sons Johnny Patterson of Fresno, California, Jimmy Patterson of Lubbock; and one daughter Nita White of Whiteface; four grandchildren; three great-grandsons; and one great-granddaughter. He is also survived by one brother, E.W. (Pat) Patterson of Tahoka, two sisters, Fern Hartsell of Floydada and Wren Samuel of Topeka, Kansas; three nieces, Hope Warren of Floydada, Holly Glasscock of Ada, Oklahoma and Sharon Kenty of Atlanta, Georgia. Memorials are suggested to Cal Farley's Girlstown, USA, P.O. Box 1890, Amarillo, Texas 79174.
RAY "SKEETER" REED Services for Ray "Skeeter" Reed, 80, of Abilene were held Saturday at Wylie Baptist Church. Rev. Lee Fuller officiated. Burial was under the direction of Elliott-Hamil Garden of Memories. Mr. Reed died Thursday, May 12, 2005 at an Abilene medical center. He was born in Kemp January 14, 1925 to Lillie (Hudman) and Clay Bigger Reed. He attended San Angelo Junior College and married Johnnie Juanita Thompson in Lubbock on April 19, 1947. Mr. Reed owned the Ford dealership, Reed Ford Sales, in Floydada. He moved to Abilene from Lubbock in 1999. He was a member of Wylie Baptist Church and both Rotary International and Kiwanis Club. He was a U.S. Navy veteran. He was preceded in death by his parents and five brothers, Sherman, Kenneth, Reagon, Jack and Jerry Reed. Survivors include his wife, Johnnie Reed of Abilene; daughters, Susan Rainbolt of Abilene, Mychele Hammond of Merkel and Lana Hughs of Abilene; 6 grandchildren; and 9 great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to American Heart Association, 149 N. Willis, Abilene, Texas 79603, or Wylie Baptist Church Building Fund, 6097 Buffalo Gap Road, Abilene, Texas 79606.
DANIEL FED SELMAN Funeral services for Daniel Fed Selman, 47, of Iola were held Thursday, May 12, 2005 at Covenant Family Church. Rev. Danny Green officiated. Arrangements were with Callaway- Jones Funeral Home. Mr. Selman died May 8, 2005. He was born May 30, 1958 in Amarillo to Billy and Mary Selman. He attended Floydada High School and graduated from Lockney High School. He then attended Texas Tech. He had been a resident since 1995 and was the owner/operator of Fasco Enterprises in College Station, a general contracting company. He was a member of Covenant Family Church. He is survived by his wife, Gayle Selman of Iola; one son, Daniel Cleveland Selman of College Station; four daughters, Peppre Selman Martin of Wichita Falls, Stormi Selman of Iola, Celenda Young of Seabrook and Charity Miller of Lubbock; one brother, Andy Selman of Iola; one sister, Kathy Wright of Bryan; three grandchildren; and his parents, Billy and Mary Selman of Iola. Memorials may be made to Covenant Family Church 4010 Harvey Road, College Station, Texas 77845. BLANCHE WEST Funeral services for Blanche Irene Cardinal West, 85, of Floydada were held Wednesday, May 18, 2005 at the Primitive Baptist Church in Floydada. Interment was at the Lakeview Cemetery, Floydada under the direction of B.G. Boydston Funeral Home, Lindsay, Oklahoma and Moore-Rose-White Funeral Home of Floydada. Mrs. West died Saturday, May 14, 2005 in Lindsay, Oklahoma. She born May 9, 1920 in Floydada to the late T.J. and Katie Cardinal. She married George S.L. West on November 23, 1939 in Plainview. She was a member of Central Baptist Church, a homemaker, worked in Headstart Program, and a member of the Helping Hand Club. She went to Murray State College at the age of 60 and received a degree in Headstart. She was also a volunteer at Sulphur High School for several years. She has lived in the Lindsay area for the past two years and was a member of the Banner Baptist Church during that time. She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother Louis Babe Cardinal, and a sister Audrey Jeannine Cardinal. Survivors include her husband, S.L. West; daughter, Kay Hilderbrandt; granddaughter, Karen Kay Knight of Lindsay, Oklahoma; three brothers, Fred Armand Cardinal and John Nellie Cardinal of Lubbock and Emile Eugene Cardinal of Phoenix, Arizona; and a host of nieces and nephews.
Dear Editor, In response to the letter written by Buck Johnson in last week's edition of the Hesperian-Beacon, I want to say that I have a little different perspective of W.J. Mangold Memorial Hospital. I feel that Floyd County is blessed to have such a wonderful hospital in our community. After reading his letter thoughts came to my mind of the ladies we first see at the reception desk. They obviously deal with sick impatient people who want to be anywhere else besides a hospital waiting room. Many of these people have sick children and it is just not a very fun place to be. My experience with the reception workers is that they are doing everything they can to help get you in and out as quickly as possible. I have never known them to be anything but courteous. I think of our wonderful doctors who live in our community because they love it here. Any one of them could move anywhere in the country and work less hours and make more money. They contribute to our community in many more ways than just being our doctors. Their children attend our schools, they attend our churches and are very much a part of our community. I cannot tell you how many times I have been to some kind of a community function and see Dr. Gary get beeped on his pager and have to leave to go to the hospital. I saw in last week's paper where Dr. Moore just sponsored the new "Disc Golf Course" at the Youth Center. I have seen first hand the leadership of Dr. Stewart as Scoutmaster with our Boy Scout program. Dr. Stewart even left his home and family for several months to go live with a family in Mexico. He did this so he could learn to speak Spanish better so he could be more helpful to those in our community who do not speak English. I have had an operation in this hospital, by Dr. Stennett, and visited family and friends there. I would put our nurses up against any I have seen anywhere. They are caring, concerned and very well trained. I think of the people in the billing and insurance departments. I cannot imagine what it must be like to deal with all the insurance nightmares they have to deal with. I am thankful they are on the job behind the scenes. Our family has used the emergency room on a number of occasions in the past years. I feel we have received the best care anyone could possibly hope for. If a doctor is not in we know Berry Hooten or someone else will take good care of us. We live in a small community with a limited tax base. We cannot afford to have a doctor on hand 24/7, but we do have a doctor available at all times to respond to calls. We cannot expect our doctors to come to the hospital every time someone comes to the Emergency Room. I want to thank Sharon Hunt and the Hospital Board for their hard work. Everyone employed at our hospital contributes to making it one of the best hospitals anywhere.
Lennie
Gilroy
Dear Editor, During storm season you should expect that anything can happen. Only you can prepare yourself and/or your household for an emergency. Flashlights, battery powered radios and a plan of action are necessities that every homeowner should have. It is also important to be where you plan to be prior to a storm being close to the town. The emergency response volunteers will do the best they can do to keep as many people informed of the conditions as is possible. These volunteers or anyone else cannot prevent the electricity from going off as it did Thursday night. In the event there is a need to sound emergency sirens, they will be sounded as early as possible, giving our citizens the greatest amount of warning as possible. If the electricity should be off at the time a warning needs to be sounded, police car and fire trucks will drive the streets with sirens sounding. Remember, only you can make sure that you and your household are prepared in case of an emergency. Gary Brown City
Manager
Dear Editor, As you and the people of Floydada and surrounding areas are well aware, the economic situation of the agricultural South Plains of Texas has made a steady decline in the past few years-the past three have been in a rather steep decline. As a result, the commercial and retail establishments have struggled to maintain business with ever increasing costs and shrinking volume due to loss in population. I look at the recent demise of certain retailers and services (Hale's Department Store, Duckwall's Variety, Silver Screen Video, Covenant Home Health Care, Our Place Drive In, (and the near closing of our only lumberyard, Higginbotham Bartlett) as signs of a local economic depression. As these services close down, jobs are lost and things we used to get in this small town disappear. People are then forced to shop in Lubbock or Plainview for what they need and want. As this occurs, the time out taken to make that trip (not to mention the high cost of gasoline which compounds the problem) for those items is used also for stops at those cities for items that are also carried by the remaining merchants who are still struggling to stay afloat here. As the money of the people of Floydada flows away to Lubbock and Plainview, the opportunity for Floydada to prosper flows away as well. Having lived here all my life, I remember when there was hardly anything you couldn't get in Floydada. I remember when Saturday afternoons were so busy downtown, that you had to drive around the block a couple of times to find a parking place. I remember the crop of '73 that pumped huge amounts of money into this town and practically built the 900 W. blocks past Texas Avenue. Well, it's nice to reminisce. Alas, those days are gone. But reminiscing does not pay the bills. Since 1910, my great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father, and now I have kept Kirk and Sons open till 6:00 Saturday afternoons. But now, the economic times are stronger than tradition. I just simply cannot sit around twiddling my thumbs on an empty town square while expenses add up with no sales to offset them. It seems my potential customers are spending their time and money somewhere else. With regrets to the people of Floydada and the surrounding communities, Kirk and Sons will now close at noon on Saturdays. It's not so bad for me and John, though. With the fewer hours we spend on the job, it's like giving ourselves a raise, not to mention the other constructive things that we could be doing during that thumb twiddling time. And like always, we will be glad to serve you Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and till noon on Saturdays.
-Layne Kirk
By The Way | by Alice Gilroy In two weeks my family will be charting a new life change. My only child will be graduating from High School. Right now I'm so stressed out over the usual hectic pace at the paper in May, and the graduation festivities that I really haven't had time to give too much thought to how the house will feel without Brandon in it. We have been very blessed in our home with Brandon's decision to pursue an ROTC scholarship at New Mexico Military Institute. For two years his tuition and board will be paid for and he will also get a salary every month that will hopefully take care of all those "extras" that pop up every week. He will be commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant when he is through with his college years. I have come to the conclusion that I haven't had much time to think about him graduating because I keep thinking about him being in the Army when he gets out of college. When I hear a mother's cry about a son or daughter leaving the nest, I start to think--"I wish I was just worried about that". But then I think about my good friends who recently lost their oldest son, Reid Rogers, in an automobile accident and I decide that I really shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself at all. Trying to put things in perspective I tell myself that isn't this the point to having children-to raise them to be good citizens and good Christians and send them out into the world to make it a better place? If I really turned my son over to God when he was small then why am I trying to take him back little by little? Why am I flopping back and forth between being excited about him being out of the house to fulfill his own dreams and on the other hand not wanting to let go? I find myself trying to think of all the things I hadn't told him yet. I think I may be making him a little crazy with the stuff I'm trying to cram into him before he leaves. There is Bible scripture that he has heard before, but I want to make sure he really got the point. Then there are the lessons on how to balance a check book--and last week I gave a very important (but totally unappreciated lecture) on why you shouldn't brake when you are driving through a large puddle of water. Also--I'm determined before he is actually enrolled at college that he will drive with two hands instead of one on the bottom of the steering wheel and the other out the window. I've tried to teach the laundry sorting and washing lessons but I don't think those ever got learned. I'm also trying to be positive about the things that I will have time for after he leaves. For instance, I have boxes of receipts I could file. I've given up on a scrapbook, but maybe I'll actually put the pictures in a photo album instead of piled in a cabinet. I could clean out closets and have a garage sale--or just forget that and box junk up and give it away. I think I might fix my bicycle and use it. I think I'll go on a diet and never cook again. I'll just snack. My husband and I have thought about getting a new couch after Brandon leaves because the one we have has been used by teens, one too many times, for high jumping, pole vaulting, or wrestling practice. It's been sewed back together too many times. We give up. I think I may get the carpet cleaned--now that Brandon and all his friends will be out of the house. I wonder how long all these high aspirations of mine will take to fulfill? One week? One month? Then what? I think I'll keep the stains on the carpet and the torn couch just in case. I don't want any of Brandon's friends to feel uncomfortable when they come to see me. That's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping that even though my son will be tied down with ROTC, National Guard, and Army restrictions, the friends that I've also come to know and love will take pity on me with a visit and a raid to my refrigerator and pantry. Maybe they will even help me file my receipts, fill photo albums, and clean out closets.
A View From The Lamplighter | by Ken Towery
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