Another beautiful week has slipped by and the race for the New Year is picking up speed! I’m not sure how the first ten months sped by so quickly but here I am looking at October again with Christmas just around the corner! I still haven’t learned to make my squares come out evenly on my quilt projects. I think I have a good eye for color but those nasty little squares just keep running off at the corners!

Pastor Barry Fikes and Thurman Saxon headed out to Alpine to watch Tyler Ethridge and Mark Williams play ball for Sul Ross. To all extents and purposes they had a great time but didn’t get to see much field time from either boy. It seems those folks up there still don’t know they have a winning combination in our two boys. I guess you have to earn your way onto a team but I still maintain they are wasting our gift to the world of football. I’ll bet there are a score of teams who are either hooting for me or sneering at me. Can’t say it bothers me much either way!

Barry gave us a little anecdote about his trip. I hope my students will note that was one of our spelling words last week! It seems Barry has never been to Big Bend National Park. Coming from Richland Springs, he figured the road block signs, stating the roads were closed due to high water, just hadn’t been removed yet. Skirting around the signs he headed for Big Bend country. Reason returned to his single focused brain when he saw tire tracks headed into the mud then back out. Fortunately for him, he was able to rock the car back and forth to get unstuck, without having to get out, and mess up his new tennis shoes. Big Bend will have to wait for another visit. He did report the Rio Grande was running high and fast, as he drove past.

We were all distressed to hear that young Courtney Van Cleve was in a serious car wreck in that same area. We have yet to hear all the details, but one young lady is in the hospital awaiting surgery on her leg. Regrettably Courtney will not be coming home. Our hearts grieve for her parents and friends over this tragic end to a young life. Courtney’s Grandmother Rachel called to give the family the news Saturday.

The Volunteer Fire Department held a fund raising event this weekend. All proceeds will go to the Mask-Till Scholarship Fund. This scholarship is awarded to a deserving senior in honor of the two young men who lost their lives several years ago.

The Coyotes were the recipients of the Dave Campbell Army Strong Team of the Week Award last week. Try saying that quickly several times! Adam Hochfelder, general manager of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football stated this award is given to teams that show strong teamwork, dedication, personal courage and integrity in the face of adversity. Trailing by 42-28 last week against the Gordon Longhorns, the Coyotes came out in the second half and scored 32 consecutive points to win a 60-50 victory. Those proud attributes are shared by our U.S. Army Soldiers and the Coyotes are proud to receive this award.

The JV team travelled to Strawn to compete against the Throckmorton Greyhounds. Super plays and great teamwork brought home another victory. Final score was Richland 48, Throckmorton 0. I believe that brings their season total to 4-0. Way to go JV Coyotes.

I guess you can’t leave out the younger guys. JH Coyotes won their game against Gordon. Touchdowns were scored by two of my students, Stanley Butler and Storm Teel. There were at least two other scores, but I do not have that information. This weekend also saw the start of the Pee-Wee Football season. Jason Lewis wrote “the teams played great, our cheerleaders performed a wonderful halftime dance routine, and the parents clapped and yelled as loudly as they could.” We did not win our first game, but hope to win next week. The next game for Richland is at Cherokee starting at 10:00am. See you October 4th!

Thanks to a donation from Al & Billie Behrens, a beautiful wall of local pictures was put up over the weekend. Close to fifty photos of landmarks, citizens and family homes was displayed for our early morning churchgoers to view. The photo wall is the dream child of Russ Ransom. I’m just not sure why he had to put up the picture of me with the cookie that looks like my twin! It should provide members and visitors many happy walks down memory lane.

Our firefighters have been busy lately. I think we sometimes forget that our local volunteers are employed full time in other occupations. The sacrifice of time and effort is often at family expense. Wayne Powell was likening their work to that of other people in ministry, and he is correct. Firefighting is a ministry that deeply touches people’s lives. Firefighters enter a fire knowing that they could possibly be seriously hurt. I have yet to see a firefighter stop and weigh the costs. Were that the case, we would not have lost all those first responders during the 9/11 bombings. Broken hearted victims turn to the men and women who have come to help for consolation and compassion. I have yet to see one turned away from that gift. It is a gift, never doubt that. That mercy hug, those words of consolation, that act of bravery; those are all gifts freely given by our firefighters. The next time you see smoke on the horizon, why not stop and say a prayer for the firefighters and the victims. May God protect them and bring them safely home!

Box Top letters went out last week. The race is on and 5th Grade is ahead! Mrs. Harris wanted me to put out the call for more Box Tops but to ask everyone to check the expiration date. I didn’t even know they had expiration dates! I don’t know what other school do, but we use ours to stock the library shelves. So please, check your boxes, and send them on to the school.

Maggie Bryant celebrated her first birthday this weekend. Carol and I were trying to figure out when the tradition of handing a baby their own cake to mutilate came to pass. We would never be allowed to make a mess like we do nowadays. Neither of us came up with an answer to that weighty question.

It’s time to get serious about prayer. In the past our government would have called for a national day of prayer to face this crisis in our government. We seem to have forgotten our forefathers urged prayer for important decisions. They were adamant that we could not prosper without the blessing of God.