Erinshire in the Gap 4.25.09

Erinshire in the Gap

April 25, 2009

I got there just as the "gates" were open...

THIS YEAR WAS A TREAT!!!! for all the senses!

Amy and the crew at the Buffalo Gap Historical Village had every corner

readied for the 100s of visitors to this annual event!
Stages and sound crews, along with videographers and photographers, all were preparing the stages for their performers.

.... and once again... the "village gardener" answered all my questions

amidst his Eden of heirloom vegetables and flowers.

(YEAH... I even got a little bunch of his hard-to-find replicating onions...

I'd looked everywhere!)

I only saw a couple of the performers for this year... But
Slim Chance and the Bagpipe group were amazing as usual....
all that I missed was my partner and a dance floor!
In a "Willie Nelson" picnic atmosphere,

all the people began to gather in the sun and wind of a West Texas April afternoon.

I got to see the people who anticipated the entire day... places secured,

they camped on the grounds in readiness for an

absolutely excellent exploitation of their senses.
Click below to hear 30 seconds of an entire afternoon into evening.

If you missed it this year... I'm sad...

BUT

Make sure, to be there early next year!

We'll be looking for ya!

Jim Ned Valley Chamber Banquet April 09 : Colt McCoy guest speaker!

Colt McCoy

"back home again"

to talk about supporting our home town advantage!

What Happened at the Spring Banquet

The Jim Ned Valley Chamber of Commerce had a great spring banquet, Saturday, April 11, at the Jim Ned High School, with our hometown hero and Jim Ned High School grad, Colt McCoy, present as guest speaker.

Colt spoke on "What Makes a Great Community?"

and expounded on the three areas that made Jim Ned a great community --

the people, education, and faith.

The chamber honored community members for their contributions to the Jim Ned community, which includes the smaller communities of Buffalo Gap, Lawn, Tuscola, Cedar Gap, Moro, Lemon's Gap, Rogers, Bradshaw, Guion, Elm Valley, the Canyons, Ovalo and even Possum Trot!

Honorees given special awards were:

Outgoing Jim Ned CISD Superintendent: Kent LeFevre, 30 years at Jim Ned, 14 years as Superintendent

Jim Ned CISD School Employee of the Year for each of the four campuses:

Buffalo Gap Elementary - secretary Marcie Tutt Lawn Elementary -

teacher Jennifer Willis Middle School -

secretary Carolyn Golson High School -

teacher Bobbidee Thompson

Community Volunteer of the Year: Genny Abercombie

Business Leader of the Year: Super S Foods Store

Also appreciated were the nominees in the above categories, who were asked to stand as his/her name was announced:

School employees: at Buffalo Gap Elementary -

Sue Harris and Nan Egger at Lawn Elementary -

Kathy LeFevre and Rosie Ortega at the Middle School -

Steve Bryant and Mike McClure

at the High School - Debbie Cook and Jan Pearce

Community volunteers: Tim Brannon Bob Eisenberg Maxine Poindexter

Business leaders: The Jim Ned Journal Carpenter's Interiors

Colt McCoy spent six years of his youth in Jim Ned schools,

played sports, especially football,

and brought Jim Ned into the limelight as a gifted quarterback under the coaching of his father, Brad McCoy, now at Graham, Texas.

Colt is now finishing up his junior year at the University of Texas

and is known across football America and beyond for being the star quarterback for the UT Longhorns. He was a runner-up for the 2008 Heisman Trophy, much to the chagrin of local fans, who view him as the best of the best.

Colt McCoy did a wonderful job at the banquet greeting old friends and old and new fans

as they moved through the food line for a delicious dinner of rib-eye steaks and chicken cooked by Big G's Steak and Barbecue of Tuscola.

Colt also made many fans happy when

he signed their Longhorn souvenirs for them

- helmets, stuffed animals, pictures, magazines, and Longhorn shirts.

More than 300 fans came from as far away as Roswell, New Mexico, and the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the event.

The Jim Ned Valley Chamber of Commerce promotes the economic, civic, and cultural well being of the Jim Ned communities.

(Thanks Grace for this contribution to the blog... courtesy of the Jim Ned Journal Newspaper)