"The Falls", so familiar to Lipan, has had some road excavation material dumped in it. Not good for the Kickapoo Creek! Wasn't this a mistake?

This was first noticed Thanksgiving weekend, but don't know when it occurred. If you know anything about this, please pass it on. I have to assume that a dozier operator working for a drilling or pipeline contractor did this. I don't know if the land owner had any knowledge of what was being done, but surely the plan is to repair this Kickapoo Creek interference.

This picture was take with a cell phone camera from near the Falls' drop-off. There is a simblance of a new "road" cut down to the creek from the left of the picture.

Mike Ator, with roots in Lipan, is a singer song writer in Houston. He is Jo Ator's grandson.

I direct you to Mike Ator's website. My personal favorite song of his is "Have You Met Lonely?"

Saint-Gobain Corporation Has Named Richard Ator to Receive One of its National Volunteer Recognition Awards.

The blog is pleased to pass on the following recognition of Lipan's Richard Ator for his community service. For those that know Richard, this award makes perfect sense. This national corporate recognition makes Lipan proud! The company's website reports having 23,705 employees working in approximately 190 plant locations. Saint-Gobain's monthly employee newsletter states that Richard was chosen from 80 nominations through out the company's U.S. and Canadian operations:

Saint-Gobain Corporation recently announced the winners of this year’s Volunteer Recognition Awards.

The employee winners and their community organizations (to which Saint-Gobain donates $1,000) are: Richard Ator, Maintenance Technician, Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Stephenville, Texas—Lipan Fire Department, Lipan, Texas; Sandy Beach, Plant Controller, CertainTeed Insulation, Chowchilla, California—Make-A-Wish Foundation, Fresno, California; Janet Lynch, Six Sigma Black Belt, CertainTeed, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania—Southampton 4-H Seeing Eye Puppy Club; Steve Martin, Product Designer, Saint-Gobain Containers, Muncie, Indiana—Ward Township Volunteer Fire Department; and Javier Renteria, Warehouse Supervisor, CertainTeed Insulation, Chowchilla, California—Merced Youth Soccer Association, Merced, California.

The retiree winner: Barbara Guth, retired General Accounting Supervisor from Corhart Refractories, Louisville, Kentucky, who volunteers for AMVETS National Ladies Auxiliary, based in Lanham, Maryland.

A New Business Is Painting It's Store Front.

Ronnie Harrell is shooting to open a new business around November 1st - the Family Grocery & Deli. Billy Green is expected to make appearances in the meat department. Word is Ronnie plans on having his BBQ pit outside with some tables on the sidewalk on good days and tables inside.

Lipan High School's basketball teams are drawing favorable attention in the preseason polls. Might be related to the beautiful evening sky seen last weekend!
October marks the beginning of deer bow season. From one tree perch around 7:15 pm all the feeder attracted was a noisy herd of 13 black feral pigs! One hunter claims to have seen the mother of all bucks with a big 5x5 rack, but darkness prevented a good shot.

If the basketball blog is to keep a link to Lipan Texas Exchange, something needs to be posted here! How about . . . .

Due to the the unusual rains this year:
>Excellent large round bail hay is cheap at about $35. This time last year, some sorry hay was selling for nearly $100. This market is good for the cattlemen, but not so for the hay growers. Fortunately, many farmers are both.

>Frogs are everywhere! That's kinda fun to watch.

Lipan schools reported 35 more students than last year at the start of school. That's huge! Board president John Cooper says no additional teachers have been required which eventually helps the district with state funding. This enrolement increase, greater than 10%, is as shocking as it is encouraging to the community of Lipan.

The school's new gym additions (dressing rooms, coaches offices, foyer and concessions area) are staying within the budget resources partly due to superintendent Williams Stokes' donating some of his cabinet making skills. You may not know that Mr. Stokes started in education as a shop teacher. Mr. Cooper and others are donating some of the electrician labor. These contributions are really appreciated!

The First National Bank of Lipan is celebrating its 100th year this fall. This record of continuous service to the community is remarkable and rare! Congratulations to the employees and owners of the bank.

Jo Anna Stowe's "Lipan Smoke Signals" in the weekend Hood County News continues to report local family news. I'm curious how long this feature has run in the paper, and admit to being an avid reader.

Recent graduates of Lipan's public school are pursuing some of the most interesting studies or occupations. Not wanting to slight anyone, I wouldn't dare make a public list. However, surely you know that pride in their accomplishments are felt in the recent school enrollment numbers.

More than 10" Inches of Rain Washes Out Hwy 4 and 1189. Kickapoo Falls Pictured Below:

Shelly's Market Closes

Shelly's Market has closed, and will be missed. Thanks must go to Shelly, and before her, Billy and Judy, for their merchantile endeavors!

Surely there exists a merchant on the horizon who has the vision and finances to reshape a merchandise mix that would fit this valuable void in Lipan. However, I just don't see sufficient traffic without selling fuel. At some point, Pak-a-Sak's owners may need to remodel and expand its offering.

In the mean time, the City council ought to endorse a modest Main Street beautification and zoning project that would cause more eyeballs and pocketbooks to trade their essential shopping needs in Lipan Country.

A place to lead by example might be the unkempt appearance and neglected "curb appeal" of City Hall. I know how this happens. The mayor, employees, and council members likely come in the back door, and don't notice what the patrons and passersby see out front.

Not trying to meddle . . . .just say'in! Best wishes to Shelly.

Lipan ISD Board Sets its Performance Goals With the Superintendent

On February 20th, the Lipan school board adopted these key Performance Goals asking superintendent William Stokes to focus his efforts toward their accomplishment.

1. Finance

• a. Establish a fund balance that meets the state optimum level. Time frame - 2-3 yrs. (See blog note below)


• b. Develop strategies to provide for the routine upgrade of equipment in the areas of Child Nutrition, Technology and Transportation. Other areas as determined by the Superintendent.

2. Academic

• a. Maintain current TEA accountability rating of Recognized; work diligently to earn rating of Exemplary. (Note: To maintain it's current "recognized" rating, the district will have to improve its current performance since the rating threshold moves upward every two years until 2014.)


• b. Develop curriculum guides(s) for distribution to parents and students and to be posted on the district's website.

3. Physical Plant

• a. Successfully complete the High School renovation.


• b. Successfully complete the High School addition.


• c. Successfully complete the shell replacement of the burned building.


• d. Successfully complete construction of dressing rooms/coaches' offices/concession area and public restrooms in gym area.


• e. Work with architects and other professionals to determine the scope of work and revenue required to complete the new gym. This should include stop-gap measures to stabilize the building and prevent further damage by weather and other sources.


• f. Continue to work on landscaping and overall appearance of the campus.

4. Community Relations

• a. Implement periodic newsletter.


• b. Continue efforts to upgrade the information available on the website.

5. Board Relations

• a. Provide weekly update memos.


• b. Develop a Board calendar of work and administrative procedures handbook.

6. Other

• a. Continue work to improve the Child Nutirtion Program.


• b. Develop strategies to recruit and train additional substitute teachers and bus drivers.

-------------

Note: The school's audited available fund balance at 8/31/2006 was only 1/4th of what the state recommends. Having navigated tumultous storms the past 5 years, the trustees are right in placing the District's Fund Balance at the top of the Performance Goals.

Shelly's Market in Lipan, Texas means First Saturday Hootenany!

Read this spring press clipping from the Dallas Morning News!

New young talent has been sitting in on these monthly blue grass sessions.

Lipan ISD puts on Senior Night on Friday with the final home basketball game of the season. The next day at Shelly's Grocery Market on Main Street is the long running "First Saturday" monthly Hootenany.

Joe Bass and several of his Double Mountain Boys have formed the core performers over recent years. However, a number of young fidlle players have begun to liven up the night!

Come check it out! Bring your own folding chair or lean against the racks of merchandise! Eat what you want, and settle up with Shelly and Pam as you leave.

Rumor has it that Billy and Judy Green are back working part-time at the Market! Now this I want to see!

Improving communications using LISD's website

For 2007 the School Board should take the opportunity, through its superintendent, to increase communications with the community.

There are a number of issues to consider, but now that the district's website has been functioning since September, accomplishing that goal is reasonable.

There has been some discussion on this. With the 2nd half of the school year underway, now is a good time to implement additional reporting of the District's goals and projects.

The Hood County News does an outstanding job following Indian athletic activities. More times than not, the coaches take responsibility for calling in the information. The News isn't staffed to cover Lipan's ongoing governmental activities, either city or school.

I know from past experience, rarely do interested citizens attend these kinds of meetings. Unless you have a concern to voice, meetings tend to be routine and without refreshments!

By statute, the Texas Open Meetings Act makes all kinds of records available for post review - upon written request. But that's not convenient, it's inefficient, and usually is unnecessarily perceived as adversarial.

Many school districts now provide current and archived agendas and minutes on their websites. I notice some superintendents post recaps of Board actions. Some are providing quarterly status reports of district accomplishments, student acheivements, construction projects, etc.

Larger schools hire a webmaster to control the unending possibilities of the website. With Lipan's current budget constraints, the school needs to carefully tailor its website to the basics.

Having your community as informed as possible is never wasted effort. Because of the important tasks ahead for the Lipan ISD, educating your citizen stakeholders pays dividends. LipanIndians.net presents an excellent opportunity.

Investigation of Ponzi Scheme Continues - Receiver Files Update 12-06-06 in Federal Court.

On December 6, 2006, the receiver for the Securities and Exchange Commission, filed the "Receiver's Second Interim Report" with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman, Texas. The link to the full report is found here: Receivers 2nd Interim Report

Midway through the report the Receiver discusses how

" . . . . individual investors dealt with "facilitators" for the Bank Deposit Program (which has been determined to be a fraudulant Ponzi or piramid scheme). These facilitators were located through out the United States and acted as the intermediators between investors and Travis Correll/Horizon Establishment. The report says "Apparently, some facilitators had “sales agents” working on their behalf, while others did not. The monthly return paid by Correll/Horizon to facilitators varied, and it appears that there are differences in amounts paid by facilitators to the individuals who invested through them."

One of the largest facilitators identified was

" . . . . K.G. Sitton & Co. and its principal, Kerry G. Sitton who are not Defendants or Relief Defendants in this action. The Receiver expects to file suit against these and other Sitton-related entities. As the result of extensive negotiations involving Sitton, the Receiver and the SEC, the Receiver expects that Mr. Sitton and all affiliated entities will become part of this Receivership subject to the terms of the Receivership Order. "

Kerry Sitton, formerly a NCAA Division I basketball referree, was known to be a visitor to Lipan, Texas, where he had developed relationships with certain individuals. On one occassion, Mr. Sitton was met while eating at a local restaurant/grocery, and subsequently inquired about purchasing some land from a local family. At the time he gave no indication that he had involvement with the Bank Deposit Program.