September featured two different stories related to the November general election.
The Scurry County Clerk’s office was notified of a discrepancy in the voting information it publishes on the county’s website in September. County Clerk Melody Appleton said she received an email from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) pointing out that some of the voting information on the website was not published in both English and Spanish.
Appleton said she worked with the county’s website administrator to bring the information into full compliance.
On Sept. 27, Antrelle Clark and other members of the Western Texas College Psi Zeta chapter of Phi Theta Kappa held a voter registration drive. When the four-hour campaign ended, more than 50 people completed paperwork and were given an envelope to send it to their County Clerk’s office.
“I thought a lot of their parents would make them register,” Clark said. “I feel like not enough of our generation voted. We didn’t take the initiative to give our own opinion. When you vote, it shapes your future.”
During the Sept. 4 Snyder City Council meeting, Snyder resident Dr. Berry Jordan encouraged the council to look for ways to expand the tax base. Jordan said the city should look into changing the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Zone to remove residential properties from within its boundaries and to consider annexing new areas like the Augusta Circle subdivision into the city limits. A portion of the property taxes collected in the TIF are set aside to help pay for infrastructure projects, which is often offered as an incentive for new or expanding businesses.
September was also the beginning of the Scurry County United Way campaign. This year, the campaign’s board decided to host a County Fair on the Square to kick off the campaign and more than $4,200 was raised for the campaign.
The event featured a variety of fun-themed events, the headline of which was a kiss the pig contest, the “winner” of which was Snyder Daily News Publisher Bill Crist.
Crist beat out four other contestants — Snyder Mayor Tony Wofford, Scurry County Sheriff Trey Wilson, former Snyder Police Chief Earl Morrison and Thomas Jowers of Blake Fulenwider Dodge — in collecting donations to earn the right to pucker up for the somewhat reluctant piglet. More than $400 in donations from the public was collected as part of that contest.
On Sept. 17, the memory of Snyder High School graduate Kelsi (Johnson) Messick lived on thanks to her hometown. Friends and family of Messick, who died in an automobile accident on Aug. 10, 2017, held a ‘dough-nation’ fundraiser at Pizza Inn.
When the final customers left just after 9 p.m., organizers announced that $12,528 had been raised for the John 4:14 Foundation’s Uganda water well project. An anonymous donor agreed to match the money raised a few days later.
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