2007 - THE YEAR IN REVIEW
April thru June
April
April started out with a bonus for bagain hunters, as the Citywide Yard and Sidewalk Sale got underway. Sixty-seven addresses were listed on a map supplied by the Iowa Park Chamber of Commerce, with many others, who missed the deadline to be listed, participating.
Over $45,000 was raised in a day of fundraising to help offset expenses for two and a half year old Olivia Williford, who was diagnosed with leukemia.
The Iowa Park High School Band earned the UIL Sweepstakes Award for the 24th consecutive year.
Iowa Park’s Chase Wright earned a 10-3 win against the Cleveland Indians in his Major League debut on the mound for the New York Yankees.
James Frazier was honored by the Iowa Park Little League for his longtime contibutions to the program during Opening Day ceremonies.
Iowa Park Police Detective Robert Johnson was named Chief of Police to fill the position left vacant with the retirement of Steve Klempa. The city council had received 24 applications for the position.
May
Community leaders from Iowa Park and surrounding towns gathered at First Family Center to attend a workshop on economic development conducted by Dr. Ernesto Sirolli. The Sirolli program assists individuals with starting new businesses and helps existing businesses that want to expand their current operations.
IPHS senior Karter Ziegler advanced to the UIL State Track and Field Meet, placing second in the 100-meter hurdles at the Regional Meet in Odessa. She placed sixth at the state meet with a time of 15.45.
The Lady Hawk softball team defeated Canyon to win the 1-3A Bi-District title, but lost to the Sanger Lady Indians in the 1-3A Area round.
The Hawk baseball team beat Borger two games to one in the 1-3A Bi-District playoff series, but lost to Abilene Wylie, ranked second in state.
Iowa Park’s annual ParkFest Car Show and Cruise saw almost double the number of entries this year.Of the 124 cars entered, two-thirds were from out of town.
Dusty Ross was presented the Star Lone Star Farmer Award during the annual awards banquet of Iowa Park’s Future Farmers of America Chapter. Other FFA members receiving top honors were Casey Meadows, Star Chapter Farmer; Westin McCalip, Star Greenhand; and Megan Ermis, Outstanding Agricultural Science Award.
Two IPHS students earned medals at the State UIL Literary Meet. Brionne Manriques, a sophomore placed second in Literary Criticism, and Justin Patridge, a senior, placed second in Prose Interpretation.
In one of the highest voter turnouts in recent years, Place 5 on the Iowa Park School Board was won by one vote.
With 604 votes cast in the school trustee election, Robert Johnson received 290 votes to Tommy Riggin’s 289. Riggins requested a recount. After the recount, Johnson retained his one vote win and was administered the oath of office along with incumbent Jeff Watts who retained his seat on the board.
One hundred and thirty nine IPHS seniors recieved their diplomas during graduation ceremonies at Hawk Stadium. Valedictorian Afton Geil gave the farewell address.Travis Maloney was salutatorian of the IPHS Class of 2007.
Citizens from Iowa Park and Electra met together to plan the next step in getting the North Texas Enterprise Facilitation Project in place. Ed Kieren of Electra was named board chairman, Dolores Hamilton of Iowa Park was named vice-chairman, and Mike Price of Iowa Park was named secretary/treasurer.
Evan and Lynn Farley lost their home to a fire, but the couple is working on building a new home with the help of their family and Iowa Park citizens.
Judy and Mike Culberson donated their house, which was scheduled to be torn down in order for a new one to be built, to the Farleys.
The Farley family went to work salvaging materials from the Culberson’s house, and started making plans for building a new home.
June
High winds and rain swept across Iowa Park on the first day of the month, leaving an inch of rain in about 20 minutes, flooding streets and creeks. Iowa Park lakes were filled to levels not seen in years.
In the middle of the month, a severe storm, with winds gusts up to 94 miles per hour blew through Iowa Park breaking tree limbs and power poles, and leaving many without power. The front store windows at Lowe’s Grocery Store were shattered, the Sonic sign was leaning on the awning, and many homes and businesses suffered roof damage. Despite the heavy damage, there were no reports of injuries.
The next week up to four inches of rain fell in one day, causing street flooding in many areas of town. Residents in the Horseshoe Bend Estates and Wranglers Retreat are were notified of possible evacuation.
Tommy Riggins, an unsuccessful candidate in the school board election, filed suit against the winner Robert Johnson in 89th District Court, claiming that two local citizens were not allowed to vote, therefore preventing him from winning the election that came down to a single vote in favor of Johnson.
Jonathan Clubb, administrator for the election said five workers were working at the polling place, including four clerks and one election judge.”I want to make absolutely certain that everybody knows the school district stands behind the election workers that we have,” Clubb said.