Plans for the annual Project Celebration at Ballinger High School are in full swing.  Those that wish to make donations, please contact Janna Perez at 977-0575, Terri Ann Ortega at 340-2701, or Ballinger High School at 365-3547.

A free child development pre-Kindergarten program is available to qualifying families by Central Texas Opportunities, Incorporated Head Start.

Limited space is available for children three and four years of age to receive educational activities to improve mental, emotional, physical, and social skills.  Central Texas Opportunities, Incoroporated Head Start offers dental and health services, disability, family services, nutritious meals, snack, and play activities. 

To schedule an application appointment for Ballinger Head Start, call the Ballinger location at 365-4081.  To schedule an application appointment for Winters Head Start, call the Winters location at 754-4325. 

Winters area sponsors are needed for overnight housing for the Texas 4000 Bike Riders.  The Texas 4000 will stay overnight in Winters on Monday (June 3).  Each sponsor will be responsible for providing the bike riders with a clean place to sleep, eat, and wash clothes.  Sponsors will also be responsible for providing the riders with snacks when they resume their journey and to transport the riders to Lonestar Video and Diner early Tuesday morning for breakfast and a sendoff.  If you can help or for more information, contact Pam at 754-4198 or Sandee at 977-1036.

Parents with active youngsters should sign them up today for the biennial Progressive
Agriculture Safety Day set for Friday, June 7^th from 8:30-4:00 PM at Tom Green 4-H Center located at  3168 Hwy 67 North, next to the San Angelo  Animal Shelter.

The event is sponsored by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, in partnership with Progressive Agriculture.  Founded by The Progressive Farmer magazine in 1995, the program trains and provides the resources that local communities need to conduct one-day safety programs that are age-appropriate, hands-on, fun, and safe for children. Because of the hands-on nature of the day, space is limited to 125 youth so pre-registration no later than June 3^rd  is highly recommended.  Participants should be third graders and up thru 8^th grade and those entering third grade in the fall are eligible.  Any youth in the surrounding counties within the Concho  Valley are welcome. 

Courtney Redman, Tom Green County’s Extension 4-H and youth development agent and the safety day committee member, said too often safety is dismissed until an injury occurs. She
said that many times these “accidents” can be prevented with a bit of forethought and safety training.  “Our whole aim here is to arm children with the basic safety information they need to recognize and react positively in a dangerous situation,” said Redman. 

Sandy Taylor, Runnels County Extension Agent and chair of the local Safety Day event said, “Though this event has the word ‘Agriculture’ in its title, the information provided is actually applicable to any youth, urban or rural, who is active outdoors. We’ll address everything from animal handling precautions to seat belt safety. There are very few youth safety programs available in our part of the state that offers the assortment of safety topics we do. The day will be fast-moving, fun and packed with plenty of action.”

After the morning registration, participants will be divided into small groups which will rotate through eight safety sessions.  There will be breaks for snacks, lunch, prizes and lots of valuable information on how to remain safe on the farm and at home.

Besides animal and seat belt safety; we will also address tractor safety, sun safety, chemical safety and more!  The pre-registration fee is $10 per child or $30 flat-fee for families with three or more children attending. Parents are encouraged to attend the opening and closing general sessions.

For further information and to receive registration forms, contact the Tom Green
County Extension office at (325) 659-6525 or the Runnels County Extension
office at (325) 365-5042.   Information & applications for the Safety Day camp can also be found on the Tom Green County Extension site at:  http://tomgreen.agrilife.org/publications-3 

Glory Road Cowboy Church will host a Buck Out on Sunday (June 9) from 2:00 to 6:00 PM at the Ballinger City Park.  Entry fees are twenty dollars per person for the mechanical bull riding contest.  The age groups will be nine to 12, 13 to 17, and 18 and above.  First and second place buckles will be awarded as prizes.  Deadline to enter is Wednesday, June 5.  The Glory Road Cowboy Church Chuckwagon Team will be preparing and selling burgers, sausage wraps, and drinks.  For more information or to enter, contact Myron Halford at 365-6371.  Everyone is invite to attend.