COUNTY LIFE
By DANI BLACKBURN
When life gets tough, the tough get going, and no one proves that more than Bowie High School graduate Shelby Avara.
The high school senior has traveled an obstacle-ridden road on her journey to receiving a high school diploma, something not many in her family have done.
The adversity she faced began when she was just six-years-old as a first grader in Iowa, when her mother was killed in a car crash. The tragic accident catapulted her into a life of instability and independence.
Avara, along with her sister and father, a rancher, moved to multiple states in the years that followed, including Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma before settling in Bowie. The family lived in multiple homes in each state, in Bowie alone the teenager is in her fourth home.
Along the way, her father began driving a semi-truck hauling cattle which took him on the road quite a bit. Avara became acquainted with being alone and faced some scary situations, including a family that held the young teenager captive.
“When my dad and sister moved to Texas, I was stuck in Oklahoma,” recalled Avara. “We had been staying with my sister’s best friend’s parents. They made me sign these papers and told me that my dad had signed papers giving up his rights to me.”
They cut off all communication between the young teenager and her father and took away all her electronic devices, forcing her to do many things like take part in religious studies every night while verbally abusing the young girl.
“They told me we would never amount to anything, and that my dad never loved my mom. They told us all kinds of crazy things, including what horrible people we were,” recalled Avara.
Fortunately, the young teenager eventually made contact with her father using an old Nokia phone, and her dad hit the road to pick up his teenage daughter and brought her to Bowie where the family lived with Avara’s aunt and uncle. It was the middle of her eighth-grade year. Bowie Junior High became the fourth middle school she would attend.
While Avara remained in Bowie, her struggles were far from over but she continued to persevere.
This week she looks toward the future as she graduates Bowie High School and looks back at overcoming a series of obstacles thanks to friends. Read her full story in the weekend News.
In recognition of National Adoption Awareness Month this November, Texas Community Counseling and the Heart Gallery of Northwest Texas are partnering to bring resources to Montague County families.
The two organizations will host an adoption, foster care and kinship care resource fair on Nov. 14 at the United Presbyterian Church of Montague County Fellowship Hall, located at 300 W. Nelson St. in Bowie.
The resource fair will run from 10 a.m. to noon, bringing together local agencies and service providers to answer questions and share information about support available within the county.
Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.
Members of the Montague County Historical Commission invite the community to join them on Nov. 14 for a Rolling Bus Tour.
This tour will cover the cemeteries in the south west corner of Montague County. You will have the opportunity to stroll through some of the cemeteries, others the bus will stop and Commission member Calvin Durham will tell the history of the cemetery.
The bus tour will meet at the Old Jail in Montague at 9 a.m. and return at approximately 3 p.m. The tour will include a sack lunch, a brochure of each cemetery visited and a book “This Soil will Grow Grapes” written by Melvin Fenoglio.
The cost of the tour is $20 for adults. There is no charge for children under 12. The commission members strive to preserve the history of the county and to share as much of it as possible with our citizens. You can RSVP by calling 940-841-2674 or 940-872-1007. Please leave a message with your name if there is no answer.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System at 1:20 p.m. on Nov. 17.
FEMA’s emergency alert system is a national public warning system made up of thousands of radio, TV, cable and satellite and wireline video providers. Through the EAS, the President can address the American people or share life-saving information with the public during a national emergency.
FEMA is required by law to conduct a nationwide test of the public alert and warning system at least once every three years. These tests allow FEMA to identify technical or operational issues before the system is needed during an actual emergency.
FEMA and the FCC are sharing the test date in advance because it is important the public understands what to expect on the day of the test.
At approximately 1:20 p.m. (Central time), on Nov. 17, all the electronics providers will interrupt normal programming to relay a test message.
This message will state: This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency management Agency, covering the United States from 1:20 to 1:50 p.m. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”
When the test is concluded, normal programming will resume.
FEMA and the FCC are coordinating with stakeholders, including participating communications providers as well as federal, state, tribal and territorial agencies to prepare for and conduct the test.
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