Last weekend was a special one for Bowie’s Garland McCoy and Nocona’s Tyler O’Neal.
Both young men were given the opportunity to play in the 77th Annual Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl Classic at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls.
During the past week, Bowie News readers have been able to view accounts and photographs from the game.
I hope you enjoyed this over-the-top coverage.
Let me say I am a big fan of Shrine Bowl all-star football games, and for a good reason, too.
The Shriners Hospitals for Children just happens to be my favorite charity organization. According to its Form 990 in April 2009, the hospital’s endowment was more than $5 billion.
Children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-oriented environment.
And that’s regardless of the patients’ ability to pay, and whether or not they have any affiliation with neither the Shriners nor other Freemasonry.
McCoy said watching a video about the impact of Shriners Hospitals For Children was “emotional.”
The first Shriners hospital opened in 1922 in Shreveport, La., providing pediatric orthopedic care. Today, there are 22 centers in the United States, Canada and Mexico. For more from this column, read the weekend edition of The Bowie News.

Sports editor/county reporter Eric Viccaro (Photo by Ryan Evans)