Amity Club Meeting
Amity Club Association had a monthly meeting on Thursday, Oct. 6 at the Olney United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, AND, the club is 85 years old as of this meeting!!! This was also Guest Day, so we had several guests to enjoy the program. Members present were Evelyn Altmiller, Judy Averett, Rita Choat, Nita Hearne, Rita Honey, Ann Lundy, Judy Mobley, Christy Nantz, Marilyn Norris, Carolyn Penn, Margie Snyder, Jeanie Spivey, Lucretia Taylor, Phyllis Whitsitt, Judi Winslow and Bobby Wright.
The theme of this year’s meetings is “Serendipity” and this month’s meeting is “A Merry Heart Does Good Like Medicine.” The program leader was Jeanie Spivey and she introduced a great panel of community leaders to catch us up on community activities and basically ‘what’s going on in Olney to improve our community”. The panel consisted of Mayor Rue Rogers (who grew up in Olney), Dale Lovett (28 years teaching in Olney) President of the Hospital Board, and Chief of Police Dan Birbeck, who is newer to Olney, but has had a positive impact on Olney.
Mayor Rue Rogers reported the activity going on in the Public Works Department which takes care of water and the roads. The water plant is over 100 years old and really needs replacement. A Wichita Falls firm is in the final drawing stages and construction should start next year. It’s a three-phase project and involves using Lake Cooper as our main water source. When the water level is down to 65%, Lake Kickapoo will provide a million gallons a day. Keep Olney Beautiful is looking to update the city pool, which is 70 years old, and not safe for our children right now. They are also improving the walking trails and update the play equipment at Tom Griffin Park. The goal is to have it open by next summer Dale Lovett reported that the hospital was 114 years old, the oldest in the area. Some additions were in progress after tornadoes affecting Olney in 1927 and 1951. The newest part of the building was in 1964 with the help of a Hill Burton Grant. The very newest addition was a new EMS building thanks to COVID allocations. In 2012, Olney received monies from the new windfarm and built the new Clinic and Wellness Center. In 1992, the hospital was identified as a Critical Access Hospital - a 25-bed hospital with an average stay of 3 to 4 days plus swing beds. We are the only hospital in Young County delivering babies. We have been identi- fied as a top rural hospital by TORCH (Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals). We are looking forward to future growth.
Chief Dan Birbeck is looking to delegitimize the department to stand for respect and honor. Up to July 2020, the department was involved in about 300-350 cases per year. They are now processing about 1,000 cases per year. They are focusing on child crimes, drug enforcement and other code enforcements. They have a canine unit that’s responsible for $1,370 drug interceptions. He is concentrating on officer training and has been involved in active shooter programs for 18 years. They are also involved in Health and Safety monitoring, bolstering mental health issues, supply chain issues, and property crime. They are trying to hire a new patrol officer, FBI-rated to be working with schools to ultimately be full-time with the schools.
This was a greatly informative meeting… and by the way, if you ever have the opportunity to attend an “Active Shooter Training” from Chief Birbeck… DON’T PASS IT UP! We just attended one at the recent District Meeting I attended, and you could hear a pin drop!
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