Schools & Sports

Drop that remote and grab those binoculars, the 24th Annual Great Texas Birding Classic (GTBC) is kicking off fall with its annual bird watching competition. For the first time ever, this spring event has moved to the fall due to the public health crisis. Coinciding with the fall migration, the GTBC is perfect for novice birders and nature lovers who want to get outside and take part in the competition.

Want to hunt turkeys on your home turf this fall? You’ll need to create and manage a habitat that will attract them to your property first.

Thompson was about 6’ 10” tall and weighed almost 300 pounds, and he seemed even bigger as he strode onto the basketball court and dwarfed many of the “star” college players! Coach Thompson just recently passed away at the age of 78.

I was a New York Yankees fan first, a Houston Colt 45s next, and a Texas Rangers finally, but in 1969 I CHEERED for the NEW YORK METS! Why? Because they were AMAZING. Why? Quite a bit because of a great pitcher and a great man, TOM SEAVER, who passed on recently after a bout with and complications of Lewy body dementia and Covid-19. He was a muchtoo-young-to-die 75 years of age!

Well, folks, if things remain the same as I have ascertained them to be at this time, the NORTH FORNEY FALCONS Varsity Football Team will open its season on Thursday, September 24, at 7:00 p. m. with an “away” non-conference game vs. the Frisco Lone Star Rangers in Frisco, Texas.

Teachers are a really determined group of people, always working to improve their students’ education. Not only do they have a passion for the knowledge they have learned, they also want to share this information with the students that come into their classrooms. And when the school year begins, there is a fresh bunch of faces waiting to learn from their new teacher. Even though the 2020-2021 school year is different from any that have come before it, the teachers in Forney ISD have risen to the challenge, as they did in the spring when every class went to a virtual learning style.

September 2020 marks the 4th Annual National Shooting Sports Month, as designated by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. To commemorate the month, which is on the cusp of the fall hunting season, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is highlighting agency programs aimed at providing participants of all ages and skill-levels the opportunity to safely hit the range or the field.

There’s lots to do in the outdoors, even during what many of us refer to as the ‘Dog Days’ of summer. The striped bass bite is going strong up on Lake Texoma says my buddy Bill Carey with Striper Express and catfish guides on Tawakoni have been butting their clients on limits of tasty catfish. Crappie fishing at Fork has been red hot one day and ‘iffy’ the next, common for this time of year.

I am sitting here today, moving back and forth between the computer and the television—working on stories for The Forney Messenger and watching the Texas Rangers playing the Los Angeles Angels in front of “fake fans” and listening to “fake crowd noise.” The “Babe” and “Mick” and “Yogi” and “Whitey” are probably “rolling over in their graves” and asking Casey for the next game off!

Forney ISD Athletics welcomes Kadrian Bryant as the new North Forney High School Head Men’s Basketball Coach. Bryant comes to us from Crockett High School where he served the last 5 years as Head Men’s Basketball Coach. Under his leadership, the Bulldogs were Regional Finalists and backto-back District Champs. In addition to a successful tenure at Crockett, he also led Nacogdoches Central Heights to a district title and was selected as district Coach of the Year.

Forney ISD is proud to announce an expanded partnership with Dallas College and Texas Tech for the 2020-2021 school year. Now, Forney ISD community and staff will receive in-district tuition rates for Dallas College courses offered at Forney ISD.

What with the political scene, the Covid Virus, the shortened season, my regret at the desertion of a “young park”, and no fans in the new park, I said: “I am not going to watch the opening game for the Rangers and their new stadium!”

High school football in the state of Texas is religion. And, like many people of faith who have or are waiting for their places of worship to reopen, football coaches, players and fans alike have been waiting to see what would happen with the 2020 season. Earlier in the month, state sanctioning bodies around the country began declaring their intentions: some states would delay a few weeks; some were moving the season to spring. One state, Alabama, announced they would begin “on-time.”