City tax rate set at 90.97 cents per $100 of property valuation

There was approval and accolades at the Olton City Council meeting Monday night as the panel passed a $2.5 million 2020-2021 municipal budget City Administrator Keeley Adams had prepared.

The budget won approval from every member of the council that was present at the time as well as accolades from Mayor Mark McFadden, who commended Adams for the job he had done in putting it together.

The city budget not only includes loader payments and a new pickup, but also a pay increase for employees and retirement accounts.

Councilman Tracy DeBerry moved to approve the budget, and Councilman Lupe Ruiz seconded his motion. The budget was approved on a 4-0 vote because Councilman Steven Rodriquez arrived late.

Also winning approval was the 2020 property tax rate of 90.97 cents per $100 of property valuation, which had been brought before the council during their August meeting. Councilman Derek Roberson moved to approve the tax rate, and Councilman Alan Williams seconded his motion. It too passed on a 4-0 vote.

Read the complete story in the Sept. 18, 2020 issue of the Olton Enterprise

Deb Melcher is a Titus 1:8 woman — “a lover of hospitality…”

But the verse that fits her husband, Mike, is Colossians 3:23-24 — “Whatsoever ye do, do heartily, as to the Lord…”

Together, they are Mark 9:41 innkeepers, striving to “give a cup of water to drink” in the name of the Lord as they share their mutual gifts of hospitality as the owners of President’s House Bed and Breakfast in Plainview.

But Deb’s roots are here in the Olton area. She’s the daughter of Calvin and Esther Graham, and Mustang blue runs through the veins of this 1973 Olton High School graduate. She left the area years ago to study at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma, but her life journey returned her and her husband to the area in 2006 to work at Wayland Baptist University. Married for 29 years, they share a love of providing hospitality, and that led them to purchase the historic President’s House, and to create a beautiful bed and breakfast where they can serve others.

Read the complete story in the Sept. 18, 2020 issue of the Olton Enterprise

The Mustangs didn’t quit.

With two seconds left on the clock and the Hooker, Okla. Bulldogs just yards away from a fourth-quarter comeback last Friday night, Jake Soliz stepped in front of a pass from a quarterback who had haunted the Mustangs all night and snatched the ball. It sealed Olton’s 34-33 win, but it wasn’t the big play of the game. On a normal night, it might have been. But this wasn’t a normal night. It was a night in which every Mustang was determined to do everything possible to win.

“One of our coaches summed it up pretty good,” Coach Ross Lassiter said in a post-game, on-field interview. “A lot of teams would have quit tonight when they had bad things go against them like we did. Those kids kept on fighting on every play. They never gave up, and never lost hope. They just came out and kept playing. They fought every down tonight.”

Read the complete story in the Sept. 18, 2020 issue of the Olton Enterprise

If third time is charm, it couldn’t come at a better time for the Olton Fillies.

Olton opens district play at noon Saturday against Wildorado, a team they have seen twice in the past few weeks.

“The girls know what to expect,” Coach Ruth Beelitz said. “They have played them twice, so they know they can hit hard and serve hard. But the girls also know they can compete with them.”

With the exception of one game played in a match last Saturday, the Fillies have played Wildorado close in every set. 

Read the complete story in the Sept. 18, 2020 issue of the Olton Enterprise