In The Spotlight
• The 2004 Bearkats have won the district title for the first time since 1990. Having returned to six-man football, the Kats ended the regular season 8-2. They were undefeated in district play (against Water Valley, Robert Lee, Veribest, Paint Rock), with the 45-point “mercy rule” ending each game. (See related article, page 1)
• The Bearkat Junior Varsity football teams, The Black Attack and The Red Storm, each finished the season with 8 – 1 records. (See article, page1.) The junior high team finished the season 6 – 3.
• Kina Lankford’s newly released music CD, “Copenhagen Kisses,” can be purchased locally at Halfmann’s Store. In the CD’s cover material, she credits Garden City for inspiring the song “Small Town,” and thanks Mike Hillger for teaching her first three guitar chords. [Undoubtedly, her years here also influenced the title track.] A 1999 graduate of GCHS, Lankford lives in Abilene.
• Leslie Batla, a senior at Texas Tech University, was selected to the 2004 Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. She was chosen by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for recognition of scholastic achievement, participation and leadership in academic and extracurricular activities, citizenship, and service to the Texas Tech campus and Lubbock community. She was among 96 students selected to receive this award. Leslie is the daughter of Kenny and Vicki Batla.