Italy Pride is still strong as seniors leave a successful path for future Gladiators to follow.  

BUFFALO — The Italy Gladiators, who finished 4-1 in district and 7-4 overall, where the underdogs going into last Friday’s bi-district playoff game against the Franklin Lions. For the first three-quarters, however, it was anyone’s game as Italy stood cleat to paw with the Lions in a fast-paced high scoring contest.

The Lady Gladiators took on Chilton in their first game of the Hamilton Sonic Tournament.  The final score was 49-47 with Italy on top.  The Ladies will play again at 7:30pm tonight in Hamilton, Texas.

November 11 is a day of celebration and honor for American Veterans. Thanks isn’t good enough for the sacrifices made or the willingness to put one’s life on the line. Gratitude may be small thing but it is what we want to give.

The Lady Gladiator varsity squad will travel to Hamilton, Texas on Thursday and Saturday of this week for the annual Hamilton Sonic Varsity Girls Basketball Tournament.  The Lady G’s will take on Chilton at noon on Thursday, August 17.  Their second game will be Thursday evening.

Several years ago the Italy Ministerial Alliance (IMA) began to meet the needs of local residents by providing non-perishable food items. The ministry has grown and so has the need for the ministry to continue.

The Reverend Ronnie Dabney was honored Monday evening at the monthly meeting of the Italy City Council.

The Italy City Council will have their monthly meeting on Monday, November 14, 2011. The meeting will be held at the Council Chambers, 105 Main Street, Italy. Meeting time is 6:30pm.  The agenda slates six Regular Session items which includes several new resolutions as well as all of the other department reports.  

Content Warning: The Italy Neotribune does not make it a habit to post the following types of articles. But the subject matter is such that we felt the need to let our community be made aware of the situation. For the safety of our children please read the following news release from the Ellis County District Attorney’s office and know what could happen when we inocently leave our children alone in public places.

Friday morning as you walked into the gymnasium of Milford ISD you heard instruments warming up and saw excited young students wearing hats ready to perform their songs for everyone there. You also saw veterans and supportive parents and friends ready to join in the celebration on Veterans Day.

The 2011 NESA Superbowl will be held Ferris this Saturday. The 2nd seeded IYAA C-Team Gladiators (K-2nd grades) will represent Italy in a championship matchup against the 1st seeded undefeated Ferris Yellow Jackets.

Javier and Blanca Figueroa received Yard of the Month from the City of Milford. Now this is not just an ordinary yard and house-the house is a Monolithic Dome.

Thursday at noon things were hopping at Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church. There was all kinds of singing and praising the Lord in honor of the “senior saints”. Special guest speakers Pastor Dixon from Mt. Gilead Missionary Baptist Church and Pastor Todd Gray from Tabernacle Baptist Church were there to make it a real celebration.

Donovan Lee Lusk, age 8, of Italy, passed away Friday morning, November 11, 2011 at his home. He was born November 27, 2002 in Ennis to Darrin and Amanda Lusk. 

The Italy Gladiators practiced on the turf field at Ennis High School this week to get a feel for the turf field recently installed at Buffalo’s stadium in preparation for their bi-district game against the Franklin Lions.

The IHS pep-rally and bonfire behind the Gladiator field house on Thursday celebrated the upcoming bi-district playoff matchup against the Franklin Lions.

On Thursday, November 10 there will be a bonfire/pep-rally behind the field-house at the Italy High School Campus.  Our gridiron Gladiators will take on Franklin in the first round of the playoffs this Friday night and this is the perfect way to get our boys “fired up!!”  Everyone is welcome to come out and show your support.

The Italy Gladiators suffer a 14-12 loss to the Centerville Tigers with both teams finishing 4-1 in district play and settling for a share of the district championship. Gladiators quickly refocus on their playoff game against Franklin in Buffalo tomorrow night. 

The 2011 NESA Playoffs will be hosted by the IYAA on Saturday, November 12, at Willis Field in Italy. There will be 6 games played in total with the first game, between the Ferris and Blooming Grove C-teams, kicking off the post-season at 9:00 a.m.

The Honor-Call is a volunteer organization for student trumpet players. They encourage music organizations to connect with their communities to pay tribute to America’s Military heroes by playing TAPS at funerals and military functions. Milford ISD is the first school in Texas and the only school in Texas to have joined so far.

Central Baptist Church in Italy is excited to announce that their new cookbook, Fruit of the Spirit, has arrived. In addition to wonderful recipes from current members and staff and former members and staff, it also includes the church history.

The Italy Park Board is searching for local veterans to serve as grand marshals for the Italy Christmas Parade and Festival scheduled Saturday, Dec. 3, in downtown Italy.

As a courtesy to all of the Italy basketball parents and fans the 2011 – 2012 season IHS/IJHS game schedules are published here.  All games have also been added to our Community Calendar as well.  Good luck to all of our Gladiators and Lady Gladiators during their upcoming season.

Meals-on-Wheels of Johnson and Ellis Counties will host a free symposium for caregivers and older adults on Friday, November 11, 2011 from 8:30 – 1:30 p.m., at First United Methodist Church, Waxahachie, located at 505 W. Marvin Avenue.

Playoff shirts will be here this week!  Order yours now!

Amidst the improvements and work-in-progress projects going on within the Italy Independent School District communication tools and avenues are definitely a priority.  Besides the school website, Italy High School principal, Lee Joffre is urging parents to make it a habit to view the district’s Facebook page.  You DO NOT have to have a Facebook page yourself to view this page.

The Italy Ministerial Alliance in partnership with the Italy ISD has planned a community Thanksgiving Barbecue for Sunday, November 20th.  This event will be held at the Stafford Elementary sports field from 12:30pm to 2:00pm. It will be complete with bounce houses, fun children’s activities and of course, lots of food!

Cecil Chambers, Jr. of Richardson, a former resident of Waxahachie, passed away Friday, November 04, 2011 in Richardson. 

The City of Italy Park Board will have their monthly meeting today, Tuesday, November 8, 2011. The meeting will be held in the Council Chambers of the Italy Municipal Building at 105 West Main Street, Italy. Meeting time is 5:30pm. The agenda slates the Christmas Festival as the lone planning session item.

The Italy Police Department has two new full time officers, Shawn Martin and Michael Richardson. 

Italy High School students participated during the nationally recognized Red Ribbon Week campaign in an effort to promote a drug-free lifestyle for everyone.

All three IYAA football teams earn a spot in the first round of the 2011 NESA Playoffs to be hosted by Italy on Saturday, November 12.

Celebrating Senior Night, the Italy Gladiators remain unbeaten in district play after defeating the Axtell Longhorns, 36-26. One game remains to decide the district championship, Italy versus Centerville this Friday night in Centerville.

Enjoy additional photographs from Italy High School’s Senior Night at Willis Field.

On Friday, November 11, the community is invited to an assembly honoring our local veterans at Italy High School. The celebration will begin promptly at 9:00am in the George Scott Gymnasium and everyone is encouraged to wear red, white and blue to carry on the theme of the day. Our veterans are invited to an intimate Meet & Greet gathering at 8:20am in the high school library before the main celebration. Refreshments will be served.

The Italy High School Gladiator Regiment Band put on an impressive performance Saturday at the Class 2A Area D Marching Contest held in Belton. It was their best performance to date but not good enough for one particular judge who caused their otherwise, good scores, to drop to 12th place out of 24 bands.

Do you know any woman that just can’t wait to go see her doctor? Can’t wait for their yearly check up? I don’t. Therefore lots of women just don’t go, they simply don’t like to go, so they don’t. After you hear Diane’s story I bet anyone that reads it will make it a point to get their yearly check up.

This past weekend the Flying Dollar Ranch held a Halloween Horse Show.  It is a yearly event and the participants are urged to wear costumes.  In addition to the costume fun there are several other fun events that the participants competed in.  From the look of the pictures it was a good time for these equestrians.

Local businesses along Main Street in Italy will have Trick or Treating on Monday, October 31, 2011. Take time to stroll the downtown streets from 4:00pm to 5:00pm and allow your little goblin to get some goodies for our local vendors.  One business will even be “treating” with free hot dogs!

In the regularly scheduled meeting of the Ellis County Commissioners’ Court on Monday, Dr. Harold Nolte, Jr. was recognized for his years of outstanding service to the community.