The Gladiators finish their preseason with a 1-4 record but hopes to turn things around during their district opener Friday against Itasca.

Because of the unusual way the weeks fall this month, the Italy Food Pantry will be open next Wednesday morning, October 16, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The Food Pantry is located on Hwy 77 between the barber shop and the Mexican food restaurant.

Sixteen Italy Junior High students were inducted into the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS)Tuesday night during a student led ceremony at the high school.

The following students placed accordingly at the Heart of Texas Creative Arts Show, Waco, with their Art Projects. The projects will be on display until this Saturday October 12, 2013 at the Creative Arts Building. Congratulations to all!

Last week Stafford Elementary held their Student Council elections. This is the second year that Stafford Elementary has had a student council. Everyone was very happy to vote and have their voices heard.

Every year the IYAA says goodbye to its veterans and welcomes in a new group of young Gladiators, but one thing has always remained the same, team spirit never fades and this year’s football players and cheerleaders certainly carried the torch against Mildred on Saturday.

Italy ISD nurse, DeeDee Hamilton, has coordinated a flu shot clinic to be held at both Italy ISD campuses on Monday, October 14th. The community is welcome, however; you must contact Mrs. Hamilton via phone or email by Thursday, October 10th to make sure that enough vaccine is made available. Please call 972/483-6342 or email dhamilton@italyisd.org.

Italy Baseball parent meeting on Tuesday, October 8 at 6:30 p.m. inside the high school cafeteria.

Friday morning the Italy Lions Club had a large vision bus parked at Stafford Elementary ready to supply students with glasses. This bus has an eye doctor, vision equipment, glasses and helpful Italy Lions Club members ready to make sure every student that needs glasses receives glasses. It is like an eye doctors office on wheels. Italy Lions Club has been doing this for five years now.

The Lady Gladiator Volleyball teams sent the Covington Lady Owls home without a win on Saturday in the dome. The Varsity took the best 3 out of 5 match by defeating Covington 25-12, 25-17 and 25-13. The Junior Varsity won their match 25-14 and 25-20.

The Rockett Ranch Café and Club in Milford held its first annual barbeque cook off last Saturday, Oct. 5. The turnout was less than expected. Speculation suggested the rain prediction could have been the reason or the 60% payout for prize money. It was decided next year would deliver an 80% payout and pray for better weather.

When I pulled up to Stafford Elementary Thursday, I was very surprised to see a very large, shiny black limousine pulling up in front of the school! Shortly after the limo pulled up I saw many smiling students walking towards the limousine and the chauffeur helping them in. What was going on you might ask?

National Night Out downtown Italy at the Pavilion Tuesday night was quite the success! There were over 200 people there eating hotdogs, line dancing, visiting and just having a great time. Mayor Hobbs was even spotted dancing in the line dance!

Every where you looked you saw so many Milford citizens having fun at Milford’s National Night Out Tuesday evening. Smiling, laughing children, lots of adults enjoying the night out with friends and family supporting the Milford Police Department.

Italy High School students turn signing yearbooks into an event which proved to be a great filler during the bye week.

The Lady Gladiators play at a high level on the road but Frost never wavered in their confidence.

The Eagle’s may have landed but Italy’s Junior High Lady Gladiators simply shooed Avalon off the volleyball court and out of the Coliseum.

The Italy Gladiators slip and slide their way to a 7-6 halftime lead over the Hubbard Jaguars before the Jags run away with the game in the final moments, 20-7.

Barry Byers enjoys his 15 minutes of fame to help Italy Neotribune purchase a high-end camera to better capture those special moments that only our community and the kids can create.

There were 8 birthdays celebrated this month of September at Trinity Mission. And of course there was cake and ice cream for all, along with lots of smiling faces.

Italy’s Junior High volleyball girls move a few more sets closer to being Lady Gladiator legends.

The Lady Gladiators and their fans rock Avalon’s gym to make it their dome away from dome in order to finish strong on the road.

The Italy Police Department would like to invite the community in participating in “National Night Out.” The Italy Police Department will host a family friendly event at the downtown Italy Pavilion. There will be face painting, bounce houses, music, free food, drawings and more! Ronald McDonald will be there too!

Tuesday, October 1 — 6pm-9pm — Downtown Italy Pavilion

There will be two Italy junior high football games tomorrow in Kerens with the 7th grade starting at 5:00 p.m. followed by an 8th grade game at 6:00 p.m.

Save the date for the Barry Byers Appreciation Dinner on Friday, September 27th (a bye week for the Gladiators) at the famed Uptown Cafe in downtown Italy, Texas. Baked potatoes, baked potatoes stuffed with BBQ or just a plain ole’ BBQ sandwich will be served from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. To-go plates will be available!

Jon Cady is a new math teacher at Italy High School. He is also the new head baseball coach and an assistant football and basketball coach. Prior to coming to Italy, he was a teacher/coach at Mason, Buffalo and Mansfield. He graduated from Stephen F. Austin University with a degree in Kinesiology.

The Italy City Council will have a called meeting on Thursday, September 26, 2013. The meeting time is slated for 6:00pm to be held in the Italy City Council Chambers at 105 West Main Street, Italy.

Bobby Campbell is enjoying his first year on staff at Italy High School. In addition to teaching technology, health and leadership, he is also an assistant football coach, head power lifting coach and head track coach. Prior to coming to Italy, he was a teacher/coach for five years in Itasca, two years in Fairfield, eight years in McGregor and eight years in Temple.

When Morgan Mathews was hired as a teacher and the new Head Volleyball Coach at Italy High School, she brought expertise, energy and excitement with her. She wants her students and athletes to live up to their potential while having fun and working hard. She wants them to do their best and live for the moment because that moment only comes around once.

Italy’s junior high Gladiators get the win on a quarterback dive by Tylan Wallce to end the game while the matchup between Italy’s JV Gladiators and Hubbard’s JV is left undecided due to inclement weather.

The Italy Economic Development Corporation will meet on Monday evening, September 23, 2013. Meeting time is slated for 6:00pm in the Italy City Council Chambers at 105 West Main Street, Italy. The meeting’s agenda is attached.

Italy Junior High volleyball action versus Milford results in 2 set wins by Italy’s 7th Grade and 2 set wins by Milford’s 8th grade.

Italy ISD offers services to gifted and talented students in a variety of formats. If your student is not currently identified as gifted and talented, and you believe that your child shows these tendencies, then you may nominate him/her for the screening process which is divided into three elements: standardized test of mental ability, teacher judgment based on observation and characteristics, and standardized achievement test scores (if available).

2013 Italy High School graduate and All-State softball catcher, Alyssa Richards, is already making an impact at Tennessee Tech.

Italy – The Lady Gladiator varsity volleyball team put one in the win column Tuesday night when they hosted their South Ellis County rivals, the Lady Bulldogs of Milford. They won all three games 25-22, 25-20 and 25-21.

Try as they might, the Gladiators drop their second game in a row, a 34-13 loss to Sunnyvale.

Italy — The Gladiator 7th grade squad appeared to be on their way to a shutout victory after two touchdown runs by workhorse Jonathan Salas, and a 2-point conversion catch by Chasston Wilson seemed to all but end Sunnyvale’s chances. Italy lead 14-0 with just 2:59 left in the opening game of a triple-header Thursday night at Italy’s historic Willis Field.

When Michael Chambers graduated from Italy High School in 1994, little did he know he would be back full time in 2 years. He loved going to school here, but he thought like most graduating seniors, it was time to move on. That changed when he was offered a job at Italy ISD.

This little shop in Milford is so inviting. When you walk in the door you go back in time. There is soft, beautiful music from the big band era softly playing and antiques that catch your eye and take your breath away. It is properly named, Things Beautiful.

Johnny Jones is very happy to be back at Italy High School. He taught history and AP government from the fall of 1997 to the summer of 2005 at IHS. He was also the softball coach. Under his leadership, the IHS softball team went 4 rounds into the playoffs twice in Class 2A.