Breckenridge Texan

Dear Breckenridge Texan Readers:

As the year 2023 comes to an end, the Breckenridge Texan’s annual fundraiser also is wrapping up at midnight tonight. Any donations that we receive by 11:59 p.m. today, Dec. 31, 2023, will be matched — in other words, doubled — by the NewsMatch program. And, this year, we’ve added an incentive to the fundraiser — anyone who donates $100 or more will be entered to win a handmade sheath and knife set (read more about that below).

At the Breckenridge Texan, we aim to cover the events going on in the community as thoroughly as possible. In 2023, we posted 557 stories (news, sports, lifestyles, obituaries, etc.) to the website (www.breckenridgetexan.com). We also posted 52 photo galleries featuring more than 1,700 photos from Breckenridge and Stephens County. And those are just the pictures we published on the website; we’ve taken about 15 or 20 times as many photos, tens of thousands of images of this community. In addition to posting stories and photos on the website, we also made more than 400 posts on the Breckenridge Texan’s Facebook page and sent out a weekly email newsletter to try and make sure as many people as possible are getting the news.

We started the year with the Stephens County Junior Livestock Show and wrapped it up with coverage of TxDOT’s closing of the “Mile-Long Bridge” on U.S. Highway 180 over Hubbard Creek Lake. In between, we covered the routine — such as City, County and School Board meeting — as well as the unusual, including a van full of racing pigeons that stopped in Breckenridge and a historical marker dedicated to the sheriff and local citizens who chased the Sam Bass Gang out of the area in 1878.

Throughout it all, we’ve remained true to our roots as a nonprofit news source for Breckenridge and Stephens County, offering accurate, high-quality, current, local journalism to the people who live here, as well as to those who are interested in the community for any reason.

From our current perspective, we’ll be starting out 2024 similar to the way 2023 started, as well as how it ended, with stories about the annual livestock show and with continued coverage of the “Mile-Long Bridge” issue. We’ll also continue our coverage of the proposed windfarm and will be covering the 2024 election, in addition to all of the everyday stories we always write about.

In addition to regular news coverage, the Breckenridge Texan also offers:

• A weekly newsletter that delivers a roundup of recent stories via email every Monday
• Photo galleries from local events
• A Calendar of Events, which lists upcoming community activities
• Local obituaries
• And more

The Breckenridge Texan will have a drawing to choose the winners of these two hand-made sheaths and knives. Those who make donations of $100 or more by 11:59 p.m. Dec. 31, 2023, will be entered into the drawing. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

As I mentioned above, today is the last day of the Breckenridge Texan’s annual fundraiser that is held in conjunction with NewsMatch, which supports non-profit newsrooms around the country, like the Breckenridge Texan, by matching donations we receive in November and December. All donations — and the matching funds — will go to the Breckenridge Texan and help support our work here to provide quality news to the local community.

As a non-profit news site, the Breckenridge Texan depends on donations, in addition to ad sales, to fund our daily operations. We use the donations and income from ad sales to pay for daily operating expenses, such as website hosting, email service, internet connection, office supplies, freelance writers and photographers, etc.

If you can make a donation to help continue the Breckenridge Texan’s work, it will be greatly appreciated. Click here to visit our donation page.

This year, there’s an exciting new element to our fundraising: we will have a drawing to give away two hand-made knife sheaths and a couple of Case pocket knives.

The sheaths were hand-crafted by John Pilkington of Houston, Breckenridge Texan Publisher Tony Pilkington’s brother. Each knife and sheath set is worth over $100. The Pilkington Leatherworks sheaths are the leather, slanted pancake-style to wear on a belt. They are made from ostrich leather; one is a dark style and the other a light style. The knives are new Case Trapper Model 163 amber bone pocket knives. They are great everyday pocket knives for projects around the house, the outdoors and hunting. Closed, the knives measure a little over four inches and fit perfectly in the hand-made sheaths.

The Breckenridge Texan will hold a drawing early next month, following the conclusion of the fundraising campaign, for the winners of the knives. Every person who makes a donation of $100 or more during the NewsMatch campaign (Nov. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2023) will be entered into the drawing. Two names will be drawn, and each winner will receive one of the sheath and knife sets.

If you’ve already donated during this campaign, thank you! If you haven’t donated yet, we know you understand the importance of this work, and if you can help, that would be wonderful! Any amount will help us get closer to our goal. Just click here to make a donation.

To read the Breckenridge Texan’s Donor Transparency policy, click here. To read more about the Breckenridge Texan, click here for the About Us section.

Thank you for reading the Breckenridge Texan,

Tony Pilkington

Publisher