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*****Bob and Maureen Johnson recently had a special trip with their son Bobby and grandson Connor. They spent awhile in Corpus Christi and visited the USS Lexington. You see, Bob served on the Lexington from 1961 through 1965 as a Radio Mechanic 3rd Class in the US Navy. When they signed in on the ship, Maureen told them about Bob’s service on the Lexington. The historian on the ship spent two hours recording Bob’s memories of his service. They were allowed to tour restricted areas including the Radio Room where Bob worked. How special for son Bobby and grandson Connor!

*****On October 20th, Charlie and Faye Lechow celebrated their birthdays with dinner at Doc’s in Marble Falls. You see, Charlie’s birthday is on the 18th and Faye’s is on the 20th, so they celebrate for three days! The 18th and half of the 19th is Charlie’s time to celebrate and the other half of the 19th and the 20th belong to Faye!

*****Juana Garcia and granddaughter Leslie traveled to Del Rio for her dad’s 83rd birthday party on October 4th. While there Juana celebrated her own birthday on the 8th of October. Happy belated birthday, Juana!

*****Kaitlin and Madison, the Hacker twins are 2 now, pardon the pun, they’ve always been two haven’t they? Their actual birthday was Wednesday, October 22nd but they celebrated last Sunday with family and friends. Maternal grandparents, Larry and Laurene Petcovic flew in from Maryland and were joined in the Hacker’s backyard with friends from Johnson City and Marble Falls and they all feasted on hamburgers and hot dogs and of course a homemade cake that the Mommy made. Also attending were Nanny Mary Garrett and husband Donnie and stand in (almost) grandparents Pat and Cynthia Smith also known as Poppie and Gain. Happy birthday girls!

*****Harry and Patty Carpenter went to see their son and family, Scott and Laurie Stevens and children Cody, Evan, Luke, and Claire last weekend in Magnolia. They had so much fun with all those grandchildren.

*****Chris, Debby, and April Stevens came in this last weekend to see Grandpa, Mike Micheli. They had relatives from Maine with them and they toured the LBJ Boyhood Home and visited the Zoo. They also visited with Chris’ parents, Harry and Patty Carpenter.

*****The first 4-R steak cook-off was held Saturday, October 25th. Carl Mueller was the first prize winner with David McIlvain coming in with a very, very close second. Lewis DeLeon and Scott Haley were in the top four cookers. Everyone was treated to roasted corn and baked potatoes to accompany the delicious steaks.

*****Janie & Alton Moreland with their children, Steven, Timmy and Emily’s families went to Sister/Aunt Marjorie Latham’s annual Halloween party in Blanco. Pumpkin painting and a haunted trail kept the kids and adults busy.

*****Kiersten Sauceda, daughter of Traci and Martin Sauceda, turned 3 years old this weekend and many on her friends and family helped her celebrate in Blanco. Shay Zbytovsky, daughter of Tokpa and Emily, and Zoe Zbytovsky, daughter of Tanya, were highly entertained at their cousin’s Princess birthday party.

*****For those of you who remember Pastor Ed Barton of the Methodist Church from about 1978 to1982, he passed away last week at the age of 91. His memorial service was held at the Wayside Church in San Antonio where he and Rae Beth, his wife of 44 years, have been members for some years. Johnson City was represented by two families, Joe and Peggy Stewart and Harry and Patty Carpenter. Pastor Ed left behind many who love him and will so miss him.

*****The Lights Spectacular crew had their first workday, Wednesday. The panels and the upper swags were completed. A big thank you to Cruz Lopez and the PEC bucket, and Alton Moreland. Busily untangling and testing were Peggy Aldridge, Jan Clemons, June and Will Dahmann and Rhonda Stell. One can’t forget the “Tree Elves”, James and Dottie Deal and Mack Sanders. THANKS to all......the next work day will be SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1 AT 8:30 AM (yes, they’re aware that it’s opening day of deer season!) If you have any questions call Rhonda at 868-7275.

*****Did you know Daylight Saving Time has been used in the U.S. and in many European countries since World War I? At that time, in an effort to conserve fuel needed to produce electric power, Germany and Austria took time by the forelock, and began saving daylight at 11:00 p.m. on April 30, 1916, by advancing the hands of the clock one hour until the following October. The plan was not formally adopted in the U.S. until 1918. ‘An Act to preserve daylight and provide standard time for the United States’ was enacted on March 19, 1918.

*****You might be a Johnson City native if you remember the Deike brother baseball team at Hye.

*****Happy Birthday wishes to: October 30th – Kim Ledger, Lora Runnels and Lindsey Garrett; October 31st – Susan Hamm, Loetta Wilson and William Stokes; November 1st – Walt Maenius, Carla Ebeling and Mack Sanders; November 3rd – Judy Benge; November 4th – Lee B. Casparis, John Campbell, Dennis Sparkman, Bob Anderson, Courtney Wiedebusch Yerke, and Glenna Kelley; and November 5th – Ramona Lovejoy and Quinlyn Gourley Metcalf.

*****Anniversary congratulations to Keith and Tonya Dahmann on October 30th; and to Tommy and Debbie Sultemeier on November 2nd.

*****Tip for the week: For early Christmas planning, keep a box in your closet to gather small items for stockings at Christmas time. In this box there is a bag for the number of people for whom you will fill a stocking. When shopping during the year, purchase items and place them in the appropriate bag. When the busy Christmas season comes, simply fill each person’s stocking.

*****I’ll see you again when there’s more news! Speaking of news, if you have some, email it to imasnoop01@gmail.com. MY EMAIL PROVIDER IS MAKING ME CHANGE EMAIL AGAIN!