July 30, 2009

The Annual Blanco County Fair and Rodeo is quickly arriving, August 13-15, at the Blanco County Fair Grounds in Johnson City. Every member of your family can participate. Special thanks to Johnson Sewell Ford Lincoln Mercury, proud sponsors of the Blanco County Fair and Rodeo for another year. The rodeo always brings excitement to participants as well as attendees.

LBJ HIGH SCHOOL BAND BOOSTERS meets the 1st Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the LBJ Middle School Band Hall. For more information contact 512-924-5881 or send email to lbjbandboosters@live.com. EARLY BIRD 4-H CLUB meets second Tuesday, Pleasant Hill School. Call Texas Cooperative Extension, Blanco County for more information, 868-7167. HILL COUNTRY SPURS 4-H CLUB meets third Tuesday, Blanco County Fairgrounds Riding Arena, 6:30 pm and focuses on the 4-H Horse Project.

Jack Fairchild, certified clinical nutritionist, will present ways to cleanse the body of toxins when he speaks at the Wellness Center Tues., Aug. 4, from noon to 1 p.m. The class will cover: facts about toxins and their origin; how toxicity can affect health; the most common signs and symptoms of toxin buildup; ways to reduce exposure; how to remove toxins from one’s system; the three stages of bio-detoxification and their importance; and specific diet, lifestyle and supplementation needs ...

Megan Jabs of Jordan, Minnesota and Dustin Reichert of Johnson City, Texas announce their engagement and upcoming wedding. Megan Jabs is the daughter of Dr. Steve and Sarah Jabs of Jordan. She is a graduate of Jordan High School, a Medical Laboratory Forensics student and is a manager for Victoria’s Secret stores.

Band camp week is here! August 3 - 7 at the Ladybird Johnson Park in Fredericksburg. The bus will leave the High School band hall at 7:00 am each morning and arrive back at 7:00 pm each evening. Registration forms went out to all band members last week, so be sure to get those back in as soon as possible. The LBJ Fighting Eagle Band invites everyone to a night of fun, food and music at our 1st Annual Band Camp-a-palooza Fundraiser to be held Friday, August 7th at the conclusion of band camp.

REPUBLICAN CLUB OF BLANCO COUNTY will host a meeting on Tues. Aug 18 at 7 PM at the PEC Auditorium with Sheriff Bill Elsbury speaking about the criminal justice system in Blanco County. The film OBCESSION will also be shown depicting the will of radical Islam to bring death to America.

Galen and JoAnn Routh of Johnson City, TX and Ron and Anita Peterson of Lakewood, WA are happy to announce the engagement of Katy Routh and Jesse Peterson. Their beach side wedding will take place on August 29th in La Push, WA.

If you are married and between the ages of 21 and 56, applications are now being accepted for the title of 2010 “Mrs. Blanco County”! Mrs. Blanco County will have the honor of representing her area at the Mrs. Texas International Pageant to be held at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas, March 26 – 28, 2010.

The Blanco County Association of Retired Educators (BCARE) met on July 23rd at the Blanco Methodist Church. District 13 Vice-President Ruth Spear was on hand to preside in the election of officers for the newly formed local unit of the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA). Elected were Ernest Hoffman of Kendalia, president; Mary Nabers of Blanco, first vice-president; Henrietta Smith of Johnson City, second vice-president; Norma Kinchen of Johnson City, secretary; and Cindy Sultemeier o ...

Well, here we are again, another week and the weeks just keep flying by. I do remember this not being the case when I was younger. Seems like time was so slow then. We have had a couple of tenants in the hospital again. Everyone seems to be doing good right now, so our prayers are with them. Okay folks, we need rain.

A woman stitching quilts over 100 years ago had little reason to suspect her work would someday have a historic impact on the world. She, like women today, did not always have time for quilting, but it became a necessity. Families needed them for warmth and to stay alive during hard winters.

It’s the time of year when two giants, Hercules the Strong Man and Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer, butt heads in the night sky. As with many constellations, their stories come from ancient Greek religion. Hercules (aka Heracles) was one of many offspring of Zeus (Jupiter), king of the gods. Zeus was married to his sister Hera, yet he had many mistresses, some immortal goddesses, some mortal women.

On this day in history nothing much happened except that was the day I was born 74 years ago to Louise and Howard Robichaux in Beaumont, Texas. My mother did all the important and hard work that day and the only job my dad had was to see that my name got properly registered on my birth certificate.

*****Bill and Beverly Voron have returned from visiting their daughter, Corrine, her husband, Kyle and their two-year old, Silas in Sitka, Alaska. It was a great trip filled with hiking, boating, fishing, bear viewing, but most of all - playing with Silas. They also enjoyed visiting Olympic National Park in Washington and beautiful Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia. *****Tessa Fields and her parents took Taylor Buck to Great Wolf Lodge & Indoor Water Park this past weekend to cele ...

Since the passing of local Johnson City resident, Glinnie Berry, there has been a Herculean effort by area volunteers to help care for the hoards of cats, kittens, and single dog left on the property. Reports of approximately 80 animals were found roaming on Berry’s property, which once depended on the elderly woman for food and water.

At a special July 28 meeting, County Commissioners examined preliminary plans for a proposed Law Enforcement Center as well as a new County Annex Facility. The Law Enforcement Complex would include an upgraded jail that would meet Jail Commission standards. The present county jail is purportedly inadequate in terms of capacity and meeting security standards.

On Friday, July 24th Donna Ralph and Debbie Liesman were witness to some rather disturbing images when they reported to work at the Johnson City Recycling Center. Over night, vandals had spray painted a number of racist remarks and symbols on the Recycling Centers trailers that were parked just outside of the fence.

Lots of hugs and hand shaking took place May 30th in Johnson City when the graduating class of Johnson City High School and their former classmates celebrated their 51st reunion. The graduation took place in the gymnasium of the high school exactly 51 years ago. Mrs. Mildred Waller, deceased, was the home room teacher and the room mothers are all deceased except Mrs.

Front row: Sylvia Brodbeck Brandt, Charlene Holden Crump, Saundra Fluitt Sharp, Kay Sultemeier Williams, Betty Matus Page, Sandra Weirich Danz. Back row: Tobe Moreland, George Birck, Clifford Pellar, Douglas Felps, Leo Earley, Denny Wayne Stevenson, Ben Twidwell, Clinton Deike.

An Open House at the Willow City School is set for Saturday, August 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The School Building/Community Center is located at 2501 Ranch Road 1323, Willow City, Texas. Former school students will greet visitors who wish to view the inside of the building as well as wander around on the school grounds.

With much of Texas reeling from a drought of epic proportions, staying on top of the latest beef production tools has never played a more crucial role, says Blanco County Farm Bureau Secretary & Treasurer, Adrian Schulze. “Some counties in Texas have been listed among the nation’s absolute worst conditions since last year,” Schulze said.

You likely won’t see the hundreds of tiny, black bugs crawling along the trunk of your soapberry tree. You probably won’t even realize the tree has been infested until the bark starts to peel away. And by then, according to Texas Forest Service Forest Pest Manager Dr. Ron Billings, it’ll be too late. “Once you see the bark slough off, the tree is pretty well dead,” Billings said, pointing to photos of infested soapberry trees.

Texas Farm Bureau has entered the blogosphere with Texas Agriculture Talks, a forum of ideas and opinions covering all aspects of agriculture in the Lone Star State. Written from the perspectives of two veteran agricultural journalists on behalf of the state’s largest farm organization, the blog will look beyond the nuts and bolts of farming and ranching to those issues which share common ground for agricultural producers and consumers. “We may be a bit late to the party, but we hope to ...

Norman J. Weaner, Sr., 79 passed away on Friday, July 24, 2009 at his home in Blanco, Texas. Norman Weaner was born on November 19, 1929 to Peter and Theresia Weaver Weaner on their farm in Sherwood, Ohio. He was the 11th child of 12 children. As a teen he worked in his mother’s restaurant before enlisting in the U.S.

Tip o’ the hat to Master Gardeners Dear Editor, On behalf of Preserve Our Water and all the “rainwater harvesters” in Blanco County, a great big “thank you” to Pat Owens and the Blanco County Master Gardeners for the rainwater series, including the article that ran in this paper the week of July 20th.

This is an important notice to all athletes that plan on participating in high school athletics for the 2009-2010 school year and their parents. There will be a Parent Meeting on Saturday, August 1st at 10:00 a.m. in the High School cafeteria. This meeting will give you a chance to meet the coaches that will be working with your student/athlete during the upcoming school year.

A July 15 meeting between LCRA and water customers focused on serious drought conditions, importance of water conservation, and the potential for mandatory watering restrictions by August. LCRA staff met with more than 50 people who represent many of LCRA’s municipal and industrial raw water customers. Presentations included updates on the ongoing drought conditions that are classified as “extreme” to “exceptional” throughout the lower Colorado River watershed, water storage project ...