September 10, 2009

*September 12th *– Blanco State Park –* Stars in the Park! *- Join the San Antonio Astronomical Society for viewing the night sky. The society will have telescopes set up to look through and a slide show in case of clouds. Please bring a flashlight to use after the event.

The Hill Country Toy Run Association will be holding a general meeting, Sunday, Sept. 13th at 2:00p.m, at the Blanco County Fairgrounds. For those who want to get involved or volunteer, this is your chance. As always, we need help in all areas, such as the kitchen, traffic control, setup, cleanup, & helping in the BBQ area, to name a few.

The Blanco County Community Choir will begin its annual rehearsals for the Christmas performances. Volunteer musicians from across the county and beyond - singers of all ages from teenagers to golden agers - enjoy the excitement and beauty of lending their voices to this event that has been going on in our county for over thirty-five years. This year’s performances will be held in Johnson City and Blanco during the first weekend in December.

Stonewall, Texas — Two special family friendly activities will highlight the weekend of October 10 and 11 at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. The park’s Friends group is sponsoring a family fun run on Saturday, October 10, beginning at 9 a.m. and also a bike tour hosted by Luci Baines Johnson, President and Mrs.

If you’re like most Americans, you have lots of stuff. We are a country of consumers. We buy, buy, buy, and most of it ends up in boxes in our closets and basements. Unfortunately, we don’t clear out our house as much as we clutter it up. To avoid the pack-rat syndrome, consider donating to the Emergency Services Auxiliary sale.

The Johnson City Library has announced an opening for the position of Library Director. The Library Director handles all aspects of library work, including user services, technical services, and administrative services. The Director works with the Johnson City Library Board of Trustees, as well as professional and community groups, to promote the library.

Johnson City Little League will be holding their annual meeting Monday, September 14th @ 7:00 p.m. at the PEC auditorium to elect new board members and officers. If you would like to be a part of JCLL please come to the meeting “Where Everybody is Somebody in Little League!”

The Texas Department of State Health Services will begin a new monthly immunization program in Johnson City next week, with a mini-clinic at the First United Methodist Church. It is a part of the national Vaccines for Children program, which makes it easier for kids to get the shots they need to prevent diseases such as measles and whooping cough.

The Blanco County Aggie Moms will hold their first meeting of the 2009-2010 school year on Sunday, September 13th, at 4 pm. The meeting will be held in the home of Tricia Hartmann. Plans will be discussed for fall semester activities, so please plan to attend this very important first meeting!

Make Sure You Are in Compliance with the New Child Safety Seat Law Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children age 3 to 6 and 8 to 14. In 2007, 6,532 passenger vehicle occupants 14 and younger were involved in fatal crashes. That’s why Texas AgriLife Extension agent, Gretchen Sanders, is urging all parents and caregivers to attend the child safety seat checkup event on September 15.

“Swine flu won’t kill you, but it will unlock the door and leave it open for the real killer to come in.” “That killer is almost always pneumonia,” said Jim Bowen, a retired virologist from Austin and former vice president at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “That’s why you watch for fever and other symptoms returning after the flu should have ended, because it may mean the flu is over but pneumonia is taking hold, and that can be fatal.” Bowen told the M&Ms’ meeting ...

Hill Country Memorial Wellness Center will be offering several options for the public to receive flu shots, including two Flu Shot Drive-Thru dates and a walk-in opportunity. The annual Flu Shot Drive-Thru will be offered both Thursday, Sept. 24 and again on Friday, Oct. 30—while vaccine supplies last—from 9 a.m.

We had a quiet week this past week. We have had a couple of cooler mornings and that is always nice to wake up to. You would not believe it unless you were here in Johnson City, but we had RAIN this past weekend. It was a beautiful sight and a fantastic surprise.

On our third day in Maine, Sherry and I took off on our own to see what we could find. That could have been dangerous and may have been because we found two quilt shops owned by the same lady. The first one, Kedar Quilts Gallery, was located in Naples, Maine and was a very interesting shop.

I have a new SUV and it has so many bells and whistles that I may have to hire a tutor just to operate it. We purposely did not opt for the most confusing ones like a GPS and back seat dvd player. In fact we didn’t even want or ever use a Moon Roof but we had to take it BECAUSE this particular vehicle only comes with a moon roof.

*****Stan Stamps returned to Tucson after several weeks of taking care of Becky Crider when Becky got out of hospital with a broken ankle *****Plans have changed for Lillian Fuchs service. Gravesite services will be held at the Johnson City Masonic Cemetery, Monday, September 21st at 10:00 a.m. *****Shane, Jerry Ann, Haley & Taylor Buck traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana to visit longtime friend Paula & her family. *****Sandy Hagemeier from Vernon Texas was in town this past week visiting he ...

On August 29th, the Blanco County Central Appraisal District passed a new resolution relating to the already purchased property on Spur 356 and the new facility currently under construction. The prior resolution drafted by the BCCAD failed to win approval because concerned Blanco county citizens pointed out that the BCCAD did not follow proper procedure regarding both the language of the prior resolution nor the way in which it was presented to the boards responsible for approving BCCAD real pr ...

The way of life in the United States has changed rapidly. Americans don’t know their neighbors as well as they once did. Churches, schools and neighborhoods are no longer the social institutions linking entire families into a single community. With the growth of our communities, we all seek more privacy, therefore our front porches have disappeared and the family has moved its social activities to the back yard, often behind tall fences or hedges.

At its regular meeting on September 8, 2009, Blanco County Commissioners ratified the resolution by the Board of Directors of the Blanco County Appraisal District to “purchase land, construction of an appraisal district office facility, construction of improvements and for a permanent loan and establishing an effective date and compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act.” Judge Guthrie read a letter from the Court’s attorney indicating that the process leading to the approval of the b ...

On Tuesday, September 1st, the Johnson City City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting began with a report from grant services representative Katrina Dittemore. She discussed the status of the city obtaining stimulus funding as well as other grant applications with the council. The council voted to pursue the possibility of obtaining a Safe Routes to Schools grant which would dramatically improve the cities sidewalk situation for JCISD students.

Our Weather is Changing The rain lilies are standing tall, the ring is around the moon, Oatmeal Festival is upon us, rain is on the way. Praise God we certainly need it. Now that we have survived the Hottest Summer in Texas History we are certainly welcoming the cooler weather.

All waters from wetlands to gutters may soon fall under the jurisdiction of the new Clean Water Restoration Act, said Blanco County Farm Bureau S & T, Adrian Schulze. “The newly proposed Clean Water Restoration Act removes the word ‘navigable’, mandating that all waters may fall under its jurisdiction,” Schulze said.

Landowners and operators have spent generations becoming range stewards and leaving their piece of Earth better than how it was received. Ranching in the Hill Country is a passion for most and a hobby for a few. With the help of the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) producers across the region can obtain assistance and cost-share in implementing conservation practices. The 2008 Farm Bill authorized some key programs for technical and financial assistance. The first step in ...

Fair Pay In observation of the police salaries as they have been printed in the Johnson City Courier as of late I cannot help but wonder why there is such a discrepancy in pay. In particular, I wonder why the local constable makes one half of what every other law official makes and in fact makes less than county employees.

Good Shepherd Catholic Church will be having an open house to register for 2009-2010 Religious Education Classes on September 16, 2009 at 6:30 pm. Registration will be for 3 year olds to 12th grade. There will be a sign up for our youth choir, which will start rehearsing soon. There will be discussion about sacrament preparation, fundraising, and upcoming events.

Join us for fellowship at Trinity Lutheran Church as we hold our Annual Rally Day BBQ on September 13, 2009. Sunday School starts at 9 a.m. and Church at 10:10 a.m. BBQ with all the trimmings. Drive-thru or dine-in starts at 11:30 a.m. Free-Will donation, proceeds will go to our Building Fund.

Two students from LBJ Middle School have qualified for participation in this year’s Talent Search for mathematically and verbally advanced students sponsored by Duke University’s Talent Identification Program (TIP). The program identifies highly able seventh-graders from a 16-state region in the south, southwest and midwest. To be eligible, students must have a Scale Score of 2864 (this is a perfect score) on TAKS math and/or a scale score of 2820 (also a perfect score) on the reading sec ...

Last week, the Junior Class elected their Junior Class Representatives. Among these distinguished students are President Kayla Jernigan, Vice President Allysa Rush, Secretary Jacy Johnson, Treasurer Mike Banfield, Reporter Lindsey Phillips and Student Council Representatives Luke Neely and Noel Porter. The Junior Representatives of 09-10 have many responsibilities, such as representing the Jr.

Thursday, September 10th MS/HS Football vs Mason @ Shockley Field 7th - 5pm; 8th - 6pm; JV - 7:30pm Friday, September 11th 7:30 pm HS Football @ Mason - Varsity Saturday, September 12th HS Volleyball @ Comfort JV Tourney 9:00 am MS/HS Cross Country @ Ingram Invitational Monday, September 14th MS Volleyball vs *Blanco @ EJ Hyatt Gym 4/5/6pm Thursday, September 17th MS Football vs San Saba @ Shockley Field 7th - 5pm; 8th - 6pm 6:00 pm HS Football @ San Saba - JV

The Eagles opened up an exciting first quarter Friday night against the D’Hanis Cowboys. Junior Kris McDonald ran the opening kick-off back all the way for a touchdown. But the first quarter was a long scoring festival with each team scoring back to back. Senior Cody Atwood ran the second kick off back for a touchdown.

There was a Lady Eagle Junior High volleyball game last Thursday night against Comfort. The “C” team lost the match with the game 1 score of 13 to 25 and game 2 score of 7 to 25. The “B” team lost the match with game 1 score of 5 to 25 and game 2 score of 9 to 25. The “A” team won their match.

The LBJ Junior Varsity football team took on the Lago Vista Vikings in the Eagles first home game of the season this past Thursday evening, Sept 3. The Eagles used a solid running game and took advantage of some key defensive stops and special teams play to come away with a 28-0 victory.

The Lady Eagle Varsity had tough matches last week against Bandera:18-25,16-25,22-25 and Boerne:11-25,16-25,6-25 falling to both teams in 3 games each, The ladies rallied in the third game against Bandera when they were up 22-18 – it looked like they were going to win. Fantastic serving by Chandler Wagner helped them get ahead.