April 22, 2010

The First Christian Church of Johnson City is repeating its first annual Prom Dress Exchange this Saturday, April 24th from 11 am-2 pm. We have collected 65 dresses plus purses, jewelry, and shoes. Any teen can bring a dress to exchange for a new one or she can come and choose a dress that she can keep forever as a cherished memory.

The Johnson City Community Education Foundation Family Picnic and Softball Challenge, scheduled Sunday, May 2 at 1pm at the Johnson City Park, features a raffle with a chance to win a 42-inch flat screen TV valued at $500. Raffle tickets are $5 each or $25 for a pack of six tickets.

There will be a benefit for Paul Penick on Saturday, April 24th at the 4R-Bar. There will be a Motorcycle Poker Run starting at 10 am and ending at 2 pm followed by a washer tournament starting at 2pm. At 6 pm BBQ plates will be served by donation and a dance will follow.

The Johnson City FFA members have scheduled their annual rabies clinic for May 5, 2010 from 1:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the high school agriculture shop. Dr. Paul Axtell and his wife Dr. Kris Axtell and their staff from Deer Creek Veterinary Clinic will be on hand along with the FFA students to help with your pet’s vaccination. There will be two lines for your convenience which should help you get in and out in a short period of time. Last year approximately 125 pets were vacc ...

Stonewall Head Start, Inc. is sponsoring a Health Fair at the Fredericksburg Center located at: 711 S. Eagle St., on Thursday, April 29th from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Various booths and activities will be provided for adults and children. This event is free and open to the public. So, come on out and join us for the fun!!!!

The Blanco County Association of Retired Educators also known as BCARE will hold the fourth meeting since it was newly organized on Thursday, April 29 at The First Baptist Church in Johnson City at 2:30 PM. The parent organization, TRTA has grown to 70,000 members. TRTA uses its collective voice to advocate for retired educational personnel.

A group of Johnson City Library patrons took a bus trip on Tuesday, April 13th to Schulenburg, Texas to see the Painted Churches. I think I could speak for all of us...we had a GREAT time! The Churches were absolutely stunning. From the outside, they look like many American country churches built around the turn of the last century. Cross the threshold of these particular Texas churches and you’ll encounter not a simple wooden interior but an unexpected profusion of col ...

I have a good paying job for the small town of Johnson City. I have the benefits of being here for my children. I get to drop them off at school every morning and pick them up every afternoon. I never miss a game. My husband has a good job. We have a nice house on a good enough size piece of land.

What a wonderful place to live and that is here. Not only do we have ACI come and spray for Pest Control, but we also will have our lawns mowed this week by H & H. Everything is always beautiful here and to live in such a great place is a true blessing.

Guess What? I found a cute little quilt shop in Marble Falls called "The Nine Patch". She has quite a bit of fabric and expects to get a lot more in for the future. Classes are starting up and things seem to be rolling along. They have Johnson City contacts so you will need to go in and visit next time you are in the area. Aren’t the wildflowers beautiful?

April 25 marks the 20th anniversary of the much-anticipated deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope by Discovery space shuttle astronauts in 1990. Then to the dismay of scientists and the public, it was quickly found that the HST had an optical defect that seriously degraded its views. However, once corrective optics were installed in 1993, the magnificent telescope has been revealing a universe never before known in such depth and grandeur. In 1609-1610, Galileo and his new telesco ...

They’re everywhere and maybe snakes among them. WARNING, do not allow your children or even your dogs to amble through the bluebonnets. I was enamored of the virtual blanket of bluebonnets in my back yard and even thought of squatting down amongst them and have Pat take my picture BUT>>>> someone sent me a picture via email showing a 6ft.

*****The Blanco County Extension Education Association will soon hold its Spring Luncheon on Thursday, April 22, 2010. It will be held at the Gem of the Hills Senior Citizens Community Center, 2233 North US Highway 281, in Blanco, Texas. Serving will be from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm. A wonderful smorgasbord of main dishes, side dishes, salads, and desserts will be served for the bargain price of $6.00 per person.

The Hill Country Heritage Trail Brochure launch was a lively, history-making, fun event and 340 people came to enjoy it! The Uptown Blanco Arts and Entertainment Courtyards were beautifully decorated for the event. The morning was overcast but the Jeremy Miller Band played on despite the weather conditions. Daryl Whitworth, the emcee for the day, announced a special song written and produced by the band.

Rain or Shine.....The annual Wildflower Festival was well attended. Johnson City Reserve Police Officer Bill Slagle caught with his hand in the cookie jar. There were plenty of goodies to go around. All the non-profits had their booths set up making money for their causes. Local musicians and artists were able to showcase their talents throughout the day.

For any of you folks out there that listen to Bucky & Bob on KVET Radio, 98.1, you are probably aware that Bob Cole decided to have a BBQ contest for the best BBQ in Central Texas. At first they didn’t even include Ronnie’s BBQ, but after several phone calls and e-mails decided to add Ronnie’s and a few others on. It seemed as if they were thinking Johnson City wasn’t even on the map, or at the very least, how could our little town have a BBQ place that co ...

Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. Entomophobia is the fear of insects. And Emetophobia is the fear of vomiting. It was all of these fears combined that faced Blanco County young people on Saturday, April 10th. On that Saturday, the Youth Community Assistance Program (YCAP) once again successfully attracted young people from across Blanco County to Johnson City for a night of food, fun, and this time a chance to overcome their fears.

"Here’s how we’ll team up...I’ll go up the ladder, and you hand me things when I need them, OK?" Nathan Axtell caught on quickly, so when dad Paul was ready for the broom to clean out the gutters, Nathan had it right at hand. The team will be on the job Saturday for "Change the World Day"

WHAT VEGGIES ARE YOU PLANTING? According to the New York Times, one of the most beneficial veggies is the lowly cucumber. This little veggie contains most of the vitamins that we need every day, just one Cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5 and B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

Feral hogs are becoming more and more of a problem in Llano County and surrounding counties. Are you tired of fixing fences, replanting fields, repairing water troughs, losing baby calves, fawns, lambs, and kids? Experts say that to control the hog population, 70% have to be harvested each year. To my knowledge, we are not making that mark, so the hog population is growing out of control.

The Johnson City FFA Plant ID team participated in their final contest on Saturday, April 17 at the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock. Jesica Moran, Kayla Meier, Shawn McNease, and Chris Eddy traveled to Lubbock to compete at the State contest to come in a superb 8th place in the state and 2nd in Area VII.

On Tuesday, April 27, the Fredericksburg Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT) presents Lawrence Fagarason as our speaker for the evening. Larry has been a cactus hobbyist for 35 years and has pursued his botanical interest in desert flora, native plants, and cacti and succulents. He has run a landscape and nursery business for 15 years specializing in native plants, cacti and succulents.

After weeks and weeks of studying and traveling to competitions, the Johnson City FFA wildlife team returned to San Angelo for the Area VII/Region 2 Wildlife Career Development Event (CDE). On April 13, Garrett Deike, Slater Sultemeier, Nathan Preece, and Ashley Bargsley served our school proudly ranking 3rd in both Area VII as well as Region 2. Garrett Deike had an impressive outing individually, outscoring the 110 competitors in the entire contest to bring home another 1st ...

Lesa Ann Green, 53, passed away April 14, 2010 at her home in Johnson City. She was born in Odessa to Donald D. Green and Monnie Ensey. Lesa is survived by her father Don Green and wife Frankie; mother, Monnie Page and husband Andrew; daughter, Amy Burris; brother, Donald Wade Green and wife Tammy; sisters, Sydney Crossley, and Terry Witty and husband Reggie; granddaughters, Brooke and Ashlyn Burris.

Blanco County Sheriff’s Office Reports These reports were filed between Apr. 5 and Apr. 9. Apr. 5 • 153 South of Blanco Avenue. 12:15 AM. Suspicious Person • 878 Rust Ranch Rd. 5:30 AM. Medical Emergency • 711 Liveoak Dr. 8:04 AM. Animal Complaint • 366 Rancho’s Trl. 9:07 AM. Medical Emergency • 505 N Nugent Ave.

During his teen years, Yu Chen Kun was a member of the infamous Red Guard, a group inspired by the late Mao Zedong to destroy what the Communist government considered corrupting influences in the country, including Christianity. The Red Guards attacked churches, destroying Bibles throughout China. Then, one day, Yu visited a church service and was never the same again.

2nd Grade A Honor Roll Aidan Adair, Evan Alvarado, Sierra Cross, Kalli Dalland, Willow Grote, Diego Guerrero, Chesney Hubbard, Adisyn Langbein, M’Lehne Linson, Sawyer Lynn, Bridgette McKennis, Daphney Nevarez, Cade O’Banon, Aubry Ockman, Westin Perrrenoud, Cooper Schnitz, Dooley Smith, Gavin Thompson, Reagan Weirich 2nd Grade A/B Honor Roll Mariana Alvarado, Grace Burke, Garrett DeSpain, Jesse Harriso ...

The 2010 Johnson City Wildflower Days High School Art Show was a success this year. The court house was alive with creative High School Art while the sounds of lively music as it was being played on the square. The art students were thrilled that so many came out to see their art work. We would like to congratulate these LBJ student artists for the 2010 Best of Show Tiffany Moreland, first place Kacie Cantwell, second place Olivia Anderson, third place Shayla Painter, fourth ...

Nicholas Nolte, a 5th grader at LBJ Middle School, received Honorable Mention for his pinball machine in the 2nd Annual Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors. This honor recognizes that he was a Top 50 Contestant out of 600 entries. The Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS), The Akron Global Polymer Academy, and The University of Akron hosted the 2010 Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors to encourage students in grades 5-8 to demonstrate their creativity and ing ...

The Johnson City baseball team continued their season this past couple of weeks by playing three district ballgames. The Eagles finished the first round of district by defeating the Comfort Bobcats by a score of 10-4. Johnson City opened up the second round of district play by hosting the San Antonio Cole Cougars and defeating them by a score of 11-1.

7Th Grade Girls •1st Place Pole Vault Glory Maenius 6’6" •2nd Place Shot Put Haley Sharp 22’11" •3rd Place 800M Relay (Hernandez, Hulse, Maenius, Mierschin) 2:18.23 8th Grade Girls •1st Place Long Jump Whitney Wood 12’10" •1st Place Pole Vault Brooke Wood 7’6" •1st Place 800M Run Brooke Wood 2:43.71 •1st Place 800M ...

With the primary elections over and a clear picture of who will run for public office in November, it is time to lay the groundwork for true eminent domain reform, said Adrian Schulze, S & T of the Blanco County Farm Bureau. "Proposition 11 brought about beneficial change for property owners by limiting eminent domain powers of government to acquire land for non-public use,"Schulze said.

"As a compound, nothing could be simpler than water: two atoms of hydrogen joined to one of oxygen. From a human point of view, simplicity fades." (National Geographic, April 2010). Water is one of our most precious - and limited - natural resources, and the world community is becoming increasingly aware of its use and need for conservation. Blanco’s water problems may be just a drop in the bucket compared with those of the rest of the world, but the Blanco Woman’ ...