October 21, 2009

The spirit of Ron Houston, “The Voice of Blanco” and Mayor ProTem until his untimely death on October 7, was present at the regular meeting of the governing body of Blanco on October 13. Mayor Tina Gourley opened the meeting with a tribute, saying, “How very much this council will be at a loss without Ron Houston.” In her words, “I hope that we can work with the same focus” that Ron had “to do the right thing.” Council member Danny Ray stepped ...

On Sunday, October 18, dozens gathered at Mt. Horeb Baptist Church to celebrate the 135th year since its inception. The Honorable Dan Mills, 424th District Judge, read the engraved wording of the new Texas Historical Marker presented to Peyton Colony, and Honorable Blanco County Judge Bill Guthrie read the history of Peyton Colony.

On Monday, October 19, the Blanco Panther Band traveled to East Central High School in San Antonio to participate in the Region 12 UIL Marching Contest. The band performed ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and received all Division I ratings from each of the three judges. This was the seventh consecutive year the Panther Band has received a first division rating in marching and their fourth consecutive advancement to Area.

Stonewall, Texas — The Friends of Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park are offering a second chance at a bike tour of the LBJ Ranch hosted by Luci Baines Johnson, President and Mrs. Johnson’s younger daughter, on Sunday, October 25, at 2:00pm. Registration will be on site starting at 1:00pm. The historical bike tour, which will cover approximately seven miles, also includes a tour of the living room, dining room, kitchen and presidential office in the Texas White Hou ...

The Blanco County Association of Retired Educators will meet at 2:30pm on Thursday, October 29 at the First United Methodist Church in Johnson City. This will be the second meeting of the newly formed organization. The Blanco County local, known as BCARE, has forty members on its roster. BCARE will hold four meetings during this membership year which runs from July 1, 2009 until June 30, 2010.

Hill Country Memorial Hospital will offer a Good Health School on the benefits of anterior approach hip replacement Tuesday, November 3, at noon, at the Hill Country Memorial Hospital Women’s Pavilion. The class will be taught by Orthopedic Surgeon P. Charles Romanick, MD, of Texas Hills Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, P.A.

William Morris Brown, Jr., was born January 9, 1914 in Runge, Texas, the first of six children to Hettie Linder and William Brown, Sr. His family moved to Kenedy, Texas and bought a farm, where William grew up. He was a hardworking, popular young man and very handsome, but above all he was always kind to others and possessed humility.

Master Gardeners of Blanco County are sponsoring a public program by the organic farmer himself, Malcolm Beck. Malcolm is the author of numerous books on organic gardening, including the new edition of The Garden-Ville Method. For decades, he has focused on how to achieve and permanently maintain the finest soil quality. Since selling Garden-Ville in 1998, Malcolm continues to write, “design new stuff,” and give talks and demonstrations all over the country.

On Saturday, October 17, at 10:30am, a celebration recognizing Solomon James Wagner Jr. was held at the Blanco Cemetery. Included in the celebration were a speech and 21-gun salute from the Confederate Veteran Re-enactors, as was the unveiling of a new and proper headstone, while family and friends sang along to “Dixie.” The gathering was in celebration of the life and legacy of the late Solomon James Wagner Jr.

The Pleasant Hill - Rocky Community Club is holding its annual Smorgasbord on Saturday, November 7, the first day of deer season. The site of this benefit feast for area residents, friends, visitors, and visiting hunters is the historic Pleasant Hill - Rocky School Building, which is located about 7 miles west of Johnson City, just off Highway 290 West, on CR 205 (Rocky Road).

It's quite overwhelming to me the signals we send our young people about what it means to be an adult. I want to share some words with the women who read this column. I'm writing to the women because I am a woman and have been doing a lot of work spiritually and emotionally lately and women seem to have a common struggle on the inside and that is who we look to for positive affirmation of who we are as individuals.

A friend who was deeply in debt to the government because of unpaid income taxes invited me to have lunch with him to discuss how to find a way out of his money misery. I expected he would ask me to pray for him and share some advice about debt reduction, but instead he surprised me by saying he had concluded that the only way out of his debt problem was to give his way out.

Hebrews 10:16-25 “16This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through ...

By definition, the benefit of the doubt means: A favorable judgment given in the absence of full evidence; or to believe something good about someone, rather than something bad, when you have the possibility to do either. The benefit of the doubt is rarely offered, but is always desired. What does that mean, you ask?

Someone has said, "Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment". We live and hopefully we learn. Even in tough times, and sometimes especially in tough times there is something to be gained. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"

The Panthers demonstrated their strongest complete volleyball match this season on Friday, October 16, shutting out the Harper Lady Horns 3-0. When the two teams battled earlier in district play, Harper won 3-1. The Lady Horns were undefeated in district and Blanco had only one district loss to Harper. The Panthers played consistent offense and defense the entire match with outstanding serving, setting, digging and killing.

The 2009 Blanco Panthers wasted little time in clinching a spot in the post season, as the Panthers ended the visiting Longhorns’ five-game winning streak with a 33 to14 win at home this past Friday. Blanco was shut out in the first quarter and fell behind early, only to take control and put the game away in the second half for their seventh win of the season. In the first quarter of play, Harper took the opening drive deep into Panther territory before stalling and missing a 42 ...

The Junior Varsity Football Team crushed the Harper JV Longhorns 48-28 on Thursday, October 15. Tim Goodman started the scoring for Blanco with a touchdown run. The 2-point conversion was no good. An interception by Jordan Handberry stopped the Longhorns offense on their first possession of the game. Jesse Ruiz then rushed for six points, dragging two Harper defenders into the end zone with him.

7th Grade The Panthers received the opening kick-off and quickly marched the field, with Devlin Moore on a 20 yard pass reception and Carson Kipp rushing for 27 yards on 3 carries down to the 4 yard line. Devlin Moore punched in the TD, and Aikman Elrod passed to Logan Dodd for the PAT, putting Blanco up 8-0.

Have you noticed the cedar trees are beginning to have berries? You know that the Cedar Fever season is almost here. Several years ago, a friend suggested that I chew the purple berries to build up my immunity because I was always ill during this time. I laughed at him, but I decided to try it.

A few years ago, my wife and I were hosts to two school administrators from Uruguay, South America. Our guests were amazed at the burgeoning economy of the United States and the fact that two school teachers like ourselves could live in a comfortable house and be the owners of two automobiles.

Antlerless Deer Permits Will be Issued October 20-21 October 17, 1969 Representatives of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will issue antlerless deer permits for the regular gun hunting season for designated areas of Blanco County on October 20 and 21 at the Courthouse in Johnson City. Landowners or their agens are requested to apply for permits between 8:00 a.m.

AUSTIN --- Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent in September, meaning 44,700 nonagricultural jobs were lost for the month. The state’s unemployment rate was 8.0 percent at the end of August. Tom Pauken, chairman of the state Workforce Commission said, “While unemployment in Texas remains well below the national rate of 9.8 percent, this serious national recession continues to affect us adversely in Texas.” The leisure and hosp ...