November 15, 2017 Issue

The First Baptist Church of Blanco hosted a community Light Night Halloween night. More than 1,000 people attended the free event that featured a costume contest (pictured below, games, face painting, a hayride and play on inflatables. Several churches and organizations contributed to the success of the evening including Blanco United Methodist Church, Trinity Lutheran Church, The Ark, New Hope Lutheran Church, Young Life as well as the Blanco EMS and the Blanco Volunteer Fire Department.

Having a son who served as a Marine greatly helps Hope Ware to provide support for other veterans. Ware, the veteran support coordinator for Blanco County through Hill Country MHDD (Mental Health Development and Disabilities Services), helps veterans with services such as counseling, support groups and referrals for VA status and claims. “My son was in the Marines for four years, and I lived with him for 15 months when he got back (from Afghanistan),” Ware said.

The 4-H food challenge was held on Oct. 30. 2017, at the Methodist Church in Johnson City. The teams in the food challenge compete with other teams around Blanco County making their own food dishes without recipes, using the provided ingredients. This event teaches food nutrition as well as teamwork. “We had 28 kids participate,” Gretchen Sanders, Blanco County Extension Agent-Family and Community Health said.

The Panthers hosted the Comfort Bobcats for their final home game of the regular season. Captains Peyton Van Dyke, Toby Triesch, Griffin Wearden and Chail Knoll met at mid field for the coin toss. Comfort won the toss and deferred to the second half. Tristan Fortner received the opening kickoff and returned the ball 15-yards where Kelby Cox returned as QB for the Panthers.

The Blanco Youth Varsity Football team made up of 5th and 6th graders won the Hill Country Youth Football League (HCYFL) Division II Championship on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. For the 6th graders, this made their third championship in a row and secured their third undefeated season in a row. This group has not lost a football game since the 3rd grade, beat every opponent in division I consisting of 4A thru 6A schools.

Henry Michael "Hank" Kuentz, Jr. 84. passed away at his ranch in London, Texas on Tuesday, November 7, 2017 after a long battle with cancer. Hank was born November 3, 1933 in San Antonio, Texas. After graduating from Brackenridge High School he pursued a career in electronics. Hank was hired by Philco Ford Electronic Communications and sent overseas to do classified government contracts. Hank moved to Blanco in 1969 and went to work for Data Point Electronics in San Antonio.