February 14, 2018 Issue

Mayor Herden called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Blanco Public Works Director Ronnie Rodriquez was first to address Council regarding the purchase of a Mini Excavator 303 for the Public Works Department. After Rodriguez presented purchase options to the Council, Mayor Herden motioned that the Excavator be purchased outright.

Legislation passed by Congress includes hurricane relief funds Gov. Greg Abbott lauded Congress’ passage of budget legislation Feb. 9, 2018, that contains nearly $90 billion in hurricane and wildfire disaster relief funding for Texas, Florida, California and Puerto Rico. The federal Office of Coastal Management has estimated the total cost of Harvey at $125 billion.

Anyone who knows anything about the history of Texas music knows the name Neal Ford, formerly as founding member of the Houston group, Neal Ford and The Fanatics. The band dominated the charts from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. He has most recently played at the Oak Creek Cafe, Blanco River Pizza and other Hill Country venues. Ford’s latest venture is an Americana-style CD that was a year in the making. His new CD “Nothin’ Quite Like” was a year in the making.

This is the first of a series of columns to appear in the Blanco County News. I call the columns the “Hill Country Naturalist.” You know the bumper sticker that reads, “I wasn’t born in Texas but I got here as soon as I could”? Well, I wasn’t always a naturalist, but I have been working as hard as I can for the past 17 years to become one.

Wills are difficult to write, but making the tough decisions you will always ease the burden off your family. Many families are torn up by children and spouses trying to decide what was it the person wishes or what is fair after someone is gone. Just because you may have told your children or your wishes after you are gone without a Will it can be contested.

Keep Blanco Beautiful (KBB) was formed in 2000 to educate and engage Blanco citizens to take responsibility for improving their community environment. The bylaws state that “the purpose of this organization shall be charitable and educational...to promote public interest in the general improvement of the environment of Blanco...” At the end of January, Keep Blanco Beautiful held its first quarterly meeting of the year.

On Wednesday, Feb. 7 Kelby Cox signed a commitment to play football at Trinity University in San Antonio. Kelby has played quarterback and defensive back for Blanco. He has been recruited as an athlete for the Trinity Tigers. Kelby has been awarded the President’s academic scholarship for four years, as well as, the Trinity Legacy scholarship.

The Lucky Leaf 4-H Club participated in the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Youth Day on the 10th of February. Our booth gave children and adults the opportunity to make handmade key chains and suncatchers, using beads and pipe cleaners. I asked Jessi Haas-Snow, Lucky Leaf 4-H Club manager, what her thoughts on this event were and she said, “Lucky Leaf 4-H did a wonderful job representing their club at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Youth Day.

Last week Coach Justin Weldon said the Panther’s magic number was one in their quest for the district championship. On Tuesday, Feb. 6, Blanco got the “one” they needed, with a 69-62 win over the Georgetown Gateway Gators. The Panther’s added another win with an overwhelming, 61-30 victory against the Ingram Warriors on Friday, Feb.

BHS sent 28 students to the Region 12 Solo and Ensemble Contest this past Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, at La Vernia High School. At the end of the day, BHS brought home 33 Division 1 Gold Medals and 6 Division 2 awards. The Blanco Band had 30 students advance to UIL State Solo and Ensemble Contest in yet another school record for the Panther Band.

The February meeting of the Board of Education kicked off with several recognitions. Principal Jowie Walker awarded five kindergarten students certificates for perfect attendance. Studies have shown the direct correlation of attendance to academic success. Veterans of Foreign Wars representative, Ty Teel, came from Startzville VFW District 5 to award Blanco High School freshman Shannon O’Neil the Voice of Democracy award.

Emil Ray Uecker has announced that he will seek election for County Commissioner Precinct 2, Blanco County. Uecker is a fourth generation Blanco County native married to Linda Hartmann Uecker, also a Blanco County native. “I am a fiscal Christian conservative and an independent decision maker. Decisions made will be in the best interest of the constituents of Precinct 2 and Blanco County.

Spring Break at the LBJ Ranch 2018 will offer park visitors the opportunity to further explore and discover the park’s historic resources and delve deeper into the story of the 36th president and the LBJ Ranch. Visitors can join park rangers and volunteers to learn about the important role aviation and the US Secret Service played at the ranch, become more familiar with Johnson’s environmental and education legacy, explore some of the natural features of the park, talk with the park’s ...

The family of Evelyn Heckel would like to express our appreciation to our friends and family for all the love, prayers, flowers, food, cards and condolences after her passing. Thank you to all the staff at Live Oak Medical Center and LBJ Medical Center for taking great care of our mom for the last year and a half. Special thank you to Pastor Carlos of the Blanco United Methodist Church for a wonderful service and “Celebration of her Life” and for a very nice reception. Thank you fro ...

Anyone who knows anything about the history of Texas music knows the name Neal Ford, formerly as founding member of the Houston group, Neal Ford and The Fanatics. The band dominated the charts from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s. He has most recently played at the Oak Creek Cafe, Blanco River Pizza and other Hill Country venues. Ford’s latest venture is an Americana-style CD that was a year in the making. His new CD “Nothin’ Quite Like” was a year in the making.

Edmond Linza Hargett was born on November 1, 1922 in Sheffield, AL to Linza Deral and Chessie Fike Hargett. Growing up he had an older brother Nelson and sister Mary. At the outset of World War II, he volunteered for service in the US Army and was assigned to the US Army Air Corps.

The emergency room doors banged open and a father, closely followed by his 16-year-old son, ran through cradling the unconscious form of his eight-year-old boy. The ER personnel responded quickly and whisked the boy away into the bowels of the big hospital leaving the two to pace back and forth in the waiting area. The boys had left Mom at home to go on a weekend outing with their Dad to do some camping and fishing and to just spend some quality time together in the great outdoors.

A man was praying with his wife. He prayed a prayer his wife had heard many times before. “Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life.” Just as he said this the wife interrupted, “Kill the spider, Lord.” Many times we ask the Lord to forgive us of some sin, yet we leave the source of temptation in our life.

Ash Wednesday begins the Season of Lent within the church calendar. Lent is forty days long, not counting Sundays, leading up to Easter. The purpose of Lent is to prepare the believer, through prayer, repentance, Bible reading and self-denial, for the coming of Easter. Sometimes numbers have a symbolic meaning for our faith.