December 16, 2015 Issue

The regular meeting of the Mason County Commissioners' Court on Monday was taken up with a number of year end business matters. Several of those items involved voting to fill a number of vacancies at the County due to retirements or departures from positions in a multitude of offices. Senior Clerk Diane Pence is retiring from the County Clerk's office.

There are lots of Christmas carols at this festive time of year. You can hear them on the country channels, the classical, and even on the rock and roll music channels. Some are ecumenical, referencing Jesus Christ and the events surrounding His birth. Others are more secular, discussing the foods, smells, sights and emotions of the entire holiday season.

2 Year Old Male Mix Breed Sweet, sensitive and full of love. Artie is one FANTASTIC dog. He is well mannered, and wants nothing more than to be your best buddy. Artie really craves attention. As soon as you start petting him he sits calmly, and looks up at you with the sweetest eyes.

53 boys enjoyed hunting with Operation Orphans, Inc. December 5th and harvested 70 animals. Animals taken during the hunt were 49 whitetail does, 5 spikes, 11 bucks, 3 feral hogs, 1 axis and 1 sika. Homes bringing boys to hunt were Sweeten Home, Brownwood; Gulf Coast Trade Center, New Waverly; Cox Foster Home, Orange; West Texas Boys Ranch, San Angelo; Ramirez Foster Home, Converse; Acuna Foster Home, La Porte; Araujo Foster Home, Elmendorf; Methodist Boys Ranch, Waco; and Lawrence Foster Home, ...

Mildred Evelyn Eckert Carder, 94, died peacefully in her sleep on November 25, 2015, at Patriots Colony in Williamsburg, Virginia. Born July 31, 1921, in Mason, Texas, she is predeceased by her parents, Kinney Milton and Zilla Minnie (Wood) Eckert of Mason, Texas, and her husband, John Thomas Carder of Johnson City, Tennessee. Survivors include her two sons, Patrick Carder (Sandra) of Williamsburg, Virginia, and Kinney Carder (Virginia) of Leesburg, Georgia.

Leroy Sanders, of Brady, passed away on Wednesday, December 9, at the age of 47. Leroy was born in Tucumcari, New Mexico, on September 2, 1968, to Howard Sanders and Eddie Mae Small Sanders. Leroy was a 1987 graduate of Mason High School. For many years Leroy worked as a paint and body man repairing cars.

Herbert Gene Jordan, of Mason, passed away at his home on Thursday, December 10, at the age of 83. Herbert was born in Mason County on August 12, 1932, to Marvin E. Jordan and Hattie Geistweidt Jordan. He was a life-long resident of Mason County and a graduate of Mason High School.

Editor: Is No One Offended By Tactlessness? Gerry brings up some very valid points about the tactlessness of our society. But he missed some points as well. We have two political parties who have created a mess that benefits them and hurts ALL of us. Each of them portrays themself as the protector of America and the other as the Enemy of America.

MASON, Texas – The girls softball field operated by Mason Youth Baseball will have new lighting thanks to a $25,000 community development grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority and the City of Mason. Only three of the four baseball and softball fields at the city's Fort Mason City Park currently have lights. "Our girls have always been kind of left out in the dark,"

Last Tuesday, the basketball team played Menard and played really well taking the victory. That weekend, the team played two very good basketball teams in Llano and Brady. The Punchers dropped both of those games but rebounded the next day, beating Ballinger 40-38 in a thriller.

The freshman boys basketball team played Fredricksburg last Tuesday. The Punchers put up a good fight and played hard. However, they fell short with a score of 50-44, Fredicksburg coming away with a win. They also played in the freshman Brady Tournament this past weekend. They got third place going 3-1 with wins over: Abilene Wylie 37-34, Brady 37-34, and Ballinger 30-23.

The McHale Ranch would like to thank the Loyal Valley VFD and the Mason EMS for volunteering at the American Sniper Shootout. Both professional efforts were greatly appreciated and helped ensure a safe family event. The event raised over $500,000 for the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation. McHale Ranch donated $2,000 to the Loyal Valley VFD and $750 to the Mason EMS as a token of appreciation and to help with their continued equipment needs.

Raul & Margie Sanchez of Mason and Sheila & Grover Bibler of Fredericksburg are happy to announce the engagement and approaching marriage of their children, Ruberto Sanchez and Lacey Bibler. Mr. Sanchez is a 2004 graduate of Mason High School and a 2012 graduate of ASU with a BBA in Finance.

The First Baptist Church is extremely happy to present our new Pastor and his family. Pastor Ryan Buck, his wife Rachel, and their four children, Wyatt 8, Emily 7, Chloe 5, and Ethan 3. Pastor Ryan's first Sunday will be December 27th. Everyone is invited to come and help welcome them into our community.

At this time I would like to announce my that I am running for the office of County Commissioner of Precinct 3. I have lived and worked here in Mason County for 16 years. My wife Darla and I have raised 4 children here and have and have always said that coming to Mason was the best thing we could have ever done for them.

Varsity Cowgirls vs. Sonora Tuesday, Dec. 8 Mason 16—16—6—17 = 55 Ingram 3—6—11—3 = 23 Scoring—Monaco Schmidt—2, Kenley Stockbridge--12, Justyn Tedder--2, Sara Powell--3, Cheyenne Ivey--5, Kayla Guice—22, Ruby Magnus--6, Katy Armstrong--3. Varsity Cowgirls vs. Smithville @ F'burg Tournament Thursday, Dec. 10 Mason 23—19—14—8 = 63 Smithville 15—11—19—12 = 42 Scoring—Kenley Stockbridge--6, Justyn Tedder--5, Sara Powell--12, Kayla Guice—24, Ruby Magnus--6, Katy Ar ...

The Mason City Commission only had three action items on Monday night's agenda; but, the first one dominated most of the meeting - consideration of the Interlocal Agreement for Law Enforcement with Mason County. Sheriff Buster Nixon was in attendance at the meeting, along with Chief Deputy Dean Stringer, to answer any questions the group might have about the details of the agreement. Most of the questions passed between the Commission and the Sheriff had to do with measuring and evaluating perf ...

11/01/2015@ 0050 – EMS – EMS responded to FtMcKavitt St for a woman who felt ill 11/01/2015@ 1240 – Theft – Deputy Jones investigated a theft on FtMcKavitt St 11/01/2015@ 1336 – Loose livestock – Chief Deputy Stringer put up a cow out on Hwy 377 11/01/2015@ 1531 - Loose livestock – Chief Deputy Stringer put up a cow out on Hwy 377 11/02/2015@ 1152 – Vehicle unlock – Chief Deputy Stringer unlocked a vehicle on FtMcKavitt St 11/02/2015@ 1450 – Loose livestock - Chief Deputy St ...

To me the Holiday Season is a time of reflection. Also for me it seems to be a time for corrections. (I must refer you again to the title of this column.) I apologize profusely to Tommie Luckenbach for misspelling her name in the article where I featured her. I had it spelled correctly in all my notes but misspelled it in my article.

This is the next quick and easy holiday recipe for your consideration. It did not come from the Cathy Mitchell cookbook that I've been using so frequently, but it met the requirements of being, quick, easy and delicious! Ingredients: 3 cups A/P flour 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 ½ teaspoons salt 3 cups granulated sugar 1 can solid-packed pumpkin ( I used Libby's) 4 large eggs 1 cup vegetable or canola oil ½ cup orange juice or water 1 cup sweetened ...

JOINT PAIN or ARTHRITIS is the number one chronic illness in America. One person in 7 suffers from it. Many people are use GLUCOSAMINE, CHONDROITINS, and MSM to manage pain and to supply building materials for joint repair. While these are very helpful, particularly with osteoarthritis, I would like to mention some other natural remedies for arthritis.

Rejoice! Today is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day. As a true chocoholic, I think this is one of the best special days ever. The timing of this day, during the holiday season, couldn't be better. We even have three non-fiction books devoted to chocolate: Eat chocolate, lose weight: new science proves you should eat chocolate every day (this one sounds like a great diet to me) by Will, Clower (613.2 CLO); The Most Decadent Diet Ever by Devin Alexander (641.5 ALE); and Chocolate by Lora, B ...

Since there are still several valid shopping days until Christmas, this week would be a great time for me to offer my Annual Christmas Gift Guide, which I write every few years or so, in order to give my readers some ideas for gifts for people they don't like. Unfortunately I belong to Prosrastinators 313.

Since there are still several valid shopping days until Christmas, this week would be a great time for me to offer my Annual Christmas Gift Guide, which I write every few years or so, in order to give my readers some ideas for gifts for people they don't like. Unfortunately I belong to Prosrastinators 313.

Had a hankering for Chinese food, so Saturday, grandson Cooper and myself tried out the Mr. China. He said his was good, but for some reason I gave mine a B in flavor. Thus, in a town with a Chinese Food place, you're sure to find a Wally World store.

Column #656 for Release Saturday, December 12, 2015, or Later Craig Murphy chased dreams for a quarter-century--partly behind the wheel of "big rigs," but mostly in the 1991 Chevrolet pick-up he bought new and still drives despite an odometer north of 263,000 miles. Some were short-lived pursuits, including automotive school and master mechanic certification, training to drive 18-wheelers across the country and a police academy program for a short stint in law enforcement.

I know this time of year some of you all are like our family we have an abundance of deer meat. This recipe youalso substitute ground beef or turkey. 1 pound ground venison 1 can Rotel undrained ½ finely chopped bell pepper 1 jalapeño finely chopped ½ cup finely chopped onion ½ cup long grain converted rice 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon black pepper ½ teaspoon garlic powder 8 slices American cheese Brown ground beef; drain and transfer to slow cooker.

Since we are in the Thanksgiving and Christmas Season, I am going to try to describe what Christmas was like and how we celebrated the Christmas Season here in the Hill Country during the later days of 1929 thru 1940, during the Great Depression. At the time, I thought that our families were sort of at the low end of the totem pole as for as wealth was concerned but as I got older, I discovered that about 95% of the area population suffered the same hard times. Thanksgiving and Christmas was al ...

We now have just a week until time runs out before Christmas, so I hope that you have managed to get yourself and your household ready for the holidays. There are lights glowing every night all around town and the downtown area is always remarkably beautiful and serene with the outline lights and the store windows lit at night.

It has been awhile since I actually wrote the column. Two weeks ago, I wrote two weeks of columns and packed up and drove to Michigan. We loaded a U-Haul trailer with our daughter Tina's stuff, and drove back to Texas. We welcome our daughter Tina and grandchildren Amber and John back to the community and our home.

Herbert Gene Jordan, of Mason, passed away at his home on Thursday, December 10, at the age of 83. Herbert was born in Mason County on August 12, 1932, to Marvin E. Jordan and Hattie Geistweidt Jordan. He was a life-long resident of Mason County and a graduate of Mason High School.

Leroy Sanders, of Brady, passed away on Wednesday, December 9, at the age of 47. Leroy was born in Tucumcari, New Mexico, on September 2, 1968, to Howard Sanders and Eddie Mae Small Sanders. Leroy was a 1987 graduate of Mason High School. For many years Leroy worked as a paint and body man repairing cars.

Mildred Evelyn Eckert Carder, 94, died peacefully in her sleep on November 25, 2015, at Patriots Colony in Williamsburg, Virginia. Born July 31, 1921, in Mason, Texas, she is predeceased by her parents, Kinney Milton and Zilla Minnie (Wood) Eckert of Mason, Texas, and her husband, John Thomas Carder of Johnson City, Tennessee. Survivors include her two sons, Patrick Carder (Sandra) of Williamsburg, Virginia, and Kinney Carder (Virginia) of Leesburg, Georgia.