December 23, 2015 Issue

A fourth grade Prime Time group initiated a food drive at Mason Elementary. Students brought 1,230 food items, and they were taken to the Mason County Food Bank. Thank you to everyone who helped made this "Leaders Give Back" service project a success.

Christmas is here! Or, at least it will be by the time you read this. One year ago, my family was rearranging its celebration of Christmas to accommodate the recent arrival of my new great-nephew, Jameson Stockbridge. This year, the only shuffling of schedules is due to dealing with the many variations of schedules of "the kids"

The new year always holds a promise of new rewards and new challenges. For the staff at The Mason County News, for the first time in memory, it also means that we will spend our weekdays without the company of Tom Kent. In early December, Tom made the decision to fully retire, after 28 years of working at the News. Prior to serving as our delivery coordinator, and being in charge of managing our in-house print services, Tom and his wife Frances owned their own business in Rising Star.

The Texas Tennis Coaches Association announced Friday night, December 11th at its annual banquet that the winner of the 2015 Region IV Regional Coach of the Year for Jr High was Mason's own Tammi Pinter. This is a great honor as it encompasses approximately 1300 1A through 6A Jr High Schools. Tammi was presented the award by former Texas A&M coach and TTCA Hall of Fame President, Bobby Kleinecke.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1 & 2 1 To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. 2 A time to be born and a time to die. On October 13, 1923, I was born and blessed far in excess of the three score allotted man by God my true heavenly father.

Dear Gerry, I want to thank you for the reminder that we have a choice in how we conduct our public life -- "standards of decency" or "boorish and ill-mannered behavior." Democracy is based on fundamental respect for others. Democracy is also a constant challenge requiring vigilance and effort from all stake holders.

The judges have met, they have toured the homes, and they have issued their final opinions in the 2015 ShortStop/NuWay Christmas Decorating Contest. In the large yard category, the first prize winner was Merle Cattan at 924 Post Oak St. The second place winner in the large yard category was Dewayne and Sheri Simon at 505 E.

The Heart of Texas Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) held its December meeting as a Christmas Party in its meeting room on the west side of Brady's downtown square. Shown above at the party, a special plaque was presented to Sharon Purcell (left) by President Karen Bishop (right) in acknowledgement and honor of her membership and service to the local Chapter. Purcell was a Charter Member of the Heart of Texas Chapter and served two terms as its first President.

On Thursday, the Mason County Chamber of Commerce welcomed United Heat and Air as the newest member of the organization. United Heat and Air provide service and installation of quality HVAC systems. Doug Ferguson and his wife, Liz, have owned United Heat & Air for 20 years. Doug has over 30 years of experience in the industry, growing up working in his father's air conditioning business from the ground up.

The Mason Junior High Gifted and Talented classes would like to thank Rhona and Chad Lemke and Mrs. Pam Kruse for initiating the purchase of five new robots for our Junior High competition teams. The new robots replaced the seven year old robots, which have been passed down to the new Robotics Club.

Monday December 21st, Mason County Republican Party held it's ballot drawing for the March 1, 2016, Republican Primary. Present were (left to right) Leann Fleming, Precinct 210 Chairman; candidate for County Commissioner Precinct 3 Marty Pape; candidate for County Commissioner Precinct 1 Reggie Loeffler; Candidate for County Commissioner Precinct 3 John Olson; candidate for County Attorney Rebekah Whitworth; candidate for County Commissioner Precinct 3 Buddy Schuessler; and Precinct 101 Chairma ...

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. O come all ye faithful. The next day is Christmas. Joyful and triumphant. The day after that is Boxing Day. A bank holiday for the United Kingdom. And Canada. And Australia and other former British colonies. If it falls on a Saturday, banks are closed the following Monday. But it's also the holiday when, traditionally, servants and tradesmen received gifts from their bosses or employers. The gift was known as a "Christmas box." Thus the holiday's name. Meanwhile back ...

Varsity Cowgirls vs. Bangs Tuesday, Dec. 15 Mason 13—16—22—5 = 56 Bangs 5—11—9—13 = 38 Scoring—Monaco Schmidt--2, Kenley Stockbridge--10, Justyn Tedder--2, Sara Powell--6, Cheyenne Ivey--4, Kayla Guice--19, Ruby Magnus--9, Katy Armstrong--4. Rebounds--Powell--8, Magnus--11, Armstrong--7. Assists--Schmidt--4, Armstrong--3. Blocks, Steals, & Deflections--Stockbridge--6, Powell--5, Armstrong--7. Varsity Cowgirls @ Coleman Friday, Dec. 18 Mason 22—17—10—13 = 62 Coleman 8—1 ...

The Mason County Commissioners' Court held a special meeting on Monday morning to discuss the interlocal law enforcement agreement that had been sent back to them by the City Commission after their meeting last week. The County had approved a new agreement on the morning of December 14; but, the City did not approve that agreement. After discussion by the County Commissioners' Court, the Mayor, City Administrator, Sheriff, Chief Deputy; the Court moved upon the recommendation of Judge Bearden t ...

We at the Mason Senior Center hope you enjoyed the "Holiday Treats Day" we had last week for our members, donors, sponsors and volunteers. Thanks to Mario, Jerry and Shirlene there was an abundance of goodies to eat and beverages. I helped too by staying completely out of the way.

This is the sixth, and last recipe in my "Quick and Easy Recipes for Holiday Season 2015." I hope some of you have found these recipes a bit helpful during this very busy time of the year. This particular recipe happens to be a personal favorite of mine, since it has a rather bold, spicy taste to it. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016! Ingredients for cake: 1 can (21 ounces) apple pie filling 1 package spice cake mix 3 eggs 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ...

Once again it's time for our Annual Christmas Gift Guide, which I enjoy putting out every few years, or whenever I remember it. For your edification and convenience, I scour the store shelves and parking lots and public restrooms all over the United States, provided they are located in my office, to bring you a compilation of the most impractical and useless offerings available.

My Christmas wish for you is: Enough money, Enough food, Enough health, Enough happiness, and Enough places to put all those Christmas things! So, from Z., Cousin Louie, Earl, Rojo, Nacha, and myself, Merry Christmas to all! Now, get back to what ever you need to get done. Christmas is almost here and what are you doing reading this article?

At this "turkey time" of year, stories of chickens are decidedly in the background. Clucking is drowned out by gobbles. The mention of "clucking" brings to mind a vignette destined to become an urban legend, except for a sudden change of location to a pastoral setting where neighbors live acres apart. Let the story begin.

Here it is already Christmas week. I really don't know where the year went! The thing that starts my Christmas Day off good is if I feed everyone a first-rate breakfast. These adorable mini quiches are perfect for breakfast, brunch or served as an appetizer at your next party so they are really perfect for the Holiday season.

In Mason we are not likely to have a "white Christmas" but we are certainly having real "Texas" Christmas weather. With the spring like temperatures it should make for safe journeys and plenty of time for the kids to be outside enjoying new games and playthings, and we can all take time to drive around and enjoy the lights and holiday cheer.

This has been another great week in Art. When you read this, winter will have officially arrived. We wish for safe travel weather for the many who will be traveling for Christmas and New Year's. There will be Christmas eve services on December 24th at Castell's Trinity United Methodist Church at 4 pm and at Art United Methodist Church at 6 pm.

Varsity Cowgirls vs. Bangs Tuesday, Dec. 15 Mason 13—16—22—5 = 56 Bangs 5—11—9—13 = 38 Scoring—Monaco Schmidt--2, Kenley Stockbridge--10, Justyn Tedder--2, Sara Powell--6, Cheyenne Ivey--4, Kayla Guice--19, Ruby Magnus--9, Katy Armstrong--4. Rebounds--Powell--8, Magnus--11, Armstrong--7. Assists--Schmidt--4, Armstrong--3. Blocks, Steals, & Deflections--Stockbridge--6, Powell--5, Armstrong--7. Varsity Cowgirls @ Coleman Friday, Dec. 18 Mason 22—17—10—13 = 62 Coleman 8—1 ...

The Texas Tennis Coaches Association announced Friday night, December 11th at its annual banquet that the winner of the 2015 Region IV Regional Coach of the Year for Jr High was Mason's own Tammi Pinter. This is a great honor as it encompasses approximately 1300 1A through 6A Jr High Schools. Tammi was presented the award by former Texas A&M coach and TTCA Hall of Fame President, Bobby Kleinecke.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1 & 2 1 To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. 2 A time to be born and a time to die. On October 13, 1923, I was born and blessed far in excess of the three score allotted man by God my true heavenly father.