July 18, 2018 Issue

With the Mason Dr. Pepper Open about to begin, there is no better time to celebrate “The Tennis Capital of Texas.” The Mason Square Museum is excited to announce the opening of a special exhibit, “The History of Tennis in Mason,” on Thursday, July 19. The exhibit features photos going back to the 1920s, stories of playing on the primitive early courts, Mason’s pioneering coaches during the Great Depression, an array of tennis racquets through the decades, Jack Hofmann’s “filin ...

Despite recent rains across parts of the Lone Star State, much of Texas remains under drought conditions, causing continued challenges for the state’s farmers and ranchers. Mid-June showers brought some hope to farmers, but it remains uncertain how much they will aid local crops and livestock. “Recent rains have been nice, but not receiving much in May really hurt,” Shannon Worrell, Mason County Farm Bureau president, said. About half of the state is in some level of drought, comp ...

During the week of June 17th to June 23rd, Raegan Glentz, Kate Gillespie and Reagan Standard represented Mason, Mason County and Mason ISD at the 2018 American Legion Auxiliary’s Bluebonnet Girls State Program, held at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin. Their attendance was sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary Fort Mason Unit 285 here in Mason and their fees were underwritten by the generous donations of J.

Our new “Boss Lion”, Marty Bentson, gaveled to order the weekly meeting of the Mason Lions Club on July 10. There were four guests, Peter Aguilar, the new pastor at the First United Methodist Church, Ron Freytag, Glover Davis, who will join the Lions Club soon, and Ella Canfield, daughter of Lion Thom Canfield. Since this weekly meeting was a routine business meeting, there was no guest speaker.

This past weekend and all of the Round-up and Rodeo activities seems to have been a complete success! I have heard positive comments about it from all directions which can only mean that there were no real problems and everyone enjoyed themselves. The smooth flow of activities and lack of any significant problems is due to the commitment and hard work of a large group of able volunteers, and the least we can do as a community is offer a full and complete THANKS!!

Dear Mason community: The Nature Conservancy is pleased to announce that the Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve is once again open for nightly viewings. We made the difficult decision to temporarily close the cave as we worked to resolve and understand an incident that occurred in late June, when a neighboring landowner applied pesticides to his property.

The public water system of the City of Mason has reached a Critical, Level 1 condition recently, and the City Administrator John Palacio has implemented additional water conservation measures.  While we do not fear immediate water shortages, we feel it is necessary to move to voluntary measures to protect the water levels for everyone and the increase demand of the limitations of our water system.  As the hot summer winds continue to blow and the dry conditions only worsen, the City of Maso ...

With the Mason Dr. Pepper Open about to begin, there is no better time to celebrate “The Tennis Capital of Texas.” The Mason Square Museum is excited to announce the opening of a special exhibit, “The History of Tennis in Mason,” on Thursday, July 19. The exhibit features photos going back to the 1920s, stories of playing on the primitive early courts, Mason’s pioneering coaches during the Great Depression, an array of tennis racquets through the decades, Jack Hofmann’s “filin ...

During the week of June 17th to June 23rd, Raegan Glentz, Kate Gillespie and Reagan Standard represented Mason, Mason County and Mason ISD at the 2018 American Legion Auxiliary’s Bluebonnet Girls State Program, held at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin. Their attendance was sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary Fort Mason Unit 285 here in Mason and their fees were underwritten by the generous donations of J.

The Mason County 4H Club invites any interested families to learn more about 4H and the programs available to them on Wednesday, August 1st at 5:30 p.m. at the Historic Building at 505 Moody St. A hot dog supper will begin at 5:30 and continue with a swim party at the city pool for all members and prospective members from 6:30 to 8:30.

The public is invited to attend the July 23, 2018 meeting of the Hill Country Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist program. Michael P. Masser Ph.D., a Professor and Extension Fisheries Specialist, will be the evening’s presenter. Dr. Masser will discuss both aquatic plant and animal invaders of Texas and what their impacts are or can be as they expand on our aquatic ecology.  In a couple of cases he will include a species that is not here yet but that we expect to come.  Dr.

THURSDAY AUGUST 2nd, at the American Legion Hall, The Llano Tea Party will host guest speaker, Todd Latiolais, J.D. He is the Associate Director for Prevention & Policy of the Child Sex Trafficking Team, a division of the Criminal Justice Division in the Office of the Governor. Mr. Latiolais leads the Teams’ efforts in improving state law and policies, in preventing child sex trafficking by increasing awareness, providing prevention education to children and their care givers, building re ...

One in 6 children in America face food insecurity. Food insecurity is defined as “the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.” According to Feeding America, children in rural and farm communities are more likely to face food insecurity. To help combat hunger in our community, Fontera Healthcare Network will be holding a food drive at the Mason Clinic through the month of July.

The 18thAnnual Extension Banquet, sponsored by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Llano County and the Llano County Leadership Advisory Board, will be held Thursday, August 2, 2018, at 6:30 p.m. at the St. James Lutheran Church Activity Center (Schorlemmer Hall) in Llano. The Leadership Advisory Board is composed of individuals who serve on committees which give direction to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s programs in Llano County. This year’s speaker will be Billy K ...

The Mason County 4H Club invites any interested families to learn more about 4H and the programs available to them on Wednesday, August 1st at 5:30 p.m. at the Historic Building at 505 Moody St. A hot dog supper will begin at 5:30 and continue with a swim party at the city pool for all members and prospective members from 6:30 to 8:30.

Another week of Roundup is over. John and I skipped the festivities. It was hot by parade time and we decided to stay cool at home. We had a party for granddaughter, Amber, and her fiancé, Wade, a gender reveal party for our expected great grandchild. Grandma doesn’t trust this technology, but we are all excited about the expected arrival of a baby boy in December. Pray for rain.

We will be holding our 50th year Class Reunion on Saturday, September 22, 2018. We hope to have a large group of classmates and their spouses attending, as well as former classmates who were with the class at one time or another between 1964 and 1968. Former teachers will also be invited to attend as well as family members, spouses and other relatives of our deceased classmates. Formal invitation letters will be going out the first week of August.

The public water system of the City of Mason has reached a Critical, Level 1 condition recently, and the City Administrator John Palacio has implemented additional water conservation measures.  While we do not fear immediate water shortages, we feel it is necessary to move to voluntary measures to protect the water levels for everyone and the increase demand of the limitations of our water system.  As the hot summer winds continue to blow and the dry conditions only worsen, the City of Maso ...

E.P. Garth, a former Brady resident, has released his latest Pat Cassidy novel and will hold a book signing 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, July 28, at the Heart of Texas Country Music Museum in Brady. OUT OF BOUNDS is Garth’s fourth in the series. The first book, OFF THE AIR in 2009, was followed by OUT OF TOUCH and ON THE RANGE.

The public is invited to the opening reception for “Regional Reflections 2018” exhibit on Thursday, July 19, 5 pm to 7 pm at Arnold Art Gallery. Works by Lily Beard, Don Day, Linda Fawcett, Linda Fleece, Syraya Horton, Ray Istre, Bridget Langdale, Sue Kaan, Karen Sharbo, Tom Tannehill, and Cathie Tyler show a sampling of art by area artists.

Vernon “Chico” Gooden, formerly of Mason, passed away on Friday, July 13, at the age of 87. Survivors include his wife Verena Gooden, of Kerrville, a daughter Suzy Boone of Kerrville and a granddaughter Annie Mayse and husband Allen of Montgomery. Funeral arrangements for “Chico” Gooden are pending. A memorial service celebrating his life will be held at a later date.

An African Adventure! I've never been to Africa. There are many places on the continent that I would love to visit; but, it's just never ended up being my destination. The vistas of Cape Town. The wildlife of the Serengetti. The pyramids lining the banks of the Nile. The Great Rift Valley.

Are You There? Subject: Friendly encounter: lovely lady in black dress who gave me grocery cart in parking lot, I was wearing a gold cowboy hat. Would enjoy visiting by phone 785 222 6323 or email [email protected].

County Road Peach Trees – Gone! Many folks treasure ‘the old’ while accepting ‘the new’. During the excitement of new internet service being installed, our old was removed. Why couldn’t the ‘new’ and the ‘old’ both exist? On our county road there were several very old, still producing peach trees. On Friday, July 6th, all the peach trees were cut down and removed from the area. The telecommunications people were surprised and said they did not remove them.

Summer reading was fantastic, closing with a celebration—Margaret Clauder’s fiesta was lively, loud, and fun! Second Step will continue until the end of the month at 10:00 on Thursdays. Next up will be the Back-to-School Coloring Contest. Children in grades pre-K to Grade 5 can pick up coloring sheets beginning Wednesday, August 1.

The state of affairs Those of you who have recently exhibited such incredibly reckless behavior as to set foot outside your homes have no doubt noticed that it’s hot out there. The impressively high temperatures of late are attributable, according to top U.S. and European climatologists, to a recurring phenomenon known as ‘summer.’ Top U.S.

‘Old School’ Pharmacist… Wayne West has been “old school” for decades, long before Mary’s lamb thought about following her to school. He’s “old school” for many reasons. The son of a sharecropper who grew up near Midlothian, TX, he’s come a long way from cotton fields and livestock pens to head Best Value pharmacies. He has been dispensing medications--personally compounded, in many instances--since doctors gave up prescribing leeches…. ***** This may seem like ...

Another week of Roundup is over. John and I skipped the festivities. It was hot by parade time and we decided to stay cool at home. We had a party for granddaughter, Amber, and her fiancé, Wade, a gender reveal party for our expected great grandchild. Grandma doesn’t trust this technology, but we are all excited about the expected arrival of a baby boy in December. Pray for rain.

Give me an A. Give me a T. And a T-O-R. For real legalese, give me an N-E-Y. A-T-T-O-R-N-E-Y. AKA “lawyer.” The brunt of jokes. Demon to some. Saviour to others. Usually pillars of the community. Some concur there’s too dang many of ‘em. (Kinda like realtors.) Sooner or later, ya gotta have one. For legal advice. Write up a will. Probate property. Execute contracts. Contest a lawsuit. Defend in a divorce. Battle for custody. Fight at trial. Al ...