July 31, 2019 Issue

Last month, Mason’s Scarlet Punchers, those intrepid women “of a certain age,” who absolutely insist on enjoying life to the fullest, thoroughly celebrated Christmas in July at the home of Rose Stein. We came, we saw, we ate, we ate some more, then we had yet another successful Chinese auction.

The July 15 City Commission meeting had a large outpouring of citizen interest, which is a great feature of Mason. We care deeply about the future of the community. We are small enough that most of of us know each other individually. In surveying the audience, I saw mostly people I know, and when I saw people who are not current friends of mine, I was able to see how we were connected. This energy and interest in the community is wonderful, and is one of the things that have kept Mason a gr ...

Boss Lion Michael Murphy gaveled the meeting to order at 12:30 PM at Nacho’s. The program Chair this week was Lion Jim Heidelberg. Lion Jim introduced two speakers; Lisa Goehmann and Lisa Heath. Lisa Goehmann spoke first and covered the Court Appointed Special Advocate Program (CASA). First, she thanked the Lions for their wonderful support every year.

Do your children love to color? Then enter them in the Mason Co. M. Beven Eckert Memorial Library Coloring Contest! Pre-K to First Grade will be judged together, and Second Grade to Fourth Grade will be judged as a separate group. First Place, Second Place, and Third Place ribbons and cash prizes of $20, $10, and $5, respectively, will be awarded.

Any incoming 7th and 8th grade football players can come get football equipment for the upcoming season at the JH gym August 14th from 5-6pm. If you are unable to make it at that time, equipment will be issued on the first day of school.

Are you ready? The first day of school is Tuesday, August 20th, and “It’s a Great Day to be a Puncher!” Students who are new to the district must come to the MHS office at 1105 West College to pick up a paper copy of the registration packet. We will need to make a copy of the parent or guardian’s driver’s license, the student’s birth certificate and social security card.

On Mondays in July, kids rhymed along with The Night Before the Fourth of July and painted a nighttime scene full of glittery patriotic fireworks.  After reading The Looking Book, they made looking glasses to explore the great outdoors. Kids found click beetles and butterflies and even watched as a green June Beetle playing dead finally righted itself and crawled away! On Monday, August 5, set sail with a pirate story and take-home craft project.  Storytime is held at 10:30 A.M.

Since sometime in May, the Seaquist House has been undergoing a lot of work to install a new HVAC system There will be central air and heat on the first and third floors and mini-split air-conditioners on the second. This has been quite a project for the workmen as the walls in the house are 12” thick and they are solid rock!

Texas country singer/songwriter Max Stalling brings his band to the Odeon theater in Mason, Texas Saturday, August 17 at 7:00PM. Stalling had no expectation of ever being in the music business but now plays over 150 shows a year and is in the third year of a Budweiser sponsorship. He left the corporate world of Frito-Lay in Dallas after discovering the Three Teardrops Tavern and Dallas community radio station KNON.

Every child who read this summer is a winner! We hope everyone had some fun, and we congratulate Melany, Genesis, Jaden, Ava, and Bailey for being the lucky winners of the drawings! Thank you, BancorpSouth and Mason Bank, for providing the prizes and the swimming/ ice cream passes again this year, and thank you, parents, grandparents, and caregivers for encouraging your youngsters to keep reading! Melany Hearn - Kindle Fire Kids' Edition Genesis Martinez - $100 Walmart card Jaden Mun - ...

Do your children love to color? Then enter them in the Mason Co. M. Beven Eckert Memorial Library Coloring Contest! Pre-K to First Grade will be judged together, and Second Grade to Fourth Grade will be judged as a separate group. First Place, Second Place, and Third Place ribbons and cash prizes of $20, $10, and $5, respectively, will be awarded.

On Monday, July 29th at 7pm the Kerrville Civil Air Patrol Cadets will conduct an open house event at the Ingram High School Auditorium. All are welcome to attend and view a presentation showing what being in the Civil Air Patrol cadet program is all about. Additionally there will be a ceremony for cadets receiving promotions to milestone awards. Earhart Award - Cadet Capt Lee McDonald Mitchell Award - Cadet 2nd Lt Ester Treibs Wright Bros Award - Cadet SSgt Lillian Garret Wright Br ...

Any incoming 7th and 8th grade football players can come get football equipment for the upcoming season at the JH gym August 14th from 5-6pm. If you are unable to make it at that time, equipment will be issued on the first day of school.

Are you ready? The first day of school is Tuesday, August 20th, and “It’s a Great Day to be a Puncher!” Students who are new to the district must come to the MHS office at 1105 West College to pick up a paper copy of the registration packet. We will need to make a copy of the parent or guardian’s driver’s license, the student’s birth certificate and social security card.

Young producers will get a look at West Texas agriculture through the 2019 Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Young Farmer & Rancher (YF&R) Fall Tour. It’s an opportunity for farmers and ranchers between the ages of 18 and 35 to meet with fellow producers and learn about other agricultural perspectives, Mason County Farm Bureau President Shannon Worrell said. This year’s tour is set for Sept.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative K. Michael Conaway (R-Texas) will hold a Town Hall in the District Court Room at the County Court House on Tuesday, August 6th from 8:30 to 9:30 am. The town hall is open to members of the media and the public. WHAT: Mason Town Hall Meeting WHO: U.S.

This has been a wonderful week. The weather cooled down a bit and we had a sprinkle to settle the dust. This is great weather for July. Our family helped granddaughter, Megan, celebrate her 16th birthday this week. It was a fun evening with lots of games, good food, and fellowship. Class meetings continue on Wednesday evenings with soup at 6 and the meeting to follow. Happy Birthday to Kenneth Durst on August 1, Lincoln Calhoun on August 4, and Jean Lyon on August 5.

WHEREAS, due to a continual extreme fire danger due to drought conditions; and WHEREAS, these hot, dry conditions pose the threat of large, dangerous and fast moving wildfires, and, WHEREAS, such fires have the potential of endangering lives and damaging property on a large scale; and WHEREAS, the Mason Count y Commissioners Court finds that drought circumstances present in all of the County create a public safety hazard that would be greatly exacerbated by outdoor burning of any kind; ...

Hill Country Astronomers (HCA) will meet at 6:30 PM, Monday, August 5, in the HEB Activity Room at Hill Country University Center in Fredericksburg. The program will feature a video lecture from Professor David M. Meyer’s series Experiencing Hubble: Understanding the Greatest Images of the Universe. Professor Meyer says he has “… found no better way to communicate the joy of discovery in astronomy than through the beautiful cosmic images obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope.” ...

Sarah Loeffler, of Mason, passed away on Tuesday, July 23, at the age of 94. Mrs. Loeffler is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Ellis, of Bangs, two grandchildren: Jon Ellis and wife Christy of Brownwood and Kristi Owen and husband Scott of Bangs along with four great-grandsons: Seth Owen, Kory Owen, Garrett Ellis and Zachary Ellis. She was preceded in death by her parents, a daughter Ernestine “Teeny” Loeffler, her husband Raymond Loeffler four brother and a sister and her son-in-l ...

Jimmie Day of Waco, formerly of San Antonio, passed away early Saturday morning July 27, 2019, at the age of 93. Funeral services will be 10:00 A.M. Wednesday July 31, 2019, at Grace Gardens Funeral Home Chapel, 8220 Woodway Dr. Waco with Rev. Dennis Rejcek officiating. Following the service, a reception will be held in the Parlor of Grace Gardens Funeral Home.

Ms. Billy Ivy of London, TX, passed away peacefully and on her own terms Thursday July 25th, 2019. Born November 29th, 1929, in Austin, Texas, she was the daughter of the late Eve Spruell and Tybo Ivy. Ms. Ivy was a spitfire, Matriarch. She is survived by two children: her son and his wife, Stephen and Kathleen McCallister; their five children: Stephanie, Steven, Sheryl-Ann, Seth, and the late Sean McCallister, and their many children; Ms.

Hoping We Can Stop You From Squinting.... A few weeks ago, some of my readers sent me an email asking if I might be able to use a larger font size in the paper. Though we have used the same size font (10 point) in the paper for years, we have also used a larger font in our supplements (13 point), and many readers had commented on how much easier the larger type was to read. This week's issue will be the test of the larger font.

Last Week's Letter We read with disgust the letter written by J.D. Kidwell/ Kim Paxson in last week’s Mason County News attacking Sue Pledger. Sue is one of our most diligent City Commissioners and is always looking for ways to save the local taxpayers money. Her early research & that of newly elected commissioner Robin Lee revealed that several cities in our region did not have their own landfills & were using the transfer station method to dispose of their trash.

“Can’t Stop” Sausage Cakes Origin of the recipe is unknown, but may have come from Bisquick This recipe isn’t exactly the kind that the Practical Baker looks for to share with you, but it is very good, simple and easy. I’m assuming that some day the weather is going to become cool once again (it’s October 22nd, and supposed to get in the high 80’s again today!), and this type of spicy food will have a lot of appeal.

Now that the excitement and hullabaloo of Roundup weekend is over, I want to reminisce a little. I am so old that I remember when the weekend after Brady’s July Jubilee was know as the Jaycee Rodeo. That’s right, the title “Roundup” didn’t start until 1974. I don’t know when the first Jaycee Rodeo occurred, but I know it was the biggest event of the summer when I was in high school. In 1974 the whole country was gearing for the Bicentennial in 1976.

August the 2nd is National Coloring Book Day. In honor of that day, the library is kicking off our annual Back-to-School Coloring Contest. The contest is for two age groups: Grades pre-K-Grade 1 and Grades 2-4. Kids can pick up the coloring pages beginning on Friday, August 2nd. They are due by closing on Friday, August 9th.

Cluckers Once again it’s time for our annual Try Not To Be A Total Gooberhead column, which is a public service we offer every few years or so, to the public, as a service. This service is offered as entertainment to those of you who happen to not be gooberheads, personally.

Two Giants from Texas High… When the Great Depression had a strangle hold on the nation in 1930, the “haves” were outnumbered by the “have-nots” greatly. It wasn’t even close. Most scenes seemed rural, and many young men joked that they didn’t know their first names weren’t “Gitwood” until age 14 or so. Thing was, with nearly everyone “pore.” My friend Mamie McCullough claims this condition was one step down from “poor.” Essentially, most folks were “in the ...

Two Giants from Texas High… When the Great Depression had a strangle hold on the nation in 1930, the “haves” were outnumbered by the “have-nots” greatly. It wasn’t even close. Most scenes seemed rural, and many young men joked that they didn’t know their first names weren’t “Gitwood” until age 14 or so. Thing was, with nearly everyone “pore.” My friend Mamie McCullough claims this condition was one step down from “poor.” Essentially, most folks were “in the ...

This has been a wonderful week. The weather cooled down a bit and we had a sprinkle to settle the dust. This is great weather for July. Our family helped granddaughter, Megan, celebrate her 16th birthday this week. It was a fun evening with lots of games, good food, and fellowship. Class meetings continue on Wednesday evenings with soup at 6 and the meeting to follow. Happy Birthday to Kenneth Durst on August 1, Lincoln Calhoun on August 4, and Jean Lyon on August 5.

Well, the thing is… (Let’s review here from July 2013.) The Thing Is moved to the north side of the square. And it’s better ‘n ever. An eclectic boutique not to be missed. The other thing is… Off the Square Hair Company moved too. From one off-the-square location to another. From west of the square to north of the square. Next door to The Mason Artisan Gallery on Hwy 386. And another thing is… Lilacs ‘N Calico is back. And back on the square. Only this ...