April 14, 2021 Issue

Mason County has earned a 2020 Zero Lost Time Safety Award from the Texas Association of Counties Risk Management Pool (TAC RMP) for its record of no lost workdays during the 2020 coverage year. Through its commitment to safe practices among county employees, Mason County works to reduce employee injuries and obtain substantial savings for taxpayers by minimizing workers' compensation costs. “Mason County is proud of their employees for completing an accident-free year,"

As of April 13, the FDA and CDC have recommended a pause of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Healthcare providers in the surrounding area have made several announcements regarding the pause and how it will affect their vaccination programs. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has not been recalled; the CDC is asking that a pause on vaccine rollouts with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while they investigate reports of blood clots.

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula The start of the annual STAAR testing season kept school district officials on their toes after a first-day technical glitch affected students locally and statewide. At Mason Independent School District, spring STAAR testing season started last week. Next on the district’s calendar are eight testing days from May 4-7 and 11-14. STAAR testing temporarily was shut down on Tuesday because of the computer glitch with some online tests, but the issues were resolv ...

By Andrew Salmi, Sports Editor The Mason High School boys and girls varsity track and field teams competed very well on Wednesday, April 7 at the District 29-2A Championship meet hosted by San Saba High School with athletes needing a fourth-place or better finish in their respective events to qualify for the upcoming area meet. Mason Punchers Varsity For the boys, the Punchers varsity squad had several first-place individual finishers in track events: Blake Lewis in the 100-meter dash a ...

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula The start of the annual STAAR testing season kept school district officials on their toes after a first-day technical glitch affected students locally and statewide. At Mason Independent School District, spring STAAR testing season started last week. Next on the district’s calendar are eight testing days from May 4-7 and 11-14. STAAR testing temporarily was shut down on Tuesday because of the computer glitch with some online tests, but the issues were resolv ...

By Andrew Salmi, Sports Editor The Mason High School varsity softball team picked up two more much-needed victories this past week as the Cowgirls cruised to lopsided District 28-2A victories at home vs. Goldthwaite High School and on the road at Junction High School. MASON COWGIRLS 11, GOLDTHWAITE LADY EAGLES 1 On April 6 hosting Goldthwaite, the Cowgirls shook off an early 1-0 as Mason scored 11 unanswered runs as the offense took off late in the 11-1 win over the Lady Eagles. In th ...

By Andrew Salmi, Sports Editor The Mason High School varsity baseball team was victorious twice this past week as the Punchers blew out Center Point High School on the road and Junction High School at home. MASON PUNCHERS 30, CENTER POINT PIRATES 0 Yes, that baseball score above is correct and is not a Punchers football score.

Ronald William “Ronny” Zesch, 77, died on April 8th, 2021, at his home after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Ronny was born on April 20, 1943, the son of Milton and Olivia Donop Zesch. Ronny was baptized into the faith at St Paul Lutheran Church in June 1943. Ronny attended school in Mason from elementary through high school and graduated from Mason High School in 1962.

Dorris Nell Billings Clark of Mason, Texas, known to her grandchildren as Grams, passed away on April 11, 2021, just a couple of months shy of turning 96 years of age. She spent the last 2 ½ years living in Fredericksburg at Heritage Place. She made friends with many of the nursing staff and was loved and well taken care of by them all. She was born June 2, 1925 in Del Rio, Texas to Lee and Lena Dodson Billings.

One of my ranch neighbors grew up in Mason and spent most of his summers working and playing on his family’s ranch. He left Mason County for his career, but returned in recent years and now manages that ranch. He recently asked me, “What happened to all our frogs?” When I probed him for the basis of his question, he explained.

Boy…Last weekend was an amazing example of one of the things that makes Mason special! We had such a wonderful response to our Mason Arts & Wine Festival. My heart was filled with hope and pride as I saw how many visitors we had. There were also several fundraisers in town for families in need, and I love to see the support we give each other at such times.

I guess the title is no surprise to most everyone living here. But what makes this area so unique? The Hill Country makes up about half of the larger ecoregion known as the Edwards Plateau. The Edwards Plateau stretches from just north of San Antonio to as far north as Palo Pinto County just south of Ft Worth and from Austin and Waco in the east to the Pecos River on the west, an area of 36,680 square miles, or about 14% of the state of Texas.

New to the Library: DVDS Another Round The Mandalorian, Season 1 & 2 The Next Pompeii Our Friend A Perfect Planet Sid and Judy Wonder Woman 1984 Fiction: (all quotes from publishers’ summaries) The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan (F RYA) “Two years into World War II, Britain is feeling her losses. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is holding a cooking contest- and the grand prize is a job as the program

I enjoy scones. They seem to fill the gap between a dinner rolls and biscuits quite nicely. I think you will find these to be tasty and easy to make with items you normally keep in your pantry. Ingredients: 2 cups flour ¼ cup chopped, fresh dill (if you don't have any fresh dill, use 3-4 teaspoons of dried dill) 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper 4 tablespoons very cold butter ¾ cup milk, plus 1 tablespoon, divided Process: Preheat oven to 350 ...

I’m LOVING the warmer weather, even if it is only every other day. The warmer weather also puts me into the “grilling” mood. These can be done in the oven or on the grill. This is my absolute favorite recipe, now. My husband couldn’t get enough of these. He’s kind of hard to please, too, when it comes to food.

"Hey, Jesus, wake up! There is a storm going on. We're right in the middle of it — and we are scared to death! Wake up, Jesus! Wake up and help us!" That is a scene from the Gospel of Mark (4:35-41). Caught in a sudden, fierce storm on the Sea of Galilee, the frightened disciples try to wake up the serenely sleeping Jesus. Their efforts are successful.

My experience with gardening, this year, has been a learning curve. I am following the growing schedule and watching weather and temperatures, but I am behind by at least 3 weeks. I have finallygotten to a "normal" garden season. Notwithstanding the potential of more heat and cool cycles. We are learning to meet each day on its own merit.

We went driving in search of bluebonnets, and found a few patches around but the roadsides are not really pretty this year. The drought is messing with our spring blessing of flowers. Hopefully the weatherman is telling the truth when he predicts rain this week. Class Meetings continue at the Art Methodist Church.

by Will McCann On April 6 the Mason Lions Club met at Nachos for their weekly meeting. More members are receiving their shots and attendance continues to climb. Any ladies or gentlemen who are interested in joining the Mason Lions Club and serving the Mason community need only ask any Mason Lion! Our meeting was efficient and productive.

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson enjoyed a stellar Hall of Fame baseball career. He won the Cy Young Award five times, made ten All-Star teams, and was named Most Valuable Player of the 2001 World Series, when the Diamondbacks whipped the Yankees to clinch the pennant. Which is all fine and good, but what he’s most remembered for is a monumental fluke of a pitch in 2001 during a Cactus League game between Arizona and the San Francisco Giants.