February 9, 2022 Issue

For Mason County’s volunteer firefighters, every day is just another day- until it’s not. That’s why the county’s three volunteer fire departments work closely together, along with honoring formal mutual aid agreements with firefighting departments in all six counties bordering Mason County. “We all have to help each other cover all county property,” Neece said.

The Mason High School girls and boys varsity basketball teams continued District 29-2A play this past week as both the Cowgirls and Punchers took on Johnson City High School and Harper High School. COWGIRLS On February 1, on the road at Johnson City, the Cowgirls shook off a rusty start on offense and broke through for a dominant 54-11 victory.

The new district alignments for Texas high school fall and winter athletics were released on Thursday, Feb. 4, by the University Interscholastic League. Mason High School will have an interesting group of district opponents for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. FOOTBALL The Punchers varsity football team will face a new group of opponents this upcoming 2022 season as Mason was placed in Region IV Class 2A-1 District 14 with Harper High School, Johnson City High School, Junction High School, and ...

The Mason ISD Education Foundation recently awarded creative and innovative teacher grants in our award-winning Mason schools. Thanks to the generous contributions of many donors and businesses in our amazing community at last fall’s “Cattle Round-Up,” held at Jordan Livestock Auction, the Foundation was able to fulfill over $24,000 in grant requests.

The Mason ISD Education Foundation recently awarded creative and innovative teacher grants in our award-winning Mason schools. Thanks to the generous contributions of many donors and businesses in our amazing community at last fall’s “Cattle Round-Up,” held at Jordan Livestock Auction, the Foundation was able to fulfill over $24,000 in grant requests.

Harold Carl Byler, Jr., age 92, of Brady, Texas, passed away Thursday, January 27, 2022, in Brady, Texas. Harold was born August 1, 1929, in El Paso, Texas, to Harold Carl Byler, Sr. and Daysie (Hill) Byler. He was raised in Brady, where he was a projectionist at the three Brady theatres while he attended Brady High School, graduating in 1946.

Charles William Hartman was born November 29, 1937, in Llano, Texas. He passed away, surrounded by his family at his home, on February 5, 2022. He was 84 years old. He was born the youngest of five children, and the only son of A.W. and Nannie Hartman. He was raised on the family ranch and graduated from Llano High School.

Ray Jaquez of Mason, passed away on Sunday, January 30, at the age of 59. Mr. Jaquez is survived by his mother Mary Ann Jaquez of Mason, his wife Cynthia Jaquez of Mason, his sons Conrado (Jennifer) Jaquez of Lampasas, Hamie Jaquez and Brittany of Mason, Orlando Jaquez (Marlen) of Odessa; his brothers Tino (Irma) Jaquez of Mansfield, Phillip (Aimee) Jaquez of Mason, and Mario (Janie) Jaquez of Mason; his sisters Naomi (Eloy) Villareal of Mason, Viatrice (Santiago, Jr) Guerrero of Mason and ...

Maria Victoria “Vickie” Montez surrendered to her yearlong battle with cancer at the age of 66. Vickie passed away peacefully at her home on Friday, February 4, 2022, with her loving husband and two nieces, Ana Velez and Lisa Ramirez by her side. Vickie was born in Mason, Texas, on November 12, 1955, to Eleno and Rita Castillo.

Ernestine Hernandez Cantu of Fredericksburg passed away on Tuesday, February 1, at Texan Methodist Hospital at the age of 84 years. Ernestine was born December 21, 1937, in Sonora, Texas to Jacinto Torres (J.T.) and Maria Contreras Hernandez. Ernestine married Henrique Cantu February of 1968 in St. Joseph Catholic Church, Mason, Texas. Ernestine is survived by two daughters, one son, and their spouses: Elizabeth and Adan Albiter of Fredericksburg, Mary Helen and Edgar Huesca of Fredericksbu ...

Merced Semorlan Smith of Mason, Texas, passed away on Monday, January 24, at the age of 79. Mrs. Smith is survived by her husband Brian Smith of Mason, and their daughters: Loralee Smith of Lemoore, California; Karolyn Smith Hartvigsen (Rich) of Hext, Texas; and Bobbie Smith of San Antonio. She is also survived by two sons from a previous marriage, Lloyd and Jeffrey Bramblett. Merced and Brian have ten grandchildren: JeanAnn Thompson (Christopher), Jackilynn Dewees, Sydney Hardin (Zach), Ja ...

I have written before about what I believe to be the declining numbers of hardwood trees in the Hill Country. The evidence for this has been the fact that almost everywhere I go, I see rather obvious browselines with little or no vegetation (except for cedar) below about four or five feet. The reasons for this are mainly the excessive numbers of white-tailed deer, although in some areas the number of exotic ungulates may have also contributed as may the current or past presence of large goa ...

Our library book club will meet next on March 1 at 5:00 and our selection this month is Marie Benedict’s The Personal Librarian. Everyone is welcome to join! Happy Reading! New to the Library: DVDS Catherine the Great Clifford the Big Red Dog Guilt Little House on the Prairie: Complete Series Vienna Blood Season 2 Fiction: Bye Bye Baby by Robert B.

The topic for today's column is ‘When to trim your trees in Central Texas.’ Let's go to the arborists. The ideal time to trim or prune trees is after the temperatures have cooled down and the trees have lost their leaves and are heading to dormancy. During that time, the water is converted to starch to insulate the tree during the winter cold. The worst time to trim is in the spring when trees are budding, as they are already sending their fluids to the branches for growth.

This World War II vintage cake – it is egg and dairy free, reflecting the rationing of those times – is dark, moist and delicious. King Arthur claims that, over the years, it has been one of their most requested recipes. And, while the original recipe called for “stirring it all together in the pan,” I've found that I wind up slopping a lot of it out, and have begun using a nice, deep bowl.

With football season in full swing, I thought I would share a really good tailgate or backyard dish. These baked potatoes are a different way to satisfy both meat lovers and potato lovers. They can be served with assorted toppings, such as shredded cheese, chopped green onions, jalapeños, salsa, black olives, or sour cream.

January 2022 marked the 30th month in a row that NICS background checks for gun purchases in the U.S. topped a million. So the year started with a bang, literally. In light of that fact, I’d just like to go on record, in case my wife reads this, that I had nothing to do with that stat.

On February 1, the Mason Lions Club met for their weekly club meeting at Nacho’s. The Lions Club welcomed as its guests Sean Van De List and Guy Turner. The club also welcomed as its guests three graduating seniors from Mason High School. Reagan Norman, whose parents are Debra and Aaron Norman, has participated in tennis, cheerleading, VASE, band, FCA, and NHS. Isis Martinez, whose parents are Hugo and Lupe Martinez, has participated in Queen's Court, FCCLA all four years, Younglife, ...

For years oceanographer Tony Amos kept a close eye on a 7.344-mile stretch of Mustang Island on the Texas coast. His prime area of concern was the man-made debris that washes up on the beach and how it affects the wildlife and the environment. In a long ago article in Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, Amos shared some of his findings.

The Ceynowa household is attempting to clean out tons of papers and stuff. I tend to get bogged down in looking at old letters and cards. I spent Saturday afternoon reading a bag full of letters and cards from the seventies. I cried a bit and laughed some. I did manage to get rid to two bags of discards.