COLLEGE STATION, June 2008 - Diplomas were awarded to 5,484 Texas A&M University graduates during mid-term commencement ceremonies for the 2007-08 academic year. Those receiving degrees: Hunter Clay Wallace, Senior, Blanco, TxBachelor Of Science - Petroleum Engineering; Zachry Charles Kezar, Senior, Blanco, Tx, Bachelor Of Science - Agricultural Economics; Houston Lee Baumgartner, Blanco, Tx, Bachelor Of Science - Computer Engineering-ecen

Jessica Lynne Moore and Vernon Leland Crabtree were united in marriage at the Wimberley United Methodist Church on April 5, 2008 with the Reverend Laura Merrill and Reverend Gary Mathis officiating. Jessica, daughter of Phyllis and Jess Moore of Wimberley, is a granddaughter of the late W.L. and Gertrude Byars of Blanco.

Shelly Kempf, a 2005 graduate of Blanco High School, graduated from Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, Summa Cum Laude on May 10, 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology. She is a member of Alpha Chi National Honor Society, Delta Epsilon Iota Academic Honor Scoiety and was named to Who’s Who among American Colleges and Universities. In May, she was also named to the Provost’s List for her 4.0 grade point average, a distinguished honor as an academic leader contributing to t ...

Todd Hartmann of Belton, TX, graduated from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on May 3, 2008 with an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications. Todd is a 2003 graduate of Blanco HIgh School, and he is the son of Larry & Tricia Hartmann. His brothers are Tim Hartmann,a senior at the University of Texas A&M, Collge Station, Taylor Hartmann, who will be attending Blanco High School as a sophomore next year, and Kendall Hartmann who will be entering 4th grade in the fall.

Married June 12, 1948, Harvey Eugene Green and Mary Kathryn Jones became one. On Thursday, June 12, 2008, their 60th year together, a ceremony was conducted by Pastor Rusty Hicks of Blanco’s First Baptist Church, where Gene and Mary Kathryn renewed their wedding vows. Attending the small private ceremony were Deborah and Wayne Dworaczyk, daughter and son-in-law, Crissy, Torrey, Hunter and Brianna Toler, granddaughter, grandson-in-law,and great grandchildren, all of Blanco. Mary wore her fav ...

AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry, in prepared remarks regarding the fire that gutted the governor’s mansion on June 8, said, “... few sights have left a deeper impression on me than the charred remains of this genuine Texas treasure standing behind me. As I consider what was done to this once-majestic home, my heart aches beyond words.” The fire occurred while the governor and first lady Anita Perry were in Europe on a trade mission.

One week of my twelfth summer was spent the way most sweaty, snot-nosed twelve-year-old boys spent summer in 1973 – at Boy Scout summer camp. Fifty miles from nowhere, nestled on the northwest corner of a secluded lake sits Camp Horizon Wilderness – a sweltering, chigger-infested, cactus-riddled death camp to anyone with a lick of sense, but a vacation paradise to any self-respecting boy two months shy of junior high.

Rambo Keith- If glorious unrestrained violence is your fancy then Rambo has you covered. This is the most violent movie to come around for quite sometime. Rambo has some substance to its story as well. A missionary/medicine team comes to relieve the hopeless people caught up the middle of a civil war in Burma and they get kidnapped despite Rambo telling them it was a bad idea to go in.

What are super-cautious tourists to do? For some, even selecting hotel rooms is daunting. Historically, many guests have opted for rooms on lower floors, in case of fire. Now, some of the same people, reading about inner city crane accidents on both coasts, are, uh, thinking higher. One hotel desk clerk--sure he had heard every possible question--fielded a new one from a New York City visitor who had tip-toed into the city.

Five delegates and alternates from Blanco County attended the State Republican Convention in Houston, June 12-14, 2008. Blanco County Republican Chair, Ann “Aggie” Hall, and four other delegates, Brenda Adair, David Hall, Ed Boyd, and Judy Yentzen attended multiple sessions during the three days electing delegates to the Republican National Convention, voting on the state platform, and electing officers for the Texas Republican Party.

The Blanco County Sesquicentennial celebration was held on Saturday, June 7, on the Johnson City courthouse lawn, under a nice southwest breeze. The attendance was not as we had hoped, but there were several other events going on in Johnson City on the same day. As with any event, there are several individuals that assisted in making this great milestone in Blanco County history a memorable day for those who attended.

June 6-July 18 • Blanco Library Summer Reading Program: Texas Summer Reading Club Jubilee! 1958-2008. The library will host entertainers and storytellers every Friday @10 am for Blanco children to come and enjoy! In addition, if your child reads 5 books, they will earn a free ticket to The Ringling Bros.

The ecology camp was put on by Wildside Education, in collaboration with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Blanco State Park. It was supported by the following businesses and charities: LCRA United Employees Charity, Super S, Brigham Insurance Agency, and Wal-Mart. The trees to be planted in the park were purchased by the regional office of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

On May 29, 2008 an awards ceremony was held in Salado, Texas to honor the Volunteer of the Year, and CPS Worker of the Year at the Regional Meeting of Child Protection and Family Advocacy Boards in Texas. Johnson City’s own Diane Beagle, President of the Blanco County Child Protection and Family Advocacy Board won the Volunteer of the Year award.

There is a new face at the Blanco Library as of June 2. Lynne Loeffler has been hired as the Administrative Assistant. The board plans for her to become Director of Library Services when the current director, Jan Redmond, retires. A native of Oklahoma City, Lynne headed east at the age of 17 to attend college at Duke University.

Adult Grief Support Group - No one needs to suffer grief alone; everyone can benefit from care and support. CTMC Hospice Care provides a safe and comfortable environment through its grief support groups to express the feelings you may experience due to the death of a loved one. These services are available free of charge.

This week The Blanco Library will feature Blanco resident and longtime snake and reptile enthusiast, Jeff Holmes for The Summer Reading Program. Jeff will read "How the Rattlesnake got it's Rattle" by Jeffrey Stodt and will bring some of his snake friends along for the children to observe. This week's program will be on Friday June 20th at 10 am. Jeff comes to us with 40 years of experience with reptiles.

My name is Warren L. Bain. I am a native of New Mexico, living there nearly all of my life. I was raised in the mountains of Southern New Mexico in Mayhill, where I went thru eighth grade in a two room school, then to Cloudcroft High School. I went to work with the U.S.

On June 2nd through 4th, KIDS ZONE and the junior youth of Liberty Lighthouse Fellowship of Johnson City traveled to Columbus,Texas to attend Discovery Camp at Texas Bible Institute where they won second place in the Talent Competition performing a lyrical dance with a rock in roll accompaniment to “Blessed Be the Name”.

He shares God's Word in one breath, and in the next calls you by name, in front of strangers, sharing your private spiritual growth, in the middle of his Sunday sermon! He feels "it's his job" because he’s the pastor, but he is deceived, because the devil wants to cause havoc in churches and lies to pastors, telling them things that mislead them, causing strife and offense, which runs people out of the church. He is misled by thinking it's the Word of God that chases people out of church, a ...

Luke 11:13 - If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? A couple of weeks ago, we discussed how the Holy Spirit is described not only as a person (He), but also as a gift (Acts 2:38, 10:45).

The following voice mail message awaiting my arrival home intrigued me: “I’m a former military man and a minister of the Gospel,” said the speaker, adding “I want to talk to you about your book, “A Place To Hide.” Like any author, I enjoy receiving contacts about my books, but why this call at this time concerning a book that had been published in 1983 and has long been out of print? My purpose in writing it had been to provide help to those so frightened by the nuclear threat of ...

Dear editor: I read Charlotte Thomas’ farewell letter in last week’s issue, which was stuck way back in the classified ads. Personally, I thought it would have been more appropriate to run it further up in the paper. Nevertheless, I would just like say what a great asset she was to me during my time as editor, 2002 to 2004.

AUSTIN, TX – Third Base and Young Men’s Business League officially kick starts the summer this weekend, June 21st, 2008 with a fundraiser for the Austin Sunshine Camps. Third Base Downtown and YMBL will be hosting a charity poker tournament for 150-200 players on June 21, 2008 from 4p-10p. The money raised through solicited donations prior to and during the tournament will benefit the Austin Sunshine Camps.

Clinton DeWolfe was so impressed with a piece of equipment used to treat his chronic wound that he decided to help acquire it for Hill Country Memorial Hospital (HCMH) in Fredericksburg. DeWolfe, an optometrist who retired to Blanco in 1990, has been a regular patient in the HCMH Wound-Healing Clinic since January of this year because of a long-ago skiing injury that has caused an infection in his tibia (leg bone).

The Hill Country Cattlewomen will again award scholarships to college-level juniors with 60 accumulated hours or more and a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Two or more scholarships will be awarded to an agriculture or dietary nutrition related major. Additional scholarships are open to any other major. Applicants must be a resident of one of the following counties: Bandera, Blanco, Edwards, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Llano, Mason, McCulloch, Menard, Northern Bexar, Real or San Sa ...

Super S Foods, a Texas family owned and operated chain of supermarkets, has awarded $49,000 in academic scholarships this year to high school graduates throughout Central and South Texas. Each individual recipient received a $1,000 scholarship that can be utilized to continue their education in various colleges and universities this fall.

The past several years has seen the Blanco Youth Football League grow to nearly 100 youth participants, with practice space limited to use of the middle school field. Because of the space constraints, this past year the Flag group practiced at the Baptist Church, while the Varsity was able to move some practices to the BHS field.

The June heat is a real problem when there isn’t any rain in the forecast. It’s causing a variety of problems in the landscape and in everyday living. The tomatoes won’t set due to high night temperatures. It’s difficult to know if we are watering too much or enough and how often to water.

Sylvia Van de Loo entertained everyone at Live Oak Medical Center June 9th at 3pm with music from the 40’s. She mixed music of Rosemary Clooney along with telling the story of her life. She gave a very entertaining program. Sylvia will return July 7th with her USO Show, bringing posters about WW II and movie stars of that era.

Land use plan at PEC June 22 June 19, 1978 The County – The public is invited to participate in a meeting related to the Resources Conservation Act of 1977 to be held in the Pedernales Electric Co-op building meeting room in Johnson City, at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 22. The objective of the meeting is to carry out the intent of the Resources Conservation Act of 1977, which requires public involvement in setting goals and establishing the needs of future soil and water conservation p ...