PEC Press Release - Due to light member traffic on Saturdays, PEC offices will no longer be open Saturdays. Effective May 1, the following offices will be closed on Saturdays: Canyon Lake, Cedar Park, Kyle, Lake Creek and Manchaca. In addition, drive-through hours at the Lampasas office will change to 7:00am to 5:30pm. Pedernales Electric’s Board of Directors at its March 16 meeting approved the proposal to eliminate Saturday hours at the five local offices.

Students entering Kindergarten in August 2009 are now required to receive additional immunizations by the Texas Department of Health: 1. 2 Varicella 2. 2 Hepatitis A 3. 2 MMR A special shot clinic will be held at Blanco Elementary on Thursday, May 7th from 9:30am to noon and 1:00 to 3:00pm. This is the same day as registration for Pre-K & Kindergarten. TDH has regular monthly shot clinics @ the Lutheran Church.

Keith- If someone asks you to see this movie, just say yes. Jim Carrey stars as a down and out sad little fellow because of his divorce and begins shutting himself in his house when he’s not at work and making excuses when his friends call and pretty much says no to everything.

AUSTIN - The Texas House of Representatives spent Friday and Saturday, April 17-18, amending and finally passing SB 1, the upper chamber's proposal for the 2010-2011 state budget. The House version of SB 1 totals $178 billion while the Senate version totals $182.2 billion. The House version represents a 2.5 precent annual increase for the two years, a rate below projected rates of inflation and population growth for Texas. Now, SB 1 goes back to the Senate, where the body either can accept or r ...

Stonewall, TX – On Saturday, May 2, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park and the Friends of Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park are teaming up to re-create an authentic 1964 barbecue on the banks of the Pedernales River just as President and Mrs. Johnson did during the presidential years on the LBJ Ranch. This special event begins at 5:00pm with a social hour of country music by the Bret Graham Band, exhibits, food and drinks.

The Blanco Volunteer Members are grateful for all the volunteers who came and worked on April 4th and made their “Fish Fry” fundraiser a success.The department cleared approximately $14,600.00 . These funds will be used to purchase Automatic Electronic Defibrillator’s which will be placed on two of the fire fighting vechicles. Ron Houston was our emcee again and the department appreciated him being there, although his wife has been sick. Armando Delgado brought his PA System and helped Ma ...

On April 15, students who participated in the Blanco County National Child Abuse Prevention Poster and Essay Contest received the news that their essay or poster won an award. Cash prizes, totaling $350, were awarded to the winners during special recognition times and pizza parties. Eight students in Blanco and seven students in Johnson City won awards.

Nadine Roeder, of Johnson City, Texas had lost her cat and checked the website of the Blanco County Cat Coalition for Adoptable and Lost and Found cats. She telephoned the contact number found on the website and was given the person taking care of the orange cat that she thought was her beloved Belmont.

The winner of Blanco National Bank’s week 2 drawing was Tiffany Hodge of Goin’ Postal. The bank is celebrating Community Banking Month with a different theme each week in April. The theme for week 2 was “Affordable Loans That’ll Put Starch in Your Shorts” and the gift won in the drawing was a laundry basket full of wash day goodies including a steam iron.

Members of the Blanco Chamber of Commerce met last Thursday at Blanco Settlement, despite the rain, to enjoy good food and good conversation. Candy Cargill, Hill Country Real Estate and Charlene Pace, Blanco Settlement were hostesses for the event. During the event, Chamber President Debbie Homeier and Vice President Marcy Wescott presented Liz Waller with a cake in honor of her tenth year on the square.

By Connie Barron, Volunteer Coordinator Can you believe that almost a year has gone by since Blanco’s last fabulous Lavender Festival? It’s true, and in about 50 days the festivities will begin again. This year’s event will be even bigger and better with something for everyone. What many of you might not know is that festival volunteers have some of the best times.

Are You Interested? Do you have an interest in the Civil War? Are you a Civil War collector? Do you like to read about or watch Civil War videos? One way to peak your enthusiasm is to participate in a Civil War Roundtable with other like-minded individuals. A Civil War Roundtable is a non-partisan organization, whose purpose is to promote and stimulate interest in all aspects of the Civil War period, and to further the serious discussion and study of the conflict.

A free class in managing volunteers will be offered Saturday morning by the Blanco County Disaster Response Group. The group's obvious interest is in disaster volunteers, but the same principles apply to volunteers in all sorts of groups, from church committees to civic clubs. Volunteers are volunteers, the class will show, and they generally want the same rewards in return for their volunteer work. Included will be discussion of the psychology of volunteerism and why people do it.

The First Annual Easter with Goin’ Postal was a wonderful blessing. We had a great turn out, lots of fun, and the bunny was happy to see all the kiddos that came out for pictures. Look for the event again next year because the Easter Bunny will be back. Goin Postal hopes everyone had a blessed and Happy Easter!

An assortment of interesting vendors! Workshops with Master Gardeners and experts in photography, butterflies and lavender! Demonstrations of “plein air” painting, pottery making, tumbling and karate! Food! Wine! Home and Garden tours! Wild flower tours! Music! Family fun with activities for the kids! Wildflower Days will present live music from the gazebo.

When I wake up in the morning and it’s gorgeous outside, I always think, “Another beautiful day in paradise.” Many people who live here must feel that way because at our recent Trash Off and River Clean Up, a whole host of volunteers showed up to assist in the yearly event. We had a single mom who woke her small children early and arrived ready to work, to show them the value of volunteerism.

Lions President Nan Mikes thanks Director Laura Nell of the Lions Lonestar Eye Bank. Laura spoke about the operations of the Lonestar Eye Bank and the importance of registering as an organ donor. The Lonestar Eye Bank is operated by the Lions of Central Texas and collects, processes and distributes eye tissue to hospitals in the area.

Wade Robinson, Joshua Neill and Kendall Hartmann of Pack 497 in Blanco advanced to the District Pinewood Derby in Marble Falls on April 4th. Only the top three winners from Pack 497 in Blanco advanced to district. There were a total of 30 participants from different packs through out the Hill Country at the district race. Wade and Kendall made it to the top ten before being eliminated.

PEC Press Release - Beginning May 1, Pedernales Electric Cooperative will start refunding all but one membership fee to PEC members who hold multiple accounts. The refund is the result of the Cooperative’s transition to a one-member, one-vote election system. The Board of Directors voted in March to issue the refunds to members with more than one account.

Surface water in Texas belongs to the state. It can only be used with the state’s permission. The management of groundwater is another rather complicated, even strange story, considering how critical and urgent groundwater conservation is for Texas. Action by this legislative session to move toward more effective groundwater management is ongoing. Groundwater levels are in decline at the same time water demand is rapidly rising.

Johnson City, Texas. On April 18, Texas Lavender Association (TLA) members from throughout Texas held their annual meeting at LBJ National Park’s Johnson Settlement in Johnson City. Todd Swift, Blanco County Ag-Life Extension Agent, and Fred Van Aken, TLA member from Blanco, were speakers. Significant items of business included the annual election of officers.

On April 23rd at 7:00pm, Blanco United Methodist Church of Blanco will host the Dave Ramsey The Town Hall For Hope webcast. The Town Hall For Hope is your opportunity to sit down with people in your community for a nationwide town hall meeting led by Dave Ramsey. In the opening half hour, Dave will offer straight talk about the economy, recession, foreclosures and more.

The Willow City Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department members invite everyone to join them for the annual benefit on Saturday, May 2 at the Willow City Fire Station, located at 2553 Ranch Road 1323. Activities will begin at 3:00pm with the opening of the Auxiliary’s Country Store. A live auction will begin at 4:00pm.

I left off the last article about my life in the Texas Hill Country by writing that I know there are other Jews living in the Hill Country but I haven’t located an organized Jewish community in the Blanco County or Comal County area. Although with the passage of time, Judaism has truly become a family oriented religion, much of Jewish practice takes place in the home.

Acts 18:24-28 says, “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spoke and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.

Only the Lord God could have orchestrated the events of this past Saturday, April 18th, 2009, when we held the Henry Fudge Memorial Benefit on the square in Blanco, on Farmer’s Market Day. The Lord answered prayers for rain and sunshine, and delivered BOTH the same day! Lawrence and I joined Jeff Latham and others April 6th on the steps of the State Capital in Austin to pray for rain, not knowing that we’d be praying for sunshine for the benefit April 18th!

On May 7th at 7:00pm, all are invited to come be a part of our community's National Day of Prayer activity held at the Kendalia Community Center in Kendalia on Hwy 473. The activities will include heartfelt music, a short message by our guest speaker, the opportunity to pray for our nation as a group, and fellowship with fellow Christians.

The other day I had the opportunity to fly over the city of Blanco on my first ‘powered parachute’ ride. Blanco resident Bob Johnson takes his flying machine up into the skies with willing participants from time to time, and so my wife and I took our turns into the wild blue wonder.

A letter that arrived at my desk had traveled many miles to deliver its sad story. The sender had endured severe trials and seemed near despair. Were her troubles real? Yes, but feeding her self pity would only intensify her misery and make her less able to cope with life.

The Blanco FFA completed a busy week on the road to close out the month of March as they finished the week judging at the Texas State University Invitational Career Development Events in San Marcos and New Braunfels. Highlighting the day for Blanco was a first place finish by the land judging team.

Chris Bray played Ice Hockey this season for the San Antonio Junior Diablos. Chris played defenseman, shutting down his opponents in the neutral ice many times, and helping the forwards by scoring 23 goals and having 25 assists this season.

Easter was special. All of my children and grandchildren came to Blanco from Canada, Houston, and Austin for the weekend. Then we had wonderful rain; about 2 1/2 inches. Now it’s time to get serious about gardening. I’ve moved my plants outside for the last time. If it freezes again, they’ll just freeze! Normally, you will need to repot the houseplants.

Gentle Readers: Due to the inclement weather this past Saturday (which turned out to be a beautiful day very late in the afternoon), The First Annual Country/Bluegrass Gospel Show was held upstairs in the courthouse rather on the lawn in conjunction with Market Days. I was unable to go as I had to work, but I was told it was a really awesome event.

Yucca Garden Club to Meet April 18, 1969 They Yucca Garden Club will meet Wednesday, April 23, in the home of Mrs. Wayne Smith. Members are to bring their arrangements for placement. Three 4-H’ers qualify for State Roundup April 19, 1989 Myron Felps, Mary Rowe, and Jason Hohenberger have qualified to participate in the State 4-H Roundup in the Livestock Judging Contest.

Do you know how much the stuff in your home is worth? Not the building, but your personal property. I'm talking about furniture, appliances, electronics, clothes—everything. Although personal property is only one piece of coverage offered by most homeowners policies in Texas, it's an area where many consumers undervalue the amount of coverage they need.