Theresa Rae Pisano of Longview, TX has been elected Miss Pine Tree High School 2011. Theresa is the daughter of Priscilla Ford, a 1975 graduate of Blanco High School, and granddaughter of Blanco resident Janet Fisher. Theresa will attend Stephen F. Austin State University in Fall 2011 where she has been accepted  to the School of Honors.

Susie Zamora finished her Master’s in Accounting from University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Her brothers and her mother congratulate her and wish her the best in life.  Susie plans on taking the Certified Public Accountant test, and, in the future, finishing law school at Saint Mary’s with plans to become a tax lawyer.

AUSTIN — Deadlines for legislation to meet or die are fast approaching, and so the Texas House of Representatives last week worked evenings, including Saturday morning, May 7. But the body fell short of its goal of debating long lists of bills as philosophical differences between the Republican majority and the Democratic minority ate up the clock, and that, coupled with procedural sticking points, brought action to a trudge and finally a halt.

Blanco National Bank announced today that it carries the new LendRIGHT seal of excellence for the mortgage industry.  The LendRIGHT program is designed to allow consumers to easily recognize lenders who are committed to providing a premium level of service, expertise and ethics in their community.  The LendRIGHT mark will indicate to consumers that participating members of the Lenders One mortgage cooperative have pledged to pursue oper ...

Fifteen members of the Blanco County Extension Education Clubs and two guests visited the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin on Thursday, May 5.  One group left Johnson City at 9:30am and joined members from Blanco at the Wildflower Center. The tour was self-paced. We enjoyed the trails, the native plant gardens, and the architecture.

Kids In a New Groove is holding a Musical Instrument and Funds Drive from April 21- May 21, and community members are needed to help collect new and gently used instruments and donations for foster children in our program who have been abused and neglected. The Instrument Drive is sorely needed, as recent budget cuts now put Texas in 50th place for per capita funding of foster children.

Tragically, local wildlife has become the target of animal cruelty once again.  Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation (WRR), a local animal rescue organization, responded to a disturbing case of cruelty at a recreational pond in northeast San Antonio on Sunday evening.  Shocked neighbors contacted Animal Care Services (ACS) after they discovered that several animals had been shot with blow darts.  Wildlife Rescue found one dart embedded in the neck of a Muscovy duck, ...

Voting opened May 4 for Pedernales Electric Cooperative’s Board of Directors election, in which PEC members will elect two directors and vote to recommend to the Board which system should be used for future director elections.   Ballots, election information and voting instructions were mailed to all members by Election Services Corporation (ESC), an independent company hired by the Cooperative to manage balloting.

Sue Ann Pemberton of Main Street Architects presented the final draft of the Blanco Design Guidelines at a public meeting held Monday night, May 9. She has been working on reorganizing the document to make it more user-friendly and easier to find guidelines for a specific type of property. Her company has added historic photos to accompany contemporary photos to show features of historic buildings that are no longer there. The Blanco Historic ...

The volunteers and staff at the Blanco Library were treated May 3 to a very special program. Jim and Linda Nash opened their lovely home to library staff for this annual “thank you” event, this year hosted by the Friends of the Blanco Library. As everyone gathered together, librarian, Crystal Spybuck surprised the group with her thoughtful program.

The Annual Cemetary Association meeting will be continued on May 16 at 7 pm at the Masonic Lodge.  We hope as many members as possible will attend. While preparing for this report, I came upon a tombstone with a very sweet inscription.  It could be a guide on how to live.  Inscribed on the front were the words: “Noble, honest, and true; patient, sweet, and pure; We knew no sorrow - knew  no grief - till thy bright face was missed.”  ...

Blanco Pioneer Museum was very pleased to welcome a tour group from New Braunfels visiting the Museum this week. This group consisted of the Heritage Society of New Braunfels and the Docents of Museum of Texas Handmade Furniture. They loved the Museum and were just amazed at the World War II Exhibit.  Several of our Docents, including Mark Walters, Sabrina Neitch, Delores Bevers, Victor Hinze, and Tommy Vallone, helped welcome the visitors, along with Directors Linda Howard a ...

The 7th Annual Lavender Festival is only a few short weeks away. This year promises to be our best year yet with over 100 vendors, live music, and a wide variety of fabulous food and drinks. The Chamber couldn’t pull off such a huge event without the help of volunteers!  Festival hours are Friday, June 10, Noon-6pm, Saturday, June 11, 10am-8pm, and Sunday, June 12, 10am-4pm.

Why is it called "Sandy"?  No one can say exactly, but one assumes that is because of fertile sandy loam soil that is found in the community. In 1840, this area was still Indian Country and was indeed a high risk area.  The Apache, Kiowa, and Comanche tribes roamed this area, which was to become the Sandy Community of today.  Four streams, Hickory Creek, Spring Creek, White Oak Creek and North Grape Creek flowed through this vas ...

Dreams came true for many children, and some adults, this past Saturday, April 30, right here in Blanco! Stephen McGee, former Burnet Bulldog, former Texas A&M Quarterback and current Dallas Cowboys back-up quarterback, was at the First Baptist Church. He came to give his testimony – and for those of you who missed it – it was awesome.

Mark writes, Mark 16:1-8, about faithful women who went to finish the work of anointing Jesus body on Easter morning. They had expected Jesus to be dead and by now that “Rigor mortis” would have set in. “Rigor Mortis” is Latin for “stiffness in death.” On that Sunday morning Jesus would have been crucified three days ago by Jewish counting of days.

There is the call of death. Hebrews 9:27 states, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment...” The passage speaks of physical death that comes to all. This is the general rule that applies to the human race. In the grand scope of things we may surely say that life is as “a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

Lawrence and I were in the garden one day discussing our corn patch and how much water it needs. We differ in our opinions. We watered the corn, and after 15 or 20 minutes there was a little lake of water in the valleys (I planted our corn in the hills).

Dear Editor, I am writing to express my support of the proposed bond that will enable much needed improvements and expansions to our community’s schools. Although my husband and I began home schooling our children in January, we deeply believe that the education of all children should be one of the top priorities of any society, and thus we will be voting for this bond in its entirety. I had the good fortune to be a member o ...

Dear Editor, Let me give you some information about myself so you will know I know what I’m talking about.  I started working for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in November 1971 as a school auditor and retired in 2000 with state funding. I have audited school districts from Texline to Port Isabel to Texarkana to El Paso and many in between.

Early Childhood – Front row: Keirsten S., Christian S., Alberto P., Landon M., Cesar M., and Caden K.  Back row: Meghan H., Maggie H., Andrew G., Roberto C., Brandon C., Madison B., Miguel A., and Tori A.

Sponsored by the Blanco High School Spanish Club, Spanish classes at  Blanco HS and MS  recognized Hispanic culture this past week and accomplished TEKS goals in an active way.  They learned the rich history of salsa, then practiced the dance with  Canyon Lake Dance Team and instructor Laura Schule.  Baila!  Advanced classes created floats and shared information on CInco de mayo.

The Blanco FFA Land Judging Team spent the past week in Oklahoma City competing in the 60th Annual National Land and Range Judging Contest.  Team members Lauren Winn, Lindsey Winn, Erica Flores and Monica Flores competed in both the land judging contest and the homesite evaluation event, where they placed second overall and were named the 2011 Reserve National Champions for Homesite Evaluation. Individually, Lauren placed 15th overall, while Lindsey finishe ...

The Lady Panthers fell to the Clyde Lady Bulldogs in an Area playoff, best 2 of 3 game series. On Friday, Clyde won the first game, 2-1. Clyde then finished the series on Saturday with an 11-3 win. The Friday night game was a nail-biter to the very end.

Blanco I.S.D. will be conducting annual athletic physical screenings for the 2011-2012 school year on May 18, from 2:45 to 5:00pm at the Blanco High School Gym. Cost is $25 per student (cash or check payable to Blanco Regional Clinic). All students in 7th–12th grades who will be in athletics are required to have an annual physical screening before participating in athletics.  You can access the physical form packet on the district website: www.blancoisd.o ...

Let’s not "trash" our night skies! Light trespass occurs when stray light shines onto your neighbor’s land. Light trespass infringes on the property rights of the neighbor who has unwanted light intruding onto his or her property. It can lower property values, reduce the quality of the nighttime environment and be a general irritant.

Bindseil Park – What a beautiful quiet spot in the center of Blanco to take a walk, walk your dog, have a picnic or just enjoy the beauty of the trees, plants, and blooming flowers. You will find picnic tables or benches where you can sit, read, eat lunch, etc.  Just remember, you can be a part of Keep Blanco Beautiful to help keep the Park and pots of plants beautiful.

Have you heard any good renditions of the national anthem lately?  I know “The Star-Spangled Banner” is sung well on occasion but, alas, less than great performances seem to be the general rule nowadays.  I’m beginning to believe that the greater the prominence and prestige of the singer, the lower the quality of the song. Jerry Earl Johnston, in a recent Deseret News publication, voiced his opinion on the subject by sayi ...

There have been many sightings of Ada Cooley in the last few weeks – one was even with Dolores and Howard Cox! In other news, things are starting to hop around Blanco (and I don’t mean the Easter bunny)! This weekend is the Tiny West Memorial Bull Riding at Yett Park. Next weekend is one nobody will want to miss – everything is timed just right, so you can go from one event to another, starting with Market Days, the Real Ale bike ride, t ...

Vanessa Acevedo, speeding • Gregory P. Allen, speeding • Gilbert Alvarez Jr., speeding • Jeremy Scott Andres, speeding • George Atwood III, speeding •Ronald Avalon, driving while license suspended & failure to maintain financial responsibility • Benjamin Stephan Banks, speeding • Francesco Barale, speeding •Eric Robert ...

Remodeling or building a home can be a lengthy and overwhelming process. Trying to decide on countertops, carpet, and lighting are all part of the process. Trying to find the best materials for faucets is also another part of building and remodeling. Believe it or not there are several different things to consider when choosing faucets for your home.

May 17, 1968 Sergeant Major Murray E. Curtis, whose wife, Jean, lives near Blanco, received his fourth award of the Army Commendation Medal April 16 while serving with the 8th Field Hospital in Vietnam. Sgt. Curtis earned the award for meritorious service during his last assignment with the United States Army Medical Training Center at Fort Sam Houston.

You want your house to look its best when you put it on the market. You freshen the paint, clean the windows, plant flowers in the beds, and rent a storage unit for the mountain of junk that’s accumulated in the garage. Those are great ways to minimize buyers’ distractions and to maximize your home’s charm.