The evening of Sunday, October 30, proved to be an excellent youth hunt for 12-year-old Kaleb Hunter. His first deer ever and a nice buck at that was a 15 inch inside spread with 8 points and great mass. He shot this buck on the Hunter residence.

“There are three elements in wildlife habitat,” said Mike Krueger, “food, water and cover. A drought takes away all three, and when you take away the habitat, you take away the wildlife.” Krueger, district leader for the Edwards Plateau area for Texas Parks & Wildlife’s wildlife division, was telling a meeting on “Living with Drought,” at Johnson City’s First United Methodist Church, about effects of the drought, which is forecast to last at least another year. “We haven’t ...

Stonewall, Texas – Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site and the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm invites everyone to kick off the holiday season here at the park. The Annual Holiday Cookie Decorating and German Traditions is a family fun event. The activities begin Saturday morning at 10:00am, November 26, starting at the Visitor Complex.

Many thanks to Cathy Cudd for providing information about Josie Ludwig. Her birthdate is engraved on a double tombstone as 1885 with no death date. Ms. Cudd found that Mrs. Ludwig’s death date was reported on www.findagrave.com by a Mr. Gode. The death date that he reported is July 4, 1961.

Blanco ISD would like to extend an invitation to veterans and their families to participate in Veterans Day activities on November 11. At 8:00am, the Middle School will conduct a flag raising ceremony and honor veterans. There will be some comments about Veterans Day, and the award winning Blanco High School Panther Band will play the National Anthem and a medley of the service songs. At 8:30am, a reception for veterans will follow at the High School cafeteria.

Uptown Blanco Art Center & Gallery's November art show features the diverse & contemporary work of Blanco County resident professional artist Zena Stetka Howe. This exciting show features paintings, sculpture, monoprints and jewelry. Zena, originally from Prague in The Czech Republic, first produced art in Europe and now works and resides in the Texas Hill Country near Johnson City. Please join us for Zena's Artist Reception this Friday, November 11, from 6-8 p.m.

Stop by the library on Saturday, November 19, at 11 a.m., as we present The Story of the Matreskas, the Russian Nesting Dolls, presented by Janet Young. Janet Young has a collection of over 300 matreska dolls and will bring some of them to her program. Children and adults are welcome to come to this program, learn about matreskas, and handle some of them as well. All this month and until December 31 we are doing our Food for Fines program again.

Garage sales, yard sales, rummage sales — Saturday was a good day for those looking for a treasure or bargain around Blanco. Events such as the annual Methodist Rummage and Bake sale provide a service to the community by recycling goods and raising money to support activities. Private sales help people dispose of unused items, get rid of clutter and support a green environment by lessening the load on the landfills as well as bringing in a bit of cash.

This coming Saturday, November 12, you can enjoy fabulous music from El Verde Boys, Roadside Texas, Homer Whisenant Band and the Hilltop Band. Bring your lawn chairs, coolers, a picnic basket and plan for a good time. You can also plan on viewing fire trucks, face painting and sidewalk chalk for the kids.

Court Appointed Special Advocates for the Highland Lakes Area, Inc. (CASA) swore in 11 CASA volunteers on October 11 at the Burnet County Court Annex. The volunteers were sworn in by Hon. Robert Hofmann, Associate Judge of the 33rd Judicial District Court of the State of Texas. The new volunteers will be empowered to advocate for abused and neglected children in out-of-home placements.

Col 3:20-21 says, “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” This week we will continue our series on Christian relationships by looking at the Biblical responsibilities of parents towards children, and of children towards parents.

1 John 4:8 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” We read about people doing things that are dreadful, killing their children and leading people to commit suicide, saying God told them to. We know that was not God. It is written in 1 John 4:8 that God is Love.

Ted Williams, one of baseball's greatest hitters said, "People always say my good eyesight and natural ability made me a good hitter. They never mention the practice, practice, practice." Indeed it would be hard to hit a ball you can't see, but Mr. Williams wanted people to know there was more to it than that.

Gary Forrest Vick, 68, passed away Monday, September 12, 2011, at his home in Blanco. Gary was born in San Antonio on June 28, 1943, to Grace Adalaide Witt and Forrest Oran Vick. Gary is survived by his wife, Sharon, and has lived in Blanco since 1998 where he owned a washateria and loved old cars.

Rodger H. Brodbeck, 79, passed away November 2, 2011, at his home in San Antonio,TX. He is survived by his wife, Patsy Brodbeck; sons, Mark Brodbeck (Susan) and Keith Brodbeck; grandchildren, Jennifer Grenwelge (Jason), Brandon Brodbeck (Ellen), Rodger Wayne Brodbeck (Briana), and Sarah Brodbeck; great-grandchildren, Johnny, Dakota, Ainsley and Angel. We would like to thank Odyssey’s Hospice for all their care and support and to thank our family for all their care over these last few months. ...

Dear Editor, Seize this moment… My heart is heavy as my mind searches for some sort of positive to come out of the recent tragedy that has washed over the community of Johnson City and outward throughout the surrounding areas. I was driving to pick up my daughter from a weekend stay in a nearby town when a dialogue started playing in my mind.

Dear Editor, I am writing to express displeasure with the manner in which water rate increases by Investor Owned Utilities (IOU) in Texas are regulated by the state of Texas. Since the 1990s, the Texas Environmental Quality Commission (TCEQ) has not only regulated water quality, which reasonably should be regulated, but water rates as well. Unfortunately, for anyone who is a customer of one of these IOUs, the TCEQ is not well equipped to regulate water rates or adequacy of supply.

Whittington’s Jerky, Inc., a Johnson City, Texas establishment, is recalling approximately 126 pounds of beef jerky products that may be contaminated with Salmonella, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The products subject to recall include: • 2oz packages of Whittington’s Original Beef Jerky • 4oz packages of Whittington’s Original Beef Jerky Each package bears the establishment number “EST.

AUSTIN — Drought and the 2012 state water plan were the subjects of a day’s worth of testimony in a Nov. 2 interim hearing of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Chairman Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, before receiving input, said the current drought represents “a crossroads for the state of Texas” and “we’re all going to have to get serious about implementing our state water plan.” The state’s 2012 water plan is now in the draft phase. In testimony, Texas State Climatologist ...

Blanco ISD received seven Gold Performance Acknowledgments from TEA, it was announced on Wednesday, November 2. “This is an outstanding honor and accomplishment for our school district,” said superintendent Dr. Buck Ford. “Gold Performance awards are given to recognize high quality performance, which is over and above meeting a minimum expectation.

2011 Winners of the Red Ribbon Week Poster Contest – Front row: Cami W., Connor H., Dianka E., Wyatt L., JC R., and Valen E. Back row: Rachel M., Andres E., Landon B., Malinda C., Taylor K., and Alli W.

The Lady Panthers traveled to Hamilton High School, Thursday, November 3 to clash with the Holliday Lady Eagles for an Area volleyball title. The Eagles won 3-0 with set scores 25-20, 25-19, and 25-21. Many points went for long rallies with outstanding digs, saves, kills, and blocks by each team. Senior team members are Abbey Weaver, Lindsey Jenkins, Alex Gustafson, Micaela Klein, Kayla Martinez, Presley Savarino, Justine Cooley and Shelby Staats.

The Blanco Panthers pulled off a big emotional win over the Luling Eagles to secure the final play-off spot in the district this past Friday. Blanco will now travel to La Vernia this coming Saturday to take on Edna for the Bi-District Championship. Blanco opened the game recovering an Eagle fumble on the opening kick-off.

The JV team was firing on all cylinders last Thursday night, smashing the Luling Eagles to claim the district crown. Blanco received the opening kick-off and wasted no time in scoring with QB McKay Adamson calling his own number on a 43-yard TD run. Carson Kipp caught the PA, putting Blanco up 8-0.

The 8th grade Panthers traveled to Luling this past week to take on the Eagles, the only district team that beat them (8-0) last year [as 7th graders]. Over the past week, revenge has been the main topic for many; that and the probability of the Blanco 8th grade Panther football team having back to back undefeated seasons.

Well, we had our first little freeze last week. Only one night, but I’m sure some of you experienced a little frost bite on some of your plants. I know it was 30 degrees out at my house (about 5 miles out of town) but we had few plants in town at Bindseil Park that got a little nipped.

Mondays were wash days when I was growing up. Mom had an old wringer washing machine in the basement where she would spend an entire morning washing clothes and putting each item through the wringer. She had to be careful to avoid popping the buttons off the shirts when she put them through those rollers.

The question that always comes up is, “How much does it cost to build a custom home?” The problem I have here is the constant answer. If you tell a potential homeowner it can cost anywhere from $125-$225 a square foot to build, you should see their expression. But the problem that constantly amazes me is how much that person has spent on the land, site planner, designer, architect, color specialist, and the list goes on before even getting with a builder.

“Knowledge is the only jewel that will not decay” is what’s written on an old booklet for Flat Creek School that Gladys Barr Reeves found in her archive. This “School Souvenir” for the class of 1920 is similar to a yearbook but without the photographs. Miss Ida Armke was the school’s only teacher. Along with pages of poetry about schooling, the booklet also lists the school’s pupils.

November 6, 1964 President Johnson swamped Senator Barry Goldwater for the presidency with a landslide vote of 41,727,846 to 26,197,960, which gave him a popular majority of more than 15 million votes. Blanco County showed its approval of native son Johnson by giving him a resounding vote of support with an even greater percentage of votes, 80.5%.