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%. Blanco County gave Johnson 1197 to Goldwater’s 290. Neighboring Gillespie County in which the LBJ Ranch is located, gave their support to Johnson by a 1878 to 1446 majority. Only once since the turn of the century has Gillespie County gone Democratic. Johnson led in 44 states with Goldwater carrying five southern states and his home state of Arizona. • The Blanco Panthers moved into the undefeated column in district competition by defeating the Dripping Springs Tigers 12-0 on the home field in their first District 29B game. The game went scoreless until the first minute of the last quarter when Wayne Mathis went over from four yards out ending an 83 yard drive that took 22 plays with seven consecutive first downs.

November 8, 1974

The Blanco County 4-H Awards Banquet was held in the Blanco School Cafetorium. Nearly two hundred 4-H members, family, and guests were on hand as award medals, year pins, and leader certificates were presented to 79 4-H members and 42 adult leaders. Highlighting the program was the announcement of the Gold Star Girl, Karen Meier, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Meier, and Gold Star Boy, Myron Uecker, son of Mr. and Mrs. Buddy Uecker. The Outstanding Adult Leaders for the year were Mrs. Martin Meier and Mr. M. L. Moore. • The Blanco Theatre was playing Scalawag, starring Kirk Douglas. “He’s Long John Silver and Jesse James rolled into one! His name is Captain Peg and he wasn’t born to die in bed!” Also playing was “Bank Shot” starring George C. Scott, where “They didn’t rob the money, they stole the whole bank.” • New Crop Red Rome apples sold for 25 cents a pound at Cochran’s Foodland.

November 7, 1984

Close margins in almost all Blanco County political races appeared to be norm as voters turned out in surprising strength to keep Charles Scott in the judge’s office and Holden Burleson in the sheriff’s office. Scott, recently appointed to the county judge’s post, gathered a total of 1320 votes to narrowly defeat challenger Thomas Felps by 311 votes. Felps was closely behind Scott with 1009 votes while write in candidate Jeannie Crowder gathered 171. In the sheriff’s race, appointee Burleson edged former Blanco County Sheriff Sherman Brodbeck with 1253 write in votes compared to 1133, a 130 vote margin. • On Sunday, November 11, 1984, the First Baptist Church of Blanco celebrated their 125th anniversary. The celebration began at 10:30 am and lunch will be served at 11:30. Included in the program was singing by the Gloor Family, Doug and Vickie Pautz and the Choir. Tom Lanier, a former pastor, would bring the message to be followed by a note burning ceremony. In 1859, the church began with a congregation of five members headed by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Stillman, and pastored by Bro. James Bird. From 1859 to 1902, the church had no building of its own, but met at the “Union Church” with the congregation of the Methodist and Church of Christ. In 1902, they moved into their own building. Miss Rebecca Baines, who later became the mother of US President Lyndon Baines Johnson, was among the members of this first group. In 1917, Miss Mary Alexander left Blanco to prepare for her mission work in which she served for forty years. During WWII, she was imprisoned in China, returning later to the Austin area. On February 9, 1975, ground was broken to begin construction of the new plant, which was dedicated on September 14, 1975.

November 9, 1994

George E. Byars was elected Blanco County Judge by a wide margin, easily surpassing the vote totals of his two opponents. Byars finished with 1,023 votes. Blanco mayor Ryan Trimble had 707 votes and Marjorie Tellez had 617 votes. • Blanco High School band director Kirk Hinshaw submitted a letter of resignation to school superintendent Mike Adkins. Assistant band director Jeff Lain was appointed interim director of the school’s music program. • A bill signed into law by President Bill Clinton could have directly impacted Blanco by the following spring if the US Department of Justice approved a grant that would largely pay for the hiring of a fourth city police officer. The Blanco city council voted to apply for the federal grant that would fund 75% of one new officer’s salary over the course of three years. Under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and its “Cops on the Beat” program, 100,000 new officers would be hired across the nation. • The annual battle for Blanco County was just that- a battle. The year’s renewal of the Blanco- Johnson City gridiron rivalry was one of the most exciting ever as the Panthers edged the Eagles 15-14. The two teams fought back and forth to a scoreless draw for 40 minutes before erupting for a combined 29 points in the final eight minutes of the game, including a stretch with three touchdowns scored in a span of 46 seconds.

November 10, 2004

Judge Charles Scott, 76, of Blanco, passed away Tuesday, November 9, 2004. Judge Scott was elected Blanco County Tax Assessor/Collector in 1982. Two years later on June 29, 1984 in a special meeting he was appointed County Judge. Scott was appointed to the position after Judge Fred Mayberry retired due to health concerns. He was reelected in 1986 and again in 1990. He served as County Judge until his retirement in 1994. Judge Scott was instrumental in beginning the process to accommodate the handicapped in the County Courthouse, going as far as having an elevator placed in the west wing so everyone could have access to the district courtroom. He supported putting lights on the County Courthouse celebrating Lights Spectacular Hill Country Style. He served on the Board of Directors of CAPCO and served several years as Chairman. Judge Scott was a member of the First Baptist Church of Blanco.• Who’s Who Among American Teachers: This year, four teachers of Blanco had been recognized as well as three from Johnson City and one from Fredericksburg. Recognized from Blanco were Carol Ann Summy, Judy Rankin Hinnant, and Russell Kirkscey as well as Rebecca Louise Howerton. From Johnson City was Susan Bruce Birck, Marjorie Heard, Pamela Foster Starr, as well as Cindy Beale Sultemeier who is from Fredericksburg ISD. • Frank Krenek of Taylor, Texas, shot a 13 point buck on the Arlis Rose Ranch West of Blanco. The buck had a rack spread of 16.5 inches.