The Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve is all about being up close and personal with the earth and all creatures small and great. Usually I am referring to bats...but this time it literally is something we would truly consider small. This fly in the photo is a common little fly, but he had a huge presence in the eye of Jana Ritter’s camera.

The Mason Lions Club met Tuesday, May 18th, for its regular weekly luncheon meeting. There were 36 members and 2 visitors in attendance. Lion Charles Reichenau was responsible for the program and introduced Jerry Baker of Hext who spoke about his adventure in Sheep Hunting and his subsequent completion of the Grand Slam in sheep hunting. The Grand Slam consists of the Dall Sheep, the Stone Sheep, Big Horn and the Desert Bighorn Sheep.

I get many questions from people. Here are some of them with brief answers. What is all of this about food allergies? Many times I find that the basic problem is that people are eating food that doesn’t agree with them. Food allergies tend to cause reactions in the intestinal tract and interfere with digestion.

School will be over for this year in just a couple of more days and the Summer is already building to be hot, although we hope not as dry as the last year or two. The city crews have been at work, and we will be opening the swimming pool on Memorial Day weekend this year to start the summer right. With the improvements made last year and this spring, the Pool will be ready for lots of kids and in better shape than it has in many years.

Fine. Be that way. O very, merry month of May. June’s just waiting. So go ahead. Leave. You didn’t last very long. In fact, you sped right by. Or so it seems. But you packed a wallop while you were here. You brought rain. And wind. Tons of wildflowers. And tornados. And 90-degree days. You brought the worst pollen in years. And allergies. Asthma. ...

Get ready for Memorial Day. It’s only a week away. Pray for rain. The only thing I have on my calendar this week is the 17th anniversary of my daughter’s wedding. Lisa and William Howard were married in the Art UMC and now are living in their first home after many years of apartment life.

Hello from the Mason County Chamber of Commerce. We are starting once again to write monthly articles to keep you, the readers, updated on things happening at the Chamber of Commerce. Our spectacular wildflower season has kept us busy. We had over 1500 visitors come into the Chamber the month of April and numerous calls and emails wanting information on where the best drives, trails and loops were.

Open Mouth, Insert Feet… Robert Orben, author of books on humor, gag source for famous comedians, speech writer for presidents and a bonafide magician, is a keen observer of life—its foibles, its ironies and its many winding roads. Retired now at age 83, he turned out twice-monthly newsletters called Orben’s Current Comedy for three decades.

Folks pay high bucks for a good workout. However, one can get a good workout by just going to the grocery store. Yep, that’s my workout plans! You get out of your car and WALK to the entrance! Then you PUSH a cart! You then REACH high for some items, while you BEND low for others!

As you are no doubt aware, this is Safe Boating Week in our country (America), and also in the Frozen North (Canada). So if you’re one of those who likes to unsafely boat, you’ll have to wait until next week, because this week it’s just not right. The other 51 weeks of the year you can drive your boat too fast, or crash it into other boats or the dock or even drive it right up onto dry land if you want to.

The Mason Study Club recently donated $1,000 to the Mason County M. Beven Eckert Memorial Library. The original Mason County Library was founded by the Study Club in 1936 with 18 books donated by the club’s members. The library’s current collection consists of over 16,000 books, audio books, computers, magazines, newspapers, and movies.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: In my closing issue a couple of weeks ago I made the promise that if my health continued to hold I would, on occasion, publish some of my favorite stories taken from old issues of MOSTLY MEMORIES. The following article then is the first of these occasions with, hopefully, many more to follow: Some weeks ago I told you my "lead goat"

Last fall, when the rains finally started after two years of not having them, we knew that the spring would be beautiful. And it was. Then, during the spring, rains continued to fall. Stock tanks filled. Creeks and rivers ran full for the first time in two years. Of course, that meant that water gaps had to be repaired for the first time in a while, it meant that the county road crew had to focus their attention on repairs rather than maintenance; and, it meant that the countryside w ...

Immigration laws are not formulated to please the legal citizens of the country, but they are made and executed for the benefit and pleasures of the illegal immigrants that have invaded the United States of America from both Central and South America. There was a time when illegal immigrants, called "wetbacks", were hunted down and arrested by the Federals and within hours they were again on foreign soil south of the border.

"A Veterans Viewpoint" Common Ground Yet Scared Ground America the Beautiful and America the Blest - Why - "One Nation Under God" & "In God We Trust" American soil is common ground for all - good, bad, ugly, believers and non-believers. When we are buried it leaves us all alike - the high and mighty, proud and humble. Out of this cherished and beloved land came (and still do) the guardians of our everyday walk in freedom—Our Veterans.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, was founded as a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. The practice of decorating veterans’ graves began during the Civil War and Decoration Day was officially proclaimed by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic on May 5, 1868.

First Annual Melvin Burns Memorial Scholarship Two in One Golf Tournament is to be held on June 5th and 6th, 2010 at the Comanche Creek Golf Course in Mason. The Low Ball is a separate two day tournament from the Scramble. Each tournament entry fee is $100.00 per player. You can play in one or both two day tournaments.

Hill Country EXXONMOBIL Retirees Club of Texas — 11:30 a.m. – June 8, 2010, at Lady Bird Johnson Park, Fredericksburg, quarterly meeting and luncheon. Exxon or Mobil retirees are invited. Contact Dianna Green at 830-997- 6396 regarding details.

What: Annual Hext Homecoming and Reunion When: Sunday, June 13th, 10 a.m. until the last person leaves Where: Hext School House Goings Ons! Registration: 10 a.m.+ Visitation: 10 a.m. until Lunch BBQ Lunch Served $10 per plate 12:30 p.m. Please RSVP your lunch attendees to Loma Surber (see below) so we will make sure and order enough meals for ALL that attend!

Bill Hight, President of the Long Mountain Improvement Corp. (Cemetery) will conduct a brief memorial service at the Long Mountain Cemetery on Monday eve the 31st at 8 p.m. Those wishing to stay to witness the beautiful sunset are encouraged to do so. We will have iced tea and cookies along with a time to socialize.

A group of Mason County friends, all of whom have smacked into the half century mark this past year, have been passing around a communal walker. Last weekend, it passed to its newest recipient, Karen Mitchell, as she celebrated her 50th birthday in Castell.

Mason County Historical Commission’s speakers and guests at their May 16th "Texas Rangers of the Hill Country" – L to R: Author Jan Devearoux; author and speaker Bob Alexander; Speaker Bill O’Neal; author and speaker Chuck Parsons; author, speaker, and moderator Pat Parsons; Louise Yena and Western artist and collector, Don Yena.

Mason County Sheriff James "Buster" Nixon (at left) presents a check to Judge Jerry Bearden for $5000 prior to Monday's Commissioners' Court meeting. The check had been given to Sheriff Nixon by District Attorney Amos Barton and was generated from the DA's forfeiture fund, to be used by the Sheriff's Department for training, equipment and other law enforcement needs.

Mason Junior High School students were wandering about the Mason square at the end of last week, fully decked out in antebellum south and Confederate costumes. This group stopped by the News office to show off their duds. Left to right: Lorenza Segura, Alma De La Garza, Cody Terry and Michael Hanscheck.

On Tues. May 18th Sysco Dallas Inc. picked up the first load of produce from Hill Country Farms owned by Gerald and Wanda Davis. The lettuce was raised by Roy and Debra Davenport on their farm at Katemcy. Since Sysco delivered a load of empty pallets it seems they have plans on many more pickups in the future.

Hilda United Methodist Women met recently in Castell for a Greek luncheon and a program on Greece presented by Shirley Davis (pictured). The program consisted of a slide show and an interesting history lesson on Greece. Present at the meeting were JoAnn Coston, Marty Coston, Gerry Daniel, Florence Smith, Cindy Powell, Betty Bauer, Suzanne Brantley, Judy Holik, Leatrice Haley, Doris Geistweidt, Pat Tucker, Carolyn Hierholzer, Jan Appleby and Margaret Brown. Plans for the Hilda ...

Members and guests of the Mason Bluebonnet Study Club met at the Richard P. Eckert Center on May 17. Featured guest speaker for the occasion was Bill Lindemann of Fredericksburg. Mr. Lindemann is a retired geologist who spent 32 years exploring for Exxon. His travels took him to Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, and other Far East Countries.

Mason Jr. High had a terrific day of science on Monday, May 17, 2010. During the day, the students viewed a physics presentation from Angelo State University. The ASU Physics, "The Peer Pressure Team", travels around to area schools doing presentations to inspire students and get them interested in science.

Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic— what happens with diseases? If they’re not treated, they get worse. It’s as simple as that. So, first on the list of what you know, or think you know, about alcoholism is that it’s a progressive disease. It won’t stop or go away on its own.

The purpose of this article is two fold. First, we are proud to announce that the progress of Mason County Initial Soil Survey Project is on track. Second, we would like to announce personnel changes in the Kerrville MLRA Soil Survey Project Office (KMSSO). First, Amanda Bragg and I were the Soil Scientists assigned to complete Mason County’s Initial Soil Survey by 2010 and the progress of this project follows: Field work was completed in April 2009.

The Summer Nutrition Programs provide nutritious meals at no charge to all children age 18 and younger at participating feeding sites. To participate, just show up. You don’t need to register or get meal tickets and no one will ask for proof of income or age. Children need good food all year long, even when they are not in school.

Two grandsons of Olga Mesa and Aurelio Mesa graduated recently. Nikolas Balderaz (left), graduated on Friday evening, May 14, 2010 from Amarillo College with a degree of Associate of Science in Psychology. Nick's scholastic achievement was half a point away from graduating with the honors of Cum Laude. The commencement exercises were held at 7 o'clock in the evening at the Carl Farley Coliseum at Amarillo Civic Center.

Eloy Rico was selected by the FAAHC’s Education Committee to receive their $1,000.00 scholarship for 2010. This is the second year that the group has presented their award to a deserving student selected from their four county membership area of Kimble, Mason, McCulloch and Menard. Mr. Rico has been very active with his community volunteer work and he encouraged everyone attending Mason’s athletic events to show their school spirit as he was Puncher Pete, the school&rsquo ...

Pastor Tim Scheffel (far right) and Congregation President, Kirby Groves (second from right) of St. Paul Lutheran Church presented a substantial donation to (l-r) Amanda McMillan, Linda Williams and Laura Keith of the Mason County Child Welfare Board. St. Paul Lutheran Church pledged its Lenten offering this year to the local child welfare board to help support its mission in our community, and to prevent child abuse and neglect.

The Alpha Beta Psi Sorority presented Ft. Mason Golf Association with a donation last week to assist them in their fundraising effort to finance their irrigation system repairs and upgrades. Rodney Jackson accepted the check from Sheryl Burleson.

Carolyn Nixon, Librarian, accepts a donation of $1000 from Mason Study Club Treasurer Gladys Kaderka and President Jean Dudney. The Mason Study Club holds fundraisers throughout the year to benefit the M. Beven Eckert Memorial Library.

The family of Gilberto Ramon established the annual Gilberto Ramon Memorial Scholarship Program to provide financial assistance to graduating seniors pursuing a higher education after graduation. In May 2010 the Ramon Family Foundation will award a total of $15,000 in scholarships. THIRTEEN (13) one-time monetary scholarships in the amount of $1,000.00 each will be awarded to a select list of 2010 high school graduates and two (2) Continuing Education scholarships in the amount of $1,000.00 ...

The Daughters of the Republic of Texas (DRT) will be organizing a new chapter in Llano named the Llano Pioneers Chapter. The mission of the DRT is to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved and maintained the independence of Texas. The DRT was started in Galveston, Texas in the summer of 1891 by Miss Betty Ballinger and her cousin, Miss Hally Bryan as a way to continue the memory of the Texas pioneer families and soldiers of the Republic of Texas by forming ...

As announced previously, Riata Service Organization is stirring up public interest for publishing a fifth cookbook. The new book, REFLECTIONS IN TIME . . CELEBRATING 60 YEARS, will include favorite recipes from the previous four books and mixing in new recipes. Until June 15th, the revised deadline, anyone can submit either or both, your favorite recipes from the four books and new recipes.

Harry "Chimp" Evans of Mason passed away on Friday May 21, 2010, in the River Hill Nursing and Rehab Center in Kerrville, TX at the age of 87. Harry was born on March 27, 1923, to Hugh Evans and Julia Kirkpatrick Evans in Katemcy, Texas, one of eight children. Harry joined the Navy and served his country honorably.

Ruth Hattie Tuckness, age 77 a lifetime resident of Llano, Texas passed away on Saturday, May 22, 2010. She was born on April 21, 1933 to Hattie (Kothe) and Henry Hohmann in Fredericksburg, Texas. She married Wilford Tuckness, October 6, 1957 in Fredericksburg, Texas. She was a member of Lutie Watkins Memorial United Methodist Church of Llano.

Wesley Clayton Chenault, 50, of Spicewood, Texas, died May 19, 2010. Born February 4, 1960, in Lufkin, Texas, Wesley was the son of James & Lois (Fitzgerald) Chenault. Wesley graduated from Bryan High School in 1978. In 1986 he graduated from Travis County Sheriff’s Academy and was employed with Texas DPS for 26 years.

For Mason Puncher Baseball Fans this year has been an amazing ride. Unfortunately, it came to an abrupt end Friday night in Bandera. The La Pryor Bulldogs were a tough opponent. Their Junior pitcher had the Puncher bats all but nonexistent through the first 3 innings of play. In the third inning, La Pryor was able to put 2 runs across the plate.