Catalogs. Clogging mailboxes. From everywhere. For everything. Nearly. Pick me, pick me. Buy, buy, buy. Free shipping. Buy one, get one free. Everything 50% off. And so and so on. Some are non-profit. UNICEF. Southwest Indian Foundation. SERRV. Others support a cause. MOMA. Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Arbor Foundation. The majority are commercial. Fo ...

My old mother would have begun the conversation in one of two ways—1) If that don’t beat a hen a’peckin’ or 2) Ain’t it the “beatenest” thing? Then, she’d set in on detailing the conundrum faced by Americans across the land during these “whiz-by” days—right on the heels of Thanksgiving with Christmas staring us right in the face.

I’ve known several people who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia lately, so I thought I would learn more about it. Here is “the skinny” on FM from Janet M. Pollard with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s HealthHints newsletter series. Fibromyalgia (FM) is a disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain at “tender points” (specific places on the neck, shoulders, back, hips, arms, and legs) that have a heightened painful respons ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful feast with family and friends for Thanksgiving, and I know many of you are already preparing for the Christmas season. However, we have a “feast” of new arrivals, and we hope you will take time to relax and read whenever you can! NEW ARRIVALS: (All quotes are from publishers’ summaries) DVDs: Shining Through Bernie The Nativity Story Christmas with a Capital C The International Audiobook ...

Learning disorders are the fastest growing childhood disorder in the United States, affecting 9 to10 percent of all school-aged children. ADD and ADHD are disorders of the central nervous system that have documented links to diet. Development of a healthy nervous system depends upon appropriate nutrition. Diet is a great area where parents can take action to help their children.

What a wonderful time of the year, cool nights and pleasant afternoons. I love this time of the year and especially Thanksgiving. No matter what our circumstances may be, the coming together with family and friends evokes the realization of blessings and gratitude. I sincerely hope that everyone had a gratitude filled Thanksgiving.

Last week the families gathered for fun, food and general good times, and a lot of football was played and I hope your favorite team was as successful as the Punchers. There were many extra visitors and hunters around town shopping and eating, and the lights around the square as well as the Light Tree in Heritage Park lit up the evening on Saturday.

The Mason Lions club met Tuesday, November 20th, for its regular weekly luncheon meeting. There were 31 members in attendance. Lion Will Frey was responsible for the program and introduced Tyler Bobinmeyer, Agri-Life Agent for Mason County who spoke about the national 4-H Livestock Judging Team and their experiences at the contest. Chama and Sierra Martin, Gabe Jennings and Price Ruffin, along with Tyler, Gary Jennings and Troy Ruffin went to the National 4-H Judging Contest in ...

We all know how sad a Christmas tree looks after all the pretty wrapped gifts have been opened. However, a turkey carcass is really gross! Too, one can only eat so much turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and turkey casseroles! Same goes for chicken.Beef, now there are no little bones, and a rib eye steak has no waste!

I have written a few weeks ago about some of the unusual coinage and denominations that were a part of our American past but are no longer minted, and have not been for over a hundred years. Coins such as the half cent, the three cent silver “trime” and the two cent piece were made from the early 1800’s until the 1870’s at different times, but are a novelty today.

About forty years ago Jim Croce came out with a song called ‘You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.’ The chorus went ‘You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger and you don’t mess around with Jim.’ That song was the first thing I thought of when I read the headline of a story in a Gun Auction newsletter.

"Raindrops on roses, And whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles And warm woolen mittens. Bright paper packages All tied up with string. These are a few Of my favorite things." When Maria VonTrapp sings those verses in "The Sound of Music," it's not really a Christmas song. She's singing a song to comfort the children as a loud storm moves through the Austrian countryside.

We invite the entire community to visit our Book Fair in the Mason Elementary/Jr. High Library. You will get the chance to purchase best sellers, Newbery and Caldecott Medal-winning books, chapter books, picture books and hundreds of other items only available at the Scholastic Book Fair. We also invite you to support the “Give the Gift of Reading” program at the Book Fair.

The Advent season is just around the corner! First United Methodist Church in Mason will be offering one Advent Lunch this year. It will take place at the church building, located at 224 Broad Street, one block north of the square on 12/05 at 12:05. All are welcome to come!

The Mason County Historical Commission will hold a clean-up day at the Simon and Todd Mountain Cemeteries this coming Saturday, December 1 beginning at 9:00 a.m. If you are interested in helping us out, please be there at 9:00 a.m. and bring work gloves, hoes, rakes, shovels, weed-eaters, hedge shears/clippers and any other type of trimming or cutting implements.

The Mason County Library Board is pleased to invite you to the last of the BROWN BAG LUNCHES for this year. Only this time you don’t need to bring a brown bag lunch. A lunch of beans and cornbread along with a drink and dessert will be served by the Library Board members.

We will start picking up leaves on December the 3rd. Please try not to put any limbs in the piles of leaves so our vacuum can pick up all leaves. Please put all leaves on side of street. If you miss us for any reason be assured that we will be back by the will following week.

WACO, Texas—The future needs of Texas agriculture will be addressed Dec. 1-3 in Waco as farmers and ranchers from across the state attend the 79th Annual Meeting of the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB). Representatives from the state’s 206 county Farm Bureaus will work together to craft policy positions and prepare for the challenges that agriculture faces in the coming months and years.

The Bluebonnet Study Club will meet at Mary Hemphill’s house on Monday, December 3, 2012, for a Christmas Celebration. This year we will meet jointly with the Red Hatter’s, so the festivities should be doubled. Please join us at 11:00 a.m. on the 3rd. Be prepared for the traditional gift exchange (with the option to steal from others in case something catches your eye).

New knitting/spinning guild! They will meet on Thursday afternoons in the Senior Citizens’ Center cafeteria (505 Moody Street) from 1-4pm. Your teacher will be Jurate Gertzbein and she will be alternating knitting and spinning topics, and if you join the guild now there is no charge for the classes. Spinning: Nov 29; Dec 27: Jan 24; Feb 21; Mar 21; Apr 18.

FREE COMPUTER CLASSMASON COUNTY LIBRARY MICROSOFT EXCEL (SPREADSHEET): TUESDAY, DEC. 11, 6:00 P.M. CALL 347-5446 TO REGISTERNO WALK-INS PLEASE

Peter’s Prairie Community Christmas Party plans have been made. Hope friends and neighbors can join us at Camp Air at the old schoolhouse Saturday, December 8th, at 6 PM. The meal will be BBQ brisket, chicken and sausage, pinto beans, bread, tea and coffee. If you can contribute to the menu and your last name is thru A—I, please bring a SIDE DISH and if your name is thru J—Z, please bring a DESSERT.

Several more bucks have been brought into ShortStop as part of their Big Buck Contest. This week, there are bucks from, top to bottom: Bryan Petty; Brandon Lock (Smith Ranch); and Tasha Peck (Mason County).

SAN MARCOS, Texas – On Friday, November 30, 2012, Project FEED, one of the free enterprise clubs within the Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) program, will be hosting an event called FEED City at Mendez Elementary. This will be a one-day event in which third grade students will have the opportunity to learn about various career fields. This expansion of Project FEED teaches children how to be successful entrepreneurs.

Arlis’ pick of the week is Lil’ Bitz. This little bundle of joy is a 13 month old yorkie dachshund mix. She would love to come and join you for the holidays!! Ole’ Yellow would like to remind everyone again we are still taking donations for the city wide garage sale, which is December 8th at the community building.

Second Chance – Mason Animal Rescue would like to remind pet owners that with the arrival of cooler weather, outdoor pets may need additional shelter or to be brought indoors. Our pet of the week this week is Bo, a female Corgi mix. Bo is good with adults and seems to get along with cats.

David Scarth played his harmonica to the delight of children in the Head Start program as part of the Mason County Public Library Story Time Outreach program, which takes Story Time readers to schools, and day care programs in Mason County.

Herbert and Juanita Goff generously donated an 11.75 karat star cut Mason topaz to the Mason County Cancer Benefit in memory of their late son, Stan Goff, who they lost to cancer. The silent auction began on October 17, 2012, and ended on November 24, 2012, with the winner being Herman Morris at $825.00.

In a brief ceremony on Tuesday November 13th on the South side of the courthouse “Boss” Lion Pat Reardon and Treasurer Gene Gammil awarded the proceeds from the recent Lions Club 5K/10K event to 17 different charities and organizations. The Mason Lions Club exists to serve the local community and the motto of Lions Clubs worldwide is “we serve”.

Kylee Barwise age 11, granddaughter of Walter and JoAnn Barwise, shot her first buck while hunting with her father on the family ranch in Hilda.

Lee Roy (Butch) Loeffler at 73 years old inspired his family to run the San Antonio Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon with him in November. He was very proud to have three generations in the race this year. This is Lee Roy’s 2nd year in a row to run the Rock & Roll race & his third 1/2 marathon in the past year.

Just about everyone knows that this time of year the Salvation Army is out in full force ringing bells, greeting people with, “Merry Christmas,” and accepting donations to help those in need. What you may not know is that the Salvation Army has partnered with the Mason County Ministerial Alliance to ensure that money raised in Mason County stays in Mason County.

Health and Wellness Programs Offered by the Wesley Nurse Health Ministries™ The Wesley Nurse at First United Methodist Church invites you to take part in two ongoing free programs open to all citizens in the Mason area. The first program is the Walk 2B Fit program held in the Social Hall at the Methodist Church.

The Mason Study Club held its monthly meeting on Thursday, November 15th. There were several business items discussed, one item voted on, and past and future programs were discussed. The Study Club also welcomed Maudie Bergmann as a new member. A style show followed the business portion of the meeting.

The Mason Garden Club met last Tuesday at the Mason County Library in the Stribling Room. They had a very informative program on “Raising and Harvesting Texas Wildflowers,” presented by Dewey Eckert of Mason. Dewey has farmed and ranched since the 70’s and branched out into raising wildflowers in the late 80’s. He lives on the family farm with his wife Mary where, although they do not raise wildflowers anymore, they are still very active in farming and ranching ...

John Lloyd Kuykendall, 72, passed away on Friday, November 23, 2012 in Llano, Texas. A visitation will be held Tuesday, November 27, 2012 from 5 – 7 PM at the Waldrope-Hatfield-Hawthorne Funeral Home in Llano, Texas. A private burial service will be held at the Kuykendall Cemetery. A Celebration of Life service for John Kuykendall will be held Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at 3 P.M.

The Mason Punchers will face Thorndale this Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Marble Falls. We will be the HOME team and trust me, on a cool night, we will be glad we are. It shields us against the north wind and also affords us the luxury of having real seating with back support so no need to pack the stadium seats if you get there early enough.

On Wednesday, November 14, before a group of Mason ISD administration, family and friends, local high school athlete Margaret Lemke signed a letter of intent to play college basketball at Concordia University Texas in northwest Austin. The Concordia Tornados girls’ basketball team, under the direction of Coach Rusty Rainbolt, has risen to fame recently by winning their first title and becoming the American Southwest Conference Champions in 2012.

Tuesday Nov. 20 Varsity Cowgirls vs. Lago Vista Mason—21—11—10—18 = 60 Lago Vista—8—12—16—16 = 52 Scorers—Mari’ Marquez—3, Emily Holland—3, Kyndal Jarl—3, Margaret Lemke—40, Caroline Hudson—2, Kelly Kothmann—1, Kayla Guice—6, Hannah Haley—2. Rebound Leaders—Hannah Haley—9, Margaret Lemke—7, Kayla Guice—6. Assist Leaders—Kelly Kothman ...

7th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th FINALMASON 10 10 8 6 34Harper 2 0 2 1 5 Top ScorersJake Comey - 14T.R. Kerr - 12Fernando Torres – 2Kason Silerio – 2Bode McMillan – 2Emanuel Martinez – 2 8th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th FINALMASON 6 5 10 0 21Center Point 4 8 7 7 26 Top ScorersEvan Dayton – 7Haddon Hudson – 6Riley Pape - 4Elijah Timms – 2Caleb Hyatt - 2

7th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th FINALMASON 12 4 9 13 38Center Point 0 4 2 2 8 Top ScorersEmanuel Martinez – 14T.R. Kerr – 9Fernando Torres – 6Jake Comey – 5Kason Silerio – 4 8th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th FINALMASON 0 2 8 0 10Center Point 2 0 5 0 7 Top ScorersSlade Townsend – 4James Schwertner – 2Grant Sanders – 2Elijah Timms - 2