September 1, 2010

Legendary Dallas Cowboys football coach Tom Landry always believed that your offensive line is your identity and defense wins championships. Our Punchers epitomized that philosophy last Friday as they stunned the Longhorns of Harper, 28-12. Our Punchers who came in as a 10 point underdog seemed to have an answer for everything that Class 2A Harper threw at them.

Apple Fest 2010 is upon us. This Saturday, 4 September, Apple Fest revelers will be descending on the Mason County Court house lawn. Families are expected from all over Texas! Last year as many as 3000 people spent the day in and around Mason to enjoy all that Apple Fest and Mason country have to offer.

Statistics indicate that foodborne illness continues to be a health issue in the United States. Each year, 1 in 4 Americans will become sick, 1 in 1,000 will become hospitalized, and 5,000 will die due to a foodborne illness. If under the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) jurisdiction each food establishment is required to have one certified food manager on site.

During Sunday's special service at First United Methodist Church for students and teachers, third graders Javier Garcia, Aaron Reardon, Zane Shoemaker and Klay Klaerner were presented Bibles by Rev. Tim Fahrenthold, Photos by Willeda Rea.

LCRA Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA TSC) is encouraging Hill Country landowners with suggestions for route modifications to a new transmission line that may cross their property to work closely with its representatives. In an effort to gather as much public input as possible and to route the project in the least- offensive and least-intrusive manner to individual landowners, LCRA TSC is continuing to review suggested segment modifications.

Why spend $600 & up each month for rent? Buy a 3 bedroom house in Mason and become a Home Owner! Pay 0% interest on your mortgage and no money down. Help build your family a home! To find out more, attend Mason County Habitat for Humanity’s first workshop on Thursday, September 2nd.

Would you like to learn more about Aladdin lamps? Here is your opportunity. The next meeting of the Cen-Tex Collectors' Guild will be on Thursday, 9 September 2010, at 1:30 in the afternoon. The program will feature a local collector of Aladdin lamps. The Guild meets in Fredericksburg in the Golden Hub Community Center at 1009 North Lincoln Street (the end of Lincoln Street).

Looking for something different to do Labor Day weekend? You are invited to visit a historic country school. Crabapple School, one of the 15 historic country schools in Gillespie County will be open Saturday September 4, 11a.m. to 3p.m. The Crabapple school is located at 14671 Lower Crabapple Road. This is one with original desks and blackboards that was active in the late 1800s: early 1900s, original building built in 1878.

Carol Ann Bradley, of Mason and formerly of Austin, passed into the arms of her savior Jesus on Thursday, August 26, at the age of 60. Carol is survived by her husband Lee Edward Bradley of Mason, son Joseph Barton Bradley of Dallas, daughter Bethany Leigh Bradley of Mason, a sister Linda Yates Brock of Quincy, Florida, sister-in-law Julie Reiley of Cost, three nieces Carole Chandler and husband Shelly of Bonifay, Florida and Elizabeth and Carly Reiley of Cost.

Warren Dale Freeman passed away Friday, August 27, 2010 at the age of 53. He was born September 1, 1956 in Burnet, Texas to Bonnie Faye (Scott) and Warren Carl Freeman. He married Jil (Landon) Freeman, August 11, 1979, at Lutie Watkins Memorial United Methodist Church in Llano, Texas. After graduating from Llano High School in 1974, Dale went on to obtain degrees from both Southwest Texas and The University of Texas at Austin School of Pharmacy, where he finished at the top of his cl ...

Bette Ann Hart passed away in St. Agnes Hospital at Fresno, CA at the age of 71 on August 24, 2010. Mrs. Hart was born August 23, 1939 in Delta, CO. to Owen Hocker and Franky Hocker Sparks whom along with her brother Gene Hocker, preceded her in death. She spent her work years for Hospice Programs and teaching Freshman English.

Ruth Capps Ney passed away at the age of 94 on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 11:48 a.m. She was born at home in Fredonia, Texas, lived on a ranch and attended a one room school house nearby. She met Linus, her husband, on a blind date in Brady during WWII. Three months later they were married.

Please join us for our next monthly gathering Wednesday, September 8th, at Mary Carlman’s home located at 411 Fuchsia in Mason. We’ll meet there at 11:30 AM for a Garden/Deck Tea Party. You’ll need to bring a tea party food to share plus a friend or 2. Dress code is … of course … your red hat and purple outfit.

On Thursday and Friday, I headed with some friends to Mount Pleasant on an errand. It has been a while since I headed into east Texas, and I had forgotten what a different world it is from much of the rest of the state. On Thursday night, we stayed with Peanut's folks up in Fort Worth, giving us a good jumping off point for the next day's journey.

Editor: Yes, George and I admit to "cramming for the final exam" that was on August 21st to close Lenore Newsom’s dog obedience class as printed in last week’s paper. Also, I will vouch for the fact that George is/was far smarter then his owner/trainer. From the time I grew up on Mason’s Rainey Street and where, reportedly, I always had a dog following me down the road, I have always loved dogs. Having a dog or multiple dogs, owners should always wan ...

Many people have asked me recently if the LCRA Transmission Line issue will finally be resolved soon, and I have had to explain that this is still a long process. Several of us within the County have been actively working to avoid Mason being impacted by this decision for nearly a year now, and I am afraid that the issue is not going away just yet.

James Ryan McMahon and Heather Elizabeth Wehe were united in marriage May 22, 2010, at an out-door ceremony at Los Patios in San Antonio, Texas. Reverend Fred Martin, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Boerne, Texas, officiated the double ring ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Mark and Susie Wehe of Floresville, Texas.

Colten Drake, son of Gina and David Drake, grandson of Doris and Alvin Dannheim, great grandson of Louis and Wilbur Durst, played on the U8 Boerne Charger All-Star baseball team this summer. Colten was the starting 3rd baseman for the team that won the 2010 Sectional Championship, 2010 Regional Championship and advanced to the Pony State Championship Tourney in Irving Texas.

Mark Hurta was presented awards at the Honors Convocation by Jeff Howard, Assistant President of Student Development at Texas State Technical College. Mark was one of the two students that received an Outstanding Leadership Award. He was the recipient of the Presidents Award considered the best of the best. Noted by the presenter, were his great attitude, looking out for other students best interest, willingness to help, and fun to be around.

The Mason Lions Club met Tuesday, August 24th, for its regular weekly luncheon meeting. There were 36 members and 3 visitors in attendance. "Boss Lion" John Gammill, along with Lion Lee Graham and Eva Tannehill gave reports on the 5K/10K Run/Walk to be sponsored by the Lions Club on October 2, 2010.

The City crews continue to be busy taking care of several projects around town. The Street department continues to work at cleaning the edges of the streets and cutting tree limbs that overhang the roadways and drag on the school buses and other vehicles. This is a problem all around town, and although they recently worked around the schools to provide good access and visibility, they will be continuing to work at a number of locations that have been noted as being a problem.

Well, well, well. If it isn’t September. How the heck are ya? It’s been a month of Sundays since we last saw you. Actually longer. Welcome back. I believe it’s been an entire year. Bring any rain with ya? How ‘bout cooler temperatures? Wait and see, huh? Wise guy, eh? Got us over a barrel, don’tcha? That’s for sure. Nothing we can do about it. Se ...

On Thursday night at The Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve we had two visitors; on Friday night, 4; on Saturday night, 42; and on Sunday night, 0 visitors. This tells me several things: (1). If you are planning on visiting between now and October it appears that Thursday and Sundays would probably be the lightest visitation and you would almost certainly get a seat; (2).

Tips to Reduce Your Risk of Salmonella from Eggs I do not want to encourage you to avoid eggs, as they are one of nature’s most nutritious and economical foods. Of course you do have to be careful with them if you have high cholesterol, but if you don’t, eggs are right up there with beans as one of my favorite cheap and easy sources of protein!

Clucks—Here, There, Everywhere…. Humpty-Dumpty’s great fall comes across as mere child’s play against the backdrop of today’s serious egg issues. Egg farmers in the dell and beyond are suffering negative publicity, stroked broadly with brushes that, truth to tell, ought rightly to cover as few as two farms in Iowa. With confirmed salmonella cases approaching 2,000 at this writing, egg distributers are scrambling to recall some ...

The first "Down The Drain With Jane." was printed on September 5th, 1980! That’s THIRTY YEARS!!!!!! So, I’d like you to read my very first that went out on Wednesday, September 5, 1980, in the ONION CREEK FREE PRESS: How to tell when you’re having Septic tank problems: 1. When your children beg to go next door to use the john, because their’s flushes everything down. 2.

Sometimes I wonder if the Remington people realized, when they came out with the 870 shotgun in 1950, that it would end up being the most popular shotgun in the world. I wonder how many people can say they shot their first dove or quail or duck with an 870.

Pets use teeth and claws. Toddlers color and scribble. They like new books best. NEW ARRIVALS – Quotes are from the publishers summary. The Ultimate Medical Encyclopedia: Understanding, Preventing and Treating Medical Conditions edited by Martine Podesto (613 ULT). Medical Nonfiction. Living Your Best With Early-Stage Alzheimer’s by Lisa Snyder (616.8 SNY). Medical Nonfiction. "…a practical guide on coping with the diagnosis, effecti ...

There are many myths about food and nutrition today. Those about fats are some of the most confusing. Myth: Saturated fat clogs the arteries. Truth: 74 percent of the fats found in artery clogs are unsaturated with 41 percent polyunsaturated. Myth: Optimal serum cholesterol levels should be less than 180 mg/dl for good health.