Events

Experts on the natural world of Texas will be speaking in Burnet on Saturday, Oct. 8, as part of the celebration of Native Plant Week by the Highland Lakes Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas.

A sale of native plants, with members of the organization there to answer questions about the plants they and Wright’s Nursery have grown, will be going on 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Highland Lakes Master Gardener Farmers Market on the Burnet courthouse square.

The speakers, Valerie Bugh and Randy Johnson, will make presentations at the Herman Brown Free Library, also on the square, at 100 East Washington Street.

Valerie Bugh

At 9:30 a.m., Bugh will present “Floral Fauna.” At 11 a.m., Johnson's topic will be “Pollinators and Natives: An Ancient Marriage.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

More than 120 ogle-worthy autos are expected for Marble Falls Main Street Car Show to be held by the Marble Falls Kiwanis Club from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1.

“This will be the fifteenth annual event and it is one of the very few downtown car shows in this part of the country,” said chairman Jack Sargent. “The city will close three or four blocks of Main Street and the show cars will line both sides and up the middle.”

There is no charge to the public to view the cars. In addition to the silent auction aimed at car fans, all the shops and eateries downtown will be open for business.

“This will be going on the same time as the Citywide Garage Sale in Johnson Park,” Sargent noted. “It is no more than a 15-minute walk for that shopping excursion sponsored by the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce. We think the two events compliment each other.”

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The year 2016 has been on full of community outreach to support first responders, but at National Night Out, local police, fire and emergency medical personnel cement their bridge to the community with pure fun.

Tuesday night, Oct. 4, is that night. From 5-7 p.m. Johnson Park in Marble Falls will be filled with a fleet of emergency vehicles, free food and goodie bags and events just for kids.

It is a night that makes a family event of meeting the first responders they might never see outside an emergency and to get a look inside a helicopter, ambulance or fire truck that inspires awe or excitement in the park but might be terrifying at an accident scene.

Youngsters can even get an idea of what might be going on at one of those scenes.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

September is National Preparedness Month and the Highland Lakes Amateur Radio Club (HLARC) and its affiliated Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) unit is sponsoring a program with an American Red Cross (ARC) speaker to help Burnet County residents understand all that preparedness entails on the local level.

The program will be presented at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Friday, Sept. 30, at at Westside Park Community Center, 1704 Second Street, in Marble Falls. Red Cross Volunteer Rik Chapman will be the main speaker, but former Dist. Judge Gil Jones also will be on the program.

Central Texas residents know when they speak about country music legend Willie Nelson, the name of James Randall “Poodie” Locke is sure to follow.

Locke was the longtime road manager for Nelson and was one of a very short list of people entrusted with taking care of Nelson's Martin guitar, lovingly called “Trigger.”

Poodie Locke also started Poodie's Roadhouse in Spicewood, which has been a venue for some of country music's greatest stars to play, including Nelson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel, Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver, Toby Keith, Kevin Fowler, Pat Green, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Gary P. Nunn, just to name a few.

Sadly, Poodie Locke passed away on May 9, 2009, but his legacy is remembered with the annual Poodie's Party “No Bad Days” Golf Tournament and Music Festival, which is held every year around his birthday.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

As many as 600 fans of music and fine spirits visited FiestaJAM Friday and Saturday, Sept. 23-24, and organizers Bob Linder and john Arthur martinez judged the event, third in its young history, a success.

“There is not stopping it now,” said Linder and martinez: “The fans and the music have just been great.”

Headliner Joe Ely, country music staple for decades, brought young singer-songwriter Warren Hood with him to add his violin to his set at Lakeside Park in Marble Falls Saturday.

The self-styled “Heavy Leather” group KATTL from Bandera won the $1,000 prize from Rebecca Creek Distillery and an eight-hour recording session at Uptown Sounc to top off the Battle of Bands. Taking the bow for the KATTL award were “Whiskey” Wade Lowrie, Daniel Philips, Wade Stevens, “Bobby E. “Bandera Bob” Boyd, Nick Smith, and Cole Hicks .

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

An Apple Tree ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 21, honored volunteers with Friends of the Marble Falls Library who logged more than 290 years of service to reading resource at 101 Main Street.

Of 17 volunteers honored, none had devoted fewer than 15 years to the programs of the library and efforts of the Friends, including the Library Thrift Store at 300 Avenue J. Each added an apple and a leaf to the towering tree near the entrance to the library and Mardi Cockerham, president of the Friends, explained its significance.

The annual celebration of Cononstitution Week began Sunday, Sept. 17, and the Llano Uplift Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution is urging Burnet, Llano and other member counties to join in recognition of the founding document of the United States of America.

“There are two documents of paramount importance to American history: the Declaration of Independence, which forged our national identity, and the United States Constitution, which set forth the framework for the federal government that is still in use today,” said Linda Groff, chairwoman of the Llano Uplift DAR Consituttion Week committee, reporting the national organization's message.

“ While Independence Day is a beloved national holiday, fewer people know about Constitution Week, an annual commemoration of the living document that upholds and protects the freedoms central to our American way of life.”

by Alexandria Randolph

Highland Lakes Newspapers

Joppa natives and historians are banding together to repair and preserve two historic bridges in northeastern Burnet County and a fish fry on Saturday, Sept. 17 will add to the effort.

The Iron Bridges of Burnet County project is a group focused on the repair and preservation of two of the county's historic bridges by raising money through a community fundraiser.

The North Fork San Gabriel Bridge on County Road 200 and the Russell Fork San Gabriel Bridge on County Road 272 were each built in the early 20th Century and are now eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, a project news release stated. It is the goal of the project to repair the bridges for safe access by the public and use for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

BY GLYNIS CRAWFORD SMITH

THE HIGHLANDER

The 15th Annual 9/11 Day of Remembrance Ceremony of the Rotary Club of Marble Falls was held at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 11, at Lakeside Park.

Mayor John Packer read the proclamation that followed the national designation of the day as Patriots Day and Burnet County Judge James Oakley, a proclamation of the State of Texas designation of 9/11 as First Responders Day. Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10376 posted the colors and, as the flag was lowered to half staff, Marble Falls Fire Chief Russell Sander performed the 200-year-old "Ringing of the Bell" ceremony--three times repeating the sounding of a bell three times for fallen firefighters.