Events

Tickets to 59th Annual Awards Banquet sold out for the call from the Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce to the “Get Down, Turn Around, Go to Town, Brew Scootin' Boogie!” celebration Saturday night.

So, count yourself lucky if you're on list to revel in another successful year with the supporters of Highland Lakes businesses and recognition of Outstanding Citizen, Lifetime Achievement, Community Service and Ambassador and Innovator of the Year.

It is a casual approach this year and guests got on board to dress business casual or country western for the music of Eddie Shell and the Not Guilties. The band promises the best in new and old country, blues and rock ‘n roll.

Doors open for the event at 5:30 p.m. at Cadillac Dance Hall, 1375 Farm to Market Road 1855, Marble Falls. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. and dancing begins at 8:30 p.m.

The 2nd Annual Chili Cook-Off & Car Show to benefit Candlelight Ranch will be held Sunday, Feb. 11 from noon-4 p.m.

Candlelight Ranch, located at 6408 Muleshoe Bend Trail east of Marble Falls, serves at-risk youth and children with disabilities across Central Texas.

The event will feature celebrity judges and live music from Haup & Sully, featuring Clinton James and Dan Sullivan of The Detentions.

General admission is $20 for adults and $10 for children under 18, with $10 zip line rides and free hay rides and a nature scavenger hunt for children.

Twelve teams of six people will be accepted for the cook-off at $150 per team for the prize categories of Judge’s Choice (1st, 2nd, 3rd), People’s Choice and Best Showmanship. For more information or to enter, contact Don Barr at donbarr@candlelightranch.org or 512-517-5849

Democrats will hold a free, area-wide event from noon-3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3, at Westside Park Community Building, 1610 Second Street in Marble Falls.

“Llano County Democrats will have 35 candidates on their March Primary Election ballots,” said Dana Rushing, chairwoman of Llano County Democrats. “We are so excited about having so many candidates that we are going to have an 'Old- Fashioned Political Rally.'

“The free event will feature speeches from our local and statewide candidates, but we will also conduct a straw poll, and offer door prizes and hotdogs. The local trio Turnabout (Lisa Miller, Don Crowder and Pat Gibbons), will provide live music entertainment.”

Burnet and Blanco county Democrats and the Highland Lakes Democratic Women are co-hosting the event.

“The community center on Second Street at Avenue Q will provide an indoor venue for the rally, even if the weather is ugly,” Rushing said.

Republican candidates in two contested Burnet County March 6 primary races will appear at a 6:30 p.m. political forum Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Burnet Community Center, 401 E. Jackson.

The event is sponsored by the Burnet Chamber of Commerce, the Burnet Bulletin and the Burnet County Republican Club, whose member will be serving cookies to guests, beginning at 6 p.m.

There are three candidates in the race for Precinct 2 Commissioner, currently held by Russell Graeter, who did not seek re-election. Candidates include, in alphabetical order by last name, Damon Beierle, Ryan Rowney and Tom Stephens.

Also contested is the race for Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace, currently held by Peggy Shell Simon, who also did not seek re-election. Candidates in this race include Carey Hendrick, Jane Marie Hurst and Jeff Sellers.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The rewards of long months of work will be on the line for more than 200 Burnet County youth when they take to the show ring Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 4-6, in the 2018 Burnet County Livestock Show.

“I’m proud of the work of the families and volunteers that make the show successful each year,” said Brandon Evans, chairman of the Burnet County Livestock Show Board of Directors. “I grew up showing in this county and had no idea the amount of behind-the-scenes work that took place for me and others to be able to participate.

The Walkway of Lights in Marble Falls is continuing each night from 6-10 p.m. through Jan. 1 with two million lights organized into 400 sculptures in Lakeside Park on Buena Vista Drive.

The long range forecast is clear for today, Wednesday, Dec. 11, with the possibility of showers not expected again Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec 26-27.

Weather permitting, Santa will be there through Christmas Eve, Dec. 21-24.

Visitors can enjoy a cup of hot cocoa with friends and family if there is a chill in the air and store up photos for Christmas memories.

Visitors do need to remember, because this is an outdoor event, if the ground is wet, the Walkway will be closed as a safety measure. For updates on the Walkway's status, call 844-635-4448. For more information, visit walkwayoflightstx.com.

Admission is always free, but donations are welcome and concessions benefit non-profit organizations.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

A native son who returned to Marble Falls to shoulder community service for four decades will be memorialized this week.

Wallace Dale Bergman, known to family and friends as Dale Bergman, passed away at the age of 72 on Nov. 12. A service honoring his life will be held Friday, Dec. 15, at the First United Methodist Church in Marble Falls, 1101 Bluebonnet Drive,

at 3:30 p.m., with the Rev. Ellen Ely presiding.

Bergman, the 1963 salutatorian of Marble Falls High School, was born March 31, 1945 in Blanco, and lived with his family in Johnson City before moving to Marble Falls in 1957.

He married Angeline Jones of Marble Falls on Aug. 20, 1965, while he was attending the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a BS Degree in civil engineering in 1968.

The annual Marble Falls Christmas Market on Main Street will be held this Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. to the strains of live holiday music up and down the downtown boulevard of vendors.

In addition to crafts and fine art, shoppers will find an array of goods and goodies.

Children will find activities just for them.

Living Love Animal Rescue will sponsor “Santa Paws,” photos of pets with Santa for a $10 donation.

The Highland Lakes Service League will be selling tickets to their “Chow Down” Chuck Wagon Dinner and auction on Jan. 25. A $25 ticket give admission to the scholarship fundraiser at hidden Falls Restaurant in Meadowlakes.

The sunny weather, with highs expected in the 60s will be just right for a visit at the end of the day to the Walkway of Lights.

Thursday night's snow flurries may have melted away, but there is a 100 percent chance of snow on the corner of Jackson and Pierce Streets from noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, at Burnet Snow Day.

Christmas on the Square, co-sponsored by the City of Burnet and Burnet County, will take place noon-9 p.m. in downtown Burnet ,with live music performances throughout the day and performances by the Burnet High School Highlandettes and Studio 29 Dance Centre.

In addition to the snow, families also can enjoy vendors, food on the square, pictures with Santa on the courthouse steps, a bicycle drawing and the Jingle Bell Jog 5K – a new addition to the even.

The Highland Lakes Birding and Wildflower Society (HLBW) will meet Thursday morning, Dec. 7, with snow birds in mind.

“Dr. Byron Stone, one of our favorite birding and field trip experts, is back,” said society member Margy Butler. “His presentations and field trips for the Highland Lakes Birding and Wildflower Society previously have dealt with the 'Big Birds', the raptors. But now we go on to another family of birds, those pesky 'Little Brown Birds', the sparrows, some of the wee small birds in our Hill Country bird lexicon.

“Doc's talk will feature the various species of sparrows who journey down to Central Texas in the winter, snow birds as it were.”