Features

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

Journey fans who were “Raised on Radio” and are looking for an “Escape” from the “Evolution” of music don't need to “Look into the Future.” All they need is to seek out DepartureATX, Austin's premier Journey tribute band.

Burnet High School graduate Ryan Holley fronts the band as lead vocalist, much like Steve Perry fronted Journey in the 1970s and 1980s, and he said being in a Journey tribute band was something he wanted to do for a long time after moving to Austin.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

When Russell Buster bought his hilltop home on Via Viejo in Marble Falls it came complete with a cactus garden.

This spring, one resident of that garden has sprouted. A Century Plant is reaching for the sky.

“I don't know for sure if it's a record,” said Buster. “But I haven't found a report of one larger.

“It is at least 16 feet across and you can compare the height already to my 5-foot 8-inches,” he said peering up.

Buster takes the garden giant for Agave Azul, the blue cactus of tequila fame, although Agave Americana is somewhat more prone to his size.

Looking more like a monster asparagus stalk right now, it soon will be topped with branches of the familiar upturned yellow flowers.

“It will die when it blooms out,” said Buster. “Already, it has pups coming up around it to take its place.

By Lew K. Cohn

Managing Editor

The Highlander

It was a mystery that bedeviled the cast of the newest Hill Country Community Theatre play, “Murder Weapon.”

What was in the theatre building in Cottonwood Shores that was leaving behind a mess, including overturned coffee cups and tossed trash, as evidence of its existence? Could it be a poltergeist or perhaps something far more sinister?

As it turns out, the culprit was caught after a trap was laid nearly as craftily as the one set for the suspect in the late Brian Clemens' suspenseful thriller, set to debut at the theatre on April 20.
The cast held a character workshop Thursday, March 30, before a cage trap was set out on the stage. At 7:45 a.m., play director Laura Gisi came into the theatre and found the culprit, Rocky Raccoon, wearing his “mask” and finally where he belonged – behind bars.

By Jane Knapik

Special to the Highlander

One hundred years ago, on April 2, 1917, Ophelia “Birdie” Crosby Harwood of Marble Falls became the first woman ever to be elected mayor in Texas, at a time before women had the right to vote.

At the April 4 Marble Falls City Council meeting, Mayor John Packer will read a proclamation detailing her lifetime achievements. The council meeting begins at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 800 Third Street, Marble Falls.

Burnet County’s Lela Glimp Goar was inducted into the New Mexico Activities Association Hall of Fame in ceremonies held March 9 in Albuquerque, New Mexico .

The ring ceremony honored her years of service as an individual who has made significant contributions to Interscholastic and family related activities in New Mexico .

According to a press release by the organization, the individual must show great support for and involvement in formulating regulations and procedures for various interscholastic programs, and they must have 25 years of service, of which 20 must have been in New Mexico . The candidate is then screened by the New Mexico Hall of Fame Selection Committee. As a member of the Class of 2017, Lela Glimp Goar will be the 102nd member of the prestigious group.

Jane Knapik, PhD, has been honored with the 2017 Burnet County Historical Commission (BCHC) Distinguished Service Award.

The award was presented in recognition of “consistent and dedicated work with the BCHC," with Burnet County Commissioners Billy Wall, Jim Luther Jr., and Joe Don Dockery in attendance to congratulate her.

“With Dr. Knapik’s body of work in education and her continuing work in preservation of history in our county and others, she has earned yet another title: a Burnet County Woman of Note,” read the announcement of her award.

One could say Knapik has history running through her blood. Born Jane Alexander, a descendant of a Burnet County pioneer founding Alexander family, her ancestors fought in the American Revolution, for the Republic of Texas, and for the Confederacy. Her family moved to Uvalde County when she was three years old, but she came back after a long and satisfying career in education.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Marble Falls Market on Main has been rescheduled for this Saturday, March 17, and one addition to the Main Street vendors will give shoppers a preview of local products that went national Monday.

Right there on Main Street in booth 212 will be Hannah Starr, founder and CEO of the natural beauty products manufacturer HUSH Beauty Products.

A series of national television commercials introduced by celebrity entrepreneur Kevin Harrington, one of the original sharks from the TV reality show “Shark Tank” and in collaboration with AsSeenOnTV.pro, began Monday marketing her company's new cutting edge, 100 percent vegan skincare products, HUSH Luxury.

Faith Academy sophomore Natalie Roach received multiple individual awards and was crowned 2017 International Junior Miss Texas Teen at the Texas State Pageant, held Feb. 24-26 in Richardson.

Though her accomplishment of winning one of the top five pageants in the nation is impressive, it is rivaled by the odds she had to overcome to get there.

Natalie suffered a stroke in utero and was born blind and paralyzed on her left side. As a result, she spent many years in a variety of therapies and even underwent a complicated surgery that was able to restore her eyesight.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

David Nantz will cap 37 years in the field of adult probation when he is honored with a retirement reception Friday, Feb. 24, at 3 p.m. in Burnet.

The reception will be held at the Sylvester H. Reed Memorial Building, 402 East Jackson Street.

Nantz has been director of the 33rd/424th Judicial District Community Supervision and Corrections Department (CSCD) for 14 years, a career he calls “meaningful.”

“I got my sociology degree from Lamar University in Beaumont and went to work right out of college for the Board of Pardons and Paroles in Houston,” said Nantz. “After about two years, I went back to my hometown of Beaumont in probation work in July 1979.”

As an arm of the 33rd and 424th District Courts for Burnet, Llano, Blanco and San Saba counties, the CSCD operates the District Intermediate Sanction Facility (ISF), is a 54-bed facility with a variety of programs.

There was no hiding from shadows for Marble Falls High School (MFHS) students on Groundhog Day this year.

The Marble Falls Construction Trades Program was one of only two school programs in Texas, and 10 nationwide, to participate in the Toll Brothers Builders National Groundhog Day Job Shadowing event.

MFHS students traveled to the 2,100 acre Travisso master-planned community in neighboring Leander to explore all of the career trade opportunities available in the building industry.

The Toll Brothers’ mentoring event was designed to showcase to students the number of different in-demand careers that are available to students trained in workforce ready programs.