Falls on the Colorado Museum

Connie Swinney/The Highlander

The Marble Falls Rotary Club and Falls on the Colorado Museum (FOCM) hosted a Veterans Day event Nov. 11, to honor veterans and educate the community about their resources. Among the attendees were 97-year-old U.S. Air Force and Navy veteran Ken Lindow (front right). Behind him, from left, are Rotarian Bruce Jackson, Donna Pahmiyer, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Rotarian Mike Atkinson and Ryan Atkinson.

February is Black History Month and the big day of celebration in Marble Falls will be Saturday, Feb. 24.

St. Frederick Baptist Church, the city's 125-year-old congregation founded by African Americans, has assembled an exhibit of memorabilia that will be on display during the free event from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

“As always, there will be lots of good food,” said organizer Bessie Jackson. “The whole community is invited, especially the young people.”

The church is located at 301 Avenue N in Marble Falls.

This also is the final week of an exhibit on the history of African Americans and St. Frederick Church at Falls on the Colorado Museum, 2001 Broadway Street.

By Jane Knapik

Special to the Highlander

Marble Falls writer Caryl Calsyn recently was honored as the “Featured Writer” in WestWard Quarterly, the Magazine of Family Reading.The magazine is published in Hamilton, Illinois. The magazine included a biographical sketch and photograph of Calsyn, as well as six of her poems.

The home of the annual Victorian Christmas Open House is celebrating its 125th year at its original location at 603 Seventh Street in Marble Falls.

The doors of the beautiful lady will be open from 6-8:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2. Owner of the Christian-Matern Home, Caryl Calsyn, will be on hand to talk with visitors as they tour this important part of Marble Falls history.

The annual event is a gift to the community from the Falls on the Colorado Museum Board of Directors, who also will be greeting the public and inviting them to share holiday refreshments.

at that location is sponsored by board members of the Falls on the Colorado Museum is set for Saturday, December 2, 2017. Home owner

The home is located at 603 Seventh Street at Avenue F, on the east side of U.S. 281 in Marble Falls. Easier access with fewer stairs is available from parking at the back of the house.

Veterans Day again will be celebrated by Falls on the Colorado Museum (FOCM) in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Marble Falls but a month-long exhibit honoring veterans is opening at the museum at 2001 Broadway Street.

At the Veterans Day program at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, the warhorse Reckless and the Bluebonnet Chorale will return to add to the recognition of all U.S. military veterans.

Marine Staff Sgt. Reckless' proxy, Dixie, commemorates one of the greatest Marine heroes of the Korean War. The original Sgt. Reckless was a chestnut horse that carried needed ammunition to the Fifth Marines during a five-day battle.

October is Earth Science Month, and in keeping with that timeframe, The Falls on the Colorado Museum (FOCM) will host an afternoon with a fossil specialist and three geologists!

Kenny Bader will present a 30-minute program on fossils beginning at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 14. Bader is the Manager of the Osteological Prep Lab a part of the Vertebrate Paleontology Lab in the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

At 1:45 p.m., three geologists from the Upper Highland Lakes Nature Center, Frank Caramanica, PhD; Charles Beierle MA, and Billy Hutson BSEE, will give a 30-minute presentation on our local geology. With their presentation, we all will be more educated as to why our town was named MARBLE Falls and not LIMESTONE Falls!

This week is Marble Falls High School Homecoming week and the Marble Falls Ex-Students Association All School Reunion is set for Saturday, Sept. 30.

The Falls on the Colorado Museum (FOCM), located in the Old Granite School in Marble Falls, has special exhibits in place in the Madolyn Frasier Room to remind former students of their days at Marble Falls High School.

“Museum volunteers have scoured museum archives for old pictures to display,” said museum board chair Darlene Oostermeyer. “In addition, former athletes and coaches have responded to our requests to display their personal sports memorabilia.”

Oostermeyer said that additional items for the Marble Falls Sports Exhibit arrive every week at the museum. The Sports Exhibit will be on display until the end of October.

The head skeleton and several other large bones from a fossilized bison found on Rocky Creek in Burnet County will be on exhibit at The Falls on the Colorado Museum beginning with a program about it Saturday, June 17.

Ryan Murray discovered the skeleton in 2013 while on a fishing trip along the creek.

According to museum chairwoman Darlene Oostermeyer, research indicates that 700 years ago a mature female bison, most likely weighing from 1,300 -1,800 pounds, ventured down a creek bed in what now is northern Burnet County. There the animal died, apparently from natural causes or because she became bogged in the mud.

The bison was part of a herd that moved down a migration corridor stretching through the Great Plains and into the Edwards Plateau some time between 1308 and 1424 A.D.

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.

The annual Victorian Christmas Open House sponsored by board members of the Falls on the Colorado Museum (FOCM) is set for Saturday, Dec. 3.

Home owner Caryl Calsyn will be on hand to talk with visitors as they tour a view into Marble Falls history.

The open house will take place at the historic Christian-Matern home, 603 Seventh Street at Avenue F, east of US 281 in Marble Falls. The community is invited to visit any time from 6-8:30 p.m. Handicap access and parking are available at the back of the house.

“Caryl Calsyn owns the old home and has hosted the museum event for several years,” said FOCM Board Chairwoman Darlene Oostermeyer. “We hold this open house every year to say 'thank you' to the community for their support of the museum.”