Marble Falls Texas

 BY LEW K. COHN, MANAGING EDITOR

THE HIGHLANDER

MayFest 2016 is underway through Saturday, May 14, with carnival rides, family fun and music in historic Johnson Park in Marble Falls.

Local music favorite Rey Avila y Sus Legitimos Norte will perform for their third year at the MayFest street dance at 8 p.m. Friday, May 13. The band has a large following for its Tejano and conjunto music and admission to the dance is free.

BY GLYNIS CRAWFORD SMITH

THE HIGHLANDER

The Howdy-Roo Lone Star Chili Cookoff was it's annual "big deal" in chili cooking Saturday, May 7.

Cooks and vendors filled Johnson Park beginning Friday and the last of the big chili rigs pulled out Sunday, May 8.

Entries from the Highland Lakes Pod of the Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) alone numbered 174 and judges dug in to the offerings of the Lone Star BBQ State Championship as well.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Residents from all over Burnet County gathered at the First Baptist Church of Marble Falls tonight, Thursday, May 5, to observe the National Day of Prayer.

It was a night to especially honor veterans U.S. Rep. Roger Williams said he was proud to say Fort Hood was part of his 25th Congressional District and members of each branch of the military stood in recognition of their songs performed by the Hill Country Community Band. The Community Choir led attendees from at least 10 county churches in song.

County Judge James Oakley welcomed the gathering and prayers and heartfelt words were offered by religious leaders Tucker Edwards of MFFBC, Gene Glaeser of Lake Shores Church, the Revs. Doug Lindley of Burnet FBC,  John Berkman of Hill Country Fellowship, Kyule Byrd of Church at the Epicenter, George Perry of St. Frederick Baptist and Ellen Hibler of First United Methodist Church of Marble Falls.

Supporters of the Marble Falls Helping Center Garden are busy this month.

They are running third in the nation in a competition for a grant and they are holding a Helping Center Garden Open House with educational programs on Saturday, May 14.

Starcke Dam, owned by Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), creates Lake Marble Falls and water can pass through one or more of its 10 floodgates to maintain a relatively constant level.

Starcke Dam has the distinction of being the smallest in the Highland Lakes chain and the last one completed. The lake and dam were constructed from 1949 to 1951 for hydroelectricity. Originally named Marble Falls, the dam was renamed in 1962 for Max Starcke, LCRA's second general manager (1940-1955).

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Johnson Park will be recognized on the afternoon of April 22 with a Lone Star Legacy Park marker, but event on Sunday, April 17, will be the kind of use that created that legacy: a central gathering place for the City of Marble Falls as early as 1887.

The 5th Annual St. Andrew Picnic in the Park will be held there, as gatherings surely were 130 years ago. The St. Andrew Presbyterian congregation will be joined by Fellowship Baptist Church and Trinity Episcopal Church to host an 11 a.m. worship service in the park amphitheater.

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Tax-Aide, the free tax service of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) will continue work to assist low to moderate income taxpayers complete and efile tax returns right up to Thursday, April 14.

The service ended in Burnet Monday, but one last session will be offered Thursday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club at 1701 Broadway Street in Marble Falls.

It will continue through April 14.

BY GLYNIS CRAWFORD SMITH

THE HIGHLANDER

On Saturday, April 16, the gates open at 10 a.m. to the 16th Annual Children's Day Celebration-the Johnson Park event that has grown every year with more fun and games free to children age kindergarten to eighth grade.

The event will begin at 10 a.m. at the park amphitheater with a brief opening ceremony and balloon release that leads into the events that will go on until closing at 3 p.m. Learning centers, carnival rides, rock climbing and games are just a few of the attractions.

“People always ask about the weather,” said organizer Ely Banuet Rodriguez. “Just bring your poncho. Children's Day goes on with rain or without it. A few morning showers never close us down. It always clears up.

GLYNIS CRAWFORD SMITH

THE HIGHLANDER

The phrase Gross National Happiness (GNH) may have been coined in 1972 by Bhutan's fourth Dragon King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck as an option to gross domestic product (GDP) in measuring what is important to the country’s citizens, but the idea is not wasted on the West today.

Paula Francis was in Marble Falls this week and you may even have met her—the lady with the safety orange vest emblazoned with “Happinesswalk.com.”

Francis and friends from her home in Vermont visited Bhutan in the Himalayan mountains and it made her stop and think seriously about happiness.