Remember When?

Oct. 13-17, 1972 Fayette County Commissioners passed a general order stating that the county would stand good for its portion of any losses sustained in ambulance service operations. The ambulance matter was to come up for further discussion at a meeting to be held at Round Top. Final action was expected to be taken by November 1 in order to give operators time to secure necessary equipment before January 1 when local funeral homes would discontinue the service.

In other old news, Texas Highway Department Fayette County construction supervisor Melvin Bayless won the second-place award from former first lady, Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, in the third annual Lady Bird Johnson Highway Beautification Contest.

Tragically, Harold D. Janak, 46, who was critically injured in a shredder accident a few days earlier, died in an Austin hospital.

La Grange area bank deposits made one of their most impressive gains in the third quarter of 1972 with total deposits of $36,425,118.78 for the first time. This gain of 6.6% over the second quarter of 1972 showed that deposits had more than doubled in six years. A seven-member Green Thumb crew headed by Leo H. Hartfield was constructing eight concrete masonry picnic tables and benches at the fairgrounds, while a second group of workers led by John H. Koenig was rebuilding the outfield fence around the baseball park. Some of those participating in the program sponsored by the Texas Farmers Union and funded by a federal government agency were: Willie Pietsch, Paul Schmidt, Herbert Mischer, Clinton Mayer, W.J. Braun and Enno Wehrmeister. Vastine Pietsch, 56, sales supervisor for Blue Bell Creameries, Inc., of Brenham, won a trip to Mexico City for gaining more than $50,000 of new ice cream business during a seven-month period. Mr. Pietsch served a 10-county area that included La Grange. Gene E. Zapalac, Erich W. Glenewinkel and Ronnie Novicke were expected to be inducted into the service, according to Walter Oeltjen, Chairman of Local Draft Board No. 44. City police were to pick up loose dogs not wearing tags, following a decision reached by La Grange City Council. The La Grange Leopards gave and the Edna Cowboys gladly accepted with the end result being a wild-and-woolly 39-24 victory for Edna. Major Lep tribulations were a breakdown on kickoff coverage, a lost fumble at their own 23 and the entire third quarter of the ball game. The Leps came on like gangbusters with an 80-yard, 10-play scoring drive following the opening kickoff. The cruncher on this series was a 35-yard run by Jim Quinn. Halfback Buddy Grobe, who chipped in some nice gainers as well, got the final two, and the Leps were ahead 6-0 with 7:58 left in the quarter. However, the Leps were unable to hang onto their lead. La Grange lads competing in the District Point, Pass and Kick Contests in Houston won two second place awards and one third place. Douglas Richter, competing in the 13-year-old category, placed second, as did Gregory Trlicek in the 10-year-old bracket. Ricky Dippel won third place in the competition for 12-year-olds.

The 1¢ City of La Grange sales tax brought in $38,647 through the first half of 1972, more than $2,000 above the corresponding prior year period. Telephone customers in Fayetteville and La Grange could now call each other without paying a long distance charge.

Funeral services were held for: Mrs. Mary V. Zbranek, 70, of La Grange; WesleyToran, 62, a native of Muldoon; Mrs. Minnie Cufr, 77, of Fayetteville; and Miss Irma Hotman, 57, a La Grange native.

Lawrence Friedrich of Freyburg was reelected as director of Subdistrict No. 4 of the Fayette Soil and Water Conservation District at a convention-type election at the Freyburg Hall. Other members of the board of directors were: A.W. Fietsam, Ammannsville; Robert Lehmann, Warda; Milton Behnke, Carmine; and Henry Boehnke, Muldoon.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Teinert honored their parents on their 25th wedding anniversary with a reception at the VFW Home in La Grange on Sat., October 7. Mr. and Mrs. Teinert were married on October 12, 1947, at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester. They had four children: Susie Teinert, James Teinert, Mrs. Dorothy Hall and Paul Teinert III.

Private First Class David Ray Chovanec, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frankie Chovanec, formerly of Fayetteville, was stationed with the U.S.Army in New Ulm, Germany.

NOTICE: Will the party that entered our home between October 1 and October 6 while I was in Houston at the Anderson Hospital with my wife and picked up a file of our diary for the month of April 30 through May 1967, please return it. It has Mrs. Pavlik’s last handwritten letters, also letters from our son in the Marines in Vietnam. I treasure them very much. Thank you, Karel Pavlik, Fayetteville.

For more great stories, visit Elaine online at www.elainethomaswriter. com/blog/ or call her at 979-263-5031.