Remember When
If there was a nuclear attack on the United States, radiation from the fallout could reach Fayette County within 45 minutes, warned Gilbert A. Koenig, coordinator for the Fayette County Civil Defense organization. Designated sites in La Grange were the Fayette County Courthouse, old Masonic hall, city hall and La Grange High School, and in Schulenburg at Schulenburg High School. Unfortunately, these locations offered only enough fallout shelter space for 20% of the Fayette County population. Those residents living and working in an area where public shelter was not available were advised to take shelter in the best protected part of their building. For more detailed instructions, Mr. Koenig advised all residents to read the handbook “In Time of Emergency” that was being distributed through the schools.
Imported fire ants found in the Ellinger area were spreading through the county at a rapid pace, according to Fayette County Extension Agent Clinton R. Bippert. Commissioners’ court approved the fire ant site for state aid under the fire ant control program. Also, bait would be available to landowners at no charge to begin treatment. A survey was underway to determine the extent of the infestation. Preliminary findings indicated that fire ant colonies had also been observed in the Fayetteville, Mullins Prairie and Dubina areas.
Sheriff T.J. Flournoy saw to it that a fortuneteller returned the $1,000 a La Grange man paid her to heal his kidney.
Debbie Kolek’s successful kidney transplant not only marked a personal triumph, but also a first for Austin. Debbie’s donor was a 21-year-old woman killed in a car accident.
The newly-installed postmaster at Carmine was Nolan Schmidt, who began his duties with the office on Oct. 16, 1953, and became the officer in charge following the retirement of Postmaster E.A. Hoppe. Tragically, two Fayette County residents lost their lives in the first local road deaths of 1973. Willie N. Stulting, 43, of Cistern, died in an Austin hospital from injuries sustained in a car accident. Dennis J. Dieringer, 20, a Schulenburg resident, who was a student at the University of Texas at Austin, was fatally injured in a motorcycle wreck.
La Grange public school trustees voted to hold the line on school lunch prices despite increases ranging from 13% to 68% for food purchased for the cafeteria. Elementary school students paid 45¢ for lunch, while lunches for junior high and high school students were 50¢.The cost for teachers’meals was 60¢.
After weeks of verifying names and addresses, a mailing list of over 500 names had been prepared for the centennial observance of the Ladies Cemetery Association of La Grange. At a program that was to be held at the old city cemetery on April 15, Mrs. Verna Reichert, the president of the cemetery association, would read the minutes of the April 17, 1873, meeting. A historical marker also was to be unveiled during the proceedings.
A 1965 International trucktrailer operated by a driver from Brady, Texas, was heading west on Hwy. 71 just east of the highway department warehouse, when the truck’s spare tire came loose, striking an eastbound 1970 Chevrolet operated by Mrs. Alfred (Irene) Michalsky of La Grange. The tire and wheel then bounced into a highway contractor’s paving machine parked on the shoulder. La Grange Police Chief L.R. Ulbrich said damage to the Chevrolet would run about $400 and a broken gauge on the paving machine would cost another $600 to repair.
Donna Wallace was the 1973 Houston Chronicle Spelling Bee representative for Fayette County. The eighth grade student at La Grange Junior High School was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Allen Mueller.
After four months of dillydallying, representatives in the U.S. State Department got the wheels rolling so a long awaited reunion could take place between Ionel I. Gardescu of La Grange and his sister, Gaby, who had filed her formal passport and permit application with the Socialist Republic of Romania four months earlier. She was thrilled to step off an Air France airliner at Houston’s Intercontinental Airport to meet her brother and sister-in-law for a visit.
Funeral services were held for: Edward Hoelscher and his 12-year-old son, Gary, formerly of Fayette County; Mrs. Johnie Owen, 50, of La Grange; Becky Lynn Kopecky, 5, of La Grange; Mrs. Annie Marie Peters of Carmine, 92; Mrs. Hattie Koepke, 82, of Ellinger; and Willie Moellenberg, 79, a native of Rutersville.
Picked to attend the 1973 Texas American Legion Boys State convention were: Edward Oppermann, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Oppermann; Stephen Kovar, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Kovar; and Daniel Cernoch, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Cernoch.
Records tumbled at the 39th annual Schulenburg FFA Livestock Show. Total income from the sale of 70 animals was $26,543.57. That exceeded the prior year’s figure by $7,000.
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