REMEMBER WHEN?

50 Years Ago

August 11-14, 1970

Six Southwest Texas State University students from La Grange were candidates for degrees: Helen W. Johnson, Georgia Wagner Hartley, Elizabeth Battelle, and Mary Ellen Battelle, Bachelor of Education; Willie J. Hrachovy and Harvey C. Moerbe, Bachelor of Business Administration.

Contributions of $700 were being sought by the American Red Cross from the citizens of Fayette County for the victims of Hurricane Celia. Texas Governor Preston Smith designated the Red Cross as the official agency to meet the disaster-caused needs of families and individuals affected by the hurricane.

Terry F. Pechacek, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Pechacek of Flatonia, was participating in a U.S. Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps training encampment at Forbes Air Force Base in Kansas. Cadet Pechacek was a member of the AFROTC unit at the University of Texas at Austin. A 1966 graduate of St. John’s High School in San Antonio, he had been a member of the National Honor Society and later attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

J.M. and Barbara Blazo and their three sons of Corpus Christi took refuge with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alex Pietz, at Carmine. During Hurricane Celia, all the windows had been blown out and the roof had caved in on the Blazo’s home. Mr. Blazo planned to return to Corpus Christi immediately to keep looters off the property.

A delegation of 26 people representing 11 landowners in the east area of La Grange vigorously protested the site in their neighborhood for a new wastewater treatment plant. Spokesman Stewart Brown said the group would go to court if the facility in any way degraded the value of their properties. Mayor L.W. Stolz Jr. assured the delegation that its testimony would be evaluated and efforts would be made to negotiate the matter with the landowners.

A dog belonging to the Marvin Miertschins on S. Main attacked a two-foot long snake in their yard that Mr. Miertschin finished off with a hoe. The redon-yellow markings indicated it was a coral snake.

Mrs. Elaine Audrey Wiemken Lyons was a candidate for a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from the University of Texas.

Funeral services were held for the Rev. Aaron Homer Burns, 79, of West Point and Frank Cernosek, 90, a native of the Hostyn community.

La Grange High School football coaches had already issued 43 pairs of football shoes and more players were due to be fitted before the end of the week The Leopards were officially beginning grid drills on Monday, Aug. 17 with the varsity team working out twice daily and the freshmen in the evening. Head coach Butch Blume invited all high school students to join the program.

Approximately 50 young people turned out for the initial practice session of the 1970-71 La Grange Junior High School band under new director Jack Wiedemann, who was a native of Giddings. Before coming to La Grange, he had taught at Agua Dulce and Bandera, Texas; Juneau, Alaska; and Banquete and Bastrop, Texas.

Horseless Carriage Club members from Austin, Houston and San Antonio were congregating in La Grange from Friday through Sunday for their annual meeting. A downtown street parade of their vehicles was set for 3 p.m. Saturday. After participants circled the inside perimeter of the Square, the public was invited to view the cars. The La Grange Chamber of Commerce asked local residents to kindly leave north and east side parking on the Square vacant from 2 to 4 p.m.

The Colorado River Water Development Association was officially formed to develop and conserve water resources on the Colorado River at a meeting at Wharton. Representing Fayette County at the meeting was La Grange mayor L.W. Stolz Jr., who was elected president of the association. Sam K. Seymour Jr. of Columbus was named executive secretary. Board members from Fayette County were C.A. Lemmons of La Grange, William Graeter of Fayetteville and C.A. Pennington of Schulenburg.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s first cotton production forecast for Texas in 1970 was estimated at 3,653,000 bales, up 20% over the prior year. That year’s cotton crop had the potential to be the largest since 1965.

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