Bi-Centennial Flag Awarded at Impressive Program
When national and Texas bi-centennial certificates and the national bi-centennial flag were formally presented to the La Grange community, the keynote speaker primarily directed his remarks to junior and senior high school students at the event. U.S. Representative J.J. (Jake) Pickle told the crowd, “You will remember that you came from good stock and what you’ve inherited was made possible by those who came before you. You are being looked upon to be the leaders of tomorrow.” The patriotic program at the La Grange School Auditorium was planned by faculty member Mrs. Marjorie L. Williams.
Fayette County hunters and trappers collected $2,065 in 1974 bounties from the county for predatory animal scalps. Treasurer Lloyd Dippel reported of the total, 363 were wolves and 50 were bobcats. The bounty was $5 per animal.
A new, free Dial-A-Care Service was being introduced for elderly Fayette County residents who had little daily contact with the outside world. The county’s senior citizen coordinator, Mrs. Emily Blume of La Grange, explained the service would change isolation by means of receiving a regular telephone call. Interested senior citizens were invited to fill out a registration form and return it to the third floor of the courthouse in La Grange. Every morning after 9 a.m., volunteers would call senior citizens on the list to determine if they were alright. If the person didn’t answer the call, a neighbor or family member would be contacted to follow up.
Burglars who entered Fayetteville High School sometime Wednesday night got away with about $30 from the superintendent’s office. It included $20 in quarters, $5.50 in 50¢ pieces and $5 in a coin purse. Although the burglars visited several classrooms, nothing of value was stolen.
La Grange’s junior varsity Leopards upped their season’s record to 22-2 when they copped four straight to win the championship of the annual Lexington tournament. The Lep reserves of Coach Jim Story downed host Lexington in the finals, 75-60, coming out from a 21-21 first-quarter stalemate to victory. The host Eagles made 8 out of 10 long shots in the first stanza but after hitting a cold streak in the second, La Grange assumed the spotlight and was ahead 39-28 by intermission. Thomas Supak, who was out three days with illness, returned to the lineup for the titular game Saturday and flipped in 20 points to lead his mates. Billy Dunk chimed in with 16 and Thomas Matocha with 11 in the champ tilt in which 10 members of the squad saw action.
John J. Beck spent 37 years teaching for the most part in rural schools that one by one were consolidated into larger school districts. He began his teaching career in 1937 in a one-teacher school named Grover, about four miles southeast of Cistern. After that school was annexed to the Cistern district, Mr. Beck taught at Sterling Prairie, annexed by the Flatonia ISD. He moved on to another one-teacher school called Braneckey in Gonzales County that was annexed into Waelder. Mr. Beck then served nine years as principal of Bauerville School in Lavaca County until Moulton Public Schools annexed it. Following stints as a bookkeeper for Kolar Motor Co. in Waelder and a construction worker with a Forth Worth firm, Mr. Beck and his family moved back to Colony, and in 1951 he became a teacher and physical education coach at Cistern Rural High School. When Gilbert Keiler resigned as principal, Mr. Beck succeeded him, serving in that capacity until Flatonia ISD annexed Cistern Rural High School. When Fayette County School Superintendent Fritz Lobpries began serving as county judge before his elected term officially began, Mr. Beck was appointed to fill that vacancy. That post was abolished at the end of 1974. At that time, Mr. Beck officially retired.
Funeral services were held for: Otto A. Ullrich, 58, of Carmine; Allen W. Muske, 53, a native of Warrenton; Edgar J.C. Schulze, 66, of La Grange; and Mrs. Adela Hein, 66, of La Grange.
Jack Klesel, the owner of Klesel Distributing & Agricultural Service Co. in Schulenburg, was elected to the board of directors of the Texas AgLime & Fertilizer Association.
Three Schulenburg High School seniors, who were members of the 1974 regional championship Shorthorn Football Team, signed football letters of intent with Texas A&I University at Kingsville. They were: Willie Adams, Doug Walker and Randy Friedrich.
Clinton Otis Herbrich Jr., the Fayette County winner of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo’s $1,000 scholarship, was recognized on Fayette County Night at the rodeo on Feb. 26. Young Herbrich, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clinton Herbrich of the Mullin’s Prairie community, was a senior at La Grange High School. The runner-up for the 1975 scholarship was Roger Ben Sustr, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Sustr of Schulenburg.
Mary Lou Mayer, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Mayer of La Grange, was named to the dean’s honor roll, cum laude, at the University of Texas for the fall semester.
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