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Fayette Power Plant Area Land Owner Files Suit

October 3-7, 1975

The Lower Colorado River Authority-City of Austin filed a civil suit in the 155th District Court against Mr. and Mrs. Howard Hills, appealing the amounttobepaidtheMillsfamily for land taken for the power plant near Fayetteville. Three court-appointed commissioners in April set $333,250 for the Mills’ 178.7 acres of land and improvements in the sixth of a series of condemnation suits. In the civil suit, an 11-member jury decided $365,000 was an appropriate amount for LCRAAustin to pay the Mills family. The Mills decision was the only one to be appealed at the time.

Mr. and Mrs. Tyson Parker of La Grange Shoe & Saddlery completed the reproduction of an 18th-century horse harness as a Bicentennial restoration project for General Robert E. Lee’s birthplace at Stratford, Va., the ancestral home of the Lee family for 100 years. Frank E. Morse of Stratford, who wintered at Warrenton, was a special consultant for the project. He planned to return to Virginia with the harness and complete the restoration in 1976. The first use of the Parker-made harness was scheduled for the annual Coaching Days at Stratford, a gala parade composed of old coaches and carriages from all over the world. For the later Bicentennial parade, the harness was to be used for one of the horses drawing General La-Fayette’s carriage that was built in New Cavendish, London. LaFayette used it on his official visits to the U.S. in 1824 and 1825. The Parkers spent about a year constructing the harness that required machine stitching. No lacquers or artificial additives were used – only polish and finishing with a flannel cloth.

Carolyn Lehmann, 18, a Warda 4-H’er, was named the statewide winner in the 1975 State 4-H Dress Revue at the Texas State Fair in Dallas. Her winning entry was a doublebreasted trench coat made of 100% wool.

The grand jury for the September terms of Fayette County District Court reported its members had inspected the county jail and found it well maintained and the prisoners ‘properly kept.’ They wished to commend county officials and the contractors for the high quality of the renovations to the courthouse. However, the grand jury suggested the Fay-ette County Agricultural Building needed work.

The month of September was dry. It had rained only 1.17 inches during the 30-day calendar period. In September 1974, it rained a whopping 9.43 inches.

Aportable color TV set was taken in a burglary at a weekend farm home located between Ammannsville and Holman. Walter Baker of Houston telephoned the sheriff’s department about the break-in, in which a chain across a cattle guard had been cut. The intruders apparently drove to the house where they pried open the front door. The TV, the only item found to be missing, had been purchased less than two months earlier.

Four new ambulance units were delivered to La Grange from Dallas. The modular units, mounted on Chevrolet chassis, were to be stationed at La Grange, Schulenburg, Flatonia and Fayetteville. Radios and other equipment still had to be installed before the ambulances went into service on October 13.

The Rev. Edward M. Hartwell was preaching his farewell sermon at St. James Episcopal Church in La Grange on Sunday. He had been the priest-incharge of the only Episcopal congregation in Fayette County since 1968, commuting weekly from his home in Austin.

Funeral services were held for: Harvey G. Krause, infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn G. Krause of Round Top; Lillie Stunkard, 62, a Fayette County native; Alfred John Bruening, 67, formerly of Carmine; Mrs. Leslie T. Henson of London, England, 58, formerly of La Grange; and Mrs. Mathilda A. Wessels, 87, of Halsted.

Green Thumb crew members had been busy putting the spit and polish on public buildings in Carmine and Round Top. They painted the Carmine Fire Station and high school gym, cleaned up areas in both towns, and trimmed trash barrels and fire plugs with red, white and blue paint. Team members included: Willie Pietsch, Clinton Mayer, Willie Meiners, Herbert Mischer and foreman Paul H. Schmidt.

Without playing a game, the La Grange Leopards moved up from 7th to 5th place in the weekly Associated Press rankings of Texas Class AA high school teams. The reason was that two of the teams that had been ranked higher – Jacksboro and Alpine – were beaten the previous week and fell out of the top 10, while 3rd-place Cisco was tied and dropped down to 6th. Hamshire-Fannett moved from 8th to 4th.

Ken Syrinek, a senior at Flatonia High School, had an exceptional defensive game the prior Saturday night against the St. Paul Cardinals in Shiner. The Bulldogs’ outside linebacker was also an offensive tackle and played every down of the game.

Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Legler of La Grange celebrated their silver wedding anniversary on September 28, with a dinner at Cottonwood Inn and a reception following the dinner at the couple’s home. Mr. and Mrs. Legler were married Sept. 22, 1950, by Rev. E. H. Elinger at St. Theresa Church in LaSalle, Texas. The couple had three children: James of Galveston, Mrs. David (Virginia) Higdon of Houston and Mark of La Grange.

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