REMEMBER WHEN?
50 Years Ago from The Fayette County Record
Feb. 1-4, 1972
Ford Walker, who was living in a one-room house a few miles east of La Grange on the property of Lorenza Crosby, lost everything except the clothing on his back when fire destroyed his home. Although the house had a wood-burning stove, the cause of the blaze was unknown. The local Salvation Army chapter was seeking donations of clothing and bedding to help the elderly man who wore size 10 shoes, 46 coat and 44 trousers.
No swine could be shipped from Fayette, Bastrop and Colorado counties into Lee County because of a quarantine order. This measure had the potential to create a hardship on both swine buyers and sellers because Lee County had four buying stations.
Despite widespread belief to the contrary, there were virtually no timber wolves in Texas, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The timber wolf, also called lobo or prairie wolf, once roamed most of Texas following the great migrating herds of bison. When they were eliminated, the grey wolf’s demise was sealed as well. Persistent reports of wolves from virtually every region of the state were thought to be misidentifications of large coyotes. Approximately 100 red wolves lived in southern Texas, several hundred miles away from the Big Bend region.
Texas license plates for 1972 took on a new color scheme for the first time in a number of years. Letters and numerals were in green on a light-reflective background, replacing the black-on-white and white-on-black look.
A grand total of 170 youth entered exhibits in the 13th annual Fayette County Junior Livestock Show scheduled for Thurs., March 16 at the fairgrounds. Entries included: 47 market steers, 60 swine, 18 lambs, 34 capons and 11 pens of broilers.
Funeral services were held for: Mrs. Rosie Doris Mach, 86, of Plum; Mrs. Matilda Schubert, 69, of Warda; Richard Friedrich Stork, 85, of Ledbetter; Arthur F. Heinrich Sr., 67, of Schulenburg; Mrs. Hulda Ramthum, 74, of La Grange; Raymond B. Beran, 60, of Fayetteville; Emil V. Kahanek, 85, of Schulenburg; Eddie L. Light, 83, of Carmine; and Herman Goebel, 87, of Winchester.
The first 1972 countywide political race was assured when incumbent county attorney L. L. (Pop) Warner filed to seek reelection. Flatonia attorney Dan Beck already had announced his candidacy for the post.
Local World Book Encyclopedia representatives Irma Rotter in La Grange and Richard Gabler in Schulenburg advertised an extra special announcement for customers. A newspaper subscriber who wished to remain anonymous complained about whoever dumped a half-starved litter of puppies and their mother on a lonely county road to fend for themselves. The writer commented, “Through their own carelessness, they allow these animals to multiply and then solve their problem of too many dogs by dumping these poor animals.”
The La Grange High School chapter of Distributive Education Clubs of America sold 744 pounds of aluminum at 10¢ a pound. That was the equivalent of 14,880 cans! Alcoa Aluminum Co. was offering $100, $50 and $25 to the top producing chapters, so the La Grange club was hopeful they’d earn even more money.
The Barons band was playing Sat., Feb. 5 at Swiss Alp. Admission was $1.50.
The La Grange B team scored a 58-53 victory over the Brenham reserves but the Leopard Varsity was defeated by the well-balanced Brenham Cubs, 75-44, in District 10-3A basketball action. Ronnie Stevenson paced the locals with 32 points, followed by Buddy Grobe with 12. Tim Sulak paced the Leopard B victory with 18 points and Robert Poole had 17. La Grange led virtually all the way in this one, holding a 29-23 advantage at halftime.
New federal legislation providing more than $1 billion for institutional contract research would vastly increase American Cancer Society research, according to comments made at the society’s district crusade meeting in Austin. Fayette County American Cancer Society chapter chair John D. Marburger attended the meeting.
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Zapalac of Ellinger observed their 50th wedding anniversary. They had one son, Morris and his wife, and one granddaughter, Donna, and one grandson, Kenneth.
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