In tough times, communities find strength in people—and people find strength in their communities. In the past year, we’ve seen this time and again in Fayette County as friends, neighbors, and businesses have found new ways to support each other.

On Wednesday April 21, Cade Burks and Roger Parker of Fayetteville attended a meeting of the Texas State Transportation Committee in Austin. The two attended on behalf of the Fayetteville Action Committee (FAC), a community group devoted to promoting traffic safety within the city of Fayetteville. Under discussion by the committee was Senate Bill 1053 introduced by Senator Lois Kolkhorst to improve public safety in Fayette County by creating a process for rerouting big-rig truck traffic in certain affected areas of the county. Fayette County Judge Joe Weber spoke before the committee in support of the bill. During their visit, Parker and Burks met with several legislative leaders to discuss Fayetteville safety issues. Burks, chairman of the FAC, presented Senator Kolkhorst, Judge Weber and other officials with a special bound copy of the document listing Fayetteville on the National Register of Historic Places. Fayetteville includes over 153 acres and 345 structures contributing to the city’s designation as an Historical District. Pictured from left is: Roger Parker with Cade Burks of Fayetteville Action Committee.

May 4-7, 1971 Fayette County Sheriff T. J.

Jan Dockery won the La Grange election for mayor. She defeated Sarah Mabry and Tex Paul Parker with 59 percent of the vote.

Some parts of Fayette County got as much as seven inches of rain from Friday-Sunday. The rain was welcome, but it’s impact left many locals scrambling.

Fayetteville voters elected Mike Stroup as their new mayor on Saturday, May 1. According to the unofficial count, Stroup defeated Deb Dahlberg-Rowland by a vote of 75-50.

A child actress who grew up in Schulenburg disappeared in 1963, and now her niece wants to find out what happened to her. Lora Lee Michel was born in Schulenburg on Sept.

La Grange High School held its Academic Recognition Banquet last Monday at the Hostyn Pavilion. Students in the Top 12-percent of the graduating class were honored along with a special teacher selected by each student (those are shown on Page A7 today). The featured speaker was 2011 La Grange High School grad Dylan Supak, who went on to be a highly decorated scholar athlete at LSU where she went to two College World Series. She graduated from medical school in Houston, where she now works as a Urology resident. Her advice to the students was: “Do the little things right, take time to recharge and refocus and pay it forward.” Also during her speech, Supak she said that losing her starting role in softball as a sophomore at LSU turned out to be a blessing, because it allowed her to find her passion in science. Photo by Jeff Wick

The Ellinger Volunteer Fire Department held its Annual Feast and Fundraiser on Sunday, April 25. People from all over Fayette County and beyond came out to the Ellinger Community Center to get the barbecue chicken and sausage meal.

The Fayette County Firefighter’s Association reports the following calls for the week of April 18-24: Accidents - 2 Grass Fires - 6 Hay Bale Fire - 1 Medical - 2 Illegal Burn - 1 Gas Leak/Odor - 1 Fire Alarm - 1 Structure Fire - 1 Vehicle Fires - 2.