The Lampasas Community Gardens crew held their annual meeting last Saturday, January 27th to get ready for the upcoming spring/summer planting season. They welcomed new gardeners and reunited with gardening veterans, adding 6 new gardeners to the current roster of 12! It’s not too late to put your application in though, which you can do by reaching out to Janet Crozier for more info at lampasascommunitygardens@gmail.com. The Gardens, located at 501 E. North Ave. in Campbell Park, behind Hannah Springs Pool, are always open, so you’re welcome to come when you can! There’s not much plant growth to see now, the Gardens themselves are always evolving. The ADA compliant beds are almost ready to open, and a new peach tree was recently planted in the Remembrance Orchard, dedicated in memory of LCG Board Member Karen DeZarn’s mother. The Remembrance Orchard is open to all, not just to commemorate loved ones lost, but to celebrate any milestones or special events in the community’s lives. Janet tells us there’s even a mural coming to the building by the Orchard, to add to its splendor. So if a peaceful walk in nature is what you seek, or a way to connect to the food you eat, Lampasas Community Gardens is the place for you. And, as a reminder, it’s a great time to start planning your spring gardens, too! - MG
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Take on the New Year with a new resolution - the Radiogram Reading Challenge! It’s simple: each month, pick a book from one of the categories below and settle into your easy chair for a new adventure. There’s no pressure, you can skip around on the list and read at your own pace, but of course, we’d love to hear how your reading journey is going! Send your suggestions, experiences and reviews to news@lampasasradio.com, or upload your comments to our website, lampasasradio.com.
My first pick? A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers, given to me by my loving mother (option #8 on the list). Happy reading, everyone! 1. A popular book you’ve never read 2. A book published in the year you were born 3. A book set in a city starting with the letter “L” 4. A book featuring another culture 5. A book told in non-chronological order 6. A book with the word “secret” in the title 7. A book written from the villain’s point-of-view 8. A friend or family member’s favorite book 9. A book whose title matches the lyrics from a song 10. A book with an ugly cover 11. A memoir by a person you admire 12. A book published in 2024 After doing some research, Lampasas Radio has an update for you on the events that unfolded in last week’s multi-county pursuit. In a preliminary report provided by Sgt. Cockrell of the Texas Highway Patrol, Region 6, the following events took place during last week’s chase:
On, December 15th, 2023, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers assisted the Burnet Co. Sheriff’s Office with a vehicle attempting to evade law enforcement. Burnet Co. deputies attempted to stop a U-Haul box truck that was involved in a hit-and-run crash. The evading vehicle was observed driving on the wrong side of the road endangering the motoring public. The suspect nearly collided with a Lampasas Co. law enforcement vehicle and attempted to strike a DPS patrol unit multiple times. In an attempt to stop the suspect vehicle, a DPS Trooper fired his weapon at the rear tire of the U-Haul, taking out the back right tire. This action effectively disabled the vehicle and allowed the suspect to be taken into custody without incident. The suspect was identified as 39-yr-old Brandon Turner. Our records show that Turner’s place of residence is Liberty Hill. Turner was found to have an active warrant in Lampasas Co. for evading arrest with a motor vehicle. In addition, Turner was charged with aggravated assault on a public servant, aggravated assault of a person, deadly conduct, and evading arrest with a motor vehicle. Taken together with the call log from Lampasas Police Dept., a better picture of the chaos is beginning to reveal itself. Thankfully there were no injuries involved in this incident, but the story is a great reminder of the danger our law enforcement officers place themselves in on a day-to-day basis, just in showing up to work. Please keep them all in your prayers this Christmas season and beyond, and thank you, for all you do. The Texas Highway Patrol provided us with this preliminary report regarding the plane crash in Burnet Sunday afternoon:
On December 17th, 2023 at approximately 2:14PM, a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Trooper responded to an airplane crash on US 281 S of Delaware Springs Rd. in Burnet. The Aircraft had taken off from the Burnet airport before striking a power line along 281 and crashing in the southbound lanes of US 281. The aircraft struck a passenger car during the crash. The driver of the vehicle was transported to a medical facility and released shortly after, but the pilot and passenger were transported to a medical facility in Austin with burn injuries. The FAA was notified and the aircraft was towed from the highway to the Burnet airport. Though DPS Troopers were called to the scene to help secure the site, the public should know the formal investigation will be handled by the federal government from here on out. Please keep both families in your prayers. On the side of the highway, just before Kempner proper, is a small white sign with a big piece of history behind it. Idle Creek Farms may seem to the untrained eye like it popped up out of nowhere one day, but a handful of Lampasans know it’s roots run deep. The 65 acres Idle Creek sits upon belongs to one Bobby Henderson, and has supported 4 generations of the Henderson family since 1943, from Bobby’s father on down to his granddaughters. Born in Copperas Cove, in a little house over the railroad tracks from today’s Ace Hardware store, Mr. Henderson spent his early years with his grandparents in a tiny place called “OK” Texas. Don’t spend too much time searching for it though, because the Killeen Regional Airport now occupies the area where OK once was, with the control tower sitting in the spot where their house used to be. In a nutshell, that’s how the Henderson’s found themselves in Lampasas County. Fast forward a couple decades and Idle Creek Farms was born, a labor of love on the part of Caitlin Blakely, Bobby’s grand-daughter, her mother Sheila Burton, his daughter, and Samuel Blakely, Caitlin’s husband - two of Bobby’s great-grandkids even work there. Caitlin joined us in the studio yesterday morning to set the record straight on all the Christmas festivities the Farm is offering this season, which aren’t just for children, by the way! Though your kids may drag you there to visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, pet the zebus and sip some hot chocolate, parents and young adults alike will stay for the axe-throwing, snowball fights, hay rides and cozy fire pit, a perfect setting for date night (or proposal..just sayin’). And if you’re good boys and girls, the beer “sleigh” might just pull through. Caitlin had this to say about the Farm’s journey so far, “You can tell you’re doing the right thing in life when things line up for you,” referring to the way, like a divine puzzle, all the pieces fell into place to bring Idle Creek into existence. The folks over at the Farm are forever grateful for the support they’ve received from the community – Jimmy and Donna Horrell, for designing the hay ride attractions and wearing “all the hats”; Brown’s Feed, for providing the material for the corn pit; C&J Equipment, for the tractors and trailers used for the hay ride; Centex Cars and Trucks, for donating the tires placed around the “trike” track; every single one of the Farm’s guests; and of course, Grandpa Bobby, for saying yes. To hear the full interview, click the Facebook icon at the bottom of this page. A hand-painted reproduction of a photo of the Henderson’s ancestral home, courtesy of the family
Like a game of telephone, you probably heard the story about the Uhaul that came barreling into town from Burnet last Friday. Lampasas Police Department assisted Texas HWY Patrolmen in the pursuit. Here’s the story from LPD’s call card for that day:
At 12:30PM, December 15th, State Troopers chased a Uhaul pulling a small trailer into Lampasas from Burnet Co. The Uhaul, travelling N on 183/Key Ave, took a right onto FM 580 E on the other side of town, a right onto Hackberry St, headed S, and then turned East onto 3rd street, travelling a couple blocks before going off the road and coming to a stop. The male driver then bailed out of the vehicle and headed W on 3rd towards the Square. Troopers followed suit and caught the man in a vacant lot next to McGregor Glass, near Hackberry and 3rd. LPD assisted in getting him into custody, but he did not book him here in Lampasas Co. And there you have it! Keep your eyes on the Radiogram for any details to come. The Farmers’ and Craft Market was crawling with Badgers this past Saturday, up bright and early to raise money for their team. Dressed in Badger blue warm-ups, hoodies, and Letterman jackets, these students hit the pavement instead of hitting the mats, due to unfortunate budget restraints that cost them a tournament trip to Bryan, TX.
You wouldn’t know by looking at them, however, that their weekend plans had been spoiled - wrestler Charlie Freese greeted shoppers warmly as they approached, kindly asking for their support with the same confidence she has surely channeled into her multiple wins this season. According to the team, they typically compete in 10 tournaments and 15 meets each season, but, like everything else, inflation has wreaked havoc on the school’s transportation costs, and only 5 of the 10 tournaments are fully funded as of now. Though there are many willing and able adults who could drive the Badgers to their out-of-town events, LISD is required to bus them, according to booster club founder and president, Dawn Fernandez. While the wrestling team is in its 7th season, the booster club just came into existence this year, not a minute too soon. And they are not the only group doing so - the fire department rode down to the Square in style to pose for a photo op with the Badgers, and the Hill Country Wildcats Wrestling Club donated half the proceeds from their "Sunday Scrap" to the wrestlers. There truly could not be a team more deserving of your support. After posing flawlessly for a group photo in front of the LFD fire truck, every wrestler clambered around, eager to have their story told, not for their own individual glories, but for the sake of a team that has trained hard enough to earn a place at every tournament. Varsity Team Captain Daemien Rivas proudly, though humbly, informed us, “This is the best talent we’ve ever had.” If you'd like to help the Badgers make it to their next tournament, you can donate directly to the LHS Wrestling Booster Club by contacting them at lampasaswrestlingboosterclub.com. And gear up for Badger Wrestling’s last home match of the season Wednesday, January 17th! This match will be a Tri (3 teams competing against each other) with competitors Leander Rouse and Chaparral (Killeen). Be sure to come out and support the home team. Let’s Go Badgers!! This past Saturday, the LHS Law Enforcement Team competed at a Regional Competition in San Antonio. The class competed in 4 separate events, in teams of 4 and 6 as well as individually. Last year’s group, led by Coach Michael Tatum, did well enough at Regionals to drive on to the State finals - we are happy to report they repeated that success this year! What’s more, this is the team’s first time competing in 3 of the 4 events, and they were still able to pull out the W’s!
A team of 4 Badgers placed 1st in the Felony Traffic Stop event. Congratulations to Srs. Jason Brock and Bryce Neely, Jr. Lena Jefferies, and Soph. Lilian Stephens! This was the team’s second year in a row coming in 1st. In the Cell Extraction event, a 6-person team scored 2nd place. Congratulations to Srs. Connor Ferreira and Jason Brock, and Jrs. Loreily Mejia, Johnathan Harris, Willow Collins and Lena Jefferies! In the Intoxicated Driver event, Badgers competed individually. Congratulations to Sr. Connor Ferreira, who placed 2nd, and Jr. Lilian Stephens who came in 3rd! And finally, in the Fingerprinting event, congratulations to Jr. Loreily Mejia for placing 1st and Brice Miller, who followed with a 2nd place win! Coach Tatum is very impressed with these two Badgers for placing so highly in an event with 31 competitors. Let’s Go Badgers, we’ll see you in January for State! The LHS Law Enforcement class were not the only Badgers in the building at the Texas Public Service Teachers’ Association’s regional competition last Saturday - the EMT and Fire students showed up just as ready to win!
In the EMTs’ Patient Response event, 1st place went to teammates Jakiyra Taylor, Sarah Rouss, Abigail Bell and Ben Ybarra. The Fire students competed in multiple events on Saturday. In the Search and Rescue competition, Badger Anthony Carey placed 1st, and in the Bunker Race, Jenytre Obeda (JD) and Joseph Walden came in 2nd and 3rd, respectively.] The Fire Agility Course allowed students to compete individually as well as in teams of 4. In the individual event, Justin Matous came in 1st place and Gunner Rhymes came in 2nd. Two LHS Teams competed in the team event, taking 1st and 2nd place as well! The first-place team consisted of Anthony Carey (Tire Slam), Joseph Walden (Dummy Drag), JD Obeda (Equipment Carry) and Justin Matous (Hose Drag). The second-place team was made up of classmates Wren Garner (Equipment Carry), Gunner Rhymes (Dummy Drag), Gabe Stembridge (Hose Drag) and Peyton Sutherland (Tire Slam). A huge congratulations to our all our Emergency Services Badgers, and we’ll see you at State next year! Did you know that Lampasas High School offers law enforcement, fire, and EMT classes? If you do, it’s thanks to the efforts of two of LHS’s finest, Michael Tatum and Steve Haviland, founders of the courses training the next generation of first responders. When we came across a video of the class, hard at work, training for competition, we knew there was a brilliant story to be told under all that gear – Lord knows why it took us so long to come around!
Together, Mr. Tatum and Mr. Haviland have been training students, both in and out of the classroom, to bravely fill the shoes of a dwindling but desperately needed part of our society. Students attend class every day as an elective, and train afterschool 3-4 times a week, for an hour or more. Offered to Seniors only, completion of the EMT course allows them to apply to take the National Registry Certification upon graduation. Students of all 3 courses also take part in competitions to test their skill-sets - all 3 teams advanced to the State level last year, and hope to repeat that success this weekend! The teams left for San Antonio Friday night to compete in a regional competition hosted by the Texas Public Service Teachers’ Association. Ten students on the law enforcement team will compete in 5 events: building searches, felony traffic stops, fingerprint listing, standardized field sobriety tests, and cell extraction. The EMT team will compete in a patient assessment event for time and accuracy. The Fire pupils will compete in a bunker gear race, a timed event. Mr. Haviland says that while the cut off time for an individual to accurately don their gear for State certification is 1 minute, the goal is to get it done in 30 seconds. As of now, one student, Sophomore JD Obeda, has successfully hit that mark! Other events include a search/rescue and individual/team agility courses (with all their gear on!). Both coaches would like to shout out 3 students that have stuck it out with them for the long-haul, Sr. Bryce Meeley, Sr. Jason Brock, and Jr. Tony Carey. Good luck to you all this weekend and to our readers, stay tuned for a report on all the action! |