The Holiday Edition 2018

Š2018 The Liberty Hill Independent

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Thursday, November 29, 2018

HOLIDAY EDITION 2018

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Liberty Hill Congress Debate wins big at Region

Liberty Hill High School’s Congress Debate Team competed Nov. 12 at the Region XIII (District) Contest and brought home top awards advancing them to State on Jan. 7-9 at The University of Texas and the State Capitol. Allison Itz won 1st Place, Haley Frank took 2nd Place, and Emily Layton placed 3rd. Itz has been to State all four years of her high school experience. Layton and Frank have advanced the last two years. Sponsor Tammy Ballard said, “These ladies have 19 pieces of legislation and have to debate the affirmative and negative sides of these pieces. hey do a lot of research and write persuasive speeches. They are outstanding students.” (Courtesy Photo)

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HOLIDAY EDITION 2018

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Scouts bring Christmas trees to town

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor hen the doors ew open on the tractor trailer from regon, two do en oy Scouts lit up at the scent and sight of one of the sure signs that hristmas is nearly here.

Scouts from roop 19 unloaded more than 100 trees as they prepped their annual tree lot for the hristmas season, welcoming local residents with the opportunity to pick a tree this year without leaving town, while also contributing to a good cause. his year, tree hunters can find the Scouts ready and eager to assist at Indian ound anch. It is the troop’s fourth year selling trees as a fundraiser. rees both Noble and Nordmann irs are available from - p.m. weekdays, from 9 a.m. to p.m. Saturdays and noon to p.m. Sunday until sold out. Selling trees seemed like a better idea than more traditional fundraising options. “ e decided we didn’t want to sell cookie dough or things like that that people don’t want anyway and you have to bug your relatives all the time over, said elice ord with roop 19 .

“It was my idea because I knew everyone needs a hristmas tree, everyone needs a hristmas tree every year, and nobody else in iberty Hill was doing a hristmas tree lot. ord spoke with a Scoutmaster in eorgetown on how they got started doing the same and has patterned the fundraiser in iberty Hill after eorgetown’s. “ ur family had bought trees from their troop a couple of years in a row and saw they were good uality trees, so that’s how I got started with it, she said. “ ut, it was mostly so we wouldn’t have to go door to door selling stuff. efore trees, the roop tried selling hristmas wreaths prior to trees, and ord said the first couple of years that worked well until the e citement wore off. tree lot gives the Scouts the oppor-

MIKE EDDLEMAN PHOTOS

(ABOVE) Boy Scouts from Troop 196 in Liberty Hill are selling Christmas trees as a fundraiser at Indian Mound Ranch. The Scouts are ready to help shoppers pick out and load up the perfect tree until they are all gone. (LEFT) Boy Scout Michael Mutchler unties one of the 100-plus trees delivered to Liberty Hill from Oregon last week for the Troop 196 annual Christmas tree sale, this year at Indian Mound Ranch.

tunity to do almost all of the work themselves. “ he boys can actually do most of the work, ord said. “ e have the adults here to help and try to guide them, but it’s actual hands on stuff the boys can do to set it up. he boys sell the trees, they will talk to the customers. he parents don’t talk to the customers, they are here for handling cash and things like that.

It’s not all work, and the open space, cool air

and wealth of hristmas trees setting the tone keep Scouts in good spirits. “ hey’re out here messing around, their friends are here and in between sales they play around, she said. “ he shifts are only two hours so they don’t get to terribly bored. he funds raised come in handy for the Scouts themselves as they work to pay for camp.

“If the boys work a certain number of shifts we have profit sharing, ord said. “ he money all stays in the troop, and last year each one made about 0 by the time it was all spread out. e were able to apply that toward summer camp, so each kid basically got a 0 discount on their

summer camp fees. hey can also use the funds for amporee or for erit adge niversity, which is a program connected to he niversity of e as where Scouts go and work on merit badges all day. he troop keeps the other half of what is earned and uses it to purchase needed e uipment for camping and other activities. “ e were able to buy all new chuck bo es last year, so there are all new utensils, pots and pans, and we have three different sets, one for each patrol, ord said. “ e use it for other things too, like we go canoeing so we use the money to rent canoes and other miscellaneous e penses.

‘Sparks’ ignites LHHS movement

By DANA BAUTISTA-DELGADO Staff Writer ike every new movement, a select group of individuals, pioneers if you will, illuminate the way for others to follow and build upon.

In similar fashion, iberty Hill High School recently launched a program of its own to underscore e emplary character by honoring students who demonstrate e traordinary acts to keep the campus safe, respectful, and responsible. It’s an old idea new again because of its timeliness and mission. cts of kindness and goodness never get old. “ t HHS, we are igniting learning and believe that a single spark can start a movement, said HHS ssistant Principal onica iller. ppropriately called the “Sparks Program, the school announced its first honorees that were selected by a committee of teachers. wo students from each grade level were selected from a host of other students who were also recogni ed for

their actions. he goal of the program is to find 100 students a month who spark positive change with their actions.

“Students were really e cited and thrilled, said onnie archand, campus coordinator for the program who also serves as the dministrative ssistant to the assistant principals. “ e hope to get the community involved as well and welcome them to support the program by sponsoring a group of honorees with donations or hosting the winners.

Named as the first recipients of the Sparks wards were seniors ubrey auper and Pudge arlisle, uniors Noelia Hernande and ichael Porter, sophomores lysia Palladino and Sean c arver and freshmen ella illalpando and unan engelitsch. ach distinguished themselves for their individual acts. arlisle was selected for going out of his way

See SPARKS, Page 44

First recipients of the LHHS Sparks Program Awards celebrate with the teachers who nominated them. Recognizing that a single spark can start a movement, the high school launched the program this year to recognize students who demonstrate extraordinary acts to keep the campus safe, respectful, and responsible. Honorees include seniors Aubrey Lauper and Pudge Carlisle, juniors Noelia Hernandez and Michael Porter, sophomores Alysia Palladino and Sean McCarver and freshmen Bella Villalpando and Lunan Tengelitsch. (Courtesy Photo)

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Santa to help Liberty Hill Public Library celebrate 15th anniversary

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Fifteenth anniversaries deserve special guests, and what better guest for a holiday-time milestone celebration than the big man himself?

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on hand from 3-5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 2, to help the Liberty Hill Public Library celebrate its 15th anniversary in style and say thank you to the community that has made it so successful.

“We wanted to do a kind of Christmas open house, and we wanted to do an anniversary, so we decided to combine them,” Librarian Angela Palmer said.

“So we’re going to have Mr. and Mrs. Claus here.”

The event is focused on that community commitment to helping the library grow over the years.

“If the community didn’t want the library or wasn’t invested in the library, we wouldn’t be here because we couldn’t do

this without the community’s support,” Palmer said. “We could be open with nothing going on, but who would that be serving? We’re so pleased people care enough to be involved and care enough to come in.”

Sunday’s celebration will include free pictures with Santa, where kids can make a frame and decorate it for their special keepsake photo.

“We will have games for the kids and some crafts,” she said.

“Our balloon artist will be here.

It is just a way for us to tell the community thank you for all it has done and celebrate this huge milestone.”

Library Board President Gary Henley, who was involved in the building of the library and establishment of the library district, recalls just how much community buy-in the project required.

“We got participation from pretty much everybody in town and we raised some cash and got everything else donated

and we built that library,” he said. “Once we got people excited about what we were going to do it became easy to get the community behind us.”

Looking back on the long journey from the library as an idea through to today, Henley is proud of how the community has come together.

“From where we sit today, the foresight of the initial group, before we even got there, has shown that the original vision and idea of what was needed and wanted in the community was right on,” he said.

The growth has been seen in how the original tax checks coming in at around $1,500 per month have grown to about $20,000 and the once all-volunteer staff has evolved as well.

“Those things have allowed us to grow and begin to reach some of the potential we saw when we built the building,”

See LIBRARY, Page 14

On Nov. 23, 2002, the community celebrated the opening of the Liberty Hill Public Library with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Then Mayor Pro Tem Margot Wetzel cut the ribbon. The public is invited to the library on Sunday as the community celebrates the library’s 15th Anniversary.

(Courtesy Photo)

CTRMA shares early plans for 183A extension

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor LEANDER -- Curious residents pored over graphics and engineering documents Nov. 14 to try and get a sense of what future plans are for the next phase of 183A. During an open house to see what plans the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) have for the 183A Phase III project, visitors had the chance to talk one-on-one with engineers and officials from the organi ation.

The basic plan will be to extend the toll road from Hero Way in Leander north to about one mile past the SH 29 intersection, a 6.6 mile stretch. The planned transition back to non-tolled highway will be around CR 258.

Assistant Director of Engineering Michael Sexton said at this point there are no plans for the CTRMA to address any issues north of where the extension ends.

“Right now our main project limits end at 29,” he said. “A future project? Maybe one day. I believe Williamson County is looking at does this project continue north. That hasn’t been decided yet. This intersection is in that gray area, it could be something we look at between now and final design for the pro ect. It is really a uestion of where does that final pro ect begin transition.”

The CTRMA is currently in the environ-

mental process on the project, and anticipating final design in the fall of 2019 and the start of construction in 2020. Anticipated completion time is 2023.

The toll road extension will not impact the roads currently in place.

“The roads you see out there now stay exactly the way they are,” Sexton said.

“They’re not going away, they’re not moving. There’s room enough in the middle for the freeway to be added. The only thing that changes is where the ramps are tying in.”

Engineering documents show three on and off ramps along the new route in each direction. At the SH 29 and US 183 intersection, the plan is for the toll road to go under SH 29 due to the long downward slope south of the intersection.

“183A will go under 29,” Sexton said.

“Right now that’s the plan, and part of our engineering process going forward is to validate that. The big thing is going (south) it is downhill so when you are up real high above it and you are trying to go downhill you will chase that grade forever.”

As part of the project, a 10-foot shareduse path will run parallel to the roadway on the west side from Hero Way to the proposed south end of the Seward Junction Loop, just north of Mourning Dove Lane.

“We’re taking it all the way up right now to the south end of the Seward Junction Loop, that new crossing just south of 29,” Sexton said. “Then we’ll have access to the future park (in Larkspur) with a path under the freeway. You will be able to take the trail all the way south and be interconnected.”

The entire path will be paved with a pedestrian bridge over the South San Gabriel River.

The highway will be built completely between the existing roadways, with two lanes in each direction first, with an option to build a third lane each way later on. Sexton said the decision on whether to build two or three lanes now came down to financial uestions.

“One issue is economics,” he said. “That additional cost can make a project too expensive at this time, so what we’re really looking at is traffic. If it works on two lanes, then building a third lane is not really a ustifiable e pense for 1 to 20 years. If you told me we would need three lanes a year after we open we’d look at building it now.” his first step is to do all the environmental planning for the eventual complete project, and begin seeking feedback from the community, which is what the

See 183A, Page 8

OPINION THROWBACK THURSDAY Christmas is, indeed, the most wonderful time of the year

By JAMES WEAR Columnist for The Independent I think the late Andy Williams probably nailed it back in 1963 when he released the first of several Christmas albums and among the tracks was his cut of “It’s the ost onderful ime of the Year.” n the other hand, if my bride and I were asked to name a song that we identify with, it’s erle Haggard’s “If e ake It hrough ecember , which he released in 19 4, and maybe that’s because, I believe it was during our second year of marriage, that times were a bit lean. I’d left the newspaper business and returned to construction, and found myself on hristmas ve rushing to complete an e terior paint job. It was a bitterly cold day, with the temperature just high enough we could slap the paint on the old wood siding. y brother was helping me on this ob, and we wrapped it up about 2 p.m., just soon enough to collect a check and rush to find the homeowner’s bank in Cedar Park to cash our checks and then make a run to the ollar Store to pick up some gifts for Paula and our children.

I think that day I reali ed how my father must have felt many years earlier, back when my brother and I weren’t even in school yet. hat was the year he and our oldest brother made us a couple of toy trucks out of scrap lumber and some wheels borrowed from, gosh, I don’t know what. But what I do know is we played with those trucks for several years and still have them today, and I’m not sure when we first reali ed they were not store-bought toys. I do recall asking ad about the trucks before he died, and he said money was tight back then, but he couldn’t let us go without a Christmas.

It wasn’t the last time I’d e perienced a lean hristmas. ears later, I’m thinking I was in high school, there were only a couple of packages beneath our tree, and when we opened them we found we’d each received a stocking cap. ur mother apologized, but both my brother and I were okay with it. e had food on the table and a warm fire and had been to idnight ass a few hours earlier and were old enough to know hristmas was more about giving than receiving.

See THROWBACK, Page 8

Brad Stutzman makes his entry as Ronny Mack looks on during the first hristmas party hosted by my family back in 1986. More than 30 years later rad is still portraying Santa with the event having e panded to included a brief service at the family chapel prior to Santa’s arrival. (Courtesy Photo)

Grandchildren and their friends reenact the ativity scene in our family chapel prior to Santa’s arrival. ( ourtesy hoto)

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Shop for the right moments this season

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor I vividly remember the surprise and e citement of my first bicycle. he year I got four tires stacked ne t to the tree on hristmas morning created a combined sense of oy and relief I had never known. e often grow up so focused on gift giving and receiving that it becomes the very definition of how much we value one another and our relationships at Christmas.

No one does this on purpose. No one sets out with the idea of buying someone’s happiness or showing their love with a new toy, ewelry, clothes or a car. But our intensely marketed consumer society has turned the holidays into a time of buying first and all else second. veryone loves gifts, but thankfully our fascination and focus on receiving things evolves as we grow older. e stop wanting gifts as much as we grow older and begin to see the oy of giving gifts instead. It seems like a wonderful change, but what it really does is create the same cycle in our own children. ou can’t blame anyone for wanting their children to

have everything, right So we spend time reading about the latest gifts, looking for the best deals and even scrolling through pages and pages of mind-numbing offers on sites like ma on hoping to find something new and different this year’s perfect gift. hat if we focused on spending that time shopping for the right moment to remember forever with our loved ones here is a way to share happiness and oy with our children that doesn’t involve mall crowds or e cessive amounts of gift wrap. It is nothing we don’t already know, but something I know I must remind myself of every year. hen I reali ed that e citement on my daughter’s face had faded by noon on hristmas ay, succumbing to the climactic crash following two months of anticipation, I decided I should be focused on making memories -- not buying gifts. e have not gone giftless, but we have shifted the emphasis to all of the e citement that surrounds hristmas, and have turned it into a nearly two-month stretch of family fun.

We do this with the most simple gestures, including that first day we hit play on the hristmas playlist, signifying open season on carols

See MOMENTS, Page 8

Add your own personal insignificance to that ever-lengthening list

By WILT CUTTER Columnist for The Independent ver felt the earth move I mean besides kissing heta or hearing one of ale’s tender, almost fragile, tentative chords on that 0 Harmony guitar e have these little earthquakes out here all the time. e ust don’t feel them anymore because we aren’t outside plowing or laying on the ground with our head on a saddle looking up at irgo, Hydra or rsa a or. ut the earth did move last night, turned all the way over ust like all your nights before. ver watched helplessly as a big beautiful tree withered and died like a grandmother hile you were working and raising kids and pay-

ing ta es there was a creeping disease stalking these ridges, hollows and outcroppings along our river and tributaries. lder than our dinosaur tracks and fatal as any cancer, there was time and we didn’t even have the benefit of claiming it. Not even urban blight or racism or unfaith or climate change. hile you drilled down in the earth and erected things to give you a sense of permanence, there came the inevitable dawn.

Back down here at the gas station, we drink coffee and watch the line of cars drive down real slow with their radios playing that forgotten song headed into ustin. few minutes from now, those cars will pull into the Starbucks farther down the road where the goats used to gra e on the side of the hill where they’ll no doubt argue with the minimum wage

See CUTTER, Page 43

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183A

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open house was all about.

“Feedback is one of our most important things,” he said. “We really want to build a project the public wants. We want a project where the public feels like their needs are addressed. We’re doing an open house today, and it is not a required part of the process. We want the feedback and the comments and we want to be able to see what people see as the big issues.”

Even when all the engineering work adds up to a plan that makes sense, there could be other issues that impact the plan.

“We design in a vacuum sometimes, we need to come out and get the public to give that feedback where they see issues they think that need to be addressed,” Sexton said.

In addition to the open house, there is a virtual open house with ways for residents to ask questions and leave comments online at www.183a. com. On the site, there are all the diagrams and the data presented at the open house. Questions and comments will be accepted into late spring as the environmental process comes to a close.

“These are super important to us because it gives us that information,” Sexton said. “We take it all back and we keep a complete database of it. We’ll go through all these comments and see what filters up. If you get a comment on the same thing 20 times it is usually a big priority, and we look at how do we address it.”

A second public event is anticipated for after the first of the year.

THROWBACK

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There are also those times, and I think many of us have experienced this, when hristmas finds us dealing with issues concerning a loved one’s health. That was the case in the mid-90s, after my motherin-law had been diagnosed with cancer.

We all gathered at her house on Christmas Eve as was the family tradition, but this time we all knew was going to be the last time she would be a part of the celebration. After the gifts were all handed out, we decided to do a bit of singing, and Wanda, asked what she wanted to hear, said “Soldier’s Last Letter.” More than 20 years later, I can still hear her voice as she led us in singing it.

But Christmas also brings many happy memories. I think it was in 1986 when Dad and I decided we’d throw a Christmas party in Andice. We got everything lined up -- my mother, of course, would prepare all the snacks and a new friend, Brad Stutzman, agreed to borrow a Santa costume and play the role of the jolly old elf. Another new friend, Ronny Mack, would provide the music on his piano.

Meanwhile, because the folks’ living room wasn’t big enough to hold all those we had invited, Dad and I busied ourselves building an addition to the house, finding scrap lumber from here and there and recycling some old windows that had

come from the Temple VA Hospital when it had been renovated.

The party was a success, and established a tradition...in another few days, Brad will once again play Santa as he has for more than 30 years now and while Ronny has passed on, the music continues, provided by our sons on their guitars. The celebration has expanded over the years and now includes a brief service in our family chapel prior to Santa’s arrival. Children reenact the Nativity while one of the adults offers a Christmas message from the pulpit.

But if you were to ask me my most memorable Christmas, it would come down to one moment in time some 20 years ago.

My mother had suffered a stroke around Thanksgiving, and it robbed her of her speech and mobility. She spent several weeks in ustin in rehab, fighting to regain her ability to walk and speak...with only limited success.

On this Christmas morning, I drove to Austin to pick her up and bring her home for a few hours. s we made the final turn and the old house where she had lived for more than 50 years and raised a family came into view, I turned to look at her.

She smiled, with tears streaming down her face, and managed one word: “Home.”

I gotta admit, I had to choke back a few tears myself.

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MOMENTS Continued from Page 7

and all of the repeats of their favorite tunes. We microwave cocoa and watch every Christmas show from “Rudolph” to “Home Alone” once, twice and sometimes a third time by the time we are finished.

We decorate cookies, build not-to-code gingerbread houses and run a sort of Christmas craft sweatshop where you can find someone making almost anything you can imagine.

We spend as much time anticipating then decorating the tree as we spend putting presents under it. The house is ready to explode with twinkling decorations by the time we are cooking the Thanksgiving turkey.

If there is a tree lighting somewhere, we go. Hear about a street with great Christmas decorations? We’ll be there. Parades, concerts, live nativities, festivals, opportunities to meet Santa just one more time are all on our wish list each year.

What it takes is the willingness to slow down and put the family fun before the planning for family happiness. It means not spending two months making arrangements and purchases to thrill the kids on one day, but to spend those two months thrilling them at every turn with something new and wonderful to do together. e fit in the shopping and cooking and wrapping and shuttling from relative to relative, but we don’t sacrifice the opportunity to make memories today simply to plan for more perfect ones later.

What we have to show for it is a list of stories and volumes of photographs from all over, doing all kinds of things, reminding us that the family time we spent together is what’s worth the most and that great gift on Christmas Day is just icing on the cake.

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Christmas Worship Guide Your guide to Liberty Hill area church services & events for the Holidays.

Sunday, December 9

Monday, December 24

Andice Baptist Church Student Christmas Party FREE! 12:15pm 6570 FM 970, Florence, TX

Andice Baptist Church Christmas Eve Service 5pm 6570 FM 970, Florence

LifeSprings Christian Church Children’s Christmas Play 10am 15611 W. SH 29, Liberty Hill

Cross Tracks Church Candlelight Family Service 5pm Candlelight Service, Lessons & Carols 7pm 101 Church St., Liberty Hill

Sunday, December 16 Andice Baptist Church Family Night at Christmas 6pm 6570 FM 970, Florence Cross Tracks Church Christmas Cantata 9am 101 Church St., Liberty Hill Grace Alive Church Children’s Christmas Program 10am 16030 W. SH 29, Liberty Hill LifeSprings Christian Church Christmas Potluck Party 6pm 15611 W. SH 29, Liberty Hill New Life Church Christmas Program 10am 1015 US-183, Liberty Hill Union Hall Baptist Church Christmas Cantata 6pm, reception following 301 CR 259, Liberty Hill

Sunday, December 23 Grace Alive Church Candlelight Christmas Service 10am 16030 W. SH 29, Liberty Hill Liberty Hill Church of Christ Bible Study 9:30am Christmas Service 10:30am 1700 Loop 332 New Life Church Candlelight Service 10am 1015 US-183, Liberty Hill Union Hall Baptist Church Candlelight Christmas Service 6pm 301 CR 259, Liberty Hill

Divine Savior Lutheran Church Christmas Eve Lesson & Carol Services 5 & 7pm 719 US-183, Bldg. B, Suite 102, Liberty Hill FBG Liberty Hill Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 5pm 111 Holmes Fellowship Church Christmas Eve Candle Lighting Services 3 & 6pm 3600 RR 1869, Liberty Hill The Grove Church Christmas Gatherings 4:30 & 6pm 13125 W. SH 29 (Liberty Hill Jr. High) LifeSprings Christian Church Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 6pm 15611 W. SH 29, Liberty Hill Mission Liberty Hill Lutheran Church Christmas Eve Worship 6pm 15725 W. SH 29, Suite 7 RockPointe Church Liberty Hill Christmas Eve Services 2:30 & 4pm 170 CR 214

Saturday, January 5 Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church Royal Hours of Nativity 5pm Vespers of the Eve of Nativity 6:30pm 3600 RR 1869, Bertram

Sunday, January 6 Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church Divine Liturgy for Sunday before Nativity 10am Fellowship Lunch 11:30am Vespers of Nativity 1pm 3600 RR 1869, Bertram

Monday, January 7 Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church Divine Liturgy for Nativity 10am 3600 RR 1869, Bertram

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LIBRARY

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Henley said.

Looking back on the opening of the building 15 years ago, Henley remembers most just what it meant at that time to make the library a reality.

“It was the realization in the community that we had a place the kids could come and be introduced to reading and the variety of programs that could be brought to them,” he said. “To be able to see that brought to fruition and see the kids come in and see it was great. Those are the kinds of things you are so proud of and we’re proud we have that for the city and community.”

Palmer, who has been with the library for five years, said keeping the library thriving and growing for 15 years is something the community should be proud of. She said customer service and ever-improving and expanding programming has been key.

“We’ve increased our programming, with our Summer Reading Program in particular drawing a lot of people in,”

Palmer said. “We’ve gotten grants for books and the board has upped our book budget, so having new things for people to read, programs for kids to attend all tend to make a big difference.”

That evolution of the library is not a simple task because resources are always limited.

“It is a huge challenge staff and money wise, and also technology wise to try and keep up on everything,” Palmer said.

“Technology is something we always need to work on, but money, staff and space are always the big three for us.”

Palmer is always contemplating changes, hoping to expand programming, eventually offering options like computer and resume classes for adults and coding for children.

In addition to programming, changes are on the drawing board in terms of the facility itself.

First on the list is about $14,000 for new LED lighting, and then some ooring.

“It is very very dark in plac-

es, and you can’t check out books if you can’t see the titles,” Palmer said. “We also need new ooring because this carpet is original. Those are the two things we’d like to do since we got the roof done.”

Much-needed additional space is also something often discussed as the current library is a total of about 2,400 square feet, including office and storage space.

“There’s the huge issue of are we going to build here, are we going to expand, do we have to find another place to build a new building?” Palmer said.

“But the next big thing here is to put new lighting in.”

Henley said the need is for about 5,000 square feet, but that a two-story structure with the 5,000 square foot footprint would give the library 10,000 square feet to grow into.

No matter what the plans are down the road, Palmer said the same community buy-in that helped make the building a reality 15 years ago will always be critical.

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SPORTS

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ALEX RUBIO PHOTO

Defensive back Trey Seward (#20) takes down a Gonzales ball carrier during the Panthers’ 56-28 playoff win on Friday. The win allows the Panthers to advance to the third round, where they’ll play Sealy in Bastrop Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Against Sealy, Panthers may finally be tested

By KEITH SPARKS Sports Editor The Panthers were hardly challenged during their first two playoff games, winning by a combined 76 points, but this week will likely be significantly different.

In fact, the Sealy Tigers are probably the only team that’s got a shot at a win against the Panthers since Hutto in September.

While the Panthers have been clobbering opponents week-in

and week-out since that loss to Hutto, Sealy has been doing the same. The Tigers are an undefeated 12-0 this season, and according to Liberty Hill Head Coach Jeff Walker, none of their opponents have come even close to handing them their first loss.

“I know they’re 12-0 and haven’t played a close game all year,” Walker said. “They’ve pretty much beaten every team by 20-plus, and I think it’s more them than their schedule.”

Walker gives most of the credit to their starting running back, senior Ivan Bolden (#5), who has rushed 217 times for a total of 1,904 yards, averaging almost nine yards per carry and scoring 29 rushing touchdowns with 11 100-plus yards games.

“Number five, their running back, I think they want to run the ball,” Walker said of Sealy’s biggest strength, careful not to slight the arm of their

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

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While the Apache defense is focused on what’s going on in the backfield, Liberty Hill running back Kyle Harrison (#10) takes advantage of the distraction and finds room to run. Harrison finished Friday’s win with 209 yards and three touchdowns on just nine carries, averaging close to 24 yards per carry.

Ball fakes, misdirection key to Panthers’ ‘sneaky’ success

By KEITH SPARKS Sports Editor After the Panthers’ 62-14 blowout of ay ity in the first round of the playoffs, Liberty Hill Head Coach Jeff Walker said they were able to put up so many points by being “sneaky.”

Friday against Gonzales, that same sneakiness allowed them to put up 56 points in similar fashion, something both Kyle Harrison and Shane Gonzalez were able to take advantage of with 200-plus rushing yards and three touchdowns each.

“It’s just the misdirection,” Walker said. “If you look at one running back and he doesn’t have it, by the time you look at the other one, we’ve busted a big play, and we have that bigplay potential, obviously, with Harrison.”

Rarely in today’s football climate do you see a fullback on a roster, much less a fullback running for 30-plus yards with regularity, but the Panthers’ offense allows them to do that, almost regardless of who’s at the position.

Often, the entire defense will be looking one direction and

the ball will be headed the complete opposite direction.

“I think it’s just that you try to key in on somebody and it doesn’t work and it runs you out of place,” Walker said. “ hat’s definitely our advantage.”

The subtleties of the Panthers’ Slot-T offense make it almost impossible to see who has the ball, sometimes forcing even the in-game announcers to admit they have no idea who ran the ball.

“We try to hide the football a little bit and make it disappear,” Walker said. “That buys us enough time to get through a crease and have a big play, but you also have to have big-play players, and we have a few this year.”

Arguably the most important aspect of the Slot-T is running backs that don’t have the ball carrying out their ball fakes as if they do have the ball, forcing defenders to at the very least look their way, and at best go for the tackle and wind up empty handed. As Walker put it, the latter is just as good as a block.

“They’re huge, and we talk about it all the time,” Walker

said. “We’re not the greatest at it, to be honest with you.

We tell them if somebody tries to tackle you without the ball, that’s as good as a block.

If they’re not looking at you, you’re hurting us. I always say if you’re not helping us, you’re hurting us, so if they’re not carrying out their fakes and making a few guys look at them, they’re wasting them.”

A lot of that responsibility lies on junior quarterback Jacob Cearley’s shoulders, who hands the ball off 40-plus times per game and must carry out a fake on each and every play that he doesn’t carry the ball himself.

“Every day, we work on carrying out our fakes,” Cearley said. “It’s very important to us, because we never want the defense to know who has the ball.

That frees up the guy that does have the ball. Two guys are on you instead of those two guys being on the ball carrier.”

Cearley understands what’s expected of him and hopes that his teammates in the backfield are carrying out their fakes

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ALEX RUBIO PHOTO

Defenders Kory Schmidt (#22), Trey Riley (#34), Mason Ogle (#26) and two teammates gang tackle a Gonzales ball carrier in Manor on Friday. Riley, Ogle, and Schmidt finished the game with 14 tackles, 11 tackles, and 10 tackles, respectively.

Turnovers dampen otherwise solid playoff win

By KEITH SPARKS Sports Editor The Panthers once again were miles ahead of their playoff opponent Friday night in Manor, beating the Gonzales paches by a final score of 56-28 by way of eight rushing touchdowns between four running backs.

The Apaches were outmatched from the get-go, as the Panther defense forced four straight punts and scored on each ensuing possession to take a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter. he Panthers struck first with a 57-yard touchdown run by Shane Gonzalez, who followed that up with a second touchdown on the next possession from 40 yards out.

Next, it was Kyle Harrison’s turn, who scored on a 46-yard touchdown run, followed by a 10-yard touchdown run from Kristian Taggart to give the Panthers a 28-0 lead.

Gonzales was able to get on the board with a tricky reverse late in the second quarter, thanks in large part to a Panther fumble at their own 26yard line, to make it 28-7.

The Panthers fumbled yet again on their next posses-

sion, but Gonzales was unable to capitalize and the Panthers took advantage with a 52-yard touchdown run by Harrison just before the half to take a 35-7 halftime lead.

Immediately after the second half began, the Panthers turned it over for the third time in four possessions on an interception, allowing the Apaches to gain some momentum and bring the score to 35-14. Fortunately for Liberty Hill, Harrison was in the backfield, scoring once again from 60 yards out to take a 42-14 lead early in the third quarter.

In what seemed to be the lone negative aspect of the Panthers’ second-round playoff performance, they turned it over once more for the fourth time in six possessions on another fumble, but the Panther defense was able to force a turnover on downs. After the turnover, Gonzalez scored his third rushing touchdown of the game from 30 yards out to give Liberty Hill a 49-14 lead.

After the game had been all but decided, the Panthers gave up two touchdowns to the paches on their final two possessions, sandwiching a fi-

nal 45-yard touchdown run by Liberty Hill’s Blake Simpson, making it look like a closer game than it was based on the final score.

Liberty Hill Head Coach Jeff Walker wasn’t particularly impressed by his team’s performance, understandably frustrated with their four turnovers in six possessions, which he credited to another change at the center position, their third in two games due to injuries.

“I don’t know if it was just one thing, because there were multiple problems we had tonight, but a little bit of it was the center,” Walker said. “The last two games, we’ve played three centers, so that has a little bit to do with it, but we’ve got to protect the ball. I don’t know if they did something that had to do with it, but you can’t turn over the football and beat good teams.”

The win over the Apaches gave Liberty Hill a 10-1 overall record and advanced the Panthers to the third round of the playoffs, where they’ll play the undefeated Sealy Tigers at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Bastrop Memorial Stadium in Cedar Creek.

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Runnin’ Panthers fall to East View after 4-0 start

By KEITH SPARKS Sports Editor The Runnin’ Panther basketball team had a successful Thanksgiving week, to say the least, going undefeated and bringing their overall record to 4-0 leading up to Tuesday night’s matchup with East View in Georgetown, which they lost by a final score of 2 to bring their record to 4-1.

Point guard Carson Perkins caught fire in the loss, hitting seven threes and scoring a game-high 34 points. Parker McCurdy was second on the team in scoring with 11, followed by Jareck Naylor with 10.

During Thanksgiving break, the Panthers rattled off three wins in four days, including a win over Marble Falls on Saturday, Nov. 1 and back-toback wins over St. Dominic Savio and China Spring the following Monday and Tuesday.

None of the three games were close, either, as Liberty Hill remained dominant throughout the week, beating Marble Falls 4-4 , St. ominic Savio 60, and China Spring 65-46.

Liberty Hill got off to a slow start against Marble Falls, putting themselves in a 10-0 hole early, but battled back thanks to efficient shooting, scoring

2 points in the second uarter to take a -24 halftime lead.

“We were down 10-0 at the beginning, then we climbed back and went ahead, outscored them 2 -10 in the second uarter, Head oach Barry Boren said. “We went to work. e were efficient with the ball. It wasn’t necessarily the press, but we were really efficient on offense, and we uit giving them stuff inside.

That was biggest adjustment.

They scored inside early, their post had a uick si points, but he didn’t score again.”

The Panthers continued to build upon their lead in the second half, going up by 20 in the third uarter and increasing their lead to 30 at one point in the fourth. Perkins led the Panthers with 15 points, followed

by McCurdy and Hunter Clayton with 14 each.

According to Boren, two keys in the victory over Marble Falls were free throw shooting 92 percent) and the unexpected emergence of Clayton with 14 points.

Against Dominic Savio the following Monday, the Panthers once again started out slow, but were able to wear their opponent down with the press in the second half and take a 20-point lead into the

fourth uarter.

“The game against Dominic Savio was a close game, but then in the third uarter, we just broke it open,” Boren said. “ e outscored them 20- and had about a 22-point lead. I played our second bunch the last two and a half minutes, but we were up by 21 going into the fourth uarter, so it ended up being a 13-point game, but it wasn’t that close.”

Perkins led the Panthers in the win over Dominic Savio once again with 19 points, followed

by Kaleb Bannon as the only other Panther in double figures with 16. Like Clayton two days earlier, Bannon’s unexpected emergence was a big factor in the win.

The Panthers headed into their matchup with China Spring last Tuesday looking for revenge after losing by eight last season. This season, Boren opted to abandon the press before it was too late, based on China Spring’s first-half success from three-point range, and his switch to a half-court defense proved key in the win.

“China Spring beat us last year when we played up there, and last year when we played them, they had two really good

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ALEX RUBIO PHOTO

Panther guard Parker McCurdy (#5) attacks the hoop against China Spring at home. With three straight wins during Thanksgiving break, the Panthers started their season with an undefeated 4-0 record.

Junior High boys transition from football to basketball

By KEITH SPARKS Sports Editor After a successful football season for all four Liberty Hill Junior High football teams, it’s time for many of those Panther athletes to move on to basketball.

The boys will kick off their season against Benold Thursday night after having the opportunity to transition from one sport to the next over the last few weeks.

This season, the powers that be opted to wait until after Thanksgiving to begin basketball season. According to Junior High Boys’ Coordinator John Mason, the extra couple weeks has proven instrumental in making the transition between sports as smooth as possible.

“We’re lucky this year, like I told you, we were able to have more prac-

tice time before our first game, so we’re able to see where the kids are,” Mason said. “It’s been a lot smoother transition than in years past.”

Mason said the Panthers have reloaded on talent at the junior high level and are poised to have a great season against some larger schools. Mason knows the talent he’s getting at the eighth-grade level, and is confident they’ll be a force to be reckoned with.

“Just like all our sports, with Liberty Hill basketball, we reload every year,” Mason said. “We’ve got great kids, we’ve got great coaches, we’ve got great parents. We just reload every year, so we’ve got good talent. The eighth-grade team is bringing some experience from last year and they’ve got some really good talent. We feel like we can do really well out there and have a lot of success with them.”

At the seventh-grade level, Mason and his coaching staff aren’t exactly sure what they’re getting with the first-year Panther basketball players.

For now, he’s simply looking for dayto-day improvement.

“Of course, with seventh-grade and this being their first year, we get to kind of see them from the ground up and take them through the fundamentals,“ Mason said. “We’ll see from day-to-day how they improve. My biggest thing and our biggest thing is about improvement and teaching the kids how to win. What better way to do that than to go beat Georgetown, Hutto, Taylor and Elgin?”

Those that haven’t been on the football field during the fall weren’t able to work on their skills on the LJHS basketball court due to UIL rules, but they were in the weight room and out-

side during the athletic period, working on their strength and conditioning.

“They work in our offseason program where they lift three days a week and we have them doing different running and agility-type things, some activities that build their mental toughness,” Mason said. “Unfortunately, we can’t get them into the gym to shoot and dribble and things like that, but we can work them during the class period just with running and lifting and things like that.”

For those that were on the football field in the fall, ason said one advantage during the transition is that they’ve already been competing dayin and day-out. With that aspect already covered, now it’s all about the fundamentals of basketball and maximizing their practice time.

“The good thing about the football

kids and even our cross country kids is they’ve been competing already,” Mason said, “so we don’t have to stress that as much. It’s just a continuation of they’ve got to compete every day. It’s just the skills, moving from football or cross country to basketball, knowing that they have the skill set to be able to do the fundamentals well. That just takes practice time.”

All four teams will play at Benold Middle School in Georgetown on Thursday, with the eighth-grade and seventh-grade A-teams tipping off at 6:45 and both B-teams tipping off at 5:15. This season’s matchups also include Farley, Elgin, Grisham, Forbes, Hutto, Wagner, Taylor and Tippit.

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with a similar effort, giving him more room to run when it’s his turn.

“I just try to run hard every play and hope that the other guys are doing the same for me when I do have the ball,” Cearley said. he Panthers’ effort on ball fakes is so important to the coaching staff that they reward the players with additional helmet stickers every time one of them is tackled without the ball. hose stickers are typically reserved for touchdowns, interceptions, big hits, fumble recoveries, and other game-changing plays, but alker and his staff hold a solid ball fake with similar regard. “ hey can see it on film that we run hard, earley said. “ hey want to see on film the defensive players watching us. If they tackle us without the ball, they’ll reward us by giving us another sticker for our helmet.

In addition to having ball carriers that are willing to carry out their fakes when they don’t have the ball, another key is the speed at which they get to the line of scrimmage, forcing the defense to ad ust uickly and disallowing them the opportunity to think about what’s coming ne t. he best defensive players can find nuances with their offensive counterparts that tip them off to what’s about to take place, but the Panthers’ scheme doesn’t let that happen. While some offensive lineman can unintentionally hint at what’s coming by leaning one way or the other prior to the snap, showing with their knuckles either a run or a pass, the fast-paced nature of the Panthers’ Slot-T removes that possibility from the equation altogether, according to alker.

“I think what helps us with our line is that we go fast, so it’s really hard to figure out, because we don’t have our hands in the grass for very long, alker said. “ hat makes it hard to tell if he’s light or he’s heavy, but there’s no doubt we do preach alignment and not giving things away, because good teams figure that kind of stuff out, and you can’t give them that advantage.”

Against a Sealy defense that’s given up an average of only 14 points per game this riday, the seemingly subtle details of the “sneaky Panther offense will be as important as ever.

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Lady Panthers prep for Jack Frost tourney

By LANCE CATCHINGS Sports Writer he iberty Hill varsity girls’ basketball team wrapped up its three-game home stretch with a 60-33 victory over Lago Vista Tuesday night. he ady Panthers lost a 49-44 back and forth contest to hina Spring Nov. 20 and dropped a 2-4 decision to ista idge Nov. 19.

Liberty Hill got off on the right foot against Lago Vista outscoring them 14- in the first uarter and 1-20 at the half in route to the victory. The Lady Panthers now sit 6-5 on the season and Head oach hris ange said his team is making strides in the right direction.

“It was a decent win over Lago Vista overall and I was pretty happy from start to finish, ange said. “I told the girls before we played that we needed to have a full game. A full game for us means not giving up 1 points early or 1 points late. e have won some and we have lost some like that. e wanted to come in and play a full game without those let downs that can cost you ball games.” rooke right led the team in scoring with 14 points knocking down several three pointers and umpers from the top of the key.

Gracie Whitten and Bailey Laird each had eight followed by Ireland Sargent and reon obinson who each had seven points in the win. Ten different Lady Panthers scored in the victory.

“We had a few different girls scoring which was nice to see,” he said. “The only thing I was not happy about tonight when it came to scoring was the free throw percentage. e went -1 which was only 44 percent from the free throw line which isn’t very good.”

The Lady Panthers came out in their signature press defense and stayed in it almost the entire game. This forced Lago Vista into turnovers and kept the ady Panthers pace high in the game. “ e ran the press the whole first half and almost all the way through the third quarter,” he said. “That was an effort to try to get us going. e are not moving like we need to all the time.

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ALEX RUBIO PHOTO

Senior Carissa Vickers (#12) makes a cut to the lane with the basketball.

Vickers and company lost a close game to China Spring last week.

JV/Freshmen wrap up fall tennis season

By LANCE CATCHINGS Sports Writer When head tennis coach Phillip Dodd came to Liberty Hill, he said to build a quality program a coach must develop the varsity and the younger players in the program.

Dodd has done just that this fall. fter the varsity team finished the playoffs and earned a final state ranking of 11th Place, he and his assistant got right to work on the unior varsity and freshman tennis tournament season.

“Some schools don’t even touch their junior varsity or freshman teams until they are completely done with varsity,” odd said. “ hey don’t work them out or anything, but we do. We did the same thing with our junior high players starting

this fall. ne day a week we focus on them. We believe it is important because they are the future of the program. It took a bit of a backseat during the playoffs so when we were done, we made sure to schedule some tournaments for them.

Many surrounding schools do the same thing and that is when you get the opportunity to spend time with your freshman and unior varsity kids.

Dodd said not only is it beneficial to get the younger players out amongst quality competition, but it was something the parents wanted for their kids as well.

“It was great working with the younger kids this fall, he said.

“When I interviewed for this job it is one of the things Coach alker and I talked about.

Some of the parents wanted to see more junior varsity and freshmen get to play. In other sports you have junior varsity/ freshman football, basketball and volleyball. They get the opportunity to play just as much as varsity and that’s what we want to get to with our tennis program. We start a bit in the fall and our freshmen and junior varsity get to play tournaments ust like the varsity does. e try to fit those in between Coach Davidson and myself.

When the spring rolls around we will play roughly twice a week for about si weeks. hey will get their playing time, and this is a time when they can get better. We have seen so much improvement that I will probably move a couple players that could help on our varsity team

in the spring.”

As fall tennis ends, Dodd and his players will get right back to work the first week of school in anuary 2019.

“I like to use spring tennis to get ready for the fall because I am a big team tennis coach,” he said. “The fall is where we showcase how good we are as a team. In the spring I’ll mi kids up in singles, doubles and mi ed. bout three weeks before district I’ll try to fine tune it and see if we can get anyone out to the state tournament.

Some coaches don’t do that, but my underclassmen need to be able to play doubles and mi ed. y seniors will usually focus on the event they will compete in. Playing a lot and getting the mentality for it is important.”

With the tennis team playing a full schedule this season it seemed like the team took on a lot. Dodd ensures the Panthers are playing a regular tennis schedule and nothing more.

“Some people may think we are playing a lot, but we are not playing any more or any less than anybody else,” he said.

“We are playing a little less than Georgetown is, and they will probably be in our district in a couple of years. The middle school kids finished up last week and we will pick it up again in January. If the community wants the kids out there and the school doesn’t mind me taking a bus wherever we need to go, we will get the program where it needs to go.”

The junior high and freshman teams represented Liberty Hill

well during their tournament season. “ he kids have done well this fall and our teams dominated,” he said. “We played well against est ake and ound ock estwood who won the 6A state championship. We dominated Georgetown and ampasas, so the younger kids are doing well. Some of the tournaments we went to had 20-plus teams at them. We held our own at every tournament, so I was very pleased.”

Once spring starts the tennis team will be back to their practice schedule of five days a week after school until roughly 5:30 p.m.

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PANTHER OF THE WEEK

Trey Riley plays larger than he is

By LANCE CATCHINGS Sports Writer In the 56-28 area round playoff win over Gonzales Friday there was a Liberty Hill Panther wreaking havoc in the interior defensive line.

Senior Trey Riley wears number 34 for the Panthers, but at 6-foot-1-inches tall and 190 pounds he may not look like your typical nose guard. Riley usually faces off with offensive linemen that outweigh him by 60 pounds or more, but his stature as a player can not be measured by his size.

“I am not one of the biggest on the field especially for playing nose guard,” Riley said. “I know going in that every game will be hard for me because of the larger offensive lineman. I look at every game as if it was a state championship because I know it will be a hard game for me. I am not the strongest on the field, but I try to play like I am.”

Like any smart football player Riley plays to his strengths to make an impact on the game. What he lacks in size he makes up for in speed and aggression. In the win over Gonzales, Riley registered 14 tackles and sack.

“I have a lot of speed, quickness and aggression,” he said. “I try and use that to my advantage, play down the line and fight to my gap to find the ball. I went into the on ales game with the mentality to make every hit better than the last. I have been chasing that record of 11 tackles against Fredericksburg from earlier this season. I just try to go out and do better each week.”

Riley is very capable of making the big play, but is ust as satisfied taking on doubles teams and freeing up his teammates. His level of aggression is what keeps him coming back for more against players that team up to block him.

“I have a lot of aggression that I use in the game,” he said. “I get beat up sometimes, picked up and slammed to the ground, but I never give up. I just get up and keep going for the next play.

I take the anger from the play before and use it on the next one to just try and make tackles. I know my job is to sometimes get double teamed and take on as many blocks as I can, so the linebackers can make tackles. I have been lucky enough to break through those blocks and make some tackles. I see the gaps they make on zones and I can shoot that gap fast and play there to find the ball. I am small enough to rip through arms and chase down ball carriers.”

The game is often said to be won in the trenches between the offensive and defensive lines. It is no secret that this season Liberty Hill has one of the best in the state.

“I believe the defensive linemen impact the game a lot,” he said. “We set the tone of the game by getting pressure on the quarterback, making sacks and holding teams to few rushing yards. I think we have a good defensive line with the two defensive ends that we have in Walker Baty and Kory Schmidt.”

Previously Riley played defensive end himself and admits the move to the interior this season

was a bit of a surprise. “ his is my first year in the nose guard position, he said. “I was a little shell shocked at first.

I didn’t know if I wanted to play nose guard because it’s a lot of getting beat up. Coach Walker said he wanted me to move to nose guard, so I did, and I ended up being decent at it. It is the same thing I did at defensive end with just a little more contact. It hasn’t been too rough of a transition because you use a lot of the same skills as the defensive end, which I have played the last two seasons.”

Riley has a passion for contact. He enjoys lining up an opponent and punishing ball carriers with crushing hits. This is the reason that in his 14 years of playing on the gridiron all have been on the defensive side of the ball.

“I love that we get to find the guy with the ball and go hit him instead of protect him,” he said.

“Defense is a lot more contact and you get to run into people going full speed. You can’t use all your aggression on offense and you just don’t get to go hit somebody. It is a feeling that you can’t explain when you make a big play on defense.”

As the Panthers head into their playoff game this week against undefeated Sealy, Riley is hoping for more of the same.

“We are going into the Sealy game with the mentality that we will win,” he said. “I may be the smaller guy, but we will fight like I am the

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quarterback in the process.

“Like I said, the quarterback can sling it as good as we’ve seen, but I do think five, who has almost 2,000 yards, is the key to their offense. He breaks big run after big run. He’s fast, he’s very athletic, so there’s no doubt we have to stop number five and limit their big plays as always.”

Although he does most of his damage on the ground, Bolden has also caught three touchdown passes from senior quarterback Garret Zaskoda (#4), who’s completed 62 percent of his passes for 31 touchdowns and 2,520 yards (210 yards per game) while throwing only seven interceptions.

“They have a running back that’s close to 2,000 yards and a quarterback that’s thrown for 2,500 or whatever they’ve thrown,” Walker said. “They have a couple really, really good receivers.”

Those “really, really good receivers” go by the names of Clay Roberts (#2), AJ Mc-

ALEX RUBIO PHOTO

Panther Nose Guard Trey Riley (#34) made his strong presence felt against Gonzales last week posting 14 tackles and one sack. Above, he takes down a Taylor ball carrier earlier this season. bigger guy. I will do what I can to help get our linebackers some tackles and see if I can get a couple of my own.”

His advice to younger players is to play your heart out and everything else will fall into place.

“Don’t worry about your size,” he said. “You must come in and play like a big guy. You could be 5’0 and 100 pounds, but as long as you want

Gee (#10), and Draper Parker (#15). Roberts is the best of the bunch, having reeled in 59 receptions for 940 yards and 14 touchdowns, followed by Parker with 22 yards and five touchdowns and McGee with 4 yards and five touchdowns.

Defensively, Sealy may be even scarier than their offense.

They’ve given up more than 20 points just twice on the season, once to Waller with 23 and last week to Boerne with 28. In the first round of the playoffs, they shut out Taylor’s offense with a -0 final score.

“Their defense really hasn’t given anything up all season,” Walker said. “I think their opponents are averaging 14 a game, and the most they’ve given up was 28 last week against Boerne. They’re very good defensively.”

According to Walker, it’s the speed of the Tiger defense that gives opposing offenses trouble, not their size, which may or may not reduce the effectiveness of Liberty Hill’s

speedy running backs, Kyle Harrison in particular.

“Defensively, they’re not real big. They don’t have the 260s, 280s up front, but they’re fast,” Walker said. “They are extremely quick. 11 guys are right by the ball a lot. They run to the ball real well and play extremely hard. There’s nobody on their defense that makes you think, ‘Maybe we can run to his side.’ They’re very sound. Probably the fastest overall team defensive speed we’ve seen all year.”

For those who have enjoyed the relatively drama-free season the Panthers have had thus far, Friday’s matchup may not be your dream scenario.

For those who are tired of the blowouts, however, it’s time to saddle up.

The matchup between Liberty Hill, the fourth-ranked team in 4A Division I, and Sealy, the sixth-ranked team, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Bastrop Memorial Stadium in Cedar Creek.

to be on that field you can play ust as well as anybody else. The way you’re built doesn’t mean anything. ou ust have to fight for what you got.”

Riley and the rest of the Panther defense will face the Sealy Tigers in the third round of the playoffs Friday in Bastrop. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

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guards that weren’t really affected by the press,” Boren said. “We come out of the gate (this year) and we’re pressing, but it’s really not effective, and they hit eight threes in the first half. e came out in the second half and got out of the press, ran a half-court defense that we hadn’t run in any games, yet, and it did it. We held them to 14 points in the second half.”

Perkins and Naylor both finished the game with team highs of 15 points, followed by Parker McCurdy with 13 and Cade Cole with 12. Once again, the Panthers received important contributions from players not necessarily known for their scoring, which Boren said has been a major part of their success thus far.

“ gain, we had four guys in double figures, Boren said. “Carson’s averaging about 14, Parker’s averaging 12, and Jareck’s averaging 12, but we’ve had three other guys join them in double figures. ade ole got there once, aleb annon got there once, and Hunter Clayon got there once. It’s just a nice balance of scoring. It seems like every game, one guy you don’t expect to do it steps up and does it.”

Now, the Panthers will prepare for this weekend’s tournament in Marble Falls, where they’ll play games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, followed by a game against Leander Glenn at home Dec. 4.

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Cast your vote for the Best of Liberty Hill

Do you have a favorite place to drop in for a bite here in Liberty Hill?

Does someone have enchiladas to die for or the very best sandwich in the area?

What did you do the last time you had a great experience with a contractor or felt like you received that extra special attention from a business that made you think they must be the best around?

It is sometimes difficult to find the right way to publicly recognize the best in local businesses, but with your help, The Independent is going to honor all of Liberty Hill’s best with the first ever BEST OF LIBERTY HILL awards in February.

Participating is quick and easy and every vote counts. In The Independent each week – including on Page 28 of this edition – there will be a ballot with more than 80 categories for readers to cast a vote for their favorites in the area. All you have to do is pencil in your favorite in each category, from best pie and burger to best community event and veterinarian. hen fill out the form with your name, address, phone and email address, and become eligible for a prize to be drawn from among the ballots received.

We ask that each voter turn in only one ballot, and that each submitted ballot has a vote in at least 50 of the categories listed.

e also ask that voters be as specific as possible when naming individuals so we can be sure the right people are recognized for great service.

Ballots can be brought to The Independent office at 142 1 . SH 29, Ste. B, in Liberty Hill or mailed to PO Box 12 , iberty Hill, 42. he deadline to turn in completed ballots is an. 14, 2019.

Results will be featured in a special Best of Liberty Hill section to be distributed eb. 2 , 2019.

Don’t miss this opportunity to help honor the best Liberty Hill has to offer through this new annual tradition.

BUSINESS

Longest-running family business continues legacy

By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer It’s hard not to notice the 19 0s ldsmobile parked on the corner of oop 2 in downtown Liberty Hill at the four-way stop. It’s become a bit of an icon for uick Service Garage, which has operated on that corner since 19 4 and in iberty Hill since 192 . he 90-plus-year-old business was started by the Canady family, and has remained a part of the family since. Now, the garage will be entering a new era when fourth generation family member, 19-year-old Paige Canady, eventually takes over the business.

“The shop has been open for 90-plus years, and we’ve persevered as a business through deaths, depressions and the change from Liberty Hill being rural to urban,” said Kathy Canady, current owner of the garage, who took the business over after her husband, harles, passed away in 2014 from renal cell carcinoma. uick Service arage originally started on the other end of iberty Hill in 192 and was opened by Melvin Canady, Charles’ grandfather. Charles’ father, Joe Ed Canady, was born in 19 and when he was old enough, he joined his father at the garage and it officially

became a family business. uick Service arage then moved to its current location at 100 oop 2 in 19 4. harles began working at the garage full time in 19 9 and bought his grandfather’s interest in the business in 19 1. harles and Joe Ed then worked together until 199 , when harles officially took over the business and began running it with his wife, whom he married in 1992. athy worked as a hay baler when she met Charles in the early 1990s.

“Charles’ dad, Joe Ed, would work on my equipment when I needed it, but one time when my hay equipment broke down he made Charles come help me,” she said. “That’s how we met in a nutshell.”

Charles bought out his father’s interest in the business in 2002, Kathy said. In 2005, Charles got electrocuted in the back of the head by two 220s in a kitchen remodeling accident.

He never regained feeling on the left side of his body after the accident.

“With the damage he had he never fully recovered, but he was still pretty damn good at getting jobs done,” Kathy said, citing his time serving on the Liberty Hill City Council for over a decade, including serving as ayor Pro em for 1

years.

In 2012, harles was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma. He was given four and a half months to live, but he fought through treatments and lived for another two and a half years, Kathy said.

“He and I had plans to be empty nesters and do all that good stuff, and we didn’t get to,” she added. “But it is what it is. He passed in 2014.

When Charles became really ill, the only work they did was what he could tell his wife to do.

“At the end of his life, I had to be his hands,” Kathy said. “He did several jobs even though he couldn’t walk. I’d put him in his wheelchair and he’d tell me what to do. He wanted the business to keep going even though he knew he probably wasn’t going to make it. He found a way to keep things moving even though it wasn’t on the level he wanted. Our intention is to continue that.

We’re a stubborn business and we intend to be here for 100 more years.”

After Charles passed away, Kathy wasn’t sure how she was going to keep uick Service Garage up and running. But right around the same time, she met someone who made it possible.

RACHEL MADISON PHOTO

From left, Paige Canady, Kathy Canady and Glenn Heimbigner stand in front of Heimbigner’s classic Dodge at Quick Service Garage. Heimbigner is currently teaching Paige Canady all he knows so that eventually she can take the business over from her mother, Kathy Canady.

Glenn Heimbigner, now the lead mechanic, moved to Liberty Hill with his wife after retiring in Corpus Christi four years ago. He brought his vintage cars in to uick Service Garage for an inspection before a car show and noticed all the vintage vehicles sitting around the property.

“Kathy told me her story about her husband getting sick, and I told her I just retired and happened to be a mechanic,” he

said. “We started talking and I came and saw her again and next thing you know I started working here. That was four years ago.”

Heimbigner served five years in the S Navy, and then years in the S rmy as a o civilian where he worked as a mechanic on every kind of helicopter the armed forces have.

“I’ve always loved cars, from the time I was five or si years old, and they’ve always been a

hobby,” he added.

Kathy said she couldn’t have found a better person to work at her garage than Heimbigner.

“We were able to reopen back as a full-service garage when we hired him on,” she added.

In addition to being the lead mechanic, Heimbigner is also teaching Paige everything he knows.

“She pays attention, she’s very

See GARAGE, Page 44

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Thursday, November 29, 2018

BUSINESS

Liberty Hill welcomes new hearing aid practice

By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer A new hearing aid practice opened its doors in Liberty Hill in mid-October with a mission to help those with hearing loss to be able to get quality service at affordable prices.

Owner Matthew Traywick said he chose to open the business in Liberty Hill because it’s an up-and-coming area.

“We’ve been eyeing it for some time now and looking for a way to get into the Liberty Hill market,” he said. “We want to be a part of it.”

Traywick has a bachelor’s degree in management and marketing from Trinity University in San Antonio, but he also has years of experience working for his mother’s hearing aid practice in the Cedar Park area.

“I worked there for about six years doing her marketing and helping her with management consulting,” Traywick said.

“At the time, I wasn’t interested in being a small business

owner, but then I attended a 12-month accredited digital marketing apprenticeship program [through Digital Creative Institute]. You go to night classes twice a week, and there is a project every month to help you build your portfolio.

That helped accelerate my understanding of marketing and business.” fter finishing that program and working for a janitorial/ sanitation supply company building their e-commerce website for a short time, Traywick began working for Cook Hearing in Cedar Park. It was there that he started noticing some interesting data.

“I noticed we were losing revenue because a lot of people weren’t able to afford hearing aids and not everyone’s insurance covers them,” he said.

“There’s a certain subset denied the ability to hear. That’s when I decided to go with a more nontraditional model [and open Hear-It-All].”

In the hearing aid industry, traditionally patients pay one price up front for everything— their hearing aids, services, batteries and more. Traywick said Hear-It-All is different because it has unbundled that process.

“We sell appointments, accessories, batteries, aids—everything—all separately,” he said.

“We can generate a lower cost that way. It’s a more altruistic approach. A lot of people are being denied the right to hearing, and it’s unfortunate when people can’t get the help they need.”

The practice does not accept insurance, which is another way they are able to keep prices down, Traywick said. However, if someone does have a hearing aid benefit through their insurance, they will be given the tools they need to get a reimbursement on their own, he added. Services at the clinic include hearing aid fittings, tinnitus therapy, hearing aid

LHJH study homes of original Texas settlers

Bren Masiakowski and Ryan Moore show off their settlers’ homes. Each Texas History student selected one of the Old 300, the original settlers of Texas, read his biography, and recreated his home.

(Courtesy Photo)

RACHEL MADISON PHOTO

From left, hearing instrument specialist Phillip Zamora, patient care coordinator Erica Williams and owner Matthew Traywick stand together in the waiting room of the newly-opened Hear-it-All. The business opened in October and is working on sharing its brand of “compassion, communication and community” with patients. repairs, custom ear molds and hearing tests.

In addition to Traywick, the staff is rounded out by patient care coordinator Erica Williams and hearing instrument specialist Phillip Zamora.

“Erica was in the Navy for about five years and really embodies what we were looking for. She’s a hard worker and really the face of Hear-It-All,” Traywick said. “Phillip initially began as a clinician for Cook Hearing, but after working with him for a bit I asked him to be the sole clinician at the new Liberty Hill practice. He really cares about each patient.”

The motto at Hear-It-All is compassion, communication and community. Traywick chose those values because he felt they were the most needed in the hearing aid industry.

In the past, he’s seen patients treated as less than if they can’t afford something or if their appearance isn’t up to par.

“We’ll treat everyone who walks in that door the same way,” he said. “We’re going to bring a compassionate approach to the hearing aid realm and nobody will be judged here. Not being able to hear can hurt people’s relationships and

they’ll miss important milestones. We felt Liberty Hill and the surrounding small towns weren’t being served and we feel they should be. Our philosophy is to not sacrifice service to get a low-cost hearing aid.”

Traywick said the communication part of the motto ties in with the hearing aids themselves, but it also has to do with the business’ transparency.

“We are transparent with our pricing and we don’t hide it from our patients who come in the door,” he said. “We tell them exactly what they’ll get and there are no fees popping up out of nowhere. Frankly, the medical industry as a whole needs a little more transparency.”

The community aspect of the motto is Traywick’s goal to be active within the Liberty Hill community.

“We’re trying to reach out to as many different places as possible to see what we can do for the Liberty Hill community and surrounding communities,” he said. “We intend on being very active and hopefully as the city grows we will become a fi ture in what’s going to become a bustling metropolis.”

Traywick said it takes people on average about seven years to do something about their hearing, and only 25 percent of people who need a hearing aid wear one.

“It’s an epidemic with the rise of headphones delivering a deafening amount of noise straight into your ear,” he said.

“My generation is losing their hearing at completely unprecedented rates. I’ve known people under 30 with hearing loss who have hearing aids.”

In the future, Traywick hopes his practice will experience manageable growth that allows the clinic to build a good patient database but continue to provide high quality care. He also hopes to eventually see Hear-It-All grow into a multiple practice organization.

“We want to spread the philosophies of Hear-It-All across the hearing-impaired communities of Austin,” he added.

Hear-It-All is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to noon. The practice is located at 12701 W. State Hwy. 29, Ste. 3, in Liberty Hill. For more information, visit www. hearitall.us.

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BUSINESS

Ringland brings unique approach as new clinic director at TexPTS

By DANA BAUTISTA-DELGADO Staff Writer Kirk Ringland (PT, DPT) has been named the new Clinic Director and Physical Therapist at Texas Physical Therapist Specialists in Liberty Hill with the departure of Ben Menke going to the edar Park office. r. ingland is transitioning to iberty Hill after having served the last two years at the eorgetown clinic.

“Transition is going splendidly at Liberty Hill,” he said. “ he staff here at e P S has been absolutely outstanding in ensuring the transition of patients is as smooth as possible. he patients and community have been extremely warm and genuine in their welcoming. I’m attempting to get as involved in the community as possible and have been absolutely blown away with how kind everyone has been.

While the transition is expected to run through the end of the year, Ringland is looking forward to his new assignment.

“I’m e cited to be a part of the community, said ingland. “ ur mission is to provide the best orthopedic care and be involved in the community.

As a native of rural Buffalo in northeast Texas, the new director says he feels very much at home in iberty Hill.

“I like that small town people are light-hearted and have a good sense of humor, he said. “I’m ust so impressed how positive they are.

Ringland said his stint in the Georgetown clinic was critical to his professional growth.

“I learned a tremendous amount from the great staff at eorgetown, he said. “ he clinic in Georgetown is one of the most successful in our company and I believe that’s attributed to the outstanding environment the staff has created. he true team and family environment is one in which patients can thrive and accomplish their goals while having a great time.

Ringland is currently participating in a Residency in rthopedics to become an rthopedic

GIRLS

Continued from Page 19

We are starting to see some improvement, so we took the time to work on our press here and there. nergy was something we talked about and I really don’t want us to come out at. I told the first five that were out there either they would do it or someone else would. e must continue to get better and that goes for every player that steps out on the court.

Lago Vista responded by getting into a press defense and the Lady Panthers handled it once their coach settled them down. “ nce I called a time out and settled our players down and told them how to handle it, we did well, he said. “ e made a couple small ad ustments to it and it solved the problem. p to that point it was causing a bit of a headache for us. ur guards must handle that type of pressure.

That is not the worst pressure we will face this

Specialist for patients with musculoskeletal conditions. He says that he takes pride in empowering patients by structuring their rehabilitation programs around their personal goals so they can take control of their bodies, continue improvement outside of the clinic, and achieve the success they are seeking.

Ringland graduated Magna Cum Laude from South College in Knoxville, Tennessee with his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in 2017 after earning a achelor’s egree in ercise and Sport Science from Texas State University in San arcos.

Besides his professional credentials and experience, Ringland brings a unique background and upbringing to the practice. ith an athletic coach for a father and a mother who taught nglish as well as theater arts, the would-be physical therapist says he was well groomed for success. He was an all-sports athlete who regularly found himself in the playoffs. “ eing in a small school, I got to play all sports, he said.

In his senior year, an in ury landed him in physical therapy where he was inspired to ponder and then pursue the field as a career. n the theatrical stage under the tutelage of his mother, Ringland was a natural, taking on several lead roles and advancing to the state I meet. ne performance, however, took him completely off guard. hile performing in “ unny hing Happened on the ay to the orum, a fire alarm went off. nsure what to do, he ust continued with his lines until someone came in and told everyone to evacuate the building. So drawn to the stage, Ringland continued performing in college.

“I really like the storytelling aspect, he said. “ nd it has taught me to be a good listener.

When he is not assisting patients in the clinic, it is no surprise that Ringland enjoys sports, standup comedy and the theater. He also en oys history and searching for the best tacos in the area. ingland’s approach to therapy may well be a

bit different than what most patients are accustomed to. If he is not applying hands-on physical therapy based on the newest research, he might be working on one’s funny bone.

“I like to have fun, he said. “ ehabilitation can be painful, but the experience can be more beneficial to the patient with a light-hearted approach.

With a wide range of services, we want to get and keep everyone healthy.

The new clinic director said he was truly excited about serving iberty Hill.

“I’m looking forward to continuing the warm, welcoming, and outstanding care that Texas Physical Therapy Specialists has provided to our community, he said. “ he dedication of our

highly trained staff allows us to provide continuously exceptional care through a combination of evidence-based practice, care excellence, and clinical e cellence. hile our primary goal is to get you healthy and back to the things you love, we also strive to provide a memorable experience through e ceptional personali ed care.

Texas Physical Therapist Specialists is located at 1 40 . SH 29, Suite in iberty Hill. he clinic provides a variety of services for treatment of back pain and chronic pain, as well as unctional apacity valuations, ymphedema, sports physical therapy, women’s health, and workplace in uries. or more information, visit www.te pts.com.

season. It wasn’t horrible, but it could have been better.

Against China Spring, the Lady Panthers struggled offensively in the first half and found themselves down 29-1 at halftime. Sparked by senior Ireland Sargent iberty Hill made a strong push in the second half to take the lead - , but was unable to close out the victory. ange said the effort in the second half was there, but it was a good teaching moment.

“It was not fun to lose to hina especially when we played such a horrible game, he said. “If we would have played how we’re capable in the first half and not gave up all those three’s we probably have a chance to win it. I know e actly where we are with our youth. e are a young team and even our seniors are still learning new aspects.

We are making a few bad decisions at times, but

we are getting better. I ask them to learn a lot which can be a struggle, but I think we are on the right track.

Thursday through Saturday the team will travel to eorgetown to compete in the ack rost ournament. ange said he is ust looking for his team to continue improving. “ he ack rost ournament will be difficult, he said. “ ou must get a couple wins and hope no one gets hurt. ins and losses don’t bother me at this point. It is about growing and getting ready for our first district ball game. e must get better in some areas. e want to be more consistence with our shooting and it will be nice to see some e ecution. he ady Panthers will open the ack rost ournament against St. gnes cademy hursday at 9 a.m.

Points against Lago Vista: Brooke Wright 14, racie hitten , ailey aird , Ireland Sargent 7, Breon Robinson 7, Morgan Jackson 6, ailey er in , mma Hubbard , shton ordan 2.

Points against hina Spring Ireland Sargent 9, reon obinson 9, ailey er in , arissa ickers , aylee aird , arissa ar a , mma Hubbard 2, essica Holliday 2, racie hitten.

DANA BAUTISTA-DELGADO PHOTO

Kirk Ringland (PT, DPT) has been named the new Clinic Director and Physical Therapist at Texas Physical Therapy Specialists in Liberty Hill. Dr. Ringland’s approach to therapy may well be a bit different than what most patients are accustomed to. If he is not applying hands-on physical therapy based on the newest research, he might be working on one’s funny bone.

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Liberty Hill Police Blotter Prepared by Liberty Hill Police Department

Week of Nov. 19-25 The Liberty Hill Police Department responded to or self-initiated a total of 242 incidents resulting in five cases, 38 citations, 44 warnings and two arrests.

Weekly Highlights: • On Nov. 19, at approximately 9 0 , officers responded to the 10000 block of W. SH 29 for a Theft complaint.

• On Nov. 20, at approximately 2 P , officers responded to the 10000 block of W. SH 29, for a suspicious activity.

• On Nov. 21, at approximately 11 0 , officers arrested of a male adult for Driving While License Invalid, as the result of a traffic stop.

• On Nov. 22, at approximately12 4 P , officers responded to 4000 block of RR 1869, to assist the Liberty Hill Fire/ EMS. • On Nov. 24, at approximately 10 2 P , officers responded to the W. SH 29 and Stonewall, for a two vehicle

non-injury accident.

• On Nov. 25, at approximately 2 2 P , officers arrested a male adult for Driving While License Invalid, as the result of a traffic stop.

• On Nov. 25, at approximately P , officers responded to the 5000 block of US 183, to assist Williamson ounty Sheriff’s ffice with a three vehicle non- injury accident.

Week of Nov. 12- 18 The Liberty Hill Police Department responded to or self-initiated a total of 222 incidents resulting in three cases, 17 citations, 28 warnings and one arrest.

Weekly Highlights: • On Nov. 12, at approximately 1 , officers responded to Independence Drive and W. SH 29, for a four vehicle, non-injury accident • On Nov. 12, at approximately , officers responded to the 15000 block of W. SH 29, for a one vehicle,

non-injury accident.

• On Nov. 12, at approximately 9 2 , officers responded to W. SH 29 and US 183, for a two vehicle non-injury accident, resulting in the arrest of a male adult for Driving While License is Suspended.

• On Nov. 14, at approximately 10 P , officers responded to 13000 block of US 183, to assist the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department with an accident.

• On Nov. 16, at approximately 9 22 , officers responded to the W. SH 29 and CR 214, for a two vehicle accident with injuries.

• On Nov. 17, at approximately 9 , officers responded to the 12000 block of W. SH 29 for a two vehicle accident with injuries.

• On Nov. 17, at approximately 12 0 P , officers responded to the 10000 block of W. SH 29, to assist Liberty Hill ire S with an outside fire.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

OBITUARY

Don Cunningham

The mission of Don Cunningham began on January 29, 1942 when he was born to Wesley and Violet (Squiers) Cunningham in Brady, TX. He departed this earth on November 21, 2018 where he will live eternally in heaven.

God’s unique design and providential path, along with the in uence of his parents, family and community allowed him to live a profoundly impactful life -- a life centered around integrity, humility, patience, wisdom, humor, virtue and faith.

Don grew up in Mason, TX where he developed a love of sports. It was soon apparent that he excelled in these, eventually earning a college scholarship to play baseball at San Angelo College. While this may not seem unusual, it was actually very significant as on had contracted polio while in high school. This left him with an impairment resulting in limited mobility and compromised posture. In spite of this, living life according to his principles and foundations, caused him to stand taller than most.

Whether he was teaching, coaching or raising his family, Don always spoke clearly and with honesty. In his classic Texas drawl, he would dispense country wisdom in a way that would not only make perfect sense, but would often be quite humorous.

As an administrator at Liberty Hill ISD, Don pioneered a project to install the nation’s first sculpture park on a high school campus. This was so unique and successful that it garnered the attention of state and national news outlets. With all of this attention, Don was the first to admit that he knew very little about art and sculptures.

When asked for his comment by a journalist on the topic, the reporter eagerly awaited his deep, philosophical reply. Don responded simply by saying, “I

don’t know what the big deal is over a pile of rocks.”

He was never more uncomfortable than when attention was showered upon him. He exuded humility and never sought to be celebrated or to be the center of attention.

As a teacher and coach, Mr. C/Coach C often had students with challenging behaviors.

He had a way of identifying with them each on an individual basis. Through his guidance and great patience, he was a master at helping students realize their true potential. Countless former students and colleagues have reported, “I would not be here/alive/in school/in church…were it not for the in uence of on unningham”.

Don made it his ambition to not only love his wife, Marie, with all his heart, but to love his Lord with all of his being.

If there was only one way to define on unningham, it would all boil down to faith. ur good od was the first thing on his mind when he woke in the morning and the last thing on his mind as he laid his head on his pillow at night.

He taught this to all of his children, grandchildren, and to many of those he has touched.

It was not active “teaching”; it was instruction through his actions. on loved to fish, hunt, and camp. One of his favorite activities was spending time around a campfire in meaningful conversation and contemplations.

More than anything he loved his family. He was a devoted husband to Marie for 52 years.

He delighted in the company of his grandkids and relished all the time he was able to spend with his family.

It is truly a rare occurrence to know a person of such honorable reputation and gentle spirit -- a person who made everyone with whom he interacted with

feel as if they were the only person on earth who existed to him at that particular moment.

His legacy extends across countless individuals.

Don was preceded in death by his parents and brother.

He is survived by his wife, Marie Insall Cunningham, Leslie (Steve) Campbell, Robbi (Brantley) Hoelscher, and Corey (Stephanie) Cunningham; grandchildren Lindsay (Luke) Clement, Madison (Cooper Strand) Campbell, Erin Hoelscher, Garrett Hoelscher, Matthew Cunningham, Daniel Cunningham, Avery Hoelscher, Taylor Cunningham, Grace Cunningham, Timothy Cunningham, Jonathon Cunningham, David Cunningham; great-grandchildren Jackson Clement, Caleb Clement; “adopted” daughters Karen Luttinen Carey and Nicole Kummala; and countless other family and friends.

The family wishes to thank the exceptional caregivers at BSW STIC Unit in Temple for their provision of skilled, compassionate care.

In lieu of owers, the family respectfully requests donations to the Salado Education Foundation at P.O. Box 458, Salado, TX 76571 where a scholarship in the name of Don Cunningham will be established.

Services were held November 24, 2018, at First Baptist Church in Salado under the care of Broecker Funeral Home, Salado.

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HOLIDAY EDITION 2018

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Proposed long-range water plan should spare users heavy increases

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Rapid growth and the need for services to keep pace can sometimes collide in a way that causes financial pain for users, but Liberty Hill might be dodging that issue with a long-range water and wastewater plan.

“You have done a good job of maintaining control over your water and sewer cost increases, said an ackson, ice President at Willdan Financial Services, the firm contracted to conduct a water and wastewater rate study.

The Liberty Hill City Council soaked in the detailed study onday, outlining current and pro ected usage and costs, which led to the bottom line everyone was waiting for – that only modest increases were needed to maintain services.

In the end, the recommendation was for a two-year rate plan that would increase water rates for in-city residential users by $2.50 to $3.50 per month in 2019 and again in 2020 based on usage. Wastewater

service alone for all customers would increase between $5 and $6.50 per month in 2019 and again in 2020. Customers on city water and wastewater, depending on usage, would see about an $8 to $10 combined increase per month in 2019 and $8.50 to $11 increase in 2020.

Any proposed rate change is subject to approval by the City ouncil, which took no action on the rates, voting unanimously to reconsider the issue for discussion at the ec. 10 meeting.

The last increase for Liberty Hill was in anuary 201 and for water customers only. ackson said increased water and wastewater costs are inevitable.

“As we enter the 21st Century the cost of water and sewer service is simply going up, it’s going up for everybody, he said. “The average utility in the United States has been increasing its rates five to si percent every year over the last decade and that’s e pected to continue in the future.

actors including e pansion costs, e uipment and personnel all play into determining the rates needed to maintain a self-sustaining utility.

“The cost of everything goes up two to three percent every year ust due to in ation, ackson said. “It is natural to assume that water, which you run like a business, is going to trend upward over time. There are a lot of components to water service that are subject to cost increases that are beyond the control of the utility, things like chemicals, electricity, insurance. iberty Hill’s utility pays for itself through one-time charges such as connection fees and the monthly charges for customers. ackson said many municipalities are not running self-sustaining utilities.

“Thirty to 40 percent of utilities in the United States right now are charging rates that don’t cover their costs, so ust because a neighboring utility’s rates are lower than yours it doesn’t necessarily mean their

costs are lower or that they run a more efficient system, he said. “It might mean that they have made the managerial decision to subsidize their water and sewer operation from their general fund.

Some municipalities choose to not address rate issues until it can’t be avoided, and then hit customers with very high increases all at once, rather than addressing increases incrementally, which has less immediate

impact on customers.

“The important consideration here is to develop a long-term financial plan that allows you to get the revenues you need to run your system, while to the best e tent possible minimi e the cost to your individual ratepayers, ackson said.

In a comparison of rates to other area cities, iberty Hill customers using 10,000 gallons of water and generating ,000 gallons of wastewater pay

about 129 per month, more than $40 over the state average and higher than any other city mentioned aside from Rowlett and Hutto. Hutto was the highest rate cited at $164 per month. ackson said that while iberty Hill is growing, it does not yet have the economies of scale many local utilities have such as eorgetown, ound ock,

See WATER, Page 46

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Thursday, November 29, 2018

HOLIDAY EDITION 2018

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SERVICES DWAYNE PAINTING Interior & Exterior Painting, Carpentry, Home Repair, Decks, Patios, Tile Floors & Countertops. (512) 850-7337 or (512) 470-0871 or email nuzdwayne@gmail.com.

(12/20/18p)

PUBLIC NOTICES MOVE IT SELF STORAGE LIBERTY HILL Pursuant to Chapter 59 of the Texas Property Code, Move It Self-Storage located at 15725 Highway 29, Liberty Hill TX 78642, will hold a public auction of property being sold to satisfy a landlord’s lien. The sale will be held online at http://www.storagetreasures. com. Competitive bids for the unit(s) will be accepted until December 13th, 2018 at 10:00am. Property will be sold to the highest bidder. Deposit for removal and cleanup may be required. Seller reserves the right to refuse any bid and to withdraw item(s) from sale.

Property in each space may be sold item-by-item, in batches,

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT or by the space. Property being sold includes contents in spaces of following tenants. Renteria, Andres; Luggage, Furniture, Fishing Poles, Washer, Dryer, Misc. Items. Renteria, Andres ffice urniture, esks and Chairs. Kulbeth, Susan; Household Furniture, Shelving, Décor, Rocking Chair, Misc. Kitchen Appliances.

(12/6) CITY OF LIBERTY HILL, TEXAS NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT a public hearing will be conducted by the City Council of Liberty Hill, Texas on December 10, 2018 at 6:30 p.m. at the City Council Chambers, 2801 Ranch Road 1869, Liberty Hill, Texas 78642.

Pursuant to Section 372.009(c) and (d) of the Texas Local Government Code, (the “Act”), the City Council of the City of Liberty Hill, Texas, will hold a public hearing to accept public comments and discuss a Petition filed by utler amily Partnership, Ltd., a Texas limited partnership (the “Petitioner”), requesting that the City create the Butler Farms Public Improvement District (the “District”) to include property owned by the Petitioner (the “Property”).

The general nature of the proposed public improvements (collectively, the “Authorized Improvements”) may include: (i) the establishment of parks and open space, together with the design, construction and maintenance of any ancillary structures, features or amenities such as trails, pavilions, community facilities, swimming pools, irrigation, walkways, lighting, benches, trash receptacles and any similar items located therein; (ii) landscaping; (iii) acquisition, construction, and improvement of water, wastewater and drainage facilities; (iv) acquisition, construction and improvement of streets, roadways, rights-ofway and related facilities; (v) entry monumentation and features; (vi) signage; (vii) projects similar to those listed in subsections (i) — (vi) above; and (viii) payment of costs associated with constructing and financing the public improvements listed in subparagraphs

(i) — (vii) above, including costs of establishing, administering and operating the District. These Authorized Improvements shall promote the interests of the City and confer a special benefit upon the Property.

The estimated cost to design, acquire and construct the Authorized Improvements is $42,500,000.00 (including issuance and other financing costs).

The District is proposed to include approximately 366.455 acres of land generally located south of County Road 206 and north of Highway 29, located within the corporate limits of the City and as more particularly described by the metes and bounds description provided below.

The City shall levy assessments on each parcel within the District in a manner that results in imposing equal shares of the costs on property similarly benefited. ll assessments may be paid in full at any time (including interest and principal), and certain assessments may be paid in annual installments (including interest and principal).

If an assessment is allowed to be paid in installments, then the installments must be paid in amounts necessary to meet annual costs for those Authorized Improvements financed by the assessment, and must continue for a period necessary to retire the indebtedness of those Authorized Improvements (including interest).

The City will not be obligated to provide any funds to finance the Authorized Improvements, except for assessments levied on real property within the District and possible tax reinvestment zone revenue, if created. All of the costs of the Authorized Improvements will be paid from assessments, from possible tax reinvestment zone revenue, if created, and from other sources of funds, if any, available to the Petitioner.

During the public hearing, any interested person and the owner of the Property within the proposed district may speak for or against the establishment of the District and the advisability of the improvements to be made for the benefit of the property within the District.

METES AND BOUNDS DESCRIPTION

366.455 ACRES OF LAND, MORE OR LESS, OUT OF THE JOHN B. BERRY SURVEY, ABSTRACT NO. 56 IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TEXAS, AND BEING THE REMAINDER OF THE TRACT OF LAND CONVEYED TO THE BUTLER FAMILY PARTNERSHIP, LTD. BY INSTRUMENT RECORDED IN DOCUMENT NO. 2010087926 save and except THE FOLLOWING TRACTS: 10.00 ACRES DESCRIBED IN DOCUMENT NO. 2015102000, 45.00 ACRES DESCRIBED IN DOCUMENT NO. 2015108887, 45.00 ACRES DESCRIBED IN DOCUMENT NO. 2015108892 AND 80.00 ACRES DESCRIBED IN DOCUMENT NO. 2016028473 IN THE OFFICIAL PUBLIC RECORDS OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TEXAS, SAID TRACT BEING MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS AND AS SHOWN ON THE ATTACHED SKETCH: Beginning at an iron rod found on the north right-of-way of Hwy 29 at the southeast corner of an 80.00 acre tract described in Document No. 2016028473, for the Point of Beginning and southwest corner of the herein described tract; Thence N 17 deg 41 min 20sec E a distance of 1532.01 feet to an iron rod found at the most easterly corner of the said 80.00 acre tract, for an interior ell corner of the herein described tract; Thence N 24 deg 12 min 19 sec W a distance of 1219.52 feet to an iron rod found at the northeast corner of the said 80.00 acre tract, being also on the south line of a 16.747 acre tract conveyed to Mark Remmert by instrument of record in Document No. 9611531, for a westerly corner of the herein described tract; Thence N 70 deg 08 min 21 sec E a distance of 55.28 feet to an iron rod found at the southwest corner of a 50 foot wide access easement recorded in Document No. 9706653, being also the southeast corner of the said 16.747 acre tract and the southmost southwest corner of a 132.225 acre tract conveyed to Dinah Brothers by instrument of record in Document No. 2008063553;

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Thence N 69 deg 38 min 20 sec E a distance of 49.87 feet to an iron rod found at the southeast corner of the said easement and the southmost southeast corner of the said 132.225 acre tract, for an interior ell corner of the herein described tract; Thence N 21 deg 08 min 02 sec W a distance of 701.41 feet to an iron rod found at the northeast corner of the said easement, for a point on the westerly line of the herein described tract; Thence N 20 deg 56 min 40 sec W a distance of 60.67 feet to an iron rod found at an interior ell corner of the said 132.225 acre tract, for a westerly corner of the herein described tract.

Thence with the common line between the said 132.225 acre tract and herein described tract the following courses and distances: N 69 deg 25 min 31 sec E a distance of 1345.10 feet to an iron rod found; N 04 deg 02 min 05 sec W a distance of 774.14 feet to an iron rod found; S 69 deg 32 min 49 sec W a distance of 388.38 feet to a steel pipe fence corner post found; N 19 deg 44 min 41 sec W a distance of 935.24 feet to an iron rod found on the south line of a 250.0 acre tract conveyed to Stacy Browning Estate by instrument of record in Document No 2006073171, being also the northeast corner of the said 132.225 acre tract, for the northwest corner of the herein described tract; Thence with the common line between the said 250.0 acre tract and the herein described tract the following courses and distances; N 69 deg 40 min 00 sec E a distance of 954.84 feet to an iron rod found; N 69 deg 41 min 03 sec E a distance of 380.64 feet to an iron rod found; N 67 deg 53 min 27 sec E a distance of 681.43 feet to an iron rod found; N 68 deg 45 min 12 sec E a

distance of 401.39 feet to an iron rod found at the northwest corner of a 22.0 acre tract conveyed to Robert Harris by instrument of record in Volume 1062, Page 562, for the northeast corner of the herein described tract; Thence S 20 deg 45 min 01 sec E a distance of 4616.96 feet to a cedar post fence corner found at the northeast corner of a 99.0 acre tract conveyed to Leroy Hall Revocable Living Trust by instrument of record in Document No. 9819014, for the southeast corner of the herein described tract; Thence S 69 deg 23 min 00 sec W a distance of 1733.68 feet to a cedar post fence corner found at the northwest corner of the said 99.0 acre tract and the northmost corner of a 45.0 acre tract, for an interior ell corner of the herein described tract; Thence S 52 deg 39 min 58 sec W. a distance of 2538.30 feet to an iron rod found on the said north right-of-way of Hwy 29 at the southwest corner of the said 45.00 acre tract and the southmost corner of the herein described tract; Thence with the said right-ofway line the following courses and distances: With a curve to the left whose radius=1005.40 feet,Tangents=105.19 feet, Arc=209.63 feet and whose Chord bears N 58 deg 45 min 44 sec W a distance of 209.25 feet to an iron rod found; With a curve to the right whose radius=2249.81 feet, Tangents=180.28 feet, Arc=359.79 feet and whose Chord bears N 64 deg 36 min 43 sec W a distance of 359.41 to an iron rod found; N 64 deg 26 min 50 sec W a distance of 70.53 feet to the Point of Beginning and containing 366.455 acres of land, more or less.

Steven W. Womack Registered Professional Land Surveyor No. 5025, State of Texas, 25 April 2017

ENTERTAINMENT

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT Thursday, November 29, 2018 Page 42

MOVIE REVIEW

Ralph a witty glimpse at our digital world

By LAURIE COKER Entertainment Columnist for The Independent Classic video game badguy Ralph is back in the delightfully entertaining “Ralph Breaks the Internet”.

Just in time for the holidays, Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (voiced by Sarah Silverman) race back into our hearts. Co-directors Phil Johnston and Rich Moore stop at nothing to engage readers with eye-popping animation and vivid colors. Johnston, who co-wrote the screenplay with Pamela Ribon, however, are what lifts “Ralph Breaks the Internet” up, making it fun for everyone.

Ralph and fellow game folks exist harmoniously inside their arcade worlds. They do their thing day in and day out, and Vanellope becomes restless. Her life lacks variety, the tracks never change, but it is not until her game breaks that she and alph venture into the internet to find eBay and a new steering wheel for her outdated game. Once inside the world wide web, Ralph and Vanellope go on an adventure that tests their friendship and explores the boundaries and limits of emotional ties.

Silverman is the star voice here, although Riley’s Ralph gets top bill. Vanellope’s struggle to follow her dreams or lose her best friend reso-

MIKE EDDLEMAN PHOTO

n downtown entonville, Arkansas, visitors can step back in time to where Sam Walton started it all. The city is full of museums, shopping, outdoors and dining options.

World-class art, history in Arkansas

COURTESY GRAPHIC

nates with all ages and Silverman makes it real.

Even animated, we feel what these two friends experience, offering messages and lessons for us all.

In addition to the stellar voice cast, which includes Gal Gadot (Shank), Jane Lynch (Calhoun) and Jack McBrayer (Felix), creators entertain by

See RALPH, Page 43

Tis the season to dance

By HAEVEN GIBBONS LHHS Student Intern he holiday season is filled with enriching family activities that bring so much joy and happiness. Ovation Ballet Company’s “The Nutcracker” is a beautiful production that is dedicated to spreading the holiday spirit!

Ovation Ballet Company tells the story of The Nutcracker in two acts. Act I begins with the story of a young girl, Clara, who receives a nutcracker as a gift at a holiday party. Clara falls asleep with the Nutcracker, which takes her on a magical adventure. Clara’s dream is portrayed in Act II with or- Student Intern Haeven Gibbons is a member of the Ovation nate costumes and lights that Ballet Company, and is dancing the roles of Frau Silberhaus (Mama) and snow ake in Act and the solosit role of Dew Drop See NUTCRACKER, Page 43 in Act . ( ourtesy hoto)

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Tucked away in the northwest corner of Arkansas is a surprising destination for any traveler who enjoys worldclass art in a relaxing, slower-paced setting.

Bentonville, Arkansas – most famous for being the home of Wal-Mart – has a number of treasures for visitors including art and history museums, parks with miles of tree-lined trails and delicious dining options all wrapped in a smalltown feel.

The crown jewel of Bentonville is the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, established as a nonprofit by the Walton family in 2005. The museum itself is a work of art worth exploring inside and out, designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie.

While exploring the museum’s extensive collection of historic works including portraits of Americans such as George Washington and iconic pieces such as “Rosie the Riveter”, visitors are treated to hall after hall of works by Norman Rockwell, Georgia O’Keefe and Andy Warhol, while always close to wide expanses of windows that give a glimpse of the extensive grounds.

The grounds are dotted

with art as well, lining trails through the hillsides and woods surrounding the museum. Two dozen sculptures and installations include a Frank Lloyd Wright house that was moved to the site from New Jersey and rebuilt.

Crystal Bridges, like many places to visit in Bentonville, is free, and deserves a day or more to take in all the sights inside and out.

The Museum of Native American History is another stop visitors can take in at no charge and see in an hour or two. It holds an extensive collection of artifacts, including what has to be one of the largest collections of arrowheads anywhere.

Because Bentonville is the home of Wal-Mart, there are not many places to go where the alton family in uence can’t be seen. The downtown square is one example, where the original store owned and operated by Sam Walton sits, surrounded now by a museum that includes all kinds of WalMart history as well as an oldtime soda fountain.

Art is everywhere in town, with sculptures through the parks and galleries downtown – one of the cleanest and best maintained downtown areas I’ve seen. y many definitions, enton-

ville is a small town, but being the hub of a company like Wal-Mart makes it a different kind of small town. It is the home of dozens and dozens of restaurants, many very unique and filled with international are.

We dined at a pair of unique restaurants – The Hive and The Table Mesa Bistro. The Hive had a menu full of unique options with a southern twist, while The Table Mesa Bistro was all about new twists on Mexican and Latin specialties, including about a dozen types of enchiladas.

Exploring the town a little bit more, though, we stumbled on to a most unique dining location called 8th Street Market. The market is home to “Brightwater: A Center for the Study of Food”, which is affiliated with the local college and serves as an incubator of sorts for up and coming culinary businesses. Inside, there is an incredible chocolate shop called Markham & Fitz, Bike Rack Brewing Company and Yeyo’s Mexican Grill that gives any Central Texas taco shop a run for its money.

There are a handful of other dining options inside including a sports bar, Columbian and Thai food and a cheese

See TRAVEL, Page 43

HOLIDAY EDITION 2018

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

RALPH

Page 43

Continued from Page 42

making countless references to the booming and often strange internet culture – cat and goat videos, likes, social media, search engines, and more. “Ralph Breaks the Internet” provides a wonderfully vivid, animated (and often satirical) tour of the place where we do almost everything – shop, entertain ourselves, connect to friends and family, interact with people all over the world, learn new things and bear our feelings. Johnston and Ribon even take us into the darker aspects of the web – worms and all.

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” is an excellent sequel in a movie world where little feels original or fresh. Johnston and Ribon’s script is inge-

CUTTER

MIKE EDDLEMAN PHOTOS

The Fly’s Eye Dome by Buckminster Fuller is one of two dozen works of art on the grounds of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.

TRAVEL

Continued from Page 42

shop. We didn’t have enough time to explore is special for those of us who don’t get to see the market like we wanted, but it was one of the much of the season. more uni ue and definitely tasty stops on the trip.

Small bits of history and dozens of lesser-known Not far from entonville is the Pea idge Na- attractions can be seen along the way depending tional attlefield -- the sight of the ivil ar on your route, including ort Smith, rkansas, battle that is said to have saved Missouri for the the uachita National orest and the apital of Union. The park offers an extensive seven-mile the hoctaw Nation in klahoma, and perhaps driving tour of the battlefield as well as an e hib- the iffel ower in Paris, e as. it at the visitors center.

Mike@LHIndependent.com ust 2 miles east of Pea idge is ureka Springs, hidden away in the mountains, with shops, restaurants, hotels and homes all sitting precariously on the edge of a steep drop off or dug into the side of a hill.

It is a great destination for a day of shopping and dining, but be aware of scheduled events because on a busy day the crowds are overwhelming.

Bentonville has all of the usual hotel options at varying prices, but we used Air for the first time and stayed in a small home right on the edge of the grounds of rystal ridges. e were within walking distance of many area attractions, and with all the opportunity to wander through the city’s extensive network of trails, staying in a neighborhood worked out perfectly.

The journey is a pretty easy eight-hour drive from entral e as, and if you have a choice, your trip should be scheduled for the fall.

Here at home leaves turn brown and fall, but as you wind your way north, crossing into astern klahoma and the northwestern corner of Arkansas, the roads are lined with colorful reminders that real fall does exist in bright oranges, reds and yellows. Delectables like chocolate raspberry tarts and homeThe dense forest lining the interstate from made marshmallows covered in chocolate are among ort Smith up to entonville e plodes with the many sweet options at Markham and Fitz where color in ctober and November, and while dessert seekers can find a variety of alcoholic and it is probably beautiful year round, the fall non-alcoholic chocolate drinks and treats.

niously simple and skillfully witty. Its playfully serious, too – making it thematically and amusingly relevant to all ages - its messages clear and timely. More than anything, though, it is great fun and worth a solid A and a full price ticket. “Ralph Wrecks the Internet” succeeds because it is clever, complex and the complete package.

Laurie Coker is a Film Critic with True View Reviews and a member of the Austin Film Critics Association. She is a retired educator and doctoral student at Sam Houston State University.

Continued from Page 7

employee that their phone app forgot to say soy milk.

The men who sit around me don’t know that I work for the iti ens Interested ssociation. I listen to their non-Texas accents as they clamor for another fire station and critici e the voters of this county for recently “leaning blue.” I’ve begun to refer to them privately as the political ombies or ctober grasshoppers -- dead and don’t know it. But then again we’re all dead in trespasses and sins.

But as I stir in the questionable looking tan dairy-free powder into an alleged cup of coffee that would most likely take the paint right off the White House, I ponder what would happen if I used the Uber app and said I wanted to travel from the Quick Service Garage in Liberty Hill to atmeal. onder what Siri and ber would say about that?

My new friends, sitting at the nearby table (I should say neighbors but I can’t because that implies a certain Texas tradition of checking on someone when they are sick) are talking about election results. nderstanding lection

NUTCRACKER

Night is like looking through Saint Paul’s glass darkly. I could explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you. But I doubt our ears can be tuned to hear one another since our consciences have been seared over by the hot irons of NN and o News.

I want to tell them the best politician I ever met was a self-interested bullshitter and the worst was a liar and a crook. But I don’t say anything. he I doesn’t take kindly to sharing opinions and my arthritis interferes with me making a good solid fist if I needed to defend myself in order to give me time to make it to the truck.

If these hills could talk, would they say the dinosaurs were the scariest he omanche r us he earth turned, but none of us said anything to one another. The earth always turns and it’s a good thing it does. You should have seen this place when the dinosaurs had it.

Wilt Cutter says he is the only human whose name is his profession. Wilt describes himself as a reading man and says the best things in this life are free.

Continued from Page 42

truly compliment the aura of the dream. The Acts include dancing party guests, menacing rats, soldiers parading candy canes, elegant snow akes, the Nutcracker Prince, and the e uisite Sugar Plum airy. he Nutcracker allet is over 100 years old, composed by Tchaikovsky and choreographed

by Petipa, vation allet hopes to keep the history of the ballet alive through accurately retelling the story. vation allet ompany has been telling the story of the Nutcracker for 14 years. he company is led by directors Kristi Stere, Libby Lovejoy, Julia Dzubinski, Rachael Hulse, and arie Pearce. Stere has handmade many of the costumes, making the show beautifully unique. vation is a youth company comprised of 0 dancers ranging from ages -1 . ancers rehearse tirelessly from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. every Saturday for months leading up to the show. his year’s principal dancers include ily . as the Sugar Plum airy, Nikolay . as the Nutcracker, iranda . as lara, and ustin-based guest artist hris . as rosselmeyer. he

company puts on three shows -- ec. 1 and 2 at ake ravis High School and ec. at estival Institute oncert Hall estival Hill in ound Top. estival Hill is a stunning venue established by ames ick in 19 1. he theater captures the rich history of estival Hill in its charming woodwork, and has 1,000 seats that sell out every year for vation’s Nutcracker performance. oming to the show is a great way to bring the family together and celebrate the holiday season. or tickets and more information, go to www.tututix.com/dancersworkshop. vation allet ompany is in association with Dancers Workshop in Austin.

Another DW event that will be taking place this holiday season is called reative Habit. ach year, students involved in reative Habit put on an entire contemporary production and donate all proceeds to a charity of their choosing. ’ rien School for the aasai in an ania is the recipient of all proceeds. The show is on ec. 14 from -9 p.m.

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SPARKS

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Continued from Page 5

to get a baseball autographed by all the returning varsity players for a student who really wanted one. Lauper found a cell phone at the football stadium and responsibly turned it in. Hernandez, nominated by Chef Hawthorne, was recognized for her willingness to not only clean up the dishes for her group but the entire class. Porter was honored for regularly helping another student stay organized and keeping his papers for the next day so he will have them. Palladino distinguished herself by taking it upon herself to help “a brand new student to Liberty Hill and America.”

Carver was recognized for translating every assignment for another student and staying after school to advocate for them. Also selected as Sparks’ honorees were Lunan Tengelitsch, who assisted the teacher by helping a student upload images of his artwork unto his slide presentation, and Bella Villalpando, who displayed immense patience and a very positive demeanor while being an “amazing partner for a student who was having trouble finding a group.

Marchand said a display had been set up in the cafeteria to honor the students for being the spark that ignited positive change and building momentum for the new campus movement. In addition, the students were treated to lunch at an area restaurant along with the teachers who nominated them.

New nominees are announced daily during the school announcements. Eight students, two from each grade level, are expected to be recognized each month.

Businesses or individuals interested in sponsoring the program can reach Marchand at bmarchand@libertyhill.txed. net.

GARAGE

Continued from Page 29

bright and I’m trying to give her as much info about general mechanic work as I can,” he said. “I’m showing her what to look for, how to troubleshoot, and of course being ex-military, safety is a big deal. I’m showing her how to make sure the job is done well and safely. She recently did the rear brakes in a truck and I just looked it over and made sure it was right. Her dad would be proud of her.”

Paige is the youngest of Kathy and Charles’ four children. She’s been a part of Quick Service Garage her whole life. When she was a child, she’d watch her dad work and would help him with a few simple things here and there. She even had a 1971 Ford that her dad gave her and he’d let her drive it around on their family ranch when she was about 11. That was the first time she drove a stick shift.

“He’d let me drive it and we’d work on it, and he’d let me do the minor stuff,” she said. “I’d watch him do the bigger stuff. That truck never got finished because he passed away, but lenn eventually finished my dad’s project and I sold it because I needed something more reliable. I regret not having it now.”

As a child, Paige remembers taking everything apart that she could. She would sneak into the shop and find a screwdriver and then take whatever

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Choir program thriving at LHJH

Submitted by LHJH “There have always been singers in Liberty Hill, they just needed the place and the program to thrive.”

This is what Liberty Hill High School Choir Director Davina Hendrix, who started the choir program in Liberty Hill ISD in 2016, says on a daily basis.

Clark Stanley is in his second year as the Director of Choirs at Liberty Hill Junior High and Liberty Hill Intermediate. He was hired in 2017 to take over the Junior High program and start a 6th grade choir.

“To say I love my job is an understatement.

I love the community, the kids, and the wonderful faculty/leadership in Liberty Hill ISD Schools. It is ‘the place to be’ for me,” Stanley said.

Last year, the non-varsity boys group and a varsity girls group competed in the UIL Concert and Sight-reading Contest. Both were a first for the district. he boys earned “Sweepstakes” and the girls earned “Excellent” ratings.

Thanks to district and community support, the program has increased participation and enrollment from 127 students to 188 students in just one year. The program expects to hit about 240 students on both campuses

she could find apart. Sometimes she could put things back together, and sometimes she couldn’t.

Paige said there’s something about seeing a vehicle come into the shop broken and being able to troubleshoot and figure out what’s wrong.

“It’ll come in and it sounds awful and then we get under the hood and start working and then the next thing you know you turn it on and it’s running, and it sounds good,” she said.

Kathy said initially, she and her husband were disappointed none of their children wanted to carry the business on, but at the time, Paige was still too young to know what she wanted to do with her life. Fortunately, before he passed away, he and Paige were able to talk about her desire to become a mechanic.

“Sometimes I’ll be working on something and I get really stuck, and all of a sudden I’ll ust figure it out, Paige said. “I feel like that’s my dad shining a light on what I need to do. After I get something done, I always think about him and think, ‘Man, if dad could see that, I know he’d be proud.’”

Currently, Paige works in the shop a couple of days a week, and she plans on getting her inspector’s license soon. In the spring, she plans to attend Central Texas College to earn a master mechanic certification.

Clark Stanley is in his second year as the choir director at Liberty Hill Junior High and Liberty Hill Intermediate School. LHISD is seeing much success with its choir program on every campus. (Courtesy Photo) combined by next year. The high school program is at 96 singers strong and will only continue to grow. Every choir Hendrix has ever taken to contest at LHHS has received “Superior” ratings.

“We have only students to thank,” said Stanley. “They are the best students any-

Kathy believes it’s important for people to know that Paige has had a rough life, because of how much she’s persevered at such a young age.

“She had some bad things happen to her and her dad didn’t get to be there for her for a long time,” Kathy said.

“She got lost in the shuf e being the youngest child. We didn’t see things we should have seen, but she’s overcome all that. She’s been sober for 18 months now, and previous to that she had been trying to get sober for four years. You can grow and change from your mistakes. She’s got a long way to go. She’s only 19, but it’s a testimony to her wanting to better herself. She’s a tough person who has persevered in spite of us.”

Although Paige’s life hasn’t been easy, she said she is grateful for the hardships she’s had.

“I probably wouldn’t have wanted to come back to the shop if I hadn’t gone through the things in my life I did,” she said. “I wouldn’t have had an interest. My sobriety is a big part of me being here.”

Paige said her vision for the future of Quick Service Garage is to be like her dad.

“This place is like the heart of Liberty Hill,” she said. “You never know who is going to come in. I just want to be in the middle of it. I see this place

where. Without them we cannot achieve excellence. They have done all the work to grow the choir program from where it started. They work hard and exemplify what it means to be a Panther every day in class and around their school.”

having a long future.”

Charles’ great love was old cars. He rebuilt his first car, a hevy, when he was ust 1 years old.

“He loved vintage cars and our dream was always to get more into vintage restoration work, but it didn’t work out that way,” Kathy said.

The Canadys have had to adjust their business over the last several decades as Liberty Hill has changed from a rural to more urban setting, she added. The business used to spend a lot more time working on baling equipment and tractors, but now because it’s not needed much anymore, they mainly work on automobiles. The garage can do anything when it comes to automotive repair, from brakes and AC repairs to safety inspections and body work.

Kathy said her husband was big on taking care of customers and trying to do as much as he could to help them.

“We try to follow through with that,” she said. “It’s a little harder now a days because it’s a different world now and the community has changed.

There are a lot of new people, but we still try to have that small-town customer service feeling because it’s the right thing to do.”

Paige added that her father was the type of person who would fi someone’s car and let them pay him later on

when they could afford to. From day one, Charles was very public oriented, Kathy said, and that’s how Heimbigner is now.

“If we don’t do something right and we have to fi it, we will fi it, she said.

Heimbigner echoed similar sentiments.

“I love the older cars, but we work on everything and I’m honest with everybody all the time,” he said. “I’m not here to get rich. I’m here to get you a good quality repair job at a decent price. We’re trying to continually build a good business.”

Kathy and Paige plan on Quick Service Garage being around for the long haul.

“I’ve been on this corner since 1992,” Kathy said. “It’s really not that long, but it’s a lot of my life. I want to be here until I’m obnoxious. When you’re self-employed you don’t get to retire, so I would like to be here until Paige finds a way to get rid of me.

“I want to be sitting in [my mom’s office chair and she’ll be on a cruise or something and I can’t figure something out so I’ll be like, ‘Crap, I’ve got to call mom,’” Paige added.

Quick Service Garage is located at 100 oop 2 and is open onday through hursday from 9 a.m. to p.m.

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WATER

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Continued from Page 39

Cedar Park and Leander.

“It is higher than many of your neighbors, but there is a reason for that,” he said. “One reason is that while the others are frequently included in these comparisons, it’s not really fair to compare you to those cities. Most water and sewer systems are based on economies of scale, the more customers you have the more effective and efficient it is to provide service. Then when you tack on the need to invest in your future to meet your extraordinary growth requirements that’s going to add to the cost as well. Smaller cities typically have higher rates, and high-growth cities that are facing the need to invest in their future also typically have a little bit higher rates.”

What’s coming with growth?

The City currently has 833 water customers and 4,993 wastewater customers, but there has been talk of Liberty Hill negotiating with Georgetown to take over many of the water accounts that are within the City’s wastewater service area.

No agreement is in place, and City Administrator Greg Boatright said that decision would ultimately be made based on how much sense it makes for the city.

“Growth is going to be a key component of this long-term financial plan, ackson said. “ e have developed a long-term financial plan, actually a 10-year forecast. A forecast is not a guarantee, a forecast is a prediction based on a series of reasonable assumptions.”

History shows the City has been adding 100 to 125 water accounts annually in recent years, up to 833 this year from 573 in 2016. Based on that trend, total accounts are expected to exceed 1,000 in 2021 and be just shy of 2,000 by 2028.

On the wastewater side, Liberty Hill has added just over 1,900 accounts since 2016 and is projected to be at over 13,000 by 2028 -- more than three times the current total.

“Your wastewater growth has been really extraordinary, ackson said. “ ou’ve grown at a rate of about 500 to 1,000 accounts per year over the last three years. The good news is while there is going to be a lot of investment necessary to meet the needs, every new account is a new monthly charge.” ater consumption is also e pected to double over the ne t decade. hile the ity currently has enough water or access to water to more than cover demand, with the ability to deliver 800,000 gallons per day – which is 2.5 times more than current usage – any dramatic change could speed up the need for securing more water.

What will drive future rates? ackson outlined three basic e penses for a utility – operating costs, capital outlays and debt service.

“The capital outlays are low-ticket capital expenditures,” he said. “Things like trucks, computers, pumps. In other words they are not things you would issue debt for.”

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Thursday, November 29, 2018

The rate study assumed an annual increase of three percent for personnel and operating expense, and based on City plans, $98.9 million in capital improvements over the next decade to be covered by bond debt.

“By far the most important category for the City of Liberty Hill is the debt principle and interest, and that is the debt you have to issue, ackson said. “Based on the city’s current data, put together by staff and engineers, the city is forecast to expend as much as $98 million for improvements to the water and sewer systems in the next decade, and that by far is your biggest impact on your long-term rate plan.” he financial model built by illdan broke down the annual operating expense and projected capital outlay by year over the next decade to provide a more detailed look at when rate increases would be needed.

The capital improvement plan includes $37.8 million in water system improvements and $61 million in wastewater improvements.

“There is a lot of water (capital improvement pro ects in 202 and 202 , ackson said. “ hat this tells us is you don’t have a lot of water debt in the early years, but you will have a lot in the later years. That allows you to slowly step up your rates over the ne t five to 10 years so when it comes time to issue this large amount of debt you already have the rates in place to fund it.” hile the water system work is later on in the plan for the next decade, the wastewater im-

provement plan is much more spread out.

“The wastewater is a lot more of the debt and about five to seven million dollars a year more each year for the ne t nine years, ackson said.

“The amount of wastewater spending is going to be a lot more consistent, which means you are going to need more immediate adjustments to your wastewater rates to fund it.”

The long-term plan will allow the City to adjust rates more closely to match actual costs year by year, but ackson said studying the growth, need and current rates often is a critical part of that plan.

“You’re dealing with some very extraordinary growth issues right now, ackson said. “ hose growth issues are going to require you to very fre uently revise your operating and financial plans. You’re investing in the future of your community. The capital plan is going to make Liberty Hill a more dynamic community, but that’s going to involve investment, and investment is going to require setting rates in place that assure you can repay the money that you borrow.”

In next week’s edition, The Independent will look more closely at the planned capital projects that would make up the $98 million in new debt over the next decade.

Mike@LHIndependent.com

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THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

Thursday, November 29, 2018