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LETTERS TO SANTA - PAGE B3 Volume 34, Issue 5
www.LHIndependent.com
2020
News@LHIndependent.com
December 24, 2020 | 50 Cents
On your Liberty Hill holiday light tour, be sure to visit the ‘island of misfit decorations’
Todd Washburn was recently appointed Asst. Superintendent of Teaching, Learning and School Leadership. (Courtesy Photo)
LHISD welcomes new Asst. Superintendent
By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor Todd Washburn has been the places Liberty Hill is going. He understands where Liberty Hill has come from, and more importantly, has experienced the changes happening fast in his new school district. Washburn joins Liberty Hill ISD as the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning, and School Leadership, and is thrilled by the opportunity he sees ahead. “Liberty Hill really excited me because it really reminded me of Leander about 25 years ago,” he said. “I had a great experience there, spending 20 years of my 30-year career there. I grew as an educator and administrator in a fast-growth district and was really drawn to that in Liberty Hill. This is a great school district with really strong administration. I felt like my experience was just a great match for Liberty Hill.” After receiving 61 applications for the assistant superintendent position, the district interviewed six applicants. Following interviews and background checks, Superintendent Steve Snell recommended to the School Board to hire Washburn. “Mr. Washburn brings a wealth of experience from fast growth and high performing school districts,” said Snell. Originally from the Midwest, Washburn spent the last 25 years in Central Texas. “I went to a really small school in a small town,” Washburn said. “I am really drawn to that kind of community. My wife and I got married and moved from Ohio to El Paso, and started in a small school district just outside of El Paso.” They moved to Central Texas and landed in Leander, back before Leander ISD was busting at the seams. “When we started in Leander it was a small town,” Washburn said. “They had one high school, a middle school and four elementary schools, and we really just loved that small
See WASHBURN, Page A4 ©2020 The Liberty Hill Independent
By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer Throughout the Stonewall subdivision in Liberty Hill, a flood of homes covered head to toe in Christmas lights and decorations sparkle in all their glory. One house, however, stands out from the pack, surely noticeable from space for all its brightness and cheer. The display of Christmas spirit at 108 Rhinestone Cove can only be described as a winter festival shrunken down and stuffed into one front yard. Eye-catching, to say the least, the senses are overwhelmed, not knowing what to focus on. For these
See LIGHTS, Page A3
ANTHONY FLORES PHOTO
Sara Brown Flemming’s Christmas display, at 108 Rhinestone Cove, was named the winner of The Liberty Hill Independent’s 2020 Home Decoration Contest.
What’s the deal with fruitcake?
By ANTHONY FLORES Staff Writer Doing a Google search on the word fruitcake brings up more than a few amusing results, notably in the “people also ask” section. The top two questions are, “Is fruitcake good?” and “What’s the deal with fruitcake?” The infamous holiday dessert has proved to be a divisive topic for decades, even stirring a variety of reactions and emotions here in Liberty Hill. The history of the fruitcake dates as far back as ancient Roman times, with a simple recipe of pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins mixed into a cake made out of barley mash. As time moved
forward, the basic recipe changed and adapted region by region. In Australia and Bulgaria, fruitcake is a year-round delicacy. In Ireland, it’s commonly eaten during their Halloween season. Here in the U.S, fruitcake is a staple at Christmas. Liberty Hill resident Stacey Gately is pro fruitcake, sharing a sentimental connection with it. “I love fruitcake. It reminds me of my great-grandmother,” said Gately. “She always brought fruitcake with rum. There are so many memories. I love it to this day. I like the candied fruit, and the nuts and the whole top layer is amazing.” Debbie Vinson Harrison
doesn’t mince words when making her feelings clear on the cake. “I hate it, and it goes straight in the trash,” said Harrison. “When I was young, I ate some of the candied fruit and vomited for days.” In Corsicana, Collin Street Bakery has been serving up and shipping out fruitcakes to all 50 states and 196 countries since 1896. For Tim Anderson, this is his source for the best fruitcake. “I grew up in Dallas-Fort Worth, and my folks would get one from Collin Street Bakery. I was totally just meh on it growing up. Then 15 years or so ago, I moved out of Texas and lived all over the Liberty Hill resident Bobbie Fuller Byerly makes a no-bake version of fruitcake that is easy to make and satisfies that urge for See FRUITCAKE, Page A5 lovers of the holiday tradition. (Courtesy Photo)
BUSINESS
Farm to Fork headed to town
Former Hobo Junction undergong major facelift
By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer A familiar location in town will be home to a new restaurant in early 2021. Formerly the home of Hobo Junction, Farm to Fork is slated to open its second location in the same building, once renovations are complete. Since purchasing the Hobo Junction building in late 2017, Anderson Price, president of Life Long Property Management, has been excited to see what the restaurant’s potential is. “We have bought several retail buildings in Liberty Hill, and when we saw Hobo Junction for sale, I talked to my partner,” he said. “We wanted to preserve the funky, old aspect of the place. We didn’t want to tear it down and put a Taco Bell there, which would have been the easy thing to do, but we wanted to
keep what was unique about the restaurant. We wanted to keep that little piece of Liberty Hill there.” Improvements to the restaurant started in mid-2018, when former owner Nacona McDowell was still there running Hobo Junction. But because of the building’s condition and lack of insurance approval, the restaurant was closed in March 2020. McDowell had talked with Price about remodeling the building, but over time, and after opening the Junction Café in Bertram, she decided to dedicate more time to that location and move on from Liberty Hill. That’s when Farm to Fork came into the picture, Price said. “We’re talking with Amy Schaffner, who runs Farm to Fork in Leander,” he said. “It’s a delicious place. I happened to be eating there and I
While a major remodel is taking place at the former Hobo Junction restaurant, including a raised ceiling and roof, new windows and a brand new kitchen, original aspects of the building will remain, such as the murals. brought it up with the owners working on the final lease similar to the food that has that we were in the process of terms as well as kitchen design been served at Hobo Junction remodeling this building and and associated costs, and then over the years,” Price said. “It our current tenant wasn’t inter- his hope is to announce that made sense to have another ested in continuing to operate, Farm to Fork will be the new chef with ties to the area servand they were excited.” tenant. ing a similar type of fare.” Price said the lease is not a “Amy grew up eating at Hobo “done deal” yet, but they are Junction, and her food is very See RESTAURANT, Page A4