Liberty Hill International Sculpture & Hot Air Balloon Festival Guide

PAGE 2

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

Welcome to the Liberty Hill International Sculpture & Balloon Festival Welcome to Liberty Hill, a community that proudly supports the arts!

On Saturday, Oct. 19, the Liberty Hill Development Foundation invites your family to the annual Liberty Hill International Sculpture and Hot Air Balloon Festival at Lions Foundation Park on Loop 332 in Liberty Hill.

The fun begins at 7 a.m. Oct. 19 with a raffle to win a ride in a Hot Air Balloon.

The balloons will launch at 7:45 a.m. just as the 5K Fun Run begins. Visitors are encouraged to spend the morning watching live sculpting demos in a variety of mediums. Children are invited to participate in hands-on art activities hosted by local businesses.

Vendors, live music and food trucks will be open until 1 p.m., in addition to live exhibitions by Texas Powered Paragliding, Soulshine Rhythm Experience and the EOL kite team.

The Sculpture Park will be open for self-guided tours from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. The first 100 people to take a tour will receive a free ticket to the Hot Air Balloon Glow

55( DX[ ´[ ´ TW\

SantaRitaRanchAustin.com

and Street Dance that begins at 7 p.m.

The park reopens at 7 p.m. for ticketed guests. The evening portion of the festival features a Hot Air Balloon Glow, street dance featuring People’s Choice Band and a Silent Disco with three high-energy DJs. Tethered balloon rides will be available as well.

Admission and parking for the morning portion of the festival are free, and guests may park at Liberty Hill Intermediate School.

Admission for the evening street dance is $25 for ages 12 and older, and $5 for ages 4-11. Free parking and shuttles are available at Bill Burden Elementary, Liberty Hill Elementary and Liberty Hill Junior High. Buy tickets at www.libertyhillsculpturefestival.com or at the gate.

Tethered hot air balloon rides are offered in the morning and evening for $25.

Proceeds from the festival benefit the Liberty Hill Development Foundation, which uses the funds to preserve the sculptures.

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 3

PAGE 4

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

Creation of International Sculpture Park a renaissance for Liberty Hill

By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer It was the fall of 1976.

States and cities across the nation were celebrating the Bicentennial of the United States. And even though it was much smaller back then, Liberty Hill also celebrated the bicentennial in a big way: by hosting an international (ABOVE) The 1976 Liberty Hill International Sculpture Symposium was held downtown at sculpture symposium that the site that is current home to Veterans Memorial Park. (BELOW) In 1987, the sculptures brought in artists from were relocated to the campus of what is now Liberty Hill Intermediate School and the park around the world. was dedicated by former Texas First Lady Rita Clements. (Courtesy Photos) Mel Fowler, a painter and sculptor, organized the event. He lived part time in Liberty Hill and part time in Italy and had attended a similar symposium in Europe in 1975. When he returned to Liberty Hill after that event, he wanted to organize a similar event in Texas, which would be the first international sculpture symposium in the southwest.

At first, he planned on hosting the symposium in Austin, but after being talked into it by a friend, Fowler was convinced to hold the symposium in Liberty Hill. He invited artists he knew from around the world to come, and the town ended up hosting 25 sculptors from six different countries during October and November of 1976.

“People in town put these artists up,” said Larry Floyd, president of the Liberty Hill Development Foundation, the charitable or-

Learn More About the Liberty Hill International Sculpture Park www.LHSCULPTURES.com

ganization that owns and cares for the sculpture park. “For a few months it was a room and board type deal, and while the sculptors worked on their art during the day people would come and bring them lunch. These artists and people around town would just sit together and eat together.”

Local companies supplied the materials for the sculptures, including granite, concrete and steel.

Following the symposium, a park of abstract sculptures was left behind at what is now Veterans Park.

“The whole thing was a renaissance for Liberty Hill,” Floyd said. “It put life back into the community.

I enjoyed it and I wasn’t even that involved.”

The sculptures remained in Veterans Park for a decade, but after years of not being cared for and vandalism issues, they essentially fell into disrepair. In the mid-1980s, a new superintendent for the Liberty Hill Independent School District, Don Cunningham, was instrumental in having the sculpture park moved from downtown to the then campus of Liberty Hill High School—now Liberty Hill Intermediate School. The LHISD accepted the sculptures as part of landscaping for the school grounds.

“The sculptures were just

left,” Floyd said. “The pieces were there and subject to vandalism. Several of the pieces were abused.

We moved them to take better care of them, and that turned out to be correct. It was a good partnership with the school district. I was a school board member at the time, and we saw it as a way of protecting the sculptures.”

In May 1987, after moving all the sculptures, a re-dedication took place.

Two pieces from the original symposium were destroyed, but sculptor Jim Thomas created another sculpture for the dedication. Fowler had also added three pieces after the original symposium.

Today, the Liberty Hill International Sculpture Park showcases 27 pieces created by artists from six different countries, including France, Japan, Canada, Italy, Germany and the United States. The appraised value of those 27 pieces is $1.7 million, Floyd said.

Three years ago, on the 40th anniversary of the symposium, the annual International Sculpture Park Festival began as a way to raise money to clean, restore and preserve the sculptures in the park, as well as to let people in the area know about the unique sculpture garden and the giant treasures right in Liberty Hill.

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 5

Development Foundation serves as stewards of sculptures, history

By RACHEL MADISON Staff Writer The Liberty Hill Development Foundation has been around since the early 1990s, and while the Board’s role has changed here and there over the years, this group of locals remains dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the sculptures at the Liberty Hill International Sculpture Park.

The park is located at on the grounds of Liberty Hill Intermediate School, with some sculptures housed at the adjacent Lions Foundation Park, 355 Loop 332, which was developed from an abandoned rock quarry.

The Liberty Hill Development Foundation owns and cares for the park, including the sculptures, which were moved from downtown Liberty Hill in 1987. Lions Foundation Park is also home to Liberty Hill Youth League baseball and softball, a walking trail, a playground, a pavilion, and the Liberty Hill Public Library.

The Liberty Hill Development Foundation was formed in August 1992 and chartered by the Secretary of State in May 1993.

In December 1993, Gary Bomar of the Featherlite Corporation deeded 18 acres for the Lions Foundation Park site to Gary Spivey, who was then president of the foundation. In 1994, two of those

acres were given to the then-volunteer Liberty Hill Fire Department for their building and facilities.

“We didn’t live far from Lions Foundation Park, and back then, it was pretty much just trash,” said Larry Floyd, current president of the Foundation. “We got together with the local Lions Club and worked together. We posed the idea of creating a park and expanding the fire department there, and that got people’s attention.”

From there, a 501(c)3 organization was put together, and the park received its first grant of $50,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Floyd said, which was used to build the first baseball field at the park.

That field was dedicated in 1995.

Additional donations and grants made a walking trail, picnic tables, a fire pit and a scoreboard at the baseball field a possibility by 1997. In 2000, the Liberty Hill Public Library signed its lease and in 2001 the playscape was built.

The park was officially named Lions Foundation Park in 2002. Floyd said the reason the park has this name is because everyone who was on the original foundation was also a member of the Lions Club.

However, the Foundation and the park are a privately held 501(c)3 that has no

Members of the Liberty Hill Development Foundation Board include, from left, Treasurer Kim Sanders, Mary Lyn Jones, Darwin Wiggers, Gary Spivey, Vice President John Cascio, President Larry Floyd, Lisa Harlow, Craig Hanley, and Secretary Patrick McElhinney. Not pictured are members Angela Palmer and Susan Barnes. affiliation with the Lions Club.

The next additions to the park included the pavilion, trail lights and a donation of an additional two acres.

In 2003, the entrance was completed and benches were added. A dedication ceremony was held to officially dedicate the park for the use and enjoyment of Liberty Hill residents.

Every aspect of the park, especially in the 1990s, was essentially a labor of love by locals in the area, Floyd said.

“Back then we couldn’t get anybody to agree on incorporation of the city of Liberty Hill, so it was really just a group of people who lived here who wanted to do something for the community,” Floyd said. “We wanted somewhere for See FOUNDATION, Page 8

PAGE 6

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 7

(LEFT) Matt Pohorelsky is returning to the International Sculpture Fest and looking forward to sharing his craft of metalwork with visitors, as well as creating a piece of art on-site that will be auctioned to raise money for sculpture care and restoration. (ABOVE) Local sculptor Bob Ragan, who was commissioned to create the kneeling soldier that greets visitors to the Liberty Hill Veterans Memorial Park, will be working on-site at the Sculpture Festival.

Artists bring works to life at Sculpture Festival

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor The Liberty Hill International Sculpture Festival not only celebrates the rich local history of the medium, it brings today’s artists out to share their craft in the shadows of the works created long ago.

A signature part of the festivities is the artists’ tent, where professionals will be working on pieces and answering questions from curious visitors throughout the two-day event, sharing their knowledge and demonstrating their skills.

“I look forward to Sculpture Fest for a lot of reasons,” said Matt Pohorelsky, who can be found working over the deep orange glow of hot coals as he works on

iron art pieces. “I’m a hometown Central Texan having grown up in Giddings and being at Sculpture Fest gives me that same warm feeling that every town fair and festival I went to growing up has. It’s just fun to be a part of something like that.”

Spending time the day before the festival with Liberty Hill art students is an aspect of the event that is very appealing to Pohorelsky.

“Being able to work with the school kids is special and a reason I really look forward to this,” he said. “I’m a teacher myself and taught people from eight to 80, and to be able to talk to the next generation of artists and encourage them is something I treasure. I enjoy that aspect of

performing and that being-onstage feeling.”

Bob Ragan, who is a familiar face at the Sculpture Fest and well-known in Liberty Hill for his kneeling soldier sculpture that greets visitors at the city’s Veterans Memorial Park, will be on hand to demonstrate his craft for visitors as well as complete a piece during the festival that will be auctioned off to raise money for care of the sculptures in the park.

A pair of other stone carvers planning to work on-site, Matthew Johnson and Stuart Simpson, are both affiliated closely with Ragan and have gained much acclaim on their own.

Pohorelsky relishes the opportunity to be among other artists

as well.

“Just being around other artists, working in their mediums on display for the public and just kind of showing the public that these things we do that get our hands dirty are the very backbone of why we are as successful as we are,” he said. “Humans were doing these things, with their hands by traditional means, long before the advent of the industrial revolution. There isn’t enough of that left in the world where people aren’t afraid to get down, get their hands dirty and get something made.

“The fact that this whole event is based around these large stone sculptors, and these men and women coming with the idea they can create these beau-

tiful artistic sculpture forms out of the earth, also rings true with me with steel also, being iron we’ve ripped out of the earth and we’ve worked it and shaped it to our vision.”

In addition to the stoneworkers, a variety of other artists will be working in other mediums during the festival, including Wade Burleigh who does woodworking, and Jon Woodworth who does sand sculpting.

A less permanent and brand new addition to the art being done on-site will be created by master ice sculptor T.J. MacLaskey, who has been sculpting ice for nearly 40 years.

“The ice is just a lot of fun,” he See ARTISTS, Page 8

PAGE 8

Foundation kids to play and a place where people could come and walk. It wasn’t a grandiose deal, but it was a great opportunity.”

Bomar was instrumental in helping to clear much of the rock and junk that had accumulated at the park site over the years, while others in town volunteered their time, equipment and services to help as well.

“There were several men that were very instrumental in helping to clear it off,” said Mary Lyn Jones, who

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

Continued from Page 5 has been a Foundation board member for the last decade.

She said former City Administrator Greg Boatright’s father “had a lot of machinery and helped to clear it. It was an old rock quarry where the pavilion is and was just stacks and stacks of rock and concrete. It was really something that was hard to clear up.”

The international sculpture park, which has been housed at the school campus since 1987, used to be

TRACTORS

under the care of a cultural affairs and fine arts committee, Floyd said, but when the development foundation was created, that group dissolved and the foundation was asked to take over the care of the sculptures. A few years ago, the Foundation board amped up its care for the sculptures.

“With help from the Liberty Hill Garden Club and a grant from the Smithsonian, we cleaned all of the sculptures and had someone come out and tell us what we were doing right and wrong with the sculptures and how to take care of them,” Floyd said. “The City of Liberty Hill helped us out with getting the sculptures appraised. The value of the 27 pieces in the park is $1.7 million.

Some people wonder why we’re doing all this work,

Artists ZERO TURN MOWERS

TRAILERS SALES SERVICE & PARTS

3150 Hwy 183, Leander

ReidTX.com

512-379-4100

but they’re not just pieces of rock.”

Floyd said the Foundation learned the sculptures should be cleaned every two years to protect them.

In other efforts to protect sculptures that are currently underneath trees, the Foundation is in the process of pouring concrete pads to move eight of the sculptures to new locations.

The preservation of the sculptures is why three years ago, on the 40th anniversary of the Liberty Hill International Sculpture Symposium, the Foundation decided to start holding an annual sculpture festival.

“We use money raised from the festival each year to purchase what we need to clean the sculptures,” Floyd said. “Every penny we have is raised through

the festival or given to us via donations. We have limited monies.”

There are 12 members on the Liberty Hill Development Foundation Board— although there is currently one vacancy. Members serve a one-year term, but can be nominated annually to remain on the board.

Board members are approved at the beginning of each year.

“A lot of times we look for people and ask them to serve,” Floyd said. “We look for people who can put the time in. Everyone on the board is a good person and everyone brings different talents.”

The current Liberty Hill Development Foundation Board includes Floyd as president, John Casio as vice president, Kim Sanders as treasurer and Patrick McElhinney as secre-

tary. Other members of the board include Spivey, Jones, Susan Barnes, Craig Hanley, Lisa Harlow, Angela Palmer and Darwin Wiggers.

Ultimately, members of the Foundation have a deep love for art in Liberty Hill and want to do what they can to preserve the sculpture park’s unique beauty.

“We’re interested in promoting the arts in Liberty Hill and also honoring the work that was done,” Jones said. “We have this international sculpture garden in Liberty Hill and want people to be aware of and enjoy the park. We want to continue to enhance the park so people will enjoy visiting.”

Learn more at www.LHSCULPTURES.com.

how fast we can create a finished sculpture.”

Whether it’s ice or fire, limestone, sand or wood, Pohorelsky believes there is a common unity between them all.

“I think it’s a neat way to show another aspect of the artistry of sculpture,” he said. “Whether your medium is wood, leather, steel or stone I think the idea behind that artistic passion is what rings true and so even though I am a completely different skillset, going about things a completely different way, I still feel that unity of the artistry between myself and the stone sculptors and others just going to town.”

Unable to stop looking for new ways to create, and as MacLaskey moves into new sculpting mediums, he is excited to participate in this event, not only to share his work with visitors, but to see and work side-by-side with other artists.

“This will be my first time there,” he said. “As I’ve moved into sculpting other medium I really wanted to get involved in that world. I know ice sculptors from around the world and I’m starting to meet and know other artists in other medium around the world.”

Continued from Page 7

said. “It’s a very visual medium, obviously it is a medium that changes with the temperature and it’s something I’ve worked at long enough so I can approach it and I know what I’m going to get there, but the fun of making the snow fly and the chips fly and then when it’s done it’s like a piece of glass. It’s like art in the moment. It’s there to be enjoyed and then it’s gone, like a fine wine or good meal or a bunch of flowers.”

It is more like a special moment in time, shared only by those fortunate enough to be present.

“You’ll have those memories or your kids will have those memories, you’ll talk

about it or have pictures to share, but the fact that it’s a temporary art medium makes it to me that much more valuable,” MacLaskey said. “You were there to share it or you saw the pictures, then it’s gone.”

The combination of creative mind, skilled craftsman, a chainsaw and a glistening block of ice make for an always entertaining combination.

“It’s always great to feed off the crowd,” MacLaskey said. “They will wonder if it’s really ice, they will want to touch it and then they’re shocked that it’s cold and wet,” he said. “Then as you’re carving it snow is being thrown off and a lot of people are amazed at

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 9

PAGE 10

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 11

PAGE 12

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 13

PAGE 14

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

GONE WITH THE WIND Ballooning blends science with magic for a special flight

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor “Hot air rises.”

That’s the easy way to explain to those who stand in awe and watch a hot air balloon take flight, according to Karl Stefan, a pilot for 47 years.

But of course there is more to it than that when the engineering, meteorology and geography are all pulled together to make the unimaginable a reality.

Hot air might rise, but there’s also a basket, ropes, heating systems, pilot and maybe passengers involved, and of course that giant balloon that all become part of the magic equation.

“If you capture that hot air in a big bag, you can get lift, and the hotter you get that air, the more lift you get,” Stefan said.

Once the ground crew does its work, often as the sun rises, the pilot works to get the balloon off the ground.

“We start out just blowing regular air into the balloon, then once it gets filled with regular air, we turn on a flame that shoots into the balloon and as the air heats the balloon stands up right over your head and you add more heat, get more lift and eventually you just fly away,” Stefan said.

Piloting a balloon is more about vertical control than trying to guide it.

“Once you’re in the air you can control the up and down pretty easy by adding more heat or less heat,” Stefan said. “You try and maintain a certain temperature to keep you level, climbing or descending.”

In the case of unexpected need to land quickly, there is an expedient way to release the hot air.

“We also have a rope we can pull that opens up a big valve at the top of the balloon that dumps heat out quickly to descend right away,” Stefan said. “We can’t really steer it left or right, but sometimes when we change altitudes we can catch a wind going a different direction, but othWhile a hot air balloon may be a form of flight difficult to control and predict, there is much er than that we don’t really have any left science involved in this marvel of flight. (Courtesy Graphic) or right steering.”

Not being able to steer so much means as much planning as possible must go

into the flight before the balloon ever leaves the ground.

“You try to look at the winds ahead of time, you know, and if we take off from this point, where are we likely to blow to?

And then some days we have a lot of what we call steerage where if you change altitudes you can get quite a bit of difference in winds,” Stefan said. “We take off, and we know as we go higher we’re headed more north maybe and if we descend lower we are headed more east.”

Being unable to steer has never worried Stefan, in fact, it’s one of the magical things about ballooning for him.

“When I take off I don’t know where I’m going until I get there, and usually when I’m there I’m not sure where I am,” he said.

“That’s kind of part of the fun of it. Every flight’s an adventure.”

Pilots will look ahead, based on where they plan to take off from and where they believe the winds will take them, to try and identify a place to land. But Stefan never knows for sure, and he’s made a treetop landing to prove it.

“The wind predictions are not perfect, but they’re usually close enough where we know if we take off 20 miles out from Austin, somewhere like Taylor, and the wind is out of the south then it is not going to blow us over the Austin airport,” Stefan said. “We may not know if we’re going to land in Farmer John’s field 12 miles northeast, but we know we’re going to land somewhere in that general direction.”

He began riding with his dad at age three and was licensed to pilot a balloon at 16. Today, he is 63 with thousands of flights under his belt. That means he has experienced thousands of surprises along the way.

“I’ve landed in swamps, creeks, oceans, lakes, treetops,” he said. “If the wind dies down calm and you’re not moving, pretty much wherever you are is where you’re going to land. Once we were just coming See BALLOONING, Page 15

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

BALLOONING

up on a farmer’s field and we got within about 50 feet of the field and the wind just died. We sat there about 30 minutes and there was just dead calm and we finally settled down in the top of a big tree.”

Taking off may take a lot of preparation, but landing is the biggest challenge.

“The landing is the trickiest part, especially if the wind has picked up a little bit,” he said. “The thing that’s different about picking a landing spot than a take off spot is a take off spot you can check around for all your obstacles, but a landing spot usually you haven’t been there before and you really have to keep your eyes open and

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

Continued from Page 14 look out for any obstacles.”

He enjoys the mix of engineering and mystery that goes into ballooning, spending many years learning from his father, who worked intensely in the science of the sport.

Stefan’s father was a World War II fighter pilot, then moved into navy fighter design, but when he retired he worked for NASA for two decades where he designed high-altitude scientific balloons.

“When he retired from NASA he started a company with a couple of friends manufacturing hot air balloons and he had a lot of good engineering background to design them and he brought a lot of good engineering that he brought to this new sport

that was just starting out at the time,” he said.

For as unpredictable as the flight path may be, the science in the materials is precise.

“The design of the balloons, and calculating how much lift you need and how much weight your balloon is – the fabric, basket and the fuel tanks – that’s all pretty precise calculations with how much lift you can have and we can calculate pretty closely how much we need to heat the balloon in oder to lift off.”

Whether it is a love for the science or a fascination over the mystery of balloon flight, Stefan knows that it is something to be experienced up close to truly appreciate.

“They’re very fascinating and it’s a real fun thing,” Stefan said. “I’ve taken kids up that are two or three years old, I recently took up a woman in her 90s and people just seem to love it.

Once they come out and see it they really like it. I do my best to just introduce as many people to it as possible.”

(RIGHT) Karl Stefan, who has an easily identifiable balloon with large orange butterflies on a bright yellow background, has been a balloon pilot for 47 years.

He will be one of the pilots offering tethered rides and sharing ballooning with visitors. (Courtesy Photo)

PAGE 15

PAGE 16

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

SantaRitaRanchAustin.com

October 19, 2019

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 17

PAGE 18

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 19

PAGE 20

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 21

Local. Trusted. Experienced.

Michael Avila Realtor 512-966-6807

Jennifer Haines Realtor 512-627-8046

Jerri Hall Realtor 512-876-5071

Julie McAdoo Realtor 512-560-1440

Kim Sanders Broker Associate 512-869-9699

Jim Work Realtor 512-864-5565

PAGE 22

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

A sweet way

TO END YOUR DAY!

WE’RE OPEN ’TIL 11PM

13266 West Hwy 29 in Liberty Hill © 2019 Great Lakes Dairy Queen Owners Marketing Group, L.L.C., All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks owned by Am. D.Q. Corp. or O.J. of Am. © 2019.

FILE NAME > DQ75_14592_1_AD_MECH TRIM > 10” x 4.93” BLEED > 0 SAFETY > 0.25” DIE CUT > No

SCALE > 1” = 1” COLOR > 4/0

CREATIVE > CW ACCOUNT > JW

LOOMIS is releasing this file as requested for release noted below. We are relinquishing all responsibility for the completion of the project and the Agency will be held harmless for any error, oversights, omissions or other issues that may subsequently arise during the course of completion for this project.

PAGE 23

PAGE 24

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

The popular dancehall band, People’s Choice, will play at the Liberty Hill International Sculpture & Balloon Festival from 7-10 p.m. Oct. 19 at Lions Foundation Park. Tickets are available for $20 (adults) and $10 (children) at the gate or online at www.LibertyHillSculptureFestival.com. (Courtesy Photo)

Sculpture Festival welcomes People’s Choice Band

By MIKE EDDLEMAN Managing Editor If there’s a dance hall in Texas, People’s Choice Band has probably plugged in on stage, and sent those that came to dance home happy and exhausted.

Expect no less the evening of Oct. 19 when the well-known Texas tune masters take the stage as part of the Liberty Hill International Sculpture & Balloon Festival.

The band traces its origins back more than four decades, to 1976 to be exact, when three musicians found themselves without a band and decided to start one of their own.

“That’s how it started,”

said Howard Levine, who joined with the piano player a few months later that same year. “The half of the other band that started this, several of those folks went to the George Strait Ace in the Hole band, so the original People’s Choice was similar to that.

“We were determined to be a great dancehall band and that would mean following the legacy of people like Ray Price, Johnny Bush, Darrel McCall, Mel Tillis, you know people that played two-steppin’ music and filled the big dance halls,” he said.

County music has always been a focal point, but the band’s playlist reads more like the selection in

any jukebox, ranging from those country staples to rock.

Levine, who is the lead guitarist and rock singer of the group, said about the time he joined the band there was some focus on branching out into different styles of music.

“Through the years we’ve done all kinds of rock and R&B, and even a little bit of reggae and hip-hop mixed in with whatever else we’re doing, but the majority of it is still kind of new and old country music,” he said. “We’ve played gigs where we didn’t play almost any country and we were still seen as sort of a country band.”

The band has hit the stu-

dio a few times over the years, creating its own distinct sound and music, but playing favorites that make people want to get out of their seats in their specialty.

“We’re pretty good at it, it’s what we do well is fill dance floors and make audiences happy,” Levine said of getting a crowd moving. “Years ago, we put out several albums of original music and we still play a few, but for the most part what we’re doing is popular dance tunes, new and old. It’s for all ages and pretty family friendly.”

Four decades of playing together helps pull together that wide variety of music, but it also takes

special musicians.

“We are lucky enough to have versatile instrumentalists who play a variety of instruments,” Levine said.

“Occasionally, we bring up a horn section, and that’s our sound man, our light man and sometimes our piano player.”

That piano player is James Hembree, and he leads the way in that musical versatility.

“He’s been in the band a little longer than me,” Levine said. “Of course he’s a really good piano and organist, but he can play fiddle and trumpet and sax and bass all night long if he wants.”

Joining Levine and Hebree at the Sculpture Fes-

tival will be vocalists Dave Jorgenson and Lori Jo Paddock, drummer John Carillo, and another versatile pair, Vince Batla and David Mackey.

And in the end, it just boils down to one thing – knowing how to make a crowd happy.

“We’ve been doing it a long time,” Levine said.

“It’s like when you first learn how to use a manual clutch, you first learn how to use it and you think about it, and then you just sort of do it. It’s been working a long time, since 1976.”

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 25

PAGE 26

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

See How Your Neighbors Are Saving Up To 40% Off Retail Prices On Their Hearing Aids!

Conveniently Located at 12701 TX-29 Suite 3 in Liberty Hill, TX (512)-357-8000

www.hearitall.us

NEW S HOMtEhe from s $200

FUN

Lives Here 175 ELIZABETH PARK BLVD., LIBERTY HILL, TX 78642 SANTARITARANCH.COM

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

Banking as Unique as Leander Just down the road at 2080 US Highway 183 (Next to Furniture Market)

PAGE 27

Welcome to the Frontier.

To understand the uncommon nature of this extraordinary place, you have to live here. At Frontier Bank, we know our way around the communities of Williamson County and we recognize the unique banking needs of the people who live here.

•

Mortgage loans for the retired or self-employed

•

Loans for residential investment - vacant lots, small acreage, farm & ranch

•

Business lending solutions for small and large community business owners

•

Access to over 25,000 free ATMs with our Money Pass network

•

Full mobile capability including mobile deposit

Email or call us to talk about how we can help you.

Jenni fer Mauck Vice President, Commerci al Banki ng 512.450.5177 JMauck@frontierbankof texas.com

We have one level of service. Personal.

Opening in Leander October 15

FrontierBankOfTexas.com | 512.450.5177 | 2080 US Highway 183, Suite 230 Elgin | Bastrop | Austin | Manor | Leander Member FDIC |

Equal Housing Lender

*Subject to credit approval. NMLS number 1030103

PAGE 28

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

Sculpture Festival T-Shirt

Addison Harris (center), a seventh grade student at Liberty Hill Junior High, won 1st Place in the Liberty Hill International Sculpture Festival T-Shirt Contest. Her artwork (right) will be featured on event T-Shirts available from Two Brand It in Liberty Hill. Shirts may be ordered and purchased online at www.twobrandit.com. Appearing with Harris above are Junior High Art Teacher Leslie Krizan (left) and Liberty Hill Development Foundation member Mary Lyn Jones (right).

Limited Opportunities!

New Homes From

The Low $200s

Located close to Historic downtown in Liberty Hill and local schools, discover beautiful new homes at Liberty Parke by Express Homes starting from the low $200s. Enjoy highly rated Liberty Hill ISD schools and a resort-style amenity center!

Liberty Parke

(512) 548.5141

108 Continental Avenue Liberty Hill, TX 78642

Prices, plans, features, options and co-broke are subject to change without notice. Additional restrictions may apply. Square footages are approximate.

Furnishings, refrigerator, television and decorative items not included with home purchase. Schools, districts and zoning are outside of D.R. Horton, Inc.’s control and subject to change at any time. Offer valid only for new contracts and does not apply to transfers, cancellations or rewrites. Expires on October 31st, 2019.

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 29

More Sculptures along the Lions Foundation Park walking trail

Several sculptures created during the 1976 symposium have been moved from the Sculpture Park at Liberty Hill Intermediate School to the adjacent Lions Foundation Park. Above is the sculpture “Verdie Vaughan” by Dana Smith of Dallas. Additional sculptures are available for viewing along the park’s walking trail. (Courtesy Photo)

Don’t wait. Get Better. Whether you’re ready to make a change in your primary care doctor or you need a specialist, find the doctor who’s right for you.

Walk-in and Convenient Care available.

512.509.0200 BSWHealth.com/Clinics

PAGE 30

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

October 19, 2019

THE LIBERTY HILL INDEPENDENT

LIBERTY HILL INTERNATIONAL SCULPTURE & BALLOON FESTIVAL

PAGE 31