The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 37, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 20, 2001 Page: 3 of 20
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SUMMER ART.... These Uano Elementary and Jr. High students display some of their handy work as part of the
summer art class being taught by Mrs. Myrick. The class is for “serious artists only.”
Letters to the Editor
Llano Chamber of Commerce
By Regina Eldridge
Help is on the way...
Many people believe as with my
opinion at Kingsland and Sunrise
Beach, we are sun-ounded in Burnet
and Llano County with the finest
paramedics, EMTs in the State of
Texas. I have visited many Emer-
gency Medical Service units
throughout the State and I find that'
we have concerned, caring and very
professional folks out there to take
care of us when we cqll for their help.
Because of the overall ages in Ll-
ano County for the average call, the
“Response Time" becomes very
critical.
It’s common knowledge that we
are somewhat in trouble with avail-
ability of EMS service in Llano
County, as are a lot of counties across
Texas. The details I’m sure you have
discovered in conversation or discov-
ered in newspapers articles. Remem-
bering key words is the reason for
this article - age, response time and
initial care.
Realizing this, and actually driv-
ing the two directions from Llano
Memorial Hospital to Kingsland and
the only direct wtty to Sunrise Beach
for EMS service, I recorded twenty
plus miles to the center of each area.
Driving safely to a patient call will
be in excess of twenty minutes at the
very minimum. My decision became
apparent to me considering the over-
all age of the people, and the clock
ticking away due to the miles of
travel to a call from Llano Hospital
to Kingsland and Sunrise Beach.
Obviously the miles can’t be
changed so the procedure to calls
must be changed. No question about
it. Our care given by our EMS is of
paramount service, but that’s only
important after Response Time.
I approached Hoover Valley in
Burnet County which is only S.8
miles from Kingsland. Their re-
sponse time is some seven minutes
minimum to Kingsland and certainly
much better to Sunrise Beach than
presently offered due the miles to
drive from Llano. I spoke to the Di-
rector and Assistant Director of
Hoover Valley EMS regarding ser-
vicing these two cities as a second
responder only when the Kingsland
ambulance is on call. They eagerly
agreed and stated their twenty four
hour service would be available. We
immediately set a meeting with this
idea which happened to coincide
with their business and budget meet-
ing. The Board and County officials
were present and all were in favor of
this concept to help Llano County at
least until other arrangements were
made by Llano officials concerned.
I then approached the Llano
County officials by letter and they
agreed at the most recent budget
meeting for Llano EMS presented by
Kevin Leeper CEO of Llano Memo-
rial Hospital that Hoover Valley as a
second responder would be an effec-
tive procedure to assist in greatly re-
ducing response time for these two
cities while the Kingsland ambu-
lance is on call.
Leeper presented his ideas and the
concepts of reducing response time
indicating by written agreement for
both counties with proper official
signatures obtained.
I must say. the County of Llano has
chosen not only a wdl qualified CEO
to run the Llano Memorial Hospital
which we know was on its knees, to
a fine operation, and it’s now headed
in the right direction. 1 bqbere.
Beyond this, he is a true advocate
to do anything, listen to changes for
improvement, tpke action as he did
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to my idea of saving lives by reduc-
ing response time to a call. He pre-
sented this concept to the officials of
Llano and it was agreed upon.
All concerned with this change are
happy, and I am satisfied it will help
save lives. Action is being taken to
contact and train 911 call receivers to
this new procedure. I invite you to
visit the outstanding Hoover Valley
operation, meet the folks there, all
twelve of them, see the equipment
and I guarantee you’ll be impressed.
While you’re there pick up a medi-
cal identification card to be placed on
the refrigerator or one for your pocket
yielding information to help them
help you. Again, special thanks the
Mr. Leeper and all concerned to help
save lives.
Jim Caldwell
Texas Silver Haired Legislator
To those whom it concerns.
Yes, our Pansy is gone now from
Llano, but her words from poems she
wrote and shared with us, as her in-
dustriously kind Christian wags and
her dream of the Black ChurCh and
School being saved are yet. with us.
Pansy Ward was bom January 19,
1907 in San Marcos, TX. At 11 years
Pansy came to Llano - June 20,1918
- because she said “a niece of an
aunts; daughter drowned.” Hearing
of a woman who needed someone to
work Pansy said at the age of 12, "Let
me go. Mother, I can work" adding
“And I’ve worked ever since.”
She was a member of the llano
Methodist Black Church and at-
tended the black school there. Her
dream of it becoming a part of
Llano's history led her to give a quilt
to the Daughters who were seeking a
grant for this.
Her son, Jimmy Lee Ward and
Pansy became active members of
Lutie Watkins United Methodist
Church as well as Eramaus. Folk de-
pended on her every occasion where
people gathered to share food.
As a ‘snow bird’ who votes in Texas
to see Roger Pinckney elected glad-
dened my outlook for Llano’s recog-
nition that the saving of that old struc-
ture be reconstructing it within a new
setting, as well as the old jail could
bring countless folks who love revis-
iting our past into Llano.
Many folk such as Rev. Sultemeyer,
Julie Hilbum, Judge Dodgen, Mary
Faye Wallace, the owner of the Merle
Norman, and yes many others have
expressed interest in the above now
surely some immediate actio is prac-
tical.
As to having a four lane highway
through Llano - don't mistake it -
Tucson once a haven for asthmatics
by lack of forethought became a men-
ace to those wanting to be able for
i themselves and their children to
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f breathe air free of pollution from huge
1 diesel trucks and ill vented cars.
Already I’m missing what Llano
has so kindly offered and already I
admit homesick for a beloved hill
country of mesquite, cacti, yes and I'll
close those.
In Texas I find Indian paint brushes,
red and bluebonnets blue. And Llano,
I confess I do miss you.
Sincerely,
Winnie Murray
P. S- The latch string is out for those
who might come summer enjoy the
green green hill of Almost Heaven -
West Virginia.
If you have not (topped by the
Chamber of Commerce office and
completed one of the surveys on gun
control issues, please do so this week.
We need to send those to Congress
just as quickly as possible. This is
your opportunity to voice your opin-
ion.
The Llano Youth Soccer Associa-
tion encourages you to register for the
2001 Youth Soccer Camp. Camp will
be held the week of July 23 - July 27
at the Moore Recreational Complex.
Children from age five to eighteen
may register. There will be two ses-
sions, the morning session is from 8-
11 a m.. And the afternoon session is
from 6 - 9 p.m. Brochures will be
handed out at registration time. Ll-
ano Youth Soccer Association will be
contributing $25 of each registration
fee. The cost to parents will be $65
for the week long camp. Registration
will be held Thursday, June 21 at the
Courthouse Square Gazebo from 5 -
7 p.m. Please sign up.
We’re going to address something
in our article today that is a little dif-
ferent than our normal schedule of
events. We have received an official
letter form the LCRA today that in-
dicates their board’s decision to sell
the 1,016 acre tract of land west of
town along the Llano River. Citing
the property as “non essential” the
land will be sold by sealed bid pro-
cess only and with certain restric-
tions.
From the LCRA letter, “Five years
ago, the LCRA purchased property
on the Llano River with the intent to
work with a local citizens advisory
committee to develop a natural sci-
ence center. We received a significant
number of comments from both pro-
ponents and opponents of the plan
and spent more than two years in
public discussions with local elected
officials, residents, and stakeholders.
LCRA held public meetings, met
with numerous interest groups, and
took residents on a tour of two edu-
cational LCRA facilities, McKinney
Roughs and Cooper Farm. However,
LCRA ownership of this property
continues to be a divisive issue in the
community.
Folks, the issue is not whether or
not we like LCRA, or agree with ev-
erything they do. The issue is what is
good for Llano and the community
residents being able to come together
with agreeable consensus on issues
even though they may not agree with
that consensus on an individual ba-
sis. Consensus being defined by
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
as; “group solidarity in sentiment and
belief’ 2 general agreement: UNA-
NIMITY" ,
Just around the comer, the issue of
the status of the Roy B. Inks Bridge
will be coming up once again. As was
pointed out by the Department of
Transportation back in meetings in
1998, the best possible defense for
Llano is to come to a consensus
within the community of what the
community would like to have done
with the bridge, and stand together
Be properly informed with factual in-
formation, and be open to the end re-
sult of all possibilities. If we do not -
the process will be taken out of our
hands and most likely the Department
of Transportation will do what they
feel is best for the community.
Why should the Chamber of Com-
merce be so concerned with these is-
sues? Because each week we receive
phone calls and inquiries of people
not only looking to relocate to our
areas, also to open businesses in our
areas. The first thing they inquire
about is our hospital and our school
facilities, their programs, and non-
profit opportunities such as the
churches and Lion’s Clubs, etc.
They are looking for a community
that has pride, and a willingness to
embrace the things that make the
community special and unique while
allowing for beneficial progress for
the residents. Some folks v. til com-
ment, “Well, we just don’t like
change,” No doubt - not many of us
do.
We’re all very comfortable in our
daily environment. However, not
many of us would go back to doing
without air conditioning in our
homes, automatic transmissions in
our cars, frost-free refrigerators,
cordless hand tools, or washing ma-
chines that are electric or gas. Posi-
tive progress for our community pro-
vides growth not in numbers but in
the quality of life issues.
The Llano Chamber of Commerce
will be having an annual membership
meeting Tuesday evening, August 14
at the Llano Library Meeting room
at 6:30 p.m. We invite all members
to attend the meeting, become in-
formed as to the activities of the
Chamber of Commerce and have the
opportunity to be part of the process
of things. The board of directors is a
volunteer group, many working 12 -
14 hours per day in their own busi-
nesses prior to donating time to the
Chamber of Commerce.
It has taken two years of many
planning retreats and educational
seminars to “catch up" to where we
are today We now have the annual
calendar of events in place for 2002
which will drive our budget needs
We are now planning for enough in
advance to work with the budget
workshop processes of the city. Ll-
ano Economic Development, and the
county entities.
If we all work together, knowing
what each of our goals is we can help
one another. If you see one of our di-
rectors in the community, it would be
nice to say "thanks, we appreciate the
time and effort you are putting forth
in the Chamber of Commerce for our
community.” They are (alphabeti-
cally) Shane Altizer, Cheryl Crabtree,
Brenda and Dusty Durst, David
Griffith, Alan Kothmann, Bill Miller,
Jack Patton, Roland Rode, Jeff
Stillwell, Johnny Sawyer, Melodee
Taylor, Kathy Pinckney and Pam
Winn.
We hope you will choose to be a
part of the “positive progress” of Ll-
ano through volunteerism, support for
your elected officials, and a willing-
ness to spend the time being properly
informed on issues. It is a privilege
to have these opportunities and one
that is not offered in every area of the
world today.
Until next week - the Llano Cham-
ber of Commerce - bridging our past
with our future.
UNCLE SAM
p|| WANTS YOU
TO SAVE
MORE MONEY
And he’s created Just the incentives you'll need.
The tax relief act of 2001 provides many tax benefits
to individuals;'
I tax rate reductions
I reduced estate tax rates
I increased IRA contribution limits
I education savings incentives
I increased contribution limits on 401(k)s and other
employer-sponsored retirement plans
I increased child tax credit
I marriage penalty relief
James D. Steward
Investment Representative
800 Bessemer, Suite #3
Llano, TX 78643 • Bus. 916-347-6644
Fax. 916-347-6644 • Hm 916-847-6600
Edward Jones
Ssrnaf IwlmOasi lmvstan Slwr 1*71
Believe it
or not, we'd
like to
help you feel
warmer
this summer.
feel good by doing good Join TXU in contributing to Energy Aid. and help
disadvantaged Texans keep their cool through the long, hoi summer The TXU Energy Aid
program supplements government funds to help the elderly, disabled and others taang
financial crisis meet the costs of thee summer energy Mis TXU is donating $5 rmlfcon
With your help, wel double that by matching al customer contributions doSar-tor-dollar
up to another $2.5 rMfcon through September Look kx the TXU Energy Aid contribution
form in your June TXU Electric statement We know you! grvm generously
After al. the one thing mightier than Texas heal is Texas heart
r
Go. world. Go.
^ TXU
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Stephenson, Jimmy. The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 37, Ed. 1 Wednesday, June 20, 2001, newspaper, June 20, 2001; Llano, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1038097/m1/3/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Llano County Public Library.