The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 31, 1988 Page: 1 of 25
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Saga of the shade tree fiddle maker
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The LLANO
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Deer Capital of Texas
No. 22
Volume 97
Thursday, March 31,1988
26 pages in 3 Sections
Remodeling bids asked for Llano Hospital
Judge breaks tie on new library
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NEWS
Llano, Llano County, Texas 78643
Llano student
injured trying
DAY
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WEIDED — Heat chalna am Mammi, bat whom they
$25,000, which had to be repaid to
Medicare for overpayments.
Henry Buttery, who made the
original request, expressed that at
that time he was confident the
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further treatment.
Jim Bob is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Bob Dishman of Llano.
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weemanm-"awem" «u"
wuuld Mw to chat with the persom er perwoms who did
the deed. Daplaying the re ita i ef the chain are Bud
Regen and Don Wooten.
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burns which would be evaluated,
boginntag Tunndez aftemmeo with
He had shinnied up the utility pole
about 15-18 feet and was burned
when the ball retriever came in
contact with the lines. He was
knocked off the pole by the electrical
shock. The electrical charge appar-
ently entered Jim Bob’s body
through his right hand and exited
through his left hand and in the
process knocked him off the utility
pole.
After emergency-room treatment at
Llano Memorial Hospital under the
direction of Dr. David Hoerster,
Dishman was taken by ambulance to
fear that some day a major blockage
of the bridge either by accident or by
natural forces would prevent rescue
operations from taking place. The
idea of a combination bridge-dam
was a possible way of getting state
funds included in the construction.
Quite surprisingly, of the 69
responses received, there was al-
most an even split between those in
favor and those opposed. There were
35 in favor of the new dam and 34
opposed. Of that number, 33 prefer-
red the downstream location and two
a different location, upstream.
Only 19 people favored a second
bridge over the Llano River, while 47
opposed the idea. Just 11 like the
idea of a combination bridge-dam.
Bud Otto, Vernon Elliott, Rudy
Stark, Armon Taylor, Marl Mauldin,
Harmon Ellis, Tilman Harlow, Boots
Simpson, Wilber Tumlinson, Ken-
neth Hazlett, Harold Tuckness and
Cedrick Day — all musicians in their
own right. They formed country and
western bands and played for
numerous special occasions.
But there is a lot more to it than
just music and this is what Eddie
McDonald has a special feeling for
— the repair of old broken fiddles
and guitars is one thing — what is
more important is to build your own
[See FIDDLE, Page A-10)
Llano High School senior Jim Bob
Dishman was seriously injured in a
freak accident Monday evening
while attmepting to remove balloons
from high wires near the high school
parking lot.
Dishman, who was celebrating his
18th birthday Monday received
second and third-degree burns to his
chest, neck and hands when the
aluminum golf ball retriever he was
using in an attempt to remove the
balloons from electrical lines made
contact with these lines.
As of noon, Tuesday, Jha Beb’s
tether, Bob Dehmam, told the Ums
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b was neither by plan or design,
but a former carpenter, who has a
certain knack for repairing things, is
now a builder of fiddles. or violins if
you prefer, in Llano. His name is
Eddie McDonald, a fiddle and banjo
player in his own right, with an ear
for music who thoroughly enjoys
playing these instruments for the
entertainment of others.
Considering thofact that he has had
no professional training in the field,
and neither the high-priced equip-
ment to do the work of building
fiddles. it is the sounds from the
fiddle and banjo themselves that
attest to the quality of work that he
does.
“I guess it all started with my dad
many years ago,” McDonald remin-
esced. “If I could tear into anything I
could either fix it or junk it. Most of
the time I fixed it.”
His first musical instrument came
on a trade. Two pigs were swapped
for an old guitar. Later he got his
first fiddle and he really didn’t think
too much about the instrument.
After his first feeble try to play it, he
slid it way under his bed and for all
apparent reasons it was to be
forgotten.
The visit of a relative caused him to
dig out the old fiddle. After the
visitor happened to hit the familiar
strain of “Turkey in the Straw,” he
tucked the instrument under his chin
MA g
hospital could “carry its own weight
and make progress, but I am not sure
now.”
Alexander reminded the commis-
sioners that the hospital waa a
county-owned building and that the
Texas Department of Health will not
continue to license the facility
without the improvements.
"We have managed to get waivers
on some items," Alexander said,
"but that will not continue indefin-
itely. These improvements of the
building, including the roof, are
necessary.”
As an illustration, the commission-
ers were reminded they had to put in
an elevator in the courthouse. The
hospital is in the same situation of
month communities such as Ponto-
toc, Lone Grove and others have
their "musicals." They all look
forward to the annual Llano County
Fiddlers’ Fest, which will be held
this year in the Llano American
Legion Hall the opening weekend of
the Bluebonnet Trail, April 9.
A special place to play is at nursing
homes and not too long ago. Care Inn
of Llano presented Eddie with a very
special plaque. Eddie had put in
more than 400 volunteer hours
entertaining the residents with his
fiddle and banio music
Joining him in the fun have been
DMerd, was the whomia pltcher to the 7-3 wta.
to see if he could copy the tune.
From then on, Eddie and his fiddle
were synonymous.
"In the old days you would be
surprised how far people would
travel and invite you to come and
play for special events like parties,
dances and weddings," Eddie re-
called. "I have had many good times
playing with a group of other
musicians and I still do.”
Right now in Llano County,
McDonald and other musicians
regularly get together for "muii-
cals” such as used to held in the old
Moore State Bank. At least once a
M
while 52 opposed.
Each participant was invited to
submit his own idea or recommen-
dation for increasing Llano water
supplies. Of those opposing cons-
truction of the dam, 13 called
for dredging of the existing lakes or
raising the present dam. (The city
has already constructed the frame-
work for raising the dam 30 inches as
allowed by state officials.)
Six called for new or larger pumps,
since in years past the city has
called for voluntary conservation of
water so the present pumps could
keep up with the demand.
One felt the city had plenty of
water and there was not any need for
the city to grow that much. Respon-
ses went from “leave it as it is" to
"improve what we have.” Others
were more emphatic. “Modify the
present dam. Raise taxes 157.8
percent? Ridiculous 1“
Some felt the city was in no danger
of running out of water, because of
the water behind the dam at the
park. Another recommended "con-
serve water a little at a time." The
suggestion was also made to install
electronic gates to let out the sand,
seed clouds and have a rain dancer.
One who liked the idea of a new dam
thought it would be good to "cover
up the mess under the bridge."
Included was the idea of running a
pipeline from Lake LBJ or Lake
Buchanan.
One person did not have any
recommendation, adding, "I just
don’t want a wonderful scenic place
spoiled. It would be bad for the
tourist industry (if a dam were built)
which is what Llano should be
pushing.”
Those in favor of the new dam also
made recommendations from getting
the county involved in the project to
recommending the city buy a small
dredge of its own for $100,000 and
(See OPINION, Page A-10)
to $200,000 for renovation and not any way they could come up with
$35,000 to repair the roof.” additional funds needed for capital
Board members emphasized that improvements. Hospital expenses
the hospital waa doing pretty well, include $50,000 for a new computer,
holding its own, but that there was $17,000 paid for architect fees and
th tontag agalnet Awet
sede
FINISHED PRODUCT - Eado MeDonald han gond imm to Male M he
diaplays Ma frst two hems Mada origtnals. The ddle aad bmnjo player first
learned how to repair fiddles, aad I was just hntaral for him to one day bulld
one of his own. The firet wm the darkwood fiddle at the right. Hi greatest
pleasure is playing the fddles and entertetatag others.
On the inside . .
Deaths...............Page A-2
Editorials.............PageA-3
Baseball..............PageA-8
Society...............Page A-9
Kigeland Chronicle . ..PageB-1
Track.......................
Casaifed..........PageaB-6,7
Church...............PageB-8
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ddents. The city
having to put in certain things to
retain its certification.
Leifeste told the commissioners
the hospital had struggled to keep its
head above water, adding, “I think
it’s time the county makes the
improvements and helps us along.”
The hospital board repeated its
request for commissioners to ap-
prove the calling for bids for the
improvements. Plans and specifica-
tions were ready.
Commissioner Ross Bauman made
the motion to put the plans and specs
up for bids, noting any and all bids
could be rejected. The motion was
seconded by Leonard Grenwelge.
County Judge W.R. (Bill) Miller
called for a vote and it was
unanimous.
Library
Following a .noon recess for
dinner, the commissioners tackled
the new library problem. The issue
was to decide whether the county
was going to build the new library or
not. The estimated cost is $300,000.
Overstreet favored a bond issue so
the people could decide if they
wanted it or not.
County Clerk Herman Raesener
was called in to see how urgently he
needed more space for his operation.
”I imagine we could get by
indefinitely,” Raesener said. "We
have been out of space for some
time, but I imagine we will make do
as best as we can.”
The plan is for the county clerk to
move into the old library with
possibly the addition of a vault after
the library is moved to its new
location on the south shore of the
Llano River on County Commons
[See HOSPITAL, Page A-10)
Llano County Commissioners put
In one of their longest meetings,
Friday, March 25 and if they got the
feeling of impending doom, consider
« the decisions placed before them. In
one day, they decided to go ahead
and call for bids for hospital
improvements. The problem waa to
come up with $175,000 for the
improvements and another $35,000
for a new roof.
The commissioners split on a
motion to provide a new library. The
problem is to come up with another
$300,000 Another urgent matter
was to expand the present jail
facilities to at least a minimum of
eight more beds. The problem is to
find another $86,783.
To try to resolve the money
situation, a special meeting on
financing has been called for today,
Thursday, at 9 a.m. in the commis-
stone courtroom.
ReopltelRemovaig
It was last September when the
commissioners granted the hospital
a $175,000 line of credit at the bank,
which they believed would be used
toward the renovation project.
Appearing before the court were
hospital board members who inclu-
ded board president and main
spokesman Dayton Leifeste, hospital
administrator James Alexander,
with plans and specifications for the
improvements; board members He-
nry Buttery. Ed Willis, Dr. Michael
Dennis and Bryant Ratliff. Leifeste
opened the discussion with the
simple statement, “Our problem is,
we don’t have any money for
capital improvements. We need S175
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Two weeks ago, the Llano News
asked. “What’s your opinion?"
about construction of a proposed
Llano channel Dam for the purpose
of storing more water for use by
Llano residents as proposed by an
engineering report financed by Eu-
gene Fischer and presented to the
Llano City Council.
Other options offered in the ques-
tionnaire were where the dam might
be located — as proposed: down-
stream or up stream. It also asked
your opinion about having another
bridge across the Llano River or a
combination bridge-dam.
The purpose of the last two
questions was because of concerns
by the EMS and VFD service who
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:Daylght Saviag wi end Sum-
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Buckner, Walter L. The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 31, 1988, newspaper, March 31, 1988; Llano, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1585905/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Llano County Public Library.