The Mayor of Needmore

by | Feb 10, 2024 | Bright Lights

Willie Lewis Shafer came to Bailey County in 1930, settled near what we now know as Needmore, and started farming with six teams of mules. He met Zeffa V. Stevenson on a blind date, and they were married in 1932. In 1937 Willie Lewis became manager of Needmore Co-Op...

The Trip to Marble Falls

by | Jan 28, 2024 | Cactus Are Cool

The Highland Lakes Native Plant Society invited me to give a talk on landscaping with drought-tolerant plants, so of course, I said yes. The meeting would be on January 20 at the Marble Falls Public Library, a mere ten minutes from our house at Lake LBJ, which meant I...

A Christmas Nativity Memory

by | Dec 16, 2021 | Bright Lights

Boxes full of Christmas decorations came out of storage after Thanksgiving, and the process of creating holiday twinkle and shine commenced. I dug through one box and took out a Christmas memory that hasn’t missed many Christmases, my very plain, plastic, worn-out...

The Painted Churches of Schulenburg

by | Jun 18, 2021 | Bright Lights

Schulenburg, Texas, is a thriving, peaceful little town of 2852 citizens nestled in the rolling hills between Austin and Houston. Its beginning dates back to a land grant given to Kesiah Crier in 1831 by the Mexican government and was settled by German and Czech...

I Knew B.J. Thomas. Sort of.

by | May 31, 2021 | Bright Lights

B.J. Thomas died Saturday, May 29th, to cancer. I was sorry we lost him. I grew up listening to his music when he sang with The Triumphs, a rock bank based in Rosenberg, Texas, where I grew up. Okay, it’s a stretch to say I knew  him. He was a senior at Lamar...