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Since the library was closed New Year’s Eve, I got the bound volume of newspapers from 1985 out of the archives at the old office of The Llano News. Walter Buckner was the Editor/Publisher back then; a single copy of the paper cost “24 cents plus tax,” and a subscription cost $10.51 for customers in Llano County. The headline on January 3, 1985, announced “FLOOD; SNOW what next?”

The Llano River had completely stopped flowing in the summer of 1984, but on the last day of the year, the river rose 23.9 feet after good rains all the way west along the Llano River basin. Fortunately, law enforcement was able to alert the citizens in time to get boats out of the water and evacuate low-lying homes; despite the impressive rise, viewed by hundreds of people lining the bridge, the only damage reported in Llano was at Robinson Park. Two days later, school was canceled because of a three-inch snowfall.

Lisa Kuykendall showed the Grand Champion steer at that year’s stock show; Courtney Osbourn swept the swine division. The year’s first baby was Maria Isabel Martinez, daughter of Gabriel and Teresa Martinez, and the question of the week was what to do about the financially-ailing hospital.

Game Warden Bill Blackburn submitted a picture he had taken of a bald eagle in a tree near the Llano River. It made front page news on February 7. Construction of a new cap factory was announced for the Llano Industrial Park. The new Llano Square Apartments advertised 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments for rent.

Elementary School Principal C.R. Lindsay made the front page on February 28, when he announced his retirement after 36 years on the job. Winnie Deaver retired from the Tax Office after almost thirty years working there. Highland Lakes Bank celebrated 22 years in Kingsland by offering 10 percent return on Certificates of Deposit. James Alexander was hired as the new administrator of the Llano County Memorial Hospital.

Concrete was poured for the slab of the “new Elementary School building” near the end of March. Chuck Gibbs placed an ad, telling Llano that he would be “barbering with Lee Duncan.”

Dr. David Hoerster made the news twice that spring: first by winning a landslide victory in the school board election, and second for winning the heart of Malinda Stephenson. The couple announced a date of August 3 for their wedding. The People’s Savings and Loan announced a Grand Opening of their Buchanan Dam office (now a branch of Llano National Bank). Inman’s Exxon celebrated their 40th year in business; Pam Long announced a teaching assignment in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of a Southern Baptist mission.

Lawrence Bruhl announced May 9 that the county museum had welcomed 252 guests during the month of April, some coming from as far as California, Idaho and Wyoming. In a letter a few weeks earlier, he bragged that people had come to the museum “from almost every country on this planet.” The Llano County Historical Society announced an Open House, to be held at the museum May 22.

County Judge Bill Miller signed a proclamation declaring “Soil Stewardship Week,” and a photo showed the staff members of the Soil and Water Conservation District office: Mary Lou Smathers, Mike Reagor and Martin Blesing. Teri Burton was named valedictorian of the LHS Class of 1985; Lisa Kuykendall was salutatorian. Cartoonist Ace Reid had to cancel his appointment as Grand Marshal of the Llano Rodeo Parade for health reasons. Todd Fox of Marble Falls, World Champion Steer Wrestler in 1984, filled in at the last minute. Laura Herring, who had attended Llano Junior High School nine years earlier, was named Miss USA.

A lighthouse was under construction on the south end of Lake Buchanan; the first three floors were to serve as a water filtering system, but the top would be a functioning lighthouse. Four hundred people attended the Grand Opening of Pardner’s, in Buchanan Dam, and hang glider pilots held a competition June 1, on the south side of Packsaddle Mountain. Construction was underway on a new community center for Kingsland.

Shelby Rossberg was named Rodeo Queen for 1985. A school bus was stolen from in front of the school, a Llano woman shot and wounded her boyfriend through a door, and silver crosses stolen from two local churches were recovered. Almost 100 sailboats competed in a regatta at Blackrock Park, on Lake Buchanan. Work was begun on the “Llano River Walk,” with a bulldozer loaned by Malcolm Otto leading the way.

The price of Texas ranchland dropped to about $600 an acre; irrigated farmland was worth nearly $1,000 an acre. Kingsland finally got a Dairy Queen; it opened just in time for the 1985 Aqua Boom. Clarence McDaniel came to Llano to head the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) office, located in the former Watkins Grocery (now Fuel Coffee House) at 106 East Main Street.

The Llano County Historical Society sponsored a “Polo Night,” honoring local legend Cecil Smith, at the American Legion Hall July 27. The Llano ISD voted to expand its athletic program to include baseball.

An appreciation dinner was held August 19 for T.D. Tanksley, who had rounded out an illustrious career in the air force and in agriculture by serving 20 years as the Extension Swine Specialist for the Texas A&M University system.

In the paper on August 8 was a long article entitled “Llano man one of the original Sons of the Pioneers.” Pat Schmitt had found the story in a book called “Country Music Legends in the Hall of Fame,” by Chet Hagen. The article told how a young fiddler named Hugh Farr, born in Llano in 1903, had been one of the original six in the group (one of the others was his guitar-playing brother, Karl Marx Farr, who was born in Rochelle in 1909). Hugh’s parents were enthusiastic amateur musicians, and Hugh could play the fiddle well by age seven. The Farr family moved to Encino, California in 1925, and Hugh joined Leonard Slye (now known everywhere as Roy Rogers), Bob Nolan and Tim Spencer (who performed together as the Pioneer Trio) in 1934. Karl Farr and Hugh Perryman joined the group shortly thereafter, and they began calling themselves “Sons of the Pioneers.” Karl Farr died in 1961; his older brother, Hugh, lived until 1980.

Bryan Miiller and Richard Crenshaw Jr. purchased the Llano Frozen Lockers Company when Mr. and Mrs. Vernon West decided to retire. Miiller had plans to expand the company, and West had plans to “go fishing.”

The August 29 edition of The Llano News told how highway maintenance supervisor Gordon Hefner had been nominated for the prestigious Lady Bird Johnson Award for his part in beautifying Llano County’s highways.