Area see more »

Looking for an interesting year that wasn’t during World War II, I decided to see what was happening in Llano the year that I graduated from high school. That was 1974, but when I looked at the first issue of The Llano News that year, I realized that I’d first have to write a little about 1973.

That’s because the whole first issue was a recap of the previous year’s events, and the whole front page was covered with photos from 1973. Football and weather were the two main topics; Llano High School had beaten Burnet for the District 24AA championship, then defeated McGregor for the Regional crown before losing to the eventual state champion Friendswood team in the state quarterfinals. Coach Ken Gray had been named All West Texas Coach of the Year; stars of the team were Taylor Virdell Jr., Boyd Gray (the coach’s son), Larry Otto, Howard Barnes and Tracy Kaspar. As for the weather, Llano had seen a heavy snow in January, Burnet had been devastated by a tornado in March, and October rains had caused “the highest rise in a decade” (25 feet) on the Llano River. (The erratic weather didn’t stop with the new year; on January 3, 1974, an ice storm caused several traffic accidents on the Llano square.) Kelly Leifeste was pictured with a 21-point buck that he had shot on his family’s ranch.

The Williams Rest Home had just broken ground on a new, 62-bed facility on the site of its old building. A story told how the nursing home had started in 1953 with an 8-bed facility, then expanded to24 beds in 1959 and 26 in 1969.

Quite a few free-lance correspondents shared news from smaller communities around Llano in 1974. Each week’s paper included news from Castell (by Eoline Kowierschke), Lone Grove (Thelma Thiers), Cherokee (Mrs. Vann Maddox), Tow Valley (Annie Lottie Wycoff) and Pontotoc (Mrs. Ben Polk). Someone sent in “News from around Buchanan” without attaching a name.

The 1973 Homecoming Queen was Marsha Scott, escorted by Bobby Dines, who was also chosen as Rodeo King that year. Jamie Banner was Rodeo Queen. Advertisers that winter were Pinkie’s, Winn’s, C&B Grocery, JRB, Ratliff Chevrolet

Linda Eckhart, of Llano, was named Food Editor for Texas Monthly magazine. Joe Horlen received a degree from Texas A&M, and Terry Osbourn from ASU. A “huge trailer rally” was held at Robinson Park.

Gayle Epperson dominated the Junior Livestock Show, showing three of the four winners in the cattle division. Mary Grote showed the Reserve Champion Heifer. The show brought in $32,572.00.

Coni Virdell graduated from Texas Tech, and took a job teaching in the South San Antonio school district. Jimmy and Ann Ward’s daughter, Kimberley Ann, was the first Llano baby of 1974. Boyd Gray, a linebacker, kicker and punter for Llano, was named All-American. Pete Overstreet announced that he would run for the commissioners job in Precinct #2, recently vacated by T.E. Clendennen. Ervin Light announced his “semi-retirement” after 16 years at the city utilities and water department. He promised to make himself available to “share his expertise” with younger workers in the department. County employees were given a $25 per month raise.

Fourteen-year-old Ned Butler found a powder flask marked with the date “1850” in his grandfather’s (Gleason Kothmann’s) pasture. A new 30-bed wing at the Llano Nursing Home was ready for roofing; the addition would bring the facility’s capacity to 90. A story reported that there were 215 businesses with employees in Llano County in 1972; 148 had three or less, 41 had four to seven, and 20 had eight to 19. Total payroll for private businesses totaled $3,088,000, up 23.1 percent in just three years. The average rise nationwide was 22 percent in those inflationary days. The LCRA’s electric rates nearly doubled in 1973 because of “extra fuel costs.” There were 89 deaths in Llano County that year, and only 27 births; 77 marriages and 34 divorces.

Cherokee won the state championship in 6-man football in 1973. Llano artist Corrine Fowler exhibited her art at the First State Bank in Burnet. People’s Savings and Loan opened a new branch in a mobile home in Kingsland while construction began for a permanent office building. The Ferguson Power Plant was nearing completion in Horseshoe Bay, and the Llano schools were closed because of a flu epidemic. Taylor Virdell Jr. and Marsha Scott were voted “Mr. and Miss LHS.” Boyd Gray headed for Boy’s State; the Women’s Culture Club heard a speech from Harry Shapiro, and Moore State Bank installed a new “time and temp” sign in front of their office on the square. The city set a budget of $174,154, and 330 voters elected Bill Needham, Boots Simpson and James Thiers to the school board.

Adolph Honig shot a large wolf near his hog pens at Castell. Senate candidate Bob Krueger visited Llano, meeting with local leaders at the Moore State Bank. M.A. Moursund opened an insurance agency in the old Moore State Bank office, and Mike and Betsy Virdell moved the Montgomery Ward store to their Village One-Stop store at 904 Ford Street. Mrs. Hudson Fowler was elected president of the Llano Historical Society.

The future of the old Southern Hotel was being debated. Bicentennial officials hoped to restore it, but owner Henry Buttery described how water flowed in every time it rained, and said, “I’m not sure what good it could ever be.”

A history column described the old Kingsland Rustler newspaper (1906-1908) as having a multitude of drug ads, and told of editorials calling for “good roads, and a bridge over the Colorado River.”

Vicki Moore, Marsha Box and Carol Adams rode on the Chamber of Commerce float in the rodeo parade; 17 Boy Scouts planned a 52-mile canoe trip down the Colorado River. The Llano Nursing Home changed its name to Care Inn, and the museum announced that many visitors had stopped in recently; some were from as far away as Louisiana, Oklahoma, Illinois, California and Germany. That was the first half of 1974.