Praise God the rains came! Some of us received over an inch; others, unfortunately, received little more than a tenth. Every drop is precious, but in this dry, hot, windy weather, that tenth hardly hits the ground before it disappears! I guess we better keep praying for some relief.

I spoke with Doc Fisher; he had just attended the Commissioners’ meeting in San Saba.Several things were decided amongst the Commissioners; the burn ban is back on was the primary decision. They also approved measures that would hold citizens responsible if they lit a fire during the burn ban and the fire got away from them. We all know we are responsible if we burn someone’s fence down or damage their property; they have now given the Sheriff's Department the right to issue a citation should you cause damage during a burn ban period. They urged everyone to think before they light.

George Hill can tell you little fires get away in a hurry! Fortunately, very little damage was done to the property; his hub caps do have a strange new color. George is very responsible, so I’m sure the whole incident is distressing to him. It just goes to show how quickly things get away with our present weather conditions.

Since we are on the topic of costs, we have the VFD Fish Fry coming up this Saturday, the 28th. Most of us are used to having this happen in September, but there were conflicts with the school calendar, so the Fire Department moved their date. Doc says once again the San Saba merchants have contributed generously to this annual event. There will be great door prizes, and the department has purchased gift certificates from Wal-Mart to give as door prizes. They will also have a cake auction to help raise money for our fire fighting efforts. I hope everyone makes a point of coming out for this important event.

The Preservation Society did not hold its meeting Monday, as there were other meetings that had time constraints. I spoke with Thomas Lee and Becky - the roof repairs were successfully completed and the roof should now be rainproof. I hope we can test it out soon.

The City Council received a load of asphalt Monday, so repairs to potholes will begin shortly. The City tractor has been repaired, so we should see some activity in that corner also. We still need to send letters to some of our citizens who appear to have abandoned their property.

The School Board met last Monday. Their agenda was to approve several new teachers, post the Administrator’s position and introduce our new members to the joy of the budget. Mr. Winn and Susan Gossett explained some of the intricacies of a public budget. I wish I could give you a clearer picture but a quick summary is the best I can do. I was saddened to hear that we have paid out over $17,000 in attorneys’ fees due to various suits against the school. I was intrigued by the receipts process. Our tax dollars contribute about 25% of the budget and the state contributes the other 75%. Those are rough figures so don’t take them as gospel. Our income is also based on attendance; so for every day a student stays home, that is less money to pay the bills.

I believe if we are going to have a bond election we need to make that determination very soon. I know some of you are tired of hearing that but we need some major repairs done to our buildings. I believe if we detail our package and break it down into pieces that could be chosen by individual voters we could get this done! The $17,000 interest we saved on the cafetorium could be used to pay the attorneys.

The Board also approved the final payment for the contractor of the cafetorium. He has returned to make repairs and by rights should be paid. Mr. Winn was hoping we could have one good rain to make sure of any leaks, but I think we have had the only good rain we are likely to receive for a while.

I haven’t been able to get the information I needed, but I understand a high percentage of our graduates are college bound. Jessica Argote, Krystal Smith, Mark Williams, Tyler Ethridge, Richie Daniels, Alec Dodson and I believe Holly Stasey and Adrian Avila are also college bound. Brandon McCain is headed to barbers’ college in Dallas, if I heard correctly.

Stars and Stripes is the 5th of July. The parade starts at 9:00am.There are many activities planned for the day. Horseshoes start around 10:00am, a 2water slide will be set up for the kids, as well as other activities, and several vendors will be on hand to sell hamburgers and snocones. At 1:00pm there will be a watermelon eating contest, tricycle races for the kids with prizes awarded, and other fun things for the family. The fish fry will start at 6:00pm; this is a donations only event. Once dusk arrives the fun really begins.

According to Douglas Gibson, over $7000.00 worth of fireworks has been donated. There will be no need to use City funds for this event; that’s a win-win for everyone! Doug has guestimated that if they fire one firework every 15 seconds, it will take slightly over an hour to complete the display!

My husband Russell will be around to take pictures so that we can put them in the paper. The San Saba News &Star has been very responsive to my requests to put in pictures. I just haven’t had any unless I take them.

I had many positive comments about the column this week. Wayne Powell gave me his Sunday School lesson and it fit in with the last few columns. They are studying word power. Most of the verses I saw were from Proverbs; my verses came from James. He particularly pointed out the last part of their lesson taken from Proverbs 26:20-22,28.

It appears Solomon listed four types of “trash talk”. The first was gossip; it creates discord and disorder. The second is quarrelsome words; they are just waiting to strike a spark and set things on fire. The third was lying; words that destroy and care little about truth or the hurt they cause. The fourth was flattering words; insincere words that damage, mislead and provide no help to the listener. I don’t think Solomon’s words are any less effectual today than they were when he was the wisest man on earth.

I’m going to try and avoid trash talk and make this world a better place. I hope I see everyone at the Richland Springs VFD fish fry on Saturday. Don’t forget the Stars and Stripes Parade and fish fry next Saturday the 5th, and please watch your fires! Have a blessed week.