We desperately need younger eligible Smithville women to become members of the Smithville Unit 180 American Legion Auxiliary.

Our mission is to serve our veterans, promote partriotism in our schools and to encourage female members of the Smithville High School junior class to attend Bluebonnet Girls State.

You can become a part of this women’s auxiliary if your veteran served between 1917 and 1918, 1941 and 1946, 1950 and 1955, 1961 and 1975, 1982 and 1984, 1989 and 1990 or from August 1990 to the present day, and you are the mother, wife, daughter, sister, grandmother, granddaughter or great-granddaughter of that veteran.

If you are interested in joining a group dedicated to serving our veterans and promoting partiotism then please come join us for a delicious dinner of home-made fried chicken and cole slaw on Thursday, September 2 at 6:30 p.m. at the American Legion Post Annex on American Legion Road in Smithville.

The regular meeting of both the post and the ladies’ auxiliary will follow the dinner.

Rita B. Levermann, Past President

Robert L. Stephens American Legion Auxiliary Unit 180

Smithville

After reading an article in the August 12, 2010 edition of The Smithville Times entitled “Horses Bares Their Soles,” I feel obligated to defend placing shoes on some horses.

The article went on to say, “Local farrier believes shoeing is unnatural and causes damage.”

Much has been said in recent years about natural feet (unshod) on the wild horses versus the domestic horses.

Granted, wild horses and domestic horses are both members of the equine family, but there are some notable differences.

Wild horses are free to roam as they please; domestic horses are often stalled and kept in small paddocks.

Wild horses don’t carry riders and are not made to work or compete in athletic events.

Some of these and other factors can determine if the animal will benefit from shoes.

Some other reasons a horse can benefit from shoes include but are not limited to: hoof wear exceeding hoof growth, conformation faults, gate faults and some lameness issues.

I think it’s safe to say that all of us in the farrier business who apply shoes to horses also trim a lot of the horses that will go barefoot. In either case, the hoof must be properly trimmed.

It has been my experience in the farrier field (25 years) that lame, barefoot horses can often experience immediate relief with shoeing.

Many times these shoes are prescribed by equine veterinarians who coordinate efforts with farriers.

I can go on and on about the benefits of shoeing in certain cases, but I will end with this note.

Keep an open mind whether you trim or shoe the horse. Do what is best for the horse in each individual case.

You can visit the American Farriers web site at www.theamericanfarriers.com for more information.

Vernon Stehling, Farrier

Joe Johnson, Farrier

Rosanky, Texas

Buddy and I wish to thank the police department for keeping our town safe.

No matter the time, day or night, or whatever the reason, all it took was a phone call and someone was there to take care of our problems, no matter how big or small.

A special thanks to Lt. Mike Maugere and officer Richard Eaves, who went above and beyond the call of duty to help in any way they could.

I always felt that they were not only doing their duty as police officers, but as our friends.

Also a special thanks to our police chief in trying to keep the drug and crime rate down to protect the citizens of Smithville.

Beverly and Buddy Kellar
Smithville

Aqua Water Supply Corporation announces strong opposition to the GBRA Simsboro project.

The GBRA Simsboro Project was submitted as a “Recommended Strategy” by the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group (Region L) to the Texas Water Development Board this month.

The proposed project intends to build a 52-mile pipeline from Bastrop & Lee Counties in order to transfer 50,000 acre-feet of water to the San Marcos area.

The project is estimated to cost $330,782,000 and would be financed in part by bonds issued by the Texas Water Development Board.

Prior to the new groundwater availability process, Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District issued permits to local users authorizing 43,486 acre-feet per year to be pumped from the Simsboro aquifer in Bastrop County. The currently proposed State Water Plan shows, however, that only 28,000 acre-feet/year are available in Bastrop County.

In other words, existing permits already exceed what is shown to be available in the proposed Plan.

Additionally, current local usage is increasing. Last year, the total water pumped from Bastrop County was 20,198 acre-feet.

The proposed plan shows all available water will be needed to support local growth in Bastrop County at the end of 50 years.

The GBRA Simsboro Project proposes an additional 30,000 acre-feet/year be pumped from Bastrop County.

If this is allowed, more than twice the amount available of 28,000 acre-feet per year will be pumped and the aquifer will be overdrafted. That means more water will be taken out than the amount that recharges. Continued overdrafting will ultimately reduce the level of the aquifer to the point it cannot be economically produced in Bastrop County.

In Lee County, the proposed state plan shows there is a total of 27,533 acre-feet per year available. At the end of the 50-year planning period there will be 19,777 acre-feet per year available to others after local use. By itself, it appears that there is water availability in Lee County for use by others.

However, the Lost Pines GCD looks at the two counties as a whole because the Simsboro aquifer is a single hydrological unit. Based on all of the above numbers, there will be approximately 4,500 acre-feet of water available, which may be permitted by the Lost Pines GCD at the end of the 50-year planning period.

Given the accuracy of predicting water availability 50 years in advance, Aqua strongly believes that the available water in both counties is fully permitted.

Aqua Water believes that if the GBRA Simsboro Project goes forward, it will significantly and irrevocably harm our Camp Swift well field. This well field currently supplies about 40 percent of Aqua’s 17,400 connections.

Moreover, Aqua believes that if the GBRA Simsboro Project were to proceed, there would be no water for the future XS Ranch development of some 7,400 homes.

XS Ranch already has a contract with Aqua to supply their drinking water.

From the perspective of Aqua Water, if the GBRA Simsboro Project proceeds, it will completely and immediately stop economic development in Bastrop and Lee Counties. There will be no water left available for local use.

Aqua believes the water needed for our community should not be piped 52 miles south.

If you feel the same way, please attend our Central Texas Water Forum to be held Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. in Bastrop. The exact location will be announced once we get a count of planned attendees.

Please RSVP to Frances Langhorne at flanghorne@aquawsc.com. If e-mail is not available, please call Linda Nietsche at (512) 581-0705.

For further information, contact Bill Loven at (512) 581-3116.

The GBRA Simsboro Project can be read in full detail at www.regionltexas.org/2011_RegWaterPlan/2011_vol2/Section4C.21.pdf

We are so fortunate to live in Congressman Lloyd Doggett’s district. The recent stimulus bill will direct millions of dollars to Texas to support our firemen, policemen and teachers.

Congressman Doggett led the efforts to include an amendment that would prohibit Texas from diverting those funds to other budgets as happened in the previous stimulus package.

Bastrop County lost $3 million dollars to diverted funds. Our public servants could have benefited from that money.

I am ashamed of Texas’ rankings in health care and education. Our children are leaving high school without being able to read, write or do simple math. They are ill prepared to enter the workforce.

The State of Texas is facing an enormous budget shortfall in the next fiscal year. Let’s face the problem head on rather than wasting time placing blame.

We are going to have to raise taxes. There are no more services to cut.

Linda Laughinghouse
Red Rock

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that became law earlier this year has become such a politically charged issue that many people have forgotten that it contains some positive provisions that will go into effect this fall.

As a family physician, the second largest percentage of my time (behind patient care) is spent fighting with health insurance companies trying to get my patients the care they need.

Over the years I have been in practice, there have been so many times when the insurance companies denied services that are well-accepted screening practices and have denied coverage for pre-existing conditions.

I remember one family who was declined for family insurance coverage because their then-10-year-old son had a tonsillectomy when he was six and the insurance company called that a pre-existing condition. (He had not been sick since his surgery four years before.)

The health reform law provides long-overdue patient protections against predatory health insurance practices and will require health plans to cover certain preventive services, such as cancer screenings and wellness services. Until now, Medicare did not cover an annual wellness exam, though it covers specific items of health screenings.

A few provisions that will make an immediate positive impact include the ability of young adults to stay on their parent’s health insurance until they turn 26 years old; the end of the practice of rescission, or cancelling coverage for patients after they get sick; and stopping insurance companies from denying patients coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

Current health care policy and reimbursement strategies in the United States emphasize specialty care over primary care. Because of that, few medical students choose primary care fields – family medicine, general internal medicine and general pediatrics – for their career.

Many countries have health outcomes that are much better than ours here in the U.S., and in most of these countries, nearly 50 percent of their physician workforce are primary care physicians.

One criticism of the law is that expanding health coverage to millions more Texans will overload our already strained primary care workforce, especially in rural areas that are already experiencing physician shortages.

I worry that when I retire (which won’t be anytime soon, by the way), there won’t be another family physician to take my place.

The law addresses this concern through incentives that provide scholarships and loan repayments for primary care physicians who agree to practice in medically underserved areas. Payments to rural health care providers will also be increased, providing another incentive for physicians to come to our area.

In short, the health reform law is complex and implementation will be a lengthy process. There are some parts of the law that I believe are not good, but our elected officials have time to improve those provisions.

More importantly, parts of the law are extremely beneficial to my patients and I believe they will improve our health care system.

Let’s not “throw the baby out with the bathwater,” but rather work for the needed changes to ensure that our health care system results in the best health care in the world.

Thomas E. Mueller, M.D.

Columbus

The cast, band and crew of Little Shop of Horrors at Playhouse Smithville would like to thank our audience and the the community for an outstanding first run. The excitement and energy was wonderful.
April, Matt and I want to especially thank the dedicated and hearty audience who stayed to see our show on the Saturday when the air conditioner gave up. It is a story we will tell for a long time.
Playhouse Smithville is actors, technicians, designers, musicians, artists and now audience. As I told everyone after the last show, “This is just the beginning!”
Come see what’s next at www.playhousesmithville.com

john daniels, jr. (sic)
Artistic Director
Playhouse Smithville

The Smithville Community Clinic directors wish to express their sincere thanks and appreciation for the attendance, contributions, and support of the community during our recent fundraiser.

David Herrington
Smithville

On Saturday, July 31, a fundraiser was held for Ginger Bennett of Smithville. Because of family and friends of Ginger’s, the fundraiser was a remarkable success.
I would like to take this time to thank all of those, who are too numerous to mention, for their generous donations for the sale, baked goods and for the monetary donations.
Many other blessings came from this fundraiser as all clothing left from the sale was donated to the homeless because of the work of Vic and Kim Stiver of Smithville and their ministry for the homeless.  May God bless you in your service to the Lord. All other leftover donations were given to charity as well.
For those who would still like to make donations, a bank account in Ginger Bennett’s name has been set up at First National Bank of Smithville.
Ginger is currently undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Her job does not offer insurance and because of the effects of chemo, she is unable to work full time.  She still has a long haul with radiation starting in a few weeks and having to make daily commutes to Austin for this.
Words cannot fully express the gratitude Ginger and all of her family and friends feel for your overwhelming support during this most difficult time. I have lived in Smithville all my life and this is what I love about this town, how we all pull together like this and help those like Ginger.
May God richly bless each and every one who helped with this very worthy cause.
Thank you and may God bless you all,

Mary Lou Thomas
Smithville

The Smithville High School classes of 1969 and 1970 are planning a reunion for Oct. 16 and would like readers’ help in locating some of our classmates.
We know several classmates still have family living in the area that subscribe to and read The Smithville Times.
We are hoping that anyone who sees this and knows of a ’69 or ’70 graduate will ask them to contact either Pam Newquist Vasek at (512) 237-5504 or Nancy Trousdale Wilson at (512) 237-1046 if they have not received an invitation yet. Invitations have already been mailed for this year’s reunion.
Addresses we get for our Oct. 16 reunion will also be used next year for the SHS 1960-1970 reunion to be held May 14, 2011. Help from readers is appreciated.
Thank you,

Nancy Wilson
Smithville