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🪶 Letter from the Editor

Dear neighbors,

I watched a woman carry four grocery bags into the food pantry on Monday with one hand and answer a phone call about a vendor contract with the other. She didn't put either one down. When she set the bags on the counter, she finished her call, said "love you, bye," and turned to the room like she'd been standing there waiting for everyone else to arrive.

She hadn't. She'd been up since five.

It's Teacher Appreciation Week. You've seen the tributes on social media — the handmade cards, the coffee gift cards. What you might not have seen is the teacher who stayed after the bell to call a parent about a kid who stopped raising her hand. The Mason ISD bond election was Saturday. It was the second one. It didn't pass. People voted their conscience. The teachers showed up Monday morning the same way they always do.

Mother's Day is Sunday. The Texas Rural Woman Grant opened its 2026 application window this week — May 5 through June 5, through Texas Woman's University's Center for Women Entrepreneurs. If you know someone running something in the Hill Country — a business, a food pantry, an operation that keeps a piece of this community fed or connected — tell them about it. They're probably too busy doing the work to look for the grant that funds it.

Look around your town this week. Not at the buildings or the calendar — at the women. The ones already there when you arrive and still there when you leave. See them. Not just on Sunday — on Monday, when they show up again, carrying more than you can see.

They've been up since five.

With love and eyes wide open,

— Katie Milton Jordan
Editor, The Townie
📬 [email protected] // 📞 325-475-499

The Two Insights Your Business Needs Right Now

Insight #1: Women-Owned Businesses in Rural Texas — The Numbers and the Reality

There are roughly 1.3 million women-owned businesses in Texas. That number sounds enormous until you look at where they are. Urban women-owned firms grow at rates 15 percent higher than their rural counterparts, and rural women-owned businesses represent just 13 percent of all women-owned firms nationally. In a state where "small business" is a point of cultural pride, the women running businesses in places like Mason and Menard and Junction are doing it with fewer resources, thinner networks, and almost no visibility in the data that shapes policy.

Here's what the numbers don't tell you: the woman running the flower shop on the square also does the books for two other businesses after hours. The woman who manages the school cafeteria also coordinates the food pantry's monthly distribution. The woman who raises cattle also runs the ranch's books, handles the insurance, schedules the vet, and organizes the neighbors when somebody's fence goes down in a storm. In rural Texas, women-owned doesn't always mean a registered LLC with a storefront. Sometimes it means the person holding the operation together while the operation is named after someone else.

The Texas Rural Woman Grant — administered through Texas Woman's University's Center for Women Entrepreneurs — opened its 2026 application window this week, May 5 through June 5. It's designed specifically for existing rural, woman-owned companies, and it's one of the few funding mechanisms in the state that names rural women as a category worth investing in. If you know a woman running something in the Hill Country — a business, a nonprofit, a program that keeps a community fed or functional — this is worth a conversation.

The reality is simpler than the statistics suggest: these businesses exist because the women who run them decided they should, and then did the work to make them real. The numbers just haven't caught up yet.

Insight #2: The Invisible Labor of Running a Family Business

There is a particular kind of work that happens inside family businesses that never makes it onto the balance sheet, and it is almost always done by women.

It's the scheduling — not of shifts, but of the family around the shifts. It's the phone call to the supplier that happens between school pickup and soccer practice. It's the emotional labor of managing employees who are also neighbors, of collecting a past-due invoice from someone you'll see at church on Sunday, of being the person who remembers that the part-timer's kid has a recital and that the vendor's wife just had surgery and that the health inspector prefers the forms filed a certain way.

It's inventory and empathy. Bookkeeping and peacemaking. Strategy and school lunch.

This labor is invisible because it's categorized as "helping" rather than "working." It doesn't have a title. It rarely has a salary. But it has a replacement cost — and the numbers are instructive.

According to Salary dot com's 2025 survey, the replacement cost of unpaid household and family management labor — scheduling, bookkeeping, logistics, inventory, emotional coordination — is approximately $186,000 per year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts a bookkeeper at $23/hour, an office manager at $28/hour, and a human resources coordinator at $26/hour. In a family business, one person often fills all three roles simultaneously. In rural markets, where these services are scarcer, outsourcing them is often more expensive and less reliable than in metro areas.

Put differently: if the person doing this work — and USDA census data confirms that in 36% of U.S. farm and ranch operations, women are the primary or co-primary operator — were to stop, the cost of replacing what they do would exceed what many Hill Country family businesses net in a year.

This labor exists in the space between the business and the family, and the people who do it move between those spaces so fluently that the movement itself becomes invisible — mistaken for ease when it's actually skill.

If you're running a family business and there's someone in the operation whose work you'd struggle to describe in a job listing because it touches everything — that's not a gap in your org chart. That's the infrastructure holding the whole thing up. Name it. Compensate it. Or at the very least, price it — because the market already has.

A Small Townie Takeaway

The Hill Country runs on women who don't wait to be recognized before they show up. They run businesses and bake sales and emergency phone trees. They manage the finances and the feelings. They hold together the things that would fall apart without them — not because anyone asked, but because they saw what needed doing and did it. Mother's Day is Sunday. But the work these women do doesn't observe a calendar. It just continues, steady and essential, whether anyone notices or not. This week, notice.

The Townie Business Circle goes deeper on women-owned business funding, the invisible labor economy, and what the Texas Rural Woman Grant means for Hill Country operators. Real strategy. Real context. $10/month. [Join the Business Circle →]

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🌾 Fresh off the PorchEvents

⭐ [Mason] — Quarterly Chamber Mixer at Accurate Leak and Line | Thu, May 7, 4:30–6 p.m. | Accurate Leak and Line — Mason Chamber of Commerce. Networking mixer for local business owners and community members. Drinks and light snacks provided.

[Llano] — National Day of Prayer | Thu, May 7, 5:30–6:30 p.m. | First Baptist Church. Community-wide prayer service honoring the national observance.

[Llano] — Dawson Holland Band Live | Fri, May 8, 8:00 p.m. | 909 Bessemer Ave — Llano Music Venue. Local folk and Americana artist performs.

[Fredericksburg] — FXBG Tacos & Beer Festival | Sat, May 9 | Ag Fairgrounds — Fredericksburg Community. Celebrating taco traditions and local craft beer.

[Mason] — An Evening with Susan Gibson & Walt Wilkins | Sat, May 9, 7–9 p.m. | The Odeon Theater. Award-winning Hill Country songwriters perform. Tickets available at the door.

[Llano] — Johnny McGowan Live | Sat, May 9, 8:00 p.m. | 909 Bessemer Ave — Llano Music Venue. Llano-based country and folk artist.

[Llano] — Marrijane Steelman Memorial Barrel Race | Sat, May 9 | JLK Arena — Community Rodeo. All-ages barrel racing competition honoring a beloved community member.

⭐ [Virtual/Zoom] — Texas Rural Practitioners Full Group Meeting: "Funding Opportunities at the Texas Department of Agriculture" | Mon, May 11, 1–2 p.m. CT | Zoom — Texas Forest Country Partnership. TDA Lead Grants Specialist Kat Neilson walks rural practitioners through federal and state funding programs including the Specialty Crop Block Grant, the STAR Fund, and the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program — followed by live Q&A. Ideal for EDO professionals, chamber staff, ag producers, nonprofits, and community leaders. Free and open to all. Join via Zoom →

[Fredericksburg] — FHS INCubator Pitch Night | Mon, May 12, 6:00 p.m. | Rockbox Theater — Fredericksburg Independent School District. Local entrepreneurs pitch for a share of $20K in funding across three winning teams. Community invited.

[Mason] — Ladies Night Out: Fiesta Edition | Fri, May 15, 5–8 p.m. | Mason Town Square — Mason Community. Celebrating local women with food, music, and business showcases.

[Llano] — The Texas Zephyrs Live | Fri, May 15, 8:00 p.m. | 909 Bessemer Ave — Llano Music Venue. Regional Americana band.

[Junction] — Junction Texas Clay Workshop | Fri–Sat, May 15–16 | The Warehouse — Junction Arts Foundation. Hands-on ceramic and sculpture workshops led by visiting artists. Registration required.

[Castell] — Testicle Festival | Sat, May 16, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. | Castell General Store — Castell Community. A 30-year Hill Country tradition celebrating local ranching culture with food, music, and community. All ages welcome.

[Llano] — Plein Air at Bliss on the River | Sat, May 16, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | Bliss on the River — Llano Artist Alliance. Outdoor painting workshop along the river with instructors and open studio.

[Fredericksburg] — National Wild Turkey Federation Banquet | Sat, May 16 | Ag Fairgrounds — NWTF. Supporting conservation and youth hunting programs.

[Llano] — Valley Spring VFD Fish Fry | Sat, May 16, 5–7:30 p.m. | Valley Spring Volunteer Fire Department — Llano County Fire Service. Community fundraiser with all-you-can-eat fried fish, sides, and dessert.

[Fredericksburg] — Country Festival Bands | Sun, May 17 | Ag Fairgrounds — Fredericksburg Community. Local and regional country bands perform.

⭐ [Kerrville] — Kerrville Folk Festival, 54th Annual | Thu, May 21–Sun, Jun 7 | Quiet Valley Ranch — Kerrville Folk Festival Society. Iconic 18-day music festival featuring Americana, folk, and singer-songwriter traditions. Camping and daily tickets available. Regional anchor event drawing visitors from across Texas.

[Fredericksburg] — Fredericksburg Crawfish Festival | Fri–Sun, May 22–24 | Ag Fairgrounds and Downtown — Fredericksburg Community. Memorial Day weekend celebration with crawfish boils, live music, local vendors, and family activities.

[Mason] — May Rock Hunt | Sat, May 30 | Fort Mason Community Park — Mason Gem and Rock Club. Community event celebrating the area's geology and rock formations.

[Mason] — Music in the Vineyard featuring Spicyloops | Sat, May 30 | Mason Vineyard — Mason Community. Outdoor concert series with local band and wine.

[Llano] — Bri Bagwell with Micky & The Motorcars | Sat, May 30, 5:00 p.m. | 301 Bessemer Ave — Llano Music Venue. Country and Americana artists perform.

[Llano] — Llano Open Pro Rodeo Parade | Fri, Jun 5, 4:00 p.m. | Courthouse Square — Llano Rodeo Association. Community parade kicking off rodeo weekend.

⭐ [Llano] — 90th Annual Llano Open Pro Rodeo | Fri–Sat, Jun 5–6, 7:00 p.m. | JLK Arena — Llano Rodeo Association. Professional rodeo featuring bull riding, barrel racing, roping, and bronc events. Major regional event with multi-generation family tradition.

[Llano] — 8th Annual Lil Moto Campout | Fri, Jun 5, 1:00 p.m. | Robinson Park — Llano Community. Family-friendly motorcycle gathering and camping event.

[Junction] — Cowboys & Cajuns | Sat, Jun 6 | Hill Country Fairgrounds — Junction Community. Celebration of regional cuisine and culture with food, music, and dancing.

⭐ [Menard] — Menard River Rat Fest & Jim Bowie Day Cook Off | Sat, Jun 13 | Low Water Crossing Park — Menard Community. Annual celebration along the Colorado River with BBQ cook-off, family activities, and honoring regional history.

[Mason] — Annual Mason Round-Up Rodeo | Fri–Sat, Jul 10–11 | Fort Mason Community Park — Mason Rodeo Association. Traditional rodeo event celebrating ranching heritage with professional and amateur competitions.

[Mason] — Fort Mason 175th Anniversary Reenactment | Sat, Jul 11 | Fort Mason — Mason Historical Society. Living history celebrating the 175-year legacy of the 1851 frontier fort.

[Junction] — Summer Classic CPRA Rodeo | Fri–Sat, Aug 14–15 | Hill Country Fairgrounds — CPRA. Professional rodeo with high-caliber competition.

[Llano] — Jake Hooker and the Outsiders | Fri, Jul 24, 8:00 p.m. | 909 Bessemer Ave — Llano Music Venue. Country and rock-influenced regional band.

Community Features

Llano Masons Honor LHS Students The Llano Masonic Lodge recognized three local high school students for community service and academic achievement at their monthly meeting. The awards underscore the lodge's long-standing commitment to supporting young people in Llano County.

Muckleroy Ranch Permanently Protected 240 acres of scenic ranch land bordering Enchanted Rock State Park have been permanently protected through a conservation easement, ensuring the land remains in agricultural and natural use. The ranch family partnered with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and local land trust to achieve the protection.

Wildflower Drives Open Across Mason County Spring rains have triggered exceptional wildflower blooms across Mason County, with Indian paintbrush and bluebonnets visible along roadsides and in open pastures. Local wildflower drives recommended: Highway 71 west toward Llano, Highway 163 north, and the backroads around Loyal Valley.

Business & School Highlights

FHS INCubator Pitch Night Set for May 12 Fredericksburg Independent School District's entrepreneurship program hosts its annual pitch night, with student and community entrepreneurs presenting business plans for $20K in total funding split among three winning teams. Open to the public at Rockbox Theater, 6 p.m., Mon, May 12.

FISD Names Lone Finalist for Superintendent Following a regional search, Fredericksburg ISD identified Dr. Calvin Bowers as the sole finalist for superintendent, pending school board approval. Dr. Bowers brings 20+ years of public school leadership experience in rural and mid-size Texas districts.

Standard-Radio Post Joins Times Media Group The Standard-Radio Post, a historic Hill Country newspaper, has joined Times Media Group's portfolio of regional publications. The acquisition signals ongoing consolidation in small-market print media and may reshape local advertising and editorial coverage in the Fredericksburg area.

Awards & Recognitions

John Wallace Earns National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award Fredericksburg resident John Wallace received the National Outstanding Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America, honoring his exceptional service work and leadership during his Scouting career. Wallace's project focused on community trail improvement and youth mentorship.

Amanda Williamson Named FPS Teacher of the Year Amanda Williamson, elementary educator at Fredericksburg Primary School, earned the 2026 FPS Teacher of the Year Award, recognizing her exceptional classroom instruction and student engagement.

Thomas Woods Named FHS Teacher of the Year Thomas Woods, secondary instructor at Fredericksburg High School, received the 2026 FHS Teacher of the Year Award in recognition of his innovative teaching methods and mentorship of students.

Weather

After Wednesday morning's severe storms (which dropped tennis-ball hail in Junction and prompted warnings for Kimble and southern Mason counties), Thursday turns much cooler — mostly cloudy with highs around 71°F. Heat ramps fast: Friday 82°F, weekend highs 88–90°F across Mason/Llano/Gillespie counties. Low to medium (20–40%) rain and storm chances return mid-to-late next week. Lows in the low-60s°F. (NWS Austin/San Antonio & San Angelo)

Rural Policy & Funding Watch

Locally, Fredericksburg voters head to the polls Saturday, May 2 (early voting underway) for mayor, two council seats, and an FISD bond — turnout matters in a small town. Regionally, USDA Rural Development's Strategic Economic and Community Development priority for FY2026 is now active, reserving funds for rural multi-jurisdictional plans. Statewide, the President's FY2026 budget request proposes a 69% reduction in USDA Rural Development discretionary authority — county officials are urging Congress to restore FY2024 levels.

Economic & Small Business Intel

Fredericksburg's first-ever Restaurant Week (May 4–10) is wrapping up this week as a launchpad for a larger 2027 festival, with sold-out collaboration dinners suggesting strong post-pandemic visitor spending. Times Media Group's late-February acquisition of the Standard-Radio Post brings a multi-paper operator into Hill Country media — watch for changes in advertising and event promotion. CattleFax projects 2026 fed steer prices around $224/cwt, supporting steady margins for cow-calf producers across Mason, Menard, and McCulloch counties.

Agriculture Notes

Per the U.S. Drought Monitor (April 21, 2026 release), roughly 77% of Texas remains in drought, with the Hill Country largely in D1–D2 territory — the recent Edwards Plateau storm system delivered welcome but localized 1–2" totals near Junction and Kerrville. NWS Austin/San Antonio's Drought Information Statement remains in effect. Texas A&M Forest Service and Texas Burn Ban Tracker show Bexar and a band of Central Texas counties under active burn bans — check your county judge's order before any open burning. Mason County 4-H Sheep & Goat Validation is set for Tuesday, June 16 (8 a.m.–noon, Show Barn) and Steers & Heifers Wednesday, June 17 (Hill Country Vet Clinic).

Market Snapshot

USDA's Texas Direct Cattle Report (week ending May 1, 2026) shows feeder steers and heifers up $2–7 with good demand; negotiated cash fat cattle hit record territory at $255–256/cwt. Hay markets remain firm: large round Bermuda premium quoted around $155 and small-square Bermuda around $14 F.O.B. dealer. Pecan growers head into bloom with industry attention high — Texas remains the third-largest pecan producer nationally with $240–300 million in annual orchard value, per Texas Department of Agriculture.

Grant Watch

Active opportunities tracked by Texas Rural Funders include the Texas Rural Communities grant (up to $10,000, deadline Nov. 1, 2026) for community development and education projects, and the Texas Methodist Foundation rolling capacity-building support (deadline Nov. 30, 2026). USDA Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant Program is accepting third-quarter applications through May 31, 2026 (next deadline June 30) — eligible to RUS borrowers and not-for-profit utilities supporting rural job creation.

Tourism Pulse

Memorial Day weekend (May 22–25) officially kicks off the Hill Country tourism season — expect packed wineries from Fredericksburg to Mason, full RV pads at Llano's Robinson Park around the Crawfish Festival in Fredericksburg, and tubers floating the South Llano at Junction's Schreiner Park and South Llano River State Park. The 18-day Kerrville Folk Festival (May 21–June 7, Quiet Valley Ranch) anchors regional visitor flow, with spillover lodging into Fredericksburg, Harper, and Mason. Local vendors should plan inventory for a strong holiday and early-summer push.

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📖 FEATURED STORY: When Austin Looked West

There's a moment — and anyone who's lived in a small town knows it — when someone from somewhere bigger looks in your direction and says, not as a question but as a statement: that's interesting. Tell me more.

It happened this week. Voyage Austin, a media platform that covers the people and stories shaping the Austin area, published a feature on The Townie. Not a sidebar. Not a mention in a list. A full feature — the kind where they ask you to introduce yourself and then let you talk for as long as the story needs.

And here's the thing I keep coming back to: they didn't call because of Austin. They called because of Mason. Because of Menard and Brady and Junction and Llano and Fredericksburg and Harper. Because of the Hill Country — the real one, the one west of the wineries and north of the weekend traffic, the one where the food pantry runs on volunteers and the school system runs on teachers who buy their own supplies and the town square runs on women who unlock the door before anyone else arrives.

That's what Voyage Austin found interesting. Not a tech startup. Not a restaurant concept. A weekly newsletter about small towns that most people in Austin have never heard of and that the people who live in them would never leave.

I'm going to be honest with you, because that's what this letter is for: I was nervous about the interview. Not because of the questions — the questions were generous and thoughtful — but because of the translation problem. How do you explain what The Townie is to someone who's never sat on a porch in Mason on a Thursday morning and read it with their coffee? How do you explain that a newsletter about events and weather and agriculture notes and an advice column written by two fictional women named Hazel Mae and Fern is actually — somehow, against all odds — the thing that 250 people open every week at a rate that doubles the industry average?

You explain it the way you'd explain it to a neighbor: you just tell the truth.

The truth is that The Townie exists because the stories were already here. The festivals, the new businesses, the volunteer work, the school achievements, the quiet acts of service that never make the news because nobody's covering them — all of it was happening. It just didn't have a place to land. The local papers are thinner than they used to be. Social media is loud and scattered. There was no single place where you could sit down once a week and just know what was going on in your community.

So we built one.

I told Voyage Austin about the content system — the ten sections, the rotating features, the Potluck Test (if it would start an argument at a neighborhood potluck, we don't touch it). I told them about the 56% open rate, which sounds like a number but is actually a measure of trust. I told them about the Business Circle, and the quarterly wine & idea nights, and the vision for what I call "Townie in a Box" — licensing this model to other rural communities across the country, because if it works in Mason County, it can work anywhere small towns are being overlooked.

But what I wanted to say — and what I think came through anyway — is that this newsletter isn't about me. It's about the place.

The Townie works because the Hill Country gives it something to write about every single week. The people here are the content. The rancher who fixes his neighbor's fence after a storm. The teacher who stays late. The woman at the Chamber who is the town's first voice to every visitor who calls. The food pantry volunteers. The coaches. The artists painting along the river in Llano. The general store in Castell that's been standing since 1890 because the people who love it keep showing up.

That's what Voyage Austin published. Not a story about a newsletter. A story about a place worth writing about — and the fact that someone finally did.

I want you to know something, because you deserve to hear it plainly: The Townie got featured in an Austin publication this week because of you. Because you read it. Because you share it. Because you told your neighbor about it, or tagged someone in the comments, or forwarded the edition to your sister in San Antonio who keeps asking about Hill Country real estate. Every subscriber, every open, every share — that's what caught their eye. Not the format. Not the technology. The community behind it.

You can read the full Voyage Austin feature here: Daily Inspiration: Meet Katie Milton Jordan →

And if you're a subscriber who's been with us since the early days — or even since last month — thank you. You're the reason an Austin magazine looked west this week and saw something worth writing about.

They saw you. They just used my name.

💬 Hazel Mae & Fern

Mother's Day is this Sunday and I've been carrying something around for months. My sister and I haven't spoken since Christmas — not because of a fight, but because of the thing we've both been avoiding saying. Our mom is getting older. She can't keep up the house by herself. One of us needs to step in, and neither of us has been willing to have that conversation. I'm running out of almosts.

— Running Out of Almosts

Hazel Mae says:

Sugar, sit down. The conversations we put off don't get easier with time — they get heavier. You've been carrying this since Christmas, and almosts have a weight to them that's worse than the conversation itself.

Your sister isn't calling for the same reason you aren't: she's terrified of the sentence that comes before the logistics. Mom needs help. Once you say that, you're both admitting the woman who held everything together is now the one who needs holding.

Call your sister first — not your mom. Lead with "I'm scared about Mom," not "We need to talk about the house." And when you do talk to your mom, let her have a voice. She's not a problem to be solved.

The phone is right there, baby. Pick it up.

Fern says:

There's a season in every family when the current reverses — when the ones who were held begin to do the holding. Your sister's silence isn't cruelty. It's the same fear you carry, wearing different clothes. The distance between you isn't anger — it's grief that hasn't found its words yet.

Your mother is still growing. She just needs a brace she didn't used to need. And the strongest brace is two daughters, standing together, saying: we see you. We're here.

Mother's Day is Sunday. The best gift you can give your mother isn't flowers — it's her daughters in the same room, choosing each other.

Got a question for Hazel Mae & Fern? Send it in. We'll put the kettle on, pull on our boots, and walk it out with you. [email protected]

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What Happened on Socials This Week

[Castell] — A farm stand out on West Hwy 29 is doing Mother's Day right. Ch Mullican posted the spread: homemade baked goods, jellies, farm-fresh eggs, and gift baskets put together for Sunday. If you're still looking for something that didn't come off a shelf, call 830-992-8711 or 201-230-1782 — it's at 16625 W. State Hwy 29, Llano. Elva Bara Norman spoke for the rest of us: "I must go!!"

[London] — The Gettin' Place at Liberty Rose Ranch is officially open, and the reviews are already in. Chris Baker and Bethany Baker posted the announcement with a simple "C'mon out!" — and the London community showed up for the soft opening. Celeste King's verdict: "They do cookies! Beautiful really tasty cookies! The cinnamon rolls and bread also were very nice." When a small-town bakery opens and the neighbors show up the same week, that's London working exactly the way it's supposed to.

[Castell] — A big dog showed up on CR 405, and Castell handled it the way Castell handles everything. Teri Gary posted that a large dog had wandered onto their property, and within hours the neighborhood had identified him, tracked down his people, and sent him home. Peggy Irvin's comment — "I bet CiCi enjoyed his visit!!!!!" — tells you everything about how this community treats a lost dog: not as a problem, but as a guest who overstayed. Teri's update: "He is home." Of course he is. It's Castell.

[Menard] — La Catrina Birrieria is setting up at Club Victoria, and Menard has a new Monday option. Aracely Leonardo Leon posted the announcement, and if you haven't had birria tacos on a Monday afternoon in a small Texas town, you're missing one of the great underrated pleasures of Hill Country life. Keep an eye on La Catrina's posts for hours and specials.

[Mason] — The Chamber is already calling for Roundup Weekend vendors — and summer isn't even here yet. The Mason County Chamber posted the vendor application flyer for July 9–12, and the fact that people are sharing it two months out tells you everything about how seriously this town takes its summer traditions. If you've been thinking about setting up a booth, now's the time to claim your spot.

[Junction] — Summer event season is almost here, and Junction is ready. Alan Maples summed up the mood in the Junction community group: "It's getting closer to the summer events in Junction — won't be long!" When the locals start counting down, you know the calendar is about to get full. Keep your Thursdays and weekends open through June.

🐾 Pet of the Week: Gemini

Pet photography by Suzanne DeMaree — capturing the heart of Hill Country companions. 📸 View her work →

Meet Rhea — our newest rescue from the Mason City Pound, and the kind of dog who makes you wonder how she ended up without a home in the first place.

Rhea is a beautiful German Shepherd mix, just under a year old, with warm amber eyes and ears that say she's listening to every word you're telling her — and probably understanding more of it than you'd expect. She's big enough to look like she means business but young enough that the puppy in her still shows up in the way she leans into you when you scratch behind those ears. And if you're the kind of person who sits on the porch in the evening and wants someone to sit beside you without needing to fill the silence — Rhea is already auditioning for that role.

Second Chance volunteers have been getting to know her this week, and the reports are unanimous: sweet, affectionate, and a snuggler. She loves to stay close, the way some dogs do when they've figured out that people are the best part of any room. She's not bouncing off the walls. She's not demanding. She's just present — calm and warm and happy to be wherever you are, as long as you're there too.

Rhea has completed all her vet work. She's been spayed, fully vaccinated, and is heartworm negative — which means she's ready to go home with someone who's ready to have her. If that's you, or if that's someone you know who's been saying "maybe" for a while now, reach out to Second Chance at [email protected] or call 325-347-6929.

She's under a year old. She's healthy. She's sweet. And she's waiting for someone to scratch those ears every evening instead of just on volunteer days.

Beautiful photography by Suzanne DeMaree

Rhea’s AI Translation: If She Were Human...

"I'm the one at the party who finds the quietest person in the room and sits down next to them without saying a word — just close enough that they know they're not alone. I'm twenty-two, maybe twenty-three, just old enough to have figured out that the loud table isn't where the good conversations happen. I've got big brown eyes that people keep calling 'soulful,' which honestly I think is just a nice way of saying I look like I'm thinking about something important when really I'm just wondering if you're going to scratch behind my ear again. I just moved to town. I don't know anyone yet, but I'm not worried about it — I'm the kind of person who only needs one good friend to feel like she's home. I'll sit on your porch. I'll ride in your truck with my arm out the window. I'll be the most loyal person in your life before the end of the first week, and I won't even make a big deal about it. I'm just looking for someone who has room — not a lot of room, just enough. A porch, a couch cushion, and someone who comes home at the end of the day. That's it. That's the whole list."

Deep, emotional, ancestral. The things passed down aren't always in the will.

Aries (Mar 21 – Apr 19) — You inherited a temper and a work ethic. Something's been sitting wrong, and you're done pretending. The conversation you start will be hard, but starting it is the kindest thing you can do. Your grandmother didn't soften either. But she showed up.

Taurus (Apr 20 – May 20) — Your season. But you've inherited your mother's habit of downplaying what you've built. Stop that. What you have — stability, beauty, things that last — is worth naming. Own it.

Gemini (May 21 – Jun 20) — You inherited a gift for words and a tendency to use them before you've thought them through. This week, listen more than you talk. Someone's trying to tell you something you need to hear.

Cancer (Jun 21 – Jul 22) — You inherited the burden of taking care of everyone. This week someone will ask if you're okay, and you'll want to say yes when the answer is no. Say it anyway. Your mother's strength wasn't in never needing help — it was in knowing when to ask.

Leo (Jul 23 – Aug 22) — You inherited your father's need to be seen and your mother's fear that you're not worthy of it. You are worthy. This week, give yourself permission.

Virgo (Aug 23 – Sep 22) — You inherited the ability to see what's broken and a deep fear you're not fixing it fast enough. This week, finish something imperfectly. Your grandmother's kitchen wasn't spotless, but her table was always full.

Libra (Sep 23 – Oct 22) — You inherited grace and the tendency to use it to smooth over things that should stay rough. You're tired. Everyone knows it. Your mother didn't ask permission to set boundaries. She just set them. Try it.

Scorpio (Oct 23 – Nov 21) — You inherited loyalty and grudges. This week, choose which one. You're holding onto something past its expiration date. Your grandmother would have forgiven by now. Be braver than she was.

Sagittarius (Nov 22 – Dec 21) — You inherited horizon-chasing and a family that doesn't understand why you won't stay put. This week, notice what you're running toward versus what you're running from. The difference matters.

Capricorn (Dec 22 – Jan 19) — You inherited discipline and the misunderstanding that discipline equals lovability. It doesn't. This week, be soft. Your mother's greatest strength wasn't her will — it was the times she broke it.

Aquarius (Jan 20 – Feb 18) — You inherited curiosity and a family that called feeling things weakness. This week, let yourself miss someone. The most important things you'll ever know can't be figured out. They have to be felt.

Pisces (Feb 19 – Mar 20) — You inherited sensitivity and the world's expectation that you manage everyone's emotions but your own. This week, be selfish with your energy. No is a complete sentence. Your grandmother knew that.

Honor what was given, question what was imposed. The strongest thing you inherited wasn't a thing at all — it was a woman who kept going.

By the Numbers — Because Y'all Are the Story

The Townie just crossed 280 subscribers — and we're growing every week because of you. Not because of an algorithm. Not because of a marketing budget. Because 86% of our new readers got here the old-fashioned way: somebody they trust shared it on Facebook or forwarded it in a text.

Our open rate is sitting at 54%. The industry average for newsletters this size is around 20%. That means more than half of you open this thing every Thursday morning — which, for a free newsletter from a town most GPS apps still can’t find, is extraordinary.

And when we asked how you'd rate The Townie, the leading answer on our reader poll? "Braggin' at the coffee shop." We're not going to pretend that doesn't make us tear up a little.

Here's the thing: we don't have a marketing team. We have you. Every share, every forward, every "you should read this" text to a friend — that's how The Townie grows. So if this edition hit you somewhere real, do us a favor:

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