FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2014
THE FAYETTE COUNTY La Grange, Texas 78945
INSIDE
The Fayette County Record
41 kids fighting cancer fished at an event Saturday at Fayette Lake. Page B1
Volume 92, Number 104
A standing room-only crowd turned out to the La Grange city council chambers Monday night and watched the council vote 6-2 in favor of designating Highway 77 in the city limits as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Highway. The decision will mean that a sign will be placed at each end of town along the roadway (and will be put up within 120-150 days), but no addresses will be changed.
The decision left about half the assembled crowd applauding. During the public discussion period before the vote, Glenn Altwein said he was speaking on behalf of more than a dozen veterans attending Monday’s meeting as he read resolutions passed by both the local VFW and American Legion Posts urging the council to rename Highway 77 “Veterans Memorial Highway.” “You will get no argument from me that veterans are wor-
thy of recognition,” said La Grange Mayor Janet Moerbe. “But we are not considering any other names tonight. I would encourage you to go through the same process this other group has.” There is one other available roadway for another Memorial Highway designation in La Grange. That is the stretch of Business 71, within in the city limits. “We will follow up with the proper procedures,” Altwein said.
Tamale Sale
St. Paul Lutheran Youth Organization will have their annual tamale sale beginning Wednesday, Oct. 29. All beef tamales in regular or spicy are available from any LYO member or the church office for $9 a dozen. Tamales will be available for pickup on Tuesday Nov. 25 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Money from this fundraiser supports LYO activities, the summer trip and other outreach opportunities. If you need more information, call Aimee Elles at (979) 7028199 or the St. Paul Lutheran Church office at (979) 9685657. Care Inn of La Grange Nursing and Rehabilitation Center will be having a Fall Festival on Friday, Oct. 31 from 4 to 6 p.m. at their facility located at 457 N. Main, one block off the square. The residents will be passing out candy to the trick or treaters. Free hot dogs and cotton candy will be available to all kids and adults. There will be a bounce house and cake walk along with other games.
Trunk or Treat
Trunk or Treat with the Shared Lutheran Ministry from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fayetteville. The SLM is decorating their car trunks and pick-up beds for Halloween and inviting all kids to come and trick-or-treat. Wear your costume. There will be hay rides, games, treats. Hot dogs and frito pies for sale. The proceeds will benefit youth attending the Lutheran Youth Gathering in Detroit in 2015. There’s more For the Record on Page A2 & A11
WEATHER WATCH
By JEFF WICK
The Fayette County Record
Harvey Dippel and James Zapalac stand behind the counter at the iconic men’s clothing store they’ve operated together since the 1970s. Photos by H.H. Howze
Clothed in History
Copyright 2014, The Fayette County Record, Inc.
Life-Saving Award
By H.H. HOWZE
The Fayette County Record
A 66-year-old business tradition will end Dec. 31 when the curtain comes down on the D&Z Man’s Shop on the courthouse square in La Grange. “I tried to find someone to buy it but none of my kids were interested,” co-owner Harvey Dippel said Wednesday. Dippel and business partner James Zapalac have operated the haberdashery (traditional men’s clothing store) together since 1979, but the business goes back to 1948, shortly after World War II. James Zapalac’s parents, Louis and Anita, founded the firm with partners Ernest and Agnes Kallus in 1948. It was known in those days as K&Z and was located near the other end of the 200 block of West Travis Street adjacent to Adamcik’s Appliance store. Dippel entered the firm as a partner with Anita Zapalac after her husband Louis died in 1961.
Harvey Dippel takes a break from sweeping the sidewalk in front of the store.
Ernest and Agnes Kallus sold their interest to the new partners in 1970 and K&Z became D&Z. James, meanwhile, took a business administration degree at St. Edwards University in Austin and began an 11-year management career with Joske’s Department Store in San Antonio. “Joske’s was part of the Allied Stores Corporation,” he recalled. The corporation had 300
Businesses Changing Hands
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It remains to be seen if the train horns will continue to blow regularly in La Grange. A public hearing was held at Monday’s city council meeting for council members to gauge public opinion on a possible “Railroad Quiet Zone” through the city limits. Right on cue – in the middle of the discussion, a train went by, blowing its horn. A Quiet Zone would remove the federal requirement that
whistles be sounded every time a train approaches a crossing. Horns could still be sounded if an engineer determines it is needed for a warning. Additional medians would have to be constructed at every crossing (at an estimated total cost to the city of $45,000) to enact a Quiet Zone. Three residents who took to the podium Monday spoke in favor of the quiet zone and three spoke against it. “I’ve lived here 16 years See Quiet Zone, back page
As the End of an Era Nears, We Look Back At the History of D&Z
This Week’s Forecast High Low Friday: 76 46 Clear Saturday: 72 48 Clear Sunday: 78 60 By H.H. HOWZE Partly cloudy Monday: 80 66 The Fayette County Record Overcast Two convenience
Burn Ban Is Lifted
All the chairs were filled and about a dozen folks were left standing at the start of Monday’s city council meeting.
Opinions Vary At Forum About Train Quiet Zone
For The Record
Fall Festival
One Dollar per Copy
Standing-Room-Only Crowd Sees MLK Highway Designation Pass By JEFF WICK
A Fishing Trip To Remember
RECORD
stores and a major-brand service station clustered around the busy intersection of US 77 and Texas 71 Business (also known as the intersection of Travis and Jefferson Streets) in La Grange are in the process of changing hands (or, at least, change). • Berry’s Exxon on the north-
stores and 2200 employees. “But I knew I was going to come back,” he said, and he did so in 1978 after his mother retired. It was during that period that the business expanded into its current location at 245 W. Travis. But it took two years to make the switch, Dippel recalled. “We bought the building in See D&Z, back page
La Grange Police Sergeant Troy Stevens, left, was presented with a Life Saving Award Citation Monday from La Grange Police Chief Jackie Skelton. On Oct. 2 Stevens responded to a call in La Grange where a victim had hung himself from a tree. Stevens freed the individual from the tree, placed him on the ground in a position to provide air and called EMS. “Had it not been for the actions of Stevens the outcome for the victim could have proven fatal,” the citation read. Photo by Jeff Wick
No Charge in Mueller Road Murder Yet As of press time no charges have been filed in connection with the Oct. 20 stabbing death of John Donald Weiler, 55, which occurred on Mueller Road in the Rutersville area, though a person of interest (a female) has been arrested on an unrelated charge. The Fayette County Sheriff’s Department did release this statement: “The case is still under investigation, but we do have a suspect in the incident.”
Pep Rally Fun
west corner of that intersection, formerly owned and operated by Jason McBroom, closed Saturday and has been purchased by Brasher-Gunn Inc., the Chevrolet-GMC dealership at 108 W. Colorado St. McBroom now serves as Precinct 1 county commissioner, which will now become his fulltime job, he said Tuesday. He See Brasher-Gunn, back page
Man Found Dead in Downtown LG A white male living in the rent house at 158 E. Colorado Street in La Grange (across from city hall) died of a suspected drug overdose last Thursday night. Authorities were called when a neighbor found the man unresponsive. There was no signs of foul play.
The members of the Flatonia cheerleading squad got creative at their black-out pep rally earlier this month, outlining themselves in glow-sticks for a performance. Photo by Stephanie Steinhauser