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The Highland Lakes community has spoken! Locals Love Us 2025 has the best places to stay, eat, drink, shop, or get cars repaired—and much, much more—as voted on by The Picayune Magazine readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners. You can flip through the digital version of the magazine here or click on the stories in the Best…
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Growing up, Morgan Herraez struggled as a reader. Now, she’s the librarian at Spicewood Elementary School. Her goal is to help students learn the love of reading earlier in their lives than she did. “I struggled, mainly because I was told what to read,” Herraez said. “I let them (students) decide what to read. I…
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For 11 years, librarian Rebecca Noah has been called “Ms. Becky” by the kids who visit the Herman Brown Free Library in Burnet. Noah was promoted six months ago to assistant director, a job she loves, but she still misses the children’s program she ran. “That’s the best job in the whole library,” she said.…
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Children’s Librarian April Puryear’s desk was covered in plastic dinosaurs and Playdough one recent morning at the Kingsland Branch Library. As she pressed dino footprints into the soft clay, she explained she was working on an upcoming children’s library program. Her goal, she said, is for the kids to have fun and become lifelong learners. …
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Jackie Venghaus has worked in food service all her life, the past 30 years on the lunch lines of the Marble Falls Independent School District. She still loves it, and students and parents obviously love her. She was voted Favorite School Food Service Worker for the Marble Falls area by The Picayune Magazine readers and…
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For Vera Walden, serving students at Burnet’s Shady Grove Elementary isn’t just about preparing meals, it’s also making sure every child starts their day with a full stomach and a smile. “I know that when they come here, they’re getting a good breakfast to start their day right then filling their little bellies at lunchtime,”…
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Students at Packsaddle Elementary School in Kingsland know what’s for lunch when they see what cafeteria manager Rene Bingham is wearing, especially on her ears. “I’ve got a closet full of costumes, decorations, and hats,” she said. “The kids love it. They check my earrings every day to see what will be on the menu.”…
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Paula Phillips has been driving a Marble Falls Independent School District bus for the past 17 years, and her community loves how she does it. She was voted Favorite School Bus Driver for the Marble Falls area by The Picayune Magazine readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners in the 2025 Locals Love Us…
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For more than four decades, Cary West has been behind the wheel of a big yellow bus, safely transporting students to and from school. As a special education and music teacher, West first began driving buses in 1978, covering extracurricular trips before transitioning to a regular route. Even after retiring from the classroom, she continued…
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Kalyn Kothmann has worked with special-needs students in the Llano Independent School District for 26 years, and for the past 15 of those years, she has also been their bus driver. She was voted Favorite School Bus Driver for the Kingsland/Llano area by The Picayune Magazine readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners in…