Anne Woodley presents Keep Utopia Beautiful yard of the month honors to Roy Grant.

Utopia Independent School District superintendent Joshua Ham and principal Julia Mazurek welcomed students, parents and community members to the new year of instruction on Aug. 11 in an assembly in Buffalo Gym. Nine young pre-school students were excited for their first school experience and 20 seniors marked the beginning of their last year in Utopia.

All staff members spent the previous week preparing their rooms and gaining some new knowledge in inservice sessions. But perhaps the most fulfilling sessions of the week were the meals made especially for them by the Buffalo Backers, school board members, Living Waters Outreach, Church of Christ and the Baptist and Methodist churches.

The teachers are excited this new year to have access to the Discovery Education program provided by the Utopia ISD Education Foundation. This digital platform brings lessons to life with videos, interactive activities and real world content.

Yard of the Month

Kathy and Roy Grant were awarded the Yard of the Month designation by Keep Utopia Beautiful. The Grants moved back to Roy’s hometown about a year ago and have a new home surrounded by beautiful grounds and gardens. We welcome them back and enjoy taking the street behind the Five Points to view their pretty homestead.

Around Town

With the start of school the dedicated cross-country runners are out and about preparing for their first meet in just a couple weeks. Volleyball players are already in the midst of games with the first tournament of the season held this weekend in D’Hanis.

Our family is very humbled and grateful for the many prayers and acts of kindness shown to us during Mom Alice’s last days. It’s hard to lose a parent and grandmother, but we were blessed to have had her for so many years. She touched many lives and, hopefully, her knack for asking the right questions and offering timely words of encouragement, even to strangers, will live on through her descendants. One story among many funny ones we shared stood out as so typical of her. She answered the phone one day and a lady apologized for dialing the wrong number after realizing she did not know Alice. In typical Alice style she asked where the lady was calling from which led to a long conversation in which Mom ended up counseling the stranger as she seemed upset. I happened along about that time and asked who she had been talking to for so long. “Oh just a lady who called me by mistake, but I discovered she needed someone to talk to so I just talked to her.”