Authentic Round Rock

Linda Sappenfield — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:11:00 GMT

First, a note of thanks to SOS (Save Our Springs Alliance) executive director Bill Bunch and author Tweed Scott: they shared in last night's screening of The Unforeseen and responded to some thoughtful questions and comments from the audience. The classy, comfortable theater facility lent to us by Round Rock Higher Education Center enhanced my appreciation of that wonderful film.

Afterward, driving home from the new RRHEC building, by way of IKEA, the outlet mall, and a few other this-could-be-anywhere suburban amenities, my husband and I passed by the Round Rock. It has witnessed much during the area's rapid growth from the sleepy town of 2700 (in 1970) to the busy city of 96,000 today. Many who were here in 1970 have moved on, but a number of the families who were part of the early heritage remain. Like the rock, they testify that the city retains its unique core identity, hidden under a few layers of modernity.

Dale Ricklefs, director of Round Rock Public Library, has witnessed close to three decades of the city's transformation. And, as she recruited panelists for Round Rock in Her Own Words, she learned even more from citizens linked to the town's past. Dale was told, for example, that Round Rock has almost always been a fairly diverse city. Of course, we've read about the segregated schools, but did you know that the Hispanic school merged with the white school in 1948?

Consider setting aside an opportunity--Thursday, April 17 at 7:00 PM--to enjoy free Blue Bell ice cream and get the scoop on Round Rock's past. Some of the historic goings-on, from the advent of the early Swedish settlers through the turbulent 20th century, might surprise you!

"In the early 1980s, the library captured the voices of individuals now passed on, such as C.D. Fulkes and Noel Grisham. Twenty-five years later, we will capture the voices and images of those who 'lived' Round Rock in the 1940s to early 1960s, before IH-35 split the city in half, the water crisis of the late 1970s, and today's traffic gridlock." - Dale Ricklefs

Round Rock Reads! : Noel Grisham, Dale Ricklefs

Authentic Round Rock