On Dec. 19, we had an elderly family member get lost out on the ranch. After several hours of searching, we reached out to our local county dispatch service for assistance in the search.

Members of the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Game Wardens, and the Harper Volunteer Fire Department arrived on scene to assist with the search. Several members of these teams were there helping who were not on duty at the time but responded to help.

Others, not at the scene, like the dispatchers and officers out on the road, each took on leadership roles of their own in helping organize the search.

Without the contribution of each of these people, we may have lost our loved one that night. But through their dedication and helping us all stay motivated, our loved one was found.

We are profoundly grateful for the service of the men and women of our emergency services.

Steve Wetz Harper

In the rush of the holidays, it might have been easy to overlook the story summarizing the evaluation of voting machines used by our county in the November 2024 election.

In spite of all the rumors and lies spread about the security and accuracy of the system, it worked perfectly. In fact, Gillespie County voting has always operated securely and accurately.

So why, exactly, were so many people so vocal about their doubts? Perhaps it was because they were told — by unreliable outside sources — that they should doubt our system. Did they think that in a county were 80 percent of voters are Republican; a Republican serves as our county election administrator, and all election work is staffed mostly by Republicans, that there would be some strange, alien force that would — somehow — slant the results?

A myriad of sources of misinformation try to convince us that some frightening conspiracy is taking place with our elections. Actually, our county, state and nation have secure elections and voter fraud is virtually non-existent.

So, it leaves us questioning the motives of those who were so convinced that the system was rigged.

Those who head up our elections process could have saved an abundance of time and stress, and Gillespie County could have saved thousands of dollars if the local conspiracy theorists had trusted the friends and neighbors that they see each week at church, the grocery store or some sporting event instead of trusting some off-the-wall source spouting information that has no basis in fact.

The Count y Commissioners, Election Administrator, Elections Office staff and everyone who worked elections in 2024 are to be congratulated. Maybe we can have our next election without the hassle.

Paula Provost Fredericksburg