Nicholas Hons might not have known how much of an impact he had on the community before he died. It was evident at his funeral, though. Crowds upon crowds of friends and family packed the Karnes City Baptist Church to say goodbye September 4.

There wasn’t enough room for everyone to sit. There was hardly enough room for everyone to stand. When the services were over, Hons’ funeral procession made its way to a quiet cemetery on County Road 211.

It stretched three miles long and required a joint traffic-directing effort between Karnes City and state police.

Council members in Runge took action during their regular September 12 meeting in hopes of keeping the town’s emergency first responder program alive and running, as well as increasing the overall health and safety of the city.

The program previously was thought to be self-sustaining financially, but after going down to having zero funds available for needed medical supplies, council took action.

Although water bills will not increase, 50 cents from each water bill now will go toward a fund created for the first responder program.