Classes in the Granbury Independent School District begin Thursday, Aug. 14, but there’s lots to do — both before and after the official first day of school.

What do you get when you combine classic Hollywood glamor, toe-tapping dance numbers, a homemade rainstorm, and actual movies playing inside a century-old theatre? You get Granbury Theatre …

Hood County firefighters rolled up their sleeves and “extinguished” the competition in this year’s Battle of the Badges blood drive.

During the Harvest Moon Festival Oct. 25, tourists and members of the Lake Granbury Art Association will gather in the parking lot of the Shanley House and watch as a steamroller passes over the artwork of 20 novice printmakers, leaving quite the impression — both on the pages and on the crowd.

YMCA’s Youth and Government is a nationwide program aimed at instilling the next generation with the resources they need to be informed and engaged citizens. The organization has two primary functions: connecting kids with their local leaders and government systems and teaching them how to participate in these systems through mock proceedings.

The saying goes, “you can’t choose your family,” but for Joe Leal and Sterling Dunagan-Leal, this notion couldn’t be farther from the truth. For the last 11 years, Joe has chosen every day to step up and be the father his stepchildren deserved, and he was repaid on graduation night when his oldest stepdaughter, Sterling, for the first time, was introduced and walked across the stage as a Leal.

For the past three years, the team at United Way of Hood County has been hard at work on two endeavors — combining the non-profits of Hood County under one roof and restoring that roof to its former glory. The culmination of these efforts relies on Granbury ISD’s Board of Trustee’s July decision to deed Decker Gym to United Way.

It's Christmas in July as Mr. and Mrs. Claus are working to raise funds to renovate their Granbury Santa House in the Gazebo on the Square.

The Senior Center is calling upon residents to help save Hood County’s Meals on Wheels program. Recent funding cuts have reduced the program’s ability to provide nutritious meals and life-supporting services to more than 100 of its regular patrons.

The key to a happy Fourth of July is nearly solely reliant on one’s ability to practice safety, and the ability to ensure you are joining in the festivities within the limits of the law. Living by these two principles will ensure all sweat during this Independence Day is knowing how many hot dogs are too many hot dogs, and where to acquire the most industrial-grade bug spray.

In 1886, a grand opera house was optimistically constructed as the crown jewel of a newly incorporated and equally optimistic town. Since 1886, the opera house’s story has mirrored the prosperity of the town of Granbury, participating in its feasts and its famines, and serving as a sign of the times for this little municipality.

Make a mark on the community by donating a marker, help erase generational poverty by donating an eraser, and pencil in a child's future by donating a pencil,  because Operation Back to School is back — and bigger than ever.