Gatesville to host prescribed burn school, Stinger Stash marketplace opens

Residents looking for something practical to sign up for right now have two clear options in Gatesville: a three-day prescribed burn school with limited, paid registration, and a school-based pantry serving GISD employees, students and retired teachers. The burn school, set for June 15 through June 17 at the Gatesville Civic Center, is built for landowners, fire professionals and agency personnel who want hands-on instruction before the next fire season.

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service says the course will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at 301 Veterans Memorial Loop Drive. General registration is $300, but the school is free for Prescribed Burn Association members. Lunch and refreshments will be provided, registration is required, and participants are expected to bring appropriate protective gear. The training will cover fire behavior, weather interpretation, planning, ignition techniques and post-burn evaluation, combining classroom instruction with field application that matters in Coryell County, where prescribed fire remains part of land management and wildfire risk reduction.

Food access is also on the calendar. Stinger Stash Marketplace at Gatesville Primary School opened June 11 and will open again June 18, giving GISD employees, students and retired teachers access to fresh produce, dairy, eggs, meat, grains, canned goods and frozen food. Gatesville ISD says the pantry is located at Gatesville Primary School, and the Central Texas Food Bank says the school-based market filled hundreds of tables in its first year. The food bank also says nearly a quarter of Coryell County residents experience food insecurity, a reminder of why the pantry has become a quiet but significant part of district life.

Other community events are drawing neighbors into public spaces across town. Hillside Medical Lodge will host a Father’s Day Car Show on June 19 at 2 p.m. at 300 TX-36, with all models of cars, trucks and motorcycles welcome. Residents will vote on their favorite entry, and organizers ask participants to RSVP to Kaci at (254) 416-4801.

Coryell County Republican Women will meet June 27 at 11 a.m. at The Feed Mill, 108 North 6th St. in Gatesville, where EHS and regulatory consultant Kaitlan Ross will speak. Taken together, the week’s calendar shows how much of civic life here still runs through schools, nonprofit food programs, a civic center and neighborhood gatherings that ask residents to show up, sign up or simply take part.