Thursday night's unveiling of "The Boot Roundup," a mural that Lampasas Countians have been working on for several months, was a smashing success.

There was food -- a free chili supper -- music, a slide-show and comments by Vision Downtown Lampasas! Art Committee members who have worked so hard to make the project a memorable one.

Weather conditions cooperated, and a large crowd gathered near the Texas Land Bank Building and Jerry Goodson Surveying Inc. on Western Street for the occasion.

After a long drum roll from the band, a large tarp was removed, which gave residents a closer look at the colorful work of art.

If you have not taken the time, we urge you to drive by the location, between East Third and Fourth Streets. The mural is on the south wall of the Goodson building.

Art committee members have applied a masterful touch -- while putting in long hours literally day and night -- in transforming what was a plain wall into a tribute to the farmers, ranchers and other boot lovers of this agriculturally oriented Central Texas county.

The Boot Roundup last April saw boot owners bring in 150 pairs of their Western footwear. The boots were photographed individually and as a group.

A paint-by-numbers method was used to make the 15-foot-by-45-foot mural across the alley from Texas Land Bank.

The project has created a stir already, as word of the community mural has been disseminated through local media and last week's large spread in an Austin newspaper.

More artistic notoriety for Lampasas is in the works, too.

Plans are being laid for a second mural, based on a period photograph of the Texas Trading Co., which did business in the 1880s at Second and Western streets.

The mural will be painted on the north side of Lampasas Hardware, with work likely to begin next spring. Building owners Johnny and Amanda Wade have prepped and painted the wall, in anticipation of the upcoming project.

Lampasas has long been known for its historic natural springs, its expansive ranches and its friendly, rural quality of life.

Perhaps one resident said it best the other night at the Boot Roundup celebration: Lampasas now may become known for its art work, which captures the spirit of this community and its people.