Texas throws a birthday party for LBJ

— -- It's only fitting that a larger-than-life figure from a state where size matters would rate a colossal 100th birthday bash. And that's just what the late Lyndon B. Johnson will get on Aug. 27 when eight LBJ-affiliated organizations commemorate the centennial of his birth.

A free, open-to-the-public Texas barbecue with Rudy's Bar-B-Q, peach ice cream and Fresca (LBJ's favorite), starts at 6 p.m. on the lawn of the LBJ Library & Museum in Austin. A new exhibit, To the Moon: The American Space Program in the 1960s, also will open at the museum. It features full-size replicas of the Mercury capsule Freedom 7 and Sputnik and a multimedia laser show. (LBJ was a sponsor of legislation that created NASA 50 years ago.) The exhibit continues through July 20, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Other LBJ tributes:

•On Aug. 24, the LBJ Museum of San Marcos, which focuses on LBJ's formative years, opens Texas State University's Remembering LBJ and His Legacy: Local Recollections.

•On Aug. 27, the LBJ National Historical Park on the LBJ Ranch in Johnson City opens his office in the Texas White House to the public for the first time.

Information: lbj100.org.