DECEMBER 2017
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CONTENTS
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Marjorie Hagy History Marjorie is a bibliophile, a history nut and an insomniac, among several other conditions, both diagnosed and otherwise. When she's not working tirelessly to avoid getting a real job, she nurses an obsession with her grandson and is involved in passing legislation restricting the wearing of socks with sandals. She is an aspiring pet hoarder who enjoys vicious games of Scrabble, reading Agatha Christie, and sitting around doing nothing while claiming to be thinking deeply. Marjorie has five grown children, a poodle to whom she is inordinately devoted in spite of his breath, and holds an Explore record for never having submitted an article on time. She's been writing for us for five years now.
Old Timer Just Old Timer The Old Timer tells us he's been a resident of Boerne since about 1965. He enjoys telling people what he doesn't like. When not bust'n punks he can be found feeding the ducks just off Main St. or wandering aimlessly in the newly expanded HEB. Despite his rough and sometimes brash persona, Old Timer is really a wise and thoughtful individual. If you can sort through the BS.
Kendall D. Aaron Spiritual I’m just a normal guy. I’m not a theology student, I don’t preach in church, and I’ve never written a book. I’m just a normal guy that thinks, and feels, and is on a never-ending journey attempting to be the best person I can be. I fail frequently at this quest, yet each day, the quest continues. I’ve lived in Boerne since the late ‘80s, I’ve got a most beautiful wife, three wonderful children, and just really, really love God. Thanks for going on my spiritual journey with me.
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From The Publisher
28 Holiday Drinks
14
Calendar
32 History
EXPLORE magazine is published by Schooley Media Ventures
18 Art of The Pie
36 Spiritual
Ventures are not responsible for any inaccuracies, erroneous
22 This Month in Texas History
42
publication submitted by advertisers. Opinions expressed
in Boerne, TX. EXPLORE Magazine and Schooley Media information, or typographical errors contained in this
Old Timer
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of EXPLORE and/or Schooley Media Ventures. Copyright 2016 Schooley Media
26 Boerne Performing Arts
Ventures, 930 E. Blanco, Ste. 200, Boerne, TX 78006
Publisher Benjamin D. Schooley ben@hillcountryexplore.com
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Operations Manager Peggy Schooley peggy@smvtexas.vom
Creative Director Benjamin N. Weber ben.weber@smvtexas.com
ADVERTISING SALES 210-507-5250 sales@hillcountryexplore.com
MERRY CHRISTM A S FR OM BOERNE’S NE WEST BAR AND LIVE MUSIC VENUE. DECEMBER 2017
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NE XT TO LIT TLE GRETEL
DEAREST EXPLORE READER, Driving in an unfamiliar place is very stressful for me. As I cruise streets that I have never driven before, it’s very difficult for me to gauge distance and travel times, as everything is unknown to me. The area feels so BIG and complex, even though for the local, it’s not. The sights are all new for me, the sounds, the landmarks…there’s so much to take in and it can all feel a little overwhelming.
life becomes (while certainly not a bad thing) the more mundane it can become as well. Perhaps this is where the dreaded mid-life crisis originates: when you live a life that is so familiar that it seems there is no experience left to be had, people tend to create them. The red corvette. The steamy affair. The ridiculous decisions with money. The elaborate and impulsive vacation. Etc. Etc. Etc.
And then I think about what a visitor to our area experiences. I drove the other day from the Dominion area back to Boerne and figure that it must seem pretty intense, congested, and overwhelming to travel this stretch of road for the first time. There’s so much construction, so many businesses are flying past your windows, flashing lights, road workers here and there… and then you are into Boerne where things slow down a bit, though, there’s a lot happening out here as well.
As we sit on our couch in the middle of our homes surrounded by the framework of our lives, how familiar does it all feel? Does it feel safe in a good way? Are you content with the experiences you are in the middle of or does it feel boring and mundane? Has the safety reached a tipping point where it ceases to feel comfortable, and instead, it feels claustrophobic? Or are you perfectly content in the blanket of protection in your life?
I’ve lived in Boerne since the ‘80s and while much has changed in this area, I can still sit at the stoplight at Main/ River Road and guesstimate travel times to hundreds of locations from this point, and be pretty accurate with it. I know all the shortcuts, the landmarks, and even who lives in many of the houses we would drive past. I would wave to countless cars on my way to my destination, as I would know the driver, and would probably tap my horn and wave at folks I’d know out for a walk. The end result of all of this is that my area of the world seems very small to me. It’s not overwhelming to me, and I know which direction I’m heading at all times. The word I’m looking for is FAMILIAR. It’s all very familiar to me. Like many, big cities are imposing for me and have been for most of my life. After all, I’m a dumb hick kid from a sleepy German town, so traveling to Houston or Dallas leaves me with my eye-twitching just from the sheer size of the place. But San Antonio is no small town, and yet I find myself pretty comfortable there (though I limit my contact) and I got to thinking about our strong desire to be in the FAMILIAR. Our great exhalation that we do when we roll back past the City Limits sign of our hometowns. The pictures we snap of the WELCOME TO TEXAS sign after we’ve traveled far outside our blessed State. The sigh of relief we all have when our wheels finally touch down at our San Antonio Airport. You see, the pursuit of the FAMILIAR is really just our yearning for that which is safe. Our homes are safe. Our neighborhoods are safe. Our community is safe. And our families live there. Our friends are there. Our lives are found in the familiar, and we all want our lives to be safe. I think that this is also what drives us all to seek out the unfamiliar. The adventure is out there, and we know it, and every now and again our spirit yearns for something a little on the dangerous side, and we embark on our trips and our vacations and our road-trips to random locations because, deep within us, we WANT to be a little confused and lost and overwhelmed. I also think that our lives parallel with this. As I blast into middle-age, I see many of my friends that have found the FAMILIAR, and it’s wearing them out. Think about it – the longer you live, the more you have experienced. The more you experience, the more familiar it becomes when you experience it again. The safer and more stable your
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I’ve recently gone on a 2 year binge of traveling and seeking out new experiences, though I was unsure why I was doing it at the time. I went on a trip literally every month for the past 24 months to all sorts of ridiculous and random locations. I mean, who plans a two night stay to Junction, Texas? I did. I had never really spent any time there, so I figured what the heck? As I look back on these past 24 months, it’s been interesting to unpack the journey and see that, perhaps, I was just tired of the familiar. I was coming out of a crappy marriage and it was kind of like feeling the sunshine after a long stint in solitary confinement. I had dropped a lot of baggage and found myself more than a little restless to pick a new path. So while I always enjoyed taking the Boerne exit off the freeway as I returned from these many adventures, my soul sang each time I pointed my truck in a new random direction and hit the accelerator as well. My soul wanted unfamiliar. And adventure. And a little confusion and perhaps a dash of being lost. Really, I think that my soul just wanted to EXPERIENCE again. I know I’m rambling, but this has been a fun thought. We’re all so similar, despite our many differences. You probably don’t sit at the stoplight at River/Main St and ponder such ridiculous sermons, but maybe you will next time. And maybe you’ll decide that this familiar old stoplight is a bit too familiar today and you’ll hit the freeway. As your smile creeps across your face with your new exciting destination in mind, you’ll know that you are in touch with your soul, and THAT is the ultimate experience. Welcome to December. As we close out another year, may you take some time to EXPLORE, both literally and figuratively. May you enjoy the FAMILIAR this Christmas season, but may you also find exactly what you are hoping for under the tree on Christmas morning, and that it includes every experience you were dreaming. Smiling,
Benjamin D. Schooley ben@hillcountryexplore.com
518 RIVER ROAD | BOERNE, TX | WWW.LITTLEGRETEL.COM | 830-331-1368
AREA EVENTS
Get out and enjoy the great Texas Hill Country!
The most comprehensive events calendar. Send submissions to info@hillcountryexplore.com
December 9 Jingle Bell Run/Walk The 25th annual event benefits St. Jude’s Ranch for Children. Awards will be given to the top male and female finisher, the top male and female masters, the top three finishers in each age group (all ages—5-year increments through 75-plus), and the top three wheelchair athletes. Sponsored by the New Braunfels Running Club. Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road. nbrunclub.com December 31 New Year’s Eve at Gruene Hall A Gruene Hall favorite returns to help ring in the New Year at Texas’ oldest dance hall. Advance tickets are recommended. Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road. gruenehall.com BANDERA December 1 Cowboy Capital Christmas and Shoppers Jubilee Featuring live nativity, caroling, and a Christmas program at the County Courthouse. Shoppers Jubilee is a citywide Christmas open house for shoppers. Main Street. banderacowboycapital.com
December 9 Second Saturday Art Beat Boerne shops and art galleries team up to bring you a heart-racing fine art experience. Take a walk on the art side every second Saturday of the month. Look for the flashy banners displayed throughout Boerne. Various locations, 100 N. Main. visitboerne.org
December 1 Cowboy Christmas Night Parade Held in downtown Bandera to honor Bandera’s cowboy and western heritage. Enjoy a parade on Saturday, arts and crafts, music, re-enactments, and a ranch rodeo. Main Street. banderacowboycapital.com
December 16 Concert in the Cave—Winter Solstice Celebration Circle presents a thrilling and eclectic concert of contemporary acoustic songs, soaring vocals, ancient instrumentation, improvisation, and contemplation celebrating the Winter Solstice. Cave Without a Name, 325 Kreutzberg Road. visitboerne.org
December 1-31 Holiday Lights on the River When the sun goes down, the lights come out. Bring the family and drive through City Park to enjoy the true Christmas experience. Bandera City Park, 1102 Maple St. December 21 Cowboy Camp Come out and enjoy the pickers circle, and join in if you wish. Bandera Beverage Barn Pavillion, 1407 SH 16. BOERNE December 1-Jan. 1 Christmas Light Fest at the Don Strange Ranch What better way to add extra sparkle to your holiday season than the magical glow of two million lights—plus food, drinks, crafts, gift shopping, and family fun? This event features all of that and more, making it a must on your holiday calendar. Don Strange Ranch, 103 Waring Welfare Road. visitboerne.org December 2-3 Oma’s Christmas Craft Fair You will find all your Christmas shopping easy to handle with every type of gift available at Oma’s. Texas handcrafted wood items, homemade jellies, handcrafted clothing, wall hangings, ceramics, knitted and crocheted goods, hand-embroidered items “like your grandmother used to make,” and handpainted bird feeders and birdhouses that will please the most discerning backyard birds. With three large buildings full of handmade crafts, you are sure to find the perfect gift for any loved one no matter what their age or liking. Kendall County Fairgrounds, 1307 River Road. visitboerne.org December 2 Weihnachts Parade A long-standing Boerne Christmas tradition. Now in its 31st year, up to 100 lit entries will travel Main Street. The parade will travel south beginning at Frederick Street (by the Fire House) and ending at River Road. Downtown Boerne, 100 N. Main. visitboerne.org December 5-6 A Walk in Bethlehem As you enter the city, allow the sights, sounds, and smells to carry you to a period of time that changed the world. Journey through the heart of the city after being counted for the census. Collect your denarii (provided before entrance) and enter a marketplace bustling with activity from over a dozen authentic shops; enjoy samples from the baker’s shop; marvel at the potter’s, carpenter’s, and basket weaver’s crafts; and listen for the rumor of a king’s birth from excited townspeople. The highlight of the event will be the arrival of the Christ Child and a traditional nativity scene including camels and Magi. St Helena’s Episcopal Church, 410 N. Main. visitboerne.org December 9-10 Christmas Market Days This annual Christmas market includes handmade arts and crafts, art, woodwork, antiques, collectibles, chic clothing and accessories, vintage jewelry, and more. Great food variety and music by local Texas musicians. Main Plaza, 100 N. Main. visitboerne.org December 9 Christmas at the Farm A community event to celebrate the winter holidays. Families will enjoy hay/sleigh rides, hot cocoa, singing carols, meeting Santa, family photos, traditional holiday crafts, and decorating trees for wildlife. Herff Farm, 33 Herff Road. visitboerne.org
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COMFORT November 25-December 25 Lifesize Nativity Figures Nativity figures from the 1950s, originally atop the Sears building in San Antonio, have been artistically restored and will be on display. Comfort Park, 423 Main St. comfortchamber.com November 25-December 25 Townwide Christmas Lighting Comfort businesses and residences go all-out to light and decorate for Christmas. Drive through day and night for beautiful and inspiring displays. Various locations. comfortchamber.com December 1-2 Hill Country Handmade Market The traveling market begins with a VIP shopping event for more than 30 handmade vendors and all Eighth Street Market vendors, a drink ticket, dessert and snacks, live music, free handlettering classes, giveaways, shopping bag, and more. The following day features more than 30 handmade vendors, all Eighth Street Market vendors, live music, food trucks, a coffee shop, and more. Eighth Street Market, 523 Eighth St. hillcountryhandmademarket.com FREDERICKSBURG December 1 First Friday Art Walk Fredericksburg Tour fine art galleries offering special exhibits, demonstrations, refreshments, and extended viewing hours the first Friday of every month. Various locations. ffawf.com December 1 Light the Night Christmas Parade and AfterGlow Lighted night parade and activities presented by the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce. Main Street and Marktplatz. lightthenightchristmasparade.com December 7 Pearl Harbor Day Observance Recognition and memorial program with speakers, chaplain, Joint Color Guard, music, and more. National Museum of the Pacific War, 340 E. Main. pacificwarmuseum.org December 15-17 Fredericksburg Trade Days Shop with more than 400 vendors in seven barns, featuring acres of antiques, a biergarten, live music, and more. 7 miles east on US 290 across from Wildseed Farms. fbgtradedays.com December 31 Luckenbach New Year’s Eve Celebration Usher in the New Year with one heck of a party in the historic Luckenbach Texas Dance Hall featuring music by Dale Watson. Luckenbach Texas, 412 Luckenbach Town Loop. luckenbachtexas.com GRUENE December 2-3 Holidays in Gruene: Christmas Market Days Nearly 100 vendors offer Christmas gifts, crafted items, and packaged Texas foods. Perfect for everyone on your holiday shopping list. Free admission. Gruene Historic District. gruenemarketdays.com December 2 Town Lighting Gruene closes out the festivities of the day with a brass band street performance followed by the annual town lighting when Cowboy Kringle rides into town on horseback and hands out candy canes to the kids. Free admission. Gruene Historic District. gruenehall.com
KERRVILLE December 2 Kerr County Market Days An indoor marketplace for vendors of original handcrafted goods, artwork, and homegrown plants and produce. Pets on a leash are welcome. Kerr County Hill Country Youth Event Center, 3785 SH 27. kerrmarketdays.org December 3 Hill Country Youth Orchestra Enjoy a special holiday concert. Cailloux Theater, 910 Main St. hcyo.org December 15-17 Wild West Victorian Fest Queen Victoria hosts a retro futuristic adventure set in the 1800s. Be amazed by cowboys, ray guns, steam-powered inventions, and time machines. Participate in gadget, invention, and costume contests. Join in for historical re-enactments, entertainment, crafts, games, and tea with the Queen. River Star Arts & Event Park, 4000 Riverside Dr. wildwestvictorianfest.com NEW BRAUNFELS December 1-2 Christkindlmarkt Enjoy a German-style Christmas market. New Braunfels Conservation Plaza, 1300 Churchill Dr. christkindlmarktnbtx.org December 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Farmers Market Enjoy a relaxing Saturday morning listening to live music, eating delicious food, and visiting more than 75 vendors offering local fresh produce and homemade items in the Krause’s Cafe parking lot. Historic Downtown New Braunfels, 186 S. Castell Ave. nbfarmersmarket.com December 7 Wassailfest Enjoy an evening of live music, food, great shopping, thousands of twinkling holiday lights, and of course plenty of free wassail to sample at the 25th annual event. Historic Downtown, Main Plaza. nbtexas.org December 16 Craft ‘N Flick with St. Nick Hang out with the big man himself—Santa. Enjoy snacks, crafts, and cookie decorating. Bring your own camera for photos with St. Nick. Landa Haus, 360 Aquatic Circle. nbtexas.org WIMBERLEY November 25-December 28 Trail of Lights The 20th annual event is a fun and safe way to view Christmas lights on a walking tour that leads visitors through six acres of decorated Wonderland with Ye Olde Yule Log burning nightly as weather permits. There is no admission to the Trail of Lights, however donations are accepted. 1101 FM 2325. emilyann.org December 2 Market Days The oldest outdoor market in the Texas Hill Country, featuring more than 475 booths filled with unique treasures. Live music, plus lots of great food and beverage options make for a fun shopping experience. Market Day is held every first Saturday, March through December. Lions Field, 601 FM 2325. shopmarketdays.com December 9 Second Saturday Gallery Trail Fourteen galleries in and around the Wimberley Square stay open late and offer great art, wine, and appetizers. Downtown Wimberley, 101 Wimberley Square. facebook.com/secondsaturdaygallerytrail December 9 Winter’s Eve—A Christmas Festival Enjoy live music, great food, a visit with Santa, and lots of holiday offerings. Wimberley Square, 101 Wimberley Square. wimberleymerchants.com December 16 Blue Christmas This is a free annual holiday event featuring horse carriage rides, an ugly sweater contest, a roaring fire, local music groups, Santa, and blue lights everywhere. Blue Hole Regional Park, 100 Blue Hole Lane. cityofwimberley.com
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WWW.HILLCOUNTRYEXPLORE.COM | DECEMBER 2017
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O
ART OF THE PIE One of Boerne’s newest restaurants, Z’s Wood Fired Pizza, is off to a stellar start and even more stellar reviews. Owners Zak and Jodi Disch have taken a dream, turned it into a food truck that was wildly popular, and ultimately to a full brick-and-mortar restaurant here in town off of Old San Antonio Road. The winding journey of their lives has allowed them to do one thing…and do it extremely well.
Zak, ultimately from Ohio, begins, “Basically I was 16 and my brother got me a job at a wood fired pizza joint in Ohio. I stuck with that for 3 years and I moved around a bit….and I ended up down here in Texas and I started working at a plant nursery. I had brought a mobile pizza cooker with me and I was planning to do catering. The food truck market was going off at that time, so it was easier to set up a small kitchen in the trailer and so I opened that in December of 2013.” With the new setup, the duo began perfecting their craft…but things were slow as they often are for new small businesses. “The first couple of months were slow. I was at The Pavilion (food truck park) and I was pretty slow, and we’d go over to RANDOM after work and there were always tons of people. With their beer offerings, they just matched us perfectly. In February of ’14, they did a Valentine’s Day weekend and we just killed it. So from there, I practically begged them to let us stay. Owners Mike and Mary were so supportive and I just can’t thank them enough. We were there until November of 2016, and it was just time to change things up. We could have stayed there forever and been happy, but we were outgrowing the trailer, and we were both sick of working in cramped quarters. So we started looking for a new location.” As their search began, one location continued to pique their interest. “I had seen our current location for lease for about 6 months, and nobody was jumping on it. Every time I’d see it I would think “Man, that place would be cool.” My wife got hold of the realtor and we were off to the races. We blew all of our savings and maxed out every credit card that we had, but we were able to open Valentine’s Day weekend of 2017.”
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Since then, word has quickly spread about Z’s, and business has grown rapidly. While it’s been challenging for the couple, they have quickly attracted a great following and are already having to consider where the growth will take them. “It’s been great. I certainly can’t complain. I’m still trying to gauge out the restaurant seasons and learn the patterns, but it’s been good. I joke all the time that I want to get a saltwater fishing boat and just disappear, but we’re having a ton of fun. This is a lot of hard work and I work crazy hours…so I’m not sure what next steps are. Perhaps it’s a bigger location and I’d love to assemble a team where I don’t have to be there as much, but we’ll see. For now, we’re just working super hard and truly enjoying ourselves!” From the humblest of beginnings, the couple has been able to achieve what many, many people do not: their dreams. Disch finishes, “When I was growing up, my mom and my stepdad worked for a bbq company and did all the catering and I worked for them for a long time. I fell in love with cooking and bbq and FIRE. When I got into the pizza business with my brother, I just fell in love with the whole culture of wood fired pizzas. You can do anything with pizza, and so many varieties, and I just love the wood-fired pizza. I’m not a very artistic person as in a painter or sculptor, but ya know, pizza is a way for me to express myself. You wouldn’t believe it, but it’s true. Somehow I can do it with food. “
WWW.HILLCOUNTRYEXPLORE.COM | DECEMBER 2017
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WWW.HILLCOUNTRYEXPLORE.COM | DECEMBER 2017
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H
History is a popular topic with our readers. Marjorie Hagy’s HISTORY piece is probably the most popular article in our illustrious publication month after month. With that fact, we thought we’d share some broader Texas history each month. Nothing earth shattering, but we hope you might find something to make you pause and say, “Huh. Well I’ll be.”
December 4, 1928 Carl G. (the Big Swede) Cromwell drilled the world’s deepest oil well. In the wake of his 1923 success with the famed Santa Rita No. 1, Cromwell had become drilling superintendent of the Texon Company’s rapidly expanding field on University of Texas land in Reagan County. He also acquired his own leases and became known as an honest, generous, free-spirited wildcatter. In association with company engineer Clayton W. Williams, Cromwell experimented in drilling deeper than the average 3,000 feet. In 1926 Williams located a site and Cromwell’s crews began work. In late November 1928, because of mounting expenses and problems, Cromwell was directed to shut down. Instead, he disregarded orders, went into hiding, and kept drilling. On December 4, at 8,525 feet, University 1-B came in. It remained the world’s deepest oil well until 1931, the same year in which Cromwell died in an automobile accident.
December 5, 1835 Texas revolutionary army began its assault on the Mexican garrison at San Antonio de Béxar. Ben Milam and William Gordon Cooke gathered more than 300 volunteers to attack the town in two columns, while Edward Burleson and another 400 men forced Mexican general Martín Perfecto de Cos to keep his 570 men divided between the town and the Alamo. The battle ended with the surrender of the Mexican army on December 9. Texas casualties numbered 30 to 35, while Mexican losses totaled about 150; the difference reflected in part the greater accuracy of the Texans’ rifles. Most of the Texas volunteers went home after the battle, which left San Antonio and all of Texas under their control.
December 7, 1941 During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Texas native Doris Miller responded courageously to the assault. He was serving as a mess steward on the USS West Virginia. When the ship was attacked he went on deck and manned an unattended deck gun. It was Miller’s first experience firing such a weapon because black sailors serving in the segregated steward’s branch
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of the navy were not given gunnery training. Although later news stories credited Miller with downing from two to five airplanes, these accounts have never been verified and are almost certainly apocryphal. Miller himself told navy officials he thought he hit one of the planes. The navy awarded him the Navy Cross for bravery in battle. He died on November 24, 1943, when his ship, the aircraft carrier Liscome Bay, was torpedoed and sunk.
December 8, 1914 Southwest Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, the future Southwest Conference, officially came into existence when the original eight member schools agreed on a constitution. The eight schools were Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), Southwestern, and Rice, which was admitted provisionally. The new conference was the idea of L. Theo Bellmont, athletic director at Texas, who saw the need for the larger colleges of the area to organize to engage in intercollegiate athletics. Throughout its eighty-year history the Southwest Conference provided high-level competition in numerous sports for its member schools. In 1996, when the conference was broken up, the member schools were the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU, Rice, SMU, and the University of Houston.
December 19, 1832 San Antonio became the first Texas town to present a list of grievances to the legislature of Coahuila and Texas. The document known as the Bexar Remonstrance was signed by José Ángel Navarro, alcalde of San Antonio. It sought repeal of that part of the Law of April 6, 1830, banning immigration from the United States. It also sought the separation of Texas from Coahuila.
December 20, 1886 The Driskill Hotel opened in Austin. The hotel was one of the grandest in Texas, the meeting place of legislators, lobbyists, and the social leaders of Austin, and was the site of inaugural balls, elaborate banquets, receptions, and university dances and ceremonies. In
1884 the cattleman Jesse Lincoln Driskill purchased the half block bordered by Sixth, Seventh, and Brazos streets. Jasper N. Preston and Sons of Austin designed the original cream-colored brick and limestone building. The skylit dining room was the most elegant restaurant in Austin for many years. The Driskill had additional dining rooms for ladies and children, a ladies’ entrance on Seventh Street, and, for the men, a large billiard room, a bar, and a barbershop. The Driskill was also the headquarters for swarms of journalists and radio and TV reporters during the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson.
December 22, 1943 War hero and escaped prisoner of war William Dyess resumed his flying career and was killed while attempting an emergency landing in Burbank, California. Dyess, born in Albany, Texas, in 1916, was sent to the Philippines in October 1941. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and began assaults on Bataan and Corregidor, Dyess was thrust into combat as commander of all flying squadrons on Bataan. In March 1942 he sank a Japanese ship and damaged shore installations in Subic Bay. When American forces in the Philippines surrendered to the Japanese in April 1942, Dyess became a prisoner of war. He survived the horror of the Bataan Death March and imprisonment at camps O’Donnell and Cabanatuan and the Davao Penal Colony. In April 1943 Dyess and several other prisoners escaped from Davao and contacted Filipino guerillas, who led them to an American submarine. After evacuation to Australia and a hero’s welcome in the United States, Dyess briefed the War Department on Japanese warfare and confirmed the enemy’s brutality to POWs. After staying in an army hospital in Virginia to regain his health, Dyess was promoted to lieutenant colonel and resumed flying, with fatal consequences. During his life he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit, and the Silver Star. He was posthumously awarded the Soldier’s Medal. Abilene Air Force Base was renamed Dyess Air Force Base in his honor in 1956.
DAVE PARENT
F O R K E N D ALL COUNTY DIS TR IC T AT T O RNEY FATHER | HUSBAND | VETERAN L oc al A t t o r n e y, Da v e Parent has announced his candidacy for Kendall County Criminal District Attorney. Dave was born in Port Arthur Texas in 1968. After growing up in Southeast Texas, Dave joined the United States Army and spent a little over three years on active duty at Ft. Bliss in El Paso. After his discharge in 1991, Dave began working for the Corpus Christ Police Department. During his 17 1/2 years with the police department, Dave worked as a patrol officer, senior patrol officer, field training officer, law enforcement instructor and served several short assignments in undercover vice. Dave
worked his way through college during his tenure at CCPD. He earned an Associate in Arts in Criminal Justice from Del Mar College and then graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M Corpus Christi in 2001. Dave retired from the Police Department in 2008 and moved to Boerne with his wife Kelly and his two daughters, Faith and Grace. Dave started law school at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio at age 40. He says “going to Law School, working for two years at Castle Hills Police Department at night and finding time for family was the most challenging thing I have ever done.”
After Law School, Dave started the Parent Law Firm and began his law practice. Dave practices primarily DWI, Criminal Defense and family law with a focus on helping military veteran clients. Dave works with his associate attorney, Robert Piatt and office manager Kathleen McCarthy. Dave routinely tells people “living in Boerne has given my kids the chance to have the same kind of childhood I had.” Dave says he tries to set an example for his kids by working hard, being honest, and being fair minded while also having fun in life. He would appreciate your vote in the March Republican Primary.
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B
BOERNE PERFORMING ARTS
Boerne, Texas, home of the Hill Country Mile! Outstanding shopping, restaurants, ambiance, and a taste of small town America…located right in the historic heart of downtown Boerne.
Boerne is more than just a mile! Did you know that included on Boerne’s resume are professional performing arts concerts presented by world-renown artists? The little town of Boerne has highlighted first-class artists from Australia, Japan, Austria, China, Israel, Russia, India, Canada, Ireland, and the USA! Coming up in 2018, Boerne Performing Arts will present their seventh season featuring an incredible line-up of four artists from around the world…The Ten Tenors (Australia), Tango Fire (Argentina), TAO Drummers (Japan), and the Accordion Virtuosi of Russia. These artists regularly perform in the major venues of the world, but for one night only, each artist will present their own concert in the intimate venue of Champion Auditorium. Now, for four nights and four different shows, you can be up close and personal with the artists! Sounds like it might be time to plan your return trip to experience Boerne’s Hill Country Hospitality and Fine Entertainment! Come and check out the fun at one of the hill country’s best-kept secrets!
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We welcome you to return to enjoy our small town charm, southern hospitality and world-class talent. You can purchase your tickets ($20-$60) at the following: Online at www.BoernePerformingArts.com; Phone at 830.331.9079; or In Person at the Greater Boerne Chamber of Commerce (121 S. Main Street). All shows begin at 7:30pm at Boerne Champion Auditorium (201 Charger Boulevard). P.S. Santa suggests Boerne Performing Arts tickets for either stocking stuffers or a holiday gift!
Tuesday, January 23
Tango Fire, the hottest Tango Company in Buenos Aires, promises an electrifying evening that showcases some of the speediest footwork and tightest twirling in the dance business! Accompanied by a quartet of brilliant musicians, this show will deliver an evening of high-energy and sophistication that will leave you breathless.
Thursday, February 15
A world-renowned orchestra that has performed at the opening ceremonies of three Olympic Games, will now transfix audiences in the hill country with their diverse repertoire ranging from folks songs to pop music to full orchestration of the classics. And the most incredible part…their Instruments! This is THE Accordion Virtuosi of Russia! This ensemble is in demand world-wide and literally provides a squeezebox of musicality in each performance.
Tuesday, February 20
Direct from Down Under, The Ten Tenors will begin their 2018 North American Tour in Boerne, Texas! Fresh off the success of their 20th Anniversary World Tour, The Ten Tenors will pay tribute to musical legends lost before their time in their new show, Wish You Were Here! If you’ve never experienced this group, now is your chance to meet the Power of Ten! This special event is in addition to the 3-concert series.
Friday, April 13
TAO returns with their latest production, Drum Heart. Having performed in 23 countries worldwide to over 7 million spectators, this unBEATable drum art performance hallmarks the ancient art of Japanese taiko drumming in a modern, magical, mystifying performance. Back by popular demand, TAO combines highly physical large-scale drumming with contemporary costumes, precise choreography, and innovative visuals. You’ll be both exhausted and enthralled!
WWW.HILLCOUNTRYEXPLORE.COM | DECEMBER 2017
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H
HOLIDAY CHEERS
Whether you’re throwing a Christmas soirée or trying to take the edge off from having to listen to Uncle Larry talk about how the government is watching him, these simple drink recipes are sure to hit the spot. Before you hit Uncle Larry.
CHRISTMOSAS
EDDIE’S EGG NOG
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
2 Granny Smith apples, chopped 1 c. whole fresh cranberries 1 c. green grapes, halved 1 c. pomegranate seeds 1 c. sparkling grape juice 1 bottle champagne, prosecco, or cava
In a large pitcher or punch bowl, add apples, cranberries, grapes, and pomegranate seeds. Pour over sparkling grape juice and champagne just before serving.
3 eggs, lightly beaten 1/3 c. sugar 1/8 tsp. salt 2 2/3 c. milk 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 c. Cool Whip or Whipped Cream 1/2 c. spiced rum 1/3 c. bourbon 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
In a large saucepan, combine eggs, sugar, salt and milk over medium heat, stirring continuously for 10-12 minutes, or until the mixture can coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.
CRANBERRY GINGER MULE
Fill a larger bowl halfway with ice water. Lower the bottom of the saucepan into the ice water dish to cool the egg mixture for about 5 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
Place egg mixture in the refrigerator to chill, about 20 minutes.
1/4 c. water 3 packets Splenda® Naturals Stevia Sweetener 1 c. vodka 1/3 c. lime juice 1 c. unsweetened cranberry juice (not cocktail) 1 c. ginger beer
In a small saucepan, bring water and SPLENDA® Naturals Stevia Sweetener to a simmer. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until sweetener is reduced. Set aside.
Once chilled, add whipped cream, rum and bourbon to egg mixture, stirring to combine.
In a large pitcher, mix together vodka, lime juice, cranberry juice, and sweetener reduction. Top with ginger beer. Divide among 4 glasses. Garnish each glass with a cranberry skewer. Serve immediately.
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Pour into cups and sprinkle with nutmeg. Serve.
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Sha McCumber, GRI • ABR • PMN RE/MAX Genesis, Owner 210-286-5202 shamccumber@remax.net | www.shasellsthehillcountry.com TREC # 0546088
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WISH LIST By Marjorie Hagy
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Well it’s almost Thanksgiving in South Texas and you know what that means; down in the big city newsroom some chowderhead on the 6:00 news is already messing with the weatherman, asking him if it’s too early to see some of that white stuff, whaddya say Bill, are we gonna see any flurries coming into the Christmas season, har har?
Poor Bill is standing in front of a weather map on which the section containing San Antonio and the Hill Country is violently splashed in all the various hues of a catastrophic fire and dotted with little exclamation point symbols indicating a dangerous heat wave, his necktie all twisted up under one ear and a couple of enormous sweat stains soaking the pits of his loony weatherman’s sportcoat. He glowers at the back of the anchorman’s lunkhead and seethes, “For God’s sake Jeff,” in the tone of a man about to snap, “It’s 92 outside and my air conditioning bill is in the mid four-figures, lay offa that snow crap willya? Approaching Jeff menacingly, his fists clutching convulsively, he continues, “Every frickin’ year as soon as Halloween’s over you gotta tune up with that white Christmas shi-” “I don’t want you kids glued to that tv while you’re supposed to be doing homework!” Mom says as she darts past the set, turning it off, snatching up a stray cereal bowl and swatting my brother’s feet off the coffee table all in one deft motion. “Oh laws, the tv set is hot as a two dollar pistol!” she chides us as she sweeps back through the living room in the wake of a vacuum cleaner. Our tv had an unadvertised timer feature that alerted you when screen time was over when a wisp of smoke coiled up from the back of the set and the acrid scent of an impending electronic explosion scented the air. We kids had a rigid daily schedule, however, which required that we turn on the tv as soon as we walked in the door from school, so as not to miss a moment of Gillgan’s Island, and we refused to detach ourselves from the afternoon lineup until the news came on or our mom caught us, whichever came first, at which point we switched over to the next item on our agenda, petty bickering. So we usually ignored all the omens of imminent disaster positively screaming from the old Quasar Dynacolor Wood Grain television, and when our dad got home from work he’d take one sniff and start muttering under his breath. Fortunately for all of us though, the tv never did come to the point of actually self-destructing, for all it used to stand on the precipice and threaten to jump- we simply didn’t get enough channels for a really serious, lifethreatening binge. Hell, as it was one of us was required to stand on top of the set holding aloft an intricate system involving an antenna that looked like something we scored while dumpster-diving out behind NASA, several yards of tin foil and the zinc in one’s own dental fillings in order to pick up Channel 9. On the other hand, KWEX/ Channel 41 came in as clear as if the broadcast towers were located out in the backyard, but the downside was that no one in my family spoke Spanish. Oddly, the tv never seemed to smoke ominously when my dad was watching; he was able to go from Grizzly Adams to The Rockford Files and straight through Kojak to Johnny Carson without any sign of trouble. But now there is no more homework, because December’s finally here and we’re on Christmas break! Across town, children are sledding down Pine Tree Hill, skating on the frozen pond at Old Man Winchester’s place and building their forts for the annual snowball fight, while Pastor Dave and Mrs C, the friendly old organist down at the church, put the little ones through their paces practicing for the Christmas play, and the grandmas all perch in the pews like a flock of white birds, sewing the costumes and
knitting the curly wool for the sheep in the nativity scene, the whole town looks like a Currier & Ives print and smells like wassail. Buuuut of course, that’s not Boerne, that’s a whole ‘nother town in one of those states where it snows and people own earmuffs and don’t hafta drive their weathermen insane asking about white Christmases, where they have fun preachers who go by their first names and make peace signs with their fingers and nobody calls them a damn hippie, where everybody makes snow angels without a second thought and don’t hafta wait for the quinquennial 1-2 inches of snowfall that doesn’t quite stick to the ground but if you go around quickly and collect every flake of moisture from every conceivable surface within a mile of your house you might manage to construct a slushy miniature snowman on the trunk of the car so that its up high enough for your mom to snap a sad little picture of it, and you standing next to your creation, beside yourself with pride and snow-day joy and with bread wrappers tied over your shoes. Ah, the joy of that rarest of events, the South Texas snowfall, plus I looked up quinquennial and it means every five years. No, all that wonderful stuff happens far, far away from here where the kids are all living the good life in a place that looks like a china Christmas village and the lights in the windows are gold and inviting and the houses all look like they’re snug and smell like blueberry pie. Who knows, they may have reindeer wandering right up to you in the town square eating acorns out of your hand while what do we have?? -nine year old you fumes as you swat at a mosquito on your leg and glare over at your dog barking wildly down an armadillo hole. Texas Christmas...pfffft. Even our dog is crummy, those kids probably have collies and those pure white dogs that look like wolves, and then you get up and walk over to pet your poor sweet dog, cuz you feel guilty and disloyal. Here where we live we don’t even know the first names of the clergy, let alone go around addressing them as such and high-fiving them. Our local patriarchs are called Father This and Pastor That, and not Pastor Jim either, but stuff like Pastor Gilchrist, that kinda hints at how tight he is with God and how easy it would be for him to put in a bad word for you if he catches you cutting up. Or Father Schmidt, the kind of name that just taunts you, that screams JUST GO AHEAD AND GIGGLE, YOU WANNA SAY A BAD WORD RIGHT NOW DON’T YOU? We kids knew them though, we lived in a town so small that the churches were intimate and the preacher knew your name and most of your stats, and having him and his wife over to supper is de rigeur. We kids were on our best behavior, having been threatened with mayhem if we started any (what was called in my house) “grabass”a term which pretty accurately describes what sort of shenanigans fall under that umbrella- we were scrubbed and bullied into our most presentable not-quite-church clothes and even forced to wear shoes, which is not our usual custom, but the preacher’s there, and you best look sharp and mind your Ps and Qs. We kids would be jittery and ill-at-ease, I mean the only thing weirder than this guy coming down from the pulpit and into real-life would be if one of our teachers left her shrine in the classroom and appeared at the supper table! And yeah,
Boerne was so small that that eventually happened to lots of us anyway. Sometimes the teacher would be your aunt or your mom’s friend, or someone you knew from church. If you made a movie about Boerne in the 70s, you wouldn’t need a big cast because the same people would keep showing up in different roles, like your Sunday School teacher would also be the lady who worked in the tax office, your neighbor up the hill would be the middle school secretary. The preacher at your church might show up and say the prayer at the school assembly, and when you passed him in the hall on the way to the auditorium you’d duck your head in a confused, embarrassed kind of way, like he might publicly out you as one of his parishioners. You were too young to know then that everybody in town already knew exactly where you and your family went to church, that your dad sometimes filled in for the preacher when he was out for the week on vacation or something, that your mom always took apple pie to the potluck dinners. Those were times, too, when all the adults in the world were authorized to discipline you. I don’t remember helicopter parents or parents who marched down to the school to tongue-lash a teacher for being mean to their kid, but I do know lots of parents who warned their kid that if they got licks in school they’d get twice as many again when they got home, and who put word into action. I remember this one time, what seems like the one and only time my dad ever came to pick us up from school, some random girl walking past called someone an a-hole in his earshot- just like that, sans the missing esses, a long letter-A hole- and my dad climbed out of his car with all the outraged majesty of a parent in the 70s and bawled that hapless creature out for a good five minutes, and if you don’t think that sounds like a long, long time then you’ve never been a ten year old who’s slithered down to the floorboards of the family car in humiliation while your dad scolds a contemporary of yours. In church the rule about random people having tacit permission to upbraid any child they thought needed upbraiding was doubly bad, because those folks felt like they had a responsibility to rake you over the coals, and they took it seriously, since they’d been in the audience when you were baptized and witnessed your first steps and had seen you bare-ass naked that time you wandered out of the bathroom looking for your mom to help you wipe your butt. A gentleman of soldierly bearing who had actually been a soldier during World War II once took my sister to task for wearing to church a pair of what we now call flip-flops, which in the 70s were generally referred to as thongs, which terminology we were forced to rethink when they invented those undies that go up your hooha, and thank goodness my sister wasn’t wearing those, but then again she was like 11 and only strippers wore those back in the day. I think anyway, I certainly never heard of them before I was an adult. A couple of other old fellas in the congregation frequently told us off for our misbehaviour or various other offenses, like how when my sister and I got a little older we’d sneak out of church and up to the balcony where nobody ever went to eat snacks and make each other laugh but one time one of the elders caught us up there drawing cartoons. Now that I write it down it occurs to me that maybe it wasn’t just that the church was full of crusty old curmudgeons, but that possibly we really did need occasional chiding.
WWW.HILLCOUNTRYEXPLORE.COM | DECEMBER 2017
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The truth is, I believe, somewhere in between. For a while in my youth there were only a handful of little kids who went to our church at all, and the average age of the congregation was around a hundred, so a lot of the congregants really could be a bit grumpy. But those dear old grousers really did take their vows and their church responsibilities to heart, when they promised at baptism to guide and nurture us by word and deed, with love and prayer, encouraging us to know and follow Jesus and to be faithful members of His church, and even though we chafed under their scrutiny, we knew we were safe and loved, and that many hands, lots of them papery and wrinkled, were there to catch us if we ever fell. So far from spending our long, beautiful Christmas break with our eyes glued to the idiot box, we poor children got less tv than usual, since Mom wouldn’t even let us watch Gilligan’s Island anymore, and we had to redirect our energies into other pastimes- and fortuitously, the perfect entertainment was right there at our fingertips. In the old times, before anyone even had a Betamax, when the only screen we had was the one on the television set and we had to wait for that to warm up before we could watch it, when computers were still the stuff of fantasy, like that sassy machine on Willy Wonka who refused to reveal the location of the Golden Ticket- back in those times, a beloved ritual was played out in homes all across America. Shortly after Thanksgiving each year, our rural mailboxes, the mail slots in apartment doors in the bustling metropolis, in stacks in the post offices all around America, became the receptacles of a gift from a benevolent Providence- the Sears Wish Book. The world wide web, the information superhighway, that miniature miracle, the little phone computer thing you carry in your pocket- nothing, NOTHING, on the Sears Wish Book. It was a smorgasbord, an orgy, a circus of excess and overindulgence, it was air hockey tables and Holly Hobbie bedsheets and a whole city criss-crossed and transversed by Lionel trains, it was everything Barbie could ever possibly want or need, from the Three-Story Dreamhouse to the Puce Cotton Dress with RickRack Trim. There were Kenner’s Easy Bake Ovens and Mattel’s Hot Wheels, transistor radios, Charlie’s Angels dolls and that great American hero GI Joe, there were Viewmasters and pogo sticks and Snoopy snowcone makers, erector sets and Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys- what an extravaganza! On days unsuitable for evicting your young from the house for the day, climate-wise (and there were actually a few such), and long into the silent country nights, we kids would exit the real world and enter Paradise via the Sears Wish Book. We made long, long lists and then went back and re-drew them, we categorized our lists and crossreferenced them and drew up handy price guides, page numbers and item specifics, and then we went back to pore over our beloved Wish Book again to find even more stuff we had to have. Somewhere in those idyllic Christmas holidays it came time for the family to go get a tree, and all of us would lose touch with reality and dress ourselves for a day on the tundra. We actually did not live in a snowy clime with pine trees growing in profusion up past the timberline on our mountaintop. Mom, who DID grow up in a Utopian winter place, forgot all her years in Texas and was transported back to her Michigan childhood, and became our happy accomplice. She’d put on a crockpot of chili and whip up a little wassail and help us all don every scarf and woolen piece of outerwear we as a family possessed; we must’ve looked like the kid brother on A Christmas Story in all his winter clothes as we set out from our house in the balmy weather of mid-December in South Texas but we didn’t care, we were just so happy to be going on
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our family adventure. My dad, as I believe I may have mentioned somewhere before, was afflicted with a disease that I have since inherited and that made him anathema to gas-powered devices of any kind. They were the bane of his existence, as they are mine, and any time at all he ever got near such a fiendish device it immediately refused to function. So Daddy intensely disliked and distrusted small gas engines; he felt about chainsaws as another person might feel about carrying a snake in their breast pocket or as I would feel with a loaded gun in my purse, that at any moment the thing might possibly turn vicious and go on the attack. He chopped with an axe. Now our family suffered from a collective delusion as to the suitability of cedar trees for Christmas trees, and we all set out each successive yuletide season blithely assuming that we were about to bag something vaguely triangular in shape, which of course didn’t happen, not even once, because cedar trees aren’t shaped like that. When we’d get the tree home and get it wrangled into the living room, sweating our heinies off in our layers of ill-advised wool, our fresh-cut tree would unfold itself and two things would immediately become apparent: 1) that so far from being triangular, our Christmas tree had roughly the same proportions as Big Hero 6, and 2) that what we’d believed, out in the wilds, to be a small-to-medium sized tree was actually thirty-ish feet tall and a complicated ecosystem, home to at least four native species, several of whom relocated to our home along with the tree. By the time we finally got this behemoth decorated we were all pretty well worn out since seriously, this tree was ENORMOUS, and everyone was more or less dehydrated from trekking around in the 80-plus degree humidity dressed like the men of the Sir Ernest Shackleton expedition to the Antarctic continent, so the wassail went down well and we were grateful for all the protein in the chili. And after dark with the smell of the wassail carried on the breeze from the open windows and all the lights off except for those on the Christmas tree, it felt every last bit as cozy and snug and Christmasy as I bet it feels up north with the golden light shining out of the windows onto the snow. You know what my favorite part was? Well, I liked the Wish Book an awful lot, and so far from being disappointed that I didn’t get those Holly Hobbie sheets I immediately fell in love with the Katie Down on the Farm bed set and curtains my mama handmade for me, and thinking about her joy and excitement in presenting them to me still makes me tear up, forty-some years later. I loved how we all crammed into the backseat of the car in our new clothes, piled up with wrapped presents and a casserole balanced precariously on someone’s knee, and drove through the night to my grandpa’s house in San Antonio, and I love the memory of driving back home even more, my sister and brother and I all sleepy-excited from the long day and the excess sugar and craning our necks backward to gaze out the back windshield, in quiet communion together, at a million stars in the sky, all of us thinking about THE star. Then there was the part during Christmas Eve service at my church, when we each lit our candle from our neighbor’s candle and then fanned out to make a circle around the darkened sanctuary, and we all sang Silent Night together, all of our voices, even the old people who’d sung the song for fifty, sixty, seventy years, quavery with love and awe. And the moment that I stood in that circle, my bayberry candle with the little paper shield keeping the wax from dripping onto the carpet, and looked around at the flame-lit faces of all those people who loved me and whom I loved, while my little light joined with theirs to light up the world. Peace to you all, and joy and kindness and love, love, love. Have a joyful Christmas.
Discover Boerne’s Premier Custom Home Community Conveniently located two blocks off North Main and minutes from I-10.
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2018 SEASON
Gifts for the Holidays! TICKETS: $20-$60
ACCORDION VIRTUOSI OF RUSSIA
JANUARY 23 FEBRUARY 15
DRUM HEART
APRIL 13 SPECIAL EVENT
FEBRUARY 20 All performances at 7:30 pm Boerne Champion Auditorium
www.BoernePerformingArts.com
830.331.9079
WWW.HILLCOUNTRYEXPLORE.COM | DECEMBER 2017
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LISTEN TO ME By Kendall D. Aaron
I
I have long said that a man can accomplish his greatest thinking while mowing the lawn. My wife thinks I’m insane, but I’m telling ya, it’s the truth. Ask any man. We are isolated, powering a noisy tool, and knocking down cursed weeds by the thousands. We can think through some of our greatest problems while mowing and we can emerge wiser men. You women thought it was a “chore”, but to the REAL man, it’s a sabbatical. It’s a temporary reprieve from all of our other pressing responsibilities and a time where we can focus, think, and solve.
So there I was driving my puny riding tractor as I whacked down weeds of all sorts on a Saturday morning. I had my iPod pumping some music into my ears, and sure enough, I was deep in thought. I had almost solved the health care fiasco as well as immigration reform when I was rendered helpless by my own meandering thoughts. And then I sat on my bouncing, billowing lawn tractor while I wept. It certainly wasn’t my proudest moment, but it was one of my more honest ones. There I sat in the middle of 6 acres, weeping. I wish I could tell you exactly WHY I was so emotional, but I’m not so sure I know the answer. It was undoubtedly the combination of really powerful Christian music on my iPod and intense prayer that did me in. It was the profound lyrics along with having a clear channel of thought that found me at a pure moment, without my usual ringing cell phone, email, and television. It was me, simply having one my more earnest channels of communication open to God. And in that moment, I was powerless. And maybe, in that moment, I was the MOST powerful. I have long rallied that you shuck your phone, that you turn off your computer, and that you throw away your TV. I have encouraged you to strip yourselves of all the things that might distract you, but rest assured, I know the improbability of that occurring. And even more depressing, after writing such an article, you know that I’m watching “24” in full HD surround sound while my cell phone chirps at me. The idea is a great one – the application is a difficult one.
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So I’m sitting on my lawnmower bawling. Paints a pretty good picture of a real tough guy, huh? I am serious when I say that I don’t know why I found myself there; I just was. When given the slightest opening to speak to me, God rendered me helpless. I don’t think I was crying tears of agony or pain or regret; I think I was just crying joys of POWER. I think I was so lost in my own thinking that, without my own comprehension, I finally was quiet enough to LISTEN to God. And He talked to me. And He wiped me out. I think that the opportunity exists everywhere to find the solitude to speak to Christ, but it is rare to allow it to happen. I pray on my way to work, with the news on the radio in the background. I pray over dinner, while my kids swordfight. I pray with my wife each evening while our baby cries in the background. I pray while I buzz around town and I’m thinking about my next appointment. I TRY, and I fail, to find the solitude and SINCERITY in my focus. I am simply attempting to focus on God, while truly focusing on everything around me. So enter my lawnmower; the great equalizer in all things that require mental adventure and focus. I drive and I whack down weeds and I listen to great music and I mumble a profound conversation with God, and then WHAM... I’m both uplifted by the power of Christ and humbled by the realization that my constant distractions are really hindering that conversation. Given the opportunity, Christ reminds me that He misses me and really wants that time to talk to me. Even if I’m on a lawnmower. I won’t bore you with recommendations of allotting 30 minutes a day to pray. Because just like me, you won’t do it. I guess all I hope is that your heart remains open to the discussion with Christ. I hope that you can be running this marathon of life and be rendered breathless by the voice of God Himself. I hope that your heart can be open enough to know that it wants more, and seeks more, than you can possibly give. And most of all, I hope that you listen.
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You remember the Christmas that you absolutely HAD to have this brand new thing called an Atari? Or the time that the Chatty Cathy was the toy that all the cool kids were getting? Every year there is the MUST HAVE toy that kids from all across the U.S. are clamoring for, even though within a few short months the fad is typically over. Below are several of the toys that kids from different generations had to have, and a little about where they are now.
Chatty Cathy - 1960 Price in 1960: $19.90 In a move that charmed a generation of young girls, the Mattel Corporation put a phonograph in a doll, allowing her to say 11 different lines when a ring was pulled. Where are they now? Sales continued until 1965, with updates in the 1970s and 1980s. Most surviving Chatty Cathy dolls are mute; several of the vital mechanisms weren’t built to last.
G.I. Joe - 1964 Price in 1964: $4 After watching the Barbie line of toys become a market force, Hasbro came up with G.I. Joe, a foot-tall military action figure with a name inspired by the 1945 movie “The Story of G.I. Joe.” The figures were in huge demand out of the gate, making a thenimpressive $16.9 million in sales in 1964. Where are they now? The G.I. Joe franchise does well in times of peace and poorly in times of war. Sales suffered during the Vietnam War, but the doll made a comeback in the 1980s — and again after the release of last year’s live action “G.I. Joe” movie.
“Star Wars” action figures – 1977 Price in 1977: $2.79 Since toymaker Kenner didn’t have time to manufacture more than a few coloring books and board games after the surprise success of “Star Wars,” George Lucas still made millions selling vouchers for 3 3/4-inch tall action figures. Original figures ranged from the obvious (Darth Vader) to the obscure (Death Star Commander). Where are they now? “Star Wars” is arguably bigger than ever, with help from “The Clone Wars” cartoon series. Most of the 12 original figures have been re-released in a “Star Wars” classics line.
Cabbage Patch Kids - 1983 Price in 1982: $25 In 1983, Coleco’s Cabbage Patch Kids became a huge media-fueled hit, causing a mad scramble for the few million of pudgy-cheeked dolls that were produced before Christmas. Demand from children who wanted to “adopt” a doll led to adult fistfights and price gouging, with some Cabbage Patch Kids selling on the black market for 10 times their retail price. Where are they now? Coleco went bankrupt in 1988, mostly because of failed video game and computer ventures. Cabbage Patch Kids are still sold by Play Around.
Transformers - 1984 Price in 1984: $2.99 to $27.99 This cartoon about warring factions of anthropomorphic robots from outer space was hugely popular, aided by a barrage of commercials containing one of the most insidious earworms in history. Hasbro created a full line of toys, but demand quickly exceeded supply during the holiday season. Hasbro shipped an estimated $80 million worth of Transformers for the year. Where are they now? The toys never went away, but didn’t reach the A-list again until Michael Bay’s 2007 live action “Transformers” movie scored big.
Teddy Ruxpin – 1985 Price in 1985: $68 Teddy Ruxpin, the talking bear and his friends were home versions of the animatronic puppets kids saw at theme parks and pizza parlors. Worlds of Wonder sold 800,000 Teddy Ruxpin dolls in 1985 — which were fetching double or triple their already steep price because of shortages around the holidays. Where are they now? Worlds of Wonder went bankrupt in 1988. Hong Kong-based Backpack Toys manufactures a relatively small number of Teddy Ruxpin accessories through 2010.
Tickle Me Elmo – 1996 Price in 1996: $27.99 No one predicted the runaway success of Tickle Me Elmo, which is a close second to the Cabbage Patch Kids in the history of holiday hype. The injuries were plentiful (one store worker broke a rib during a stampede) and reports of 600 percent markups or more weren’t unusual. Where are they now? Mattel bought out Tyco and has kept the brand alive, most notably with the 2006 release Tickle Me Elmo Extreme, which moves so convincingly that it appeared to be possessed.
Beanie Babies – 1996 Price in 1964: $4.95 If you were the parent of a small child in 1996, chances are good you spent hours going from store to store looking for Bongo the Monkey or Tusk the Walrus. Developed earlier in the 1990s, Beanie Babies became a huge phenomenon after salesman H. Ty Warner got the brilliant idea to “retire” some of his already successful babies. With consumers combing stores looking for the rare ones, the company ended 1996 with $250 million in sales. Where are they now? Beanie Babies have come and gone, occasionally showing up in fast food kid meals.
Changing form in a Magical Way Our mission at ShapeshifterS is “Forever Changing” meaning we want our returning customers to find fresh new inventory and offerings every time they stop by to visit. Our vision is to be an inviting destination, offering a multi-faceted environment for everyone. Craft and project classes will be offered featuring a vast assortment of subjects and fun projects. Varying special events will be held to enhance the seasons and support the community. Parking is available, so come by and enjoy a relaxed place to rest your feet and share good conversation with neighbors and new friends. An open invitation awaits everyone to visit the”Monkey House” (our restoration workshop) where the magic of ShapeshifterS takes place! Beware though, you can easily get caught up in the intrigue and activities and find yourself helping out. The perfect place for the guys and gals to hang out, swap stories and kill some time while their significant other shops! Come by and say hello to Pam and Hank and enjoy some history, a cup of coffee and experience the “Spirit of the ShapeshifterS”.
720 N MainStreet Boerne,Texas 78006 830-331-7421 www.shopshapeshifters.com www.facebook.com/shopshapeshiftersBoerne www.instagram.com/shapeshifters.boerne
NOW OPEN RELAX | REVIVE | REJUVENATE Classes in Yoga, Pilates, Barre and Personal Fitness Training taught by highly qualified instructors in our newly designed studio in the heart of Boerne. 121 Rosewood Ave Boerne, TX 78006 info@agavewell.com www.agavewell.com 830-431-5611
WWW.HILLCOUNTRYEXPLORE.COM | DECEMBER 2017
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O
OLD TIMER
One of my favorite things to read is the Boerne Star’s “Best of the Best” thing that they do each year. While there are some valid categories and winners, my favorites are the ones where the local owner of the Dairy Queen buys up a zillion copies of the paper that include the voting ballot, and then forces all of his employees to fill out every ballot so that he ensures that Dairy Queen is voted “Best Hamburger”. And sure enough, it wins. Never mind that we have one of the top 50 hamburgers in the State being served at Little Gretel (as voted by much more valid Texas Monthly)…but for our friends at the Boerne Star, Dairy Queen is our undisputed champ. There’s a bunch more examples of how local business owners “stuff the ballots” to ensure victory, and I suppose that the Star could care less as it just sells more papers and ads. But it did get me thinking that yours truly should settle all debate by doing my own “Best of the Best”, as voted by……….ME. I requested no input and received none. Why would I? These are my choices, and thus, iron-clad. the other parks in town have gotten too manicured, too groomed, too “civic”, too MANY DUCKS. The CNC is a cool place to just vanish and sit by the creek so long as it still exists. I look forward to waving to my apartment dwelling neighbors soon to be towering over the creek from 17 Herff. Sigh.
BEST LOCAL EVENT BERGES FEST This was a tough one for me, but I’ve always liked Berges Fest for our little German town. The beer. The brats. The silly German outfits they wear. It makes me nostalgic for a time long gone from this town.
BEST PLACE TO SIT AND WATCH THE WORLD GO BY
BEST PLACE TO SEE FELLOW OLD TIMERS WHILE HAVING COFFEE: CHURCH LOBBY You thought that I was going to say the Boerne Grill, but sorry, every church lobby in this area is jammed with Old Timers sipping coffee on Sunday mornings.
BEST PIZZA Z’S WOOD FIRED PIZZA The kid that owns this place is doing good things. The interior is great, the pizza is amazing, and it’s actually affordable for frequent visits. Oh, and they have LOTS of beer/wine choices.
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BEST LOOKING WAITRESSES DODGING DUCK Al Pacino said it best: “The day we stop looking is the day that we die.” I know you ladies won’t care, but sitting on their patio, enjoying a pint, while 10 young lasses run around in yoga pants…well…it makes for a nice afternoon.
LITTLE GRETEL Their patio is wonderfully shaded and features multiple fans. You can sit out there, enjoy an amazing burger, a German beer, and shake your fist at the 10,000 cars an hour that go zooming by. I can even hit a duck with my slingshot from there.
BEST CIVIC STRUCTURE
DON’T.
BOERNE LIBRARY I gotta admit that the Library is pretty darned impressive. Patrick Heath should be proud to have it named after him, as generations of residents will enjoy it. Mad Money Mike $chultz will get the Taj-MahCity-Hall, and let me tell ya, I’d pick the Library any day.
BEST CITY PARK
BEST PLACE TO CATCH LIVE MUSIC
BEST WAY TO COMPLAIN TO CITY COUNCIL
CIBOLO NATURE CENTER Oh, it’s not a City Park? Don’t care. All
YOU CAN’T Sure, there are a few joints that feature some acoustic stuff, but that’s only until
the grandma that lives nearby complains. It sucks, frankly.
BEST BREAKFAST TACO YOLI’S Apparently the breakfast taco is the new “must have” thing in Boerne. We’ve got businesses devoted to the breakfast taco popping up right and left. I know that Mary’s Tacos is well-liked, but I feel that they are over-hyped. Go with Yoli’s. They take FOREVER to make them, but it’s worth the wait. (disclaimer – haven’t tried the new Boerne Taco House yet)
BEST FISHING SPOT CORDILLERA RANCH If you can weasel your way past the gate keepers that place has a couple of stocked tanks that make the term “shooting fish in a barrel” the understatement of the century. But if you get caught, don’t be calling me for bail money.
BEST PLACE TO KILL A FEW HOURS BOERNE POST OFFICE If you’ve got a letter, you know those things you write words on and put in envelopes, you need to send and you don’t particular care when it gets there or when you get back home, there’s no better place. The Pot Office is filled with old timers like me who are just itching to tell you all about their ailments, family history, and what the vet just removed from their dog’s intestine. Hint, you won’t be wanting dinner when you finally get home.
Construction, LLC
Site Preparation | Road Work | Soil Stabilization | General Construction Our mission is to please our clients. Chadco Construction, LLC provides its clients with a “single source responsibility”. We stand head & shoulders above similar businesses in our area because of single source responsibility, excellent quality, expertise and our general “hands-on” philosophy. We own & maintain a diverse selection of heavy equipment which makes it possible to do just about any kind of site/earth work. We employ various types of craftsmen, operators and other workers enabling us to provide our clients with better service by utilizing our own resources. Ideally, we try and minimize dependence upon subcontractors and other means of construction outsourcing seen almost exclusively today. Call Chadco Construction, LLC for all your construction needs
GENERAL CONTRACTORS WITH A SOLID REPUTATION ACROSS TEXAS
1002 East Blanco Rd, Boerne, TX 78006 :: 13521 TX-22, Cranfills Gap, TX 76637 8 3 0 - 8 1 6 - 5 4 0 4 : : C h a d Wa r r e n , O w n e r : : c e l l , 8 3 0 - 3 8 8 - 2 0 4 3
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