Stonewall Heritage Society to present May 1 program

The Stonewall Heritage Society will meet at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 1, for its first program in two years.

The meeting will be at St. Thomas Hall next to St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Stonewall (400 St. Francis St.).

The society invites any interested persons to attend this event and also to join the organization which has quarterly meetings about the community and the history of the Stonewall area.

The title of the program is “The History and People of Weinheimer Ranch, from German Immigrants to Texas Ranchers” and will be presented by Don Weinheimer and other members of the Weinheimer family.

The Weinheimer Ranch has been family owned since 1878.

Refreshments will be served after the presentation.

of $600.

Seating is limited and all tickets must be purchased by Monday, April 25. Tickets are available for purchase at the center or for sale online at http:goodsamfbg.org.

“This event typically sells out pretty fast,” Willome said. “Our written invitations went out last week, and more than half the tickets are already gone.”

Estela Avery, Cindy and Bruce Busby and Joseph Financial Partners have already signed on as underwriters for this year’s dinner.

“It’s almost impossible to express our gratitude and appreciation for their generous partnership,” Willome said.

Business sponsorships are also being accepted through April 26.

“Businesses have a range of support options, beginning with a basic sponsorship for $200 all the way to a table package for $1,100,” Willome said.

Each participating sponsor will receive publicity in the event’s dinner program, mention in GSC’s summer newsletter (with a circulation 2,100), on the center’s webpage and social media, as well as a receipt acknowledging their deductible advertising expense.

Complete sponsorship details are on the center’s website.

“We are delighted, for the first time in three years, to able to celebrate together — in person — with fellowship and fun,” Willome, said. “And, we want everyone to walk away feeling blessed to be part of the center’s life-saving mission to our community’s uninsured, low-income workers.”

The Good Samaritan Center is a faith-based charitable clinic providing medical, dental and mental-health services, as well as prescription medication assistance, diabetes management training and wellness education for lowincome families with no health insurance.

“We lift people back to health and productivity,” Willome said. “Our services help keep employees at work and out of the hospital emergency room.”

Services are provided for a small fraction of what they would cost elsewhere in keeping with the center’s mission statement to provide quality, coordinated and affordable healthcare.

To purchase a ticket, become a sponsor or make a donation, call 830-9908651 or drop by 140 Industrial Loop.

Political Announcements

of $40 for county candidates, $50 for district candidates, $30 for city candidates and $25 for school board candidates by their designated treasurers, the names of whom are on file in the offices of the Standard-Radio Post, 712 West Main Street, Fredericksburg, TX 78624.

The names of the candidates printed below are listed in the order in which they were announced at the newspaper office.

CITY OFFICES

Mayor Charlie Kiehne

Political

Jeryl Hoover

Timothy Ellis Riley

City Council

Tom Musselman

Emily Eppright Kirchner

Anthony “Tony“ Klein

James McDonald

SCHOOL BOARD

3-Year Term

Matt Seidenberger

Adam Riley

J.D. Windham

Mark D. Cornett

1-Year Term

Natalie Smith Bowman

Jake Whittington

Stonewall Heritage Society also is continuing its annual membership drive. New members are being solicited and current members will receive a letter and renewal form as a reminder to send in their dues.

The society meets quarterly at the restored Lindig cabin on Elberta Street. Its goal is to preserve local history by designating and maintaining historic structures, sites and landmarks, to collect and preserve historic furnishings and archival materials, to record and preserve memories about the early years of the area, and to promote an appreciation and awareness of local history and culture.

Membership is open to anyone who enjoys local history programs and fellowship.

Meetings have featured the Pehl family and their battle with polio in 1952, Bryon Schaetter and the history of the Schaetter Funeral Home and family, and the Rocky Hill Orchard and their Belted Galloways.

The spring tours in April have featured a field trip to the Altstadt Brewery, a tour of the local dance halls, and a visit to the J.W. and Ruth Baines home in Fredericksburg.

A quarterly newsletter is mailed to all members with a summary of the last meeting’s program, current business, and information about coming events. Past newsletter articles are available upon request.

Dues are for the maintenance of the Heritage Center cabin and grounds and for the preservation of the tapes that have been collected about past programs since 1994. Many programs were given by people of Stonewall who are no longer living, but who have left their recollections of Stonewall.

An ongoing project is the transference of the recorded information to a permanent form for future generations. Dues and donations are especially needed for this project. Membership dues are $15 for individuals or $25 for a couple. Business memberships are also available at $30. Lifetime memberships are $200 for individuals or $300 for a couple. The society offers a gift membership and will send a note informing the new member of the gift. Donations in memory of a loved one or friend can also be given, and the society will send a note to the family. Board members of the organization are Loretta Schmidt, president; Ken Otte, treasurer; Nelda Roessler, membership. Bernice Weinheimer is an ex-officio member of the board and serves as the historian. tures a family of mockingbirds, a tuneful constant on the Texas landscape, that witnesses change beginning with the arrival of German settlers in 1846. Each of the nine birds tells the story of a different historical location of the early settlement, and, thanks to local sculptor John Bennett, can be found as intricate bronze sculptures attached to the corresponding building on Main Street.

To become a member, send name, address and phone number along with dues to Stonewall Heritage Society, c/o Nelda Roessler, 220 Altwein Road, Blanco, TX 78606. For more information, call Roessler at 830-5225522 or email her at rbizniz@gmail. com. Persons are asked to include an email address on the membership form.

Beicker, along with husband Clint and children Bliss, Bowen and Brooke, moved to Fredericksburg in 2015. After attending the Easter Fires in 2018, Beicker was inspired by the city’s “great story worth sharing” but felt Fredericksburg needed more ways to involve children in that story.

“I felt like kids were being pushed out of Main Street, or there was less for them to do,” Beicker said. “And I (thought), ‘We’ve got to keep history and we got to keep kids on Main Street. I think I have an idea.’”

That scavenger-hunt idea came from a project in Greenville, South Carolina, where the Beickers lived before moving back to Texas. In an effort to bring more traffic to Greenville’s main street, a high school student wrote “Mice on Main,” a book that told stories of its buildings as young readers followed corresponding mice statues around park benches or sidewalks.

“We had a blast, we saw things we would have missed if we hadn’t been walking down the street looking, noticing and taking the time,” Beicker said. “Just going into a store, you miss so much of the art and the beauty that is right in front of you. And in (Fredericksburg’s) case, the history that’s right here.”

Beginning the project Beicker said she dove into the tedious project in the fall of 2018 with “no idea about writing or art or the process” or what she signed up for.

“But every little step, a little door kept opening and I learned something new,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’m going to try this.’ And I feel like God just provided and opened the door and brought the right people.”

Two of those people, Bennett and book illustrator Diana Godwin Schwede, Beicker’s mother, joined the ranks in bringing the project to life.

Beicker said she carefully chose the featured buildings based on location, historical significance, age, original purpose or architectural interest. And after a flurry of calls to building owners and tenants and presentations and pitches to commissioners and other community boards over many months, Beicker secured permission to fix the small sculptures to or near each building in the book.

“It wasn’t a hard sell,” she said, “it just took time.”

Each bird’s name and appearance are an intentional nod to the original purpose of the eight locations readers can visit. Fiddle, who flitted around the 1908 general store that is now 330 Gallery on West Main Street, dons an apron and other materials found in a general store, while Ranger, wearing an admiral’s bicorn hat, proudly commands from the Pacific War Museum in a nod to both Admiral Nimitz and his grandfather, who was a Texas Ranger.

Bennett said the project sounded “fascinating” when Beicker approached him and that because Schwede’s illustrations were “so vivid and full of expression,” it was easy for him to conjure up each bird’s composition.

“I always admire the creative spark to initiate an idea for that start, and that creativity is the hardest part for the artist,” Bennett said. “So, the hard part for me had already been done.”

He also said the project was a “jigsaw puzzle,” as Beicker struggled to decide whether to write the story or obtain permission from building owners for the sculptures first. The story had to be written before Schwede could draw, but Bennett needed to use completed illustrations as his models.

“Amy and I had to secure (exactly) where each sculpture was going to position at each location before I could even start,” Bennett said. “Everything had to be nailed down before I even began to work from the drawing.”

Bennett, who has resided in Fredericksburg with wife Cathy since 2006, was designated the Texas State Artist by the 81st Texas Legislature in 2010. From his home studio, the accomplished sculptor has quietly captured dynamic movement and liveliness in his work, much of which are western or historical figures. Driving north on State Highway 16, one can see his sculpture of a lifesized angel extending a stuffed animal to the children buried in the Greenwood Cemetery.

Bennett said the process, from agreeing to the project to receiving the nine bronze mockingbirds from the foundry, took over a year.

“I didn’t sit down for eight hours a day and work on one,” he said. “I would spend several weeks on a piece, easy.”

The birds are his latest pieces to serve as a lasting tribute to Fredericksburg’s history and artistic culture.

All nine birds are now installed on Main Street.

“I love the idea of being able to connect to the history of the town,” Bennett said. “We know so many people that have grown up here and they welcomed us… (It is) valuable to be a part of the history in the community and be able to offer something that’s lasting. This is a permanent thing. So that part’s really exciting.”

Schwede said her work is dedicated to her grandchildren, as well as to the families that have visited and grown with Fredericksburg through the years. She said a part of the book’s beauty is how it was a gen- erational effort, just like the town whose story it tells.

“A German community is … very close, and this is Fredericksburg,” Schwede said. “That’s what’s made Fredericksburg, and so the concept of family — not only blood family, but community — ties it all together.”

As part of Fredericksburg’s 175th Anniversary celebration, Beicker, Schwede and Bennett will host a book launch party from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at Pioneer Museum on Saturday, May 7. Books will be available for purchase and can be signed.

“Main Street Mockingbirds” will be available to purchase for $18.99 at places like Pioneer Mu- seum, Gästehaus Schmidt, The Sweet Lily, Gallery 330, Der Küchen Laden, Liebeskind and Fredericksburg Natural Baby. More retailers will be announced in May.

All profits from the book will go to support the Gillespie County Children’s Foundation.

Beicker said she is “grateful, humble and a little bit awestruck” that she could play a part in creating a lasting way for families to delight in the details of life.

“I loved that we made it by the 175th and that it’s on Mother’s Day weekend for the release,” Beicker said. “I feel like God didn’t have to do that. It’s just the sweet little things and he (says), ‘I’m in the details, and I care.’”

Fredericksburg High School’s chapter of Health Occupations Students of America took five students to the HOSA State Conference in Galveston April 20-22, which featured over 3,200 students competing. While still awaiting final results (only top five finishers are announced at the event), instructor Lisa Ballard said the FHS team placed in the top 10. From left are Anahy Nery, Clara Quay, Autumn Kirchner, Kavan Prema and Tiffany Gonzalez. Advisors are Ballard and Bruce Daley. — Photo by Lisa Ballard