Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country Vol 2 No 1 Winter 2015

Publisher: Karyn Lyn Editor: Greg Forest Design & Layout: Lonesome Dove Design Studio Columnists& Contributing Writers: Karyn Lyn, Greg Forest, Kathleen Hudson, Joe Herring, Phil Houseal, Jil Utterback, Steve Stainkamp, Gary Lockte, Claire Dubois, Mary Schenk, Genie Strickland, Jerry Phillips, Betty Sharp, Scott Hainline & Jack Armstrong.

Proof Readers: Claire Debois, Jil Utterback, Scotty Kauffman Web & Application Programming: The Music Office Sales: Tony Griffith, Karyn Lyn, Greg Forest

Holiday Events in the Hill Country

Jack Armstrong has been Googling, phoning and checking up on the numerous festive events in the Texas Hill Country this holiday season. re is still a lot to do. Jack Armstrong has made a calendar of the best of the best.

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Woulda Coulda Shoulda - Had the Best

Scott “HangTime” Hainline, like just about everyone in the Hill Country, has Johnny Football mania. Seems that some a few recruiters and coaches (21) overlooked the fact that there was “treasure in them hills.”

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Heart Beat Welcomes Claire Duboise

The Hill Country is lucky to have a number of great theaters and actors. Heart Beat newcomer Claire Duboise is on the beat keeping you abreast of upcoming theatrical productions. From the Fredericksburg Theater Company all the way to Ingram’s Point Theatre, here’s what’s coming up this winter.

Page 24 The Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country is published quarterly by Heart Beat Publishing PO Box 1204, Bandera, Texas 78003. Opinions expressed in articles may not be those of the publisher and editor of the The Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country, its advertisers, writers or contributors. All content is copyrighted by The Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country and may not be reprinted without the express written consent of the publisher. The Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country is not liable for editorial content, typographical errors and any statements or claims by advertisers or columnists. Subscriptions are $20 per year payable to The Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country at the above address. Editorial and advertising submissions must be received by the 10th of the month before publication. All ad dimensions, prices and specifications may be found at our website, texasheartbeat.com.

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Wimberley is “Bootiful”

There is an old song by Nancy Sinatra, “These boots are made for walking...” In the case of some of the boots in Wimberly, that would only apply if you are wearing a size 100. Wimberley is kicking off an installation of additional boots in January 2015.

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Joe Herring - Photographer Starr Bryden.

“All the money I had was $10.00 and my bike, and the distance to go was about 1500 miles. The late Dr. Jackson said ‘Starr, it will kill you.’ Maybe so, I replied, but I want to go home. I made the ride in twenty-one days and when I got home I had exactly 25 cents, and paid for everything I ate on the way.” They don’t make photographers like this anymore.

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Phil Houseal - Putting the “Writer” In Songwriter

Phil knows more than a few songwriters and this issue lets them speak for themselves regarding the art and process of composing a song. Some songwriters are born to craft tunes but even the best have to have a process. Here’s some advice from the cream of the songwriting crop.

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FEATURED ARTIST - HANS BAUER

This month our featured artist is Renaisance Man and photographer Hans Bauer. Bauer has run the gamut of creative endeavors from being an author, screen writer and photographer.

Hans’ specialty is to transform the sometimes sterile look of digital photographs and give them the look of a fine painting.

His technique is a feast for the eyes and causes you to “actually look into the image” to find the magic.

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Women in Texas Music - Shelley King

Kathleen Hudson shares one of Texas most beloved singersongwriters, Shelley King with us this month. Not only is she the first Texas State Musician (2008), but she is also on the Texas Commission of the Arts touring roster. She has carved a niche for herself with her approach to the music, an approach the includes passion, fire, rhythm, writing and stories.

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Turning the Corner on a New Year

H

eart Beat is off to the races in our second year and we look forward to continuing to bring the best in music, theater, the graphic arts and special events to our Hill Country readers.

W

e couldn’t have done it without the help of gifted writers, dedicated readers and advertisers who support our misson. A big thanks and shout-out to each and every one you!

Keep an eye out for us in 2015 and we will bring you the

highlights of all the great events coming down the pike.

Don’t forget to visit our online editon at TexasHeartBeat.com!

The Texas Heartbeat would like to say

We appreciate your dedication & suppoo!

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In September 2014, Wimberley merchants and galleries unveiled large, custom-embellished boot sculptures. The project, known as “Bootiful Wimberley” is the effort of the Wimberley Valley Arts and Cultural Alliance.

The boots are intended to promote cultural tourism and the arts in Wimberley by drawing visitors to the displays. Each boot is six feet tall, 4 ½ feet long and weighs about 60 pounds. The collection of boots are decorated with paint or mosaic material and are a showcase for the many artists who abound in Wimberley.

The boots are permanently installed at locations along RR 12, River Road, RR 3437 and RR 2325.

Maps can be picked up at the Visitor Center that show where each boot is located.

“Our goal was to place at least 20 boots throughout Wimberley,” says Cathy Moreman, president of the Wimberley Valley Arts and Cultural Alliance, “but we ended up with 30 boots.” In addition to luring visitors, the committee was interested in making the project a source of pride for residents. Wimberley’s school children were

involved with painting regular sized cowboy boots. More than 50 children participated and then displayed their boots on a float in Wimberley’s July 4th parade. In addition, a documentary of the boot project is being produced and will highlight many of the artists at work.

In September, all of the boots were presented for public viewing at a “Baring our Boots” party for Wimberley residents. More than 700 people came to admire the creativity and share in the fun. The boots were well-received and a have become a source of pride for the community.

By popular demand, the group is kicking off an installation of additional boots in January 2015. The goal is to sell and place 20 more boots around the Wimberley Valley for a total of 50 sculptures. Sponsors commit to displaying the boots for at least 18 months so there is plenty of time to discover them all. More information can be found at www.bootifulwimberley.com and www.wimberleyarts.org.

Wimberley Market Days is held every first Saturday, March through December, 7am4pm. More than 475 booths offering an enormous variety of items are set along winding, shaded paths. Live music, great food and drinks make for a fun shopping experience. Visit www. shopmarketdays.com for more information.

I

collect early photographs of the Texas Hill Country, and many of the best were taken by one man, Starr Bryden.

His story, from an email from one who remembered him:

“Starr [Bryden] was a very interesting man. He and his father had come to Texas from Tennessee. Starr had tuberculosis and was very ill. Like many others, he had heard that the climate in the hill country of Texas would be beneficial in helping him recover from his illness. I believe he was about 16 years old when he came to Kerr County. My great-grandfather (Harry Williams) discovered Starr and his dad camped in a primitive shelter on a neighbor’s ranch near Turtle Creek. He went home that evening and told my great-grandmother about having found a very sick boy and his dad camped out in the woods. My great-grandmother (Ella Denton Williams) insisted that they bring the boy to their home. They enclosed a corner of their front porch and made a room for Starr. My great grandmother fed him, nursed him back to health, and even taught him to walk again. Starr remained in the Kerrville area the rest of his life.

He rode a bicycle most of his early years, and rode a motor scooter as he got older.”

Raymond Starr Bryden came to Texas in 1912, suffering from what doctors then called “Galloping Consumption.” He spent a year and a half in San Antonio, then moved to Kerrville in 1913, “just a jump and a skip ahead of Father Time with the scythe. He made quite a few passes at me,” Bryden wrote in 1956, “but I jumped and the scythe went under my feet.”

After he’d been here awhile and had been nursed back to health by the Williams family, he decided to go visit his family in Chattanooga, Tennessee. On his bicycle.

“All the money I had was $10.00 and my bike, and the distance to go was about 1500

miles. The late Dr. Jackson said ‘Starr, it will kill you.’ Maybe so, I replied, but I want to go home.

I made the ride in twenty-one days and when I got home I had exactly 25 cents, and paid for everything I ate on the way.”

When he arrived in Chattanooga, he sent a telegram to the Kerrville Mountain Sun, which the paper published. (I think the town was worried about him.)

“Arrived in Chattanooga September 29th. Traveled over 1500 miles and was in six different states. It was a great trip.”

Later, Starr wrote: “When I got back to Kerrville, I saw Dr. Jackson and said ‘Well, Doctor, it didn’t kill me.’

The doctor, according to Bryden, replied “H--- no, but it should have.”

Starr became a beloved member of the Kerr County community. “Yes, folks,” Bryden wrote, late in life, “my hat is off to the Hill Country, and especially my friends, and the great outdoors, and the beautiful hills. Truly the good Lord has been good to this community.”

Many of his photographs are featured on my blog, at joeherring.com

joeherringjr.blogspot.com

The November Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Tour was a major success this year.

There were more concerts and full houses for the six Award Winners that I mentioned in the last installment of the New Folk History, FRANK MARTIN GILLIGAN, THE LOVEBIRDS, CAROLINE SPENCE, CONNOR GARVEY, C.DANIEL BOLING and MATT NAKOA. They also were featured on a Blue Rock Studio Concert Window event. Lots of folks tuned in and chatted to the artists. It was so much fun.

These tours are another of the many great things that come from participating in New Folk at the Festival. December 1ST is the opening date for SONGWRITERS to enter the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition. You may submit ONE entry of TWO original songs by mail or on Sonicbids. These are listened to by 30 - 40 music industry folks and music fans, scores compiled, 32 out of the 700 - 800 entries are invited to appear at the Festival. Those 32 will present those songs to a panel of 3 songwriters as judges to narrow it down to 6 Award Winners.

All of the guidelines and details are at http:// www.kerrville-music.com/newfolk.htm

So to continue with the words from the award winning artists themselves please welcome Tish Hinojosa from 1979 and Tom Prasada-Rao from 1993.

TISH HINOJOSA

“I was around 23 when I entered my 1st 2 self-penned songs to New Folk. Someone had suggested to Rod to go hear me sing in San Antonio. I knew who he was, because I was in Awe of the festival and it’s famous performers, and was 14

more in awe that Rod came to listen to me sing.

After my set, he spoke to me about the festival and that he’d like for me to sing at it and he asked if I wrote any of my own material. I was sad to answer “no”. Before this day, my plan at this point was just to sing like Linda/ Dolly, play guitar, get discovered and become a star. Rod reeled my head in from the clouds, by saying I needed to be a songwriter in order to play at the Festival. He mentioned “New Folk” and that I should give songwriting a try and submit a couple of songs. I ran home and wracked my brain, and I’ll be damned - I wrote my first songs, and they weren’t too bad. Being selected a winner in 1979 was such a boost that gave me confidence to continue writing. A little later, record companies took notice of me as a “Singer-ANDSongwriter, and that is what led me to become the recording and touring artist I became. That Rod Kennedy experience grounded me in believing in and de-mystifying the craft of songwriting. It is a craft, and like anyone seeking to be good at their craft, it takes blood, sweat, and tears, (well, maybe not the blood), honesty, exploring, and stepping out of comfort zones to put yourself and your ideas in front of others to be judged, critiqued, and to sometime, hopefully often, touch that place in people that moves them.”

TOM PRASADA-RAO “I first heard of the New Folk Competition when Steve Key (a fellow DC native) won in 1990. But it was my buddy Nancy Moran (a finalist in 92) who convinced me to send in a tape the day before the deadline in 93. So I sang “Ashes of Love” and “Over My Shoulder” into a boombox, and FEDEX’d the tape to Kerrville.

Little did I know what that would mean.

I already had a record deal and released my first album in 92 and did a mainstage set at Rocky Mountain Folks Fest that same year. But it took playing my two songs in the blazing Hill Country sun to change my life. I found my tribe at the Kerrville Folk Festival, the place I belonged, with songwriters at every campfire to be humbled by,

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created by a visionary in Rod Kennedy who truly believed in me. I ended up moving to Texas and marrying Cary Cooper at the Threadgill Theater helping raise her two daughters and for a while it felt like we owned Quiet Valley Ranch.

But Kerrville didn’t just impact my personal life - it changed it professionally. I quickly found out that it meant something to people around the country to win New Folk.

Doors that were previously closed were now opening. I attribute a lot of whatever success I’ve had in my musical life to Kerrville, to Rod, and to that insane family of Texas music lovers who are so crazy they’ll camp in 100 degrees just to hear a good song.

It’s twenty years later now. Rod’s gone and I’m divorced again, but Kerrville means more to me than ever, and I’m so grateful Dalis is sitting in Rod’s chair. The Kerrville Folk Festival is still home, it’s sacred ground for songwriters, it’s nirvana.”

The numbers of stories to be told from New Folk Award Winners are endless and infinitely different and interesting. How they came to know about the Festival and how it has affected their lives and their songwriting for decades or even just for a year. The one thing that is a common thread is that it DID affect them in profound ways. It is my honor and my pleasure to tell their stories here in the Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country!

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n ancient times - spring 1964 - I stood on a road fronting the LBJ ranch. From across the fence, I petted a horse I was sure President Johnson rode. I know now that most pictures of him on horseback were posed for the press. LBJ preferred driving cars at breakneck speed around the ranch, scaring the daylights out of passengers—often foreign dignitaries—and making his Secret Service agents nervous. One of the pleasures of memories, however, is that you can edit them as you please, even in the face of conflicting information. I prefer to remember President Johnson sitting tall astride his horse.

What I remember from my 2014 tour of the

CD is a bargain, providing a compelling history of the Johnson presidency. The CD includes a house tour ticket and a bonus DVD with eight features that are great fun. My favorite is the home photo tour accompanied by the song “Landslide Johnson.”

There’s a gift shop in the Visitor Center headquarters, and a smaller shop inside the hangar through which the home tour begins. Numerous books are available about the Johnsons, but perhaps the best recognized is Pulitzer Prize winner Robert A. Caro’s series, The Years of Lyndon Johnson. The Path to Power, the first volume, provides historical information about Hill Country rural life. I doubt that you could pick up any book about LBJ that didn’t mention that he was a philanderer. That he had other women in his life was most certainly difficult for Lady Bird to bear.

Here’s what I think about that. No marriage is all sugar and roses—it’s also lemons and thorns. I look at the CD cover picture of Lady Bird and LBJ holding hands, walking through the field of flowers on their ranch, and I know their national story includes a great personal love story. That’s what I felt in their home on that tour. How fortunate that they left us such a gorgeous legacy, and I hope I am right in believing that they had a great love for each other. When I listened to Billy Joe Shaver’s Hill Country Love Song recently, I thought of Lady Bird. She had a great passion for nature, for wildflowers, for preservation and conservation, for this country’s natural treasures. She had a great passion for Lyndon and I think Lyndon did for Lady Bird.

Texas White House—the Johnson home in the Texas Hill Country—is how much love there must have been in that house. Love for nature, for friends and family, for this country and its people. Still comfortably furnished as it was when the Johnsons lived there, it’s a home in which all of us would feel welcome. It and the surrounding ranchland were deeded to the American people in 1972 by President and Mrs. Johnson, known as Lady Bird. Tours are available year round at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park off of 290 between Johnson City and Fredericksburg.

LBJ and Lady Bird stipulated that the ranch be maintained “not as a sterile relic” but as a working ranch. Visitors can learn something of agriculture, specifically the Hereford cattle operation and the self-sufficient hay production system. A self-driving tour around the lovely ranch is available. At $4 the accompanying audio 16 Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country

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Have you ever listened to a song by an aspiring songwriter, and realized it sounded amateurish, but not sure why?

Successful songwriters know why. And one of the unexpected pleasures of interviewing legendary music artists is discovering their unabashed respect for high quality writing.

Larry Gatlin put it best: “One night a good old boy came up after a concert and wanted me to listen to one of his songs. I asked, is it as good as those 15 I just sang? He said no. So I said, why would I want to sing it?”

Ouch. Painful, but truthful.

“Overnight successes” have careers that were actually built on many days of study and skill. That should give us gratification that quality and content matter, even when the arena is a bar filled with smoke and honky-tonk music.

Here are the powerful perspectives of six artists who have played in the Hill Country, explaining the crucial role that writing plays in their art.

Marty Haggard said that any singer– even his dad Merle– “is only as good as his song.”

He considers himself a country artist, but he is a fan first of “the song.”

“Someone said my dad could sing the phone book,” the younger Haggard told me.

“That’s not true, I don’t care who you are. Are you singing a song or telling a story? A lot of singers get a lot of credit, but the truth is, a singer is only as good as his song. That’s all there is to it.”

Marty believes in “keeping it simple” when writing. During his final edit he goes through line by line to see how many words he can remove without changing the story. Less is always best.

“A song has to say what you want it to say, but don’t keep resaying it.” He goes on.

“I think it is a real gift to find words that rhyme and flow as if they fell out of mouth during conversation. That’s easy to do if you’re telling a story. It’s really difficult if you’re telling the truth.

You cannot be a lazy individual and tell the truth 18

and make it flow, too.”

Austin jazz musician Kris Kimura cites a quite different source in affirming the importance of writing.

“According to Mel Torme, my hero, the most important part of any music is you have to be true to what the composer originally intended,” Kimura said. “Otherwise you are doing an injustice and disservice to this wonderful art. We should be proud of it; we should be coddling it; we should be nurturing it. That’s what I plan on doing the rest of my life.”

Thomas Michael Riley - Many of these singer/songwriters have backgrounds in English and literature. Texan Thomas Michael Riley holds a degree in English (“I crammed four years of school into six and a half years”), and sprinkles quotes from Thoreau and Emerson into his conversation. His stint teaching English did not hamper his songwriting ability.

“I was always going to write the Great American Novel, but I couldn’t focus long enough,” he said. “So then I went to short stories. I always enjoyed playing and singing, so that’s when it hit me–it is songs. For me, that’s the ultimate short story.”

Michael Martin Murphey was an English major before he topped the charts with such hits as Wildfire, Carolina In The Pines, and Cherokee Fiddle. Behind that “aw shucks” cowboy image stands a man who studied his craft.

“If you want to be a writer for a living, it’s a good idea to study music, literature, and read a lot,” Murphey told me. “If you don’t want to read the classics, there is plenty of other stuff.

That’s where you learn phrasing and rhyme schemes. I strongly believe in taking courses in college in poetry, and creative writing courses.

Then write, write, write.”

Mike Blakely perhaps most exemplifies the “writer” in songwriter. He has published 18 books. So it is obvious Blakely is

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an avid student the language, as well as western history. Blakely got hooked when he started reading J. Frank Dobie books as teenager working the family ranch, and still aspires to that model of story telling.

“I enjoyed the way he could tell Texas history as a story,” Blakely said of the western writer. “It’s easy for people to understand. They lived a simple lifestyle that was all about hard work, not giving up when things get tough, and getting the job done no matter what.”

He likes to weave that storytelling into his stage shows. In fact, the words are more compelling than the music.

“Writing is the most important thing to me,” he said. “I approach music as a writer first, a vocalist second, and a musician third.”

Finally, Larry Gatlin admits he is “in love with the English language.” He believes that anyone can be a songwriter; but only a dedicated few earn the designation of song crafter.

“I’m not saying people can’t write a song,” Gatlin said. “When I lead a writing workshop, I explain that you all are songwriters.

But I’ll bet you aren’t all song craftsmen. There is only one in here, and that’s me. But let me help nudge you gently along that path to beginning to learn the art and craft of writing songs.”

There is no shame in “learning as you earn.” You are in elite company.

“Kris Kristofferson, Roger Miller, Willie Nelson, Mickey Newberry, and John Cash... those were wordsmiths,” Gatlin said.

“None of them were born writers, but they got better as they went along.”

So to all you aspiring songwriters– listen to what these guys are saying.

Then go out and write. Really write.

Phil Houseal is a writer and owner of Full House PR. www.fullhouseproductions.net Contact him at phil@fullhouseproductions.net

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Country Wedding Photography

karyn lyn 210.316.2986

S

helley King just appeared on the September 2014 cover of Buddy Magzine, a Dallas-based magazine that has documented the history or Texas music since Stoney Burns created it in 1973. I wrote my first feature on Texas music for Stoney, attending the Willie Nelson picnic at Carl’s Corner. “Hudson, be sure and get closer.

That is my advice for using a camera. Get closer,” Stoney admonished me. I took that advice into my photography and my writing. Get close to the details. I first heard Shelley King at the Old Settler’s Reunions; she was rocking a small stage under a tent. Off to the side. I was blown away by her stage presence as well as her music. The THMF showcased her at a Schreiner coffeehouse, and she became part of my oral history on women of Texas music (archived at kathleenhudson.net).

I once danced to her music into the wee hours of dawn at the Kerrville Waterin’ Hole, a venue that now regularly showcases Josh Murley and Someone Like You. I stay up late on Thursday for this. She reminded me that we had also shared a now defunct Kerrville venue called The Java Pump. Ah…memories. Now she is building a fire…the title of her 7th CD.

Murley and SLY were the first band the THMF showcased at a series we call 290Texas. com Shelley King was our November showcase.

Her music, her writing, her performance and her presence have been making waves and starting fires in the music world. That night with an intimate group of fans, Shelley, along with Tony Redman and Perry Drake, riveted our attention with stories and songs. We heard the story of every song she performed, and husband/ drummer Perry showed me a few licks on the 22

snare drum. I now have a snare drum in my tiny house, a place to practice the rhythm he taught me. That is intimacy at a concert.

When I asked for one more song, my personal anthem “Drivin’ By Myself,” I reminded her I had danced to her all night at the Waterin’ Hole once. She responded, “I play and you dance.” I noticed the young Asian lad across the room, seeming to want to move, and I asked him to join me. What a finale we had. Stephen and Kathleen dancing. Yes, Shelley is compelling and inviting in concert. She took off after that to open for Marcia Ball on a West Coast tour. They must have created some heat.

She began the evening at the Walnut Spring Preserve in Johnson City (290texas. com) with a rousing rendition of “Walk On,” and I watched several on the front row in that clubhouse room sing along! Yes, many knew her songs, and the ones that didn’t could not quit talking about their new discovery. Nothing pleases me more than to point to something I love and watch others light up too. We heard the story of the day she met her biological father, divorced from her mom, and we heard the end of that story. “They are married again.”

Not only is she the first Texas State Musician (2008), but she is also on the Texas Commission of the Arts touring roster. She has carved a niche for herself with her approach to the music, an approach the includes passion, fire, rhythm, writing and stories. Always the stories. From her roots in Arkansas and her penchant for the gospel sound to her audiences in Europe, the impact of her music ranges wide afield.

One CD, entitled “Armadillo Bootleg No. 2,” contains a collection of songs recorded live or as demos. Carved painted leather boots and lace adorn the cover, a fitting symbol for Shelley King. King wrote 10 of the songs on her new CD, “Building a Fire,” and she delivers all her songs with the sultry, passionate, firey gusto that has become her trademark. We got to hear the entire package on November 1 in a small room while audiences of thousands also enjoy her energy from a distance. We were up close.

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The Texas Hill Country is alive with theater, and local theater troupes are bringing their A-game for audiences this Winter.

Fredericksburg Theater Company, renowned for its quality productions in its 250seat Steve W. Shepherd Theater, presents “Fiddler on the Roof ” from Feb. 20 through March 8.

The musical — with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics

by Sheldon Harnick and book by Joseph Stein — is set in the Pale of Imperial Russia in 1905.

Based on “Tevye and his Daughter” and other tales by Sholem Aleichem, the musical score includes such timeless songs as “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” “Tradition,” “Sunrise, Sunset” and “If I Were a Rich Man.”

Tickets for the shows are $29 for adults and $12 for ages 18 and younger. The theater is at 1668 Highway 87 S, 1.5 miles south of Main Street in Fredericksburg. For more information, to purchase tickets and directions to the theater, visit http://fredericksburgtheater.org or call 830997-3588 The Point Theatre The Point Theatre has a great lineup for the 2015-16 season. The theater is located on the grounds of the Hill Country Arts Foundation, 120 Point Theatre Road, in Ingram. Following is the schedule: Feb. 6-21 “Suite Surrender” by Michael McKeever

It’s 1942, and two of Hollywood’s biggest divas have descended upon the luxurious Palm Beach Royale Hotel — assistants, luggage, and legendary feud with one another in tow. Everything seems to be in order for their wartime performance...that is, until they are somehow assigned to the same suite.

Mistaken identities, overblown egos, double entendres, and a lap dog named Mr. Boodles round out this hilarious riot of a love note to the classic farces of the ‘30s and ‘40s.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Feb. 8.

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Playhouse 2000

Playhouse 2000’s 2015 season is filled with crowd-pleasing favorites, including Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic “The Pirates of Penzance.”

“There’s nothing quite like the thrill of live theater, where characters are brought to vivid life - sometimes by actors we know — to tell stories that make us laugh, cry, think, or just feel the joy of learning more about our world,” said Jeffrey Brown, executive director of Playhouse 2000 and the Cailloux Theater.

Much of the season will be presented in the intimate VK Garage Theater, at the corner of Washington and Main on the campus of the Kathleen C. Cailloux City Center for the Performing Arts, 910 Main St., in Kerrville.

The Playhouse 2000 Season 2015 will include the following outstanding productions this Winter: Feb. 6-22 “Weekend Comedy”

by Sam and Jeanne Bobrick.

Frank and Peggy have booked a secluded vacation cabin, hoping for a romantic spark to enliven their 25th wedding anniversary.

Unfortunately, Jill and Tony, a young couple uninterested in marriage, have booked the exact same cabin. Over the course of one fateful Memorial Day weekend, both couples come to a new understanding of mankind’s grandest institution, and we, their audience, enjoy a lot of laughs.

Also, new for this year, P2K is offering a “Flex Pass” admission package, which provides either 6, 8, or 10 admissions, which can be used for any of the shows and in any combination.

Flex Pass allows theater lovers to save as much as 20 percent over the cost of single tickets.

For more information: Visit Playhouse2000.com or call 830-896-9393.

Theater listings are included on our web site.

Just click on “Tonight in the Hill Country”

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ecember is normally considered a “wind-down” month for everyone – except Bandera. The cold winter blahs gears everyone up in the Cowboy Capital of the World and we have plenty to do just to prove it.

First, I always like to mention that Bandera has some reoccurring monthly and weekly events that many like to attend.

The first Tuesday of each month we get a kick start with the Cowboy Capital Opry.

Got to go, at least once. The music is awesome and always a surprise. You never know who might show up and often it is a well-known musician just wanting to jam with their friends.

Small fee to get in with refreshments and door prizes. Best kept secret in Bandera.

We have Bingo every Tuesday night at the Lakehills American Legion Post 410 and on Wednesday nights at the Bandera American Legion Post 410 or try the Friday night Bingo at the Pipe Creek Volunteer Fire Department.

On the first Friday night of each month is a great Classic Car Show that gathers at Fat Boyz Sandwich Shop or you can eat your fill of fried fish at the Knights of Columbus Fish Fry at St. Joseph’s Hall.

On every Saturday, for great family entertainment, don’t miss the Cowboys on Main program hosted by the Bandera Business Association featuring chuck wagons, horses, strolling singers and the gunfights at Heritage Plaza presented by the Bandera Cattle Company.

On the first Saturday of each month you can purchase some great books at the Bandera Library or the Lakehills Library starting at 10 am. Then at 1:00 pm, visit the Frontier Times Museum for the Cowboy Camp. Bring your lawn chair and enjoy some traditional cowboy music. Better yet, bring your guitar and join in! Most bring their own refreshments too.

Don’t miss it!

As far as scheduled events, Bandera is not without a plan to end the year 2014 and bring in 2015. Always festive and bet your boots a little “cowboy”. It’s just who we are.

December will usher in the Christmas

Season with events planned by the Bandera Business Association and the Hill Country Trail of Lights. Friday December 5th the Bandera Methodist Church hosts their annual craft and bake sale from 4:00 pm until 9:00 pm at the church and the Bandera Business Association kicks off the 35th Annual Shopper’s Jubilee at the Bandera County Court House at 4:45 pm. Caroling, Live Nativity, and visits from Santa. Then visit the Bandera stores for exciting Christmas finds, strolling carolers and treats offered at many of the participating merchants.

Saturday December 6th the Bandera Chamber of Commerce will host the annual Christmas Parade down Main Street at Noon.

And at 5pm the evening magic will begin on the Banks of the Medina River in City Park as the Bandera Business Association hosts the Cowboy Capital Camp Fire Christmas. Bring your lawn chair and sing Christmas Carols, enjoy cookies and hot chocolate and a live Nativity presented by the Bandera County Christian Fellowship spotlighted at dark on the banks of the river. Stoll the over 100 lighted Christmas trees and holiday scenes presented by the Bandera merchants on the river. Beautiful!

Oh, the weekend is not over! The Bandera Community Foundation will host their annual Merry Texas Christmas III Concert featuring the Almost Patsy Cline Band at the Western Heritage Cowboy Church in Pipe Creek at 3 pm on Sunday December 7th. Absolutely must go!!!

Friday December the 12th, events begin at 11:30am to 1:30 pm at the St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church at their annual Holiday Tasting Tea. Delightful sampling of delicious offerings created by members of the church.

At 6: pm the Celebration of the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe begins at St. Stanislaus Church followed by a special Mariachi Mass including the dramatization of the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Juan Diago.

Then hurry on back to downtown and bring a canned food item or a new child’s toy as an entry fee to the 28th Annual Cowboy Capital

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Christmas Charity Celebration at Arkey’ Blue’s Silver Dollar. Enjoy the music of Arkey Blue and the Blue Cowboys, sample some good eats and help raise money for some local families for Christmas.

On Sunday December the 21st join the Longhorn Saloon at their annual “Singing in the Saddle” caroling event. A true Bandera “Cowboy” event for visitors. Bring your best decorated horse or rent a horse or ride in the hay wagon or buggy through Bandera. Bring your guitar and play along. Visit the local health care and nursing homes spreading the Christmas season in song. Great fun Bandera style.

The lighted Christmas displays, part of the Hill Country Trail of Lights, will be open nightly through out December, with 31st being the last night.

January brings new and exciting events you need to put on your calendar. January 8th -10th is the 79th Annual Bandera County Junior Livestock Show at Mansfield Park.

A great time to support future farmers and cowboys of Bandera.

On January 24th you have two opportunities to fill you belly! A great experience in the cold of January is to experience The Wild Game Dinner hosted by Grace Lutheran Church at Mansfield Park. Expertly prepared, all you can eat for a $15 donation! Yum! 4 to 7 pm. Dine in or take out!

At 4:30 to 7pm is the Annual Baubles and Boots Celebration, dinner and auction benefiting the Bandera ISD Education Foundation. Tickets available at Bandera ISD and McMullan Insurance.

February it’s party time again in Bandera at the 10th Annual 11th Street Cowboy Maudi Gras on February 5th – 7th! Giant parade, live Cajun Music, horses, Gumbo Cook-off ,cowboys, feathers, masks and plenty of beads!

On Monday February 9th from 5:30 to 9:00 pm you can support the CCPAL’s Annual Spaghetti Dinner at the Silver Sage and at the same location you can on February is a special Opry supporting the Bandera Sister Partnership Program. Tickets will be $11 and there will be no reserved seats. Don’t be late!

For more information, visit www. banderacowboycapital.com and click on events.

You never know, we may even add a few by the time you check it out! Yee-haw, Y’all! texasheartbeat.com

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Photographer Hans Bauer’s mother started his interest in art at an early

age when she gave him a toy dinosaur and a book of Fredrick Remington works for his birthday. The dinosaur is long gone but Bauer still has the Remington book that started it all. Although a resident of California, Hans was drawn to the Hill Country as a counselor at Flaming Arrow Boys Camp in his teen years and has looked forward to returning to the region which he did a few years ago.

Another influence in Han’s career and work was Victorian artist John T. Waterhouse, a 19th century Victorian artist known for his faerie/nymph artwork. Although Bauer’s work is digital in nature, using both a modern camera and software, it is vastly different than what can be viewed as the optically accurate but sterile work of other contemporary photographers.

His goal is not to create an accurate photograph but an image that evokes emotion. His work has been described as, “ambiguous, American grotesque, dreamlike and surrealistic.”

Bauer is also a screenwriter and author with a large and growing bibliography of projects. His latest writing endeavor, “Anaconda, The Director’s Cut,” is available on Amazon and is very different from his screenplay and the movie many of us are familiar with.

Some of Hans Bauer’s work is on display at the River’s Edge Gallery in Kerrville. His web site, which has hundreds of images online for viewing is at www.hansbauerphoto.com. Feed your eyes and look beyond.

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RECURRING Wimberley’s Second Saturday Gallery Trail Second Saturday of every month.

4:00 pm - 7:00 pm, Wimberley Square Bandera Indoor Flea Market American Legion Post 157 Bandera 9 am - 3 pm -Third Saturday every month.

205 12th St, Bandera, TX 78003 (830) 796-7528 Blanco Market Days Old Blanco County Courthouse Square 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Third Saturday every month.

830-833-2211 Wimberley Market Days First Saturday of every month.

601 FM 2325, Wimberley, TX (512) 847-2201

MERRY CHRISTMAS! November 28 - January 4, 2015 | Fredericksburg EISBAHN SEASNAL SKATING Kinderhalle Pavillion, Marktplatz skateinfred.com Nov 28-Dec 30 SANTA’S BIG NIGHT & “STARRY STARRY NIGHTS” Llano, at Badu Park on the Llano River begins Friday after Thanksgiving. 6-10pm.

(325)-247-5354 Nov 21 - Dec 6 | Ingram | 7:30pm THE CHRISTMAS FOUNDLING

by Norman Allen Elizabeth Huth Coats Indoor Theatre 120 Point Theatre Road (830) 367-5121 hcaf.com

December 1 - January 2 | Boerne CHRISTMAS LIGHTS FEST Don Strange Ranch 103 Waring Welfare Road, Boerne, TX Over 2 million lights on the ranch boundaries sanantoniochristmaslightsfest.com (210) 434-2340 December 1-31 - Marble Falls HOLIDAY WALKWAY OF LIGHTS 6pm-10pm through January 1.

Free admission www.marblefalls.org | walkwayoflightsmftx. com.

(830) 693-4449 December 6 - Bandera - Late afternoon Cowboy Capital Christmas and Shoppers Jubilee Free Admission http://www.banderacowboycapital.com (210) 215-1995 Dec 5-21, 2014 - HOLIDAY WINE TRAIL Enjoy wine and food pairing event. Self-guided.

(866) 621-9463.

December 6, 2014 | Boerne | 9am to 4pm OMA’s CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR Kendall County Fairgrounds 1307 River Road (830) 249-2839 December 6-21 - Kerrville PLAYHOUSE 2000 A CHRISTMAS CAROL Friday - Saturday 7:30pm | 2nd Sunday 2:30pm 305 Washington at Main St. (830) 896-9393 | www.caillouxtheater.com December 6 - Gruene 6pm GRUENE CHRISTMAS MARKET & FESTIVAL www.gruenemarketdays.com (830) 832-1721 December 12 - Bandera | 8-11pm Annual Cowboy Capital Christmas

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Charity Celebration Admission - a new toy or canned good/non-perishable food item.

Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar Saloon banderacowboycapital.com (830) 796-8826 Dec 12-13 | Johnson City | 6:30 pm LIVING NATIVITY PAGEANT Annual program for all ages.

(830) 868-7414.

Dec 12–14 & Dec 19–21 - Canyon Lake | 6pm NORTH POLE VILLAGE CRRC Recreation Center 125 Mabel Jones Dr., Canyon Lake, TX crrcofcanyonlake.org | (830) 964-2324.

Dec 13 - CHRISTMAS ON THE SQUARE: Burnet, on the Courthouse Square, 9a-9p.

(512) 756-4297.

Dec 13 - Wimberley | 5-10pm WINTER’S EVE FESTIVAL ON THE SQUARE (512) 847-3333 December 14 - Boerne | 4pm to 6:00 BOERNED CONCERT BAND CHRISTMAS CONCERT 1 Greyhound Ln (830) 249-7277 December 14 - Boerne | 5-8pm 2nd SATURDAY ART & WINE On Second Saturdays the galleries and “Other Walls” of Boerne host joint openings. Come out and enjoy a glass of wine and the latest offerings on the Boerne Art Scene. Park your car and take the free trolley to see the “Best Art East of Santa Fe.” Dec 14 - Fredericksburg | 12-6pm TANNENBAUM BALL Ball theme is a “German Christmas”. An elegant evening of cocktails, seated dining, dancing and a silent and live auction. Tickets required.

(830) 997-2835. texasheartbeat.com

Dec 13 | Comfort | 4-10-m REX FOSTER ANNUAL WOOLLY MAMMOTH CHRISTMAS PARTY & SHOW VFW Hall at 626 Front St. (Hwy. 27) across from the Wells Fargo Bank Dec 13 | Wimberley | BREAKFAST WITH SANTA Wimberley Community Center 14068 Ranch Road 12 (512) 847-2510 Dec 15 | Kerrville | 7pm SANDI PATTY CHRISTMAS 5-Time Grammy Winner’s Christmas Cailloux Theatre, 910 Main St (830) 896-9393 caillouxtheater.com Dec 14 | Uvalde | 12pm CHICKS EATING OUT COOKIE EXCHANGE Herby Ham Activity Center (830) 591-2711 Dec 20 - Johnson City | 6-9pm LAMPLIGHT TOURS OF LBJ’S BOYHOOD HOME (830) 868-7128 x231.

Dec 21, 2014 - Stonewall LBJ TREE LIGHTING LBJ State Park & Historic Site, 199 Park Rd (830) 644-2252.

Dec 28, 2014 - Fredericksburg CANDLELIGHT TOUR 325 W Main Street (830) 990-8441 Don’t forget that our web calendar has daily updated listings at: TexasHeartBeat.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country

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“Hey – what’s going on with The Cabaret?”

I haven’t owned the Cabaret dance hall on Main Street in Bandera since 2008, but hardly a week goes by I’m not asked some variation of that question. What’s going on is current owner, Steve Ball of Houston, Texas and the UK – the one across the “pond”– is preparing to make another run at the Bandera City Council and attempt to renovate a precious chunk of Bandera history.

Steve has said, “There is no doubt I will need considerable support from the towns folk if anything is to get off the ground anytime soon.”

Briefly, that’s what’s going on with The Cabaret.

The 10th Annual BMHoF Award Ceremony wrapped up on November 9th out at The Farm Country Club. A big crowd enjoyed the event, a small group worked very hard to make it happen and an even smaller, but very vocal, group see it as a bullseye for the annual slings and arrows party directed at this and other local organizations. Interestingly, the Legendary Venue award went to The Cabaret, an award nominated and voted on by the members of the Bandera Music History Project Hall of Fame (BMHoF), a membership open to anyone who wants to join for a $10 annual fee. If ever there was the perfect marriage of Bandera music and its history, it is BMHoF and The Cabaret.

So the controversy, criticism and even vitriol aimed at both entities is a puzzlement.

How can a dance hall, a family oriented concept brought to the US and to Texas

by European immigrants, be so dismissed as an

insignificant historical contribution to Bandera and Texas that its very existence is in jeopardy? Is music history somehow less legitimate than other more august aspects like courthouses and jails? If a jail is worthy of salvage and redemption, surely the same respect could be given to a place that rang with the music of Bob Wills, Willie Nelson, Kitty Wells, Larry Nolen and a host of others and where I heard every single day some variation of, “I met my wife at the Cabaret,” or “My daddy taught me to dance at the Cabaret.”

I’m not taking pot shots at the old jail and the wonderful plans for it by Bandera’s own Frontier Times Museum. Just the opposite. I’m saying in the 13 years I’ve made Bandera home, I’ve seen too much western history lost, too many bad decisions affecting how best to attract a bigger and more diverse tourist base benefitting everyone.

BMHoF started off as a “History Project” and remains so, despite a distinct lack of interest in that aspect of the organization’s purpose and activities from the majority and that’s a normal reaction. The word “history” usually causes peoples’ eyes to glaze over. The History Project must be and is important to the BMHoF Board of Directors, but it’s the music and musicians who provide a dance and concert playground who are the focus of the voters and that’s also as it should be. The two can live in harmony and the only question remaining is, how can a community that revolves around music venues be so complacent about the restoration of a building that combines history and music as no other and brands Bandera in a unique and positive way.

You voted for the Cabaret as the 2014 Legendary Venue through BMHoF, now cast a vote for history and a building that defines the word, Bandera style. Long live the Cabaret.

It’s all about the music and the music is all about the history.

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When it comes to gardening, I’m fortunate to collaborate with some very smart folks. One of these folks is my longtime friend, Doug Daughtrey of LANDSCAPE SOLUTIONS & NURSERY in Castroville, Texas.

I refer to Doug as a “soil chef ” because of the organic mixes he prepares to fortify garden soils. Doug believes as I do: garden plants are only as nutrient rich as the soil they’re grown in.

If the soil is mineral-deficient, your plants are deficient also.

Recently, Doug and I discussed one of his compost products that I am very happy with. I mentioned a test plot where I segregated 5 tomato plants and spread a 2” layer of Doug’s compost product all around them. These plants are still green and lush, and are loaded with beautiful tomatoes, and they’re still blooming!

According to Doug, his base of fully pasteurized/aged manure and vegetable matter compost is their secret. Doug said: “Our manure compost comes from grass fed dairy herds, contains no hormones or antibiotics, and yet is rich in blood and bone meal. Our vegetable matter compost is derived from 100 percent recycled plant matter, most of which consist of reclaimed residential yard waste and out-of-date produce from various vendors. Our specialized composts provide one of the rudimentary building blocks in our composted soil mixes. We have never, used bio-solid waste (sewer sludge) as a form of composted material. Although bio solids are an organic form of compost, in my opinion, these bio-solids are high in heavy metals and should be avoided.”

If you are concerned about producing luscious landscape and garden plants, Doug also produces a landscape soil mix comprised of rice hulls (source of high calcium for petal production in flowering plants), green sand (source of iron for chlorophyll production), recycled coffee grounds (used to correct soil pH and feeds acid loving plants) and several other organic components that contribute to the

essential elements required for healthy plant life. Almost without exception, the fruits and veggies you buy, even from the so called “organic” isles at your upscale grocer, are miserably deficient in essential minerals and enzymes your family needs for good health. I mentioned in an earlier article that plants only need Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium to grow and look pretty at the grocery store.

In most cases, that is all they get.

Doug produces another great product, Delta Dawn Dressing. He said “We use cotton seed meal for slow release nitrogen, pure Canadian sphagnum peat moss for its acid content and friable organic material, rock phosphate to support rapid plant growth, Bat guano, and Medina Agriculture Growin Green granules for high nitrogen content. Basalt sand provides micro nutrients, minerals, and has high paramagnetic characteristics which naturally boost plant root growth. We utilize, promote and offer a host of other organic gardening materials.”

Please visit Doug at 3059 US Hwy 90 East, Castroville Texas 78009, call (830) 985-3747, or online at: www.soil4 sale.com.

Also, I welcome your calls to 830.444.9831, and emails to info@nutritionfarmacy.com

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I

have lived in Bandera a little over a year, and I have decided just about the coolest aspect of life in the Cowboy Capital of the World is its people. For a tiny Hill Country community, Bandera has some humdinger personalities.

Not long ago, I stood in line at the Snowflake Donut Shop, one of my favorite breakfast places, chatting with a fellow standing behind me. Eyes flashing recognition and admiration, the man gestured toward the nondescript Cowboy immediately in front of me. When the Cowboy left with a bag of donuts, the fellow behind me had difficulty containing his enthusiasm, “Do you know who that was?” I admitted I did not.

“He’s just about the most famous Cowboy around—in the world!” the man chimed.

Feeling a bit ornery, I asked, “Did you know that I am one of the most famous outdoor writers in town?” Ignoring my attempt at humor, the man continued with an overview of said Cowboy’s achievements.

I concluded our conversation with “Well, whoever he was, he is quite the gentleman,” I said, referring to the Cowboy’s manners at the counter and the way he treated folks in the donut shop. Later, I asked Winter Texan friend, “Jim from Illinois,” yet another colorful dude, who confirmed the man’s donut shop story: the Cowboy in front of me is indeed one of the world’s most famous trick roper Banderians.

After dining with friends, steel guitar player, Ron Dailey, and master fabricator, Mac McDaniel, at the OST, Mac gestured to folks leaving the restaurant. “What?” I asked, fearing I might have missed a good looking Cowgirl. “That was Kinky Friedman,” Mac insisted. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the trio as they left, my back being turned, but being the curious type I followed “Mr. Friedman” and his pals outside.

I introduced myself to Kinky and the two ladies and had a nice conversation with the cigar-smoking, Texas philosopher-musician-politician. During our chat, after introducing Kinky and the ladies to my dog, Bubba, who was waiting in my truck, I learned Kinky had founded the dog

rescue shelter in Utopia.

Kinky: let me know if you need a good Press Secretary. I am available.

You never know who you’re going to meet in Bandera—or what new adventure you’ll come across.

Ron tells me he has met several noteworthy fellow musicians at Arkey Blues, and I’ve heard reports of famous movie stars and other celebrity/visitors who have been seen here, often incognito.

Case in point: Needing a hunting bow restrung, Mac introduced me to the owner of Bandera’s one-andonly pro archery store—The Archery Shop at 352 Montague Street. Stanley Hips is quite a guy.

He’s hunted all over the world, and he has met and known some of the brightest luminaries in the worlds of archery and Country Western music. If you have shot any arrows at all, you may have used one of Stanley’s inventions, the Hips Hot Shot target, made legendary by young archers at Texas A&M, who have used his 36-inch target for a ‘pin cushion-back stop’ to the tune of over 736,000 shots. According to Stanley, that’s a

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world record. He has known and hunted with the crème de la crème of the world of archery, friends Ben Pearson, Fred Bear, Doug Walker and Ted Nugent. “I recently quit hunting,” he told me, “because of unscrupulous outfitters and ranch owners,”—yet, he stays abreast of modern archery.

Hips is one of those accomplished, yet humble, local talents who eagerly shares his knowledge with anyone who is willing to listen. He is a walking Country Western historian, having known and associated with the likes of Faron Young, Sonny James, Ray Price, Jim Reeves, Ernest Tubbs, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, et al. And should you need substantiation of Hips’ C&W stories, the Who’s Who of Country Western music, Stanley has the black and white photographs to back up his tall and entertaining tales.

Stanley quit hunting in 2013, preferring to feed pet whitetail bucks and big axis deer in his yard, specimens that blow the minds of many of his customers. “Why don’t you shoot ‘em?” amazed patrons often ask. Today, Stan is happy to sell and repair bows and fatten the neighborhood’s wildlife.

If you’re in need of a local, modestly priced Archery Pro, call Stanley at (210) 8272097 or (830) 460-8592. Even if you’re not in the market for a new Martin, Hoyt or PSE compound bow, or need some arrows fletched, he will be more than happy to share his memorable hunting and Country Western experiences with you.

You’ll be glad you stopped by: Stanley’s a real slice of Bandera, Texas history.

Editor’s Note: Despite the conclusion of hunting season, for the most part, in January, Steve will continue to write this outdoor column for Heartbeat. One of the truly great things about life in the Lone Star State: there are tons of outdoor activities to be enjoyed here year-round for avid hunters and fishermen—from offshore and inshore saltwater fishing on the Texas Gulf Coast to hunting exotics like feral hogs and introduced species (e.g., axis, blackbuck, sika and fallow deer, aoudad, red stag, etc.).

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HANGTIME

YOU COULD HAVE HAD JOHNNY Story & Commentary

By L. Scott “HangTime” Hainline

J

ohnny Manziel will someday be considered the Babe Ruth of football.

That’s in print two years ago (2012) and HangTime still stands by that statement to this day.

Beyond his super-natural talents on the field, Johnny Football did the impossible. He made me a fan again.

After 40-plus years in sports media, being a fan just wasn’t part of the equation. Didn’t really have a team to be passionate about, and the Cowboys winning ONE playoff game in 17 years with Jerry Jones trying to coach didn’t help at all.

Sort of pulled for the Spurs because of Pop (coach Gregg Popovich) and his refreshing old-school ways that obviously work, but really didn’t care one way or another, like years ago.

But then came Johnny Football.

My mom would tell me about this kid at Kerrville Tivy High School and say, “You should come see him play.”

Photo courtesy Cleveland Browns

Mama HangTime was talking about Manziel, and due to covering sports in the Houston area, I never got to see him as an Antler (Tivy’s mascot).

Off to Texas A&M for Johnny Football, who sits out an entire redshirt freshman year (2011), and is way more than less off the radar.

But that would end soon.

Manziel won the starting job as a texasheartbeat.com

redshirt freshman (sophomore year in college - 2012) and started his first game against the Florida Gators, and even though it was an A&M loss, there was magic in the air.

I started watching Johnny Football that day and have not stopped since. He had me screaming at the TV (hadn’t done that in years) in the 29-24 victory at #1 Alabama, and now we have DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket to watch the Cleveland Browns, who drafted Manziel with the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.

And because the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys passed on Johnny Football, we’re full-time Browns fans.

The 21 teams that passed on Manziel will live to regret it, and some already do (see list at www.CouldHaveHadJohnny.com).

It made my wife Sandi (Mrs. HangTime) cry when Jerry Jones didn’t pick Johnny, and even though she was a seriouslydevoted Dallas fan (the kind that makes you hate the Cowboys), she boxed all her Cowboys stuff and will not pull for them again (and she wears a Manziel’s Browns jersey very well).

Now if Jerry ever trades for Johnny, well…stay tuned!

Johnny Manziel will someday be considered the Babe Ruth of football, and whether it happens in Cleveland or somewhere else, you can bank on it!

L. Scott Hainline - “HangTime” - covers Texas Hill Country sports & more for the Ranch Radio Group (The Ranch 92.3; 96 GUN 96.5; The River 106.1), and HillsHomePage.com.

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I have a confession to make. Hopefully you’re sitting down - its a real shocker. I have an addiction that has, for the most part, taken over my waking hours, at least what few remain.

I am a geek. A nerd - the complete opposite of a Luddite.

If it has a motherboard and RAM memory, I am there. The symptoms are common to the affliction - bad eyesight from looking at a monitor all day, dietary disorders tied to Red Bulls and donuts and pastey white skin tone from late-night online sessioins.

Nothing makes me happier than pulling the guts out of a computer and upgrading, tweaking and fiddling with it. I am seeking a 12Step program for problem tinkers.

Now for the rest of the story. For all my knowledge of computers and networks, I get stumped sometimes. It is very hard to keep up with the racing speed of technological innovation. Computing expertise is a constantly moving target and keeping up your binary chops can be a daunting and time-consuming task.

or video card to the most diabolical of viruses and spam and adware. Gazelle can also build you a new computer ranging from a basic email and web browsing unit to a quad-core screamer that will make even the most hardened gamer drool.

Turk has spent 14 years building his business from the ground up. Starting with computer repairs out of his garage he has since expanded twice into his present 3,000 sq ft reatail location on Hill Country Drive in Kerrville.

Although Turk’s business is based on cutting edge technology, his approach to customer service is old school. If you need support, you don’t have to deal with a call center in Mumbai, India with an English-challenged tech reading from a script - your issues are handled locally. In addition, much like the doctors of old, Gazelle Computers makes house calls!

What does a nerd/geek do when stumped by a computer hardware or software problem? Call in a real ninja. Turk at Gazelle Computers is the only person in the Hill Country I trust to get the job done right. He has spent the time keeping up-to-date with all the latest hardware, software, drivers and virus protections. I save a lot of time, money and head-scratching when I take a PC to put on Turk’s workbench.

There is an old saying about having the right tool for the job and Gazelle has the tools to diagnose everything from a faulty motherboard 42 Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country

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Since we are entering the prime time for cedar

fever, the naturalist topic for this month will be “Texas Mountain Cedar,” technically Ash Juniper. In the text of this message, it will be referred to only as “cedar. This is the green bush that by its lavish pollen production causes sneezing, watery eyes, and some cases flu-like symptoms, etc. This is an unusual plant that produces its gametes in the dead of winter from mid December to the end of February. Interestingly, cedar occurs sexually as male and female plants.

The males are the ones that produce pollen (sperm equivalent). The females produce tiny cone like flowers that when fertilized form a blue berry that has a very high germination percentage especially after passing through a bird’s digestive tract. Any piece of property in the Texas Hill Country left unattended stands a good chance of becoming a thick monoculture of cedar known locally as a “cedar brake”.

In addition to causing aggravating allergic reactions, cedar is widely accused of absorbing water thus being one of the biggest culprits of our diminishing water supplies. One of its many adaptations to the Hill Country is its ability to form a wide spreading shallow root system that absorbs water from a wide area. Another adaptation would be the small narrow leaves that have a relatively slow rate of transpiration (water release).

For whatever difference it may make, it probably doesn’t take any more water to grow a pound of cedar, than it does any other woody species, but it is so efficient at getting what it needs, grows so fast, and there are so many plants.

Many sources lately have also been observing that the thick canopy of small leaves catches a large portion of the rainfall so that it never hits the ground, evaporating back into the atmosphere.

There are many examples of ranches where cedar eradication has resulted in the return of seeps, and flowing springs. There is no question that rainfall on grass covered terrain is more ecologically sound than rainfall on bare ground or cedar canopies.

Should we eradicate cedar? No! It has good qualities. It can be trimmed easily to form excellent shade trees. The wood makes excellent posts and rails. There are several cedar furniture

manufacturers working in the Hill Country.

Cedar chips that result from right-of-way clearing make excellent mulch. The bark removed in the process of preparing posts and rails or furniture is very good mulch for flower beds. This mulch absorbs and retains moisture and prevents weed growth. Cedar is probably the biggest contributor we have that enables the Hill Country to be a green desert.

Tidbits about cedar: As aforementioned it makes excellent posts, but the better posts by far are those that are cut in the spring when “the sap is rising.” These posts last longer because the natural resins in the wood are more evenly distributed and act as preservatives. I don’t want to say anything is essential but bark removal is desirable because if it is not removed, it absorbs moisture forming a haven for microbes and insects. This results in rapid decay of the sapwood underneath .If posts are set in the ground with bark on, the decay of the sap wood results in their becoming loose in the hole, and if the wire is stapled to them, the staples soon pull out. These problems occur anytime cedar is used for any purpose without removal of the outside bark.

The heartwood which usually forms the distinct dark center of a cedar post is almost decay proof. The old timers, folks even before my time used to hew off the sap with a double bit ax before setting a post or using a rail. This is evidenced here on The Farm by the cedar posts forming most of the perimeter fencing and the rails along the road just past the “Barnyard.” Imagine the time consuming work involved. One of my goals is to preserve and reuse all of these old rails that I possibly can. The posts and rails that I am referring to are already over 100 years old.

Any method that might be used to reduce the number of cedar trees is expensive, but the fact that it doesn’t resprout is

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continued from previous page encouraging. If no green sprigs are left, the tree is gone.

This is in contrast to the thorny bushes to our South where cutting just makes them mad.

They grow back with longer, wickeder thorns than before. Fire is a good way to eliminate small cedar saplings because it takes off all of the green leaves.

The burning resins of cedar produce a very hot flame that results in lots of sparks.

A fact that is true even of the antique rails and posts. Folks from other parts of the country frequently learn this the hard way when they try to use cedar cuttings for either BarBQ or in fireplaces. For this reason cedar brakes have been accused of being a fire hazard. However, these fires are difficult to start without some kind of very volatile kindling.. Since dense cedar brakes frequently have very little grass under cover, it is unlikely that fires will start. The fact that people have controlled and prevented wildfires for obvious reasons is one of the contributing factors for the encroachment of cedar to so many areas.

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Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country

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