Seguin Today: February 2023

Welcome to Volume 3, issue 1 of Seguin Today. It’s been an exciting ride to get here, and we’ve brought you some fantastic stories along the way. This month, we are excited to share a look inside the lives of some area students with our feature stories. These kids are hardworking, inspirational, and have skills that positively impact the local community playing a key role in its future.

If there’s one takeaway from our stories this month, it is that dedication means something. Putting your heart and soul into trying to succeed requires setting your ego aside and being vulnerable. The projects these students are doing are not things that can be completed in a day or week –– they are long-term commitments that require planning and foresight to see through.

Some people would have us believe that today’s youth are lazy at best or disrespectful at worst. Still, this month’s stories show a different truth –– a truth that locals are pretty familiar with –– these kids in Guadalupe County are charming, funny, and talented.

We know Seguin is growing; there’s no stopping it, but with so much uncertainty about the future, I for one, am as inspired by the youth as I have always been, and I hope I always keep that optimism. With kids like these, it shouldn’t be all that hard.

Lizz Daniels Creative Director

facebook.com/KWEDradio kwed.seguindailynews @kwed

COVERSHOT

Bethany McCormick is eleven years old and attends Lockhart Jr. High where she is in sixth grade. She is pictured with her hogs Mr. Swagger & Romeo who love marshmallows.

A FUTURE BUILT BY HAND

SHS students learn to work with their hands while helping Habitat for Humanity

LIFE IN THE PIG PEN

Eleven-year-old Bethany McCormick & her father share their love of agriculture, FFA & show hogs

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Community events & special promotions happening in the area this month. Plus an all new crossword puzzle

DIY: RECIPE TO TRY

An orange-flavored champagne cocktail

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Seguin Marches for MLK’s Legacy

Photo by Lizz Daniels

Lizz Daniels

Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

Chris Austin

Lizz Daniels

Nick Spence

Laurie Lee

Linda Duncan

Jarred Kindles OFFICE MANAGER

Priscilda Rodriguez

A FUTURE BUILT BY HAND

SHS Students learn what it means to do an ‘honorable job’ at work & in class

Story by Cindy Aguirre-Herrera Photos courtesy Seguin ISD

These days, if you ask young people about their future, their answers will likely include something in the tech world –– things such as a software engineer, web developer, or even a social influencer.

But although folks say technology is the future, there’s one program at least at Seguin High School that is helping students literally build their destiny with their own two hands.

On the course for growth and popularity is the high school’s Building Construction Program, where nail guns, electric saws, and specs are the name of the game. A career cluster of hands-on training programs engages kids in various fields, including construction management, electrical, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC).

In fact, the program has gone one step further by entering a community partnership with Habitat for Humanity.

The local classroom is one of two high schools in the San Antonio area to have recently joined the effort of building non-interest loan homes for area families.

Construction Trades Teacher Jason Rice leads instruction in building vertical wall panels for an entire three-bedroom home. Rice says this introductory course has grown to where it can now serve the community and give the students the skills they deserve.

“We are introducing kids to as many construction trades that are out there. Skilled labor isn’t cheap and cheap labor isn’t skilled,” Rice said. “There are blue collar jobs out there. You can make six figures, but you have to be introduced to them and a lot of kids – if their immediate family – mother or father aren’t’ involved in that industry, they don’t have the experience. They don’t know that it exists, so we talk to them about everything. They will take a one-year introduction course that is 90 percent academic with me and then, they will get to use the large power tools. We are designing, doing 3-D drawings. We are learning to read plans and we take the plans and take the wall kit and we are building the walls and the kids are doing this 100 percent on their own. They have me for guidance.”

Rice says helping bridge the partnership with Habitat was Carlos

Moreno, owner of Lone Star Solutions. He says the remodeling company located across the street from the high school was the first opportunity for construction trades students to witness Habitat volunteers in action. As a local volunteer for Guadalupe Valley Habitat for Humanity, Moreno has volunteered his workspace to Habitat in San Antonio to build wall panels. He says this eventually led to SHS’s opportunity to make home components on campus.

“We don’t have to move tools, equipment, and kids,” Rice said. “We are just here, ready to go. We can do half of a wall. It can wait, and then the next class comes and finishes it and it’s a pretty perfect match because Habitat needs volunteers. We need, obviously funding for anything involving schools but material and actual projects and that was what Habitat gives us. They provide the material and the engineered structurally approved plans, and the kids know we are building somebody’s home.”

After constructing the walls, Rice says the intention will be to join Habitat forces at the various weekend work sites so that students can help get those walls up.

He says that it is essential for kids to see the fruits of their labor and to be amongst professionals whenever possible.

“To have a guest speaker, an air conditioning technician to tell the kids what it is like, what their day-to-day job is like and that they can make a living. They can make a good living,” Rice said. “And whether they be sophomores or juniors, if they want a summer job, you can work fast food and make good money but if you don’t want to be in the restaurant industry, I want to help them get a job in the trades where they can experience it. If the worse thing they do is learn that after working three months for an electrician as a helper, I don’t want to be an electrician that is a successful summer. Now you can target something else. It’s okay to change your mind. Just educating them that you can spend two years between your sophomore and junior year or your junior and senior year working, learning and forming a relationship and there will be employers fighting for you to come work for them out of high school, but it takes time and effort.”

Junior Ethan Rhea is among those staying focused on the job while also taking care of school work. Rhea says he is on the pathway of one day becoming a home builder and is thankful for these opportunities while in high school.

“I eventually want to build houses and so this will get me there and kind of show me the steps but now it has really grown,” he said. “My freshmen year, it was really in the books but now that it is hands-on, I feel like I’m really learning – learning a lot, and it’s really going to help me eventually when I’m going to have to go, and get a job.”

He says he has always loved the hands-on experience and believes it is what drives his passion for construction. So it’s incredibly gratifying to be a part of the Habitat effort now.

“I think it’s really cool especially because it’s going back to our community and knowing that it can be a friend’s house,” Rhea said. “I think it’s really cool.”

Also looking to step into the industry is Senior Matteo Garcia. He believes Seguin High School is doing its best to prepare him.

“It is great. It gives you a really great experience,” Garcia said. “It prepares you for the workforce. It teaches you how to use common tools.”

Among those working alongside the young men and women as they pieced the walls together on the high school campus were Moreno, a former Matador himself and now a parent and business supporter. Moreno says his dream as a community partner is to one day organize a booster club program and help further facilitate the students’ skills that are being developed thanks to this classroom.

My freshmen year, it was really in the books but now that it is hands-on, I feel like I’m really learning – learning a lot, and it’s really going to help me eventually.

-Ethan Rhea-

Proceeds from the Swing for Seguin Youth Services charity golf tournament will go toward this year’s Seguin Leadership Class of 2023 project. Project priorities include roof repair, van repair, and sports equipment along with additional needs such as food assistance and other upgrades.

The program’s affiliation with Habitat, he says, is only the first of many opportunities, and he is thankful to have orchestrated the pairing.

“These wall panels are going to stay in Seguin, and they are going to be used to build homes here in Seguin,” Moreno said. “We are going to be building seven homes this year and so, our core guys are going to be busy building homes and so we just know that this is going to help. We don’t know how many wall panels these kids are going to do but they are picking up and learning fast. I’m just thankful for the Seguin High School. They were open to the idea, and they just took off running and also Guadalupe Valley Habitat, San Antonio Habitat, the merge there, when we said we wanted to do this, they just brought the materials. It’s been a group effort.”

Moreno credits Rice for helping to grow the program and for helping to feed a pipeline in the construction industry.

“They say there is a labor shortage. It’s hard to find carpenters, remodels. It’s difficult to find people interested in this trade,” Moreno said. “People want to do TikTok stuff and technology, the Instagram, the YouTube so for these kids to sign up for a class and want to do that and take that initiative, that’s where we want to step in and help grow that. They understand Habitat and what they are doing but when they see those walls go up in a house and when they volunteer, not only is it going to be great for the community, but these kids are going to have a sense of accomplishment and they might want to continue their career in construction and that’s what we are hoping. If we could just create a platform for them so that they can gain more experience, have a better resume so that if they don’t go to college, they can jump on and have a good paying job.”

An honorable job is what those in the industry call it. A job that, no matter the challenges, will always be around. They say people build. That’s what they do. But the building never stops. •

Life in the PigPen

Raising hogs for show & sustenance

Raising hogs isn’t for the faint of heart. They’re stubborn, occupy a lot of space, are notroriously vocal, and tend to be smelly. But, all that said, they also have a way of rooting their way into the hearts of those who get close to them.

This January, young agricultural enthusiasts gathered at the Guadalupe County Fairgrounds to compete for ribbons and sales rights with their project animals in this year’s Guadalupe County Youth Livestock & Homemaker Show.

In a corner pen of the hog barn, a young girl clad in a pink t-shirt and blue jeans let out a boisterous laugh and threw her arms across two pigs who lay snoozing in the sawdust. Bethany McCormick was her name and she is a Guadalupe County eleven-year-old who attends Lockhart Jr. High. In third grade, she started showing pigs with Navarro 4-H. Ever since then, her whole world has revolved around them.

“You’re with them constantly,” Bethany said. “People are going to be complaining, and be like, ‘quit talking about pigs, talk about something else,’ but I spend six months out of the year with them.”

A typical day involves getting the pigs fed in the morning. She does this herself on

weekends, but her family helps out on weekdays. Then she sets off to school, where she has to maintain passing grades to compete with her animals. Once the school bell rings, Abigails heads home to work with her hogs.

Since show pigs aren’t allowed on a leash, they must learn to obey their handler’s commands, which are given using a stick called a hog bat. By waving the bat in the pig’s field of vision and tapping them on their shoulders, a skilled showman can deftly maneuver their pig wherever they want.

“Once they get comfortable, we go everywhere,” Bethany said. “We walk to the gate and back, down around the field....to the pink palace and back –– which is my deer blind. They’re stubborn, they’re they’re own creatures. They have their own brain, their own personality. On the weekend I wake up and I’m just like meh, but dad’s like, ‘go feed your pigs,’ so I go feed –– give them their certain feeds that help them bring out the gut and keep them muscular. One of my favorite pigs, Pumpkin, gorgeous thing, he was so sweet. You’d be walking and he’d be climbing up on the fence, like ‘You got stuff for me? You gonna come say hi?’”

Story & photos by Lizz Daniels with additional photos by Jarred Kindles

They’re stubborn, they’re their own creatures. They have their own brain, their own personality.

Photo by Jarred Kindles

MARDI GRAS 2023

Laissez les bons temps rouler with a night of fun & giving for Seguin ISD!

New Orleans Hurricanes

LIVE JAZZ Live & Silent Auctions

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

Bread Pudding Crab Cakes

“Pay-WhatYou-Pull” Game for a Beverage Wagon Prize!

“Golden Ticket” $100, 1-in100 chance raffle for a Trip to Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Tuscany, or Vegas!*

*Do not have to be present to win!

With Live Performance by The Dirty River Jazz Band!

February 23, 2023

5:30 PM - Seguin Coliseum

Tickets: $50

Tickets, Sponsorships, & Auctions by scanning the QR Code or by visiting: tinyurl.com/4zxw86sx

Info: 830-379-0325 l kfollis@seguin.k12.tx.us

Bethany gets two pigs each year just in case one cannot show due to injury or illness. This year’s duo is a colorful pair –– one white, the other black. They go by the names Mr. Swagger and Romeo and enjoy all the best things in life, like snacks and snuggles.

“They can get super lovey,” Bethany said. “Take Mr. Swagger here for example. I’m over there sitting with my legs out, and what does he do? He sits on them. Romeo is a Berkshire and little Mr. Swagger is a cross. Both pigs are very sweet. They love belly rubs and marshmallows. My friend told me pigs like Nilla wafers and marshmallows, so that’s their treat. When you walk them with their head up, they’ll get a marshmallow and you reward them. Every now and again it can get a little bit hard when you’ve got a crazy pig, but all you’ve got to do is feed them a treat and soon they’ll walk good and be all happy. It takes a lot of time. We’re walking about a mile and a half a day. They pick up sticks while they’re walking. Mr. Swagger, he’ll be carrying a branch from a tree that just dropped. The other day, I let him out and he just goes barreling –– running around and around. And then he starts tumbling, and he’s literally just going in circles. We’ve watched him roll so many times. They’re funny.”

All of this time and effort leads up to the stock show, which of course, requires even more work to get ready. Leading up to show day, hogs need their coats clipped and to be washed to look their best for the judge. The smallest details matter in a class where multiple animals look similar. This can mean the difference between selling your animal or going home with an full trailer and empty pockets.

Mr. Swagger demonstrates his stick carrying technique on his daily walk with Bethany. Photos courtesy Tommy McCormick.

“You have to bathe them because you’re going to need clean skin,” Bethany said. “Let’s say there’s a pig that looks exactly like your pig, but your pig has mites all over his stomach; he’s going to pick the pig with the better skin. So after the show, we keep them for a couple of months and then, well... we have to eat them because it’s part of their life cycle. I’m a meat eater. I’m not a vegetarian. It’s hard. I cry my soul out, and then I take my blanket that I’ve had my entire life and throw it over my head. It may get tough sometimes, but just keep going –– just keep cruising along. Like Dorey says, just keep swimming.”

A life lesson learned at only eleven years old.

Abigail’s father, Tommy, is a master electrician for the city of Seguin and fully understands the importance and weight of the things he’s helping teach his daughter because he learned them at home as well.

After the show, we keep them for a couple of months and then, well...we have to eat them because it’s part of their life cycle.

-Abigail McCormick-

“My family did it to me, too,” he said. “It’s just part of agriculture. Now, I don’t make her dress it out; we take it to a processor. We have a local guy we use. We’re also deer hunters, so we make our own sausage. Normally, we just get ground pork and use it like hamburger meat. But then we have the pork chops and roast.”

According to Tommy and Bethany, there is a significant difference in the flavor and quality of the meat they produce at home as compared to what you might purchase at the supermarket.

“Store bought is more flavorless,” Tommy said. “You know, if you get a good steak that’s got great flavor, well that’s what these pigs have. There’s actually another breed that my cousin raises, they’re called Herefords. She’s had several of them, and they are by far the best tasting.”

Bethany enthusiastically added that Herefords are the “Wagyu of the pork world” and that she loves them.

Bethany didn’t make it to sale this year, but isn’t bothered. Next year, her brother will start third grade, which means finally getting to show animals. Then, as his big sister, Bethany will take on a new responsibility to guide him on a journey full of fun and help comfort him when the hard part comes. Right now, Bethany sees agriculture in her future ––unless she becomes a lawyer, but no matter where she ends up, the lessons learned lying in the corner pen at the county show with two happy pigs will stay with her for the rest of her life. •

“The Wagyu of the pork world” – a Hereford sow relaxes in its pen on the fair grounds. Tune in to next month’s Seguin Today podcast to hear more pig tales as Navarro HS junior and Guadalupe County Fair Princess, Abigail Pollock (pictured above center) talks pigs and more. Photo by Jarred

Happy Valentine’s from the staff at Seguin Today!

Upcoming

events

communitycalendar@kwed1580.com

February 20, 2023

will be a No One Left Behind Community Recovery Awareness Event

Feb.

11

Dinner & Dance

The Seguin Sunrise Rotary will have its Sweethearts Scholarship Dinner & Dance from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Big Red Barn, located at 390 Cordova Rd. in Seguin. Tickets are $50. Attire for the evening is red, black, and white. For table sponsorship and tickets, call 210-8341240. For more information visit www. Seguinsunriserotaryclub.com.

Mar. 4

Kickball Fundraiser

The Seguin Little League will have a Kickball Fundraiser Saturday, March 4 and Sunday, March 5 at the Seguin Little League Fields. The fee is $25 per individual or $250 per team. There are 12 players per team. Forms will be provided to register at the Seguin Little League Fields. Proceeds benefit the Seguin Little League Program for the upcoming year.

Feb. 23

SEF Mardi Gras Gala

The Seguin Education Foundation will have its Mardi Gras Gala at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23 at the Seguin Coliseum. The event includes live jazz, Cajun food and beverages, and live and silent auctions. To purchase tickets or sponsorships register online at https://tinyurl.com/4zxw86sx or by visiting the SEF Facebook Page. For more information call 830-379-0325 or email kfollis@seguin.k12.tx.us.

Mar. 5

ALICE Training

The Southwest Preparatory School will be hosting Active Shooter Response Certification Training (ALICE Training) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 14 and Wednesday, March 5 at the Main Building, located at 6535 Culebra Rd. in San Antonio. Attendees will range from law enforcement, local school officials, and area business leaders. For more information, visit www. alicetraining.com. To register, visit https:// cvent.me/4Oe7g4?RefId=social.

Mar. 2

Annual Art Show

The Seguin Art League will accept entries for its 15th Annual Elementary (grades 1-5) & Middle School (grades 6-8) from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 2 at St. Andrew’s McKeogh Hall, located at 201 E. Nolte St. in Seguin. For a prospectus, visit www.seguinartleague.com. Winning entries will be displayed at the Seguin Art League’s Henry Moore Gallery from Saturday, March 4 to Saturday, March 18. For information, call 830-305-0472.

Mar. 9

Swing for Seguin Youth Services

21

Toast to Love with some Bubbly Toast to Love with some Bubbly

Blood-Orange Champagne Cocktail mimosa variation

Blood-Orange Champagne Cocktail

2 1/4 cups freshly squeezed or frozen blood-orange juice

2 750-ml bottles champagne, chilled

Pour 3 tablespoons juice in each champagne flute. Fill flutes with champagne, and serve.

Sparkling wines are made by sealing the beverages before the fermentation process is complete, causing the effervescent bubbles that is their hallmark. Sparkling wines are produced in various regions of the world, but “champagne” is unique to the Champagne region of northeast France, where vines were introduced by the Romans many centuries ago.

One of the most legendary and heralded brands of champagne was created by a French monk named Pérignon. Historians say Pérignon lived from 1638 to

1715 and was admitted in his lifetime to the abbey of Saint-Vanne. He acquired the honorary title of Dom while there, and also served as cellar master, creating what later would be known as the “vins de Pérignon.”

Dom Pérignon champagne is still a prestigious brand today, joined by other leaders of the industry like Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Nicolas Feuilatte, and Pol Roger. French champagnes are part of elegant toasts, A-list events and five-star dining experiences. They also may be poured on New Year’s Eve. All champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is champagne.

Enjoying champagne on its own in the requisite stemmed glass is tradition, but champagne also can be mixed into any number of cocktails — from bellinis to mimosas. This “Blood-Orange Champagne Cocktail” is a variation on the classic mimosa, and doesn’t necessarily need to be enjoyed at brunch. Serve it on New Year’s Eve, or for any special occasion, courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Community Marches for MLK’s LEGACY

Story by Lizz Daniels

Photos by Jarred Kindles

It was a muggy Monday morning when community members gathered on the TLU campus at Wupperman Little Theatre to begin marching to downtown Seguin in observance of Martin Luther King Day. MLK Day Committee member Rodney Durst led the group in prayer before the march began.

Along the way, the Seguin Daily News and Seguin Radio KWED caught up with him and others to capture their stories and reasons for the trek downtown.

“The reason why I’m in MLK is because I believe in standing for his legacy –– equality and non-violent. I think it’s a cause we all need to be ready for, and we need to do ourselves as a community and as a world. For our community, it’s showing that there are a lot of people actually listening. There are a lot of people interested in what’s going on as far as the legacy is concerned. That’s actually what Martin Luther King was looking for –– all of us getting together as a community –– equal. Nobody’s over anybody,” said Durst.

Retired SISD history teacher Kendra Gibbs joined the march because, as an educator, she appreciates the significance of the Civil Rights Movement.

“I taught history for twenty-five years, and there’s no bigger impact that anybody had than Martin Luther King. And we need to get back to his ideals,” said Gibbs.

As the march neared downtown, a voice carried over those walking, singing, ‘We shall overcome.” On her way to the downtown MLK day gathering, Seguin community member Charlene Harris filmed the march and felt moved to sing.

PUZZLE SOLUTION

“I look forward to coming to Martin Luther King Day March and I know the struggles and battles we’ve gone through since I was growing up in the 60s, the deaths of so many of the leaders who sacrificed their life for us. It’s the devotion inside of my heart to keep the dream a reality. I pray that our young children can continue to do that and don’t forget where they come from. We all have got to work together. No matter what race, color or creed we believe in, we’ve got to unify the country. Not just for the united states, but for the world. That’s why I’m here,” said Harris.

To hear more from those participating in the MLK Day march and celebration, check out the January episode of the Seguin Today Podcast, coming soon. All Seguin Today episodes are available on Spotify to listen for free. •