Seguin Today: June 2024

YOU’RE

SATURDAY

DOWNTOWN

Seguin! Seguin!

It hardly seems possible, but KWED Freedom Fiesta is now upon us. In just a few short weeks, we will shut down Seguin’s Central Park, roll in fans, food trucks, and music equipment, and throw our favorite party of the year.

We are pleased to announce Brandon Michael, a Seguin native, as this year’s music headliner. He’ll be strumming up some great dancing music, so dust off your boots and get ready to spin the night away.

Temperatures are sure to be hot at this year’s event, so don’t hesitate to pack a cooling towel—I know I will! This issue has more tips and tricks for you, along with some memories from our staff to get you ready for this year’s Freedom Fiesta.

Freedom Fiesta would not be possible, of course, without our sponsors. Thank you to each of them for helping support this community event:

The Koehler Company, Backyard Shenanigans, First United Bank, Tri-City Distributors, Seguin Chamber of Commerce, Seguin Economic Development Corporation, CMC Steele, Guadalupe Regional Medical Center, GVEC, Tres Hewell Mortuary, and Joe Cools AC & Heating.

Freedom Fiesta takes place Saturday, June 29 at 6pm in downtown Central park, and is free to attend.

Lizz Daniels Creative Director

COVERSHOT

Community

EVENT OVERVIEW

Know what to expect at this year’s KWED Freedom Fiesta with an inside look at the event!

KIDDIE PARADE

When & where this year’s Kiddie Parade gets rolling!

EVENTS CALENDAR Community events & special promotions happening in the area this month.

Photo by Lizz Daniels

Lizz

Cindy

Chris

Lizz

Laurie

Linda

Getting REAL with Brandon Michael

2024’s Freedom Fiesta musical HEADLINER

Brandon Michael will perform at this year’s Freedom Fiesta at Central Park in Seguin on Saturday, June, 29th. Michael is a 2015 graduate of Seguin High School. He currently lives in Magnolia with his wife Bailey, his daughter Whitley, who is turning three next month, and his son Jaxon, who turned one in April. We recently caught up with Brandon and talked about his career, his family and his upcoming concert at Freedom Fiesta.

QWhat’s your schedule like right now? Are you playing a lot of gigs?

AYeah, we’ve been all over the place. I’ve been playing at Cowboys Dancehall there in San Antonio off and on about every other week. I’ve also had some shows in College Station, League City, here in Magnolia where I currently live. We’ve played The Rustic up in Dallas and the Fort Worth Stockyards.

Q

Talk about your musical background. What are your music tastes? What and who do you like to listen to when you’re not performing?

AWhen I’m not performing, Cody Johnson. Cody Johnson, Randall King, Mike Ryan, Josh Ward and then you have your obvious ones like George Strait, Keith Whitley and all that stuff. I like some of the new guys, but if I only had three artists to listen to for the rest of my life, it’s Mike Ryan, Randall King and Cody Johnson in no particular order.

QWhen you’re up on stage at Freedom Fiesta or any stage for that matter, how do you connect with the audience when you’re performing and what do you hope they take away from your show?

AWhenever I’m on stage, I try to connect to everybody. It doesn’t matter if they’re little babies or 80 years old. I try to make sure that everyone feels connected to the music or at least engaged with me because I’ve got little babies. If there’s little kids, sometimes I’ll play “Baby Shark” at my show, you never know. But I’ll always try and make sure that everyone’s engaged and that I talk to everybody. And whenever I take a break or the show’s over, I always try to walk around and shake hands and make sure everybody’s enjoying the show because if it weren’t for the fans and everybody out in the crowd, I wouldn’t have a job.

QYou talked about Cody Johnson, Mike Ryan and Randall King, those guys have made a name for themselves in recent years. When you were growing up in Seguin, who were the artists who made you want to be a musician and how did they shape your sound?

ASo the first song that I ever sang in front of anybody ever was in Kingsbury at a firefighters benefit with a guy named Clint Taft and the Buck Wild Band. I’m sure you all know who Clint Taft is, And the first song I ever sang was “Neon” by Chris Young. And I was like, 16 at the time, and that was my first time ever singing in front of people. I was so nervous at the time. You could’ve blinked at me and I would’ve fallen over. That was long before my official career started, but yeah Chris Young, George Strait, Sawyer Brown, Keith Whitley, Conway Twitty, that’s the stuff that I grew up listening to, Clay Walker. That’s what I remember as a kid.

QTalk about your band. When they’re up on stage with you, what do they bring to the show?

AI try to make sure that my band is as active as I am in the best way that I can possibly get them to be (laughs). I understand my band’s job is a lot harder than mine is down to my drummer, my lead guitar player, my sound engineer. Their jobs are so technical. As much as I try to get them to jump around and have fun, I also want to make sure they’re being as meticulous as possible. And that’s always good and bad because everyone wants fun, entertaining bands complete with gimmicks that are unique. But one thing that I try to make sure is that if you’re gonna hear something on stage, it’s gonna be as perfect as possible. And we still have a lot of growing to do as does everybody.

QTalk to us about your family and the support they give you in your music career.

AFor my immediate family in terms of my babies and my wife, I get all the support. (Michael asks his daughter Whitley, “Do you love when Daddy sings?” Whitley says “Yes.”) So obviously, my oldest, she’s named after the late, great Keith Whitley, she supports me and will sing on stage with me when I can bring her. And then my sisters and their husbands support my music. And it took a long time for the rest of my family to kinda really support me, but yeah, we’re working on that one. And just like anything else, your family doesn’t understand it’s a full-time job until they see you doing it on your own.

Q

Do you have any upcoming projects or collaborations in the works?

A

I have a song that I’m finishing up right now that nobody’s involved in in terms of cowriting, but it is a song basically for my family. I don’t have a name for it yet, but I will figure something out. It’s a song about how I’ve got to leave all the time to go play shows. And no matter what I gotta do, I’m gonna make sure that I miss my family. It’s a ballad type song. And I’ve got an entire album’s worth of music that hasn’t been released yet. We had a project we were working on before COVID that didn’t pan out the way I wanted it to. So, I’m just looking for the backing to get the album put out and done properly. And I’ve got songs that were written with one of my

friends

He’s from La Vernia. I’m excited to put out a song he wrote. But it’s a full-time job. A lot of people like to think that all your job consists of is hopping on stage, jumping around and singing a few songs. It’s a full-time job and a half. So, we’re constantly working.

QYou say you have a full-time job in music. What were you doing before you stepped into music full-time and what made you decide to take that step?

AWell, I actually have never had a real job in my life. That’s what my parents would say (laughs). Back when I was in high school I worked at Freiheit Country Store for two weeks over in New Braunfels. In Seguin, I worked for

Brian Underwood at his ranch down the road from my house in high school. When I graduated in 2015, I decided to go to Texas State for about half a year and then I decided I could already make money doing something I love. It’s not about the money, but every business has to make something somehow. So, I was in college and decided it’s not for me and decided to go straight into music and it grew from there.

Q Do you have any advice for anyone who is looking to do what you do?

A My advice would be, be firm but be honest and love what you do. Because if you don’t love what you do then you have no point in doing it. And definitely don’t lie. Do not try and burn bridges. Sometimes it’s unavoidable because you can’t make everybody happy, but be as honest as you possibly can, always. And always talk to your crowd. Always, always, always. It doesn’t matter if there’s five, 5000 or 5-hundred thousand, if you can walk around and shake hands, do it.

Q How excited are you to be playing Freedom Fiesta?

A Really excited, actually. I grew up in Seguin. I graduated (from Seguin High School). So, Seguin’s my hometown. It’ll be fun to finally play right down from where everything started, where I first picked up the guitar. It will be good to finally play for everybody that was there in the beginning. •

best

Luke Prather.

Experience

Backyard Shenanigans BCS game night!

WHERE EVERY EVENT IS AN ADVENTURE!

( 9 7 9 ) 3 9 8 - 7 9 4 9

@BackyardShenanigansBCS com

FREEDOM FIESTA

SATURDAY JUNE 29 SATURDAY JUNE 29

New This YEAR New This YEAR

Music on Deck

with DJ D Trayne

It’s an honor to be a part of a big community event, looking forward to a fun 4th of July weekend in Seguin!

DJ D-Trayne

Staff Highlight

LINDA DUNCAN Advertising Consultant

Q: How much does it cost to attend KWED’s Freedom Fiesta?

A: Freedom Fiesta is FREE to attend. This annual tradition is KWED’s way of giving back to the Seguin community by throwing the biggest block party in town to celebrate Independence Day!

LAWNCHAIR

LET’S ROLL LET’S ROLL

Kiddie Parade is BACK! Kiddie Parade is BACK!

Starts @ 6pm following opening ceremonies

Kids are invited to participate in this year’s Kiddie Parade brought to you by the Guadalupe County Republican Women. The parade is an annual tradition that helps kick of Freedom Fiesta as kids bring their wheels and roll around downtown Central Park.

Kelly Follis acted as last year’s event coordinator and said the patriotic event is free to enter.

“The Guadalupe County Republican Women love doing the Kiddie Parade. It started many, many years ago, probably 15 years ago with a little parade in the park on one of the mornings of Freedom Fiesta at the time,” she said. “Now, we’ve moved it and KWED has been gracious to allow us to host this event as a kick-off event for Freedom Fiesta. It’s a family project. They can work on decorating their bike or their scooter or their little motorized vehicle or just dressing up in their patriotic best and coming down to see us.”

Kids are encouraged to decorate their bikes, scooters, hoverboards, and more in red, white and blue show their patriotism.

Staff Highlight

CHRIS AUSTIN

Sports Director

I definitely ate too much at Freedom Fiesta last year. I loved he food trucks. There was such a great selection fo foods. I was also impressed by the live music. I had never seen Jesse Raub before, but he was really engaging with the crowd. You appreciate it when you see a performer who really cares about the audience.

New This YEAR

Gaming with Backyard Shenanigans

This year, Freedom Fiesta brings a new sense of competition to the event’s festivities with Backyard Shenanigans. They will bring inflatable movie screens similar to those used for other outdoor movie events in the area.

Company owner Kyle Dwyer NAME shared more Seguin Today about the setup they will bring.

“Backyard Shenanigans BCS is thrilled to be joining the Seguin Freedom Fiesta this year with our 24’ inflatable movie screens,” he said. “We’re excited to offer an immersive gaming experience where everyone can enjoy playing video games on the big screen.”

Two exciting gaming opportunities for all ages will be available for a fee: Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart.

Backyard Shenanigans

BCS is thrilled to be joining the Seguin Freedom Fiesta this year with our 24’ inflatable movie screens.

The bounce houses are back, baby brought to you by H&R Party Rentals! KWED added this element to Freedom Fiesta two years ago in an effort to provide a more interactive experience for kids. It was a huge success and has been back ever since, offering kids a safe place to play.

The bounce house play area will include slides, obstacle courses, and more. Parents are encouraged to dress children in socks, as they are required on the equipment.

VENDORS RETURN

VENDORS RETURN

Last year, vendors attended Freedom Fiesta providing guests an opportunity to shop while enjoying the festivities. This year vendor set-up is taking that success to the next level with new businesses and lots of items to check out. Vendors will have an assortment of items in stock to check out including: clothing & accessories, jewelry, decor, art, candy and much more!

Q: Can I bring my dog to Freedom Fiesta?

A: Yes! Freedom Fiesta is a pet friendly event. Owners are responsible for following all city ordinances when bringing their dogs to the event.

This year’s ballon creations are being provided by Super Awesome Ballon Animals. They are bringing their pumps, and are ready to provide balloon animals and much more to Freedom Fiesta attendees. They’ll be located with the other kid-friendly activities near the bounce house play area.

To promote your event on this page contact advertising at 830-379-2234 or email communitycalendar@kwed1580.com

Featured Events

July 4 Parade

Crowds of flag-waving people will line Austin Street for the annual parade. The floats roll at 10 am. Past crowd estimates have exceeded 10,000. There will be more than a hundred parade entries including floats from local businesses, elected officials, churches, schools, military representatives, and more.

The City of Seguin asks parade attendees to not block parade route sidewalks with chairs and other items until the morning of the event. To allow for the best parade viewing experience, drivers are asked to not park along the parade route, which includes Austin Street from East College to Nelda Street.

If you plan to save a spot to watch the parade, we ask that you don’t put chairs or other place-holders on any sidewalks or streets. Items blocking sidewalks prior to the morning of the parade could be removed by city staff.

June 20

Activities for Veterans

There will be an Activities Fair for Veterans from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 20 at the Veterans Outreach Center, located at 205 E. Weinert St. in Seguin. For more information, call 830303-4188, ext. 1249.

June 21

Parade Application Deadline

The City of Seguin Main Street Program is accepting applications for the Fourth of July Parade until Friday, June 21. Applications are available at the Seguin Visitor Center, located at 200 S. Austin St. or online at www.seguintexas.gov/fourthofjuly.

June 22

Build for Better Bash

The Guadalupe Valley Habitat For Humanity will have a Build for Better Bash from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 22 in the Seguin Hall parking lot on the campus of Texas Lutheran University. Tickets include a meal, ticket, and t-shirt and are $25 for individual and $15 for youth (16 & under). For more information, call 830-401-0422.

June 28

Grant Applications

The Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce will accept applications for its Help Seguin Shine Grant until Friday, June 28. The Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce encourages you to apply for its Help Seguin Shine Grant. Applications are available online at www.seguinchamber.com. For more information, call 830-379-6382.

July 11

Meditation Training

The Central Texas Dispute resolution Center will offer its Basic Mediation Training on Thursday, July 11 through Saturday, July 13 and Thursday, July 18 through Saturday, July 20 via Zoom. To register online, visit www.centexdrc.org or email csheppard@ cemtexdrc.org.

July 24

Art Workshops

The Seguin Art League will offer AP and Advanced Art Workshops from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at 104 S. Austin St. in Seguin. The cost is $60 a day and supplies are included. Limit 10 students. For more information, call 830-305-0472.

Get your

GRUB!

at the FOOD TRUCKS!

Here’s a taste of the confirmed food trucks for Freedom Fiesta. For a complete listing, stay tuned to AM1580 KWED, the Seguin Daily News, and our social media for additions and menus items! More food trucks are sending in confirmation daily, so there will be plenty of delicious surprises.

Mr. Softee, Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee, Dilly Deli, Davila’s BBQ, UBP Burgers, Any ‘Which Way, Wiggle Waggle, Dona Kika’s Tacos, Chick-fil-A, and Auntie Anne’s

*List subject to change

CRACK a COLD ONE

Q: How do I pay for alcohol at the event?

A: Getting a cold one at Freedom Fiesta is easy. Just visit the onsite ticket booth, purchase your beer tickets, then visit the beergarden and let them know what you’ll have. And don’t forget your state issued ID!

at Freedom Fiesta’s Beer Garden

Helping to quench your thirst will again be the Knight of Columbus or Columbus Club of Seguin. Since the beginning, group members have been serving up cold ones during the KWED sponsored Freedom Fiesta. A variety of beers and other alcoholic drinks will again be provided. Proceeds from the beer garden will go to support the non-profit organization and the charities that it supports throughout the year.

Staff Highlight

DARREN DUNN General Manager

Freedom Fiesta is a homecoming. It’s a time for us all to come together — not just to celebrate our nation’s independence, but for us to celebrate what it means to be a part of this community. So whether people live here full-time, or whether they’re coming here to visit — this is a great time. People come back home because there’s no better time to be in Seguin than during the week of the Fourth of July, and Freedom Fiesta helps to get that started.

Snacks to the MAX Snacks to the MAX

Local non-profits will also be back in action raising money for their respective causes. A handful of non-profits over the years have continued the tradition of setting up shop in downtown Seguin and providing their own spin to those carnival style foods that we’ve all come to love such as baked goods, corn in a cup, funnel cakes, fajita tacos and much more. Each year, a new non-profit joins the list, again, raising money for scholarships, youth sports or church funds.