Seguin Magazine December 2022

Merry and bright

in this issue

on the cover

The spirit of Christmas is ceramic wrapped and dressed in whip cream. Traditions like Sip n’ Stroll are a holiday delight for all ages and brighten the world one mug at a time.

Photo by Rebecca Harrison

1139 E Court, Suite 220 Seguin, Tx 78155

Located in the offices above the outpatient rehab at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center

A DELIGHTFUL DOSE OF

JOY Christmas

Tis’ the season for all sorts of sights. The sort that are merry, bright, and covered with enough lights to brighten even the darkest of nights. Such as the show-stopping trees and trimmings, which are sure to delight the most Scroogiest of types, found at Father Christmas in downtown Seguin.

Brothers help create the merriest of trees in downtown seguin

Story by Bianca Rawlings Photo by victoria gaytan

Brothers and owners of Father Christmas, Bobby and Tommy Long, travel far and wide to bring beautiful items to their shop.

“We go to market in January, for a whole week, and buy for the coming year. We use our off time to travel and source new products,” Bobby said.

Bobby and Tommy opened the shop in 2020, after a short stint of attempted retirement. Since then, they have sworn to serve the residents of Seguin and the surrounding area a hearty, warm dose of Christmas joy every year.

Any true Christmas aficionado knows that the holiday season truly begins once the tree is up, and the trees at the Father Christmas Shop sure are a sight to behold. From rustic and tradi tional to whimsical and candy-tastic, there is a tree design that will appeal to anyone. The shop is sure to have some thing for everyone.

Tommy likes to shre his passion and help people build the beyond-believable trees of their dreams.

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“My brother will teach you how to do ribbon, mesh, and placement of lights and decorations,” Bobby said. “There is a formula he does…he’s been doing it over 20 years. He does trees that are over the top that you wouldn’t see anywhere else,” Bobby said.

“I use a method of decorating in triangle sections that I call ‘triangling,’” Tommy said. “Start with plenty of lights, then add trimming and start to develop a theme.”

Some timeless themes include winter wonderland and candy forests, but when it comes to Christmas, there really are no rules. Though a few pro tips and tricks can surely help anyone make the most of their mission to create the merriest of trees.

“Always add a surge protector to the middle of the tree, so you can plug in prop pieces here without having to crawl under the tree,” Tommy said. The top of the tree is the focal point and the place where the tree’s story begins, and is where decorators should begin, he said. The first point of order for any tree is lights, since they’re eye-catching.

Wooden dowels can give props height, but be sure to put moving items in the middle, Tommy said.

“Always put something that moves in the center of the tree,” he said. “The human eye is attracted to movement. We use a lot of water globes or lanterns.”

One of his most recent creations includes a flickering faux fireplace in the center of the tree.

“Don’t be afraid to think outside the box with your decorations, many decora tions you have at home can be reused in creative new ways,” Tommy said.

It is clear to see that every tree that Tommy’s creates—from top to bottom —takes time and thought.

Stepping back and looking at the whole tree from time to time can help you see the big picture, that story that Tommy spoke about.

Plus, even the most serious of deco rators needs a hot cocoa break from time to time, especially if that brief break brings you a bit closer to your assistant decorators and tree on-lookers.

BRIGHT Merry &

Holiday decorating that means more than just a beautiful display

Story by Sarah Maskal Photos by victoria gaytan

The holidays are a time for sharing joy. It’s hard not to get in the spirit of the season with the sounds of the music, the glow of the lights, and the chill of winter in the air. For Claudia Gaytan, a love of holiday decorating led to a charming display that the entire community came to enjoy.

Gaytan has always enjoyed deco rating for the holidays.

“My motivation for decorating began with my intention to create a festive atmosphere for my family to enjoy,” she said.

But, when she moved to her historic home near the Seguin Public Library, she took her decorations to the next level.

Along with the beautiful Christ mas display in her home, she began to amass an abundance of decorations on the porch and front yard. The community definitely took notice.

With the foot traffic around the neighborhood, families started gath ering on the front steps to take holi day photos.

The Gaytan’s eventually put

up a fence and people no longer wandered onto the yard and porch, exciting the family’s pets. Neighbors stayed very involved though, some even purchased decorations found at garage sales for Gaytan to add to her collection.

Gaytan’s daughter made good use of the beautiful display as well.

“As my daughter Victoria began

developing her photography business, I included sets for her to use as backdrops for her photo shoots,” Claudia said.

Claudia arranged sets in front of the creek behind their home, making for some stunning holiday photos.

Perhaps the most memorable thing about Claudia’s yard display is her posable skeleton, Pat. “During

COVID, I decided to get a fake skeleton and dress it up as a way to amuse myself and neighbors,” she said. “People would stop and see Pat and comment on how they looked forward to seeing the skeleton dressed up and enjoyed the decora tions in the yard.”

Pat became a staple in all of her holiday displays, changing loca

tions and outfits to fit the occasion. At one point, Pat was stolen from Claudia’s yard but, having become such a beloved holiday figure, he was quickly replaced with Pat 2.

Claudia has every intention of continuing her festive yard displays, and her husband is fine with that, as long as he doesn’t have to do the legwork.

Pour me a

CUP

Story AND PHOTOS By Rebecca Harrison PHOTOS courtesy of Kyle Kramm AND the Seguin Gazette

Lydia Shanafelt, a 16-year-old Navarro High School student, has enjoyed creating art for as long as she can remember.

It’s what prompted her grandmother to encourage her to create a piece of art and enter it into a Sip N’ Stroll mug contest. “My Nana sent me the information for it and said “You should enter this.”, and i’m, like, “ok.’” Her rendered version of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church’s chapel that earned her work to adorn the coveted Sip N’ Stroll mugs.

Shanafelt took the contest very seriously.

“My mom and I, came right over and took pictures…I made sure the lighting was good,” she said. “We printed it out and I started on the process of drawing. Then painting.”

A process that obviously paid off. Shanafelt’s work shows a great use of color and line in its depiction of the church. Adding an almost playful qual

ity to the inked portions and bold choice of colors. Sip N’ Stroll facilitates artists like Shanafelt to participate in the public eye.

“It’s why contests like this are very important to a community, ‘’ Shanafelt said. “It gives artists an opportunity to show what they’re good at. And it makes the results much more diverse-”

For many people, the holidays are the highlight of the year. It’s a time for making memories, seeing loved ones, and experiencing joy in all the places that feel like home. Seguin and its resi dents are no different, with many cele brating the festive part of the year in their hometown with a yearly tradition that has become a staple in the county.

Sip N’ Stroll is part of the larger Holiday Stroll,  a three-day celebration that kicks off the Christmas Season in Seguin. It is one of the most well-at tended events of the year.

The festivities draw in people from all over, encouraging them to come and

The Story of how a unique keepsake brings a community together

have some winter fun in the home of the world’s largest pecan — cold weather not guaranteed, this is still Texas after all.

“Sip N’ Stroll started under the guidance of (former Seguin Main Street Director) Mary Jo Langford and several downtown businesses in 2011,” said Kyle Kramm, Seguin Main Street and Visitors and Convention Bureau director.  It’s come a long way since then.

Currently, the  Downtown Busi ness Alliance and many community members contribute to taking care of running the event each year. It’s these groups that seek to develop and manage an impactful Christmas experience for everyone.

Parades, art markets, tree decorat ing contests, snow machines, charity runs, and the appointed star of Sip N’ Stroll — hot cocoa — all comes from volunteers brainstorming year after year. An environment perfect for families and friends to find gifts and take photos around the holidays. This involvement of the downtown businesses in the event was a happy marriage from the start. A stroll through the historic downtown allows visitors to shop for holiday gifts and experience the town all dressed up in colorful lights. Chocolatiers in each of these shops hand out their special blends of hot cocoa for attendees hoping to win the popular vote for best of the event.

This year marks the 12th annual Sip N’ Stroll, which includes the newest iteration of the season’s most sought-af ter collectible — the mug.

The event has featured uniquely decorated mugs since the beginning, giving strollers a place to put the deli cious drinks they sample while walking around the Christmas celebrations.

The highlight of this special keep sake however is the art each cup features. To determine the adornment, the Sip N’ Stroll committee and the Main Street Program host a contest for local artists to depict a downtown landmark. The submitted work is entered into a blind juried show, a show in which the judges are not given the creators identity, and once chosen the winner’s work earns

a prize and the esteemed place on the holiday mug.

But these mugs aren’t just import ant to the artists and the event staff. The collectible cups are important to the community, to the people that attend the Stroll year after year. They’re an important part of memory-making, almost as much as the event itself.

Community members, like Gay Lynn Olsovsky, began collecting the mugs with her family from the start.

“It’s become a family affair,” she said. Leading up to Sip N’ Stroll always begins with the excitement surrounding the contest — waiting to see which landmark is chosen, and the art that’s submit ted. Coming out into the community to find the mugs, and connecting with people in the city adds to the atmo sphere of a Seguin Christmas.

“The mugs say something about Seguin,” Olsovsky said.

For Olsovsky each mug holds a story, reminding her of relationships with people in the community, and the history of where Seguin came from and what it is today. Those are the kinds of things she looks forward to sharing with her kids every Christmas.

Holiday traditions are an import ant part of the communities we live in. They draw us together, make our lives brighter, and give us a front-row seat to the heart of the season — celebrat ing life. Sip N’ Stroll is part of the life blood of Seguin. It’s a multi-leveled event with love in each tier. From the artists who choose to create beautiful pieces to the casual stroller who comes to sample cocoa, the community show cases its diverse beauty with each year that passes.

As the call goes out to remember the past and share the gift of the present, its greatest revelation is this — hearts shine like Christmas lights when we choose to show love for each other and there is no better place to do this than in the places that feel like home.

With this in mind, happy holidays, Guadalupe County. Cheers a hot cup of cocoa and a bright new year to each and every one.

Brisket Tamales

Traditional holiday dish with a tex-mex twist

Hello friends! The holidays are upon us and, once again, we are bombarded with all the traditional holiday fare we love so much. Between the turkey, ham, potatoes and casseroles, it’s hard to pick a favorite food this time of year.

I’d have to say my favorite since moving to Central Texas is tamales. There are so many options and they’re all amazing!

So, what would happen if we took this Tex-Mex holiday food and mixed it with something quintessentially Texan? We get smoked brisket tamales! I started this as my own Christmas tradition a few years back, and I’m excited to share it with you.

There are so many ways to smoke a brisket, and everyone has their own preferred method. For the sake of a shorter article, I’m going to use brisket from a local store, but use whatever you like best.

Story and photos by Danny Story

- Ingredients -

2 pounds of brisket (homemade or from your local barbecue restaurant)

1 yellow onion

1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (I make my own)

2 cups of masa harina

1 tsp. cumin

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ cups of chicken broth

¼ cup canola oil

Corn husks

- Instructions -

1. Start by soaking the corn husks in water. They typically need to sit for a couple of hours to become pliable enough to work with and that allows plenty of time to get the masa and the tamale filling ready.

2. To prepare the filling, start by chopping the brisket and onion into ¼ inch or smaller chunks. This makes for a more consistent tamale. Then, in a large skillet, put in a small amount of vege table oil and sauté the onion until soft. After that, add the brisket and barbecue sauce until it is simmering. Then turn off the heat and let it rest.

3. For the masa, simply mix all of the seasonings together with the masa harina. Once thoroughly combined mix in the chicken broth and canola oil.

4. Filling tamales is an art, and it took me a long time to get it right. I suggest looking up videos to get a tech nique that works for you. I use a spoon to spread the masa over the husk, then put in a heaping spoonful of filling before folding it up.

5. Once all of the tamales are ready, you’re almost done! It’s now time to get these beauties cooking. The proper way

to cook a tamale will always be to steam it and that’s the way I prefer as well. I use a large pot filled with about an inch of water with a steamer basket on the inside. Stack the tamales vertically but

not too tight. You want the steam to be able to get in between them all. Steam for about 35 minutes. Once done, I like to let the tamale rest for a couple of hours. Then heat and enjoy!

Merry Christmas

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EVENT CALENDAR

-December-

Rising stars: fifth – 6 - 9 PM

Rising Stars of Guadalupe County seeks to recognize the most promising young professionals in the areas of leadership and positive community impact. Benefiting Seguin Young Professionals (SYP) of the Seguin Chamber. Location: Columbus Club of Seguin Hall, 1015 S. Austin St.

Seguin Choirs and Chamber Orchestra

Production: Ninth – 7 PM

The Seguin Choirs and Chamber Orchestra will present John Rutter’s “Mass of the Children,” Donations will be accepted at the door. Free admission. Location: Seguin High School Performing Arts Center, 1315 E. Cedar St.

Country Christmas: Ninth & Tenth– 5 PM

Bring the family and friends to join the fun as we celebrate Christmas from the years past. The event includes Christmas trees decorated in the tradition of the diverse cultures in Texas and a variety of Nativity scenes displayed inside the Red Barn. Location: The Big Red Barn, 390 Cordova Rd.

Seguin Gun Show: tenth – 9 am - 4 pm & eleventh – 10 am - 5 PM

Hosted by Big Tex Gun Show Productions. All federal and local firearm laws and ordinances must be obeyed. LOCATION: Seguin Events Complex, 950 S. Austin St.

Ukulele Club: fourteenth – 4:30 - 5 PM

Children can bring their own ukulele for an hour of music fun! Please tune your ukulele or arrive early to get help tuning your instrument. LOCATION: Seguin Public Library, 313 W. Nolte St.

A Special Visit with Santa Claus: fifthteenth – 5 - 7 PM

Share your wishlist with Santa and enjoy bookstore Christmas magic! Enjoy a special reading of “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas”, pictures with Santa Claus, and inspired Christmas cookies and hot drinks for kids and adults alike! Enjoy specials on holiday books and merchandise. Free admission. LOCATION: Pecantown Books and Brews, 212 S. Camp St.

Run Run Rudolph 5k/10k and kids Mile Dash: twenty-fourth – 8 am

Come out and celebrate the holiday season and support Zion Hill.

LOCATION: The Backyard, 225 N. Saunders St.

Send event details to seguinmagazine@seguingazette.com to have your event added to this calendar

SEGUIn

SEGUIn

128 Hwy. 46 S at Court St. (830) 379-6659

128 Hwy. 46 S at Court St. (830) 379-6659

123 S. King St. (830) 379-6654

123 S. King St. (830) 379-6654

nEW BraUnfElS

988 Mission Dr. at Landa St. (830) 625-0401

46 S Next to Kohl’s (830) 626-3280

482 Hwy. 46 S Next to Kohl’s (830) 626-3280

992 Business IH35 S 830-214-0622

992 Business IH35 S 830-214-0622

not just oil, pennzoil

not just oil, pennzoil

SCHErtZ

SCHErtZ

1190 Borgfeld Rd. at FM 3009 (830) 566-1077

1190 Borgfeld Rd. at FM 3009 (830) 566-1077

San MarCoS

1044 Hwy. 123 (512) 396-3439

San MarCoS

1044 Hwy. 123 (512) 396-3439

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