EXPLORE May 2016

MAY 2016

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MAY

Explore what's inside this issue!

10 From the Publisher 12 Calendar

26 LIFE

Another person’s shoes

30 ART OF

14 TROUBADOUR

Montreal & dogs: Part 2

Stone masonry

Publisher Benjamin D. Schooley ben@hillcountryexplore.com

34 MUSIC

HILL COUNTRY SUMMER MUSIC CALENDAR

38 Spiritual

Roads less traveled

18 History

Operations Manager Michelle Hans michelle@smvtexas.vom Creative Director Benjamin N. Weber ben.weber@smvtexas.com Assistant Creative Director Kayla Davisson kayla@smvtexas.com

berges fest

ADVERTISING SALES 210-507-5250 sales@hillcountryexplore.com

42 Charity 32 BBQ

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

22 MOTHER’S DAY “Great” gifts

4KIDS

46 OLD TIMER

GOOD Ole city council

EXPLORE magazine is published by Schooley Media Ventures in Boerne, TX. EXPLORE Magazine and Schooley Media Ventures are not responsible for any inaccuracies, erroneous information, or typographical errors contained in this publication submitted by advertisers. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of EXPLORE and/or Schooley Media Ventures. Copyright 2015 Schooley Media Ventures, 930 E. Blanco, Ste. 200, Boerne, TX 78006

Contributing Writers

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Marjorie Hagy History

Rene Villanueva Music

Kendall D. Aaron Spiritual

Old Timer Just Old Timer

Paul Wilson Life & Living

MARJORIE is a bibliophile, a history nut and an insomniac, among several other conditions, both diagnosed and otherwise. When she's not working tirelessly to avoid getting a real job, she nurses an obsession with her grandson and is involved in passing legislation restricting the wearing of socks with sandals. She is an aspiring pet hoarder who enjoys vicious games of Scrabble, reading Agatha Christie, and sitting around doing nothing while claiming to be thinking deeply.

Marjorie has five grown children, a poodle to whom she is inordinately devoted in spite of his breath, and holds an Explore record for never having submitted an article on time. She's been writing for us for five years now.

Rene Villanueva is the lead singer/bass player for the band Hacienda. Having toured worldwide, hacienda has also been featured on several late night shows, including Late Show with David Letterman.

Rene and his wife Rachel live in Boerne, TX and just welcomed thier first child.

I’m just a normal guy. I’m not a theology student, I don’t preach in church, and I’ve never written a book. I’m just a normal guy that thinks, and feels, and is on a never-ending journey attempting to be the best person I can be. I fail frequently at this quest, yet each day, the quest continues.

I’ve lived in Boerne since the late ‘80s, I’ve got a most beautiful wife, three wonderful children, and just really, really love God. Thanks for going on my spiritual journey with me.

The Old Timer tells us he's been a resident of Boerne since about 1965. He enjoys telling people what he doesn't like. When not bust'n punks he can be found feeding the ducks just off Main St. or wandering aimlessly in the newly expanded HEB. Despite his rough and sometimes brash persona, Old Timer is really a wise and thoughtful individual. If you can sort through the BS.

An insatiable curiosity for life and an incurable fascination with human behavior has forged in Paul Wilson a keen interest in helping people think about wise living. As a Life Coach, Paul offers professional mentoring to clients seeking greater personal fulfillment in their life. He currently serves as the Lead Pastor of Cibolo Creek Community Church in Fair Oaks Ranch, a faith community he began in 1996 to serve people who didn’t really like church. As artistowner of The Paul Wilson Studio, he also creates bronze sculptures for private and corporate collections. Paul and his wife, Charlotte, who make their home in Fair Oaks Ranch, are the proud parents of two teenage sons. If you’re interested in receiving daily thought-provoking insights about life and living, follow Paul on Twitter at @paulwilsonTX or Facebook at facebook.com/ paulwilsonTX.

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

PUBLISHER DEAREST EXPLORE READER, On a recent trip to the coast, my date and I were on a fishing boat, zooming across Aransas Bay and its dancing waves.

As the sun peeked above the horizon, it lit the water like countless jewels. Rays of light shot out in every direction, and the ocean seemed to catch fire. With the wind whipping at our faces, I leaned over and told my date that “If I could paint, I would paint THIS!” as I swept my arm out to indicate EVERYTHING. While I was sincere that this particular scene is one that I would paint again and again, as I find the sunrise at the coast to be one of the most beautiful sights to behold, sadly, I don’t know how to paint. I have never done it, but knowing that I can barely draw a stick figure very well, I’m fairly confident that painting would be a futile act that would only leave me frustrated with my lack of success at recreating what my mind would want to see on the canvas.

When I was a freshman in high school, I discovered a beat up old guitar in the back of my mom’s closet. I dragged it out and learned a couple of chords via the Jim Croce songbook. The “architecture” of the songs made sense to me, and sure enough, I was quickly strumming a guitar to a few of my favorite tunes of the time. One late afternoon in my room, while sitting on the floor, I stopped quietly whispering the songs I was playing and instead, I actually sang one of them. I can still remember how I stopped playing for a moment and looked up. I thought to myself “Ya know, that didn’t sound half-bad.” As in, I could actually, kinda, sorta…..SING. In the years since, I have had countless friends discover that I can sing when I tell them or when they hear me. Their response is universal: “YOU CAN SING? YOU?” I laugh, shrug my shoulders, and say “Well, a little, I guess.” But it’s not a little. I sing to my kids with the guitar. I sing to friends. My mom makes me play and sing on the back porch all the time.

I even used to perform live around town back a few years ago for a little extra spending money. You would have seen me at Tapatio, The Daily Grind, Silver Fox, and countless local little joints that would put up with an acoustic dude hammering out some tunes in the corner of the bar.

It was something that I discovered years ago, and have since “honed” that skill because of the joy that it brings me. Kinda like writing.

There was a study published recently by the Journal of Music Perception (sounds scientific?) that concluded that EVERYONE can sing. They studied people from kindergarten through college and found that while kindergartners made gobs of mistakes while singing, the ones that continued the act of singing could universally sing as they aged. Conversely, the kids that quit singing early on were unable to “carry a tune” by the time they were in college.

They concluded that as we grow up, we determine whether we can sing or not. We laugh at ourselves and say “My goodness – I sound AWFUL!” and we attempt to never do it again. We pre-determine our failure and ultimately never seek to hone the skill that the study says resides in us all. Basically, the study’s concept was that we are all born with a musical instrument of a voice – but only some of us learn to utilize it.

I think about painting all the time. I can daydream and see myself with a nice little easel and blank canvas propped up in front of one of the windows in my dining room. I would have my palette laid out in front of me with a bunch of brushes, and I would whittle away an afternoon listening to light music while I disappear into an original work of art.

I thought about these things this past weekend while I sat atop the Fort Davis Mountains.

I know that this particular mountain range is hardly Mount Everest, but I should mention that I have a crippling phobia of heights. I’m the guy that gets sweaty palms standing on the roof of my house. I shake and grimace if I’m above the 3rd floor of a building. It’s miserable, and embarrassing.

Yet there I sat on top of the peak at approximately 3000 feet, surveying the views and hearing the wind whistle through the rocks. Yes, I was nervous and a bit shaky, but I’ve also been working extremely hard at overcoming my fears. In fact, in the past 6 months, I have attempted to climb several small mountains, only to turn around halfway because of my phobias. However, on this day, I made it. I could see for miles, and the sun was warm, and while I held the hand of my date, I experienced something that I might not have otherwise if I had listened to what my mind tells me that I can and can’t do.

I can’t climb a mountain. I can’t sing. I can’t play guitar. I can’t write.

And I surely can’t paint.

But maybe I can. Maybe I really could learn how to paint, and could find that I am actually quite good at it. If only I would stop telling myself I would fail before I have even tried.

There is no greater enemy to what we might experience in this life than what we tell ourselves. We convince ourselves of our own limitations without ever even attempting to experience all that we can. I’m guilty of this, and I guarantee that you are as well. I find this beyond depressing, as I just think of all the things that we deny ourselves under the guise of simply “I can’t.” Or “I don’t know how.” The reality is that I believe that God created us all with the ability to do virtually anything, if only we will invest the time to utilize the skill.

The world is so big, and is so full of potential. So much beauty. So much art. So much EXPERIENCE waiting for us. And so many things that we won’t experience simply because we won’t allow ourselves.

And I think that’s a damn shame.

Now hand me a paintbrush.

Welcome to May. The temps are warming, and the world beckons you to strike out in adventure. Grab a map, and chart a course. Climb the mountain, sing the song, EXPLORE your heart, and rest easy knowing that you have done what you told yourself you could not.

Then do it all over again.

Smiling,

ben@hillcountryexplore.com

And then I think about how I have convinced myself that I can’t do it. Simply because I have never really tried. But it’s a skill, is it not? It’s an activity that, while my early attempts might be “ugly”, my later attempts might be……nice? It’s something that, as I practiced, could be something that I enjoy for the remainder of my life?

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EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

5 1 8 R I V E R R O A D, B O E R N E , T X | w w w. l i t t l e g r e t e l . c o m | 8 3 0 - 3 3 1 - 1 3 6 8

MAY

Get out and enjoy the great Texas Hill Country!

The most comprehensive events calendar. Send submissions to info@hillcountryexplore.com BANDERA May 3 Cowboy Capital Opry Enjoy “Grand Ole Opry”-style entertainment hosted by Gerry and Harriet Payne. Begins at 7 p.m. Silver Sage, 803 Buck Creek. www.silversagecorral.org May 27-29 Bandera ProRodeo PRCA rodeo action begins at 7:30 p.m. Mansfield Park, 2886 Texas 16 N. www.banderaprorodeo.org May 28-29 Funtier Days Shop with more than 75 vendors on the courthouse square.

A Memorial Day parade is Saturday. Courthouse Lawn, 500 Main St. www.banderatex.com

BOERNE May 7 Boerne Handmade Market The Pavillion, 826 John’s Road. www.visitboerne.org May 7 “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” Based on Robert Fulghum’s best-selling books, this show takes a funny, insightful, heartwarming look at what is profound in everyday life. Boerne Community Theatre, 907 E. Blanco Road. www.visitboerne.org May 7 Hauptstrasse Quiltfest Enjoy music, quilts, special exhibits, presentations and more. Main Plaza and downtown. www.visitboerne.org May 14 Art Waddle Neighborhood Art Walk Begins at 204 W. San Antonio. www.visitboerne.org May 14-15 Boerne Market Days Main Plaza. www.visitboerne.org May 14 Second Saturday Art and Wine Participating galleries offer complimentary beverages and hors d’oeuvres along with fantastic art. Downtown. www.visitboerne.org May 28 Axiom String Quartet in Concert Enjoy music by this talented ensemble combined with nature’s staging and natural cave acoustics. Cave Without A Name, 325 Kreutzberg Road. www.cavewithoutaname.com

FREDERICKSBURG May 6 First Friday Art Walk Tour fine art galleries offering special exhibits, demos, refreshments and extended viewing hours. Various locations. www.ffawf.com May 7 Texas Flower Country Women’s 5K and 10K Run Run through fields of beautiful wildflowers and enjoy a post-race champagne brunch. Wildseed Farms. www.runintexas.com/flower May 11 Conspirare Chorale Concert Grammy Award-winning chorale group performs the works of late American composer Stephen Paulus. St. Mary’s Church, 306 W. San Antonio. www.conspirare.org May 14 Founders Day Celebration A wreath laying at Marktplatz and special activities celebrate the founding of Fredericksburg. Pioneer Museum. www.pioneermuseum.net

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LUCKENBACH May 6-8 Hill Country Run Motorcycle Rally Includes bike rides through the hills, live music, a cowboy breakfast and the Brew and ‘Que. www.hillcountryrun.com May 20-22 Fredericksburg Trade Days Shop with more than 450 vendors or enjoy live music in the Biergarten. Sunday Farms. www.fbgtradedays.com May 27-29 Fredericksburg Crawfish Festival Three-day festival is dedicated to music, entertainment, food, beverages and fun inspired by all things Cajun.

Marktplatz, 100 W. Main. www.fbgcrawfish.com May 30 Memorial Day Observance A ceremony honors all of those who have lost their lives serving in the United States Armed Forces. National Museum of the Pacific War. www.pacificwarmuseum.org

MARBLE FALLS May 7-8 “Howdy Roo” CASI Regional Chili Cook-Off, Lonestar Barbecue State Championship and Backbone Creek Chili Cook-Off Includes chili, beans and barbecue competitions as well as vendors and a silent auction. Johnson Park. www.marblefalls.org

NEW BRAUNFELS May 7 Wein and Saengerfest This German-style wine and singing festival includes beer and wine tastings, live music, a grape stomp, art market, food seminars, chef showdown and children’s activities.

Downtown. www.weinandsaengerfest.com

GRUENE May 8 Gospel Brunch with a Texas Twist Advance tickets recommended. Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road. www. gruenehall.com

May 14 “The Music of the Carpenters” Lisa Rock and her six-piece band perform such hits as “Close to You.” Brauntex Theatre. www.brauntex.org

May 19 Come and Taste It A featured winemaker showcases three of their newest released, top-selling or hard-to-find wines, alongside a craft beer. Grapevine Texas Wine Bar. www.grapevineingruene.com

OZONA May 20-21 Fort Lancaster Western Frontier Days The story of this historic site comes alive with soldiers, settlers, wagons and live animals in this living-history event. Fort Lancaster State Historic Site. www.visitfortlancaster.com

May 21-22 Old Gruene Market Days Nearly 100 vendors offer uniquely crafted items and packaged Texas foods. Gruene Historic District. www. gruenemarketdays.com

JOHNSON CITY May 28 Last Saturday Art Walk Find good Texas goods and great Texas art from 4–8 p.m. while enjoying complimentary beer, wine and appetizers.

Downtown.

KERRVILLE May 1-May 22 Kerr Arts and Cultural Center May Gallery Exhibits view include the “Kerrville Art Club Annual Juried Show,” “Deeper Than Beauty” with fiber art

by Caryl Gaubatz and watercolors by Martha Allen, and “Patrick McDaniel: Glassworks.” Kerr Arts and Cultural Center, 128 Earl Garrett St. www.kacckerrville.com May 6 First Friday Wine Share Meet new people and try new wines at this fun and friendly event at a different location each month. Bring one bottle of wine per two people and your own wine glass. Begins at 6 p.m. www.storkcountry.com May 26-June 12 Kerrville Folk Festival This Texas Hill Country based international songwriters’ festival features more than 100 songwriters and bands. Quiet Valley Ranch, 3876 Medina Hwy. www.kerrville-music.com

SONORA May 7 Cinco De Mayo Includes festive music, dancing, children’s games and the crowning of Miss Cinco De Mayo. Sutton County Park, 1700 Crockett. www.sonoratexas.org

WIMBERLEY April 15-May 8 “Good People” Presented by the Wimberley Players.

Wimberley Playhouse, 450 Old Kyle Road. www. wimberleyplayers.org May 7 Market Days Stroll along a shaded path to more than 475 booths filled with a wide variety of arts, crafts, antiques, gift items, clothing and more. Lions Field, 601 F.M. 2325. www.shopmarketdays.com May 14 Garden Tour Discover beautiful gardens at several homes.

Various locations. www.wimberleygardenclub.org May 14 Second Saturday Gallery Trail More than a dozen galleries offer wine, snacks and art displays from 4–7 p.m. Wimberley Square, 101 Wimberley Square. www.facebook.com/ SecondSaturdayGalleryTrail May 19 Concerts at Susanna’s Kitchen Top musicians take the stage at this intimate venue. Begins at 7:30 p.m. Susanna’s Kitchen, 1200 C.R. 1492. www.wimberleyumc.org

May 28-29 Kerr County Market Days Old-fashioned market on the square features handmade crafts, artwork, and homegrown plants and produce. Kerr County Courthouse, 700 Main St. www.kerrmarketdays.org

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

TROUBADOUR

Montreal & Dogs: part II

By Rene Villanueva

I finally ran out of money on the jukebox and went back to the counter. The bartender had disappeared off somewhere, and I sat humming along to Chet Baker, watching the street and thinking, “The faces here are so different.”

Nice people, at least the one’s I’ve met, but they look so different, and I don’t just mean the lack of Mexicans.

I mean the people carry differently, they walk differently. Small things that make me miss home.

The yard. The family. Notes that burst.

A snare cracked down my consciousness. Buried in the slinky bass lines.

The loss. And wishing I could be there. Thinking of Lucy buried in the yard.

“Hey Jesus,” I hear called out from down the bar. A big voice from a big man.

I don’t answer. And drink again.

“Hey Jesus!” he yells a little louder.

I’m not going to answer. Trying not to show that I’m laughing a little ‘cause Abe is the one who is usually called Jesus. Some guy thinks he’s being hilarious, gonna try and yell out to me ‘cause I have a beard and longer, dark hair. Even if he doesn’t mean anything malicious, though they usually do, it is so annoying. Best to wait it out.

He stands up. Grabs his pint and starts walking my way, stuttering a “Hey, hey, hey,” and with every step he gets closer. Until he puts his big hand, palm down on the bar next to my drink. His hands are rough, his rings are dirty gold, and his knuckles flat as Nebraska.

“Hey Jesus.”

He’s breathing now. Hard. He’s got a wheeze that sends a shiver down my spine. I’m looking at his fingers. The dirt under his short cracked nails. Jesus.

“I don’t think I know you...”

“Probably not,” I answered calmly. He said nothing, “I’m just passing…”

“American?” “...thru.”

“Well Jesus,” he put a hand on my back and smiled, “You’ve got good taste.” He threw his head back towards the jukebox. “Love Baker... Let me buy you one?”

“I really need to head back,” “Come on Jesus.”

“Nah, nah thanks but I,” my mind stopped I had no excuse. “Gonna go.”

I put down a 20, and went out towards the street. The evening was late, and the air was cool. I took a breath and started walking back to the bus.

-rene

As always you can reach me on at thewordisabell.blogspot.com, youtube.com/c/idyllgreen, facebook.com/idyllgreen, and Twitter @idyllgreen.

A son of South-Texas, and two of the most beautiful souls I’ll ever know. Writer, dreamer, singer of songs, bass player, and professional observer. Toured the world with my band of “real-blood-tied” brothers, and friends as Hacienda/Fast-five. Recorded three albums, written countless songs, played countless shows, including two national tv late-night extravaganzas, festivals, throwdowns, parties, and hoot-nights. Lover of books, vinyl, dancing, people who laugh loud, walking, vintage craftsmanship, and my home in Boerne.

14

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

MAY 2016

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16

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

HISTORY

By Marjorie Hagy

18

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

Ah readers, little do you know how Mama Marjie worries about you guys with Berges Fest fast approaching! I lose sleep over scenarios in which you might be caught short in conversations having to do with local history. I break into a cold sweat at the thought of you bringing shame upon your family by launching into a feverish tale of Wild Bill Hickok’s feats of derring-do in Boerne; recklessly, desperately attempting to explain his mysterious presence on Main Street. In fact, I’m so concerned for you guys to behave in a way that reflects well on all I’ve taught you that I’ve thoughtfully put together this last-minute guide to help you navigate your way through Berges Fest while presenting an erudite and knowledgeable mien to all and sundry. May I suggest that you detach this page or two and secrete in some handy place about your person, perhaps in a handkerchief or copied in tiny figures on your wrist, and bring out a few pertinent facts every couple of minutes to amuse and impress your companions? However you choose to avail yourself of this cheat-sheet, you’ll soon be the life of the party!

1. Say you’re standing around in a group and your romantic rival, trying to look like a big shot, gets all sentimental and says something cheesy like ‘Ah, Berges Fest, as old as Boerne herself!’ This is your chance to expose him as a charlatan and a poser. With or without removing one of your gauntlets and using it to lightly slap him on each cheek, you should chuckle deprecatingly and inform the assembled that his claim is a bald faced lie. You then point out that the celebration of Berges Fest is a mere forty-nine years old, having begun back in 1967 as a venture of the Boerne Lions Club and the Chamber of Commerce. You might want to drive the point home by reminding your listeners that 1967 was the Summer of Love, that the Vietnam War was escalating as were peace protests and race riots on the home front, and that The Monkees were on TV and The Graduate on the big screen. You’ll completely finish him off as you sneer ‘Pshaw! Old as Boerne!’ Then turn on your heel to stride off to the Beer Garden. The chicks will be as putty in your hands.

2. If the defeated rival tries to rally by saying something like, ‘But it’s always been on Father’s Day weekend!’ give him a withering look and inform him that the first one was held on Saturday, July 1st. This should settle his hash.

3. When your new admirers follow you to the Beer Garden, as they are certain to do, recognizing you as an authority and a helluva guy - or gal - you will probably be pelted with eager questions, such as ‘But why did they start having Berges Fest anyway?’ Don’t worry - I’ve got you covered there too. See (you tell ‘em) in the 50s, everybody liked Ike, or at least enough people to get him elected president, and once he was elected, he had this crazy idea to build an interstate highway system in order to facilitate quicker movement of military supplies and troops across the country in the event of another war. World War II was just over and the Cold War was in full swing, and everyone was understandably nervous. So construction began on, among others, Interstate Highway 10, and in 1967 the part that went by Boerne was almost finished and people in town were freaking out a little. The feeling in those days was that without a major highway for a Main Street, all the businesses and eventually the little town itself would dry up and blow away. Think about it: they couldn’t have had any knowledge of what a high-speed interstate system would look like or how it would work or what to expect. Their elders had all, back in their days, seen other little towns rise and fall depending upon whether the railroad ran through them or passed them by, and the thought is that without a highway there wouldn’t be any traffic through town to drive business.

Used to be, before the high-speed highways, that travelling from one place to another meant going through all these small towns, with all their own unique mom-&-pop restaurants, stores, service stations, and motor courts; past farms whose owners would set up roadside attractions like fruit and vegetable stands, snake farms, the world’s biggest hay bale, and all kinds of things like that. People back then would know that one little town had a wonderful bakery or that another had a favorite restaurant, whereas nowadays travelers have the option of MacDonald’s, Subway, or KFC on this exit or on the next seven hundred exits all the way to California. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could go back in time and travel like that again, instead of down a streamlined highway through the sprawl of car dealerships and mobile home sales lots and every exit crowded with the ubiquitous Starbucks, Taco Bells, and big box stores? I can just about remember a time before IH10, riding with my family and my great-grandmother on a Sunday down those old roads, past the weathered old farmhouses whose owners, twenty-five years later, still hadn’t recovered from the Great Depression. For the purposes of your story at Berges Fest, you may borrow those old memories of mine, if you don’t have any of your own.

5. Whatever you do, do NOT insert an extra S into New Braunfels, rendering it New BraunSfels! This bush-league blunder will expose you as a mountebank and the crowd of new friends you’ve made will immediately disperse. (On a side note, also avoid ever pronouncing the S in Illinois, never omit the first R in library, and if I ever catch you saying or writing should OF instead of should HAVE, there’ll be hell to pay. Contact me for a full list of grammar and pronunciation rules.)

6. Tell your flock how the newly-incorporated Berges Fest along with the City of Boerne, in preparation for the upcoming town fair, launched the Boerne Beautification Project.

Remember, now, that this was nearly fifty years ago, long before the developers discovered us and the city government sold us out, body and soul, and our whole town became a sanitized, frou-frou film set-version of Ye Olde Quainte Little Towne, and Main Street was just Main Street and not Hauptstrasse, and Main Plaza wasn’t an overly-landscaped spectacle with Wild Bill Hickok perched up front on a red bench for no reason whatsoever.

Whew, wow! I guess you needed to get that off your chest!

Anyway, going back a little ways, 1967 wasn’t all that long after the Great Depression, like we discussed earlier, and if you know your history like I think you do, you know that the southern US took a lot longer to recover from that. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the South really started to kind of diversify and prosper on par with the rest of the country.

Boerne was always primarily a farming community, and family farming had been suffering for a long time as giant ‘Agribusiness’ took over. See, I always find it fascinating (and you can pretend that you do, too), how history isn’t just one era or one event, standing alone and isolated, but how all these things mesh together and affect everything else. There’s a much bigger picture than just this one small town throwing a summer festival. There are factors going back to stuff like the agricultural South and the manufacturing North and the shifting ways of life in our country; from 1900, when forty-nine percent of the nation’s workforce owned or worked on farms, to 2000, when less than two percent of people worked or lived on farms. History, man - I mean, it’s the most interesting thing in the world! Some people are obsessed with music and others with their own various passions - art, maybe, or yoga, or makeup - but for me it is history, every time.

At this point, if you’ve repeated all that to your listeners, they’ll be looking at you in the same way you might look at an animal that suddenly stands up on his hind legs and starts talking. Boy do I know that look! So maybe just leave that whole part out and just continue about the Boerne Beautification Project. I brought up all that stuff about the hangover of the Depression and the economic troubles in the South, to explain that times were tough in 1967, in the little farming village of Boerne, and there were a lot of empty storefronts and vacant lots along dusty old Highway 87 through town. In preparation for that first town fair, the Boerne Beautification Project encouraged everybody to clean up their act, and sent business owners a letter with specific suggestions: For the first time in Boerne’s history, we are going to have an event in Boerne that will be “All Boerne”. The Boerne “Berges Fest”, on the first Saturday in July (July 1), will have ample newspaper, TV, and radio publicity which is sure to bring a large number of visitors to our city. We want to put our best foot forward. Below are some suggestions from the Boerne “Berges Fest” Beautification Committee. Please use them as guidelines for getting your place of business ready for the “Berges Fest”.

A. Clean up! Spruce up! Paint up! Everyone can do this and the results will be long lasting.

Anyway, what happened was, the local Lions Club and the Chamber of Commerce got together and hatched this idea to throw a little Main Street fair to attract people to downtown Boerne and show them what they’d be missing if they drove right past us.

The county seat of Boerne had long (since 1906) been home to the Kendall County Fair, but had never had a city-sponsored event of its own, so the idea was that they’d put one together to attract people to town and once they saw what a charming little place it was, they’d keep coming back, with or without the major highway. The official purpose of that first town festival was “To promote Boerne as an attractive place to visit, to live, and to do business by encouraging friendly, courteous service. To provide an opportunity for fellowship and relaxation by people who are proud of Boerne and want to share their good fortune with others.”

B. Repair or else remove obvious eyesores!

4. By this time, I expect that word of your sagacity will have spread and a crowd will have started to form for the purpose of hanging on your every word. This is not the time to panic! Remember, with this guide I’ve prepared, you will be an expert on your subject.

Proceed with confidence. Thusly, The Lions Club and the Chamber of Commerce both kicked in $250 toward the festival, and another $645 was raised from local businesses and sponsors. In May ‘67 they incorporated the thing, with this new, official stated purpose: “…….to raise and donate money to charitable, benevolent, religious, eleemosynary, educational, scientific, social, fraternal and athletic organizations and to organizations whose activities promote the health and general welfare and civic, business, commercial and industrial advancement and betterment of the community.” (If some upstart in the audience pipes up to question the meaning of eleemosynary, shoot them a scathing look and say ‘Shut up kid, I’m talking here,’ because I can’t help you there.) News of this brand new venture reached the ears of some of the directors of New Braunfels’ Wurst Fest, the oldest German festival in the hill country, and they offered to lend a hand in getting this one off the ground. Boerne gratefully- and eagerly- accepted the offer.

G. If you have a flag, display it! If you haven’t, wouldn’t this be a good time to get one?

MAY 2016

C. Wash all show windows.

D. Clean sidewalks just before “Berges Fest”.

(The city will provide for street cleaning.)

E. If you have window displays, feature articles that will be of interest to people coming to Boerne for “Berges Fest”, for example: local sausage or other food products, cast iron ware, etc.

F. Use your imagination in putting planter boxes or pot plants in front of your business establishment or in your window. (Note: I think they meant potted plants, but hey, it was the Summer of Love after all.)

H. Be proud of our Boerne Community - and your business - and show it!

Boerne Boy Scouts chipped in to clean all the windows in the vacant stores and locals (probably a lot of elderly ladies, but that’s just my conjecture) decorated them with quilts and antiques and things like that. Mayor John Arleigh Huff wrote a letter to the owners of vacant lots, citing an ‘Ordinance on the books requiring owners of lots and premises to keep them free from weeds, rubbish, brush and other unsightly or insanitary matter’, but hoping that he wouldn’t have to invoke that ordinance and that the owners would just go ahead and clean up on their own. Most did.

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7.At any small-town festival, where old friends gather and the beer flows freely, there’s a certain point in the evening when the vibe gets a little maudlin. Espying one’s old flame, now a portly matron with her grandchildren in tow, one may tend to wax a bit sentimental, remembering her as a cute young thing and that time out at the Lake. That one guy wanders by, the football hero on whom every girl in school had a crush, and never mind the fact that he’s now sporting a comb-over and a big ol’ pair of jorts, and that his current wife looks like she’s plotting to stab him with a fork. You’re transported back to a time when he was a dashing young hunk, striding across campus with the wind ruffling his feathered hair and the whole world at his Kaepas. This would be the time for you to startle them with a juicy tidbit of a shocking nature, to wit: Did you know that the first Miss Berges Fest contest included a swim suit competition? This should draw gasps from your audience. Oh yeah, and tell them an authentic German costume competition and a question and answer portion and all that. The contestants were judged on ‘beauty, poise, personality, posture and costume.’ Twenty-two girls competed in that first pageant, which was held at the Kendall Inn on the Friday night before the fest started (with the winner being announced the next morning), and Miss Patsy Traylor was crowned (by U. S. Senator Ralph Yarborough) the first Queen of the Boerne Berges Fest.

8. The main action of that very first Berges Fest happened on Main Plaza - the old one, with our plain old fountain and our plain old gazebo, just the way we liked it - with an art exhibit on Military Plaza. On the Plaza, merchants, organizations, and regular old people had their booths selling food, handcrafts, souvenirs, and various stuff, a lot like they do today. Some of the names of those organizations taking part will make the older folks among your rapt listeners homesick for the Boerne we loved: The Shamrock Cafe, for instance, Blue Boy, Bigs of Boerne, Surrey Village, the Boerne Locker Plant, the Flower Shop, and the Boerne White Sox. The roster of events included a whole lot of stuff, among the most interesting today being Herb’s Harpsters, a harmonica group, a teen dance at Kutzer Studio, an aqua show, a swap hour, and a fiddler’s contest. As a finale, something tantalizingly identified as a Schnitzelbank. You’re on your own there if someone should ask for elucidation, but hopefully someone who was there will enlighten me and I’ll pass that information on to you.

Several items were raffled off at the first Berges Fest, among them a registered Pollard Hereford donated by Cliff Lewis, a $50 war bond donated by WE Janensch, President of the Boerne State Bank, and a ‘stainless steelware’ set that was displayed at our own John Eddie Vogt’s Store. There was even a special raffle for children under twelve and accompanied by a parent: a burro donated by Fred Gremmel. You can understand why they required the young uns’ parental approval, as lugging a surprise burro home to Mother after a long day at the fair might cause upset in the household.

9. The Lions Club and the Chamber decided beforehand that if that first festival managed to cover costs, they’d go ahead and make it an annual event. They’d put five hundred of their own dough into it and another $645 in donations. After everything was said and done, the first Berges Fest made a profit of $584.94. So it became a thing, and next year we’ll celebrate fifty years.

10. After five years on Main Street and with the city’s survival assured, having run out of room at the original location, the decision was made in 1973 to move Berges Fest out to the Herff Park Fairgrounds, where it was when I was a kid and where it stayed until it moved back downtown in 1989. It went back and forth between the two locations a couple of times, and this year it’s back at the Fairgrounds. At this point, some smart-alec or heckler in the crowd may shout out a question, wanting to know the reason behind all this moving around, but forewarned is forearmed, and you’ll be ready for that! What I suggest is that you close your lips firmly as if to indicate that you know much more than you’re letting on but discretion prevents your saying a word. Because the truth is, I don’t know either. I tend to like Berges Fest better, personally, on Main Street, but that could very well be because back in my drinking days, it was convenient for me to stagger to my sister’s house nearby after a night of making friends and influencing people. I grew up going out to the Fairgrounds for my Berges Festing and that works for me, too. What remains to be seen is whether or not our Hill Country Festival remains free to all-comers and accessible to all of our citizens, or whether it goes the other way like the Kendall County Fair. Back before our hometown became the victim of all this wonderful progress, the Fair was affordable, if not free, if you went out there after dark. Now a whole lot of people simply can’t afford to stroll around the show barns or the exhibit halls. And I call that a damn shame.

11. Oh, and one more thing! In the very beginning they went around calling this new festival ‘Boerne Day’, but fortunately somebody decided that surely we could do better than that. A contest was held to name the thing. They got thirty or so entries, with the winning name submitted by Mrs. Anna Voges: Berges Fest, meaning Festival of the Hills.

I’ve saved the one most crucial, most unquestionably important point for last, so that it will etch itself indelibly on your brain - this is what will separate the true Boerneite from the base pretender. It’s pronounced Ber-GESS Fest, NOT Ber-JESS Fest! It’s a hard G, as in ‘grind my gears’, emphatically not a soft G as in ‘geez Louise!’ Make sure you drive this point home by hammering the fist of one hand on the palm of the other. It’s a hard G! With your fame as a Berges Fest know-it-all now firmly cemented and having acquired a large crowd of friends and star-struck admirers, you’ve earned the right to now simply drop the mic like a boss. Many of your fans will eagerly buy you beer from the Biergarten and there’s a strong probability that you’ll be presented with your own lederhosen and asked to serve as Grand Marshall at next year’s parade. Congratulations Grasshopper, I’ve taught you well. Bask in the glow of celebrity, have a beer, and don’t forget to pour a little out for your home girl.

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EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

CONCERNED ABOUT RETIREMENT?

HUNGRY FOR AN EDUCATION?

Join us for a free educational dinner held weekly at Bob’s, Ruth’s Chris, or Maggianos. RSVP at 210-255-3040 Texas License Number 1490984

507 E. Blanco Rd.

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Boerne, TX

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210-255-3040

MOM

Mother’s Day is May 8th. It’s still not too late to get her something she will most certainly never forget. We here at EXPLORE have put together a list of some things your mom may (or may not) find pretty darn awesome.

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Who doesn’t love a versatile small kitchen appliance? Especially mom. She spends most of her time there anyway, right? So why not make sure she has the very best equipment a minimum wage job can afford.

Nothing is more fitting for ANY mother than a fully stocked liquor cabinet. Whether it’s a new mother who hasn’t slept for 7 months because of junior’s colic. Or the mother of a middle schooler who has just finished your science fair project at the last minute for the 3rd year in a row. EVERY mother deserves a good strong “pick-me-up”.

The years of dealing with all of your constant BS has taken it’s toll on your mother and her body. Remember she grew you for 9 months.

Give her something to show that you’re sorry and want her to look like her 20 year old self.

The ever popular coupon book. When you’re not sure what mom wants, you can’t go wrong with a few handwritten pieces of paper with empty promises written on them.

Moms hate wrinkles. It’s a scientific fact.

If you, your siblings or father walk out of the house with wrinkled clothes, the entire neighborhood will immediately know your mother is a good for nothing lazy booze hound for letting her family out with wrinkled clothes. So help her keep the secret.

When mom’s not in the kitchen or laundry room she’s in the yard. Making it look beautiful. It’s kind of hard for her to do with that beater of a lawnmower she has. Replace it with a shiny new one. She’ll thank you.

Unless your mom is ok with letting you go outside with wrinkled clothes, she’s probably always wanting to know how to better parent you. Books on the subject of parenting are plentiful and when it comes from you, she’ll know she needs to work a little harder on raising your right.

It isn’t often when mom gets to sit down.

With the constant cooking, ironing and yard work, sitting time is a luxury not often enjoyed. However, when she does find those precious moments, make sure she can still be productive with Sit and be Fit DVDs. Remember, you destroyed her body.

These days everyone gets a trophy. Except mom. But this will let you tell her how much you appreciate her taking you to soccer practice, games, your friend’s house, shopping, the movies, restaurants, fixing your food, washing your underwear and keeping that yard oh so spectacular. Because if anyone deserves a participation trophy, it’s your mom.

After what is sure to be a long, yet rewarding day of laundry, ironing, yard work, chaperoning and cooking, your mom is probably pretty rank. Make sure though, when you tell her she stinks, she has a fancy cap to protect her hair in the shower.

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

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Unlimited: $199/month Spectrum Physical Therapy patients receive a 15% discount. (Excludes Introductory Session and Unlimited)

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www.boernept.com 1002 E. Blanco Rd., Suite B | Boerne, TX 78006 | 830.331.8420 To schedule an appointment contact Krista Malone | 830.431.1297 | kmalone2112@gmail.com Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/spectrumphysicaltherapy

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EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

YOUR LEGAL TEAM FAMILY LAW | CRIMINAL LAW | PROBATE | BUSINESS LAW P RO U DLY S E RV I NG T H E H I L L C O U N T RY A N D T H E S TAT E OF T E X A S

L AW F I R M

507 E. Blanco Rd.

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Boerne, TX

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830-331-2772

LIFE

ANOTHER PERSON’S SHOES Can we talk?

Would you allow me a few minutes to be really honest about something I see in our community that really needs to change?

By Paul Wilson

I don’t know if it’s a Southern thing, a Texas thing, or an affluence thing. We sure like to protect our image by portraying an “everything is okay” illusion for others to see.

Henry David Thoreau writes,

I’m not talking about increasing problems with traffic congestion, road construction, the development of more sub-divisions, or water conservation in our neck of the woods.

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?”

I am talking about the way we treat each other.

Oh, to see life through another person’s eyes; to feel what it’s like to walk in their shoes.

I recently crossed paths with a family in our area going through one of the worst nightmares imaginable. As more details emerged about all that had led up to their crisis, I was heartbroken. It was difficult to witness firsthand just how devastating the impact of our behavior is on other people’s lives.

Every day we rub shoulders with people who live in our own neighborhood and never really know the truth about what is going on in their life. They drive by the house as we mow the lawn. We exchange a quick wave and then go on about our chores. Behind the roar of the lawnmower we silently mull over our own problems while our neighbor does the same ensconced in the stillness of their car’s quiet interior.

While I am not about to blame anybody for what ultimately transpired in this family’s life, I ache to think it could have all been avoided if people had just treated one another with more understanding.

“Stick and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” is an outright lie.

The truth is, words can hurt far worse than the injuries suffered from branches and rocks.

The broken bones of blunt force trauma can heal, but the open wounds of bullying never really go away. That kind of pain often persists for a lifetime, wreaking havoc down on the deepest level of the human spirit. An injured soul can bleed the life right out of a human being.

After seeing the heartache of this family’s experience firsthand, I was haunted by a simple truth I wish I could get every person on the planet to understand.

It is this: “You just never know what it’s like to walk in another person’s shoes.”

I am convinced that if a few people had been more considerate of the fact that there was a lot going on under the surface of one person’s life, this tragedy could have been avoided.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MAYBERRY Let’s face it. We sure live on a really nice side of town.

Those of us who reside in the reach of Explore magazine are fortunate to make our home in one of the most ideal areas of the southern United States. Both locally and nationally, this part of town consistently ranks among some of the best places to live.

Here in the heart of the beautiful Texas Hill-Country we are surrounded by wide-open spaces full of stately oak trees and endless blue skies. Our children attend blue ribbon schools. We have our pick from restaurants of every variety, shopping centers of all sizes, and churches on every corner. There are almost unlimited choices for recreation and entertainment. Affluent neighborhoods full of lovely homes, expensive automobiles, and comfortable lifestyles are found everywhere you look.

It is possible to look around us and generally conclude that most of our neighbors enjoy happy lives full of comfort and convenience with little cause for serious concern. Many who drive through our area of town headed west out of San Antonio look at our bucolic bubble with a quiet envy.

Words like “well to do” come to mind.

However, if there is anything I have learned in the past twenty years of doing what I do on this side of town, it is this.

“Well to do” doesn’t always mean “doing well.”

Safely ensconced in our quaint little enclave, it is possible to be deceived into believing that everybody is fine.

By virtue of the kind of work I do, I am often invited into a place in people’s lives that others rarely see. On countless occasions I have sat with folks most of us would consider happy, healthy, successful, and satisfied, only to be reminded once again “you just never know what it’s like to walk in another person’s shoes.”

Things are not always as they appear. Seldom, might be more accurate.

Dysfunction, abuse, neglect, estrangement, addiction, and isolation exist everywhere.

The wealthy are not insulated from this kind of personal poverty. In fact, wealth often perpetuates it.

Unfortunately, our penchant for pretense only makes matters worse.

None of us ever really knows what people are going through at any given moment. Nor can we appreciate what they may have been enduring for years. In the exact same way people have no clue about the full extent of the struggles you have faced in your life, you don’t know the depth of another person’s heartache either.

Other than what we allow on the surface for others to see, our busy schedules keep us from truly knowing much about each other. The truth is hidden behind the façade of a smile we paint on as we head out the door for another day.

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In the aisles of the grocery store, on the streets where we drive, in the hallways at school, we pass each other throughout our day. Behind the courteous smiles and friendly waves, we have no idea what each other are going through.

The woman whose recent mammogram revealed a cancerous tumor.

The seventh grade boy being bullied at school by his more popular peers.

The father losing custody of his children.

The couple facing bankruptcy.

The teenager whose ADHD leaves her alienated from her peers.

The single mom who just can’t make ends meet…again.

The elderly senior whose busy children rarely check to see if he’s okay.

The aging executive let go from his job, still years away from retirement.

The college student feeling completely overwhelmed with the realization that she is going to fail her semester…much to her parent’s disappointment.

The good man who would give anything to stop drinking.

The dad trying everything he can think of to connect with his otherwise uninterested teenager.

The blended family struggling to broker peace and harmony under the same roof.

The father of three dying of an illness even the doctors can’t explain.

The young lady being sexually abused by the only family member she could tell.

The beautiful woman struggling with an ugly depression.

The middle-aged male awkwardly negotiating familiar friendships after a recent divorce.

The successful surgeon who can’t repair a broken marriage.

The tenth grade girl whose frizzy hair, out of control acne, and rejection from her peers has her seriously considering suicide.

The new family from out of state who can’t seem to penetrate the local cliques.

The foreigner whose skin color and hard to understand accent leaves him feeling viewed with prejudice or suspicion.

Someone customarily asks, “How are you?”

We impulsively reply, “Fine.”

The truth is, that’s a lie.

“Fine” is just code for “I’m not about to honestly tell you how I am really doing.”

WHAT CAN WE DO? I’m not asking that all of us start vomiting out to complete strangers the unvarnished truth about all that is really going on in our life. I’m not advocating we hang out our dirty laundry every time somebody inquires as to how we are doing. That would be neither helpful nor healing. It would just be awkward. That sort of thing is best done in smaller circles of relationship where trust and confidentiality are assured.

What I’m asking for is more understanding. If we all lived with a greater awareness that there’s more to everybody’s story than what we see on the surface, it might cause us to treat them with greater compassion. We don’t have to know all the gory details. We just have to recognize there is usually more going on in a person’s life than what they let us see.

My appeal is about getting us to be more conscientious of the fact that “we just don’t know what it’s like to walk in another person’s shoes.” If we did, we’d be more patient, more gracious, and more considerate. In other words, less critical and more compassionate.

What if we would just decide, once and for all, that we will never really know what it’s like to live somebody else’s life. And because we’ll never really know, we should go ahead and treat everybody we meet with kindness. No exceptions. Everybody gets our compassion because we just never know how much they might need it.

What do you say Boerne, Fair Oaks Ranch, Leon Springs, and Bulverde? Let’s resolve to treat each other with more understanding.

What do you say we agree to honor three new resolutions?

I RESOLVE to be considerate to EVERY person I meet. I just might be the only person who treats them that way.

Rather than trying to sort out who gets our consideration and who doesn’t, let’s just make it easy by offering every person we meet the same thoughtfulness we’d like to receive.

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

Instead of sizing up people based on their wardrobe, hairstyle, skin color, the brand of automobile they drive, or even the way they behave, let’s remember, “We just don’t know what it’s like to walk in another person’s shoes.”

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE GOLDEN RULE? Whether you’re into religion or not, all of us can find value in the practical, yet profound words of Jesus.

All of us have had a bad day from time to time. We’ve all said or done something stupid at one time or another. Who hasn’t been overwhelmed with something going in our life that’s left us impatient and distracted, resulting in very uncharacteristic behavior? What each and every one of us wouldn’t give to receive a little grace and understanding when we’re not at the top of our game. In our less than impressive moments, we’d sure like for people to remember there may be more going on in our world than what they could possibly know in that moment.

“Treat one another in the way you’d like to be treated.”

This awareness impacts the issue of bullying.

I’ve concluded that children learn how to be bullies from the adults in their life. How else do you explain it? Somebody is instilling in them what is acceptable for how we treat another person. Us big people are either modeling it for them or allowing that kind of behavior to be appropriate by not correcting it.

If we are critical, demeaning, disrespectful, intimidating, and aggressive toward others, our children will mimic our behavior in those places where they “rule.” Places like the playground, the hallways, the cafeteria, and the neighborhood become the social domains where they exhibit what they are learning (and feeling) from us about how to establish control or inflict humiliation.

Let’s resolve to write a different story for them to read. The one about how EVERY person is worthy of our respect.

I RESOLVE to speak ONLY words of encouragement to every person I meet. Mine may be the only positive words somebody ever says to them.

Words can give life, or take it. What we choose to say to each other – and how we choose to say it – can make all the difference in the world. Every one of us possesses the power to inspire, affirm, or console with just our words. It doesn’t require money, education, position, or power to speak a few words of encouragement and hope to another person.

When will we learn that our harsh, insensitive, critical, and demeaning words say more about us than the person on the receiving end of our caustic comments? We like to think we’re being bold when we “tell people what we really think,” or “really let them have it” if they cross some line with us. In the end, we’re not being braver or building a better world. We’re diminishing the fabric of our society by becoming a less gracious and compassionate people.

This one simple principle could change the world if we’d let it change us.

Part of treating others the way we’d like to be treated is to remember what it felt like when we needed the support of others.

Jesus said the same thing another way.

“Love your neighbor as yourselfg.”

The truth of the matter is, all of us are pretty good at loving ourselves. Few of us put off doing whatever it takes to meet our needs, acquire our wants, and satisfy our desires.

While I am all for taking good care of ourselves as a healthy expression of self-love, we must be aware of how quickly we can plummet into pure selfishness if we are not careful.

The line between taking care of ourselves and becoming self-absorbed is a fine one. It can be crossed over easily.

The wisdom in what Jesus was recommending is to be diligent at putting the same kind of effort into loving others as we put into taking care of ourselves.

Every one of us is familiar with the sting of life’s blows. We know what it’s like to have the wind taken out of our sails or to be the odd man out. We know how it feels to do something embarrassing or to make a mess of things.

Has it really been so long since we were on the outside of the “in crowd”? Have we have forgotten how lonely that feels? Do those feelings ever go away? Or do we just forget how much we wanted somebody to be on our side when it seemed like everybody else was against us?

All of us can remember those moments in our life where we have longed for some understanding and compassion. To this day, we are grateful for those people who gave us their support when we needed it. We are still a tad resentful toward those who didn’t. And, if the truth were told, we continue to nurse a smoldering grudge toward those who picked on us when we needed somebody to pick us up.

WE’RE BETTER THAN THAT. Aren’t we?

If you’re reading this article out in public, take a look at the people around you. If you’re in a restaurant, look at the diners seated at tables near you or consider your waiter. If you’re at the office, turn around in your chair and take in the faces of the people you work alongside of every day. If you’re reading this at home, just look out your window at your neighbor’s house.

I RESOLVE to be the FIRST one to help somebody who could use a hand. I may be the only one who does.

And think to yourself, “You just never really know what it’s like to walk in another person’s shoes.”

Helping another person can be so costly. Whether it’s our valuable time, money, social standing, or some other limited resource, helping requires something from us. Interestingly, to spare ourselves the expense, we take fractions of a second to calculate who is worthy of our assistance. Truth be told, the criteria we use to deem who will or will not receive our aid is often influenced by prejudice, stereotype, or bias. It’s not a very pretty picture when revealed for what it really is.

Who knows what’s going on in their life right now? Maybe they could use an encouraging word or a helping hand.

Will you be the one to give it to them?

Who knows? Their life may depend upon it.

So, what do you say we confront it with a renewed determination that anybody in need deserves our help? Rather than talking ourselves out of it by rationalizing that somebody else will do it, let’s be the heroic-hearted person who acts first.

I will be the first to welcome someone to the neighborhood.

I will be the first to get up from my circle of friends in the cafeteria to sit with someone eating alone.

I will be the first to offer a helping hand to the person who could use it.

I will be the first to walk alongside of the kid everybody picks on.

I will be the first to ask, “May I help you?” to the stranger who looks lost, confused, anxious, or alone.

I will be the first to walk across the room and introduce myself to the person whose skin color, accent, or traditional dress is obviously not from around here.

Who knows? Maybe, just maybe, if we’d treat others with more compassion they might treat us with the same kind of thoughtfulness in return. Our world really could become a better place.

MAY 2016

www.hillcountryexplore.com

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EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

ART OF

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EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

BY KRISTINE DURAN Since man had the ability to make and use tools, stonemasonry has existed. This meticulous craft of shaping rocks into precise geometrical shapes and arranging them accurately has created many historical structures that still stand today, such as the Taj Mahal and the Egyptian Pyramids. So it is no surprise when long-time Boerne resident, J.J. San Miguel of Robert San Miguel & Son Masonry reveals the history that this craft has in the San Miguel lineage and how the art form influences his everyday life.

After dropping out of school at the age of fourteen, J.J.’s father Robert went into stonemasonry. By his twenties, he had started his own business, employing his brothers and even his own father. “It was a whole family thing going on,” J.J. says. “My dad was here, my grandparents were here, and my grandpa’s grandpa was here, so we’ve probably been in the Boerne area for about 130 years.” And once J.J. turned twelve, he was also contributing to the family business every summer.

J.J. went into the Air Force after high school, but took over the business as soon as he returned in 1991. “I kind of got to know all of the guys [over the years], so it was a pretty easy transition when I came back,” J.J. says. Being exposed to the craft since birth, the artistic element of stonemasonry just came as second nature to him.

“I do see myself as an artist,” he says. “I don’t think I have any other artistic side of me, it really all comes down to stone. You get in that niche.” He also sees each of his employees as artists in their own right.

“I can look at a house that we’ve done or someone else has done and I can tell you what mason has laid what part and where another mason took over. I can pick out the little things that people do when they’re all laying down different parts of a wall.”

This sophisticated eye for detail is what allows his business to provide clients with what they really want, even if they didn’t know exactly what they wanted to begin with. “Once they get to the designing stage, they already have an idea of what style they’re going for. A lot of the time, you just have to pick their brain to see which way it’s going to go. There are different classes of rock; different styles. Even just the way you clean the mortar off of the stones makes a big difference so you really have to pick your poison one way or another.” But in the end when the client asks J.J., “what do you think?” His trusted opinion sways them 90% of the time.

MAY 2016

Much like fashion, trends also affect what is aesthetically pleasing at a particular time as well. “It’s weird because we can go for five years doing nothing but random pieces that are all different shapes, then squares for a couple of years, then lueder stone; [the business] has these big cycles that it goes through. It’s really neat.” San Miguel tries to incorporate these trends in any project, whether it is elaborate arches or full masonry fireplaces. One prevalent trend in the industry right now: pizza ovens.

His work mentality doesn’t turn off once the work day is done either.

J.J. is constantly looking for new and different types of stone to introduce to his clients. He finds inspiration while running errands or on everyday outings with his family. “I recently went to a wedding in San Antonio in one of the old churches and I kept looking at the stone; checking out how they laid it,” J.J. says. “Anywhere I go, that’s what I’m looking at.”

Most of the work Robert San Miguel & Son do is at Cordillera Ranch; a place they’ve seen transform since its opening. “I still remember when it would rain, trying to get up that main caliche road,” J.J. recollects of the time they worked on the sales office. “I had to put it in four wheel drive to get over the top!” But aside from Cordillera, the entire Boerne area is chockfull of San Miguel’s loyal clients. Without any advertising, the company completely runs off of word of mouth. “We’ve worked with almost every builder in Boerne over the years. People that dad has done houses for thirty or forty years ago, we are now stoning those individuals’ kids’ houses.” Although the phone never stops ringing at their offices, J.J. admits that it’s still the humble company his dad began those many years ago.

Now at 78, his dad still drives some of the guys to work every morning. “We’re a small business and we make an honest living.

We’re not going to get rich,” J.J. laughs. “But we make a lot of good friends and we meet a lot of good people. We just pay the bills and keep moving on.”

Robert San Miguel & Son Masonry J.J. San Miguel Frzrope2004@aol.com 210-573-5717

www.hillcountryexplore.com

31

BBQ

FIRE UP THE GRILLS! Now is the perfect time to take the family into the backyard, invite the neighbors over and do what every red blooded American loves to do. Eat some red blooded animals. They’re just so tasty. And we’re here to give you the tools that will take the entire experience from good to EPIC.

THE PURE

THE GOOD

BROIL KING GAS GRILL

WEBER GRILL For the gas snob that lurks in all of us this is the old standby. Inexpensive, utilitarian and yet wield this tool properly and you’ll cook up some of the best steaks and burgers. EVER. There’s a reason there are a line of restaurants that use Weber grills to cook EVERYTHING on the menu. It can do everything.

iGRILL DIGITAL THERMOMETER

KEGORATOR What grill master couldn’t use their very own kegorator? This one fits 1/2 barrel kegs so it’s pretty easy to roll around and you don’t really have to share if you don’t want to.

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Yeah it may look like what your weird uncle Buddy used to use back in the 70s. But hey. If it ain’t broke... don’t fix it. This little guy is great when you don’t want to break the bank, yet still want quality build and good eats.

We understand it’s a pain to be constantly checking your meat to make sure you don’t kill anyone. Or at least put them in the hospital. This dual prong digital thermometer will message your phone when your vittles are tender and done.

SANCTO SCORPIO HOT SAUCE This is for those who like fire. Fire on the grill. Good.

Fire in your mouth? Well, we all have our different tastes.

Though after using a bit of this stuff you might not be able to taste much. But give it a try. It might just be the last good thing you ever taste.

THE BETTER

THE

ULTIMATE

THE GRILLERY GRILLWORKS This is just cool to look at. And is pretty versatile too. An adjustable grate lets you get your meat in the exact position for that perfect sear and a rotisserie for chicken or pork. Wood or coals for this bad boy. This was handmade to be looked at and enjoyed as the delicious smells find their way to your nose.

MACHO MUSCLE MAN APRON Let’s face it. There are certain social situations where it’s inappropriate to parade around shirtless and in your underwear. With this handy apron you’ll not only keep those clothes you’re forced to wear clean, you’ll show everyone just what they’re missing underneath.

FIRE MAGIC ECHELON Ultimate indeed. This grill is for the true master. With over 1,000 square inches of primary grilling space, this is the most expensive production grill around.

Add to that the side burners that come in a variety of configurations and you have a grill that will feed an entire family reunion before uncle Buddy is back from buying beer.

TTU BBQ BRANDING IRON Because guys like to burn stuff. And since it’s never a good thing to burn the meat, at least you can burn a little bit of it to show your team spirit. There’s rumors you can get other team logos. But who the hell would want to?

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

BBQ SWORD Yes this is a skewer with a sword handle. No it’s not irrational. Yes you need this. And it comes with a niffty mask. In the incredibly rare chance you burn the meat, at least you’ll be able to make a clean getaway, and no one will ever know.

MAY 2016

www.hillcountryexplore.com

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MUSIC

BOERNE CIBOLO NATURE CENTER JUNE 18th: Moondance Concert feat. The Court Jesters @ 7:30pm; Members: $7.50, Non: $10, 65+: $5, Kids 12-under: free

MI CASA TAMALES JULY 23rd: Moondance Concert feat. Joe King Carrasco @ 7:30pm; Members: $7.50, Non: $10, 65+: $5, Kids 12-under: free

AUGUST 20th: Moondance Concert feat. La Tampiquena @ 7:30pm; Members: $7.50, Non: $10, 65+: $5, Kids 12-under: free

JUNE 24th: The Spazmatics JULY 30th: The KLOCKS

FREDERICKSBURG SILVER CREEK

TRADE DAYS

JUNE 1st: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 3rd: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 6th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 8th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 10th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 13th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 15th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 17th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 20th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 22nd: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 24th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 27th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 29th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm

JULY 1st: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 6th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 8th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 11th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 13th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 15th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 18th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 20th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 22nd: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 25th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 27th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 29th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am

AUGUST 1st: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 3rd: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 5th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 8th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 10th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 12th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 15th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 17th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 19th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 22nd: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 24th: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm 26th: Live Music All Day @ 12pm-1:30am 29th: “Blues Monday” @ 7pm 31st: Sol Patch Live @ 6-9pm

JUNE 18th - 19th: Southern Comfort Band @ 12-4pm; $5 Parking JULY 16th - 17th: Pushwater @ 12-4pm; $5 Parking AUGUST 20th - 21st: Cameran Nelson @ 12-4pm; $5 Parking

LUCKENBACH

BLANCO

LUCKENBACH DANCE HALL

TWIN SISTERS DANCE HALL

JUNE 4th: Blue Water Highway Band @ 9pm; $10 ADV, $15 @ Door, Kids 12-under free 10th: Doug Moreland @ 8pm 24th: Almost Patsy Cline @ 8pm

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JULY 8th: Doug Moreland @ 8pm 9th: L&M Kings @ 8pm 15th: Southern Brothers @ 9pm; $10 Adults, Kids 12-under free 16th: Cody Canada & The Departed + The O’s @ 8pm; $20 Adults, Kids 12-under free 22nd: Almost Patsy Cline @ 8pm 29th: The Merles @ 8pm

AUGUST 12th: Doug Moreland @ 8pm 13th: Parker McCollum + Flatland Cavalry @ 8pm; $10 ADV, $15 @Door, Kids 12-under free 19th: The Merles @ 8pm 26th: Almost Patsy Cline @ 8pm 27th: Lewis & Martin @ 8pm

JUNE 4th: Hot Texas Swing Band @ 8pm JULY 2nd: Bobby Flores & the Yellow Rose Band @ 8pm; $20 ADV, $25 @ Door, Kids 11-under free

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

GRUENE GRUENE HALL JUNE 1st: The Georges @ 7pm 2nd: Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun @ 7pm 3rd: Charlie Robison @ 8pm; $25 4th: Radney Foster @ 9pm; $25 5th: Bob Livingston @ 12:30-4:30pm 6th: Grouchy Like Riley @ 7pm 7th: Two Tons of Steel @ 8:30pm 8th: Casper Rawls Band @ 7pm 9th: High Plains Jamboree feat. Noel McKay & Brennan Leigh @ 7pm 10th: The Black Lillies @ 8pm; $12 11th: Jonathan Tyler @ 9pm; $12 12th: Gospel Brunch w/ a Texas Twist led

by Bret Graham @ 10:30am-Noon; $30, advance ticket purchase advised 12th: Bret Graham @ 12:30-5pm 12th: Hot Club of Cowtown @ 5:30pm 13th: Grouchy Like Riley @ 7pm 14th: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 15th: The Georges @ 7pm 16th: Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun @ 7pm 19th: Lone Star Swing @ 12:30-4:30pm 20th: Grouchy Like Riley @ 7pm 21st: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 22nd: Bo Porter @ 7pm 23rd: Aaron Einhouse @ 7pm 27th: Grouchy Like Riley @ 7pm 28th: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 29th: The Georges @ 7pm 30th: Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun @ 7pm

THE GRAPEVINE JULY 3rd: South Austin Moonlighters @ 12:304:30pm 3rd: Mike Zito @ 5-9pm 5th: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 10th: Gospel Brunch w/ a Texas Twist led

by Bret Graham @ 10:30am-12pm; $30 – advance ticket purchase advised 10th: Bret Graham @ 12;30-5pm 10th: Prophets and Outlaws @ 5:30-9pm 12th: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 13th: The Georges @ 7pm 19th: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 24th: Guy Forsyth’s Hot Nut Riveters @ 12:30-4:30pm 26th: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 27th:The Georges @ 7pm 30th: Flat Top Jones @ 1-5pm 31st: Slim Bawb @ 12-3:30pm 31st: Linda Gail Lewis @ 4:30-9pm

AUGUST 2nd: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 3rd: The Georges @ 7pm 9th: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 14th: Gospel Brunch w/ a Texas Twist led by Bret Graham @ 10:30-Noon; $30, advance ticket purchase advised 14th: Bret Graham @ 12:30-4:30pm 16th: Two Tons Of Steel @ 8:30pm 17th: The Georges @ 7pm 27th: Flat Top Jones @ 1-5pm 28th: Slim Bawb @ 12-3:30pm 28th: Mike Zito @ 5-9pm 31st: The Georges @ 7-11pm

JUNE 3rd: Bret Graham @ 5-8pm 4th: Dirty River Dixie Band @ 6-9pm 10th: Adam Johnson @ 5-8pm 11th: Bret Graham @ 6-9pm 16th: Sylvia Kirk @ 5-8pm 17th: Jorge & Nicole @ 5-8pm 18th: Bo Porter @ 6-9pm 19th: Dirty River Dixie Band @ 3-6pm 24th: Dan McCoy @ 5-8pm 25th: Bob Cheevers @ 6-9pm JULY 1st: Jorge & Nicole @ 5-8pm 2nd: Bret Graham @ 6-9pm 3rd: Adam Johnson @ 2-5pm 3rd: Dirty River Dixie Band @ 6-9pm 8th: Dan McCoy @ 5-8pm 9th: Bret Graham @ 6-9pm 15th: Bret Graham @ 5-8pm 16th: Bo Porter @ 6-9pm 17th: Bo Porter @ 3-6pm 21st: Ryan Waguespack @ 5-8pm 22nd: Dan McCoy @ 5-8pm 23rd: Bret Graham @ 6-9pm 29th: Bob Cheevers @ 5-8pm 30th: Sylvia Kirk @ 6-9pm

CONCAN

BANDERA

HELOTES

HOUSE PASTURE CATTLE COMPANY

11TH STREET COWBOY BAR

FLOORE’S COUNTRY STORE

JUNE 4th: Rough River Band; $10 ADV 11th: The Spazmatics; $20 ADV 17th: Bellamy Brothers; $25 ADV 18th: Josh Abbott Band; $20 ADV 24th: Cory Morrow; $20 (21+), $25 (under 21)

JUNE 1ST: The Toman Brothers @ 7pm 3rd: The Ricky Adams Band @ 8:30pm 4th: John Christopher Way @ 9pm; $8 8th: Steak Night with Kenny Grohman @ 7pm 10th: The Toman Brothers @ 8:30pm 15th: Steak Night with The Ricky Adams Band @ 6pm 17th: The Clay Hollis Band @ 8:30pm 18th: Lonnie Spiker @ 9pm; $8 22nd: Steak Night with T-Kaye & Sweetfire @ 6pm 24th: Mario Moreno @ 8:30pm 25th: Jerry De Leon and South Bound @ 9pm; $5 29th: Lone Star Pickers @ 6pm

JUNE 3rd: Aaron Watson @ 9pm; $15 ADV, $20 Day Of 11th: Turnpike Troubadours @ 9pm; $20 ADV, $25 Day Of 12th: Huey Lewis & the News @ 8pm; $42.50 ADV, $50 Day of; Reserved Seating: $57.50 ADV 17th: Gary Allen @ 9pm; $35 ADV, $40 Day Of 24th: William Clark Green @ 9pm; $12 ADV, $15 Day Of

JULY 2nd: Cody Johnson feat. Sam Riggs; $25 8th: Kyle Park; $10 9th: Kyle Park; $20 ADV 15th: Wade Bowen; $20 ADV 16th: Jason Boland & the Stragglers; $20 (21+), $25 (under 21) ADV 22nd: JB and the Moonshine Band; $10 ADV 23rd: Kevin Fowler; $20 ADV 29th: William Clark Green; $15 ADV 30th: Earl Thomas Conley; $25 ADV AUGUST 12th: Casey Donahew Band; $20 ADV

JULY 1st: Clay Walker @ 9pm; $25 ADV, $30 Day Of AUGUST 6th: Kevin Fowler @ 9pm; $15 ADV, $20 Day Of

LEON SPRINGS

SPRING BRANCH

LEON SPRINGS DANCE HALL

THE SHADE TREE SALOON

JUNE 3rd: Gunpowder Soup @ 8:15pm; $10 4th: Rocky King Band @ 8:15pm; $15 17th: Bret Mullins Band @ 8:15pm; $10 18th: Rick Reyna Band @ 8:15pm; $10 24th: Monte Good Band @ 8:15pm; $10 25th: Texas Family Tradition @ 8:15pm; $10 JULY 1st: Almost Patsy Cline @ 8:15pm; $10 2nd: Cactus Country @ 8:15pm; $10 9th: Billy Mata @ 8:15pm; $15 23rd: Put Jake Hooker & the Outsiders @ 8:15pm; $15 ADV, $20 @ Door 30th: Rocky King Band @ 8:15pm; $15

MAY 2016

AUGUST 6th: Bobby Flores & the Yellow Rose Band @ 8:15pm; $15 13th: Jeff Woolsey & Dancehall Kings @ 8:15pm; $15 20th: Jody Nix Band @ 8:15pm; $15

JUNE 5th: Llyod Bonham @ 2-6pm 7th: Datura @ 6pm 12th: 3 Man Front @ 2-6pm 14th: Jesse Stratton @ 6pm 19th: Bo Porter @ 2-6pm 21st: Bear & Friends @ 6pm 26th: Nelson @ 2-6pm 28th: Andrea Marie @ 6pm JULY 10th: Bo Daniels @ 2-6pm 12th: Bonnie Lang @ 6pm 17th: Painted Pony @ 2-6pm 19th: Creed Fisher @ 6pm 26th: Pat Kelly & the Painkillers @ 6pm 31st: KGB Band @ 2-6pm

www.hillcountryexplore.com

35

36

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

SPIRITUAL

ROADS LESS TRAVELED

By Kendall D. Aaron

Life is rarely an “easy” journey.

Yes, we can all look around us and identify people that seemingly have it made. As in, the nice house, the stress free career, the perfect kids, and the perpetual smile. These people, from all outward appearances, seem to have it all together.

Paul – was beheaded in Rome by Nero (Paul as a Roman citizen could not be crucified but got an “easier” death sentence).

Philip – preached in Phrygia, and was crucified in Hierapolis with his head downward in the time of Domitian, and was buried there.

And then there’s you and I.

Simon Peter – crucified upside down under Nero in Rome, and was buried there.

We toil, we have enormous struggles we’re working through, we cry at night, and we lament what seems to be a perpetual stream of hardships that we just can’t seem to shake. We moan out to God about why He would allow us to struggle so hard through what we think are injustices, and yet, they never cease to end. Life is not the easy journey that we see others enjoying, but rather, it’s a struggle that we feel we certainly do not deserve.

Simon the Zealot – the son of Clopas, who is also called Jude, became bishop (or2nd Patriarch) of Jerusalem after James the Just, and fell asleep and was buried there at the age of 120 years ORcrucified.

So what gives?

How can God bless one person with relative ease, yet admonish us with hardships? The answer is one that you would have to ask God Himself, but lately I’ve been learning that seeking the answer is one of futility. For whatever reason, God has called us to struggle, and the reality is that we can only control what we can control and try to exhibit Christ through that struggle. Yes, I’m speaking from personal experience when I describe hardships, as I have been waist-deep in them for years straight now. And frankly, I’m tired.

As we read the bible, we find some pretty amazing people. These people gave their entire lives over to Christ, and tried to live in ways that best reflected Him. While they gave their all for Him, they ultimately gave EVERYTHING for him in the form of their lives.

Just a few examples: Andrew (Peter’s brother) – was crucified, suspended on an olive tree, at Patrae, a town of Achaia [Greece]; Bartholomew (aka Nathanael) – was beaten then crucified with his head downward, and was buried in Allanum, a town of the great Armenia (modern day southern Georgia).

Isaiah – tradition says he was encased in a tree and ‘sawed asunder’.

James (The Lesser), Son of Alphaeus – stoned to death in Jerusalem.

James (The Greater), Son of Zebedee – when preaching in Judea, was beheaded with the sword by Herod the tetrarch, and was buried there.

John (the disciple “that Jesus loved) brother of James and son of Zebedee – was banished

by Domitian to the Isle of Patmos, and later died of “old age” in Ephesus.

Matthew/Levi – Matthew wrote the Gospel in the Hebrew tongue, and published it at Jerusalem, and fell asleep at Hierees, a town of Parthia, near modern day Tehran. OR speared to death!

Matthias replaced Judas (Acts 1:26).

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Thaddaeus/Judas son of James, Jude, who is also called Lebbaeus – preached to the people of Edessa, and to all Mesopotamia, and fell asleep at Berytus; was stoned to death and buried there. He is sometimes identified as Thomas in eastern Syrian tradition.

Thomas – preached to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and Margians, and was thrust through in the four members of his body with a pine spear at Calamene, the city of India, and was buried there.

These are but a few examples. There are many more and they give me a perspective that is pretty sobering. They lived lives that pursued Christ, yet experienced the ultimate in “hardship” in that they were violently murdered for their faith.

Back to our modern lives – many of us, myself included, try to live good lives. We seek honesty, and peace, and harmony. We try to raise our children correctly, try to pay our bills on time, and be kind to our fellow man. Yet we find ourselves absolutely buried under mountains of stress that we feel is unfair.

And perhaps it is “unfair”, yet God has put us there, so the trick is to find the “purpose”.

Going broke? Job troubles? Kid troubles? Marriage troubles? Yes, those are all tough (and ones I’m experiencing, too) but are they also opportunities? It’s an incredibly difficult exercise, but what if you quit trying to control everything in your life, and left them for God to handle on your behalf? You are not facing an execution squad (as many of the people above were), so what if God is trying to teach us how to find peace in the chaos and to rely on Him in a more deliberate way? What if we stopped expecting the easy journey, but instead, thanked God for our current journey….as we trust that His journey is one that is part of His plan?

Somebody told me the other day, “Sometimes God doesn’t take us into the deep in order to drown us, but instead, takes us there to CLEANSE us.”

I don’t want to be cleansed any more than you do, but if I trust in my God, and I live accordingly…He has told me countless times that “all good things work for the good of those that believe.” So I trudge on, and I believe.

Because in the end, there’s nothing else I can do. And I’ll pray for you and hope you’ll pray for me.

EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

Gentle, Caring, Family Practice, Courteous Professional Staff • State of the Art Procedures & Techniques

WE’ VE RECENTLY E XPANDED George E. Metz III, DDS • Michael Hoeppner, DDS

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NowRaccepting appointments for Kevin Beitchman, DDS, MS - Orthodontist WE’ VE ECENTLY E X PA N DED George E. Metz III, DDS • Michael Hoeppner, DDS

Kendall Woods Dental 830-229-5581

25 FM 3351 South Boerne, Texas 78006

Now accepting appointments for Kevin Beitchman, DDS, MS - Orthodontist

Kendall Woods Dental

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EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

• Ken Nietenhoefer •

Premier Custom Home Builder in the Texas Hill Country For over 40 years, KCN has been building beautiful custom homes of all sizes in Boerne, Comfort, Bandera, Castroville and throughout the Texas Hill Country.

CLASSES • WORKSHOPS • EVENTS “building your practice from the ground up” OFFERING A WIDE VARIETY OF YOGA STYLES

hatha Iyengar yin

vinyasa power vinyasa gentle/adaptive

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NEW STUDENT SPECIAL Unlimited yoga for 30 days for $100 37131 I-10 Frontage Rd. | Boerne, TX 78006 | 830.428.3022

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STOP BLAMING STRESS...

The pain may be caused by your bite.

Our reputation for honesty and integrity, combined with our commitment to deliver excellent quality, expert craftsmanship, and customer service, has afforded us the opportunity to build many long lasting relationships with our clients. In fact, we have constructed two or more jobs for 31 different customers.

830-816-5202 920 East Blanco Road Boerne, TX 78006 www.kcnbuilders.com

When your bite is misaligned it can cause a number of health problems. Such problems include headaches, neck and shoulder pain, sinus and eye pain just to name a few.

Dr. Hawkins has successfully treated hundreds of patient with bite and TMJ issues.

Please call our office at 830-331-7355 to discuss your pain with Dr. Hawkins.

Master in the Academy of General Dentistry • 33 YEARS EXPERIENCE 1677 River Rd., Ste. 103, Boerne • 830-331-7355 • www.drchethawkins.com

MAY 2016

www.hillcountryexplore.com

41

CHARITY

A HOME FOR EVERY CHILD

Last month I had the privilege of writing about the local non-profit that is most dear to my heart: Vault Fostering Community. I gave some staggering statistics regarding the world of foster care and some tangible ways to love on foster families in our community. This month I felt like it would be MOST appropriate to expound on those who really are on the front lines…the actual foster parents. Who better to talk to regarding that topic than a local foster family that started a local fostering agency!

Kyle and Jennifer Smith spent 7 years as fostering and adoptive parents and found themselves more than frustrated with the process and disheartened at the idea of continuing on this path as it was. Jennifer was connected with other foster parents who were also growing weary regarding the current model, so they put their heads and their hearts together and started dreaming and planning. They each felt very alone as foster parents and lost in their various agencies’ focus on rules and numbers rather than relationships, healing, and the child’s best interest. Above anything else, they wanted to build an agency that put God first and intentionally followed Him while serving families and kids with excellence. They were introduced to 4KIDS of South Florida who, after 20 years, had developed this amazing model that has phenomenal results, and began the pursuit of bringing this wisdom and model to South Texas.

4KIDS is a Christian Foster Agency from top to bottom, not simply in name. Four out of five of their board members have personally fostered and adopted and their fifth member is an Executive Pastor at a local church. They are each committed to teaching families how to not only care for the children but also when and how to build a safe relationship with the birth family and show them Christ’s love. Everything 4KIDS does is bathed in prayer and decisions are made in a Christ-honoring way. Their staff has weekly bible studies and they take time to pray with, and for, their foster families.

4KIDS is partners with local churches to bring training to their campus and help them establish healthy foster/adopt ministries, but they are a stand-alone non-profit organization.

They do not rely on state funds, but rather fundraise within the community. This allows them to only make decisions based on a child’s best interest and not based on a quota or budget. They are truly committed to investing in the families by mentoring them, preparing them in the most sufficient way, and making sure they never feel alone through the journey of foster care and/or adoption.

By Misty McElhannon

Jennifer has provided a multitude of ways to support 4KIDS. They desire to be wise with their fundraising efforts and not spend the average of 40% of all donations on an event, so they have developed a giving program. The Legacy Program asks individuals to financially sponsor a foster family, as it costs 4KIDS $1,000 to recruit, train and verify just ONE foster family. They have begun asking men to captain a team of 10 of their friends, with each man giving $1,000 (sponsoring 1 family) for a goal of $110,000 (110 families and countless children served). They have five team captains and are searching for more willing to rise up and take this calling. Other ways to provide would be to offer a venue, food, or prizes (theme park tickets, movie tickets, zoo passes, etc.) for their Christmas, Summer, and Back to School parties intended to rally behind their families. Jennifer explains that monthly donors are key to allowing them to provide any service a child or family may need to heal, go to a camp, or attend special educational programs not covered by the state.

In just eight months, 4KIDS has verified 25 families who have fostered 36 children (31 currently) with two adoptions and two reunifications that continue a relationship to this day. The next steps include a home for teens and youth aging out [of the system], and to build Safe Place, where all children removed from their homes would pass through and receive prayer, new clothes, a shower, food, and a peaceful start to a very stressful time.

Safe Place would be able serve CPS workers, so they can focus their energy and time on finding a home rather than juggling placements while feeding, holding and comforting children. Safe Place is not a shelter, but rather a “pass through” to help children, workers, and families feel safe and loved.

“What if every child that came into foster care had a Christian family praying for them by name?!?! “, asks Jennifer Smith.

Jennifer says that her family has grown so much in their faith journey from laying the often heavy, impossible burden of caring for children from trauma at His feet and watching God do what only He can. It is such an honor to mentor other foster families as they begin their journey and watch as they stretch and grow in their faith and relationship with Christ.

If caring for orphans has been on your heart and you have been looking for the organization to come alongside you in a Christ-like way, then look no more.

Visit www.4kidsofstx.org for more information.

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EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

J O I N U S F O R L I V E M U S I C S AT U R D AY S

M AY 7

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28

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EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.

OLD TIMER

OLD TIMER I went to a City Council meeting recently.

Yes, my ears bled.

I learned a lot about how these little meetings operate, and exactly WHY normal citizens rarely attend: it’s because they’re mind-numbing. Presentations, glad-handing each other, and just a bunch of monotonous readings and exaltations.

However, at this particular meeting, I stumbled into something that made my eyes bug out. An architectural firm presented the Council with their initial concepts for a brand spanking new City Hall building. Keep in mind that this means they basically paid an architectural firm (that WANTS them to build the City Hall) to assess whether they SHOULD build a new City Hall. No really, that’s how this is working so far.

So while I was giggling, I saw the initial concept for City Hall and I gasped audibly.

Almost 45,000 square feet of limestone and glass, looming ominously above Main Street. It includes a fancy new amphitheater for City Council meetings (that no-one but the deranged attends)…but let’s remember that they just moved their meetings to the BRAND NEW police station over on Old San Antonio. Apparently the luster has already worn off. Sigh. Estimated cost: $21,000,000. But hey, the Mayor gets a new corner office.

In this same meeting, the CVB made their argument for why they need to move out of their current location (that they received for FREE from Wal-Mart) and also need a brand spanking new building right in the middle of Main Street. This one also made me giggle, cause here came a different firm who had created a concept for Council to consider.

It gets better, though.

The parking lot across from Fabra that’s currently empty is a………parking lot. The CVB wants to take the parking lot and tear it up. In its place they want to put in a new……… parking lot. Then they want you to build them their new building in the corner of the parking lot. Estimated cost: $1,000,000 I left soon after this little presentation and swore to never return. This little town (that’s getting not so little anymore) makes me simultaneously smile and cry. So many wonderful people call it home, yet so many parts of it are so unbelievably mis-managed without the citizen’s best interests in mind. Case in point: The Civic Center. The City let the building almost fall apart, then whined that it cost $300,000 a year to operate (huh? How is this even possible?) then gave it to the YMCA to use for an annual rent of $25. At the end of their lease, the City is going to give it to them for $0. You paid for it, so they gave it to a private business and then gave away YOUR assets. It’s almost like a bad sitcom.

Now we have this City Hall monstrosity that the Mayor wants. What will happen with the old City Hall? Let me guess – it will simply be used for OTHER City staff to be there.

Speaking of staff, that 45,000 foot building will house 87 employees. Think about it this way: the City is spending approximately $250,000 PER EMPLOYEE for office space. Just let that sink in a minute. We could literally put each employee in their own home in Herff Ranch for less than this building’s cost.

I love it here. I really do. I complain about government, but that’s sort of my responsibility as a citizen of that government. I know that the people running this government aren’t bad people, but I do believe that they have lost sight of their function as servants to the citizens. Servants don’t build themselves $21m City Halls. Or $1m parking lots.

They cut budgets deeply, they find solutions that not only don’t cost you anything, but save you money. They serve you because they respect your tax money and the honor it is to serve in their capacities.

Those things are lost, and I don’t know how to get them back.

But it probably starts with people getting as pissed off as I am and making a monumental stink over it.

So because I just re-read this column and decided that it’s just overly whiny, I need to add a few thoughts. I HATE just bitching about city government…everybody does that. However, as your friendly Old Timer, I feel that I must now SOLVE the problems for city government.

So here goes: Sell existing City Hall. I’m simply making up numbers, but they could probably get $5million for it due to its footprint and historical significance. Take the $5m and rehab the Civic Center to make it the new City Hall (I just saved us $20million). There’s more than enough space at the Civic Center to house all 87 of these employees.

As for the CVB, the answer is no. You’re in a free building, you fit just fine, and quit asking.

I just saved you another $1m.

There – now I feel a little better. Problems solved, and it took me the span of one cup of coffee to do so. If I can do it, I’m fairly confident that the collective brain-power of 87 employees could have done it.

No other entity besides government could ever function this way. Can you imagine a private company spending $1m to house 4 employees? It’s almost laughable. Or $2m for 8 employees? No, of course not. They would get the smallest office space possible (to save money) and put it where they could afford (to save money) and then cut all the “fluff” to meet budgets (to save money) and they would only expand when they were financially able to do so. Not so with this City. After a while it’s almost as if they just look around think to themselves, “Ya know, I’m sick of this old building. Let’s just build a NEW ONE!” and then somebody high-fives somebody else, they hire a firm to advise them on if they should tear up the parking lot to put in a new parking lot, and away they go. Off to the bank with your money.

I’m cranky today. I’ve been writing this little column for a year or so, and it has forced me to stay up to speed on things going on around here. The problem is that the more I learn about how our City is being managed, the more depressed and cranky I’ve been getting. The Civic Center.

The Herff Road debacle. Esperanza. Traffic nightmares. Imminent domain.

The list is getting so long, and it’s getting me down.

Welcome all to Boerne. Please proceed to the Government Overlord building for processing and microchipping.

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EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.