Capitol of Texas Park - A Walk through the Birth of Texas

I stopped by West Columbia, Texas yesterday to check out the progress on that cities latest contribution to the conservation of Texas History. The citizens of West Columbia, the First Capital of the Republic of Texas, will be dedicating a new historical park at 2:00 PM next Saturday. (April 17th, 2009).

While I was there workers were putting the finishing touches on the landscaping and the stonemasons were installing the finishing touches on the 19 markers that take any visitor through a complete short course in the history of the early days of the Republic of Texas.

Have you ever wondered what the first congress of the Republic of Texas actually accomplished in the early days of the republic? There is a marker in the park that tells you. This is what it said:

• Ratified the constitution
• Appointed committees
• Provided for protection from the Indians
• Provided for the army and the navy
• Created the judicial branch
• Created the post office
• Established a financial system
• Adopted an office flag and seal
• Defined the boundaries of the republic

(I wish our government today was this efficient.)

What part did the steam boat “Yellowstone” take in Texas History? There is a marker in the park that tells you the answer to that question and many more.

For more information about the dedication service and more go to this website:
Capitol of Texas Park - A Walk through the Birth of Texas

Of course there are many other things to see and do in West Columbia. While I was there I visited the Varner–Hogg Mansion and I also stopped by the Stephen F. Austin death site. There is also a replica of the first capitol building of the Republic of Texas.

...and there is more. While I was there I noticed that West Columbia has a history museum and I’ve never been there. That will have to be another day.
TexasBob

Mission Galveston - Day Two - A day for all Ages

Today was little different, we started the day with our partner church for Sunday morning services, had a great lunch and then it was on to our work places. As for my shower project we managed to install the shower surround and I learned an important lesson, liquid nails adhesive does not come off the skin without some pain.

One group I forgot to mention yesterday is what I call our “Shock Troops” Four young men and four young women ages 14 -18 work on “Special” projects. The four young men spent the first day moving lumber and supplies from a warehouse to the project houses all over Galveston County. The young women sorted and size the hundreds of pieces of donated clothing for redistribution. Today there was a blind woman whose FEMA benefits ran out on this very day. The Shock Troops moved all her furniture to another house.

And then there are the children. They have fun no matter what. But if you need 2000 hotel size bottles of shampoo, bars of soap and a couple 100 tooth brushes sorted by type and size, bring in the kids. It becomes a game and it gets done.

Many times when you go on a trip like this you learn new skills and this trip has been no different. Today I learned a new skill. How to operate the hotel waffle machine.

Mission Galveston - Day One

I guess I was naïve. I thought just about everybody was back to normal six months after Hurricane Ike. I thought that there would be a few small houses with some problems. What I found was whole subdivisions with an RV in the drive way to live in front of a house and a house that a few short months ago have several feet of water in them. Almost every house was in some stage of construction.

Today our group was divided into four groups.

Group one loaded a large U-Haul truck to capacity with food stuff and clothing. All of which was donated by the folks at Tallowood Church as part of our Worship in Action. After it was all loaded it was delivered to the Galveston /Texas City Ministries. It was then unloaded and sorted by the same group that loaded the truck. There was a lot of stuff and they did not finish but will continue to work on it tomorrow.

Group two was tasked to sheet rock a 1500 square foot house. This work will continue throughout the week. It is a very good crew but it will be hard to complete the sheetrock and tape and bed the joints in the time we have allotted to us.

Group three has two houses adjacent to each other and there is a variety of projects. We are painting, putting down baseboards, cleaning windows, etc. You have probably heard of a house with 2 ½ baths. Well this house has a ½ bath. What I am working on is installing a shower stall in the completely non functioning bath room.

Group four feed all 40+ members of the other teams. They deliver lunch to each of the worksites and prepare and serve an evening meal at our partner church North Baptist Church – Texas City, Texas.

I’m sure I will be sore tomorrow

Mission Galveston

Six months ago the Texas Gulf Coast was hit Hurricane Ike. Galveston County which consists of the city of Galveston on Galveston Island, Port Bolivar peninsula and many small towns on the mainland were devastated. My own home, 50 miles inland received only minor damage and the inconvenience no power for a day.
Galveston County has had major losses of infrastructure, schools, hospitals and jobs. Galveston was totally destroyed in 1900 and recovered. I believe they will recover again. While the government agency discuss and argue the fate of Galveston County its funding and rebuilding many are still without livable shelter
I, my wife and 40 other members of Tallowood Baptist Church are spending our Spring Break working on three houses in Seabrook, Texas. But it’s more than that. We are part of 1400 other volunteers “flooding” Galveston County this week as part of the Nehemiah Project to do whatever needs to be done to rebuild Galveston.
During the coming days, if I’m physically able, I will blog about the activities of our group. Many of you know I primarily blog when I travel to faraway lands, or about Texas High School Football. This week I’m going to blog about 40 people praying, painting and hanging sheetrock.

Join us.

Salt Grass Trail Ride

I’ve live in Texas my whole life and in the Houston area for 16 years. Nobody does rodeo like Houston. Three weeks of Rodeo, about 20 evening performance averaging 50,000 in attendance each night. The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is Texas size. In January of 1952, E.H. Marks formed the very first trail ride as a way to increase awareness of the Show. Though only four men made the first journey from Brenham, Texas, the attention they raised attracted more publicity than ever expected, as more than 80 men signed up the next year. The trail rides are a signature tradition of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo today.

I’ve been associated with Wagon #1, the founder’s wagon, of the Salt Grass trail ride for about 4 years. The trail ride is organized by wagon. It has approximately 25 wagons with 40 riders associated with each wagon.In the beginning the riders slept on the ground or in tents. Today it RV’s, Stock trailers, water trucks, & generators. Today there are 13 different trail rides coming from all across Texas. This coming Friday (February 29th) all 13 trail rides converge in Memorial park near downtown Houston for Saturdays Rodeo Parade. It really plays havoc with the traffic on the freeways.

It's trail ride time in Houston!

"The Alamo" - Revisited

The first time I visited the Alamo was in January of 1969. I was attending the Mid Winter convention of the S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. with my parents. (That is another story for another Blog on another day.) Except for this small convention the city was pretty empty by today’s standards.

That morning I stood in front of the Alamo and took a picture with a Polaroid Land Camera. It was a clean shot, with nobody standing out front. I approached the front of the Alamo chapel and opened the door and went inside. The sign just inside said, “Gentlemen, Please remove your hats.” As the door slammed shut behind me it echoed off the chapel walls. This was quiet solemn place. There couldn’t have been more than 6 people inside including the staff.

I’ve visited the Alamo many times since that January day in 1969. Now when you visit the Alamo the crowds are large. The Alamo is the number one tourist attraction in Texas, followed closely by the number two tourist attraction, the San Antonio river walk.

I was at the Alamo a few days ago with family from Massachusetts. Of course they wanted the obligatory picture made standing in front of the Alamo. It was so crowded that when you have your picture made in front of the Alamo, it’s with about 150 of your tourist friends with you.

I did discover a trick that I want to share with you. If you want a good clean shot of the front of the Alamo All you have to do is get there at first light in the morning. About 7:00 am I walked to the Alamo to take this picture and all that was there was one security guard who knew how to stay out of the picture and another photographer. It's a great time to take a picture.

Texas Bob

Life is Good in McCamey, Texas

Having a good life is a very relative thing. I lived in McCamey, Texas for about 14 years 15 years ago. McCamey, population 1600, is what is left of an oil field boomtown. In its boom days, thousands of folks called it home. I use to say, “McCamey has a population of 100,000 … 2.000 at a time.” Many have called McCamey home only to leave later. It is by far the friendliest town I have ever lived in. There are no strangers in that town. I believe that you could move to McCamey and six months later run for mayor and have a fair chance at winning.

Recently the McCamey Badgers played in the 1A High School Football State Championship game. The game was played at Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood, Texas. The stadium holds 7500 football fans, 3750 0n each side. The McCamey side was full. Most of the town was there. There were a lot people there that use to live in McCamey and then there were the McCamey Exe’s. The man sitting behind me graduated from McCamey High School in 1954 and had not been to McCamey in 40 years, but he was at the game.

McCamey is not the prettiest town and other than the mesas that surround it McCamey could be called an ugly town. The expansion and contraction of the oil patch has taken its toll. However even an ugly baby is loved by his mother.

Texas Bob (On the Road)

Travelin' Texas

That's what I like to do. Whether it is to see the sights or drive 300 miles to see the 1A Football state championship game, traveling Texas is my favorite past time.

There is nothing like waking up in Palo Duro Canyon and sleeping in Houston that night. It's a real Texas drive.

Years ago there was a wagon train moving West. They came upon a big sign that said "This way to the Promise Land". Those that could read followed it. Those who couldn't came to Texas. ... and Texans have been traveling Texas ever since.

I hope to take you along with me "traveling Texas".

Texas Bob