Helotes and recently, a contestant at the Pageant, bartends nights and deserves credit for the younger faces coming in on the weekends. The other bartenders are Loretta Sales, Ryan McKay, Lindsey Simon, and Renee Vanderwater. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. daily and coffee is served in the morning. “That’s for the retired crowd, gives them a place to go,” Tammy said. “During the weekdays, it really is a club house for these guys. The Country Club is a great place to rest easy.” Closing time is 2 a.m. Perhaps the most radical change Tammy made since Lester’s time is now the Country Club takes credit cards. Lester only took cash. Domestic beer is $2.50 a bottle and imports are $3, as is a glass of wine. No spirits. Soda pop, chips, and snacks round out the menu. Bartender Renee Vandewater said the best-sellers are Coors Light, Bud Light, and Miller Light. No, they don’t stock any of that hipster, herb-infused, God-knows-what-kind-of-beer with silly names. And you won’t find anything on tap. “We can say we have the coldest and cheapest beer in town,” Vandewater said. “This is the kind of place where you expect someone to holler out ‘Hey, Norm’ when you walk-in. Lester was the kind of guy who would lend you the shirt off his back and usually did. And he never made a big deal out of it. He was just the nicest guy you were ever likely to meet.” On nights when Floore’s Store has a concert, people can sit out front of the Country Club at the picnic tables and listen to the music like they had front row seats. “I tell people we don’t get the overflow from Floore’s; they get the overflow from us,” Vandewater said. “People who are going to a show at Floore’s come here before and after.” On Sundays, the Country Club has free pool from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and “Cajun Red Beans.” Pool tournaments are held Tuesdays. Darts are played Wednesday and Thursday nights (“They’re always looking for new players”). The card game Pitch is played Friday mornings. Proceeds from the club’s Fiesta Medal are donated to the Helotes Humane Society. You can follow the Helotes Country Club on Facebook. “Our regulars like to mess with us using the internet jukebox,” Vandewater said. “They can pick songs using their smartphone when they drive by and there’s no telling what they’ll play.” Tammy says one of the most popular signs decorating the Helotes Country Club is “Free Beer Tomorrow.” “Takes some people awhile to realize what happens when they come back tomorrow,” Tammy said. “But there was actually a ‘tomorrow’ and it was the day of my dad’s funeral. He always said that the day he was buried was ‘tomorrow’ and the beer was going to be free all day after his funeral – and it was. The funeral was held at the Helotes Fairgrounds because of the size and the celebration of life we wanted for him. What an amazing, bittersweet day!” Helotes: Gateway to the Texas Hill Country – Spring 2018
Helotes Country Club owner, Tammy Pointon, and her children, Morgan and Tanner.
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