The rhythm of a bakery built by women that runs on more than recipes.
A growing collection offers a glimpse into the lighter side of public service.
After years spent building for others, she’s creating something of her own.
10 FLOUR, TEA AND FAMILY
The rhythm of a bakery built by women that runs on more than recipes.
18 THE MAYOR AND THE SQUIRRELS
A growing collection offers a glimpse into the lighter side of public service.
24 KNOCKING OUT NEW EXPERIENCES
From Italy to Seguin, one exchange student finds growth in the everyday moments of high school life.
30 ITTY BITTY TRUCK, PHENOMENAL GROWING POWER
After years spent building for others, she’s creating something of her own while balancing family, creativity and whatever comes next.
36 FACES OF SEGUIN
Submitted photos from our readers.
38 SAVE THE DATE
See what events are coming up.
Photo by Victoria Gaytan
On the steps of Sweet Treats Bakery and Tea Room, Commie Jennings and her team have created a space where tradition, hard work and everyday moments come together like the perfect cupcake.
Vol. 12, No. 12
SEGUIN MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED TWELVE
TIMES A YEAR BY THE SEGUIN GAZETTE.
PUBLISHER
Elizabeth Engelhardt
MAGAZINE EDITOR / CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Desiree Gerland
CONTRIBUTORS
Victoria Gaytan
Grim Gilbreath
Alex Lowe
Bianca Rawlings
Dalondo Moultrie
ADVERTISING
Gay Lynn Olsovsky
Laela Reyes
TO ADVERTISE IN SEGUIN MAGAZINE CALL 830-463-0766
HAVE STORY IDEAS? LET US KNOW! seguinmagazine@seguingazette.com
“Iam woman, hear me roar.”
It’s a phrase I’ve always come back to. Not in a loud, stand-on-a-table kind of way, but in a quieter, more personal sense. It's the kind of strength that shows up when I feel the need to prove I can do anything, especially when someone assumes I can’t.
I’ve been stubbornly independent for as long as I can remember. That’s not because I’ve had to do everything alone. I’ve had some help that I am incredibly grateful for. But I’ve also learned some hard lessons about what it means to depend on other people and how easily that can fall apart. Somewhere along the way, I started choosing to figure things out for myself, to learn what I didn’t know, to make sure I could handle it on my own if I needed to. There’s a certain comfort in that — maybe a little control, too. Maybe that’s just the Capricorn in me. Whatever it is, I’ve always believed that strength doesn’t always look the way we expect it to.
It looks like women working side by side in a bakery, building something together day after day. It looks like leadership that makes space for both responsibility and personality. It looks like building something of your own while still showing up for your family and your community. It looks like showing up in a new place, at 16, and finding your footing one step at a time.
There’s no single version of what it means to be strong; no one way to do it right. Sometimes it’s loud. Sometimes it’s quiet. Sometimes it’s just getting through the day and doing it again tomorrow. The stories in this month’s issue aren’t about proving anything. They're about noticing the work, the choices, the growth and the ways women continue to shape the spaces around them, often without much recognition for it.
If there’s anything I keep coming back to, it’s this: Strength isn’t always something you announce. Most of the time, it’s just something you carry.
Desiree Gerland Magazine Editor
desiree.gerland@seguingazette.com
The Seguin Rotary Club presents
June 4, 2026
Golf Team (4 person) $600
Gala Ticket $65
VIP Gala Table (seats 8) $750
*Sponsorships Available
GOLF TOURNAMENT GALA
Starcke Park Golf Course
7AM Check-In & Lite Breakfast
Driving Range & Putting Green Open
8AM Shotgun Start for 36 Teams
12PM Lunch & Awards
Hole-in-One Contest
Win a new truck from Seguin Chevrolet!
Register Now www seguinrotary org
6-8PM Seguin Coliseum
Gala Ticket includes Beef Tenderloin dinner & drinks
Live Music from the Dirty River Jazz Band
5:00 PM Games, Card Raffles, Golden Ticket Raffle, $20,000 Raffle and more!
Opening week of the new golf course!
THAT RUNS ON MORE THAN RECIPES.
STORY BY BIANCA RAWLINGS
PHOTOS BY VICTORIA GAYTAN
Commie Jennings has been running Sweet Treats Bakery & Tearoom in Seguin for six years. She bakes custom cakes, decorates cupcakes, hosts afternoon tea and opens her doors to women’s groups, baby showers and bridal parties. She also, by her own account, has been figuring it all out as she goes.
“Being an entrepreneur is just challenging itself,” Jennings said. “One day,you might make all kinds of money and the next day, you don’t make anything. It’s just the highs and lows that come with entrepreneurship. But it’s also still the freedom of owning the business.”
That freedom matters to her in practical ways. On a recent day, plans changed and her toddler granddaughter, Naomi, needed to be watched.
“If I was working in corporate America, I couldn’t have just said, ‘I’m gonna take my granddaughter for the day,’” she said. “So,it’s spring break and I was like,
I’m just gonna be with her today.”
Jennings grew up in Seguin and always wanted to own a business. When she discovered cake decorating, the direction became clear — though her original vision was a teaching studio, not a bakery.
“Once I found what I really liked, which was cake decorating, I always wanted to have the studio where I could really teach how to do cake decorating,” she said. “And then I ended up getting the bakery. That was how that happened.”
Sweet Treats started on Court Street, where every morning Jennings would step outside and find herself looking at a particular house across the way.
“That’s where everything began for me,” she said. “Every day, I would look at that house.”
It was her grandmother’s house. Geneva Miller — Big Mama to Jennings — was a homemaker and an
excellent baker. Jennings’ mother, Lois Faye Miller Ellis, was a nurse by trade and an excellent cook who spent her off hours feeding people at celebrations and gatherings because that was simply who she was. Neither lived to see Sweet Treats open. Jennings carries them with her anyway.
“I don’t know my grandmother’s prayers,” she said. “But when I would walk out of the door at my other shop, I would look straight at my grandmother’s house.”
Today, Naomi Holmes — daughter of Jennings’ daughter Jayce Holmes — comes to the bakery and points at the pastry case. She already knows what belongs to Grammy and what belongs to her mother. Jennings’ other daughter, Justice Holmes, is part of the family that surrounds everything she is building.
“My whole goal is just to leave a legacy for my children and my grandchildren,” Jennings said. “Everything I do is centered around how it’s gonna take care of them.”
Jayce now works alongside her mother as a business partner, a role she stepped into after traditional employment proved to be the wrong fit. She handles the tea room events, the website, rebranding and the social media presence — the parts of the business that belong to a younger generation’s fluency.
“She has an entrepreneurial spirit like me and I knew it,” Jennings said. “She knows how I work, she knows what I expect and I know what quality I’m gonna get from her.”
Jayce’s specialty is the tea room experience — private parties, bridal showers, baby showers and gatherings of women of all kinds, including survivor groups and sisterhood circles.
“She makes it a true experience,” Jennings said. “She really does.”
The community that moves through those doors matters to Jennings as much as the food.
“Whatever they’re going through, they can come in for prayer, or if they just need a place to let it out,” she said. “I have walked with people through some of the
toughest parts of their life. And to see them now, knowing that what I do has something to help them, it blesses me.”
Being a Black woman building something in a small town is a thread Jennings doesn’t shy away from.
“Being a woman in business is one thing,” she said. “But being a Black woman in business? That’s a whole different walk. And I’m not saying that to divide. I’m saying it because I’m being real, vulnerable and transparent. I want this to help, not hinder.”
She learned financial literacy on her own — how to manage money, keep it and build something that creates freedom, not just income. She felt, at times, the particular weight of building in a place where that work can go unacknowledged.
“Sometimes it feels like you’re overlooked, underestimated,” she said. “Or like your growth goes unnoticed unless you leave. It can make you question, ‘Am I really succeeding?’”
Her answer is rooted in what she believes she carries.
“Titles can be taken, jobs can be lost,” Jennings said. “But what’s within me — my talent, my resilience, my ability to create something out of nothing — that is ancestral and will always make a way.”
Faith is what she returns to when the business is hard and the answers aren’t clear, and the past year and a half at the new North Austin Street location has tested her more than any stretch before it.
“It’s my faith that carries me,” she said. “Most of the time, that’s all I have. There are moments I don’t have the answers, the support. It’s just me and God, and that’s what’s kept me going.”
She sees what’s next forming on the horizon — women’s empowerment work, speaking to women about how to show up in a world that doesn’t always see them. She hopes to launch it by late summer or early fall.
“This journey is bigger than money,” Jennings said. “It’s about breaking cycles. It’s about freedom. It’s about legacy.”
STORY BY DALONDO MOULTRIE
PHOTOS BY VICTORIA GAYTAN
An art installation that began spreading across the city a few years ago led Seguin Mayor Donna Dodgen to hop into a nutty collection of her own that continues to grow.
She’s not sure exactly when it started, but since the Seguin Commission on the Arts began developing its Seguin Squirrel Trail, things changed.
With the trail, businesses and individuals can sponsor a squirrel, which includes the completed fiberglass squirrel with a pecan in its paws, a concrete slab and a plaque with the name of the artist and sponsor/ honoree. Finished squirrels have been placed in front of businesses or in a pre-approved public locations that are publicly visible so visitors can drive by
or take pictures with them.
The commission continues installing 4-foot, painted, ceramic squirrel statutes throughout Seguin, and people who know of Dodgen’s affinity for her adopted city — home of the “World’s Largest Pecan” — they continue to share all sorts of squirrelly things with her, the mayor said.
“Because we had the squirrels, nuts and things in the pecan trees, it just became prevalent with the relationship between squirrels and the trees,” she said. “Every time someone finds a squirrel, they give it to me.”
The pecans, squirrels and statues go well to with the city’s identity, Dodgen said. It all makes perfect sense as an additional way to show support for the city.
Dodgen wasn’t born here but she does consider Seguin her home. And she has deep ties to the city, as her late husband was born here. Later, her parents retired in Seguin from Carrizzo Springs. Once her mother fell ill, Dodgen moved to town in 1993 to take care of her and has since claimed the town as her home.
As a practicing Seguinite, Dodgen embraces the town’s quirks, its identity and everything that comes along with it. So, when squirrel culture arrived in town, she embraced that, too.
However, she never asked to start a collection of squirrel paraphernalia; it just happened, the mayor said.
Now, she has an extensive collection of squirrel-related things. She’s unsure just how vast the collection is. She said all she knows is there is “a lot.”
“I have all kinds of squirrels,” Dodgen said. “It’s diverse. It’s wide ranging like we are. I think it encompasses our creativity.”
Squirrel images are on everything, she said.
School-age children have given her drawings of squirrels, some of which adorn her desk at Seguin City Hall, Dodgen said. Someone gave her a tiny squirrel toy made with a 3-D printer.
She has squirrel earrings, squirrel bracelets, squirrel shoes and a portrait of herself depicted as a squirrel, Dodgen said.
“The lady who does soap, she does acorn soap and (squirrel-shaped) soap and she even does pecan soap,” the mayor said. “I just think it’s so cool.”
Of all the squirrel toys, articles of clothing and more, the children’s drawings stand out as her favorite items, Dodgen said.
“They give them to me all the time,” she said. “Isn’t that precious?”
She acknowledges the uniqueness of her collection of squirrel-related items, Dodgen said. She also knows that such a collection might seem wildly out of place in any other location. But, for Seguin, she has a squirrel for every occasion, Dodgen said.
With Seguin’s vast population of pecan trees and the city’s affinity for the fruit those trees bear, tree squirrels make perfect sense as a sort of mascot for the town. And, in turn, it makes perfect sense to have — and accept gifts of — all sorts of squirrel-related items, Dodgen said.
Seguinites use all aspects of the pecan, pecan tree and squirrel world to their advantage, she said. “Why not squirrels? Squirrels love pecans,” Dodgen said. “And squirrels are tenacious, curious, quick, funny, mischievous.”
STORY BY ALEX LOWE PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAMILLA PASQUALIN
Camilla Pasqualin is a 17-yearold who attends Seguin High School. She is a Rotary exchange student hailing from Padua, Italy, just 40 minutes from Venice. Her journey from the Bel Paese to the pecan capital of Texas began with a desire to take a chance and climb out of her comfort zone.
“I was looking for a way to come here and be part of a student exchange program,” said Pasqualin. “I was looking to grow and become more mature through this experience. I wanted to become aware of the world around me beyond just my town in Italy. I wanted to improve my English, meet new people and make a lot of friends. When I was living in Italy, it was too easy to just
stay home and not try new things.”
So Pasqualin, at just 16 years old, pushed herself to make a bold move by leaving the family home for a year of study in a foreign country.
“I looked at some agencies but a friend told me she was going with Rotary. So, with my mom, we got some more information,” she said. “It seemed to be a safe program. We heard from other people who went with the Rotary program and it seemed like the best.”
Since 1929, Rotary International has sent young people around the globe to experience new cultures. Currently, Rotary clubs sponsor about 9,000 students every year. Students are sent to other countries for year-long stays, to live with multiple host families
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
- Muhammad Ali
during the year and attend school in the host country.
“I had to make a list of preferences. USA was my first choice,” Pasqualin said. “So, it was never certain that I would get my first choice. I know some people who got, like, their fourth choice.”
She arrived in Seguin in August 2025 and settled in with her first host family. She is currently staying with Dawn and Rob McMillan. From the moment she set foot in the Lone Star State, Pasqualin felt the difference.
“The weather is really different. There are only three weeks of winter here in Seguin,” she said. “In Italy, it is colder and doesn’t start getting warmer until April or May. When I arrived here, it was so hot. You could not stay outside.”
Determined not to sit around until the school year started, Pasqualin decided to return to a sport she had been involved with in Italy. “I played tennis for five years then got tired of it. My parents wanted me to play a sport. A friend of mine was involved in boxing. So, I went to a gym and started training and I really liked it.”
She is beginning her fifth year in boxing. Pasqualin said she likes the feeling of training, which helps her forget about the stresses of the day.
“The practices require a lot of effort and strength. But after it is done, you feel very relieved,” she said. “I feel the need to practice every day now. The day is useless if I don’t train or practice.”
The enjoyment she feels is not about punching the other person, but more about the practice and training of her body, Pasqualin said. In Seguin, she began practicing and training at the Iron Jungle. She also participated in and competed at the Women’s Championships in Houston where she earned a silver medal last August.
“It was one of the best experiences ever,” Pasqualin said. “I always wanted to fight in the USA. I stopped it because I committed to tennis for the school season.”
Pasqualin has noticed a difference between her school experience here in Seguin versus what she experienced in Italy.
“The school here is much easier. There is a closer relationship with the teachers. In Italy, it is more of a formal contact situation. Here, the teachers are willing to help you in every way,” she said. “Also, the grading is different. In Italy, we have grades from one to 10. Here, you are graded from zero to a hundred. Here in the USA, we have a lot of opportunities to make up work and raise our grades. There in Italy, you just have one possibility. It is really straight there.”
Pasqualin plays varsity tennis for Seguin High School. She recently competed in district as a member of the doubles team. She will finish her school year in May and return to Italy shortly after that.
“My family is proud of me. I am the first person in the family who has done an experience like this one. My younger brother will probably do an exchange year,” Pasqualin said. “I will miss the independence I created during my time here. I also worry that my English will suffer when I leave. I have changed. I am more mature. I’m less afraid of doing things like going out and being with friends. I have become more extroverted. I will tell my family that every obstacle I had to overcome while here helped me become a better person.”
She knows that she will return to Italy as a different person. She will have one more year of school to complete in her home country and she plans to make the most of it, Pasqualin said.
“I don’t want to waste any time. I would like to find a part-time job for my senior year in Italy. I would also like to get involved with the Rotary and help guide students in the exchange program,” she said. “I’d like to go back to boxing. I want to enjoy my last year in high school. Before, it was just about grades, but I have learned to appreciate the whole experience.”
ISTORY BY GRIM GILBREATH
n a town where front porches still invite conversation and neighbors still lend a helping hand, Madeline Zwicke Dalman has found her rhythm. One that blends service, creativity and an unshakable sense of purpose. A mother of three boys, a Texas A&M alumna and a longtime advocate for housing those in need, Dalman has spent more than a decade building not only homes, but also hope.
Since 2013, Dalman has dedicated her life to providing safe and stable housing for families in need. Walls raised by volunteers become the backdrop for first steps, family dinners and quiet moments of peace that once felt out of reach. For Dalman, these aren’t just construction projects; they are milestones in people’s lives. So far, she
has helped build 52 homes — 23 of them since her arrival in the Guadalupe County community. Her selflessness and drive have guided her work for years, but it is far from the only place where her passions take root.
A self-described creative spirit, Dalman has long nurtured a love for floral design. In 2011, she formally studied the craft, planting seeds that eventually blossomed into something uniquely her own. Earlier this year, she and her husband Joey launched the Tiny Truck Social Club — a growing fleet of vintage Japanese trucks that bring a fresh, vibrant energy to events across the region.
One is a mobile floral design truck, a rolling celebration of color and creativity. From bridal showers to school functions, girls’ nights to community gatherings,
the truck offers a signature “bloom bar” experience, where guests can build their own bouquets by hand selecting stems and crafting arrangements.
“I want to go with the flow of my passions as it brings me happiness,” Dalman said.
It’s a philosophy that feels less like a statement and more like a way of life. Where some might see a leap of faith, Dalman sees an opportunity to grow, both personally and professionally. Her ventures reflect not just a willingness to try something new, but the courage to pursue what brings her joy, even amid the demands of leadership and motherhood.
Her second tiny truck, a mobile dry bar and tap truck co-run with Joey, adds another layer to their shared entrepreneurial journey. Equal parts charm and celebration, the tap truck has quickly become a sought-after addition to local events, serving as a gathering place where laughter flows as freely as the drinks.
Together, the couple's ventures speak to a partnership rooted in mutual support and shared vision. Yet, at the center of it all, Dalman remains grounded in what matters most.
“My three boys are my life,” she said.
Balancing the responsibilities of raising a family and launching a business might seem daunting, but Dalman approaches it with a steady determination. Her days are often full, her schedule carefully stitched together like one of her floral arrangements, where each moment holds its own importance and each piece is intentional. Colleagues and community members alike describe her as driven, compassionate and quietly fearless. It’s a combination that has allowed her to navigate challenges with grace while continuing to push forward.
From lilacs and libations to little ones, Dalman has not stopped to smell the roses any longer than it takes to arrange them into breathtaking arrangements. With every endeavor, she has made sure to never lose sight of the reasons for all her hard work, which is abundantly clear from the love in her voice when she talks about her sons and her husband. The driving force of this
one-woman whirlwind of productivity and determination is the rhythm of a life lived with intention, where giving back and growing forward are not opposing forces, but partners in the same dance.
In many ways, Dalman's journey mirrors the very work she does. It is about building something meaningful and lasting. Whether she is helping a family find their place or guiding someone as they assemble a bouquet, the common thread is connection. And in that dance, Madeline Zwicke Dalman moves with a purpose that is rooted in compassion, lifted by courage and carried always by the simple, powerful belief that when you build with heart, both homes and dreams have a way of standing strong.
NOON
ANNUAL SPRING FLING: SEVENTH – 5 - 7 PM
This drive-thru only event will feature a pork steak dinner catered by Troy Brown's Next Door Catering. Raffle tickets available for a chance to win prizes. Presale tickets available at Silver Center, Starcke Furniture, Tri-County A/C and Ascot Travel. Location: Seguin Silver Center, 510 E. Court St.
MOTHER'S DAY MARKET AT SCHULZE'S PIT ROOM: NINTH – 10 AM - 4 PM
Enjoy a full day of local vendors, great food and community charm at Schulze’s Pit Room. The market offers a mix of shopping, dining and relaxed outdoor gathering, creating a comfortable setting to celebrate the occasion. Guests are welcome to bring their appetite and their four-legged companions.
Weather permitting. Location: Schulze's Pit Room, 1013 Schriewer
COUNTY BULK CLEAN-UP: SIXTEENTH – 7:30 - 11:30 AM
Guadalupe County invites residents to take part in the county’s bulk clean-up event. The event entrance is at 3100 N. Austin St. at the intersection of Austin and North Guadalupe Streets in Seguin. This is a free opportunity for residents to dispose of waste and help create a safer, healthier environment. Residents are asked to bring a photo ID or utility bill. A list of items that will be accepted and NOT accepted can be found on the county website: www.guadalupetx.gov/page/roads.trash_disposal .
Location: Road & Bridge Department, 3100 N. Austin St.
BADGES, BIKES & TYKES: SIXTEENTH – 10 AM - 1 PM
Join the Seguin Police Department and the Seguin Fire Department for our annual Badges, Bikes & Tykes event. This free, family-friendly event is designed to bring the community together for a day of fun and connection. Kids can enjoy a bike raffle, interactive games, music, and a variety of activities hosted by local organizations and first responders. Come out and spend the day with us as we celebrate community, safety and fun for all ages! Location: Patricia K. Irvine-King Pavilion, 1412 River Dr. MARGARITA MADNESS | THIRD THURSDAY: TWENTY-FIRST – 10 AM - 8 PM
Salt the rim and hit the streets for a night of downtown fun as local spots shake, stir and serve their best margarita creations. Stroll from stop to stop, sample your way through the competition and cast your vote for the ultimate crowd favorite, with live music, food trucks and shops open until 8 p.m.
Location: Central Park, 201 S. Austin St.
'SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT' SHOWING: TWENTY-THIRD – 6 PM
Grab a Coors or a Coke and settle in for a night of high-speed fun as "Smokey and the Bandit" hits the big screen at the historic Palace Theatre. Follow Bandit and Snowman as they take off on a wild, rule-breaking run across state lines, all while staying one step ahead of the relentless Sheriff Buford T. Justice. Packed with fast cars, iconic one-liners and just the right amount of chaos, it’s a throwback movie night made for kicking back and enjoying the ride. Showtime begins at 7 p.m., with tickets available for $15 per person. Seats can be purchased online or picked up in advance at Keepers Interiors and Gift & Gourmet (cash only). Location: The Palace Theatre, 314 S. Austin St.
