Seguin Today: November 2022

November is a month most well-known for Thanksgiving, but there are many other days during this fall month to celebrate. Locally, Veterans Day is always a big event, and this year is no different. There will be a joint Veterans Day Parade and Observance on Saturday, November 12. Staging for the parade will begin at 9:30 around Central Park with the parade starting at 10. The event will head west on Court St. and end at Veterans Park on Erkle and Jefferson St where the observation will be held.

This November, Seguin Today is gearing up for its annual KWED/ Seguin Daily News Holiday Food & Toy Drive, benefitting the Seguin Police Department Blue Santa program and the Christian Cupboard. The event will take place from 7 to 9am on December 2. This is a great opportunity for individuals, families or organizations to come out and donate nonperishable food items as well as new, unwrapped toys.

The KWED Holiday Food & Toy Drive is a festive way to kick off the holiday season and takes place the same weekend as the annual Sip ‘n Stroll.

That all being said, we wanted to thank you, our loyal readers for supporting the stories we produce for you here. We love that you look forward to hearing from the diverse members of our community each month to broaden your perspective and keep you in touch with the heart of this wonderful community.

Happy Thanksgiving, Seguin!

Photo courtesy Jay Wright

Local artists bring VISIONS to LIFE for community art project

Story by Cindy Aguirre-Herrera Photos by Lizz Daniels

Things are about to get squirrely in the city of Seguin. That’s because a handful of larger-than-life squirrels are being trans formed into individually designed, colorful works of art.

Feeding into that ‘squirrelyness’ are the creative juices of a hand ful of local artists who, for the last several weeks, have been working tirelessly behind the scenes preparing these fiberglass squirrels for public display around the city. The squirrels are all part of the Seguin Commission on the Arts Squirrel Trail Program – a program similar to public art projects used in some other cities. Examples include the horses in Amarillo or closer to home, the Mermaids in San Marcos.

Excited to have been commissioned for one of the eight squir rels being prepped for display is Area Artist Amber Prince. Prince is a couple of weeks away from finishing up her squirrel purchased by Schertz Bank & Trust.

When the bank manager and father, Lee Prince, told her about the project, the artist said she didn’t hesitate to submit her concept drawing for consideration. She says even after almost a year of being selected, she remains humbled in having the chance to work on this particular project.

“Hearing about it from my father, I, of course, grew up always painting and drawing and sculpting as a little kid. I wish I could make a living of doing that, but I don’t. In fact, right now, I am a CAD drafter, but my father brought up that the bank was going to be doing this and I could put in my concept drawings if I had any and I wanted to purse it and see if I could be selected among anyone else who tried to compete for the position. I don’t know who all else competed, but I know I’ve been familiar with the bank branch and their logo and their colors for years and so it was pretty easy to come up with the initial concept for the squirrel,” Prince said.

Growing up, Prince says she was always fascinated and mesmer ized with these kinds of projects around the state.

“They allowed me as an artist to submit whatever and I’ve never done anything like this before. Growing up, I lived near Houston, and I would see the Pelicans of Seabrook and I knew that this was kind of a similar thing just with a local critter of the area, the squir rel as opposed to the pelican and I always thought it was so neat and wanted to see them up close and now, it’s my chance to do that. As far as the chance for me to submit the concept, I took what I knew were the bank’s colors which luckily they worked together quite nicely, blue and white and their mascot was an eagle so I tried to integrate kind of the spirit of that pride bold where a bold eagle

is white haired and brown body – well I just used the bank colors of a white hair and kind of a blue body and sort of playing and paint ing with that while still keeping that it is a squirrel and not a bird,” Prince said.

Prince who lives in the Hill Country, says much of her weekend is spent on the project. She travels into neighboring New Braunfels, where the squirrel is being housed. She says like most public art, the squirrel project has had its challenges, but, in the end, they are noth ing that a little creativity can’t solve.

“I am coming and painting on it every weekend. So far, I’ve gotten the primer on there and the base colors and now I’m starting to fill in the details on the squirrel. Art is a nebulous thing so you can have your initial things and at the time when I was drawing the squirrels, I didn’t know what the final sculpture itself was going to look like – how cartoonish it would be or how realistic it was going to be. A lot of people don’t realize it but if you look at a squirrel’s hands, they look like little dragon claws, They are quite aggressive looking and so you don’t know what kind of tone the sculpture itself is going to take until after you submitted your concept. So I knew that there would be room to play around and experiment and sure enough, as I was painting on this thing versus drawing out my ideas on my tablet – I’m playing with the materials and the textures and it’s going to stay in spirit of what the initial concept drawings are but there will of course, be differences because you have to have flexibility and work with what you find yourself presented with,” Prince said.

The creativity of it all has Prince on Cloud 9, especially when her vision challenges her artistic ability to pair two animals together.

“The creative juices take over. It is instinctual. You just kind of know where to go and occasionally you make a misstep but luckily the medium, I’m working with is a pretty forgiving one and so if I end up not liking something, I’ve done it in such a way where it is easy to go back. At this point of time, I am working on the texture – when the viewer looks at it, I don’t want them to be able to decide fully whether it’s feathers or kind of clumpy fur because like I said I’m trying to do that kind of hybrid between squirrel and the bank’s representative of an eagle so I am sort of playing with the textures for that but I think I’m leaning more heavily towards feathers which I kind of like,” Prince said.

Overcoming some of those hurdles and appreciating the experience is always easier, especially when you can talk directly to your subject.

“I do talk to the squirrel. We have many in-depth conversations. I’m spending a lot of time with her. I needed to decide a name early on and it was like when you get a new car, you need to get to know them first before you can really give them a name. I think the official on paper name

is Saver because it’s a bank – you are saving your money, squirreling away,” Prince said.

Prince says finding the right process to tackle the squirrel was a prior ity from the beginning. She says plenty of homework and research went into ensuring the preservation of her artwork.

“For the medium itself, I’ve never done this before and a lot of peo ple say they use acrylics and I’m thinking this thing is going to be out in the elements and out in the open and exposed to a bunch of UV light and I’m like well I know that paint can sometimes interact with each other in terestingly and the city had a particular clear coat or at least I was provided with a gallon of clear coat and so I made sure that the paints that I got were compatible with that because they are chemicals, they can interact weird if not. So, I decided to go with automotive paint because that’s what I think will be the most durable and UV resistant and last the most over the years,” said Prince. “I even went so far as to contact – I got in touch with a sign maker who had worked in sign making for a long time and I asked him if you want a sign to last the longest time and it’s going to be out in the elements, what do you use and he even confirmed what I was already thinking, ‘yeah, we use automotive paint.”

Prince says the overall vision for the project is “to keep it simple and just go with the flow.” She says any good artist knows that you never want to force an idea onto the canvas, or in this case, onto any squirrel.

“So far I’m pretty much just channeling my inner kid because I always kind of drew critters anyway as a little one and I’m just sort of having fun with it,” Prince said.

The behind the scenes work of these artists perhaps makes each of these future squirrels in Seguin more intriguing.

That’s definitely been the case for Nancy Hartfiel, another artist who has been commissioned to paint one of Seguin’s other squirrels. Hart fiel’s squirrel was purchased by a congregation member at Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church. Once completed, the squirrel will be dedicated outside the church located alongside the city’s Walnut Springs Hike and Bike Trail.

Now, unlike Prince, Hartfiel wasn’t necessarily looking to take on a squirrel.

Photos courtesy Nancy Hartfiel

“Kathy Yandell heard about the squirrel trail project, and she filled out the paperwork and she paid for the squirrel and at church, she said I bought the squirrel, will you paint it? Or I want you to paint it. And if you know Kathy, you don’t say no to Kathy. So, I said, ‘sure, I’ll paint it,” Hartfiel said.

Humbled by the request, Hartfiel says the reality of it all didn’t sink in until the solid white and huge squirrel made its debut.

“I felt honored, but it really didn’t hit me until I went and picked up the squirrel and saw it and went ‘oh, my God! What have I gotten myself into?’ And I thought oh, this is not going to be easy, but it was interesting. It was fun. I thought, we will try it and see what happens,” Hartfiel said.

As for the vision of the squirrel, Hartfiel says it felt like a no brainer and is proud of how it resulted in a story of heritage for the church building which once served as the former Seguin ISD Juan Seguin campus.

“Kathy gave me complete freedom. She said do what you want and my vi sion was you know Juan Seguin was the Mexican school and the community is of Mexican descent pretty much and the 40th anniversary of the Teatro De Artes and so I was thinking Mexican and I looked online and I looked at the fabric and the art and I came up with the different flowers from the different areas in Mex ico – the real simple flowers and then, I looked at the costumes of the dancers – the really bright beautiful colors of the women’s dresses and the black and white of the men’s’ outfits so I ended up doing flowers all over it – the bright colored flowers with a black background,” Hartfiel said.

Now, although Hartfiel hails herself as everything but a painter, one could automatically think that there were challenges along the way. And while there may have been some, Hartfiel, who for years served as an art teacher in the Navarro ISD, believes her inner desire to teach herself something new was the ultimate rescue in getting this particular job done.

“If you look at the squirrel, you see it’s holding a pecan. You have to get in behind the pecan so there are tights spots. It’s not a flat object. It’s 3-dimensional so you are having to work around it and it’s acrylic paint. It’s not opaque so it needed lots of layers and I’m not really a painter so maybe for somebody else it would be easier to do but it was a challenge, but it was fun. It was a fun thing to do,” Hartfiel said.

Like Saver, Hartfiel says her squirrel too has also been given a name.

“Kathy named her Joy. I talked to her quite a bit and sometimes it was good and sometimes, it wasn’t and then I had people come and go. Friends would come and somebody asked if I could some place and I said I couldn’t go. I was being held hostage by a four-foot squirrel. I said the only place I’m going to was to church and to appointments,” Hartfiel laughs.

The fun of painting Joy has even reportedly rolled out onto the front lawn. Hartfiel says if her neighbors took notice, then she can’t wait when the rest of the community gets to enjoy all of the other finished squirrels throughout the community.

“I’m excited. I tell you one thing, Arlynn (husband) took it outside for me so we could look at it in the sunlight and it was like having a Noah’s Ark. All the neighbors came out and they said ‘what’s that? What do you have in your yard?’ Hartfiel said.

The city looks to roll out the squirrels one at a time. The hope is to have at least one of them in place by the end of this year. Sponsorships for the squirrels are still available. The plan calls for selling anywhere between five to 10 squirrels every year for the next few years. The impact that the squirrels will have in the Seguin community and the “joy” they are destined to bring are what Hartfiel believes are the most exciting part of this journey of working behind the scenes and preparing Seguin for its Squirrel Trail Program.

“We’ve lived in Seguin for over 40 years and Seguin is really a very special place to us. You know my husband had a practice here and we’ve raised our kids here. They went to school here so I would like for people to look at Joy and really be happy. I’d like them to look at Joy kind of like they look at Seguin. When they go, I want them to look at it, enjoy it and be happy around her but I’d like them to take a little more time and look a little closer at her and maybe they’ll find some thing that they weren’t expecting. And I’ll leave it at that,” Hartfiel said. •

Flavors of

Exploring food & tradition with Chef

Story by Lizz Daniels Photos courtesy Jay Wright

The sounds and smells of a home kitchen are unlike anything else. There’s something comforting in the gentle clack of a whisk beating against a well-loved wooden bowl or the clink ing of hand-me-down Pyrex jostling in a stacked pile. They are the sounds of childhood, spending time in the kitchen with family and cooking food to be shared.

Making food for someone is, in and of itself, an act of love that often comes with deeply ingrained family history mixed in with the ingredients -- lending unique flavors to each dish.

Seguin-born chef Jay Wright fell in love with the kitchen as a child.

“I started at an early age,” he said. “I was told I was cooking at nine and 10, not even knowing what I was doing, but going into my mom’s kitchen and terrorizing her pantry, mixing stuff up. I’m the oldest sibling, so I was always involved in the kitchen and curious about what my parents were doing. Also, being raised by my grand

Jay Wright

parents, who are very big cooks and big gardeners, it was something I was always around.”

Jay grew up in Seguin and attended Seguin High School, where he has many fond memories. He attended Texas A&M Kingsville but in 2020 packed his bags and moved to San Diego, California, in pursuit of his dream.

While Texas is currently experiencing an influx of new residents moving to the Lone Star State from California, bringing with them a west-coast mentality, Jay too, experienced a bit of culture shock when he first moved.

“Coming out here was a shocker for me, actually working in smaller kitchens and catering,” Jay said. “When I left Texas, I was working for Facebook. So that gave me a boost in my career, like the knowledge of working on my craft. Once I got to California, I hit the ground running. I had to get out there and find out what my next step was going to be and find out where my path was going to lead.”

That next step was launching his business in a market saturated with talented cooks and highly competitive commercial kitchens.

“I don’t exactly own a restaurant; I have my own personal chef private business,” he said. “I started it right after the pandemic. Com ing from the South to the West was a big culture change and a lot to adjust to –– the lifestyle and also in my career too, there’s a lot more opportunity there — a lot more room for growth. Of course, there’s competition here, but you just more or less focus on yourself and grinding to see what kind of potential you have.”

Jay describes his food as heavily influenced by his southern charm, with dishes like barbeque inspiring his cooking along with hickory and pecan smoked foods like roasted beans. But pushing beyond his com fort zone is taking his cooking to new levels. He has recently been experimenting with fresh-caught fish and Mediterranean and Asian elements, from fresh vegetables to garlic noodles and Korean-fried chicken.

With food, the potential is primarily tied to the chef’s creativity. Trying to meld new flavors together and create infused cooking are a huge trend in today’s culinary world, partly due to the popularity of food shows and entertainment. Jay took part in the entertainment aspect of being a modern-day chef when he recently appeared on the Food Network’s Supermarket Stakeout.

“It’s been a great experience,” he said.” I’m very humble and bless ed to have had the chance. I was a little boy watching this at a younger age being all curious and, I would say, excited about watching it and be ing thrilled. And feeling all the excitement from the people competing. Then full circle around when I figured out my path and who I wanted to be. It all made sense that that was something that it would lead to and one of my goals. It was great.” Continued on pg. 26.

guadalupe county Fair Results

horticulture division

ADULT

Over All Grand Champion Adult & Tri, Makayla Stevens

Over All Reserve Champion Adult & Tri , Cory Rakowitz

Tri Color & Reserve, Keith Huedinger

TrI Color, Liefies Rescue Reserve, Chuck Leverich Reserve, Misty Mc Whorter Reserve (3), Barbara Wright

BLUE

Gayle Anderson

Keith Huedinger (3)

Melinda Lucas

Theiss Tastes (3)

Cory Rakowitz

Rodney Schmoekel

Shirley German

Misty Mc Whorter (2)

Dorletta Wheelington

Teri Burnham

Liefies Rescue (2)

Stephen German

Jackie Garcia

Kathy Anderson

Makayla Stevens (2)

Andrew Stevens

Carol Suchan

Chuck Leverich

Larry Fredeck

Barbara Wright (4)

RED

Melinda Lucas

Theiss Tastes (2)

Billy Theiss

Elise Tewksbury

Cory Rakowitz

Rodney Schmoekel (2)

Dora Schmoekel (2)

Jenn Terry Shirley German (2)

Misty Mc Whorter

Jacob Castro

Kathy Anderson

Makayla Stevens

Jackie Nolte

Barbara Wright

WHITE

Gayle Anderson

Theiss Tastes

Billy Theiss

Dora Schmoekel (2)

Teri Burnham

Julia Grimm

Makayla Stevens

Barbara Wright

YOUTH

Over All Grand Champion Youth & Tri, Cora German

Over All Reserve Champion Youth & Tri, Justin

Braune

Reserve, Saraya Theiss Reserve, Luke Vogel Reserve, Luke Anderson Reserve, Sadie Rhode

BLUE

Saraya Theiss (2)

Justin Braune

Phillip Ruckeshauser

Cora German (4)

Luke Vogel (4)

Ryan Terry Tucker Wells

Sophia Rosales

Izzabella Rosales

Reagan Grimm Luke Anderson (2)

Christopher Rivers

Sadie Rhode

Caleb Anderson Jackie Garcia

RED

Saraya Theiss Jacob Braune

Phillip Ruckeshauser (3) Luke Vogel (2) Grace Vogel (2)

Kaylee Miller

Sophia Rosales

Izzabella Rosales

Parker Grimm Elanor Garcia

Nicolas Tewksbury

WHITE

Nicolas Tewksbury

Phillip Ruckeshauser

Cora German

Bentley Wells

Sophia Rosales

Ethan Terry Aven Grimm Charles Garcia

LAMB SHOW

Grand Champion Marketr Lamb, Rhett Hodges Reserve Grand Champion Market Lamb, Lacey Matney

Guadalupe Shootout Champion, Ava Clark Guadalupe Shootout Reserve Champion, Kembrie Boeder

Champion Breeding Ewe, Dylan Troth Reserve Champion Breeding Ewe, Keriah McClendon Old Timers Show Champion, Katie Clark

GOAT SHOW

Grand Champiuon Market Goat, Tristyn Shahan Reserve Grand Champiuon Market Goat, Blake Wells Guadalupe Shootout Champion Goat, Landry Canham

Reserve Guadalupe Shootout Champion Goat, Paityn Pape

Champion Breeding Doe, Maya Moreno Reserve Champion Breeding Doe, Maya Moreno

BEEF CATTLE

MARKET STEER

Grand Champion Steer, Jenna Contreras Reserve Grand Champion Steer, Matison Koepp Champion American, Matison Koepp Reserve Champio,n American Matison Koepp Champion British, Evan Barrett Reserve Champion British, Alex Jonas Champion Exotic, Jenna Contreras Reserve Champion Exotic, Korbin Cerda

HEIFER SHOW

Grand Champion Heifer, Kaylee Miller Reserve Grand Champion Heifer, Mason Wurzbach

Champion American, Bailey Buzzard Reserve Champion American, Bailey Buzzard Champion British, Carlee Hoffmann Reserve Champion British, Isabella Hartman Champion Exotic, Kaylee Miller Reserve Champion Exotic, Mason Wurzbach

SHOWMANSHIP

Jr. Showmanship, Callie Kerlick Ind. Showmanshi,p Corbin Cerda Sr. Showmanship, Mason Wurzbach

HAY SHOW

Over All Grand Champion, Kaylee Miller

Over All Reserve Grand Champion, Jacob Cassity Champion Coastal, Kaylee Miller

Reserve Champion Coastal, Jacob Cassity Champion Summer Annual, Mark Tolle Reserve Champion Summer Annual, Avery Sisak

BLUE

Lilly Zimmerer Jacob Cassity Kaylee Miller Mark Tolle

Guadalupe Agriculture Fair Queen’s Court 2022-2023

Queen - Harley Thornton, Princess - Abigail Pollock, Duchess - Morgan Carnes

Avery Sisak

RED Dennis hart

Larry Laugbein

Lilly Zimmerer

Isabella Hartman

Schwarzlose Farms

Jacob Cassity

WHITE

Lilly Zimmerer

Emma Hartman

Claire & Lorenzo Martinez

DESSERTS ON DISPLAY

Best Over All, Tanner Tieken

2nd Place, Aubrey Jaroszewski, Ella Maierhofer

3rd Place & Best Decoration, Millie Hart

4th Place, Carson Jaroszewski

FOOD CHALLENGE

SENIORS

1st Place - Jayden’s Angels, Jayden Ingalls, Emily Felty, Nicole Compton, Samantha Richerdson

2nd Place - Country Cookers, Carlie Alvarado, Kamryn Parsons, Luke Anderso, Kage Herfurth

3rd Place - CremeBar Ladies, Lauren Stevenson, Alvery Lands, Whitney Whipney,Genesis Alkington

4th Place - Come & Taste It, Klaire Belwuny, Elli Flowers

INTERMEDIATE

1st Place - Smart Cookies, Avdrey Belzdny, Vicente Chevez, Carissa Vess

2nd Place - Spice Girls, Kaitlyn ford, Anslee Shair, Gianna Tacbas’

JUNIOR

1st Place - Soup-A-Stars, Caroline Belzuny, Dani Flowers, Goldie Keller, AJ Chavez

2nd Place - Mount Marshmallow Masters, Cara Tillev, Zoe Guevice, Austin Gleitz, Tenleigh Gleitz

3rd Place - Soy Sisters, Mara Knighton, Audra Knighton,Emilie Billiongs, Emily Flethcer

Liz Hilsdorf

Arthur Salazar

ART

Sarah Bailey - BEST OF SHOW & Adult

Alexis Moltz, High School

Savannah Orr, Middle School

Adrian Cerns, Middle School

Elenor Moore, Elementary

Hope Estrada, Pre-School

Ms. Walsingham’s Class Kingergarten Class Project

BAKED FOODS

Adult

Kathy Anderson, Cake

William Anderson, Cookies

Christan Rivers, Gluten Free

Lorelei Hathcoat, Pie

Mary Houston, Quick Bread

Karen Doffing, Sweet Quick Bread

Sherry Rakowitz, Sweet Yeast

High School

Meagan Ohnheiser, Cake

Mandee Riley, Decorated Cake

Meagan Ohnheiser, Sweet Quick Bread

Caleb Anderson, Sweet Yeast

Meagan Ohnheiser, Yeast Bread Luke Anderson, Cookies

Middle School

Kinsley McClendon, Cake Kierah McClendon, Bars Tessa Thomas, Cake Mix as Ingredient Kaylee Hale, Cookies Youth Kierah McClendon, Sweet Quick Bread

Elementary

Mike Crutchelow Sanchez, Bars

Carlee Beabout, Candy

Caden Bloom, Cookies

Lottie Owen, Sweet Yeast

Pre K

Kelsee Beabout, Bread Wyatt Wallace, Cookies

CANNED FRUITS, VEGETABLES & SAUCES

Marianne Bielke, Best of Show - Hot Sauce

Shannon Starr, Fruits Julia Grimm, Vegetables

CANNED JAMS & JELLIES

Shannon Starr, Best in Show - Jams Marianne Bielke, Jelly Jeanette Barber, Preserves Tucker Wells, Youth

CANNED

PICKLES & RELISHS

Barbara Caastro Best in Show

Theiss Tastes Shannon Starr

CLOTHING

Louanna Fisher

CRAFTS

ADULT

William Anderson

Lorelei Nuckols

HIGH SCHOOL

Devyn Buchanan

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Aubrey Jaroszewski Aliannah Shearrow

ELEMENTARY

Mark Garcia

PRE-SCHOOL/KINDERGARTEN

Eleanor Moore

CROCHET & KNITTING

Rolene Sprouse, Donna Wiley

Juli Biggs, Aubrey Mahan

Janette Barrow, Virginia Schulmeier - 2

ANTIQUES & VINTAGE

Marianne Bielke (2)

Hercilia Vasquez

Lonnie Garza

Kathy Anderson (2)

Mary Jane Gerth

Gloria Garcia

Doroth Bauer

Gladys Jackson (2)

Katheryn Hopkins

Sarah Bailey

Codi Kelso

NEEDLE WORK

Alma Rosebrock

ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURE

Julia Schevelbein, Adult - Potted Plant

Pat Schultze, Adult - Potted Cut Specimen & Arrangement

Tucker Well, Junior Potted Plant

Harley Thornton, Junior Arrangement

Continued on the next page.

Best Western wear Contest - Overall girl: Harlee Anne Ruth Willis, Overall boy: Camden Even, Queen: Hadley Riedel

Miss Rodeo Guadalupe County - Railee Childs Princess, Miss Rodeo Guada lupe County Princess, Tessa Howard, Miss Rodeo Guadalupe County Queen Kristina Ribbeck, Miss Rodeo Guadalupe County Teen

PHOTOGRAPHY

YOUTH

Brooke Locker, Best Of Show Youth

Rhett Rhode (3)

Sadie Rhode (2)

Rex Rhode

Katie Miller

Aaron Chittenden

Breck Elliott (2)

ADULT

Jeff Elam, Best Of Show Adult

Michael Dahle

Leiv Robertson

Randy Orr

Joe Borrego, Jr.

Sara Sosa

Elise Tewksbury

Angie Zurovec

Jackie Garcia (2)

Sarah Bailey

QUILTING

Sherry Duringer, Adult

Valerie Steele, Adult

Elaine Mc Collum, Adult

Rebekah Wright, Youth

Photo courtesy Felicia Frazar

Photo courtesy Felicia Frazar

Photo courtesy Doris Rodriguez

Photo courtesy Doris Rodriguez

Photo courtesy Doris Rodriguez

Featured Events

Nov. 19

Chamber 15 Days of Giving

The Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce will have its 15 Days of Giving for the Christian Cupboard from Tuesday, Nov. 1 to Friday, Nov. 19. A printed list of items to donate each day is available at the Chamber office, located at 116 N. Camp St. or visit the Chamber Facebook page. Items can be donated at 116 N. Camp St. in Seguin.

Nov. 18

Holiday Cards Class

The Seguin Art League will have a Holiday Cards Class for couples from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18 at 104 S. Austin St. in Seguin. The cost is $20 a couple, supplies included. At the end of the evening you will have an artistic one-of-a-kind card you made yourself with paint and love. For more information, call 830-305-0472.

Veterans Day Parade & Observance

Saturday, November 12

There will be a joint Veterans Day Parade and Observance beginning with parade staging at 9:30 a.m. around Central Park and the parade at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 in downtown Seguin heading west on Court St. and ending at Veterans Park on Erkle St. and Jefferson St. The Veterans Day Observance will be held from 11 a.m. to noon at Veterans Park. Parade applications are available at Veteran organizations. For more information call 830-379-3299 or 210-382-1745.

Dec. 5

Rising Stars of Guadalupe Co.

The Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals will recognize Guadalupe County’s most promising young professionals at its Rising Stars of Guadalupe County event from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5 at the Columbus Club Hall, located at 1015 S. Austin St., in Seguin. For tickets and more information, call 830-379-6382.

Dec. 10

Living Nativity

Experience the Nativity in a new way with the Faith Lutheran Church. FLC will have its Living Nativity from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10 at 1326 E. Cedar St. in Seguin. Youth groups from the community will be working together to host this drive-thru Living Nativity.

Dec. 2

KWED Holiday Food & Toy Drive

KWED will hold its annual Holiday Food & Toy Drive benefitting Seguin PD Blue Santa and the Christian Cupboard. The drive will be held at 609 E. Court St. from 7 to 9am. Come out and support the local community with your donations of nonperishable food, and new unwrapped toys. The event will be broadcast on AM1580 KWED where there will have live coverage of the event.

Dec. 31

NYE Dance

The Seguin Youth Services will have a New Year’s Eve Dance from 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Dec. 31 at the Geronimo Community Center, located at 280 Navarro Dr. Presale tickets are $20 and $25 at the door. Limited advance table reservations with purchase of 10 tickets by Wednesday, Dec. 28. For table reservations and tickets, call 830-214-4722. Tickets are also available at KWED, Shanafelt Auto, Joe Cool’s AC, and Seguin Youth Services.

Special Heros

Exploring the ABILITY in DISABILITIES through stories & coloring

Story by Cindy Aguirre-Herrera Photos courtesy Brittany Robinson

Kids everywhere are finally getting the special hero capes they de serve. That’s all thanks to a local educator who has taken her experience in the classroom and is now sharing it through a new book series titled, “Special Heros.”

Inspired by the children she serves, Brittany Robinson, a Seguin ISD essential academics (EA) teacher, has launched three children’s books designed to not only serve as a voice for those kids who deserve a place of inclusion but to ensure that others are there to give it to them.

In the “Making Friends” edition of the book series, families will learn about a little girl Alice who has Spina Bifida and who is nerv ous and anxious about recess. Will being in a wheelchair be easy for her to make friends?

Readers are also encouraged to check out the “Just like Me” book in which a non-verbal autistic student takes on the first day of school.

In this series, the author also gets kids coloring with a Special Heros Coloring Book.

The coloring book represents 10 dif ferent disabilities and works to introduce families to all the characters who are fea tured or who will be featured in the con tinuation of this Special Heros book series.

Robinson says prior to the COVID pan demic, she always wanted to create a support group for parents with special needs children in the community. Instead, Robinson says her heart led her to writing these first three chil dren’s books.

“I was scared. I was definitely scared. It was a thought of what if it didn’t reach the community that I needed to reach or what if doesn’t go where I want it to go and so, I said ‘okay, I’m going to do it. No, I’m not going to do it. I’m going to do it. No, I’m not going to do it but I ended up doing it. So, I took the time to read different children’s books, learned the tone of each book just to see how I could start my book and my process. Actually, the logo that is on my book, I had it for two years and I was going to use it for the support group that I wanted to start for parents and so I sat on it. I kept it and I used that for my children’s books, “Special Heros.” Robinson said.

When picking up their copy, Robinson says readers will likely do a dou ble take of the book’s cover. That’s because there’s a “special significance” in the spelling of the words “Special Heros.”

“If you notice, there’s no ‘e’ and every child that has a disability or every child with special needs has a missing piece and so everything I want ed to do with it, I wanted representation and I wanted to advocate for them and so I left it as is,” Robinson said.

The joys and challenges of advocating for special needs children have carefully been selected and illustrated on each page of the books. Robinson says these pages includes years and years of experience of working with special needs children.

“I wanted to represent the students that I work with everyday which are autistic, developmentally delayed, visually impaired, students who are

autistic but non-verbal, so my first book is on an autistic little boy. My sec ond book is on a little girl with Spina Bifida and my third book is actually a coloring book that represents 10 different disabilities which is Autism, Spi na Bifida, ADHD, ADD, Developmental Delay, Visual Impairment (plus Downs Syndrome, Dyslexia, Speech Impairment and Learning Disability). I want to do a miniseries and keep it with exactly the characters that I have throughout my coloring book,” Robinson said.

Although the books will help provide support for special needs chil dren and their families, they are also designed to share the message of inclusion with everyone.

“It’s also educating those who are unaware of who they are and be cause our community isn’t represented more, I want to be that person to do that,” Robinson said. “It’s okay to ask questions and I think it will help out more where they can support more parents that do have children or a child with special needs.”

Since her books have been published, Robinson says the response from the readers has been incredible and overwhelming

“I have received a lot of amazing feedback not only from parents with children with special needs but parents who do not have children with special needs because it is allowing them to understand more and different aspects of the special needs community and so they enjoy it. I have had a lot of feedback – educators, parents, grandparents, guardians, anybody that is a guardian over a child with special needs,” Robinson said.

Robinson’s ambition to continue the book se ries is being fueled daily through her work at Jef ferson Avenue Elementary School. This is the first year in the Seguin ISD for Robinson who moved to the district from Texas City near Galveston. She says her short time here has only encouraged her to continue the momentum and be a source of change.

“It has been good – honestly good so far meet ing and working with different students and being able to bring my creativity to the students to help them reach their goals as well. I treat every child and every student as though they are capable and which they are – very capable of achieving any goal that is set before them,” Robinson said.

The Special Heros books are currently availa ble for purchase on Robinson’s website, www.mys pecialheros.com.

Robinson admits it took a few setbacks for her to launch these first three books. She says it wasn’t until God believed she was ready that she “went for it.”

That leap of faith will now lead communities to host meaningful conversations, it’s teaching chil dren who don’t have special needs, the value of uniqueness and how to be a good friend to those that are different and most importantly, it’s allowing children with disabilities or other special needs to hear stories featuring characters that they can relate to because in the end, “representation matters!” •

Jay has big business goals in mind and hopes to appear on TV again soon. In the meantime, he has projects in place to expand the catering aspects of his business and even dip his toes into branded merchandise. Though food is his busi ness, family is always on his mind with personal goals to work toward as well.

“Some personal goals for us is I have a hus band, and we want to expand our family,” Jay said. “So, adoption is something we’re trying to start and balance with business and personal goals. So, we have our hands full here. I’m a very big believer in the village –– it takes a village to raise someone. You know, like a recipe. It’s been passed on from my grandparents to my parents, so now it’s me. As generations come and go, we want to leave a legacy, so I want to have kids, and when they happen, they’ll definitely be in the kitchen with me.”

The holidays are one of Jay’s favorite times, and he’ll soon be heading back home to Seguin to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. To him, gathering around one big table with everybody dressed up is an experience he looks forward to no matter how stressful the preparation or holi day travel.

However, his family has big plans that might add some holiday drama to the menu this year.

“My big mama, which is my moth er’s mother, has a recipe from her mother that has been passed on,” Jay said. “It’s a cornbread dressing and it’s to die for, and it’s something with a lot of steps and a lot of ingredients to make this dish so good. So, she passes it along, and actually this Thanksgiving, we are competing and bet ting to see who’s going to have the best. So big mama, our matriarch, knows no one can beat her because she has the orig inal recipe, but my mother knows she had someone who taught her, and she’s teach ing someone else, so she thinks she has the best. And then, of course, I’m the profes sional chef, and it’s been passed on to me, so I feel like I know I’m going to win.”

As aromas fill the house on Thanks giving, Jay and his family will compete, but it will all be good-natured fun. And that is what the holiday is truly all about especially when in the kitchen –– spend ing time with loved ones and honoring the traditions you hold dear, whether that is getting together to cook or just enjoying the flavors of your unique family history. •

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cut up one stick of butter into small cubed pieces and place in the freezer. Pour one cup of Buttermilk into a small bowl and place in the freezer as well. In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt to insure everything is fully combined.

In a food processor add the flour mixture, chilled butter and pulse for 10-12seconds or until butter is well mixed. Add mixture back to large mixing bowl. Create a medium size hole in the middle of the mixture and pour the chilled buttermilk in the center. Add honey to the buttermilk and mix together before folding the dry mix in. Slowly fold in the flour mixture tell buttermilk in well combined. Don’t over mix!

Pour biscuit mixture onto a silicone pastry mat mold to square. Flour your hands and pin roll to avoid sticky dough. Roll and use hands to fold dough in, which causes flaky and layered biscuits. Don’t over fold to prevent a tuff biscuit. Roll out to about 1-2 inches thick and using 3 inches round biscuit mold.

Brush Cast iron with melted butter and place each biscuit closely together. Brush the top of each biscuit with buttermilk and bake for 20 minutes or until the tops and bottoms are golden brown. Immediately brush the tops with honey-butter mixture to creative a nice glossy look. Enjoy them hot out the oven with fruit preserves or cooled down with butter. Enjoy!