Rainey and Jack get a Winter Wonderland courtesy of friends and family

People from all over helped fulfill the wish list to create a Winter Wonderland on Malone Drive in the front yard of 6 year old Rainey Darling and her little 1 year old brother Jack in honor of their mother Caitlin Jaworowski who passed the prior week. Caitlin loved decorating for holidays, so Justin wanted to make sure it was ready for Christmas for their kids. A snow machine should arrive this week! Even the Grinch stopped by to help out. The Jaworowski and McKinney families appreciated all the love and support.
Rainey was so excited and danced around all the decorations in the yard in amazement. She also loved all the lights in the yard, on the house and in the trees. And, of course, the snowman on the garage door really made her smile! Photos by K.K.Calame

Shoppers at local stores this Saturday will have chance of winning $1,000 in gift certificates, open late this Saturday Dec. 17 “Shop at Home MARKDOWN MANIA”

Businesses participating for sure are: A Bushel and A Peck, Mag’s Place, Country Gal’s Market, WOG, and Bon Cafe. Others will be open as well, just look around town.

This shopping event of the year is being hosted in Devine by small town locally owned businesses all day this Saturday, December 17 as a way to say “Thank You” to customers for “Shopping at Home” and helping small businesses, while keeping safe and close to home while shopping for Christmas gifts.
The businesses will be open normal hours Saturday as usual plus staying open late until 9:00 p.m. to celebrate the Markdown Mania event with specials and refreshments.
Also known as a Sip and Shop style event some of the businesses will offer cider, or hot chocolate, or other beverages of their choice as well as door prizes and special savings during this Markdown Mania Shop at Home and Save opportunity!
Spearheading the event are Cindy Morales, Owner of A Bushel and a Peck, Margaret Greehey , Owner of Mag’s Place & Boutique, and Kathy Jaworowski, Owner of Country Gal’s Market and K.K. Calame, Owner of The Devine News.
All businesses are invited to join in on the event by hosting their own markdowns, special offers, door prizes, or drawings and late hours this Saturday, December 17. The more the merrier!
$1,000 in giveaways- Four lucky people will win a $250 gift card during the event, one at Bushel and a Peck, one at Meg’s Place & Boutique, one at Country Gals, and one at WOG (open to 8 pm) by registering at those locations during their Shop at Home Markdown Mania event all day this Saturday!
Also participating this year is Bon Cafe, 200 S Commercial, Devine until 7:00 pm with drink specials!
Other businesses may offer specials and stay open late so be sure to check out businesses around town. Each business will host their own offers and rules and drawing dates and times.
When people shop local it truly makes a difference. Many of our small town businesses were forced to close their doors during the pandemic for months and are trying to just survive and make a living. These same businesses are the many of the ones who support our schools, our stock show kids, and various non profits in our community and surrounding communities.
This event will help small business and their customers at the same time.
Our community has always opened their hearts and pocketbooks to help others in need. We are so fortunate to live in the great place we call home, Devine.
“Shop at Home MARKDOWN MANIA” event is this Saturday. Enjoy the shopping opportunities it offers, the savings, and drawings!

National Wreaths Across America Day is December 17th, volunteers getting ready

Devine’s first National Wreath Across America Day ceremony and wreath-laying event is less than two weeks away! The Current Events Club would like to thank you for your financial support and volunteer hours in these months of preparation. Thank You to the boards of both cemeteries and groundskeepers. Thank You to so many people who walked to help locate veteran graves. Thank You to friends and families who have called to sponsor a wreath for their loved ones and generously donated more for many other veterans who will be remembered. “I’d like to get a wreath for my family member,” would be followed by, “and here is money for others.” Thank You to The Devine News for working with us and to staff writer Kathleene Runnels for articles on veterans and life during times of military service to our country. Thank You to VFW Post 3966 in being hands-on in the planning and execution of our upcoming ceremony day, and for service and church groups who plan to take part. Thank You to Devine High School’s FCS classes for making posters and wreaths that are now hanging at VFW Post 3966. Thank You to Devine Intermediate for the Veteran’s Day gallery of art on display at the Veterans Day programs and welcoming us at their program. Thank You to businesses who plan to help, and to school groups and youth organizations such as American Heritage Girls and our local Girl Scouts, their leaders, sponsors, and parents. Thank You to our spouses!  This could not happen without All of YOU.
Thank you!
The mission of Wreaths Across America is to remember the fallen; Honor those who served; and, Teach future generations the value of our freedom because of their sacrifice. Gather at Devine Evergreen and St. Joseph Catholic cemeteries on Saturday, December 17. The ceremony begins at 11 o’clock, but you are invited to arrive early to walk the grounds and take part afterward in the laying of wreaths on almost 500 Veterans’ graves!
If you’d like to volunteer to be on mission with us, go to www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/TX1147P and click on “Volunteer” to register.
God Bless our Veterans and God Bless America.

Happy 84th Birthday Eddie Hutzler

Claude “Butch” Morgan and his wife and friend celebrated Eddie Hutzler’s 84th Birthday with a personal concert in front of the historic Stroud’s Blacksmith Shop where Eddie spent many years. He now resides at a nursing home in Devine, but enjoys getting out and riding around town with Claude. Photo by Butch Cook.

Santa coming to town Saturday

The weather has been depressing, at least for me. I could never live in the Pacific Northwest that is for sure. Lytle PD stuff…. We handled 55 calls for service and conducted 61 traffic stops. Officers issued 44 citations and 17 warnings last week.
Officers made 2 arrests last week, both were for DWI. #1 – Intoxicated driver in the Pirate Express Drive-Thru. #2 – A traffic stop on Main St. Nothing too exciting here, but those are the kind of arrests that may have saved the life of the arrested person or an innocent person. Good job officers L. Diaz and S. Pena
Two reports of property crimes were taken. #1 – A complainant reported that household items were taken from her storage unit on FM 2790 E. There were no signs of forced entry. #2 – Criminal mischief was reported at John Lott Park, a trail sign was taken and damaged.
Good news! Both the NB entrance ramp to IH-35 and the NB exit ramp to Lytle are now open! There will still be construction in the area but at least the ramps are functioning.
Last Friday, we had our first employee Christmas dinner. In the past, we had a luncheon for the employees and elected officials, but this year immediate family members were invited as well, and we held it in the evening. It was nice to get to see the families of other employees and get to know them. I think it was a smashing success! I guess that is why office parties have been around for years, I just never have been to one. I am normally reserved and keep to myself, but the Italian food made me feel comfortable and let down my guard. I still think I may have done more eating than talking. Special thanks to Paola Rios, our City Secretary, for setting it up.
Congratulations are in order for Ofc. David D. Lopez. He is now Sergeant David D. Lopez. A promotion for him was approved on Dec. 1st. He will help fill the supervisor void left by Lt. Dear moving to City Administrator and Captain Frank Reyes’ retirement. David has been with us for almost 10 years and holds an Advanced Texas Peace Officer license. If my records are correct, this is the first promotion for a full-time officer in over 10 years. This is not something we just hand out on a regular basis.
I ended the week by opening my home and hosting a Christmas party for our church’s youth group. We had a good time; it would have been nice if the weather had been better, and we could have had some outside activities. Nobody got hurt, nobody got TASED, and nobody got pepper sprayed… I have learned my lesson. The last thing I need is to get kicked out of another church.
This Saturday, Dec. 10th, is the annual Christmas Hayride/Holiday Lighting event. Meet us at the Lytle Community Center on Priest Blvd. at 6 pm, I suggest you get there early. The admission cost to the hayride is $1 or one canned good per person. Now before all this inflation the “one canned good” was probably the better value. I am not so sure now! I also want to clarify that I have never gone through the canned goods, picked out the ravioli, and replaced it with a dollar. Those are rumors started by people to discredit my good name and highlight my love of ravioli.

2.3

The last two weeks were quite eventful…we got a little over 2.3 inches of rain out t’wards the Black Creek metroplex, bringing our total to 18.4 inches for the year…so far. Zackly what we had for 2020. We need more years like 2018 when we got 46.8 inches.
Did some contract renewals and vacating and re-platting of lots and such. Good reports from the Treasurer and Auditor are always good to get too. Debbie Southwell and Eduardo Lopez keep us on our toes when it comes to spending money…correctly.
We kept our usual contribution to the San Antonio Food Bank Distribution Program at the $12,000 mark. Was told that once we get the funding from Federal sources, the construction of the new Nutrition Center can begin.
Evidently, Mandi Wilcox is doing such a good job with the WIC Program that Atascosa County wants to join our group. This was tabled until the next meeting.
We did cancel the December 29th Commissioners Court meeting so, I only gotta go to one more meeting. We also cancelled the Burn Ban effective midnight today (Monday) so, burn it if you need to, but call the Sheriff’s Office and let them know.
We have gotten our trailer in the yard for old tires and will be accepting them from 8-4:30 Monday through Thursday. Call ahead (830-665-8015) and let us know when you are coming so we can have someone there to direct you to where they need to go. No tractor tires….
Thanksgiving is come and gone and it is now legal to put up Christmas decorations. After our Thanksgiving Day meal, I aint gotta eat until December 15th. Only leftover I look forward to is the ham…
Got a lot to look forward to come January…gonna finally get to trim ALL my trees, fix my tank so that I can go get wet whenever I wanna, and Willie Jo and I are planning a motorcycle ride to Michigan…and I aint gotta get up early no more. Woo Hoo!
Been axed a lot about whether or not I am gonna keep writing columns….told them that is totally up to KK. She may be open to saving space for more pertinent information (I never mentioned Brandon even once). Told Ron Outlaw that if I’m cancelled, I’d write him a letter every two weeks and Jimmy Wilkinson will have to find another way to keep up on the Devine happenings.

Get ready –
Get set – Bake…

This, my first column of the last month of this year, is actually going to be in the paper on the 81st anniversary of one of the worst days of infamy our country has known, and like the day of airplanes being flown into the twin towers, it will never be forgotten. This day, of course is December 7, 1941, when Japanese bombers began strafing Pearl Harbor and destroying so many of our war ships and the base where these planes were stationed. It also took an almost uncountable number of lives. The battleship Arizona is one of the most awesome places that I have ever visited. When I went to Hawaii several years ago, each time we went off or onto the Island we passed that museum. We did a tour of it one afternoon and I still get chills when I think of the horror of what went on at that time.
It is time to start thinking about making cookies for Christmas. If you have the time, it is really fun to make cookies with your children and grandchildren! The simplest way to do that, I have found is to make up the dough one day and then have them over the next to cut out and bake cookies. Most of these recipes can be rolled into balls the size of unshelled walnuts before putting them on the cookie sheets; they then will come out pretty much all the same size. When I want to make cookies, I usually will make up three or four batches of dough on one evening and then bake cookies the next evening. This seems to work really well, at least for me. In fact, you can then bake as many or as few as you want, you don’t have to bake up the entire batch of each dough, and then, you have fresh baked cookies when you have company coming over for coffee!
My son and daughters remember very well when my grandmother would come over and “spend” with us a few days, especially at Christmas. She would help me make ‘anise’ cookies and we would always have a very good time!
Applesauce Spice Cookies
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3½ cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup thick, unsweetened applesauce
1 or more cups of mixed candied fruit
¼ cup flour
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Cream shortening and sugar together. Beat egg, add to creamed mixture and blend well. Sift flour, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together and add alternately with the applesauce to creamed mixture, with flour being added first and last. Dredge the candied fruit in the ¼ cup flour and stir into the dough. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto well greased cookie sheets. Bake 375ºF for 12 to 15 minutes.
This recipe goes by many names, including Ranger Cookies and a couple of other ones as well. They are always delicious, and this recipe is from my Mother’s aunt. It is written out just as she had it in a small cookbook that a group put together for one of our family reunions.
Good Cookies
1 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups crisp rice cereal (i.e. Rice Crispies)
1 cup coconut
Preheat oven to325ºF. Cream shortening and sugar very well, add eggs, salt and vanilla. Beat well until blended. Add flour sifted with soda and baking powder. Fold in oatmeal Rice Crispies and coconut. Make a ball about the size of a large marble. Place on greased cookie sheet and flatten with glass dipped in sugar*. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. *Lightly spray glass with nonstick spray or rub a light coat of cooking oil on it, then dip in sugar, flatten a couple of cookies, dip in sugar, repeat until all cookies on baking sheet are flattened.
Delicious Oatmeal Cookies
¾ cup butter or margarine
½ cup granulated sugar
1½ cups brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2½ cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup pecans
1 cup coconut (optional)
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Cream butter and sugars thoroughly; add eggs and vanilla. Sift together the dry ingredients and stir in until well mixed. Add the oatmeal, pecans and coconut (if used). Drop dough by spoonfuls on lightly greased or sprayed baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Cool thoroughly, store in tightly covered container.
Snickerdoodles
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Mix together and set aside
2 cups shortening (I use 1 cup shortening and 1 cup margarine)
.3 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
5½ cups flour
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Thoroughly cream together the shortening, sugar and eggs. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Mix into the shortening mixture. Mix well and chill dough overnight. Shape into walnut sized balls; roll each one in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350ºF until lightly browned, but still soft. They will puff up and then flatten out.
The following sugar cookie recipe is really great as it does not have to be refrigerated before cutting and baking. To decorate, use the cookie paint recipe and paint the cut out cookies before baking. If desired, sprinkle colored sugar to match the paint.
Sugar Cookies
1 1/3 cups shortening
2½ cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Thoroughly cream together shortening, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla. Add combined dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Roll out 1/8 to ¼-inch thick on lightly floured* board and cut with cookie cutters into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, sprinkle with granulated sugar (if you did not previously paint them,) and bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cookie Paint
Evaporated milk
Liquid or paste food coloring
Plastic egg carton
Small, inexpensive craft paint brushes
Decorative sugars, nonpareils, etc.
Pour about 1 to 1½ tablespoons of the milk into each of several of the cups in the egg carton. Add a few drops of coloring or paste to each on until desired color is reached. Paint unbaked cookies, decorate as desired and bake in preheated oven. Remove from sheets and cool thoroughly.
Molasses Crinkles
3/4 cups soft shortening or margarine (our grandmothers used lard for this recipe)
1 cups brown sugar
1 eggs
1/4 cup molasses (Grandma’s brand, Steens brand, unsulphured)
2¼ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ to 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Cream together the shortening, sugar, eggs and molasses. Mix dry ingredients and stir into shortening mixture. Stir together until well mixed. Chill overnight. Shape into balls the size of small walnuts. Dip tops in sugar. Place sugared side up on lightly greased baking sheet. Dip your finger into some water and press down lightly on each cookie. Bake at 375ºF until cookies are just set. Remove from pan immediately. They will be puffed up and then will flatten out. The pressing down with the wet finger will give them a crinkled top.

The Shrink

My son’s discovered some old 90s flicks that he’s become obsessed with. Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Honey We Shrunk Ourselves, and Honey I Blew Up the Kids, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, repeat, repeat, repeat. If I didn’t know any better, I would think Tucker plans on shrinking us.
My sister always said he was like a “mad scientist” the way he explores. So who knows. He says if he was “shrunk” he would climb the Christmas tree. His main clever plan is to “shrink his sister though”, he says.
When we aren’t re-watching the “honey I shrunk” videos, we are playing with his beloved and very patient kitten which has been re-named many times. Currently he calls it “Butter the kitten”. It is certainly the loving and patient kind. Tucker is a tad bit hyper and rough for most kittens’ taste, but this one is awfully forgiving. Most cats don’t enjoy playing “hide and kitten go seek” as he calls it, but this one seems to tolerate it, for a while anyways.
The other night I found he had fallen fast asleep with the kitten in his lap, which was also asleep. It was the cutest sight.
We are enjoying having the Christmas tree up, and Tucker made the customary hand-print antlered reindeer ornament. Every year, it’s fun to see the dozens of handmade ornaments we’ve collected over the years and who made what. So far most of them are my daughters and a few surviving ornaments from my husband and my childhood. But I’m sure there will be many more from Tucker. No telling what kind of ornaments my little wild man will make.
Maybe he’ll shrink us and put us on the tree as an ornament!

Jeffrey Scott Wilson

Jeffrey Scott Wilson, age 59 of Lakehills, Texas entered eternal rest on Tuesday, November 29, 2022. He was born on June 26, 1963, to parents, James and Jean Wilson, in San Antonio, Texas.
He is preceded in death by his parents, brother, Steve Wilson.
Jeffrey is survived by his wife and best friend, Liz Wilson; daughters, Amanda McNeely, Brandy Ates (Garrett), Bobbi Jean Wilson- Decker (McKrae); grandchildren, Colsten, Brianna, Adrian, Everly, Damen, Aven, Oliver; brother, Glenn Wilson (Sherry); sister, Debbie Woerner (Paul); numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, December 8, 2022, 10:00 A.M. with service starting at 12:00 P.M. Hurley Funeral Home Chapel Devine, Texas with interment to follow at Longview Cemetery Bigfoot, Texas. Anyone wishing to leave condolences, share memories, or sign the online guestbook may do so at www.hurleyfuneralhome.com