Eddie Hutzler’s sirens and First Responder sendoff heard all across town,Badge #1234 retired in honor of Nightwatchman

It says any man you meet on the street could be Jesus…..In any other city, Eddie Hutzler, 84, might have been considered “homeless”, but in this community he always had a family. He brought out the best in all of us–inspiring us to be the

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Parade & Cactus Festival in Devine this Saturday- Everything you need to know

This Saturday, November 4th the Parade starts at 10 AM. This weekend downtown Devine will be the spot to be at the 62nd Annual Devine Fall Festival-Cactus Festival and Carnival.

CARNIVAL
The three day carnival will be operating on Thursday, Friday evenings and all day and evening on Saturday.
The festival will be this Saturday, Nov. 4 with a full day of family friendly fun, kicking off with the parade that starts at 10 am as usual at red light at HWY 173 and FM 2200 (Medina Glass).


Vendors and food booths open up starting at 9 am.


This year features an amazing lineup of local artists on both the Main Stage and Second Stage!


Main Stage: At 11 am Keith Lutz will sing the National Anthem followed by Pauline Calame taking the main stage at 11:15 as they officially kick off the all day music lineup and free parking lot dance.

The featured headliner Saturday night from 10 pm-12 midnight will be the Jeremy Richards Band.

Lineup includes Jordan Guana at 1:00 pm, Keith Lutz 2:30, Chuck Wimer 4:30, Weston Ripps 6:00 pm, Brad Jenschke at 8:00 and Jeremy Richards Band at 10 pm. DJ Reese will fill in all day and keep things rolling.


Second Stage:

This year it will be behind the bank (next to Mag’s on Bright Street). Taking the stage at 11 am with be Cheer and Dance kiddos.

At 12:00 pm Sylvia & Matt Kirk will start the live music on that stage. Sylvia recently performed at Eddie Hutzler’s service.

At 1 :30 pm will be Bill Cassie, 3:00 SA Rhythm. At 4:30 pm local songwriter Claude Butch Morgan will take the stage. Watch for him to perform the song he composed years ago about one of his best buddies titled, “Eddie”, in honor of Eddie Hutzler as well as many of his other songs. Morgan performed it at Eddie’s funeral and brought tears to many eyes.

At 6:15 pm DJ Reggie Pena will take the stage.


Community Center: Inside the community center will be 100s pieces of children’s Art on Exhibit, a plant sale, book sale, the original Cactus Zoo video filmed many years ago, Cactus Zoo photos and stories, and visit the historical committee with several new shirts for sale. Be sure to look at the awesome new mural of historic downtown buildings created by local artist Kathleene Runnels.


You’ll get a chance to see this film for the first time in many, many years:

Shopping:

Outside retail vendors are excited to bring y’all some great shopping at the Cactus Festival! Be sure to stop by on Saturday and check them out! Some of the vendors include these and more:
A Duck in Rain Boots
Baked with Lara Love
Country Handmade
Divine Treats
Gant Family Delights
Handcrafted by Frank Amodemo Jr
Lexi’s Creation’s
Tiny Texan Woodworks – Tony Aktines
Tricia’s Reclaimed Signs
Becky’s Accessories Shop
Candy Maldonado
Deer Valley Apiary
Expo Home Improvement
First Baptist Church Devine
Guerra Specialty Coffee
It’s About Time kids Fishing Rods
Made from the Heart
Mary Kay
Paddle Creek Crafts
Textura
HippOneer
South Creek Provision Co.
Martha’s Jewelry and more
Hindsight Farm
Zapped Freeze Dried Snacks
Artesaid
Fuentes Five Trading Company
Southern Mama Co.
Daisy’s Creations
American Cactus LLC
MCS gift Shop
Michael Camarillo Books
MiCielo Market & Craftery
Old Pass Apothecary
Our Crafty Family
Pretty Bowtabulous by patty
Rowdyee’s Western LLC
Wildflowers Apparel
Devine Fire / Rescue
Food and treats vendors include these and more:
Cajun Boudain
Espana’s Pizza Pies
Kettle Me Up Gourmet
Saritas Mexican Kitchen
Tacos el Chilito
Knights of Columbus Council 5192
Black Creek Bar & Grill


Thank You to The City Devine for being the Presenting Sponsor for The 62nd Annual Cactus Festival! We are so thankful for all that you do to ensure the Festival is a Success for The Great City of Devine!


So many sponsors stepped up to help this year with more signing up daily. Be sure to watch for signage and thank them. Looking forward to thanking them all for believing in Devine and helping show off some of the local talents of our small communities, whether it be a performer, or a food vendor, a small business, artist, crafter or gardener, or historian. Small town Devine has so many talented people and they truly enjoy coming together to celebrate downtown each fall during the festival.


This is the 62nd year for the festival, which started out as a Clean Town Parade!
New- Watch for the unveiling of the new mural of downtown historic buildings. And be sure to stop by and watch the video that was recently found about the creation of the Cactus Zoo that put Devine on the map many years ago. It cannot be seen online, so stop by and watch it inside the community center. It is not long, but a wonderful production of a special time in Devine that brought the community together one cactus piece at a time.

Meet 15 year old Zakery, who is an accomplished athlete who loves football.

In his free time, Zakery enjoys playing all sports, especially basketball, football, & baseball, he is also a fan of video games and spending time with his friends. In his down time, he enjoys watching comedy videos on YouTube.

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Everything you need to know…Devine Cactus Fall Festival

Come on out for a 3 day Carnival starting Nov 2nd-Nov 4th, and on Saturday enjoy our downtown parade starting at 10am and free live music 11am-Midnight (see flyer). Also this year, there will be a great exhibit full of local history featuring a video about the infamous Cactus Zoo that used to be in Devine, lots of vendors, an Art Exhibit, Plant Sale by the Devine Garden Club, and more!!!! Be there or be square!

Jeremy Richards will headline the street dance from 10-12 pm.

Also don’t miss Claude Butch Morgan’s performance at 4:30 on Stage #2. He is a dear friend of Eddie Hutzler’s and we are sure he will sing the touching song he wrote about Eddie. See the ad below or this week’s Devine News for more info.

Cortez brothers, soldiers to lead Lytle’s Homecoming parade November 3 & 4

Pictured L to R Twin brothers SSGT Richardo B. Cortez and SFC Henry B. Cortez 1990 at Desert Storm (Saudi Arabia/Iraq). These two local veterans are honored to be the Grand Marshall’s of the Parade this year.

The Lytle Ex-Student Association invites you to join the celebration of Homecoming 2023 on November 3 & 4. There are several exciting activities planned.
Local veterans Staff Sgt (SSG) Ricardo B. Cortez and Sgt First Class (SFC) Henry B. Cortez will be appearing as 2023 Grand Marshalls for the Class of 1966…

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Devine kids compete in Region VII Texas Rodeos, Hall takes top spots

Standout cowboy Enoch Hall, an 8th grader from Devine took one of the top spots in 11 Texas Jr. High School Rodeo events. Courtesy photos.

Standout cowboy Enoch Hall, an 8th grader from Devine took one of the top spots in 11 Texas Jr. High School Rodeo events including: Bull riding, Boys breakaway, Team Roping, Chute Dogging, Ribbon Roping, Bareback riding, Tie down and Calf Roping. He placed as follows:….

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FIRST TIME SHOWN IN 58 YEARS…TV Segment about Devine Cactus Zoo

For the first time in 58 years, this 4-minute, narrated TV segment of the Cactus Zoo will be seen again, and YOU have the opportunity to see it for yourself!

In the summer of 1955, the Humble Oil TV station came to Devine, Texas to film one of the most unique exhibits in Texas, the “Cactus Zoo”, as part of their Texas in Review TV segments. Tourists from far and wide came to view the “cacti-sculptures” of the Three Bears, Davy Crockett, Jonah & the Whale, the Roadrunner vs the Snake, and more!
The late Mr. O.T. Baker, of the Institute of Texas Cultures and the Folklife Festival fame, is featured in the…

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County awarded $485,412 to evaluate local flood risk; subdivision to have 70 homes on 24

By Anton Riecher
A $485,412 grant to cover 90 percent of a project to evaluate the flood risk potential across Medina County has been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a representative of Westwood Professional Services told county commissioners Oct. 16.
“Medina County was one of 51 applications selected,” Westwood’s Alan Stanton said. “It was a nationally competitive grant.”
The study is a reevaluation of the flood risk across the entire county and redevelopment of…

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Overdue account forces council to schedule a special meeting

Local artist Kathleen Runnels, right, and Nancy Saathoff, chair of the Devine Historical Committee, present the design for a proposed mural for the Dr. George S. Woods Community Center. The mural that depicts the history of the city. Saathoff said the mural should be completed and installed in time for the 2023 Cactus Fall Festival. The design was presented to the Devine City Council during its Oct. 17th meeting. Photo by Anton Riecher

By Anton Riecher
Failure to conduct an adequate inventory prior to the 2022 change in management at the city golf course continued to create havoc in accounting for a reported $37,000 in lawn supplies charged to the facility.
“Not having a starting inventory has become quite an issue,” Mayor Butch Cook said during an extended discussion on the overdue account during the Oct. 17 city council meeting.
The council voted unanimously to…

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