We got bored one day last week, and the fish weren’t biting, so I said “hey how about I give you a horse ride.” He loved it even more than I thought. He’s transformed from plain old country boy to a rodeo cowboy in one week. All it took was a couple of fun horse rides around the ranch last week and he’s hooked! I’ve always thought it’s amazing how it feels to sit in the saddle and hold the reins in your hand as a kid. Always made me feel like I was sitting on top of the world, and I saw that in Tucky’s eyes and giant smile too. Saturday morning when he woke up for the parade, he said “I know what I’m wearing! My cowboy jeans!” again with his gruff and tough cowboy voice. We added a cowboy belt to that, and I’m sure it won’t be long before his PF Flyers turn into boots now. The Fall Festival this Saturday was a blast as always, except I stood on my feet waaaaay too long. We went from one ride to the next for hours and never ended up leaving until ten o clock or so. Tucker kept begging for “one more ride”. He had a blast following his cousins around for the last three hours, riding ride after ride. Cousins are so fun, and he looks up to them so much. His favorite ride was the giant bungee jumping on trampolines though. By the end of the night, the carnival ride lady in that booth was his best friend. I was surprised he wasn’t scared to get hitched up to that ride, but before he took off for the first time he told me “I ain’t scared of nothin’!” with a real gruff cowboy voice. I should have known that I guess, after all, he is a cowboy now!
Join the fun this Saturday for a great cause, helping to raise money that will be needed for future treatments for the adorable and most sweet, Audrey Jane Capps, 4 years old.
The Divine Savior Lutheran Church is hosting its Seventh Annual Gift of Hope fundraiser Saturday, November 12. Audrey Jane Capps, a precious, beautiful, brilliant four-and-a-half-year-old, has been given the Gift of Hope this year. Audrey has an incurable illness, and she suffers from A-T. The condition is a genetic disorder known as Ataxia Telangiectasia. A-T affects the nervous system and other body systems. Over time the affected children typically develop difficulty with walking, balance, hand coordination, involuntary jerking movements, muscle twitches, and disturbances in nerve function (neuropathy). Audrey is beginning to experience some of these symptoms. Children with A-T typically have average intelligence but slow motor and verbal response. This type of response is where lifelong therapy will be her forever journey. There is no cure at this time for problems associated with A-T. Treatment is supportive but has to remain proactive. Physical Therapy, as well as verbal therapy, will remain a lifelong process for Audrey. She also goes to occupational therapy, and music therapy and participates in horse and water therapy. Besides those she is benefiting from massage therapy every two weeks, and melatonin therapy with Dr. Neel. “We are doing everything we can to keep this sweet girl healthy and happy, but we are in a race against time to find a cure for Audrey Jane and we truly appreciate all of your support!” The Capps/Calame Families. Audrey starts kindergarten next year and is very excited and can hardly wait. “Audrey Jane Capps is four years old and a proud resident of Devine, Texas. Audrey Jane loves spending time with her family, friends, and animals. She loves to fish, ride her horse, play dress-up, have tea parties, swim, and dance! Audrey has a zeal for life like no other and sees the true beauty in everything around her!”, said her parents Josh and Brittany Capps. “At age 3, Audrey was diagnosed with Ataxia-Telangiectasia (A-T). A-T is a rare neurodegenerative genetic disorder that impairs movement and coordination, weakens the immune system, and causes an increased risk for cancer. Kids with A-T typically start losing physical abilities step-by-step between ages 4 and 8. By the age of 10, most kids will be in a wheelchair.” Audrey is the granddaughter of Ken and Debbie Capps and Tommy and KK Calame, all of Devine. “Audrey Jane is so precious to our family. She is such a light and enjoys her life to the fullest with her very active imagination and spunky personality! There isn’t anything we wouldn’t do to help find a cute for her and all the A-T kiddos fighting this disease. Thank you so much for choosing to raise money for our girl. We are SO appreciative!” The Capps/Calame Families. Brittany and Josh Capps are Audrey’s parents; they face their daughter’s challenges daily with faith, hope, and love. God created each one of us uniquely in his image. Disability might appear to mar that image like a reflection in a shattered mirror. Still, God is shining his light on the broken pieces to reveal more of Himself to us and the world. Parents, grandparents, and families with children with special needs go through a host of emotions every hour of every day. Divine Savior Lutheran Church prays that a “Gift of Hope” will shed a little light on Audrey’s forever journey.
The Seventh Annual’ Gift of Hope” Golf Tournament, Saturday Divine Savior Lutheran Church’s Seventh Annual golf tournament will coincide with a Bar-Q-Que plate lunch. This year the tournament returns to the Devine Golf Club’s golf course. The entry fee for the golf tournament is $75.00 per player, including a golf cart, a free meal after tournament play, and green costs. There are to be four-person teams with a shotgun start, and handicaps for women are 24 and for men 18. A door prize drawing is for the golf participants, and cash prizes with an entire field. Other competitive activities include a chipping contest at $20.00 per participant and a Tiger Drive at $40.00 per team. Please call the Devine Golf Pro Shop to sign up early at 830-665-9943.Hole sponsors are $100.00 each. Hole sponsors for the chipping green are $50 each. Live Music and Dance Entertainment, 11-1 Our live music and dance entertainment are hosted by “DJ Bobby G.” of San Antonio, Texas. DJ Bobby G brings recorded music from the Top 40, Tejano, Cumbia, Oldies Dance, Hip-Hop, and ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. Once again, Randy Brown has graciously volunteered his country band to perform from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm. Hermann Sons Dance class of Devine, Texas, will also perform on the church grounds. Special thanks go to these folks; we could not do it without you. Silent Auction, 11-1 A silent Auction is to take place on Saturday, November 12, in the Divine Savior Lutheran Fellowship Hall from 11am-1pm. All donations can be delivered to the Fellowship Hall between 10 am-5pm, Wed.-Fri. before the weekend of the event. The cutoff date will be THURSDAY, NOV, 9th. Please call the church before delivering these items (830-663-3735). Your gift is sincerely appreciated. Our special thanks to the Devine News; you have always been there for our continuing seven-year journey. We would not be able to help others without them. Also, thank you to all who have contributed with challenging work contributions and faith in the “Gift of Hope.” We love You, Audrey Jane! “A gift of hope is truly a ray of sunshine after a day of gloom”. In memory of Jessie Esch, Joyce Haass, Claudia Carberry, and Bryleigh Shullanberger. Your precious lives will always be remembered. Come join in the fun this Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022 at the Divine Savior Lutheran Church from 11-2, or at the Devine Golf Course for the tourney. For more information, contact Robert Cappella at 210-771-7484 or Marla Cappella at 210-363-2718.
The Annual Veterans Day Ceremony will take place on Friday, November 11, 2022 at 11:00 am at the front of the Veterans Memorial Monument in Natalia, Texas. As in years past, limited seating will be available. St Hwy 132 will be blocked off for the event. We invite you to come to the Ceremony as it is our time to pay tribute to the men and women of our County who chose and continue to choose to protect and defend our Country.
Grant (left) with Steven Petry (right) of GTZ Powder Coating.
This Friday and Saturday, the Sky High for Kids will hold a banquet and shooting clay tournament to raise funds for Cancer research. One item up for auction at the banquet is a 300 Blackout rifle built and donated by local highschooler and two-time cancer survivor, senior Grant Wagoner.
“I figured I could use my skills for good and try to raise some money for those kids in the hospital. I was really surprised when they came to me asking to build a gun for them, but I really enjoyed it and liked being able to give back.”
This rifle, custom built by Wagoner, was originally gifted to him as a series of donated parts by veterans and gun enthusiasts to occupy Grant’s time in the hospital during his second time being treated for brain cancer, at only 7 years old.
“I was stuck doing nothing in the hospital and I wanted to buy a gun to put together. My dad made a post on Facebook and everyone started sending me all these parts. That’s how I really got into building AR’s like this”
Grant isn’t the only one to contribute to this donation. San Antonio based GTZ Powder Coating, operated by veteran Steven Petry, gave the blackout a slick orange and blue paint job and laser engraving.
“We found GTZ on Facebook and reached out to see if they’d be interested in helping us, and they decided to do the engraving and coating for free. It turned out even better than I could have imagined.”
The Sky High Benefit Banquet and Shooting Clay Tournament will be held November 11th through the 12th at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and The National Shooting Complex, respectively.
This past week was an awesome one, not only did I get to see the Grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the Devine, Castroville area, on the way to Devine I had a phone call from my grandson who is in the process of moving from Hawaii to Florida, which is his next station. He and his family came in on Friday evening and we had a wonderful time together. The kids wanted to go fishing, so we went to my sister’s stock tank and drowned a few worms. Two of the little ones caught very small catfish and were as happy as they could be. The main thing was, they got to go fishing! Yes, I did spend a lot of time untangling the little boy’s line, he could get it tangled easier than anyone would have thought possible. I asked him how he did that, and he just looked at me with a big smile, of course, he always gave me a hug when I fixed it for him, fixing it was worth the hug! This coming week is going to be a busy one with a couple of meetings and being hostess for my Pokeno group. I am going to make old-fashioned gingerbread from my grandmother’s recipe. It is always a treat, especially to people who remember it from their younger days and just don’t have the time to make it anymore. Have you ever given a thought to the numerous times we use mustard? Hamburgers and hot dogs immediately come to mind for most people. It is a condiment that many people do not care for because of the pungent, spicy taste, however, many recipes are made just a little bit better for the addition of a couple of teaspoons or tablespoons of this bright yellow condiment. Most recipes specify whether to use dry mustard or prepared mustard, others don’t, in that case, they usually mean to use the prepared. More and more recipes are beginning to ask for a specific type of prepared mustard, i.e., Dijon, spicy brown, etc. This is the information I have in my files from a previous column, so it is what I used. Mustard is a plant of the genus Brassica, a genus in which several other food plants are also found, including turnips, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards and broccoli. The principal source of commercial mustard is B. nigra. It is an annual that is two to three feet high, has stiff stems, bright yellow flowers and smooth narrow pods. Dry mustard is a yellow powder and is made from the ground seeds. The seeds of white mustard and the Indian or Chinese mustard are also used. These are B hirta and B. juncea respectively. Neither is indigenous to the United States. Chinese mustard and Japanese (B. japonica) mustard plants are eaten as a salad plant, using the first large lower leaves. For many years ground mustard seed has been used as a condiment. It can be used alone or combined with other ingredients, as in prepared mustard. In ancient times, it was used a medicine by Hippocrates. It is used as an emetic and in times past, as a mustard plaster on your chest for a bad cold and cough. Would deviled eggs taste as good without a dollop of prepared mustard? In fact, some recipes for deviled eggs call for a small amount of dry mustard rather than the prepared mustard. Many recipes for potato salad or pasta salad also call for mustard to be added. A hot dog or hamburger, to many, without mustard is not really fit to eat. Mustard seeds are used frequently in pickle or slaw recipes, as well as in some salad dressings. Homemade mayonnaise has dry mustard as an ingredient. If you check in your cookbooks, you will be really surprised at the number of recipes that call for one or the other. Dry mustard can be really pungent and spicy if you use the least bit too much in a recipe. As with any spice or condiment, use it sparingly until you get the taste you want. (This is why recipes sometimes say add…”to your taste”). It is much easier to add more than it is to try to remove some when you have added too much. Any of these recipes or any others calling mayonnaise really taste great with the following homemade mayonnaise. It is not difficult to make using your blender. My mother used to have a glass jar with a perforated plunger that you dashed up and down, (just as you would a butter churn to make butter), to make mayonnaise. It was a little more complicated and time consuming than this recipe is. Mayonnaise 1 egg 1 teaspoon dry or ¾ teaspoon prepared mustard ½ teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon paprika 2 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar 1 cup cooking oil, (divided use) Break egg into blender container, add mustard, salt, paprika, lemon juice or vinegar and ¼ cup oil. Place cover on container, turn on blender to low speed, remove center cup from lid and in a very slow stream, pour in the remaining oil while it is still on low speed. Continue blending until thick. It makes one cup and is ready to use. Do not double the recipe. If you need more than one cup, make the recipe a second time. Deviled Eggs 8 to 12 eggs 1 small rib celery, diced very finely 2 to 3 tablespoons sweet pickle relish (or the sweet/dill relish that is now available) 1 tablespoon prepared mustard (about) Mayonnaise Salt and pepper to taste Hard cook eggs, remove from heat and drain well. Shake around in pan to crack them, cover with cool water and allow to set for a few minutes. Drain the eggs, peel, and cut in half lengthwise, placing the yolks in a bowl. Thoroughly mash the egg yolks, stir in celery and pickle relish, and then add the mustard and enough mayonnaise, mixing to desired consistency. Use a spoon and place mixture into egg halves. Sprinkle with paprika or chili powdered if desired. If you want this to look a little fancier, place yolk mixture into a cake decorating bag, using a large star tip and fill the halves using that. Spam Salad 1 can Spam ½ cup finely chopped celery ½ cup pickle relish or chopped dill pickles 1 to 2 tablespoons diced pimentos 1 tablespoon prepared mustard Mayonnaise or salad dressing Use a coarse grater and shred the Spam, or coarsely chop in a food processor. (Be careful with a food processor, as it will make the Spam into a paste, if you process it too long)! Put Spam into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients, using enough mayonnaise or salad dressing to make the mixture into a spreading consistency. This makes great sandwiches or tastes equally good with crackers. Grandma’s Old-Fashioned Gingerbread ½ cup shortening 2 eggs ½ cup granulated sugar 2½ cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon nutmeg or cloves 1 cup boiling water 1 cup molasses Sift together: flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices; set aside. Cream together shortening, sugar and eggs until fluffy; and add sifted ingredients with the molasses. Add boiling water last and stir in gently, just until mixed. Pour into 9×13 pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done. If you like, sprinkle the top of the dough with a tablespoon or two of sugar before baking, or when cake is done, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Officers handled 51 calls for service last week and conducted 110 traffic stops. Those stops resulted in 102 citations and 8 warnings. We started the week with a lot of arrests and then it fizzled out towards the weekend. In all, we had 8 arrests. #1 – Ofc. Pena stopped a vehicle on Wisdom Rd. and determined the driver had 2 felony warrants out of Bexar Co. for Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle (Plain English: He steals cars). He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #2 – Sgt. Hanson conducted a traffic stop and the driver came to a stop at his residence on Lytle-Somerset St. He had two active warrants out of Atascosa Co. (one felony and one misdemeanor). His girlfriend came out of the house and started yelling at him “that’s Karma,” I guess she was happy he was going to jail. That’s about the time I pulled up. The boyfriend then tells Sgt. Hanson that she has a warrant as well (original charge of a DWI), he confirms it and then I see him walk over to her and tell her she is under arrest too (that’s #3) and it “must be that Karma she is talking about”. They were both booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #4 – Sgt. Hanson stopped a speeder in the school zone and determined he had an active felony warrant out of Bexar Co. for Family Violence. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. That was all on Monday! #5 – Ofc. Diaz stopped a vehicle for running a red light on Main St. The vehicle, a 2002 Buick, was reported stolen out of San Antonio P.D. The female driver was arrested for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and the Buick was recovered. She was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #6 & #7 – Ofc. A. Lopez stopped a vehicle on Main St. for running a stop sign, the stop resulted in two adult males being cited for possession of drug paraphernalia. They were both released at the scene. #8 – Ofc. Diaz arrested a male, who was riding a bicycle, for public intoxication. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. Officers took 2 reports of property crimes last week. #1 – The owner of a 2000 Chevy P/U reported her vehicle was broken into while she was at work at the H.E.B. C-Store. A .22 revolver, misc. hand tools and a bag with change was taken. There were no signs of forced entry. #2 – A complainant reported that their mini-storage unit N. Somerset St. was burglarized, and the contents were removed. The contents included pictures, clothing, and sewing material. Now, I have important news: Starting on Monday, Nov. 7th the northbound entrance ramp to IH-35 (in front of Lytle State Bank) will be closed for 2 weeks. Use Main St. North to get onto the IH-35 ramp (overpass just north of the City Limits) during that time. Lytle State Bank will be accessible but give yourself a little extra time to get to it. We might have another important road update next week, stay tuned! We are a “City on the Grow” ……. this is just part of that. For up-to-date info. you Facebookers should keep up with: Ruben Gonzalez Mayor City of Lytle TX. You can follow me on Twitter @lytlepdchief, but I am not as fun (I’m an all-work and no-play kind of guy). Once all this TXDOT stuff is done we will be in decent shape for sure! How long will all this planned work take? I’m not sure but IH-35 from Lytle to Dallas has been under construction since I started driving there to visit my grandparents in the late 80s. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before you know it. With that comes our annual Christmas Hayride! The big night is Saturday, December 10th. I would rate this the #2 city event, right behind the 4th of July Fireworks Show.
Sister’s volleyball game lasted til nearly 7 on Halloween night, so we got off to a late start on our trick or treating. Brother was “Batman” for the day, and he was loving it. As soon as I slipped the Batman costume onto him, he began his karate and ninja moves. It took about five minutes of those super cool moves before he would pause to let me buckle the back of the costume up. And then came the cape, as soon as it was installed, he climbed to the highest part of the couch, and stood like the super hero he is proudly. Then he leaped down and whooshed down the hallway and back so fast I couldn’t hardly video him. Then he did a few somersaults down the hallway. It was truly adorable. We stopped by the Methodist Church’s Trunk or Treat which was lots of fun, and Tucker even got to sit inside a real submarine. There was only one condition; he had to take his favorite candy with him. He would not relinquish that candy from his hand for nothing. We went to see a few friends for trick or treating, and he showed each of them his “muscles” accentuated by the poofy Batman costume. Aunt Bobbie and Nancy and Grandma West all got a kick out of that. He’s been a real super hero lately. This weekend he put on a ninja moves trick show for us in the front yard. This consisted of him racing across the yard, stopping to do a somersault roll across the little tikes picnic table and trampoline and a few on the ground in between, and leaping off any surface he could find. It was great. He fell asleep in his Batman costume, and what a sweet sight it was. There’s no doubt in his mind that he has the skills to be a super hero. I guess we all have our own super hero skills. If you are not feeling it, do a few somersault rolls and race down the hallway a few times and leap off the couch.
After a career in Higher Education that lasted 44 years, I have spent more than a few hours pounding on a typewriter or computer keyboard. 6 different textbooks with 14 editions as author or co-author, plus many professional articles and reports came from those days. Once finished with that chapter of life, my writing “itch” has been satisfied by doing stories like this one that have accumulated into Volume 1 and 2 of books called Tales From La Brasada with Volume 3 on the horizon. That is not a “sales pitch” as much as an acknowledgment of production. The Cover Logo for the books is a deer that the Boss Lady killed on our Home Place about a dozen years ago. He has a 5 + inch drop tine that is off his right main beam. Middle aged at the time of his demise, it would have been interesting to see what he might have become if he lived for a couple of more years. Given we have NEVER had anything close to a drop tine buck on that ranch since it became ours in 1938, with yours truly managing it from 1976, I am glad she took the deer. I put out my first Fall 2022 trail camera about 10 days ago at one of our all year long corn and protein combo feeder spots. We keep it fenced out when cattle are on the place and then open the wide gates once they are gone every September. Lo and Behold, there appeared several shots of a 10 point that was an almost carbon copy of the previous buck. This one is also middle aged, and I shared his “mug shot” with ALL my regular guests and family members who hunt with me out there. In addition to my antler and age comments, a statement was made that he was 100% Off Limits to anyone that wanted to ever come back through the gate to that property! I can’t control for a moment what happens off our little low fenced place, besides appealing to a couple of neighbors who are also kind of wildlife managers. I know that fellow may end up miles from our spot come rutting season. Rather than fuss and fume on what I cannot do, I have decided to record my amazement and wonder of Mother Nature. For an almost twin in terms of antler design to appear after 12 years with nothing close to that during that period is remarkable to me. One of my passions when raising horses for about 40 years was the study of genetics. Truth be told during the 2 Summers down at College Station as part of the Residency requirements for my Doctorate, I spent WAY TOO much time with the Horse Barn and Wildlife Department folks than I should have been doing. But I did manage to learn a good many things that helped me in my mare and stallion choices when raising some really fine saddle horses. I know there are instances where a genetic trait or characteristic can be latent for years and years. And to reappear all of a sudden for one time, only to then disappear again for a good while. I believe that is what is happening with this Second Drop Tine buck. But someone much smarter than me might have a better and more accurate perspective. The Boss Lady often says that about 99% of the World’s Population is wiser than me on many things, and I am sure she is correct. But in this instance, I just might be on to something. And if not, it is still sure enough fun to speculate. One thing I do not have to wonder about is that I know I am looking forward to laying me eyes on that buck. And I cannot wait for that opportunity to arrive!
Robert Francis Gossett, Jr., age 78 of Devine, Texas and New York City joined his beloved wife, Paula Gossett of 45 years, on Sunday, October 30, 2022. He is preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Robert Gossett and wife, Ann. Robert is survived by his sons, Robert Francis Gossett, III and Frank Morgan Gillespie Gossett, both of New York City. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to your charity of choice in the Devine or San Antonio area. Visitation will be held on Friday, November 4, 2022, 9:00 A.M. with Funeral Service starting at 10:00 A.M. Hurley Funeral Home Chapel Devine, Texas. Services will conclude at the funeral home.
Elaine Rose Kroeger went to be with the Lord, on October 30, 2022, at the age of 74. Elaine was born on October 15, 1948, in Castroville, Texas to Ernest John Kroeger and Hortense Alice Keller. She was baptized at Mother of Grace Church in La Coste, Texas on October 31, 1948. She was preceded in death by her parents, Ernest “Cotton” and Hortense Kroeger, brother, Ernest “Ernie” Kroeger, Jr.; maternal grandparents, Gustaf and Katherine Kroeger along with Aunts and Uncles. Elaine is survived by her sister-in-law, Betty Kroeger of Lytle; nephew, Brian Michael Kroeger (Karron) of Kingwood; great-niece, Audrey Nadine Kroeger of Kingwood and numerous cousins. Visitation will be held on Monday, November 7, 2022 from 9:00 am – 10:00 am at Hurley Funeral Home, 14822 Main Street, Lytle, Texas 78052. Rosary to be recited at 10:00 am. Funeral Service will be on Monday, November 7, 2022 at 10:30 am at Hurley Funeral Home in Lytle. Burial will follow at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Cemetery in La Coste, Texas. Anyone wishing to leave condolences, share memories, or sign the guest book may do so at www.hurleyfuneralhome.com Arrangements are under the direction of Hurley Funeral Home, 14822 North Main Street, Lytle, TX 78052.
