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Devine Cactus Festival November 2, vendor sign ups underway for locals first

The Devine Chamber of Commerce will host its annual 2024 Fall Cactus Festival on the first Saturday of November as usual, set for November 2 in downtown Devine with a festival, street dance and carnival.
Sign up as a vendor
This year preference will be given to chamber members to keep with the local first theme who sign up to be a vendor first. Then it will be opened to outside vendors. Only 3 of every kind of vendor will be allowed to provide a nice variety of vendors. The Devine Market Association has accepted the job of organizing the vendors and taking care of that part of the festival for the chamber. An August 23 deadline has been set for chamber members to apply to get dibs on a vendor spot. Chamber members will be given priority then local and then open to others. To give as much opportunity as possible to local people first. Think, Shop, Dine Devine!

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Glimpse…

OK, I’ll go first. My family lived about five miles south of Somerset in the Blackjacks on our 100-acre family farm when I started first grade. My paternal grandmother lived down the lane from us under a grove of Oak trees, and we lived under another. A Mr. Frank James (of the ubiquitous James family of Somerset) was our bus driver, and I recall we meandered amongst the family farms for about an hour before reaching the schoolhouse in “downtown” Somerset. The main schoolhouse was a three-story, 11-classroom building that housed second through 12th grades. The first grade met in a two-room building (which was probably an old barracks) down below the official school house.
There were two rooms. Miss Winnie was my teacher and Miss King was the other. Unfortunately, the Hispanic children were segregated, and they were Miss King’s students.

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DEVINE HOMETOWN HISTORY:

Dec. 11, 1910 – St. Joseph Catholic Church Rectory – Confirmation Day
San Antonio Diocese Rev. Bishop Shaw and St. Joseph’s Rev. Maas proudly stand behind some newly confirmed Catholic children in front of the St. Joseph Rectory, which still stands on Washington Drive in Devine, Texas.

“A Big Catholic Day” 1910
“Bishop Shaw arrives by train and confirms 275 persons.”

By Nancy Ehlinger Saathoff, Devine Historical Committee
Sunday, December 11, 1910, was an “extra-ordinary” day in Catholic circles, and in fac, for Devine too, as the Rt. Rev. Bishop J. W. Shaw confirmed 275 persons. Bishop Shaw arrived by train from San Antonio and was met at the train by auto and the Devine Citizens band, and a procession was formed leading to the church and grounds.
“The parochial residence, the convent, the Mexican church and school and the church were all beautifully decorated and everything was carried out in an elaborate way.” After the large confirmation in Devine, Bishop Shaw and St. Joseph’s Rev. Maas went to Bigfoot and Moore for more confirmations. Catholics from all parts of the country, and other local and area citizens who attended, numbered in the several hundred for this special occasion.

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CASU Final Report onCity of Devine complete

The results of the Devine Community as a Startup (CASU) Planning Summary Conducted by the Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi were issued as of August 2024 in a final report. The complete report can be seen on the City of Devine website.
“This report is being considered as a road map for the city council to use to create the cities strategic plans and funding for the city priorities. It is also currently being highlighted as part of our economic development portfolio to attract new businesses and developers,” said David L. Jordan, City Administrator, City of Devine.
These are some of the topics discussed and outlined in the final report.
Introduction
The CASU model is a collaboration with communities that takes a customized view of a community and assists in facilitating its future. The model utilizes principles used in the world of fast moving, results achieving startups and applies them to a community. The desired outcome is to develop a community that more readily identifies opportunities and increases the chance of achieving them. The project strives to develop economic resilience and diversification, enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and build a framework for rapid development of future economic vitality.

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Bigfoot Volunteer FD 16th BBQ Fundraiser Sept. 21

The Bigfoot VFD will hold their 16th annual BBQ fundraiser on Saturday, September 21 at the Bigfoot Park located at FM 472 in Bigfoot. They will be serving plates with brisket, Kiolbasa sausage, green beans, potato salad with the trimmings and a drink for $14. Serving will begin at 11 am.
There will also be an auction and bake sale. There will be vendors and community outreach so come enjoy the delicious food and support our volunteer fire department.
To volunteer or donate, Denise at (210) 542-0774.

Looking Good or Seeing Good

I recently saw a T-Shirt for sale that said something along the lines that aging is one body part saying to other parts: “You Think That Was Bad? Watch This!”
To be very clear, I take NO credit for that phrase, but I DO RESEMBLE that remark!
The latest in my Replacement Journey is a scheduled Cataract Surgery. The Good Book. AKA The Bible, talks about as some of the people mentioned aged…their Eyes Grew Dim. I can sure relate to that.
After some extensive investigations into that piece of my anatomy, some options were given to me and the Boss Lady. We selected the least invasive choice. Time will tell IF the procedure will be successful. But the real dilemma that comes to my mind is these two combative thoughts: Will I See Better and/or will I Look Better?

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School Time!

As is usual, with the first week of the month, my week was a busy one with various meetings and appointments. When we had our Hospital Auxiliary meeting, we changed the time of our hours, so now my Wednesdays working will change from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and be 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The early part of this past week, they mowed the hay fields and spent the day Friday running the balers, in the fields close to my house. Sunday morning, when I looked out the window after church, most of the bales had been hauled off.
This week will begin with an appointment in Victoria for me and my sister decided that she needed a break and will take me. We have a gift certificate to a boutique in Cuero that we are anxious to use, so coming home there will be a side trip to that boutique. Mostly though, we’ll check out the mall and a couple of stores in Victoria, and of course, we get to eat out!

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Tid Bits

Last week your Lytle P.D officers handled 46 calls for service and conducted 84 traffic stops. Of those 84 stops, 65 resulted in citations and 19 were warnings. Railroad St., was again, the site of this week’s “top speeder.” Sgt. Hanson cited a driver for “60 in a 35”, so that is 25 MPH over the limit. I have received a few tickets in my day, I was never a “fast driver,” maybe if I was trying to make it to Dairy Queen before they closed but that was about it.
Not too much criminal activity to report this past week, the crooks are busy getting the kids ready for school and taking those last-minute vacations.
We did not arrest anyone last week! It’s always a good week when nobody goes to jail. As a bonus, we save a lot of time and fuel expenses by not having to run people to the county jails in Jourdanton, Hondo, or San Antonio.

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Things & Stuff

Well, Fall is almost here. Don’t need to mention the heat and the temporary dry spell we in right now. Lord is gonna make it rain soon….next time for sure.
I apologized for my actions in Sunday School that caused us to miss a rain event. Ten or twelve days ago, there was lightning and thunder to the north of us towards Biry and you could feel the cool wind and smell the rain…soon as I went outside and rolled up the windows on my truck, it dissipated. Sorry.
On August 20th at 6:30 PM, there will be a Public Hearing at the Devine EMS building on Dixon St. The public is encouraged to attend and discuss the 57% tax increase “needed” to fund their own ambulance service. I gotta lotta questions.

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Your Gallbladder is Your Friend

     “My favorite thing about being an adult is avoiding going to the doctor until I need to be hospitalized.”

Anonymous

     Your gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located underneath your liver, in your upper right abdomen.  As part of the digestive system, it stores and concentrates bile.  Bile is a vital liquid that breaks down fat during digestion and is produced by the liver.  As you eat (especially good tasting fatty foods), the gallbladder contracts and releases bile into the small intestine through a series of ducts called the biliary tract.  Think of your gallbladder as your friend.

     To maintain gallbladder health, it is important to eat healthy fats.  A low-fat diet is not good for your gallbladder (don’t listen to the low-fat experts with their bow ties and clipboards).  Healthy fat is good for you.  Good healthy fat options include eggs (get the high-dollar free-range eggs – much higher nutritional value), grass-fed butter (margarine is poison), grass-fed beef, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), avocados, oily fish (try sardines), and nuts.  Eating healthy fats signals your gallbladder to squeeze out bile sludge preventing gallstones.

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