President’s Message, August 2012

Once again our Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration was a tremendous success!  The Band – Proud Country – did a great job and I heard a number of people commenting on how good they were.  We really enjoyed the mix of music they presented for us.  And the Sojourners always make this patriotic event special by their presence.

It was great to see so many of the Society members and a number of people new to this Independence Day celebration with us in Heritage Park this year.  There was so much more to see and do.  This did not happen on its own, special thanks again goes to our hard-working Executive Committee.  Without them, we would not have had all the exhibitors we did, all the silent auction items, the fabulous cars and trucks, the flyers for advertising, or the patriotic programs handed out at the Celebration.  And, we certainly don’t want to forget the time and effort spent on cooking, preparing, and selling the hot dogs and popcorn, as well as slicing all those watermelons for our enjoyment, and dispensing cold water and lemonade.   

Many thanks also to all the Committee members and volunteers who helped with our booths and lead the Children’s Parade.  Way to go guys!

There are several exciting things I want to report in this message:

• We plan to hold the unveiling and presentation of the Society’s Community Historic Boonville Jail Marker very soon. 

• Cross your fingers, we submitted our grant proposal to the Astin Foundation for funds to help get the rest of the Vintage Astin Clothes restored for display.  We should hear about this in early October.

• The Society now has a Facebook page; if you are a Facebook user, please search of “Brazos Heritage Society,” go to the Society’s page, and click “Like.”

• The plans for our Harvest Tea are coming together.  I will talk more about this later in the newsletter.

• We are working on plans for a full membership meeting to be held sometime in September.  More information about this event will be forthcoming.

• I would like to see the Heritage Society sponsor a float in Bryan’s Christmas Parade; we will definitely need volunteers to help with this.

• Last, but by no means least, we will be working on plans for a Christmas Stroll in Heritage Park and the East Side Historic District for December 15, 2012.

Let’s talk a little bit about our Harvest Tea.  We are so pleased to announce that this event will be held in College Station’s Historic District this year, in the Abbott-Blakely-Chavis Home.  The Harvest Tea will be held on October 27, 2012, only, with two seatings, one at 1:00 p.m. and the other at 4:00 p.m.  Each seating will accommodate 48 people, so get your orders in early for tickets!  The owner of the home has graciously volunteered to arrange a tour of this historic home after each seating.  This tour will be included in the price of the Tea Tickets, which will be $40.00 this year.

We made our first appearance at the Historic Downtown Bryan First Friday event on August 3rd.  We handed out over 50 of the Guide to Historic Brazos County booklets, along with a short description of the Brazos Heritage Society and its activities, and Brazos Heritage Society membership forms.  We also got the chance to talk with some nice folks who were strolling by.  We would like to continue to have a presence at the First Fridays, but we will need volunteers to help us man the table for a couple hours each month.

We will also have a booth at the Boonville Days Living History Fair at the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History on Saturday, October 6th.  Our Treasurer, Beverly Myers, will be demonstrating her quilt piecing skills and I will be demonstrating how butter was made in old fashioned churns.  We also plan to sell some of our Boonville books.  If anyone is interested in helping with this booth please email me at nathilliard@verizon.net or call me at 979-229-2468.

                                                                                                Nat Hilliard, President