Gettin' Ritzy at the Ranch

This past weekend, Ernest and I had a great time visiting family down in Fredericksburg and it's neighboring town, Comfort. We were there to attend the Harvest of Hope Gala and benefit for the Hill Country Memorial Hospital. We got all dressed up in our gala attire ready for a fabulous evening. (Wow! That blue is really bright in this picture!) We are on the porch of E's Aunt and Uncle's ranch out in Comfort. (This is the same couple that owns and operates 'Hondo's on Main' restaurant and bar in Fredericksburg...great live music! Check it out if you're in town!) They live in the home E's grandma Shatzie (on the Crouch side) was raised in. This is the grandma who was married to Hondo (famous for Luckenbach). The ranch is 140 years old. Very neat place....rich in heritage. His other aunt lives up the road a bit on another section of the ranch. This land was all owned by E's great grandfather, Adolf Stieler. Ernest's great grandfather was actually crowned the "Goat King of the World" in 1945 by Life magazine and the American Sheep and Goat Raisers. According to E's Aunt Becky's book, entitled "Hondo, my father", Adolf Stieler ran as many as sixty thousand Angora goats on his various ranches. At one time, Adolf owned ranches all over West Texas spreading over some ninety sections, each section measuring 640 acres. The ranch between Comfort and Fredericksburg was 5000 acres. It was the "home ranch". It's located where the counties of Kerr, Kendall, and Gillespie intersect. So that is where we stayed. We always love visiting family there as there is such great history and such wonderful stories to be told. So now you know where E's middle name came from....Stieler. The sign out on Hwy 87 still reads "Adolf Stieler" at the entrance gate to the ranch. Shatzie was so kind to gift us part of the ranch a few years ago. We look forward to the possibility of someday building a home there.

Ok, so back to our Gala event. (I am always so interested in E's family history. So interesting!) Well, we got all dressed up and made our way to the hospital where the chartered busses were to pick us up and take us to the event. There we met my parent's and several of their friends from my home church in Plano, Hunter's Glen. The hosts for this year's Gala are good friends of my parent's who live in Plano and attend church with them. Their names are David and Sandy Gasmire. Well, they recently decided they wanted a second home near Fredericksburg, so they purchased some property near Luckenbach in the historical town of Grapetown, TX. They restored one of the original properties in Grapetown and used it as the front of their home. Then they added about 10,000 sqaure feet on to the back. Pretty nice. So, this is where the Gala was held on Saturday night, but on the land next to their home due to the large crowd. We were actually invited out to brunch the next morning at the Gasmire's and were able to tour their new home. It was so beautiful! What a wonderful home! Landing strip and all! But once again, I digress.

So, we're waiting to get onto the chartered busses, when it begins to rain. No...pour. Argh! So not good for the hair! Finally we boarded the busses, and made it out to the event after about a 20 minute drive. Then as we arrive to the huge outside tent (1000 people were in attendance) we're are told to "watch our step". I look down, and there is a mixture of mud and hay everywhere! Not exactly the type of terrain your looking for when wearing 3 inch heels. We make our way into the party after being greeted by the Gasmire's and finally sit down. My mom and I check our shoes, and our feet are already covered in mud and hay! They had people putting down extra hay as the tent was located at the bottom of a small hill, and the rain had obviously taken it's toll on the ground. We figured we might as well make the best of it, so we enjoyed our meal and eventually made our way to the dance floor. It ended up being a great night! My mom and I were even able to meet James Avery! E's family are friends of the Avery's, but I had only met his son and daughter-in-law. My mom and I were actually over near their table looking for his daughter-in-law, Ruth, who goes by "Wookie", and when my mom so unashamedly asked the nearby table if they knew where Wookie was, she sort of got a funny reply. I looked down at their nametags, and what do you know....James Avery. "Well, hello, Mr. Avery!" Ha! Too funny. They thought we were kidding, but we didn't even know who they were. Apparently, Wookie and her husband Chris weren't able to attend. Good story, nonetheless.

So, the weekend was a success after all. The rain made the event a little tricky, but a great time was had by all. I always love to visit the Hill Country.