The annual Lighting of the Square was held in Georgetown, Texas this evening.   I could get wordy, but will let the images do the work this time.

Part of this very busy Thanksgiving was spent at the Georgetown Community Center in San Gabriel Park for the annual Community Thanksgiving where approximately 500 hot meals were served at no cost to anyone.  This community outreach began a few years ago with the guidance of Alicya Tandy, owner of Do Yourself a Flavor Catering.  Also supporting the effort are Georgetown’s fire and police departments, plus CJ’s Catering, GW Pyro and The Salvation Army of Williamson County.   Ms. Tandy is the lady holding the adorable baby in the final image.    Happy holidays, friends.

Zion Lutheran Church is a beautiful structure in an area called Sandoval. The mailing address is Thrall.   I’m honestly not certain which county it calls home.  While I think it’s Williamson, a huge Milam County Water tower stands right next to it.  One thing I know.  That church was here long before Milam County decided to put a water facility squarely in its path. The church was organized in 1893.  A couple of the images were made from a nearby farm-to-market road where a cotton field sure looks ready for harvesting. 

Thorndale, Texas, population about 1600, in western Milam County,  is one of the nearby  towns I enjoy visiting from time to time.   Like others on my radar (Bartlett, Granger, Thrall, Coupland, Holland, etc) it has its own special charm.   These photos were made a few nights ago.   A couple of young fellows were working hard to extricate pecans.  And doing fairly well from the looks of it.   The owner of the building with the old Coca Cola mural mentioned he might like to get it restored.  I gave him some suggestions about good muralists.    The railroad passes through the town, but you can see the trains coming from quite a distance.   It is Texas after all.   A couple of fellows waiting on a train to pass said howdy.  Their little dog conveyed his own greetings, too.   Little dogs have big attitudes.  Before I left, a stop by Steve’s was in order.  The last time I visited a couple of months ago, Steve’s was closed up tight.  I feared it had gone out of business, but the owner suggested my last trip was on a Sunday, their only closing day.   Steve has apparently been deceased for a while, but the current owners like the name.  It’s a cool building, here since 1907.  Standing at the entrance, you might take a look in the top windows and see a motorcycle perched up there, but on the inside.  After entering, your guess is confirmed.  It appears to be an old Harley of some sort, but I’m not certain.  That gigantic sculpture of a water buffalo has been a Steve’s staple  for a few years.  That’s one large chunk of wood.   It used to reside at a customer’s home, but the customer’s wife didn’t cotton to its presence.  Now that critter lives here.    That’s it for now, but I’ll mosey back again soon.

No theme tonight, friends, just a couple of photos taken tonight and last evening.   The horse was taken as night approached near Sandoval, close to the Williamson/Milam County line.   The other was made tonight as a truck glided past the cemetery at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Wuthrich Hill.  Good skies tonight, but you know this, right?

You may recall a post made on Veterans Day this year.  It was from the Taylor Cafe, a barbecue restaurant founded by World War II veteran Vencil Mares in the late 1940s in Taylor, Texas.  My first meeting with Mr. Mares was nine years ago when the Austin American-Statesman hired me to do photos for a story.   Since then, I’ve mad occasional stops there.  Through the years, Vencil came to open up every morning before 6, staying well into the night, only closing on Christmas and Easter.   Today I heard of his death at age 96.   Tonight when passing by, it was closed, with  wreaths  on the doors.  Closing is  a rare thing.   Mr. Mares was a rare and gentle man.  I wish his family and friends well.

Granted, I’ve had a couple of posts this season from Taylor’s Bull Branch Park, but imagery keeps finding its way to my cameras.   The cypress trees that adorn the creek and pond at the park are outdoing themselves this autumn.  While we don’t have the abundance and range of color palettes as other parts of the planet,  we do okay.  The wispy leaves here run the gamut, from rusty orange, to bright red, to yellow and even a few green ones.  Mother Nature’s gift.   This serene park is only blocks from our house and continues to be a part of my daily walks.  

“A Christmas Story. the Musical” opens tonight at the Georgetown Palace in Georgetown, Texas.   As you probably know, I share more photos of theater shows on social media, but like to represent them here, too.   It will be playing weekends on the Palace’s Springer Memorial Stage through December 29th.  

We’re going back a few years this evening, to the Creswell Hotel in downtown Shreveport.    All photos, with the exception of the final image were made in March 1975.  The last one is from January 1980.   By the time these were made the Creswell had mostly become a residential hotel.   Families traveling would find rest and boarding at Holiday Inns and Howard Johnsons, even then closer to the routes traveled.   You’ll see people smoking here, but it was a different era.  All photos were made on Nikon cameras I still own, all loaded with Kodak Tri-X film.   A different era indeed.   Recently I’ve been reading about the Grim Hotel, a large hotel in my hometown, Texarkana that was open from 1925-1990.   A revitalization of that property is now underway.  When work is complete it too will be a residential property.   I wonder if the Creswell is still open?  Probably not.

 It’s a given I won’t soon run out of subjects for my cameras.   The culture in Central Texas, but more specifically East and North Williamson County, is rich.   I spent a few hours this past weekend in the recreation hall at Granger’s Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church watching as church members lovingly created kolaches, a traditional Czech pastry.   Some of the thirty volunteers arrived as early as 4:30a.m. to begin making and kneading the dough.   It’s an artful process.   It must be  since members crafted 390 dozen kolaches.   They knew just how many to make since every batch was ordered in advance.   And I love that both women and men participate in the work.