TEXAS

TEXAS - "Only The Shadows Know", October 17-20

We arrived at San Antonio airport on Thursday around lunchtime and were met by Texas Elks State President and First Lady Ed and Debbie Salazar, State President Elect Tom and Liz Hougham, and PGER and State Sponsor Chuck and Gladys Williams. After collecting our baggage, we were whisked away in a beautiful white limo for our trip to Kerrville, about a hour north. On the way, we stopped at San Antonio Lodge #216 for a member-prepared BBQ lunch. We had some absolutely great brisket and a wonderful poblano corn side dish!  Boy, that brisket was something.  I can still taste it.  Recipes were requested all around.  As we left the San Antonio Lodge, we were given our second surprise - a motorcycle escort provided by the Elk Riders #2279 for our back road trip to Kerrville, a beautiful town up in the hill country where the Fall Meeting would take place.  It was a wonderful treat and made us feel like rock stars all the way! People were staring from the sidewalk and in cars.  Tom told Chuck that he should stand up, with his head through the sky window, and wave so people could wonder who the heck that was. 

Upon our arrival at the historic YO Ranch Hotel in Kerrville, we were met by many of the Texas Elks, including a unique group called "The Shadows."  (See photo below.)  These four folks, Susan Harper, Roy Chambers, Steve Slaybaugh and Michael Christy, spent the entire weekend taking care of our every need - literally.  Need a safety pin?  Got it!  Need to get something from your room?  Stay put, we've got it!  Pirate costume broke?  Well . . . more about that later!  We very much enjoyed them all and their dedicated time and effort to making sure we were well taken care of.  It was truly a unique experience.

After The Shadows settled us in our rooms, we met up with Ed, Debbie, Chuck and Gladys and headed over to the Kerrville Elks Lodge #2081 for dinner.  As luck would have it, the San Jose Sharks hockey team was playing the Dallas Stars that evening.  Of course, since Past Grand Trustee Mike and Shan Clark are both serious Stars fans we made sure to bring and wear our San Jose Sharks team jerseys.  The game was being televised at the Lodge, and lots of ribbing took place on both sides.  (Stars won in a shoot out!)  We had a wonderful dinner of chicken fried steak that was bested only by the wonderful Elks of the Kerrville Lodge.  They had also invited several veterans from the local VA hospital to join them for dinner (as they do every month) and we enjoyed visiting with them before returning to the hotel.

Friday morning Tom met up with Ed and Chuck for several Advisory and Committee Meetings of the Texas Elks State Association.  The ladies had breakfast before heading out to historic Fredericksburg to visit a quilt shop, have lunch at "Altdorf's" (a wonderful German restaurant followed by shopping in the downtown stores of this quaint and charming town. One very interesting feature of Fredericksburg was the "Sunday Houses."  These houses were built in the 1800s by ranchers who had outlying properties.  Since they wanted to come into town on the weekend to shop and go to church, they build these small "Sunday Houses" to have a place to stay.  Many of them have been expanded and renovated and provide the town with a unique feel all its own.

After our tour of Fredericksburg, some of the ladies took a drive out to the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. With much Native American lore surrounding this area, it received its name in the1800s.  It is part of a geologic region known as the Llano Uplift.  The visible granite dome is only part of a larger granite mass, most of which still lies beneath the ground.

We returned to the YO Ranch in the late afternoon and then met up with the Advisory Board for dinner prior to the opening ceremony for the Fall Meeting.  During the opening, the flag was presented by a group of Viet Nam Veterans followed by a demonstration and explanation of how the flag of our country is folded.  This was followed by a demonstration by the local Girl Scout troop on how to fold the Texas flag.  After the opening ceremony was completed, we joined several of the Elks in the Hospitality Suites to visit and socialize.

Saturday morning, the ladies met for breakfast while the business session and elections took place.  We then joined the meeting for several presentations, at which time the Elk Riders presented Tom with his own leather vest displaying the Elk Riders #2279 patch on the back and a name plate with "Past Grand Exalted Ruler" on the front.  It is a beautiful vest and one he will wear with pride.

After the morning session, the men went off to the General Luncheon, followed by afternoon breakout sessions on a variety of specialty topics.  The ladies went to Debbie Salazar's "First Lady's Luncheon" where we were entertained by a local high school choir.  We very much enjoyed the music of these talented young people.  After lunch, we went to Gibson's, a local general store that has just a little bit of everything.  We decided, if you couldn't find it there, you probably didn't really need it.  After leaving Gibson's, we went to a local quilt shop, Creations.  They had a great selection of fabric and several of the ladies, myself included, made a purchase. 

"The Shadows"

Saturday evening, the Texas Elks had their celebration dinner.  Having been clued in prior to our arrival that it was going to be a "Parrot Head/Pirate" theme, we had come prepared with pirate and wench costumes.  And we were not alone!  Most of the State Association had come in costume, and the band added to the mood by playing much of Jimmy Buffet's music.  The food was excellent and everyone had a great time.  Tom spent a few minutes talking to the group about the status of our organization and how we might work to turn some of our trends around as well as how to extend additional help to our veterans.  He said it might be difficult to get a serious message across to them by a guy dressed in dreadlocks as a pirate!  But it seemed to work and we enjoyed talking about those issues for the rest of the night and the following morning.  The Texas Elks then presented us with gifts from the King Ranch collection, including beautiful leather gloves and a pocket knife for Tom and a leather portfolio that would hold an iPad for Venita.  We so appreciate the generosity of these wonderful Elks.

Sunday morning, we were met by The Shadows and escorted to our transportation to the airport.  Tom needed to attend a meeting in Brownsville on Monday morning so we rented a car and made the drive to the southernmost corner of Texas.  While Tom attended his meeting, Venita headed out to her two favorite places – the Harley Davidson motorcycle shop and a local quilt shop.  Located in San Benito, the hometown of Freddy Fender, the quilt shop had at one time been a bar and Freddy had actually sung on the stage there.  After shopping, Venita stopped at the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park which was the site of the first battle of the American Mexican War on May 8, 1846.  It was an interesting place and provided a great deal of information about this strategic battle.  Monday evening, we enjoyed a quiet dinner a a local restaurant before heading back to the hotel to pack for our drive back to San Antonio on Tuesday morning.

We can't thank everyone in the Texas Elks State Association enough for your gracious hospitality and for taking such good care of us all weekend.  It is such a special treat to get to visit a state after your year as Grand Exalted Ruler is completed. It is a relaxed, fun time and we enjoyed every minute with the Texas Elks.  Congratulations on a strong, vibrant, rock solid Association!