From Missionary to beekeeper to Texas Ag Commissioner

Just a few years ago, Nate sheets was a political unknown.  Now, he is on track to become Texas’ next Commissioner of Agriculture after defeating incumbent Sid Miller in the republican primary election.  Nate Sheets is a 5th generation Texan, a Navy veteran, a conservative republican, a businessman and founder of Nature Nate’s Honey.  He was also a Christian Missionary. Nature Nate’s become the number-one branded honey company in the U.S., generating annual revenue in the hundreds of millions. In 2021, the company was acquired, and Nathan transitioned from CEO to serving on the board.  He had started the honey company as a side hustle with one beehive in his mother’s backyard.

He was recently the featured speaker at Sovereignty Ranch where we caught up with him and heard his inspiring story.  We met him and his lovely wife Patty were he introduced himself, explained his Christian background, and gave insights into what he hopes to accomplish to those attending the Brownstone Institute Supper Club held at Sovereignty Ranch just outside of Bandera, Texas.  It was the largest gathering thus far at Sovereignty Ranch for the Brownstone Institute sponsored public forum.   Several members of the Bandera Republican party attended the event to hear and meet Nate and Patty Sheets.

A Beekeeper’s Journey and a Bigger Fight: Nate Sheets on the Future of Texas and American Agriculture

There are some evenings at Sovereignty Ranch that feel like more than a gathering—they feel like a moment of clarity.

This was one of them.

As guests settled in, surrounded by the beauty of the ranch and the quiet rhythm of the land, Nate Sheets stood up to share a story that began in the most unexpected way—with a single beehive.

Left to Right: Rene Leith, Raqi Irving, John Irving, The Deets, David Werst, Dede Skoglund, Gwinda Tschirhart, Laura Briscoe

Invited were some incredible women — and leaders — from Bandera, and it meant so much to experience this evening alongside them.  These are not just guests at a table — these are women and leaders who truly care about our community.

All are members of the Bandera County Republican Women, and among them:

Dede Skoglund – Precinct 408 Chair, Bandera GOP Laura Briscoe – Precinct 104 Chair, Bandera GOP John Irving – Chair-Elect of the Bandera GOP (to be installed this January) Raqi Irving – Secretary of the Bandera GOP

This was a meaningful opportunity for them to meet Nate Sheets — and you could feel it. Conversations flowing, connections forming, ideas being shared.

This wasn’t just a dinner table… This was leadership in motion.

From Beehive to Business

What started as a hobby between Nate and his wife quickly became something much more.  Nate explained that when they married, his wife Patty suggested they needed a hobby together.  They decided scuba diving wouldn’t workout too good and the same went for hang gliding.  Nate had the idea of bee keeping.  Except he remembered they didn’t have a backyard as they lived in an apartment. So, he asked his mom if he could place a beehive in her backyard.  She said “yes” and one thing led to another……over a 17 year period of time.

Bottling honey by hand in a garage, delivering it before sunrise, and answering every customer call himself, Nate unknowingly built what he later described as a 17-year “consumer research project.”

People kept asking the same questions:

• Where is my food from?
• Who made it?
• What’s in it?
• Can I trust it?

Those questions would go on to shape not only his business—but his mission.

Building Something Bigger

That small honey company eventually became one of the leading honey brands in America.

But for Nate, success wasn’t just about growth—it was about quality, transparency, and trust.

He began testing every batch of honey for pesticides, contaminants, and additives long before it became common practice. He saw firsthand how what affects the bees ultimately affects all of us.

And that realization led to something even bigger.

A System Under Pressure

During his talk, Nate shared a sobering truth:

America is losing farms at an alarming rate.

Behind every statistic is a story—families who can no longer afford to farm, generations stepping away from the land, and a system that has shifted toward efficiency over nourishment.

At the same time, we are facing a health crisis:

• rising chronic disease
• dependence on ultra-processed foods
• a disconnect between consumers and producers

The pursuit of “cheap calories” has come at a cost.

Growing Food Better—and Growing Better Food

Nate’s message was simple, but powerful:

We need to grow food better—and grow better food.

That means:

• supporting farmers and ranchers
• creating direct relationships between producers and consumers
• increasing transparency in how food is grown and processed
• rethinking how we value quality over convenience

It also means returning to places like Sovereignty Ranch, where food is grown, prepared, and shared with intention.

Why This Matters

One of the most striking parts of the evening was the realization that this isn’t a political issue—it’s a human one.

As Nate said, “We all eat food.”

And that simple truth has the power to bring people together across backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives.

Closing

At Sovereignty Ranch, where regenerative practices, transparency, and community come together, Nate’s message felt especially at home.

It was a reminder that the future of food isn’t something distant or abstract—it’s something we are shaping every day with the choices we make.

And sometimes, it starts with something as simple as a beehive.

I watched Nate interact with the people gathered to hear him speak.  He did not interact with those there like a politician.  He talked to them like he was a man with a mission:  To market Texas products to the world, to use best practices to have farmers and ranchers grow clean nutritious foods, and to explain to consumers what is in their food.  He would love to see farmer’s markets in every city and town growing and selling food to local markets .  My thoughts?  Texans made a great choice in the primary elections….and there is so much more we can do to support Texas agriculture and food growers like Sovereignty Ranch.  Thanks Mollie Englehart, Ryland Englehart for introducing us to Nate and Patty Sheets.  Texas and Agriculture will benefit from their stewardship.

Watch the Full Presentation

An evening conversation

Sovereignty Ranch Supper Club — Brownstone Institute Gathering

As the final course of the evening was cleared and guests settled back into their seats, the conversation at the Sovereignty Ranch Supper Club naturally shifted from food to ideas.

The evening’s featured speaker was Alec Zeck — an independent researcher, writer, podcaster, and former U.S. Army Captain whose work explores the intersection of health, culture, agriculture, and personal responsibility.

Zeck is the founder and host of The Way Forward, a growing podcast and community focused on exploring how individuals and societies can reconnect with natural systems — from food and farming to health and spirituality.

His talk at Sovereignty Ranch did not follow the structure of a traditional lecture. Instead, it unfolded more like a thoughtful conversation — one that invited guests to reflect on the deeper relationship between human well-being and the systems that sustain life.

Throughout the evening, Zeck spoke about themes that have increasingly become central to modern conversations around health and culture: the importance of curiosity, the need for independent thinking, and the value of rediscovering personal responsibility in a world that often encourages passive consumption.

Many of his ideas centered around the concept that human health cannot be separated from environmental health. The soil that grows our food, the systems used to produce it, and the choices individuals make about what they consume all play a role in shaping the well-being of both individuals and communities.

It was a fitting topic for the setting.

Just hours earlier, guests had toured the regenerative systems at Sovereignty Ranch with ranch founder Mollie Engelhart, seeing firsthand how agriculture, ecology, and food production intersect on the land itself.

Zeck’s presentation connected many of those same themes to a broader cultural perspective — encouraging people to ask deeper questions about how modern systems influence health, food, and community life.

Rather than presenting a rigid set of answers, his message emphasized something more foundational: the importance of remaining curious.

Curiosity, he suggested, is what allows individuals to question assumptions, seek better information, and ultimately make more informed decisions about their own lives and health.

That spirit of open conversation seemed to resonate with the audience gathered at the ranch.

As the evening continued, discussion moved naturally between the speaker and the guests, creating the kind of thoughtful dialogue that the Brownstone Institute Supper Club gatherings are designed to foster.

The Power of Belief

One of the most fascinating parts of Zeck’s presentation explored how belief itself can affect the human body.

He shared examples from medical research on the placebo effect, where patients experience real improvement after receiving treatments that contain no active medicine. Just as powerful is the nocebo effect, in which negative expectations produce genuine physical symptoms.

In some studies, participants developed measurable stress responses simply because they believed they had been given something harmful—even when they had only received harmless saline. In others, people healed faster when they believed more time had passed since their injury, demonstrating that perception alone could influence biological recovery. 

For Zeck, these studies reveal something profound: the mind is not separate from the body. Thoughts, expectations, and emotions can trigger real biological reactions.

The Story of Water

From there, Zeck introduced a concept that may sound unusual at first but is gaining attention in emerging areas of research: the role of water.

The human body is made largely of water—roughly two-thirds by weight and even more at the molecular level. If water makes up most of what we are, Zeck suggested, understanding its behavior could be essential to understanding life itself.

He referenced research on what scientists sometimes call the “fourth phase” of water, a structured state that forms near biological surfaces in the body. In this state, water behaves differently from ordinary liquid water, storing electrical energy and helping power cellular processes.

But Zeck went further, discussing experiments exploring whether water may also respond to environmental influences such as sound, imagery, or intention. Some researchers have observed that when water freezes after being exposed to certain stimuli, the ice crystals form distinct patterns.

When we begin to pay attention, water seems to reveal itself as far more than background to life. It becomes a participant. In Veda Austin’s work, water appears to respond in visible ways to words, music, intention, symbols, and emotion, forming shapes in frozen patterns that feel strikingly specific rather than random. A thought of a hand may be followed by an image resembling a hand in ice. A word associated with tenderness may produce a softer, more delicate formation. Music, prayer, memory, even visual images can seem to leave an imprint. Whether one views this through the lens of science, mystery, or sacred wonder, the invitation is the same: to stop treating water as mute and begin noticing that it may be answering all the time.

That possibility carries enormous weight when we remember how deeply our lives are tied to water. Our bodies are filled with it. Our food depends on it. Our land rises or suffers by it. If water is in some way responsive, then the atmosphere around it matters. The words spoken over a home, the peace or chaos inside a room, the reverence or care with which we live—all of it may matter more than we think. To pay attention to the language of water is to recover a forgotten humility: that creation may be listening, recording, and reflecting. And if that is true, then water’s power is not only that it cleanses, nourishes, and sustains life, but that it may also mirror back the unseen world we bring to it.

Zeck pointed out that we certainly live in an amazing world.

According to Zeck, these patterns may reflect the environment or information the water was exposed to.

Whether interpreted scientifically, metaphorically, or spiritually, the implication is intriguing: if water responds to its surroundings—and living beings are largely water—then thoughts, emotions, and environments might shape life more deeply than we realize.

Coherence and Influence

Zeck described this idea using the concept of coherence.

When systems are coherent—aligned, stable, and organized—they influence surrounding systems. When they are chaotic, they spread disorder.

To illustrate the point, he shared experiments in which a single high-quality pasture-raised egg was placed among several highly populated egg factory-produced eggs. When the eggs were later analyzed, the surrounding eggs showed improved structural patterns simply from being in proximity to the healthier one.

The lesson, he suggested, is that coherence spreads.

A calm, healthy, grounded person influences their family. A strong community influences its culture. One stable system can help organize others around it.

Collective Intention

Zeck also discussed studies exploring whether collective human intention might influence communities.

In one well-known experiment, groups of people practiced focused meditation with the specific intention of reducing violence in a city. During the study period, violent crime rates dropped significantly compared to projected levels.

While such results remain debated in scientific circles, Zeck used them to highlight a broader idea: human consciousness may be more interconnected than we typically assume.

If that is true, then the emotional atmosphere we create—fear, anger, gratitude, forgiveness—may shape our communities in ways that extend beyond individual behavior.

Forgiveness and the Path Forward

Zeck closed his talk on a deeply human note.

In a world filled with division and resentment, he argued that anger alone cannot create the future people hope for. The real challenge is learning how to process pain, forgive others, and step out of cycles of resentment.

Forgiveness, he said, does not mean ignoring wrongdoing or abandoning justice. Rather, it means refusing to allow hatred to define one’s own inner life.

When individuals learn to cultivate clarity, compassion, and responsibility within themselves, they naturally influence those around them.

You can watch Alec’s entire presentation on YouTube:

The Way Forward

Ultimately, Zeck’s message was not about politics or ideology.

It was about agency.

Instead of seeing the future as something controlled entirely by distant institutions, he encouraged people to recognize the power of their own daily choices—how they care for their health, what they believe, how they treat others, and what kind of emotional atmosphere they create in their communities.

For Zeck, the path forward begins with a simple but profound realization:

When individuals become more coherent within themselves, they help bring greater coherence to the world around them.

Returning to the Ranch

As Zeck finished speaking, the room sat quietly for a moment—one of those pauses that happens when people are still turning over ideas in their minds.

Outside, the Hill Country night had settled in fully. The sky above Sovereignty Ranch stretched wide and dark, scattered with stars, and the pastures beyond the gathering space were nearly silent except for the occasional rustle of wind through the grass.

Conversations slowly resumed around the tables, people leaning toward one another to continue discussing what they had just heard.

It felt fitting that a conversation about coherence, community, and the possibility of a better way forward had taken place in a place like this—on a regenerative ranch, surrounded by land being carefully restored, where food, friendship, and ideas are shared around the same table.

If Zeck’s message carried one enduring thread, it was this: the future may not be shaped as much by distant powers as by the quiet, everyday choices of individuals reconnecting—with the land, with one another, and with the deeper values that guide how we live.

And on that Hill Country evening at Sovereignty Ranch, that possibility felt very real.

You can listen and get to know Alec Zeck and his ideas on his podcast, “The Way Forward”  wherever you receive your favorite podcasts.

I’m David out in Real Texas

…Leaning into the wind with a positive attitude-My Way Forward

Discover Sovereignty Ranch: A Hill Country Destination for Regenerative Living

by David Werst

Just outside the cowboy capital of the world—Bandera, Texas—lies a place where food, land, and community come together with purpose. Sovereignty Ranch is more than a working ranch to visit; it’s an invitation to reconnect with nature, understand where your food comes from, and explore a healthier, more sustainable way of living.  What they do there is important.

Here is my advice.  Be sure you make a visit to Sovereignty Ranch a priority if you are going to be in Bandera and anywhere in the Texas Hill Country.  Go to the Sovereignty Ranch and look around, find the time when you can take a ranch tour, have a leisurely healthy lunch and peruse the store part of the ranch where you can buy the amazing sourdough bread, tinctures and health products, fresh eggs and organic meats and veggies.  The visit is an experience to learn and enjoy just being there.

Ramona and I love Sovereignty Ranch and visit there often.  We know we will be eating clean, chemical free food, learning more about nature’s ways and natural choices in our food supply, and we love browsing the growing selection of healthy products you can purchase at every visit.  Also at almost every visit, we buy a loaf of the fantastically huge Sourdough Bread, farm fresh ‘really’ pasture raised eggs, and you will see a nice selection of organically grown by-the-season produce.  You can also buy fresh raw milk to make your own yogurt, or maybe farmer’s cheese.  Ramona’s last yogurt was Farmhouse Strawberry Cloud Greek Yogurt made with Strawberries and the raw milk, ‘fresh squeezed that day’,  we purchased at the ranch.

Nestled in the Texas Hill Country, Sovereignty Ranch welcomes tourists and locals alike from Bandera, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, San Antonio, and Austin—all drawn by a shared curiosity about clean food, regenerative agriculture, and intentional living.

Very often when you visit, you will meet a living and breathing force of nature named Mollie Engelhart.

Mollie is a nationally recognized voice for clean foods, sensible regulations, personal responsibility for health issues, and natural chemical free lifestyle choices.  She writes in the National edition of Epoch Times newspaper several times a week on various important topics concerning our food supply and life choices that might be out of sync with nature.  Mollie also has her own ‘Substack’ you can connect with and she shares her take on varied topics concerning healthy living.  She doesn’t shy away from controversial topics and is a huge proponent of the “Food is Medicine” movement.  You can buy her book “Debunked by Nature” and learn why she left a successful life as a vegan chef and multiple restaurant owner (multi -million dollar) operations in California and headed to Texas  to start a new life.

Meet Mollie Engelhart: A Voice for Nature

At the heart of Sovereignty Ranch is Mollie Engelhart—author, entrepreneur, and nationally recognized leader in the regenerative farming movement.

Mollie is the author of Debunked by Nature and a frequent columnist for Epoch Times, where she writes extensively on food freedom, regenerative agriculture, and the impact of chemicals on human and environmental health.

Her work challenges modern industrial food systems and offers a hopeful alternative—one rooted in soil health, animal welfare, and chemical-free living. Visitors to the ranch quickly sense her mission: to restore both the land and the people who depend on it.

A Working Regenerative Ranch

Sovereignty Ranch practices chemical-free regenerative farming, a method that goes far beyond organic standards. Rather than relying on synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides, the ranch focuses on:

• Soil regeneration and carbon restoration

• Humane, pasture-raised livestock

• Biodiversity and native grasses

• Natural animal health practices

• Closed-loop, sustainable systems

Guests can learn how regenerative ranching improves nutrient density in food, supports local ecosystems, and plays a powerful role in long-term environmental stewardship.

The Farm Store: Clean Living Starts Here

The Sovereignty Ranch Farm Store is a favorite stop for first-time visitors. Open to the public, it features a thoughtfully curated selection of chemical-free and naturally produced goods, including:

• Pasture-raised meats and ranch products

• Tallow-based skincare and salves

• Chemical-free soaps and body care

• Natural supplements and wellness items

• Clean pantry staples and specialty foods

• Detox your body products (parasites, heavy metals, plastics)

Every product aligns with the ranch’s core philosophy—no unnecessary chemicals, no hidden ingredients, and full transparency about how items are sourced and made.

Clean, Nourishing Dining

The on-site restaurant brings the ranch’s values directly to the table. Guests enjoy meals crafted from:

• Regeneratively raised meats

• Clean, nutrient-dense ingredients

• Thoughtful preparation without industrial additives

• Seasonal menus inspired by the land and seasons

The focus is simple: real food prepared the way nature intended—supporting human energy, wellness, and long-term health.

https://www.sovereigntyranch.com/restaurant

The Sovereignty Supper Club

One of the ranch’s most recent unique experiences is its Sovereignty Supper Club—an intimate dining gathering that blends exceptional food with meaningful, thought provoking conversation.

Guests come together over dinner to discuss topics such as:

        – – Vaccine Choice for Texans – –

• Regenerative agriculture

• Food independence and sovereignty

• Health freedom and nutrition

• Environmental stewardship

• The future of farming and local food systems

These evenings foster connection, education, and community—offering far more than just a meal.

A Destination for Learning and Inspiration

Whether you’re a Hill Country traveler, a curious foodie, or someone seeking healthier living, Sovereignty Ranch offers something rare:

• A place to learn directly from working land

• Take a farm/ranch tour and learn about the land

• A welcoming environment for families and visitors

• An opportunity to meet like-minded people

• A deeper understanding of how food choices shape our health and future

From day visitors browsing the farm store to supper club guests engaged in thoughtful dialogue, Sovereignty Ranch creates an experience that stays with you long after you leave.  Feed your mind at Sovereignty Ranch.

Visit Sovereignty Ranch

Just minutes from Bandera and an easy drive from Kerrville, Fredericksburg, San Antonio, and Austin, Sovereignty Ranch stands as a living example of what’s possible when nature leads the way.

Here, food has a story.
The land has a voice.
And visitors leave empowered—with knowledge, inspiration, and a renewed connection to the natural world.

Texans are a friendly race of peoples of all sizes, shapes, colors, and backgrounds.  Heck, our very definition given to us back in the olden days was Tejas, meaning friendship.  Visitors to Texas often comment on our habit out in Real Texas of waving from our pickup trucks to other vehicles and passersby. The visitors often ask, “do you know those people?”  “No” we answer, “it’s just our way of being friendly.  But just so you know…in smaller cities and rural areas, very often we do know who we are waving at on our highways and rural roads.

So, with all that friendliness going on we feel it’s time to welcome a powerhouse of a lady named Mollie Englehart and her entire familia and entourage to Texas by way of California.

From California?  Yes.  Mollie was a very successful chef, owner of five very successful restaurants in the L.A. area, and a mover and shaker in her field.  She also had many ‘name brand’ friends, people you have heard of in the news and social media, who frequented her establishments.  Her busy lifestyle included a small farm where she grew avocados and citrus and she has an indomitable American entrepreneurial spirit.

She got here as soon as she could.  And after getting to know her and her mission in life, Ramona and I have become fast friends and admirers of Mollie, her brother Ryland, and her staff at Sovereignty Ranch just outside of Bandera, Texas.

That American spirit and her own independent thinking led her to realize there was something wrong with the crushing over-regulation by the liberal borgs on both the local and state levels in California.  She also was a keen observer of nature as well as the stifling business environment and her independent spirit led her to question the validity of the California liberal political policies from city hall to the state capitol to the agri-business policies of the big growers.  It was over-zealous local city and county regulations, state level agriculture policies, and a growing unease that motivated her decision to make a move.  Since Mollie Englehart is an action oriented person, she moved her entire operations to….where else but Texas.

The birth of Sovereignty Ranch

After looking at a good many locations where she might settle, she ended up in what locals refer to as “The Free State of Bandera.”  Sovereignty Ranch is located just 10 minutes or so north of Bandera in Bandera County, Texas which is known as “The Cowboy Capital of the World.”

It is here where Mollie operates Sovereignty Ranch and has initiated regenerative farming operations and her organic farmstead/restaurant.  Visitors can take a tour of Sovereignty Ranch, riding in a special open air vehicle with Mollie pointing out areas of interest and explaining exactly what is this term “regenerative farming and ranching.”  The tour takes place most Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.  Before or after the tour, you can have lunch or dinner at the restaurant and enjoy clean, delicious, nutrient dense food, as well as good conversation.  You will learn more about the best practices a great many smaller farms and ranches are turning to instead of relying on big agri-business who grow with chemicals, pesticides, and pollutants. Also while there, you can purchase special sourdough bread, organic pasture raised eggs, raw milk, fresh meats and bacon, and a good many other organic tinctures and products.

Food is medicine

More and more people are finding that clean, nutrient dense Food IS medicine.  If you are interested in learning about eating clean foods, there is a gathering on September 25-28 this year of 2025 where you can learn wellness practices from world renowned experts in this 4 day Wellness Summit.  Food is Medicine is the theme of the Wellness Summit and this theme is what drives Mollie Engelhart’s passion for Regenerative Ranching and Farming. Click on the link to learn more, get tickets, and attend:  Food is Medicine.

Mollie stays busy at the ranch, busy with her four children and husband, busy with the restaurant, and busy writing.  In her book, “Debunked by Nature,” she chronicles her awakening to a new way of looking at life by observing the natural order of our world.

Editor’s note:  Occasionally we publish an advertorial here on Real Texas blog and here is the explanation.  Sometimes, seldom, very occasionally, rarely, once in a while I turn in to an old softie and get a message from a youngster trying their hand in the PR business or maybe an agency of some kind and publish their work as they are trying to expand their business by saying good things about those who hire them to do so.  I have no doubt that Sonterra Storage is a great place to store your excess items and I have used such places in the past.  So…there you have the reason for this blog post….it came from a young lady named Noemi Laurio and I wish her and her client -Sunterra Storage nothing but the best forever and ever.

Sunterra Storage:

Your Premier Destination for Safe and Secure Storage Solutions

Welcome to Sunterra Storage, where your belongings are our top priority. Conveniently located in the heart of Katy, Texas, Sunterra Storage has established itself as the most trusted storage facility in the area. Our commitment to security, convenience, and customer service makes us the perfect choice for both residential and commercial storage needs.

Why Choose Sunterra Storage?

Security: At Sunterra Storage, we understand the importance of keeping your belongings secure. Our state-of-the-art security system includes 24/7 surveillance cameras, gated access, and well-lit premises to ensure that your items are protected at all times.

Variety of Unit Sizes and Options: At Sunterra Storage, we provide a diverse selection of storage solutions to meet your needs. Whether you’re looking to store smaller personal items or need ample space for larger possessions, our variety of unit options ensures you’ll find just the right fit. Additionally, we offer specialized parking spaces for RVs and boats, making us a convenient choice for your vehicle storage needs as well. Our spaces range from 20’ x 12’ to 50’ x 12’.

Climate-Controlled Units: Texas weather can be harsh, and that’s why we offer climate-controlled units designed to protect your sensitive items from extreme temperatures and humidity. We have sizes ranging from 10’ x 10’ to 10’ x 25’. If you aren’t concerned with the weather, we also offer extremely affordable 10’ x 10’ non-climate controlled storage.

Accessibility: Our facility is designed for easy access. With wide driveways and ground-level units, loading and unloading are hassle-free. Plus, our strategic location in Katy makes us easily accessible from major roads and highways.

Customer-Centric Services

Our friendly, knowledgeable staff are here to help you every step of the way. From selecting the right unit size to providing tips on best storage practices, we’re here to ensure your storage experience is smooth and stress-free.

Month-to-Month Leasing

We offer month-to-month leasing so that your needs can be easily met. Whether you’re looking for short-term storage during a move or long-term solutions for business inventory, Sunterra Storage provides the flexibility to suit your timeline without long-term commitments.

Visit Our Website

For more information about Sunterra Storage and to view our available units, please visit our website at www.sunterrastorage.com. You can easily check unit availability, view special promotions, and even reserve or rent a unit online.

Join the Sunterra Family

When you choose Sunterra Storage, you’re not just renting a storage unit—you’re becoming part of a community that cares. Join the countless Katy residents and businesses who trust us with their storage needs. Visit us today and see why Sunterra Storage is Katy’s most trusted storage facility.

Do you remember where you were on September,  11th, 2001, at 7:46am?  I do, and many of you do also….

David was teaching his History Class and I was asleep.  I woke up and looked at the TV.  I thought David had left one of his action movies on, but as I watched, the news station was reporting live.  I saw a plane crashing into one of the Towers and a huge ball of flames come out the other side.  I couldn’t believe what I was watching….I sat up in bed and turned up the volume….even the newscaster was in disbelief as he was reporting what we were watching.

Then as I watched another plane was coming onto the screen and headed right for the other Tower….it slammed into the 2nd Tower!  Smoke, fire, and dust was everywhere…the newscaster gasped and couldn’t even report the news.  Unbelievable!  It was at that moment when everyone watching knew we were under attack….by persons unknown.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen what seemed to be a long time, but really wasn’t, both towers tumbled to the ground!  I mean tumbled to the ground…only dust and no structure.

I called David’s classroom and tried to put into words what just happened.  David reassured me that the Towers were built with tons of strong steel and would not totally fall to the ground.  He calmly explained that he had actually been in the World Trade Center and had dined at the restaurant at the very top.  “It’s very strong and won’t fall down”, he assured me.  I was screaming at him, turn the TV on!  There are NO MORE TOWERS!

Later that day, I received a heartbreaking phone call from my dad in Arizona.  He told me that a dear family friend had just gotten a job with an insurance company and was in one of the towers for an orientation.  He had been out of work for a long time and was so proud to tell my dad that he finally found a really good job and was heading to New York for orientation and that he’d catch up with him soon.

We both cried….

Over the phone that day, my dad repeated to me a story that I had heard hundreds of times at dinner parties.  He liked telling the story of how I came to own my first dog which happened to be an expensive Bird Dog.

I was only 5 years old and my dad was going to take me Dove Hunting…I’m an animal lover and didn’t know a thing about guns, hunting, nor did I have any interest in going.  He told me that our friend Gary Bird was training a puppy to be a Bird Dog and that I could probably play with him.  That was exciting to me.

My dad had polio as a boy and wore braces and used crutches.  The reason I’m telling you this is because it sets up the scene of this story.  My dad hunted from the back of a pickup truck sitting in a chair in the bed.  Sam, the puppy was on the ground with Gary, who had been working with him for a couple of weeks on retrieving dummy birds.  Someone had the bright idea of letting me try to shoot a dove. They briefly showed me how to hold the shotgun, which was bigger than I was, and as they were pointing way off into the distance and telling me what to aim for…I saw a bunch of Doves right above us and before anyone could stop me, I shot straight above us…the shotgun knocked me on my butt and I started crying for more than one reason.  Not only did the shotgun almost take my arm off, but later on, the little pellets where coming straight down on top of us and they burned like crazy.

My dad was yelling at me, Sam the bird dog was so scared he hid under the truck and Gary was laughing so hard as he was rolling over under the truck.

After a while, everyone settled down except I was still in pain and crying.  Gary came over to tend to my arm.  He explained after the fact, why they were pointing in the far distance, and then why I shouldn’t shoot the doves overhead.  Fine time in telling me that the pellets would come straight back down and that there were so many of them.  I had little burn marks all over my arms and legs; a bruised up shoulder (it was amazing that I didn’t dislocate it) and my ears were ringing so loud that I couldn’t hear anything.

Gary told my dad that he was the proud owner of an expensive house dog, a family pet named Sam.  I was so happy because I thought that he was giving Sam to me for all the pain I was going through.  My dad explained that now Sam would be gun shy and would not be a good hunting dog.  That was fine for me, even though I didn’t know how much a ‘Pet Hunting Dog’ cost!

Sam and I were like brother and sister.  We did everything together, I cooked pretend food for him and he would sit in a chair in my playhouse and eat.  I would dress him up and we’d play house.  He was the best friend ever.

We slept together, ate together, played together and were never separated. He had 11 cats  we had adopted that he watched over. Yes, 11.  He was such a great dog and never had to retrieve a bird in his life!

He lived to be 13 years old and it hurt so much to lose him.

My parents would have dinner parties and Gary would come to them.  He’d play with Sam and of course he and my dad would have to tell everyone of how Sam became my best friend.

Like Sam, my friend Gary was gone in a blink of an eye.  For days my dad would call to let me know that he hadn’t heard from Gary’s wife.  We were all hoping that maybe the group had taken a morning break and that he stepped outside the towers to get a newspaper or to check in with his wife or call my dad, hoping that he wasn’t in the Towers. As time passed and we didn’t hear from him and we knew….

Each year as the bell rings and they read the names, I get a chill when they say Gary Eugene Bird….I know exactly where I was when I lost a dear old friend.

Now 20 years later, I remember…

I will never forget.

There are a good many fellow veterans who will never forget also.

God Bless America.

A Real Texas Christmas 2020

A Real Texas Christmas means a lot to us all
The muchachos and ninas all speak with a drawl.
There’s a mixture of Tex-Mex in all that we say
And at this time of year we might holler olé.

Feliz Navidad means a lot to us here

But we don’t have a sleigh and all those reindeer.

We do have our friends and we’re ready to hear

Those magical words that Christmas is near.

In Real Texas we’re special each and every one
In the way that we act when the work day is done.
When we leave we say “bye” or some “Adios”
You can bet on a real friendly greeting from us.

As that holiday time gets some closer each day
The baking at Christmas reminds us of home
And the food Mammacita is going to fix
We’ll clean off our plates out here in the sticks.

Guajalote’s all gone, that’s the turkey to you
We ate that darn bird ‘till we just couldn’t chew.
Our language is mixed; but we know what to say
We just talk and the words come out all sorts of ways.

Now Thanksgiving’s gone and Christmas is near
And the cowboys have gathered in all of their gear
For a few days of rest and a lot of good cheer.

It’s Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas to you
In this part of Texas those are some of the few
Of the words that you can hear from our Real Texas crew
As those holiday bells are beginning to chime.

For it’s nearly Christmas, Yep it’s almost time

The excitement is building, they almost can’t wait

for the kids to see Santa, It’s gonna be great

for familias to gather in a grande tamalada

to make Christmas tamales, and some enchiladas.

Christmas is special anywhere that you are
but a Christmas out here is the best sort by far.
Out here in Real Texas, with our neighbors and friends
We celebrate the season-best wishes we send.

The future is bright here at this time of year
We visit with friends that we all hold so dear.
The gifts we exchange are not always from stores
It’s the things that we do, for each other and more.

So Feliz Navidad to you one and you ‘all
with a Real Texas accent and Real Texas drawl.
We wish you the best that the season can bring
It’s ‘mucho prospero’ and everything

Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas

—-David Werst 2020

Kelly loves fitness adventures

Here is a quote from my new friend Kelly Cohen:

What do you want to do this year?? Climb mountains?  Swim long distances? Triathlons? Sail? Dive? Archery? Run? Ride? Dance? Race kayaks? Whatever it is, the only difference between YOU and me is that I dream it, train for it, and then go do it!!! Decide what you want to do in 2020-2021,  leave all fears and excuses behind, and make it happen!!!…..Kelly Cohen

I first heard of Kelly from my friend Frank Cohen who generously tries to help me hit a golf ball better.  He is a scratch golfer here at Tapatio Springs near Boerne, Texas and can often be found after a round of golf helping me and others who are ‘challenged’ by various aspects of the game from putting to hitting their drivers.  Kelly Cohen is a fitness instructor who loves the outdoors and puts together fitness related activities ranging from hiking the Texas Hill Country trails and state parks to mountain and trail biking, kayaking, horseback riding, Iron Man training and competition coaching.  Just about everything fitness or outdoor adventure related.

Oh, and don’t think your adventure outing has to be something spectacularly hard and difficult.  In the middle of October, she emphasized that “Fitness can be FUN!!” She and her client participated in a 13.1 masquerade mask half marathon in San Antonio at JW Marriot Resort; a 2.5 hour kayaking adventure at Medina Lake, and a 25 mile hilly bike ride to Camp Verde, between Kerrville and Bandera.  Her comment on all that activity?  “My kinda weekend!”

I scheduled a short (for her) trail hike on the upper trail here at Tapatio Springs and right away knew it would be a favorite activity for anyone staying at the fabulous Tapatio Hill Country Resort.  Being new to this area and a flatlander from West Texas, I wanted to know more about where I live now.  Our group was four ladies…..and me, a 70 something would-be golfer with two knee replacements and a wife who loves to cook.  Make your own connections on that one….

The hiking group met at the Tapatio Springs golf pro shop and walked briskly past the driving range where I hoped none of my golf buddies noticed I was already lagging behind with 3.999 miles to go.  We followed a golf cart path that leads to The Ridge subdivision at Tapatio and then cut through some brush to the upper trail.  I kept up fairly well and the ladies were nice enough to take it easy and not completely run off and leave me alone with the snakes and coyotes who were probably laying in wait for me.

It’s not like I am totally  inexperienced.  I had hiked through mountains in the past…..like 40 years ago…..and have actually climbed Wheeler Peak in New Mexico just outside Red River.  It’s the tallest peak in New Mexico.  But did I tell you earlier it was 40 years ago?

Kelly casually mentioned she reached a very high point on Mount Everest at a well known base camp before terrible weather forced her group off the world’s tallest mountain.  Then she told of her desire to conquer Wheeler Peak….in the winter.  She has climbed it several times in the past.  It was July when I climbed and there were still quite a few large, long, and deep snowdrifts along the wilderness trail leading to the peak.  I mean hundreds of yards long and wide snow accumulations in the middle of summer.  Winter must be a continuous snow storm higher on the mountain near the popular ski resort.  Mount Everest has to be several higher notches than that at a minimum.

After watching Kelly for just a while, I have no doubt she could climb that or any other mountain summer or winter probably doing flip-flops along the way.    She led our little group carefully through some the rougher areas on the Upper Tapatio Trail, stopped at appropriate times for ‘some’ of us to catch our breath, and pointed out areas of interest and possible shortcuts should we need to get off the trail in a hurry and go back down.  The hike was a little less than 4 miles and there are other trails in the area including a Lower Tapatio Trail.  It was fun and you should try it some time.

Fitness and adventure related activities can be booked online by contacting her at her Facebook page ‘ Kelly Loves Fitness ‘.  I mentioned my age and alluded to my fitness level so be advised Kelly can lead your group no matter what your definition of adventure.

On her Facebook page you can get the sense that Kelly really loves fitness and she loves providing a safe experience for everyone who wants to enjoy an outdoor adventure.  Here is what she had to say about a weekend in October last year:

It’s true.. I love fitness.. just about any kind of movement makes me happy… this weekend golf, running, Yoga, cycling and swimming… whatever you choose, do it with gratitude and a smile.

Kelly never saw me as I was huffing and puffing trying to keep up with those ladies on Tapatio Springs Upper Trail, and it’s a good thing she didn’t turn around ’cause there were times I was grimacing and not exactly smiling……but I was grateful to be out there with such a fun group.

She takes clients from the flatlands out in West Texas to the DFW Metroplex, and from Houston to Connecticut and points in between.  She even coaches Iron Man Competitors in some serious racing circles.  Get your friends and have an adventure with Kelly.  You will enjoy it bigly.

Kelly Loves Fitness

I’m David out in Real Texas
…..Grateful and smiling at knowing people like Kelly

A drive-in….church?

When a Real Texas good ole boy or girl talks about a drive-in of the past, you should know that they are probably talking about a drive-in movie or a drive-in hamburger/beer joint.

The drive-in movie theater you might remember if you grew up in my hometown would have been the Shooting Star drive-in.  At the same time, there were several drive-up hamburger/beer joints in my home town including the Steak House and the Reagan Drive-in. There were more, those are just two I remember in that town.  Another I remember was on the outskirts of Taylor, Texas.  Me and a kid named Tony Franzene were all of 16 or 17 or so and sat there enjoying a good many cold ones during the course of a pleasant afternoon.

We are not talking about a Sonic of modern day times or a drive through Micky D’s or Burger King.  We’re talking about a drive-up place like several in San Angelo or your home town, in days gone by….beer joints that served hamburgers, fries and onion rings….and ice cold beer or sometimes even root beer, and bought it up to your vehicle.

You are probably not thinking about a drive -in/drive-up church.  That might be the last thing you would think about.

But in recent days, I’ve seen on TV where a sheriff and his deputies were giving tickets or threatening to give tickets to worshippers who drove their cars up and had church in the parking lot of the church building.  The mayor of Louisville had ordered such action.  Those attending were apparently gonna be charged with breaking the quarantine law, even though they stayed in the vehicles with only close family members who lived in the same household. They were more than 6′ away from other vehicles….obviously….being in their vehicles.  I my own-self thought a few of those folks in their vehicles with their heads down mumbling words looked mighty suspicious.  I doubt that sheriff is going to be sheriff next time an election rolls around….dang lawbreaking church people.  They are among those who said the Mayor can deem a liquor store essential, but a church Easter Service is non-essential.  He’s probably going to hell for that for sure….BTW-a judge canned the mayor’s decision calling it harassment of the worst kind.

First time for everything

If you live long enough, you might have seen and heard nearly everything, but there apparently are a few surprises left.  If you are seeking Salvation at a Drive-in/Drive-up church, just be sure to keep your social distance to avoid the Coronavirus….. and if you want to be ‘one of the first’ to simply slide the car into a space out in the parking lot and listen to your pastor with all the latest technology….you may be too late.  Those lawbreakers in Louisville were too late to be ‘one of the first’ to attend church at a drive-in.

‘One of the first’ is the key phrase in this essay – –

In fact, they were almost 70 years too late.  I remember it – I was there.

And no, that was not back during the Spanish Flu pandemic.

Big Lake, Texas may have several other “firsts”, and we have seen some strange things out in Real Texas, but one ‘first’ those folks probably can claim is having the first Drive-in, or Drive-up church.  I remember it.  It was a little white ‘L’ shaped building with what we would call today a raised deck built on to the front of the building.  There were stairs leading to the deck or platform very reminiscent to the announcer’s stand at the Big Lake Little League field and other similar baseball fields across the country from Pecos to Louisville.  As I understand it, It was those announcer’s stands at Rodeo arenas and little league baseball fields where those Presbyterians back then got the idea.  It was sorta like the photo above, but higher up and more boxed in looking….like an announcer’s stand.

The preacher would walk up the stairs to the platform so all might see him,  and inside the little white building, the pianist would play to a loudspeaker like the Little League announcer plays “Centerfield” by John Fogarty.  You remember, “put me in coach, I’m ready to play…today”

It was there in that dusty parking lot where I had my first experience at ‘sleeping in church’.  Those Presbyterians who attended services there would drive up and park in the dusty lot in front of the building and wait for the services to begin. When the sermon began, I would generally drift off to sleep in the back seat.  It was similar to a drive-in movie like The Shooting Star in Big Lake and the many drive-in movie lots in small towns across Texas.  The unique drive up/drive-in church was located in the general area of the airport in Big Lake, a little east of the airport building and a few yards more east of where my old airplane hanger is located.  Bet that hangar is still there…

My dad wrote a history book of Reagan County along with Ruth Cope and Gussie Edens.  According to that history book, it was on March 29, 1949 that the First Presbyterian Church, USA in Big Lake was organized with twelve charter members and got started with that drive-in church.  Cafe operator B.B. “Jeff” Kelly gave the church their first building and the members and volunteers improved the building which was moved on location.  It had two classrooms and a kitchen.  Since there really wasn’t enough room inside, they decided to establish a drive-in type arrangement.  Brilliant!

There’s more to this story

Now this was long before Joel Osteen or John Haggee had their mega churches.  There were no TV cameras, but this little drive-in church grew and prospered for three years.  They had Sunday school inside the building on Sunday mornings and church services on Thursday evenings.  The preacher’s name was Rodney Gibson and he drove in from San Angelo each Thursday for those three years.  During that time, services were cancelled only twice. Once when Rev. Gibson’s car broke down between Mertzon and Barnhart and once when the lake filled up due to heavy rains.  The little church was located in a low spot just off the highway and inaccessible.

Rev. Jack London arrived later as the permanent pastor and the building was remodeled and services were moved indoors.  I remember attending VBS (Vacation Bible School) there as a child.  My sister Beth played the piano at some of the church services.

Several years later, the congregation built a new building on east Sixth Street in Big Lake.  They did not know where the money was coming from to build the church building.  One Sunday, church member L.L. Farr III surprised the congregation when he walked in with a huge $15,000 check from his employer Senator William Blakely, owner of the Rocker b Ranch in Reagan and Irion Counties.  The building still stands there to this day.  Blakely, a hard drinking, hard charging lawyer/businessman changed lives that day.  He also changed lives when he bequeathed the huge ranch, now covered in mega-producing oil wells, to the Shriners International, a Masonic organization, who operate the famous Shriners Children’s hospitals. The income from the ranch has generated hundreds of millions of dollars to help children at no charge to them.

Miracles do happen in strange ways.  Blakely might be the only lawyer/politician in Heaven just for giving that ranch to the Shriners.  Did L.L. Farr’s request for help of his little church spark some good deed later on down the line?  Of course we will never know.  My good friend Richard McReavy told me a day before he died that “God has a plan.”  Did this little drive-in church play a small role in providing a spark in part of that plan that ended up helping so many others?

The Presbyterians later gave the first drive-in building to Bethel Baptist Church in Big Lake, who had obtained a former ‘Dinner Club’ establishment located on highway 67 in the area of First National Bank, Big Lake.  The Bethel folks moved the former ‘Club’ building and then added the Presbyterian building to their own to enlarge it all.  Strange, but true.

Maybe those few folks in that first drive-in church in that little oil field town were a small cog in the wheel of life and part of the plan my friend said he knew was true.

I’m David out in Real Texas

…where strange, but true
things might just happen according to a Plan

P.S. I’ll bet that Louisville Mayor and sheriff will soon know that cars parked in a church parking lot for an Easter Service are more essential than a liquor store.

A pre-Christmas adventure

The very last New York Times to be set into type using molten lead was on July 2, 1978.  My uncle John Etheridge, composing room foreman for The Dallas Morning News, also oversaw the computerization of the iconic Texas newspaper about the same time, using a Tal-Star computer system to compose classified ads.

I vividly remember going to The Dallas Morning News to see where he worked and I was flabbergasted.  Where we had one old decrepit looking Linotype machine in our little country weekly newspaper, the mighty Dallas Morning News must have had 50 of Otto Merganthaler’s invention on an upper floor whirling and clanging away, some with typesetters sending ‘keys’ of type to the molten lead and then the machine spitting out a “line-of-type” instead of an individual typesetter having to hand set that line-of-type using a composing stick,  I have seen it done both ways many many times.

You see, the town I grew up in was somewhat isolated and looking back on it, my folks were not blessed to be in a high paying profession.  They were not ‘unlearned’, it was just a fact that being owners of a country weekly newspaper was one of the low pay, high hours professions in our town.

After experiencing and seeing first hand the work that went into a weekly newspaper I had other ambitions…..I subscribed to ‘the grass is always greener’ theory of life when growing up,  so it was my ambition to become a pumper in the oilfield.  They got up early, made rounds of their wells,  and then hit the golf course around 2:00 – 3:00 in the afternoon and drank beer and played golf until dark.  Or that is what I observed back in the day.

My ambition to play golf and drink beer until dark never did happen back then. Or ever, dern it.

My brother and I grew up back in the days of a hot metal country newspaper and it was a a lot of work.  Hard work.  And kinda like being a farmer’s kid, it was often a family workhouse with each family member responsible for a part of the operation.  The newspaper was printed on Wednesday and then much of the moveable type had to be ‘thrown back’ to be used the next week, and it all started over again.

In my column writing days, I explained that having a weekly newspaper was kinda like being a nympho-maniac…..as soon as you got finished, it was time to do it all over again.

My parents took a week off before the Christmas holidays.  I just don’t remember the occasion, but after much preparation they were off, not to be around for the next Wednesday.  It was very rare for that to happen. Only once if my memory is correct.

It was during that time, that week that my brother and I put out an issue of our family newspaper, The Big Lake Wildcat by ourselves.  My brother was 4 years older than me and I was probably 13 or so at the time.

My brother died on December 6th of this year and this story is of one week back in the day when we worked together for a common goal under somewhat intense pressure. If we had not done what we did, the entire town would not have had a newspaper that week.  And that is back in the day when reading the newspaper was an important weekly event.

It turned out very successful and we were proud of our brotherly, joint effort to the day he died a few weeks ago……Here is the story of that brotherly effort back in the days of a hot metal country weekly newspaper.

A little more history for you

As kids, my brother and I learned early to ‘throw back’ type into the large wooden, segmented trays some people buy now at flea markets to hang on the wall and store their knick knacks on.  Each small boxed in area in the tray held specific letters that had been hand set, adjusted with specific sized leads and slugs and brass spacers.  The slot for the “e” letter was the largest as every printer and ‘printer’s devil’ (term for the young apprentice printers and helpers) back in the day knew it is the most commonly used letter of the alphabet.  I readily took to that task and it was on Saturdays that I most often went to the newspaper shop to make sure the grocery ad and a few other ads had been thrown back into the type cases.

We grew up knowing the names of differing fonts, the difference between serif and sans-serif fonts, points and pica sizes, leds, kerning, and the thickness of leads and slugs.  There was Franklin Gothic, Americana, Goudy, Garamond for really wide word effects, and Times.  There are lots more we used and knew the names of; there are just too many to list here.  I have an over 100 year old book about 7 inches thick with literally hundreds of examples of typefaces.

In this computerized world of ours now, all one has to do is highlight a word, click on a sidebar and scroll down to the selected type font wanted and click on the desired font.  Not so easy for us back in the day.  We had to find the font, hand pick letters out of a tray full of individual letters, and place it exactly and precisely in the composing stick….letter by letter.  There was a groove built into the lead letters to indicate the letter was turned the proper direction…..remember, were reading it all backwards and upside down.

We knew how to use a composing stick, tighten a series of quoins to keep the combination of letters and 6, 8, and 10 point spacers inside the chase and how to ever so carefully carry the larger chase over to the old flatbed printing press.  The chase full of type had to be positioned exactly, precisely correct for printing.  It would have been cataclysmic and catastrophic if we had ever dropped it and “pied” the type, spilling it into a big pile and having to start over.

Every letter had to hit with sufficient impact to print properly, a kiss, and after taking a proof – printing a few copies and inspecting the results, some letters had to be leveled by placing a small piece of paper under them and re-locking and using a printer’s plane to tamp down everything and make sure all were printing crisp and clean.  There are many more terms we used that are specific to the industry and we were amazed when the first MacIntosh computers came out that those engineers had employed old printers to make sure the programs used for typesetting still used our terms.  Leds, em space, en space, points, picas….and so much more.

It was a craftsman’s work, and back then, as now, the everything had to go right.

As I grew in size, I was promoted by shop foreman Rudy Etheridge, no relation to my uncle,  to operate the ‘Hell Box’ to cast cuts for the ads. I had to stand on an old wooden ‘coke box’ to use the Hell Box. That involved melting used lead blocks called pigs and old linotype slugs to a certain molten temperature and carefully pouring the melted lead into an asbestos reverse artwork, called mats,  to make newspaper advertisements.  The asbestos artwork was provided by a firm named Metro and they also provided large 18×24 inch or so catalogs with art details depicting clothing, shoes, cars, refrigerators, and common items for sale in any store.  During Christmas, the Metro books had plenty of snow scenes, tree scenes, carolers, church steeples and other similar artwork.

I learned to separate the dross or trash that rose to the top of the molten lead from the more pure lead underneath, how to judge the temperature of the lead by sticking a dry piece of paper in it and seeing if it burst into flame or not, and also how to make sure the asbestos art and accompanying cardboard was dry, devoid of moisture to prevent explosions of molten lead shooting toward the ceiling.  There was a time when first starting out I noticed Rudy back away from the ‘Hell Box’ while I poured molten lead into the form, only to have it gurgle, then explode, coating the ceiling with droplets of molten lead and me with pockmarks of droplet sized burns on my arms.

After being cussed out thoroughly and given an impromptu safety lesson by Rudy, it rarely happened again.  The fact that molten lead is really hot is not something modern journalists learn sitting at their brand new monitors in their air conditioned buildings.

There were plenty more lessons I learned from Rudy Etheridge and watching my dad. My brother was four years older than me and I don’t remember him in the back shop as much as me, but he was gone off to college and the Air Force after a time.   He was smarter than most and was probably doing something at the shop much more complicated.  It was a scary thing that my parents went off for this very rare week’s vacation and left us with the newspaper.  But, my brother and I and a drunk Linotype operator successfully got out that week’s issue after at least one sleepless night.  My brother had to hand-set a complete grocery ad after the local store had unexpectedly changed hands and the new supervisor wanted to announce the week’s offerings with a big splashy ad.

It would have been a piece of cake for my dad, but he was not there.  I was appointed to meet with the new area manager at 13 years old.  I took some metro books and a large sheet of broadsheet newsprint and pencil-sketched the ad as he wanted it, complete with starbursts around the most prominent specials at the top and middle of the ads as well as an anchor space at the bottom.   My brother then tediously hand set the entire ad.  I poured the starbursts from my hellbox and mounted them on printer’s furniture to just the correct and critical height.   Rudy had retired year or so before, but he had taught me well.

We both worked through the night.  I prepared the regular ads, mounted them on printer’s furniture to the correct height and used the metal router to erase burrs  and casting marks.  I prepared the press, inked it up and kept the drunk linotype operator going.  I even made one trip to the liquor store and explained my situation to proprietor Ike Chaffin about the guy refusing to work without a drink.  Ike packaged up and delivered a pint of something cheap and awful smelling to the linotype operator who was delighted.  He passed out early in the night on a stack of broadsheet newsprint.  When it came time to actually print, I dragged the linotype operator off the newsprint into a large cardboard box to keep him off the ink stained floor.

The real work was that grocery ad.  My brother kept plugging away at it through the night making sure every word was spelled correctly, spaced correctly, kerned correctly and justified left, right or center.  It was a masterpiece worthy of Da Vinci.  We walked around the chase full of type, leads, slugs, brassies, admiring it from every angle.  Looking for typos, finding none.   After tamping it down and making sure it was all level and tight, we gingerly picked up one edge of the chase full of type, probing for weak spots. There were none.

It turned out perfect.  My brother and I had worked all night long. Building that grocery ad was very precise work down to every last detail.  We hit the deadline right on time.  It was a very good if not great pre-Christmas grocery ad.  The new store manager was happy as was his boss who had to deal with a 13 year old printer’s devil to place his full page, hand set ad.

We were proud, my brother and me.  I have to say it was a heck of an accomplishment for two kids to have done.  It was a Christmas week to remember in the best possible way.

I’ll turn 71 this Christmas Day.  Seems hardly possible.  I have since had few triumphs greater than the time my brother and I got the newspaper out and on time for our town.

My parents and brother have all moved with their spirits to that great print shop in the sky.  I am a 4th generation newspaperman.  I still have a copy of a newspaper published by my great-grandfather in Sherwood, Texas in 1901. It’s old and brittle, faded yellow, but very legible.  The ink used then was strong.  Indelible.

After me, there will be no more former printer’s devils who grew up noticing the difference in fonts used in the old days by true craftsmen.  Those few of us left from the old days see and notice strange mixtures of fonts and composition by amateurs who easily press a few buttons and turn out garish flyers for a neighborhood garage sales.

Old Otto Merganthaler would surely sputter and curse such printed materials.

Now, Christmas present day and future has shown printing technology for the masses.  Most new folks and students using their computers have no idea about typography and the perfect composing stick full of hand set type or a hot lead slug ejected from Otto Merganthaler’s Linotype machine.  they know nothing of the subtleties of kerning letters so they fit together properly when formed into words.

I love the new technology……I’ve seen all phases of it from hand set type, to linotypes, intertypes, Compugraphic photographic typesetters, voice dictation, and more.  I was amazed when Don Comedy told Rick Craig about sending a photo over a phone line from a Tandy Computer and the photo printed out on the other end.  What?  Was it possible to do something like that?  Through the air?

Yes.  It’s great.  Wonderful.  Any kid can do it now.  You can too, but it wasn’t always like that.

So at 71, my ambition is still the same.  It just took me a while to get there. I’m gonna move to a golf course and play golf.  I may still write a little from time to time.  But I will always remember how my brother and I set that grocery ad, got the newspaper out and in the mail,  and the satisfaction that came with it. When I see the Christmas ads……I’ll always remember…..

In Memory of

John James Werst

1945 – 2019

Here is a Christmas poem I wrote a few years back:

A Real Texas Christmas

A Real Texas Christmas means a lot to us all
The muchachos and ninos all speak with a drawl.
There’s a mixture of Tex-Mex in all that we say
And at this time of year we might holler olé.

In Texas we’re special each and every one
In the way that we act when the work day is done.
When we leave we say “bye” or some “Adios”
You can bet on a real friendly greeting from us.

As that holiday time gets some closer each day
We start thinking of reindeer and maybe a sleigh.
And the food Mammacita is going to fix
We’ll clean off our plates out here in the sticks.

Guajalote’s all gone, that’s the turkey to you
We ate that darn bird ‘till we just couldn’t chew.
Our language is mixed; we know what to say
We just talk and the words come out all sorts of ways.

Now Thanksgiving’s gone and Christmas is near
And the cowboys have gathered in all of their gear
For a few days of rest and a lot of good cheer.

It’s Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas to you
But out here in the West those are some of the few
Of the words that we know we can say at this time
As those holiday bells are beginning to chime.

For its nearly Christmas, just a few days left
‘till the boys and the girls get their special requests.
And a visit from Santa, that jolly old elf.
Who will bring them the gifts to put on the shelf.

Christmas is special anywhere that you are
but a Christmas out here is the best sort by far.
Out here in Real Texas, with our neighbors and friends
We celebrate the season-best wishes we send.

The future is bright here at this time of year
We visit with friends that we all hold so dear.
The gifts we exchange are not always from stores
It’s the things that we do for each other and more.

So Feliz Navidad to you one and you’all
with a Real Texas accent and Real Texas drawl.
We wish you the best that the season can bring
It’s ‘mucho prospero’ and everything

Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas
We say with a tip of our hat in a Real Texas way.