Peanut Festival

The town of Floresville, just 30 miles from the Alamo City, may have welcomed such cinematic celebrities as director Steven Spielberg and action hero Jackie Chan over the years, but the true star of this Wilson County community is the peanut. Since 1938 festivities have been held in honor of the town's cash-producing crop, and a crowd 15,000+ strong flock to Floresville each second weekend in October to participate in old-fashioned, family-friendly festivities held within sight of the giant nut statue which proudly stands year round on the grounds of the Floresville courthouse.

I have been in the Peanut Festival since I was born, whether I was sitting in a stroller or driving a Thunderbird in the parade. Every year it seems to get bigger and bigger and that is a good thing for the Wilson County community. The Peanut Festival brings a lot of money to our community and even gives people outside our town to explore and learn about why we have the Peanut Festival in historic Floresville. For a business or anybody to open a booth at the Peanut Festival they must pay a fee to reserve a spot. That money helps Floresville continue to grow. My grandmother, who is head of the Wilson County Peanut Festival Committee, says “That if we never have started the Peanut Festival, we as a community would not be what we are today.” My grandma has been on this committee for over 40 years and she with the help of the committee has made this community what it is today. She pushed many business to come to Floresville including: H.E.B., Bill Millers, and even got a bill passed to improve our Post Office.

The second weekend in October doesn’t only man the Peanut Festival is coming; it also means that it is time to start making peanut brittle. The club I am in called SPJST gets a booth every year in the Peanut Festival and sells peanut brittle. The name of this fraternal benefit society is SPJST - originally chartered as the Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas but that name is hard to remember and say, so just call it SPJST. SPJST is strictly an insurance company to some; to others, it's a social club; and, finally, to others, it's a cultural preservation society. It was established by the Czech immigrants and their families who stuck together and want to visit with the whole family every month. In time it became more that just a meet and greet, it became an organization with the idea to help better their community. My grandfather is the leading sales representative and the district CEO of SPJST. He is always trying to get someone to join with his favorite saying, “Does your life insurance company provide a club for your children where they can go visit places, help your community grow, make new friends, and even get scholarships?” He has almost double the amount of people in SPJST and has given out many scholarships of his own to people in the SPJST.

October 1st of every year is when the club comes together to make the peanut brittle for the Peanut Festival. We buy the peanuts from local farmers and start at six in the morning and do not leave until midnight. We have three stoves and a couple portable one all going at the same time. Each person there will probably cook about twelve-to-fifteen batches of peanut brittle. Ok enough of the layout, let’s start cooking. First you start with a fairly heavy, 2 1/2 to 3 quart saucepan. Stainless steel with a copper clad bottom is ideal. Wendy the Youth Director of the SPJST says “Do not use an all aluminum pan. You will likely get ‘hot spots’ which cause burning before you know it.” Then you place 1 cup corn syrup and ½ cup of water into the pot and warm it up. Before it starts to bubble, you stir in 2 cups of sugar. When it starts to bubble, add 2 cups of peanuts. Also you have to stir occasionally or the peanuts on the bottom will burn. When it reaches a nice golden brown color it is time to finish it. You remove it from the stove and stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 1/2 tbsp butter until the butter melts. Sprinkle the 3/4 tsp baking soda over the surface of the mixture and stir. The mixture will begin to foam up and double in volume. Now it is time to poor it onto a flat surface. We use a piece of cardboard with aluminum foil on it, which has butter smeared on it so it doesn’t stick to it. After letting it harden we break it up and package them ourself. There are many types of peanut brittle including, hot brittle.

Congratulations you just learned how to make peanut brittle! Don’t forget every 2nd weekend in October is the Peanut Festival, if you are free you should come on down and support the Wilson County community.

Flaco Jimenez

Flaco Jiménez was born on March 11, 1939 and is a Tejano music legend from San Antonio, Texas. Jiménez's father, Santiago Jimenez Sr. was a pioneer of conjunto music. Flaco Jiménez is one of the best accordion players in the world. Jimenez was universally recognized as a leading exponent of the authentic South Texas Conjunto. By the time he was seven years old, Flaco was performing with his father. He began recording at fifteen, as a member of Los Caporales. He played in the San Antonio area for several years, and then began working with Douglas Sahm in the 1960s. Jimenez won a Grammy Award in 1986 for "Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio", a song of his father's. He was also a member of the supergroup Texas Tornados, with Augie Meyers, Doug Sahm and Freddy Fender. The Texas Tornados earned a Grammy Award in 1990, and Jimenez earned one on his own in 1996, when his Flaco Jimenez won the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Performance. In 1999, Flaco earned another Grammy Award for Best Tejano Performance (Said and Done, Barb Wire Records), and one for Best Mexican-American Performance as a part of supergroup Los Super Seven. Jimenez has also won a Best Video award at the Tejano Music Awards and earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from Billboard Latin Magazine for "Streets of Bakersfield" with Dwight Yoakam and Buck Owens.

I listened to the song "Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio" a song by Flaco Jiménez father. Even though I had no clue what he was talking about most of the time, it was still a very good song. It made me want to start dancing and even made me want to try to sing along, but lets not talk about that. Other than it being a very fast pace song, it was really relaxing. I also like that Flaco is still playing his father’s songs, to keep his father's spirit alive.

Juan Tejeda

Juan Tejeda is a musician and scholar with his own band. Juan is a Mexican-American and is now a Chicano or what he calls it Xicano. Xicano is from the America Indians that were here first, mainly the Nahuatl and also the Aztecs. He spoke about the difference between Race, Nationality, and Ethnicity. There are only three different races. Ethnicity can be categorized as Mexican, Latinos, Hispanic, and even Americans. Spaniards came to America for gold, god, and glory. Part American Indian and Spaniards are called Mestizo. The Mestizos fought the Spaniards and made Mexico. Angelo Americans believed in Manifest Destiny, the idea that they should own the land from sea to sea. The three languages Chicano spoke Nahuatl, Espanol, and then finally English. He wrote his own poem called “Coyote Hungry for Justice” in 1996 about the questions of life. Tejano Music evolved in America and is called Corrido, Conjunto, and Orquesta Tejana. This music comes from the history of the working class music on the ranches. It is a mix between German and Mexican music.

San Antonio Museum of Art

San Antonio Museum of Art is located at 200 West Jones Avenue and is open every day, except Monday. Admission is anywhere from free, for members and children under three, to eight dollars for adults. Suan Antonio Museum of Art first opened its doors to the public in 1981 and since then the museum has grown from seven to fifteen acres. This museum has exceptionally important permanent collections of Western Antiquities, Asian Art, Latin American Art, and contemporary American paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts---each curated by specialists with strong international reputations.

The first piece of work I found interesting was Passing Storm over the Sierra Nevadas, 1870 by Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902). This is a painting of a landscape that immortalized the sublime wilderness of the American West. This painting caught my eye because it looks so real. The contrast with the light and dark in this painting really strikes you, makes you ask, is this a photo? The focal point has to be the bright spot in the sky. This painting is a symmetrical because if you fold it in half its not symmetrical but looks even on both sides. This painting is very peaceful and comfortable. Leaves you with hope, even through the dark cloudy days sunlight can shine through.

The second piece of work I found interesting was Cherub (Querubin) by Artist unknown, Spanish in the 18th century. This is a sculpture of an angle with its arms in the air. It is carved and painted wood with glass eyes. I found it interesting because it is so old yet it is still here. The main color is brown since it is from wood. This sculpture is symmetrical. Kind of reminds me of Atlas in Greek mythology. Put a globe in the angle’s hands and there it is. This work lets off a sense of accomplishment. It is form the 18th century but it is still here. Also gives off a sense of progression since if you look at work from then compared to work from now.

Botanical Garden

The San Antonio Botanical Garden is located at Brackenridge Park next to the San Antonio Zoo. On 33 acres, the Botanical Garden is a combination of indoor displays and outdoor gardens, which include the Old Fashioned Garden, Rose Garden, Sensory Garden (Garden for the blind), Kumamoto En garden, Sacred Garden, Shade Garden, Gertie’s Garden and other garden displays. The garden was first conceived in the 1940s by Mrs. R. R. Witt and Mrs. Joseph Murphy, with a master plan developed in the late 1960s for the site of a former limestone quarry and waterworks. Funding began in 1970 with the official opening in 1980. The Botanical Garden opened daily from 9:00am - 5:00pm, but is closed Christmas and New Year's Day. It cost adults six dollars, children (Age 3-13) three dollars, senior citizens four dollars, and military and students four dollars. Military and students need to have ID ready.

Make sure you take sunscreen if you are going to be here all day. This garden is filled with paths and walk ways leading everywhere on this 33 acre plot. I like the indoor gardens with the water misters that water the plants. Was a good break from walking around outside. There were indoor waterfalls and mini rivers running through them. Some on the indoor building had sounds of a jungle in them. I really enjoyed my trip to the Botanical Gardens. It was a break from the normal; go to school go, to work daily routine. They even had a plant that if rubbed on the skin would rid oneself of freckles, but that didn’t work.

Impervious Cover

Impervious cover is any impermeable construction covering the natural land surface. San Antonio is broken up in ten districts. City Council approves all constructions within San Antonio. Some important SAWS Review questions are; is the property grandfathered? Are recharge features present? 1995 Water Quality Ordinance limits impervious cover in Recharge Zones: 30% residential, 50% multifamily and 65% commercial. SAWS makes sure buffers are around recharge features. SAWS will administer and enforce the WQO.

City Council likes to see residents come and speak on issues concerning them. There are many things to look into to see if a property is doing the right things. If the property has grandfathering it does not have to comply with these rules though, so contractors are always out to find these properties. They also look for properties that have some of the recharge zone in it. It is against the law to build on it so they use it as there impermeable cover. Funny thing is that they can not build on it anyways so it should not count.

My "Hood"

I live out in the country. My house is located twenty-eight miles southeast of San Antonio and thirteen miles northwest of Floresville. It is located on FM 1303 just west of CR 120. CR 120 is a dirt road that just got a new bridge put in. It was exposed to be done eight years ago but finally is finished. My house is three miles from US 181 if you cut across CR 120 and six miles if you go to 3444. If I would have to place us in a socio-economic class, my family would upper middle class and my grandparents would be upper class. My house is a four bedroom, one bath, living room, garage, dining room, and kitchen. My mom is obsessed with making the outside of our house look awesome, so its looks almost as good as the day it was made. We have a shed that is paint the same color as our house, looks like a little house, which is used for storage and a place for the tools. We have an above ground swimming pool and a basketball court. We have an acorn tree in the front yard and two apple trees in the back.

My house is around half a mile from my grandparents and three miles from Seven’s house. So I guess one young family and two elderly families. My grandpa works for SPJST, a life insurance agency, and my grandma owns the Floresville Flower Shop. My dad is the market manager at H.E.B. where is has worked for twenty-two years and my mother is a stay at home mom. I have two brothers and one sister that live in my house. The only major feature of my neighborhood is that it is mostly farm land which my great grandparents own. We live eight miles from the nearest school and seven from the nearest hospital. There is no residential or commercial development where I live since my family owns most of the land. We have pretty much three hundred acres in every direction. It would be nice to have a gas station closer or a fast food place.

One of the major strengths is that there is no traffic or loud noise throughout the day. It is also very safe since it’s my family’s property. A weakness is that we have to drive somewhere for everything, and if it floods we are trap in by the San Antonio River. My house is not close to a major highway or any shopping stores, so gangs are out of the story. There is a problem with snakes though. It is peaceful and quiet around my house most of the time, unless my dad is using the bulldozer or tractor near the house.

I go to school at Palo Alto which is twenty-nine miles away, so I spend thirty-two minutes to get there and thirty-two minutes back home. I leave my house and stay on FM 1303 till I hit S Tx 1604-Loop. After about one mile I go on 37 for eight miles and take the 410 east exit till I hit W Chavaneaux Rd that leads to Palo Alto.

For fun I can go to the theater in Floresville or San Antonio. Normally I go to the Alamo Quarry Theatre in San Antonio which is one of the nicest theaters. It takes around forty-five minutes to get to the Quarry. There is also a paintball place called X-Fire that is eleven miles from my house that I like to go to. Steven is the closest friend to me. From my house to Steven’s it takes about five minutes. My family also has a private pond that is stock with fish, so fishing is another thing we do for fun.

All in all I like where I live. Not to close but not to far from anything or anyone. Everybody that lives around me I know and is either family or friends. Sometimes it can be boring but there is always something to do, whether it be chasing cows or playing football with friends.

Heywood Sanders Presentation; Extra Credit

Education is a major role in an economy’s growth, so cities with high percentage of educated people will attract people to these cities. San Antonio is one of the lowest educated cities in America. Educated young people want to go to big cities that will pay more than other cities. Cities that are more centralized attract people because everything is in walking distance. San Antonio is one of the most spread out cities in America. The median household income is low in San Antonio. Cities with tons of colleges tend to have more growth in population and economic growth. People go where the jobs are. Working at H.E.B. part time will be $17,000 a year.

San Antonio has a lot of school districts. North side of San Antonio is growing and the rest of San Antonio is moving away from the middle of San Antonio. North Side of San Antonio has the higher incomes. Hispanic population is located south-central San Antonio. Hispanic population is moving out of central San Antonio. African American is located in East San Antonio and is also moving out to the east. Due to the outward movement schools are growing away from San Antonio and school in the heart of San Antonio are losing students. Not only are they moving out but they are moving mostly north. Hispanic population is moving north and northwest. Jobs are moving away from San Antonio. San Antonio has a problem with competing with other cities. UTSA accepts almost everybody but less that 50% attend.

"The Alamo"

I chose the movie “The Alamo” with Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Quaid. The movie was made in 2004. For the most part the movie was good and did a good job keeping my attention. This movie was pretty real telling in how the battle happened they way I was taught in school. It had everything I learned about the Alamo and more. There is no way it can be one hundred percent correct, shot for shot. Since there was no cameras only writing and what people say. The movie was based on what the Tajonos/Anglo settlers point of view. Seventy percent of the movie was film around the Tajonos/Anglos, like the at the Alamo and the rest was about Mexicans attacking and planning. This is when less than two hundred Texan and Tejano volunteers led by William Berret Travis took on general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and thousands of Mexican forces to gain their independence from Mexico. This movie does a good job of showing the courageous effort and dedication the Tejano fighter contributed. The ulimate sacrific for freedom. William Travis even drew a line and said if you wanted to stay and fight cross the line, only one person did not. Even though they all knew that they would be killed the fought to the end.

The Bexarenos called it the Alamo after Alamo de Parras, a Spanish Calvary unit that moved in 30 years ago. It was said “as goes the Alamo, so goes Texas”. Texas was a republic before it was a state in the United States of America. The Alamo was established as a Spanish mission in 1718. In 1824 Texas swore allegiance to Mexico under The Federalist Constitution. Santa Anna tore the document up and named himself Supreme dictator. After the Alamo Santa Anna decides to split his troops up and then meets his fait at the battle of San Jacinto. Sam Houston and his troops stormed Santa Anna and his forces and defeated them in only eighteen minutes. During the battle Santa Anna shows what a coward he really is, by removing his general’s uniform and trying to hide amongst his soldiers. In the end it was his own men that recognized him and pointed him out. After the fall of the Alamo, nine years later Texas became the 28th state of the United States.

Remember the Alamo. DVD. Dir. Josheph Tovares. PBS Home Video, 2004, 54 min.

The Alamo

The history of the Alamo is normally told by the Tejanos/Anglo settler’s side of view, so the Mexican perception of what happen is normally overlooked. Originally named Misión San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo served as home to missionaries and their Indian converts for nearly seventy years. Construction began on the present site in 1724. In 1793, Spanish officials secularized San Antonio's five missions and distributed their lands to the remaining Indian residents. The soldiers referred to the old mission as the Alamo (the Spanish word for "cottonwood") in honor of their hometown Alamo de Parras, Coahuila.

On February 23, 1836, the arrival of General Antonio López de Santa Anna's army outside San Antonio nearly caught them off guard. Surprised, the Texians and Tejanos prepared to defend the Alamo together. The defenders held out for 13 days against Santa Anna's army massive army. William B. Travis, the commander of the Alamo sent forth couriers carrying pleas for help to communities in Texas. Many of these pleas were not answered. On the eighth day of the siege, a band of 32 volunteers from Gonzales arrived, bringing the number of defenders to nearly two hundred. At this time Colonel Travis drew a line on the ground and asked any man willing to stay and fight to step over, only one person didn’t cross the line. They were ready to give their lives rather than surrender their position to General Santa Anna and his army.

Among the Alamo's garrison were Jim Bowie, an awesome knife fighter, and David Crockett, famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee. The Battle Alamo is known as heroic struggle against impossible odds — a place where brave men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

Espada Dam

I must of drove by Espada Dam hundreds of times in the past and didn’t even know it. Today we are used to turning a knob and out comes water, but back in the day they used acequias to get water to remote places. It pretty much looks the same as it did before except for the noise of traffic and the paved streets. Espada Dam is located north of Mission San Francisco de la Espada and Mission San Juan de Capistrano and south of the Alamo and Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo. It is in the San Antonio River and has withstood many years of destructive floods with only minor repairs required to maintain its sound condition. Espada Dam was constructed sometime between 1731 and 1745. The dam was originally two hundred and seventy feet long and was built on a natural rock foundation.

The Espada Dam and Aqueduct had a huge impact on the initial survival of a new mission which depended upon the planting and harvesting of crops. In south central Texas, intermittent rainfall the need for a reliable water source made the design and installation of an acequia system a high priority. It wasn’t only the little unpredicted rainfall but the fact that the Indians were not used to living in one place. Most Indians in Texas were nomadic and traveled were their food did so staying in one place was unheard of. Irrigation was so important to Spanish colonial settlers that they measured cropland in suertes -the amount of land that could be watered in one day. The dam and irrigation system was engineered by Franciscan Missionaries and constructed by Indian converts. It raised the level of the river so water could enter the acequia. The eight foot tall structure diverts approximately four thousand five hundred gallons of water per minute into the four mile long irrigation ditch known as "Acequia de Espada". By gravity flow the acequia provides irrigation water for four hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Mission San Francisco de la Espada. A system of floodgates, the mayordomo, or ditch master, controlled the volume of water sent to each field for irrigation.

The importance of the Espada Dam today is that it is a historical marker for what the missionaries accomplished. The Espada Dam is the oldest continuously used Spanish diversion dam in Texas. It still diverts water from the old San Antonio River channel into the acequia madre, or main water ditch, to irrigate Mission Espada’s fields. Espada Dam is also important today because it does still work so it is still used to water farm land around the mission. It is also a tourist attraction which brings people and money to San Antonio to help it to continue to grow. It is also a way to experience a different way of living since most of the things at Mission Espada still work and for the most part still look the same as they did when they were built.

Mission Espada

Mission San Francisco de la Espada was originally founded as San Francisco de los Tejas in east Texas in 1690. Mission Espada was the first mission in Texas but did prosper and was moved in 1731 to where it is now. The church was finished in 1756. De la Espada means "of the sword," referring to a decision by St. Francis which was whether he should be a soldier of God or of Spain. Mission Espada was the southern most mission in San Antonio. Before the fairy was built it 1745 not that many travelers went all the way to Mission Espada.

Mission Espada has a unique three bell espadana (bell tower) on the church. The church door seems way too small for an entrance door for a church. I have heard two different mysteries about this door. The first one is that the original builder of the door had to leave halfway through the job and a new builder finished it. The other one is that during reconstruction they had to remove the two lower right-side arch stones right above the two columns.

The initial survival of a new mission depended upon the planting and harvesting of crops. Water was brought into Mission Espada by acequia (irrigation) system. This system uses gravity and elevation to move water. The acequia at Mission Espada still runs today unlike the other missions in San Antonio. The main ditch, or acequia madre, continues to carry water to the mission and its former farm lands.