Hello New Braunfels,
It goes without saying that March marks an important 12 month journey we began a year ago. The New Braunfels and routines we grew to know over the years became something else.
Rivers once filled with tubes were empty. Restaurants closed. Concert halls were quiet.
It wasn’t the New Braunfels you grew up hearing about. All of this was due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it would be difficult to not also mention the surprise winter storm that once again challenged families and businesses.
The last 12 months have been a lot, but difficult times often show the best characteristics of a community and its people.
For New Braunfels, this came in the way of locals supporting their long-loved restaurants and businesses, or volunteers stepping in to help others get supplies such as food and water when they themselves might have also been in difficult situations.
Le Citron European Cafe and Bistro, featured in this issue, was among the restaurants faced with a difficult year after opening mere months before the accepted beginning of the pandemic in Texas. Its owners understood the difficulty of opening a restaurant under normal circumstances, but 2020 threw them a curve ball.
Over the last year though, they have found New Braunfels residents showing the town's true character as the poured into the cafe doors or ordered food to go. And just as importantly, local business leaders made sure the new business felt the warmth of the community's support, lending hand and advice when needed.
If there's one theme to this issue I would like readers to come away understanding, it's that you could take the Comal River and put it down in any other city in the U.S., but doing so wouldn't replicate the character that its residents have developed and continue to show in the face of difficult times. New Braunfels is a giving community and those who call it home should never take that for granted.
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As a special note, you might have noticed a page turn on the front cover. This month we are including the spring edition of Living Well in the back of New Braunfels Monthly. This issue focuses on senior living and health matters, and also features special messages from advertisers.
We hope this brings readers additional enjoyment and information as they look after those they care for, be it a family member or simply their neighbor.
Thank you, and have a wonderful April