EDITORIAL: New Braunfels Monthly July 2021

Hello New Braunfels,

In the June issue, many of the stories spoke to the passions of residents and how they choose to pursue them. In this issue, we take it a little further.

What happens when someone follows their passion to the top? (Hint: it’s not easy.)

It can take years of dedicated, hard work, late nights, long days and humbling experiences before someone can claim to have achieved their dream.

Take for instance Catie Offerman, who found a passion for playing music and refused to stick to just one instrument. Her talents have landed her big offers and real opportunities in Nashville to pursue her dreams of being a musical artist. But those dreams didn’t come free.

It meant while being taught at home, her parents loading up on coffee to drive her to events in other towns where she could perform and make a name for herself.

Meanwhile, we have Antonio Ruiz, who has made a national name for himself as a talented and rising chef in the country. He’s made such a name for himself that Hell’s Kitchen: Young Guns reached out and asked for him to appear on Gordon Ramsay’s show. 

Despite that all starting with a DM on his Facebook, Ruiz had to hone his craft for years. He even wrote recipes for this very magazine, and claims that was part of what got him noticed for the show.

Don’t be fooled: This isn’t a sales pitch to get new writers for the magazine.

The point is success isn’t a straight line. Sometimes it takes risks, or stepping outside of your comfort zone to reach your full potential. 

The sometimes unsung ingredient in all that though is someone who recognizes that potential. In Offerman’s case, that was initially her parents who supported her dreams. That led to a cascading effect of people who recognized her abilities and talent.

Do not underestimate the importance of stepping outside of your comfort zone. Even Ruiz said being on the show was unlike being in a kitchen, challenging him in unique ways. But overall, he claims it made him a better chef.

Don’t let passion fade. It’s what fuels dreams.

EDITORIAL: New Braunfels Monthly June 2021

Hello New Braunfels,

Passion is something intangible. Sometimes you choose your passion from a list, but unlike how it’s portrayed in young adult novels and movies, life’s purpose and a person’s pursuits aren’t dictated by a shadowy group of elders and determined by a talking hat or ominous council.

Many times, passion comes from a momentary spark that sticks with a person’s imagination. It’s something they find dominating the free moments of their day, filling the voids between responsibilities. 

An interest someone can shake, but a passion overwhelms. You find yourself spending money on equipment, ordering new books online and sometimes rambling endlessly to your friends about your recent discovery.

Sometimes you aren’t even particularly good at your passion, if it is a hobby. It can take years of practice and learning to become competent at what you suddenly care so much about. 

And in this issue of New Braunfels Monthly, we are looking at a few residents who have taken their passions to new heights, even in the face of obstacles and changing landscapes.

In fact, these stories are often on the pages of this magazine. Passion is the fire of life, and sometimes it just takes a person reading about someone else’s burning desire to grow and learn to light that same fire inside themselves.

Kori Free has been chasing two passions over the years, through her efforts to care for animals and advance her skill at playing guitar. Her personal story of ties to the band Heart are enough to get anyone who is shy about reaching out to their heroes off their behind and putting a handwritten letter in the mail. Even in the face of COVID, Free stayed determined in her missions and adapted to the year that caught every person flat on their feet.

Connor Dillon, on the other hand, has been making an effort to bring unique fighting techniques to the New Braunfels area for years, and now is leading a new group that teaches hand-to-hand combat and sword fighting. It’s not a skill you see every day, and it’s nice to see people in the community embracing new (and old) passions.

People don’t come to New Braunfels because they want to watch life pass them by. They visit or move here because they recognize the character of the city and its residents, and the unique passions they bring to the table. 

Hopefully these stories share with readers the unique stories behind people’s passions and bring to light even more of this wonderful city’s character. 

EDITORIAL: New Braunfels Monthly May 2021

Hello New Braunfels,

I’m having some whiplash lately with it already being May. Last I checked, the February page of my calendar was still hanging on the wall. But life moves fast, and it’s important to take the time to recognize the events and people around you.

That’s what contributing columnist Jenny Jurica discusses in her most recent column on page 40, but beyond the scope of her column I feel the message ties into many of the stories in this issue. 

There are so many people who contribute daily to the lives of New Braunfelsers and don’t always get recognition. Many of them aren’t seeking recognition, so we have to seek out these stories of inspiration. 

It isn’t always pulling people from burning cars that means helping your community (although that’s a feat on it’s own that always deserves recognition). Sometimes it can mean finding a need in the community that isn’t being met, or helping the next generation get their feet moving in the right direction. There’s many ways to do that, through education, volunteering or just finding a way to share your passion.

In a place like New Braunfels, where culture is essential to the fabric of what makes this community special, it is of utmost importance to make sure we are sharing the tools we might have been deprived of when we were young or to help inspire children who are dealing with hardships. 

And what a year it has been in terms of hardships, thanks to the unprecedented winter weather we experienced in February on top of the continuing pandemic, which is hopefully on its way out locally by the time you are reading this.

Matt Briggs shares in Dale Martin’s most recent story that he was unable to find the musical guidance he now gives students at his studio in New Braunfels. 

As someone who spent a lot of time growing up in rural areas without sidewalks and where “the city” meant the nearest town with a Walmart, it’s difficult to describe what it means when an adult would recognize the opportunities and lessons they were deprived of growing up and make an effort to take you under their wing.

Service comes in a lot of forms, and it doesn’t always have to happen at a volunteer event. Just putting a little effort into making your community better can sometimes be enough.

Please, read through the stories in this issue and take the time to recognize that while some of the featured people are doing what they love, they are also trying to better the lives of those around them as they go, that driving their inspiration.

EDITORIAL: New Braunfels Monthly April 2021

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

EDITORIAL: New Braunfels Monthly March 2021

Hello New Braunfels, 

When I started working on this issue, I was stuck at home because of a pandemic. When I finished the magazine, I was stuck at home because the power was out and the roads were frozen. 

To put it simply, a lot can change in the span of a month. One minute you think the world is heading in one direction. A few ticks of the clock later and you are wrapped in a blanket waiting for the heater to kick back on. 

But sometimes you are measured by your resilience in the face of adversity, and this magazine is a testament to that. 

We didn’t allow the unique circumstances to deter us from bringing your attention to the bright and inspiring stories of New Braunfels. There’s too many to share. 

In this issue, you will find stories of an organization that helps people in difficult life situations, a new shop that will get New Braunfelsers and others onto two wheels and zipping around Landa Park, and two men who don’t get the recognition they deserve in the New Braunfels music scene.

***

As an aside: If you are a longtime reader of New Braunfels Monthly, you might be scratching your head about who is writing this editor’s note.

No, your memory isn’t failing you.

Yes, I was the previous editor of New Braunfels Monthly.

I’m happy to report that I have returned to serve as the New Braunfels Monthly editor. It turns out it’s difficult to get New Braunfels out of your system, and so I had no choice but to end up here again. 

I’m a big fan of hiking, and sometimes when I’m on an unfamiliar trail, the path takes me in an unexpected direction. I’ll meander toward the sun while I know my destination is in another direction, but what I’ve learned is to trust that the trail will eventually wind its way back around and bring to where I intend to be. That might not be the way I envisioned my trip, but it can be a necessary step in growth or adjusting for unforeseen obstacles out of my sight. 

In the case of hiking, it doesn’t hurt to bring a map, but in life there is no map, just an element of trust that you’ll end up where you need to be. 

My previous time in New Braunfels brought me to meet people and enjoy experiences that I won’t soon forget, and I hope serving as this magazine’s editor will once again bring me more of those. And I hope that I will be able to bring to readers the untold stories of this town that need to be shared with its many residents and visitors alike.

There’s no town like New Braunfels, and we need to make sure its history and current story are shared with all who discover it.

EDITORIAL: Ford, Kavanaugh will be ruined by nomination process

THE FACTS, Sept. 27, 2018

There is a storm hovering over Washington right now.

Of course, it always seems that way, but this one is bringing down two people’s lives in the process.

Jonathan Turley, political commentator and professor at George Washington University Law School, spoke Wednesday at the Brazosport College 50th Anniversary Luncheon at the Dow Academic Center. His presentation covering the history and politics of the U.S. Supreme Court had been planned long before Christine Blasey Ford was a name in national headlines.

For those out of the loop, Ford is a professor and a research psychologist in California who claims to have had an unwanted sexual encounter with the current nominee for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh.

She is expected to speak in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today, as is Kavanaugh, in what will be a glorified “he said, she said” drama.

There will be no winners. The lives of these two people already are being torn apart.

“My family and I have been the target of constant harassment and death threats. I have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable,” Ford said in a written testimony released Wednesday. “My family and I were forced to move out of our home. Since September 16, my family and I have been living in various secure locales, with guards.”

Kavanaugh, in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, fought back on the allegations from Ford and others against him. He has no other choice given stepping aside will leave him forever sullied, as Turley pointed out.

“These are smears, pure and simple,” Kavanaugh wrote. “And they debase our public discourse. But they are also a threat to any man or woman who wishes to serve our country. Such grotesque and obvious character assassination — if allowed to succeed — will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from service.”

The tragedy of the nomination process and today’s hearing is how the situation has nothing to do with them, instead being the byproduct of an increasingly divided political system that has sunk its claws into the Supreme Court.

“I feel sorry for both of them, because they’ve both entered that strange universe of being a prop in political play. I don’t think either side really cares that much about them,” Turley said.

The Democrats have sided with Ford and the Republicans have sided with President Trump’s nominee. There are a few people in between who might be swayed by what is said during today’s hearing, but the political lines have been drawn. Minds have been made up regardless what emerges from the hearing.

As Turley pointed out, one of these two people has lied about the situation. Someone has created a story where there wasn’t one. But that’s where the country is politically, hanging on every word of what amounts to a tabloid gossip story.

There will be a ninth justice, and whichever way this goes, the story will largely be forgotten in a year. But nobody is backing down.

“Kavanaugh has no exit strategy,” Turley said. “People are talking today, ‘Will he withdraw?’ I don’t think that’s an option. If he withdraws, his name will never be cleared.”

And that’s because this story has nothing to do with Ford or Kavanaugh. It’s about politics.

Neither person will leave unmarked by this meeting, and that is a shame for a country in which truth has taken a back seat.

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This editorial was written by Alec Woolsey, assistant managing editor of The Facts.