Published in 2011, the late John Eddie Vogt’s book, Witches, Bitches, and Other Small Town Folks, brings to life the quirky, unforgettable, and entertaining tales of growing up and living in Kendall County from the 1930s through the 1960s. Thanks to the gracious permission of his family, The Kendall Gentleman is honored to share excerpts from his book for your enjoyment.
When I was very young, there were only two indoor places in Boerne that were large enough to hold a crowd. They were the high school auditorium and the basement of St. Helena’s Episcopal Church. Almost anything “big” that was happening would be at one of those two places. But if the weather was good, people would use the Plaza, Veteran’s Park, or the fairgrounds.
Christmas celebrations were usually held at the school or the Plaza. At the school, the usual program was put on by children between five and ten years old. There would be a play—usually a Christmas play—and following would be audience participation in singing Christmas songs. After the songs, all the children would line up for Santa. There would be boxes and boxes of oranges and apples. The hard candy and ribbon candy would be in wooden buckets holding about two gallons each. Santa’s helpers would be putting the candy, oranges, and apples in little bags as Santa handed them out to the children with a “Ho-ho! Merry Christmas!”
If the weather was real nice, they would sometimes have a parade with Santa riding in the back seat of a convertible automobile. When he arrived at the Plaza, it would be the same routine of handing out the bags of fruit and candy.
Years later, one time the parade started up on the north end of Boerne. At the time, there was a package store that Santa’s convertible was parked in front of while awaiting the start of the parade. After waiting quite some time for the parade to start, Santa decided he needed a small drink. The driver of his vehicle went to the package store and bought him a half pint. In his hurry to take a long swig and not have anyone see him, he got his white beard in with his swallowing. For a period of time there was one very sick Santa.
No, I was not the Santa. The driver, yes, but not Santa.
More from John Eddie Vogt: For another Christmas memory from the same Boerne, read Good Ol’ Santa, the mechanical Santa JEV bought for his store window in 1954. Or revisit one of the venues that hosted the season’s gatherings in The Plaza.
