During the war years (WWII) I worked after school for Bert Coryell at the old Riverside Grocery. There was never a finer man than Bert. We sold groceries, gasoline, livestock feeds, sodas, and meats. If Bert could have ever collected all the money owed him he would have been a wealthy man. He never refused … Read more
Glynn Praesel won his first buckle in Kendall County on the seventh bucking horse he ever climbed on. Forty-three years later, he’ll tell you he has failed more than he has succeeded, and that he is still more afraid of not living than of dying. Glynn Praesel was 19 and on the seventh bucking horse … Read more
Before Boerne had traffic circles, turf fields, and Starbucks, and before it became one of the fastest-growing towns in Texas, it was a quiet Hill Country town rooted in limestone, family names, and Sundays. For the ranching and farming families who lived outside of town, out toward Sisterdale, Waring, Welfare, and Bergheim, getting to church … Read more
For Officer Brady Lastinger, moving to Boerne was a decision made by faith. Becoming a Boerne police officer was the fulfillment of a calling he had carried much longer. Lastinger grew up in Newport Beach, California, where he earned a business management degree from Chapman University and began working in commercial real estate, construction project … Read more
When a passion project is mentioned, most people think big: a project car, a non-profit organization, or petitioning their local government. However, this is not always the case. Passion projects can be as simple as a tomato garden on the back porch, educating yourself on a new subject that you might be interested in, or … Read more
Around here, “self-reliant” is about the highest compliment you can pay a man. We say it about the rancher who fixes his own fence, the business owner who made payroll in a bad year without telling anyone how close it was, and the father who never let his kids see him worried. We mean it … Read more
The railroad was built through Boerne sometime in 1887. I remember when the train used to come through Boerne every morning at about ten o’clock going north. At the depot, which was located at the east end of Theissen Street, there was an arm that extended out and the crew would attach a mailbag to … Read more
Kendall County EMS paramedic Pete Macias on military medicine, compassionate care, and answering the call For Kendall County EMS paramedic Pedro “Pete” Macias, some of the most important moments in emergency medicine begin when a patient is frightened, vulnerable, and unable to advocate for himself. During a recent call involving a patient with developmental disabilities, … Read more
There are certain words we use so often that they start to lose their edges. “Faithful” is one of them. Most of the time, when we hear the word, our minds go straight to marriage. A faithful husband. A faithful wife. Sometimes we think of church, of being faithful to God, faithful in prayer, faithful … Read more
Officer Jeffrey Wilson on faith, family, accumulated trauma, and the support that helps first responders keep showing up For Officer Jeffrey Wilson, law enforcement grew from a childhood belief that public service could make a difference. Both of his grandfathers were Green Berets, a cousin served as a police officer, and family friends included a … Read more