Friends of Monument Hill/Kreische Brewery Newsletter FROM THE HISTORIC SITES SUPERINTENDENT

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1 Friends of Monument Hill/Kreische Brewery Newsletter 1 Volume 31, Issue 01 Mission Statement To impart to the people an understanding and appreciation of the Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery Sites while managing and conserving these cultural and natural resources for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Friends of Monument Hill and Kreische Brewery State Historic Sites 414 State Loop 92 La Grange, Texas Phone (979) Fax (979) Park: monument.hill@tpwd.texas.gov FROM THE HISTORIC SITES SUPERINTENDENT Well, the rain and colder weather are back again. For how long, we don t know. It certainly has made it feel a lot more like winter these past few days. We hope that everyone has a peaceful Christmas filled with family, friends, and loved ones. Our wish is that you have happy and safe New Year filled with prosperity and good health. If you haven t been out to visit the park in a while, come by and visit with us. Every day is a good day to be outside in a Texas State Park! Life is better outside! We hope to see you soon. CHRISTMAS EVENTS The Trail of Lights has come and gone for another year. We had a very productive and successful season of events. This year s total attendance was not a record breaker but very good at 1,437 visitors! Even with cancelling the last night due to the weather, a wonderful time was had by many repeat and first time visitors. We had several out of town visitors as well as many locals come through the park on those four evenings. This year was the 30 th annual Christmas event to be held in the park by the Friends Group. Originally called the Monument Hill & Kreische Brewery Docent Organization, the Friends Group began conducting Christmas programs in These programs were daytime programs in and around the park and the Kreische House. In 1993, the first Early German Christmas program was held in the evening. This was expanded and the Trail of Lights events were added in In 1996, there were 3 Early German Christmas events and 3 Trail of Lights events. At some point the Trail of Lights were increased to 4 nights. In 2003, the Trail of Lights became a 5 night program. In 2010, after years of decline in Early German Christmas attendance, those events were no longer offered. The Trail of Lights has seemed to grow in popularity each year. Although the weather plays a major role in each night s visitation, we have only seen a couple years of lower than expected visitation. Here s a rundown of each night s visitation totals: 1,437 visitors: 1,015 adults; 360 children; & 62 free kids. Dec. 2 nd : 392 visitors Dec. 8 th : 222 visitors Dec. 9 th : 473 visitors Dec. 15 th : 350 visitors Dec. 16 th : canceled Schmeckenfest in downtown La Grange was held on Thursday December 7 th. Despite the rain and then eventually snow, many locals converged on the courthouse square to enjoy tasting wassail. For those who do not know, wassail is a hot cider drink. Many businesses and civic organizations, including the Friends Group, made their special recipes and withstood the cold to share samples. Schmeckenfest is a great local event where our

2 volunteers help promote the park and Trail of Lights. We appreciate those that volunteered to help with this event! As always, we appreciate all of the hard work that each volunteer so graciously gave to help work leading up to and on the nights of Trail of Lights. None of the jobs during Trail of Lights are extremely difficult, but they were all necessary to help the events run smoothly for our visitors, park staff, and Friends Group. We also appreciate all the help we received from neighboring parks and regional offices to include: Bastrop SP; Lockhart SP; Lake Corpus Christi SP; Goliad SP; Huntsville SP; San Jacinto SHS; and the Region 2 & 3 Offices (Rockport & Bastrop). We still have lots of work to accomplish to safely and neatly put away the decorations and set the Kreische House back up for tours. We will be working this over the next few weeks. Specific work dates will be set soon and an will be sent out to everyone. Your help is needed and greatly appreciated! 2 SNOW DAY! Like most of southeast and south central Texas, the park received some beautiful snow on the evening of December 7 th. Several inches piled up that night before quickly melting the next morning. Unfortunately, it was all melted before our Trail of Lights on the night of the 8 th. We don t get much snow around here, but it s beautiful when it covers the countryside and park grounds! FIRST DAY HIKES On January 1 st, weather permitting; we are planning to conduct our First Day Hikes here in the park. Over the last few years there has been a big nation-wide initiative to help Americans get outside, use the outdoors, and get healthier. One way to do that is to encourage people to use our state parks and natural areas for not only recreation, but also for exercise. One of these initiatives is called First Day Hikes. This is held on January 1 st and is an effort to help start the new year of right by getting outside and exercising. We held our first ever First Day Hike January 1, We have had a good turn out over the past few years and we look forward to doing it again! VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT We need your help to recruit new volunteers to our ranks. As we move past Texas Heroes Day and Trail of Lights, we continue to have a great need for volunteer help in the park. Not only do we need workers for our special events, we also need tour guides, as the number of Docents has decreased over the years. We have even had to cancel a few weekend guided tours lately due to being short-handed. We understand that our volunteers continue to serve our community with many different organizations and your time is limited. However, our volunteers are also our greatest advocates, promoters, and recruiters. We ask that you help spread the word of our needs, and encourage others to join our ranks. They don t have to be a Docent to help out! However, if someone is interested in being a docent but is not confident with giving tours have them give Dennis a call at the park. With a little encouragement and training, we can help them become a grade A tour guide! KREISCHE HOUSE PROJECT The architectural firm, Quimby- McCoy, continues their work to complete their investigation and condition analysis of the Kreische House. They are working on an in-depth architectural report of the condition of the Kreische House. This report will be used to better address the repair needs and best methods of repair to the entire structure. Currently, there is no funding for construction or repair work to be done to the house. However, we are hopeful that from this report, we will know more precisely what specific repairs need to be done and how much that might cost. We still need funding from the legislation to accomplish those repairs. VOLUNTEER HOURS If you have been working on park related projects such as Trail of Lights, etc., we need you to report your volunteer hours. We do our best to record your volunteer hours that are performed here at the park, but we need to know about those hours worked off-site. The park is required to submit a monthly volunteer report including all volunteer hours worked for the park. This information is compiled state wide and is submitted to the Texas Legislation annually. Accurate information helps the Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept prove that there is an important link between the parks and their local communities and park user groups. Please submit your volunteer hours to

3 the park before the 5 th of each month. DID YOU KNOW? December 19, 1842: The Somervell Expedition split up with General Alexander Somervell leading his men back home. The remaining men formed what came to be known as the Mier Expedition. These men attacked the Mexican city of Mier on December 25 th. The men of the Mier Expedition surrendered to General Ampudia on December 26 th and were taken prisoners of war. December 29, 1845: Texas was admitted into the United States of America as the 28 th state. December 26, 1846: Heinrich Kreische, along with his brother Carl Emmanuel Kreische, arrived in Galveston, Texas aboard the Albatross. January 1849: Heinrich Kreische purchased acres of land along the bluff, including the tomb, from Georg Carl Willrich. December 6, 1853: Kreische completed the construction of the 2 nd Fayette County Jail. December 1, 1857: Anna Louise Kreische was born. She was welcomed by her parents and older brother, Henry Louis. January 7, 1870: Julia Kreische, the youngest of the Kreische children, was born. January 12, 1906: Josepha Kreische died at the age of 72 leaving her estate to her remaining children with Henry Louis Kreische acting as the head of the family. January 22, 1906: Pauline Kreische, the 5 th of the Kreische children, was admitted and confined in the Southwestern Insane Asylum at San Antonio. December 2, 1950: Franklin Kreische died at the age of 88 leaving Julia Kreische as the sole living family member. December 2017: Friends of Monument Hill & Kreische Brewery celebrate 30 years of conducting Christmas events in the park! 3

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5 Happy Birthday! If you have a birthday that has not been acknowledged here, it s because we don t have your birthdate! Please send it to us at fomhkb@cvctx.com or call the Park. Dates to Remember VOLUNTEER HOURS need to be turned in by the 5 th of the following month. Anyone that has not called or handed in his or her hours, please do so! Remember to turn in any hours already expended in committee meetings, as well. MONTHLY FRIENDS MEETING - will be held on Monday, January 22nd at 7 PM at the Park headquarters. Paul Schenck Feb 2 Lana Yoder Feb 19 Susan Frondorf Mar 2 Kenneth Coleman Mar 12 Katy Beauford Mar 15 Rusty McLaughlin Mar 21 Please note the new Friends address: friendsofmonumenthill@gmail.com Friends of MHKB Newsletter Monument Hill & Kreische Brewery State Historic Sites 414 State Loop 92 La Grange, Texas