On boots and bars and motorbikes...

You won’t have to be the new kid in town, some outlaw man desperado or the girl from yesterday to notice that there’s a lot going on in Shiner this weekend, not least of which is  Shiner Downtown Market Days , now held every third Saturday each month. First off, for those who realized I just incorporated four song titles by the Eagles into that opening sentence, thank you, my man, because it’s nice to know such efforts truly aren’t wasted time. I send you all the best of my love. No doubt, too, you’re probably wondering why, exactly, I might do such a thing. (That's three more, for those keeping count.) Before we deal with that, however, I need to say a few words to—well, you know—that "other" crowd, those who have no notion of what I speak: Take it easy. It'll be OK. But move on along, if you don't mind. Nothing to see here, folks. It’s already gone. Takes a certain kind of fool, I guess. (Thrice more. YES!) And in answer to the big WHY , here goes: When the orga...

If there's one thing the Rev. Bryan Heyer says he knows to be true, it's that members of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church in Shiner know a thing or two about community service. They always have, and most likely, always will. “Our church was literally built by the service of its members,” Father Bryan said. “In fact, even the building itself stands testament to that service. It’s tradition of serving that continues on strong still today.” Anyone who might question that fact only need lay eyes on their beautiful landmark red brick church building in Shiner, each stone of it built from the ground up by the hands and backs of local parishioners, who spent the better part of two entire years, from 1920-1921, making sure every element of it was simply perfect. And this coming Sunday, July 11, parishioners from all over, both past and present, will have the opportunity celebrate those many years of service, when Father Bryan and Victoria Diocese Bishop Brendon Cahill come toge...

You just know that somebody, somewhere, had to be thinking it real hard if not actually saying those precise words when it all went down.  “Honey, have you seen the kids?” To which, a usually reasonable response might be, “Oh, they’ll be back shortly. They ran down to the coffeeshop to grab a bite.” Still, things were anything but “usual” last Wednesday, June 23. “We have kids around our shop almost all the time,” says Amy Bishop, proprietor of the Shinerville Coffee House. “But these weren’t your average, run-of-the-mill kids. In fact, they made for some rather unusual visitors at our shop that day.” Unusual, indeed, for in the middle of town, the middle of the afternoon, the middle of the workweek, a pair goats came wandering up to her coffeeshop door, nibbling on her potted plants as they peered in the windows with curious goat eyes to see what they could see. She had no idea where they came from. Or, more importantly, where they needed to get back to before they becam...