Riffs, Roams and Raves:
Riffs: Wine & Unwind & Dine
Good food, good wine and the promise of rain conspired to create a memorable night for guests at the Wimberley Valley Big Band’s Scholarship Dinner and performance, “Wine & Unwind & Dine.” Chef John Sanderson created a three-course menu with wine and beer from the Wimberley Valley Winery’s wines and brews. The winery’s owner, Dean Valentine underwrote 100% of the dinner for ticket holders who had the pleasure of dining in the estate’s dining room. Its beautiful space is home to a handsome bar of generous proportions, friendly staff, stained glass windows and Gustav Klimt reproductions on the walls. After the meal, we walked outside and onto the deck for the group’s musical performance. Director Doug Gillory took up the baton and after a couple of numbers we heard Jimmy McHugh’s “I can’t give you anything but love.” The band was in a playful mood, cracking jokes, and adding to Gillory’s between-song banter. Gillory willingly accepted being the recipient of several friendly barbs from band members who pretended not to know they wouldn’t be receiving a paycheck for the night’s performance.
By this time, the sun had set and the overhead lights looked like strings of pearls against the dark sky.
The band preceded Charlie Parker’s “Birdland” song with an adaptation from the five tones that composer John Williams used to communicate with aliens in the Spielberg film, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Band member John Greer demonstrated the hand gestures that the late François Truffaut portrayed in the film in his role as scientist Claude Lacombe. Director and actor Truffaut, who died from cancer at 52, was one of the founders of the French New Wave movement in French cinema.
From there, Greer sang “The Best is Yet to Come,” followed by Pat Gillory’s rendition of Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” A juicy delivery of “Downtown Tango’’ was followed by soloist Kathy Burnette’s beautiful vocals on “The Nearness of You.” Wimberley High School’s Avery Knight, who played second alto saxophone with the ensemble, was introduced to the crowd. The night time performance wound up soon after the midway break as lightning crackled in the distance teasing everyone with the hope of a little rain.
Roam: Underground in Georgetown
The subject of this week’s roam was our neighbor to the north and east, Georgetown. It was selected, in part, for the Inner Space Caverns located a few minutes from downtown. After last week’s exasperating temperatures, I headed underground into another cavern like any sane creature ought to have done. As central Texas caverns go, this one rated high on the “meh” scale, due in part to our guide who was knowledgeable and fast with a joke but suffered from a certain kind of speech pattern that left us active listeners bewildered. In the middle of each supersonic sentence, he swallowed his words completely, driving them underground, so to speak, into oblivion. It made getting the full story impossible, so I hung back, enjoying the cool, wet atmosphere the caverns offered. From its largest room, we could hear the eerie rumble of traffic on I-35. We saw the bones of a dozen species of extinct animals and one who continues to thrive on earth, the Blackland prairie dog. At 98% humidity inside the cave, hair frizzed during the 90-minute tour as promised, and cool water dripped on us as it percolated through the layers of rock above. In the gift shop I scored glasses for the annular eclipse we’ll see this October and the solar eclipse we’ll see in April next year.
From there I drove the short distance to “The Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas,” as promoted by the city’s website, looking for my favorite Georgetown destination, the Palace Theater. This grande dame enjoys a well-deserved reputation for great professional level community theater. On par with the Wimberley Players, the Palace received the Austin Critics Award for Best Theater in the Austin Environs a year after the Players won.
The square is graced by an imposing Neoclassical courthouse restored in 2003 that can be comfortably viewed from the generous wood chairs in front of the Mesquite Creek Outfitters. Georgetown is the subject of an upcoming Amazon Prime docuseries to be aired in early 2024 called “The Story of Art in America.” It is to feature four local artists: painter Carol Light, textile artist Gary Anderson, muralist Devon Clarkson; and cellist Hai Zheng-Olefsky.
Murals are a big deal in Georgetown and one of the historians also featured in the series is Norma Clark, co-creator of Georgetown’s “Preserving History” mural.
The town was selected by executive producer Pierre Gervois who said he “was caught by the architecture of Georgetown and its original and beautifully preserved town square.”
The town’s numerous public art sculptures and murals showed that the city “considered art to be a very important part of the life of its community,” he said.
As I roamed the main square I saw restaurants, a couple of wineries, several ice cream parlors, a confectionery and gift shops of all stripes. One called the Prima Dora reminded me of a cross between the nowclosed Paper Bear in San Marcos and a retro head shop fragrant with patchouli incense. I passed Ken’z Guitars with a life-size cutout of George Strait out front sporting a note asking visitors to buy a t-shirt to help with Ken’s medical bills.
I didn’t explore the side streets off the main square but will make a point to return at Christmas time when the town is decked out in its best holiday gear. It is always gorgeous.
Rave: Goats on the Runway in Dripping Springs Kudos to attorney Milena Christopher for bringing Goat Couture to the Hill Country. If you missed this event, pick up a copy of the Dripping Springs Century News this week to get the sweep of “head to hoof glamor” as goats trod the “goatwalk” in gear only a goat could make look good. Some of the participants proved reluctant and escorts shoved, grasped tails or carried unwilling models to the judges’ table for evaluation. Ensembles inspired by singer Dolly Parton proved to be a popular look this year. One stunner named Jubilee, representing the House of Burgett, wore a tiara and diaphanous white gown with unusual composure. A hugely entertaining and rowdy Cowboy contestant who wore a miniature bronco buster on his back nearly turned flips in his endeavor to unseat the unfortunate plush figure.
Christopher admitted to twisting a couple of arms to persuade real-life judges to pronounce the winners. Retired Senior Judge Dan Mills and former Judge Anna M. Boling, Hays County Court at Law #1, showed up to select the “best of” in several categories. Part Time Hays County Magistrate Brenda Holter roamed the staging area, making sure everything appeared legit. More than 2,100 people came to the Dripping Springs Ranch Park and Event Center to see the lighthearted mayhem. Proceeds will benefit seven Future Farmers of America chapters in Blanco and Hays counties. Christopher hopes this will be an annual event, and judging from the media interest and the crowd’s reaction, it will.