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Washington-on-the-Brazos is the Birthplace of Texas.

09—This is where 59 delegates convened, in a little unfinished building on the Brazos River, and drafted the declaration of Independence.

They declared their independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836, and on March 17, adopted a Constitution for the Republic of Texas, naming an interim government.

Ginger Moreland is administrator of the Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park Association. This year marks the 175th anniversary of this event, and that calls for a weekend-long celebration February 26th and 27th at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site in Washington, Texas.

15—We have a lot planned this year to commemorate the occasion. We will be full of the Texas army, and craftsmen from the period, demonstrators that can show you how to quilt, or make lace, or knives, all those kinds of things.

Mooreland said this year her group launched a signers association project, which traces the genealogy of the 59 signers of the declaration. They invited the descendants to attend the event, and so far, 1,000 confirmed.

14—Sunday, particularly, we have a special program. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson will be out there to make a keynote address. We talks with the Senator to have her this year, because she is a descendant of one of the 59 signers.

Find more information about the celebration of 175 years of Texas Independence on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Thanksgiving, a “uniquely” American observance is, in fact, a variation on an Old English harvest tradition, which makes sense as the colonists came from Britain.

09—What we know as Thanksgiving—centuries ago—was actually called Lammas. And that means Loaf Mass in Old English.

Cynthia Brandimarte is program director for Texas historic sites. On Lammas, farmers brought loaves of bread to mass as a token of thanksgiving.

26—It’s when breads were made from the season’s first grain crop. They were baked, blessed and broken. And it was celebrated on August first or thereabouts. Over some time, especially the 17th and 18th Century, Americans brought over the tradition of observing Thanksgiving at the end of the harvest, which would be closer to our late November date.

New Englanders, the first to observe the day, moved west, bringing their traditions with them. Yet, Thanksgiving did not become a nationally recognized celebration until the mid 19th Century.

10—Sarah Josepha Hale, took it upon herself to make it a widespread celebration; and that was in the 1840s.

As you sit down at the Thanksgiving table this year, remember to give a nod of gratitude for nature’s bounty, and for the people who made this long weekend of food and football possible.

That’s our show for today… from all of us at Passport to Texas…and Texas Parks and Wildlife…we wish you a very happy Thanksgiving…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Experience the holidays the way 19th Century German settlers did when you take part in an Early German Christmas at Monument Hill and Kriesche Brewery State Historic Site in La Grange. Bryan Frazier has details.

That part of Texas has such a history with the German influence, so they’re calling it An Early German Christmas. And every year, they light up a quarter-mile hiking trail for night walks.

Absolutely. They typically do period costumes and they’re really dressed up nice. So, you’ve got everyone getting in the Christmas spirit in general, and then to see it circa 1850s with the history there, and the interpretation programs they have and the lighted trail…it’s really nice.

Thanks Bryan,

Find more information www.texasstateparks.org.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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It may surprise you to know that on average 11 meteor showers a year grace our night skies…and on November 17 the Leonid Meteor Shower reaches its peak.

05—The Leonid Meteor Shower is a shower that occurs every November.

Anita Cochran, the assistant director of the McDonald Observatory, explains this phenomenon.

11—It is the result debris left over from the passage of the Comet Temple Tuttle which comes past the sun and past the earth every thirty-three years.

Dust particles burning up in the earth’s atmosphere will create this year’s shower. Of course, the peak time for the shower is 3 p.m., not exactly prime viewing time; and then in the evening, a waxing Gibbous moon could create some light obstruction, too.

However, in 1833, the skies were dark and when the Leonid Meteor shower peaked, the skies rained down thousands of meteors an hour, causing some people to fear the end was near.

10—There are times when we go through, and it’s approximately every thirty three years, when we see a huge storm because we go through the peak of it. We might see hundreds of meteors per hour.

If you’re lucky, when you go out on the 17th, you’ll see a few meteors streaking through the night sky. If nothing else, you’ll get to spend some time outdoors in the still of the night…just you and the owls and coyotes.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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If you’ve been in a holiday mood lately without an outlet for your good cheer, make the trip to Goliad State Park and Historic Site on December fourth and get jingly with it. That’s when everything there will be lit up, and activities will abound for those who are brimming with pre-holiday giddiness.

It has a real tradition with the mission there at Goliad—not just the historic site there, but it’s a recreational park as well. And they light up the place and they do a chorus singing traditional Christmas songs, and the director of the Beeville Chorus is coming over.

So, I think people will really enjoy—kicking off Christmas inside the old chapel. And, it’s just one of a kind with the restored Mission. And it makes for a very unique and a very special Christmas trip.

Thanks Bryan.

Find more information about this and other holiday events at state parks and historic sites when you log onto texasstateparks.org.

That’s our show for today, thank you for joining us…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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