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10-28-21 MinutesPage 1 of 18 SCHERTZ HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMITTEE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2021 6:30 PM MEETING MINUTES Committee Members in Attendance: Patricia Barnes Daniel “Frenchy” Bourgeois Jesse Gonzales Pete Perez Paul Ringenbach Dean Weirtz Judith Williams Rosalyn Wise Committee Members Absent: Howard Alperin Jason Blataric Richard “Monty” Gonzalez Jackie Hollis Dean Midlick Susie Raiford City Representative in Attendance: Cyndi Simmons Associate Members: Dr. Miguel Vazquez Tricia Whitman CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 6:30 PM by Chairman Bourgeois. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS PRESENTATIONS • Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas – Daniel Villarreal o Gave a detailed explanation of how the Pow Wow originated. It’s a time where tribes come together for a gathering. We have a circuit where there are different Pow Wows held throughout the year throughout Texas and into Oklahoma. o Proposing a 2-day competition Pow Wow at a cost of $25,000 to $45,000. o There are key components to a Pow Wow:  Head Staff includes the Master of Ceremonies, Arena Director, Head Lady and Head Man (Will replace these positions with one person per day at $100 each to avoid the cost of the hotel), Head Drum  Vendors (Indian Market)  Concessions  Dancers (approximately $15,000-$25,000 payout) o Comments:  Dean Weirtz commented that we cannot afford anything like this. Our thought of this Pow Wow idea was that there would not be any expense to it – this would be a promotional item for the Tribe and the Tribe would put on the expenses for this. • Daniel explained that the money can be raised by asking for sponsors (Amazon, HEB, TaskUs, Apple, Ally, Boost, Hampton, Walmart) • Charge the vendors to participate • Payouts come from dancer registration Page 2 of 18 • AT&T has grants and he has spoken with the head of the Native American employees of AT&T • He has already assembled a team in hopes we can move forward with this project  Jesse Gonzales agreed with Dean Weirtz about the money. All he’s hearing about is the commercial and he hasn’t heard anything that applies to us, which is historical. He is hearing that it is a social event where Native American’s come together to dance, sing, and honor their ancestors.  Daniel responded that it we want a family event, we’re still looking at paying the MC, Arena Director, and Headsmen. If we want just a presentation, he can get a crew together and come and do a presentation.  Jesse Gonzales responded that he hasn’t heard of people knocking down our doors asking for Pow Wows and that it appears that Daniel’s trying to create a demand and he doesn’t see a demand for Pow Wows other than curiosity on the historical side. Asked what history they are going to provide. Asked how many tribes will be taken part. Daniel responded with 650. Jesse asked how many would be represented in our Pow Wow. Daniel responded that it would probably be about 20 different nations that would be represented.  Dean Weirtz commented that he thought the presentation tonight would be a historic presentation with demonstrations and things before the group. We’re a small group and we don’t have a large group of volunteers to assist with a Pow Wow.  Tricia Whitman responded that Jesse Gonzales brings up a good point and she’s had a few complications with doing her presentation about the historical significance of the Lipan Apache here in Schertz -- because there is a historical significance. As more people are reclaiming their ancestry, we are learning that people in this town are part of this native ancestry. One of the things she’s trying to do is help educate the people – especially Schertz because of the historical significance about our traditions and customs. While you are hearing the money cost of this, I don’t think you can visualize what the cultural part of this is. This isn’t just about making money. This is a contest Pow Wow, which is something over the past year we’ve talked about as something you were interested in. There are two types of Pow Wows. There’s the Traditional, which our Tribe puts on twice a year and during our committee meetings I have addressed the budget on that is $5,000. So, our Tribe pays $5,000 twice a year just to put on a family Pow Wow which covers the cost of the facilities and everything else that comes with that. Why we want to bring it to Schertz? Look at your iconography. You have teepees painted on the side of your buildings, the Buffalo is your mascot, there is Native American iconography everywhere you look. That’s what the historical significance is. The proposal that Mr. Villarreal is requesting is a high- end Pow Wow and it’s a starting point. It’s not the all-end and as he’s getting ready to discuss, we as a committee will not be in charge of producing everything for the Pow Wow. We have subcommittees here from the Tribe who will organize and put these things together.  Daniel Villarreal commented that we will not have any of the headaches – it would be on him. We tell him we want a Pow Wow and he will take over with his Team. Page 3 of 18  Miguel Vazquez clarified that there are two types of Pow Wows – a small gathering and a competition Pow Wow that can cost up to $45,000 and most of that money is for the competition and for the dancers. Daniel responded that he does not get paid as a Pow Wow committee member. The only people that get paid are the people who win and the Head Staff. Miguel also asked for Daniel to clarify the circuit. Daniel advised that if we want to proceed, we have to be careful to not compete with other Pow Wows and split the dancers.  Daniel Villarreal commented that he’s looking at March. April is the actual start of the circuit, but if we can get March, it would be at the beginning of the circuit. The end of the circuit is December.  Miguel Vazquez asked if there was an educational component. Daniel responded that yes, there could be exhibition dancing which is an educational portion where they could explain the various outfits.  Roz Wise commented that her vision for the Pow Wow was educational. When she went to the Pow Wow at Coushatta there was an educational component and thinks that people would enjoy it a whole lot more if they knew there was going to be an educational component.  Frenchy Bourgeois paused the conversation. We have two options: A. We do the small, Traditional Pow Wow, or B. We go big an do the Competition Pow Wow. What he thinks is still unclear for most of the Committee is what do they need from us in order to put this on and how much are we willing to bear to let this go forward. We are skipping to Item #8 on the agenda and we call for action. • Dean Weirtz commented that he would like to incorporate on this vote whether we want to have a Pow Wow at all under the circumstances that have been presented to us. • Frenchy Bourgeois then called for a vote – Consideration and/or action regarding conducting a Pow Wow Project in CY 2022. • Before the vote, Miguel Vazquez asked if he could ask another question. He mentioned Cibolo having a Pow Wow – Daniel Villarreal confirmed that it will be in November. Daniel confirmed that it is their 1st Annual – he’s not familiar with it too much, but they are not part of the circuit yet. He said it’s not the Lipan Nation. • Frenchy Bourgeois then called for the vote to have the Pow Wow – All in favor (4 hands raised). All opposed (4 hands raised). • Miguel Vazquez advised that we still have to have exploratory meetings. A lot has been thrown at us all at one time. • Dean Weirtz commented that we lost $1,200 on the car show and we can’t afford to lose money on the Pow Wow with the money they’re talking about. He also indicated we are interested in educating our populous on the Indian history of our area. Your cousin did that 2 years ago at our meeting. He’d like to use his notes to provide us an article in the Remembrances special edition. He offered his notes to Tricia Whitman and she responded she has plenty of information about it and she can do that. • Tricia Whitman commented that this was just a starting point. She also commented that all of last year before Covid, the Committee was interested in doing that, but now that we’re talking about money and Page 4 of 18 since the car show, there’s hesitancy. Dean Weirtz responded that is exactly what it is. We can’t go into the red any further for the City because we represent the City. So, if we’re going to out on things, education is important. Our mission is to educate the public. If we’re not pursuing that mission, we’re not doing what we’re supposed to be doing. • Daniel Villarreal added that this isn’t going to happen next month. He’s not asking for next month. This will take a year to a year and a half to plan. He encourages the Committee to go to the Pow Wow that Cibolo is hosting in November and see what it’s like. • Pat Barnes commented that she’s not completely opposed to a Pow Wow because she’s seen them and they are a fabulous event. She thinks where she’s having trouble is the competition piece of it. It seems to be taking away from the education piece of it. She saw this as a chance for people to see the wonderful culture of these Indian tribes – the beautiful costuming. What the headdress means, what the position means, the wonderful stories and myths. And also, what she had seen is they had women that did basket weaving and they showed children how they made baskets, beading, beautiful artwork that is done from this culture and the kids could get involved. • Daniel Villarreal pointed out that’s where the vendors come in and the different artisans they would invite. • Rosalyn Wise also commented that she’d like to see it like a folk festival where they bring people in and show people how baskets are made, how moccasins and headdresses are made. It’s just incredible how much time goes into it. It would be an educational tool for people to see these kinds of things and that’s what she’d like to see. • Frenchy Bourgeois remarked that we don’t want to spend too much more time on this – we have a lot of items on the agenda we still need to get done. He thanked Danny Villarreal for his time. Danny Villarreal replied that he’d wants to keep the conversation going. He’s not going to take “no” for an answer and thanked the Committee for their time. If we want to have a show (presentation), he can get a crew together. • Main Street Committee Report – Dean Weirtz o We have a Main Street Subcommittee for the Council and he’s the Committee’s representative. The Subcommittee has been meeting since 2017 and has taken action on Main Street to try to resurrect activity on the street and to also instill a sense of history on the street. You’ve seen that in repairs with sidewalks being put in, posters and banners being put up on the street, areas designated for a potential park in the future. They had a meeting just a couple of weeks ago and he attended as well as Frenchy, and they’ve hired a consultant to come in and finalize the designs that are going to go on Main Street. We’ll be continuing to work that project to help instill the history of the city through the various aspects on the design. Frenchy Bourgeois commented that the meeting was unaccomplishable (sic) at best, but they’re moving forward as best they can. DISCUSSION AND/OR ACTION ITEMS: Page 5 of 18 1. Minutes – Consideration and/or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of July 22, 2021, and special meeting of September 16, 2021. • Motion made by Paul Ringenbach and seconded by Jesse Gonzales to approve minutes as written. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Fund Expenditures – Consideration and/or action regarding the submission of member expense vouchers and approval of fund expenditures. • Dean Weirtz has a voucher to submit for four shirts for the Committee members. The supplier is having problems getting product. The cost has been expended and the invoice has been submitted for $80.52 for the set-up for the embroidery, the embroidery digitation, and the shirts themselves. Asking the committee for approval. Paul Ringenbach commented that he believed Brian James already said he would pay it out of the city treasury, not out of our money. Dean Weirtz advised he will forward it to the Finance Department to account for the expenditure. Motion made by Jesse Gonzales to approve the $80.52 expenditure and seconded by Judith Williams. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Book Sales Report – Consideration and/or action regarding book sale activities during the last quarter and other fiscal activities. • Dean Weirtz reports that the book sales this quarter was $69.22 and a total of $590.29 for the fiscal year. One book was sold at the car show. 4. Publication of the Spring 2021 Committee Newsletter and Remembrances Special Edition Article 2021-4 and 2021-5. Consideration and/or action regarding the publication of the Committee Spring 2021 Newsletter and the Remembrances Special Edition Articles 2021-4 and 2021-5. • Dean Weirtz advised that Paul Ringenbach sent in some edits in addition to edits sent in by Frenchy Bourgeois and Rosalyn Wise. • Motion made by Rosalyn Wise and seconded by Judith Williams to approve the publication and articles. Motion passed unanimously. • Dean Weirtz would like to remind those of you have been tasked to produce an article. Tricia Whitman has been tasked tonight to produce an article on the history of the Lipan Apache tribe in the new year. 5. Schertz Landmark Property/Heritage Neighborhood Designation Nominations – Consideration and/or action regarding Schertz Landmark Property/Heritage Neighborhood designation nominations. • Patricia Barnes commented that recently she took items to get altered on Main Street and it’s an old home and the woman said that she really should have a plaque but they won’t give it to her. She asked if the house should be considered (across from the bar). She wasn’t sure what the name of it is. (During the typing of these minutes, Cyndi Simmons researched and it’s called Sue’s Stitch N’ Sew located at 534 Main Street.) • Dean Weirtz responded that we will accept nominations from anyone, but we need to have the history on the place. He advised that she could contact him and he’ll tell her what we need. • Dean Weirtz also commented that the house that the Deitz family owned, which we tried to get put on and the owners at the time did not want to move forward with the designation. It has been sold and the new owners are restoring the outside of the place and maybe somebody should go and speak with the new owner to see if they’re interested. The Deitz family is quite a historic family in this area. Miguel Vazquez asked if we know who the new owners are and Dean Weirtz advised he does not, but he has Page 6 of 18 stopped by to speak with them and no one was there. Dean Weirtz will take on this project. 6. Classic Car Show Event held October 16, 2021 – Consideration and/or action regarding the Classic Car Show event held October 16, 2021. • Frenchy Bourgeois took the podium to make a presentation regarding the car show. (See attached PowerPoint presentation document.) • Dean Weirtz asked that after Frenchy is done, he’d like to have the dais and has some written comments he’d like to read. • Frenchy Bourgeois began the presentation: o Totals 1. Shirts: $1,200 2. Trophies: $1,700 3. DJ: $100 4. Funds Earned: $1,800 5. Lost: $1,200 6. There were 67 cars and 56 trophies (+2 that Pete Perez created) 7. Suggests getting sponsors for the shirts • Flyer Design o The flyer was created by Frenchy Bourgeois using postermywall. Very user-friendly. Templates are already laid out and all you have to do is tap on something you want to change and edit what’s written or change pictures. Free to use. • Planning and Execution o Small committee – Frenchy Bourgeois, Miguel Vazquez, Rosalyn Wise, Pete Perez. o Found out in short order that a lot of things were 100% in our control that we could figure out in 5 minutes and there were other things that we just couldn’t hack as weekend warriors. o Leveraged the use of the City. They can do a lot because they have a lot more manpower and hours to the day. o Had the City print everything. o Reserve the pavilion (could have been done through the website). o Advertising. o Getting/sending/collecting money was a challenge. He thought PayPal was more user friendly then what it turned out to be. He had a lot of people that emailed the committee and asked for help. 90% of the people paid the day of anyway. There were only 4 pre-registrations. Getting the money and using the credit card reader was seamless once they got it from Mary Spence in Parks. o Making the website. We can do this moving forward. We scheduled this 6 months out and didn’t start actually planning until about 3 months out, so that was too soon of a schedule for the city to make us a website so we never got one. As we move in the future, we can put registration payment and everything else on a city website and the city can take care of all of it and it would be seamless to us. o Great help with the printing from the cCity, but not so much with the use of the pavilion. We wanted the pavilion because here in South Texas it’s hot and we want the shade, and they said we couldn’t park on it like in years past. We ended up parking the vehicles in the grass around the pavilion and quickly ran out of room. It will be even bigger next year if we decide to do it. • Picking the right date: Page 7 of 18 o If you set it too early, things pop up on you and if you wait too late then you have a lot less movement room to work around other people’s schedules. He and Pete Perez worked on it 3 months in advance and it worked out pretty good. The South Texas Car Club in San Antonio has a lot of cars and car shows, so we just went to their website and threw a date on the board. As you saw, Randolph ended up having a car show that same day and it didn’t hurt us any. o Weather is a huge factor. September/October is the best time with November being the latest with the cold weather. Anything earlier than that you’re looking at 100- degree weather which is not the best idea. Paul Ringenbach suggested we have a rain date for the next day or the next week. o Jesse Gonzales asked if we have a rain date, will we have to reserve the pavilion for both dates. Frenchy Bourgeois advised that there was someone else that had the date we wanted it and because we’re the City, they were cancelled so we get it regardless if someone double books it. NOTE to the Minutes: They did not cancel a reservation to accommodate the Historical Preservation car show. The City did have an reservation on the calendar, the Masonic Lodge Car Show, that was transferred from 2020 to 2021 due to COVID- 19. When City staff learned of the proposed SHPC car show, staff called the Masonic Lodge to confirm their 2021 event. They declined to host in 2021. The City refunded the deposit holding the calendar date and made it available to SHPC. The City will not bump an existing reservation for the SHPC Car Show. o Rosalyn Wise commented that one of the things she heard a lot from people was that’s why they wait until the day of the event to pay – they look at the weather. o Miguel Vazquez added that for an outside event it’s always going to be risky and when the day comes and it’s raining… there may be insurance but that’s another cost. o Advertising: o Rosalyn Wise and Pete Perez handed out flyers to local businesses, community leaders, etc. Frenchy Bourgeois went the technology route and posted on VisitSanAntonio.com, the City’s webpage, and EventBrite. The day it was posted it got 16 views, nothing next 2 months, and a month before we got 6 views, and week before we had 38 views, and the day of 9 views. We sold 30 tickets and half of the tickets came from EventBrite. o Paul Ringenbach commented that as a matter of policy, do you want us to go to the places where we put up posters and take them down? Frenchy responded that it would be a good idea and thank the business for letting us put them up. o Rosalyn Wise commented that when you go down Schertz Parkway there is a casino night sign at a doctor’s office right by Arlan’s Market and that’s a great sign and would be good for us look into to advertise. Frenchy also suggested we put a banner over the highway. o Miguel Vazquez asked if we could determine how many pedestrians came/spectators. Frenchy thinks there was probably 130 people that showed up, but there wasn’t a head count. o Registration: Page 8 of 18 o Frenchy Bourgeois commented that the biggest issue with registration was technology – not only on our end but on the other end as well. There were so many emails that came through that advised they couldn’t use PayPal, how do I register, this is confusing, etc. o Way too much information for registration. Why did we need to know people’s license plate number? We need their contact information so if they leave, we can get their trophy to them somehow, but having their address, eye color, and dog’s first name didn’t need to be on there to speed along the registration process. o Personal invitations can be sent to this year’s participants for next year. • Food vendors – Hard to get a hold of and most showed up late. Entry fee of $50. • Parking – Ran out of parking very quickly and parking had to be in the grass. • Surprised at how early people showed up. Frenchy arrived at 7:00 AM and there were already 6 or 7 cars set-up. • Three vendors with entry fee of $50. • Music went well. • Judging – 26 categories for judging with 2 trophies each. 14 categories had no competitors, so extra trophies were given out to the other categories. Took 45 minutes to judge the 67 cars. • Additional comments: o More ways to make money – 50/50 raffle o Door prizes o Costume contest o Craft show o Local news coverage (did not contact) o Book sales o More participants in planning o Rosalyn Wise reported that a lot of people she talked to said they would be back next year and would bring people with them. o Dean Weirtz remarked that he was going to put a damper on all of this and read his statement that he put thought into. (See attached document provided by Dean Weirtz). “The car show has provided an excellent example of what can be achieved when a few motivated individuals commit themselves to assuring success of a first- time event multiplied and manifested in this particular project. The bottom line is, as set forth in the bottom line of page 15 of our guidebook (and thanked Roz for the excellent guidebook she put together). Stated by Frenchy I quote, ‘Overall you guys killed it. Thank you for all of your helping on this crazy idea. I could not have done it without your help, hard work, and dedication.’ First the foremost, among the folks who “killed it”, were the Car Show Subcommittee members (Frenchy, Roz, Pete, and Jesse). The remaining committee supporting staff (Pat, Paul, Jackie and her spouse, Judith and her spouse, myself, and Miguel) were also vital to the project’s success. City support from Mary Spencer (sic), Mayor Gutierrez, Brian James, and Public Affairs was essential. The guidebook captures the essential elements of the planning and execution phase of the project. Our thanks to Roz for putting this document together. The title of the project supports that this will Page 9 of 18 be the first of additional annual shows and the purpose of the guidebook is to support future shows. But, what should be our future projections with respect to committee sponsorship of car shows? Frenchy’s characterization of the show as being his ‘crazy idea’ is, of course, inaccurate. However, the idea has taken us, the committee, into a realm of activity beyond what traditionally and customarily, according to our bylaws, is where we should be residing. Our committee’s purposes rests on three pillars: 1. Promotion of city history via exhibit exposures. 2. Promotion of city history via publications, special books, essays, articles, and exposure at public events. 3. Designation of historic properties within the city limits in the ETJ. Before moving forward with an assessment of the current project, we need to evaluate whether future car show projects by this committee are appropriate to the mission that we are in the business of promoting. My answer to this question is, NO. There are several reasons for my reply. First, we have moved outside our wheelhouse in terms of scope of mission as explained above. The project did nothing to educate the public on the city’s history nor was it designed to do that. I manned the committee’s exhibit booth along with Judith’s husband and had only a rare visit of discussion with the exhibits. The entertainment value was mostly the reward of viewing wonderfully restored cars and providing an awards ceremony for the participants. Beyond the participant public, I did not see that many non-participant guests or their spouses. Secondly, the work and time that went into this show by subcommittee members was substantial. The financial outcome was a deficit of $1,200. That dollar amount loss might be erased in future events, but it would likely require eliminating needed awards, either shirts or trophies, or expanding the number of support entities such as sponsors, crafts, silent auctions, etc. In both instances, the result would be troublesome for success of the event and problematic with respect to manpower in the latter case. Thirdly, this kind of event requires “all hands-on deck” to fulfill the roles that need to be assigned. Signage, advertising, coordination, purchasing, parking, registration, judging, etc. As the project grows, there is a need for more and more helping hands to successfully carry out the different tasks. Our committee is a limited resource with regard to volunteer personnel and future availabilities are an uncertain factor. Fourth, the car show marketplace is a busy place as discovered by the fact that three other car shows were on schedule at nearby locations on the same day or within a week of our show. This fact did not appear to inhibit the entry participation members, but it did suggest that the area is well represented by car show events. One of those events, which I attended in Garden Ridge, was significantly larger than our own and incorporated several more funding elements that required much greater numbers of volunteers to administer. So, for the reasons set forth, I would suggest that the committee not pursue future car show projects, leaving the activity to the many organizations already committed to the task. I apologize for putting a damper on all of the good work and wisdom that was put into the guidebook and to the programs, but I felt it important to express my honest feelings regarding the issue before any lengthy discussion of the contents of the guidebook.” Page 10 of 18 o Miguel Vazquez commented that it really wasn’t opinion, it was about meeting the guidelines of the bylaws. Dean Weirtz responded that we gave a small group dedicated to three missions and thinks we need to keep focused on that. o Jesse Gonzales commented that as far as not meeting the mission, he doesn’t recall in the previous meetings we’ve had that we had a lengthy discussion on if the car show would meet those criteria, and if so, why did we even move forward with this? Secondly, he remembers that we weren’t concerned about making money, so he still thinks it was a success. Third, on all hands-on deck, yes, correct on that. A lot of historic committee members did not take part just like some of them are not here today, so what does that say about the committee members that aren’t showing up and not taking part. Maybe they don’t want to be on this committee and maybe we should come up with a way to ask them to leave and have somebody in here that wants to take part. That’s why he came on board. That’s why his wife has supported him on this effort. For a 1st Annual Car Show, he thinks we did pretty good. Again, why didn’t we talk about this before we even started if it met the historic mission then we could have just nipped it in the bud right from the beginning, but we went forward with it and now he feels stupid for taking part in it and he doesn’t know if he wants to be a part of this committee anymore. o Dean Weirtz responded – correct, we didn’t pursue that. He didn’t bring it up because he sees the value of camaraderie in an event and he doesn’t mean in any way to demean the success of this. This was a tremendous success for our committee. He’s not worried about the $1,200 – we have a budget and have the money. The issue is do we want to pursue activities like this in the future. Now’s the time to talk about it. He didn’t talk about it then when we started because he didn’t give it the thought then. He thought it was a camaraderie type event that would bring people together on the committee, which is important, so there is that aspect of it, but he wanted everyone to hear because he’s been the chairman for 11 or 12 years and knows how hard it is to get everybody involved. Tonight, 2 people emailed us and told us why they couldn’t be here – good reasons (illness and a long-term commitment). Others didn’t advise us and we’ve made the request in the past to do so and we do have it in our bylaws that if you don’t show up for two meetings unexcused, you’re going to be contacted about your commitment to this committee. You have to evaluate what your interest is in this committee. If it’s to have fun, well, you may not want to be on the committee. It’s not a committee for fun, it’s a committee for education. o Patricia Barnes responded that she’s taking offense to what Dean’s saying right now because one of the reason’s she came on the Page 11 of 18 committee and decided to get involved in a brand-new city that I moved to was to get involved with the community. And if this group doesn’t want to do that, if all you want to do is just sit together and find historical people and history and stories and file it away in some room and nobody knows about it, than she has a problem with that. Nobody knows about this committee or the work that it does or anything and if you don’t start getting out into the community and start introducing it, why even have it. o Dean Weirtz clarified that this committee participates in different events that the city puts on. We have a booth at those events to publicize what we’re about and as a result of all those things over the past 12 years, we’ve collected over 150 individuals who we publicize every quarter a newsletter and articles to keep them informed about what has gone in the history of this city and what goes on in this committee – a newsletter plus articles. Thees things have been put on for 12 years. So, it’s not a matter of we don’t interact with the community, we do and we build on that when we participate in these activities within the community by taking their names, their email address, and putting them on our address list. o Rosalyn Wise responded that one of the most important things that the car show did was look how many people we reached to show who we were. She hates to say it, but we don’t get a lot of people at our tables. The car show brought out more people that saw who we were than the tables where we go and she doesn’t mean to burst Dean’s bubble because she thinks what he does is good too, but this was a huge venue of introducing ourselves for the City of Schertz but also to the community around Schertz. We had people from Floresville. It may not have been the mission, but it did highlight who we were. o Jesse Gonzales would like to make a recommendation because we are getting bogged down on the mission thing that any future events, that’s the first thing we need to talk about because if it doesn’t fit the criteria that Dean’s talking about, why even move forward with it. Any future events, that’s the first thing we should talk about in our meeting. o Dean Weirtz responded for example, the Pow Wow. o Frenchy Bourgeois also suggested we can change the constitution and make 10 changes to it. It’s our document – change it. If this something you guys feel passionate about and want to continue doing, then change the bylaws. o Rosalyn Wise responded that it should be included in our mission to highlight our committee. o Dean Weirtz responded, these people that attended this car show are car show enthusiasts and go from one to another all the time. Their interest is in their car shows. They’re not interested in our committee. We had one person extend a conversation at our table and we got one Page 12 of 18 person who we extended our communication with. That’s not a success for the committee. It was a success for the car show people. o Paul Ringenbach added… and for the spectators. He commented there’s a little bit of woe is me being talked out at the table. If you take a look at what the committee has done over time, they’ve done a great deal and he suggests that since Dean Weirtz was here all that time, he make a list of things that the committee has done over the years to fulfill the mission requirements and whatever and things we didn’t have before because of the people in the city like the mayor, assistant city manager, they do see what we’re doing and so we shouldn’t feel bad about anything that we do. It’s a question of we’ve been piling up things over time and over this 12-year period we have done a hell of a lot of things (collective as a committee). The publications we put out. Landmarked areas. Help people maintain or put together the houses that we think that are important for the community. The neighborhood designations and putting up the banners. All of those things collectively make people think about the history. So don’t be discouraged. He thinks we’re doing okay. o Miguel Vazquez commented that we have our mission and we might also need marking per se. The city helps us with that. He would have put the show more as a marketing for the preservation committee, not really our mission, but to get our name out there. Those are things we’d have to think about. How do we promote ourselves outside of our mission? o Paul Ringenbach added that before this committee started, there wasn’t anything going on about public recognition of history or buildings or what we did or who lived here or who came here…nothing. Now all of a sudden there’s a great deal of difference. A lot of you are here because you have seen what the committee has done over time and you just want to be part of it. After we look at the list that Dean Weirtz puts together, we might put an article in the Schertz Magazine about the committee and what it has done for the city. o Dean Weirtz commented that November’s issue will have an article regarding our history dedication of homes and properties. We’ve done that periodically, but that is promoting, again, not the committee, but the mission the committee has to educate the public and to give honor to the history of our city. We’ve always pursued that aspect of the mission. o Rosalyn Wise asked Frenchy if the Mayor said anything to him about the event. Frenchy responded that yes, he did, and he loved it and is going to come back next year and be a part of it. He was mad that he didn’t ask him to present trophies. o Dean Weirtz sent thank you notes to the Mayor, spouses that assisted, Mary in Parks. Page 13 of 18 o Judith Williams commented that she enjoyed it. She feels it went very well considering that this was our first time. She also thinks we can do it again and thinks we should do it again to engage the community and get people out to see us, but we should highlight some things about the Historical Preservation Committee. Instead of having a costume contest for kids, we could have history participation contest for kids. We should introduce all the members of the Historical Preservation Committee. We were behind the scenes at the car show and we should have been introduced so that people will know the faces of the people who put on the event. Instead of cancelling the event, incorporate and really highlight what the SHPC is and what we will be doing to keep that history here in the city of Schertz. o Jesse Gonzales remarked that if we go forward with another event, let’s 1. Lay it out in the beginning if it fits the criteria of historical relevance. 2. Once we vote on it, we go forward. Everyone has a chance to say their yes or no or argue this and that – once we vote it, go forward. 3. Cars are historical. We had a 1922 Model T to a 2022 Corvette. They are historical – maybe not specific to Schertz, but they are historical. More important than that, let’s make sure it fits the criteria, give your for against, but once we vote on it, we go forward. He doesn’t feel bad about the car show. I feel bad hearing criticism when we had a chance to voice it before we even went through with this. o Rosalyn Wise remarked that there’s only one comment that I got that made a comment on the t-shirt. The person commented that if this is a historical preservation committee, how come there’s not a historic car on your log. That’s the only comment she received. Frenchy responded that it was a 1929 Ford. o Pete Perez responded that there were even Model T’s on the trophies. He doesn’t have anything against what we did. We had a lot of public out there. They realized who we are, maybe not by the criteria, but all the families out there and the people realized we are a committee and we did something for the community and he doesn’t feel bad for doing something for the community because there were a lot of families out there. If somebody would’ve been against it, we should’ve said it before but we went through with it. He thinks it was a success except for the money, but we learned from that. o Patricia Barnes commented that she had a great time. She went home “high”. o Pete Perez also commented that it was a lot of work, but it was worth it to see all the people and families that enjoyed it. He said he had people come up to him that said they didn’t even know we had a historical society. o Rosalyn Wise commented that for the first car show, it was terrific. After people got settled in and registered, it was great. Page 14 of 18 • Motion made by Pete Perez and seconded by Jesse Gonzales to have a 2nd Annual Car Show. Six Ayes, One Nay. Motion passed with one Nay. unanimously. • 7. Consideration of a “Time Capsule” for development by the SHPC – Consideration and/or action regarding the development of a “Time Capsule”. • Howard Alperin is no longer on the subcommittee. Dean Weirtz reports that they had a subcommittee meeting as well as discussed at our last committee meeting here about the direction the subcommittee was intending to take and we had a vote and the vote was that we would pursue that direction. The direction had to do with establishing a proposal that incorporated different issues of today and then looking at those issues 15 years from now to see how they have evolved. We outlined Social issues which included some things like cancel culture, defunding the police, destruction of statuary and artifacts, renaming military installations, and boycotts by commercial corporations. Then we have Political turmoil including rioting in major cities, making America great again phenomenon, woke-ism, border protection, COVID-19 history. He’s working on an essay on that subject from 2020. The economy, monetary developments such as cryptocurrency, social welfare enactments, inflation, a survey of all the items being sold is being collected including prices, the issue of what’s going on with the extortion, theft, phishing expeditions. • Paul Ringenbach asked if all of these subjects are as how they affect Schertz, right? Dean Weirtz replied that yes, the community of Schertz and the people? Paul Ringenbach expounded further that the January 6th event in Washington D.C. wouldn’t necessarily be put in unless we had a Schertz resident that was there. Dean Weirtz then responded, well not totally. For instance, boycotts are one of the issues under the cultural changes. Well, that encompasses nationwide involvements, but it affects our community too. All of these issues do affect our local community in some way, shape or form. • Dean Weirtz went on to say that we’re about publishing this document which will present today’s situations that can be reassessed and relooked at 15 years from now. And that’s based on the vote we took last meeting that said we would pursue those avenues. o Miguel Vazquez commented that there seems to be a lot of political themes in there. Dean Weirtz replied that it’s one of the categories. There’s Social, Political, Economic. Miguel responded that it has to be more of a statement as to what’s happening and not really a determination or an opinion. Dean Weirtz replied, no, not opinions. For instance, in each of those categories he has tabbed documents that explain and clarify what the issue from a bona fide publication. For instance, the economy comes from U.S. News and World Report did an assessment of Critical Race Theory. Miguel Vazquez then responded that it then becomes more political because there’s a lot of talk about that, but it’s more in the political arena because he can guarantee that is not being taught in schools in grades 1-12 and barely taught at the college level. o Dean Weirtz commented that he doesn’t want to turn this into a debate, however, it is an issue that is before the communities. o Judith Williams remarked that she agreed. Critical Race Theory is a very big deal locally. She believes out of Austin they want to implement that across the state of Page 15 of 18 Texas. Locally there are a lot of parents in the city of Schertz that are against CRT. So, if we were to have maybe some local teachers give their opinion with backup facts on whether they agree with or disagree with Critical Race Theory, that would be something that could be included. o Dean Weirtz commented that we really don’t want to turn this into a debate. We just want to identify what constitutes Critical Race Theory today. o Miguel Vazquez responded that we would have to define that. o Dean Weirtz replied that it has been defined. Fifteen years from now will it even be a factor. o Judith Williams responded that at the same time, the school board here locally has discussed, and she thinks we should bring in their information to put into the capsule – where they stand on CRT. o Miguel Vazquez responded that we could put that in the capsule, this is what the school board acted on with this particular subject o Dean Weirtz responded that it is the kind of thing he’s asking from the committee to provide the input for. He has in his documents, tabs of references for anything we’re discussion with definitions. Critical Race Theory is one of those that has been defined and it sets the stage for reevaluating as to whether or not that still exists 15 years from now. o Frenchy Bourgeois asked if Dean Weirtz would like to assign homework and move forward. Dean Weirtz replied that we just raised the one issue of the school board. He asked if anyone wanted to take that issue and get the school board’s policy with regard to that issue. o Rosalyn Wise suggested that the committee send a letter to the board. Dean Weirtz replied that we can find the information from the minutes of their meetings by going to the computer and reviewing their minutes. Rosalyn Wise replied that it would be nice to have a letter from them dated and everything as to the current event and present that. o Jesse Gonzalez remarked that he likes Judith Williams’ idea about getting school boards’ opinion/position on CRT and he would go a step further and ask each person (since it’s election time) where they stand on CRT if they were to get elected to the school board. That’s keeping it local, still keeping the CRT topic alive historically and he would like to personally see where they stand. o Judith Williams remarked that at the Guadalupe County forum that we had, the candidates for school board addressed the issue and none of them agreed with CRT. She’s not certain about the school board, but the candidates who were running for school board. o Jesse Gonzalez remarked that what he was getting at was that whoever is on the committee to go get information from the school board, he would be like a reporter and get them on the record. He doesn’t want just a “yes” or “no”, he would want them to give at least a paragraph of where they stand. It might to late to affect the election, but at least we know where they stand. o Dean Weirtz responded that the purpose here again is to identify what the concept is and is it still a viable concern, concept 15 years from now. It is in this period. He’s not so much concerned about what individuals’ opinion is on these things, because we don’t want to put opinions in this thing, we just want to know what the social issue is and what has been the evolution over the 15 years. He’ll leave it open to the committee. Page 16 of 18 o Miguel Vazquez replied that we will get peoples’ opinions on this – the people on the school board, different people sitting on the different commissions – and everyone is going to have a different opinion and he’s not sure this is what we want to have in the time capsule. We just want to know that this particular issue is being discussed presently in society and that’s where you definite it and then we look at it again 15 years from now. o Dean Weirtz commented that we show what’s happening in history today on the issue and then 15 years from now we look at it again and say, well, it’s faded away and no longer an issue. o Tricia Whitman asked who are we asking – the population of people that we’re trying to find out this opinion from? If you’re finding out CRT only from school board members, you’re missing other populations of people who could be responding to this information. That’s the other thing she’s having a little trouble with because there are so many categories in this thing and who are we asking about. What age group? Men, women? Where are these people coming from who are putting this opinion in? She’s not really certain that it’s on target anymore. She thinks at the time you wanted to do this, the political climate was so high and it’s almost like that wave is kind of coming down right now. o Dean Weirtz replied that our time frame for the capsule is 2020 and 2021. He said he’ll leave it wide open. Anyone that wants to contribute a thought or an article, please contact him and he’ll incorporate it in the capsule. Any physical item as well. He has a box that contains a replica of a dollar bill and some 2020 coinage which symbolizes what we have today in our currency. What will we have 15 years from now? 8. Pow Wow Project – Consideration and/or action regarding conducting a Pow Wow Project in CY 2022. Item was discussed following the presentation by Daniel Villarreal. 9. Historic Landmark Home Tours – Consideration and/or action regarding a historic landmark home tour project in CY 2022. • Frenchy Bourgeois remarked Miguel Vazquez had talked about a tour of a graveyard. Miguel Vazquez reported that there are 7 or 8 cemeteries that are historic in Schertz. Eventually, it would be nice to have a cemetery trail because that’s all about history. • Dean Weirtz remarked that from Miguel’s cemetery you can walk to the Deitz cemetery and Miguel replied that there is another within walking distance as well and you can boat over to another one across the creek. Maybe consider a tour in October/November 2022. 10. Cibolo Valley Community Museum Association (CVCMA) & Schertz Historical Preservation Committee (SHPC) Collaborations – Consideration and/or action regarding collaboration activities of CVCMA and SHPC as it pertains to historical preservation matters within the Schertz and surrounding communities. • Dean Weirtz reported that the project he’s trying to promote as chairman of that organization is putting historic murals in the bank next to HEB. They are expanding their space to double the space and throughout the walls and even on the recessed ceiling they are talking about putting up murals. He has provided them with a lot of our historic pictures from the CVCMA. They are going to blow them up and put them on their walls and we will be invited to their grand opening. 11. CY 2022 Committee Officer Nominations – Consideration and/or action regarding Committee Officer Nominations for CY 2022. Page 17 of 18 • Frenchy Bourgeois reports that he’s been here for 3 ½ years, so it’s time for him to go on to better pastures. The next meeting will be his last as he continues to serve our country in other locations across the seas. He now leaves March 22, 2022. • Dean Weirtz asked if there is anyone tonight they would like to nominate or be a candidate? We will also discuss in our January meeting we will have to have the candidates established and vote. 12. Subcommittee Reports • Historian – Schertz Preservation Bingo Quiz and “Looking Back” Input Rosalyn Wise – She has begun gathering information for the Schertz Magazine. She has until December to get it to them. She has spoken with Pete Perez who has lived his whole life in Schertz and he’s given her some information about different places. She’ll give it to Dean and Frenchy to look at before sending it to Schertz Magazine. She’s looking at quotes and should have done within the next two weeks. If anyone has any suggestions or other thoughts, share with her. o Tricia Whitman remarked that a couple of years ago when they first put out the Schertz history video, that was one of the issues she brought up was that there wasn’t enough representation of the native citizens and she’d would like to revisit that because we had talked about podcasts and different things. She was sad she couldn’t come to the car show because she really wanted to start that outreach of talking to the Mexican native descendants of the town so that we can try to collect oral histories from these people and that’s what you’re talking about. She had already started collecting from her family that’s in town. Her and Pete Perez have been at these meetings finding out how connected our families are. This is a very small community and the people that you see that are from here are all very connected. This committee hasn’t been able to reach them yet. o Rosalyn Wise responded that this evening she asked our guest members if they would provide her some information about their culture that she could put into the Schertz Magazine because she hasn’t seen that much about them and she wants to address them because they were here way before we were. o Tricia Whitman responded that we have to find a way to reach those people whether it’s by social media or through this committee having an event, but that needs to happen. o Rosalyn Wise responded that she asked them to give her four or five little blurbs about their culture and maybe history this week or next week and she will share that with the committee. o Dean Weirtz has invited Pete Perez to write an article on the history of the Hispanic people in this community. He’s going to do that and Tricia Whitman has been asked to do an article on the Indian history of this area. That’s what we’re about is publicizing the history of the people, places, and things that have gone on in this community. Rosalyn Wise added that we want to address and highlight them as being part of Schertz. She commented that she also wants to get with Miguel Vazquez. o Bingo Quiz – Dean Weirtz gave the answers to the 20 questions. • Starlight Theater Restoration – Dean Midlick (Not present, no report) • Car Show Subcommittee – Already reported. • Trail Marker Subcommittee – Dean Weirtz Page 18 of 18 o Dean Weirtz reports that Parks & Recreation are working on the parks but are delayed and they’re going to consider markers later. • Historic Marker Restoration Subcommittee – Dean Weirtz o Subcommittee met and finished up the restoration of all the banners that needed restoration. The Parks & Recreation Department is delaying fixing the intersection where the overgrown trees and shrubs until late November or early December. • Outreach – Dean Weirtz. Already discussed. REQUESTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 13. Request by Committee Members that items be placed on a future agenda. • Tricia Whitman with the Pow Wow historical report. • Rozalyn Wise would like to see the budget presented. Dean Weirtz advised that we have the same budget as last year. Frenchy Bourgeois advised he has the printout. We had $11,750, spent $1,200 and now have $8,829 and growing. • Miguel Vazquez requested 15 minutes for a cemetery presentation update. 14. Requests by Committee Members to City Manager and Staff for information. • None reported. 15. Announcements by Committee Members • Rosalyn Wise remarked that since we approved having the car show, she wanted to clarify that she should continue with the guidebook and will send it around to everyone for input. ADJOURNMENT Frenchy Bourgeois adjourned the meeting at 8:50 PM.