Hill Country Holiday Wine Trail - 11/30-12/2

Visit the wineries dressed for the holidays, purchase a ticket, and collect ornaments along the way!

55th Hill Country Tour of Homes - 12/1

55th Annual Holiday Home Tour
 Fredericksburg, Texas
 Saturday, December 1, 2012
 Noon until 6pm

Seven unique, never before toured Fredericksburg area homes all
 dressed up for the Holidays!

Tour Tickets: $25 per person
 Available online at www.pioneermuseum.net or call 830-990-8441

Christmas at the LBJ Boyhood Home - 12/1

Everyone is invited to experience "Christmas at the LBJ Boyhood Home". National Park Rangers will provide an open house of this historic home, all decked out for a Christmas celebration in the 1920s.

Holiday Cookie Decorating & German Traditions - 11/24

Bring the family and get into the holiday spirit learning about edible ornaments, wreath making, candle making and other holiday activities and traditions from the early 1900’s.  Free, but donations encouraged. 

At the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm at the LBJ State Park & Historic Site on Hwy 290 E. from 10 am to 3 pm. 

The Peddler Show - 11/23-25

The Peddler's Perfect Street of Shops. Discover an array of hot fashions, trendy jewelry, stylish home furnishings, unique gift items, gourmet foods and much more. Admission to Gillespie County Fairgrounds on Highway 16 South is $5 adults, $3 seniors 65 + and children 12 and under free. Hours are Friday from 1:00 - 9:00PM, Saturday 9:00AM - 6:00PM and Sunday 11:00AM - 4:00PM. Please call 512/358-1000 for more information.

Wild Game Dinner - 11/17

The annual Wild Game Dinner benefits educational scholarships, agricultural seminars, 4-H and FFA programs and other youth leadership activities for Gillespie County kids. Enjoy a dinner for $20 per person. Tickets include dinner, drinks and door prize chance. Doors at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds open at 5 pm, with food being served from 7:00 - 9:00. Please call 888/789-0571 for ticket and other information.

Better Lights for Starry Nights: Hill Country Alliance Dark Sky Program - 11/15

Learn how to save money, preserve our night skies and enjoy some star gazing!

Thursday - November 15, 2012 - 6:30 - 10pm

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area - Fredericksburg, TX

Fun, Free, Open to the Public, Kids Welcome!

A dark night sky full of big bright stars is important here in the Hill Country, just like clean rivers, scenic vistas and natural landscapes. Little by little, light-by-light, the magical mystery of the big Texas night sky is diminishing.

But it’s not too late to reverse this trend. You can help!

Bill Wren of the McDonald Observatory will share his expertise on the value and simple strategies to protect starry skies.

Learn Money Saving Tips - what you can do to "fix" wasteful outdoor lights at your home, ranch, neighborhood and community

Sports fields, commercial buildings, schools can all be safely and effectively lit in ways that reduce light pollution – find out how

Star gazing after the program with the San Antonio League of Sidewalk Astronomers - weather permitting

Group pavilion is open air. Bring your blankets and thermoses. Rain location: AgriLife Extension Office, 95 Frederick Road just off Hwy 16 North in Fredericksburg

American Women Artists of the West Show at RS Hanna Gallery - November 15 to December 15

Enjoy works by this group known for its high caliber of artists and distinctive western style at RS Hanna Gallery, 208 South Llano Street. Artist reception Dec 7 from 6 to 8 PM during First Friday Art Walk Fredericksburg.

Booksigning at Vereins Kirche - November 10

Braiding strands of earthen insight with uproarious storytelling, Texas Hill Country legendary author Becky Patterson recreates the history of the Stieler Hill Ranch in the twenty-four anecdotal chapters of her latest book, The Ranch That Was Us, interspersed with her original artwork.  Patterson, the daughter of Texas folk hero and self-proclaimed mayor of Luckenbach, Hondo Crouch and the indomitable Schatzie Crouch, has big shoes to fill, and she does so successfully in this colorful collection of Hill Country and Texas ranch vignettes.  Becky, the granddaughter of Adolf Stieler, “goat king of Texas”, grew up in the Texas Hill Country on the Stieler Ranch.
The ranch foreman and general cowboy Raymond Kuhlmann tells stories of the Goat King and German Drinking songs, the buzzard traps, and Mexican corridos that filled the nighttime pastures.  First-person accounts and vivid historical narratives evoke the ranch’s past overlaid with Patterson’s breathless personal histories of afternoon rescues of wildlife.

This is a book that will connect you to whatever patch of earth you hold dear.  It is a poignant reminder of the landscapes we’ve forgotten to keep close and of the land that does not belong to us but simply is who we are.  The Ranch That Was Us is an affectionate reminder to go outside and touch the earth that is you as written by Willie Nelson, a personal friend of the family, in his foreword to the book.  Readers will identify their memories of shearing time, ranching, taming land and livestock with the memories of Schatzie Crouch and other family members.

In 1960 Schatzie was president of the Gillespie County Historical Society and was honored in 2002 with the prestigious Texas Star Award from the state of Texas and the Gillespie County Historical Society in appreciation for her labors, outstanding achievements, and contributions to preserving Texas historical culture.  The organization welcomes you to attend Becky Crouch Patterson’s book signing on Saturday, November 10, 2012 from 2:00 – 4:00 P. M. at the Vereins Kirche in the center of Marktplatz.  The book is available for purchase at the Pioneer Museum at 325 W. Main as well as at the Vereins Kirche in the center of Marktplatz.

Becky Crouch Patterson is the author of the Texas best seller, Hondo: My Father, a memoir of life with her folk-hero father, Hondo Crouch, who was a rancher, storyteller, humorist, and self-proclaimed mayor of Luckenbach, Texas.  A textile artist for more than forty years, Patterson has sewn appliquéd tapestries for many business and individuals.  She is also a liturgical artist and designer and has created stained glass windows and furnishing for churches throughout Texas.  She is the owner, with her sons Kit and Sky Patterson, of Stieler Hill Ranch, near Comfort, Texas where Sky is an artist and Kit continues the family’s 135 years of ranching.  Patterson helps out with the activities of the ranch, including the Texican Single Action Shooting Society, the hunters, art workshops, and her husband Oscar Barrales’s horse training business.

Fall Farmers Market - 11/8

The Fredericksburg Farmers Market and Pioneer Museum are partnering to extend the popular weekly event into the fall. Every Thursday, starting on October 4, shoppers can pick up fresh farm produce and prepared food in a historic setting. Hours are 4 to 6:30 p.m. Fall market will continue for seven weeks through November 15.

Shoppers can enjoy live music each week.

The Pioneer Museum is located at 325 West Main Street in Fredericksburg. There will be free admission to the museum and grounds during market hours.

For information, contact the Pioneer Museum at 830-997-2835.