“We like to plan early here in Real County,” said County Judge Garry Merritt. So much so that preparations to commemorate the county’s centennial – in 2013 – are well underway. Real County will turn 100 in April of next year, but will celebrate January through December.
As part of our Real County Centennial Countdown, each month County Progress will check in with the Real County Centennial Steering Committee for a planning progress report.
Setting the Stage
Shortly after Merritt took office in January 2011, he contacted Real County
resident Willis Springfield regarding an appointment to the Real County Historical Commission. At the time, Springfield, who had already served a stint on the commission, was authoring a book on RioFrio.
“You know, Real County is going to have its centennial in 2013,” the judge said, luring the history enthusiast.
“I got to thinking it would be fun to work on that centennial celebration,” Springfield recalled. Springfield accepted the commission appointment and then asked the judge if he could chair the Real County Centennial Steering Committee.
The judge agreed, and Springfield set his sights on April 2013.
The Real County Commissioners Court has appointed eight members to the Real County Centennial Steering Committee, with Merritt serving as an ex-officio member.
“He has been very diligent in coming to all of our meetings and is taking a big part in planning it all,” Springfield said of the county judge.
As chairman, Springfield’s first order of business was to conduct community-wide meetings in different areas of the county to glean ideas. He also contacted Uvalde County Judge Bill Mitchell, who, incidentally, is married to Springfield’s niece. Uvalde County had just celebrated its sesquicentennial, so Springfield asked Mitchell to address the Real steering committee.
“We got input from Uvalde before we ever started, and we got input from our community people. We took those ideas and ran with them!” Springfield related.
For several months the steering committee met every two weeks to develop a game plan to market and fund the centennial celebration. Using seed money from two area banks, the committee created a logo and designed a t-shirt, coffee mugs and note cards. In fact, several of these promotional items were ready in time for the summer 2011 festivities.
“I was just amazed at how much work we got done before we even started our regular summer celebrations,” Springfield reported. “We wanted publicity! At every big event we had a stand selling promotional materials.”
“With the seed money from the banks, we were able to do these things,” Springfield recounted. “We’ve put together a pretty good bank account now.”
Throughout the planning process, the committee was careful to keep in mind the current economic climate.
“We said from the beginning that we’re not going to harass our small local businesses because we’ve been in the middle of a drought, the economy has been bad, and people are struggling,” Springfield maintained. Accordingly, the committee approached large venues for their main support and refrained from pressuring local businesses, which are the main supporters of the county’s annual special events.
Still, these businesses want to be a part, Springfield relayed, with several expressing interest in street banners.
“It’s just been amazing the number of people who have come forward to us and volunteered to do things like that,” he continued. For example, one resident is currently working on a quilt for a raffle to benefit the celebration.
The Real County Centennial Steering Committee is currently fine-tuning their events calendar, zeroing in on details, and contacting special celebrities to invite for fund-raising activities.
Stay tuned for additional updates as we continue the countdown in next month’s issue of County Progress!