We’re just connecting the dots
WINTER TEXAN Volume 10 • Issue 16 February 5, 2025
Your Connection to the Rio Grande Valley
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OK. I get it. You had to dig a hat and a coat out of your closet to come to the Winter Texan Expo and Entertainer Showcase this year. But, do I need to remind you that you didn’t need to shovel your driveway before you could leave home? My team and I are so grateful to all of you who made it out. Thanks for all of the positive feedback, too. There are a lot of things we can control, but weather just isn’t one of them. And how about those vendors and entertainers! They actually made me think of that old adage many associate with postal workers: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. We feel bad for all of the vendors who had every intention of joining us but couldn’t because of company policies, travel woes, and other legitimate reasons. Don’t you worry. We’re ready for you to sign up for Winter Texan Expo 2026! It’s a good thing another group showed up or we would have had to cancel everything—for the first time ever. That group is our Welcome Home RGV Team! That team consists of the invaluable individuals who work with me at WHRGV and our amazing group of volunteers, many of whom have been with us for years. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Another Winter Texan Expo is in the books, and we’re grateful to everyone who joined us. Yes, we’re already planning for next year’s Expo. How much do you want to bet we’ll see you there in shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-flops? We’re just connecting the dots…
Thank You
SEASON SPONSORS 2024-2025
Photo Courtesy of Chris Ardis
The Rio Grande Valley Quilt Guild Preserving Art, History by Eryn Reddell Wingert Photos courtesy of the RGV Quilt Guild
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uilts are not just decorative blankets or wall hangings. They hold memories, tell stories and document history. It is the mission of the Rio Grande Valley Quilt Guild to encourage and preserve the art of quilting. “We are trying to keep the art alive and pass it on to future generations,” says Guild publicity chair Marsha Santow. Quilting saw a rise in popularity after America celebrated the 1976 Bicentennial. The local guild was created in 1981 as a result, according to its website, rgvqg.com. The Texas Sesquicentennial celebration in 1986 further rallied interest on a local level. The State of Texas began planning its year-long celebration well in advance by forming the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission. Numerous committees were then formed to preserve and document the state’s culture and history; two were dedicated specifically to quilts. According to the thesis, “Quilt Documentation Projects 1980 - 1989: Exploring the Roots of a National Phenomenon” by Christine Humphrey at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (2010), the committees were “cautioned they were unlikely to find quilts worth recording because Texas had been a pioneer state and all of the good quilts remained on the East Coast.” Ultimately, Humphrey’s thesis explained, one of the committees--the Texas Sesquicentennial Quilt CONTINUED ON PAGE 2