"Smokey Joe" Williams

Shortly after moving to Seguin, there was an article in the Seguin Gazette-Enterprise about a "Smokey Joe" Williams Scholarship Fundraiser. I mentioned to my husband: "This might be interesting." I had never heard of "Smokey Joe" and knew very little about the Negro Baseball League.
Well, we didn't attend that year, nor the next few years. Think that the first one we went to was in 2004 and believe me: it IS interesting.
There are baseball players who come from all over the country to pay tribute to the memory of "Smokey Joe" Williams and who care about the education of the youth. The baseball stories these players tell are fascinating. I believe that former City Manager Jack Hamlett and former Seguin Library Director Mark Gretchen were instrumental in the beginnings of this event. And how thankful Seguinites are! There is an upcoming talk in February at the library that will given by Mark Gretchen pertaining to his research on "Smokey Joe" and the Williams family of Seguin.

Mark (a thorough and exacting researcher) has done extensive research and I'm looking forward to hearing his talk.

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http://www.nlbpa.com/williams__joe_-_smokey.html
http://www.blackbaseball.com/players/smokeyjoewilliams.htm
http://www.coe.ksu.edu/nlbemuseum/history/players/williamsj.html

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The following is an excerpt from the Kansas City American, August 7, 1930

Homesteads Take Three from Kay See

"Smokey Joe" Williams Is Too Much for Local Aggregation

Cudahy Rex Defeats K.C. Allies 20-3

The Pittsburgh Grays, with their pitching "ace," Smokey Joe Williams, mowing down Monarch batters about as fast as they appeared at the plate, won their second straight night game from the 1929 Negro National League champions last night at Muehlebach Field, 1-0, in a great pitchers' duel.

"Smokey Joe" had everything except a blacksmith's file. Chet Brewer, the Monarch mound entry was about as effective but a fluke 2-base hit by White, Pittsburgh center fielder, with the walking Charleston on second, sent the Monarchs down to defeat in the twelfth.

The opposing pitchers were cheating without question of a doubt. An emery ball in daylight is very deceptive but at night it is about as easy to see as an insect in the sky.

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Spiritual Voices

The Martin Luther King Junior Birthday Celebration featured the Spiritual Voices and they were wonderful. This ensemble of seven includes four university professors of music, a private teacher, store manager, and a church musician 'with a love and passion for the revival of the Negro Spiritual.'

They are soprano Barbara Hill Moore; soprano Audra Scott; mezzo soprano Audra Scott; mezzo soprano Michelle Evans; tenor Richard Heard; bass baritone, Leon Turner; bass, Louis Nabors; and pianist Brian Bently.

Their beautiful voices blended perfectly.

Linda Neal and Sheila Johnson gave a quilt presentation that certainly held everyone's interest. These ladies did the necessary research to inform us of the oral stories about the Underground Railroad Quilt codes. They mentioned that there is no definite proof of the quilt codes and of course no written records, however the oral stories persist.

The Spiritual Voices used the words of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman to tell the story of slavery in song. The finale was a medley of songs from Porgy and Bess.

At the close of the evening, MLK Committee chairman Earl Moseley quoted Martin Luther King, Jr.'s memorable words:

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

Soul Food!

This weekend Seguin celebrates Martin Luther King with several events.

This morning there was A Taste of Soul at the Events Center. There will be a dinner show at the Center this evening.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of its program honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Texas Lutheran University is presenting Spiritual Voices, a musical ensemble that appeared at the first TLU celebration. This will be held at Jackson Auditorium at TLU on Sunday.

Events wrap up Monday with the annual MLK Day March in downtown Seguin. The symbolic march will begin at 1 p.m. Monday in Seguin's Central Park and end at TLU's Jackson Auditorium where an MLK Program, featuring guest speaker Barbara Ewing, will begin.

Back on the Shelf - in Two Weeks

This book will be returned to the Seguin Guadalupe County Library in two weeks.

Ron Rash can write!

The first paragraph:

When Pemberton returned to the North Carolina mountains after three months in Boston settling his father's estate, among those waiting on the train platform was a young woman pregnant with Pemberton's child. She was accompanied by her father, who carried beneath his shabby frock coat a bowie knife sharpened with great attentiveness earlier that morning so it would plunge as deep as possible into Pemberton's heart.

http://207.36.65.254/zine/authors/Rash_Ron.htm

Noon Book Talk

The Friends of the Library sponsor Noon Book Talks (and two evening talks - one in the Spring and one in the Fall) at the public library and there have been some exceptional talks! On Thursday, Vicki de la Rosa, spoke about "The Significance of Multicultural Literature" and it was very interesting and informative. Mrs. de la Rosa is the director of the Seguin ISD (Independent School District) libraries and believe me, she 'knows her stuff.'

Mark your calendars for upcoming talks:

The Quest for Smokey Joe Williams with Mark Gretchen
February 19th Noon

The Seguin Area Economic Outlook and its Regional Interface with Shanta Kuhl, President, Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce
April 16 th 7:00 pm

Our library provides many services to our community and I'm looking forward to the day we can build a new library (for it is obvious we have outgrown our present library!).

To Protect and Serve

Our city has an extraordinary group of police officers - dedicated men and women who make Seguin a better and safer place to live. One of the SPD officers had a birthday today and - bless her heart - she cooked a lunch meal for all of the officers! Yesterday, the Seguin Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (SCPAAA) brought a meal of sandwiches, dessert, appetizer, and drinks to the police department for the police officers who were taking a class in Mobile Forensics. We are very proud of our police department!!

http://www.ci.seguin.tx.us/police/pd_index.htm