Heads of State
David Adickes, who created the 67-foot-tall Sam Houston statue in Huntsville, is donating 44 presidential busts that he sculpted, each 18–20 feet tall and weighing 11,000–20,000 pounds, to the H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum of Texas. The museum, in huntsville, is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to install a park and display the busts. This is the third set of presidential busts Adickes has created.
The other two were in parks in South Dakota and Virginia, though the parks have since gone, well, bust.
They are made of foam, layers of concrete and reinforced steel. Adickes, 93, has said Abraham Lincoln is his favorite and the easiest to create because his features are so distinct. Gerald R. Ford’s facial features lacked sharp details, making him the hardest to depict. Call (936) 295-5959 or visit heartsmuseum.com for more information.
Mother of All Parks
Mother Neff State Park, one of Texas’ first state parks, opened in 1937 near Temple. Check out the photos readers sent us from state parks in Focus on Texas.
More Critter Care
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in December paved the way for Texas Tech University to open the state’s second veterinary school. The campus, in Amarillo, will open in 2021.
Did You Know?
Texas A&M University opened the state’s first vet school in 1916.
By the Numbers
June 3 is National Egg Day. Texas chickens produced more than 6 billion eggs in 2018.*
*6,108,500,000 to be eggsact.
Almanac
25 years ago: Austin-born Ron Kirk was sworn in as the first black mayor of Dallas on June 5, 1995.
175 years ago: The Kate Ward, the first steamboat to operate on the Colorado River, was launched at Matagorda on June 21, 1845.
Write On
June 10 is National Ballpoint Pen Day. The first working ballpoint pen was presented at the Budapest International Fair in 1931.
Wine Galore
Texas has 352 wineries, according to the National Association of American Wineries. Only four states have more. Our Recipes theme this month is Texas Wine Harvest.
Cowboys’ Star
June 2 marks the 100th anniversary of Tex Schramm’s birth. Schramm (born in California, by the way) ran the Dallas Cowboys as president and general manager for the team’s first 29 years, when they played in five Super Bowls and won two. They had 20 consecutive winning seasons during Schramm’s tenure. He died in 2003.
March To the Top
Central Texas’ Vandegrift High School took first place in the Bands of America Grand National Championships in November. The marching band contest in Indianapolis featured more than 90 bands. Vandegrift is a member of Pedernales Electric Cooperative.
