Texas Tidbits; Germans Throw a Helluva Party

A while back I enrolled for a few weeks trial of Ancestry.com and was blown away by some of the information I discovered. I am a distant relative to some of the most famous people in history. I am sure that many people can say that too, but it's still kind of neat to find out who's in the ole Family Tree. My ancestors on both sides of my family were nearly all of German extraction, with a little Dutch on my maternal grandfather's side thrown in for good measure. I bring this up at the time because spring is nigh and family vacations are not far behind that. I thought throwing out ideas for your vacation or just a weekend jaunt might steer you in a different direction, a direction you might have considered before. This is where my point about my German heritage comes in.

One of the biggest and best German heritage festivals in Texas takes place in Tomball, about 40 miles north of Houston on I-45, March 25-27. Tomball German Heritage Festival was started eleven years a go with an oompah band on a low-boy trailer hauled by a pickup truck. Each year thousands of people gather in Tomball to celebrate the area's strong German Heritage, which began with the  first German settlers in 1840. looking over the festival's website, I found out "It is a Music/Street festival celebrating German and ethnic heritage with 4 stages of live music entertainment "happy music for happy people", ethnic and festival food, beer, wine, 150 street vendors, all kinds of German souvenirs and clothing, arts crafts, antiques, Heritage Center, German church service, fireworks, carnival, pony ride, petting zoo, strolling music makers, street performers, and much more. Like Oktoberfest in March! Huge fun for the whole family! You do not have to be German to enjoy this festival. It is fun for everyone, and there is no admission or parking fees." <------see that? No admission or parking fees! No doubt the price is right. The Tomball German Heritage Festival is a "Sister City" celebration bringing the local flaovor of Tomball's Sister City, Telgte, Germany. This thing sounds like a hoot!

I hope you can make it to the TGHF this year, even if you aren't of German heritage. I'll tell you what. If I was within driving range of Tomball, I'd be there so fast , it would make my head spin. All the contact info can be found on the TGHF website. if you think you might attend, it would be a good idea to make a hotel reservation ahead of time. If you go, drop me a line at threestatesplusone AT gmail DOT com.