WOODVILLE – The annual Texas Independence Day celebration at Heritage Village in Woodville will take place on Sunday, March 2, and include the traditional toast with pure East Texas-sourced spring water.
In our great state, we send our children to schools named after men like Davy Crockett; William B. Travis and James Bowie, all because those men saw a line drawn in the sand and they made a decision to cross that line, and subsequently, become heroes.
Attendees can come to the Village in toasting our great state and its indominable spirit. The celebration begins at 1 p.m., with singing and a guest speaker, and at 2 p.m., with a toast of spring water to commemorate the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
Our Texas is so many things, the Alamo among those iconic totems. Imagine 183 men standing in a church, facing thousands of Mexican nationals and fighting for freedom. Those vastly outnumbered men had the chance to walk out and save themselves, but instead decided to stay and fight and die for the cause of freedom.
The Spirit of Texas is all around our culture, and has carried over, globally, as a mark of respect; a cultural cachet that resonates clearly with all whom encounter it. There’s a reason John Wayne paid to do his movie The Alamo, himself. That’s the Spirit of Texas.
That spirit – one of fierce, brave independence and individuality – is found in the writings of our great native sons and daughters of letters, like James McMurtry, Naomi Shihab Nye and Cormac McCarthy. It is heard in the lyrics and melodies of the great song poets Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, and it jumps off the pages in our tomes, with chronicles of Sam Houston capturing Santa Anna at San Jacinto.
Texas, although no longer an independent nation, still celebrates that spirit and its independence on March 2, this Sunday.
