RICHARD COOK
DENISE HODGES
BOB ZURIK
BETTYE BRUNO
GARY WHITE
LYNN GAINES
Director-at-Large
MIKE KEES
ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE
THURSDAY
January 20,
2005
CITY
HALL
BOARD
ROOM
901
BAGBY
6:30 p.m. Networking
7:00 p.m. Meeting
Meetings are held the 3rd
Thursday of every month.
GUIDEPOSTS
The Quarterly Newsletter of the
Professional Tour Guide Association of Houston, Texas
Volume 5 JANUARY 2005 Number 1
President’s
Message
Twelve months ago, my term
as your President began. I can truly say
that it has been a fast and furious twelve months and I am looking forward to what
the next twelve months will bring.
We have had a lot of
exciting accomplishments in the past year.
I would first like to thank all those members that have contributed
their time and efforts to make 2004 a great year. All the members of the Executive Committee
have not only attended twice as many meetings as the rest, but they have all
performed their duties and assignments well beyond expectations. I would especially like to thank Esther Porter, Lynn Gaines, Gary White, and Mike Kees for
their work on the Education Committee.
We can be proud as an organization that we have grown in numbers as well
as in Certified Members. We have added 5
new members and this resulted in 5 new Certified Members. We are well on our way to establishing a
curriculum of study for new Associate Members moving up to Certified
status. Esther is remaining as the
chairperson of the Education Committee for developing this study guide and
testing curriculum. As with any
research, we are looking into how sister associations are handling their
testing and we are taking the best from many.
One of my challenges last
January was to see if we could all bring in new members. I personally brought in two, Andrew Groocock and John Robinson.
Sandra Lord brought in Jerry Bye, Bob Zurik brought in Marge Calvert, and Esther Porter
brought in Roberto Hernandez. If I have
left anyone out, please excuse me.
Congratulations to all and
the challenge is still on for every member to bring in at least one new member
in 2005. Remember, membership and member
participation will make us a stronger organization. (Message continued on page 2)
President’s Message Continued
We are presently working on
our meeting agenda for the coming year.
We have about 15 possibilities for 9 meetings. If you have any suggestions, please let
someone on the Executive Committee know.
Also, we plan to repeat our traditional Thanksgiving Pot Luck. Lucette and Richard Rieger have been
excellent and gracious hosts the last two years at their beautiful home. And we will also plan another Christmas
Dinner in a local eatery as we did at the Old San Francisco Steakhouse. Our January meeting will be our annual
business meeting and it will be held at the GHCVB Board Room (ED Stumpf Room) on Thursday, January 20. Please plan to attend.
The fourth quarter in 2004
saw us on a Ghost Walk tour in downtown lead by Bob Zurick and sponsored by
Discover Houston Tours. We had a great
Thanksgiving Pot Luck Dinner held at the Rieger home, with a final meeting and
Christmas dinner of “04” at the Old San Francisco Steakhouse. We saw great participation and several
guests. Fun was had by all.
I look forward to a great
and prosperous 2005 for the PTGAH and all members.
Richard G. Cook
President
The Donnellan Crypt
During October, I had the great fortune to conduct Ghost Walks for
Sandra Lord’s company. It soon became apparent that I was the only guide
working these tours who actually believed in ghosts. While most of the “hauntings”
included on these tours are somewhat contrived for their commercial value (e.g.
The Spaghetti Warehouse) there are some rather unique opportunities for bizarre
tales.
One such case is the Donnellan Crypt. The story is documented in a forthcoming
book by Louis Aulbach and Linda Gorski
titled “Buffalo Bayou, An Echo of Houston’s Wilderness Beginnings”.
The crypt is located on the banks of Buffalo Bayou near the corner of Lousiana
and Franklin. If you stand on the
southeast corner of this intersection and look over the bridge railing you can
see a portion of it. Tim Donnellan died in 1849 and was buried there. His wife Emily was also buried there in
1867. However the macabre portion
concerns two of their children.
In 1863 the Confederate ship Augusta sank at the foot of Travis Street. In 1866
the water level in the Bayou was down and the two boys were playing on the
ship. They discovered a bomb and being
omnipotent teenagers decided to defuse it themselves. When the town folk had collected all of the
pieces they could find, they buried their remains in the crypt. Although there are no stories about hauntings in the immediate area I found that just leaving
this to the imagination of the tour group seemed to have a profound effect.
While the crypt exists to this day, the bodies were all relocated to
Glenwood cemetery in 1901. A picture of
the crypt along with the complete story may be found online at www.hal-pc.org/~lfa/BB38.html Submitted by Jerry
Bye
AN OPPORTUNITY TO EARN A
CEU
A chamber orchestra from the Czech Republic will be in Houston February
25 until March 5 to be a part of the grand opening celebration of the
Czech Cultural Center Houston (CCCH). Their hometown will underwrite
airfare for the group of about 25 and others in Houston will underwrite
hotel accommodations, meals, etc. The PTGAH has offered to furnish
volunteer guides as needed. Tours would most likely be anytime
between
February 27 and March 4. Galveston and NASA will be high on our
visitors’ list to visit. Guides would receive one CEU for any tour
given. Lynn Gaines will coordinate the guides. (713-524-2381, email
trelleslg@aol.com).
PTGAH members are encouraged to visit the CCCH at 4920 San Jacinto at
Wichita in the Museum District. This
is a magnificent building, like
stepping into old Europe. It’s a museum, art gallery,
concert/meeting/banquet venue, gift shop, library of Czech history,
especially Texas history, genealogical research
center. You will be
awed! CCCH telephone is 713-528-2060. Web site www.czechcenter.org
ANSWERS
TO OCTOBER TRIVIA
MIRABEAU
BUONAPARTE LAMAR 1798-1859) Distinguished himself with bravery at San
Jacinto. He received a battlefield
commission granted by Gen Houston from private to Colonel. He was the first Vice-President and Second
President of the Republic of Texas. He is credited with establishing the public
school system in Texas; known as
the Father of Texas Education. Died of a
heart attack in 1859 and is buried in Richmond,
Texas.
BENJAMIN
RUSH MILAM (1788-1835) We can truly say that Ben
Milam was an adventurer, a soldier, a Filibuster, and a failed pirate yet he
goes down in Texas history as a
true patriot, dying for the cause. When
the Texas Militia stalled under Stephen F. Austin’s leadership and the Militia
was about disperse without taking San Antonio from General Cos,
it was Ben Milam that stood up and said, “Who is going to follow Old Ben Milam
into San Antonio” This was a rallying cry and on the next day of fighting, Ben
raised his head above a wall to located the enemy and was shot between the eyes
by a Mexican sniper. He is buried in San
Antonio
JAMES WALKER FANNIN, JR. (1804-1836) Fannin
is credited for leading one of the larger forces in the Texas Revolution, an
army numbering over 400 militia. Fannin was at the
old mission in Goliad, La Bahia and he refused to aid
Travis's call for help from the Alamo. Fannin also
disobeyed Gen. Houston's orders to abandon Goliad and fall back. As a result of his lack of leadership and
indecision, Mexican forces under General Urea surrounded him and he surrendered
his force. Gen. Santa Anna was furious
with Urea's acceptance of the surrender and Santa Anna ordered the entire
surrendered force executed. Fannin was reported to have died bravely and General Rusk
buried him and his army in a mass grave at Goliad weeks after the battle of San
Jacinto.
WILLIAM
BARRET TRAVIS (1809-1836).
Ok, if you don't know this name, we will have to call Austin
and have your Texas Driver's license suspended.
He was the co-commander of the Texas
forces at the Alamo.
He later became commander when James Bowie was too ill to command. It is Travis who wrote the famous letter for
help on February 24th, 1836. He was truly a Texas
patriot and a man committed to his cause.
Reports tell us
that he was one of the first to die on March 6 during the
final siege. He was defending the north
wall and was also shot between the eyes.
He was not buried but his body was burned with all the rest in the Alamo
Plaza.
HAS
THERE EVER BEEN A WILD ROUGE ELEPHANT ON A KILLING RAMPAGE
ON HOUSTON'S
MAIN STREET?
Ok,
you are going to have to believe me on this one. This answer comes from an elementary school
kid (me) on a field trip to the old Museum
of Natural Science (when it was
located inside the Zoo). There was an
elephant head mounted on the wall and it had a bullet hole in it's skull. The
teacher told us that this was a circus elephant that went on a rampage during a
circus parade on Main Street
and that it killed a bystander and the Houston Police shot and killed it. A few years ago, I was at the new Museum
of Natural Science and I asked a
curator if he remember the skull and the story and he told me that it was true
and that the elephant head is still in the basement. I have been trying to verify the story and
as of this printing, I do not have verification so you will have to rely on a
55 year old man's memory of his 3rd grade field trip to the Zoo.
Are Your Records Updated And Correct?
Please take a moment to
look at both your personal web page and your listing on our Roster of All
Members (go to www.ptgah.org, click on Members then click on either Certified or Associate
Members for your web page and on Roster
of All Members to find your record in our overall listing). Make sure all the information shown is
correct. If your mailing address, phone
number or, especially, your email address is incorrect in any way, you will not
receive timely mail outs and notices from the Association – and potential
clients may not be able to get in touch with you. If you have any corrections or updates,
please direct them to either Richard Cook (rgcooktx@swbell.net)
or Mike Kees (mrk1807@houston.rr.com). Your changes/updates will be handled
promptly.
For those of you who need
to update your biographical information on your web page, now is a good time to
do this. Just submit your changes same
as above.
