Here is a recap of what was featured in the Wednesday, Dec. 14, e-edition of the Taylor Press. The e-edition is emailed to subscribers and available at www. taylorpress.net.
PICKETT MEMORIAL UNVEILED
On Saturday, Dec. 11, a small group of family members of Bill Pickett and other dignitaries gathered to dedicate a cenotaph, which is a monument or tomb erected in a cemetery in honor of a person whose remains are buried elsewhere, to honor the legendary African-American cowboy, rodeo, bulldogger and movie star.
At the event were District 1 Councilman Gerald Anderson, the founder of the Bill Pickett Educational Foundation, and other members of the Pickett family, as well as elected officials, including State Rep.
James Talarico, Mayor Brandt Rydell, District 4 Councilman Robert Garcia, members of the Taylor Conservation and Heritage Society, which paid for the cenotaph, and other officials.
Anderson’s mother, Dannie Royal, who is Pickett’s niece, led the unveiling off with a prayer.
Royal, whose mother Willie B. Royal met and was named after Pickett, recalled many stories of the man who invented bulldogging, which is the practice of wrestling a bull down to the ground by biting the animal’s lip.
Mayor Brandt Rydell, a close friend of the family’s, who had interviewed Wille B. Royal for his senior thesis in college, said this was a very good day.
“I spent many hours with her learning the story of Bill Pickett and experiencing her passion and her drive to make sure that Bill Pickett’s story survived, and more people were exposed to his legacy,” Rydell said.
“I know that she is looking down on all of this, grinning from ear to ear … I could not imagine a better spot for this monument to Bill Pickett.
Right when you walk into the entry gate walk down the path here. It’s a beautiful setting.”
TBC CLOSING TAPROOM AT SECOND AND MAIN
On Saturday, Dec. 31, Texas Beer Company will shutter the doors of its taproom at 201 N. Main Street to focus on statewide distribution of their beer from their brewery, located at 1331 W. Second Street, adjacent to Randy’s Icehouse.
TBC has distribution contracts all over Texas and their revenue in this area has grown by 30 percent this year, according to its Facebook page.
Nonetheless, since opening the taproom in November 2016, Texas Beer Company has been a fixture in the community, from sponsoring a team for this year’s Texas Mamma Jamma Ride to partnering with the Bill Pickett Educational Foundation for its annual Christmas Toy Drive to live music shows and other weekly events, such as salami and beer pairing nights, etc.
In addition, during Winter Storm Uri, when many area residents were left without electricity and water for many days during record breaking cold, the company stepped in to help.
CITY MANAGER TOUTS TEAMWORK, TAX DOLLARS AT WORK
Since he began as city manager for Taylor in 2019, Brian LaBorde has dealt with a lot including the arrival of Samsung Austin Semiconductor, the pandemic, aging infrastructure in need of repair and maintenance. But LaBorde said he and city staff are rising to meet these challenges head on.
On Monday, Dec. 12, Taylor Press Area Editor Jason Hennington had the chance to ask LaBorde how he has helped the city navi-gate these issues in the season two premiere of Taylor Talk, a monthly interview hosted by the Taylor Press.
“We are blessed with a strong economy, and that’s doing wonders,” LaBorde said. We want to get the message and the story out that those tax dollars are coming in or being put to work, from streets, from drainage, capital projects … whatever was before, we’re committed to now bringing Taylor up to where it needs to be.”
Taylor Talk is a casual conversation where officials discuss their work, upcoming projects, parts about their life and ways their departments connect to the community.
The interview can be seen live on the second Monday of the month at noon at www.facebook. com/GoTaylorTx/. All previous episodes are available on the Taylor Press Facebook page as well.
