san antonio man
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Bi-monthly magazine, April/May 2012 issueTRANSCRIPT
The ReverendDr. Richard KnottMinister, Marathon Rider and Martial Arts Master
FAMILY-OWNEDMEN’S STORES
Dressing San Antonio
TIPS FOR PREVENTINGJOINT PAIN
SCORPIONSSoccer for a Cause
SA AND GOLF Have Many Links
p.22The Rev. Dr. Richard KnottCover Story
8 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
FEATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
COVER STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
MONEY & INVESTMENTS . . . . . . . . 27
SELF-MADE MAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
FAST TRACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
HEALTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID. . . . . . . . . 40
GOLF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
PARENTING FOR DADS . . . . . . . . . 43
WHAT WOMEN WANT . . . . . . . . . . . 45
QUICK BITES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
HAPPY HOUR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY . . . . . . 51
SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
FISHING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
THE DAYTRIPPER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
RIDES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
MEN ON THE MOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
THE LAST WORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
BACK IN TIME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
FEATURE
The Men Who Dress SA MenStyle and Service Set These Stores Apart p.16
p.56
Angling Action in theShadow of the Alamo
FISHING
p.51
GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY
Gadgets for Fiesta
12 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
MIKE GAFFNEYPublisher
President & Publisher | J. MICHAEL GAFFNEY
Editor | BEVERLY PURCELL-GUERRA
Graphic Design | MARIA JENICEK, JONATHAN LEE, ERIC WEIDNER, KEVIN HERRERA
Contributing Writers | ERNIE ALTGELT, COURTNEY BURKHOLDER, TONY CANTÚ, JEFF DEGNER, CHET GARNER, KELLY A. GOFF, JOHN GOODSPEED, DIANE GOTTSMAN, RANDY LANKFORD, MEGAN L. MINUS, TERRY NEGLEY, GREGORY STOUFFER, JANIS TURK
Copy Editor | KATHRYN COCKE
Photography | BIBB GAULT, JOHN GOODSPEED, JANIS TURK, LIZ GARZA WILLIAMS,OSCAR WILLIAMS
Account Executives | JEN EARHART, CEDRIC FISHER
Business Development & Marketing | SANDY LEVY
Administration | NANCY A. GAFFNEY
Customer Service Manager | KYRA BRAGG
Printing | SHWEIKI MEDIA, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
APRIL/MAY 2012 Advertising and Subscription information:(210) 826-5375email: [email protected]
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San Antonio Man is published bimonthly by PixelWorks Corporation (Publisher). Repro-duction in any manner in whole or part is prohibited without the express written consentof the Publisher. Material contained herein does not necessarily reflect the opinion ofthe publisher or its staff. San Antonio Man reserves the right to edit all materials forclarity and space and assumes no responsibility for accuracy, errors or omissions. SanAntonio Man does not knowingly accept false or misleading advertisements or editorial,nor does the Publisher assume responsibility should such advertising or editorial appear.Articles and photographs are welcome and may be submitted to our offices to be usedsubject to the discretion and review of the Publisher. All real estate advertising is subjectto the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968, which makes it illegal to advertise “any prefer-ence limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familialstatus or national origin, or an intention to make such preference, limitation or discrim-ination.” Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright ©2012 Pixelworks Corporation.
Publisher’sletter It’s the time of year when the thoughts of many San Antonians turn to
Fiesta — a uniquely San Antonio celebration and week-long party that issuch an integral part of our city’s tapestry.
Yet year-round, there is much to celebrate in San Antonio. In this issuewe spotlight success through the stories of a diverse economic mix that allbut shielded San Antonio from economic recession while cities elsewherefaltered. In more personal pursuits, the number of community leaders gen-uinely committed to effect local change also is worthy of being feted.
This month, we feature Dr. Richard Knott, the Alamo Heights Presbyte-rian Church minister, who reveals the many ways in which he celebrateslife. In addition to fulfillment in ministering to parishioners’ spiritual lives inthe 100 year old church, he manages to find balance as an accomplishedfly fisherman, martial arts instructor, bicyclist, husband and father.
In the corporate landscape, we cast our spotlight on the men behindPenner’s, Joseph’s and Satel’s — three San Antonio clothiers that helpdress the men of San Antonio for success. Among our features, real estatebroker Cody Stewart shows us the virtues of family tradition, while busi-ness owner Joe Montagna illustrates the rewards of entrepreneurship.
To help enhance future celebrations, we offer a primer on making themost of your 401k and tips on the ideal Mother’s Day gift. A look at thelocal golf and soccer scenes might help prime you for those spontaneouscelebrations following athletic victory.
Like many, SAN ANTONIO MAN also has caught Fiesta fever. It mightbe my imagination, but I’ve noticed staff members from various depart-ments walking with an extra spring in their step as Fiesta nears. But sinceour launch, the celebratory has become our default mode as we revel inthe opportunities to find inspiring stories to tell. So while you might not beclutching on a turkey leg or picking at a funnel cake while you leaf throughthe pages of this issue, you might find yourself imbued with a similar cele-bratory vibe. Embrace that feeling. And Happy Fiesta!
sanantonioman.com
Photography ©Oscar W
illiams
SAN ANTONIOMAN
Photographer Liz Garza Williams describes herself as a con-
tent creator, problem solver and risk-taking image maker who
specializes in commercial, fashion and editorial photography.
A member of the American Society of Media Photographers,
she has done work for ad campaigns, catalogs and magazines
for local and national markets. She explains, "It’s the combina-
tion of me and the camera: We are good together, it allows me
to go places and meet people I would not normally meet.
Working with Richard Knott, the pastor of Alamo Heights Pres-
byterian Church, was effortless. We are both passionate about
what we do; at times we didn’t need to say anything. You
know you are on to something when the light is just right and
the subject is willing to trust you, and you suddenly think, 'I’ve
got it, I’m on it’. You can both feel that it’s happening. Luckily
for me, it boils down to what I enjoy doing most."
Tony Cantú, who has contributed to SAN ANTONIO MAN
since its first issue, says, “I enjoy writing the Self-Made Man
and Fast Track success stories. It’s gratifying seeing SAN AN-
TONIO MAN provide a forum for home-grown entrepreneurship
that normally goes unheralded. They’re inspiring stories!” He
has also written for such publications as The Wall Street Jour-
nal, Hispanic Business, Poder Hispanic, San Antonio Business
Journal and others. Following in the footsteps of his late father,
Felipe L. Cantú, Tony launched his career at the San Antonio
Light. “I still can see my dad typing away in his study and hear
the clackety-clack of his typewriter. He instilled my love of writ-
ing. There’s no other occupation I can imagine for myself—with
the possible exception of lounge lizard.”
TONYCANTÚ
LIZ GARZAWILLIAMS
14 APRIL/MAY 2012
When it comes to building a wardrobe, the gentlemen of San An-
tonio prefer keeping it in the family … or rather, three families, to be
exact. Despite the numerous shopping options from which men
have to choose, there is just something special about these
small, independently owned men’s clothing stores that keeps
their customers coming back, time and again, gen-
eration after generation.
It is more than simply the high-quality
clothes that line the shelves; it is the per-
sonal attention, the impeccable service and
the friendly atmosphere these stores pro-
vide that make shopping anywhere else
simply unthinkable. Family-owned and
run, these second- and third-generation
retailers take pride in continuing their fam-
ily tradition and look forward to dressing
the gentlemen of San Antonio for genera-
tions to come.
Penner’sIn 2007, an article was written in the San Antonio
Express-News titled “You haven’t been to San Antonio
until…” The article chronicled the top 14 must-do activi-
ties when visiting San Antonio. Along with having your pic-
ture taken in front of the Alamo and eating enchiladas at Mi
Tierra’s, Number 13 read: “Do some shopping at Penner’s,
where you can buy a guayabera along with tangerine Stacy Pen-
ner shoes and a hat to match!”
An institution among men’s clothing stores in San Antonio, Pen-
ner’s has been dressing the men of San Antonio for almost a cen-
tury. “My grandfather, Morris, came to the United States from Poland
in 1916 and opened a secondhand clothing store,” says Mark Pen-
ner, a third-generation owner of Penner’s. “My father, Sam, quit
16 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN Feature
The MenWho Dress
San Antonio
Men
by COURTNEY BURKHOLDER photograpjy by LIZ GARZA WILLIAMS
STYLE AND SERVICE SET THESE STORES APART
school in the third grade to go and work for him, along with his
brother, Max. It was a secondhand men’s clothing store until 1934,
when they made it into the new clothing store it is today.”
According to Mark, he began working in the family business “be-
fore he was bar mitzvahed.” He and his twin brother, Mickey, at-
tended the University of Texas, and when they graduated in 1969,
moved back to San Antonio to take their rightful place in the family
business full time. “I always wanted to work in the business,” Mark
says. “My brother and I were very close to my father, and we wanted
to be with him. We fell in love with the business at a very early age.”
Located on Commerce Street in downtown San Antonio, Penner’s
has been in the same location since 1927. “We rented this building
from the same man for over 50 years. Finally, in 1966, he sold it to us,”
explains Mark. Over the years, the store endured numerous expan-
sions and even weathered a fire in 1978. Its loyal customers kept com-
ing back, and business flourished. “We have a very loyal clientele from
all over San Antonio and South Texas. The downtown hotels bring in
business, as well,” he says.
You may wonder why, with so many shopping options from which
to choose, people living in Alamo Heights or as far away as The Do-
minion would make the trip downtown to do their shopping. Accord-
ing to Mark, that’s easy: “Our strongest advantage is we constantly
have a big inventory. When people come to Penner’s, they see more
than they will see anywhere else. We carry clothes in boys’ toddler
size up to a man’s 8X.” And their private parking lot directly behind
the store makes the trip simple and pleasant.
According to Mark, Penner’s has achieved its level of success by
catering to its niche markets: “We have a good boys’ clothing busi-
ness. We sell many, many bar mitzvah suits to young men in San An-
tonio, Austin and all over South Texas. Our shoe business is second
to none. We have a custom shoe line, Stacy Penner shoes, that is
our trademark. You can’t find them anywhere else. But we also carry
Johnston Murphy, Florsheim and Hush Puppies. We have the best
price on Red Wing boots in town. It’s not where we make our money,
but we bring customers in through our advertising, and once they
see all that we have, they come back.”
Penner’s has also made a name for itself in the Big and Tall indus-
try, as well as carrying a huge selection of custom-made Pisano
hats. “We carry a lot of styles that other stores just don’t have. When
you custom make, you have to make a lot. We feel secure in making
a lot because we know that it’s a good seller, and I’d rather put my
money in my inventory,” explains Mark.
Another niche market that has rocketed Penner’s into national
recognition is its selection of custom-made guayaberas. “Years ago,
my father and I carried China-made guayaberas, and we did very well,”
says Mark. “We decided, if we are going to be known for something,
we really should go down to Merida, Yucatan, where guayaberas were
made originally, and find someone to make them for us. We wanted to
be authentic. We now have a relationship with three families in Merida
who make guayaberas exclusively for us. They customize each shirt
using our top-quality fabrics and buttons, and each is made to our di-
mensions.” The popularity of Penner’s custom-made guayaberas is
evidenced by their huge online demand. “We sell upwards of six dozen
guayaberas a day,” he states with pride.
According to Mark, customer service and personal attention are
mandatory for success in such a competitive market: “We have
seven full-time tailors on staff, waiting on pins and needles to give
free, expert alterations.” (Yes, you read that correctly: free!) “We will
taper the arms, shorten the sleeves, hem, let out, whatever you
need, and there is absolutely no charge. When we give a customer
17SANANTONIOMAN.COM
What you will seethis year at Penner’s:“Robert Graham-style shirts are
still big and flat-front pants. Suits
are becoming rare, but what you
see are side-vented, two-button,
never three-button. If you have
one, give it away. That style came
and went. Of course, we always
carry the best selection of
guayaberas in town!”
Mark Penner is the third-generation owner of Penner's in downtown San An-tonio, which was started as a secondhand clothing store by his grandfatherin 1916. Below, Mark with his son, Matt, (left) and his nephew, Mitchell.
personal attention, pamper him, provide free alterations, then we
have a customer for life. Why would he want to go anywhere else?”
Luckily for San Antonio, the Penner family tradition will almost
certainly continue for generations to come. Mark’s son, Matt, has
worked in the business for 14 years, and his nephew, Mitchell, joined
the ranks in 2009. “We get here every morning before 7, and we’re
lucky if we close at 6. We don’t leave all day long. We love the
store,” says Mark.
Mitchell Penner, the youngest of the Penner men, is as passion-
ate about the business as his uncle: “There isn’t a better feeling in
the world than getting here early, working with your family, keeping
the tradition alive and seeing the passion in the store and in the
community. I have a customer who shopped with my grandfather, his
brother, my uncle, and now myself. He started coming here in 1937.
It’s a great feeling to see the history and the tradition continue while
adapting to new styles and technology.”
According to Mitchell, achieving success in this competitive mar-
ket is simple: “You have to eat, drink, and sweat the business to
make it work.” And make it work they do.
The Penner’s employees obviously agree, as most have been with
the store for many years. “We have a profit-sharing program for our
employees,” Mark says proudly. “They don’t put a penny into it. At
the end of the year, if we have made a profit, we share it with our
employees. There you have it.”
Mark’s passion for his business has made the Penner’s name
synonymous with quality menswear. His philosophy is simple: “Have
passion for your business. Every day is a party, and you hope your
guests will come. I’m always prepared for my guests.”
Satel’sA peek in the closet of most gentlemen in San Antonio will most
assuredly find something — be it a suit, tie, khaki slacks or sports
coat — with the Satel’s logo attached. The Satel’s name has long
been associated with quality men’s clothing in our fair city. Run by
brothers Jimmy and Toffe Satel, this classic men’s clothing store car-
ries the traditionally popular suit lines Canali, Hickey Freeman and
Jack Victor, as well as sportswear from Vineyard Vines, Southern
Tide, Peter Millar, Scott Barber and Robert Talbot.
The brothers are the second generation of Satels who have
dressed San Antonio men. According to Toffe, his mother and father,
Selma and Toffe Sr., opened the first Satel’s back in 1949. “Daddy
retired out of the cleaning and tailoring concessions at Fort Sam
Houston after World War II. When they decided they wanted to get
back into business, they bought the E.L. Luke clothing store and
turned it into a young men’s and men’s clothing store,” he says.
The brothers began working at the store from a very young age.
They didn’t get paid but did receive an allowance as well as valuable
experience. “Jimmy and I both worked after school every day to
learn the business,” Toffe recalls. “We started going to markets dur-
ing high school. Then we took turns attending college in Austin.
When one of us was in school, the other was here, working at the
store and vice versa.” Their oldest brother, Joe, was also in the
business for many years before retiring 12 years ago.
18 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
Toffe and Jimmy Satel are the second-generation owners of Satel's, openedby their parents in 1949. They took turns attending college in Austin andworking at the store. Another brother, Joe, was in the business until he re-tired 12 years ago.
Matt Penner (top) and Mitchell Penner are already active in the family busi-ness. They arrive before 7 in the morning and don't leave until the storecloses at 6. They love the store.
19SANANTONIOMAN.COM
SAN ANTONIOMAN
The original store, located in the 5000 block of
Broadway, was just down the street from Satel’s cur-
rent location. At one point, the three brothers had ex-
panded to three Satel’s locations across San Antonio.
Now, after consolidating to one primary location, the
brothers work side by side, along with Toffe’s daugh-
ter, Tracie, who recently moved back from California
to join the family business.
“I never thought I would come back to Texas,” Tra-
cie admits. “This store is the only thing that brought
me back. It’s a family tradition, and I don’t want to
see it end.” Along with her youth and fresh blood,
Tracie is working hard to increase business by bring-
ing a younger look and style to Satel’s. “I’m bringing them up to date
to the Facebook generation with younger, fresher looks and updated
lines,” she says.
“Our primary customers are men in their 30s and up,” Jimmy
says, “successful San Antonio men and not necessarily from ’09. We
have a lot of customers from The Dominion and 281 area, as well.
We are the only real updated, traditional store in town, and men
come from all over the city because they want to buy our look. But
we have added a lot of younger lines to bring in that high school-to-
30-year-old customer, and we are doing very well with those.”
But fabulous lines do not a business make.
Toffe and Jimmy agree it is their quality sales staff that sets them
apart from other stores in town. “All of our salespeople have been
here for 25 years, plus,” Toffe states. “Service brings people into the
store. We make you feel at home. Our personnel know their clients
and what looks good. We know how to fit an individual. We reach
out to our customers when something new arrives. We have good
market knowledge. Our customers know when they come in, they
will be treated like family, and they’re not going to be pressured into
buying something.”
If you haven’t shopped in a while, one thing you will notice these
days at Satel’s is an expanded inventory of sportswear and fewer
suits. “There aren’t a lot of people wearing suits anymore,” Jimmy
says. “Our customers have really been trending toward more casual,
outdoorsy clothes. So we have added an outdoor department for the
first time. Our customers love it, and we are expanding it further for
next fall. Some of our best lines today are Northface, Columbia, Mar-
mot and Oluki. The Southern Tide line is probably the hottest line out
there for young men, and we are the only store in town carrying it.”
Staying competitive in a sluggish economy hasn’t been easy, but
following the trends of their market and changing with the times
have kept Satel’s in business and are bringing them into 2012 with a
bang. “We are seeing good growth, thank goodness,” Toffe says.
“We’re updating our store and bringing in the next generation of
family and customers to Satel’s. We are really excited about the di-
rection we are taking.” Along with their usual market trips to New
What you will find at Satel’s thisseason:“You will find something for everyone. This season, weare seeing very, very casual clothing. Designer jeanswith sports coats, brighter colors, slimmer fit for theyounger generation. Flat-front pants. Suits are two-button and side-vented. And lots of outdoor fashions.”
Joining Jimmy (above) and Toffe (right) in running thestore is Toffe's daughter, Tracie, who recently movedback from California. She is helping the store reach outto the Facebook generation with younger looks and up-dated lines.
York, Las Vegas and Dallas, they have added a trip to Salt Lake City,
the largest outdoor market in the United States. “We are putting a
whole lot more effort into our outdoor market right now, and it’s
doing very well,” he says.
Satel’s family business continues to flourish, with Grandma Satel,
age 98, still making daily trips to the store. “I’m 74 and still love
coming to work,” Toffe states proudly. “I’ll probably never retire. It’s
more fun than ever before, now that I’ve brought my daughter into
the business. It’s a real family tradition.”
Tracie agrees: “We really have something for everyone, clothing to
outdoor wear. We can now cater to all age groups from high school on
up. We are bringing the competitive edge back to the business. I am
honored to be carrying on the family tradition of Satel’s. It has been
passed down through generations, and as the new generation, I hope
to carry it on as well as my dad, uncle and grandmother have.”
Joseph’sLike their father before them, Steve and Robert Rubin understand
what’s important to their clients. “It’s not about the transaction, it’s
about the relationship,” Steve says, when asked about Joseph’s phi-
losophy. His father obviously understood this as well. After WWII, in
1948, Joseph Rubin, age 23, pooled his life savings of $3,000 with
his parents’ life savings to open a men’s clothing store in downtown
San Antonio.
Steve explains, “It was only 700 square feet, and the only thing
our dad could get was zoot suits, a popular, youthful suit for young
men. He couldn’t get any established brands. Basically, he and my
grandmother gave ‘eyeball credit’ to young men, giving them clothes
on credit with a promise to pay later. Most of them did. We now have
third-generation customers who are so appreciative and loyal to our
store because my parents gave them a chance that they have
shopped with us for over 50 years.”
Eventually, as the business grew and expanded, Joseph’s three
sons joined the enterprise. But in 1983, tragedy struck the family,
when Joseph died at the young age of 58. “My brothers and I were
under the age of 30,” Steve recalls. “We only had a few years to work
with my dad. But we got some help, established a board of directors
and had some mentors who helped us gain credibility in the market.”
Following in their father’s footsteps, the Rubin brothers set out
to grow the business, using their father’s signature style. “When my
father was able to get past zoot suits, he went for California fash-
ion-forward styles: bright colors, southern-type, California clothing.
We continued with his style and did very well. We expanded the
business in the ‘80s and ‘90s and ended up with four mall locations
as well as our original downtown location,” says Steve. The busi-
ness flourished, and Joseph’s became known as a small specialty
chain store specializing in high-end men’s apparel.
In 2000, their strategy changed again. “We decided we really
couldn’t put a sufficient amount of inventory and people in five
stores, so we started consolidation. Instead of being a small spe-
What you will see at Joseph’sthis season:According to Fletcher: “Shorter hems on pants andmodern, tailor-fitted clothing. The ‘60s style is comingback: slimmer silhouettes, bright fun colors and pat-terns. Linen is big, as are fun socks. Flat-front pants,no pleats. Preppy is very, very big. Big-time back!”
20 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
Steve (left) and Robert Rubin took over the family's business,Joseph's, aftertheir father's death at the age of 58. They were under 30 at the time. Theirdad started the store downtown after World War II and initially sold zoot suitsbecause he was unable to get established brands.
21SANANTONIOMAN.COM
cialty chain with five locations, we went
back to our roots and became a true inde-
pendent specialty store again. The only dif-
ference is instead of being downtown, we
now have a free-standing store where peo-
ple can park at our front door,” says Steve.
According to Robert, a Joseph’s core
client is a more mature, affluent man in the
30-to-60-year age range. “But we really
have a myriad of customers. We also have a
boys’ department and sell to a lot of young
guys for bar mitzvahs, First Communions
and guys going off to college.”
“We know our customers by name,”
Steve adds. “When they come in, we know
their families, their likes, tastes and
budget. It’s a very personal business. Our
customers like our personalized environ-
ment. We hear what they have to say, and
we deliver through our products.”
Steve attributes their continued success in
this competitive market to their ability to ad-
just to changing demands: “Over the years,
we have evolved. We adjusted from California
fashions in our early days to designer brands
in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Now we are dealing with
what the customer wants today, which are
quality, service, reliability and recognition of
product. We carry the most recognized
brand names, including Tommy Bahama,
Polo, Robert Graham and Allen Edmond, to
name a few. We change these brands from
time to time as the market changes.”
Another Joseph’s exclusive is its ability to
take care of any customer need on the spot.
“We are open seven days a week, and we
always have a tailor on duty,” Steve ex-
plains. “Someone can walk in directly from
the airport, need to buy a shirt and slacks,
get the sleeves shortened, the pants
hemmed and pressed, shoes shined and be
out the door in 20 minutes. We can do that.”
The Joseph’s family extends beyond the
brothers to include their staff and customers,
as well. “Most of our employees have been
here forever. Angel’s Shoe Shine is another
big draw, and he has been with us for years.
He has a huge following and brings in his
own customers,” Steve explains.
According to Fletcher Mixon, who started
working at Joseph’s when he was 16 years
old and is now the assistant buyer, “The at-
mosphere at Joseph’s is very welcoming. It’s
more like a family than a job.” Steve agrees.
“It’s a family business in the truest sense of
the word. Our staff, our customers — we
are all part of the Joseph’s family tradition.”
SAN ANTONIOMAN
by ERNIE ALTGELT Photography by LIZ GARZA WILLIAMS
22 APRIL/MAY 2012
The Reverend
DR. RICHARD KNOTTMinister, marathon rider and martial arts master
s a respected senior pastor serving an
urban congregation — the 100-year-
old Alamo Heights Presbyterian
Church — the Rev. Dr. Richard Knott Jr.
definitely understands challenge.
Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, this
devoted and very capable spiritual and
physical juggernaut not only oversees the
complex, seemingly endless day-to-day
operations required for successfully running
an ever-growing house of worship but,
perhaps more importantly, steadfastly re-
mains “on call,” always ready to respond to
the numerous unique individual situations
(many critical) that regularly necessitate his
often delicate, one-on-one, but always
appreciated, skilled involvement.
With the seemingly unceasing demands
on this respected church leader’s profes-
sional life, frankly, it seems miraculous that
he has time for anything else — sacred or
secular. But as his motivating biography
attests, Richard Knott’s exuberantly active
life does extend beyond the pulpit … from
marathon-length bike expeditions to the
mastery of an ancient martial arts form.
Like father, like son?Born in California in 1952 (Richard’s fa-
ther was an officer in the U.S. Navy at the
time), the active youngster grew up in a
loving household constantly on the move. It
wasn’t the Navy, however, that kept the
family hopping but rather Richard’s father’s
post-military career as — of all things —
a Presbyterian minister. As Richard recalls,
“Being a ‘preachers kid,’ our family moved
about every five years or so. I’ve lived in
Houston, northern Louisiana, Mississippi
and Virginia. It took a while before I, as an
adult, finally made it to San Antonio.”
So, as the son of a clergyman, was it
inevitable that Richard would follow in his
father’s footsteps? Not so, according to the
current Pastor Knott: “Having been a
minister’s kid, the church was the last place
where I thought I would find my vocation. A
clergyman’s family lives in a fishbowl.
Because of this I have never been one who
sought to be in the spotlight. The last thing
in life that I wanted to do was stand and
speak to a group of people every week.”
While uncertainty about a career path
might have existed during Richard’s formative
years, aversion to hard work didn’t. From
ages 13 through 18, the future pastor kept
busy at a number of year-round youthful
occupations including paper boy, lawn
service provider and as an employee at an
ice cream shop (admittedly, his “sweetest”
job). During his college years, he kept the
income flowing by driving a school bus and
working as an assistant tennis instructor at a
local club. Later, in graduate school, a
burlier Richard was even the paid “bouncer”
at a sorority house — a job where his
physicality (and charm) eventually won the
hand of his future wife.
Learning, growing ... decidingHigher education for Richard began with
enrollment in Belhaven College, a small
Presbyterian liberal arts school in the
Northeast. Eventually earning a bachelor’s
degree (after a brief interruption, thanks to
a two-year stint in the U.S. Navy) in history
with minors in political science and German,
Richard decided that a career in law would
ultimately become his life’s work. But fol-
lowing a year of study at the University of
Mississippi Law School, Richard began to
experience doubt.
“While a noble profession,” Richard
thoughtfully relates, “I began to feel that,
for me, the legal world just wasn’t where I
belonged.” This late realization might have
been the result of his time spent at Bel-
haven, where the spiritual side of existence
was continually emphasized, coupled with
his long-held belief in and commitment to a
higher power. Whatever the cause, his voca-
tional focus slowly shifted away from just
“living for himself” to one of possibly
providing greater service to others.
With his decision to redirect eventually
taking hold, in 1978 a more confident Richard
entered the Austin Presbyterian Theological
Seminary.
After a gru-
eling four
years (two-
thirds of his
classmates
wouldn’t
complete
the intense
curriculum required), a hard-earned master’s
degree was bestowed, along with the right to
forever use the title of reverend.
In 2002, at that same seminary (and
while working full time as pastor at the
Alamo Heights Presbyterian Church),
Richard completed his doctorate with an
emphasis on philosophical hermeneutics
(the philosophy of interpretation). This
required seven difficult years of balancing
family, church and academia. As he
remembers, “The long commutes to Austin
and the writing of a very detailed and
complex thesis were some of the most
enlightening and exhausting years of my
life.” The acquisition of knowledge
continues to play an important role in this
highly trained theologian’s life and, as he
readily admits, always will because
“without learning we simply stop growing.”
Finding his way to Alamo Heights Presbyterian
While still at seminary but visiting San
Antonio, Richard by sheer chance attended
a service at the Alamo Heights Presbyterian
Church. After introductions, the minister
realized that Richard’s father and he were
old acquaintances. The following summer,
that same minister contacted Richard and
asked if he would be interested in a 15-
month internship the church was offering.
Richard readily accepted, and by the time
the enjoyable assignment had ended,
(unbeknownst to the seminarian) the
groundwork had been laid for the
establishment of a much longer and
mutually beneficial relationship — one that
ultimately would span 27 fulfilling years and,
remarkably, remains in place today.
After seminary, the newly ordained minister
was initially assigned to a church in Dallas.
Several happy years of growth and maturing
ensued. During one Sunday morning service,
however, the Rev. Knott noticed a number of
congregants from his old internship provider,
the Alamo Heights Presbyterian Church,
sitting in the pews. Little did he realize that
this group was a “scouting party” looking for a
replacement to fill the church’s recently
vacated post of senior pastor. After the group
reported back to the congregation, a call was
rapidly issued asking Richard if he had any
interest in the position. This he quickly
affirmed, and, since acceptance in 1984, he
and his grateful congregation agree it’s been a
win-win from the onset.
23SANANTONIOMAN.COM
ASAN ANTONIOMAN
For 27 years the Rev. Dr. Richard Knott has served as pastor of Alamo HeightsPresbyterian Church, this year celebrating its centennial.
A full plateSince that time, Richard and his church
have become inseparable. As senior pastor,
he has duties that are many, varied and
involved. And, while according to the
Presbyterian faith, the pastor doesn’t have
“absolute authority” within an individual
church — a board of elders has that power
— Richard’s primary role, as he likens it, is
basically that of “theologian in residence.”
However, beyond the interpretation of
theology (a challenge in itself), there’s so
much more the pastor is responsible for. He
spends innumerable hours each week
diplomatically moderating church councils
and aiding in internal decision making while
also fulfilling his often demanding role as
the always-on-call comforter, counselor
and encourager to those in emotional
and/or spiritual need within (and outside of)
his immediate congregation.
Add into that mix the more mundane
duties of overseeing daily, weekly and
monthly business affairs while also planning,
producing and executing his many ongoing
religious responsibilities, including conduct-
ing communions, weddings, funerals,
baptisms and other important ceremonies,
and, as he smilingly admits, “It’s a full-time
job that keeps me on my toes.” Based on a
quarter of a century of having received “very
few complaints,” he’s obviously good at it.
Philosophically (and spiritually), Richard
believes in a “welcoming” approach to run-
ning his church. No one is turned away for
any reason. As an example, it’s surprising to
some that a number of those who regularly
attend services at his Presbyterian church
aren’t Presbyterian. Many are Catholics. To
Richard, just the fact that they come is
wonderful and represents a “great opportunity
to bring them and any others closer to God.”
Likewise, he is also happy to conduct
weddings and other services for couples
who aren’t members of Alamo Heights
Presbyterian but still wish to have a church
service. Again, Richard’s belief is that, “once
introduced to the good services we offer
here, the potential for a fuller relationship
exists.” His inarguable logic continues to
prove its effectiveness as new members
regularly come aboard, thanks to his hos-
pitable open door policy.
Faith in martial arts ...and fishing
With so much (professionally) constantly
weighing on Richard’s broad shoulders, it
seems amazing that his accomplishments
can extend beyond the church doors, but
they do. Most notably, one achievement that
brings justifiable pride
and acclaim to the
modest pastor, a long-
term and accomplished
martial arts practitioner,
is his establishment of
the American Christian
Tae Kwon Do Schools.
Founded in 1992 with 10 students, his ACTS
today has enrollment exceeding 135 young
boys and girls, all eager for excitement, ex-
ercise and the self-esteem gained through
discipline, camaraderie and achievement.
Classes, based on age and skill level, are
held regularly at multiple church locations
across the city. And while supported by a
competent teaching staff, Richard, holder of
the prestigious 6th Dan black belt in Chung
Do Kwan Tae Kwon Do, still finds time every
weekday afternoon to instruct the young in
this ancient Korean system of martial arts.
As he explains, “While one may not im-
mediately see the relevance between a
theological education and the martial arts,
it’s beneficial to know that martial arts had
their genesis in the context of the Buddhist
monastic life. Eastern philosophies empha-
size the integration of body, mind and spirit.
We would do well to remember that Christi-
anity originated in an Eastern cultural
context. The Hebrew context of Jesus,
while recognizing the body, mind and spirit,
understood that all three aspects of our
humanity were interrelated, and the integra-
tion of these parts was considered the path
to ‘wholeness.’” Even though Tae Kwon Do
involves martial
training, ACTS never
emphasizes “sport
fighting.” For further
information about
ACTS, including
class schedules and
enrollment require-
ments, call (210) 845-3357.
On a lighter note, Richard is also very
involved in an entertaining fly-fishing group
that meets weekly at the church. Always an
avid — some might say addicted — fly fish-
erman, he learned the sporting skill from his
equally enthusiastic father and grandfather.
The group, known as the Alamo Fly Fishers
(and also as the “Liars and Tiers”), gathers
each Tuesday evening with the simple aim of
sharing stories (some true) and techniques
while, most importantly, attempting to
“master the art of fly tying.” A few even admit
that tying a near-perfect fly can almost be a
religious experience. As far as Richard is
concerned, just getting a bunch of fishermen
into any church is a victory of sorts.
24 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
Philosophically (and spiritually),Richard believes in a “welcoming”approach to running his church. Noone is turned away for any reason.
Founder of the American ChristianTae Kwon Do Schools, the Rev. Knottworks out with a young martial artspractitioner. ACTS enrollment nowexceeds 135 boys and girls.
25SANANTONIOMAN.COM
The preacher’s pastimesWith a beautiful wife, Ginia, of 32 years
and the successful rearing of three daughters
(now all productive adults), Richard’s personal
life continues to mirror his fruitful professional
persona. What little time is left after his
commitments to church and his Tae Kwon
Do school is spent joyously pursuing
pastimes that, in description alone, leave
one exhausted. Each week he and Ginia
mount high-tech long-distance bicycles
(custom built by Richard) and log between
50 and 70 miles. Vacations include annual
trips to Colorado, where, you guessed it,
more biking and fishing occur. In earlier
years, Richard also enjoyed coaching fast-
pitch softball and basketball for his athletic
daughters’ sports teams. He and Ginia still
attend games at the Alamo Heights Little
League fields. Lastly, weekly weight-training
sessions round out the busy pastor’s sched-
ule, allowing this dedicated man to continue
to maintain the high level of physical strength
and energy demanded daily in fulfillment of
his services to God and parishioner.
So, while the Rev. Dr. Richard Knott cer-
tainly feels blessed by all the good fortune
he has been able to enjoy, for countless
others, it’s been his numerous interventions,
contributions, unceasing efforts and simple,
reassuring presence that have resulted in the
substantial bettering of their lives.
Simply said, a host of friends, fans and
supporters loudly proclaim a heartfelt thank
you to Richard Knott for generously sharing
his bountiful spirit!
Alamo Heights Presbyterian ChurchCelebrates 100 Years
Although for the past 27-plus years, the
Rev. Richard Knott has made his mark on the
venerable and much loved Alamo Heights
Presbyterian Church, its history began quite
a bit earlier.
Actually, it all started in 1912, when, moti-
vated partly because of the substantial dis-
tance that separated those living in the Alamo
Heights area from downtown San Antonio’s
established churches, a group of individuals
joined with the intent to found a place of wor-
ship of their own closer to home. Initially, the
first communicants held services every second
Sunday in their houses (this because their pas-
tor, the Rev. McStavrick, was required to share
his time with another church). But soon a Sun-
day school was organized, and the fledgling
church and Sunday school began meeting
every other week in a building located on the
grounds of the Alamo Heights Public School
(now Cambridge Elementary) campus.
Not long after, the Board of Missions in
Pittsburgh, Pa., was petitioned for funding to
buy a site for their new church, and when a
grant was authorized, the school building being
used was moved to property purchased at the
intersection of Townsend and Abiso Avenues,
centrally located in Alamo Heights.
Until 1916 there was no official affiliation
between the Alamo Heights Church and any
denominational organization, but in that same
year the session of the First United Presbyte-
rian Church of San Antonio was constituted
as a commission to organize a United Pres-
byterian Church of Alamo Heights. Thirteen
charter members made up its original congre-
gation, and the first service was held on Oct.
6 with the Rev. McStavrick officiating.
In 1927, the present site at the corner of
Broadway and Corona Avenue was acquired for
$8,000; at about the same time the church be-
came a member of the Southern Presbyterian
Church and was joined to the Presbytery of
Western Texas, Waco. The church building was
dedicated July 12, 1931. As the congregation
grew, expansions to the original building con-
tinued throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
This year, the church will celebrate its cen-
tennial. Today, the Alamo Heights Presbyte-
rian Church comprises a family of 430
congregants served by a dedicated staff, in-
cluding those that work within the church’s
day school, of 35. For more complete infor-
mation on the Alamo Heights Presbyterian
Church and the Rev. Dr. Knott, please visit
www.alamoheightspres.com.
The Rev. Knott and his wife, Ginia, log between 50 and 70 miles on their high-tech bicycles every week. Their annual trips to Colorado include lots of biking and fishing.
27SANANTONIOMAN.COM
SAN ANTONIOMANby GREGORY STOUFFER
Getting theMost Out ofYour 401(k)
It’s a great way to save for retirement
The market meltdown and financial crisis that came to a head in the fourth quarter
of 2008 took a toll on 401(k) balances and left some investors looking for the exit.
Yet even with challenges and losses in the market, investors shouldn’t discount
the value of using a 401(k) plan as part of an overall retirement strategy. The plans re-
main a good retirement vehicle that, if used properly, provides a great way for work-
ers to save.
The key is to use it — and use it the right way.
28 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
The first step
for employees is
to simply enroll
in the plan so
that they can
start taking ad-
vantage of com-
pany matches
and building their
savings. Surpris-
ingly, more than 30 percent of eligible employees across the nation
do not participate in their company’s plan. The figure’s even higher
among younger workers.
That’s a potentially serious issue because many of those work-
ers don’t have pension benefits and may not be saving for retire-
ment at all. They may not be looking ahead to estimate the amount
of income they’ll need for retirement or realize that they’ll need to
play a much more active role in building a retirement nest egg than
their parents and grandparents did.
Over the last few decades companies have gradually moved
away from the pension system, which guaranteed workers a speci-
fied amount of income for the rest of their lives, and started to
sponsor 401(k) plans. This shift put more impetus on workers to
take an active role in saving for retirement.
Employees liked the change because the funds they invest in the
401(k) are portable — they don’t lose their retirement savings if they
move to a new job. And it provides workers more control over their in-
vestments. Yet for workers to successfully use a 401(k) to fund retire-
ment, they must set aside money each paycheck toward their
retirement goal. They also need to ensure that they’re contributing
enough and selecting the right mix of investments.
On average, employees should be setting aside at least as much
as their employer matches — and more, if possible. Contributing
the amount that the company matches allows the employee to pick
up “free money” and not leave any on the table. Also worth noting:
The maximum amount of pre-tax dollars individuals are allowed to
contribute to their 401(k) plans in 2012 is $17,000. Employees
should try to contribute the pre-tax maximum to their 401(k) and
even save after-tax dollars in an IRA.
However, employees who start saving later in life, who have
higher incomes or who anticipate high health care costs in retire-
ment should consider saving even more. Catch-up contributions
allow employees who will reach age 50 before the end of 2012 to
add $5,500 of pre-tax dollars to their 401(k) plans in addition to the
aforementioned limits.
The next step
for workers is to
make sure they
have the right
mix of invest-
ments that will
provide ade-
quate diversifi-
cation and help
protect the long-
term growth potential of retirement savings.
Achieving proper diversification can be confusing for many peo-
ple. One simple approach is to fully invest your savings into a pre-
diversified fund. If you prefer to select individual funds, a general
rule of thumb is to invest the money into at least three funds — one
stock fund, one bond fund and one principal preservation fund.
Also, many experts recommend having no more than 20 percent of
retirement savings in company stock.
The majority of plans now offer age-based target date funds that
adjust investments and risk exposure based on the participant’s es-
timated remaining years in the workforce. A younger employee can
be automatically enrolled into a 2045 fund, for example, and have
instant diversification, asset allocation and risk management. It’s a
enroll
diversify
29SANANTONIOMAN.COM
nice option for a younger employee, who
may not be very knowledgeable about in-
vestments, or anyone who is not comfort-
able or interested in making his or her own
investment selections. While target date
funds are easy to use, as with any invest-
ment, it’s a good idea to understand how
the fund is invested to make sure it is in line
with your comfort level.
Finally, investors should educate them-
selves so that they are making good deci-
sions about their 401(k) plans and retirement.
Employees should check into the re-
sources offered by their 401(k) plan and
take advantage of those resources. For ex-
ample, some plans offer retirement consul-
tations services via the phone and will
provide advice to help get investors back on
track with their savings. They may also offer
easy-enroll workshops to educate employ-
ees and help them take the action they
need to get ready for retirement.
Employees also should reach out to their
financial consultant, who can help them de-
velop a comprehensive plan for retirement.
That plan should include setting money
aside in a 401(k) plan along with other in-
vestments that will help workers achieve
long-term financial goals.
In today’s tough economy, it’s important
for employees to get serious about retire-
ment. Even with the ups and downs in the
market, the No. 1 factor that determines re-
tirement success is how much money an in-
dividual has saved. It’s important to get
enrolled in the company 401(k) plan and get
saving. Your financial future depends on it.
Gregory Stouffer is a senior business
relationship manager for Wells Fargo in
San Antonio.
research
30 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN by TONY CANTÚ photography by BIBB GAULT
Joe Montagna is an entrepreneurial
case study on not sounding the panic
alarm at the first sign of economic down-
turn. And yet, from a literal standpoint, his
entire business model is predicated on its
availability of all manner of alarms, bells
and whistles.
Montagna is founder and owner of Sys-
tematic Communications Co. (SYSCOM), a
systems integrator specializing in the instal-
lation of telecommunications, security and
audio/video systems in homes and busi-
nesses. Since the company’s launch in 1984
— after Montagna finished his studies at
Trinity University — the business has grown
to a nine-employee enterprise accounting
for annual sales of up to $1 million.
“I was meant to be a biologist,” Mon-
tagna said during a recent conversation on
how he went about launching his business.
The Corpus Christi native was on his way
to a career centered around the laboratory,
securing a bachelor’s degree in science in
1980 and then a master’s in biology two
years later, both at Trinity University. But
the cloistered life of a scientist — again,
that lab thing — didn’t appeal to Mon-
tagna. Nor did it help that his professor
would bring along his small, active child to
the lab every day rather than putting the kid
in the care of a babysitter or relative.
Today, Montagna relies on alarm sys-
tems for his livelihood. But the daily con-
tact with the alarmingly piercing shrills of a
bored small child unconsciously turned him
off to a career spent in the lab. The experi-
ence highlighted the realities of working in
cramped quarters without seeing the light
of day for stretches at a time.
“That poor kid would stay in the lab
seven to 10 days straight,” he recalls, agree-
ing with an interviewer’s fervent wish to
someday perhaps see the child blossom into
the next Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein
as a result of such forced lab exposure.
In Montagna’s case, it was he who
turned, unprompted, to his own father for di-
rection. Fascinated by his dad’s work as an
electrical contractor, Montagna picked up
some of his father’s skills while still a
teenager. Later informed by those youthful
experiences working alongside dad, Mon-
tagna was able to envision his own career
path and launched SYSCOM at the age of
26 with a $20,000 bank loan.
“It was a traditional bank loan, and
$8,000 of it went toward the purchase of a
truck,” Montagna says, recalling the early
days of the company. The experience of
working through a vendor from 1986 to ‘88
enabled him not only to perfect the finer
aspects of his trade but to secure a license
as a security dealer. SYSCOM now counts
between 1,500 to 3,500 customers a year
on its client roster, encompassing a service
area covering the cities of San Antonio,
Austin, Lakeway, Tilden, Pleasanton and
southern regions of the South Texas Valley
region. The company employs nine people
AlarmingGuy SYSCOM founder
Joe Montagna finds success in security
31SANANTONIOMAN.COM
SAN ANTONIOMAN
and pulls in between $500,000 to $1 million
in annual sales.
Some of the firm’s notable clients include
the Methodist Hospital System, for which
SYSCOM provides card access and digital
security camera systems among other serv-
ices, and PCI Educational Publishing.
The business could easily be expanded
in a post-9/11 world of heightened security.
But managed growth is by design, enabling
SYSCOM to place a premium on customer
service with its streamlined ability to tailor
its products to clients’ needs.
“I can customize a solution to serve
their needs as opposed to fitting their
needs around a pre-designed program that
the company might be featuring this
month,” he says, referencing the sales-led
tactics of competitors. “Our services pro-
vide our clients with solutions, and we are
able to flush out what needs to be done.”
By employing the tactics of moderation,
Montagna illustrates the old-school busi-
ness virtues of slow, steady growth in a
corporate landscape that today is imbued
with the concept of instant gratification and
where cashing in on a quick windfall seems
the order of the day. The modest approach
has paid off as an effective word-of-mouth
marketing tool, as illustrated by a growing
client base and new avenues of business
that recently have emerged.
One new revenue stream has arrived by
virtue of discovery of the Eagle Ford shale
formation, a vast area in the underbelly of
San Antonio’s southernmost outskirts, from
which copious amounts of natural gas are
being coaxed. The mineral find — and sub-
sequent economic development and em-
ployment it’s spawned — has had a
transformative effect on the region.
The Eagle Ford shale formation’s also
having something of a transformative effect
on SYSCOM’s bottom line. Increased ac-
tivity and traffic resulting from the gas find
recently prompted the McMullen County
sheriff to hire SYSCOM to install 45 digital
surveillance cameras to monitor the streets
of Tilden, the county seat that was a quiet
little town of some 700 residents before an
explosive population growth fueled by the
Eagle Ford shale discovery.
“The city seems to have more revenue
and is able to do more things,” Montagna
says of Tilden. “The McMullen County
sheriff has only five deputies covering
11,000 square miles. Now, he needs only
one person watching the streets from a sin-
gle room all year long.”
Notwithstanding SYSCOM’s current
fortunes, the road to corporate success
has not been without obstacles. Just a
few years after company launch in 1988-
89, the oil-based real estate market
crashed, taking with it roughly half of
SYSCOM’s clientele in the multifamily
residential sector. Rather than succumb-
ing to panic, Montagna explored other
growth avenues: For better or for worse,
development of prison systems had sup-
planted residential real estate construc-
tion. SYSCOM was thus able to find a
new niche by supplying security systems
to that industry, ensuring the company’s
survival during an oil bust that left record-
breaking corporate bankruptcy levels in
its wake.
Montagna’s key to success in the cor-
porate world also is contingent on life bal-
ance. He married his college sweetheart —
Susan Montagna, now the executive direc-
tor of the Inspire Fine Art Center — and the
couple quickly formed a family and now
have three children ranging in age from 18
to 24. Montagna also is a longtime Rotarian
and an elder in the Presbyterian Church—
activities he finds not only personally fulfill-
ing but which provide a needed perspec-
tive on the importance of achieving a
healthy balance in life.
Now 54, Montagna has truly shown his
mettle, given an ability to survive not only in
the midst of downward market shifts but in
a sector particularly vulnerable to the cycli-
cal nature of the economy. Having weath-
ered such economic storms, he happily
advises those wanting to launch their own
corporate success: “To succeed, you have
to be able to do every part — every part —
of the business yourself. And spending a
few years working for someone else is the
best research you can do.”
Reminiscent of the mid-1980s, today’s
economy has yielded its own set of chal-
lenges — tightened bank credit among the
most prominent characteristic — stemming
from the 2008 residential mortgage melt-
down. But even amidst such a rocky land-
scape, would-be entrepreneurs should
scale the corporate mountain inspired by
Montagna’s informal mantra: There is no
need to panic.
Through his company, SYSCOM, Joe Montagna can customize security solutions to serve the needsof clients. He recently installed 45 digital surveillance cameras in Tilden, where explosive populationgrowth has been fueled by the Eagle Ford shale discovery.
32 APRIL/MAY 2012
In an age of commerce, high-stakes deals and
big-city skylines, the concept of wide-open spaces
— even in a state like Texas that is identified for its
pioneering spirit — seems like a bygone relic of the
past, a romanticized ideal of what once was.
Except that it’s not. Cody Michael Stewart,
owner/broker at Stewart Ranches, does a brisk
business in structuring sales transactions of rural
ranch property. In so doing, he not only keeps
alive the state’s ranching past but also continues
a family legacy.
“We’re from Victoria, and I started learning how
to use an ax when I was 3 years old,” he says with
palpable pride. His last year in high school was
spent around the bucolic surroundings of Lake Mc-
Queeney in New Braunfels, where the family had a
home, and further deepened his love of nature.
“I’ve always had a connection with the land, either
hunting or camping,” he says.
He points to his father as an example, both per-
sonal and professional: “My father, Michael Stewart,
has been developing ranch land since 1971, and I’ve
been in real estate since I was licensed in 2003.”
But it almost wasn’t to be. As he was in the
midst of studying for a management information
systems career at Baylor University, the lure of the
land that was fostered in childhood began to pull at
him once more. A talk with dad ultimately solidified
his career choice. “I had a conversation with my fa-
ther, looking at my life 15 years down the road,” he
recalls. “He said, ‘You’re going to fight traffic for an
hour and a half to get to work in San Antonio, and
then you’ll spend all day in a cubicle and fight the
same traffic going back home.’”
He acknowledges partial motivation in wanting
to launch a career distinct from his father’s was
rooted in a small measure of youthful rebellion: “It
was a consideration, but not the determining fac-
tor,” he concedes. But ultimately it was the ability
SpacesLovingWide-Open
Cody Stewart continues familylegacy of ranch sales
SAN ANTONIOMAN by TONY CANTÚ photography by BIBB GAULT
33SANANTONIOMAN.COM
to pair a personal love of nature with a de-
sire to make a good living that cemented
his decision.
“One morning at 3:30, my eyes popped
open, and it hit me,” he says of his career
choice. After his nocturnal epiphany, he
traded the confines of a cubicle for the ex-
pansive acreage of farmland as his “office”
environment and never looked back.
While large swaths of largely undevel-
oped land still occupy the Texas landscape,
the nature of work on those patches of earth
has shifted. More often than not, Stewart’s
job finds him brokering deals for developers
wanting to build residential subdivisions or
modern-day wildcatters wanting to extract
minerals from deep below the surface.
“There are people out there who are
making money cattle ranching,” Stewart
says. “But you reach a point where the price
of land outweighs the price of cattle, when
land increases in value at a much greater
rate than the commodity of cattle.”
That stubborn arithmetic has arrived,
prompting many land buyers to exploit
acreage for minerals lurking beneath. The
greatest catalyst for this new strategy — one
that has transformed the landscape —is the
Eagle Ford shale.
The recent discovery of vast natural gas
reserves south of Bexar County has had a
transformative effect on how real estate spec-
ulators now view their holdings. Whereas
once cattle or oil reigned, it is now natural gas
— coaxed from great depths under the sur-
face through hydraulic fracturing, or “frack-
ing”— that is fueling most land transactions.
Stewart comments, “I don’t think we’ll ever
see people work the land like they did in the
last century, but the Eagle Ford shale is going
to last for at least a decade. There’s going to
be a lot of revenue that it brings to the city. It
is re-inventing the area.”
Stewart’s assessment is neither hyper-
bolic nor the makings of a sales pitch. A
2011 University of Texas at San Antonio
study buttressed his analysis, pointing to
myriad economic benefits related to gas
drilling impacting the local economy: cre-
ation of roughly $1.3 billion of gross state
product, support for 12,600 full-time jobs,
$2.5 billion in revenue and creation of up to
68,000 jobs by 2020.
The 31-year-old broker still engages in
more traditional deals — he’s helping to put
together the sale of 231 acres of land in
Nixon and expects to close a deal for 400
acres of Comal County land to be devel-
oped into a master-planned residential com-
munity, as examples. But it’s the recent
discovery of vast natural gas reserves that
has all but transformed his industry.
As with any nascent cottage industry
rooted in the energy sector, drilling activity on
the outskirts of Bexar County is subject to the
mercurial value of natural commodities. Be-
cause of this, Stewart acknowledges a some-
what slower pace than at the height of land
speculation, when the shale formation was
found. “It’s all cyclical,” he says. “Some ac-
tivity has been delayed somewhat, and the
volume of sales has slowed down.”
But almost as a compensation for those
market forces, Stewart says most clients are
now paying up front for their real estate
holdings, so certain are they of their invest-
ments’ eventual profitability: “It has kind of
stalled, but what we’re seeing now are a lot
of cash transactions,” he says.
Despite market interruptions, he says he
has no regrets at changing his course of
study at Baylor. Participating in tennis and
debate during college helped prepare him
for a career — both endeavors developing
quick reflexes, both physical and mental.
And it was at Baylor that he met a fellow
student named Tyree. “We started going
out 11-and-a-half years ago and have been
married for five-and-a-half years,” he says
of his wife.
In a commission-based business, any
activity interruption is cause for some meas-
ure of anxiety. But Stewart is in it for the
long haul, envisioning great things on the
horizon. Not once does he regret his deci-
sion to trade the office for the great out-
doors, he notes.
“I know it’s a cliché to say that you
have to love what you do, but I really do
love my job,” he says. “The money will
come, and in the meantime I get to spend
my days showing property in the prettiest
parts of Texas, where in some cases the
environment hasn’t been changed in thou-
sands of years.”
SAN ANTONIOMAN
Cody Michael Stewart initially studiedfor a career in information systemsmanagement at Baylor, but decidedhe'd rather work outdoors than in acubicle. He's now an owner/broker atStewart Ranches, a job he loves.
SAN ANTONIOMAN by KELLY A. GOFF
CAUSES OF JOINT PAIN
The most common joint problems come
from arthritis and injuries. Arthritis literally
means joint inflammation. Although joint in-
flammation describes a symptom or sign
rather than a specific diagnosis, the term
“arthritis” often refers to any disorder affecting
the joints, characterized by inflammation as
well as loss of function of one or more con-
necting or supporting structures of the body.
The most common form of arthritis is os-
teoarthritis. It’s most common among older
people and is sometimes called degenerative
joint disease. In osteoarthritis, the surface
layer of cartilage (the hard but slippery tissue
that covers the ends of bones) breaks down
and wears away, causing pain, swelling and
loss of joint motion.
Young adults who have had a previous
joint injury are more likely to develop os-
teoarthritis. Researchers are looking for ways
to prevent cartilage breakdown after injury.
According to the National Institutes of
Health, more than 46 million people in the
United States have arthritis or other rheumatic
conditions. By the year 2020, this number is
expected to reach 60 million. These diseases
more frequently limit activity than do heart dis-
ease, cancer or diabetes.
NEXT STOP: POWER WHEELCHAIR STORE
… UNLESS
Unless you lose weight, that is. Yep, it’s
yet another reason to shed those extra
pounds. Knees are especially vulnerable to
the stress created by plentiful pounds. Extra
weight harms the knees in two ways: First, the
extra biomechanical stress adds pressure to
the knee. Second, excess fat in the body re-
leases inflammatory agents such as tumor
necrosis factor, interleukin 6 and other com-
pounds that may contribute to cartilage
breakdown and arthritis.
An Australian study of more than 39,000
people found that the heavier a person is, the
more likely that hip or knee replacement will
be required within the next 10 years. The as-
sociation between weight and joint replace-
ment is especially strong for the knees.
There's also emerging evidence that being
overweight or obese increases the rate at
which cartilage is lost from the knee; exten-
sive cartilage loss causes osteoarthritis.
What’s harder and more painful? Putting
around in a scooter, recovering from knee re-
placement surgery or losing weight? Hmmm…
Creaking stiffly as you get out of bed, hobblingto catch the open door at the grocery store orbeing bested by the young ones on the basket-ball court or golf course because your jointsare too stiff and painful to “bring it” — fewthings can make you feel “old” like joint pain.So how can you recapture your pain-free,
youthful self without going in for a bionic man tune-up? First, it’s important to understand what is causing
the stiffness and pain. The human body has more than 200bones and more than 200 joints that connect the bones. That’sa lot of moving parts. Just like a machine with moving parts, ifeverything isn’t in alignment, calibrated and oiled or if it’sused improperly, it’s going to break down.
JointPain?
Offense is your best defense
34 APRIL/MAY 2012
435,000
Fast Fact
That’s the number ofAmericans who have ahip or knee replacedeach year. Because ofits structure and weight-bearing capacity, theknee is the most com-monly injured joint.Source: National Institutes of Health
36 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
WHAT IF IT’S TOO LATE
FOR YOU?
You’re in constant pain,
nothing helps relieve it, and
you can’t turn the clock back
on your football injuries, a
lifetime of running or age. It
may be time for knee re-
placement surgery. “In the
past we encouraged people
suffering from knee pain to wait as long as possible
before electing for knee replacement surgery,”
shares Dr. Ty Goletz, a board-certified orthopedic
surgeon based in San Antonio. “This was partly be-
cause the technology and materials behind the
joints were fairly new, and we weren’t sure how
long they would last. And the surgery posed many
risks with an arduous recovery.”
No longer is 65 the average age of surgery pa-
tients; it’s more like late 50s and early 60s. Active
baby boomers have no tolerance for inactivity or
loss of use. Their mindset isn’t one of stoicism or
resignation to live with pain. Luckily, nearly all as-
pects of knee replacement surgery have evolved
and improved. “Now nine out of 10 patients will
have pain relieved with knee surgery,” says Dr. Go-
letz. “These successes are not only due to less in-
vasive surgical approaches and better plastics but
also the team approach used by proactive physi-
cians, hospitals and therapists to reduce blood
loss, length of hospital stay and recovery time.”
GET WHAT YOU KNEED: SURGERY CHECKLIST
If you want the best possible outcome from a
knee replacement surgery, Dr. Goletz suggests you
do the following:
1. Look for a board-certified orthopedic sur-
geon who does at least 50 knee replacements a
year — the more, the better.
2. Have the surgery done at a recognized joint
center of excellence that has national quality ap-
proval from The Joint Commission. San Antonio
has three of these centers through Baptist Health
System, called Joint Replacement Clubs.
3. Ask about the infection rate for knee replace-
ment surgery. Baptist Health System currently has
a near-zero infection rate, according to Dr. Goletz
— much better than the national average.
4. Find a doctor who works collaboratively with
the hospital and physical therapists. You should
have a clear understanding about what will happen
before, during and after the surgery — preparation,
pain control, length of hospital stay and assistance
once you get home.
Most people take their bones and joints for granted—until something
goes wrong with one or more of them. Use these tips to help prevent joint
deterioration and pain:
KEEP MOVING— The more you move, the less joint stiffness you'll have. Whetheryou're reading, working or watching TV, change positions often. Take breaks from yourdesk or your chair and move around.
DON’T PUSH THROUGH THE PAIN— With overuse or injury, cartilage on theend of the joints can break down, causing a narrowing of the joint space and the bonesto rub together. Painful bony growths, or spurs, may form. This can lead to swelling, stiff-ness, and possibly osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis.LEAVE YOUR MANLINESS AT HOME— Injury can damage joints. So protecting
your joints your whole life is important. Wear protective gear like elbow and knee padswhen taking part in high-risk activities such as skating. If your joints are already aching,consider wearing braces when playing tennis or golf.PUT DOWN THE CHEESEBURGER— Lose just a few pounds, and you'll take
some strain off your hips, knees and back. Extra pounds add to the load placed onthese joints, increasing the risk of cartilage breakdown. Even a little weight loss canhelp. Every pound you lose takes four pounds of pressure off your knees.DON’T STRETCH COLD MUSCLES— Many therapists say stretching is the
most important type of exercise. Try to stretch daily but at least three times a week.However, it's important you don't stretch cold muscles. Do a light warm-up beforestretching to loosen up the joints and ligaments and the tendons around them.
CHOOSE LOW-IMPACT EXERCISE— Low-impact options like walking, bicy-cling and swimming are the best. That's because high-impact, pounding and jarring ex-ercise can increase your risk of joint injuries and may slowly cause cartilage damage.Light weight-lifting exercises should also be included. But if you already have arthritis,first speak with your doctor.STRENGTHEN YOUR CORE —Stronger abs and back muscles help with bal-
ance. The more balanced you are, the less likely you are to damage your joints withfalls or other injuries. So include core- (abdominal, back and hips) strengthening ex-ercises in your routine.GET STRONG LIKE A BULL— Stronger muscles around joints mean less stress
on those joints. Research shows that having weak thigh muscles increases your risk ofknee osteoarthritis, for example. Even small increases in muscle strength can reducethat risk. Avoid rapid and repetitive motions of affected joints.STRIVE FOR FULL RANGE OF MOTION— Move joints through their full range
of motion to reduce stiffness and keep them flexible. Range of motion refers to the nor-mal extent joints can be moved in certain directions. If you have arthritis, your doctor orphysical therapist can recommend daily range-of-motion exercises.
17TIPS FOR JOINT PAINRELIEF
37SANANTONIOMAN.COM
SAN ANTONIOMAN
USE ICE FOR JOINT PAIN— For a free and nat-ural pain reliever, use ice. It numbs pain and helps re-lieve swelling. If you have a sore joint, apply a coldpack or ice wrapped in a towel. Leave it on for up to 20minutes at a time. Don’t have ice or a cold pack? Try a bagof frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel. Never apply ice di-rectly to the skin.KNOW YOUR LIMITS— It's normal to have some aching
muscles after exercising. But if your pain lasts longer than 48hours, you may have overstressed your joints. To avoid long-term injury, don't exercise so hard next time.EAT FISH TO REDUCE INFLAMMATION — If you have joint
pain from rheumatoid arthritis (RA), eat more fish. Fatty cold water fishlike salmon and mackerel are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids.Omega-3s may help keep your joints healthy, as well as reduc-ing inflammation, a cause of joint pain and tenderness in peo-ple with RA. Don't like fish? Try fish oil capsules instead.KEEP BONES STRONG— Calcium and vitamin D
help keep bones strong. Strong bones can keep you onyour feet and prevent falls that can damage joints. Dairyproducts are the best sources of calcium, but other op-tions are green leafy vegetables like broccoli and kale. Ifyou don't get enough calcium in your diet, ask your doctorabout supplements.
MAINTAIN GOOD POSTURE— Stand and sit up straight. Goodposture protects your joints all the way from your neck down to yourknees. One easy way to improve posture is by walking. The faster youwalk, the harder your muscles work to keep you upright. Swimming can
also improve posture.TRY GLUCOSAMINE— Glucosamine is a natural chemical com-
pound found in healthy joint cartilage. Some studies have shown glu-cosamine, combined with chondroitin, may provide some relief formoderate to severe pain caused by knee osteoarthritis (OA). Yet the re-
sults of other studies have been mixed.BUYER BEWARE — Health food stores are filled
with supplements promising to relieve joint pain. Inaddition to glucosamine, the best scientific evidenceis for SAMe. Some studies have even shown it to
work better than anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen,naproxen) for osteoarthritis pain. Acupuncture is an-other complementary therapy that may help. Talk toyour doctor if you want to give supplements a try, as
they may interact with other medicines.DON’T IGNORE JOINT INJURIES— Physical trauma can con-
tribute to cartilage breakdown and OA. If you injure a joint, see yourdoctor right away for treatment. Then take steps to avoid more damage.You may need to avoid activities that overstress the joint or use a braceto stabilize it.
David Guard had only been in San Antonio for several weeks,having moved from St. Louis, Missouri to accept a position asan attorney at a local company. He had just closed on a newhome and was awaiting the arrival of his wife and daughter, ahigh school senior who wanted to finish her last summer be-fore college in familiar surroundings. His family’s planschanged, though, the minute Guard was diagnosed withcolon cancer.
“Three days after I was diagnosed, I was in surgery,”Guard recalls. “I was in shock. I thought, ‘I’m tooyoung. This happens to other people.’”
Guard, 48 at the time, awoke in his small apartmentseveral days before to a severe pain in his stomach. Atwork, his colleagues encouraged him to see a physi-cian immediately. Following a CT scan, his physicianrecommended a colonoscopy from Dr. Delbert L.Chumley of Gastroenterology Consultants of San Antonio and president of the American Collegeof Gastroenterology.
“Dr. Chumley had a graceful way of telling me I had cancer, while helping me under-stand the severity of the situation. As I listened, I realized everything had changed. I was in a city I hadnever been to, with a new job, all alone, and my only child graduating from high school far away. Those werechanges I had chosen. Colon cancer was not.”
Dr. Chumley recommended immediate surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Guard’s wife,Beth, quit her job in St. Louis early and moved to San Antonio with their daughter to help Guard deal with thefatigue, nausea and neuropathy — a tingling in the extremities — that Guard would face.
“David was surprised, as I was, to learn that this relatively small, otherwise benign appearing polyp was ma-lignant,” Dr. Chumley says. “After the shock wore off, he came to realize how truly lucky he was to have hadthis problem identified early. He didn’t get cheated in life and has been able to fulfill many of his dreams andaspirations due in part to just having a screening colonoscopy.”
Guard has made it his personal mission to encourage colon screening among his family and friends. “I havepersuaded all my siblings, my mother and my coworkers to get screened. Most of my colleagues have returnedto work the same day. It’s that unimpactful. If I had known I could have been screened earlier, I would havebeen the first in line. A few hours of inconvenience the night before the colonoscopy can make up for monthsof sickness and a life-changing diagnosis.”
Guard will soon begin radiation therapy to kill the remaining cancer in his colon and lymph nodes. He hasbeen able to continue working, thanks to the accommodation provided by the company he works for, whichprovided him with a parking spot next to his office and moved meetings so Guard wouldn’t need to walk toother locations.
The main change in Guard’s life since his diagnosis has been his philosophy about enjoying life. “Yesterday,my wife and I just packed up and headed to the beach. Before colon cancer, we would have planned andfigured it all out beforehand, but we are learning not to put off what we can enjoy now.” Guard also continuesto cherish his relationship with his daughter, who is now a freshman at Dartmouth.
Guard encourages others to increase their awareness and to simply be screened. “It’s no big deal,”he promises. “The benefits far outweigh the slight inconvenience of being screened.”
Early Diagnosis Promises Bright Futurefor San Antonio Attorney
40 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN by DIANE GOTTSMANPhotograp
hy ©Liz G
arza William
s
Men’s Office Etiquette: 10 Tips to being a mannerly co-worker
1) Punctuality is not optional. Habitually being late sends a message that you’re disor-
ganized and not reliable. Do whatever it takes to arrive 5 to 10 minutes early to every meeting.
Five minutes late is never professional.
2) Keep spell-check “on” and send mobile email messages with care. In today’s hectic
environment it's not uncommon to do daily business via email and text. Double and triple
check your spelling and grammar before hitting send. You are one thumb away from sending
your correspondence to the wrong person — check the name to make sure it is going to
whom you intended.
3) If it's not on her birth certificate, don't call her “sweetheart."While it may be an en-
dearing term in your home, the office is not the place to call your associate, client or assistant
by anything other than her name.
4) Keep your germs to yourself. Don’t come into the office with a bad cold or (worse)
other illness. Cover your mouth when you cough — yes, you do need a reminder!
5) Don't nibble on what's not yours. The office refrigerator is not kept stocked for your
snacking pleasure. Unless you’ve been invited to partake in a community dessert or meal,
hands off that slice of cake or turkey sub!
6) Make your own coffee. Avoid the temptation of asking the nearest female co-worker to
make a fresh pot unless it’s in her job description. If you don’t know how, ask someone to
show you.
7) Be generous in acknowledging the hard work and efforts of others. If you manage a
staff, consider scheduling quarterly outings for team-building fun. It will help boost morale and
may even improve company performance.
8) Acknowledge all members of the team. Take the time to learn the name(s) of often-
overlooked individuals, such as members of the cleaning crew or the IT contractor. Without
their help, your job would not be run smoothly.
9) Maintain a professional appearance. Casual Friday does not apply to you if you are
climbing your way to the top, at least not if you are routinely wearing faded jeans and sole-
thin deck shoes. A crisp, wrinkle-free shirt and a nicely pressed pair of trousers tell your boss
you pay attention to details five days a week.
10) Write a letter and make an impact. Taking the time to follow up with a client or col-
league with a handwritten note will set you apart as a distinguished executive. See something
in the paper that would be of interest to your client? Cut it out and write a quick note.
Hey guys, if I were to ask your co-workers to tell me a little about whatit’s like working with you, what would they say? Working in an office settingrequires you to be respectful, vigilant and always on your game. Your per-sonal habits and behavior help to create your reputation — good or bad. I’msharing 10 tips to help make sure your personal brand aligns with your pro-fessional goals.
Keep These In YourOffice Desk In Caseof Emergency!
Hand sanitizer – for an unexpectedsneeze because we know you really don’tcare, but you should.
Kleenex – because you never know whenyou may need to offer one to your client atyour desk.
Breath mints – for your coffee breathand to combat that fish taco lunch.
Shoe polish – the kind that swooshesover the tip of your shoe for a quick shine.
Lint brush – especially if you’re a petowner. Nothing takes away from a beautifulsuit more than dog hair!
Safety pin – for the fashion emergency.
A nice pen – you don’t want to pull out aBic pen in front of a potential client!
$20 cash – for when you’re asked tocontribute to a community gift or cause.
Got a questionon social protocol?
Diane Gottsman is a nationally recognizedetiquette expert and the owner of The Pro-tocol School of Texas, a company special-izing in corporate etiquette training. She isalso the author of Pearls of Polish, an eti-quette guide for today’s busy woman.Learn more at protocolschooloftexas.com.Contact her at [email protected].
SAN ANTONIOMAN Golf
San Antonio and golfing have a long and rich heritage. The Brackenridge Golf Course, just north of
downtown San Antonio, opened in 1916 and is the oldest public course in Texas. The Brackenridge Golf
Course hosted the first Texas Open in 1922, and many of the legendary players of the game, like Ben
Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer, played there.
San Antonio now has 39 public and private golf courses to serve its golf enthusiasts. The city has always
been a favorite area of the country for golfing because of our moderate winter weather pattern, and golfers
can virtually play golf year round.
Golf is played by the mind but felt by the heart. Ted Ray once said, “Golf is a fascinating game. It has
taken me nearly 40 years to discover that I can’t play it.” Ray’s sentiments are shared by many golfers,
who are hooked by this engaging sport. From its humble beginning in Scotland in the 15th century,
golf has become a worldwide phenomenon. In its early days only the wealthy class played golf, but
now golf’s appeal crosses all demographics. Whether you started playing golf at a youth golf tour-
nament or in school athletics or if your granddad gave you his clubs, the game can get into your
blood and stay there.
Here are some golfing “markers” about the local San Antonio scene to keep you on par.
Check out the pros: Valero Texas Open, April 19-22 at JW Marriott Hill Country
You don’t have to go all the way to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta,
Ga., to see top-rated professional golfers up close and personal, you just have to mosey
up to the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort & Spa right here in San Antonio. The JW
Marriott, located at 23808 Resort Parkway, is your gateway to the AT&T Oaks
Course and the Tournament Players Club (TPC).
TPC San Antonio, the golf course Greg Norman designed, is known for its
rolling fairways, untamed roughs and rugged sand traps. TPC San Antonio
is the host of the 90th annual Valero Texas Open, and it puts on a first-
class event from start to finish. If you are a golfing fan, this is a perfect
opportunity to check out the challenging golf course and see the play-
ers in action. For complete information about the Valero Texas Open,
go to the website at www.valerotexasopen.org.
Golf tip of the month: Want lower scores? Go to the video!
For the latest in state-of-the-art specialized
instruction, I went to the Edwin Watts Golf Academy on
1050 NE Loop 410 and met with teaching professional
Tyler Clark. Clark showed me the latest video and
laser equipment: “We show you a video breakdown
by PAUL BALTUTIS
Mild weather, 39 courses make the game accessible
Golfing San Antonio&Have Plenty of Links
41SANANTONIOMAN.COM
42 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
of your golf swing. This provides us a frame-by-frame analysis of
your swing, just like the pros use. There’s not a pro out there that
doesn’t examine their swing using this technique.”
Clark explains that all golfers would benefit from golf instruc-
tions, and the beauty of the video analysis is that by capturing your
swing in slow motion, you can examine what went right and what
went wrong. Feedback is important in making corrections to your
golf swing, and that is the key contribution an instructor can pro-
vide. “We will show you the correct way, and then it will be up to
you to practice it enough to convert it to muscle memory,” says
Clark. Full ranges of services are available from Edwin Watts Golf
Academy. For info go to www.edwinwattsgolfacademy.com.
Golf’s sacred journey is just a two-hour drive outside San Antonio
The good news for San Antonio golfers is that
Utopia is well within reach, being 77 miles due west on Route 187
between Bandera and Garner State Park. Golfers who make the
trek will find that the Utopia Golf Course lives up to its name.
The magical and mystical nine-hole course nestled in Sabinal
Canyon spurred a book, Golf’s Sacred Journey, by Dr. David L.
Cook and a major motion picture, Seven Days in Utopia, that
starred Robert Duvall and was released in the summer of 2011. The
book and movie delve into the mental and spiritual side of life and
sports. For more information about how to find Utopia, go to
www.linksofutopia.com.
Paul Baltutis is a freelance writer and duffed many golf balls off
the first tee at the Marquette Park Golf Course in Chicago. He
works for Fleet Feet Sports in Alamo Heights.
43SANANTONIOMAN.COM
SAN ANTONIOMANby COURTNEY BURKHOLDER
Problems from too much pressure:
1. Kids feel controlled. Many children in or-
ganized sports have practices three to four
times per week. Add a few private lessons to
that, and a few more practices with “Coach
Dad” out in the front yard, and a child has liter-
ally no time during the week to simply be a kid
and relax. A sport should never control a child or
dictate his every waking moment. When this
happens, a child will quickly come to resent the
sport and the father who is pushing him for
more, more, more.
2. External motivation takes over, replacing
internal motivation. It is a well-known fact that
an athlete’s heart for the game is just as important
as his physical talent. Motivation to succeed and
to win must come from within. A competitive na-
ture is inherent. When a child is trying his hardest
to succeed because he fears upsetting Dad, or he
wants to win to make Dad proud, then his motiva-
tion is coming from the wrong place, and this can
have serious repercussions. In the long run, a
child must have an internal passion for the sport
in order to sustain him, and Dad can’t make that
happen. A child’s self-esteem should never be
connected with performance.
3. It’s not about you, Dad. If your child is
playing a sport to make you happy or proud, be-
cause he feels it is expected, or because you
played when you were his age, then he is playing
for the wrong reasons. No matter how much
God-given talent your child has, his desire to play
and to compete must be the first consideration.
It’s not your child’s job to realize a dream for you
or succeed where you did not. Dad, do your job
and see that he or she is given the opportunity to
make good choices about his or her own life.
4. Sports lose their appeal. “It’s just not fun
anymore.” Sports are a great way for kids to learn
the important life lessons of hard work, discipline,
sacrifice and camaraderie. It’s also a wonderful
way to make friends, find an identity, release
stress and be a part of a team. When a sport is no
longer fun, then everything it is supposed to be
doing is overshadowed by the pressure to suc-
ceed and win. Statistics show that kids who walk
away from a sport, despite having talent, do not
come back. Keeping it fun should be a priority.
5. Injuries can have lifelong effects. In
today’s competitive youth sports, doctors are
seeing injuries seen only in professional athletes
at one time. Many children are playing injured
rather than taking the necessary time off from a
sport to allow an injury to heal properly and com-
pletely. There is no excuse for this, and it can lead
to a lifetime of pain. Keeping the child’s best in-
terest at heart, now and for his future, is key.
Healthy ways to help your children compete
When our son was 3 years old, he received a Fisher-Price Little Batter baseball
set as a birthday gift. It was a batting toy, and he would step on a lever to release
the plastic ball into the air and then swing at it with a little plastic bat. The first time
he tried it, he hit the ball over our heads. We were so impressed! The second time
he tried, he hit it to the fence. After that, we lost count. He hit it again and again and
again. I watched my husband’s eyes glaze over in sheer delight. Our baseball
prodigy had been born!
It took a few years, but after hundreds of T-ball, machine-pitch and Little
League games, hours spent at practice and in the batting cage and numerous
give-it-your-all and do-your-best pep-talks, our son happily gave up his baseball
career and moved on to another activity. Although he had loved the Little Batter
baseball set, the actual game of baseball had never really interested him. For my
husband, the dream died more slowly. Those early days with the Little Batter had
been but a bitter taste of things that would never be.
No matter the amount of money or time spent on private lessons, equipment,
teams and so forth, a father cannot instill a dream in a child, nor can a talent be de-
veloped from the sheer hard work of a parent. Many fathers today find themselves
in similar situations, where a child’s early talent creates dreams of lifelong great-
ness. What father doesn’t dream of watching his child succeed on the playing field?
But the reality is that very few child athletes go on to play professional sports. And
statistics show that by the age of 13, 70 percent of kids give up sports completely,
simply because there is too much pressure to succeed at too young an age.
Parents feel pressure, too. Experts call it the Pressured Parents Phenomenon,
the anxiety that comes over us when our children compete. Parents feel pressure to
make sure their kids are competitive and to do whatever it takes to help them excel.
In today’s world, kids are faced with hyper-competition and the pressure to succeed
on a daily basis, never more than when they are on the playing field. When this pres-
sure comes from the man they love and cherish the most — Dad — it can lead to a
myriad of problems that a child will carry with him for the rest of his life.
The Pressure’s On!
44 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
A better approach:
1. Help your child feel autonomous. Ultimately, the decision to
play a sport or not should belong to the child, not the parent. En-
courage your child in this by listening to his concerns, fears, opin-
ions and objections. Let him know that his feelings matter — and
that he does have a say. Does this mean that you have absolutely
no say in what he or she does? Of course not. As parents, it is our
job to help our children make good decisions and guide them along
their paths. Help him problem solve as he makes decisions, and
make sure he or she knows that you support them in whatever de-
cision he or she makes.
2. Evaluate your behavior. Ask yourself the hard questions, and
take a long, hard look at the way you act at a sporting event or to-
ward your children when they are competing. The Pressured Parent
Phenomenon is very real. Applied to some fathers when it comes to
their young athletes, we might call them the Freakin’ Fanatical Fa-
thers. Do you get angry when your child doesn’t perform well? Do
you criticize him or her? Do you compare your child with other kids
you feel work harder or play better? Are you up at their school con-
stantly, talking to their coaches, evaluating their performance, and,
yes, living vicariously through them? If you answered yes to even
one of these questions, then you really need to take a big step back.
3. Be your child’s biggest fan. I promise, your child knows his
weaknesses, errors, mistakes and so forth, without your telling him
or her. They have coaches, friends and enemies who will make sure
they know when they screw up. What they need is someone they
can count on for unconditional support and love. Make sure they
know that they are a star in your book no matter if they win or lose.
4. Encourage and be involved in the right way. Taking a step
back doesn’t mean abandoning your child and never attending an-
other game. It simply means letting them succeed or fail on their
own. Let them own their lives, their mistakes and their victories.
You are there simply to encourage and support, pick up the pieces
when they fail or celebrate their success.
5. Know your role. Listen carefully, dads. You are either a
coach, an athlete, an official or a fan. Pick one and stick with it.
SAN ANTONIOMANby JANIS TURK
45SANANTONIOMAN.COM
You’re right — she’s not your mother, but it doesn’t matter. You
still need to honor the mother of your children on Mother’s Day. All
mothers, your wife included, deserve a little spoiling from time to
time, and you shouldn’t count on the kids to buy her a nice gift.
And what about your own mom? Is your wife going to pick out a
card and sign it for you? That’s not how to honor the most important
women in your life.
But you don’t know what women want, right? Spring and summer
require shopping with Mother’s Day, college and high school gradua-
tion days, birthdays and wedding anniversaries spread across the
calendar. But don’t sweat it this summer: The Internet has made
shopping easy.
The perfect present for Mom or the woman you love is just a click
away, and we’re here to help you navigate that tangled Web. Or if
you want to fly solo and shop locally, that’s even better, as long as
you keep in mind the following simple facts.
Most women want...• Bags (purses, handbags, totes)
• Shoes (let her pick them out, though)
• Monogrammed gifts (all kinds)
• Elegant soaps, fragrant body lotions, pretty stationery
• Nice luggage
• Classic gifts of sterling silver
• Jewelry she picked out herself (it’s better than surprising her
with something she may not like)
• Presents that are events or experiences rather than things
• Flowers, preferably long-stemmed roses in a long box tied with
a bow from a florist, or potted plants (especially topiaries and
colorful blooming plants)
• Her favorite music for her iPad, iPod or smart phone and/or
tickets to a concert
• Books she picks out for her Kindle or iPad
• Romantic combo gifts, like wine, roses, chocolates and a vol-
ume of her favorite poetry
• Tickets to the movies tucked into a card
• An overnight stay at a Hill Country B&B (go to www.fbglodg-
ing.com)
• Dinner out at a white-tablecloth restaurant in addition to one of
the above-listed gifts
Most women don’t want...• Gifts that remind them of housework/chores
• Things she needs
• Things you want
• Clothes you picked out for her
• Kitchen gadgets
• Tickets to a sporting event
• Televisions or electronics (an iPad is the exception to this rule)
• Art you picked out for her
• Anything you think she, the kids or the house needs (no, a
garage door opener is not a good anniversary gift)
• Scarves (unless it’s a silk Hermes scarf or something really spe-
cial, it’s the equivalent of her giving you a necktie)
• Surprises she wasn’t planning on (she’ll hate a surprise party if
she isn’t dressed up and ready for it)
• Anything you can buy at Walmart, Sam’s, or any superstore
• A book you picked out for her
• Candles (yawn)
Here are gifts she’s sure to love:
Scrumptious soaps Molton Brown bath, shower, body soaps, lotions, candles.
Splurging on Molton Brown luxury bath and body products once re-
quired a trip across the pond, but now you can get
them online at www.moltonbrown.com or locally at
Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. This London-
based line of pampering products screams
“splurge” to classy women. My favorite? The
Warming Eucalyptus & Ginger Sugar Body Scrub
($48) or the Paradisiac Pink Pepperpod Skin Care
Gift Set ($30 bottle, $60 set).
Colorful totes Cartwheel Gym Bag with room for a yoga mat and more, from
LugLife.Com. She keeps in shape, and you notice — so let her know
with this colorful gym bag, purse, tote and more — all rolled into
one. It comes in lots of bright summer colors and made Oprah’s “Fa-
vorite Things” list, too! Tuck in a little box of dark chocolates — you
don’t want her to think you are hinting that she needs to exercise to
lose weight!
Hartman Sea Island Tote ($199.99)
and/or the Hartman Wristlet Bag
($70). One of these classic leather
gifts will score big points for you
with the woman in your life. Want
to wow her even more? You
can’t go wrong with a designer
Coach bag, with anywhere from
moderate to high price points.
Mother, May I?Gifts sure to please her on Mother’s Day, your anniversary, her birthday and more
SAN ANTONIOMANSAN ANTONIOMAN
46 APRIL/MAY 2012
Think that’s out of your price range? You may be surprised how af-
fordable they are if you visit the Coach outlet shop in our area or
search online. Coach’s smart summer Poppy Petal Print Glam Tote
will be sure to catch her eye ($198).
Colorful twists Prefer a more moderately priced but
equally colorful eye-candy gift? Why not bring
summer to her wrist with a FreeLook Seadiver
Neon Watch ($99.50) at
www.ewatchstore.com.
Personalized gifts You gave her your name, so show it off by
giving her a personalized monogrammed gift. A plush mono-
grammed bathrobe and a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure
or a massage would really make her feel pampered.
Does she love her Coca-Cola or Dr Pepper fix? Give her a case
of old-fashioned bottled soda and some pretty monogrammed
glassware, like those from Williams-Sonoma. You can order online at
www.williams-sonoma.com or in person at their local stores; set of
four Old-Fashioned or highball glasses, $59.
Or why not call a local stationer like Camilla Brink or Invitations,
Etc., or any local gift or stationery shop that carries Crane & Co.
fine papers, and order some personalized gift cards or stationery
(from about $35 to $100)? Be sure to order in advance so it will ar-
rive on time.
Thoughtful and small You don’t have to spend a fortune to make your wife or mother
feel special. A date night for just you two will do the trick. Or give
Mom a book of movie tickets so she can go to the cinema any time
she likes with her friends, or give her tickets to her favorite upcoming
touring Broadway show at the Majestic, or take her to hear a band at
Gruene Hall. Perhaps you could give her an iTunes card so she can
buy some of her favorite music and upload it to her iPod or her
iPhone. Maybe she’d like credit for books on her Kindle. These
things are affordable and thoughtful, and they’ll last all year.
Worth it all Maybe you can just write the
woman you love a letter, song or
poem. Or give her a long-stemmed
rose and a photo of a moment spent
together. Or bring her a little pot of
African violets from Violet Talk. Involve
the kids in the fun, and create a memory for everyone by taking them
to a local pottery and ceramics place like New Braunfels’ Bisque
Bistro (www.bisquebistro.com), where the children make Mom a per-
sonalized gift, like their own art on ceramic plates or little handprints
on platters and mugs (starting around $20).
Gifts should say you thought of her and love her. So whether it’s
your own mother or the mother of your children you aim to please, take
a minute and think about what makes her happy. Knowing what
women want is easier than you think.
47SANANTONIOMAN.COM
Scuzzi’s Italian Grill4035 N. Loop 1604 W. Suite 102(210) 493-8884Open Sun-Thurs 11am-4pm; 5-10pm; Fri-Sat 11am-11pm
The melt-in-your mouth buttery perfection of the gamberetti alla Scuzzi’s, a lightly
coated jumbo Texas Gulf shrimp sauteed in a delectable garlic Italian herb, white
wine and lemon butter sauce, keeps us coming back to this bright Italian bistro on
Loop 1604. The wine list is impressive, as is the friendly and attentive staff. The San
Antonio Express-News named the gamberetti alla Scuzzi’s one of the top 10 dishes in
the city, and it’s available as an appetizer or in lunch and dinner portions with a side
of pasta. Scuzzi’s makes us happy — so we head there every chance we get for
Happy Hour (from 4 to 7 pm at the bar and patio). Lately, Scuzzi’s has received a lot
of accolades from local foodies and the media, and it’s all well deserved.
SAN ANTONIOMAN by JANIS TURK
Our Pick for this Month’s Best Bites in the Alamo City
Café Salsita555 East Basse Road, Suite 113(210) 826-6661Open Tue-Sat 7am-3pm; Sun 8am-2pm
This place is far too close to our office and far too fabulous for our own good. For who
could resist a breakfast taco this tasty? Each morning we crave a big beautiful Salsita
taco, a fiesta in a flour (or corn) tortilla, overflowing with thick cuts of country sausage,
eggs scrambled with sizzling hot peppers, juicy onions and ripe tomatoes, all topped
with cream cheese. And we haven’t seen prices this low on a menu in decades. While
you’re there, try Rudy’s award-winning handmade tamales with a side of complimen-
tary chips and salsa. What a way to start the day — and so close to the Quarry Golf
Course, too!
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar255 Basse Road East (in the Quarry Market)(210) 824-9463Open Mon-Thurs 5-10pm; Fri-Sat 5-11pm; Sun 5-9pm
Here it’s all about the steaks: big, sizzling, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth moments of
magic. Chef/partner Jon Demeterio runs his kitchen with precision, making sure
each steak is perfect. Try his super side dishes (the onion rings are enormous) and
the desserts (like cheesecake and crème brulee) are works of art. Choose your
wine from their comprehensive iPad wine list. Top off the evening with a Moët &
Chandon Champagne toast, and it’s an evening to remember. The atmosphere?
Dark, upscale, sparkling but not stuffy. Oh, how the ladies will love it. In the Alamo
Quarry Market.
48 APRIL/MAY 2012
49SANANTONIOMAN.COM
SAN ANTONIOMANby JEFF DEGNER
My sophomore year of college I was
flipping through a local magazine and saw
an advertisement for a new cigar bar that
was near the airport. The photos were of a
room that was painted hunter green with
cheery wooden furniture and brown leather
chairs. It was obvious that big business de-
cisions must be made there by presidents
of companies. I wondered how often the
stock market was affected by handshake
deals that happened once the final puff of
smoke was drawn.
I quickly gathered my friends and an-
nounced that we were going to watch
Reagan-era business take place right be-
fore our eyes. We dressed in our finest
slacks and button-up shirts. Being the
ringleader in this monumental event, I vol-
unteered to drive to the local tobacco
shop and purchase four of their least ex-
pensive cigars. We then headed for what
should have been the beginning of our
launch into high society.
The night did not finish as well as I had
hoped. The room did deliver in the am-
biance and style, but unfortunately no one
showed up besides the four of us to enjoy
the plush leather chairs. There were no cor-
porate mergers that night, but I did learn a
very valuable lesson: Cheap blended
Scotch and even cheaper cigars can leave
a very unpleasant taste in your mouth that
no amount of mouthwash can erase.
Luckily, I stayed with it and was able to
try other cigars and whiskeys and find ones
that were much better than I had that first
night. Here are a few of my favorites that I
truly enjoy, and hopefully you will too.
WineAfter a nice dinner with my neighbors, I
take any wine that is left over and slip out-
side with the guys to light up one of my fa-
vorite cigars. Generally, bigger red wines
that have been fermented in oak barrels are
a perfect pairing for cigars, but I recom-
mend trying a fruit-forward style as well.
Each will have a different flavor profile in
your mouth and give you an idea of what
your taste buds prefer.
For the more robust style of wine I rec-
ommend the 2008 Faust cabernet sauvi-
gnon (California), which has flavors of ripe
red and black fruits. The baking spice fla-
vors that are incorporated into the wine
from the aging in oak barrels enhance the
nutty and spice flavors of a fine cigar. If you
are looking for a more fruity red wine, the
2009 14 Hands merlot (Washington) has a
lush texture that will allow the cigar’s
woody flavors to come through.
Port wines have always been a classic
pairing for cigars. Because of the higher al-
cohol content, a smaller amount is gener-
ally consumed. Taylor Fladgate's
10-year-old tawny porto (Portugal) is a re-
fined and elegant wine with dried fruit and
floral flavors allowing you to still enjoy the
cigar’s rich and bold taste. Since cigars
have historically been associated with cele-
brations, a glass of Champagne is a perfect
companion regardless of the occasion. The
2008 Argyle brut sparkling wine (Oregon)
has aromas of vanilla and lightly toasted
brioche.The crisp acidity and cleansing
mouthfeel will not tire out your palate, al-
lowing you to enjoy the cigar all the way to
the final puff.
SpiritsWhen I am really in the mood to fully
relax and contemplate my existence in the
world, I go to the liquor cabinet and break
out the good stuff. I then walk to the
kitchen and remove my favorite glass from
the freezer and hunker down for a long
night. I suggest smoking a lighter cigar with
a stronger spirit and vice versa. A peaty
Scotch and a maduro cigar would overload
your palate in a very short amount of time.
One of my favorite Scotches of all time is
the Balvennie 12-year-old doublewood sin-
gle malt. The first sip is very heavy with
vanilla and woodiness on the palate. As the
whisky flavors start to develop, warm bak-
ing spices of caramel and allspice begin to
take shape. A wee drop of purified water
will tame the alcohol fume and open the
flavors even more.
The Mount Gay rum extra old (Barba-
dos) is a spicy and flavorful rum with citrus
and dried flowers on the nose. The fruit and
nutty flavors are very present as you reach
the bottom of your first glass. I have re-
cently started to drink and appreciate co-
gnac and absolutely love drinking it with a
cigar. The Remy Martin Fine Champagne
VSOP cognac (France) is a great example
Gets in Your EyesChoosing wines and spirits that complement cigars
50 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
of how one should taste. The presence of sweet figs and apricots
is then followed with warm vanilla and caramel. This is a great drink
to accompany your cigar of choice.
CigarsChoosing a cigar
can be very difficult if
you don't know your
way around a cigar
shop. Ask the salesper-
sons for help, and they
will try to find one that
best fits your style.
They usually smoke two to three cigars a day and are very knowl-
edgeable. I generally will not buy a box of one type of cigar be-
cause I like to have a variety to choose from, but if I did buy a box,
it would be the Ashton VSG Virgin Sun Grown (Dominican Repub-
lic). It is a well-priced cigar that has a great woodsy and earthy
smell when you first light it. As the cigar burns, aromas of Sumatra
coffee begin to emerge. I have recently been introduced to the
Falto Privilegio Mi Viejo #9 (Dominican Republic) by a local doctor
who owns part of the company. I was surprised by the depth of fla-
vors and peppery finish that continued throughout the long burn.
It's a fantastic cigar for beginners as well as seasoned aficionados.
PlacesNothing is better than to finish a big plate of barbecue and then
have a cigar with friends. Luckily there is one place here in San An-
tonio that can help with both of those cravings. Augie’s Barbed
Wire SmokeHouse, near Brackenridge Park, not only has some of
the best pulled pork in town, but you can also mosey on up to the
tree house where you can enjoy a cigar with friends. When I get
asked if I play golf, my usual response is “I like to drink, walk
around, openly swear and smoke cigars, so yes, I do play golf!”
Sometime I pretend that I can't find my golf ball so I can spend a
few extra minutes walking through the brush enjoying my cigar. If
you want to purchase a fine cigar, I recommend any of the
C.I.G.A.R. locations throughout the city and Saglimbeni Fine
Wines. They both have very knowledgeable and friendly staff as
well as a place where you can enjoy your purchase.
Since that first night at the cigar bar, I have slightly elevated my
taste for both Scotch and cigars. I have also traded in my love of
leather couches and paintings of sunsets for lawn chairs and actual
sunsets. No longer am I discussing the value of the yen or what
new technology company has the latest and greatest gadget to hit
the market. Now I sit and debate with my neighbors about the type
of grass that has the best chance of standing up to San Antonio's
intense summers and which gymnastics school offers the best pro-
gram for my daughter. While the talking points have drastically
changed over the last 20 years, for me the best part still remains
the same. I get a few hours with my friends enjoying some of the
finer things of life.
51SANANTONIOMAN.COM
SAN ANTONIOMANby MEGAN L. MINUS
At a recent barbecue cook-off, my senses were awakened with a party
blender standing in a self-made pit created from an old 40-foot dumpster.
I figured the contraption that was being prepped was a creation of the pit
owners, and then I found it online. You start the machine with a roar, just
as you would any other gas-powered string-trimmer for your yard. You
take control of the speed with the handles of a motorcycle. The noise, the
smell, the cheers all make it a hit. Best part is the pour. The stainless steel
blender holds 48 ounces of perfect frozen beverages. The consistency
was remarkable. Check it out at Everythinggameday.com.
1
Gadgets for
All the best foods are served on a stick: corn dogs,
roasted marshmallows, ice cream, kabobs. Take it up a
notch and make waffles on a stick. While you have to
wait hours in a line at Fiesta for such a treat, now it’ll
take less than two minutes for you to enjoy it at home
with the Lolly Waffle Iron. Each waffle measures out to
9.4 inches long. Some may perceive it as a waste of
money; I look at it as an investment of time.
2
Fiesta means Mexican beers, which also means
torn up palms or cheap bottle key rings. Step up the
class and attention with your phone case that doubles
as a bottle opener. OpenaCase works with both the
iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. You may be lacking crystals
or drawings or pictures of your family on your case,
but slid into the back of your case is an opener with
which you’re prepared for the party. The stainless
steel opener makes one less thing you have to worry
about losing in the crowds.
3More on page 52
FIESTAIt’s Fiesta time in San Antonio — the precursor to a great San Antoniosummer. We’ve thought about almost all that you need to survive thisseason and continue the party well into the hot months. Take our adviceand invest in some these. They’ll make you the life of the party!
52 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN
While you may not lose your bottle opener, you may lose your
friends. Solution? The iPhone app “Find My iPhone” and the An-
droid app “The Eye.” These apps have taken GPS technology and
made it incredibly useful. They have the ability to tell you the exact
location of a friend’s, significant other’s or children’s phones. You
can see everywhere they’ve been and how long they’ve been there.
You can tell if they just left the King’s River Parade or are headed to
Pearl Brewery. Make sure they accept your request though, espe-
cially before they run the Fiesta Fandango Run!
4If you’re the one running the race (or just running to get into swimsuit
shape), invest in the Fitbit Ultra Wireless Fitness Tracker. This great lit-
tle piece of technology tracks your sleep, exercise and caloric intake. It
tracks your progress both day and night. It’s small enough to attach to
your pants or inside your pocket. Fitbit uses 3D motion sensors to meas-
ure steps and calories. At night, simply wear the included wristband
while it calculates how much and how well you sleep. Most importantly,
when you get near its base, all the information that has been collected is
uploaded to fitbit.com to track your progress. Fitbit has taken it a bit fur-
ther and added an app. Here you can log your food, weight and work-
outs. Brookstone carries the latest version for under $100.
5
So whether you’re taking the Fiesta route back home or with thecrowds, all of these gadgets will be right there with you to eat, drink,and dance well into the night.
53SANANTONIOMAN.COM
by MEGAN L. MINUS
Scorpions by nature are incredibly tough.Their shell protects them and the field that they tread on. They’re
quick and precise. And when disturbed, scorpions can sting with a
venomous poison. They come in, guard, and defend. There is no
denying that they will do the same for San Antonio.
The San Antonio Scorpions FC is a vision that has been circling
San Antonio for years. With such a growing interest in soccer in the
United States, it was time for San Antonio to become the next hot
spot for the sport. The city already hosts a top-of-the-line soccer
complex on the northeast side of town, but it was through a thor-
ough thought process and great leadership that final plans were put
into play.
It all started with a dream by a determined father. Gordon Hart-
man, San Antonio philanthropist, opened Morgan’s Wonderland in
Spring 2010 in an effort to entertain people of all ages with or
without disabilities. His park was created with more than 25 rides,
playscapes and attractions totally wheelchair accessible and fo-
cused on high sensory activities for those with disabilities. He was
persistent about allowing anyone with a physical or cognitive spe-
cial need into Morgan’s Wonderland for free.
“Morgan’s Wonderland continues to exceed expectations, pro-
foundly touching the lives of special-needs children and adults,
their families and friends,” Hartman says. “This level of activity re-
quires substantial financial support in order to attract more guests
and provide more services and programs to the special-needs
community at no charge.”
In order to meet the park’s financial requirements, Hartman
searched for sponsorship, and he found it right next door at STAR
(South Texas Area Regional) Soccer Complex. When the two
banded together, Morgan’s Wonderland was receiving the profits
from the operation of the 13 first-class playing fields.
To further the soccer operation, Hartman was granted an NASL
franchise in the fall of 2010 and launched Soccer for a Cause. The
franchise was the start of something greater than he had ever
thought. He would be bringing some top athletes in the soccer
world to join a city already abundant in athletic talent. But this
time it was a new team, and he was determined to get the city in-
volved. The organization began a name-the-team contest, a logo
design competition, and a way for fans to choose the team jersey.
Around the same time, Nike jumped on the Scorpion bandwagon
as its first team sponsor. All of the net profits from Scorpions
would go directly to ease the financial burden of free admittance
at Morgan’s Wonderland.
“We’re truly appreciative and thrilled with the entire community’s
intensifying interest. As far as we know, this marks the first time in
pro sports history that a team has been organized solely for the
benefit of a nonprofit cause. The Scorpions will not only compete
for a community that’s eager to see soccer played at a high level
but also for a very worthy cause,” says San Antonio Scorpions FC
president Michael Hitchcock.
As of now, the team, which is composed of international and
native soccer sensations, will be set to start its inaugural year
hosting games at Northeast ISD’s Heroes Stadium across Thou-
sand Oaks Drive from STAR Soccer Complex and Morgan’s Won-
derland. The men have been busy at work practicing for the first
game on April 7 in Atlanta against the Atlanta Silverbacks. They
return to San Antonio for their first home game on April 15.
“We’re making excellent progress in preparation for our first
game against the Atlanta Silverbacks on Saturday, April 7, and
our home opener against the Puerto Rico Islanders on Sunday,
April 15,” says head coach Tim Hankinson. “The science books
tell us that a group of scorpions is known as a ‘cyclone.’ So
we’re working hard to come together as a tough, determined
team that will blow away the competition.”
With a roster limited to 30 players, there was a tough process
to narrow it down from 600 choices hailing from 11 different coun-
tries. The roster includes two hometown sensations, Craig Hill and
Matt Gold. Hill was a four-year letterman at Reagan High School,
and after a successful college career at S.M.U. and a short stint
with FC Dallas, he returns to his hometown as a goalkeeper. Gold
claims San Antonio as home, but attended high school in Austin at
St. Stephen’s Episcopal. His career
led him to Ohio State, but he is back
as one of the Scorpions midfielders.
“Key goals for the Scorpions include
heightening interest in soccer, promot-
ing physical fitness and boosting
tourism, in addition to the primary goal
of generating profits for Morgan’s Won-
derland,” says Hartman.
San Antonio ScorpionsHere Come the
SAN ANTONIOMAN
SAN ANTONIOMAN
54 APRIL/MAY 2012
By the 2013 sea-
son, the Scorpions
FC will have its own
place to call home
in a 6,100-seat
playing facility near
STAR Soccer. The
groundbreaking on
Scorpions Stadium took place on Feb. 29
with founder Gordon Hartman, president
Michael Hitchcock, head coach Tim Hankin-
son, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro,
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and North
American Soccer League commissioner
David Downs all in attendance. Beyond
being the home to professional soccer
games, the stadium will host high school,
NCAA and Big 12 soccer competition, plus
concerts and other special events, and can
be expanded to seat 18,000.
“Scorpions Community Stadium
will be San Antonio’s premier out-
door sports and special events venue
when it opens for the 2013 North
American Soccer League (NASL) sea-
son,” says Hartman.
In the meantime, be sure to head out to
STAR Soccer Complex to see this team
take on the Puerto Rico Islanders on April
15. You can find all the details on their
website at sanantonioscorpions.com.
56 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMAN by JOHN GOODSPEED
In the quest for big redfish, most anglers think salt water and
hit Interstate 37 on the way to the coast, driving right by two of
the state’s hottest spots for line-stripping trophies.
Less than 20 minutes from the Alamo, Braunig and Calaveras
Lakes offer fast action for reds as well as hybrid striped bass and
catfish. While the lakes may lack the allure of coastal waters with
such exotic names as Chicken Foot Reef, Sting Ray Hole and Big
Devil Bayou, Braunig and Calaveras more than make up for it with
almost guaranteed catches for arm-aching battles that are easy on
the wallet — no need for overnight lodging and ever-increasing
gasoline bills.
Now is the time for big reds and easy limits at Calaveras, says
Manny Martinez, who has been guiding clients this spring to fish
in the Shadow ofngling ActionAthe Alamo
Braunig and Calaveras Lakesare hot spots for reds and catfish
57SANANTONIOMAN.COM
from 22 to 35 inches in length and weighing upwards of 24 pounds.
“This is tremendous, one of the best years I’ve seen in more than a
decade. It started in mid-February because we never really had a
winter, and the water stayed warm. It definitely will keep going
through April and May,” he says.
The lakes are used for cooling CPS Energy’s coal and natural gas
electric-generating plants. Reds start biting in earnest when water
temperature reaches 73 degrees and higher. Temperatures are lag-
ging at Braunig, which usually is not used until peak electric de-
mands in the summer.
Both lakes, though, benefit from an aggressive stocking program by
the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. More than 7.5 million redfish fin-
gerlings have been stocked since 1976 at Calaveras — about 1 million
more than in any other Texas lake. It was impounded in 1969 and cov-
ers about 3,624 acres with a maximum depth of 45 feet.
More than 4.5 million fingerlings went to Braunig, which was im-
pounded in 1964 and covers about 1,350 acres with a maximum
depth of 50 feet.
The reds are the same kind of fish as those at the coast. They
spawn in late summer and early fall, although the water lacks
enough salinity for eggs to survive. Fingerlings take about three
years to reach the 20-inch minimum size for keepers. Unlike saltwa-
ter redfish, which require a special redfish tag for fish longer than 28
inches, there is no maximum size for freshwater reds. The daily limit
is three.
On a foggy morning in mid-March, Martinez guided two anglers to
limits within 30 minutes. They caught and released more than 30. That
afternoon, his three anglers limited out in a little over an hour.
“Calaveras is the almighty right now,” says Martinez, who landed
the lake record redfish — a 41-inch-long 30-pounder — in 2008. Pho-
tos of the bruiser are at www.fishingwithmanny.com. In January, he
guided San Antonio native Harold Skipper, who bested the Calaveras
record for a channel catfish by nearly a pound with a 7.86-pound fish.
While the big catfish usually are caught in the winter, blue cat-
fish and channel catfish between 2 and 8 pounds can be found
while spawning in April and May in 2 to 5 feet of water. In the sum-
mer heat, they move to 15 to 20 feet of water and return to the
shallows at night.
Martinez, who favors garlic-flavored Catfish Gold Stick Bait
on a size 6 treble hook in spring and summer, says Braunig has
bigger channel cats but Calaveras tops it in numbers for chan-
nels and blues. For redfish, he uses downriggers — which use
heavy weights to suspend artificial lures at various depths — and
trolls until he finds feeding schools. Then he repositions his four
lines to the same depth and sometimes gets two or three
hookups at a time.
Bank fishermen often wade out and throw baits with surfcasting
rods, then walk back, prop the rods in holders and wait. Productive
baits for reds include live crawfish, tilapia, shad and perch or dead
shrimp with heads on,
Hybrid stripers — a cross between freshwater male white
bass and saltwater female striped bass — will hit on just about
anything, including chicken livers, which catfish also love. Although
most are under the 18-inch keeper limit, stripers also will be excel-
lent through May at both lakes before tapering off in the summer.
The parks at Braunig and Calaveras are operated by Thousand
Trails Management Services, part of a nationwide chain. It rents cov-
ered picnic tables, campsites and RV sites with hookups. The stores
offer fishing tackle, bait, sandwiches, snacks and drinks.
The stores and entrance gates are open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in
spring and summer. Adult use fee is $5, and a boat launch is $4. The
lakes’ Website is www.braunig-calaveras.info.
SAN ANTONIOMAN
Fishing guide Manny Martinez displays a 25-
inch redfish at Calaveras Lake, which promises
excellent action for the next few months.
Ralph Winingham of San Antonio shows off the
fat channel catfish he landed at Braunig Lake.
SAN ANTONIOMAN by CHET GARNER
58 APRIL/MAY 2012
The lake If you’ve never been, Canyon Lake is
about as picturesque as they come: wide-
open Texas sky, rolling Texas hills and one
giant pool of crystal-clear water plopped
down in the middle of it all. Formed along
the flowing Guadalupe River in the 1960’s,
this 8,000-acre lake is the perfect solution to
any boiling-hot Texas summer. I’ve spent
many an afternoon basking on the shores of
Canyon Lake, which lies just one hour from
San Antonio, with plenty of public parks for
waterfront access.
The gorge However, on this particular day I headed
to Canyon Lake for a very different reason. I
wasn’t in search of water, but the remnants
of what water had
left behind — an in-
credible gorge half a
mile long and 200
yards wide formed
over the course of a
few days by a raging
flood. You see, the
average rainfall in
this part of the Hill
Country is 15 to 34
inches per year. However, on the July 4th
weekend in 2002, the Canyon Lake area re-
ceived 34 inches. That’s a year’s worth of
rainfall in a single weekend!
Luckily for area residents downstream,
the Canyon Lake dam was engineered to
withstand this sort of downpour. Instead of
flowing over the top of the dam and jeopard-
izing its structural integrity, the lake was
equipped with a “spillway” to channel the
high water around the dam and down a
small gulch. While it had never been tested
CANYONLAKEGORGE
It is generally accepted that theGrand Canyon was formed over thecourse of 18 to 20 million years(give or take a few million). Scien-tists estimate that Texas’ Palo DuroCanyon took 90 million years toform. Based on firsthand knowl-edge, the Canyon Lake Gorge wasformed in two days.
dinosaur tracks!
RESERVE A SPOT: Remember, you can only experience the gorge on a
guided tour. So check the schedule and reserve a spot at
canyongorge.org. The hike is for folks 7 years and up.
DRINK WATER:While the hike through the gorge isn’t too tough, water is essential ...
so is sunscreen.
WEAR SHOES: Flip-flops make great lakeside shoes, but you’ll need appropriate
footwear to hike in the gorge.
prior to that weekend, the Canyon Lake
spillway worked exactly as planned.
Water was diverted around the dam and
funneled over the spillway into a small
ravine. It then flowed downhill to rejoin the
Guadalupe River below the lake. It rushed
over the spillway for days. However, when
the water subsided, nobody expected that it
would leave behind Texas’ newest natural
wonder — the Canyon Lake Gorge, formed
not in a matter of millions of years, but in a
matter of days.
My trip through the gorge I had heard about the gorge through
some friends and was overly excited to see
it myself, so I hopped onto a guided tour
with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority.
Because of the gorge’s unique nature, it’s
only accessible by guided tour, which was
all right by me, as it is so spectacular that
it needs some explanation from an edu-
cated guide. Since guided tours began in
2007, the Gorge Preservation Society vol-
unteers have led over 10,000 people
through the gorge, and I was pumped to be
one of them.
The tour group and our fearless leader
started at Overlook Park, which is just above
the gorge at the mouth of the spillway. The
guide brought us back to that weekend and
how the rushing water sounded like a freight
train moving through the terrain. The water
was so powerful that if you stacked the
amount of stone moved out of the gorge on
a football field, it would be 30 stories tall.
And as the water moved this massive
amount of debris, it tore into the native lime-
stone and exposed a number of very inter-
esting things.
After that explanation, we set off on foot
into the gorge. Our guide took us past a
set of dinosaur tracks, then the under-
ground channels of an aquifer, and finally a
number of huge fossils, including a prehis-
toric “rock lobster” (cue the B-52s). See-
ing these treasures on the rock surface is
like peering 110 to 112 million years into
the past. It’s such a unique opportunity
that oil and gas companies are paying
thousands of dollars to study the gorge
and conduct minor scientific tests.
As we traveled down the gorge, water
suddenly began to flow out of rocks and into
beautiful turquoise-blue pools connected by
tiny streams and waterfalls. I didn’t mind the
hike, but the hardest part for me was re-
straining myself from diving headfirst into
these sparkling pools, as swimming is
banned in the gorge.
The futureWhile a hike down the gorge is a rugged
and exposed hike through nature, the
Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority recently
purchased 20 acres of adjacent land with
plans to build an Environmental Learning
Center, complete with a shuttle bus and
trails for those with limited mobility.
It’s amazing to think that something so
unusual and beautiful could be formed in a
matter of days. And with the help of the
Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, it will be
around for generations to come.
SAN ANTONIOMAN
59SANANTONIOMAN.COM
Swimmin’If the urge to swim is just too strong
to withstand, I recommend swimming at
Overlook Park. A short hike down to the
lake will take you to a limestone beach
with shallow rock shelves for lounging
and massive boulders for jumping. If
you have young kids, I recommend the
pebble beach at Comal Park.
�
Eatin’�For some homemade Tex-Mex and
walls with more knickknacks than your
great-aunt’s garage sale, head to
Frank’s Bait and Tacos. While Eddie (the
owner) sells just about everything else, a
“bait taco” isn’t on the menu. For tasty
food at the only restaurant on the water,
not to mention one killer sunset view,
head to Sailor’s Lakeside Grill.
Bikin’�For some excellent mountain biking
action, head to the Madrone Trail weav-
ing through Canyon Park on the north
side of the lake. This 8.2-mile loop has
some tough spots, but the sweeping
lake view makes it worth the effort.TIPS: Tune into The Daytripperon your local PBS station,or visit online atwww.thedaytripper.com.
61SANANTONIOMAN.COM
SAN ANTONIOMANby TERRY NEGLEY
Cadillac has always been known as a
luxury car, but with the 2012 CTS-V
Coupe it can also claim the title of
fastest production coupe in America, if
not the world.
Cadillac became the first American auto-
mobile manufacturer in 1902, when Henry Le-
land was approached by investors of the failing
Detroit Automobile Company to appraise their
tools and equipment for liquidation. Henry, who
was known as a master machinist and a good
businessman, told them he could supply them
with motors that he made and thus save the
company. The investors agreed but asked
Henry to run the company.
The rest is history. The company was
named for the French adventurer Le Sieur An-
toine de la Mothe Cadillac, who named De-
troit in 1701. The Cadillac crest is the Cadillac
family crest.
Now forward 110 years, and not only is
Cadillac still a symbol of quality and prestige,
but it has a new reputation for performance.
The CTS-V Coupe is a complete package.
This car looks good with its edgy styling, it
handles beautifully, and it goes like a rocket.
Under the hood is a 6.2L V8 engine with a su-
percharger that generates a massive 556
horsepower and 551 foot pounds of torque. To
get all that power to the asphalt you can have
either a TREMEC 6-speed manual or Hydra-
Matic 6-speed automatic.
Once it is launched, handling is assured
by a Nurburgring tuned suspension with revo-
lutionary dual-mode Magnetic Ride Control
that reacts in the blink of an eye. This sys-
tem, designed at GM, is also being used by
Ferrari. To stop this freight train they have
race-inspired BREMBO brakes that deliver
massive stopping power.
In the cockpit you’ll find gauges that flash
as you approach red-line and a G-meter that
communicates lateral acceleration. You would
be remiss if you didn’t order the optional
heated and ventilated Recaro performance
seats to keep your butt firmly planted when
you let all this power loose.
This isn’t the only version of the CTS
Coupe. You can get a 6-cylinder model with
318 horsepower for about half the price of the
V. They also put the V-Package on the sedan
and wagon. If you’ve been looking at Euro-
pean cars for a future purchase, you owe it to
yourself to take a CTS-V for a test drive.
Did I mention the door handles that are
just buttons that you touch to open the doors?
The whole package is meticulously crafted
for luxury with various packages. How about a
Bose 5.1 surround sound system, hard drive
for music storage and a heated steering
wheel? The Glide-Up Navigation System
(means it pops up out of the dash when you
turn it on) has voice guidance controls, 3-D
color imaging, 10 speakers with the Bose sys-
2012 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe
Blending Luxuryand Power
Blending Luxuryand Power
SAN ANTONIOMAN
62 APRIL/MAY 2012
tem, iPod connectivity and Pause-and-Play radio, all accessible on an 8-
inch LCD touch screen.
If you’re old enough to remember the Tucker automobiles, one of their
great innovations was a headlight that turned when the steering wheel
turned. This is a feature that has shown up in several luxury cars lately.
Cadillac calls it Adaptive Forward Lighting. Sensors read your speed and
steering angle, swiveling the HID ( High-Intensity Discharge ) headlamps
up to 15 degrees to illuminate the direction you’re traveling. These head-
lamps so are advanced that they even auto-level based on how fast you’re
going and in what direction. Speaking of lights, the interior design includes
ambient lighting. It features a light pipe under the wood trim on the dash
and LED spotlights under the door pulls, footwells and overhead console,
setting the mood in the car and setting the scene for the perfect drive.
Another great feature of many new cars is the Rearview Backup
Camera. This is being considered by several legislatures to become
standard equipment on all future cars. On the 2012 CTS-V it provides a
panoramic view of the vehicle’s projected path when in reverse. This is
intuitively displayed in the rearview mirror, but if you take my advice and
get the navigation package, the display will be in the large screen that
pops up out of the dash.
Standard equipment also includes ultrasonic rear parking assist that
issues audible warnings if the vehicle is within a specified distance of a
detected stationary object like your golf cart.
Even before you enter this car, it enhances your experience. How
about Adaptive Remote Start, which allows you to start your car (and
automatically adjusts the climate control based on the exterior tempera-
ture) from your key fob? How about an UltraView sunroof, which works
with the Bose 5.1 surround system to automatically adjust the volume
when opening or closing?
If you can afford a 2012 CTS-V, you’ll never regret buying it. Base
price is $63,215, and it can be optioned to almost $75,000. It beats the
competition in most categories, and it’s an exciting ride.
64 APRIL/MAY 2012
SAN ANTONIOMANSAN ANTONIOMAN
1. Gunn Nissan is now under the leader-
ship of DERRICK ALVIS, new general
manager. Before moving to the Nissan
store, he was general manager at Gunn
Infiniti. Gunn Nissan’s new state-of-the-art
location at Loop 410 and Broadway has
doubled its former size.
2. JIM CLEMENTS joined KFW En-
gineers & Surveying as vice president of
municipal engineering. Clements has 23
years of professional experience over a
comprehensive range of engineering disci-
plines, managing both public and private
projects. Among his major professional ex-
periences is managing the City of San An-
tonio MPO Program.
3. FRANK GARZA has been named
partner for Davidson & Troilo, now David-
son, Troilo, Ream & Garza in the firm’s
50th-anniversary year. A former city attor-
ney of San Antonio, Garza contributes to
the present practices of the firm. He is in
his 25th year of assisting municipalities
with their legal needs.
4. KENNETH GARZA was named
project manager for Gobbell Hays Part-
ners, Inc. He has nine years of experience
in various aspects of the environmental
industry. His client base includes health
care, hospitality and insurance industries,
school systems, commercial and residen-
tial properties and law firms..
5. BLAKE GEORGE has taken over
the Infiniti store as general manager after
12 years with Gunn Automotive. His new
role encompasses overseeing every aspect
of the operation of the dealership. George
was formerly the general sales manager for
Gunn Buick GMC.
6. Yates Construction has hired SHANE
HESTERS as business development
manager for its South Texas Division in San
Antonio. Hesters has over seven years of
experience in the construction industry, pro-
gressing from superintendent to project
manager on projects in the greater San An-
tonio area.
7. Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. has
named JOHN P. JENNINGS part-
ner. Jennings' practice focuses on com-
mercial real estate and the negotiation of
federal, state and local economic devel-
opment incentives. He represents clients
in the acquisition, disposition, financing,
development, leasing and operation of all
types of real property.
8. STEVEN MCGLYNN brings over
12 years of restaurant experience to Wild-
fish Seafood Grille San Antonio, where he
is currently serving as a managing partner
and elevating hospitality to an art form.
McGlynn has amassed extensive experi-
ence within the Eddie V's/Wildfish brand,
having been a manager in seven different
restaurant locations across the Southwest
and West Coast.
9. ROB SABOM has been pro-
moted to vice president of Gunn Automo-
tive. Sabom, who joined Gunn in 2005,
will assist in the day-to-day operations of
Gunn’s six dealerships and two collision
centers. Previously, he was general man-
ager of Gunn Nissan before becoming
vice president.
10. Ballet San Antonio has promoted
GABRIEL ZERTUCHE to the post
of artistic director. Zertuche’s choreogra-
phy has been performed throughout the
United States and Latin America. He has
choreographed several ballets for Ballet
San Antonio, among them Frida Kahlo,
Zenith and Suzaki Dances. His first full-
length ballet, Dracula, was performed by
Ballet San Antonio in 2011.
MEN ON THE MOVE
Send yourMen on the Move
information [email protected].
www.sanantonioman.com
I also know what fajita means, and it’s not
“anything wrapped in a tortilla.” Shrimp fajitas
probably wouldn’t be so annoying if I lived
somewhere like North Dakota. But this isn’t
North Dakota. This is America, specifically, San
Antonio. We invented fajitas. We even invented
cattle with giant handlebars to make them eas-
ier to catch so we could harvest the fajitas that
grow on them.
Fajitas are skirt steaks. They’re a cut of
beef. They come from cows. The word fajita
comes from the an-
cient Baklavian “Fa”
meaning “cow” and
the Ungulato “Jita”
meaning “parts.” A
shrimp is not part of a
cow. I looked it up.
Ordering a shrimp
fajita is like ordering a
shrimp T-bone. There’s
no such thing. Same goes for chicken. Wake
up the kid behind the counter at the local Fryer
Tuck’s and ask him which part of the chicken is
the fajita, and you’ll get an even blanker-than-
usual stare.
This calling things other things is a sign of
our crumbling society. (I blame Gregg, the in-
ventor of shorthand.) And so, given my more
than 50-year history of eating, I have taken it
upon myself, at almost no risk, to assume the
mantle of San Antonio’s Official Authority:
Food. As the city’s duly self-appointed OAF, I
hereby pledge to eat and determine the actual
existence of just about any foodstuff. I use the
time-honored “just about” caveat because
even an OAF has standards. I won’t eat any-
thing commonly considered bait, a flying mam-
mal or just plain gross.
Shrimp fajitas are only one reason I’m will-
ing to put my tongue on the line. My concern
for the sacredity (look it up) of food started on
the dark day when someone first ordered a
strawberry margarita. I knew then we’d lost our
way. “I’d like a margarita, please. And since I’m
a huge fan of tequila and ice, but can’t stand
limes, can you make it with strawberries in-
stead?” Woe betide the bartender, probably
from Poteet, the strawberry capital of the
world, who agreed to that atrocity. This is ex-
actly how abominations like vegetarian chili
and mango salsa came about.
It all starts out innocently enough.
Buffy: “Man, this is good coffee.”
Lance: “You know what would make it even
better? Chocolate.”
Buffy: “I love chocolate.”
Lance: “And caramel.”
Buffy: “Oooh, caramel.”
Lance: “Whipped cream and cherries are
good too.”
Buffy: “Oh, and Italian. I love Italian.”
The next thing you know, people are com-
plaining about finding actual coffee in their
double-upside-down-reverse-parabola-
mondo-freaking-obnoxiatos.
Remember when Saturday Night Live was
funny? And MTV played music? It used to be
the same with food. It was what it said it was.
It wasn’t “infused” with anything or “in the
style” of something else. OK, chicken-fried
steak is technically in the style of fried
chicken, but that’s not the point.
And I’m not the only one noticing this dis-
turbing trend. A few years back, the Culinary
Institute of America (the good CIA) opened a
branch right here in San Antonio, in an effort to
put an end to the insanity. This is where we get
the cream gravy train back on the tracks.
Young chefs are being taught to respect tradi-
tion and prepare the dishes that made Texas
great the way they’re meant to be prepared. It’s
no coincidence the state’s motto is “Come for
the steak, stay for the bypass.” Just look at this
description of the CIA’s Culinary Fundamentals
course from the school’s website:
“An introduction to the application and de-
velopment of fundamental cooking theories
and techniques.” Sounds good, right? A return
to basics.
“Topics of study include tasting, kitchen
equipment, knife skills, classical vegetable
cuts…”
OK, the study of tasting is a little esoteric.
Anyone with a tongue should be able to taste.
But this is probably some sort of advanced
ninja-style tasting to teach students to tell that
a dish not only needs salt but exactly how
many grains. And who couldn’t benefit from a
quick refresher on classical vegetable cuts?
That’s what’s wrong with America today, all
these reckless new vegetable cuts.
But it’s not just San Antonio that’s lost its
gastronomic mind. The entire state has gone
food crazy, and not in the good way. As evi-
dence, I offer Austin’s Chedd’s. It’s part of the
oh-so-trendy “word, or at least part of a word,
associated with food” restaurant-naming
frenzy. Places like “Bowl” and “Saliva” are pop-
ping up around the country. You can find them
in San Antonio without looking too hard.
Chedd’s is apparently short for cheddar. It’s
a cheese restaurant, specifically, a grilled
cheese restaurant. It has one menu item, grilled
cheese sandwiches, which start at $6.30.
Then there’s Cereality in Dallas. They sell
cereal. They’ll put stuff like bananas or peaches
on it. They’ll even mix Cheerios with Captain
Crunch for the whole grain-thrill-seeking crowd,
but it’s still just cereal, cereal that’s readily
available at any grocery store. At least at
Chedd’s there’s cooking involved. It’s madness.
So join me, fellow OAFs. Grill your own
cheese, pour your own cereal. And the next
time a server asks, “What kind of fajitas?” tell
him, “The ones that actually exist.”
65SANANTONIOMAN.COM
SAN ANTONIOMANby RANDY LANKFORD
I’ll have theUnicorn Chopswith a Bourbon Martini...
I speak Gringo Spanish. That is to say, my Spanish is only marginallybetter than, oh let’s say, my Martian. I know what cerveza means. And knowing that, I quickly learned what baño means.
NOT PARTOF A COW.
SAN ANTONIOMAN
1925Buying new clothes meant a trip downtown to Houston Street.
Victory-Wilson Clothiers was one destination in the
Dittmar Building located at 312 E. Houston Street.
66 APRIL/MAY 2012
Photo courtesy of Carol Karotkin
