Latest / GO TEXAN THE Truly Significant / Newsom Vineyards presents Truly Significant 9th Generation Texan and Historian Monica Ashley

Transcript

Newsom Vineyards presents Truly Significant 9th Generation Texan and Historian Monica Ashley · GO TEXAN THE Truly Significant

• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Truly Significant.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: I'm Rick Tocchini.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: We have a great event that's coming up that most
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: of you all know about already because we've been doing
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: several shows about it. It's Texas Wine Month. We're going
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: to be celebrating it at Newsom's Vineyard there in Fredericksburg
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: in Comfort, and we're looking forward to that. We'll be
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: doing four hours of live podcasts, and then the Truly
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Significant Band will be playing out there. Come join us
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: on the 24th. It'll be from about 10 o'clock in
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the morning until 7 at night. And lo and behold,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Nolan Newsom introduces me to the one and only Monica Ashley,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: who he described as one of the great Texas historians
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: of all time. And we are so pleased to have
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: you on today. Welcome, Monica.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate Nolan's accolades. I think I do not
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: hold up to his true accolades, but I do appreciate those.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: I do strive to know my Texas history and continue
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: to work and educate myself on that one.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: I love that. And for those of you that are
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: just listening and you don't get to see what's on
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Monica's wall, she's got a spectacular painting of the Alamo.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: And then she's got all these other certificates, including her
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Daughters of American Revolution, certificates and history from the family.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Take us back to your hometown and a little bit
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: of your family history, and then we're going to dive
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: into some Monica Ashley questions.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Wonderful. Yep. I have been in San Antonio since 1992.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: I was raised in East Texas, in Lufkin, Texas, but
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: I was born in Abilene. My dad's job moved us
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: around quite a bit. But I found my way back
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: to San Antonio, where my heart belongs. My parents were
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: born and raised here, so I didn't make it back
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: here until 92, and two of my brothers followed along.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: I come from a family of five siblings, and three
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: of us made it back to San Antonio.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: And you are a ninth-generation Texan?
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: I am a ninth-generation Texan off my maternal side, and
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: I am a sixth-generation Texan off of my maternal side.
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: My maternal side takes us all the way back to 1722. Wow. Yeah.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: So I can walk the ground of San Antonio and
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: tell you that my ancestors built a lot of San Antonio.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: I used to joke with my children and tell them,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: I have all daughters, and I'd tell them, please do
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: not marry anyone in San Antonio because you were probably
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: kin to them. Mm-hmm. between my family, my husband's family,
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: I said, they are probably a cousin. And we do,
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: we do have a little, we have some distant generational
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: five and seven, five and seven generations back across cousins
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: between Ashley's and my side of the family. And so
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: I get to talk to those cousins every now and
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: then for being double cousins.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Only you. What first sparked your passion for Texas history
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: and what keeps you fascinated by it today?
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: What sparked my interest in Texas history? You know, honestly,
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: I was probably a little late to the game. I
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: can recall being a child and walking. My dad drug
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: us all over Texas and showed us different significant, you know,
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: pieces of Texas history, Washington, Nebraska, you know, the different parts.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: things like that. And I can remember walking through the
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Alamo as a child. And when you exited out, it
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: always say, I can care of or make a donation
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: to help the daughters continue to take care of the Alamo.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: And I go, what is a daughter? You know, do
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: I qualify to be a daughter? And lo and behold,
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: I did. I am a daughter, you know, and I
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: did qualify. And when I got involved with the daughters
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: really grew, I, I've been serving on their board for
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: over 12 years in our local chapter. And I have
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: served headquarters with headquarters on different committees where we just
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: built our new headquarters out there in Austin, the Republic
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: of Texas History Center. We opened that around 2022. So
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: that was a project that went on for about four
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: years all through COVID. I spent a lot of rubber
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: on the highway between San Antonio and Austin going back
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: and forth. project manage that. And the new Republic of
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Texas History Center has a museum in it called the
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Republic of Texas Museum. And I project managed the install,
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: the background of that with the help of our museum
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: committee and a lot of help from Dr. Frank De
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: La Teja, which is an author and a Texas historian.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: And thankfully, he He definitely came alongside me and gave
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: me a lot of help making sure we got our
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: history right as we installed that museum. So the Daughters
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: have always had a museum for over 130 years. This
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: was a new state of the art, vamped up, and
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  Speaker 2: it just totally focuses on the Republic of Texas. It
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: takes you a little bit back pre-Republic because you can't
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: just jump into Texas with the Republic. You got to
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: go a little back, go back a little bit and
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  Speaker 2: talk about Spanish history and us being under Mexican influence and,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the indigenous people that existed before all that
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: time frame. And then it ends with annexation.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: And, you know, you remind me of starting in 1962
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: in the first grade, Monica. For the first six months, Mrs.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Reagan taught only Texas history. And there was a point
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: where we thought Sam Houston was the first president of.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: The United States. Well, Texas does think they are the
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: United States.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: It's true. And so we were, I still have from
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: the first grade, you learn to draw the state of
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Texas and cut it out with your little scissors. And
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: every river we learned. the state bird, the state song.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: And we would say that and now look back on
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: it with such as an innocent day. You started the
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: day with the Lord's Prayer in.
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  Speaker 2: Texas, our Texas. What a fabulous history teacher you had.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, you did to think about that. I
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: would love to say that I had a fabulous Texas
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: history teacher, but I did not. And if I had
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: known the significance of my family when I was in
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: Texas history, I might have had more interest in seventh
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: grade when I was learning. I know. And we have that.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: I have that again in seventh grade, too. And you
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: make me think about growing up under the six flags
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: of Texas. And why didn't we ever recognize the indigenous
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: inside that as a seventh flag?
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Well, you'd have to have either created a flag for
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: them because they weren't flag toters. Or you would have
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: to have come up with all the different sectors of
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: it because there were so many different sectors of indigenous
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: people that were in Texas. And they all played a
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: big part of it. And you had the ones that
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: pushed everybody out too.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: You had the Comanches that liked to shove everybody around. Exactly.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: I remember the first time going into Commissioner Sid Miller's
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: office and he had this Comanche headdress and he said,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: This is the headdress of the original Texas commissioner of agriculture.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: And it's kind of, it just kind of stops you
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: in your, in your steps. And if you're not a
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: native Texan, you wouldn't understand it. And if you're moving
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: to Texas, by the way, take the time to learn
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Texas history.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: And the next one is Texas history is filled with
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: larger than life characters and unexpected stories. I was reading
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: more about them last night in preparation of you. What
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: is one story that you wish more Texans knew?
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. See, I knew you were going to
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: catch me on this one. I don't know that I
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: have a particular story that I wish more Texans knew.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: I reflect over some of the hardships that happened during
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: the Texas Independence. You know, you had a lot of
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: people fighting for Texas independence, and they all had different
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: reasons for their passion to fight for it, whether it
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: was education, whether it was religion, to have the freedom
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: to practice their religion of whether it's Baptist, Methodist, whichever,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: because at the timeframe for Texas independence, you were required
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: to be Catholic and you were required to speak Spanish.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, you had a lot of people
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: have different reasons and different passions to fight for Texas independence.
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  Speaker 2: And of course you had the planters that were coming
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: over from, you know, the states that were coming into
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Texas and they were wanting to, you know, fight for,
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: to have slavery because in Mexico, slavery was not accepted
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: that everybody was free and equal, you know? And I,
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: so I think where my heart, my heart goes out
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: to the women that supported Texas independence and they lost
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: all their rights when Texas became a Republic and Because
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: prior to Texas being a republic, if you lost your husband,
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: you still owned your land. If you lost your husband,
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: you still have rights to all your own property. But
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: when Texas became a state or republic, they adopted basically
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: the same outlines of the United States. And so all
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: women lost their rights. Everything went to their husbands or
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: they had to marry someone to protect what they owned.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: And then a lot of the Tejanos that fought, and
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: mine being Juan Seguin, you know, I had a lot
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: of ancestors that were veterans that fought for Texas independence,
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: were on the field at San Jacinto fighting for Texas independence.
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  Speaker 2: And when it was all said and done, they were
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  Speaker 2: pretty much pushed out of Texas because they spoke Spanish.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: And the Anglos were very concerned because they spoke Spanish
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: that they were sympathizers or friends with Santa Ana. And
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: so there was a lot of hardship that went on
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  Speaker 2: when they were really all passionate about being independent, having
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: their own great state or their own great country, republic,
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  Speaker 2: to live in. And then a lot of the, I guess,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: the passions that people had didn't align after independence, you know,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: had taken place. So there was a lot of shift
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  Speaker 2: in thought processes, and I do feel for the people
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  Speaker 2: that were you know, taken off guard. You got to
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: think about the Weber family, Weberville. You have Sylvia Weber.
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  Speaker 2: She was a free, she was a freed slave. She
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: was married. It was an interracial marriage. She was married.
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  Speaker 2: They had children. Well, Sylvia and her husband got very,
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: very concerned after Texas independence because were her, was his
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: wife and his children going to be, you know, taken
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  Speaker 2: and then sold off as slaves? They got a little
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: concerned about that. They were also known for smuggling people
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: into Mexico to help them get their freedom. So they
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: were like the underground.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly.
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  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of women's stories that I definitely
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: have probably a bigger passion for because there's a lot
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: of grit in a lot of these women. And back
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: to the museum that we put in in Austin, it
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: tells a lot of the women's stories. and kind of
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: gives you the Republic of Texas history through the eyes
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: of the women.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good bridge to, I read, every time
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  Speaker 1: I read about our state, Sam Houston is always first foremost,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: and boy, he held lots of titles, but give us
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  Speaker 1: an example of the female Sam Houston, one of many
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  Speaker 1: that you have stories of, but at least one that
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: you would like to highlight today that when individuals go
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: to the they need to really focus in on?
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  Speaker 2: You've got Cynthia Ann Parker. And, you know, you've got
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: to know the Parker story, Fort Parker, and her aunts,
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Rachel Plummer and Elizabeth Kellogg. Those two ladies, they were
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: also captured the same time Cynthia Ann Parker was captured.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: Cynthia Ann was a child, but Elizabeth Kellogg and Rachel
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Plummer were not. And those are some ladies that had true,
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: true grit. Especially Rachel Parker Plummer. She came back. They
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: brought her back. They, I guess, reintroduced her into Anglo society.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: And she lived a little bit longer before passing away.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: But she thought her child, when she was taken, her
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: child was taken, and she thought he had been killed,
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: her young son. And she never got to see him again.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: He came back. They found him after she had already
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: passed away. But she was tortured. She was pregnant when
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: she was taken. The Indian tribe that actually had her,
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: when she gave birth to the baby, they killed the
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: baby right in front of her. She was tied up
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: from hands behind your back, legs to your hands at
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: night so you wouldn't escape. And she was made to
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: serve people. But you know what? She never lost her faith.
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: You read her stories and her faith in the Lord
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: and her faith in God was unbelievable. And you can
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: read her all of her memoirs. And when you get
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: to the end of it, I have sat there and
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: questioned myself, would my faith be that strong after going
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: through what she had been through and having one? things
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: burnt on your face, being tortured, walking barefoot, miles and
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: miles and miles barefoot, being drugged behind horses or whatever,
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: continuing to have to walk. And her faith was unbelievable.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Those are the stories that should be taught in school today.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: And you think about, you've got hundreds and hundreds of
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: stories that teachers can teach. That story of faith is
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: so powerful. If you and I were sitting in front
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: of an audience full of Texas history teachers and we say,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: I want you to teach this story, this next story,
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: because it represents our core values. And if this is
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: the last breath that we have here on earth, tell
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: this story about this Texan So people will understand 100
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: years from now who we really are.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: I don't know that we've got one story to tell
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: because I think we've got a ton of stories to tell.
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  Speaker 2: But I do believe for our youth to have passion
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: for our state and for us not to lose our future.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Because if the youth is not educated, which... We've been
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: battling a lot with our education boards, and we've got
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: a lot of people that are trying to remove Texas
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: history out of schools.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: I know.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: And we've got some great people fighting to keep Texas
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: history and create a more simplified curriculum that makes it
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: very easy to teach correct Texas history. You know, you've
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: got Don Frazier. with Shriner University on his E Pluribus
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: program that is working on an education series so that
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: if a teacher doesn't really understand Texas history, it's a
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: plug and play to make sure our stories are given.
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: Where we lose our youth is when we are making
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: them learn dates and facts and not teaching them stories
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: so they can relate to the people and relate to
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: what the ancestors went through. You know, they need to
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: be able to put their feet in our ancestors' shoes
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: and walk those same paths and learn the stories. And
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: there are plenty of stories out there from women to
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: men and our Texas history and what they went through
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: to actually accomplish the great state that we live in.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: Amen to that.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: I love that. Let's break for a commercial. I'll give
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: it to you to give a special nod out to
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: the museum and tell people where they can find out
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: more about it and go visit it and honor the
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: women that you're talking about.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: You can go to the museum is located at the
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Republic of Texas History Center in Austin on 810 San
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: Marcos Street. And it's right next to the French Legation.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: And the museum is open Tuesday through Friday right now
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: from 10 to 3. It does take special groups and
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: special groups. And you can also schedule a special day
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: for your group to go in. And the museum hours
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: can be adjusted accordingly.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Is it possible that someday you will be a docent there?
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: So I bring my grandkids and I go, Monica Ashley's
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: here today. She's ninth generation Texan. Her family was here
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: before the Alamo was built in 1718. Are you going
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: to be a docent, Monica, or are you already?
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: I am. I'm on the museum committee. So we had
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: Museum Day in Austin a couple weekends ago, and I
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: was here greeting people and bringing people in.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: That's so great.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: One of my many hours that I put in, I
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: have a lot of non-paid jobs. I put in a
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: lot of non-paid hours.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: What is that? What are those non-paid hourly side quests
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: mean to you?
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, you know, I have three big things in my life. Um,
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: And I'm very grateful that God's given me the gifts
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: to be able to do them. So my non-paid hours
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: go towards, um, there's a public of Texas, a two
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: other nonprofits, hope it's harder cancer foundation, which focuses on
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: pediatric oncology and the San Antonio area. And then live ministries,
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: which comes along women helping to empower women in poverty situations,
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: as well as families, um, getting poverty. And, you know,
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: With the daughters and all the other ones, my husband
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: would tell you I work over 40 hours a week
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: doing all these. He always asks me, which non-paid job
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: am I on today? Along with managing some of our
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: things now, my life got easier about a year ago.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: We hired my daughter to take on all of my
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: business responsibilities. So I get to focus my time on
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: my non-paid jobs that I like so much.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, good for you. We actually study side quest here
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: and what side quests do for individuals from a health perspective.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: And we've got it cast against blue zones across the world.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: And God willing, you will live to be a wonderful
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: age because you've got the makings of a long range
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: life that's community oriented and faith associated. And if you
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: hit the other biggies, which are gardening and nutrition, you're
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: in for a good run.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: My poor green thumb is a brown thumb, but I
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: do try.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: That is great. How did you and the Newsomes meet?
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I actually met Nolan because I have property in Newtown.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: comfort and he was one of my tenants and then
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: of course sipping wine at his vineyard there at his
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: tasting room and comfort is absolutely wonderful and listening to
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: it's a joy to listen to nolan nolan is full
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: of stories and i have never ever i don't think
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: witness anyone who's got such great stories as nolan Nolan
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: definitely has some good stories, but I love his wine
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: because I don't get a headache because he doesn't. And
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: he explained to me why I said, your wines are
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: more like European wines. You know, you don't get the
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: headaches or anything from them. And he goes, yes, because
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: I do small batch and he goes, and I don't
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: put any dyes in them. And I said, oh my gosh,
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: this is wonderful. So he gave me a little education
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: on how he does his wines differently. If you haven't
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: tried Newsome Vineyard wines and you have to go try
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: them and they're great because you don't get the, of
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: the sulfates or the dyes in your wine. So you
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: can drink as many bottles as you do if you
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: travel to Europe and not wake up feeling horrible the
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: next day.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: How much more of an endorsement do you want, Nolan,
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: other than that?
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: That is spectacular.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, most recently, Carla and I were back up in Sherman,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Texas for an event at our old high school. And
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: we went to Denison, Texas and learned about Thomas Volney Munson,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: who was a viticulturist, went over to France during the
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: late 19th century and basically took great species from France.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: And then France had this outbreak of parasites that destructed
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: the entire grape industry, the wine industry there. And he
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: came back to France with plants. So he is a.
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: He was a pioneer for us.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: He was a pioneer in viticulture and saved what is
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: a cherished billion-dollar industry over in France called the wine industry.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: A Texan from Grayson County, of all things. So Texas...
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Texas tradition and pioneering extends so far beyond. It's like,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: what new things am I going to learn about my
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: state of Texas next?
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: Well, have you gone to Paris and seen the Republic
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: of Texas in Paris that sits in one of the
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: buildings there when we had our own embassy over there?
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: And we have one in London also. When we were
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: a republic, It would be basically our embassy headquarters. It
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: was basically our embassy representation headquarters. And there's a plaque
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: that sits on a building in Paris. It talks about
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: the Republic of Texas and the dates and the time
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: period that we were a republic. And then there's one
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: in London also.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: I've got to see it. That just says so much
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: about what you and I are talking about, the power
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: of our the state, the power of the history. And
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: it's so weird, Monica, that Carla and I are coming
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: back from a trip out of the country in the
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: last week, and someone saw I was wearing a Texas
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: A & M shirt, and they go, we're going to
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: succeed just like Texas.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: Is going to. I went, what?
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, literally just saw my shirt and responded to that. Oh, okay. Well,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: where are you from? South Carolina. We want to be
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: like Texas. Okay. How do you respond to a comment
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: like that?
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: I know. We got a whole sector of Canadians that
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: want to be like Texas, too. And they want to
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: be part of the United States, but they want to
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: be like Texas.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: You know, when you travel, and I'm assuming you've traveled abroad,
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: you know, whenever I'm traveling, people ask where you're from.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: What do you tell them?
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: I'm from Texas.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: That's what I always tell them. And they know exactly
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: where Texas is, don't they? They do.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: And often recognize this as a country unto itself. But
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: the minute that I open my mouth up, I put
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: my North Texas accent on somebody and they go, what
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: part of Georgia or Texas are you from? So it
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: takes about an hour to say, I used to take
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: it offensively, but now I go, hey, it's me. And
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: we're authentically Texans.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: That's right.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: A couple of final questions for you. What do you
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: think guests can expect from the October 24th event out
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: there at Newsom's other than getting some great stories from
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: the Newsom's and tasting great wine?
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: Oh, they're going to get great music from you guys.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: And they're going to have great community entertainment. So Comfort's
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: a great community. And if you haven't been there, you
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: need to go. It's a growing community. Fantastic.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: That's what I say too. Okay, Monica, wrapping it up.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: We study so many things here at this network, but
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: one of them is now the notion of becoming. Who
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: are we becoming as individuals, as citizens, as adults, as
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: children of God? Who exactly are we becoming? So I
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: want you to consider this. Picture yourself at 80 or
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: 85 and there are grandchildren at your knee and they say, Grandma,
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: who did you become? How will you answer them?
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: Who did I become? Well, I became me. That's who
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: I became. And hopefully walked the path that God desired
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: me to walk and live and I'm leaving a legacy
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: behind for my grandchildren and others and generations to continue
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: to have a passion for our future and not lose
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: our future and actively preserving our past so that we
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: can have a future and learning from our past. Because
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: if you don't learn from your past, you will not
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: have a strong future.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: That is so powerful and heartwarming and memorable all at
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: the same time. Thank you so much for being on.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: You're welcome.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: And we need to have you back on annually once
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: a year to give the Monica Ashley State of the
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Texas Union report. And we thank you so much for
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: your service and for your heart and your Folks, if
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: you want to find out more about the museums, tell
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: them one more time where they can go to learn
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: more about Texas history.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: They can go to drtinfo.org for the museum information for
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: the Republic of Texas Museum. And that's located on 810
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: San Marcos Street in Austin, Texas.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Terrific. Thanks again, Monica. We appreciate you all joining us
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: and getting an opportunity to listen to Monica Ashley. We
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: always talk about the end of the show, your perspective.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: of success, but remember to chase down significance along the way.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: And as Monica just said, leave a legacy behind and
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: figure out how you can build this passion for a
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: future while preserving the past.
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: Have a great week.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: Big hearted Texans found across our state. Right is how
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: we're looking.
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: Brisket is on our plate. Boots, it's what we're wearing. Horses, yeah,
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: we may ride.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Farming is so rewarding.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: Ranching we...