Sondra Meyer

What goes through your mind when you pull into the parking lot of the restaurant that you picked out, only to see that the line of people waiting on tables has gone out the door? Are you willing to wait?

In College Station it is not uncommon to have long waits in the evenings and on weekends. This morning, it occurred to me that it would take less time to drive to Snook for a mouth watering steak, than it would to wait in line for a table at a popular College Station restaurant.

Have you discovered Snook yet?

Snook is a friendly farming community located 12 miles west of College Station on Highway 60.

Although residents are very proud of their high school football and basketball teams, they know that Snook is home to some of the best kolaches, steaks, sausage and chicken fried bacon around. Whether you are coming from Bryan, College Station, Lake Sommerville or Caldwell, the Czech-Tex Steak House and Bakery, Sodolak's Original Country Inn and Slovacek's are all well worth the 15 minute drive. (If you can't make the drive, Slovacek Sausage can be found in grocery stores across Texas.)

Just a little hint....Snook may not be the best town to visit if you are serious about sticking to your diet.

Snook is also home to what has been described as "the Brazos Valley area's most anticipated event," Chilifest. It is held every April at the Snook Rodeo Arena grounds. The charitable fundraiser has donated over $700,000 to a numerous charities since 2000.

Basically, Chilifest is a HUGE party in a pasture that benefits a number of great causes.

It features two days of musical entertainment and a chili cook-off. Headliners have included Willie Nelson, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Sammy Kershaw, Mark Chestnut, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Tracy Lawrence, Robert Earl Keen, and many others.

This is a picture of cotton that is about ready to be harvested from a pasture in Snook,

http://www.slovacek.com/

http://www.czech-tex.com/index.php

http://www.chilifest.org

In the You Tube video below, The Texas Country Reporter visits Sodolak's and tell everyone about Chicken Fried Bacon - the food that gives meaning to the term of "personal responsibility."

Photographed,

written and posted by

Sondra Meyer CPA/Real Estate Broker

United Country Brazos Valley Realty

1275 Flying Ace Ranch Circle

College Station TX 77845

979-575-2700

Last Day for exhibit: Pressed Glass: An American Art and Industry

Today, August 15^th is the last day to visit the Pressed Glass exhibit at the MSC Forsyth Center Gallery which is located on the Texas A&M Campus. Hours are from 10 am to 4:30 pm.

In addition to the special exhibit, the following types of works are on permanent display:

American Brilliant Period Cut Glass (1876 -1917

English Cameo Glass

D.C. Smith Paperweight Collection

American Paintings from the Bill and Irma Runyon Art Collections

Photographed,

written and posted by

Sondra Meyer CPA/Real Estate Broker

United Country Brazos Valley Realty

1275 Flying Ace Ranch Circle

College Station TX 77845

979-575-2700

For professional real estate advisory services,

Call or email Sondra Meyer at

sondra77845@yahoo.com

When you live in a university town, such as Bryan and College Station (B-CS), everyone notices when school is about to start, even if you don't have kids. U-Hauls, pick-up trucks with filled with household belongings, and increasing traffic are hard to miss signs that the students are coming back for the start of a new school year. In the last 24 hours, I've lost count of the number of U-Hauls that I've seen. A bunch.

Along with the new school year, comes FOOTBALL season! Here in B-CS, we have Texas A&M football. We also currently have two public high school football teams: the Bryan Vikings and the A&M Consolidated Tigers. The private schools also have football teams, as well as the schools in the surrounding counties. That is a lot of football.

Now, many of us girls are not really that much into football for the football game. That is unless, we know and really like someone that is playing. However, we do enjoy the camaraderie and the various things associated with school pride, spirit, and the traditions that can be found at football games.

Football... School Pride....School Spirit.

School pride and spirit seem to be glue that binds everyone together. The greater the spirit; the stronger the pride. The greater the pride; the stronger the glue that binds the students AND the former students. The Aggies are a perfect example. If you get the opportunity, ask an Aggie why they love Texas A&M. I promise that you will hear about the Aggie spirit and traditions.

If you think about it, pride and spirit is the glue that binds people together in all sorts of "organizations." Think about your real estate company. Think about your city or town. Think about other businesses. Think about churches.

Have you ever thought about how people communicate their pride and spirit? They find something that symbolizes it.

Consider this statute located at the front entrance to Bryan High School.

What does the Viking symbolize?

"Viking Spirit" was created by Lynn Haste and presented as gift to the school by the Class of 2001.

For more information about Lynn Haste and her other works please visit: http://www.lynnhaste.com/

This viking:

He looks so strong. So Proud. Ready for battle. Is he a leader? Who is he calling?

The sculptor, Lynn Haste, lives in Bryan. She has two other works on display in the Historic Down Town Bryan.

I'll share pictures of those in a future post.

They can also be viewed on her website:

http://www.lynnhaste.com/

Photographed,

written and posted by

Sondra Meyer CPA/Real Estate Broker

United Country Brazos Valley Realty

1275 Flying Ace Ranch Circle

College Station TX 77845

979-575-2700

This week, the nation's largest beef cattle short course is currently being held in College Station, Texas through Wed, August 4-6. In 2007, almost 1,500 beef producers were in attendance. In addition, over 100 agri-related businesses and trade show exhibitors annually attend the course.

The 54^th Annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course is bringing together the top beef cattle researchers, educators, and industry leaders "to address the most current issues," as well as to provide attendees "with cutting edge information" for use in beef cattle operations.

Yesterday, I heard the following useful tidbits of information that really stuck in my mind:

---- Instead of complaining about the things we can't control, such as the price of fuel, we need to focus on the things we can control. (This certainly applies to the Real Estate Industry also. )

• Hay stored in barns will last for years.
• Hay barns should be considered an insurance policy.
• Use of clovers and legumes can help save on fertilizer costs.
• Ethanol isn't hurting the beef industry as much as some people worry that it is.
• Treat the business as a business. Plan, montitor, and adjust accordingly.

If you can't make it to the course, you can purchase a copy of the Proceedings - which is a copy of the notes from all of the sessions being offered.

More information can be found at http://animalscience.tamu.edu/ansc/BCSC/index.html

Source of data: 54^th Annual Texas A&M Beef Cattle Short Course Proceedings.

Photographed,

written and posted by

Sondra Meyer CPA/Real Estate Broker

United Country Brazos Valley Realty

1275 Flying Ace Ranch Circle

College Station TX 77845

979-575-2700

For professional real estate advisory services,

Call or email Sondra Meyer at

sondra77845@yahoo.com

Dear Real Estate Diary: I've been thinking about places to cool off in Texas. Almost any body of water has crossed my mind. Here in the Bryan College Station area, we are part of an area known as the Brazos Valley. We have a river called the Brazos River. It marks the boundary of one side of our county.

I've also felt like the Brazos River would make a good Localism topic.

At this point down stream, the Brazos River is not commonly thought of as a recreational amenity. For most of us, it just seems to be there. As we go over the bridges, we might notice the water level, but for most of us, that is about it. I've heard that some people canoe in the river. I've heard about people that have drowned trying to swim in it. And, as I discovered this morning, some people actually fish in the Brazos.)

In contrast, I've heard that in Weatherford, Texas, people buy homes along the Brazos and launch boats onto the Brazos.....If that is true, it is really hard to imagine. Most places along the river here is farm land. Cotton and corn primarily.

Today, as I was taking pictures of the river, I noticed that it is actually pretty.

I've never really taken the time to stop and just look at the river.

But, then again...it may be safer to actually keep driving. Taking pictures on a bridge was a test of how daring I was. By the time I finished, I was not engaging in a turtle run.....I ran. Cheetah like. As fast as I could. My little two or three foot strip on side of the bridge didn't give me the comfort level I needed. Although most vehicles would go into the other lane to make me feel more comfortable, one car did not. That one car that choose to stay in it's lane did me in. Taking pictures of a river from a bridge is not worth getting squashed. No more taking pictures on bridges for Sondra.

The last two pictures of the River were taken in Brazos County. I discovered that the State owns the land around the bridges and you can acccess the river from a side "road." It was much safer way to photograph the river.