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	Come & Take It Winterfest Springfest Historic Homes Tour

Calendar of Events

Come and Take It! Fun events are scheduled throughout the year. Here are a few of them. You may also flip through the calendar to find any other events.

Springfest
Springfest features Courthouse Trade Days, a sale of art, antiques and collectibles, along with a Dutch-Oven Cook Off at Pioneer Village. Held the last Saturday in April.

Pilgrim Country Opry at Pilgrim Community Center
Supper served at 5 p.m. - Music at 6 p.m. on the second Saturday of February, April, June, August, October and December.

Gonzales Pioneer Village 'Needle Arts from the Heart'. Quilts, etc. Sept. 8. $5 adults, $3 children. Showcase for heirloom & modern quilts, embroidery, needlepoint, knitting and other handmade arts. There will be demonstrations of group quilting, weaving and more.

First Shot Cook Off - Sept. 15 at J. B. Wells Park Pavilion
IBCA Barbecue, Gonzales County Go-Texan & CASI Chili Event
Brisket, Pork Spare Ribs, Chicken, Beans and Chili. Entry fee before Aug. 31 is $100 for all three meats or $40 each; after Aug. 31 $125 for all three meats or $50 each. $10 Jackpot Beans. Trophies for first five places and overall Grand Champion. Showmanship categories.

The Come & Take It Festival is held each year on the first full weekend in October - Oct. 5, 6 and 7, 2007. Join us as we commemorate the firing of the first shot for Texas independence. There is a cannon-firing ceremony held each Oct. 2, to mark the date of the actual battle, which was Oct. 2, 1835. A battle re-enactment is held each year at Gonzales Pioneer Village Living History Center. Click on 'Come & Take It' to see a schedule of events.

Winterfest - Christmas in Gonzales
During the Christmas season, starting on Thanksgiving weekend in Gonzales, join the many activities scheduled, including the 'Stars in the Village' the Holiday Tour of Historic Homes, open house at selected churches, Breakfast with Santa, Children's Parade, Courthouse Trade Days, the Trail of Lights on the downtown squares, and lighting contest throughout the community, the historical program - 'Gonzales: The Beginning', the Annual Book Fair and the Pilgrim Country Opry.

Courthouse Trade Days - Dec. 1

Winterfest Tour of Historic Homes Dec. 1 & 2, 2 to 6 p.m. $10 for all, $5 each. Self-guided tour with map and tickets available at Old Jail Museum.

Stars in the Village at Gonzales Pioneer Village. Three weekends from 6 to 9 p.m., stroll through the 1800s living history center under thousands of twinkling lights. Nov. 23 & 24, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, Dec. 7 & 8. Pioneer hospitality includes the serving of refreshments.

'Gonzales: The Beginning' - Saturday, Dec. 1 at 1:30 p.m. in the District Courtroom of the Gonzales County Courthouse. Four actors in period costume present a one-hour program on the founding of Gonzales in 1825 and events leading up to the 'Runaway Scrape.'

Eighth Annual Gonzales Courthouse Book Fair Saturday, Dec. 1, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Meet the authors, purchase signed books at Liford's Books and Fine Art, 515 St. Joseph St. just north of the Courthouse. Authors there will include Jeff Murrah - Texans Always Move Them: A True History of Texas; Chuck Parsons - John B. Armstrong, Texas Ranger and Pioneer Ranchman; Stephen Hardin - Texian Macabre - A Moving Tale of a Hanging in Early Houston; John Dyer - El Vaquero Real: The Original American Cowboy; Steve Harris - Texas Troubadors; Bobby Hawthorne - Longhorn Football: An Illustrated History; Gary Keith - Eckhardt: There Once Was a Congressman from Texas.

A Texas Freedom Celebration:
March 2 Texas Independence Celebration set for Feb. 29, 2008
6:30 - 9:30 a.m. - Breakfast at the Old Jail ($5 per plate, carry out or dine in)
10:30 a.m. - 'Gonzales: The Beginning' - Historical program on the founding of Gonzales, presented in the District Courtroom in courthouse
12:15 a.m. - Wreath-laying and Salute to 42 Flags-Texas Heroes Square

The Old Jail Museum will be open until 5 p.m. Memorial Museum is open from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. An interpretive display on the grounds tells of the Runaway Scrape.
Another interpretive display is located at the north end of Independence Park and tells of the demand for return of the cannon, which led to the firing of the first shot for Texas independence on Oct. 2, 1825.
An interpretive display on Fort Waul, the earthenworks Confederate Fort built just north of Gonzales near the present-day site of Gonzales Pioneer Village, should be in place in 2007.