Annual festival boasts a weekend full of activities

GONZALES – Texas has its own “shot heard ‘round the world” known by the phrase “Come & Take It.” And the event that led to that observance occurred in Gonzales County. The quip was used first in this country in 1778 during the American Revolution but it originally dates back to the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.

In Texas’ case, it referred to a small, six-pound cannon that fired on advancing Mexican troops on Oct. 2, 1835, near where the town of Cost is today. It was credited with being the first shot fired in the Texas War of Independence.

Gonzales marks the date every year with its own Come & Take It Festival, this year on Oct. 4, 5 and 6. The festival celebrates the firing of the first shot of the Texas revolution.

The Chamber of Commerce says on its website that the town of Gonzales “was established by Empresario Green DeWitt in 1825, two and one-half miles east of the confluence of the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers. It was the westernmost Anglo settlement until the close of the Texas Revolution and was named in honor of Don Rafael Gonzales, provisional governor of Coahuila, Mexico, and Texas.”

From its founding until 1835, colonists had problems with Comanche and Tonkawa Indians but Gonzales managed to flourish in that period and became the capital of the De Witt colony.

The Mexican government gave the cannon to Gonzales to serve as a protection against the Indians but two years later, in September of 1835, political unrest caused Mexican officials at San Antonio de Bexar to demanded the return of the weapon.

Bexar military commander Col. Domingo de Ugartecheas sent five soldiers and an oxcart to Gonzales to retrieve the cannon and return it to the Mexican Army. But Andrew Ponton refused to give it up and it was buried near the Guadalupe River.

A group of 150 mounted soldiers were sent to “take” the cannon but 18 Gonzales men blocked them from crossing the river and the Mexicans camped for the night near Cost.

The next morning, Oct. 2, the colonists crossed the river with their cannon and waved a hastily-fashioned flag proclaiming “Come & Take It.” The little cannon was then fired, killing one of the attackers and forcing the others to retreat.

The Texas Revolution was now on.

Exactly five months later, Texas would declare independence and just seven weeks after that, on April 21, 1836, it won that right at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836.

On the first full weekend in October, the citizens of Gonzales gather to celebrate their Texas heritage in a three-day festival called “Come & Take It.”

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Daisy Scheske said there are three new attractions this year, the Texas Ranger Memorial, a “fire show” and a Texas Vintage Airstream Trailer Rally.

The Ranger event is placement of a Texas Ranger Memorial Cross at Gonzales Memorial Museum after the parade and lunch Saturday, Oct. 5. It is to honor the 32 rangers from Gonzales who answered the call by Alamo Regulars Commander Lt. Col. William B. Travis “To the people of Texas and all Americans in the world” to come to the Alamo when it was under siege in 1836.

“The Immortal 32 from Gonzales were members of one of the first ranging companies and they all went to the Alamo knowing that they would probably not return,” said Former Texas Rangers Foundation President Joe Davis. “This act and countless others like it are the foundation on which the Texas Rangers heritage and tradition is built.” The new cross is the highest honor the association bestows.

The fire show will be performed by James Allen and Bryan Pope their fire hoops show and LED performance troop.

“We will do circus bits to fire spinning to theatrical shows,” Pope said.

“The props I will be using for the show will be a fire hoop, an LED hoop, a fire staff and I will also be fire eating,” he said. “People who do this type of performance are called fire spinners or fire dancers.”

Also new this year will be the Eighth Annual Texas Vintage Airstream Rally all weekend at J.B. Wells Park. The Wally Byam Caravan Club International has invited all owners of Airstream travel trailers – both vintage and newer models – to attend the Texas Highland Lakes Unit “to celebrate the history of Texas.”

It will be in the multi-purpose show barn arena with the streamlined trailers on the floor for seminar workshops, open house and other activities.

The main event starts Friday, Oct. 4, with the opening of the Old Jail and Memorial Museums starting at 8 and 10 a.m., respectively, and going until 5 p.m. There will be a Gonzales Art Show from 1 to 5 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, the Gonzales County Camera Club Photo Contest will be from 5 to 8 p.m. and the Carnival and Bingo start at 6 p.m. The Carnival will be in historic downtown Gonzales and Bingo will be on Confederate Square.

Three performers will be on the card that evening at the Biergarten, Los Idealz, Whiskey Sin and Danielle Reed.

Saturday is packed with activities, starting with the 5K Walk/Run at Independence Park at 7:45 a.m. The Old Jail opens at 9 a.m. and the Masonic ceremony, also at 9 a.m., will be art Market Square.

At 10 a.m., The Come & Take It Canoe Race will begin from Lake Wood to the US 183 bridge and Memorial Museum Opens.

A major highlight of the day will be the Come & Take it Parade at 10:30 a.m. Scheske said it will follow the same route it has “for years.”

The Pride of Texas Carnival opens at 12 noon and Pioneer Village an hour later. There will be a Battle Reenactment there from 2 to 6 p.m.

The Former Texas Ranger event will be after lunch and the parade are over.

The Photo Contest continues from 1 to 6 p.m. and the art show will be from 1 to 7. There will be a Chicken Flying Contest on Confederate Square at 2 p.m. and there will be tours of the J.B. Wells House at 829 Mitchell and the Old College at 820 St. Louis.

At 3:30 p.m., adults from high school age up will compete in a jalapeno-eating contest while the younger set from eighth grade and under will complete with tamer Cheetos.

The Come & Take It Square dancers will do their thing and Bingo will continue beginning at 6 p.m.

There will be fire spinning shows with twirlers spinning their fire and LED hoops at 8:30 and again at 10:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, there are six entertainers on the card beginning with the County Line Band from 1 to 3 p.m., followed by Los Kolaches, Gillermo Serpas, Tequila Black, Thom Shepherd and Bart Crow.

It all continues Sunday, Oct. 6, with the set up for the Car Show, T-Bone Cook Off and Texas Bean & Chili Cook Off.

The Pioneer Village Memorial Service is at 9:30 a.m. and the ticket booth is in business at 11.

There will be a DRT Memorial Service at Memorial Museum at 12:15 p.m. and a number of attractions will open at 1 p.m.

They include the Pioneer Village, the photo Contest, the Airstream Rally Open House, Gonzales Art Group Show, Old Jail, Memorial Museum and the Eggleston House.

The Shiner Hobo Band will play from 1 to 5 p.m.

The tours of J.B. Wells House and the Old College will be from 2 to 5 p.m. and Bingo will be from 2 to 6 p.m.

The Bean and Chili Awards at 2:30 p.m. Sunday is the last scheduled event before the Ticket Booth and Carnival close.