A special Thank You to two ladies, plus an Internet trick

I want to offer a big "thank you" to two ladies who made this year's Tivy Homecoming more special.

First, a hearty thank you to the talented Lisa Winters, who handles Public and Media Relations for the Kerrville Independent School District. About a year ago we talked about the 100th anniversary of Tivy Football, and it was through her efforts this milestone was celebrated by the school district. She organized a showcase of Tivy memorabilia for the Homecoming celebrations and I believe she was instrumental in encouraging others in the district to make some new homecoming traditions by reviving the pep rally on the Heritage Star in downtown Kerrville. Years ago every home football game was celebrated with a pep rally at the intersection of Water and Earl Garrett streets -- and this year's Homecoming Parade paid homage to that old tradition.

Secondly, a special thank you to Jan P. Wilkinson, a corresponding historian friend of mine. Ms. Wilkinson is a descendent of Joshua Brown, the founder of Kerrville, and also a descendent of the Auld family. About a year ago Ms. Wilkinson sent me a newspaper article from the September 26, 1957 issue of the Kerrville Times, written by E. T. Butt, who was himself a member of an interesting Kerrville family. In it, Mr. Butt recalled the first Tivy football team, of which he was a member. Without Ms. Wilkinson thoughtfully sending me this article, this 100th anniversary might have passed by unnoticed.

Thanks to both of you, a little bit of history was remembered in our community. I am also thankful to the news coverage this newspaper gave the event. I think Peter McCrady's article was very good.

* * *

I found an amazing Internet trick that might make my work here obsolete, and so I share it with you with some trepidation. All you need to do this trick is a computer with Internet access, and you can do historical research quicker and faster than I.

(For those who are not Internet savvy, don't worry: this is so simple even I can do it.)

First, go to www.google.com. Then, in the search box, enter the following text exactly as it appears here:

site:newspaperarchive.com Kerrville  "Joseph Tivy"

Then click the search button.

The results below will list every reference to Joseph Tivy in the Kerrville newspapers on file. You can replace "Joseph Tivy" with anything you wish. Say you wanted to see every reference to "Florence Butt" in the newspaper archives; entering

site:newspaperarchive.com Kerrville  "Florence Butt"

in the search box on Google would provide you with those newspaper stories about Mrs. Butt. You can list the name of anyone you like, or the name of a store, or the name of even a street.

I hope you have fun with this trick, and I hope you will still read this column even though it's now obsolete.

Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who becomes increasingly obsolete with each passing day.  This column originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times October 15, 2011.