Heart of the Tin Trunk

You know you're addicted to genealogy when...  your son's out-of-town baseball tournament turns into a family heritage opportunity!  

My husband has a rich German Texan heritage.  Conveniently his ancestors settled in a few of the towns surrounding my son's tournament in Brenham.  Also, since I have Czech ancestors and got on the Polka On! mailing list, I knew that the musical "Heart of the Tin Trunk" was showing that same weekend.  The playwright Virginia Leech's intent was to encourage today's youth to remember and value the experiences and sacrifices of their immigrant ancestors.  Yes everyone groaned when I described it, but they also knew better than to argue with me.  

I tried to start the day on a good note by letting the boys get their fill from the Blue Bell Creamery.  Then we visited the utterly charming Welcome Lutheran Church and it's cemetery to visit Dorethea Giessel.  Cutting it extremely close, we hightailed it into the parking lot of the Round Top Festival Institute.  We were amazed at the warm welcome we received.  They let us park in the VIP parking lot up close so that we wouldn't miss the start of the show.  Then they gave us VIP seats up front.  An authentically-dressed woman welcomed us at our seats and promised that our kids would be "changed forever."  The architecture of the performance hall blew us away.  Pictures can't do it justice but I included 2 of the soaring ceiling.  Here's a link to see a 360 degree view.  The musical itself brought me to tears as I thought of my Slovak immigrant ancestor Helena Simek who was a mother of young children.  

After the show was over, I wish I could say that my boys raved about it the way they did for say, Captain America or Despicable Me.  But I am certain that for those 2 hours, they did put themselves in the shoes of their great-great grandparents and in the process, became more thankful for their sacrifices.  That's priceless!