Monthly Archives: May 2013

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For a small town, a lot of unusual things seem to happen in Coupland. No, the Coupland Volunteer Fire Department has not opened a used truck lot because money is tight. And, no, this wasn’t a truck commercial. We already had one of those at the church recently. By the way, watch for Ford truck commercials on television and you will see St. Peter’s Church as a background for a wedding party on one shot. Also, a local celebrity was the subject of another commercial shoot earlier this week. More about that later.

What you see here is a large number of Texas game warden trucks. They were having a training event and CVFD was simply sharing their space. You will notice that there is not a single poacher in sight. Coincidence? I think not.

Stewart Dale Spencer

A City on a Hill – A Story of a Community, a Church, a People by Jewel R. Johnson

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A City on a Hill CoverThis is the cover from a booklet published in 1974. The information it contains was compiled by Pastor Jewel R. Johnson. I will attach the rest of the booklet in a series of PDF files, in bite-size chunks for your reading pleasure. After the last section appears, I will attach a PDF copy of the entire booklet. The text of the original introduction appears below.

Stewart Dale Spencer

 

Compiling the data for this booklet has given me the pleasant experience of delving a little more deeply into the lives of the people I have come to love, a community that twice I have made my home, and a church I count it a privilege to serve. I am grateful to all the beautiful persons who have contributed in any way to this story. A few of their names appear in the text, but most of them do not.

I want to mention here some who in a direct way have made this booklet possible. St. Peters congregation patiently listened to most of the material in a series of six sermons. Anita Marosko translated German minutes and other documents Jack Wiggins and Martha Poldrack produced some helpful sketches. Oleta Becker gave technical advice. Jack Sutton shared historical business data. Donna Gates gave of her time and energy to oversee the printing. Her vocational class at Elgin High School transformed my scribbling into readable printed pages. The Youth Fellowship put the booklet together. Thanks to them and all the others who helped.

Since I am pastor of St. Peters Church, part of this story is autobiographical and perhaps more biased than other parts.

The material is not copyrighted and may be quoted freely. I would appreciate it, however, if proper reference is given.

The first printing of this booklet was done in summer of 1974 to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of St. Peters Church. When the supply was depleted a number of people urged me to provide another edition. I made no changes except to correct typographical errors, and this second printing was done in January 1979. Thanks to the Merchants Press of Taylor for this second printing.

Jewel R. Johnson

 

Eiben Family Fish Fry Returns to Coupland

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The Eiben family is well known in the Coupland area . . . at least to the folks who have lived here for any length of time. Harms Otten Eiben was among the original settlers of the Coupland area and helped establish St. Peter’s Church.

In 2001, Selma Eiben, wife of Otto Eiben (Harm’s grandson), began doing a fish fry as a combined birthday celebration for extended family at her home on County Road 459. A few years ago, the event quietly ended when the family matriarch moved to an assisted living facility.

Last summer, Matt and Honey Eiben, along with their children Sophia-Rae and Solomon, moved into the ancestral manor, which hadn’t been occupied for six years, and breathed some new life into the 90 year old home. Matt is the son of Charles and Regina Eiben. Charles is one of Selma Eiben’s three children and is a member of the St. Peter’s Church Council.

Selma Eiben passed away in December. I think that this moved Matt and Honey to revive the family tradition but with a distinctly modern twist. Invitations were sent out via Facebook to the extended family and close friends of the family. I and my family were honored to be included among those friends.

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There were over 50 people present, some from as far away as Lubbock and Fort Worth. There were kids everywhere. And did I mention there was tons of food? Charles Eiben did the honors as the Head Fry Cook but there were many other delicious foods and deserts.

 

 

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If you look closely, you can see the UFO at which this fella was aiming. They said it was just a clay skeet disk but that’s exactly what you would expect them to say.

There was skeet shooting and trampoline jumping and face stuffing and lots of great conversation! I heard quite a few wonderful stories, some of which I hope you will see on these pages in the near future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can imagine, Honey was apprehensive about what people would think of what she and Matt have done with the old family homestead. As a relative newcomer to the Eiben family, she was meeting many people for the first time. I’m happy to report that everyone had a great time and Matt and Honey received a lot of well-deserved praise for the work they have done on the home.

Special thanks to Matt Eiben for filling in some of the gaps in my knowledge about the home and his family.

I hope you enjoy the images from this event. I welcome additional images and comments.

Stewart Dale Spencer

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A Coupland sunset graced the end of the day.

A Coupland sunset graced the end of the day.

A power outage shortly after sunset was our cue to say goodnight to the Eiben Clan.

A power outage shortly after sunset was our cue to say goodnight to the Eiben Clan.

Amana Refrigerator-Freezer For Sale

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UPDATE: WE GAVE THIS TO A FAMILY IN NEED ON FRIDAY, MAY 17.

IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU NEED OR SOMETHING YOU CAN GIVE, CLICK ON CONTACT THE PUBLISHER  ON THE HOME PAGE TO GET IT ONTO THIS SITE.

$50. It’s an Amana model with a top freezer. Kind of fancy for it’s day.  It came with the house. It has worked fine for the past year but we were given a newer fridge so this can go to a new home. It should probably get a new gasket but we never bothered. They run about $42 bucks on Amazon, based on a quick check. 

Sold as is. Needs a cleaning but it’s not gross or anything like that. There is a bit of rust on the bottom of the door. A little sanding and a little appliance paint would fix that up real quick.

It has an ice maker but we don’t know for sure that it works because we don’t have a working water outlet by the fridge.

Call Stewart at 512-557-3512 if you are interested.

Get Educated!

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nevertoolate

Education should never end. When you stop learning, you start dying. Minds need stimulation to remain healthy and in the Age of Information, there is no excuse for not learning. Knowledge in all fields is exploding and access is easier than ever! Research on brain functions show that acquiring new information and learning new skills actually results in new connections in the brain. Here is a link to recent research, in case you have any doubts. Even some of the most severe brain injuries can be moderated over time with diligent effort and normal aging does not automatically lead to memory loss or reduced cognitive abilities. Regular exercise and good brain nutrition helps. Staying informed and trying new things is a no-brainer. Or wait . . . maybe it is a brainer. I guess it all depends on how you look at it.

I paid a lot of money to get a Master’s Degree in Adult and Developmental Education (Texas State University, 2005) and I look forward to sharing some of that good learnin’ with you. I will elaborate upon and document my statements above. I am confident that you will find it to be interesting and engaging. Look for postings under the “Education” category.

Of course, you would get bored with just hearing from me on this general topic so I invite readers to submit original works that would fall under the category of education. Rather than just post links to the work of others, I challenge you to sift through information and use those awesome brains to synthesize and summarize the information for the other readers. Include references when appropriate, such as I have done in this short piece.

You have heard the expression, “Many hands make light work.” I am suggesting a turn on that phrase: “Many minds shed much light.” It may not be especially poetic but it’s true so get on with it and dazzle us with your brilliance!

Stewart Dale Spencer