A Place Called Bastrop

Late on a recent Saturday afternoon, our anxiety was high at Washington’s DC's airport after navigating a mob in the terminal and then seeing our gate to Austin jammed with some 20 people in wheelchairs. But that anxiety quickly ebbed as Sarah and I realized that these people were veterans as evidenced by their hats that read Vietnam or Korea. On talking with them and the sponsor, we learned there were also a couple of WWII veterans on the flight, including a woman Marine, who told everyone that she was not just 100 years old, but a 100 and a half years old. The group had just finished a 24-hour whirlwind tour to see the war memorials and monuments. Attending to these veterans were an equal amount of volunteers, including Bastrop’s Joe Beal, a 77-year-old Vietnam veteran himself, who has done this flight nine times—eight as a volunteer. To honor Memorial Day, Ken Kesselus interviews him to learn more about Honor Flight Austin.  Lucian Perkins

We talk with Debbie Bresette, Executive Director of Bastrop County Cares, an organization quietly bringing together organizations, churches, businesses and individuals to solve the issues of our county.  

Flowers, fruits, vegetables, birds and bees will soon flourish in Bob Bryant Park. And residents along with their children will be able to learn from Bastrop’s Master Gardeners how to grow their own plants and food at the community garden being created there or in their own spaces. Join host, Olga Maystruk to find out what's in store at this park for 2022.

In 1820, Moses Austin, the father of Stephen F. Austin, is ordered out of San Antonio by sundown, after meeting with the Spanish governor in a failed bid to start an American colony in Spanish-controlled Texas.  Dejected, he walks out and while crossing a public square, runs into Baron de Bastrop, whom he hasn’t seen in twenty years. Local historian Ken Kesselus tells us the rest of the story of how Bastrop got its name.

Fourth generation Bastropian Cheryl Lee never thought much about the monuments at the Court House. As a matter of fact, one reminded her of the Washington Monument, which she loves. But one day she read the inscriptions on them and resolved that they must be removed from the grounds. Cheryl Lee shares her story and how she convinced a judge and many Bastrop residents the same.

Robbie Sanders, the curator at the Bastrop Museum and Visitor Center, gives us a tour of some of the marvelous historic homes in Bastrop and reveals the stories and gossip of the early pioneers who built and lived in them.

Meet Kevin “Lippy” Mawby, owner of Astro Record Store and a key influencer of the ongoing renaissance in historic, downtown Bastrop. How did this Englishman end up in Bastrop? And why are records making a comeback in the digital age? Host Olga Maystruk explores these questions and more in this episode.

In our final episode on the Bastrop County Complex Fire, Wade Powell, the Habitat Coordinator for the Lost Pines Parks, explains what the forest service has learned from the Bastrop Complex Fire and what the future holds for the Lost Pines.  As background, host Ken Kesselus illuminates the history and importance of the Lost Pines to Bastrop.

Randy Fritz and his family built their home in Bastrop near the Lost Pines because of their majestic beauty. But after the most catastrophic fire in Texas history destroyed the forest, property, his home, along with those of many others, Fritz found the challenge of those losses to be unbearable without seeking help. He went on to write a book about his experience and recovery in “Hail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster.” We talked to Fritz as we look back ten years after the Bastrop Fires.