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In this special Christmas bonus episode of The Texan Edge, Tweed Scott shares a deeply personal holiday reflection drawn straight from his own life and family history. 

Without a Doubt is a story about Christmas memories—not the kind wrapped in paper, but the kind wrapped in people. From crowded Italian family gatherings filled with laughter and food, to a surprise journey home in Navy dress blues during a snowy New Hampshire Christmas, this episode explores how time, love, and memory intertwine. 

It’s a quiet, reflective story about gratitude, faith, second chances, and the people who shape us long after they’re gone. Settle in, take a breath, and enjoy a little extra warmth and wonder this Christmas season.  

Show Notes 

• A special extended Christmas bonus episode of The Texan Edge
• Tweed reflects on why Christmas and the Fourth of July mean so much to him
• Growing up in a large Italian-Portuguese family and the magic of holiday gatherings
• Memories centered on people, not presents
• The loss of a great-grandmother on Christmas Eve and its lasting impact
• Food, laughter, traditions, and Christmases filled to the brim
• A surprise journey home during Tweed’s first year in the U.S. Navy
• Walking through a snow-covered hometown in Navy dress blues
• A powerful homecoming moment with his mother and stepfather
• Reflections on faith, gratitude, survival, and being blessed beyond measure
• A reminder that the greatest gifts are love, connection, and shared moments

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In this special Christmas bonus edition of The Texan Edge, Tweed Scott settles into a quiet chair, closes his eyes, and lets the season do what it does best—bring the past rushing back. 

This extended holiday story drifts through snowy New England streets, small-town parades, painted store windows, crunchy sidewalks, live Christmas trees, caroling booklets, family kitchens, and the faces of loved ones who shaped a lifetime of memories. It’s a gentle walk through Christmases past—filled with music, food, laughter, faith, and the people who made it all matter. 

More than decorations or traditions, this episode is a reminder that Christmas lives in the stories we carry, the memories we revisit, and the love we pass along. Pour something warm, take a breath, and spend a few reflective minutes remembering what made the season meaningful for you.  

Show Notes 

• A special Christmas bonus episode with an extended, reflective format
• Holiday memories from a small New England town before malls and megastores
• Snowy main streets, Christmas parades, and high school band performances
• Family traditions: live trees, candle-lit windows, hand-painted store displays
• The sights, sounds, and smells that define Christmas across generations
• Christmas music—from caroling booklets to church choirs to radio days
• Food, feasts, and the unmistakable aroma of the season
• Remembering loved ones who shaped the holidays and left lasting impressions
• A heartfelt reflection on faith, gratitude, and the deeper meaning of Christmas
• A gentle reminder to slow down, smile, and share the season with others

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Christmas Under the Six Flags: A Texas Christmas Woven From Many Worlds

In this final chapter of Christmas Under the Six Flags of Texas, we bring together the faith, flavors, music, and traditions from every flag that’s flown over Texas. From Spanish luminarias to German fruitcakes and Mexican community celebrations, today’s Texas Christmas is a rich blend of cultures stitched together by one generous Lone Star heart. A warm, heartfelt sendoff to a season shaped by centuries of joy, struggle, and hope.
 
 

 
A Texas Christmas Built by Six Flags, Six Cultures, and One Big Heart

Today, The Texan Edge closes out its special holiday series with a sweeping look at how Texans became the kind of people who celebrate Christmas with both deep meaning and big style. We start with a shout-out to Sarah Harper in Corsicana — home of the famous Collins Street Bakery fruitcake, a Texas staple that’s been mailed across the globe since 1896.
 
After the Civil War and the hardships of Reconstruction, Texans slowly rebuilt their lives — and their Christmas traditions. New customs arrived, from English Christmas cards to charity seals, and that sturdy German fruitcake that’s stood the test of time.
 
By the dawn of the 20th century, Texas Christmas had become an extraordinary blend of everything that came before it:
 

• Spanish faith and luminarias
• French elegance and carols
• Mexican community and color
• German Christmas trees and handcrafted gifts
• Southern hospitality and warmth

These threads wove together a celebration that reflects our shared resilience and generosity.
 
Today our decorations may be brighter and our celebrations bigger — LED lights, drive-through displays, animated yard art — but the meaning hasn’t budged an inch. It’s still about gathering close, cherishing the people around us, and keeping hope lit through every kind of darkness.
 
In this episode:
 

• Christmas wishes sent to Corsicana
• How Texas Christmas changed during Reconstruction
• The rise of English Christmas cards and charity seals
• The legacy of the Collins Street Bakery fruitcake
• A cultural blend from six nations that shaped the modern Texas holiday
• A reflection on what truly makes Texas Christmas special

From El Paso to the Piney Woods, from the Panhandle to the Gulf, Texans celebrate Christmas in a dozen different ways — but all with the same big-hearted spirit.
 
Wishing you and yours a merry, meaningful Christmas. If this series has touched you, share The Texan Edge with a friend. After all… this is more than a podcast. It’s a Texas state of mind. See y’all Monday.
 

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Christmas Under the Six Flags: When Santa Finally Reached Texas

In today’s festive chapter of Christmas Under the Six Flags of Texas, we celebrate the moment St. Nicholas — or at least his American cousin — finally made his way to Texas. From German candles in Fredericksburg windows to stockings by frontier fireplaces and the hardships of the Confederate years, this episode traces how Santa, reindeer, and cherished traditions settled deep into the Lone Star State.
 
 

 
How St. Nicholas Found His Way to the Lone Star Frontier

Today, The Texan Edge continues its holiday journey with a story full of warmth, wonder, and a little Texas grit. When Texas joined the Union in 1845, Christmas began to pick up speed — and so did a jolly old elf who’d soon become part of Texas tradition.

Clement Clarke Moore’s iconic 1822 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas gave Texans their first real picture of Santa: reindeer, chimneys, rosy cheeks, and those stockings hung with care. German, Czech, and Polish settlers added their customs too — from St. Nicholas Day on December 6th to small gifts for the well-behaved and gentle reminders for the mischievous.

Christmas grew richer through handmade touches: popcorn garlands, wassail punch, mistletoe in the doorway, pine boughs on the mantle, and the Yule Log — whether crackling in a hearth or baked as a French chocolate cake.

Even during the Confederate years, when shortages thinned the table and gifts were scarce, Texans held fast to the heart of the holiday. Mothers sewed toys from scraps, fathers wrote letters home, and families discovered that love, faith, and hope could fill a room better than anything wrapped in ribbon.

In this episode:
 

• A Christmas shout-out to Emily Schmidt in Fredericksburg
• How Santa “arrived” in Texas thanks to an American poem
• St. Nicholas Day traditions from Czech and Polish settlers
• Holiday scents of the frontier: pine, spice, and wood smoke
• Christmas during the Confederate years and the power of love in lean times
• A reminder that fullness of heart matters more than fullness of stockings

If today’s visit warmed you up a little, tell a friend about The Texan Edge. Because this is more than a podcast — it’s a Texas state of mind. Merry Christmas, and we’ll see y’all again tomorrow as we wrap things up.
 

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Christmas Under the Six Flags: The Republic of Texas — Freedom, Festivity & the First Christmas Trees
 
Today, we step into the rollicking days of the Republic of Texas, when Christmas finally got room to breathe, sing, dance, and glow. With new freedoms, new settlers, and new traditions, Texans created a holiday season as colorful and heartfelt as the people who lived it. From German Christmas trees to old-world hymns and barn dances, this episode brings to life the warm, handmade magic of a Republic-era Christmas.
 
 

 
A Lone Star Christmas in the Days of the Republic

In this installment of Christmas Under the Six Flags of Texas, we travel back to 1836–1845 — a time when Texans were forging a country of their own and, along the way, shaping a Christmas all their own too. With the arrival of religious freedom, the holidays began to blossom in brand-new ways.

You’ll hear how settlers from Germany, Ireland, Poland, Scotland, and beyond brought their languages, recipes, and traditions to the Texas frontier. The first Christmas trees, proudly brought by German Texans, stood on tabletops decorated with apples, roses, and handmade trinkets — simple symbols of everlasting life and hope.

Gifts were humble but heartfelt, and celebrations took place in barns, town halls, and candlelit cabins. Christmas wasn’t about things — it was about people. And in 1845, as Texans gathered around those little pine trees, they unknowingly offered the United States a Christmas gift that still flies above us today: one bright star added to the American flag.

In this episode:
 

• A Christmas shout-out to Sam Jensen in Nacogdoches
• How the Republic of Texas brought religious freedom — and new Christmas joy
• German settlers and the arrival of the first Christmas trees
• Homemade gifts, multi-language hymns, and frontier holiday dances
• Texas joining the Union just in time for Christmas 1845
• Why handmade, heartfelt gifts still carry the deepest meaning

If this story brought a little warmth to your day, share The Texan Edge with a friend. Because this isn’t just a podcast — it’s a Texas state of mind. See y’all tomorrow for the next flag in our Christmas journey.
 
 

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Christmas Under the Six Flags: The Mexican Legacy — Faith, Food & a Famous Flower
 
In today’s stop on our Christmas Under the Six Flags of Texas journey, we head south of the border for a story steeped in devotion, tradition, and one bright bloom that changed Christmas forever. From midnight Mass and tamales to the poinsettia’s unexpected Texas connection, this episode shines a warm light on how Mexican culture helped shape the Christmas spirit deep in our Texas soil.
 
 

 
A Texas-Style Christmas with Mexican Roots

Today, the Texan Edge heads into the era of Mexican Texas, where faith ran deep, families leaned on one another, and Christmas was celebrated with heart, hope, and homemade tamales. You’ll hear how traditions born centuries ago still show up every December across the Lone Star State — from Las Posadas in San Antonio to candlelit chapels from the coast to the plains.

We’ll meet Joel Poinsett, the American diplomat who came to Mexico hoping to buy Texas but ended up giving the world a Christmas symbol instead. His discovery of La Flor de la Noche Buena — the flower of Christmas Eve — became the poinsettia we know today.

In this episode:
 

• A shout-out to Rosa Martinez in San Antonio
• Midnight Mass and Mexican-inspired Christmas faith traditions
• How tamales became a Texas Christmas staple
• The curious story behind the poinsettia
• A reminder that Christmas has always been about the people gathered around the table

If this story warmed your heart just a little, share The Texan Edge with a friend. Because this is more than a podcast — it’s a Texas state of mind.
 

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Hi there, it’s Tweed Scott with The Texan Edge — your daily toast of motivation, inspiration, and good old-fashioned Texas spirit. Today, we’re adding a little joie de vivre to our holiday journey through Christmas Under the Six Flags of Texas. 

We’re tipping our hats (and maybe our berets) to the French — a people who stayed in Texas just five short years but left behind a legacy of faith, flavor, and flair. From La Fête des Rois to the Bûche de Noël, the French showed us that even on the frontier, beauty and belief can share the same table. 

Join me as we explore how a little Parisian charm found its way into the Lone Star Christmas — and how you can add a sweet slice of that spirit to your own celebration. 

And a warm Christmas shoutout to Claire Dupree in Austin, keeping a bit of France alive right near the French Legation. Merci, Claire! 

So light a candle, grab a fork, and let’s raise a cup to those who taught us that faith can be beautiful — and dessert should never, ever be optional. 

Because The Texan Edge is more than a podcast. It’s a Texas state of mind.  

Show Notes: 

• Part of the Christmas Under the Six Flags of Texas holiday series
• The French presence in Texas (1685–1690) and their cultural legacy
• The Feast of the Epiphany (La Fête des Rois) and its Texas connection
• Origins of the Bûche de Noël (Yule Log cake)
• Early influences on Texas Christmas traditions — from Père Noël to decorated trees
• How European grace met frontier grit in early Austin
• A message about finding beauty, gratitude, and sweetness in life’s fleeting moments

This isn't just a podcast, it's a Texas state of mind.

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This isn't just a podcast, it's a Texas state of mind.

Send us a text

In this bonus episode of The Texan Edge, Tweed steps outside Texas—way outside—to return to the New Hampshire woods where he grew up. Finding God in the Woods is a deeply personal story about childhood, faith, wonder, and the quiet moments that shape who we become. 

Tweed reflects on the simple blue-collar life of his early years, the discipline of Sunday school, and the way the fall colors of New Hampshire stirred his soul long before he ever set foot in Texas. But it was one single red maple leaf—picked up on a crisp October afternoon—that opened his eyes to something profound. 

This isn’t a Texas story by geography, but the heart of it—humility, reflection, gratitude, and the search for meaning—fits perfectly with the way Texans understand life and faith. It’s a story about slowing down, paying attention, and recognizing the extraordinary in the ordinary.  

 
Today’s Bonus Story: Finding God in the Woods
 
In this reflective holiday-season bonus episode, Tweed shares:
 

• His blue-collar New Hampshire upbringing
• His early understanding of faith and the Bible
• His childhood love of wandering alone in the woods
• The dazzling beauty of fall in New England
• The single red maple leaf that changed how he saw the world
• And the quiet moment when faith became personal

This is a story about wonder—the kind you can only experience when you stop moving long enough to actually see the world around you. It’s about the realization that life, creation, and the smallest details of nature aren’t accidents.
 
Tweed’s moment of clarity in those New Hampshire woods stays with him to this day, and he shares it here with the hope that it might spark reflection, gratitude, or even a little awe in you too.
 
If this story touched your heart, share it with someone who could use a reminder that miracles often hide in plain sight.
 
 

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In this special holiday bonus episode of The Texan Edge, Tweed steps outside the usual Texas stories to share a universal memory from his childhood—one that glows with warmth, faith, and the simple magic of Christmas. “Candles in the Window” is a heartfelt reflection on the quiet traditions that shaped us, the stories our parents passed down, and the little lights that still guide us home. It may not be Texas-specific, but its spirit fits right in with the way we live, love, and lean on each other across the Lone Star State. Settle in for a gentle, nostalgic story that speaks to the season and to something deeper we all share, wherever we call home.  

SHOW NOTES 

Today’s Bonus Story: Candles in the Window
In this holiday-themed episode, Tweed shares one of his earliest Christmas memories from the early 1950s—a time when families didn’t have much, but traditions ran deep. You’ll hear about: 

• The simple Christmas lights from his childhood home
• His mother’s story of Joseph, Mary, and the guiding star
• Why families placed candles in their windows each year
• How those little lights symbolized welcome, hope, and faith
• And why their quiet return today means more than ever

This story may reach beyond Texas geography, but its heart is pure Texan spirit: warmth, humility, tradition, and the hope that—no matter where you live—there’s always a light left on for you.
 
If today’s story touched you, please share it with someone who could use a little holiday warmth.
 

This isn't just a podcast, it's a Texas state of mind.