Texas travel TV show host talks Seguin during chamber’s virtual Centennial Celebration

Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today

Darren Dunn

(Seguin) – A PBS television show host has pinned Seguin on the Lone Star map as “one of the” places you will want to visit. Actually, Chet Garner, host of The Daytripper, says Seguin’s significance and uniqueness are more of a reminder for its current residents. He says because we live here, the city’s many contributions and historical impressions are often overlooked.

Garner shared his comments about Seguin during his guest appearance on the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce’s virtual Centennial Celebration.

Garner, known for his show which introduces us to all parts of Texas, shared his comments – comments that were warranted following his own visit to Seguin more than a year and a half ago. In fact, the Texas travel show segment that featured Seguin landed the TV show host with yet another Emmy.

While he was bummed that the pandemic prevented him from visiting Seguin again, Garner was still appreciative to speak with those watching the virtual program in celebration of the chamber’s 100-year anniversary.

“When you look at the lens of a town, you go ‘wow, there are truly stories to tell’ and that couldn’t be more true than with a town like Seguin. You guys have some of the richest, deepest stories in your town. I mean just think about it, culture — Juan Seguin, one of the absolute unsung heroes of the Texas Revolution and that story will move you to tears about how he delivered the letter from the Alamo and then went on to become a hero of San Jacinto. You guys got the largest nutcracker museum in the world. You’ve got the largest pecan in the world. You’ve got three of the largest pecans in the world – not to mention just your square. Well, it’s actually not a square but with your plaza, it’s a rectangle. You’ve got your rectangle, your history, your people, your culture. It’s just absolutely phenomenal,” said Garner.

Garner says its history and uniqueness are just the first things he looks at when selecting a community to feature on his program. He says the next thing is of course, the food.

“Then, let’s move into food. I mean Guero’s (Backyard) Tacos, come on. If you want barbecue, how about Burnt Bean? How about Davila’s? If you want to talk about steak, you get steak all over the place. You get sushi, Mexican food. Some of the best meals that I’ve there, I mean Kirby’s burgers, absolutely phenomenal. You’ve got some excellent food in Seguin,” said Garner.

The next big component for him is the outdoors and recreational space. Garner says with the Guadalupe River running through the heart of the city, Seguin pretty much gets to check off all the boxes.

“Then you talk about outdoors. Well, it doesn’t get much better than the Guadalupe River. I mean one of our most beautiful, pristine rivers goes right through your town. You’ve got Son’s Island which is an island on a river which is an absolute oasis up there. All of those things together make Seguin such a wonderful place,” said Garner.

Not only should local residents continue to be proud of Seguin but according to Garner, they should also learn to embrace their role as a storyteller. He says you don’t ever want to minimize where you are from.

“Everyone of you is an ambassador for your city and you may already know that but more than just ambassadors, like me, you guys are storytellers and one of my favorite quotes goes something like this ‘all of us are storytellers. Some of us just don’t know it yet’ and the truth is we go through life, telling stories at every turn. When someone ask, ‘where are you from?’ You say ‘well I’m from this little town east of San Antonio.’ Well, you just told them a story that minimized your town versus ‘we are from one of the most vibrant cities called Seguin on the Guadalupe River.’ Right there, you told them a story and you made them want to learn more about the city you come from,” said Garner.

Garner says of course our role as a storyteller is what will preserve our new history – history that is waiting for us to tackle during this new century of living, playing and doing business in Seguin.

“Just like Texas, Seguin has a long history of storytelling. I mean you guys are celebrating 100 years at the chamber of commerce telling the story of Seguin both to the people who live in Seguin but to the people who live across east San Antonio, in San Antonio, people who live across Texas and the people who live across the country and even the world. So you guys carry on a very long tradition of storytelling. I was looking at the timeline. It actually goes back even before that. You guys have been telling the story of Seguin for a very long time and here’s the most interesting part, the story is always changing and with Seguin, it’s getting better. Seguin is sitting in what I call the sweet spot in being able to see trends all across Texas. If you are within 30-40 miles of what is a booming metroplex now and you have historic assets just like Seguin, the sky is the limit. You guys are now tasked with the objective of one, growing smart and also keeping telling the story and retaining that story. It truly is something special,” said Garner.

In addition to Garner’s guest appearance, the chamber’s virtual program and banquet recognized business and community partners who helped make a difference in 2020. It also took a trip down memory lane sharing the history behind its businesses and those who helped plant their seeds. The virtual program will be made available for others to view during the next few weeks on YouTube.