Greetings from Small-Town America

Round Top, Texas
MM: Hello, Guideposts, and welcome to Round Top, Texas. My name is Mark Massey. I’m the Mayor of Round Top, population 90. Welcome to this small town here in central Texas. We’re located between Houston and Austin. It’s a small town, but there are a lot of things that happen here year-round.

We’re most famous for our spring and fall antique shows, which span about 20 miles long, brings in over 100,000 people during that two-week span. And during the show over 6,000 dealers come to the Round Top area, and bring all kinds of finds and wares and treasures, From an antique fork to classic cars, estate jewelry and fine art.

TRS: Hi Guideposts, I’m Tara Royer Steele from Royer’s Pie Haven here in Round Top, Texas. We are located in Henkel Square, and have been here for 10 years. Our pies, though, have been in Round Top for 34 years at our cafe right across the street. But here at the Pie Haven, we have savory pies, pie shakes, coffee.

But oh man, we’re known for our pies. And my favorite is the Sweet and Salty, which is a dense fudgey brownie with caramel and sea salt, and of course heated up with ice cream. Everyone loves the Texas Trash. It’s got pretzels, chocolate chips, caramel, coconut, and graham crackers. Junk Berry, it’s all the junk. We named it after our friends the Junk Gypsies. And we had all this extra fruit and we’re like, “What do we do with it?” So you throw it in a pie pan. Apples, peaches, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. And top it with a sour cream topping. It’s the best, and we can’t wait to serve you guys.

JS: Hey, Guideposts, I’m Jolie Sykes. And I, along with my sister, run Junk Gypsy here in Round Top, Texas. We started this business over 20 years ago, really out of a love for junk and being on the road and working with family.

Because junk is our true love, we wanted to build what we like to call a “Sanctuary of Junk.” And we think there’s something for everyone here, From old stuff to new stuff. It’s a mixture of all the things that we love.

Tucumcari, New Mexico
Yvonne: Hi Guideposts. I’m Yvonne Braziel, owner and partner of Del’s Restaurant in Tucumcari, New Mexico. My sister is my partner.

Jessica: And I’m Jessica Braziel. I’m their mother. I sold the restaurant to them. I bought it in 1978 and sold it to them in 1995.

Yvonne: We live in Tucumcari, New Mexico. It’s a very small town; population is about 4,900, so this is where we’re at now in a small rural town in eastern New Mexico.

Amy: Welcome to First Presbyterian church in Tucumcari, New Mexico. My name is Rev. Amy Pospichal and I’ve been serving this church as their solo pastor since May of 2011. We have a little saying that we’re a little church with a big heart, and I do think that’s the case.

We have a very close-knit community, both in our church, but also the whole town is very closely knit. And part of our mission in this community was really to tap into our hearts and what the Holy Spirit tells us that God wants us to do, And that is to serve our neighbors and to love one another as God loves us. This window inspires me to think about that on a regular basis. And to me the flames of love that we are taught to have through the power of the Holy Spirit I think really inspires each and every one of us to have that big heart.

Jessica: I’ve been here over 50 years. So I’ve seen the town grow. It was about 15,000 when we moved here. I’ve seen the town grow; I’ve seen the town shrink. But it was a very, very lively town. A lot of farmers, a lot of ranchers, a lot of local businesses downtown. So it’s a whole different town, but Del’s Restaurant has been here the whole time. Very good restaurant, always has been.

Yvonne: We have a lot of travelers here from all over the United States, from all over the world, and they’ll focus their vacation on stopping at Del’s Restaurant. That’s the biggest compliment you can get. If you tell them, just look for the big cow on the side of Route 66, they manage to get there and we’re thankful.

Casey, Illinois
Jim Bolin: Good morning, Guideposts and Guideposts viewers. Welcomed to my hometown, Casey, Illinois, population 2,700.

We are standing here in front of the world’s largest wind chime. Casey has 12 “World’s Largest” world records in the Guinness book, and I just want to show you and give you a tour around the town.

We’re standing in front of the world’s largest rocking chair. The rocking chair stands about 46 foot, one inch tall. It weighs 46,200 pounds.

These are the world’s largest wooden shoes. They weigh about 2,500 pounds a piece. To be in the Guinness book, you have to have a pair of clogs.

We’re unveiling a new product for Casey. Just thought I’d give you guys a sneak peek of what it’s going to look like. It actually functions. You can get inside. It’s just a poke ball, and a very comfortable poke ball, I may add.

I just want to thank Guideposts and the Guidepost viewers for coming and touring our small town today. I want to invite you to come and check out our town. We have thousands of visitors each year and we would like for you to be part of that.