LIVE EVENTS
Holiday songs filled the air of the LBJ Museum at the annual holiday program, and a special guest made a visit too.
A Capella Unlimited, an award-winning singing group, graced the audience with expert harmonies and Old Saint Nick came to hear Christmas wishes. San Marcos Mayor Jane Hughson kicked off the season by lightning the Christmas tree before a festive passage from Lady Bird Johnson’s journal was shared.
Wayne Kraemer, LBJ Museum board president, introduced A Capella Unlimited and talked about the Johnson family’s strong Christmas traditions.
“The Johnson family loved Christmas and spending the holidays together, whether they were here in Texas or in Washington, D.C.,” Kraemer said. “President Johnson would deliver Christmas messages during his presidency, often at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree. The messages frequently focused on themes of hope for a brighter future, the universal message of Christmas peace and the sacrifices of our soldiers who were serving in Vietnam.”
Dr. Ann Burnette read from Lady Bird’s diary, an entry she’d written on Dec. 24, 1966.
“Lyndon and I left in the Jet Star with the Secret Service to go to Kelly Air Force Base on a poignant visit for Christmas Eve to greet wounded GIs who were returning to Texas,” Burnette read from Johnson’s journal. “I felt buffeted by emotions — deep respect for those young men and for an organization that could get them all the way from Vietnam to San Antonio within hours of being wounded, and sympathy for their families and a shattering sympathy for anybody who has yeses and noes to say about this war.”
The passage began with the woes of war but was contrasted by the holiday cheer waiting at the Johnson family ranch when they flew home.
“Back at the ranch, a fire was blazing on the hearth, and it was dark. The house was beautifully decorated with balsam rope along the mantelpieces of the big living room and the den and wound around the stair rail, mistletoe hanging from the light fixtures and holly from the White House in a big brass bowl on the dining room table,” Lady Bird wrote. “We realized that if we were going to make midnight mass, we had to hurry, so I changed quickly from a hostess gown into a dress and [got] into the station wagon. With Lyndon driving, Lucy and Pat, Linda and George and I set out for St. Francis Xavier at Stonewall.”
The LBJ Museum of San Marcos will be having its 20th Anniversary Gala on Jan. 17. Learn more at lbjmuseum. com/events.
