By Forest Riggs Did you ever hear a Thanksgiving song? Didn’t think so. I often wonder why that is. Years ago, the Texas Troubadour, George Strait, included a song on his Christmas Strait to You album. The song was “It’s Christmas Time in Texas” and with Strait’s honky-tonk voice and good ol’ Texas Swing beat,

By Forest Riggs  In June, Galveston was struck pretty hard by Tropical Storm Alberto. After crossing into Mexico and leaving the Yucatan, the winds intensified over the warm Gulf waters. What was thought to be a small depression, for some areas, turned into a real problem for communities along the upper Texas coast. Galveston experienced

By Forest Riggs  The 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season started June 1st, and it took only eighteen or so days for the warm Gulf waters to feed a disturbance, reminding all that hurricane season has arrived.   The first named storm of the season, Alberto, came ashore in northern Mexico and the far-reaching bands of wind and

By Forest Riggs  After a relatively short spring, June has arrived, and with it comes the dreaded 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Galvestonians are very familiar with hurricanes and storms, however as the season nears, folks in Galveston and elsewhere along the Texas Gulf Coast become a little nervous and fearful. Having seen the destruction and

There is only one Larry King By Forest Riggs You do not have to dig too far back into your recall to remember a lovable Galveston resident and very active community member, Larry King, a.k.a. Pickles. Larry was well-known in the community. As an entertainer, artist, theatre director, actor, bartender and other titles, Larry possessed

Spring has arrived on Galveston Island and once again, the island waits with open arms.  By Forest Riggs Countless books have chronicled the island’s rich history. The early struggles and historic roles of the island have been recorded and told in volumes of works. Reading any one these works can easily draw the reader into

By Forest Riggs  After two weeks of festive partying and rocking to the rhythm of Mardi Gras, Galveston Island is taking a break. Over three million beads were tossed during the 23 parades that traversed the people-lined streets of the east end and downtown. With the passing of Fat Tuesday came the beginning of Lent,

By Forest Riggs It is almost hard to believe that the month of February has arrived. It seems that only yesterday we were preparing wonderful Thanksgiving meals, decorating Christmas trees and watching New Year’s ball drop in New York City. As the old saying goes, Tempus Fugit, and indeed it does, for time passes so

By Forest Riggs With Christmas just days behind, December 31 at midnight was quite the celebration. From one end of the island to the other, church bells rang, fireworks exploded in the dark night sky, horns blew and an occasional series of gunshot blasts were heard coming from sparsely populated areas. New Year’s Eve is

By Forest Riggs The last of the Thanksgiving feast items have been devoured and the fall-colored table settings of orange and brown have now turned to red and green. Yes, it is finally December, and the days count down, one by one, until Christmas. Though marketing strategies and tremendous commercialization tactics had shoppers seeing Christmas