Troubling Events in Round Top

To the Editor:

When we were blessed to first visit Fayette County a little more than 30 years ago, the idyllic setting forever made a lasting impression on me and my wife. At that point, visiting this area we found much needed rest from our busy lives in DFW. As we became a permanent part of the community in Round Top in 2021, I never imagined that big city style politics would threaten the long-established culture, norms or institutions of this little town.

On Monday March 17, I pulled up to the historic Fayette County Precinct Courthouse in Round Top to attend the town council meeting at 10 a.m. I thought about what all had transpired since Mayor Vincent’s revelation of the possible demolition of our cherished Courthouse and I pondered what the future would hold. I also thought about the unorthodox time Round Top’s town council scheduled their meetings, currently 3 p.m. and this one at 10 a.m. (Later, I checked several surrounding towns to see when they held their council meetings and all of them were in the evening. Giddings 7 p.m., Fayetteville 7 p.m., La Grange 6 p.m., Schulenburg 6:30 p.m., Flatonia, 6 p.m., Carmine 6 p.m.). Why does the Round Top Town Council hold their meetings when so many community members cannot attend due to work obligations or other reasons? As I have stated before, the actions of the Round Top Town Council effects much more than the town limits of Round Top. Why are we allowing a municipality to disenfranchise so much of the community at large?

After the meeting was called to order by Mayor Vincent, the meeting was dismissed so the council could convene an executive session meeting. After waiting about two hours we were allowed to return to the Courthouse. Shortly after the meeting began, it became quite clear that any reservations held that this administration was misunderstood or wanted to work with Fayette County quickly vanished from my mind. The council quickly passed the first resolution stating that they would only accept the Courthouse back without deed restrictions. As the second resolution was tabled the arguments began as this would in effect target one historic Round Top institution more than anyone else, that being the “Do Your Duty Club” or DYD. It’s often said timing is everything, and it’s either the most unusual circumstance I’ve ever witnessed with this coming up on the Round Top Town Council’s Agenda at this time, or it was intentional to target the DYD. If not intentional, is Mayor Vincent and the town council planning to deny the Round Top Family Library and Waldeck-Nechanitz-Walhalla Show Fund booths during the Christmas Parade festivities?

If you are unaware of this fact, the DYD club is synonymous with the Fayette County Precinct’s Courthouse in Round Top. Several ladies founded DYD in 1935, when the Courthouse was a mere decade old. The DYD’s history of civic service to the community in the form of “caretakers” of the Round Top Courthouse and grounds is legendary. Fayette County officials verbally recognized their service in a recent Commissioner’s Court meeting that I attended. Over the years generations of DYD ladies held chicken dinner fundraisers, bake sales and other means to raise funds to help offset the cost of maintaining the Courthouse and grounds. Later, this evolved into not only helping the Courthouse, but also the volunteer fire department, providing scholarships to Round Top- Carmine students and other charitable deeds. For decades, most of the funds were raised through their primary source of income, which was the Square Fair held twice a year at the Spring and Fall Antique Show. The Square Fair was located at, you guessed it, the Round Top Precinct Courthouse and grounds. Mayor Vincent’s tenure brought an end to historical lease agreement that went on for years between the DYD and other grateful Round Top Mayors and aldermen. Those public servants must have been pleased with the DYD’s civic service to our community for the relationship to prosper for so many years. In fact, over the years the DYD Club donated thousands of dollars to the City of Round Top for Courthouse maintenance and preservation.

When Mayor Vincent cast the deciding vote in agreement with Councilman Owen Massey and Councilwoman Karen Duddleston (a former DYD member) to pass the resolution that the DYD’s Square Fair would end on the Round Top Courthouse Square, DYD’s main source of income was destroyed. Actually, it is quite ironic to think about. Mayor Vincent’s administration has brought forth the possible demise of two Round Top Institutions, at least as we knew them. One being the Fayette County Precinct Courthouse in Round Top, the other one closing the show that funded the DYD, whose main mission was to take care of the same Courthouse for 90 years this year. To those that are beginning to think something’s going on here, you win the prize. If Boss Hogg had walked out of the executive session meeting and drove away in his bull horn adorned 1970 DeVille convertible, I would not have been surprised. But the Round Top area still has a lot of Duke Boys, Daisy’s and Uncle Jesses, so fear not. One Round Top Councilwoman, Jeanette Burger, is a hero in my book. She emphatically argued for the DYD’s Square Fair show to continue, under cannon fire many times from the opposition. She was a true voice for the culture, the history, and for the larger community that has benefitted from DYD’s charitable efforts. She was also a voice of reason, stating DYD’s show was only a few weeks a year. She and Councilwoman Amy Bone voted against the resolution that would essentially clip the DYD at their financial knees, but to no avail. Mayor Vincent’s vote made sure of that.

So where will all of this lead Round Top and our beloved community. I heard one of my favorite songs as I was preparing to write this article. Alan Jackson’s “Little Man” struck a nerve as it came from out of nowhere with “Now the court squares just a set of streets, that the people go around but they seldom think, ‘bout the little man that built this town, before the big money shut’ em down and killed the little man, Oh the little man” As I drive my old Jeep by our “court square” and gaze at the Precinct Courthouse in Round Top, I do indeed think about the little man that built this town. The ones that built that Courthouse and raised families here. I think about the ones that formed the revered Round Top Rifle Hall, held the Independence Day Parades, went off to war and fought for freedom and the American way. I also think about their wives, sisters and daughters that founded the DYD Club 90 years ago. The many good deeds that the DYD provided through their love of that Courthouse and this community at large. We need that type of civic service to continue, unabated by elected officials who perhaps have other selfish interests, both seen and unseen. Thank you, DYD ladies, for your 90 years of service in our community. We will support you in your future fund-raising efforts. And finally, once again I think about Alan Jackson’s poignant lyrics and the warning they embody. God bless the little man. He’s a lot bigger than those that would shut him down.