Bill Text: TX HCR122 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Designating Pittsburg as the official Hot Link Capital of Texas for a 10-year period beginning in 2019.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-05-24 - Signed by the Governor [HCR122 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HCR122-Enrolled.html
| H.C.R. No. 122 | ||
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| WHEREAS, For more than 120 years, the East Texas community of | ||
| Pittsburg has been recognized across the Lone Star State as the | ||
| premier source of the delicious sausages known as hot links; and | ||
| WHEREAS, This savory tradition began in 1897, when an | ||
| entrepreneur of German ancestry named Charlie Hasselback brought | ||
| his recipe for hot links to Camp County; at first he sold the links | ||
| raw from his butcher shop in Pittsburg, but in 1918, he began | ||
| selling them cooked and ready to eat; traditionally served on | ||
| butcher paper with hot sauce and crackers, these small, stubby | ||
| sausages won instant converts with their unique texture, crunchy on | ||
| the outside and soft on the inside, and their signature burst of | ||
| flavor; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Over the years, Pittsburg has been home to several | ||
| hot link businesses; O. O. Smith, who worked with Mr. Hasselback, | ||
| established his own hot link shop and later sold it to Johnny | ||
| Franklin, who ran it until the 1990s; the hot link joint started by | ||
| Henry James passed through several hands before it closed in the | ||
| 1970s; Barney Warrick, who initially worked for Mr. James, went on | ||
| to set up his own hot link enterprise with his son, Gene; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In the 1970s, Gene Warrick and Jimmy Brooks founded | ||
| the B&W Meat Company and JB's Hot Links; Mr. Warrick took over the | ||
| businesses in the 1980s and changed the names to Pittsburg Hot Link | ||
| Restaurants, Inc., and Pittsburg Hot Link Packers, Inc., and he and | ||
| his wife, Madeline, purchased and renovated the building where | ||
| Pittsburg Hot Links has been managed by Teresa, Tina, Sala, and | ||
| Sonya Warrick, and is currently managed by Sabin and his sister, | ||
| Salina Warrick; and | ||
| WHEREAS, While there are hot link shops in many nearby | ||
| communities, including Mount Pleasant, Daingerfield, Gilmer, and | ||
| Winnsboro, Pittsburg remains the home of the hot link, drawing | ||
| visitors from all over the state and nation; Pittsburg Hot Links and | ||
| its adjoining Sausage Warehouse take up an entire city block of | ||
| downtown Pittsburg, and the warehouse produces more than eight | ||
| million links, or a million pounds of sausage, each year, | ||
| generating over $2.5 million in sales and $750,000 in payroll; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Often referred to as "East Texas caviar," Pittsburg | ||
| hot links are a source of pride and prosperity for the people of | ||
| Pittsburg as well as a significant contribution to the culinary | ||
| tradition of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby designate Pittsburg as the official Hot Link Capital of | ||
| Texas; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That, in accordance with the provisions of Section | ||
| 391.003(e), Government Code, this designation remain in effect | ||
| until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is finally | ||
| passed by the legislature. | ||
| Hefner | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 122 was adopted by the House on May | ||
| 3, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 127, Nays 13, 2 present, not | ||
| voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 122 was adopted by the Senate on May | ||
| 10, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: __________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| __________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
