Bill Text: TX HCR55 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Redesignating Poteet as the official Strawberry Capital of Texas for a 10-year period ending in 2035.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)
Status: (Passed) 2025-05-24 - Signed by the Governor [HCR55 Detail]
Download: Texas-2025-HCR55-Enrolled.html
| H.C.R. No. 55 | ||
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| WHEREAS, For more than a century, the South Texas community | ||
| of Poteet has been known across the Lone Star State as a source of | ||
| delicious strawberries and as the host of a renowned annual | ||
| strawberry festival; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In 1911, city founders Henry and Ida Mumme began to | ||
| grow strawberries in their kitchen garden, and within 10 years, the | ||
| community's strawberry crop had become one of its most successful | ||
| products; local citizens invited residents of nearby San Antonio to | ||
| sample the town's strawberries in 1921, and the San Antonio | ||
| Express-News ran a story headlined "Crimson Berries Beckon Hungry | ||
| Tourists to Poteet"; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Building on the city's reputation, the Poteet Rotary | ||
| Club staged the first Poteet Strawberry Festival in April 1948, | ||
| hoping to provide an incentive for veterans of World War II to | ||
| return to area farms; the club also promoted more careful packing of | ||
| the crop so that each buyer would receive a uniform pint, flat, or | ||
| crate of berries; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Over the course of the past 77 years, the festival | ||
| has grown to become one of the signature springtime events in South | ||
| Texas, drawing 100,000 visitors and contributing as much as $12 | ||
| million to the local economy each year; in addition to the | ||
| strawberries themselves, including those sold at the | ||
| much-anticipated strawberry auction, the popular gathering | ||
| features live music, a parade, and a food show; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The event also serves as a means of supporting area | ||
| students; for more than two decades, the Poteet Strawberry Festival | ||
| Association has presented college scholarships to a host of | ||
| deserving recipients each year, and many of the churches, schools, | ||
| and civic organizations that participate in the festival donate | ||
| scholarships as well; and | ||
| WHEREAS, This sweet, juicy, and colorful fruit is a delight | ||
| to behold and to taste, and for many years, the citizens of Poteet | ||
| have made the strawberry both a source of prosperity and a cause for | ||
| celebration; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby redesignate Poteet as the official Strawberry 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. | ||
| McLaughlin | ||
| ______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
| President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 55 was adopted by the House on May | ||
| 1, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, 5 present, not | ||
| voting. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
| I certify that H.C.R. No. 55 was adopted by the Senate on May | ||
| 9, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Secretary of the Senate | ||
| APPROVED: __________________ | ||
| Date | ||
| __________________ | ||
| Governor | ||
