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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, For more than 120 years, the East Texas community of |
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Pittsburg has been recognized across the Lone Star State as the |
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premier source of the delicious sausages known as hot links; and |
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WHEREAS, This savory tradition began in 1897, when an |
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entrepreneur of German ancestry named Charlie Hasselback brought |
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his recipe for hot links to Camp County; at first he sold the links |
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raw from his butcher shop in Pittsburg, but in 1918, he began |
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selling them cooked and ready to eat; traditionally served on |
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butcher paper with hot sauce and crackers, these small, stubby |
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sausages won instant converts with their unique texture, crunchy on |
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the outside and soft on the inside, and their signature burst of |
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flavor; and |
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WHEREAS, Over the years, Pittsburg has been home to several |
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hot link businesses; O. O. Smith, who worked with Mr. Hasselback, |
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established his own hot link shop and later sold it to Johnny |
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Franklin, who ran it until the 1990s; the hot link joint started by |
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Henry James passed through several hands before it closed in the |
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1970s; Barney Warrick, who initially worked for Mr. James, went on |
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to set up his own hot link enterprise with his son, Gene; and |
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WHEREAS, In the 1970s, Gene Warrick and Jimmy Brooks founded |
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the B&W Meat Company and JB's Hot Links; Mr. Warrick took over the |
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businesses in the 1980s and changed the names to Pittsburg Hot Link |
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Restaurants, Inc., and Pittsburg Hot Link Packers, Inc., and he and |
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his wife, Madeline, purchased and renovated the building where |
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Pittsburg Hot Links has been managed by Teresa, Tina, Sala, and |
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Sonya Warrick, and is currently managed by Sabin and his sister, |
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Salina Warrick; and |
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WHEREAS, While there are hot link shops in many nearby |
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communities, including Mount Pleasant, Daingerfield, Gilmer, and |
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Winnsboro, Pittsburg remains the home of the hot link, drawing |
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visitors from all over the state and nation; Pittsburg Hot Links and |
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its adjoining Sausage Warehouse take up an entire city block of |
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downtown Pittsburg, and the warehouse produces more than eight |
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million links, or a million pounds of sausage, each year, |
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generating over $2.5 million in sales and $750,000 in payroll; and |
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WHEREAS, Often referred to as "East Texas caviar," Pittsburg |
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hot links are a source of pride and prosperity for the people of |
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Pittsburg as well as a significant contribution to the culinary |
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tradition of the Lone Star State; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 86th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby designate Pittsburg as the official Hot Link Capital of |
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Texas; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That, in accordance with the provisions of Section |
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391.003(e), Government Code, this designation remain in effect |
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until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is finally |
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passed by the legislature. |
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