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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Norma Frances "Tootsie" Tomanetz has entered the |
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pantheon of Texas barbecue legends as the pit master of Snow's BBQ |
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in Lexington; and |
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WHEREAS, A veteran with a half century of barbecuing |
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experience, Tootsie Tomanetz began learning the craft in 1966, when |
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she was 31 years old; her husband, Edward Tomanetz, worked for City |
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Meat Market in Giddings, and when one of the barbecue cooks failed |
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to show up one day, the market's owner, Hershel Doyle, asked |
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Mrs. Tomanetz to step in; in the years that followed, she was |
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tutored by legendary pit master Orange Holloway; and |
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WHEREAS, A decade later, Mr. Doyle bought a meat market in |
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Lexington and asked Mrs. Tomanetz to run it, and the following |
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year, she and her husband bought the business; while Mr. Tomanetz |
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ran the family farm, Mrs. Tomanetz operated the meat market, and |
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she began smoking and selling barbecue every Saturday morning as a |
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sideline, steadily building an impressive local reputation for her |
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delicious fare; and |
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WHEREAS, When her husband became ill in 1996, Mrs. Tomanetz |
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sold the business that she had run for 20 years in order to care for |
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him; after Mr. Tomanetz recovered, she began barbecuing again every |
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Saturday morning for the meat market's new owners, who named the |
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business Always Tootsie's in her honor; and |
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WHEREAS, In March 2003, Mrs. Tomanetz was recruited by Kerry |
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Bexley to serve as pit master at a new Lexington business, Snow's |
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BBQ; though open only on Saturday from 8 a.m. until the meat runs |
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out, Snow's soon became widely renowned, and it was named the best |
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barbecue joint in the state by Texas Monthly in 2008 and again in |
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2017; feature stories in the New Yorker and numerous other media |
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outlets have added to Mrs. Tomanetz's fame, and she has become one |
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of the best-known barbecue cooks in the world; in 2018, she was a |
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semifinalist for the prestigious James Beard Award; and |
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WHEREAS, Every Saturday, this remarkable Texan still arrives |
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at Snow's at 2 a.m. and starts heating the pits and preparing the |
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meat; drawn by her reputation, barbecue aficionados from miles |
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around congregate each weekend in Lexington, where they wait in |
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line for as long as two hours to sample the world-class brisket, |
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sausage, pork, turkey, and chicken, and to share a few words with |
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Mrs. Tomanetz; and |
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WHEREAS, The barbecue pit master is an iconic figure in the |
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history and culture of the Lone Star State, and Tootsie Tomanetz has |
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become one of the best and most celebrated practitioners of this |
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proud tradition; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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Legislature hereby honor Norma Frances "Tootsie" Tomanetz for her |
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exceptional achievements as a barbecue pit master and extend to her |
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sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Mrs. Tomanetz as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |