86R15906 JGH-D
 
  By: Cyrier H.R. No. 706
 
 
 
R E S O L U T I O N
         WHEREAS, Norma Frances "Tootsie" Tomanetz has entered the
  pantheon of Texas barbecue legends as the pit master of Snow's BBQ
  in Lexington; and
         WHEREAS, A veteran with a half century of barbecuing
  experience, Tootsie Tomanetz began learning the craft in 1966, when
  she was 31 years old; her husband, Edward Tomanetz, worked for City
  Meat Market in Giddings, and when one of the barbecue cooks failed
  to show up one day, the market's owner, Hershel Doyle, asked
  Mrs. Tomanetz to step in; in the years that followed, she was
  tutored by legendary pit master Orange Holloway; and
         WHEREAS, A decade later, Mr. Doyle bought a meat market in
  Lexington and asked Mrs. Tomanetz to run it, and the following
  year, she and her husband bought the business; while Mr. Tomanetz
  ran the family farm, Mrs. Tomanetz operated the meat market, and
  she began smoking and selling barbecue every Saturday morning as a
  sideline, steadily building an impressive local reputation for her
  delicious fare; and
         WHEREAS, When her husband became ill in 1996, Mrs. Tomanetz
  sold the business that she had run for 20 years in order to care for
  him; after Mr. Tomanetz recovered, she began barbecuing again every
  Saturday morning for the meat market's new owners, who named the
  business Always Tootsie's in her honor; and
         WHEREAS, In March 2003, Mrs. Tomanetz was recruited by Kerry
  Bexley to serve as pit master at a new Lexington business, Snow's
  BBQ; though open only on Saturday from 8 a.m. until the meat runs
  out, Snow's soon became widely renowned, and it was named the best
  barbecue joint in the state by Texas Monthly in 2008 and again in
  2017; feature stories in the New Yorker and numerous other media
  outlets have added to Mrs. Tomanetz's fame, and she has become one
  of the best-known barbecue cooks in the world; in 2018, she was a
  semifinalist for the prestigious James Beard Award; and
         WHEREAS, Every Saturday, this remarkable Texan still arrives
  at Snow's at 2 a.m. and starts heating the pits and preparing the
  meat; drawn by her reputation, barbecue aficionados from miles
  around congregate each weekend in Lexington, where they wait in
  line for as long as two hours to sample the world-class brisket,
  sausage, pork, turkey, and chicken, and to share a few words with
  Mrs. Tomanetz; and
         WHEREAS, The barbecue pit master is an iconic figure in the
  history and culture of the Lone Star State, and Tootsie Tomanetz has
  become one of the best and most celebrated practitioners of this
  proud tradition; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas
  Legislature hereby honor Norma Frances "Tootsie" Tomanetz for her
  exceptional achievements as a barbecue pit master and extend to her
  sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it further
         RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
  prepared for Mrs. Tomanetz as an expression of high regard by the
  Texas House of Representatives.