George H. W. Bush Library & Messina-Hof Winery - May 6, 2013
TIHAA Trip to Bryan/College Station

by Mary Brown



Our TIHAA group in front of the President George H. W. Bush Library.

Tuesday, May 6th was a beautiful day to venture to Aggie Land. Twenty-three TIHAA members (George Wolf, Diane Murray, Mary Brown, Marian Gruber, Gurrette Roep, Lucy Salas, Jean Houston, Sarah Harvey, Miriam Rodarte,


Is this the future President Jean Houston?
Tony & Susan Leigh, Mary & Bill Young, Mary Green, Bernie Dennis, Gloria & K.J. Byers, Della DuHart, James & Dorothy Wade, Gladys Price, Yaoqi & Andy Pang) were able to make the trip. Yaoqi had invited two friends to attend, Mr. & Mrs. Teng. Yaoqi said this was like a going home. When she came to the United States she taught at A&M before she came to TI.

The bus ride to George Bush Library on the A&M campus seemed to fly by as I called BINGO. We had three bingo winners; Gladys Price, Marian Gruber and Gloria Byers. Each was awarded 2 gold dollars.



Chatting with the President!

Upon arrival at the library we were greeted by a docent that ushered us into the theater where we saw a synopsis of George Bush’s life that lead up to him becoming the 41st President of the United States. After the film she gave us the layout of the library and then let everyone enjoy it at their own pace. I noticed that a few wanted to be president as they sat in the Oval Office exhibit.

We then went to eat at Madden’s Restaurant in Bryan. This is a quaint restaurant with mixed reviews. If you are going for a hardy meal (like meat & potatoes) this is not your place.

Messina-Hof Winery was our final destination on this trip. And a happy place it was. We had a very jolly host for the wine tasting and tour. He explained the different methods of tasting wines to


get the full flavor from wine. He took us to the vineyard and told us that if we wanted to help make the wine, to come back in July and we could learn how to cut and stomp the grapes (just like LUCY), for a price; however, we would receive a free t-shirt. While we were in the bottling room the owner, Paul Bonarrigo, came by. You may ask if this is a family business why the wine is not named Bonarrigo. The answer is the wine is named after the towns the owner's ancestors came from. The husband’s family was from Messina, Italy


and the wife’s family was from Hof, Germany. This is not only a winery but a resort. They have a beautiful bed and breakfast and a restaurant (not open on Monday). If you were not able to go on this trip I highly recommend Messina-Hof if you are ever in the Bryan area.



We all arrived safely back to Bayland Park and ready to go on the next adventure to the Channel 8 and the Orange show on June 1st.












Copyright TI Houston Alumni Association 2013, All Rights Reserved.

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