May 21, 2021

My fellow Texans and those interested in Texas,

Welcome to the Texas State Society of Washington, D.C. I joined the TSS just after moving here in 1989 and have been a member ever since. Back then it provided me a feeling of home away from home and it was at the Annual Picnic that I found myself surrounded by fellow Texans and the feeling of belonging. Now, some 31 years later, it’s still my home away from home and my great hope is that very soon we’ll be able to welcome the newly arrived from Texas with the same open arms and great times that I’ve enjoyed all these years.

Did anyone ever think we’d spend more than a year tucked away at home without seeing one another, other than on a computer screen! Well, we did, and it’s just about over. We’ll be back in the saddle again, real soon.

In January 2021, Black Tie and Boots Committee Chairman Ryan Thompson and his team, under Covid quarantine rules, produced an absolutely astonishing virtual event that was recorded and is on our Website now. I suggest a good bottle of wine for a Friday or Saturday night viewing, on the biggest screen you can muster.

Article II of the TSS Constitution states that “The purpose of the Society shall be to encourage and promote good fellowship among Texans, and those interested in Texas, in the area of the Nation’s Capital.” To that end we are working feverously to plan and restore our signature events such as, the Annual Picnic, the Salute to Congress, as well as Happy Hours and our Breakfast Club meetings as we begin to emerge from this pandemic.

We will also have an in-person Black Tie and Boots Ball in January 2022, the first, and hopefully the only, ball held in a non-presidential-inaugural year. It will be just so great to get back together again in a beautiful location with Texas bands, Texas food and Texas good times.

So let me tell you how grateful I am to serve as President of the Texas State Society for 2021-2022 and to welcome the challenge of recovering from one of the most trying years in anyone’s memory. Thank you for your interest in the TSS and I hope it will become your home away from home.

May God bless the Great State of Texas and the Texas State Society,

Jack Peterson

TSS President

2021-2022