The Kendall County Sheriff's Office was honored to host the Kendall County Employee Thanksgiving Luncheon to a hungry crowd of over 150 people.

This is a LONG standing tradition with the county that began in the sally-port (garage) of the old Sheriff's Office over 20 years ago. When Sheriff Auxier was elected in 2013, he and his wife wanted to bring this fantastic luncheon to a new level of fun and excitement, and the tradition has continued for 7 more years with many hours of planning and many many many volunteers that work to make this luncheon one of camaraderie and an appreciation of delicious food shared with friends, co-workers, and family.

We were happy to have among our crowd many elected officials that shared their day with us including District Attorney Nicole Bishop, Constable Brian Vaughn, Constable Gene Serene, Constable James Schmidt, JP Frieda Pressler, JP Debby Hudson, JP Teri Nunley, District Clerk Susan Jackson, County Treasurer Sheryl D'Spain, Commissioner Richard Chapman and Sheriff Al Auxier.

Sheriff Auxier arrived at the lunch late today, as he was escorting Mrs. Jessica Ramirez, wife of fallen officer Deputy Carlos Ramirez, to the Sheriff's Association of Texas' Memorial Presentation of adding Deputy Ramirez's name to their Fallen Officer Memorial Wall.

Chief Larry Ripley opened the luncheon with a heartfelt welcome to our guests, and an emotional and tearful tribute to the law enforcement officers we have lost this year, Deputy Carlos Ramirez and Sgt. Matt Johnson, including a request to remember one of our past deputies of the KCSO of 15 years who is currently battling a hard fight with cancer, Rusty Cass.

Eric Cates, from Curry Creek Church, was our visiting guest pastor who opened our luncheon with a prayer we all felt and were blessed by.

So many people worked so hard to bring this luncheon together today for our county employees, and we know they appreciate every single person that made the drive (or walk) to attend this year's delicious event!

Our decorating crew arrived at 7:00 am to begin piecing the awesome table décor together, but I assure you, they began their preparations way in advance of today to make our luncheon top-notch! It is always fun to anticipate what the décor will be like every year as we know that the Sheriff's Wife loves to surprise everyone year after year. We also appreciate the decorating crew's thoughtfulness to the employees of Kendall County as they want to make this an event to be anticipated for everyone that chooses to attend! This year's "Gobble 'til you Wobble" Decorating Crew was Stacey Auxier, Linda Ripley, Glynna Reser, Elections Administrator Staci Decker, Rebecca Senger, KCSO Admin Assistant Dorothy Schindler, Araceli Maldonado, and County Treasurer Sheryl D'Spain.

The food for our annual luncheon is always delicious and in abundance. We are thankful to all that bring such awesome side dishes and desserts to share with everyone in attendance. It is amazing how much more we have to add to our lineup each year as our luncheon grows and grows with the employees that take time out of their day to attend and enjoy time with friends and their fellow employees.

Tammy Aldrich takes the lead with all of the food planning for this event, and it seems it has become second nature to her. She assembles an excellent "Gobble 'til you Wobble" Food Crew herself with an assembly line of the finest turkey and ham carvers you will ever meet! KCSO CID Sgt. Investigator John Quade, Inv. Jim Walters, Inv. Roy Laubach, Inv. Mike Baker, Inv. Randy Rowe, DA Investigator Billy Hunt, Detention Sgt. Chris Ortiz, KCSO Admin Assistant Catherine Madden, Detention Nurse Nancy McGilvray, Detention Admin Assistant Lisa Dusek and Sgt. Kevin Klaerner who is our "go-to guy" for absolutely everything we need.

Of course, this event would not be possible without the generosity of Methodist Church Boerne for allowing us to use their beautiful facility for the luncheon, to HEB Boerne for donating the turkeys for our event (generously giving to our event for 5 years), and finally Smokey Mo's for smoking the turkeys for the luncheon! We appreciate all that you do for us and are so grateful for our partnerships and friendships!

We hope everyone that took time out of their day to come to the luncheon enjoyed not only the fellowship and food but the many hours our volunteers put into this event for you! We are thankful for you and for a community that comes together to support those that support them!