Around the time the Cibolo acquired the Herff Farm in 2009, we hosted a Living History Festival at the Farm to share the history of our community with younger generations and our newer neighbors. Our CoFounder, Brent Evans, collected written and oral stories to create the mini booklet, Boerne Stories to share with guests. In honor of Valentine’s Day and in celebration of the legacy and memory of Carolyn Herff Kennon, here is her little love story about how she met her husband, Bill Kennon, entitled, “A Dash to the Post Office”:

It was 1942. The War was raging in Europe and the Pacific. My friend Helen had arranged a blind date for me – a First Lieutenant stationed at Ft. Sam Houston, named Bill Kennon. The four of us crammed into his 1937 Ford Coup and headed for the country to have a picnic on our ranch. First, we went through Boerne, then drove out the San Antonio Road to Main Street, down the hill past the Catholic Church, across the Cibolo Creek to Max Theis’ Grocery Store, where we bought hamburgers with my rationed red stamps. Boerne was a charming little town; all commerce took place on Main Street. The sidewalk was lined with tall shade trees, no traffic at all. I didn’t realize at the time, but Bill must have been charmed.

We went back down San Antonio Road to our summer place, “Suitsus”. We journeyed past the home, through the home pasture, across the creek to our favorite picnic place on the bluff over-looking the creek – clear water rippling over the rocks to the canyon. Five months later we were married! We stayed at the Cibolo Hotel, just down the hill from the church. It was then that I showed him the Malikopf Hill with the family’s monument to my great grandfather. Three months later he was overseas. Two summers later I was staying on the ranch with Mother, waiting for his overdue leave. My Auntie Vic had acquired a beautiful horse she named June Bug for his brown color. He was an outlaw – none of the orderlies at Ft. Sam could handle him. She worked very hard to tame him. Then, she gave him to me!

While waiting that summer, I rode June Bug a lot. Sometimes I would get impatient for a letter from Bill. I would ride into Boerne to the post office to beat the mail lady. I would pass the grocery on the right, past Bergmann’s Hardware on the left, and the next was Mr. Adams’ house. His butcher shop
was just two doors away. I hitched my horse to the post in his front yard and ran to the post office, hoping for a word that my Bill was okay.

Bill’s leave was finally granted, and where do you think we spent it? Boerne, of course, with June Bug, the ranch, the Malikopf, the Cibolo, and each other – at last.

Carolyn Herff Kennon passed away on January 12, 2023 at the age of 100 years young. If you enjoyed her story, please consider making a gift to the Carolyn Kennon Land Protection Fund. This fund enables protection and care of land in Carolyn’s beloved Boerne and beyond. We are grateful for the people of Boerne and the land that makes up the beautiful backdrop for life here. We are grateful to have been a part of this community for the past 35 years, and we are excited to continue to be a part of it.