Photo: Black Seminoles gathered for holiday dinner at Carver School in Bracketville, Texas. Photo by Corina Torralba Harrington, SISCA's Treasurer
by Windy Goodloe, Secretary, Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association (SISCA)
On Saturday, December 9, several of SISCA’s board members and officers and their invited loved ones gathered at the Carver School in Brackettville, Texas, for a holiday dinner. This was the first time that we have had our seasonal gathering since the pandemic. It’s an event that is important to those of us who still live in Brackett and the surrounding areas because we really don’t get many opportunities to gather and just fellowship. It was nice to take a moment and just enjoy each other’s company while also enjoying some delicious food.
For weeks, we had known that our vice-president Rafaela “Affie” Brown would be making the turkey and dressing. So we certainly anticipated eating her food because she is an excellent cook. Her turkey was the centerpiece, and it lived up to our expectations. The rest of us contributed a green bean casserole, canned corn bathed in butter, homemade cranberry sauce, yams, collard greens, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, and lots of cakes and pies.
After we finished our meal, we turned our attention to another tradition that we learned from our dearly departed board member Mary Nofi. Although Mary passed away in 2020, she was a beautifully powerful soul who left behind such an indelible legacy that she remains at the forefront of our thoughts and hearts. She and her husband Dr. Al Nofi had a holiday tradition. They would invite friends over each year to “help” decorate their Christmas tree. Each person was required to place one ornament on the tree. In honor of Mary Nofi, that’s what we did, and our tree came together as everyone took their time selecting an ornament and then finding the right place for it on the tree.
After cleaning up, the board members and officers had a quick board meeting. And from there, everyone who had traveled from San Antonio got on the road before it got too dark. It was still early in the day, and the weather nice, so others stayed in Brackettville for a while and enjoyed the annual Kinney County Frontier Christmas, which featured vendors, a parade, and a live nativity scene.
