After a seven year hiatus, the Old Fashion Barbecue returned last year with great success and this year the Chamber promises to be even better.

Texas Railroad Chairman Barry Smitherman will be the guest speaker this year.
Smitherman is a fourth generation Texan with a distinguished career in finance and has served the people of Texas as a prosecutor, as Chairman of the Public Utility Commission, and now as the elected Chairman of the Railroad Commission.
After growing up in Highlands, Texas, Smitherman graduated from Texas A&M University with honors, completed Law School at the University of Texas, and earned his M.P.A. from Harvard.
The railroad chairman currently serves on the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission, the Southern States Energy Board, the Coastal Land Advisory Board, the Visiting Committee of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas, the UT Law School Center for Global Energy.
Smitherman and his wife recently celebrated their 25th anniversary. They live in Austin with two of their four children. They are also the proud parents of two sons currently studying engineering at Texas A&M.
The Old Fashion Barbecue is an invitation only event organized by the Chamber of Commerce and serves an information gathering for its members and guest. Event sponsorship is $600 and allows each sponsor to invite 16 people to the event.
The Old Fashion Barbecue is set for Thursday, October 11th at the Jim Wells County Fairgrounds Merchants Building and begins at 6:30 p.m.
For more information, contact the Chamber at 361-664-3454.