Tell me a little bit about where you are from and where you grew up? “I was born about 3 miles east of Lexington, Texas on a farm. I’m the oldest of 3 children. We raised corn, cotton, maize, peanuts, cattle and hogs. My Daddy farmed with a team of mules. When I was old enough I would run the mules and drive the tractor when we eventually got one. I graduated from Lexington High School in 1953.”
What did your parents do? What influence did they have on you in becomingthe woman you are today? “My father was a farmer. My Mother would keep the garden up. I’d work the farm with my father and help in the garden too. We did a lot of canning and preserving vegetables for winter use since we didn’t have a freezer. We didn’t have electricity until 1942. I remember having to do all of my school work, like reading and math, right when I got home before it got dark out. In 1942 we got electricity. We worked hard. My parents always instilled that in us. Hard work was just the way.”
Did you know what you wanted to be when you grew up? “Not really but nursing was something I thought about, but I wasn’t really fond of school. I just loved being outdoors. I was always an outdoor person. You can take the girl out of the Country, but you can’t take the Country out of the girl”
Tell me about your husband. It sounds like you had a wonderful life together. “I married my husband “White”, Edward was his real name, in 1956. He was a veteran who’d been stationed in Alaska during the Korean conflict. We had a wonderful life together and three children, Patricia, Dale, and Hershel.”
Tell me a little bit about Snows BBQ and how it all came to be. How did it get started and what makes it such a special place? “In 1966 Mr. Doyle, owner of City Meat Market in Giddings, was short handed at the market where my husband worked (Edward “White” Tomanetz.) That’s where I learned to cook on the pits and I also worked the fresh meat counter. I worked the pits and counter there for 10 years and then Mr. Doyle bought the Meat Market in Lexington and he asked me to run it. A year later “White” and I bought the market from Mr. Doyle. We ran the market during the week and whatever meat didn’t sell we would barbecue for Saturday. So we just did the Barbecue on Saturdays. When my husband had a stroke we were forced to sell the business we had run for 20 years. The Snow’s BBQ start came to be years after Kerry “Snow” Bexley first approached me about the idea to open the bbq business by the old Peanut Mill. I had an obligation to the new owners of the market to keep cooking there, and then when another ownership pass was happening the stars aligned so I called up Kerry to let him know I was available if he still wanted to open a bbq place. Snow’s BBQ opened March 1, 2003. Its been such a great experience ever since.”
To read a more in depth story about the history of Tootsie’s journey cooking bbq and working in the family meat market business written by Daniel Vaughn BBQ Editor for Texas Monthly Magazine click here.
What do you think people might not know about the day in the life of Tootsie. “I enjoy my school family and my church family as well. I still work full time for Giddings ISD. I try to just put everything in “Gods hand” which has allowed all of these things in my life to all be possible. When one door closes, another door opens if you just allow it.”
