[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 125 (Thursday, September 16, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   EDMUND G. SCHMIDT OF HUTTO, TEXAS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN R. CARTER

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 16, 2010

  Mr. CARTER. Madam Speaker, I would like to recognize Mr. Edmund G. 
Schmidt of Hutto Texas. ``Mr. Hutto'', is what they call him. Mr. 
Edmund G. Schmidt has served the Hutto community in countless ways for 
decades. First being elected to city council in 1961, Ed served the 
city for 29 consecutive years, 9 as city councilman and 20 as mayor of 
Hutto. A World War II Veteran, and small business owner for over 50 
years, Schmidt has also continued serving with several groups, 
including the Hutto Lions Club, where he is in his 54th year of perfect 
attendance as a charter member, and Hutto Lutheran Church where he has 
served for more than six decades. Schmidt served as the first President 
of the Hutto Economic Corporation.
  Schmidt grew up on a farm outside of Taylor. ``God's country,'' he 
calls it. Looking for a way to a way to provide for his young family 
after returning from the war, some friends convinced him to open his 
own grocery store in Hutto.
  Signing a 5-year lease for $25 a month, Schmidt transformed a big, 
open building on East Street into his own grocery store, Red & White, 
with his wife Julia. They opened their doors on Friday, July 13, 1951, 
with three other groceries in the area to compete with. Ed proved 
himself to the community of Hutto and 2 years later, in 1953, he bought 
and expanded into the space next door. When his lease expired he 
purchased his first building. He owned and operated his grocery store 
with Julia on East Street until 1990. With the store closed, Schmidt 
had the opportunity to get in the insurance business with his son 
Dennis, so he sold some of his building space and kept enough for an 
office where he still works with his son. As an established resident, 
small business and property owner in Hutto, in 1961 Schmidt learned of 
a place on the council through a good friend from church who was also 
council member. When an opening came up mid-term, Schmidt filled it and 
then kept getting re-elected, never spending a cent on a campaign. ``I 
never thought, and no one on council, thought of ourselves as 
politicians,'' he said. ``We were serving the community. We just had to 
pitch in.''
  At this time, the city assessed and collected its own taxes; it had 
one elected marshal who was replaced with a one-person police 
department, a distant thought from the Hutto we see today, with a full 
police force, and new neighborhoods and schools being built to keep up 
with the rapid growth. On Friday, October 20, 2007, the city honored 
Schmidt, renaming County Road 119 after him, for his contribution to 
Hutto's growth. Ed Schmidt Boulevard links Hutto to Pflugerville's FM 
685.
  Though he continues to work hard every day without any sign of 
slowing down, Ed cherishes his time spent with Julia. Married 68 years, 
the Schmidt's have raised four children and now take great pride and 
joy in their 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren who all live 
between Austin and Rockdale.

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