Special by Dana Hall, DBA president
(Seguin) — The 2024 Sip n’ Stroll Committee and the Seguin Main Street Program invite local artists to submit artwork of the Palace Theater to be featured on the 2024 Sip n’ Stroll mug. The artwork should be an original piece and all mediums are welcome to be submitted. The artwork should fit a rectangle measuring 8” width x 4” height or a ratio similar to 2:1.
“This will be the 14th Sip ‘n Stroll and each year the mug features a different Seguin landmark. Previous years, the mug has featured The World’s Largest Pecan, The First Church, Sebastopol House, the Aumont, and the Texas Theatre,” said Dana Hall, president of the Seguin Downtown Business Alliance.
In 2025, the Palace will celebrate its 110th birthday in Seguin. Seguin’s Palace Theatre has stood at the corner of South Austin and West Washington for more than a century, even though it has been rebuilt and renovated several times. First constructed circa 1915 by the Nolte-Starcke family as a moving pictures cinema, the original Palace appears in some of Seguin’s earliest downtown photographs and on historic Sanborn maps. The Palace was remodeled and reconstructed in an Art Deco style in the 1930s and purchased by the H.A. Daniels family.
Following a gas explosion in 1946, the Daniels family rebuilt the Palace in a state-of-the-art Streamline Art Modern style in 1947. Since then, it has been the hub of this community as a cinema and performing arts and concert venue.
The Palace has been owned and operated by the H.A. Daniels family since the early 1930s, and today the second generation of the Daniels family still owns and operates Seguin’s biggest and oldest theater.
Seguin’s enormous Palace Theatre holds two auditoriums that together seat more than 500 moviegoers. It features a special “crying room” for babies and a former “smoking room,” along with a Ladies Lounge and a Men’s Lounge. The Palace now is fully equipped to show modern digital movies on its enormous silver screen. The historic theater boasts its original popcorn machine which still makes the best popcorn in town, along with an antique player piano. Today the Palace holds a TABC-certified license to sell beer and wine, along with all the traditional items in its candy-striped original 1940s concession stand.
Upstairs on the mezzanine level, the Palace is also home to the Seguin Cine Museum which has been featured in film and television segments and shows across the nation as well as in magazines and newspapers. Curated by local film aficionado David Pierce and motion picture exhibitor Dan Daniels, the museum is open by appointment year-round.
“Although events are scheduled for the coming year, the Palace is available to rent for birthday parties, special date nights, proposals, “prom-posals,” film festivals, ghost-hunters, pajama parties, Scouting events, family reunions, church gatherings, community and business parties and events and more,” said Janis Turk Daniels. “You can even rent the marquee to see your name in light or to ask a sweetheart to prom or to marry you.”
Seguin’s Palace Theatre has appeared in movies and commercials over the years, including HBO Max’s recent series “Love and Death.” Movie stars such as John Wayne have visited the Palace.
This year, the Palace is offering a lineup of live music, comedy acts, and stage productions. Seguin Theatres, Inc. is today owned by H.A. Daniels II and his wife Janis. Since the 1930s, the H.A. “Windy” Daniels and wife Maxi, owned and operated numerous theaters across centralTexas, including The Dixie Drive-In, The Texas Theatre, and The Palace in Seguin. Today, Seguin’s new generation of film makers, movie goers, comedy and concert fans are making their own happy memories at The Palace, just as their grandparents and parents did before them. So many Seguinites met their sweethearts and spouses at The Palace Theatre in Seguin.
“This holiday season, The Palace is grateful to have been chosen as the subject of the Sip & Stroll holiday art contest for the hot cocoa mug,” Daniels said. “It’s a wonderful life in Seguin! And the Daniels family thanks their beloved Seguin community for 110 years of movies and theater fun! Merry Christmas, and God bless us, every one!”
Visit www.PalaceSeguin.com for information and tickets to upcoming shows.
All artists are welcome to participate with all interpretations of the subject considered. The artwork can be from any period of the Theater’s history. The artwork should be submitted to You’re So Crafty, 208 S. Austin St. by Wednesday, July 31. The Studio is open 10-6 weekdays and noon to 4 weekends. Call (830) 379-0730 for questions.
The 2024 Sip ‘n Stroll Committee will judge the submissions and select the artwork. The chosen artwork will be featured on more than 1,000 mugs, featured in press releases, new articles and shared across social media platforms. The artist will also be invited to be present at Pecan Fest on Oct. 26, where the sale of the 2024 Sip n’ Stroll mugs will be launched. The selected artist will also receive a $100 stipend.
For more information, contact Dana Hall, with the Seguin Downtown Business Alliance, at (830) 379-0730 or dana@youresocrafty.com.