Not many people can say they helped establish an organization or event that is a key part of the community, but Jeanie Pimpler can say she helped start two. Pimpler played an essential role in establishing the Hutto Area Chamber of Commerce as well as Hutto Olde Tyme Days. Both celebrate their 30-year anniversaries in 2015.

A Texas native, Pimpler and her husband have lived in their home in east Round Rock since 1971. Pimpler said she loved the small-town community, which has drastically grown significantly throughout the years.

Pimpler said she became involved with Hutto after her husband performed contracting jobs in the city. Pimpler was the first officer appointed to the Hutto Area Chamber of Commerce. She said one of the primary goals of the chamber at the time was to function as a cleanup committee for downtown.

“We got the town all cleaned up,” Pimpler said. “The timing was perfect; it was just in time for Olde Tyme Days, which started that same year.”

The first Olde Tyme Days was organized to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Texas gaining independence from Mexico. Pimpler said many other towns in the area were having celebrations, which gave her and her friend, Pat Stromberg, the idea to form a planning committee.

“We decorated a float on a borrowed flatbed trailer and took it to the parades in other little towns to advertise ours,” Pimpler said.

Pimpler said they also put a note in a local newspaper, and the response from volunteers was overwhelming.

“I was just amazed at how everyone just came together and did their own thing on event day,” Pimpler said. “It was very smooth.”

Pimpler said that the Hutto community has always been very tight-knit, especially during her first years involved in the city.

“It has grown so much; it’s incredible,” Pimpler said. “It was the perfect place to raise a family.”

Memories of Hutto Olde Tyme Days:

Jeanie Pimpler, Hutto Olde Tyme Days co-founder, said at first the festival featured a pageant and a domino tournament.

There was a frog-jumping contest, and children who wished to participate were supposed to bring their own frogs. However, Pimpler and a friend drove a pickup truck to a pond to capture frogs so they would have extras available.

Pimpler said that her husband, Carroll, won a beard-growing contest one year. She said she was unsure of the qualifications, as her husband did not have the longest beard.