President Donald Trump did a shout-out to the small Texas city of Poteet during a Saturday evening ceremony at the White House Oval Office celebrating performers who are new Kennedy Center honorees.
On a network video broadcast, President Trump stood in front of the honored performers and said, "From Newark, New Jersey to Poteet, Texas, to as far away as London, these are some of the greatest performers of their generation.
Standing behind the president was country music legend George Strait, who hails from Poteet, a town of 2,795 about 20 miles south of San Antonio.
Strait was honored for excellence by Washington's Kennedy Center, along with movie actor Sylvester Stallone (from New York City), British actor and singer Michael Crawford (85, best known as the lead in Broadway's Phantom of the Opera), singer Gloria Gaynor (from Newark, best known for the disco anthem "I Will Survive") and the pioneering rock group Kiss.
Strait, 73, after rising up from humble beginnings in small-town South Texas (he grew up in Pearsall, not far from his birthplace) built on his first fame in 1981, going on to sell 123 million records worldwide and considered one of the all-time greats in country music -- and has lately been hinting at retirement.