HUXLEY — Until recently, Michael and Judith Sutter didn't know Texas had trees. Or, for that matter, that the plant ecology of the Lone Star State encompassed something other than the typical Western movie set of barren prairie and tumbleweeds.

The retired Chicago-area architect and his wife had never played dominoes. They still prefer veal Oscar over chicken fried steak. They worship da'Bears. And they don't care much for country music.

No, the Sutters, with their Midwestern accents and dry humor, aren't exactly stereotypical Texans. But they are just what the economic developers ordered for this tiny deep East Texas community and many other struggling rural towns across the state trying to market themselves as national baby boomer retirement destinations.