of ANCIENT - Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE EDITION JANUARY 2007 “When Dad...

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 7L O C A L E L E C T R I C C O O P E R A T I V E E D I T I O N

“When Dad Died”Five-Ingredient Meals

Hit the Road: Brenham to La Grange

P L U S

The

FACEof

ANCIENTTEXAS

The

FACEof

ANCIENTTEXAS

J a n u a r y 2 0 0 7 T E X A S C O - O P P O W E R 3

T E X A S E L E C T R I C C O O P E R A T I V E S B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S : John Herrera, Chair, Mercedes; Greg Jones, Vice Chair,Jacksonville; Ray Beavers, Secretary-Treasurer, Cleburne; James Calhoun, Franklin; Charles Castleberry, Tulia; Gary Nietsche, La Grange;William “Buff” Whitten, Eldorado

P R E S I D E N T / C E O : Mike Williams, Austin

S T R A T E G I C C O M M U N I C A T I O N S A D V I S O R Y C O M M I T T E E : Roland Witt, Chair, Coleman; Bill Harbin, Vice Chair, Floydada;Roy Griffin, Edna; Kim Hooper, Bluegrove; Gerald Lemons, Itasca; Robert A. Loth III, Fredericksburg; Melody Pinnell, Crockett

C O M M U N I C A T I O N S S T A F F : Peg Champion, Vice President, Communications/Publisher; Kaye Northcott, Editor; Carol Moczygemba,

Managing Editor; Suzi Sands, Art Director; Martin Bevins, Advertising Director; Andy Doughty, Production Designer; Sandra Forston,

Communications Assistant; Melissa Grischkowsky, Communications Assistant; Kevin Hargis, Copy Editor; Jo Johenning, ProductionAssistant; Karen Nejtek, Production Manager; Shannon Oelrich, Food Editor/ Proofreader; Alex Sargent, Production Artist; Ellen Stader,

Proofreader; Cheryl Tucker, Field Editor; Molly Fohn, Intern

F E A T U R E S

F A V O R I T E S

January 2007

The Face of Ancient TexasBy Gail Folkins

The Bosque Memorial Museum in Clinton exhibits replicas of the oldest human remains foundin Texas.

When Dad DiedBy Jim ComerIllustration by Mary Close

Jim Comer, who has provided usexcellent advice on coping withaging parents, relates the lastdays of his father’s life.

V O L U M E 6 3 N U M B E R 7

3 2 3 5

6

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Texas Co-op Power is published by your

electric cooperative to enhance the qual-

ity of life of its member-customers in an

educational and entertaining format.

Footnotes By Larry Tritten Deep in the Heart of Texas 3 1

Home Cooking Five-Ingredient Meals 3 2

Focus on Texas Extreme Weather 3 5

Around Texas Local Events Listings 3 6

Hit the Road By June Naylor Brenham to La Grange 3 8

6

C O V E R P H O T O by Wyatt McSpadden

3 1

W Y A T T M C S P A D D E N

1 4

4 T E X A S C O - O P P O W E R J a n u a r y 2 0 0 7

P O W E R T A L Kletters

We want to hear from our readers. Sendletters to: Editor, Texas Co-op Power, 2550S. IH-35, Austin, TX 78704, or e-mail us [email protected]. Please include thename of your town and electric co-op.Letters may be edited for clarity and lengthand will be printed as space allows.

SAFELIVINGID Theft: ProtectYour IdentityHow can you prevent or reducethe possibility of identity thefthappening to you? Here aresome basic tips:

Don’t carry more than onecredit card with you during yourdaily activities.

Report the loss or theft ofany credit cards to the issuersimmediately.

Avoid using your debit cardfor online purchases—yourcredit card is better protectedagainst fraud. (If your creditcard is used without yourauthorization and you’vereported the theft, you’re onlyresponsible for the first $50 incharges.) Check with your card’sissuing bank to find out whatkind of protection you may have.

Install and update virus pro-tection software and install afirewall on your home computerif you use the web at home.

Keep photocopies of yourcredit cards, debit card and dri-ver’s license in a secure place.

Don’t give out personal infor-mation such as credit card num-bers over the phone, unless youhave initiated the phone call to atrusted company.

Avoid throwing away yourreceipts in public trash containers.

We receive many more lettersthan we can fit in the magazine.Visit www.texascooppower.comto read a sampling of those.

THE FUTURE(GEN) IS HERE!Someday in the future, the United States will produceenergy from its own reserves without relying on for-eign resources. The coal-fired energy-generation plantwill produce electricity and hydrogen with no emis-sions. Carbon dioxide waste will be captured and usedto produce more oil from existing wells.

Sound like a fairy tale?FutureGen, a $1 billion government/industry col-

laboration introduced in 2003, is an initiative to buildthe world’s first combined-cycle coal-fired plant withnear-zero emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions, con-sidered one of the primary causes of global warming,would be safely captured underground and used forbeneficial purposes. Hydrogen and other byproducts ofthe power generation process would be “recycled” foruse by other industries.

Energy demand is rising, not only in the United States,but also in the global marketplace. While fuel coal isabundant in the U.S.—and costs less than other energysources—environmental concerns about emissions havehampered new plant siting and construction. FutureGentechnology would eliminate those concerns, facilitatingthe use of a secure U.S. energy resource. FutureGenadvanced technologies will be “appropriately shared”within the energy industry throughout the world.

Two of the four sites being considered for the plantare in Texas: Jewett, midway between Houston andDallas-Fort Worth; and Penwell, just southwest ofOdessa. After studies are completed, a final site selec-tion will be made in the latter part of 2007, with theplant going online in 2012.

We neg-lected tosay in theNovembercover storyon “BigBucks” thatthe magni-

ficent animals photographedcame from Premier Ranch outside of Mason in the HillCountry. To learn about theranch, go to www.premierranch.com. —Editor

A SALSA MYTH Regarding folklorist RhettRushing’s statement in JeffSiegel’s article on salsa in yourNovember issue: Cilantro andgarlic were introduced to theWestern Hemisphere byEuropeans such as Cortez. It’sno surprise that “there is nodirect evidence that they putthem into the pepper-tomatomixture.” So I suppose that partof the story is just folklore.

JOHN EASTFayette Electric Cooperative

SPORT HUNTING INHUMANEKilling animals for sport is aninhumane practice. We are generations past the time whenwe should have outgrown theatavistic impulses of indiscrimi-nate slaughter without purpose,of exterminating innocent ani-mals and calling it “sport.”

Life is one thing. It’s pre-cious. Stop killing it.

RICHARD MAXWELLSouth Plains Electric Cooperative

MODEL OF GENERATION PLANT.


WHO KNEW?H A P P E N I N G SThose zany folks in Eldorado who call themselves theEldorado Olympic Bid Organizing Committee are at it again.In addition to the April Fool’s Day Elgoatarod (during whichhumans pull goats down the street), they have a Januaryevent sure to cure your post-holiday blues.

On Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 27-28, the town spoofs theworldwide Elvis impersonation craze with their ALL THEKING’S CLONES festival. The West Texas burg claims tohave more Elvis impersonators per capita than any city in theworld.

In addition to the faux Elvii, people compete to see wholooks the most like Priscilla, Lisa Marie and Col. Tom Parker.Contact [email protected] or call (325) 853-3678 fordetails. Eldorado is between San Angelo and Sonora on U.S.Highway 277.

Texas Co-op Power (USPS 540-560) is pub-lished monthly by Texas Electric Cooperatives(TEC). Periodical Postage Paid at Austin, TXand at additional offices. TEC is the statewideassociation representing 74 electric coopera-tives. Texas Co-op Power’s website is www. texascooppower.com. Call (512) 454-0311 or e-mail [email protected].

Subscription price is $3.84 per year for individ-ual members of subscribing cooperatives. If youare not a member of a subscribing cooperative,you can purchase an annual subscription at thenonmember rate of $7.50. Individual copies andback issues are available for $3 each.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TexasCo-op Power (USPS 540-560), 2550 S. IH-35,Austin, TX 78704. Please enclose label fromthis copy of Texas Co-op Power showing oldaddress and key numbers.

ADVERTISING: Advertisers interested in buyingdisplay ad space in Texas Co-op Power and/orin our 30 sister publications in other states,contact Martin Bevins at (512) 486-6249.

Advertisements in Texas Co-op Power are paidsolicitations. The publisher neither endorsesnor guarantees in any manner any product orcompany included in this publication. Productsatisfaction and delivery responsibility lie solelywith the advertiser. Direct questions or com-ments about advertising to MartinBevins, Advertising Director.

© Copyright 2007 Texas Electric Cooperatives,Inc. Reproduction of this issue or any portion ofit is expressly prohibited without written per-mission. Willie Wiredhand © Copyright 2007National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

TEXANS SHINE AT

LINEMAN’S RODEO

Few people outside the utility busi-ness have heard of this spectacle, butthe yearly International Lineman’sRodeo and Expo recognizes theabsolute best of the best in pole-climbing and rescue. Instead of abucking bronco, the competitorsclimb atop poles staked out in afield. They have learned their tradewhile working daily with high-volt-age wires, which can kick a lotharder than a high-spirited animal.

For the second straight year, ajourneyman team from GuadalupeValley Electric Cooperative (GVEC)maintained its world title in thecooperative division competition.GVEC, based in Gonzales, is homebase for one of Texas ElectricCooperatives’ three lineman trainingfacilities. (Both men and womenwho climb poles and repair electricCO

-OP

PE

OP

LE lines are called “linemen.”)

The event culminated Oct. 7 inOverland, Kan., when another Texasstandout, James “Chick” Herrin ofBryan Texas Utilities, was inductedinto the inaugural class of the Inter-national Lineman’s Hall of Famebefore a dinner audience of 4,000.

Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative

employees Scott Brown, Robbie Coldeway

and Greg John are part of the winning

Lineman’s Rodeo team.

MERCEDES, headquar-ters of Magic Valley ElectricCooperative, might or might nothave been named after a womannamed Mercedes, who might ormight not have been married toMexican President Porfirio Diaz.The story is that townspeoplewere trying to butter up Diaz inhopes he would curtail banditryacross the border.

Several history books sayunequivocally that the townwas named after the presi-dent’s wife. But The Handbookof Texas maintains there is norecord that Diaz, Mexico’s rulerfrom 1876 to 1911, had a wifenamed Mercedes.

A BRIGHT IDEA THAT STILL WORKS 98 YEARS LATER

“Few light bulbs can ‘hold a candle’ to the lone, 13-candlepower

bulb that was placed above the stage door vestibule in the Palace

Theater in Fort Worth on Sept. 21, 1908, by state electrician Barry

Burke,” according to the 1978 Tomlinson Lone Star Book of Texas

Records. When the building was torn down in 1977, the bulb—still

working—was moved to the home of property owner George Dato,

who later bequeathed it to the Stockyards Museum in Fort Worth.

Some electrical experts attributed the hand-blown lamp’s

longevity to the fact that its handmade filaments are the size of a

coat hanger, rather than the thin filaments of today. In 2006 the

bulb celebrated its 98th anniversary of operation.

Porfirio Diaz: Mercedes’ husband?

EDD PATTON


Along the Brazos River in southeast Bosque

County, Albert Redder’s patient digging

uncovered the small skull of a juvenile in

the earth of a rock shelter. Redder and his

friend Frank Watt, avocational archeologists

who lived near Waco, had been excavating

the site on weekends since 1967. During the

summer of 1970, they made the kind of

discovery of which archeologists dream.

The

FACEof

ANCIENTTEXAS

One of the shells found in the site, which had to have come from hundreds of miles away and was probably used in trade.

B Y G A I L F O L K I N S

S H E L L : B O S Q U E M E M O R I A L M U S E U M

The oldest known Texas resident cannot be classified as American Indian,European or Asian.

P H O T O : W Y A T T M C S P A D D E N J a n u a r y 2 0 0 7 T E X A S C O - O P P O W E R 7

Once they’d found the skull, Redder andWatt decided to return during a three-day weekend with friend and helperRobert Forrester, who camped near thesite. The three knew it was important tofinish recovering the remains beforelooters had a chance to pillage.

“It took us three days to excavatethe burial site,” Redder recalled. “Wewere cleaning up the first skull andrealized, hey, there’s another skull; itwas two burials!”

The smaller skeleton was curledaround the back of an adult male. Andthere was more. Three turtle shellsrested under the man’s head; anotherunder his pelvis; and a fifth shell cov-ered his face. Other findings includedclaws from Swainson’s hawks and a

badger, along with coyote teeth, antlertools, shell beads, and 19 slabs of lime-stone resting on top.

Redder knew the burial site they’duncovered was old, but exactly how old?Radiocarbon tests showed that the shel-ter was about 11,200 years old. This wasa significant Paleo-American site andone of only three discovered sites inAmerica found containing burial goods.

“This burial occurred before Greekcivilization, pyramids, China. Beforeany known history, we tack on another4,000 years, and it boggles the mind,”says Dr. George Larson, director of theBosque Memorial Museum in Clifton.“History here is much older than youever imagined.”

The significance of the site is

emphasized by the fact that a NationalGeographic Society TV documentaryon the Horn Shelter will be aired in thenext few months.

Frank Watt continued to work thesite until he was 90, three years beforehe died in 1979. Redder carried onalone into the 1990s. During their 26years of excavation, they removed 60boxes of artifacts.

Redder always wanted to share thishistoric discovery with Bosque County.Money from Museums for America, agrant program of the Institute ofMuseums and Library Science, anddonations from many friends of theBosque Memorial Museum in Cliftonhave culminated in the opening of anew Horn Shelter exhibit in October.

From the care

taken and the number

of items buried with

him, he was someone

of significance.


Within the burial site re-creation, themuseum included replicas of elementsfound at the site. A third figure attendingthe two bodies was added.

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Covered by a tarp that flutters under a hot Julysun, a half-dozen men and women, most of themgraduate and undergraduate students at TexasTech University, huddle in a cavity of West Texasearth that was once an ancient watering hole. Inpairs or singly, the students scrape small areasof dirt, each about a square meter and separatedby string. One woman’s careful brushstrokesreveal tortoise leg bones.

Roland Springs Ranch, located in ScurryCounty and owned by Big Country ElectricCooperative members Robert and Tina Roland,hosts a zoo of potentially 400,000-year-old ani-mal bones, including remains of coyotes, smallhorses, birds, fish, frogs, lizards and toads. The

couple’s first inkling they’d found somethingspecial was a large tortoise shell uncovered byerosion and helped along by their own pock-etknives and pens. “We stabbed and jabbed atfirst,” before calling in an expert, Tina says.

According to Dr. Eileen Johnson, director ofthe Lubbock Lake Landmark, a unit of the Museumof Texas Tech University, the numerous RolandSprings findings, which she tentatively places inthe Middle Pleistocene epoch, are significant.

“It’s very rare,” Johnson says. “There areonly a handful of these published finds acrossthe country.”

Tina directs members of the crew to dough-nuts under a mess tent and welcomes a neighbor-

ing family who stops by, joining them to admire thelarge cat tooth Johnson displays. Tina hopes it’sfrom a saber-toothed tiger, but Johnson says it’stoo soon to tell. For Tina, the excitement of thisfour-week dig outweighs any inconvenience.

“It’s really just a small part of the ranch,”Tina says, pointing to the 5-by-8-foot plot. “Andhow can it be an intrusion when it has so manybenefits?”

The enjoyment and education are two of themain advantages, she says. Tina and Robertplan to donate the findings to the Museum ofTexas Tech University, with replicas going to theScurry County Museum, so others can enjoy andlearn from them.

In 1995, Frank Sprague retired as a wildlife biol-ogist and looked forward to spending time withhis wife, Evelyn, on their land north of Hamilton.“I always had a historical interest in the area,”Frank said. He expected to find arrowheads fromthe past few hundred years or so, but erosionalong the banks of the Leon River soon exposedfar older surprises: burnt rock from cooking firesand ancient tools used thousands of years ago.

The Spragues enlisted help from experts atthe Texas Historical Commission who sent sev-eral stewards, volunteer archeologists trained infield techniques and members of the TarrantCounty Archeological Society. Their findingsalong the riverbank included abundant musselshells, charcoal, scrapers and knives, all indi-cating early villages along the river. Ancient,earthen ovens were also found eroding from the

bank, along with a pair of hand-sized grindingstones, or “manos.” Archeologists determinedthat the findings went deep, at least 12 feetbelow the modern surface.

“There were several levels of occupation,”says Sprague, who is a member of HamiltonCounty Electric Cooperative. “One group wouldleave their stone tools, and another group wouldcome in.”

The Spragues have loaned some items for dis-play in the local museum; they will retain owner-ship of the artifacts, a choice all landowners have,Frank explains. The age of the artifacts spansthousands of years. Charcoal samples haveyielded two dates: 800 B.C. and 2,000 B.C. Animalbones retrieved from the site help determine whatwas available for ancient peoples to eat.

“There were mussels and fish, buffalo and

antelope, and pecan and oak trees,” Spraguesaid. “They had many resources here; it was agood place to be.”

The Spragues enjoyed working with theTexas Historical Commission’s archeologicalstewards so much that Frank became an activemember of the Hamilton County HistoricalCommission and a steward in 2001. He encour-ages other landowners to get involved.

If you find you have a real interest in thepreservation of our past, check into the TexasArcheological Society, www.txarch.org. Thesemiannual publication Current Archeology in Texas (a free publication) is accessible on the Texas Historic Commission website,www.thc.state.tx.us, or contact the magazine at(512) 463-6096.

— Gail Folkins

An Ancient Waterhole’s Menagerie Surfaces at a West Texas Ranch

Riverbank Yields a Layered Village


Left, Dr. Eileen Johnson displays an artifact found at Roland Springs Ranch. Right, Texas Tech students excavate for fossils.

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The findings and exhibit were namedafter landowners Adeline and HermanHorn, who gave permission for the arti-fact hunters to cross their property inorder to have access to the river caves.

On the recommendation of Dr. DougOwsley, renowned physical anthropolo-gist and curator for the SmithsonianMuseum of Natural History, the BosqueMuseum arranged to re-create the faceof the adult male skeleton and manufac-ture replicas of artifacts from the shelter.

The bust of the county’s oldest-knownresident, in fact, the oldest-known Texasresident—a handsome fellow—stands atthe entry of the museum.

Amanda Danning, artist and envi-ronmental exhibitor for the HornShelter exhibit, created the bust in con-

sultation with Owsley. She calls the fig-ure “Sam,” or Son of America, becausehe can’t be easily classified. “We can’tsay he’s American Indian, European,Asian; he’s part of an ongoing study ofwho lived here,” she says.

Owsley believes that this skeleton, astrong example of a Paleo-American,might be a member of an ancient peo-ple called the Anai.

Sam, who scientists estimate was inhis 40s when he died, was probably aperson of significance given the intri-cacy of his burial process, from thecarefully placed turtle shells aroundhis face and body to the shell beadsRedder and Watt found, which had tocome from several hundred miles awayand probably were considered valu-

able. Such funeral offerings indicate acare and concern for the dead andcould imply that the Paleo-Americansbelieved in an afterlife.

“Someone took a lot of time puttingthese two together,” she said, referringto the man and child found curledaround him. “From the care taken andnumber of items buried with him, hewas someone of importance.” Danningguesses the ancient man might havebeen a healer or a storyteller.

The younger figure found was around9 or 10 years of age at the time of death.Scientists haven’t determined whetherthe two remains are genetically related.

As a result of unceasing labor byavocational archeologists and strongsupport by area residents, Bosque

Shown here with some of her tools, Danningnamed the bust “Sam,” or Son of America,because he can’t be easily classified.Opposite page, the original skeletal remainsfound in the Bosque River cave.

Amanda

Danning, artist

and environmental

exhibitor, created the

bust in consultation

with the Smithsonian

Museum of Natural

History.

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J a n u a r y 2 0 0 7 T E X A S C O - O P P O W E R 1 1

Museum visitors can experience theHorn Shelter as it appeared 11,200 yearsago, when the Brazos River spread amile wide and swirled into a confluencethat helped create this cave-like shelter.

“We were very pleased to have thecommunity support,” Larson said.“Over half of this support came fromlocal residents; we didn’t have to twistarms, they gave.”

Within the burial site re-creation,the museum has included replicas ofelements found at the site, from badgerclaws to small tools. In a nod to the sig-nificance of the burial, Danning addeda third figure to the exhibit, a personattending to the two bodies

The Horn Shelter site and the find-ings within it give both scientists andresidents a new glimpse into a period

that is on the frontier of anthropology.To Redder, who still occasionally helpsat different sites, such detective workalso adds to our knowledge of the area.Larson agrees and thinks there areadditional places to learn from.

“There are probably more sites inTexas,” Larson said. “It’s just a matter offinding them.”

Gail Folkins wrote “Texas Dance Halls”for the January 2006 Texas Co-op Power.

The Bosque Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays throughSaturdays. For more information, visitbosquemuseum.org.

McLennan Electric Cooperative andUnited Cooperative Services provideelectricity for Bosque County.

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This is the chapter I didn’t want to write. A few months afterhis 95th birthday, Dad’s health began to fail.

In the summer of 2005, something happened. I wish Icould be more precise, but the doctors and nurses were equallybaffled. Was it dementia or the onset of actual Alzheimer’s?Had he experienced a series of subtle strokes? Whatever phys-iological shift occurred, it led to shouted symptoms.

Dad began to cry out, “Help me, help me! Please, helpme.” He repeated that plaintive plea over and over fromwheelchair, bed and toilet seat. Like a child screaming forattention, he was relentless and unyielding. He might say thephrase several hundred times in one day. While his emotionsspun out of control, his vocal cords lost none of theirstrength. “Help me, please!”

When I walked into the nursing home, often I heard himin the lobby 50 yards down the long hall from B-Wing. Whenhe saw me, his eyes widened, and the volume increased. Iwould give him a hug, but I was never able to reassure him.

An internal burglar alarm had been activated. None ofus—doctors, nurses or administrators—had the correct codeto disable it.

Although I knew the nonstop cries were not my father’sfault, they were—as the months dragged on—maddening.More than once, I heard myself saying, “Dad, you’re OK.There’s nothing wrong. Everything is fine.”

What a stupid thing to say. Everything was not fine. Ofcourse he was agitated, anxious and depressed. I would havecalled for help, too. Only I wouldn’t have said “please.”

The staff remained amazingly patient. The nurses’ aideswould hold his hand, give him hugs, and offer orange juice orhis beloved vanilla ice cream. Mostly they gave him theirattention, providing far more than our money’s worth ofkindness and affection, even though Dad was just one ofmany needy residents.

Dad’s doctor requested permission to give him medica-tion for anxiety and depression. I told him to do anythingthat would relieve my father’s fears but not leave himdrugged and half-asleep.

Sunday December 18One week before Christmas, I stopped by the nursing homeafter church and found Dad slumped over in his wheelchair.He often snoozed in that chair but never slumped. He lookedmore fragile than I’d ever seen him. I had the nurse call thedoctor and let her know there had been a marked change inhis condition.

Monday, December 19After a 6:45 a.m. Toastmasters meeting, I had three mes-sages on my cell phone. The nursing home and both cousinshad called to say that Dad had taken a sudden turn for theworse, was on oxygen and might have to go to the emergencyroom. By the time I got to the nursing home, the administra-tor, head nurse and social worker were at his bedside. Twodoctors arrived and told me that Dad was dying.

Although I took in the words, they did not fully register.Other people died, but not my dad. Didn’t those doctorsknow he’d flown 76 combat missions over Germany duringWorld War II and lived? Couldn’t they see those portraits ofB-17s on his wall? This man was a survivor. Last week he wasrolling himself down the corridor raising a ruckus. Now hehad “a day or two to live.”

Instead of moving him to the hospital, we agreed to keephim in the nursing home, where his surroundings werefamiliar. My cousins said they would help me take turns stay-ing with him, and we made out a schedule.

By noon everyone had left the room, and I was sitting alonewith my father. Suddenly Dad roused himself and started try-ing to get out of bed. He managed a feeble, “Help me, help me.”For the first time that phrase sounded good to me.

At 5 o’clock, one of his favorite nurses’ aides, Jackie,determined that Dad would eat something. Even though hesaid “No,” she would not be deterred. She coaxed, per-suaded and demanded that he take “just one spoonful” andthen another. I watched her feed him, bite by grudgingbite. She held the spoon 1 inch from his lips, willing him toopen his mouth.

When Dad DiedB Y J I M C O M E R • I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y M A R Y C L O S E

Austinite Jim Comer wrote about caring for his parents, Anne and John, in the July2005 issue of Texas Co-op Power. His original book, Parenting Your Parents, has sincebeen expanded and reissued by Hampton Roads Press and titled When Roles Reverse.This compassionate and practical account of one man’s experience with his parents is

available at bookstores everywhere. In this excerpt, Comer’s parents are in the samenursing home but living separately. His mother has Alzheimer’s.


Tuesday, December 20Dad’s oxygen level had stabilized, and his color had improved.The doctors said their previous day’s prediction was wrong.Dad might last a week or two. They called Hospice Austin, and45 minutes later I got a call. Hospice wanted to know if theycould send a social worker to the hospital for an intake inter-view. I said, “Sure. What day will they come?”

“In an hour.”“An hour?”

“Is that too soon?”“No, that’s amazing.”While Dad slept, I remembered that I needed to check on

Mother. I walked 30 seconds down the hall to the diningroom where the annual nursing home Christmas party wasin full swing. The laughter, music and energy of life stood instark contrast to the room I’d just left.

The staff had worked for weeks to transform the largedining area with colorful decorations. I found Mother at theback of the room and sat down next to her. Since there waschocolate cake on her plate and two cute children visiting agrandmother at the next table, she was in excellent spirits.

Mother didn’t recognize me, but her social skills werefaultless.

“Where’s your cake, Honey?” Good question. I walked to the front of the room to get my

sugar fix when suddenly the holiday spirit overtook me—ormaybe I just lost control. Two guitars were playing a catchyLatino tune. Without plan or warning, I started dancingaround the middle of the room, making up moves as I wentalong. Soon there was clapping, so my steps got bolder. Irecruited an unsuspecting staff member as a partner, and webegan improvising across the floor. I’m sure we looked likefailed reality show contestants, but a little dancing was justwhat the party needed.

The administrator handed me a microphone and said,“You’ve got to sing.” I looked at the elderly pianist and said,“How about ‘O Holy Night’?”

“What key?” “Your guess is as good as mine. I don’t read music!”“Don’t worry, I’ve heard it all. We’ll fake it.”As I belted out “O ni-ight di-vine” I saw that Mother had

been wheeled up front and was smiling at me. When I fin-ished the song, I went over to her. A woman standing next toher said, “When your mother heard the first line of yoursong, she said, ‘That’s my boy singing!’ So I brought her upclose so she could see you.”

Mom hadn’t known who I was for a year, but she recog-nized my singing voice from a hundred feet away. That wasthe best Christmas present I could get; I received the gift ofrecognition. Her temporary moment of memory restored myperspective. Dad might be terribly ill down the hall, butChristmas was coming, full of joy, possibility and hope.

Wednesday, December 21The hospice nurse arrived promptly, checked Dad’s vitals,talked with the doctor, and arranged for morphine to beadministered orally when needed. I began to understand

why so many friends had told me how hospice care had beena blessing to their families.

The most powerful image of Dad’s last week was the timeI spent alone with him, by his bed, forced to face the fact ofhis impending death. I’d never kept watch by the bedside ofa parent. This was new territory for me.

Thursday, December 22Dad had stopped talking, though his presence remainedpowerful. Lying there, eyes wide open, he gazed intensely atthe ceiling. As I stood above his bed and looked down, hestared through me at a landscape beyond my range of vision.I held his hand, amazed by the strength of his grip, and toldhim loudly that I loved him. I wanted to believe that heheard me, though I doubt he did. Dad was focused on onlyone thing: his next breath.

Sunday, December 25As I walked down the hall of B-Wing, I could see brightboxes being opened and families gathered around bedsdoing their best to import joy. At the nurses’ station, lightswere twinkling, decorations glistened and the atmospherewas resolutely cheerful. As I walked into Dad’s room, I real-ized that for the first time since grade school, I had no pres-ent for my father. This year my gift was being there.

I sat with him for hours, thinking of Christmases past: thetime he couldn’t get my electric train set up and the year ofthe yapping puppy hidden in the basement. I recalled longtrips in big cars crowded with presents. I wondered whatDad was thinking, or if he was thinking at all.

Monday, December 26As Dad slept peacefully, I went to get Mother so she couldvisit the husband she no longer knew. When I brought herinto his room, the nurse was bending closely over Dad’s face,checking his breathing. I walked over to the bed. The nursechecked his pulse. Half a minute went by and she said, “Ithink your Dad just took his last breath.”

Dad had died seconds after Mom and I walked into hisroom. We had no warning. Nothing dramatic happened.There was no gasping for breath or sound of a struggle. Hesimply stopped breathing and tiptoed out of our lives.

I’d never seen anyone die, much less my father. I stoodthere looking at him, trying to take in what had just happened.

I put my arms around Mom’s shoulders.“Mom, Dad has gone to heaven.”“He has?”“Yes, he’s not sick any more.”“That’s good.”She seemed to have no trouble with the concept of death

for the few seconds she considered it. As we headed back toher room, she had forgotten the news before we passed thenurses’ station. Part of me envied her.

Mary Close, who lives in Lakeville, Connecticut, is an oil andpastel painter whose subjects are often elderly couples or eld-erly people with their families.

Take a shot at winning a unique prize by par-ticipating in Bluebonnet's “In The Neighborhood” photo ID contest. Each month we will publish a new photograph of something within the Bluebonnet service area and ask members to identify the par-

ticular item or place. All correct entries will be entered into a monthly drawing for a prize. The winner's name, along with the information about the photo, will be printed two months following the submission deadline.

To qualify, entries must be made by Bluebonnet members and should include: the item and location shown in the photo, the member's name, mailing address, phone num-

ber or email address and Bluebonnet account number. Entries must be received by Bluebonnet no later than the 25th of each month to be included in the drawing.

Email entries to: [email protected] or send them by U.S. mail to:“In The Neighborhood”Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative P.O. Box 240Giddings, Texas 78942

[ In The \Neighborhood[ In The \Neighborhood

Bluebonnet member Mary Gray of Smithville is the winner of our November contest drawing. Her name was drawn from entries correctly identifying the photo of the dilapidated chimney/fireplace located on Alum Creek Road in Bastrop County. Ms. Gray won a Bluebonnet gift bag.

Correctly identify the subject/location of the photo above and enter to win a $50 H-E-B Grocery gift card.

P . O . B O X 2 4 0 ≠ G I D D I N G S , T E X A S 7 8 9 4 2 ≠ 8 0 0 - 8 4 2 - 7 7 0 8 ≠ W W W . B L U E B O N N E T E L E C T R I C . C O O PBluebonnet ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

J a n u a r y 2 0 0 7 T E X A S C O - O P P O W E R 1 7B L U E B O N N E T E L E C T R I C C O O P E R A T I V E E D I T I O N

Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative’s

67th Annual Meeting is set for Tuesday, May 8, 2007.

Save the date andplan to participate.

If you are unable to attend the meeting, make sure your vote counts by returning a proxy ballot. Proxy ballots will be mailed in March.

Scholarship & Government Youth Tour Deadlines Quickly Approach

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S M T W T F S

MAY 2007

Save The Date!Investing in our students’ educa-

tion is a wise investment in the future. That is why, every year, Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative offers scholarships for post-secondary education as well as opportunities for students to tour our nation’s capitol. Students should be aware that the deadlines for both the Bluebonnet Electirc Cooperative Scholarships of Excellence Program and the Government-In-Action Youth Tour are quickly approaching.

This year, Bluebonnet’s Scholarships of Excellence will be awarded to 26 graduating high school seniors in Bluebonnet’s service area who plan to pursue an academic degree or vocational certificate. Each recipient will be awarded a one-time, $2,000 scholarship. The scholarship applica-tion deadline is February 16, 2007.

Each year, Bluebonnet sponsors two Central Texas high school students on an all expenses paid, nine-day tour of Washington, D.C. The trip allows

students to learn about rural electri-fication and to obtain a better under-standing of the value of rural electric cooperatives. Students also have the opportunity to visit monuments, gov-ernment buildings and cooperative-related organizations and are able to meet elected officials in order to better understand how their federal govern-ment works. The Youth Tour appli-cation deadline is February 1, 2007.

Applications for both the Scholarships of Excellence and the Government Youth Tour are available at www.bluebonnetelectric.coop, at all Bluebonnet Member Service Centers or through area high school counsel-ors. Applicants for either opportunity should take care to fully complete the application, have a parent or legal guardian sign it and be sure all requirements included in the applica-tion packet are fully met prior to sub-mitting the application to Bluebonnet by the required deadline.

BluebonnetEC0107.indd 17 12/12/06 11:00:58 AM

“I’ve lived out in southern Bastrop County for almost 30 years, and I’m an equestrian,” begins Carrie Knox. “When I first moved here, I could get on my horse and ride in a straight line for two or three hours. Over the years, I’ve watched the land be split up and fenced off. I totally understand every-body wanting their little piece of para-dise, and of course everyone has a right to do whatever they want with their own land, but it was heartbreaking to me to see the loss of the open land.”

Carrie Knox decided to do some-thing about it. In February 2001, Knox and Tom Dureka, a friend with similar concerns, launched a land trust — a nonprofit organization working to pre-serve the wildlife habitat and farm- and ranchland of Bastrop, Caldwell, Fayette and Lee Counties. Today, Knox is the president and Dureka is the executive director of Pines and Prairies Land Trust and, along with a very active, very involved board of directors, they’re fully dedicated to protecting a rural way of life for Central Texans.

“We want people to understand why it’s important to protect open land,” Dureka explains. “Texas is losing its open space faster than anywhere else nationwide, to urban sprawl. Despite all of our state’s perceived open space, Texas is an urban state. We’ve got three

of the nation’s largest cities here in Texas, and the bulk of our state’s popu-lation is concentrated around those urban centers. But our wildlife habitat, our fresh water, our fresh air and our historical legacy are all directly related to our green space.”

It’s not a huge jump to assume Pines and Prairies is opposed to development over-all. But Dureka and Knox insist their organization is not about stopping growth, but about ensuring thoughtful growth that includes important green space.

“We’re not anti-growth at all,” Knox says. “What we’re trying to do is educate people about how to do growth purposefully. There are lots of techniques that permit growth while preserving open space and maintaining a high quality of life. If there’s a beautiful view someone wants to protect forever, then everyone can benefit from it. Anyone can pass by, never step a foot on the land and still enjoy it. It resonates with every-body, for every reason you can think of.”

Pines and Prairies is one of more than 45 land trusts in Texas. Though a few land trusts exist along the East Coast that have been around since the 1800s, home-grown, community-based groups like Pines and Prairies have been seen in the Lone Star State just since the 1980s. Land trusts are independent entities, not affiliated with the government, and typically share close ties with the communities they represent. They also tend to be rather specialized — Texas has land trusts focused on everything from bats to quail to trees for Houston.

“Some protect only archaeological sites, some only caves, some river cor-ridors,” says Dureka. “We’re all pri-

vate businesses working with private landowners who want to do some conservation.”

Land trusts’ nonprofit tax status means in addition to preserving their land in perpetuity, landowners can also benefit from savings on income,

property and estate taxes. But if you want to work with Pines and Prairies, then conservation must be yourprimary objective.

“The people we work with love their land and want it to stay like it is forever,” Knox states plainly. “Their motivation is conservation; everything else is gravy. For us, if the person doesn’t have conservation as their main motive, then we’re not interested in working with them.”

So how does Pines and Prairies help landowners protect their land? The most common way is through a legal agreement called a conservation easement. A conservation easement permanently limits the use of the land in order to protect its conservation values, while letting landowners con-tinue to own, use, sell or bequeath the land as they see fit.

“A conservation easement is a private agreement between private parties. The landowners don’t have to permit public access or change the way they work with their land in any

1 8 T E X A S C O - O P P O W E R J a n u a r y 2 0 0 7 B L U E B O N N E T E L E C T R I C C O O P E R A T I V E E D I T I O N

IN LAND THEY TRUST

“I’ve lived out in southern Bastrop of the nation’s largest cities here in vate businesses working with private

IN LAND THEY TRUSTIN LAND THEY TRUST

The Pines & Prairies Land Trust is Opening Minds About Central Texas’ Open Space

BluebonnetEC0107_18-21fnl.indd 18 12/14/06 4:10:33 PM

ing of the Colorado River Refuge early this year. Other plans for the coming months include a seminar on conservation easements and related tax implications, and work on a newly purchased 210-acre tract at the

Bastrop city limits, now called the South Shore Woods. Knox also sees a broad spectrum of new possibilities opening up from Pines and Prairies’ spectacular success with the Colorado River Refuge.

“My dream is that Pines and Prairies and our partners will eventually create a greenbelt along the Colorado stretching from eastern Travis County all the way to eastern Fayette County,” she explains. “A

greenbelt that will protect water qual-ity, provide a hike-and-bike corridor into Austin, promote camping and other recreation along the river, pro-duce a lovely green view, and serve as a classroom to teach people about the river and the wonderful natural world around it.”

And though she doesn’t say it, Carrie Knox’s dream probably includes getting on her horse and rid-ing in a straight line along the banks of the Colorado.

Pines and Prairies Land Trust is headquartered in Bastrop. For more information about the organization, or how to become a member, volunteer or donor, please call (512)308-1911, or visit www.pplt.org.

way,” confirms Knox. “The first thing we do is meet with landowners to make sure they’re fully aware of what they’re getting into. We talk about their goals to make sure they mesh with our mission. Then we give them some sample conservation easements to look over, so they can see what sort of benefits they’re getting and what rights they’re giving up.

“Then we write up a conservation easement specifically for them,” she continues. “We go back and forth, and when everybody is happy with the agreement, we have a closing, just as you do whenever you buy property. Everybody signs, and we go over to the courthouse and file it, because it runs with the deed to the land, just like other deed restrictions. Then it’s essentially done. We do visit the land annually, just to check in with the land-owner. We don’t require them to do or not do anything not specified within the conservation easement. We’re not the police; we’re partners, helping landowners achieve their conserva-tion goals — not for just now, but forever. It’s a win-win situation, because they get the protection they want and we all get another piece of land for clean air, clean water, wildlife and the rural char-acter of our community.”

Within the past five years, Pines and Prairies has completed two conservation easements and bought some land of its own, making the organization respon-sible for about 1,500 acres within its four-county region. Knox and Dureka are especially passionate about and proud of one piece of land the group obtained a few years ago, now known as the Colorado River Refuge.

“We were considering a fire-wise landscaping project in a large Bastrop

subdivi-sion called Tahitian Village,” Knox begins. “The Bastrop Water Control and Improvement District #2 ended up giving us two miles of Colorado River front-age, which was totally trashed out. It was being used for off-road-vehicle running, target practice, dumping, and as a lovers’ lane type of hangout spot. It was in awful condition.”

“With generous contributions from the Lower Colorado River Authority, Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative,

Tom’s of Maine, the National Parks Foundation, the National Parks Service, Texas Recreational Trails Fund, and especially our local supporters, we’ve turned it into a lovely wildlife refuge with hiking trails, complete with 1,200

feet of handicapped-accessi-ble trail,” says Dureka. “We cleaned it up, created trails and parking areas, and it’s now available for the whole community. It features a beautiful, gigantic, old-growth forest, and when you go from the parking lot down to the river, it’s like another world.”

Pines and Prairies plans to celebrate a grand open-

“We’re not anti-growth at all.

What we’re trying to do is

educate people about how to

do growth purposefully.”


IN LAND THEY TRUST

The Pines & Prairies Land Trust is Opening Minds About Central Texas’ Open Space

ABOVE, the Pines and Prairies Land Trust Board and Staff: Dr. Jeremiah Jarvis, Vice President; Carrie Knox, President; Alan Jaeger, Treasurer; EvaJean Kestner; Dennis Kestner; Lee Fritsch; Priscilla Jarvis; Joan Russell; Joyce Leatherwood, Staff Member; and Tom Dureka, Executive Director. Not pictured are: Bill McPherson, Board Member and Doran Williams, Secretary.



Texas’ electric industry is changing. Deregulation, global warming, and the roller-coastering cost of oil and gas are among the many forces reshaping Texas electric-ity today. Experts expect our state’s power industry to be completely redefined over the next twenty years, and it all begins with electric generation.

The bottom line is, Texas needs more power. Our state’s fairly strong economy and booming population — we’re expecting about six million new residents within the next ten years — mean we need more electricity. The Electric Reliability Council Of Texas, or ERCOT — the group responsible for ensuring that about 20 million Texans receive reliable, affordable electricity — estimates that power usage will rise by more than 63% by 2025.

Trouble is, it’s been quite a while since a new power plant came on-line in Texas, and for now, there’s no new power-generating capacity under construction. Additionally, aging, inefficient power plants should be retiring, which will accel-erate our state’s demand for power. According to ERCOT, our energy needs will likely exceed existing generating capac-ity within the next few years. In fact, without new genera-tion, ERCOT forecasts that Texas’ electricity reserve margins will dip below reliable levels as early as 2008.

So, let’s get building, right? Well, as you might guess, in today’s world, it’s not that simple. Energy development faces some key challenges in Texas, across the country and around the world, most significantly the call for reduced pollution and the eventual elimination of fossil fuels.

The fossil fuels used today to generate electricity are coal, oil and natural gas. Currently, they supply most of the energy consumed in the world. In Texas, more than 70% of power generation capacity comes from natural gas. While gas is the cleanest-burning among the fossil fuels, it also has the highest and most volatile pricing. Natural gas prices today are almost four times what they were between 1990-2000, and this pricing tidal wave isn’t expected to recede much during the coming years.

Our state’s next biggest source of power generation, coal, enjoys consistently lower costs, but carries with it other rather burdensome baggage: legitimate environmental con-cerns. The burning of fossil fuels clearly contributes to global warming and acid rain, and coal is the most polluting source among them. But new research seeks to uncover ways to mitigate the damage caused by coal-burning: new technolo-gies could virtually abolish released pollutants or capture

Without Greater Capacity,Texas will Face an Energy Crisis

Generating Concerns

P H O T O S C O U R T E S Y O F T H E L O W E R C O L O R A D O R I V E R A U T H O R I T Y

B Y M A R K R O S EB l u e b o n n e t G e n e r a l M a n a g e r / C E O

ABOVE: Coal-fired electric generation, hydroelectric generation and wind-powered electric generation.


greenhouse gases before they can contribute to ozone deple-tion. Additionally, work is being done to improve the fuel-efficiency of coal-fired power plants; currently, they convert only one-third of the coal’s energy potential into electricity,

but new technologies could almost double those efficiency levels within the next decade or two.

Meanwhile, Texas should also be exploring a broad spectrum of other ways to generate energy. For example, nuclear power is cost-competitive with fossil fuels, releases zero emissions, and has a high energy return on energy investment — that is, it takes only a few months of power production to fully pay back the initial energy investment in the plant.

Currently, Texas has four nuclear reactors, all of them licensed to operate until post-2020, ranking our state 7th among the 31 states with nuclear capacity. While nuclear power might conjure memories of Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island for some, it’s important to note that some other, much more common types of generation, such as coal, also carry significant environmental risks.

Nuclear power still presents the problem of long-term radioactive waste storage, but researchers continue to work to develop cost-efficient technologies to further improve nuclear safety, diminish waste-generation and protect against proliferation.

Renewable energy resources are also becoming a more and more viable option for power generation. At Bluebonnet, we buy most of our wholesale electricity from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), Texas’ largest publicly owned provider of renewable energy. LCRA oper-ates hydroelectric units at six dams, which can generate up to 281.5 MW of electricity — enough to power more than 60,000 Texas homes. Hydroelectricity is the only renew-able resource making a substantial contribution to the world’s energy production. Environmental concerns are beginning to block new dams being built, but mini-hydro projects, which avoid many of the issues of the larger dams, are garnering increasing interest.

LCRA also purchases 116 MW of wind power from three

West Texas wind farms. Wind power is one of today’s most competitive renewable resources, and Texas is the top wind-power generator nationwide. Current research is exploring the establishment of wind farms offshore, where

wind speeds are 90% greater than on land and could therefore generate much more energy.

Other renewable energy resources include solar power, geothermal power, tidal power and bioen-ergy. All are being studied to find ways to make them more efficient and more easily deliverable; distributed, smaller-scale generation from renew-ables may be a workable way to raise the amount of energy retained and lower costs. Experts agree the costs of using renewable energy resources will continue to fall as research and development investment and mass production rise.

Along with developing new ways of generat-ing power, using the energy we already have more carefully and cost-effectively will also help us manage our demand for electricity. At exist-ing power plants, minor modifications can help enhance efficiency, while new technologies like cogeneration — generating both electricity and

useful heat at the same time — can help improve effi-ciency at new power plants.

Within our daily lives, new building designs might incor-porate techniques like passive solar cells into new homes and businesses. And of course, our own personal habits — from how we set our thermostats to what type of light bulbs we use — can make a big difference in energy conservation.

Texas will need more and more power as time goes on, so we must begin the process of developing it today. The construction of new generation facilities is a long and involved process, and developing an infrastructure to sup-port new, non-traditional fuels takes time, too. We should be actively working to modernize our electric grid, enhance security and reliablity of our power infrastructure, and improve recovery from energy interruptions.

Texas’ electric industry is changing, and electric- service providers who are ready for it will find themselves part of a new and dynamic energy future for our state. Our focus should not be on whether nuclear is better than coal or whether coal is better than gas. Our focus should be on developing the most environmentally sensitive mix of all our electric generating options: conservation, renew-ables, gas, coal and nuclear.


Historical and Projected Population in Texas 2006-2025

Without new generation, ERCOT forecasts that Texas’ electricity reserve margins will dip below

reliable levels as early as 2008.

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Last spring, a select group of Bluebonnet employees from throughout the coop-erative began the process of crafting a new strategic plan for our organization.

The Strategic Planning Group first reviewed the cooperative’s vision statement, asking What is our environment? Where do we want to go? and How do we get there? With their answers, the group created a new statement they felt clearly identifies the vision of Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative:

Our vision is to provide the power that unlocks the potential ofour employees to transform the lives of our members.

As part of the planning process, all Bluebonnet employees were asked to submit suggestions regarding what they thought should be changed, improved upon or added to what the cooperative does on a daily basis, as well as what would make them happier employees and what would improve members’ service.

Over several sessions, the Strategic Planning Group solidified twelve powerful, meaningful, cooperative-wide objectives. Overall, Bluebonnet’s new strategic plan focuses on three key areas: 1) our members; 2) our employees; and 3) our finan-cial performance. Here’s a sampling of some of the initiatives Bluebonnet will con-centrate on over the next few years:

aboutBluebonnet’sfuture plans.

The goal of first-contact resolution is to reduce the number of Bluebonnet employees a member has to interact with to get questions answered or issues resolved. Ideally, all Bluebonnet employees would

understand all aspects of the cooperative’s business so comprehensively that they could easily answer every question. Realistically, our aim is to develop and provide the tools and teams necessary to be able to respond to our members quickly and correctly. To this end, we intend to:

— redesign forms and other communications provided to members, so we get and provide the right information up front;— redesign our Web site, so members can get up-to-date information easily; and — create teams to work with key accounts and other member groups (such as homebuilders and developers) to expedite

processes unique to them.

about establishing first-contact resolution. — Kim Bender (Giddings)

about reaching zero billing errors. — Earmastene Lovings (Giddings)

Last year, Bluebonnet purchased and implemented a new member- and business-information system. As the cooperative has learned its way through the new system, we’ve begun to generate reports and execute processes that identify areas of our business where errors — human and process — are producing incorrect bills for our members. Our goal is to continue to monitor reports throughout the system and identify areas where training, process fine-tuning or system refinements will eliminate errors that produce billing errors.

Whether a potential member is moving into a location with existing service or requesting brand-new service, our goal is to make the process as seamless and hassle-free as possible. To this end, Bluebonnet is:

— revising expectations for turnaround times on new service and meter connects;— asking more specific member-survey questions about how we can improve our processes;— examining how we might redesign internal policies and procedures to put members first; and — committing to notifying members of changes, errors, issues, etc. before they notify us.

about enhancing the new member experience. — Danny Jatzlau (Giddings)

Ask me...

Ask me...

Ask me...

Ask me...



These are only some of the goals Bluebonnet will be working to achieve within the next few years. Please watch for more information about how Bluebonnet intends to keep on improving, while continuing to provide you with the afford-able, reliable electric service you deserve and have come to count on.

about establishing first-contact resolution.about establishing and adhering toa standard maintenance plan.

— Johnnie Moore (Red Rock)

In order to ensure that Bluebonnet is the most reliable power provider in Central Texas, we must have a proactive maintenance plan. Bluebonnet has developed a new maintenance plan that sets inspection cycles based upon the significance of the components to the system.

Ask me...

Commitment to community is a key element of the cooperative business model and one of Bluebonnet’s six foundation values. Bluebonnet is reaffirming its pledge to the communities we serve, working to

make community involvement opportunities even more accessible to our employees and to make our commitment mean more than money alone.

— Annie Beasley (Bastrop)Ask me...about strengthening commitment to community andvoluntary employee involvement in the community.

about establishing first-contact resolution.about developing and implementinga leadership/mentoring program.

— Grant Gutierrez (Giddings)

Bluebonnet’s aim with this initiative is to ensure that we can promote from within. Establishing a pro-gram that lets our employees grow and explore different careers within the cooperative allows us to expand our depth of experience and knowledge, enhance employee contentment and ensure an adequate workforce for the future.

Ask me...

Bluebonnet believes there are infinite ways to become more efficient. From small, personal changes our employees can choose, to large, cooperative-wide decisions affecting all aspects of our business, to

incorporating new technologies, we’re dedicating ourselves to nothing less than 100%.

about achieving 100% efficiency at all levels. — Rob Defee (Giddings)Ask me...

about reducing uncollected revenue. — Eloy Talamantes (Red Rock)

In order to keep our rates within the bottom third of Central Texas power providers, Bluebonnet must run its business as effectively and efficiently as possible. Every Bluebonnet employee can help reduce uncollected revenue — from conserving electricity within our own facilities, to making sure pole attachments are inven-toried and billed accurately, to finding better ways to collect past-due accounts, Bluebonnet employees can contribute to keeping our rates steady for our members.

Ask me...



Bluebonnet ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Market Square

BLUEBONNET MARKET SQUARE ADVERTISING SCHEDULE

All Market Square ads should be sent to Bluebonnet at least two months in advance. Information can be emailed to: [email protected] or mailed to: Magazine

c/o Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative P.O. Box 240, Giddings, Texas 78942

We reserve the right to refuse any ads due to space limitations or questionable content. Ads must be resubmitted each month. Please indicate “For Sale,” “Free,” or “Wanted.”

Area Events and ad informationfor the March 2007 issue

are due by January 15.

AREA EVENTS

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

FOR SALE

WANTED

BUILDING GOODCITIZENS FOR TEXAS

Loyalty —Establishing personal and career relationships and select causes based on positive ethical principles that can remain true.

GRIEF LOSS SEMINAR, January 7, 6:30 pm. at the Word of life Community Church, 816 HWY 21 East. The speaker for the event is a licensed Professional Counselor who holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology as well as a Masters Degree in Counseling. For more information contact Chris or Nicole Lott @ (512)303-3995.

3-N-1 VFD ANNUAL FISH FRY AND AUCTION; February 10. St. Mary’s Church off Hwy. 304 String Prairie. Dinner begins at 4:30 pm, auction starts shortly after.

FORTNIGHTLY CLUB USED BOOK SALEbenefiting the Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library; February 22-25 at the Washington County Fairgrounds, Brenham. Used books of all kinds as well as audio books, CD’s and movies to be offered.For more information call the library at (979)337-7201.

“COUNTRY MUSIC MONDAY,” 1st Monday of every month, 7:30 pm, Sons of Hermann Hall, Giddings, Rotary Club of Giddings. Tickets: $3.

LONE STAR COUNTRY MUSIC JAMBOREE,music show and dance. 2nd Monday of every month, 7 pm. Seguin Coliseum, 810 Guadalupe St. 512-392-1545

MCDADE JAMBOREE, 2nd Monday of every month, 7 pm, VFW Hall, Hwy. 290 one mile east of McDade. Tickets: $2. All the oldies! 273-2307

COUNTRY MUSIC JAMBOREE, 3rd Tuesday of each month, 7 pm at Historic Baker Theater, 216 S. Main St., Lockhart. Sponsored by Lockhart Breakfast Lions Club.

LIVE MUSIC EVERY TUESDAY, Country-western and golden oldies by the “Kitchen Pickers,” 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Bastrop Senior Center, all ages welcome, open to the public. No admission fee. Call (512)360-5025.

FRIENDS OF BLUEBONNET OPRY, 3rd Thurs. of each month, 7:30 pm. Silver Wings Ballroom, 4100 Hwy. 105, Brenham. For more information call (979)830-1961.

COUNTRY MUSIC, 3RD FRIDAY of every month, 7 pm, at the Blue Volunteer Fire Department located at CR 309 and FM 696.

“KARAOKE” 2ND & 4TH SATURDAY each month, 7 - 10 pm at Chriesman Citizen Center. (979)567-0573 or visit our website at www.chriesmancc.org.

“COUNTRY MUSIC SATURDAY,” 3rd Saturday of each month, Rimshot plays, 7 - 9:30 pm at Chriesman Citizen Center. For more information, call (979)567-0573 or visit our website at www.chriesmancc.org.

SPLIT OAK FIREWOOD. For more informa-tion please call (979)884-2755.

DISCIPLE’S CROSS NECKLACES! For both males/females & adults/kids to wear as a reminder of the sacrifice that our Lord made for us and make great witnessing tools and gifts, homemade with horseshoe nails, copper wire, & leather cord. Www.woodslittleblessings.com or contact Edith (512)450-2080.

CHIHUAHUAS, beautiful babies. Born 1st of December. Purebred, registered AKC. $300 and up (512)461-5248.

2 ACRES IN ROBERTSON COUNTY. $15,000 OBO. (512)587-9082

RETRIEVER TRAINING : AKC Hunt Test/Gun Dog/All Breed Obedience. Stellar Retrievers, Giddings Texas. (979)366-9313. Jack & Laura Morris. www.stellarretrievers.com

AFFORDABLE HEALTH INSURANCE. Compare to 100’s of plans and save up to 60%. Unicare, Blue Cross, Humana, and Aetna. Individuals - families - self employed. Seniors Compare Medicare Part D plans. www.continentaladvisors/bend-erplace.com. No obligation - free quotes. [email protected]. (800)448-4715

PUPPY & DOG OBEDIENCE/BEHAVIOR Modification: Peace and Harmony between dog and man. Private sessions in your home or neutral location. Certified Canine Training Specialist - Joycelyn Schedler. (512)308-0063 or [email protected].

LEASE TO HUNT OR TRAP HOGS. Call Daryl (512)247-5636.

FREE-STANDING CAST-IRON STOVE for wood burning in good condition and reason-able. (713)956-9999 or (832)660-3854 or [email protected]

FUNCTIONAL FULL-SIZE WINDMILL in good condition. (512)940-5885

SENIOR CITIZEN NEEDS GENERAL HELP with housework, errands, etc. Flexible arrangements: live-in/day-help, full-time/occasional. Bastrop area. For more details call (512)321-6827.

P.O. Box 240Giddings, Texas 78942

www.bluebonnetelectric.coop800-842-7708

Outages: 800-949-4414



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TREE TERMINATOR• 3 models cut 20", 12" and 5" trees in one bite

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J a n u a r y 2 0 0 7 T E X A S C O - O P P O W E R 3 1I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y M E L I S S A G R I M E S

T

Clap Clap Clap Clap

F O O T N O T E S I N T E X A S H I S T O R Y

B Y L A R R Y T R I T T E N

THE STARS AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGHT DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEX- AS

he stars at night are big and bright …”Given that opening, almost any schoolchild in the state

knows what comes next: Enthusiastic, rhythmic clappingand the hearty chorus “… deep in the heart of Texas!”

That lively tribute to the Lone Star State’s wailing coyotes,blooming sage and the wide prairie sky, a rowdy counter-point to the state song “Texas, Our Texas,” makes a fitting defacto state song of Texas. The official song, “Texas, OurTexas,” is appropriately reverential, but the tone is sober andpious, fitting the moods of school gatherings and politicalrallies, whereas “Deep in the Heart of Texas” is a robust tunesuited for parties and campfires.

Most state songs are to music what a civics class is to his-tory, and many have not aged well. “Deep in the Heart,” origi-nally a popular U.S. chart-topper, which was exported all overthe world during World War II, provides more upbeat publicrelations for Texas than any tourism organization ever could.

“Texas, Our Texas,” written in 1924, was adopted five yearslater, the year of the great stock market crash. “Deep in theHeart of Texas” came out the year Pearl Harbor was attackedand became ingrained in the national psyche. Here’s a test:Without looking it up, how much of “Texas, Our Texas” canyou sing, versus “Deep in the Heart of Texas?” Likely, youcould remember more of the popular song immortalized inrecords and movies than the official anthem.

“Deep in the Heart of Texas,” written by June Hershey andDon Swander, was initially recorded by Perry Como two daysafter Pearl Harbor. It became an immediate hit, spending fivestraight weeks atop Your Hit Parade in 1942, and quicklybecame a popular culture staple. Within the year, Hollywoodlatched on to its popularity with a movie that included thetitle tune sung by Tex Ritter. Gene Autry also sang it in thefilm “Heart of the Rio Grande,” which also came out in 1942,and that version is considered the definitive recording.

I remember hearing the song for the first time while seeinga movie. I think it was being sung by a group of soldiers on atrain. It was a lively and festive scene that imprinted on myyouthful mind, which is the power of the song with its montage

of colorful imagery punctuated by loud clapping.The song was popular in Hollywood and showed up in

many film scores, predictably in a passel of Westerns.However, its pop culture power has also been displayed infilms as varied as “The Teahouse of the August Moon” and“Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” In that movie, which involved thetitle character traveling to the Alamo on a quest to recover astolen bicycle, one scene emphasizes the song’s identity withthe state. To prove to a friend on the telephone that he isindeed in Texas, Pee-wee sings the first verse, and, sureenough, passers-by respond with four claps and an enthusi-astic chorus of “… deep in the heart of Texas.”

Jay Johnson recorded a version that features acoustic gui-tars, congas, chimes and softly brushed drums, and someattempted poetic chutzpah in the revised lyrics:

“Deep in the heart of Texas a campfire whispers softly inthe dawn morning coming on.

Footsteps of the fawn falls behind his mother in the quietof the trees.

And deep in the heart of Texas, there’s shelter in the breeze.”

Personally, I’ll take my original Texas song lyrics neat, andhold the congas.

Any number of factors account for why some songs hitthe target with the public and others miss the mark, but it isinteresting to note that before Hershey and Swander wrote“Deep in the Heart of Texas,” they wrote two songs aboutAlbuquerque — “Ridin’ Down the Trail to Albuquerque” and“Albuquerque,” both showcased in movies, and neither camewithin a West Texas mile of doing for that town what “Deepin the Heart of Texas” has done for the Lone Star State. Howa song titled “Deep in the Heart of New Mexico” might havefared is anybody’s guess.

Larry Tritten, who lives in San Francisco, wrote about theNational Museum of the Pacific War in Texas Co-op Power’sApril 2006 issue.


Fewer Ingredients, More Flavor

R E C I P E R O U N D U P

well. Turn on the broiler and place thechicken approximately 6 inches from theheat source for about 4 minutes, or untilbrowned. Makes 6–8 servings.

T U R K E Y A N D K A L E I N C H I N E S E B L A C K - B E A N S A U C E

4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided1 tablespoon preminced, oil-packed

garlic1 bag (1 pound) kale leaves1 pound turkey breast tenderloin,

cut into walnut-size chunks1/4 cup jarred Chinese black-bean sauce

with garlic1/4 cup water

In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 table-spoons of the oil and the garlic overmedium-high heat until sizzling. Addthe kale. Stir to coat with the oil. Coverand cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes, or until wilted. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons ofoil in the skillet or wok set over medium-high heat. Add the turkey. Cook, stirringfrequently, for 4 minutes, or until theturkey is browned. Return the reservedkale to the pan. Add the black-bean sauceand the water. Stir to coat the turkey andkale with sauce. Simmer over medium-low for 3 minutes, or until the turkeyjuices run clear. Makes 4–6 servings.

R O A S T E D C H I C K E N A N D T U R N I P S I N P E A N U T S A U C E

1 1/2 pounds turnips, peeled and cut into walnut-size chunks

4 1/2 pounds skinless chicken thighs1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil1 cup bottled Thai peanut sauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place theturnips in an 8x8-inch microwaveablebaking dish. Add enough water to come1/4-inch up the sides of the dish. Coverwith plastic wrap, leaving a small corner

vent. Microwave on high power for 5minutes, or until partially cooked. Drainand set aside.

Coat an 11x17-inch baking pan orother large shallow baking pan withcooking spray. Place the chicken in thepan, overlapping slightly if necessary.Scatter the turnips in the pan. Sprinklewith the salt. Drizzle with oil.

Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until it issizzling, the chicken is no longer pink,and the juices run clear. Drizzle the sauceover the chicken and turnips. Stir to coat

B Y S H A N N O N O E L R I C H As a busy mom, I find easy-to-prepare meals a must.However, I don’t want to sacrifice the flavor and complexity of a take-your-timehomecooked meal. That’s what makes Homemade in Half the Time a treasure. Thisnew cookbook by Shea Waggoner (Rodale, 2006) has more than 200 delightfulrecipes, and a quarter of those use only five ingredients. Waggoner includes helpfulresources for busy cooks as well, such as information on organizing your kitchenspace for efficient cooking and mastering quick-cooking techniques.

Many recipes use “shelf-ready shortcuts” in unexpected ways. For instance, thetwo recipes included here use an Asian sauce to add flavor to a hearty meal. If youdon’t usually visit the Asian section of your grocery store unless you’re going tocook a traditional Chinese dish, try snooping around the shelves the next timeyou’re there. You’ll be surprised at the ways you can combine premade sauces withyour favorite ingredients to come up with your own easy, flavorful meals.

R O A S T E D C H I C K E N A N DT U R N I P S I N P E A N U T S A U C E


B A R B E C U P S3/4 pound ground beef1/2 cup favorite barbecue sauce

1 tablespoon instant minced onion2 tablespoons brown sugar1 can refrigerated biscuits

In large skillet, brown beef; drain. Addbarbecue sauce, onion, brown sugar.Separate biscuit dough into 12 biscuits.Place one in each of 12 ungreased muffincups, pressing dough up sides to edge ofcup. Spoon meat into cups. Bake at 400degrees for 10–12 minutes until goldenbrown. (You may use fresh diced onion.Just put it in before you brown the meat.I prefer to use a can of Cheddar cheesebiscuits.) Serves 6.

PATRICIA DAVIS

Magic Valley Electric Cooperative

Serving size: 2 Barbecups. Per serving: 195 calories, 11g protein, 13 g fat, 8 g carbohydrates, 266 mg sodium,43 mg cholesterol

P O R K C H O P A N D R I C E B A K E 6 pork chops1 cup uncooked white rice1 small can (4 ounces) mushrooms,

liquid reserved2 ounces canned, diced pimientos,

undrained2 envelopes onion soup mix2 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put rice in9x13-inch oven dish. Drain mushrooms,reserving liquid in a 2-cup or largermeasuring cup. Scatter mushrooms,pimientos and 1 envelope of soup mixover rice. Lay pork chops on top.Sprinkle chops with remaining enve-lope of onion soup mix. Add boilingwater to the mushroom liquid toamount to 2 cups. Slowly add liquid atthe side of the dish, being careful not topour on pork chops. Cover and bake 45minutes to 1 hour. Remove cover, bake10 minutes more if there is excess liq-uid. (If you like spicy, add red pepper,cayenne or chopped jalapeño to tastewhen you add mushrooms and pimien-tos.) Serves 6.

JOYCE MOORE

Grayson-Collin Electric Cooperative

Serving size: 1 pork chop with rice. Per serving: 389calories, 27 g protein, 16 g fat, 33 g carbohydrates,1,306 mg sodium, 74 mg cholesterol

H A M A N D P O TAT O G R AT I N4 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced1 cup cubed ham1 carton (8 ounces) French onion dip

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheeseLayer ingredients in order given ingreased casserole dish. Bake, covered, at300 degrees for 1 hour. Remove coverand bake 30 more minutes. Serves 4–6.

SUSAN REDKEY-MUELLER

Pedernales Electric Cooperative

Serving size: 1 large serving spoonful. Per serving: 420 calories, 21 g protein, 29 g fat, 19 g carbohydrates,860 mg sodium, 79 mg cholesterol

P I Z Z A M E AT L O A F1 package (8 ounces) shredded

mozzarella cheese (divided)1 jar (14 ounces) pizza sauce (divided)

2 pounds hamburger meat1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

(or seasoned croutons, crushed)2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Reserve 1/2

cup shredded cheese and 1/2 cup pizzasauce for topping later. In large bowl,mix remaining cheese and pizza saucewith ground beef and bread crumbs (orcroutons) and eggs. In a 9x13-inch bak-ing pan, shape meat mixture into loaf.Bake meatloaf 30 minutes.

Pour reserved pizza sauce over top ofloaf. Bake 30 minutes longer, sprinklingwith shredded cheese during last 10minutes of baking time. Serves 6–8.

Serving size: 1 slice. Per serving: 495 calories, 30 gprotein, 34 g fat, 16 g carbohydrates, 919 mg sodium,158 mg cholesterol

Cook’s Tip: Serve a slice ofPizza Meatloaf over spaghettitossed with olive oil and a littlegarlic salt, plus a salad tossedwith Italian dressing for an easy,tasty dinner.

H O M E C O O K I N G

BLISS HELPERT McLennan County Electric CooperativePrize-winning recipe: Pizza Meatloaf

You want easy, fast and good? We’ve got it with this month’s winners. Bliss Helpert’sPizza Meatloaf will please kids and adults alike. It’s got the down-home goodness ofmeatloaf with that pizza-parlor taste.

1st

R E C I P E C O N T E S T

In keeping with the Mother’s Day tradition of making

Mom breakfast in bed, May’s recipe contest topic is

OMELETTES AND FRITTATAS. Send your special morning

egg recipes to Home Cooking, 2550 S. IH-35, Austin, TX

78704.You may also fax them to (512) 486-6254 or e-mail

them to [email protected]. Please include your name,

address and phone number, as well as the name of your

electric co-op. The deadline is January 15. The top win-

ner will receive a tin filled with Pioneer products.

Runners-up will also receive a prize.

Make checks payable to Texas Electric Cooperatives. Send $29.95 ($24.95 plus $5 tax, shipping and handling) for each cookbook to Cookbook, 2550 S. IH-35, Austin, TX 78704. Also available in many co-op lobbies throughout the state or online at texascooppower.com.

Allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.

Six Decades of Texas’ Favorite Foods, Fads & FactsFull Color, Hardbound, More Than 600 Recipes

From 60 Years of Texas Co-op Power

221 9 4 0

Side DishesVegetable Fritters

It may be the mark of a super-cook and a fine idea to

avoid leftovers, but there are very few homemakers who are

not occasionally faced with this problem. It’s a well-known

fact that good things often taste better in their second cook-

ing than they did in their first. For instance, here’s a dish

that makes delicious use of leftover cooked vegetables.

1 3/4 cups sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon melted fat or salad oil

2 cups well-drained cooked or canned vegetables,

dicedFat for frying

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In separate

bowl, beat egg; add milk and melted fat or salad oil. Add

to flour mixture; beat until smooth. Add vegetables. Drop

by tablespoon into deep fat or salad oil heated to 375°.

Fry for 4 minutes or until brown on all sides. Drain on

absorbent paper. Serves 6.

Spanish Rice

3/4 cup rice

4 tablespoons shortening, melted

1 small green pepper

1 medium tomato

1 small onion

1/4 teaspoon chopped garlic

2 cups hot water

Salt and pepper

Wash and drain the rice, adding it to the melted short-

ening. Brown rice, stirring lightly to keep color even.

Chop and combine pepper, tomato, onion and garlic.

Sauté with rice for about 5 minutes, or until rice is an

even medium-brown. Add salt, pepper and water. Cover

and cook on a moderate-to-low heat for 20 minutes.

After adding water, be sure not to stir lest the mixture

becomes pasty.

My mother, Lera Scott, received this recipe during World War II from

a neighbor. It is an excellent way to use just 1 pound of hamburger.

Meat was rationed at this time, but Mother always found a way to have

excellent meals with what was available.

STEAKS

1 pound lean hamburger

1 egg

1/2 cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix hamburger with egg, flour, salt and pepper. May have to mix with

hands to blend thoroughly. Roll out meat mixture on a lightly floured

board. Cut into strips (about 3x5 inches). Brown meat in a lightly

greased skillet until brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

SAUCE

1 large can tomato juice

2 ribs celery, chopped fine

1 large onion, chopped fine

Garlic powder to taste

1 bell pepper, chopped fine

1/2 teaspoon chili powder (if you like)

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Drop steaks into

boiling sauce a few at a time (like dumplings). Lower heat and simmer

for about 30 minutes. (Or cook in a 325° oven for about 30 minutes.)

Serve with rice, potatoes or noodles. Can use ground turkey or

deer. Be careful about salting the sauce until after you have cooked

it with the meat. Some tomato juice has a lot of salt in it.

Sarah Ammons, Wood County Electric Cooperative

Creole Steaks

R E A D E R S R E M E M B E R

From the very beginning, recipes are an important component of the publication. Conservation is the overriding recipe theme during World War II. Sugar and meat are especially scarce due to rationing, introduced by the Office of Price Administration in 1942 to help the war effort. As a result, cakes and cookies are less sweet than those of today. The natural sweetness of fruit is used in desserts to help sugar go farther. Meatless dinners, or dinners where a small amount of meat is served over a starch, stretch limited resources: “A good

way to use the last precious bits of leftover meat is to combine them with macaroni in a smooth cream sauce. Top the casserole with buttered bread crumbs and bake in a moderate oven about 30 minutes.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt encourages everyone to have a Victory Garden to produce fruits and vegetables for their families so that commercially grown produce can be used to feed the soldiers. This program is so successful that Victory Gardens put out almost half of all fruits and vegetables in the United States during one war year. The president also encourages people to can food at home or at canning centers. The recipes from this era don’t include many ideas for serving fruits and vegetables, presumably because families are eating what they have in the garden or have put up for the winter.Supplies of food and other resources rebound after the war, and the nation’s post-war jubilation is mirrored in recipes. Sweet cakes with lots of frosting become a celebratory treat. Cooks begin experimenting with different flavors and new products, trends that will expand greatly in the Fifties. Because of the limited availability of packaged foods in rural areas, dishes made with cake mixes and the like don’t appear in the publication until the late Fifties.

The December 1944 issue of Texas Co-op Power reports: “Four million homes are cooking with electricity today. The trend to electric ranges, according to manufacturers, is shown by sales of 750,000 in 1941, compared with 450,000 in 1940. ...The war halted production in 1942.” But by 1946, manufacturers finally have the resources to begin producing new refrigerators, ranges and other appliances, which is big news at the electric cooperatives.

Behold! General Electric introduces the first two-door refrigerator/freezer in 1947.

Wartime Scarcity to Post-War Plenty As soon as it is founded in 1944, Texas Cooperative Electric Power (shortened to Texas Co-op Power

by the third issue) sets out to educate new electric consumers about the ways electricity can lighten their load, especially on the farm. Electricity “liberates the farmwife,” but only if she knows how to use that new oven. Thus, Texas Co-op Power devotes

a whole section, It’s a Woman’s World—Electrically, to using electric ranges, refrigerators,

freezers, food dehydrators, steam sterilizers, food grinders, roasters and electric skillets, as

well as electric sewing machines, irons, clothes washers and more.

14-17_40s intro.indd 16

1940 This was a great year for firsts, including the fi rst Dairy Queen in Illinois, York Peppermint

Patties and M&Ms.1941 No, Betty Crocker wasn’t a real person, but her cookbooks, starting with the Betty Crocker Cook

Book of All-Purpose Baking, teach generations how to cook.

1942 Home milk delivery begins (initially as a war conservation measure).The garbage disposal makes

life easier in the kitchen. Dannon yogurt enhances healthy living. And, on the other end of the food

spectrum, the corn dog is born at the Texas State Fair.

1943 Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya throws together an impromptu dish for Americans visiting the Victory Club

in Piedras Negras, across the river from Eagle Pass. The beloved snack—nachos—was subsequently

named in his honor. 1944 The Chiquita Banana jingle admonishes America: “You should never put bananas in the refrigerator.”

1946 Minute Maid frozen orange juice saves time in the kitchen, as does Mrs. Paul’s frozen food and

Ragu pasta sauce. Leftovers can be safely stored in Tupperware.

1947 Betty Crocker cake mix goes on the market. For the first time, you can enclose your treat with

aluminum foil. Raytheon demonstrates the world’s fi rst microwave oven, the RadarRange. The oven

weighs 750 pounds and costs $2,000 to $3,000. Still, it makes nifty popcorn. David Pace starts

bottling something he calls picante sauce in a rented room in the back of a San Antonio liquor

store. And the electric dishwasher arrives.1948 Despite the invention of the seedless watermelon, seed-spitting contests continue to this day. Two

great drinks—Nestlé’s Quik and V-8 juice—also come on the scene.

1949 Pillsbury holds its fi rst bake-off. All hail Jolly Rancher candy, Junior Mints and Minute Rice.

1940s1940s

Wartime Scarcity to Post-War Plenty

14-17_40s intro.indd 15

Discover authentic recipes true toeach decade from the readers and

archives of Texas Co-op Power.Remember what life was like “back when” with an

introduction to each decade.

Six Decades of Texas’ Favorite Foods, Fads & Facts

Learn about great, and not-so-great, moments in food history

with our culinary timelines.

ORDERNOW!ORDERNOW!

Mail copies to:

Name

Address

City

State Zip

Mail copies to:

Name

Address

City

State Zip



EXTREME WEATHER

Extreme weather in Texas? You betcha! You know what they say about our weather:

If you don’t like it now, just wait 20 minutes. Seeing visual evidence of the extreme

weather conditions that can—and do—happen, I have renewed respect for our elec-

tric cooperatives’ outside employees who must work in these conditions (and for the

inside employees who man the phone lines!) to keep our power flowing. Thanks to

their dedication, we’re all a bit more comfortable when extreme weather strikes.

—CHERYL TUCKER

Upcoming in Focus on Texas

ISSUE SUBJECT DEADLINE

Mar Snapshots Jan 10

Apr Inspirational Feb 10

May Barbecues Mar 10

June Inventions Apr 10

July Brothers May 10

August Off to the Races June 10

SNAPSHOTS is the topic for our MARCH 2007 issue.Send your photo—along with your name, address,daytime phone, co-op affiliation and a brief descrip-tion—to Snapshots, Focus on Texas, 2550 S. IH-35,Austin, TX 78704, before January 10. A stamped,self-addressed envelope must be included if youwant your entry returned (approximately six weeks).Please do not submit irreplaceable photographs—send a copy or duplicate. We regret that Texas Co-opPower cannot be responsible for photos that are lostin the mail or not received by the deadline. Please notethat we cannot provide individual critiques of submit-ted photos. If you use a digital camera, e-mail yourhighest-resolution images to [email protected]. (Ifyou have questions about your camera’s capabilitiesand settings, please refer to the operating manual.)

7 Just looking at this photo

made our judges shiver! Thanks

to Baru Spiller, member of Taylor

Electric Cooperative, who submit-

ted this chilly—and beautiful—

photo taken after an ice storm.

1 This lightning storm blew in

quickly, reports Bluebonnet

Electric Cooperative member

Mike Mallory, who took this

photo behind his house. “I had

to be very careful shooting the

lightning storm because it was

blowing towards me,” he said.

7 Pedernales Electric

Cooperative member Dulen Lee

took this photo in the north

Austin area on May 27, 1997,

the same day an F5 tornado

destroyed a large section of

Jarrell, Texas.

1 After a 13-inch rain—in one

day!—Buna Junior High coach

Marci Anderson and science

teacher Eric Ford moved all the

school’s staff members’ cars to

higher ground so they wouldn’t be

damaged. Photographer Wendy

Strange belongs to Jasper-

Newton Electric Cooperative.

1 Grayson-Collin Electric

Cooperative member Vickie

Buckwalter snapped this shot of

a pair of mama longhorns with

their babies in the snow. The lit-

tle brown calf (in the foreground)

was named Valentino to com-

memorate his Valentine’s Day

birth earlier that day.

F O C U S O N T E X A S


J A N U A R Y01 ATHENS [1-31]

Trout Harvest, (903) 676-2277

02 ABILENE [2-13]

Cutting Horse Show,(325) 677-4376

05 BOWIE [5-7]

Second Monday TradeDays, (940) 872-1173,www.bowietxchamber.org

POST [5-7]

Old Mill Trade Days, 1-866-433-6683,www.oldmilltradedays.com

06 BELLVILLEMarket Day on the Square,(979) 865-3407,www.bellville.com

HARLINGENJackson Street MarketDays, (956) 423-4041

AROUNDTEXASAROUNDTEXAS06 MONTGOMERY

Farmer’s Market, (936) 597-4566,www.historicmontgomerytexas.com

NEW BOSTONTrade Day, (903) 628-2581, www.newbostontradedays.com

PORT ARTHURMardi Gras Party, (409) 962-9860

SAN ANGELOFirst Saturday at OldChicken Farm Art Center,(325) 653-4936

SULPHUR SPRINGS[6, 20, 27] Four State High School Rodeo,(903) 866-2711

WESLACO ResolutionSolution: New Year’s inthe Park, (956) 565-3919

07 BOERNE [7, 12-13]

Junior Livestock Show,(830) 249-2948

09 SAN BENITO [9-10]

Gospel Fest, (956) 399-5800

10 NEW BRAUNFELSComal Country MusicShow, (830) 629-4547

12 JEWETT [12-14]

Flea Market Days, (936) 348-5475

LIVINGSTON [12-14]

Trade Days, (936) 327-3656, www.cityoflivingston-tx.com/tradedays

QUANAH [12-13] FFA & 4-H Members ProjectShow, (940) 663-6301

13 BASTROPSecond Saturday Sale-bration, (512) 321-6600,www.bastropdba.org

BOERNE [13-14] MarketDays, (830) 249-7277,www.visitboerne.org

BRENHAM [13-14]

Antiques Show, 1-888-273-6426

13 LIBERTYLa Bahia Market, (936) 336-5736

LLANOLlano River Pet Day &Parade, (325) 247-5354,www.llanochamber.org

MISSION [13, 25-28]

Texas Citrus Fiesta,(956) 585-9724,www.texascitrusfiesta.net

SEGUINMLK Celebration, (830) 303-3020

STEPHENVILLE[13-14, 27-28] ChickenHouse Flea Market, (254) 968-0888

15 GAINESVILLEMartin Luther King Jr.Day Celebration, (940) 665-2831

GRAND PRAIRIEMartin Luther King Jr.Day Parade, (972) 264-7670


AROUNDTEXASAROUNDTEXAS

Event information can bemailed to Around Texas, 2550 S. IH-35, Austin, TX78704, faxed to (512) 486-6254 or e-mailed [email protected]. Please submit events forMarch by January 10. Eventsare listed according to spaceavailable; see the full listing at www.texascooppower.com.We appreciate photos withcredits but regret that theycannot be returned.

15 SEGUINYouth Livestock &Homemakers Show, 1-800-580-7322

17 COLUMBUS [17-21]

Student Rodeo ArtExhibit, (979) 732-8385,www.columbustexas.org

20 SAN ANGELOBiggest Buck Contest,(325) 658-4737

21 NEW BRAUNFELSDinner with the Arts,(830) 625-4248

26 JEFFERSON [26-28]

“Quilts on the Bayou,”(903) 665-7311, www.jeffersonquiltshow.com

LAREDO [26-28]

International Sister CitiesFestival, 1-800-361-3360,www.visitlaredo.com

LLANO [26-28]

Riverbank Gospel Fest,(325) 247-5354,www.llanochamber.org

27 ABILENE [27-28]

Kennel Club AKC DogShow, (325) 677-4376

ELDORADO [27-28]

All the King’s Clones,(325) 853-3678

FREDERICKSBURGIndian Artifact &Collectible Show, (830) 626-5561

GORDONVILLE [27-28]

WinterFest: Eagle Quest2007, (903) 523-5982,www.texomawestend.org

NEW BRAUNFELSCancer Society Black Tie Fundraiser, (512) 919-1825

QUITMANBluegrass Show, (903) 763-4411,www.quitman.com

SAN ANGELOGospel Bluegrass Show,(325) 653-8761

28 TRINITYChurch Ladies GuildSpaghetti Dinner, (936) 594-1776

F E B R U A R Y03 HUNTSVILLE

100-Mile Endurance Run,(512) 895-6100, www.hillcountrytrailrunners.com

10 LUBBOCKChorale Valentine’sConcert, (806) 794-1054,www.lubbockchorale.org

NEW BRAUNFELSHill Country Doll Show & Sale, (830) 606-5868

STEPHENVILLE[10-11, 24-25] ChickenHouse Flea Market, (254) 968-0888

16 JEFFERSON [16-18]

Mardi Gras Upriver,(903) 665-3733,www.jefferson-texas.com

17 SULPHUR SPRINGSMystery Man Quartet inConcert, 1-800-525-3171

22 BRENHAM [22-25]

Library Benefit Used BookSale, (979) 337-7201

24 GAINESVILLE Farm ToyShow, (940) 759-2876

Jam

es Y

ule

Ph

oto

gra

ph

y

Texas 2007 2007

Victoria Jan. 18-20Victoria Jan. 18-20Belton Mar. 22-24Belton Mar. 22-24Mercedes April 19-21Mercedes April 19-21Conroe May 10-12Conroe May 10-12Nacogdoches June 21-23Nacogdoches June 21-23Abilene Aug. 9-11Abilene Aug. 9-11Fort Worth Sept. 22-23Fort Worth Sept. 22-23Wichita Falls Oct. 11-14Wichita Falls Oct. 11-14

and BurroADOPTIONSADOPTIONS

Wild HorseWild Horse

Denton,TX 76201

...andallthatjazz!

Alltheworld’sastage ...inDenton.

Convention & Visitor BureauDenton,TX 76201

888/381-1818 www.discoverdenton.com

Spring Fever

Get in the mood for spring with a subscription toWildflower, the magazine of the Lady BirdJohnson Wildflower Center. Wildflower isyour source for information about gardening withnative wildflowers, shrubs and trees. Subscribenow for only $15 per year. Act fast to get thespring issue. Visit www.wildflower.org/coop tosubscribe online or call (512) 292-4200 to sub-scribe by phone.

3 8 T E X A S C O - O P P O W E R J a n u a r y 2 0 0 7 M A P I L L U S T R A T I O N B Y G I L A D A M S

and gift shops in period houses. In falland spring, antique hunters descend ontown by the thousands for one of thebiggest fairs in the south.

The pace is much more civilizedduring the classical music weekends atFESTIVAL HILL, an internationally renownedarts institute evoking European scenes.For another Central Texas history les-son, the WINEDALE HISTORICAL CENTER

has a visitor’s center, a complex ofrestored historic structures,and a log barn converted fortheatrical performances. Round Top Chamber of Commerce,

102 E. Mill St., Round Top; 1-888-

368-4783; www.roundtop.org

Festival Hill, (979) 249-3129;

www.festivalhill.org

Winedale Historical Center, (979)

278-3530

LA GRANGESome of the most beautifulhistoric buildings in the stateare here in the Fayette Countyseat, headquarters of FayetteElectric Cooperative. I startwith the magnificent FAYETTE

COUNTY JAIL, built in 1883, andcontinue with the remarkable1891 county courthouse,which starred with JohnTravolta in the movie Michael.Also on the square is the

Hermes Drug Store, the state’s oldeststill in business, built in 1856. I like stop-ping in one of the many shops sellingkolaches, that favorite among Czechpastries, before heading just south oftown on scenic U.S. Hwy. 77 to thebreathtaking Monument Hill andKreische Brewery State Historic Sites.From the brewery, I hike to the dramaticmonument that tells a tragic story ofFayette County soldiers. Well beforesunset, I’m apt to continue on 77 toSchulenburg to see the dear littlepainted churches with exquisite detailedartwork by craftsmen who came fromthe old countries a century ago.La Grange Area Chamber of Commerce, 171 S.

Main St., 1-800-524-7264, www.lagrangetx.org

June Naylor wrote Texas: Off theBeaten Path.

It’s only about 40 miles, but oh, theplaces you’ll go—and the vast historicalground you’ll cover—when you make aday trip from Brenham to Round Topand La Grange. In truth, you’ll proba-bly want to dawdle a day or two in eachof these heritage-rich burgs to immerseyourself in the culture that has sprungfrom some of Texas’ deepest roots. Towander this route is to better under-stand where we came from, the pricesome paid to give us thishome, and how this legacy iscelebrated today.

On this route, you’ll departBrenham on U.S. Hwy. 290West and drive 15 miles to theTexas Hwy. 237 exit; follow237 about 7 miles to RoundTop. Upon leaving RoundTop, continue south on 237until you pick up Texas Hwy.159 South, which will carryyou right into La Grange.

BRENHAMJust 14 miles north of thissweet old town is WASHINGTON-

ON-THE-BRAZOS STATE HISTORIC

SITE, the best place to launcha journey into our legendarypast. Deep in the cotton-richBrazos Valley, the town ofWashington served as thetemporary capital of theRepublic of Texas, and it’s where theTexas Declaration of Independencewas signed and the republic’s constitu-tion drafted, both in 1836. I like towander around the park’s Star of theRepublic Museum time and again toread the stories of the republic’s cre-ators and Texas’ journey to statehood.

Also on the outskirts of Brenham isthe state’s answer to the nation’s sweettooth, the BLUE BELL CREAMERY. Home ofthe world’s best ice cream, it’s a delight-ful place to get a glimpse of how 20 mil-lion gallons are produced each year andto taste the freshest version of thefrozen gold. In town, I while away anentire afternoon popping into the bou-tiques and antique stores stashed awayin the vintage downtown buildings. Atnight, I’m pampered beyond reason atthe lovely ANT STREET INN, with its exqui-

BRENHAMto LA GRANGE

Take a week and you still won’t have time

to see all this trip’s attractions.

BY JUNE NAYLOR

H I T T H E R O A D

site interior renovations and spectacu-lar breakfast the next morning.Washington County Chamber of Commerce,

314 S. Austin St., Brenham; (979) 836-3695.

www.brenhamtexas.com

Blue Bell Creameries, 1101 South Blue Bell Road,

Brenham; 1-800-327-8135 www.bluebell.com

Ant Street Inn, 107 W. Commerce St., Brenham;

1-800-481-1951, www.antstreetinn.com

ROUND TOPThe moment I wheel onto the square ofthis minute village—population 81 andholding—I’m reminded that time can, infact, stand still. I park and roam aroundHENKEL SQUARE and the adjacent BYBEE

SQUARE, two collections of restoredbuildings from the hamlet’s earliestdays. Whereas Henkel gives me a look atlife a century and a half ago, Bybeehouses all sorts of fabulous art galleries

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