Texas Co-op Power • March 2016 - South Plains Electric Cooperative
Transcription
Texas Co-op Power • March 2016 - South Plains Electric Cooperative
1603 local covers black 2/11/16 2:42 PM Page 1 SOUTH PLAINS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE EDITION Border Radio Pecos Wall of Water TEXAS INDEPENDENCE Washington-on-theBrazos celebrates birth of the Republic MARCH 2016 Eggs: Plain and Fancy Here today. Here tomorrow. BUILD A HOME YOU TRUST WITH A COMPANY YOU TRUST. Make yourself at home in a beautiful steel building from Mueller. From size to colors to a style that’s made for you, we’re here to help. As Mueller celebrates 85 years of building strong products and solid relationships, enjoy the peace of mind that we will be around for you, now and in the future. Call or visit our website today. www.muellerinc.com 877-2-MUELLER (877-268-3553) March 2016 Since 1944 FA V O R I T E S Texas Independence Day features Professor Farquar’s medicine show. 5 Letters 6 Currents 20 Local Co-op News Get the latest information plus energy and safety tips from your cooperative. 33 Texas History Pecos River Flood of 1954 By Lonn Taylor 35 Recipes Eggs: Plain and Fancy 39 Focus on Texas Photo Contest: Boats 40 Around Texas List of Local Events 42 Hit the Road Visit a Sky Island By E. Dan Klepper ONLINE TexasCoopPower.com Find these stories online if they don’t appear in your edition of the magazine. F E AT U R E S 8 12 Texas USA Texas Independence Washington-on-the-Brazos: Birthplace of a nation celebrates anniversary The First Flying Saucer By E.R. Bills Story and photos by Julia Robinson Observations Border Radio Booming and bombastic, broadcasts from Mexican soil turned American culture on its ear Resident Spirits By Martha Deeringer By Gene Fowler NEXT MONTH Texas Hats & Hatmakers Meet the craftsmen who help today’s Texans carry on a storied tradition. 39 33 35 42 TE XA S INDEPENDENC E: JU L I A R O B I NS O N. HAT: M I C HA EL F L IP P O | D OL L A R P H OTO C LU B ON THE COVER Jim Richardson, a living-history re-enactor, sits in a replica encampment at Washington-on-the-Brazos. Photo by Julia Robinson TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES BOARD OF DIRECTORS: David Marricle, Chair, Muleshoe; Mark Tamplin, Vice Chair, Kirbyville; Bryan Lightfoot, Secretary-Treasurer, Bartlett; Mike R. Hagy, Tipton, Oklahoma; William F. Hetherington, Bandera; Mark Rollans, Hondo; Anne Vaden, Corinth • PRESIDENT/CEO: Mike Williams, Austin • COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBER SERVICES COMMITTEE: Jerry Boze, Kaufman; Rick Haile, McGregor; Greg Henley, Tahoka; Billy Marricle, Bellville; Mark McClain, Roby; Blaine Warzecha, Victoria; Kathy Wood, Marshall • MAGAZINE STAFF: Martin Bevins, Vice President, Communications & Member Services; Charles J. Lohrmann, Editor; Tom Widlowski, Associate Editor; Karen Nejtek, Production Manager; Andy Doughty, Creative Manager; Grace Arsiaga, Print Production Specialist; Chris Burrows, Communications Specialist; Christine Carlson, Communications & Member Services Assistant; Paula Disbrowe, Food Editor; Suzanne Halko, Communications Specialist; Jane Sharpe, Senior Designer; Ellen Stader, Communications Specialist; Karen Taylor, Communications & Member Services Assistant; Shannon Oelrich, Proofreader TexasCoopPower.com March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 3 Give friends and family the Best of Texas. T OF THE BES TY P I CA L LY Texas Co-op Power presents a collection of best-loved recipes from two of our most popular cookbooks ever, the Typically Texas Cookbook and The Second Typically Texas Cookbook. TEXAS OOK— —C O O K B This cookbook is filled with more than 700 recipes, including more than 300 dessert recipes. Contact your local co-op today, or place your order online at TexasCoopPower.com and put The Best of Typically Texas Cookbook in your kitchen for only $29.95 (price includes tax, shipping and handling). PUB LIS HER FRO M THE To order by mail, send a check or money order payable to TEC for $29.95 to Best of Typically Texas Cookbook, 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. POW ER AS CO -OP S OF TEX $29.95 From the publishers of Texas Co-op Power RE J LE US A T SE D ! FREE Gift! when you order within 30 days Complete 4-Coin Uncirculated Set of 2009 cents, featuring special designs honoring the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth! 45-Day Money Back Guarantee of Satisfaction IMPORTANT NOTICE: ORDERS MUST BE RECEIVED WITHIN 30 DAYS Special Offer for New Customers Only Get a 2016 American Eagle Silver Dollar at our cost! Please send me the Uncirculated American Eagle Silver Dollar at Littleton’s cost (limit 1). Plus, send my FREE Uncirculated 2009 4-Coin Lincoln Cent Set (one per customer, please). Limit One: $ ________ 16.81 YES! S Limit one per customer at this special low price! Get a 2016 American Eagle Silver Dollar at our cost! * Shipping & Handling: $ ________ FREE! Method of payment: R Check or Money Order payable to Littleton Coin Co. 16.81 Total Amount: $ ________ R VISA R MasterCard R American Express R Discover Network Card No. Exp. Date _______ /_______ You can’t purchase this Uncirculated American Eagle silver dollar directly from the U.S. Mint. But you can now purchase the official 2016 U.S. silver dollar from Littleton Coin Company at our cost – and with FREE shipping to your home! Name _________________________________________________________ Please print your complete name and address clearly Address ________________________________________ Apt# _________ City____________________________ State ________ Zip______________ Please send coupon to: Dept. 4BT403 1309 Mt. Eustis Road Littleton NH 03561-3737 America’s Favorite Coin Source • TRUSTED SINCE 1945 4 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 ©2016 LCC, LLC E-Mail ________________________________________________________ ONLY $16.81 with FREE Shipping! The beautiful and sought-after $1 American Eagle is over 99.9% pure silver and carries the same design as the popular “Walking Liberty” silver coins of 1916-47. You’ll also receive our fully illustrated catalog, plus other fascinating selections Limited-T ime Offer! from our Free Examination Coins-onApproval Service, from which you may purchase any or none of the coins – return balance in 15 days – with option to cancel at any time. Don’t delay – order your 2016 American Eagle silver dollar at our cost today! JUST RELEASED! +One ounce of 99.93% pure silver! +Beautiful mint Uncirculated condition! +2 016 marks the 30th anniversary of the American Eagle series +Limited-time offer for new customers Due to fluctuations in the coin market, prices are subject to change. * “At our cost” reflects market price as of December 1, 2015. TexasCoopPower.com LETTERS Preserving Wildlife How many of you anti-hunters have a hunting license, which helps preserve the wildlife [Letters, November 2015]? What have you birdwatchers and wildlife observers contributed to their management? Linemen Rock! A shoutout to the linemen who worked tirelessly to restore our power after the recent tornadoes went through our neighborhood. When we first looked at the snapped poles and tangled wires, we thought it would take weeks to CARL BROCKMANN | SAN ANGELO CONCHO VALLEY EC get things back to normal. However, the linemen from HILCO had our I Like Ike Just read Another Texan in the White House? [Currents, December 2015], which lists Texans who ran for president of the USA (that country that borders Texas on three sides). How could you omit the most illustrious such person, Dwight Eisenhower? KONRAD EBISCH | BUDA PEDERNALES EC EDITOR’S NOTE: Eisenhower was born in Denison, but his family moved to Kansas shortly after his birth. He never ran for office in Texas and is more closely identified with his boyhood home of Abilene, Kansas, where he is buried and where you’ll find his presidential library. power back on in less than two days! DIANE MORREN | WAXAHACHIE | HILCO EC Clayton Thompson of HILCO EC me about the usual disciplines of sight alignment, sight picture and trigger control, but he did stress concentration. He mostly led by example in his unassuming manner. I vividly recall Ad throwing electrical box knockouts into the air in rapid succession and plugging every one with a .22 caliber Colt Woodsman pistol. BILL MULDOON | KERRVILLE CENTRAL TEXAS EC At the Marine Science Library in Port Aransas, we held a staff art show, and one of our contributors brought in a bullet “drawing” [shown at right] by the Topperweins [The Wonderful Topperweins, December 2015]. My wife and I absolutely hate daylight saving time [Daylight Saving Time Law Intercepted, Currents, November 2015]. When the time is advanced one hour in the spring, it plays havoc with the human sleep cycle. I will contact Rep. Dan Flynn of Van and ask him to never give up his quest to eliminate daylight saving time. GARY WILLIAMS | WAXAHACHIE HILCO EC GET MORE TCP AT Helping in Haiti Culture in Texas I was glad to see that electrical cooperative employees have gone to Haiti to help with the infrastructure [The Power of Your Cooperative, October 2015]. Since September 2013, I have been going to Haiti on a regular basis and am involved in teaching the residents to build earthquake- and hurricaneresistant homes. I read the January 2016 letters and the response about culture HERB NORDMEYER | CASTROVILLE MEDINA EC MARG LARSEN | PORT ARANSAS NUECES EC L I N E M A N : H I LCO EC . B U L L E T A RT: M I Y U K I E . D E H A RT Springing Forward HENDRIK BERGEN | ROUND TOP FAYETTE EC The Wonderful Topperweins Through my father’s close friendship with Ad Topperwein, the great shooter mentored [me] as a 10-year-old kid. The elderly trick-shot artist rarely talked to in Texas by Lonn Taylor. We recently visited Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, New York, and visited with the director of a restoration project there. She proudly told us about the project. In response, I started to tell her about our beautiful Round Top Festival Institute theater, only to get cut off by her saying, “I did not know they had culture in Texas.” She has never visited Texas, but it illustrates Taylor’s point. TexasCoopPower.com Sign up for our E-Newsletter for monthly updates, prize drawings and more! WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! ONLINE: TexasCoopPower.com/share EMAIL: letters@TexasCoopPower.com MAIL: Editor, Texas Co-op Power, 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701 Please include your town and electric co-op. Letters may be edited for clarity and length. Texas Co-op Power Magazine TEXAS CO-OP POWER VOLUME 72, NUMBER 9 (USPS 540-560). Texas Co-op Power is published monthly by Texas Electric Cooperatives (TEC). Periodical Postage Paid at Austin, TX, and at additional offices. TEC is the statewide association representing 75 electric cooperatives. Texas Co-op Power’s website is TexasCoopPower.com. Call (512) 454-0311 or email editor@TexasCoopPower.com. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE is $4.08 per year for individual members of subscribing cooperatives. If you are not a member of a subscribing cooperative, you can purchase an annual subscription at the nonmember rate of $7.50. Individual copies and back issues are available for $3 each. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Texas Co-op Power (USPS 540-560), 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. Please enclose label from this copy of Texas Co-op Power showing old address and key numbers. ADVERTISING: Advertisers interested in buying display ad space in Texas Co-op Power and/or in our 30 sister publications in other states, contact Martin Bevins at (512) 486-6249. Advertisements in Texas Co-op Power are paid solicitations. The publisher neither endorses nor guarantees in any manner any product or company included in this publication. Product satisfaction and delivery responsibility lie solely with the advertiser. © Copyright 2016 Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. Reproduction of this issue or any portion of it is expressly prohibited without written permission. Willie Wiredhand © Copyright 2016 National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. TexasCoopPower.com March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 5 CURRENTS HAPPENINGS Only Tears of Joy in Weslaco I SAY ... IS THAT A BLOOMING ONION? SHOPPERS EAGERLY AWAIT the arrival of Texas 1015 onions in produce sections every spring. Weslaco, where the 1015 was developed, celebrates the signature vegetable with Texas Onion Fest. WHY 1015? The famous onion gets its name from the recommended planting [] date—October 15. Texas A&M University scientists in Weslaco introduced the being supersweet and tearless. AS A TRIBUTE, Lali Dena honors her grand- father Gregorio Vega, who worked at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Weslaco for 33 years. “I remember he would take us to the festival so we could taste the onions he planted,” says Dena, an administrative assistant at Magic Valley Electric Cooperative, which sponsors the Onion Fest Car Show & Shine. “I’ve been a volunteer for the past eight years, and I’ll continue to be a volunteer in memory of my grandfather.” BY THE NUMBERS $100,000,000 Onions are Texas’ top vegetable crop, leading to sales upward of $100 million per annum. The abundance of alliums and agriculture is celebrated on National Ag Day, March 15, but the onion has been a staple of diets spanning the ages, including in ancient Egypt. IN 1997, the Legislature declared the sweet onion the state vegetable. A year later, Weslaco started Texas Onion Fest. NEXT MONTH If you can peel yourself away Did you know? Find more happenings all across the state at TexasCoopPower .com 6 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 ; THE GREAT ONION RING Because of a scandal in 1955, when two onion traders cornered the onion futures market on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Congress outlawed futures trading in onions forever. Onions are the only agricultural product for which futures trading is illegal. from other springtime activities, check out Texas Onion Fest on April 2. INFO a (956) 968-2102, weslaco.com TexasCoopPower.com T E XA S O N I O N F E ST: J O H N W I L S O N . B LO O M I N G O N I O N : CO U RT E SY W E S L ACO C H A M B E R O F CO M M E R C E . P E N C I L : B I L L I O N P H OTOS .CO M | D O L L A R P H OTO CLU B. GARDEN: ALETHA ST. ROMAIN. BASKETBALL: STILLFX | DOLLAR PHOTO CLUB Texas 1015 in the 1980s after decades of research. This allium is heralded for NURSERY RHYME REVISITED M A R K YO U R C A L E N DA R S Red Pens Pencils Rule MARCH 4 IS NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY, and the wordsmiths at Texas Co-op Power will beam proudly when they aren’t wincing at these offenses: Chris Burrows: What affects me most is the use of effect and affect. I want to effect change on that topic, because the effect of the confusion is bitter affect. Ellen Stader: Its and it’s. Its is possessive. It’s means it is. It seems like a small thing, but it’s a big deal. Suzanne Halko: The incorrect use of apostrophes in plurals such as dates (1950’s) or names (Halko’s). The Halkos are passionate about good grammar. Tom Widlowski: That and which. Some sentences have phrases that are essential to their meaning. Some phrases, which are usually set off by commas, are not essential. Charles Lohrmann: Your and you’re. Your indicates possession. You’re means you are. You’re welcome. All these grammar rules get celebrated again March 8—National Proofreading Day. HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? Texas garden, beg your pardon How does your raised bed grow? It’s 3-feet high, shaped like a pie And, water-wise, fit for a show. Had enough with the grammar rules? The next day is for you—March 9, National Get Over It Day. o CUTAWAY VIEW | OVERHEAD VIEW d For four years, you’ve made Keyhole Gardening [February 2012] the No. 1 most-read story on TexasCoopPower.com. That must mean your keyhole gardens are in full production! Don’t be contrary; show us what you’ve grown! Email editor@texas-ec.org or post on our Facebook page. SPORTS SECTION Houston or Bust! TexasCoopPower.com MARCH MADNESS makes its way April 2–4 to Texas when Houston hosts college basketball’s Final Four. Three notable events stand out from the Final Four’s eight previous Texas visits: 2008: All four top seeds advanced to the Final Four in San Antonio, where Kansas won out over Memphis. 1971: John Wooden’s UCLA team continued its storied run with a fifth straight title in Texas’ first Final Four— in Houston. 1986: “Never Nervous” Pervis Ellison led a young Louisville team to its second title of the decade in Dallas. March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 7 WASHINGTON-ON-THE-BRAZOS: BIRTHPLACE OF A NATION Story and photos by JULIA ROBINSON like to think I’m a good Texan, born and raised. I’ve visited most every shrine in our great state. I’ve hiked our highest mountain, photographed the official bison and longhorn herds, and traveled the length of the GoodnightLoving Trail. I’ve spent countless hours at our hallowed battlegrounds: Goliad, Gonzales, San Jacinto and the Alamo. But until last year, I had never been to the birthplace of our revered republic. Washington-on-the-Brazos is a state park honoring the site of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836. Every March, the park celebrates Texas Independence Day with living-history re-enactments, educational programs, crafts, food and live music. This year, the celebration is March 5–6, commemorating the 180th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Mexico and the 100th anniversary of the state park. n a brisk but cloudy Texas Independence Day, I’m driving through the rolling prairies 20 miles northeast of Brenham. I turn onto a curving drive that delivers me to the birthplace of Texas: a 293-acre park on the original site of the town of Washington. I’m here to learn a few things that were left out of my seventhgrade text on Texas history. Despite the gloomy weather, visitors have filled the parking lots then taken over the park paths and picnic tables. In the visitors center, families inspect a replica of the Texas Declaration of Independence along with some of the artifacts unearthed on the park’s grounds. The name of the site, Washington-on-the-Brazos, distinguishes it not only from the nearby town of Washington but also from that other capital city, Washington on the Potomac. “The events that happened here in Washington not only helped shape the Republic of Texas but also the young state of Texas,” explains Adam Arnold, a park ranger and history interpreter. Arnold, a seventh-generation Texan, was living in Oklahoma during the time most schoolchildren learn about the Texas revolutionary period. “I missed out on most of the school studies, so I had a lot of catching up to do when I got to the park. It’s more than just the Alamo and San Jacinto. There are so many amazing stories about the people that were here.” Indeed, “amazing” is an apt description of those events and people who participated. In 1836, as Travis, Crockett and Bowie were spilling blood for the Texian cause at the Alamo in San Antonio, 170 miles to the northeast, another group was spilling ink to forge a new republic. The 59 signatories of the Texas Declaration of Independence gathered in this town along the banks of the From left, previous spread: replica of Independence Hall; Larry Wheat plays guitar during Texas Independence Day weekend. This page: Larry Heidbreder with his longhorns; interior of Independence Hall. Opposite page: a demonstration of rifles used during the Texas Revolution; Park Ranger Jon Failor in period clothing. 10 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 Brazos River near La Bahia highway, upstream from Houston. Their convention hammered out the language that defined the republic even as Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna hammered the walls of the Alamo. They met in an unlikely Independence Hall. Today’s replica of the building occupies the exact spot where those Texians signed their names to the declaration on March 2, 1836. Today, I walk a tree-lined path from the visitors center to Independence Hall so I can see our Philadelphia, in frontier Texas style. Back then, the Washington townspeople offered the meeting space to the delegates free of charge in the hope of stimulating the local economy. The town had been officially founded the prior year, and the only place large enough to house the gathering was an unfinished building owned by a local gunsmith. It lacked windows, doors and part of its roof. A cold front swept into the area and sent temperatures plum- meting to near freezing the week of the convention. Most delegates couldn’t find lodging in the only inn, and food was running low by the end of the 17th day. That was when everyone evacuated ahead of the Mexican troops marching east, energized by their victory at the Alamo. Some delegates fled with settlers, staying ahead of the Mexican army that was known to take no prisoners. Their flight was dubbed the Runaway Scrape. Other delegates rallied to the fight, following newly minted Commander in Chief Sam Houston to the decisive Battle of San Jacinto. To my surprise, more than half of the signatories were recent arrivals to Texas from the United States. They were illegal immigrants in violation of the immigration ban imposed by Mexico in April 1830. They hailed from 11 states and five foreign countries. Only two of the signatories were native Texans: José Antonio Baldomero Navarro and José Francisco Ruiz. The contemporary Independence Hall appears to be identical to the original, according to accounts from the 1830s. No drawings TexasCoopPower.com or plans for the building are known, but the structure sits on the same foundation stones left from the 1830s. Inside the shadowy room, simple desks and chairs are arranged for a meeting, and white curtains hang in windows that hold no glass. Independence Hall sat near a bustling ferry town of 100 people on the edge of the frontier, and looking through the simple wood frames, I wonder if the landscape now appears as undeveloped as it must have been then. A 1912 fire burned the last of the original buildings, and the remains of the town have been lost under layers of soil. “The gopher holes are how we find lots of things,” says Barb King, park ranger at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site. “It would cost millions of dollars to dig, but kids and visitors find things the gophers have dug up.” These gifts from the gophers include pottery shards, fragments of porcelain, tools and the occasional dollar coin from 1837. “We always encourage visitors to not pick anything up but tell us when and where they see some- ing against the safety line to get closer to the explosions of noise and gunpowder. Each kaboom generates cheers. Living-history re-enactors have set up camp nearby. I find Jim Richardson, a recent convert to living history, cleaning his period rifle outside a tent. Richardson, from McKinney, has traced his family history back to the de Zavala Colony in 1835. For Richardson, Washington-on-the-Brazos and other historic sites of the Texas Revolution provide an opportunity to connect emotionally to the people of that era. “What could those people have been thinking? What did it feel like to be so close to the most formidable army on Earth?” Richardson also says he believes that understanding the more nuanced political history helps us preserve our democratic principles. “I think it’s important to visit these sites for a historical perspective. To preserve our freedom, it’s important to know what happened in history.” thing,” King says. Artifacts lose much of their context and potential for historical accuracy if they are moved from the site of their excavation. There’s hope for an archaeological field school to establish professional digs at the park, but until then, the historical treasures remain buried. The park paths are laid out as the streets once were, and a glance at the historic city maps orients me to what once was. I stare into the overgrowth summoning ghosts of the revolution: here an inn, there a brickyard, then a stable. The crowd today is a diverse group of families, foreigners, history re-enactors and locals. The celebration continues as the Sweet Song String Band’s guitar and fiddle players strike up a song and, in period costumes, lead the crowd to the monument erected by Brenham schoolchildren in 1899. Today’s schoolchildren lay a wreath in honor of the occasion. Down the hill, a demonstration of cannons and guns draws onlookers every few hours. Visitors crowd the perimeter, strain- I experience a mix of somber reflection and sheer enjoyment at the park this Independence Day. At the Star of the Republic Museum, Jack Edmondson is performing the life story of Sam Houston for a packed theater. He elicits laughter and applause in equal measure. Washington thrived during a brief window as a pivotal ferry town along La Bahia highway. It was the Texas capital, briefly, in 1842, and the last president of Texas, Anson Jones, lived in nearby Barrington even as the people of Texas decided to let their nation become the 28th state of the United States in 1845. With statehood, the story of Washington, Texas, faded. This tiny hamlet that birthed a nation returned to the land again. Julia Robinson is an Austin photojournalist. TexasCoopPower.com WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com View a slideshow online and see details about the Washington-on-the-Brazos 180th anniversary celebration of Texas Independence to be held March 5–6. March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 11 Border Radio Booming and bombastic, broadcasts from Mexican soil turned American culture on its ear BY GENE FOWLER J O H N KAC K I K IN legends of the Old West, desperados rode hard for the Rio Grande and crossed the river into Mexico to hide from the law. In the 1930s, a different kind of outlaw broke for the Mexican border. These desperados were on the run from U.S. broadcasting regulations. Radio renegades built powerful transmitters on the river’s southern banks. Blasting their signals northward, these “super-watt” American stations on Mexican soil beamed their colorful programming from coast to coast, border to border—and beyond. For half a century, border radio stations had a tremendous impact on American culture, influencing political campaigns, religious broadcasts, musical tastes, health care and, particularly, advertising. The father of border radio, Dr. John R. Brinkley became internationally famous in the 1920s for the goat gland transplant, a “pioneering” surgical procedure that could be described as an early agricultural version of Viagra. In 1930, after losing both his radio station license and his Kansas medical license, Brinkley ran for governor of the Sunflower State with the slogan, “Let’s Pasture the Goats on the Statehouse Lawn.” Branded an outlaw for his financial misdeeds and his medical shenanigans, the doctor lit out for the broadcasting badlands along the Rio Grande, opening station XER, later called XERA, across the river from Del Rio in Villa Acuña in the fall of 1931. Another Midwestern mogul, Norman Baker, followed in 1933 when authorities closed his Iowa station due to the promotion of his controversial cancer treatments. After building his own superstation, XENT, in Nuevo Laredo, Baker, who had no medical training, moved his clinic to the border. His advertising urged patients: “Phone 666 upon arrival in Laredo, Texas.” Texas Gov. Miriam “Ma” Ferguson dispatched Texas Rangers to the border to arrest Baker on an Iowa charge of practicing medicine without a license, but the radio outlaw could not be lured across the Rio Grande. Mexican authorities accommodated these high-powered media mavericks because the U.S. and Canada had divided up all the long-range radio wavelengths between themselves, allotting none to Mexico. Soon the stations dotted the borderlands, from Tampico to Tijuana. XEPN blasted from Piedras Negras, across from Eagle Pass. XELO started out in Piedras Negras, moved to Tijuana and finally settled in Juarez. XEG thundered northward from Monterrey. In Reynosa, across from Hidalgo and McAllen, Houston philanthropist Will Horwitz operated XED before he was sent to prison in 1932 for rebroadcasting the state of Tamaulipas lottery into the U.S. With colossal wattage, border station signals played havoc with American stations. A listener in Philadelphia, for instance, might hear Amos ’n’ Andy muscled aside by Brinkley’s frank discussions of human sexuality. According to legend, Brinkley’s station could be received on bedsprings and dental work. June Carter Cash, who performed as a child with the Carter Family on XERA, said the family’s music could be heard on any barbed wire fence in Texas. March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 13 S o-called hillbilly and cowboy music were the most popular sounds on the prewar border stations, but Americans also liked Mexican music from the border. “I enjoyed the cowboy songs,” one listener recalled, “but the real highlight of the program for me was Rosa Dominguez singing Estrellita. To this South Dakota farm boy, that sounded like the angels in heaven.” Fortunetellers and psychics, banned on U.S. airwaves, also broke for the border. Rose Dawn, the “Star Girl” of XERA, journeyed deep into Mexico to gather arcane knowledge for the Mayan Order, the metaphysical radio and mail-order business she founded in Del Rio in 1936. Her monthly magazine, Modern Astrology, achieved national circulation. In the 1930s, Dallas insurance magnate Carr Collins bought XED in Reynosa, which he renamed XEAW, to advertise his Crazy Crystals. Mixed with tap water, the reconstituted minerals from Mineral Wells in Texas made Crazy Water, the natural tonic from Mineral Wells, “for any condition caused or made worse by a sluggish system.” Collins’ partner in the station was Texas 14 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 TexasCoopPower.com R I N E H A RT: CO U RT E SY K E V I N CO F F E Y. M O D E R N A ST R O LO GY: CO U RT E SY G E N E FOW L E R . X E R : CO U RT E SY D I EG O D O M I N G O Clockwise from top: Cowboy Slim Rinehart at a Pecos radio station; an early 1930s illustration for XER, founded by the grandfather of border radio, Dr. John R. Brinkley; Rose Dawn’s magazine published in Del Rio Gov. W. Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel, a radio star from Fort Worth airwaves and Piedras Negras’ XEPN. When Texas stations insisted that the unpredictable governor provide copies of his radio speeches in advance, O’Daniel talked to Texans from his own station in Mexico, accompanied by music from his band, the Hillbilly Boys, and commercials for his Hillbilly Flour. During World War II, future Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Thompson, who grew up in Waco listening to Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family on border radio, tuned in the powerful stations on a submarine in the Pacific to introduce his fellow sailors to hillbilly music. After the war, as hillbilly and cowboy music morphed into country and western, stations like XERF in Ciudad Acuña (Brinkley’s old XERA under new owners) continued popularizing the genre. Despite his stardom on the Louisiana Hayride and the Grand Ole Opry, 1950s hitmaker Webb Pierce declared in 1986, “If it hadn’t been for border radio, I don’t know if country music would have survived.” Pierce’s music got a big boost from border disc jockeys such as Paul Kallinger, XERF’s “Good Neighbor Along the Way.” Although Kallinger would not let a young Elvis Presley on his all-country show when the lip-twitching King of Rock rolled through Del Rio, the hip-shakin’, wig-flippin’ sound would soon scorch the ether on the programs of wild border DJs including Howlin’ Rooster, Dr. Jazzmo and Wolfman Jack. Country rocker Joe Ely says that listening to the Wolfman’s show was like going to school when he was growing up in Lubbock, introducing him to blues artists John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and Lightnin’ Hopkins. Ely’s longtime bassist, Jimmy Pettit, a Del Rio native, paid musical dues unique to the borderlands. “Howlin’ Rooster booked my first band to open for the bullfights in Acuña,” he recalls. “And it was broadcast live on XERF, all the way around the world!” Pettit’s father, Hawley Pettit, was the “diamond man” on XERF, selling “genuine simulated diamonds.” As Kallinger explained, “You practically had to sell ice to Eskimos to keep your job on XERF!” The border stations pioneered a long-winded commercial format, selling everything, including weight-loss pills, weight-gain pills, fishing lures, laxatives, gravestones, burial insurance, plastic ponies, razor blades, baby chicks and the Lord’s Last Supper tablecloths in vinyl. The radio preachers became a mainstay of the stations. Many were remarkable spoken-word performers, ranting so furiously that listeners truly believed they could raise the dead. Others were sincere in their radio ministries. As Dallas Turner put it, “Some of those preachers were sanctified, and some of them were crank-tified.” Border radio stations were enormously profitable, and there were numerous shootouts—and some deaths in the 1960s—for their control. The XEPN transmitter building in Piedras Negras was blown to bits in 1938 by one of the two feuding owners. The Mexican government finally pulled the plug in 1986, seizing the last border station, XERF. Former station owner and Del Rio attorney Arturo Gonzalez said then that the station had been nothing but a headache. Still, before his death in 2012 at the age of 104, Gonzalez wistfully pledged a couple times a year, “I’m gonna get the station back. I’m gonna boost up the power and play rock ’n’ roll.” Gene Fowler is the author, with Bill Crawford, of Border Radio: Quacks, Yodelers, Pitchmen, Psychics, and Other Amazing Broadcasters of the American Airwaves [University of Texas Press, 2002]. SAVE When You Grow A Zoysia Lawn From Plugs! 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Order Now! www.ZoysiaFarms.com/mag Not shipped outside the USA or into WA or OR Texans Set To Get Free Survival Food Farmers vow to keep up with the demand to supply all Texans who call toll free and beat the deadline to claim up to four free 72-hour survival food kits. y food. But not just any food. What everyone needs is good-for-25-years surviival food that you can relyy on when the tiime comes thatt food is scarce. Well right now – in what is truly an unprecedented move – 72-hour surviival food kits from Food4Patriots are being giiven away to Texans as long as they call a special toll-free hotline and beatt the program deadline. “The world is rapidly changing,” explained Frank Bates, a spokesman for the companyy. “Every daay Americans face very real threats. For sure, terrorism is a huge worry. Butt so are QDWXUDOG GLLVDVWHUVOLNHKXUULFDQHVÁRRGV tornados, and whatever else Mother Nature might have up her sleeve.” Military-grade Mylar pouches ensure these meals stay fresh for 25 years or more. Bmlfhk^bfihkmZgmmaZg^o^kmh Bmlfhk^bfihkmZgmmaZg^o^kmh [^ik^iZk^]' [^ik^iZk^]' “Hey, we’ve seen what happens when a crisis hits. Stores quickly shut down or looted by hungry mobs. People forced to dig through dumpsters WR ÀQG DQ\WKLQJ HGLEOH 7KRXVDQGV standing in line to get a meal from FEMA or some other relief agency. “That’s not what I wantt for my family or anyone else’s. Honesttllyy, I p y to ensure our loved ones will i haave the food they need to surviive an emergency — withoutt haaving v to relyy on handouts.” Experts saay thatt everyone should have att least a 72-hour supplyy of nonperishable food on hand at all times. ly, too manyy people make Unfortunately the mistake of choosing products that were never intended to be surviival food. They end up wit i h expensiive stockpiles thatt are too big and too bulky to move, should an emergency force them to leave their homes. <aZg\^lZk^%ma^bk_hh]lp^k^ <aZg\^lZk^%ma^bk_hh]lp^k^ ghmiZ\dZ`^]_hkZ+.&r^Zkhk ghmiZ\dZ`^]_hkZ+.&r^Zkhk fhk^la^e_eb_^'FhlmZk^ghm' fhk^la^e_eb_^'FhlmZk^ghm' And if they were unlucky enough to stock up on MREs, they’ll be depending on a product that can actually make you sick if you eat itt for too long. Food4Patriots surviival foods are PDGH RI WKH ÀQHVW LQJUHGLHQWV JURZQ and packaged right here in the USA. They taste great. They provide the nutrition you need. And they were developed VSHFLÀFDOO\ IRU XVH LQ HPHUJHQFLHV – although a lot of folks sometimes like them for a quick meal or snack. Bates explained, “These are home-stylle meals that we package in and resealable military-grade airtight i Myyllar pouches that keep them fresh and delicious until they’re needed. Your o family f will i enjoy meals much r alreadyy eating every daay.” like they’re Every 72-hour kit that’s being giiven away contains four servings each of such familiar dishes as Liberttyy Bell Potato Cheddar Soup, my Chicken Rice, Blue Ribbon Cream y Granny’s Homesttyylle Potato Soup. The company’s usual price for the 72-hour kit is $27.00 plus shipping. But Texans who act quicklyy can claim as manyy as four free kits and paay onlyy a $9.95 fee to help cover shipping and handling for each. “W We’re trying to ensure no members get left out, but they ha have to hurry because we haave a limited supplyy of the 72-hour kits we can giive away,” Bates warned. “Once word got out thatt we were actually giivving away free surviival food, our phones haave been ringing off the hook. We even had to add extra agents to keep up with the incredible demand.” There is still time to take advantage of this free food offer offer,, but be aware the program will end no matter what promptly at midnight, April 15, 2016. HOW T TO O GET YOUR FREE 72-HOUR SUR RVIV V VA AL FOOD KITS: SURVIVAL Food4Patriots is committed to giving up to four free 72-hour kits to every exan e T Texan who calls their toll-free hotline. Just give the agent the approval code shown below. below. Provide your delivery instructions and agree to pay the $9.95 fee to help cover shipping and handling for each. That’s That’s all there is to it. Approval Code: 72FREE Toll-Free T oll-Free Hotline: 1-800-958-1014 Offer Cut-Off Date: 04/15/2016 Please note: Food4Patriots says they will continue to give away these 72hour kits for as long as their supplies last. Due to media exposure, their phone lines may be busy. busy. Just keep calling and you will get through. Scientists say Tanzanite is 1000 times rarer than diamonds... yours for ONLY $9750! Our Clients Love Stauer Tanzanite... “This ring is unbelievable. I've owned some spectacular high-dollar gemstones in my life and this ring will compete with any of them!” —Katharine, Shreveport, LA Lightning Strikes Twice! It’s a bolt from the blue with the rare gemstone that took the jewelry world by storm. L ightning struck the day they discovered Tanzanite. A bolt from the sky set the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro ablaze, revealing the sparkling violet-blue of Tanzanite below the surface. And this was no ordinary gemstone. Henry Platt, past president and chairman of Tiffany & Company called Tanzanite, “The most important gemstone discovery in over 2,000 years." Lightning also struck the day you met her. Every star aligned to create the brilliant flash that lit up your heart and changed your life forever. With the Lovestruck Tanzanite Ring you can celebrate your own lucky lightning strike with the gemstone that took the jewelry business by storm. Nine tanzanite gemstones, weighing over two carats total. These violet-blue beauties are surrounded with 22 lab-created DiamondAura® for a bonus flash of brilliance. “Tanzanite is one of the rarest gemstones on earth and one of the most undervalued relative to its rarity.” —The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Experience the rare beauty of the Lovestruck Tanzanite Ring for two months. If it fails to create sparks simply send it back within 60 days for a complete refund of the sale price. We want you head over heels. Special Offer: Order today, and we’ll include $50 in FREE discounts, good on any purchase with NO minimum. Lovestruck Tanzanite Ring $399* Offer Code Price Only $9750 + S&P Save $30150! With over 4,000 sold, we currently have less than 2000 1400 in stock! You must use the insider offer code to get our special price. You’ve been lucky enough for lightning to strike twice, but there will not be a third time. “Experts estimate that our tanzanite deposits will have run out in 30 years,” says prominent mining company TanzaniteOne. With our industry contacts we’ve been able to secure a limited supply and offer the Lovestruck Tanzanite Ring for $9750. But once the world’s supply of tanzanite is gone, it’s gone for good, and we’ll all be left staring up at the sky, longing for another bolt from the blue. Your Offer Code: LSR134-01 18003332045 Please use this code when you order to receive your discount. Stauer ® Rating of A+ 14101 Southcross Drive W., Dept. LSR13401, Burnsville, Minnesota 55337 www.stauer.com * Special price only for customers using the offer code versus the price on Stauer.com without your offer code. 2 ctw geniune tanzanite • 2/3 ctw labcreated DiamondAura® rounds • Goldfinished .925 sterling silver setting • Whole ring sizes 5–10 Smar t Luxuries—Surprising Prices™ Government Melts Over 270 Million Silver Dollars But collectors get an unexpected second chance It’s a crime. Most Americans living today have never held a hefty, gleaming U.S. silver dollar in their hands. F REE SH IPPIN ON 3 OR MORG E Where did they go? Well, in 1918, to provide aid to the British during WWI, the U.S. government melted down nearly half of the entire mintage—over 270 million silver dollars. If all those missing silver dollars could be stacked, they would tower over 400 miles into the sky! If laid in a chain, they would span 6,400 miles—enough to stretch from New York to Los Angeles more than 2½ times! These vanished coins were not just any silver dollar–they were America’s largest circulated coin, the beloved Morgan Silver Dollar. Each Morgan Dollar is struck from nearly an ounce of 90% fine silver and measures a massive 38.1mm in diameter. Morgan Silver Dollars were the engine of the American dream for decades. Created by famed American coin designer, George T. Morgan, they feature Lady Liberty’s radiant profile and a majestic eagle, symbols of American strength and prosperity. Since their inception in 1878, they jingled in the pockets of famous and infamous Americans like John D. Rockefeller and Teddy Roosevelt, and desperados Jesse James and Al Capone. Today, Morgan Silver Dollars are the most collected coin in America. Lady Liberty takes a Final Bow Just three years after the massive meltdown, the government gave the Morgan Silver Dollar a final chance to shine. In 1921, facing a serious shortage, the mint struck Morgan Silver Dollars for one more brief, historic year. Today, the last-ever 1921 Morgan Silver Dollar belongs in the hands of collectors, history buffs, or anyone who values the artistry and legacy of this American classic. Actual size is 38.1 mm A Private Vault Gives Up its Secrets Millions more silver dollars were melted over the past ninety years and today, private hoards account for virtually all the surviving Morgan Silver Dollars. We should know—we hunt for them every week. In fact, on one buying trip into America’s heartland, as we were guided into a wealthy owner’s massive private vault, we were thrilled to discover a hoard of nearly two thousand 1921 Morgan Silver Dollars, all in lustrous near uncirculated condition. We wasted no time in securing the entire treasure trove of silver dollars into our own vault. Saved from Destruction, but Bound for Extinction It’s been estimated that less than 15% of all the Morgan Dollars ever minted have survived to the present day. And the number grows smaller with each passing year. The 1921 Morgan Silver Dollar is the last of its kind. But you can get one now before they’re only a memory. Your chance to own this legend won’t last long, so get yours today—and at a fantastic value! SAVE $35 or More! This same coin in About Uncirculated condition is offered elsewhere for $95. But today, you can secure your own 1921 Morgan Silver Dollar—the last Morgan Silver Dollar ever—for as little as $57.95 each. Buy with complete confidence. If you aren’t satisfied, return your coins within 30-days for a full refund (less s/h). Buy More and Save 1921 Last Morgan Silver Dollar 1-2 for $59.95 ea. + s/h 3-4 for $59.95 ea. + FREE SHIPPING 5-9 for $58.95 ea. + FREE SHIPPING 10+ for $57.95 ea. + FREE SHIPPING FREE SHIPPING: Limited time only. Product total over $150 before taxes (if any). Standard domestic shipping only. Not valid on previous purchases. Call today toll-free for fastest service 1-888-870-8531 Offer Code MDS112-09 Please mention this code when you call. GovMint.com • 14101 Southcross Dr. W. Dept. MDS112-09 • Burnsville, Minnesota 55337 Prices and availability subject to change without notice. Facts and figures deemed accurate as of December 2015. NOTE: GovMint.com® is a private distributor of worldwide government coin and currency issues and privately issued and licensed collectibles, and is not affiliated with the United States government. GovMint.com is not an investment company and does not offer financial advice or sell items as an investment. The collectible coin market is speculative, and coin values may rise or fall over time. All rights reserved. © 2016 GovMint.com. THE BEST SOURCE FOR COINS WORLDWIDE™ Health | EXCLUSIVE GET FREE BATTERIES FOR A FULL YEAR! Imagine crisp, clear sound for less than $200. Chicago Doctor Invents AFFORDABLE HEARING AID Outperforms Most Higher Priced Hearing Aids CHICAGO: A local board-certified Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT) physician, Dr. S. Cherukuri, shook up the hearing aid industry with the invention of a medical-grade, affordable hearing aid. Superb Performance From Affordable Hearing Aid Layers of middlemen and expensive unnecessary features were keeping hearing aid prices too high. Dr. Cherukuri and This revolutionary his colleagues developed a hearing aid is designed medical-grade hearing aid to help millions of people without sacrificing quality. with hearing loss who His MDHearingAid PRO cannot afford or do not costs under $200 and wish to pay — the much comes with a 45-Day higher cost of traditional Risk-Free in-home trial. hearing aids. Dr. Cherukuri knew untreated hearing loss could lead to depression, social isolation, anxiety, and symptoms consistent with Alzheimer’s disease. Tested by Leading Doctors and Audiologists The MDHearingAid PRO has been rigorously tested by leading ENT physicians His patients needed and audiologists who hearing aids, but couldn’t have unanimously agreed afford them. Even though that the sound quality in the prices of other many cases exceeds more electronics were falling, expensive hearing aids. hearing aids were still extremely expensive. Nearly Invisible Doctors and Patients Agree “BEST QUALITY SOUND” “LOWEST AFFORDABLE PRICE” “I have a $2,000 ReSound Live hearing aid in my left ear and the MDHearingAid PRO in my right ear. I am not able to notice a significant difference in sound quality between the two hearing aids.” — Dr. May, ENT Physician • Designed By A BoardCertified Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist • Audiologist Tested • FDA-Registered • Costs 90% less than comparable aids • Over 100,000 satisfied users • Batteries included! • Free US Shipping • 100% Money-Back Guaranteed! ® “I have been wearing hearing aids for over 25 years…Their sound quality rivals that of my $3,000 custom pair of Hearing Aids.” — Gerald L. Tested By Leading Doctors and Audiologists PROUDLY ASSEMBLED IN THE FROM DOMESTIC & IMPORTED COMPONENTS RATING Use Code CP81 to get FREE Batteries for a Full Year Plus FREE SHIPPING! For the Lowest Price Phone Lines Open 24 Hours EVERY DAY Call Today 800-873-0680 or discover more at www.MDHearingAid.com © 2016 Co-op News SOUTH PLAINS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Always Report Outages MESSAGE FROM DALE ANCELL, GENERAL MANAGER A LE EP I SK IN | I STOCK.COM TECHNOLOGY IS AMAZING. Because of it, we have more data available to us than we’ve ever had before. However, access to data does not automatically equate to meaningful information. Knowledge, analysis and judgment are necessary to transform data into useful information. At South Plains Electric Cooperative, we work with tremendous amounts of data, but we still need you to report outages, maintenance requests and power quality issues. You are the key to providing us with useful information. You are on-site at your home or business and have firsthand knowledge about your specific issues. We monitor the entire system but are often unaware of individual, site-specific details. You are probably thinking: You read my meter remotely and send my bill monthly. Why do you, the co-op, not know when my power is off? There are plenty of situations in which the co-op might not receive data from a meter, or might receive a reading of zero without triggering a red flag. We read meters daily—and, yes, we might sometimes receive a zero reading. However, that zero reading does not necessarily mean the power is off. We provide seasonal service to many locations that turn power off at the breaker. Please inform your co-op immediately of electrical Or maybe a member is doing some issues at your home or remodeling and temporarily cut business. power. For many meters, zero usage on any given day can be accurate. Also, our meters are read through the power lines and transmitted to us at the office via various communication channels. We rely on the same phone and Internet service companies you do. Sometimes service is bad. Sometimes lines are down. Sometimes we have noise on the lines, and the data simply will not transmit. For these reasons, we do not always receive 100 percent of our metering data daily. Finally, the communication system in a meter can fail, or a meter can simply go dead. Meters are always exposed to the elements. As with any other appliance or device, a component may stop working. We do monitor the data we receive. We send service workers out to check potential issues, but it may take several weeks, given other priorities. If we went daily to every site or tried to contact every member with a zero reading to determine its validity, we would need a significantly bigger staff, and that would drive up all members’ costs. At South Plains Electric Cooperative, we are constantly balancing cost considerations with service expectations. We need your help to keep our service reliable and rates affordable, so make sure to inform us of outages and issues. By doing so, you fulfill your responsibility as a member and help us as we strive to improve service to you. 20 March.indd 20 Texas Co-op Power SOUTH PLAINS EC March 2016 J OH N A RCH E R | I STOCK.COM Help us serve you better Don’t forget to put the garage on your spring-cleaning list. Add Electrical Jobs to Spring-Cleaning Checklist HERE ARE A FEW ITEMS to add to your spring-cleaning checklist: a While cleaning windows, check for loose or cracked glass panes and for peeling caulk around them. Either one is a path for your air-conditioned air to escape outdoors and for winter cold and summer heat to waft into the house. Replace broken windows and caulk that’s past its prime. a Compact fluorescent lightbulbs and light-emitting diodes last a lot longer than the traditional, incandescent bulbs everybody grew up with. Instead of replacing them regularly, start dusting them. Unplug the light, then use a soft cloth to remove excess dust that could leave the light looking dim. a Before the start of air-conditioning season, replace your system’s dirty air filter. Then, replace it again every month during the cooling season to help your HVAC run as efficiently as possible. a Pull your refrigerator away from the wall once a year and vacuum behind it. a Check the utility closet or garage and move boxes and other items at least 5 feet away from your furnace and water heater. Appliances need air to circulate around them. While you’re there, remove old cans of paint and other chemicals and debris from the vicinity of your furnace to prevent an explosion or fire. www.spec.coop • Like us on Facebook 2/4/2016 4:00:54 PM (806) 775-7766 | WWW.SPEC.COOP | LIKE US ON FACEBOOK Outage mapping technology is helping cooperatives and their members better manage power outages. Outage Maps Keep You Informed COOPERATIVES ACROSS THE COUNTRY use a powerful tool to aid power restoration and keep you informed during an outage. Outage maps are just what they sound like: a graphical representation of a power outage displayed on a map of your electric co-op’s service area. The typical map shows where the outage is and, depending upon the system’s capability, includes information such as the number of members without power, locations of crews (or their estimated time of arrival) and expected time of restoration. Behind the map is a sophisticated system that provides the data needed to populate the graphic. This technology is considered to be part of the smart grid because it improves control, reduces outage length, increases reliability and provides information to employees, co-op members and the public. Maintaining an accurate outage map starts with devices on the co-op’s lines that can report their status to the cooperative, meaning that they can report whether there is power at the meter. This data flows back over the power lines to a computer at the co-op. There it is analyzed, and the results are presented to the engineering and operations team for action. Here’s an example: Something causes a fault in the lines that blows a fuse or trips a circuit breaker. The cause could be a gust of wind dropping a branch on a line; a furry critter deciding the brush around the transformer looks like dinner; or a car hitting a utility pole. Regardless of the cause, the power is now out for a number of members. The piece of equipment nearest the fault signals that it cannot see anything down the line—or that it has “tripped.” A program now runs to determine the extent of the outage. It collects information from other devices to determine where www.spec.coop • Like us on Facebook March.indd 21 the flow of power stops. Once it has completed its detective work, the system generates a map showing the extent of the outage. (When the need arises, co-op employees can operate the program rather than waiting for the computer.) Because of the power of the information contained in these maps, co-ops are making them available via the Internet. Members can consult the map online rather than waiting in a telephone queue to learn about their power outage from a member service representative. They can check to see if the co-op knows whether their power is out, and when the co-op expects it to be restored—all with the click of a button! Many people have asked how they can access the Internet if their power is out. There are a couple of ways to do this. The first is via a smartphone or cell-enabled tablet. South Plains Electric Cooperative’s outage texting service also allows you to report and check the status of an outage from your mobile device. Visit www.SPEC.coop to learn how to sign up. There are many ways you can access crucial information during an outage and keep yourself informed on the status of your service. Knowledge is power, and when it comes to outages, knowledge is also a comfort because it can tell you when the lights (and the heat, and the TV) are likely to come back on. With this knowledge, you can take the steps necessary to protect your family and your property. Outage maps are a great example of how co-ops work to keep members informed about their service. South Plains Electric Cooperative provides outage information as part of our ongoing efforts to provide the highest quality of service at the lowest possible cost. Visit www.SPEC.coop for more information. This is just another benefit of being a co-op member. March 2016 SOUTH PLAINS EC Texas Co-op Power 21 2/4/2016 4:09:29 PM SOUTH PLAINS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE C Operation Round Up Scholarship applications are now available online. If you are a high school senior, you can request an application by contacting Whitney Bryant at 806.775.7829, wbryant@SPEC.coop, complete the application online or download and print a copy at www.spec.coop. Scholarship applications due March 1. 22 March.indd 22 Texas Co-op Power SOUTH PLAINS EC March 2016 www.spec.coop • Like us on Facebook 2/4/2016 4:10:12 PM (806) 775-7766 | WWW.SPEC.COOP | LIKE US ON FACEBOOK CO-OP P WER PrePay Can save you MONEY! “I’m on PrePay metering, and one weekend I noticed my kilowatt hours increased to double what I normally use. I also noticed that my heating unit didn’t seem to shut off at all. I called a heating repair company to take a look. This photo shows what they found. Thankfully, PrePay metering alerted me of my usage. If I didn’t have PrePay it could have been a month until I noticed the increase in my usage. It saved me a lot of money. I’m so happy I have PrePay metering.” -Debbie Ruedo SPEC Member and Employee What is Co-op Power PrePay? Co-op Power PrePay is a pay-as-you-go plan that allows you to pay when you want, in the amount you want. Instead of receiving a paper or an electronic bill each month, usage is calculated daily. Co-op Power PrePay members never pay a deposit, late charge, disconnect fee, or reconnect fee. How does PrePay work? PrePay works similar to a prepaid cellular phone. You put money into your PrePay account, and as you use electricity, the cost of the usage will be deducted daily from your PrePay account balance. Sign up by calling Member Service: 806-775-7766 or online at www.SPEC.coop $941,055 Saved on Prescriptions by Members using their Co-op Connections Card In January, 179 prescriptions were filled and members saved $6,421, averaging 50 percent off the retail price. This valuable member benefit is absolutely free! Go online at www.SPEC.coop or call 806.775.7766 to request a free card. Want to do some price checking on your prescriptions? Visit www.rxpricequotes.com to see the discounted price at local pharmacies. www.spec.coop • Like us on Facebook March.indd 23 Even if you have medical coverage, compare your coverage to the discounts. The Co-op Connections discount may be better than your medical insurance! The pharmacy will need the group and member numbers on the back of the card to process the discount. March 2016 SOUTH PLAINS EC Texas Co-op Power 23 2/8/2016 1:42:37 PM SOUTH PLAINS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Dishwashers Clean for Less IT’S A QUESTION THAT HAS BEEN ASKED FOR YEARS: Which is “greener”— Today’s efficient dish- washers save energy using a dishwasher or washing dishes by hand? Which method uses less and money compared to energy and less water? washing dishes by hand. Now, it seems, we have a definitive answer: Updated regulation combined with solid design have made appliances significantly better over the years, to the point where there’s no longer a question. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy notes: Studies are showing more and more that, when used to maximize energy-saving features, modern dishwashers can outperform all but the most frugal hand washers. Since 2013, all dishwashers have been required to use fewer than 5 gallons of water during a full cycle. Energy Star-certified dishwashers perform even better, using 4.25 gallons maximum and fewer than 295 kilowatt-hours per year in average usage, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers 215 cycles per year. People often prerinse dishes, which uses a lot of water on top of what the dishwasher uses, skewing the numbers in favor of the sink. However, you don’t really have to do that anymore—dishwashers are good enough that you can just scrape off the food and let the machine do the rest. The machines even have soil detectors to ensure that they get it all. There are other bells and whistles that make dishwashers even more efficient. They have preheaters that boost the water temperature to up to 140 degrees to sanitize them, which lets you turn down the temperature of your household water heater to 120 degrees. They also have timers that let you set the appliance to turn on at a later time when the power rates are lower, and they often have no-heat, air-dry cycles, although some users complain that this causes spotting. In the end, there appears to be a consensus that dishwashers today do a better job using a lot less water and energy than a person doing dishes by hand. It’s one labor-saving appliance that does a better job than you can. Get A Free Set of Air Filters Relax and Breathe easy. Your filters will promptly arrive when you schedule them. 24 March.indd 24 Texas Co-op Power SOUTH PLAINS EC March 2016 www.spec.coop • Like us on Facebook 2/4/2016 4:11:00 PM (806) 775-7766 | WWW.SPEC.COOP | LIKE US ON FACEBOOK Operation Round Up Offers Mini-Grants to Teachers The Operation Round Up Board of Directors created a mini-grant program to help teachers with classroom projects or educational field trips. Operation Round Up approved another three-year cycle of teacher mini grants. There are 10 mini-grants of $500 each available during the 2016-2017 school year. Entries must be submitted by May 15, 2016. This year’s grant is available to any K-12 math or language arts teacher if any of the following criteria are met: • the teacher is a member of (receives electric service from) South Plains Electric Cooperative. The list of qualifying schools includes: All Lubbock ISD schools, Abernathy, Anton, Aspermont, Childress, Chillicothe, Cotton Center, Crosbyton, Crowell, Floydada, Frenship, Guthrie, Hale Center, Idalou, Jayton-Girard, Lorenzo, Lubbock-Cooper, Motley Co., New Deal, New Home, Olton, Paducah, Patton Springs, Petersburg, Plainview, Post, Quanah, Ralls, Roosevelt, Ropesville, Rotan, Shallowater, Slaton, Southland, Smyer, Spur and Wilson. If you are teaching at a private school, your application will be subject to eligibility verification. • at least one student in the class is a member of and receives electric service at their home or family business from South Plains Electric Cooperative. Ten teachers received grants for their science and art/music classroom projects for the 2015-2016 school year. Their stories will be published in this magazine and will be available at www.SPEC. coop under the Operation Round Up tab. www.spec.coop • Like us on Facebook March.indd 25 Operation Round Up Neighbors helping Neighbors! How will the applications be judged? All applications will be screened by a volunteer committee related to education to select the finalists. The Operation Round Up Board will select the 10 winners from the finalists. A project or educational field trip should offer an expanded learning opportunity for the students that compliments and reinforces daily classroom studies. This is an opportunity to do something extra for students. Teachers receiving grants must submit a written, final report with pictures on their project or educational field trip. Applications may be completed and submitted online, or download a PDF at www.SPEC.coop under the Operation Round Up tab. The grant application deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 15, 2016. All of the Operation Round Up funds come from Cooperative members volunteering to participate in the program. The average annual contribution is only $6.00, and we need your participation! If you want to participate, just call our member services department at 806.775.7766. You can also enroll online and learn more about Operation Round Up at www.SPEC.coop. March 2016 SOUTH PLAINS EC Texas Co-op Power 25 2/4/2016 4:11:40 PM SOUTH PLAINS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE AGRICULTURE Fresh local grown, shelled pecans. $9/lb. or $25/3 lb. Lubbock 781-4697 or 781-7296: Sheep shearing by Kevin, a graduate of Abernathy & Mr. Kelly’s ag class. Comes to Texas & Oklahoma twice a year. 806-470-2121: Used John Deere tractors, some with front-end loaders. 745-4060: Farm fresh eggs. $2 a dozen. Call 775-4260: Shredders, blades, plows, tractors and more. Call for pricing. 778-9919: Tanks repaired. Plastic, fiberglass and metal. Rainwater collection systems. 548-0959: Adams Farm Equipment Company, since 1976. Cultivator knives, sweeps & spikes, sand fighters, offset disks on sale. 762-1876: Bozeman Tire, new and used auto, truck and farm tires. Service trucks available for on-site repairs. 765-6308; 470-3855 cell: AUTOS, RVS, BOATS 2010 Ford F-150 King Ranch Crew Cab. Leather, navigation, sunroof, 86,000 miles, in great condition. 543-9911. DH Auto is Lubbock’s newest auto repair shop. LCU alum owned and operated. Great rates, honest service. dhautotx.com or call 441-6485. Tin Star Services, Inc. is a CA/CO, GC & construction mgmt firm serving Texas for over 10 years. References available by request. 263-4543. Concrete Randy. Driveways, sidewalks, slabs, patios, dirt work, asphalt repair. Free estimates, call 448-1148: Professional tile installation, references available, 30 yrs. experience. Andrew 544-3958 or 873-3647; Gilbert 778-4095; Carrie 559-6554: We do all types of fence work from repair to replacement, ag and ranch a speciality. Free and honest bids, call Les at 438-7859, 470-7782: Blue Sky Custom Shutters. Dealer for O'Hair Shutters. Interior window treatments and exterior shutters; shadow boxes. 535-0456: Polyurethane foam roofing & insulation. Best for flat roofs and inside metal buildings. Over 40 yrs. experience. 781-4041; 253-0205: Brian Harper Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. TACL#A22184. 445-0020: Luna Construction. Steel buildings, welding, concrete, fences, free estimates. 781-1232, 781-1786: Ford Insulation & Fireplaces. Fiberglass or cellulose insulation. Monessen fireplaces, gas logs and outdoor grills. 548-2750: Victor Jimenez Concrete and Dirt. Patios, sidewalks, driveways, flower beds, curbs. 317-3288: B&R Auto Parts. New and used parts, mechanic on staff, six month warranty on all parts. 4401 Ave. A, Lubbock, 762-0139: Reduce your energy bills summer/winter with full vinyl replacement windows. Low installed price. Also do metal buildings, free est. 787-7690: JNJ Customs. Retro mods, light restorations, custom fabrication and general auto repair. Contact Jim 778-3776 or Jay 500-0061: Spray foam insulation. Metal buildings or barns. New or existing structures. Free estimates. 441-1553; 787-5699: Logan’s Auto Repair, for all your automotive services, 13th and Q, Lubbock, 749-3488: Colbert Painting & Remodeling. 35 yrs. in business, interior & exterior, residential & commercial, specialty faux painting, free est. 441-8898: Windshield repair/replacement, rock chip repair, all auto/truck glass, mirrors, mobile & shop service. 7415 82nd St. Clear Vu Auto Glass 791-4311: Competitive Auto Repair Service, 30 years experience, light truck, light auto, reasonable rates. 392-5487: Straub Masonry: In business over 40 yrs. Brick, stone, pavers, glass block, pointups, mailboxes, repairs. 795-5681: Smith Construction: carports, metal buildings, remodels, metal roofs and fences. 893-6905: Armor Auto Glass of Lubbock. Windshields, rock chip repairs, door glasses, back glasses, mirrors. Locally-owned, free estimates. 778-3710: All types of roofing and all phases of remodeling, windows, siding, roof additions, free estimates, Roof Master & Construction, 780-7663: Bryan’s Auto Parts Locator. 9-6, M-F. Nationwide parts locator, new and used. Delivery and installation available, warranty on all parts. 745-2050: Western Implement Company, featuring Kubota, Bush-Hog and Land Pride. 321 19th St. 765-0900, kubotalubbock.com: Jay’s Home Auto Repair, mobile mechanic. 8AM8PM, Monday-Saturday. I still make house calls. Over 30 yrs. experience. 773-8622: Premier Home Exteriors. Steel siding, overhangs, storm doors, storm & insulated windows. 798-2482: Truck accessories; service and restoration on Scouts; Scout Madness Truck Outfitters. www. scoutmadness.com. 745-7475: Roy Reese Construction. Remodel or new construction, metal roofs, barns, fencing. 839-2174: Precision Auto Repair, engine overhauls, brakes, alignments, chassis, rear axles, cv-joints, electrical. 866-9021: BOOKS, VIDEOS, CDS Local author writes true adventure book. Confessions of a Bible Salesman...An Exciting Adventure with God. $13, www.kelleylitsch.com: CONSTRUCTION FINANCIAL & INSURANCE Sig Dansby & Assoc. Insurance Services. Auto, home, renters, life, annuities, disability, IRAs. Independent agents. 785-0840, 432-770-0197: Your agent for business, home, auto & life insurance since 1982. Keith Potts, State Farm, 794-5084 or www.keithpotts.com: Home, Auto, Life. Free child kit with policy. Jim Welch Ins. Agency, 783-0290. www.FarmersofLubbock.com: Phenix Security. Home Alarms, Business Alarms Security Cameras. Free Estimates. State Licensed. 928-6326 Burial insurance: Lincoln Heritage Funeral Advantage. Call Darin Tetens, 632-0104: Tim McCann Painting. Interior and exterior painting, fence and deck staining. 10% off final bill with Co-op Connections card. 549-8923: HEALTH 26 March.indd 26 Electric wheel chair, in good condition. 790-3479 Texas Co-op Power SOUTH PLAINS EC March 2016 MEMBERS’ MARKET CLASSIFIEDS Diane’s Magnetic Jewelry. Why hurt? Stop the pain! Lubbock 781-4239: Stressed out, tight muscles, reached the boiling point? Relaxing massage; swedish & deep tissue. Specials availabe, call Rayna 470-9665: It’s no longer about losing weight! Get healthy, shed extra pounds w/Plexus Slim. 778-5393. http://bjmassingill.myplexusproducts.com: Learn what essential oils are all about. Classes online and in person. Email or call for schedule. 832-0531, info@useoilsinstead.com: Enjoy the best massage in town. Patti Hill, LMT, swedish, deep tissue, hot stone, mother-to-be, reflexology; evenings & Saturdays. 239-4208: Super Blue Stuff, pain relief of arthritis, back pain, carpal tunnel, sports injuries, specials. 253-3040, 786-5356: HOUSEHOLD Oliver’s Cleaning Service. Home, office, lawn, etc. Mistie, 466-8500: Grace Mobile Home Repair. 473-7470. Owner Joe Beck. 10% discount when mentioning ad: S&K Furniture Repair. Specializing in recliner frame work, wood reglue and touch-up repair. www.skfurniturerepair.com. 798-2471: Jordan’s Carpet Cleaning. 806-300-6622. Carpet cleaning, countertop refinishing, water extraction: J&P Mobile Home Movers, serving all of Texas. 445-6370; 445-2178: LANDSCAPING Approx. 300’ x 5’ chain link fencing materials. Slats, 4 pedestrian gates, 1 drive-through gate. $2,000 OBO. 757-2145, 549-7249. Landscaping and small acreage equipment for rent or sale. Tiller, wood chipper, brush cutter and more. Lubbock Rent-All 7423 82nd St. 543-9911: 3-D-S Lawncare, mowing, edging, trimming. 8805 25th St. Call: Freddy 448-0368 or Latika 448-9234: Shredding lots & acreage. Call anytime 778-7092. Bobbys’ mower repair. Get your mower ready now, call Bobby at 470-7392: Todd Anderson Lawn/Tree. Specializing in weed control, deep-root fertilization, diagnose & treat diseases & insects. Licensed/ins. 797-1770: Lone Star Fence. Wood & chain link installed. lonestarfencelubbock.com call Jimmy at 806778-1942. Like us on Facebook: Lubbock Pergola & Deck; Full service designbuild company. Free consultation and design. 549-9258; www.lubbockpergola.com: Macrame plant hangers & hanging tables. Made to order, variety of designs & colors. www.macremaedecor.com or jeff@macramedecor.com High Plains Gardens. Native plants and grasses. Vegetable/herb plants (in season). Cactus & succulents. 778-9333: Vicki’s Crafts. 445-2921. For fall, Christmas and every day. 4108 E 3rd. Thurs.-Fridays: Patio Creations: Casino portable bars, custom built: refrigerator, CD player, lights, game & bar. Cedar wood, drink & chip holders. 783-8351: TX Concealed Handgun Class: $100, includes meal & range fee. Complete class in one day. Rockhill Arms & Mercantile. 940-663-6180: Small tractor shredding, blade work. Also sandblasting & mobile welding. 239-9894: Authentic Chuck Wagon Catering. Award winning cooks. Delicious Old West meals cooked on site. 798-7825. 789-5929. www.hxwagon.com: MISCELLANEOUS Affordable event rentals for DIY. Check out website at www.renteventforme.com. 777-7015: Stroller, car seat, light blue baby seat,girl’s pink pea pod razor, 4 office chairs, paintings for office & home, Leave a message or text 548-2616. Pink Zebra Sprinkles, Sales consultant: Marrelle Thomas. Phone: 466-2428. Live traps, small and medium. 790-3479 APC battery back-up by Schneider, 550 volts, 3-yr. warranty. Never removed from box. Ordered by mistake. $100. 795-4673. Long-arm quilter, t-shirt quilts, pieced quilts. 368-5684. I will pick up leftover garage sale items when your sale is complete! 474-6688. High Plains Firewood, seasoned & split Pinion, Oak, Pine, Mesquite & Pecan. Pick-up or delivery available. Call or text 786-0281: Restore old quilts to make beautiful keepsakes! Hand quilted by the Canyon Methodist Quilters Guild. Also finish quilt tops. 789-5840: D Productions mobile DJ service with DJ Debbie D for all occasions, all styles of music. 407-2470: Roy’s Mobile Home Service. Moving, installation, local and long distance. 791-5485: Parties, weddings, or just for fun! Mike Pritchard for your live entertainment needs. From solo to duo or full piece band. 797-1573; 773-2215: Long arm quilting, quilt piecing, complete tshirt quilts, Lesa Ann’s Quilting Studio. 787-3735: DJ with TJ. DJ for all occasions. Reasonable prices. 632-6086 or go online to www. DJwithTJ.com: Golf clubs, woods, irons, putters, wedges, bags and new drivers. Stonegate Golf Course. 786-7077: Watkins Products Associate, Wilda Pruitt. 741-1154. jrwatkins.com/consultant/wilda.pruitt: Have old houses to be moved to your location. Bigham Housemoving. 781-7841, 781-7843: All-over, long-arm quilting. Call Deanna at Connecting The Pieces. 787-4083: Jones Tire. We buy and sell used tires, 13, 14 & 15. Flats fixed $5.00. 102 E Broadway. 762-8112: Weddings, family, monthly specials, etc. Seasonal Mini Sessions and all your photo needs. 549-1651. mjohnsonphoto.net: Concealed handgun class. Serving the South Plains since 1996. Sat. class, call for details. Fred’s Gun Emporium, 3003 Slide Rd. 799-3838: Military Surplus-Antiques-Collectibles, now open at 2405 34th St., 10-5:30 M-Sat. Glory B. 470-0330 or 368-5264: The Carpet Barn. All types of flooring. Low overhead means low prices. Visa/MC. Financing available. 132nd & I-27. 745-7977: Used utility poles, 30’, no cutting on site, must sign release of responsibility, make donation to Operation Round Up, call 775-7793 to make appt: If you need a personal computer tech to install hardware, software or perform repairs, David Sanders 470-6336: Edge to Edge overall long arm machine quilting, pick-up and delivery. Call Marlene Hildebrandt 787-3334: Ruben’s Head Shop, haircuts, 6409-A University Ave. near Pets Plus. Walk-ins. Cactus Creek Firewood. Oak, pinion, mesquite, pecan, hickory. From a few sticks to a cord. Delivery or pick up. 392-4004. 4124 E FM 1585: SignPro Electrical Sales & Service. Ask for Debi, Full service sign company. 10% off for mentioning this ad. 798-7446: All your photography needs. Monthly specials. Weddings, family, sports, etc. 559-7796. www.wgalavizphotography.com: Members’ Market Advertising Form Category _____________________________________________________________ Deadline for ads in the April magazine is March 4, 2016. Email ad to lsimmons@SPEC.coop or complete form and mail to: SPEC, Attn.: Lynn Simmons, P.O. Box 1830, Lubbock, TX 79408 ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ In Texas call: 811 Name __________________________________________ Phone __________________________ www.spec.coop • Like us on Facebook 2/5/2016 3:28:21 PM (806) 775-7766 | WWW.SPEC.COOP | LIKE US ON FACEBOOK PEST CONTROL ABC Pest Control, certified, licensed, insured for roaches, ants, silverfish and mice. Free estimates w/75 mile radius of Lubbock. 319-1869: Pest Management Services. 794-4567. For general pests, animals, rodents, termites (liquid or bait), lawns, trees & shrubs. Lubbock area: Good pest control costs no more. Free estimates. 20 yrs. of know how. West Texas Pest Control, W.L. Matheny (m) 778-0225: PETS & LIVESTOCK AKC Miniature Schnauzers. Great gifts. Vet health checked, first shots. Lubbock. 543-1699. 1+ acre of land for livestock or horses. Free rent. Restrictions apply. Call Ray after lunch at 620-3807. Like riding horses? Check out West Texas Drifters Riding Club at www.westtexasdriftersridingclub.com. Accepting new members now: Pawsitively Purrfect Grooming Salon. All dog and cat breed grooming. Over 50 years combined experience. 54th & Aberdeen, 795-3323: Dog Grooming. Sheila’s Country K-9 Grooming offers full-service bathing and grooming for all dog breeds. Call 704-0002: Custom-made pet collars with rhinestone name and charm sliders. 11 collar styles and charms. Text or call: 781-1587 or 791-0241: Do your horse good! Certified equine sports massage therapy. Beneficial for performance, competition and leisure horses. Angie 928-1403: Furever Friends and Rescue placing rescued dogs and cats in new homes. Serving the Childress area, donations accepted. 940-585-6035: Like driving your horse and buggy? Check our website to see what the Llano Estacado Driving Society is doing. www.born2buggy.org: Spur Veterinary Hospital serves both small and large animals. We specialize in equine health. Brandon or Ali Broyles, DVM. 271-3355: 10.98 acres unimproved land with deed restrictions on N. Milwaukee, N. of Erskine. Spike Wideman C21 John Walton Realtors 787-9969. Interested in buying, selling or investing in real estate? Give me a call. Shawna Taylor, Realtor with Keller Williams Realty at 781-9025. 10.2-acre tracts or larger. $2,500/acre. 1/4 mile west of intersection of FM 2528 and CR 5800. No improvements. Call 392-5944 after 5pm: R&R Home inspections, serving the West Texas area, protecting peace of mind. 786-4175: Buying or selling real estate in Lubbock & surrounding area? Call Linda Scott, Realtor at Stephens Realty at (806) 781-5314: Free market evaluation of your home, no obligation. Call Teresa Richardson, Realtor at Century 21 John Walton Realtors, 781-4864: We list and sell homes in Lubbock and surrounding area. Mark & Amy Franco; mark@ exitlubbock.com. 441-4998: Looking to buy or sell your home ? Call Debby Tullis at 777-6863. WESTMARK, Realtors: County Line Inspection. Real estate, new construction, building, mechanical, electrical and plumbing. Lic. #10599. 445-1685: RENTALS Hillside RV Park, full hook-ups; three miles south of Roaring Springs on FM 3203; 348-7519: Heavily wooded RV spots on private fishing lake, hiking trails, outdoor activities. One hour from Houston & Beaumont. 936-365-2267: Home for you & your horse! 2 & 3 bdr. Ranchplexes with private paddocks for horses & fenced dog runs. 50th & CR 1305. Call 687-0029: RV spaces for rent, clean, country living. 1 mile W. of Tahoka Hwy. on Woodrow Rd. $175/mo. rent & deposit. No outside pets. 789-7874: Advertising Policy Advertising in the Members’ Market is a free service offered to co-op members. All ads are limited to three lines and only one ad per month per member. Ads must be renewed monthly unless other arrangements are made with Lynn Simmons by phone 775-7826, fax 775-7851, mail or e-mail lsimmons@spec. coop. This information is provided by SPEC on an informational, “as is,” basis. SPEC does not endorse, examine or warrant any businesses listed and makes no representation or warranties of any kind, express or implied, as to the operation of the businesses or the quality of their services. To the full extent permissible by applicable law, SPEC disclaims all warranties, express or implied. SPEC will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from the use of this information, including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, punitive and consequential damages. RESTAURANTS, CATERING Double B Party Barns, near Reese Center. Nightly rentals, catering available. Call Brian. 781-4892. www.doublebpartybarns.com: Four-Bar-K Inside, ½ mile E of Tahoka Hwy. on 82nd, BBQ lunch Fridays 11:30-2PM, live music & free beer. Parties & catering. 789-8682: Cagle Steaks. Reserve a room for your next special occasion. 795-3879: TREE CARE Hildebrandt Tree Tech. Complete tree care services. Insured. www.mytreetech.com Free est. Certified arborist, TX 3791A. Casey 441-7722: Noey’s Tree Services. Been in business for 30 yrs. Specialists in all trees: shaping, trimming and take down. Free est. 632-2926; 777-3926: South Plains Electric Cooperative, Inc. Richburg Horticulture. Professional, prompt tree care services. Old school integrity, new school technology. BS degree. 793-1586: P.O. Box 1830, Lubbock, TX 79408 West Texas Trees, locally grown, thousands of trees to choose from, wholesale prices. 863-4922: 24-hour automated outage reporting (806) 741-0111 Lubbock local (888) 741-0111 toll free Treelovingcare.com provides all tree care services. Call or e-mail for free e-mail newsletter. James Tuttle, Certified Arborist, 785-8733: New Service/Account Inquiry WANTED M-F 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. • (806) 775-7766 After 5 p.m. and on weekends • (806) 775-7732 Chevy K1500 between 1990-1993. 575-808-9430. Riding lawn mowers for parts. L.R. Burleson, 730-9573: 24-hour Pay-by-Phone Buying all coins; silver, gold and currency collections. Ken’s Coins, 795-4058: (806) 775-7811 Need six- and five-feet chain link fencing. 300-5252: 24-hour Online Bill Pay www.SPEC.coop Need to rent a home or a property managed in Lubbock? Call Wayne at WestMark Leasing, 776-4217, www.lubbock4rent.com: can you dig Adopt a dog from Morris Safe House, a no-kill facility; vaccines, spayed/neutered, socialized, ID chip. 239-0156. www.morrissafehouse.org: Stud service for AKC registered Rottweilers. Boarding services. 317-9494; leave message: Check it out! LubbockSaddleClub.org. Play day dates for 2015 for Lubbock Saddle Club and other events. www.LubbockSaddleClub.org: Registered working border collies from champion bloodlines. www.abbordercollies.com. 806-492-3456: Small breed puppies, Chihuahua, long/smooth coat, Yorkies, Dachshund, Poodles, others, shots & wormed. (940) 937-8392: REAL ESTATE 440 acres for sale in Motley County. Cabin, barn, Pease River, hogs, turkeys, deer, more. 790-9159. Over 2.5 acres of land with 2-stall barn with tack room. Fenced, room to store trailers, Min. 6-month lease. $600/month. 702-1135. 2 acres $10,000 per acre, no improvements. Hwy. 114 and Mason Rd. East Hockley County. Call 928-7530. www.spec.coop • Like us on Facebook March.indd 27 DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME BEGINS AT 2 A.M. SUNDAY, MARCH 13. REMEMBER TO SET YOUR CLOCKS AN HOUR AHEAD. ANYAIVANOVA | I STOCK .COM Dog grooming. FuzzBusters offers professional all breed dog grooming in a friendly environment; plus small dog boarding. 749-2547: it? Before you dig, get the dirt. Underground utilities exist everywhere, even in your yard. Digging without knowing where it’s safe to dig can cause tremendous damage and even loss of lives. In Texas call: 811 March 2016 SOUTH PLAINS EC Texas Co-op Power 27 2/5/2016 3:29:39 PM Electric Notes CONSERVATION AND SAFETY INFORMATION Top 5 Energy Users in Your Home A starting point for savings ALTHOUGH MOST HOMEOWNERS would like to be more energy efficient and save money, the effort feels overwhelming because many people don’t know where to start. How can the average family use less energy, lower their utility bill and still meet their daily energy needs? To get started, it is useful to identify the top energy users in your home. The top five energy users in U.S. homes are, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration: Space cooling—13 percent Lighting—11 percent Space heating—9 percent Water heating—9 percent Refrigeration—7 percent Changing home energy use habits can help save money. Together, these five constitute almost half the American homeowner’s energy bill every month. By adjusting household habits around each energy user, you can start conserving electricity and saving money. Water-Heating Efficiency Adjust the Temperature Combined, home heating and cooling use the most energy and take the biggest bite out of your energy budget. You can achieve at least 10 percent savings by taking a few simple, low-cost steps. a During cold weather, set your thermostat to 68 degrees. a During warm weather, set it to 78 degrees. a Clean the filters of your HVAC system to cut costs between 5 and 15 percent. a Clean refrigerator and electric baseboard heater coils to maintain maximum efficiency. a Caulk and weatherstrip around windows and doors to prevent indoor air from escaping to the outdoors. No matter what the climate or time of year, proper use of a programmable thermostat can save you 10 percent on your monthly utility bill. Shine the Light on Savings Take a fresh look at the lighting in your home. If you still use incandescent lighting, your lightbulbs are operating at only 25 percent energy efficiency. Replacing your home’s five most frequently used bulbs with Energy Star-certified light-emitting diodes can save you $75 per year. Another easy way to save is to always turn lights off in rooms that are not being used. 20 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 Just as it is energy-wise to insulate your roof, walls or floors, it also pays to wrap your water heater with an insulating blanket. Doing this is all the more critical if you have an older unit. Make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. For additional efficiency and savings, insulate exposed hot water lines and drain 1–2 gallons of water from the bottom of your tank annually to prevent sediment buildup. Cold Cash Back in Your Wallet If your refrigerator was purchased before 2001, chances are it uses 40 percent more energy than a new model. If you are considering an appliance update, a new Energy Star-certified refrigerator uses at least 15 percent less energy than noncertified models and 20 percent less energy than required by federal standards. Regardless of the age of your fridge, there are additional steps you can take to save energy and money. For example, don’t keep your refrigerator too cold. The Department of Energy recommends temperatures of 35–38 degrees for the refrigeration compartments and zero degrees for freezers. By understanding how your home uses energy, you can determine the best ways to modify energy use and keep more money in your wallet. TexasCoopPower.com A N K N E T | I STO C K .CO M 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Texas USA The First “Flying Saucer” Description of Denison UFO in 1878 became archetype for alien space travel BY E.R. BILLS 22 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 When I was growing up in the late 1970s, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind practically owned the big screen, and Hollywood followed up with a Mork & Mindy takeover of network TV. Folks were captivated by galaxies “far, far away,” and I was no different; but Texas seemed light-years away from everything that was going on in deep space. I recently stumbled across something that dispelled this youthful misperception. Mork, Han Solo, Chewbacca and the visitors portrayed in Close Encounters were all space travelers, and the modern archetype for alien space travelers is the “flying saucer.” As it turns out, the first recorded sighting of a flying saucer was not in Roswell, New Mexico, or Boulder, Colorado, or at the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. One was spotted in Texas on January 22, 1878. According to a January 25, 1878, frontpage report in the Denison Daily News— which was attributed to the Dallas Herald and headlined A Strange Phenomenon—a farmer named John Martin was hunting “six miles north of this city” when he spotted something in the distance. Martin’s “attention was directed to a dark object high up in the southern sky,” the story said. The “shape and velocity with which the object seemed to approach riveted his attention, and he strained his eyes to discover its character.” At first the object appeared to be the “size of an orange,” but it got bigger and brighter as it approached. Martin stared at it so long he was temporarily blinded, and by the time his vision was restored, the object was almost directly overhead. By then it was “about the size of a large saucer” and was soaring across the sky at high altitude and with incredible speed. Martin said it resembled a balloon, and the Herald reporter noted that if it was not a balloon, “it deserved the attention of our scientists.” The story appeared in The Dallas Weekly Herald on January 26 and the Daily Oklahoman soon after. There is no evidence that the incident ever actually received examination from local, state or national scientists at the time, but it did grab the attention of stargazers and researchers decades later. It was discussed in the influential book The Flying Saucers Are Real (Fawcett Publications, 1950) by Donald Keyhoe, revisited in The Dallas Morning News on August 6, 1965, and examined in Close Encounters of the Lone Star Kind in Texas Monthly in 1969. Although mysterious objects in the sky have been recorded throughout human history, the sighting in Denison led to the first-ever mention of a flying saucer, and flying saucers have been a staple of UFO lore ever since. Where Martin saw the saucer is not exactly clear. According to the 1880 U.S. census, there was a tenant farmer named John E. Martin living in Grayson County (where Denison is located), but there were five John Martins working as farmers in Collin County (just north of Dallas and Dallas County): three Johns (two of whom were listed in the 1870 census), one John P. and one John W. The 1880 census listed no John Martin in Dallas County. Regardless of which John Martin saw TexasCoopPower.com JOHN WILSON Although mysterious objects in the sky have been recorded throughout human history, the sighting in Denison led to the first-ever mention of a flying saucer, and flying saucers have been a staple of UFO lore ever since. TexasCoopPower.com a flying saucer in North Texas in 1878, at least three local newspapers reported it— at a time when no one had even heard of a UFO, much less space aliens, “close encounters” or R2-D2. This sighting occurred before there was a genuine context or compelling rhetoric for such events. It also took place before the sightings themselves became cliché—lending credence to the original account and firmly cementing the notion of visitors from galaxies “far, far away” right here in our own backyard. E.R. Bills is a writer from Aledo. March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 23 Observations Resident Spirits Lady Bird Johnson’s experience with haunted houses—first her childhood home, then the White House BY MARTHA DEERINGER 24 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 In an imposing, 17-room antebellum mansion just a mile outside of Karnack, in deep East Texas, Claudia Alta Taylor was born December 22, 1912, into wealth and privilege. Her nursemaid, enchanted by the 6 ½-pound, dark-haired baby, pronounced her “as purty as a lady bird,” introducing a nickname the tiny girl would bear for the rest of her life. Thomas Jefferson Taylor, the baby’s bombastic and domineering father and the wealthiest man in town, owned a 65,000acre cotton plantation, two cotton gins, a fishing business and two country stores, on which he posted the optimistic sign, “T. J. Taylor—Dealer in Everything.” Perhaps it’s prophetic that Karnack (misspelled by a postmaster who intended to name it “Karnak” for the temples of Egypt) lies near the town of Uncertain and just 20 miles from Jefferson, which claims to be the most haunted town in Texas. Many believed Taylor’s mansion sheltered a resident ghost. Built in 1843 and known as the Brick House, the mansion was the scene of a tragedy in 1861. Owner Milt Andrew’s beautiful 19-year-old daughter, Eunice, known as “Oonie,” sat alone in a rocking chair in her bedroom beside the fireplace during a violent thunderstorm. Lightning coursed down the chimney and struck her, consuming the girl and her chair in a fiery inferno. Rumors suggest that Oonie’s ghost never left the house. When Lady Bird was 5, the Brick House, which is still standing and used as a private residence, witnessed a second tragedy. Minnie Lee, Lady Bird’s genteel mother, fell down the spiral staircase and died from complications of a miscarriage caused by the fall. Minnie’s death came during her husband’s busiest time of year, and Taylor, not to be distracted from his business, took the 5-year-old to the store with him and set up a bed for her on the second floor, where coffins were stored. When she inquired what those long boxes were, her father replied, “Dry goods, honey, just dry goods.” Lady Bird’s brothers, still away at school, were not told of their mother’s death for almost a year. With her two older brothers away at school, Lady Bird’s childhood centered on her bedroom, with the view from its windows blocked by trees. The family’s servants repeatedly warned her to stay away from Oonie’s bedroom, just down the hall from her own, and the whistling of the wind around the floor-to-ceiling windows added to Lady Bird’s fears. Although she says she never saw Oonie’s ghost herself, in later years Lady Bird admitted that, “I felt quite sure that ghosts did exist, and I was scared.” In her 80s, she told biographer Jan Jarboe Russell, “I would not, even now, at this age, feel comfortable being alone in that house myself.” In the fall of 1919, Lady Bird started school, and her mother’s sister, Effie, came to Karnack to help her niece adjust. Effie believed that Minnie’s ghost inhabited the Brick House and visited her at night with instructions on caring for Lady Bird, washing windows and tending to other derelict household chores. To escape the atmosphere of the house TexasCoopPower.com E VA VA ZQ U E Z and its resident spirits, Lady Bird turned to nature. The pine forests and swamps reminded her of her mother, who had once strolled barefooted through the woods in a white dress with a bouquet of wildflowers in her hand. Lady Bird also explored nearby Caddo Lake and its adjacent bayous, where “time seemed ringed around by silence and ancient cypress trees, rich in festoons of Spanish moss. Now and then an alligator would surface like a gnarled log. It was a place for dreams,” Lady Bird said in Russell’s book Lady Bird: A Biography of Mrs. Johnson (Scribner, 1999). “Growing up alone, I took my delights in the gifts nature offered me daily,” Lady Bird TexasCoopPower.com said. Her love of wildflowers and interest in the environment are part of her inheritance from her mother, along with a shyness that was occasionally mistaken for aloofness. After she graduated from the University of Texas with two degrees, Lady Bird’s marriage to Lyndon Johnson propelled her out of the Taylor ancestral home and on the road to the White House, another residence purported to house spirits of the departed. Four former first ladies have claimed to sense the presence of Abraham Lincoln’s ghost during their stints in the White House. Grace Coolidge glimpsed him standing by the window in his former office. Eleanor Roosevelt felt Lincoln’s spirit enter the room late one night while she worked alone in the Lincoln Bedroom. Jacqueline Kennedy sat quietly in the Lincoln Bedroom on occasion to draw solace from Lincoln’s spirit, and Lady Bird Johnson strongly sensed his presence in the hallway of the private quarters. Staff members and dignitaries such as Winston Churchill and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands also sighted the former president and other apparitions in the White House. But if Lady Bird actually saw those spirits herself, she kept her own counsel—a trait she had probably developed many years earlier at her childhood home in Karnack. Martha Deeringer, a member of Heart of Texas EC, lives near McGregor. March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 25 Designed To Help REDUCE SWELLING... IMPROVE CIRCULATION! l Grade Qua lity 20 - 30 mmHg air Get 1 Pair F 1P Free Shippi E RE Compression Rating Buy dica Me ng Gentle Compression Helps: Increase Blood Flow Durable Easy-Slide Zipper For Fast On ‘N Off Reduce Swelling Soothe Aching Muscles Open Toe For Swollen Or Sensitive Feet Stop struggling to put on too-tight compression stockings. Uniquely comfortable zip-up design makes it oh so easy to put them on…take them off. 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Cannot be used with other discount or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase with original receipt. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 7/1/16. Limit one coupon per customer per day. $ $8433 SAVE $85 • Weighs 73 lbs. 62670/61253/61282 shown RAPID PUMP® 3 TON LOW PROFILE HEAVY DUTY STEEL FLOOR JACK Customer Rating LOT 68049/62326 SUPER COUPON WOW LIMIT 5 - Good at our stores or HarborFreight.com or by calling 800-423-2567. Cannot be used with other discount or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase with original receipt. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 7/1/16. Limit one coupon per customer per day. at 99 comp $89 Customer Rating LOT 95275 shown 61615/60637 39 $ SAVE 55% 3 GALLON, 100 PSI OILLESS PANCAKE AIR COMPRESSOR We have invested millions of dollars in our own state-of-the-art quality test labs and millions more in our factories, so our tools will go toe-to-toe with the top professional brands. And we can sell them for a fraction of the price because we cut out the middle man and pass the savings on to you. It’s just that simple! Come visit one of our 600+ Stores Nationwide. R PE ON SU UP O C Limit 1 coupon per customer per day. 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Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 7/1/16. Limit one coupon per customer per day. R PE ONCustomer Rating SU UP CO LIMIT 5 - Good at our stores or HarborFreight.com or by calling 800-423-2567. Cannot be used with other discount or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase with original receipt. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 7/1/16. Limit one coupon per customer per day. R PE ON SU UP CO LIMIT 5 - Good at our stores or HarborFreight.com or by calling 800-423-2567. Cannot be used with other discount or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase with original receipt. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 7/1/16. Limit one coupon per customer per day. R PE ON SU UP CO $ comp at $166 5999 SAVE $106 LOT 93897 shown 69265/62344 RETRACTABLE AIR HOSE REEL WITH 3/8" x 50 FT. 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TOLL FREE 877-200-6650 BurnCage.com Texas Co-op Power March 2016 E-NEWS IN YOUR INBOX * Always check local ordinances before burning. Call Today for FREE Information Kit, Pricing and Factory Direct Coupon! 32 90126X © 2016 • Sensitive financial documents • All burnable household waste* • Old leaves and branches SIGN UP TODAY AT TexasCoopPower.com TexasCoopPower.com Texas History Pecos River Flood of 1954 Heavy rain from Hurricane Alice sent wall of water that washed out highway bridge near Langtry SCOTT DAWSON BY LONN TAYLOR The Pecos River rises in the mountains of New Mexico, flows south across that state, then twists through the greasewood country and canyons of West Texas, where it empties into the Rio Grande just east of Langtry. It is a treacherous river. Its sharply cut banks, shifting currents and tenacious quicksands led rancher Charles Goodnight to call it “the graveyard of the cowman’s hopes.” The river is subject to flash floods, and over the weekend of June 26, 1954, when Hurricane Alice dumped 28 inches of rain into the Pecos drainage, a wall of water 90 feet high swept downriver and destroyed the bridge on U.S. 90 between Langtry and Del Rio. This was the most expensive bridge disaster in Texas history. That bridge was a 500-foot steel truss double span, built in 1923 for $175,000. The structure, 50 feet above the river’s surface, was the first highway bridge built over the Pecos, although the Santa Fe Railway had built a trestle bridge, then the highest in the United States, slightly upstream in 1892. During the 1954 flood, the Pecos River crested at the highway bridge twice, first at 82 feet on June 27 at 7:30 a.m., when it took out both steel spans and washed away a car that was stalled on the bridge. Tragically, the driver had led his family to safety across the flooded bridge and had returned to try to start his vehicle when the bridge fell. His body was never recovered. The second crest of 96 feet came the next day at 1:30 a.m., when it washed out the center pier. Texas Highway Department engineers A.J. Sharrod and J.A. Shelby drove out from Del Rio on the morning of June 29 to inspect the damage. They found extensive damage on U.S. 90, but when they reached the Pecos, they viewed complete destruction. Sharrod wrote, “The east abutment [for one of the 225-foot steel spans] had collapsed into the river about where it had TexasCoopPower.com been erected. The eastern steel span, which was bent and badly twisted, was about 100 yards downstream in the middle of the river. The middle pier for the steel spans had collapsed and was underwater. The west steel span was lying in the edge of the water just off the west abutment.” The railroad bridge withstood the flood, but some lower bridges to the west washed out, leaving the Santa Fe’s eastbound, 13car Sunset Limited stranded in Langtry with 264 passengers. The passengers were rescued by helicopters sent from San Marcos, Corpus Christi and San Antonio to Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio. The choppers landed on the highway in Langtry and ferried the stranded travelers to an improvised landing point east of the river, from which buses took them to Laughlin. An eastbound Southern Pacific train, the Argonaut, halted in Sanderson and backed the 70 miles west to Alpine, where it was switched to the Santa Fe tracks and continued on to New Orleans via Fort Worth. Langtry, a town of 100, saw its population quadruple over the weekend. In addition to the railroad passengers, 200 motorists were marooned there. People slept in cars, in the schoolhouse and on the train. Food from the train’s galley was supplemented by 1,000 pounds of Red Cross rations flown in by helicopter. During the flood, Jack Skiles of Langtry was at his father’s ranch house just above Eagle Nest Canyon, about a mile outside of town. “It rained 30 inches on June 26 and 27, and on the morning of the 28th, my father and I rode horseback up to the highway, where my father had a store. The man who was leasing the store told us the Pecos River bridge was gone, and we didn’t believe him. But he was right. It was gone.” The Texas Highway Department worked 24 hours a day for 57 days to build a temporary low-water bridge that was about 7 feet above the normal water level. The replacement bridge, which cost $185,000, washed out about a year later, on July 19, 1955. Then the decision was made to construct the present bridge 273 feet above the river at a cost of $1,168,500. It is still there. Lonn Taylor, author and former Smithsonian historian, lives in Fort Davis. March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 33 WANTED: DEMO HOMESITES FOR 2016 SEASON Display This Maintenance-Free Pool And $AVE $$! Call TODAY to Qualify for this Limited-Time Opportunity! PRE-APPROVED FINANCING AVAILABLE! WE CONSIDER ANYTHING VISIT US ON THE WEB! WWW.SWIMTEXSUN.COM ON TRADE! STAYcation at Home in 2016! 1-800-SWIMTEX (1-800-794-6839) (; ;,5 ; 065 46)03,/64, ST E V E B U T M A N A family owned and operated Texas Company since 1986. 6 > 5 , 9: ,?7,9; 05:;(33(;065 05:<9(5*, *9,+0; 30-,;04,>(99(5;@ 9,+<*,+ ,3,*;90* )033 APPLY NOW 05*9,(:,+ /64,=(3<, for TREWA SCHOLARSHIPS : ; 6 7 3,(2: 56469,966-9<4)3, MORE THAN $30,000 :PUJL YVVMV]LYJVT ® WIN A TWO-NIGHT GETAWAY IN HISTORIC ABILENE plus certificates for great local restaurants and attractions. GET DETAILS AND ENTER ONLINE AT TexasCoopPower.com Find more info and discount coupons to Abilene attractions at AbileneVisitors.com 34 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 AVAILABLE FOR COLLEGE-BOUND STUDENTS Apply by March 14 at www.TREWA.org The Texas Rural Electric Women’s Association (TREWA) will award fifteen $1,500 scholarships to TREWA members or their children. Membership dues are $10 per year. TexasCoopPower.com Recipes Eggs: Plain and Fancy This month, we celebrate the humble egg. Readers share timehonored favorites, including a green chile casserole and a classic cheese soufflé. A flock of new cookbooks also showcase the egg’s limitless possibilities. Take the following recipe from The Perfect Egg by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park. Here, chewy grains of farro, an ancient grain, are tossed with balsamic vinaigrette and a tumble of spring vegetables. (Feel free to substitute shaved carrots, sugar snap peas or even roasted mushrooms.) A final topping of soft-boiled eggs and aromatic garnishes transform a simple salad into a nourishing, satisfying meal. PAULA DISBROWE, FOOD EDITOR No Leafy Greens Salad BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE DRESSING 2 tablespoons minced shallots 1 clove garlic, minced 2 teaspoons light brown sugar 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard ½ cup balsamic vinegar Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste ⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil SALAD 1 cup uncooked farro, rinsed and drained cups chicken stock T E R I LY N F I S H E R 4 Salt 8 baby zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise 10 French green beans, sliced in half lengthwise 2 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced 4 soft-boiled eggs, halved Microgreens, crushed pistachios and grated lemon zest, for garnish 1. DRESSING: Place all the vinaigrette ingredients except the olive oil into a small mixing bowl and whisk together. 2. Still whisking, pour in the oil in a slow and steady stream. Continue to whisk March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 35 Recipes Eggs: Plain and Fancy THIS MONTH’S RECIPE CONTEST WINNER PATRICIA JAGER | PANOLA-HARRISON EC From a comforting casserole to elegant preparations perfect for a special brunch or light dinner, these excellent egg recipes are sure to please at any time of day. Green Chile Breakfast Casserole “My mother-in-law gave me this recipe. I have made it many times for church brunches and out-of-town visitors, and everyone loves it. You can lighten it up with low-fat or fat-free cheese.” Butter, vegetable oil or nonstick cooking spray 10 large eggs ½ cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 pint small-curd cottage cheese 1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded 7–8 ounces canned green chiles, chopped 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. 2. Lightly beat eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well. 3. Pour the egg mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake 45–50 minutes or until lightly browned on top. 4. Allow the casserole to sit 10–15 minutes before serving. Serves 8–10. COOK’S TIP For more heat, look for hot or fire-roasted green chiles, or add a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce. until the mixture has emulsified. Taste, adjust the seasoning if needed, and set aside until ready to use. 3. SALAD: Pour the farro and stock into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 30–40 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the grains have softened and split. Drain any remaining liquid and allow the farro to cool, about 1 hour. 4. Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil. Generously season with salt and drop in the zucchini and French green beans. Blanch 2–3 minutes and then transfer to an ice bath to ensure that the vegetables retain texture and color. 5. Once cooled, drain vegetables and place into a large mixing bowl with the cooked farro and sliced radishes. Drizzle half the vinaigrette over the mixture and toss together (you can reserve the remaining vinaigrette for another use). 6. Top the salad with egg halves, microgreens, crushed pistachios and grated lemon zest, and serve. Serves 4. COOK’S TIP Farro can be found in most grocery stores, typically in the pasta section. To cool farro quickly, spread in a thin layer on a sheet pan and place in the refrigerator about 15 minutes. If you can’t find microgreens, consider sprouts or chopped parsley. The Perfect Egg by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park (Ten Speed Press, 2015), used with permission Easy Cheese Soufflé NANCY SULLIVAN | FAYETTE EC “Contrary to general thought, this soufflé is easy to make, can be mixed in advance, and still rises nicely in the oven. My family loves it as a light weekday supper. I have also folded sautéed mushrooms or chopped blanched asparagus into the egg mixture before pouring into the dish, and both are delicious additions.” $100 Recipe Contest August’s recipe contest is Garlic: The Stinkin’ Rose. Send us your favorite recipes featuring garlic by the March 10 deadline. ENTER ONLINE at TexasCoopPower.com/contests; MAIL to 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701; FAX to (512) 763-3401. Include your name, address and phone number, plus your co-op and the name of the contest you are entering. tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, plus more to butter the dish 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups cold whole milk ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 6 large eggs 2⅓ cups grated Gruyere cheese 3 tablespoons minced fresh chives TexasCoopPower.com M A RY PAT WA L D R O N 6 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 6-cup gratin dish and set it aside. 2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then whisk in the flour. Cook mixture about 10 seconds, whisking for smoothness. 3. Add the milk. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens and comes to a strong boil, about 2 minutes. (The white sauce should be thick and smooth.) 4. Remove pan from heat and stir in the salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to cool about 10 minutes. 5. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat well with a fork. Fold the eggs, cheese and chives into the cooled sauce, and mix well to combine. 6. Pour the mixture into the gratin dish and bake 30–40 minutes or until the soufflé is puffy and the top is nicely browned. COOK’S TIP The raw egg mixture can be covered and refrigerated for up to a day before baking. Once cooked, although the soufflé will stay inflated for quite a while, it’s best served immediately. Shirred Eggs JAMIE PARCHMAN | MAGIC VALLEY EC Shirred eggs are simply eggs that are baked in a flat-bottomed gratin dish or a ramekin traditionally called a “shirrer,” typically with butter or cream. The addition of prosciutto (or your favorite ham) creates a heartier dish that can be served for brunch, lunch or dinner. “These eggs are super easy but look fancy,” Parchman says. “Whenever I bring them out, my family is thrilled.” ⅛ 6 12 ¾ ½ ¼ 4 2 cup (¼ stick) butter, softened slices prosciutto large eggs cup heavy cream, or more to taste teaspoon salt teaspoon pepper tablespoons Parmesan cheese teaspoons finely chopped chives 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of six 6-ounce ramekins. 2. Line the bottom and sides of each ramekin with a slice of prosciutto, slicing as needed to cover the surface of the dish. 3. Crack 2 eggs into a small bowl, leaving yolks unbroken, then carefully pour the eggs into one of the ramekins. Repeat with remaining eggs and ramekins. 4. Pour 2–3 tablespoons of cream onto each egg, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, Parmesan and chives. 5. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake 10–12 minutes. (Yolks should still be runny. Bake an additional 2–3 minutes if solid yolks are desired.) 6. Remove from oven and serve immediately. Makes 6 servings. WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com Scrambling to find the perfect egg recipe? We have more online. WD METAL BUILDINGS NEXT MONTH Instant Pricing @ wdmb.com TEXAS HATS AND HATMAKERS Meet the craftsmen who help today’s Texans carry on a storied tradition. SMALL-TOWN LIBRARIES These community anchors create an environment for learning and sharing. HAY BARNS TO COUNTRY HOMES Look for additional content online TexasCoopPower.com AG BUILDINGS METAL BUILDINGS BARNDOMINIUMS Hay Barns Equipment Buildings Livestock Shelters Steel Shops Storage Buildings RV Buildings Country Homes Hunting Cabins Ranch Houses REINFORCED CONCRETE SLABS • EXPERIENCED ERECTION CREWS • ALL WELDED FRAME WORK TexasCoopPower.com March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 37 Big Garden? 1R3UREOHP $PHULFD¶V6HOOLQJ %UXVK0RZHUIRU2YHU <HDUV 2016 MODELS! NOW Starting at just $ Now with 79999! POWER STEERING! 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'5SRZHUJUDGHUFRP 6 MONTH HOME TRIAL Call for a FREE DVD and Catalog! Buy any DR® product and use it at your home for 6 months. If you’re not 100% satisfied, we’ll take it back. No questions asked. Includes product specifications and factory-direct offers. TOLL FREE SOME LIMITATIONS APPLY. CALL OR GO ONLINE FOR DETAILS. A D V E R T I S 90124X © 2016 1RZ\RXFDQWLOOZKLOH \RXULGH²ZLWKWKHDPD]LQJ DR®7RZ%HKLQG7LOOHU 877-200-6650 E M E N T Clogged, Backed—up Septic System…Can anything Restore It? Dear Darryl DEAR DARRYL: My home is about 10 years old, and so is my septic system. I have always taken pride in keeping my home and property in top shape. In fact, my neighbors and I are always kidding each other about who keeps their home and yard nicest. Lately, however, I have had a horrible smell in my yard, and also in one of my bathrooms, coming from the shower drain. My grass is muddy and all the drains in my home are very slow. My wife is on my back to make the bathroom stop smelling and as you can imagine, my neighbors are having a field day, kidding me about the mud pit and sewage stench in my yard. It’s humiliating. I called a plumber buddy of mine, who recommended pumping (and maybe even replacing) my septic system. But at the potential cost of thousands of dollars, I hate to explore that option. I tried the store bought, so called, Septic treatments out there, and they did Nothing to clear up my problem. Is there anything on the market I can pour or flush into my system that will restore it to normal, and keep it maintained? Clogged and Smelly – San Antonio, TX 38 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 DEAR CLOGGED AND SMELLY: As a reader of my column, I am sure you are aware that I have a great deal of experience in this particular field. You will be glad to know that there IS a septic solution that will solve your back-up and effectively restore your entire system from interior piping throughout the septic system and even unclog the drain field as well. SeptiCleanse® Shock and Maintenance Programs deliver your system the fast active bacteria and enzymes needed to liquefy solid waste and free the clogs causing your back-up. This fast-acting bacteria multiplies within minutes of application and is specifically designed to withstand many of today’s anti-bacterial cleaners, soaps and detergents. It comes in dissolvable plastic packs, that you just flush down your toilets. It’s so cool. Plus, they actually Guarantee that it restores ANY system, no matter how bad the problem is. SeptiCleanse® Shock and Maintenance Programs are designed to work on any septic system regardless of design or age. From modern day systems to sand mounds, and systems installed generations ago, I have personally seen SeptiCleanse unclog and restore these systems in a matter of weeks. I highly recommend that you try it before spending any money on repairs. SeptiCleanse products are available online at www.septicleanse.com or you can order or learn more by calling toll free at 1-888-899-8345. If you use the promo code “DARTX15”, you can get 10% Off. So, make sure you use that code when you call or buy online. TexasCoopPower.com Focus on Texas Boats You may think we’ve gone off the deep end, but we asked to see what boats are making waves in your town, and you didn’t clam up. Grab your friends and tackle boxes and wade in with us because in Texas, life can be smooth sailing. GRACE ARSIAGA WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com Find many more see-worthy photos online. o RACHEL JOHNSON, CoServ Electric: “Noah, my son, is testing the water with his paper boats.” a CHRIS WALTERS, Houston County EC: An oyster boat makes a morning run. d MIKE ROACH, Nueces EC: A crab seems to stand guard over a deserted boat in Corpus Christi. a PAM JOHNSON, Navasota Valley EC: Johnson and best friend Barbra Turkal go retro on Lake Limestone. d ANITA EVANS, Sam Houston EC: An elaborate duck blind on the move UPCOMING CONTESTS JULY THE OLD WEST DUE MARCH 10 AUGUST RESTORED DUE APRIL 10 SEPTEMBER GONE FISHIN’ DUE MAY 10 All entries must include name, address, daytime phone and co-op affiliation, plus the contest topic and a brief description of your photo. ONLINE: Submit highest-resolution digital images at Texas CoopPower.com/ contests. MAIL: Focus on Texas, 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. A stamped, self-addressed envelope must be included if you want your entry returned (approximately six weeks). Please do not submit irreplaceable photographs—send a copy or duplicate. We do not accept entries via email. We regret that Texas Co-op Power cannot be responsible for photos that are lost in the mail or not received by the deadline. TexasCoopPower.com March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 39 Get Going > Around Texas This is just a sampling of the events and festivals around March Smithville Pedal Thru the Pines, (512) 321-7760, pedalthrupines.org 10 Fort Worth [12–13] Funky Finds Spring Fling, (903) 665-7954, funkyfinds.com/spring La Grange [10–13] Best Little Cowboy Gathering in Texas, (979) 702-0086, bestlittlecowboygathering.org Huntsville [12–13] Rusty Chippy Show, (936) 295-4162, huntsvilleantiqueshow.com 11 Houston [11–13] Azalea Trail, (713) 523-2483, riveroaksgardenclub.org 12 Pick of the Month Gillespie County Country Schools Open House Fredericksburg [April 2] San Antonio [12–13] 55th Annual Fiesta of Gems, (210) 860-2830, swgemandmineral.org March 12 Smithville Pedal Thru the Pines Alleyton Texas German Society Convention, (979) 732-3302, texasgermansociety.com Bellville Classic Car Stampede, (979) 865-3187, austincountycruisers.com Buna Redbud Festival, (409) 289-5832 (830) 997-5116, historicschools.org The Friends of Gillespie County Country Schools, a nonprofit organization, oversees 12 country schools and preserves the history of structures that, in some cases, date to the 1800s. “We’re working to keep those open and repaired,” says the organization’s Jeanette Beckmann, a member of Central Texas EC. Round Top James Dick in Concert, (979) 249-3129, festivalhill.org San Benito Texas Independence Celebration, (956) 739-0401, happybirthdaytexas.com Seguin ArtsFest, (830) 401-2475, visitseguin.com SCHOOL: FRIENDS O F G I L L ES PI E CO U NTY CO U NT RY S C H OOL S . B IC YC L IST: K E S IP U N | D OL L A R P H OTO C LU B . EG G S : SVE TA MA RT | DOLLAR P HOTO CLUB 36 thAnnual April 9 thru May 30, 2016 Saturdays, Sundays & Memorial Day Monday Step Back in Time for the Time of Your Life Get your Tickets at SRFestival.com TODAY Just 30 minutes south of Downtown Dallas/Fort Worth in Waxahachie 40 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 TexasCoopPower.com Texas. For a complete listing, please visit TexasCoopPower.com/events. 13 31 Boerne Boerne Concert Band: Spring Concert, (830) 249-8918, visitboerne.org Athens Henderson County Texas Master Gardeners Spring Conference, (903) 675-6130, henderson-co-tx-mg.org 15 April Fredericksburg [15–20] Hill Country Photo Roundup, (505) 577-0437, jdavidsonphotography.com/hcpr 2 16 Lockhart Crawfish Boil or Shrimp Gumbo Lunch, (512) 638-5852 Conroe [16–19] ModAero #NextGen Aviation Festival, 1-844-663-2376, modaero.net Luling Roughneck BBQ and Chili Cook-Off, (830) 875-3214, discoverluling.com 18 Killeen [18–19] Shades of Texas Quilt Show, (254) 289-6382, cttquiltguild.org 19 Denison Easter Egg Roll, (903) 465-8908 Lakehills Lakehills United Methodist Church Fish Fry, (830) 751-2404, lakehillsumc.org Port Arthur Taste of Gumbo & Trade Show, (409) 729-4040, facebook.com/portarthurrotary Rockdale [19–20] El Camino Real Trade Days, (512) 639-9004, elcaminorealtradedays.com TexasCoopPower.com March 19 Denison Easter Egg Roll West [19–20] West, Central Texas Ceramic Expo & Handcrafted Items, (254) 716-5227, westceramicshow.com 29 Bellville [29–April 2] Hodges Farm Antique Show, (979) 877-5244, facebook.com/hodgesfarmcountryantiques Schulenburg Sausagefest, (979) 743-4514, schulenburgsausagefest.com Stonewall LBJ 100 Bicycle Tour, (830) 868-7128, lbj100.bike Submit Your Event! We pick events for the magazine directly from TexasCoopPower.com. Submit your event for May by March 10, and it just might be featured in this calendar! March 2016 Texas Co-op Power 41 Hit the Road Visit a Sky Island Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens can captivate explorers BY E. DAN KLEPPER 42 Texas Co-op Power March 2016 A hike on the Modesta Canyon Trail can feature maidenhair ferns, warblers, finches, foxes and bobcats. the greenhouse. A large-screen display at the visitors center can help guests identify birds they have seen. Also inside is an exhibit on the geology of the Davis Mountains, the key to understanding the modern diversity populating the surrounding slopes, peaks and plateaus. For a visitor, however, often the most enlightening experience may come during a simple walk. Hikers can then see the geology for themselves with a 1-mile loop hike to Clayton’s Overlook. Here, a 360-degree view of the mountains complements a set of plaques with information that corresponds to the geology exhibit at the visitor center. Then a self-guided, 1-mile stroll leads to the botanical garden, where more than 150 species of native Chihuahuan Desert plants are labeled and grouped to help provide a firsthand understanding of this biome’s remarkable plant life. Next is Cactus Hill, a quarter-mile loop around a rocky outcrop featuring a pollinator garden, water catchment area (perfect for spotting birds) and a scenic overlook. Hikers can continue along the bo- tanical garden trail before taking a shady breather in the Memorial Grove, a mix of chinquapin oaks and wild roses, then investigate the cactus greenhouse. Research is also an important part of the nature center’s program. “We actively encourage researchers to utilize our site,” says Rick Herrman, the center’s director, “and we find the research projects are perfectly complementary to the site as a serene and gorgeous public place for visitors energized by a connection with nature.” The admission fee provides visitors with a chance to explore the Davis Mountains environment and helps fund the center’s efforts to bring the special characteristics of the Chihuahuan Desert to the forefront of environmental awareness and conservation. That’s a noble outcome for a pleasant desert garden walk. E. Dan Klepper is a photographer, author and artist who lives in Marathon. WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com . Find information to help plan your visit to the Fort Davis area. TexasCoopPower.com E . DA N K L E P P E R The Modesta Canyon Trail, a favorite walkabout at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens near Fort Davis, crosses a grassland swale where cloud shadows sometimes race red-tailed hawks, briefly shading a sea of sideoats grama and native plants that inhabit this Davis Mountains preserve. The trail surprises, suddenly dropping into Modesta Canyon, where rock walls, layered like stacked pancakes, expose the geology of the region’s volcanic past. Soon, treetops give way to their understory, where songbirds often rest in the branches. Before long, the soft splash of water reveals the true secret of the canyon. Modesta Spring, a shady grotto, offers respite to maidenhair ferns, warblers, finches, foxes, bobcats and the hiker seeking a cool, quiet place to rest. Modesta offers one path into the heart of the nature center, which is the headquarters of the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute. The 507-acre preserve was established to promote education, appreciation and awareness of the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America. The Davis Mountains, as well as much of the Big Bend region, comprise the upper reaches of the Chihuahuan, a biological environment that also encompasses a swath of northern Mexico. Much of the Davis Mountains region, considered a Chihuahuan “sky island,” lies between 5,000 and 8,000 feet above sea level and embraces some of the most biologically diverse environments on the planet. The nature center explains this diversity with interpretive exhibits; a botanical garden featuring more than 100 species of trees, shrubs and perennials; a geologic timeline with 4.5 billion years of rock samples; and almost 200 species of Chihuahuan Desert cacti and succulents in Co N nt o ra ct ife et e G bl r L K. ou fo TAL D es ut E in W M ith w “My friends all hate their cell phones… I love mine!” FREE Car Charg er Here’s why. 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