|
POWER TALK
LETTERS
Too Much of a Good Thing?
Your delightful little magazine, Texas Co-op Power, is just great.
I am lucky enough to receive two copies, one from Pedernales and one from Karnes.
I share the second copy with my friends.
Jean S. Fuller, Goliad
Pedernales and Karnes Electric Co-ops
EDITOR’S NOTE: Occasionally, we hear from folks who get
multiple copies of Texas Co-op Power and want to know how to eliminate
duplicate mailings.
If you receive two or more copies of Texas Co-op Power, it could be
because you have meters on more than one co-op line. If you have a home in one
co-op service area and a ranch or farm in another, you will receive a magazine
from each co-op with individual and customized pages the co-op uses to communicate
with its members. This is how you receive news of annual meetings, rate changes
or other important information. After reading the co-op’s pages, you might
consider forwarding your extra copy to an out-of-state friend or relative homesick
for Texas, or include it with a package going overseas to members serving in
the armed forces.
If you belong to only one co-op and you receive duplicate copies, please call
and notify your co-op’s Member Services representative.
We strive to observe every efficiency in delivering Texas Co-op Power
to your mailbox.
YOUR CHECKOUT CHOICES
“Paper or plastic?” It’s almost inevitable that you’ll
hear that question every time you go to your supermarket checkout stand. If
you want to make the most environmentally friendly choice, you might think “paper”
is the best answer.
But a landmark 1990 study by the research firm Franklin Associates—which
factored in every step of the manufacturing, distribution and disposal stages
of a grocery bag’s usable life—actually gave the nod to plastic
bags.
The study concluded that two plastic bags consume 13 percent less total energy
than one paper bag. Additionally, the report found that two plastic bags produce
a quarter of the solid waste, a 15th as much waterborne waste and half the atmospheric
waste as one paper bag.
But to the nonprofit Institute for Lifecycle Environ-mental Assessment, “paper
or plastic” is not the question we should be asking, since the answer
is really “neither.” The manufacturing of paper bags brings down
some 14 million trees yearly to meet U.S. demand alone, while plastic bags use
up some 12 million barrels of oil each year.
The group urges consumers to “just say no” to both options and
instead bring their own reusable canvas bags, backpacks, crates or boxes to
haul away groceries.
POWER TIP
Save Energy, Save Money
My husband LOVES his cornbread. Rather than use my electric oven to bake it,
I use my waffle iron. It is fast and easy, and the bread tastes great. I have
even started using the waffle iron to cook the batter for my breakfast muffins.
It doesn’t heat up the house and cooks in four to five minutes as opposed
to 30 minutes or more in the oven.
Elva Walters, Crumby
Farmers Electric Cooperative
LANDSCAPING TIP
When planting a young tree, make sure there are no electric lines overhead.
If the tree grows too big, it will eventually become a safety hazard. Site trees
wisely for safety and longevity.
HAPPENINGS
Put pep in your January with some soul-stirring, spirit-lifting gospel singing
at the 13th annual Rockport Gospel Music Festival.
Billed as a venue for “the nation’s best Southern gospel music
artists,” this year’s event features 24 quartets and ensembles from
across the country. Among the headliners are The Nelons of Douglasville, Georgia;
The Melody Boys from Little Rock, Arkansas; Crimson River from Mission Viejo,
California; and festival founders, Rockport’s own Gospel Force.
Other Texas groups include: Shiloh Quartet from Kennedale, The Moodys from
San Antonio, David’s Song and The Goldens from Tyler, and Relations from
Magnolia. The festival is held January 4–6 at the Rockport-Fulton High
School Auditorium and the First Baptist Church of Rockport.
Admission to all festival events is free, although donations are accepted to
help defray performers’ travel costs. For more information, visit http://www.gospelforce.org
or call Gary Howard at (361) 790-1105.
RESTORATION BRINGS LEE COUNTY COURTHOUSE BACK TO BRILLIANCE
In downtown Giddings, on the crest that divides the Colorado and Brazos river
basins, stands the Lee County Courthouse, a three-story brick structure built
in 1897 by architect J. Riely Gordon. The courthouse replaced an identical 1878
courthouse that was destroyed by fire. Contractors paid county convicts $1 per
day to remove the burnt bricks from the old courthouse to use in the new construction.
Gordon designed the building in the Richardsonian Romanesque fashion. To highlight
the building’s position as the focal point of the community, Gordon combined
a variety of weighty structures such as limestone arches, blue granite steps
and a brick clock tower, to give the courthouse a feeling of power and permanence.
A National Register Property, the courthouse was restored through the Texas
Historical Commission’s Courthouse Preservation Program in 2004.
— From The Courthouses of Texas, Texas A&M University
Press, second edition, 2007
WHO GETS THE LONGHORN?
When Texas was admitted into the Union in 1845, a clause in the articles of
annexation would allow the state to be separated into “new states of convenient
size.” It was conventional wisdom at the time that such a division was
inevitable. The plan that came the closest to passing, in 1868, would have divided
the state into three at the Colorado and Trinity rivers to form “East
Texas,” “Texas” and “West Texas.”
If such a plan were introduced today, it is unclear whether Congress would
allow for the radical change. Another plan, which called for splitting Texas
into five states, would increase representation in the Senate from two to 10
senators. Some scholars believe the other 49 states would roundly protest and
take the issue to the Supreme Court.
To carry this scenario even further, politicians theorize, if the Supreme Court
did not allow Texas to divide, such action would make null the articles of annexation,
making Texas an independent republic once again.
NORTH ZULCH
EDITOR’S NOTE: Boy, we stuck our foot in it in November
when Hit the Road referred to North Zulch as a “ghost town.” We
should have been talking about Zulch, because North Zulch is thriving. As several
readers pointed out, there’s a public school expansion, a new fire station
in the works and many other good things going on. This is not to mention that
North Zulch was home to the late Peavine and Phynnia Jefferies, frequently mentioned
by folklorist John Henry Faulk on “Hee Haw.” Our apologies.
|