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POWER TALK
LETTERS
‘The Strutters’ Are Great, Too
Clay Coppedge’s article on the Kilgore Rangerettes in the February 2009 issue (“Sweethearts of the Gridiron”) was great reading. I kept waiting to see the name of Barbara Tidwell mentioned in connection with ex-Rangerettes doing well. She will be honored in October for the 50th anniversary of a drill team she organized many years ago called the Texas State Strutters from Texas State University in San Marcos, formerly known as Southwest Texas State University. They have had fame under her direction to match the Rangerettes.
Nelda Dunn
San Marcos
More Servings, Please
There are lots of great articles in your magazine. It is “clipped to pieces” after we finish reading it! We prepared the Sauerkraut Potato Salad from the March 2009 issue and loved it! The only change I recommend is that the recipe serve even more than 12, because everyone wants seconds. Thanks to B.J. Willis for sharing it.
Susan Wilson
Cherokee County Electric Cooperative
Rainwater Harvesting
The resurgence of rainwater harvesting (“Make the Most of Rainy Days,” March 2009 issue) brings back the joy and pleasure of a shower in rain-water; or a cold glass of pure “cloud juice”; or that hot cup of morning coffee with no hint of chlorine from treated water or hardness from the well water.
Having now relied on captured rainwater for all our indoor—and much of our garden—water needs for 10 years, you could not pay us to go back to that hard, hard water we can pump from underground.
Dave Collins
Pedernales Electric Cooperative
Hoeing Got Us Through Hard Times
I enjoyed reading the story “A Hard Row to Hoe” by Camille Wheeler (March 2009 issue). Growing up southwest of Lubbock on a dry-land cotton farm, my two sisters and I had some of the same memories of summertime: getting up and in the field at 7 a.m., home at 12 for Mom’s lunch, then back to the field from 1 to 6 p.m.
We learned the same lessons of contributing to the family, getting along with each other and helping each other out when we got to the “flat” and the end of the row. Lessons that have been applied all through our lives.
It was in the summer of 1968 that hoeing helped our family deal with the unexpected death of our father, Boots Cozart. We stayed in the field longer than usual so that when we went to bed we would be too tired to think of our loss. Mom, who before sometimes hoed with us, went out with us every day that summer. Even our brothers, who drove the tractors, joined us in the field at the end of the day.
Sometimes I still go out and hoe in our cotton fields, but I am truly thankful for the modern-day miracle of chemical-friendly cotton.
Pat Stephens
Lyntegar Electric Cooperative
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EXPERTS SAY
Low-Hanging Fruit
Some energy savings are just there for the picking. The lowest of the low-hanging fruit (in energy conservation) is commercial lighting, says Omar Siddiqui, project manager of a study for the Electric Power Research Institute. The technology now exists to slash the amount of energy used to light U.S. office buildings, hotels, hospitals and malls by a grand total of 90 billion kilowatt-hours a year by 2030, he says.
FORGO THE DISPENSERS
If you’re shopping for a new refrigerator, select a model without through-the-door features, such as ice/water dispensers. These features are expensive, and they take up space that would otherwise be used for insulation. The refrigerator door is the area of least insulation and greatest amount of leakage, so its efficiency is already lower than the rest of the insulated cabinet.
HAPPENINGS
Rosin up your bow for the fifth annual Whitewright Fiddle Fest, where fiddlers of all ages compete for bragging rights and cash prizes.
The fest, set for May 23 in the Whitewright Civic Center, draws competitors from across the United States to this North Texas town and consists of four age divisions: 15 and younger, 16-29, 30-59 and 60 and older. The top two fiddlers in each division advance to a playoff, and the final four contestants then compete in the Louis Franklin Championship, named for the famous Whitewright resident who served on the original board of the Texas Old Time Fiddlers’ Association in the early 1970s.
No pressure, y’all, but Franklin, who won seven world championships during his fiddling career, will be watching while you try to play your way to the top.
The event starts at 10 a.m. and ends when the fiddling’s done. For more information, call (903) 364-2000 or go to www.whitewright.org.
A PRIMO SOUTHERN ESCAPE
On the sandy shores of South Texas, surrounded by St. Charles and Aransas bays, bird lovers can relax in a 321-acre paradise. Goose Island State Park is home to more than 300 varieties of bird species, and the endangered whooping crane migrates to Texas every winter to feed off the local berries and blue crabs found in the coastal wetlands around the park. One of the most notable features of Goose Island is the famous state champion coastal live oak, the “Big Tree,” 44 feet tall with a crown spread of 90 feet. It is estimated to be more than 1,000 years old. Aside from its wonderful natural attributes, Goose Island provides visitors with several activities including picnicking, boating, fishing, nature studies, guided tours and hikes. The campsites are large and offer both RV and tent camping by the bay or in a secluded wooded area. However, this bayside beauty doesn’t allow for swimming because the shoreline is composed of concrete bulkhead, oyster shell reef, mud flats and marsh grass. For more information, call (361) 729-2858 or go to www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/goose_island.
FUTURE TALK
Because it is so expensive to run electric lines to remote areas, the Texas Department of Transportation is taking advantage of the ever-blowing Panhandle wind and has installed four wind turbines to help power flashing caution lights on major roads in Carson and Randall counties.
Two turbines power flashing red and yellow lights on U.S. Highway 60 between Amarillo and Pampa. The other two turbines power flashing red lights atop stop signs on frontage roads beside Interstate 27 at McCormick Road. The small turbines cost about $700 each and will end up costing taxpayers less than they would have had to pay to bring electric lines to the sites.
Wind will power the lights about 99 percent of the time, according to Paul Braun, a TxDOT spokesman. The turbines will be backed up by small solar panels, but there will be no monthly payments for electricity.
Braun said if the wind/solar combos are successful—and they seem to be working fine—they would probably be used in other rural areas.
WHO KNEW?
An Agitating Development
If you passed by a Laundromat today, you likely wouldn’t give it a second thought. But 75 years ago, the self-serve, pay laundry was a brand-new concept—one that was born in Texas. On April 18, 1934, the world’s first washateria was launched in Fort Worth. Depending on which source you believe, credit for the launderette, which charged by the hour, belongs to either J.F. Cantrell or C.A. Tannahill. Whoever developed the idea of pay-for-spray, the world is a cleaner place because of it.
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