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FEATURES

8 Lives on the Line By Camille Wheeler Photos by Billy Moore and Will van Overbeek Hard hats and hard work. If you’re curious about the anything-but-ordinary jobs of electric linemen, then watch and learn at the Texas Lineman’s Rodeo, which preaches safety first, then perfection. WEB EXTRA: Danny Williams, who oversees lineman training programs for Texas Electric Cooperatives, makes it clear: “Our job is to save lives.”

14 The Big Picture By Connie Strong Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen didn’t just shoot a remake of ‘True Grit’ in 88 Granger—they also remade this tiny town.

DEPARTMENTS ONLINE

Footnotes by Martha Deeringer ‘Soap Suds Row’ 25 TexasCoopPower.com The following June stories are available Recipe Roundup This is the Season: Churn, Churn, Churn 27 on our website. Focus on Texas Murals 35 Texas USA by Martha Deeringer Around Texas Local Events Listings 36 Sculptor Elisabet Ney Hit the Road by Suzi Sands Picking Blackberries 38 Observations by Harry Noble School-day Autograph Book

25 27 38

TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Kendall Montgomery, Chair, Olney; Rick Haile, Vice Chair, McGregor; Ron Hughes, Secretary-Treasurer, Sinton; Randy Mahannah, Perryton; Billy Marricle, Bellville; Mark Stubbs, Greenville; Larry Warren, San Augustine

PRESIDENT/CEO: Mike Williams, Austin

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE: William (Buff) Whitten, Chair, Eldorado; Melody Pinnell, Texas Co-op Power is published by your Vice Chair, Crockett; Roy Griffin, Edna; Bryan Lightfoot, Bartlett; Stan McClendon, Wellington; Gary Nietsche, La Grange; Anne Vaden, Corinth electric cooperative to enhance the qual- COMMUNICATIONS STAFF: Martin Bevins, Sales Director; Carol Moczygemba, Executive Editor; Camille Wheeler, Associate ity of life of its member-customers in an Editor; Suzi Sands, Art Director; Karen Nejtek, Production Manager; Ashley Clary, Field Editor; Andy Doughty, Production Designer; Sandra Forston, Communications Assistant; Suzanne Haberman, Communications Specialist; Kevin Hargis, Food Editor; educational and entertaining format. Rachel Frey, Intern

COVER PHOTO Bluebonnet Electric Co-op apprentice lineman Kyle Kasper by Will van Overbeek June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 3 Who Better to Know About the Best UV Eye Protection than America’s Astronauts? “I have worn the EAGLE EYES® brand for years and depend upon their superb capabilities in UV eye protection, glare re- duction and vision-enhancement.” — WALTER CUNNINGHAM, APOLLO-7 ASTRONAUT

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EEA144-01 of A+ outharmful blue and violet light and may affect lighting variances and visibility on Stauer Burnsville, Minnesota 55337 instrument panels while flying or driving. www.stauer.com America Celebrates Over 50 Years of Space Technology! closest to Sellars’ dad, as it outstanding, but taken as a depicted, is, indeed, a Dutch whole, the quilt bears a beauty POWERtalk oven. The other two cast- of serviceability worthy of the iron pieces that have been king’s bed or for “hanging in a Letters from Texas Co-op Power Readers pulled off the fire are skillets. prominent place.” We can only I have a long relationship say, “Keep up the good work!” with cast-iron cooking. I have MICHAEL L. MCAFEE HIGH STAKES WITH SNAKES ident of Wied, I must point given a few talks and demon- Hawkins I must say something regarding out the misspelling of Weid strations using my own arse- the rattlesnake photo and com- Hall on Page 19. Other than nal of cast-iron, which started OFFENDED BY PHOTOS ments (“Rattled About ‘New’ that, the story was a great with my inheritance of my I find the pictures of dead ani- Rattler”) on Page 6 of the April representation of what the grandma’s Dutch oven. Here’s mals alongside grinning people 2011 issue. The editor’s com- area has to offer in rich cul- the quick test: If it has a pan- (“Catch of the Day,” April 2011) ments correctly state that a ture and history. And beer handle, it ain’t a Dutch oven. to be grotesque and offensive. hybrid cross between rattlers drinking. SHELLEY SEXTON Not only do we have to see the and moccasins is a myth, but MARK KELNAR Pedernales Electric Cooperative usual pictures of children and should then have responsibly Pedernales Electric Cooperative adults holding up fish hanging pointed out that the plastic on hooks, this time we also rattlesnake in the photo bears DUTCH OVENS READ MORE LETTERS have to endure a dead alligator no resemblance whatsoever This may seem to be splitting with his mouth propped open. to any living species of rat- hairs, but I find that I must See “Letters to the Editor” in Please consider that not every- tlesnake. I’ve never seen such submit a correction for the June’s Table of Contents at body in Texas thinks it is fun to a misrepresentation of color thread regarding “Dutch TexasCoopPower.com harm innocent animals. and pattern in a cheap sou- Ovens On The Range” TRACY FRANK venir during my 50-year career (March 2011 letters). To let- Director, Society For Animal as a herpetologist. ter writer Milton Sellars, who WORTHY OF PROMINENCE Rescue and Adoption, Seguin Further, a glance at any sent a copy of a Dutch oven I referred a co-worker to your We want to hear from our readers. book about Texas reptiles oil painting: What a treasure magazine, only to discover Submit letters online under the Submit and would clearly show that Mojave you have—your own dad in she already receives it. We Share tab at TexasCoopPower.com, e-mail us at [email protected], or mail to rattlesnakes occur naturally in the image! Wow. Yet I can’t agree on its value to the great Editor, Texas Co-op Power, 1122 Colorado St., far West Texas. They look help but point out that there state of Texas in this sense: 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. Please include the name of your town and electric co-op. superficially similar to Western is only one, not three, Dutch It’s much like a patchwork Letters may be edited for clarity and length Diamondbacks, and they occur ovens in that image. The one quilt, with perhaps no part of and are printed as space allows. in some of the same habitats, but their bite is considerably more dangerous. Treatment for the bites of the two distinct species is different. Thus, it POST, TEXAS: NOTHING ORDINARY HERE could easily be a matter of life I feel there was an unfortunate typo in the March 2011 story and death to know the differ- “C.W. Post: Cereal Czar and Rainmaker.” The last paragraph ence. Color and pattern are ROSA LATIMER crucial. describes Post as “an ordinary little town.” I live in Post and ARDELL MITCHELL know without a doubt that it is an EXTRAordinary little Retired curator of town. The story mentions some 35 historical markers [in herpetology, Dallas Zoo Garza County]. Post also has two live theaters, a movie the- Pedernales Electric Cooperative ater, an art museum, a historic museum and Old Mill Trade Day Downtown the first Saturday of each month. AND the FIDDLERS’ FROLICS town has enjoyed 14 new businesses during the past two I loved the article about This statue of C.W. Post sits in front of years. Nothing ordinary here! Hallettsville’s Fiddlers’ Frolics the Garza County courthouse in extra- Rosa Latimer (April 2011, “Texas-style ordinary downtown Post. President, Post Area Chamber of Commerce Fiddlin’ ”). And as a native res-

TEXAS CO-OP POWER (USPS 540-560) is published monthly by Texas Electric Cooperatives (TEC). Periodical Postage Paid at Austin, TX and at additional offices. TEC is the statewide association representing 76 electric cooperatives. Texas Co-op Power’s website is TexasCoopPower.com. Call (512) 454-0311 or e-mail [email protected]. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE is $3.84 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. Direct questions or comments about advertising to Martin Bevins, sales director. © Copyright 2011 Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. Reproduction of this issue or any portion of it is expressly prohibited without written permission. Willie Wiredhand © Copyright 2011 National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

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Miss Tootsie Puts Lexington CO-OP PEOPLE on the Barbecue Map BY SHERYL SMITH-RODGERS after owner Kerry Bexley’s childhood nickname of “Snowman”) as Psst! What’s the secret to smoking what some consider the best soon as the restaurant opens at 8 a.m. Typically by noon, Snow’s is barbecue in Texas? “I don’t know,” shrugs Miss Tootsie, the veteran sold out, with customers having gone through more than 1,000 pit boss at Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, east of pounds of smoke-kissed bliss. Austin. Since 2008, when Texas Monthly crowned Hundreds of kids in the Giddings public schools Snow’s the state’s top barbecue joint, thousands system, where Miss Tootsie is in her 13th year as a have driven from near and far to sample Miss custodian, also adore her. “The schools are my home, Tootsie’s culinary skills. and I take pride in what the buildings look like,” Starting at 2 a.m. every Saturday, Norma she says simply. Miss Tootsie ranches, too. After Tomanetz—nicknamed “Miss Tootsie” at birth— breakfast every morning, she and White—they live in babies briskets, chicken, sausage and other meats Giddings—tend cattle at their Lexington ranch where in Snow’s five outdoor pits (one of her sons gets they’re served by Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative. some of the meat going around 11 p.m. the night All these years later, might this hard-working before). Now 76, she’s been dishing out finger- Snow’s BBQ pit boss Miss Tootsie, lady be ready to hang up her trademark blue apron lickin’ good barbecue since 1966, when she and her left, with owner Kerry Bexley and mops? “Nope, I’m not planning to retire,” Miss husband, White Tomanetz, worked at a meat market Tootsie replies firmly. “I’m just hoping our maker in nearby Giddings. Later, the couple ran their own meat market and gives me a few more years!” Saturday-only barbecue restaurant in Lexington for 20 years. Folks there still call Saturday their “barbecue day,” a tradition Sheryl Smith-Rodgers is a frequent contributor to Texas Co-op Power. that started decades ago when farmers traveled into town. Have a suggestion for a future Co-op People? Contact editor@ Nowadays, regular customers know to line up at Snow’s (named TexasCoopPower.com.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY EDD PATTON June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 7 The wind is howlin’ … The snow is blowin’ He’s somebody’s hero without them knowin’ Just who he is or what he did tonight When you throw a switch and the lights come on Remember the one who left his home To hold the lines and keep us shining bright He’s a lineman … Yeah he’s a lineman Chorus from “Somebody’s Hero,” co-written by Chick Herrin, aka “The Singing Lineman”

LIVESLIVES ONON THETHE LINELINE Any time, day or night, linemen keep us in the light. Yes, ma’am. Yes, sir. No power? No worries. We’re on our way.

BY CAMILLE WHEELER BILLY MOORE

Six a.m. Equipment trailer lights prick trailers to carts. Climbing belts. Hooks. rays of light penetrate Nolte Island the darkness. Shadowy figures move Safety straps. Hand lines. Hot sticks. Park, heads bow for the invocation. robotically, methodically, speaking in Some competitors sit alone. HILCO Hard hats and hands rest over hearts hushed, somber tones. The early morn- Electric Cooperative First-Class Line- for the playing of the national anthem. ing air lies still, seemingly safety-pinned man Kane Montgomery rhythmically A bucket truck lifts Chick Herrin, into place like the competition numbers threads yellow laces through the hooks the only living member of the inaugural on the electric linemen’s backs. and eyelets on his 16-inch-tall leather class inducted into the International It’s deceptively cool 45 minutes lineman boots. It’s a five-minute job. Lineman’s Hall of Fame, into position before sunrise. No hint yet of the broil- Montgomery’s grim face, set like con- at the facility’s entrance. Tucked ing July heat soon to punish the field in crete, yields no clues as to his feelings between U.S. and Texas flags secured the 2010 Texas Lineman’s Rodeo about the day’s grueling lineup of atop utility poles, Herrin, a retired southeast of Seguin. events. Bryan Texas Utilities manager and Poker-faced apprentices keep their “A little nervous,” he finally says, lineman, oversees the opening cere- hands busy, their minds clamping on allowing a soft smile. “Not too bad once mony from his lofty perch. the 50-question, written exam that you get going.” Then comes the booming cry from starts their competition at 7 a.m. One by one, team by team, the men Bobby Christmas, chairman of the Focus. Stay as sharp as the test-taking representing electric co-ops and board of directors for the Texas pencils they’re about to grip. Help jour- investor-owned and municipal utilities Lineman’s Rodeo Association: “ARE neyman linemen transfer gear from emerge from their trailers. As the first YOU READY TO RODEO?”

8 TEXAS CO-OP POWER June 2011 The linemen whoop their affirmative edly watching it shine out of sight into response. Let the competition begin. the alligator-inhabited depths. More power to ’em. ‘Excuse Me for a Second— It means facing the constant risk of Gotta Work’ falls, electrical burns, electrocution and Seven a.m. The climbing sun glowers other life-threatening accidents and like an angry, red-orange face. Life-size injuries in what is one of the most dan- mannequins wearing gray coveralls gerous occupations in the U.S. hang from poles, their bald heads eerily Despite the conditions or inherent turned sideways as though trying to risks of the job, electric linemen are look down to see who’s coming up to always ready to pull their boots on, says save them. This is Hurtman Rescue, Christmas, engineering and operations one of the rodeo’s most popular events. division manager for Guadalupe Valley Jeff Hohlt is up first for his team, Electric Cooperative. “They are the Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative. Right epitome of what makes Texas and hand, right foot, left hand, left foot, the America great,” he says. steel gaffs strapped to his boots digging Linemen still climb poles when into the wood, the 51-year-old crew bucket trucks can’t access alleys or supervisor climbs with the precise storm-ravaged areas. They routinely BILLY MOORE motion of a piston. The rescue expertly performed, Hohlt comes off the pole, breathing hard with sweat dripping off his nose and into his brown-gray mous- tache. Now it’s teammate Kenny Roland’s turn. “Going up the wood!” he shouts, zipping up the pole. “You got it, Kenny!” Hohlt hollers. “Get that man down!” Hohlt cranes his neck as he patiently answers a reporter’s questions about the event. “Excuse me for a second,” he says apologetically, never taking his eyes off Roland. “Gotta work.” Hard Work. Dangerous Work. Hard hats and hard work. Hardheaded guys who let nothing—sandstorms, hailstorms, tornados, swarming mos- quitoes, lack of sleep—stop them from restoring power for those they serve.

Yes, ma’am. Yes, sir. Power’s out? No BILLY MOORE worries. We’re on our way. “When the lights go out,” Hohlt says, work with high voltage and, most sig- OPPOSITE PAGE: The Texas Lineman’s Rodeo “we have to go to work.” nificantly, electrical current that can elevates pole work to an art form as a Guadalupe That means bundling up for work in kill a human with a flow of less than 1 Valley Electric Cooperative team illustrates in the Floating Phase Tie In event. Journeyman Lineman the freezing cold, when transmission ampere. Scott Brown, left, and Crew Foreman David and distribution lines have snapped “I have seen what it does to a bird, or Hernandez get an assist from unseen groundman under the weight of ice. It means a squirrel or a snake,” Christmas says. Ronnie Luensmann, who nimbly works the ropes changing fuses when the wind’s gusting “I wouldn’t want to see what it could do from below. TOP: Three half-hitch knots tied: check. Hand line cinched snug against the chest: 40 mph or more. It means crawling to me.” check. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative Crew over mangled trees and chain sawing a Supervisor Kenny Roland is almost ready to care- path for the repair of broken poles and ‘Headache!’ fully lower a mannequin—a ‘hurt man’—to the tangled, downed wires in the wake of Seven thirty-five a.m. Bluebonnet EC’s ground in one of the rodeo’s most popular events. thunderstorms and hurricanes. Kenny Roland reaches the mannequin BOTTOM: Mannequins hang from poles, their heads turned sideways as though trying to see It means, as one story from East and buckles off, looping his safety strap who’s coming up to save them in the Hurtman Texas-based Sam Houston Electric around the pole and rehooking it to his Rescue event. Cooperative goes, crossing a creek by climbing belt. Now secured to the pole, boat at night, accidentally dropping his spur-like climbing gaffs sunk into your hand light overboard and resign- the wood, Roland leans back with the

June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 9 several factors, including the building of wind-power transmission lines in the Panhandle, the Texas Workforce Commission projects that the number of power lineworker jobs will have increased roughly 20 percent between 2006 and 2016. Coupled with an approaching line- man shortage—many of the state’s elec- tric co-ops project that 10 percent to more than 40 percent of their line work- ers will be eligible for retirement in the next five to 10 years—there’s a sense of urgency: Now, more than ever, Texas needs electric linemen who can do it all. Texas Electric Cooperatives (TEC), the statewide association that repre- sents the interests of 76 electric co-ops, advises 10 Texas colleges on what to BILLY MOORE include in electric lineman training SWEAT EQUITY: Hamilton County Electric the Texas Lineman’s Rodeo as a live curriculum. TEC has been working Cooperative’s seniors division team—from left, performance: It’s a chance to show off hard for several years to fill the pro- Crew Foreman Jimmy Horton, Line for friends and family members and jected retirement gaps, says Tiffin Superintendent Albert Pafford and Crew Foreman Paul Knight—put it all on the line at the rodeo. impress the judges who determine the Wortham, vice president, TEC Member Pafford, 54, says he wishes he had been among trophy winners strutting across the Services. the 1940s pioneers ‘bringing the power to the stage at day’s end. “The lineman’s career is very people who didn’t have lines.’ But beneath the friendly ribbing, a rewarding, and just a couple of semes- deadly seriousness takes hold. There’s ters’ work at a local college can start the no clowning around, even in Pole right individual in a career that will last belt supporting his full weight. Climb, a speed event requiring balance a lifetime,” he says. With gloved hands, he wraps a hand and control in which competitors line under the mannequin’s arms and descend with a raw egg in their ‘Power to the People’ ties three half-hitch knots, cinching the mouths. Crack or break the shell, and Like a welding torch drawing a bead, rope snug against the mannequin’s the yolk’s on you—along with a very the sun zeroes in on linemen, some of chest. Roland’s almost done: He hollers unfunny 10-point gig. whom chill down inside a zipped-tight, “Headache!” in a traditional lineman air-conditioned tent. Water jugs and warning to those standing below and Safety First, Then Perfection ice-packed coolers of bottled water line drops the rope’s pulley block—stan- The rodeo preaches safety first, then the rodeo grounds. Competitors guzzle dard lineman gear used to raise and perfection as judges score teams, fluids, as much as their bellies will lower equipment—to the ground. Then climbers and groundmen on how well hold. he cuts the mannequin’s leather safety they work together. From tying knots Live oak and pecan trees spread strap. The “hurt man” swings free, and that won’t come loose under pressure their branches over much of the rodeo Roland controls its every move to the to the generational ties that bind, good grounds, including a simultaneously mulch beneath the pole, doling out communication is of the essence: Older occurring rodeo barbecue competition. rope like a puppet master. linemen, such as Bluebonnet EC’s But the linemen, isolated atop poles on The strain shows on Roland’s face: Hohlt, competing last year in the 45- a cloudless day, simply bake in the near The mannequins, their chests filled and-older seniors division, show 100-degree heat, with shade and the with 20-pound bags of birdshot, typi- youngsters the ropes—and prove that Guadalupe River circling the park a cally weigh well over 150 pounds. But they’re still pretty dadgum fast at tempting glance away. judges don’t cut the competitors any climbing poles. Hamilton County Electric Cooper- slack: It’s a two-point gig, or demerit, if Rodeo officials, in turn, introduce ative Line Superintendent Albert the mannequin hits the pole after its events every year that challenge all Pafford, his button-down, long-sleeved initial swing. It’s a 10-point gig—the competitors to learn skills that make shirt darkened from tan to a sopping so-called kiss of death for trophy them safer and better linemen—and, brown, comes off the pole in the 600 dreams—if the lineman lets the man- ultimately, increase their value on the Amp Switch Change event so wet with nequin free-fall to the ground. No job market and to their employers. sweat it looks like he’s been thrown in safety nets here. As the utility industry takes on more the river. The lithe and sinewy 54-year- Even though the “hurt men” are sophisticated and high-tech dimen- old is competing in the seniors division. made of pliable rubber and the over- sions, so grows the demand for well- “It’s better known as the gummers’ head lines are dead, competitors treat trained electric linemen. Based on division,” he says with a grin, flashing

10 TEXAS CO-OP POWER June 2011 A LINEMAN’S GEAR KYLE KASPER HARD HAT: Linemen are as tough and Job: Fourth-year apprentice lineman for hardheaded as they come, but you’ll Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative never catch ’em bareheaded: A hard hat Age: 27 provides insulated protection against Family: Wife, Laurie Kasper, and their 2-year-old electrical hazards and protects the head son, Kaden from blows and falling objects. Pre-gear weight: 164.5 pounds Fully geared-up weight: 210.5 pounds HAND LINE: The lineman’s On climbing poles: “It hasn’t bothered me yet.” lifeline. Complete with steel clips and a pulley block, this rope, which hangs from a pole’s crossarm, is strong INSULATED GLOVES: Insulated enough for any job—from the rubber gloves—these are tested to PULLEY BLOCK: Linemen can’t carry everything up a pole, and the routine hoisting of equipment 30,000 volts—provide protection to life-saving missions. against electric shock and burn. pulley block—the signature compo- They are worn inside leather nent of the hand line—is used to gloves, or gauntlets, that raise and lower heavy equipment. protect the rubber against cuts, abrasions and punctures.

TOOL POUCH: This EQUIPMENT BELT: bag also hangs from the Think of it as the lineman’s back of the equipment suitcase, with clips, loops belt and carries a wide and D rings providing ways variety of tools, such as to carry virtually every tool pliers and wrenches. he might need—whether it’s on the ground, on a pole or in a bucket truck.

DITTY BAG: This canvas bag hangs from the equipment belt and literally holds the nuts and bolts (and connectors, wire, etc.) CLIMBERS: Contoured that linemen need at leg shanks—Kasper’s are the ready for any BOOTS: Not cowboy made of aluminum—hold number of jobs. boots, mind you, but line- gaffs securely in place man boots: Typically 16 on linemen’s boots. inches tall (Kasper’s stand Climbers are strapped on SAFETY STRAP: When a 13 inches), these boots just below the knee, with lineman reaches the top of a pole, help prevent linemen from Velcro pads providing he unhooks one end of his safety gaffing, or gouging, them- comfort and support. strap from his equipment belt, loops the strap around the pole, selves in the leg. Serrated and rehooks the strap to his belt. heels provide for a better Having “buckled off,” he can now grip when climbing, and safely work with both hands free. steel shanks built into the soles provide extra sup- port on the pole.

GAFFS: Razor-sharp steel points— NUMEROUS TOOLS are attached HOT STICK: Typically made of insulated, high- think cowboy spurs—that are strapped to a hot stick’s universal head. This voltage-tested fiberglass—and extendable up to to boots for climbing poles. Only the attached tool is a disconnect head, 40 feet—hot sticks help linemen safely perform tips dig into the wood, helping linemen which is used for a variety of jobs. a variety of jobs while working on energized climb more safely and efficiently. power lines.

POP QUIZ: Here is a sample question from The Lineman’s and Cableman’s Handbook as it has appeared on the Texas Lineman’s Rodeo written apprentice test: Protective grounds guard the lineman from what types of hazards?

A: Static charges B: Induced voltages C: Accidental energizing of the line D: All of the above Answer: D Answer:

LINEMAN GEAR PHOTOS BY WILL VAN OVERBEEK June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 11 down a pole without breaking the egg in help. Head home, keep members’ his mouth. Williams, a 6-foot-7-inch, power on, and start practicing for the 270-pound mountain of a man who next rodeo. The events accelerate the climbs like a limber bear, bends down to linemen’s skills, Woods says, praising remove his climbers, the contoured leg his team’s efforts. shanks that hold his gaffs in place. “Let “What you saw today,” the line me get out, and you can carry them, superintendent says, “is what happens OK?” he says to his son. when the lights go out.” Kale solemnly nods and then Hard hats and hard work. Yes, ma’am. announces: “Dad, guess what? Last Yes, sir. Power’s out? No worries. We’re night, I catched a firefly.” on our way.

Pitch in and Help Camille Wheeler, associate editor Two-thirty p.m. Most of the competitors are done for the day and have headed 2010 Winners back to their motel rooms for a cold Twenty-eight journeyman lineman teams shower. It’s time to rehydrate, relax and and 82 apprentices competed in the 2010 wait for the evening’s barbecue dinner Texas Lineman’s Rodeo. Following are the and awards ceremony. top winners: But the sun beats down on a few Overall journeyman team, electric co-ops, remaining climbers, including those in municipalities, investor-owned utilites: the apprentice-only Secondary Service Farmers Electric Cooperative—David BILLY MOORE on Pole event. Frayed nerves, com- McDowell, Danny Moss, Larry Terry EGG-CELLENT WORK: Pedernales Electric pounded by inexperience, are starting to Overall journeyman team, electric co-ops: Cooperative Class A Lineman Carl ‘Bubba’ show. One competitor climbs in slow HILCO Electric Cooperative—Lance Williams readies for a quick descent in the Pole motion, watching his feet and inching his Henkelman, Kane Montgomery, Jason Patton Climb event. Power-line work, the 32-year-old says, is everything: ‘It’s my life. There are only a hands up the pole. At the top, he catches Overall apprentice: Kyle Kasper, handful of us who can do what we do. I love being his breath and clings to the wood. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative a lineman.’ A couple of poles over, in the same event, a roar erupts as Mid-South 2011 Texas Lineman’s Rodeo Synergy Apprentice Brandon Taylor The 15th annual rodeo is scheduled for July white teeth against sun-singed skin. confidently descends. “Who can take a 16 at Nolte Island Park, southeast of Seguin. As competitors trudge from event to picture?” Line Superintendent Jim event, their sweat-crusted work gloves Woods hollers to anyone within earshot On TexasCoopPower.com frozen in stiff-fingered waves from the as the electric co-op team mobs Taylor. “Our Job is to Save back pockets of Wrangler jeans, the The group poses for a happy shot Lives”: Learn how a images seared into memory are those and heads for the co-op’s tent. The 26- dramatic drop in line- of faces: year-old Taylor can’t stop smiling. Not man injuries statewide The sweat- and dirt-streaked face of only did he survive his first rodeo, but correlates with Texas Pafford, who says he wishes he were he performed well under pressure. He Electric Cooperatives’ BILLY MOORE actually a little older. “I’d have liked to loves the teasing, the tough love and (TEC) safety and Bandera Electric Co-op have been one of the ones in the 1940s encouragement from his teammates. training programs. Lineman Jon Randon Williams bringing the power to the people who “They pick on me because I’m a grunt,” Grow ’em, groom ’em and keep ’em: didn’t have lines,” he says. “I get a lot of Taylor says, his face shining with sweat. Read about the crucial role TEC is playing as enjoyment, even working all night—the Working for Mid-South, says Taylor, co-ops brace for a lineworker shortage. wife, kids, seeing our faces when we a baby-faced father of two sons, is like Listen up: Climbing poles, International turn the lights back on.” working for family. The co-op helped Lineman’s Hall of Fame member Chick The proud faces of Mark and Mary him transition from climbing trees with Herrin says in this story, is like dancing— Kellogg who drove almost 1,300 miles a right-of-way crew to climbing poles. don’t look down lest you lose the rhythm. from Amery, Wisconsin, to watch their Now he’s climbing the career ladder And Herrin, as “The Singing Lineman,” is son, Mitch Kellogg, compete in Central and plans on staying with the co-op as right on beat as listeners tap their feet to Texas. Their efforts are doubly long as they’ll have him. his country music. rewarded: Mitch, wearing the bright But retirement is a long ways off for Videos: Learn pink shirt of Farmers Electric Cooper- this young man. There’s immediate about the rewards of a ative, finishes second in the overall work at hand, announced by the ping of lineman’s career in a apprentice competition. a pounding hammer as linemen take TEC recruiting video. The beaming face of 6-year-old Kale down the co-op’s tent. Taylor, mid- And in a short rodeo Williams as he watches his dad, sentence, instinctively reaches down to video, gear up with Pedernales Electric Cooperative Class A pull up a metal stake. Lineman Joey BILLY MOORE Lineman Carl “Bubba” Williams, race No questions asked. Pitch in and Attocknie (right) of Garland Power & Light.

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June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 13  

 JEFF BRIDGES HAILEE STEINFELD MATT DAMON

BY CONNIE STRONG For a few magical months, the little town of Granger lives large through filming of ‘True Grit’

Granger’s City Hall is normally a quiet aged during filming. Paramount offi- ing posts. Six inches of dirt covered place. Its single spire can be seen from a cials gave that pledge, Granger’s City Davilla Street; Granger National Bank distance, marking the corner where the Council approved the project, and housed the marshal’s office and an attor- town’s daily business takes place. construction of the movie set began in ney’s office. An abandoned building Columned archways, transom windows January 2010. across from the bank was converted to and pressed-tin ceilings are reminis- Granger, which originated in 1882 the undertaker’s shop, and Granger’s cent of a time more than 100 years ago when the Houston and San Antonio main thoroughfare became a temporary when cotton was king and the area branches of the Missouri, Kansas and home for businesses like Arkansas prospered. Following that era, this Texas Railroad intersected, rolled out Laundry, Hotel Main and Pony Express. quaint little town of nearly 1,300 settled the figurative red carpet for Oscar- Electric lines, once hovering over- into a predictable, comfortable routine. winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan head, were buried; any evidence of the But that all changed when Para- Coen and a cast of some of the silver 21st century was slipping away. mount Pictures transformed the quiet screen’s finest. When scenes required trees where community into the backdrop for a new In the Coen brothers’ version of “True there were none, movie crews drilled adaptation of the 1969 classic film “True Grit”—a closer adaptation of Charles holes into wooden poles and inserted Grit” starring John Wayne. Portis’ novel than the 1969 production— makeshift “branches,” using a bit of In October 2009, first-term Mayor Jeff Bridges plays the part of the salty, movie magic and a bark-like covering to Scott Murrah found himself in the drunken and trigger-happy U.S. produce the desired effect. middle of a major challenge when Marshal Rooster Cogburn. Matt Damon The Monarch Boarding House Paramount’s scouts visited Granger brings to life LaBoeuf, a self-serving façade was constructed in the lot next and told him that the town was being Texas Ranger who has no reservations in to the home of third-generation considered for the film’s location site. “paddling the backside” of the gutsy 14- Grangerite Bennie Bartosh. He says he “I really did not grasp the full reality year-old Mattie Ross, played by new- “watched every nail go in” from a of how big that was going to be,” he comer Hailee Steinfeld. Josh Brolin’s bench in his backyard. said. character, outlaw Tom Chaney, rounds Paramount used golf carts to shuttle Two months later, after considering out the list of colorful characters for the employees and customers, allowing eight states and dozens of towns, blockbuster film that earned 10 businesses to remain open; and as visi- Paramount gave Murrah the news that Academy Award nominations. tors flocked to town to catch a glimpse of this predominately Czech community, Robbie Friedmann, Paramount’s the Coens and the actors, merchants nestled among the gently rolling location manager for the film, said the began to realize financial benefits. blackland of Williamson County, Coen brothers wanted a town that The Cotton Club, a popular restau- would be getting company—Holly- resembled Fort Smith, Arkansas, back in rant and dance hall, normally is open wood was, indeed, coming to this 1875—the central setting for the book only on weekends for dinner, but owner once-renowned railroad town. and the movie. Granger had the neces- Jill Cox changed her schedule to serve Although Murrah realized that sary core elements required to make the the famished crews home-cooked meals “True Grit” would generate much- period piece believably authentic. of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, needed revenue, bringing the movie to “Granger was the town that time for- fresh vegetables and gooey, rich Granger would also mean disruption got,” said production designer Jess desserts. “We fed 25 or 30 people every of the locals’ routine—and it meant Gonchor, explaining that one of the day for lunch, so it was very profitable,” making sure the town was back to nor- town’s key attractions is a train crossing she said. mal by May 8, in time for the 33rd that helped set up a crucial scene. Granger Lumber Company owner annual Granger Lakefest. “You have to sense that Fort Smith is Walt Peters saw daily revenue increase But the biggest concern for Granger the last stop on the line as Mattie arrives by nearly $300, and Monica Stojanik, officials was getting assurance that the on the train.” manager of Bohuslav’s Red & White historic bricks of Davilla Street, which The movie required several “new” Grocery—where circus peanuts and were laid in 1912, would not be dam- building façades, dirt streets and hitch- orange-slice candies hang from a wire HAILEE STEINFELD AND MATT DAMON COURTESY OF WILSON WEBB, JEFF BRIDGES LOREY SEBASTIAN

14 TEXAS CO-OP POWER June 2011 GRANGER, TEXAS, AS FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS, CIRCA 1875

After considering eight states and dozens of towns, Paramount Pictures chose Granger for the filming of ‘True Grit.’ The tiny Williamson County town rolled out the figurative red carpet for a cast of some of Hollywood’s finest actors. But the remake of the movie—along with a remake of the town— was defined not by star power, but by the gritty look of dirt streets, hitching posts, and horses and buggies. A vintage steam train used in filming was a fitting attraction for this old railroad town. BUILDING AND TRAIN COURTESY OF CONNIE STRONG, BUGGY MARY CHAVOUSTIE

June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 15 rack—said hungry crews and visitors but critical, Garner says, because the remained intact. True to its word, bought snacks and sandwiches every day. train is used as a “reveal”—it’s the first Paramount finished filming by May 8, Granger, Stojanik said, became a 24- time the audience sees Fort Smith. in time for Lakefest. “Fort Smith, hour tourist attraction: “On weekends, Granger Police Chief David Mace, a Arkansas” was gone, and Davilla Street, our little town had wall-to-wall crowds. soft-spoken man light years removed once again, belonged to the citizens of We were all friends because we had a from the surly character of Rooster Granger. Gone but not forgotten, the making of “True Grit” left an indelible impression on the rural community; residents felt ownership in the movie that briefly placed their town in the limelight. Now, there’s nothing out of the ordinary to observe, and Bartosh is one of many who feels the loss: “It was nice when they were all here—town seems empty now.” Today, it’s business as usual at Granger National Bank, which served as Steinfeld’s classroom. As the youngest member of the cast, Steinfeld not only had to learn to shoot a gun, get comfortable with Western-style horseback riding and learn to roll a cigarette—she also had to keep up with her math lessons. When the movie wrapped, bank employees asked Hailee to autograph the boardroom wall—a perma- nent reminder of the newcomer who won the hearts of an entire town. The film’s crew members left with their own fond memories. Garner recalls a little girl in a pink dress who came with her grandfather to see the steam engine. Fascinated, she picked up a railroad spike, sat down in the dirt and started playing. “Before you know it, her little pink dress wasn’t so pink anymore,” Garner recalls. “Those are the things I remember.” Hollywood has moved on, leaving the townspeople to their simple, quiet lives. One blinking red light slows travelers and locals. With the exception of Ace’s Bar, nothing much is taking place in the way of nightlife. But when the weekend arrives, The Cotton Club, once again, will be in full swing, breathing life into GRANGER, TEXAS, CIRCA 2011 Granger—a town that has survived the TOP: Granger Police Chief David Mace, a soft-spoken man who’s nothing like the crotchety film charac- hands of time and has proven to possess ter of U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, kept a friendly eye on tourists. BOTTOM: Film directors Ethan, left, a true grit of its own. and Joel Coen, center, review a shot with Hailee Steinfeld, who portrayed the 14-year-old Mattie Ross. Connie Strong is a freelance writer common interest. It was great for busi- Cogburn, kept daily onlookers in line based out of Chappell Hill, near ness and great for the community.” with the help of area law enforcement Houston. Fittingly for the old railroad town, a officials. Visitors were asked to be silent vintage steam train brought in for film- during filming, remain in designated On TexasCoopPower.com ing was a major attraction. Movie train areas and refrain from using any camera Read the story of third-generation Grangerite coordinator Stan Garner said he moved equipment. Bennie Bartosh, who relived the town’s horse- this same train to New Mexico for the In four short months, Granger had and-buggy days through the eyes of Hollywood. movie “3:10 to Yuma” and to Marfa for been chosen, transformed, filmed and Meanwhile, “True Grit” and Texas made for a “There Will Be Blood.” On the set in returned to normal. Throughout the good fit: Learn about the other locations Granger, the first train sequence is short excitement, traditional priorities selected for the filming of this gritty Western. POLICE CHIEF COURTESY OF CONNIE STRONG, COEN BROTHERS AND HAILEE STEINFELD WILSON WEBB

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© 2011 PHOTOS.COM ELECTRIC SAFETY VACATION CHECKLIST

We look forward to the fun and relaxation of summer vacations all year long. But while we’re away, fires can start when light- ning storms strike houses, spark- ing flames in electronics or small appliances, and burglaries tend to increase because folks aren’t at home. To protect your home while away, implement this safety check- Going on Vacation? list before you leave to help decrease the risk of problems: Give Your Electric Meter a Break, Too p Turn off and unplug electric appliances, including toaster ovens, stoves and curling irons. It’s n 2011, Americans are expected the fixtures that are set to light up. especially important to unplug tel- Ito spend $683 billion on travel, Outbuildings, such as garages, evision sets and computers, as according to the U.S. Travel shops, sheds and studios, should be these items are more susceptible Association. If you’re heading out on checked for lights left on and appli- to lightning and power surges. a summer trip or weekend getaway, ances that can be unplugged. save a few dollars by leaving your Refrigerators can be made more home in an energy-efficient state. energy efficient by adjusting the tem- From lighting to air conditioning, perature to make them slightly turning electronic equipment off or warmer. Food left in the fridge will down can save energy and money. likely stay preserved at 38 degrees. Air conditioners don’t need to run Also, filling empty spaces with non- full tilt while the home is vacant. perishable beverages or containers Consider turning the air-conditioning filled with water helps keep the tem- unit off to maximize savings, or at perature consistent. If vacationing for least adjusting the thermostat to save a long period of time, empty the Unplugging electronics before you leave is one of the best things you money on what could be your largest refrigerator and freezer, and unplug can do to help protect your home. single energy expense. them to maximize savings. Electronics with digital displays and Water heaters can be turned off to p Use a timer on indoor lights. standby power settings, such as digital save electricity. Writing down the tem- Look for one that can be set to a clocks, TVs, DVD players, stereos and perature setting can help you remem- random pattern rather than one coffeemakers, should be unplugged to ber where to set it (120 degrees is an that cycles the same way through- prevent phantom energy use, drawing ideal temperature) when you turn it out the day. electricity even when not switched on. back on. p Install motion-detecting Fountains, hot tubs and other out- Windows let in light, which creates lights outdoors. door waterworks that use electricity excess heat. Close blinds and curtains p Give your house key to a can be turned off. to moderate the temperature. trusted neighbor, and make sure he Lights can be switched off. If plan- Read the electric meter before and or she has a phone number where ning to use timers or motion-detecting after a vacation to see how much you can be reached. lights to create the illusion of being at energy was saved. Then use the sav-

home, use energy-efficient lightbulbs in ings on your next vacation. © 2011 PHOTOS.COM

18 TEXAS CO-OP POWER June 2011 ELECTRIC NOTES

SUMMER COMFORT Just as you can cut back on driving to save energy, you also can limit the amount of electricity you use at home by cutting waste. Here are nine ways you can reduce your energy consumption this summer with- out feeling uncomfortable:

Replace your old, manual thermostat with an electronic model. New 1 thermostats have automatic settings that can slightly change indoor tem- peratures at strategic times of the day. For example, you can program your thermostat to slightly raise the temperature after the family leaves the house What Doesn’t in the morning, and then program it to lower the temperature again just before everyone gets home. Belong on a Schedule a tuneup for your air-conditioning system. A licensed A/C tech- 2 nician will check the levels of refrigerant in the system and determine Utility Pole whether any of its parts are wearing out or running inefficiently. The better you maintain your system, the less it costs to operate it. Although seemingly innocent enough, putting signs or other items on utility Close the blinds during the hours when direct sunlight hits your house. poles creates serious safety hazards. 3 The less sun that shines into your home, the cooler it will stay. That Staples, nails and tacks used to hang means your air conditioner won’t need to kick on as often. signs—as well as the signs themselves— Run your dishwasher, washing machine and clothes dryer after dark. pose dangers to electric cooperative 4 Most people run these appliances during the day, so demand for electric- lineworkers who must climb poles when ity soars. Doing chores at night, particularly ones that produce heat and either restoring power after storms or cause the air conditioner to run more, helps lower the co-op’s overall peak performing routine maintenance to use, which helps control the cost you pay per kilowatt-hour. ensure system reliability. Posters or other objects (co-ops have Better yet, air-dry your laundry. Hang clothes outside on a clothesline found birdhouses, balloons, flags and even 5 when the weather is nice. basketball goals on poles) can create dan- gerous obstacles. Also, the nails and tacks Turn off lights and unplug computers, TVs and battery chargers. Don’t left behind from signs can snag utility 6 waste electricity by allowing your appliances to use power when you’re workers’ boots or puncture safety cloth- not using them. ing, making lineworkers vulnerable to slip- ping or even electrocution. Replace incandescent lightbulbs with compact-fluorescent lightbulbs, In addition to being hazardous, tam- 7 which use less energy, last longer and emit less heat. pering with utility poles can be costly. Microwave your dinner. A microwave oven uses less energy to cook the Posting signs or attaching other objects 8 same food as the cooktop or oven. to utility poles is against the law. Cooperatives encourage consumers Shop smart. If you’re replacing any of your home’s appliances this sum- to contact local zoning officers to 9 mer, choose Energy Star-rated models. They’re guaranteed to be more inquire about where signage can be energy efficient than appliances that don’t qualify for the label. posted legally—and safely. © 2011 PHOTOS.COM

June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 19 Elisabet Ney: TEXAS USA A Texas Original

Sculptor’s genius A youthful Sam Houston, his image captured in white marble, gazes H resolutely into the distance inside the Texas Capitol in Austin. never fit the Sculpted by Elisabet Ney in 1892, first in clay, then plaster, and later in marble, Houston is portrayed not in the finery of a state official, but in a fringed conventional mold. buckskin suit, his sword at his side. Ney, who was one of Texas’ first professional sculptors, was born in 1833 in Münster, Germany. She learned the art of working with marble from her father, a By Martha Deeringer master stonecutter, in his workshop—a place normally off-limits to women. Years later, that experience paid off as she won commissions to sculpt many of the great men of Europe, including German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, Italian mil- itary hero Giuseppe Garibaldi, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and King George V of Hanover. In about 1871, Ney and her husband, Dr. Edmund Montgomery, moved from Europe to the United States, settling briefly in Georgia before heading to the fron- tier land of Texas. Ney was quoted in a German newspaper as saying, “After so many of the great men of the civilized world sat for me, I would like to model the greatest of the wild men.” In 1873, the couple purchased Liendo Plantation, one of Texas’ earliest cotton plantations, in Waller County. It fit the vision of the utopian existence they longed for. As the story goes, Ney stepped onto the second-story veranda of the planta- tion’s graceful old house, spread her arms wide, and announced, “Here will I live. And here will I die!” In her new home, she immediately raised eyebrows with her odd clothing— long, flowing white flannel robes and, occasionally, pants. Ney cut her hair short and rode like a man, with one leg on each side of the horse; on long trips, she car- ried a hammock behind her saddle so she could stop and rest. She kept her maiden name, leading folks to speculate about the couple’s marital status. And because she insisted on introducing her husband as “my best friend,” the fires of gossip flared. Edmund and Elisabet had two sons. Their oldest child, Arthur, died of diphthe- ria shortly before his second birthday, soon after the family arrived at Liendo. Ney was inconsolable. The doctor advised that the body be cremated to avoid the spread of disease, and rumors persisted that the couple accomplished this sorrow- ful task in the fireplace at the plantation, further distancing them from their sus- picious neighbors. For the next 20 years, Ney concentrated on raising her youngest son, Lorne. She ran Liendo, often riding out to repair fences in her pantaloons. Edmund, a physician, scientist and philosopher, worked in his laboratory on the premises when he wasn’t traveling. In the early 1880s, Gov. Oran Roberts, already a friend of the family, invited Ney to Austin and asked her to help with the visual aspects of the new Capitol

20 TEXAS CO-OP POWER June 2011 being planned. Eventually, during her work in Austin, Ney met Benedette Tobin, chairwoman of a committee overseeing the creation of a Texas exhibition at the World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago. Although Ney was viewed as a curiosity by many, Tobin commissioned her in 1892 to sculpt statues of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin for display at the 1893 exposition. Ney agreed to waive her artist’s fee, provided the committee raised the money to have the statues done in marble within 10 years. The statues were first done in clay, then coated with material to make a mold. They were next cast in plaster. Only the statue of Houston was ready in time for the Chicago exposition. The Texas Legislature eventually appropriated money to have both statues done in marble, and these versions now greet visitors just inside the Capitol’s south entrance. Duplicates of the statues are also on display in Washington, D.C., in the U.S. Capitol’s National Statuary Hall. Ney chose to portray Houston and Austin as frontier noblemen dressed in buckskins. With practiced hands, she instilled the heroes’ spirits into the stone, using engravings and photographs as guides. When criticized for making Houston’s statue taller than Austin’s (representing the men’s approximate heights of 6 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 7 inches, respectively), Ney answered in a letter: “If I am correctly informed, God made the two men. I merely reproduced their likenesses. If you are dissatisfied about them, you should take the matter up with God.” Meanwhile, in 1892, Ney began the construction of a studio in Austin’s Hyde Park area. She envisioned her new studio—named Formosa, Portuguese for “beautiful”—as a place where she could work among the state’s political and intellectual leaders. It was built of native limestone in a neoclassi- cal design; it was her own miniature, medieval castle on Waller Creek. Slowly, more commissions came her way, and Ney traveled between Liendo and Austin to work on busts of Texas dignitaries, such as Sul Ross and Francis Lubbock, both governors. Although she had few close friends, her studio became a gathering place for Austin artists and intellectuals. A few years after her death in Austin in 1907, a group of Ney’s admirers formed the Texas Fine Arts Association in her honor. Formosa was reopened as the Elisabet Ney Museum, which houses many of the artist’s works, including the original plaster statues of Houston and Austin. The museum is open Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. A project is under way to restore the grounds’ landscaping from Ney’s time—a special nod to an artist way ahead of her time.

Martha Deeringer is a frequent contrib- utor to Texas Co-op Power.

The Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin houses

MUSEUM PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MATTHEW FULLER, NEY PORTRAIT COURTESY OF ELISABET MUSEUM, COLORIZATION FULLER many of the trailblazing sculptor’s works.

June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 21 22 OBSERVATIONS EA OO POWER CO-OP TEXAS Fade Away Fade Never classmates arenow gone, buttimehas etched theirwords BY HARRYNOBLE June 2011 in diamonds. Some 1939 I one, butamstill guilty oftheothers. outof thefirst andideas. Shewasrightonallcounts. Igrew clown fullofenergy and Ihadtobe proddedtodomy assignments.She alsoidentified me asaclass tences. Shemadeitclearthat atage9Iwasanti-girls,kept acluttered desk Originally, themindiamonds. buttimehasetched wereworthless, they essays from20classmates and onefrommy short teacher.thoughts. Icollected Day Autobiography.” sister, afifth-grader, gave mea5-inch-by-4-inchgreenbooktitled“My School- County. two grade, grades The andmy sharedthesameroom.Iwasinfourth Miss Baker’s entry was succinct—telling reams about me in six short sen- reamsabout meinsixshort wassuccinct—telling Miss Baker’s entry areMiss aswrittenThese Baker’s decadesago: commentsexactly seven It contained50blankpagesonwhichmy classmatescouldwritetheir East Texas borderinSabine neartheLouisiana townofRosevine, n 1939,Miss Hazel andfifth Baker taughtthefourth grades inthesmall have beenfunaswellpeptotheFourth Grade. and youhaveworkedhardwhenrememberedtodo so.You your deskstraight.Ithinkyouhavebeenarealcleverlittle boy; you torememberus.Iamsurewilltrying tokeep were allcrazyto“peep”inside. “Miss” Baker I amsurewewillneverforgetyou,Harry, butwealsowant I amgladyoudecidedtoletthegirlswriteinyourbook. We Dear Harry, April 25,1939 The six entries on this page appear exactly as written more than 70 years ago. The words carry a Dear Harry timeless poignancy. ‘Be kind to all playmates,’ Milton Baldree wrote on November 7, 1939 (below). I am glad I met you. Well I had better ‘Make them happy.’ close it is time for the five minute period. Your friend Albert Sparks

Dear Harry I am going to right in your book. I like the other boys and you to. I like to play with you. I hope you have a good time. You are a good friend to me. But we can’t be together all the time. Be kind to all playmates. Make them happy. Your friend Milton Baldree

Dear Harry I hope you get promoted to the fifth grade. You have made very good grades this year and I hope you do the same next year. I have enjoyed being in you’re room. I wish I could get to be in you’re room next year but I don’t reckon I can if I get promoted. I don’t know nothing else to write so I’ll have to quit. Your friend, Lamar Slay Dear Harry I am glad I met you. You and I are friends. And I am glad. You are the only one I think of but one. And I think of you more than the other. Some day we will part. And if you will keep this book, you will think of me. Your friend Walter Owen

Dear Harry I am glad that I met you. I am glad that you are my friend. You are so good and kind. I believe you love everyone. But someday we will part, but we can be Looking through the book spurred me to research the whereabouts of my ele- friends can’t we. Be good and some day mentary classmates and compile a partial list for my records (a few names have we will walk the golden streets. Lots of slipped away and couldn’t be included). The research surfaced a wide range of love. emotions, certainly sadness at the large number of former classmates who have Your friend passed on. Pure joy emerged when I talked to classmates in person or by tele- Eugene Ferguson phone. I was surprised each time I couldn’t find any information. Overall, it was an enriching experience. Dear Harry As for Miss Hazel Baker, she was born August 20, 1909, and grew up in the I am going to stay in the fifth grade Hebron (Massey) community in San Augustine County. Her parents were W.H. for another year. I hope you catch me. and Leona West Baker, and she had three sisters: Eria Baker, Eldora Baker Winn No you will. Have you failed eny gread and Corine Baker Thompson. After earning her credentials, she taught in yet, I hope you hadden. If you do catch Midland, Hebron and Rosevine, among other places. me we have a good time. Are you com- She married Fred Cobb. He died in the late 1960s and was buried in the Tebo ing to the play tonight. I hope you, we Cemetery. She died July 1, 2001, and was buried near her parents in the Hebron will a goode. Lamar is going to stay all Cemetery. night with me. Your friend To Miss Hazel Baker: A special salute for the tremendous job you did all those Mencil Burkhalter years ago. Thank you.

Harry Noble lives in Iola and is a frequent contributor to Texas Co-op Power.

June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 23 “Thanks Stauer for making me look like a hero to my wife!” — STAUER CLIENT, Oklahoma City, OK

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BY MARTHA DEERINGER ‘Soap Suds Row’

More than two centuries ago, dusty soldiers stationed A few military men across the state, from Fort Gates in Central Texas to Fort Davis with high sartorial in far West Texas, desperately needed clean uniforms. Few sol- standards paid extra to diers wanted to tackle the dirty work themselves, so laun- have their uniforms dresses—a historically obscure but crucial component of the ironed, a backbreaking frontier military—were officially put to work by the U.S. Army task involving a heavy in 1802 in a practice adopted from the British. flatiron heated in a Laundresses, also referred to as washerwomen, were the skillet over the fire to only women officially recognized and supported by the Army avoid ash and smoke in the 19th century. Yet officers’ wives and daughters, who stains. Laundresses also technically were merely camp followers, considered them- did mending, sewed on selves on a higher social plane than the lowly laundresses. buttons and applied Still, social pariahs or not, the laundresses washed and bluing to the final rinse mended the Army’s clothing, nursed the sick, baked pies, to offset the yellowish cleaned houses and generally lent an air of civilization to the tinge that light-colored frontier. clothing acquired from A laundress was required to have a certificate of good char- repeated washings with acter from headquarters before she could assume duty. lye soap. Laundresses for each company were appointed by company Each soldier paid the captains and received one daily ration of meat, bread and laundress according to a schedule determined by each com- whiskey. The whiskey was issued for removing stains—but pany’s post council. At Fort Concho in San Angelo, the amount may or may not have been used for that purpose. The washer- ranged from $1 to $4 a month per soldier, depending on the women were permitted to seek the services of the company soldier’s rank. Money owed to laundresses was subtracted surgeon and were also allotted a tent, a hatchet, a large tub for from a soldier’s pay. While a soldier might earn $13 a month, washing and two mess pans. an industrious laundress could make up to $40 over the same “Soap Suds Row,” where the laundresses lived and worked, period. was separate from the rest of the camp, often behind the bar- Because many Army laundresses could neither read nor racks near the sewer outlet. At Ringgold Barracks, on the Rio write, having spent their lives far removed from educational Grande, the laundresses lived in tattered tents draped over opportunity, there are few diaries, letters or journals recording frame supports and patched with barrel staves, broken boards their experiences. Some laundresses were infamous charac- and gunnysacks. If a laundress married a soldier, a frequent ters, roundly criticized for drunkenness and loose morals. At occurrence because women were scarce at frontier forts, her Fort Concho, a laundress refused to leave the post hospital husband lived on Soap Suds Row with her. after she was fired by Dr. W.F. Buchanan for “theft, disqualifi- Doing soldiers’ laundry was astonishingly hard work. cation to tell the truth, and general impudence.” Soldiers Before dawn, the laundress chopped wood and hauled water, removed her from the hospital area. often heating as much as 50 gallons in various tubs for soak- During the seven-plus decades that laundresses were ing, scrubbing and rinsing. Typically, clothes were soaked for a employed by the Army (their authorization was officially day or two before washing and then tossed into a tub of steam- rescinded in 1878), the majority of these oft-maligned women ing water along with lye soap shaved from bars the laundress proved honest, chaste, industrious and kindhearted. But the made from wood ashes and animal fat. Army, leaning toward abolition of the laundress positions to Bending over the tub with a scrub board, she would rub the save money, asked commanding officers for their opinions. garments across the surface, applying more soap when needed, “Of course these women cost money—most women do!” until they were reasonably clean. After a rinse, the clothes were insisted Gen. Irwin McDowell. “But I think it will be found that boiled to finish off the last of the vermin (lice, fleas and ticks) they, like the generality of their sex, are worth all they cost.” before they were wrung out and spread on the grass or hung in trees to dry. Boiling could shrink the heavy woolen uniforms, so Martha Deeringer is a frequent contributor to Footnotes in the Army issued them several sizes too big. Texas History.

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hft_texascoop_0611_Mag18320110601.indd 1 4/13/11 1:29:49 PM RECIPE ROUNDUP

BLUEBERRY-MINT SORBET This Is the Season: 4 cups (2 pints) blueberries, rinsed Leaves from 2 sprigs mint (about 1 tablespoon) Churn, Churn, Churn 3/4 cup sugar Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons) BY KEVIN HARGIS It’s a pretty simple formula, but I always thought it was 1 tablespoon vodka, optional magic: Cream, milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla went into a stainless-steel canister. Place metal canister of ice cream maker Ice, rock salt and the hard work of my father transformed the liquid custard to in freezer. Puree blueberries, mint leaves, frozen delight. sugar and 1/2 cup water in food processor I remember my father sweating in the summer heat, using muscle power to or in batches in blender, taking care not turn the crank on our old ice cream churn. As a youngster, I had the easiest and to overprocess. Put puree in small bowl coolest job: sitting on the burlap-covered wooden bucket. This was necessary with lemon juice and vodka, if using, and when the ice cream in the steel canister began to harden and would threaten to place bowl in ice bath. Chill and stir until jump out under pressure from the dasher inside. sugar dissolves, about 20 minutes. Pour My other job was even better: sampling the sweet, cold, creamy results right puree into chilled canister and process from the icy steel container. according to manufacturer’s instructions, Those days were special because they didn’t come around that often. Making ice about 30 minutes, or until frozen. Serve cream at home was hard work, first in standing over the custard as it cooked, and immediately or store in glass or plastic later in the hour-long process to hand churn the custard into ice cream. I can’t container with lid in freezer. remember when, but one day the old ice cream maker broke down and never was Servings: 6. Serving size: 1 cup. Per serving: 159 calo- replaced. That was the end of my childhood memories of homemade ice cream. ries, 0.8 g protein, 0.3 g fat, 39.7 g carbohydrates, It was a long time into adulthood before I entered the world of making frozen 2.5 g dietary fiber, 1 mg sodium, 34.9 g sugars treats again. Last summer, I picked up an electric ice cream maker with a plas- tic bucket at a garage sale for a buck. The motor is much more efficient (and much louder) than the hand-turned churn. It makes fine ice cream, but the results don’t seem quite as satisfying as when sweat and muscle power were part of the recipe. Because I’m watching my calorie intake, I don’t make ice cream that often, but I have found that fresh-fruit sorbets are also a nice, lower-calorie icy treat on a summer’s day. They are rela- tively easy to put together and can be ready in minutes. They also can be made with a variety of fruits and combi- nations. Here’s a recipe I originally found online and modified to suit my tastes a little more. The small amount of alcohol, which is an optional ingredient, prevents the sorbet from freezing into a solid block. If you’d rather not use it, allow about five minutes for the sorbet to thaw before serving.

Blueberry-Mint Sorbet On TexasCoopPower.com You'll find an additional recipe for a deli- cious cold and creamy treat.

PHOTO BY RICK PATRICK June 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 27 RECIPE ROUNDUP

st DAVID AND LEA CRONIN, HILCO Electric Cooperative 2 pints heavy cream 1 Prize-winning recipe: Lemon Gelato 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened Homemade ice cream may be more expensive per gallon than store-bought, condensed milk depending on the recipe. And it’s definitely more trouble to make it than to buy it. Whole milk as needed Plus, it takes plenty of ice and rock salt. But the taste of homemade can’t be beat. Cook blueberries and sugar until mix- ture reaches consistency of preserves, LEMON GELATO for 2 minutes. For best results, cover and stirring constantly (about 30 minutes). 1 1/4 cups sugar refrigerate for several hours or overnight Add cream cheese, heavy cream and con- 1/2 packet (1/4 ounce) unflavored gelatin (optional). When ready to freeze, whip densed milk and cook until creamy. Pour 1 cup milk cream until soft peaks form. Fold cream mixture into prepared ice cream freezer 5 egg yolks, beaten into lemon custard and process in ice and add whole milk as needed to fill line. Zest and juice of 6 lemons cream freezer until mixture reaches soft- Process until freezer stops. Remove 2 cups heavy whipping cream serve consistency. Transfer to freezer dasher, pack and freeze one hour. In small, heavy saucepan, stir sugar and container and freeze two to four hours or PHYLLIS KITTEN gelatin in milk until dissolved. Heat to overnight before serving. Farmers Electric Cooperative 175 degrees and remove from heat. Servings: 16. Serving size: 1/2 cup. Per serving: 195 Servings: 32. Serving size: 1/2 cup. Per serving: 257 Whisk in a small amount of hot mixture calories, 2.2 g protein, 12.3 g fat, 19 g carbohydrates, calories, 4.2 g protein, 16.4 g fat, 21.7 g carbohydrates, into egg yolks, then add yolk mixture to 0.3 g dietary fiber, 21 mg sodium, 17 g sugars, 99 mg 0.2 g dietary fiber, 87 mg sodium, 20.5 g sugars, hot mixture, and return to heat, whisk- cholesterol 62 mg cholesterol ing constantly. Add lemon zest. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM CHOCOLATE MOCHA CRUNCH ICE CREAM reaches at least 160 degrees and coats 2 cups fresh blueberries 1 1/2 cups heavy cream back of metal spoon. Remove from heat 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups whole milk and strain into bowl. Stir in lemon juice. 2 packages (8 ounces each) 3/4 cup sugar, divided Cool quickly in ice water bath and stir cream cheese 4 large egg yolks

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28 TEXAS CO-OP POWER June 2011 RECIPE ROUNDUP

2 3/4 cups bittersweet chocolate chips almonds, cool and coarsely chop. Melt almonds and toffee chips and mix for 2 (60 percent or more cocoa), divided remaining chocolate chips in top of dou- minutes more. Mixture will resemble 2 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules ble boiler. Line cookie sheet with waxed soft-serve ice cream. Transfer to an air- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla paper and spread melted chocolate to tight container and freeze until firm, bean paste 1/8-inch thickness. Refrigerate about 20 about two hours 2/3 cup slivered almonds minutes, then chop coarsely. Store in ROSALIE A. PETERS 1/2 cup toffee chips refrigerator with almonds and toffee Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative

Place ice cream-maker canister in freezer. chips, covered, until ready to use. 1 Servings: 12. Serving size: /2 cup. Per serving: 473 In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, heat cream, When ready to make ice cream, pour calories, 5.7 g protein, 30.9 g fat, 47.4 g carbohy- milk, and 1/2 cup sugar until milk is warm custard into frozen canister and churn drates, 3.1 g dietary fiber, 81 mg sodium, 41.5 g sugars, (about 175 degrees), about 5 minutes. In a 25 minutes. Pour in chopped chocolate, 107 mg cholesterol bowl, whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Whisk in a small amount of $100 RECIPE CONTEST hot milk mixture, then return all to pan, whisking constantly. Add 2 cups choco- October’s recipe contest topic is Mmmm, late chips and coffee granules. Stir con- Brownies. Cakey, fudgey or frosted: Brownies can stantly over medium heat until mixture is come in a multitude of variations. Do you have slightly thickened and reaches about 180- a favorite recipe? The deadline is June 10.

185 degrees, but do not boil. Cool quickly Submit recipes online under the Contests tab at TexasCoopPower.com. Or by placing pan in ice water bath. Let mail them to Home Cooking, 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. You may also fax them to (512) 763-3408. Please include your name, stand 30 minutes, stirring frequently. address and phone number, as well as the name of your electric co-op. Then stir in the vanilla. Refrigerate, cov- Also, let us know where you found the recipe or whether it’s one you devel- oped yourself. The top winner will receive $100. Runners-up will also ered, at least four hours before putting receive a prize. into ice cream freezer. To prepare add-ins, lightly toast 2011 © OG-VISION. IMAGE FROM BIGSTOCK.COM

7 TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY RECIPE CONTEST

$5,000 in total prizes! How sweet and savoryit is! 5 Winners! $2000 Grand Prizewinner. $1000 Best Savory Recipe. $1000 Best Sweet Recipe. Two Runners-Up Each Win $500.

Send us your best original pecan recipes—savory and sweet. Winning recipes will highlight how to use Texas pecans in clever and imaginative ways to dress up savory vegetables, meats and salads or your favorite cookies, pies and can- dies. All recipes must include pecans. Be sure to use real Texas pecans for the best results. Winners will be featured in our December 2011 issue. Enter by August 10, 2011 at TexasCoopPower.com.

SPONSORED BY TEXAS PECAN BOARD www.TexasPecans.org

Enter online at TexasCoopPower.com. Each entry MUST include your name, address and phone number, plus the name of your Texas electric cooperative, or it will be disqualified. Specify which category you are entering, savory or sweet, on each recipe. Send entries to: Texas Co-op Power/Holiday Recipe Contest, 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. You can fax recipes to (512) 763-3408 or e-mail them to [email protected]. E-mails must include “Holiday Recipe Contest” in the subject line and contain only one recipe (no attachments). Up to three entries are allowed per person/co-op member. Each should be submitted on a separate piece of paper if mailed or faxed. Mailed entries can all be in one envelope. For official rules, visit TexasCoopPower.com.

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MURALS From the walls of prehistoric caves, to ancient Egyptian tombs, to the Sistine Chapel, to towns all over Texas: For centuries now, murals have showcased what makes communities and cultures unique. Keep an eye out on your travels across Texas for these charming, colloquial—and ofttimes informative—works of art. —ashley clary

7 Nueces Electric Cooperative member Linda Tipton found this beau- tiful wall art in Aransas Pass.

7 Meredith Campbell, a United Cooperative Services member, thought this coyote-adorned propane tank outside Tolar, south- west of Fort Worth, was a perfect This mural on the side of a Dallas theme for small-town Texas. parking garage features a 100- foot-tall toddler pulling a wagon of larger-than-life-size cars. This mural, in Dr. Charles E. Urdy CoServ Electric member Victoria Plaza in Austin, is a favorite of Owens sent in this photo. 5 Pedernales Electric Cooperative member Susan Horn. She says it reflects Austinites’ love for music. 5

Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative member Karen Thompson said Dallas artist Abby Thurman painted this custom mural so Center resi- dents could have a “lake view” of nearby Toledo Bend Reservoir. 5

Upcoming in Focus on Texas MILESTONES is the topic for our AUGUST 2011 issue. Send your photo—along with your name, address, ISSUE SUBJECT DEADLINE daytime phone, co-op affiliation and a brief descrip- tion—to Milestones, Focus on Texas, 1122 Colorado St., Aug Milestones Jun 10 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701, before JUNE 10. A stamped, self-addressed envelope must be included if Sep State Parks Jul 10 you want your entry returned (approximately six weeks). Please do not submit irreplaceable photo- Oct Cemeteries Aug 10 graphs—send a copy or duplicate. If you use a digital camera, submit your highest-resolution images online Nov At the Cook-Off Sep 10 under the Contests tab at TexasCoopPower.com. We Dec Fun with Photoshop Oct 10 regret that Texas Co-op Power cannot be responsible for photos that are lost in the mail or not received by Jan Baby, It’s Cold Outside Nov 10 the deadline. Please note that we cannot provide indi- vidual critiques of submitted photos. AROUNDTEXASAROUNDTEXAS

This is just a sampling of the events PAIGE and festivals around Texas. For the 04 Trade Days, complete listing, please visit the JUNE 4 (512) 253-6607 Events page at TexasCoopPower.com. COMANCHE MIAMI [3–4] Comanche LAKEHILLS PICK OF THE MONTH 03 62nd National Cow Calling Cyclone 05 St. Victor's Catholic Contest, (806) 868-4791, Bike Tour Church Summer Festival, JUNE 17-18 www.miamitexas.org (210) 347-8399 LINDEN PIRTLE [3–4] CLUTE [7, 14, 21, 28] Pirtle UMC Flea Market, T-Bone Walker Blues Fest, 07 Planetarium Show, (979) (903) 756-7774, (903) 649-4539 265-3376, www.bcfas.org www.tbonewalkerbluesfest.com GRANBURY [3–4, 10–11, BURNET [10–11] 17–18, 24–25] Granbury 10 Burnet County Area Ghosts and Legends Fair and Rodeo, Tours, (817) 559-0849 (512) 355-2021, JACKSBORO http://burnetcountyfair.com LONGVIEW [3–5] 04 Pioneer Day, AlleyFest, (940) 567-6218, (903) 237-4000 www.jackcounty COMANCHE museum.com 04 Comanche Cyclone Bike BLACKWELL Tour, (325) 356-2032, Blue Agave Chili Cook-Off, www.comanchecyclone (325) 370-1119 .org SLATON STONEWALL South Plains Air Show, LBJ Annual Fishing Day, (806) 543-9232, (830) 644-2252, 4 www.thetexasairmuseum SLATON www.tpwd.state.tx.us .org South Plains Air Show /park/lbj

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WEST COLUMBIA FREEPORT [29–7/3] 18 Juneteenth Celebration, 29 64th Annual Fishin’ (979) 345-4656, Fiesta, (979) 233-1047, www.visitvhp.com www.fishinfiesta.com

ELGIN [20–25] 20 Elgin Western Days, (512) 285-4515, www.elgintxchamber.com JULY 20 BREMOND LEAKEY Polski Dzien (Polish Day) ELGIN 25 1 Street Dance, Elgin Western Days Festival, (254) 746-7771, (830) 232-5222, www.bremondtexas.org www.friocanyon chamber.com EAST BERNARD WICHITA FALLS LLANO Czech Kolache Klobase Legends of Western 11 16 Rock'n Riverfest, Festival, (979) 335-7907, Swing Music Festival, 2 (325) 247-5354, www.kkfest.com (940) 716-5555 29 www.llanochamber.org FREEPORT JACKSONVILLE BENJAMIN [17–18] 64th Annual 27th Annual Tomato Fest, 17 Knox County Adventure Fishin’ Fiesta Submit event information (903) 586-2217, www Days, (940) 459-4121, online under the Events tab .jacksonvilletexas.com www.thescoopofknox at TexasCoopPower.com, prairie.blogspot.com mail events to Around Texas, LEDBETTER 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, 12 Ledbetter Homecoming, ROSENBERG Austin, TX 78701, or fax (979) 249-5227 18 Czech Heritage Day, to (512) 763-3407. Please (832) 595-3525 submit events for August by June 10.

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Mention blackberries these days, and protect against thorns. Pants and boots most people think about the sassy smart protect against chiggers and mosqui- phones so beloved in the business PICKIN’ AND toes. Wearing shorts and sandals is sui- world. Apps, e-mails, spreadsheets. cidal in chigger-infested territory. To The blackberries I’m talking about avoid a chigger chow-down starring grow particularly well throughout GRINNIN’ yourself as dinner, dust a mixture of sul- Central and East Texas. Some say too Let’s talk about blackberries … no, not phur and talcum powder on your legs well. These tough weeds grow along those blackberries! and arms. It’s stinky, but effective. fences, ditches and railroad tracks, BY SUZI SANDS Stuff your pockets with plastic gro- forming dense, thorny thickets cery bags for the harvest. But be ready to snag livestock—and be careful: You’ll crush the delicate plundered by happy berry berries on the bottom if you over- hunters. pack bags. Picking berries—blackberries and their cousins, shrubby dew- PICK YOUR OWN berries—starts summer off on a If you don’t have access to wild tasty note. Ask anyone who grew blackberries and dewberries, a up going on berry-picking expedi- pick-your-own farm provides the tions, and reminiscences as sweet thrill of the hunt with virtually as the berries will be shared. guaranteed success. Many Internet Chiggers and stickers may sites, such as www.pickyourown come to mind first. But then, sto- .org, list Texas blackberry and dew- ries of a beloved grandmother or berry farms. aunt making jams and cobblers Children love the excitement of for the family are savored, evoking picking their own berries. Adults a slower life long past. You, too, love it, too, and enjoy getting high- can still make your own memo- quality, fresh fruit from a known ries, along with the cobbler. It’s a taste of author Kelby Ouchley describes the fer- source. Many farms grow berries organ- summer you’ll never forget. vor over berries, including this passage ically or use minimal pesticides. from Union Gen. William T. Sherman’s THE DIFFERENCES memoirs: “I have known the entire skir- GROW YOUR OWN Though subtle, there are differences mish line, without orders, to fight a For some of us highly urban, properly between dewberry and blackberry respectable battle for the possession of tamed folk, there’s always the back- plants. The Southern dewberry (Rubus some old fields full of blackberries.” yard. Stumbling out the back door in trivalis, the variety that grows well A medical treatise from a Civil War your bathrobe to hunt down breakfast throughout Central and East Texas) is a surgeon lists blackberries as a powerful is one of life’s simple pleasures. A sprawling shrub with woody, tangled astringent used to treat dysentery, diar- handful of plump, juicy berries still stems that trail along the ground. The rhea, kidney stones and snakebite. touched by dew, sprinkled with brown blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) is larger According to other sources, blackberry sugar and topped with a dollop of and sends up long, arching canes on leaves have also made a fine, dark hair yogurt starts any day off well. thorny brambles. dye throughout the centuries. Blackberries are super easy to grow. But then some blackberries do trail. Modern-day medical research shows The cultivated wild Southern black- After all, as members of the rose family, that blackberries and dewberries are berry comes in many excellent vari- the berries are related. Even botanists jam-packed with antioxidants that can eties, even thornless. Years ago, no can get stuck trying to classify some help prevent cancer and heart disease. thorns pretty much meant no berries, species. As they say, it’s a thorny issue. Tasty, low-calorie (before the cobbler, but I’m asking my local agriculture Blackberries and dewberries have anyway!) and super nutritious. What’s Extension agent about a thornless vari- prickles, spread prodigiously, produce not to like? OK. Let’s go berry picking. ety that will do well in my area. delicious fruit and provide a great Head out to the country and enjoy a excuse to get out of the house and go HUNT YOUR OWN berry delicious start to a Texas summer. foraging in late spring and early sum- One strategy is to scavenge the sunlit mer. Do some fieldwork. Sample, sam- ditches and railroad tracks along rural Suzi Sands, art director ple, sample. roads. The idea is to tread softly while You’ll be in good company: In his carrying a big stick to whack the bram- On TexasCoopPower.com book “Flora and Fauna of the Civil War: bles and chase off any snakes that might Check out an easy turnover recipe and make An Environmental Reference Guide,” be snoozing in the shade. Long sleeves sweet memories of your own.

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