Lives on the Line Lives on the Line
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LOCAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE EDITION JUNE 2011 HOLLYWOOD VISITS GRANGER ICE CREAM: CHURN, CHURN, CHURN LIVES ON THE LINE Any Time, Day or Night, Linemen Keep Us in the Light. WHEN IT COMESCOMES TOTO CUSTOM CUS TOM BUILDINGS, MUELLERUELLER TAKESTATAAKES IT PERSONAL WithWith Mueller's ChoicChoicee Series, yyouou can crcreateeate a ssteelteel building fforor yyourour oownwn personal needs. Based on yyourour ideas, our eexperiencedxperienced engineers will design a customizedcustomized structurestructure jusjustt fforor yyou.ou. TThen,hen, the Mueller tteameam will manufmanufactureacture it ttoo the highesthighest quality sstandards.tandards. EEveryvery ssteptep of the wway,ay, a Mueller rrepresentativeepresentative will givgivee yyouou the eextra-personalxtra-personal attentionattention yyouou deservdeserve.e. CALL,ALL, CLICK OR COMECOME BY one of our 30 locationslocations forfor a freefree estimate.estimate. www.muellerinc.comwww.muellerinc.com 877-2-MUELLER877-2-MUELLER June 2011 VOLUME 68 NUMBER 12 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 EAGLE EYES® was inducted into the Space Foundation 2010 Technology Hall of Fame® for their radiation-filtering technology. The Test Pilot’s Secret Weapon Eagle Eyes® Aviator sunglasses are quite simply the most advanced eye protection ever created. ou are strapped into the cockpit of Unparalleled clarity. With their certified triple filtering Ya craft so secret it doesn’t even have system, Eagle Eyes® reduces the blinding glare you may encounter a name. NASA engineers have worked while driving or enjoying outside activities. This technology for years to perfect the design. 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Please note that Eagle Eyes® special polarized optic technologyblocks Rating ® Dept. 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.