HAND-PICKED Texas Tech Program Yields New Crop of Farmers

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SAM HOUSTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE JULY 2019 Born on Texas Soil Gulf Shrimp Recipes Buffalo Bayou Cistern

HAND-PICKED Texas Tech program yields new crop of farmers

Communications Department Receives National Recognition 21 Recognizing a Tradition of Service 20 Summer Energy-Saving Tips 18

SEE PAGE 22 Scrappin’ Valley

Since 1944 July 2019

FAVORITES 5 Letters 6 Currents 18 Local Co-op News Get the latest information plus energy and safety tips from your cooperative. 29 Texas History Geronimo in San Antonio By Cyndy Irvine 31 Retro Recipes Gulf Shrimp 35 Focus on Texas Photo Contest: Trucks 36 Around Texas List of Local Events 38 Hit the Road What Lies Beneath By Chet Garner A class in a Texas Tech vineyard weighs ONLINE pruned clippings. TexasCoopPower.com Find these stories online if they don’t FEATURES appear in your edition of the magazine. Observations Native Soil How a simple bag of Texas dirt connects The First Hamburger 8 distant newborns to a beloved land. By Clay Coppedge By John Schwartz Texas USA Hands On Grown Locally Texas Tech program puts students By Joey Held 10 on a path to farm-to-table careers. Story by Sheryl Smith-Rodgers | Photos by Wyatt McSpadden NEXT MONTH SPECIAL Reliable as Electricity This ANNIVERSARY magazine, a trusted voice for ISSUE Texas co-ops, turns 75. 31 38

29 35 STUDENTS: WYATT MCSPADDEN. TCP ANNIVERSARY: DAVID VOGIN

ON THE COVER Richard Ney, owner of Texas Food Ranch in Fredonia, at a farmers market in downtown Austin. Photo by Wyatt McSpadden

TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Blaine Warzecha, Chair, Victoria; Alan Lesley, Vice Chair, Comanche; Robert Loth III, Secretary-Treasurer, Fredericksburg; Mark Boyd, Douglassville; Billy Jones, Corsicana; David McGinnis, Van Alstyne; Brent Wheeler, Dalhart • PRESIDENT/CEO: Mike Williams, Austin • COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBER SERVICES COMMITTEE: Clint Gardner, Coleman; Greg Henley, Tahoka; Bill Hetherington, Bandera; Mark McClain, Roby; Gary Raybon, El Campo; John Ed Shinpaugh, Bonham; Robert Walker, Gilmer; Brandon Young, McGregor • MAGAZINE STAFF: Martin Bevins, Vice President, Communications & Member Services; Charles J. Lohrmann, Editor; Tom Widlowski, Associate Editor; Karen Nejtek, Production Manager; Andy Doughty, Creative Manager; Elaine Sproull, Advertising Manager; Chris Burrows, Senior Communications Specialist; Paula Disbrowe, Food Editor; Grace Fultz, Print Production Specialist; Travis Hill, Communications Specialist; Qasim K. Johnson, Administrative Assistant; Jessica Ridge, Communications Specialist; Chris Salazar, Digital Field Editor; Ally Schauer, Intern; Jane Sharpe, Senior Designer; Shannon Oelrich, Proofreader

TexasCoopPower.com July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 3 Introducing the future of personal transportation.

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Pig Rescues These people are doing a won- Life With Pet Pigs derful thing. They spend their I was given my first little pig for my time rescuing unwanted piggies and giving them a safe home 40th birthday, some 40 years ago [This Little Piggy, May 2019]. [This Little Piggy, May 2019]. A KAREN SUSIE GILCREASE | VIA FACEBOOK friend took me to see the litter, and Pot-bellied pigs are often I chose the runt. He was wild as a given up or abandoned in the first months of ownership. It’s deer but gentled down with his first essential to thoroughly research belly rub. After he moved into my any pet/animal before one gets it and not base it on what’s barn and my heart, I went on to rescue more. trendy. Over the last 40 years, I have been appalled at the greed surrounding these SUE LATTERELL-ALLEN | VIA FACEBOOK wonderful creatures and the lies told. I love my pigs and have homes for them, Hike to the Desk assuming they outlive me, but I know that they aren’t suitable pets for everyone. On Google Street View, you can take a virtual hike up to the teacher’s desk referred to in NANCI FALLEY | LOCKHART | BLUEBONNET EC Chet Garner’s Higher Education [May 2019], thanks to some kind (young and healthy) soul who carried a 360-degree avoid a very large tumbleweed. Wide-Open Secret time—I am 88 [Hail the Halls, camera while hiking up to the She stopped the car to check Shhhh...don’t tell everyone! February 2019]. I used to go desk. A pretty view, volcanic for damage and found the huge [Wide-Open Spaces, April 2019] to Appelt’s Hill Hall, Recreation rocks, cacti and even some note- plant had torn off the radio CHERYL COOPER COTTON | VIA FACEBOOK Hall and Wied Hall in and books in the desk drawers are antenna and severely scraped around Hallettsville. The Bill visible. To see the desk, search the pristine maroon finish of the First-Class Cookies Mraz Hall in Houston was the “30.370752, -103.644667” in Buick. She described in vivid You published a recipe for best of all. I met my husband Google Maps and drag the detail how she, on the shoulder Brown Butter Oatmeal Raisin during intermission. Street View icon onto the map. of the highway, cursed and Cookies in September 2018. RITA CEJKA WACHEL | HALLETTSVILLE Pardon me, while I catch cried and stomped on the I tore the page out to try it, but my virtual breath after such offending tumbleweed until it then wadded it up and pitched a strenuous hike. was a fine powder. it due to a sad review/letter. KEN KONVICKA | GRAHAM Since that day, when I see a But before the garbage went GET MORE TCP AT UNITED COOPERATIVE SERVICES tumbleweed, I think of Dana. out, another review came TexasCoopPower.com RJ BROSELOW | SOUTHLAND through praising it. Sign up for our e-newsletter for Tumbleweed Memory LYNTEGAR EC Oh, the indecision. I dug the monthly updates, prize drawings The article about tumbleweeds recipe out and tried it. This is and more! [Russian Interference, May a devastating cookie! No one We want to hear from you!

2019] brought to mind an can get enough of them. They ONLINE: TexasCoopPower.com/share incident concerning a dear are absolutely first class. EMAIL: [email protected] departed friend, Dana Dickey. MIKE OTTEN | CEDAR PARK MAIL: Editor, Texas Co-op Power, In 1984, she picked up a brand- PEDERNALES EC 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701 new Buick Riviera convertible Please include your town and electric co-op. in Lubbock and immediately Dance Hall Days Letters may be edited for clarity and length. started off to Midland for sales It was most refreshing to read calls. En route, she was unable to about the dance halls of my D FE Texas Co-op Power

TEXAS CO-OP POWER VOLUME 76, NUMBER 1 (USPS 540-560). Texas Co-op Power is published monthly by Texas Electric Cooperatives (TEC). Periodical postage paid at Austin, TX, and at additional offices. TEC is the statewide association representing 75 electric cooperatives. Texas Co-op Power’s website is TexasCoopPower.com. Call (512) 454-0311 or email [email protected]. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE is $4.20 per year for individual members of subscribing cooperatives and is paid from equity accruing to the member. 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 Elaine Sproull at (512) 486-6251. Advertisements in Texas Co-op Power are paid solicitations. The publisher neither endorses nor guarantees in any manner any product or company included in this publication. Product satisfaction and delivery responsibility lie solely with the advertiser. © Copyright 2019 Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. Reproduction of this issue or any portion of it is expressly prohib-

TexasCoopPower.com July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 5 CO-OP PEOPLE FROM INTERN TO TOP JOB

Alan Lesley grew up in Downing, northeast of Brownwood, in the 1980s, planning to become a peanut farmer like his father. He WEB EXTRAS went to Tarleton State University a Find more and studied agricultural business. happenings online. Lesley spent his final semester, in HAPPENINGS the fall of 1997, as an intern in the member services department at Celebrate Littlefield Comanche Electric Cooperative. It changed his life. Comanche hired Lesley, who became general man- Littlefield’s annual festival was developed by its chamber of commerce as ager in 2009. “I think the internship a way to celebrate the community’s centennial in 2013. The town began was a step in the right direction,” he says. Words of wisdom for as a settlement in 1913, when it had a station on the railroad that became today’s interns as we mark National the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway. Intern Day on July 25. Today, Littlefield, home to Lamb County Electric Cooperative, is in the heart of the largest cotton-producing region in the world, the South Plains of Texas. CELEBRATE LITTLEFIELD, JULY 19–20, features live music, a sanctioned barbecue cook-off, parade, and food and merchandise vendors.

INFO a (806) 385-5331 g LOOKING BACK AT COMMERCE THIS MONTH 1940s 1950s 1960s 1950 A hamburger stand 1963 Mary Kay Ash, born in named Whataburger opens in Hot Wells, launches her business, Corpus Christi, the first of what now called Mary SINCE 1944, the year has grown into a chain of more Kay Cosmetics, Texas Co-op Power 1945 Academy Tire Shop in San than 800 restaurants. in Dallas. debuted, the Texas Antonio changes its name to economy has flourished. Academy Super Surplus. Today, 1951 A 55-acre site in Hurst, 1965 The Sure, Texas produces oil, Academy Sports and Outdoors near Fort Worth, is selected for Astrodome but we also are major has more than 250 stores in Bell Aircraft Corporation’s heli- debuts as the players in computers, 16 states. copter division, Bell Helicopter. first domed stadium coolers and hair care ever built. 1946 Texas-based Tote’m Stores 1954 James Avery starts his products. changes its name to 7-Eleven to jewelry business in a two-car 1965 NorthPark Center in Dallas reflect newly extended hours— garage in Kerrville. There are opens as the largest shopping 7 a.m.–11 p.m. seven days a week. now 86 stores in five states. mall in the country.

LITTLEFIELD: DAVID MOORE. LESLEY: COURTESY COMANCHE EC. TENT: ENE | DREAMSTIME.COM. HAMBURGER: MARAZE | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM. MARY KAY ASH: GRAHAM BEZANT | GETTY IMAGES

6 Texas Co-op Power July 2019 TexasCoopPower.com POWER OF OUR PEOPLE Giants in Their Community

DONNA STOTTLEMYER has always had a soft spot for animals. But the longtime Farmers Electric Cooperative employee’s goodwill extends to humans, too. Since 2015, she has led the Rockwall/Royse City chapter of Love on a Leash, a nonprofit that brings free pet therapy services to people. Stottlemyer coordinates visits to hospice centers and assisted living facilities and, along with other volunteers, deploys the organization’s 16 trained, certified POWER OF OUR PEOPLE canines to lift recognizes co-op members moods and soothe who improve their com- souls. One hos- munity’s quality of life. pice patient who Nominate someone often experienced by emailing people@ agitation would texascooppower.com. calm as soon as the therapy team entered her room. “She would chat with us, and she had a beautiful smile ... and she would pet the dog,” Stottlemyer said. Odin listens patiently and accepts Paxdin Rees reads to Odin, Stottlemyer’s 175-pound Irish wolfhound, has bright- hugs with equal aplomb, according to Odin at the Rockwall ened spirits at a children’s bereavement program in Rockwall, Stottlemyer, who described him as a County Library. northeast of Dallas, and encourages a love of books as a read- “sweet and gentle giant.” ing education assistance dog at local libraries. Odin and other His handler has a heart for service to match. dogs serve as nonjudgmental listeners for children to read to, building their confidence and skills. INFO a loveonaleash.org

LOOKING BACK AT RURAL LIFE NEXT MONTH a 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 1972 Half Price Books launches 1980 John Paul DeJoria 1997 Bert “Tito” Beveridge of 2001 Texas becomes the top as a secondhand bookshop in of Austin and Paul Mitchell San Antonio creates Tito’s Vodka. exporting state in the U.S.—a an old laundromat in Dallas. launch hair care empire position it has held ever since John Paul Mitchell Systems. 1997 Alamo Drafthouse Cinema ($264.1 billion in 2017). 1973 The first Michaels store opens its first theater, in Austin. opens, at Northtown Mall in 1984 As a pre-med freshman Twenty-five cities, 2006 Yeti is founded in Dripping Dallas. at the University of Texas at from New York to Springs, west of Austin. Austin, Michael Dell starts his San Francisco, now 1973 USAA computer business, then called have an Alamo. 2017 Amazon buys Austin-based unveils its new headquarters in PCs Unlimited. Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. San Antonio. The main building 1999 The Texas is three-fourths of a mile long. 1986 Oil prices plunge by two- Department of Agri- 2018 Apple announces plans to thirds, putting 50,000 Texans culture begins its Go build a new $1 billion campus in 1978 Felix Stehling founds out of work within a year. Texan campaign to promote Austin, where it could eventually Taco Cabana in San Antonio. Texas business and agriculture. employ 15,000 people.

LOVE ON A LEASH: COURTESY DONNA STOTTLEMYER. PAINT: KIRSTY PARGETER | DREAMSTIME.COM. HAIR DRYER: CHILLIM | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM. POPCORN: JAMES STEIDL | STOCK.ADOBE.COM

TexasCoopPower.com July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 7 NATIVE SOIL H

grew up in Texas, but I’ve now spent more than half my thinking about it, I came up with a plan: Get some dirt from Texas life away from my home state. When people ask me where to put under the delivery table. I’m from, I don’t say New York, where I work, or New Jer- That might sound crazy—and maybe it is—but it’s not new, or sey, where I’ve lived for the past 18 years. I haven’t lived unique to Texans. I first heard of it during a study abroad program in Galveston since 1975, but when asked, that’s where I in Siena, Italy, in the 1970s. The Sienese have fierce loyalty to say I’m from: Proudly born on the island—BOI. their neighborhoods, or contrade. Since there was, historically, IBut work and life take us places, and journalism moved me only one hospital per contrada, people from the others would to jobs in New York and Washington, D.C. I’m not complaining. bring some dirt from their own neighborhood into the delivery These days, I work for The New York Times, happily. But I’ll room for births. never not be a Texan and miss home. I’ve wanted my own kids I’d loved that part of Sienese life, along with the excellent to have a sense of belonging to the Lone Star State, from the espresso and gelato, and so I started planning for a Texan delivery, time of their births onward. contrada style. I gathered dirt from various parts of the state, And that’s how a bag of dirt became a part of our lives and of including Galveston. A friend also sent some—he said he chipped the lives of several of our friends. a piece off the Alamo, too, but I don’t believe him. The resulting When my wife, Jeanne, was pregnant with our first child, in mixture fit neatly into a baggie.

1987, of course we couldn’t fly to Texas for the delivery. After When I asked the doctor about bringing it into the hospital, XPIXEL | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

8 Texas Co-op Power July 2019 TexasCoopPower.com BY JOHN SCHWARTZ

How a simple bag of Texas dirt connects distant newborns to a beloved land

They got resolutions, too. Resolutions are fairly easy to get when your father is the late A.R. “Babe” Schwartz, a former member of the Texas Senate. That much-traveled bag of dirt has taken on a life of its own. My friends Jay and Alice had their first child at St. Vincent’s hospital in New York City. Jay, born in El Paso, called the night of the delivery and asked if I could bring it to him. I raced downtown. He stepped out of the delivery room to meet me in a hospital hallway. I tossed the bag. He snapped it out of the air and ran back to the delivery room. St. Vincent’s is gone now. Jay and Alice are back in Texas, and she was, luckily enough, charmed. She’s Italian. She said it would their daughter, Lily, is going strong. be fine so long as it was in a sterile container and under the deliv- The bag of dirt has also been pressed into service within the ery table. newsroom of The New York Times. Last October, Times metro Unfortunately, that baby, Elizabeth, was born without the reporter Emma Fitzsimmons borrowed the bag for the birth of benefit of the dirt because she was delivered in an emergency her first child, Hudson. Her dad wrapped the bag in a little Texas procedure, and I was stuck in traffic trying to get to the hospital. flag and, she tells me, “touched the flag to his cute little baby The dirt was the least of our worries, but it all turned out OK: toes within a few hours of his birth so that he would step foot Elizabeth is 31 now, with a daughter of her own—who was born on Texas soil before any other.” More recently, the dirt made in Texas! So something must have worked. its way into the hospital room of Times business reporter Amy Being born over a baggie confers no official status, of course. Chozick, a San Antonio rose, to help Texanize the birth of Cormac I was, however, able to get a friendly member of the Texas Senate Aidan Ennis. to pass a resolution that mentioned the dirt and declared Eliza- I held on to the Texas flag wrapper that Emma’s dad provided, beth “a child of the Lone Star State.” (The resolution did not, so the dirt looks classier now. After all, there are worse ways alas, declare her eligible for in-state tuition.) And I held on to to start out in life than with this slightly silly but meaning- the bag, which was present for the births of our second and third ful ritual. children, born in 1990 and 1996, in New York and Maryland. John Schwartz is a science writer for The New York Times.

TexasCoopPower.com July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 9 BY SHERYL SMITH-RODGERS | PHOTOS BY WYATT MCSPADDEN

10 Texas Co-op Power July 2019 TexasCoopPower.com grown locally

ric Hequet grew up eating fresh-picked tomatoes bought at farmers markets near his home in Paris, France. To this day, he can still taste their juicy Egoodness, topped with a drizzle of olive oil and a dab of salt. Fast forward to where he lives now, and shopping for vegetables at big-box grocers makes him grimace. “Many tomatoes today don’t have a true tomato fla- vor,” says Hequet, chairman of the plant and soil science department at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. “They’re round and red like tomatoes, but they’re tasteless because they’ve been bred to be hamburger-

TEXAS TECH PROGRAM PUTS STUDENTS ON A PATH TO FARM-TO-TABLE CAREERS

friendly. That means they have a long shelf life will prepare students for farm-to-table careers, such as an urban and very little juice so they won’t get a bun wet. farmer, orchard manager, crop consultant, winery cellar master, Unfortunately, fruits and vegetables with little to or fruit and vegetable marketing specialist. no taste are common in the marketplace.” Such forward thinking has kept Texas Tech at the cutting edge To change that, Hequet, an award-winning of ag education. In 2010, motivated by the rapidly growing wine researcher in cotton genetics, led efforts to industry in Texas, the university established the state’s first viti- establish a new undergraduate degree special- culture and enology degree program. The new local food and ization at Texas Tech for 2018. The new program wine production program is a response to an increasing demand allows students to for fruits, vegetables and other edibles produced by small farms Texas Tech University’s focus on local food using earth-friendly practices. According to one report published local food and wine pro- and wine production by Packaged Facts, a source of market research for the food indus- duction program reflects systems. try, local foods generated $11.7 billion in sales in 2014 and are increasing demand for regionally grown foods This study con- predicted to reach $20.2 billion this year. produced sustainably by centration, the first What makes a food “local”? It depends on whom you ask. small-scale farms. of its kind in Texas, “Locavores,” a term coined in 2005, encourage people to eat food

TexasCoopPower.com July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 11 The business of local production IS NOT JUST ABOUT GROWING CROPS BUT WORKING WITH WINERIES AND RESTAURANTS TO ENHANCE THEIR CUSTOMERS’ EXPERIENCE WITH THE BEST LOCAL PRODUCTS.

grown within 100 miles of home. But under the 2008 Farm HILL COUNTRY CAMPUS Act, a product may be considered local if it’s shipped within the he local food and wine production program, which kicked off same state or less than 400 miles from its origin. Consumers in fall 2018, enrolls students both in Lubbock and at Hill Coun- want more. try University Center in Fredericksburg. Texas Tech partners But given food producers’ thinning ranks, who will produce Twith several Central Texas colleges so students can seamlessly that local food? In the U.S., more than 31% of farm operators transfer credits. Ed Hellman, a viticulture and enology professor were 65 or older in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of at Texas Tech since 2000 and member of Central Texas Electric Agriculture. Texas Tech University officials hope that an ag degree Cooperative, moved from Lubbock to Fredericksburg to oversee with a focus on small-scale farming will entice more young people the program, which could expand to encompass animal products. into the field. “Our program is unique in that we include wine because it is “Cotton production is very important around Lubbock,” explains such an important component of the farm-to-table movement,” Hequet, who researched cotton fiber technology in Africa and France Hellman says. “The local wine and food connection is really strong, before joining Texas Tech in 1997. “However, a young person lack- especially here in the Hill Country. Human connection is another ing an ag background or family in the business can’t spend millions driving force. It’s reassuring to people to know that their food was of dollars to get started in growing cotton. It’s impossible. grown or made with care by someone local they can talk to.” “However,” he adds, “they could buy a few acres and grow Under Tech’s new program, coursework focuses on the sus- high-quality vegetables for sale to restaurants and high-end stores tainable production of fruits and vegetables and introduces in the city.” students to wine science, grape Hequet stresses the importance of introducing city kids—not Dabs and John Hollimon, growing, wine marketing and hos- just the sons and daughters of row-crop producers—to agricul- who own 1851 Vineyards pitality management. near Fredericksburg, ture. He suggests that growing fruits and vegetables to feed local earned viticulture and “The business of local production markets is more appealing and more marketable, because of the winemaking certificates is not just about growing crops but growing urban agriculture trend. through Texas Tech. working with wineries and restau-

12 Texas Co-op Power July 2019 TexasCoopPower.com rants to enhance their customers’ experience with the best local products,” Hellman notes. He explains that the program emphasizes sustainable practices, which use products and methods that are considered to be safer for the environment but still economically feasible. Nelson Avila, a Lufkin native who completed most of his general education classes at Austin Community College, chose to specialize in Tech’s program. At 43, he’s working toward earning a Bachelor of Science degree because he wants to make a difference. “We’re running out of land because it’s being developed or overtilled,” says Avila, who paints houses in Austin to help pay his family’s bills. “The world is growing, and people need to eat. I want to grow sustainable crops on a small farm and teach my kids how to care for the land.” Central Texas EC member Richard Ney and his part- ner grow a selection of vegetables, fruits and berries on the Texas Food Ranch, their property near Fredonia, 100 miles west of Austin. They practice what the Texas Tech

Above: Instructor Kirk Williams shows how to make a final pruning cut at a Texas Tech vineyard. Right and below: Richard Ney, front, and Alik Hovhannisyan of Texas Food Ranch near Fredonia sell their produce 100 miles away, at the Sustainable Food Center’s farmers market in downtown Austin.

program teaches students, and Ney underscores the importance of the small producer. “People want to know their farmer,” Ney says, “so they know the vegetables are not pumped full of chemicals.” MOVE OVER, PEACHES wo decades ago, tourists flocked to Fredericksburg for peaches, not wine. Back then, only four wineries and one wine tour company operated in the area. Today, Hill Country Twine tourism is booming, and the area around Fredericksburg includes more than 50 wineries and 18 tour companies.

TexasCoopPower.com July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 13 “Peaches are still important, and they still are a driver in the Hill Country University Center. Fennel and beets for sale local farming and agritourism industry, but vineyards and wineries “For doctors, lawyers, engineers at the Sustainable Food are now leading through sheer numbers,” says Jim Kamas, asso- and other people who don’t want to go Center’s farmers market in downtown Austin. ciate professor and extension specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife back to college, our continuing ed pro- in Fredericksburg. “With that, peach grower demographics are grams allow them to get up to speed,” changing. They’re getting older, and they’re wanting to grow fruit Hellman says. “Many of our students want to work at a winery, crops on a smaller scale that emphasize quality over quantity.” but they don’t want a college education. This is a way for them to Toward that goal, Kamas, a member of Pedernales Electric get an education without the full commitment and cost.” Cooperative, evaluates pears, figs, raspberries, blackberries and Dabs and John Hollimon, who own 1851 Vineyards, south of pomegranates at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Viticulture Fredericksburg, respectively earned a winemaking and viticulture and Fruit Lab near Gillespie County Airport. He also helps small certificate. With help from their grown children, they resurrected producers identify varieties of specialty fruit crops uniquely suited a vineyard that Dabs inherited. In 2013, they planted 600 grapevines for their local markets. followed by 5,000 more the next year. Five years later, their medium- sized winery has an annual capacity of 10,000 cases of bottled wine. ALTERNATE SCHOOLING “Our 2016 Estate Tannat was a double gold winner in the 2019 ood producers and people wanting a career change can get San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition,” says Dabs, a retired a boost from professional certificate programs earned schoolteacher and member of Central Texas EC. “That’s a lot of through Texas Tech. The two-year viticulture certificate pro- validation for what we’re doing with our grapes and winemaking. Fgram, which started in 2008, has graduated 177 students, many We couldn’t make the quality wines that we do if we hadn’t taken of whom have started their own vineyards and wineries. Since the Texas Tech courses.” 2014, the two-year Texas winemaking certificate program has Their 1851 Vineyards label is among more than 25 Texas wine- awarded 53 professional certificates. makers carried at the Cabernet Grill in Fredericksburg. Since In the near future, the school plans 2006, chef Ross Burtwell has offered a Texas-only wine list, which WEB EXTRAS to offer a small-scale farming course on he combines with locally sourced ingredients to create what he a Read this story sustainably producing fruits and veg- calls his Texas Hill Country cuisine. on our website etables for local markets. All certificate “As they say, what grows together goes together,” says Burtwell, for more about programs are a mixture of online classes a member of Central Texas EC. “It’s fantastic what Texas Tech the small producer and hands-on sessions in Fredericks- is doing. We’re facing a labor shortage, and to be able to hire program and burg and Lubbock. For example, viti- passionate people who are knowledgeable about local food pro- farmers markets. culture students plant and propagate duction will be great for our industry.” grapevines at the on-site vineyard at the Sheryl Smith-Rodgers, a member of Pedernales EC, lives in Blanco.

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Co-op News SAM HOUSTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

Close blinds and drapes during the hottest part of the day to slow the sun’s warming rays. PATRICKOBEREM | ISTOCK.COM Hot Days Remind Us To Use Energy Wisely

THE HOT DAYS OF SUMMER CAN BE TAMED A BIT WITH GOOD ENERGY HABITS THAT CAN make your home more comfortable. It’s never too late to make a few changes to help keep things cool and lower your energy costs. Check for loose or leaky windowpanes. If your home still has single-pane windows, consider replacing them or adding a window film. Single-pane windows allow cool air to easily escape your home during the summer and warm air to seep out in the winter. Replacing old, inefficient windows now is an investment that will pay for itself in energy savings year-round—and keep your home more comfortable. If you still use incandescent lightbulbs, it’s time to make the switch to LEDs. These bulbs are far more energy efficient than old-fashioned bulbs, which produce more heat than light. That heat works against your air conditioner during the summer. When air conditioner filters get dirty, they get clogged—and air can’t flow freely through them. That forces your AC unit to work harder. Replace air filters once a month during cooling season. Install a programmable thermostat, which automatically adjusts the temperature so you use less energy to cool your home when no one is there. The device can save you up to $100 a year on cooling and heating bills. Move appliances and lamps away from your thermostat. Because they emit heat, they can trick your thermostat into thinking that the house is warmer than it really is—and your AC to work harder than it needs to. Keep drapes and blinds closed during the hottest part of the day to minimize the amount of heat from the sun that enters your home. Consider installing solar screens or shutters to block the heat before it can get in.

18 Texas Co-op Power SAM HOUSTON EC July 2019 samhouston.net SamHoustonEC1907_ 6/11/19 5:33 PM Page 19

TAKE THE TWO DEGREE CHALLENGE

If you’re most comfortable with your thermostat at 72 degrees, challenge yourself by bumping it up just two degrees in the summertime. You won’t notice this small dierence, but you’ll see a dierence in your savings.

SAMHOU STON.NET 800-458-0381 samhouston.net July 2019 SAM HOUSTON EC Texas Co-op Power 19 SamHoustonEC1907_ 6/11/19 5:33 PM Page 20

SAM HOUSTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

MARCCOPHOTO | ISTOCK.COM Power Tip EVERY DEGREE = DOLLARS Don’t let summer heat burn your budget. When home, set your thermostat to 78. Going out for the day? Turn your thermostat up 10–15 degrees to cut your

PAVEL1964 | ISTOCK.COM electricity bill by up to 15%. Recognizing a Tradition of Service

YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED SOMETHING NEW RECENTLY IN TEXAS CO-OP POWER: POWER OF Our People, a series of recurring short profiles that highlight community helpers in Co-op Country. This initiative, found in the Currents section of the magazine, seeks to recognize and honor electric cooperative members who uphold cooperatives’ rich legacy of volunteerism through selfless acts and thoughtful dedication to various causes. Their commitment to serving others reflects an ethos that we at Sam Houston Electric Cooperative strive to emulate—helping others to strengthen our community as a whole and as a worthy objective unto itself. Whether through ongoing efforts such as Operation Round Up or participation in SARA_WINTER | ISTOCK.COM food drives and Relay For Life, our goal is to give back to the community at least a fraction of what we’ve received from it. So it’s doubly gratifying to read about all the good things members of this cooperative and others are doing. We delight in their HAPPY stories, and their sterling examples inspire us to do more here in our own backyards. You can find this month’s honoree on Page 7. If you know of a fellow co-op mem- INDEPENDENCE ber—and we bet you do—whose humanitarian acts deserve a bit of spotlight, please let us know about them. The ideals of altruism and service run deep in co-op terri- DAY tory and co-op history, and we want to showcase their ambassadors’ good works every chance we get. Sam Houston EC will be closed Thursday, July 4, in observance Send your nominees for Power of Our People to [email protected]. of the holiday. Whatever your nominee’s cause, we look forward to sharing his or her story and inspiring readers to pay it forward in their own ways.

20 Texas Co-op Power SAM HOUSTON EC July 2019 samhouston.net SamHoustonEC1907_ 6/11/19 5:33 PM Page 21

SAM HOUSTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

Communications Department Receives National Recognition

SAM HOUSTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE RECENTLY RECEIVED NATIONAL RECOGNITION from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association for excellence in member communication. Sam Houston EC received two Spotlight on Excellence Gold Awards, one for Best Total Communication Program and another in the Wild Card category for the bill credit given to members at the annual meeting of members. “Our team was honored to receive two prestigious awards from our national association,” said Rachel Frey, communications specialist. “However, our success was only made possible with assistance from our co-workers across the Coopera- tive. They helped share information with our members and provided assistance in tracking the effectiveness SAFETY IS OUR of our messages to the membership.” PRIORITY, The annual Spotlight DAY IN AND DAY on Excellence Awards program recognizes the OUT best communication and marketing efforts by electric cooperatives and related organizations. The men and women who work Electric cooperative communicators and mar- to restore your power are in a keting professionals sub- dangerous line of work. Help mitted nearly 640 them stay focused on safety by entries to the Spotlight calling the Cooperative with any on Excellence program. “Printed news publica- questions instead of stopping tions, social media and a worker in the eld. Safety videos are all more impor- From left, Sam Houston EC’s communication team, Rachel matters, and it’s more than a tant than ever to keep Frey, Keith Stapleton and Chad Simon proudly display their goal for us—it’s a priority. awards for communications excellence. members updated on issues affecting the electric cooperatives and their members,” said Scott Peterson, senior vice president of communications for NRECA. NRECA also presented Keith Stapleton, Sam Houston EC chief communications officer, with the inaugural LaBerge Award for Excellence in Strategic Communications. The LaBerge award was established in memory of Justin Erick LaBerge, who was NRECA’s senior leadership communications manager. It recognizes a co-op com- municator who has demonstrated excellence, influence and impact on co-op communications, both as a practitioner and contributor. Stapleton “encapsulates all of the qualities of a leader who demonstrates personal excellence, influence and impact, both as a practitioner and contributor across the cooperative network,” Peterson said. NRECA is a national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric coop- SAMHOU STO N . N E T eratives serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 800-458-0381 50% of the nation’s landscape.

samhouston.net July 2019 SAM HOUSTON EC Texas Co-op Power 21 SamHoustonEC1907_ 6/11/19 5:33 PM Page 22

TexasSAM USA HOUSTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

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Moonshine and family feuds. Rare woodpeckers and heritage pines. Timber barons and powerful politicians. Together they comprise the … Spirits of Scrappin’ Valley

BY RANDY MALLORY

SANDWICHED BETWEEN SAM RAYBURN AND TOLEDO BEND RESER- and the longleaf pine habitat it requires. But Scrappin’ Valley voirs lies a long east-west highland known as Longleaf Ridge. also boasts a history that’s colorful enough to read like a Holly- It’s sort of a Deep East Texas version of the Continental Divide. wood script. Dozens of creeks and spring-fed streams drop south into the Sabine River bottom. Others flow north into an area that for Backwoods Scraps more than a century has been known as Scrappin’ Valley. Native American groups lived and traveled across these ridges Spanning thousands of acres where Newton and Sabine and valleys for generations. They occasionally burned the counties meet, the valley is big timber country. Here, lumber- woods—dominated throughout most of history by fire-resistant man Arthur Temple Jr. built a corporate retreat—Scrappin’ longleaf pines—to encourage grassy forest floors where deer, Valley Lodge—in the 1950s. It’s also where Temple and others turkeys and other game could flourish. By the mid-19th cen- set out to protect the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker tury, these forests became the backwoods homes of settlers

22 Texas Co-op Power SAM HOUSTON EC July 2019 samhouston.net SamHoustonEC1907_ 6/14/19 5:21 PM Page 23

SAM HOUSTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

1. Arthur Temple Jr., timber legend who owned much of Scrappin’ Valley, where he actively protected endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers and historic longleaf pines.

2. The Piney Woods of Newton and Sabine counties harbor wild azaleas that bloom in early spring.

3. Ladies at Scrappin’ Valley.

4. Scrappin’ Valley Lodge exterior view.

5 6 5. Scrappin’ Valley Lodge once welcomed timber company clients and politicians.

6. Scrappin’ Valley property of Rufus Duncan and family features soaring pines and magnolia, bay and white oak trees.

with names such as Weeks, Conner, Lowe, Ferguson and the Conners and the Rangers in the spring of 1887. The battle Smith. It remained an isolated deep-woods sanctuary where left several Conners dead, along with Texas Ranger Private independent-minded families could survive off the land and go James Moore, whose tombstone still rests among wildflowers by the code of “live and let live.” in the Hemphill Cemetery. The code occasionally broke down, leading to scraps A posse of feuding families eventually caught the Conners, between close-knit families. The area’s most famous feud who lost seven family members in all. All of the Conners who turned violent after a dispute escalated over free-ranging hogs, served prison time were eventually given full pardons, explains says Weldon McDaniel, chair of the Sabine County Historical McDaniel. Commission. The name Scrappin’ Valley reportedly didn’t come into use The Hemphill resident should know. His great-grand uncle, until years after the family feuds, sometime around 1900, and William “Kit” Smith, was the first person killed in what’s its origins are sketchy. Some say that a logging settlement in remembered today as the Smith-Lowe-Conner feud. Smith far northern Newton County (just south of today’s Sabine was murdered along with Eli Lowe, both purportedly shot by National Forest) got the name Scrappin’ Valley from the boot- the Conner clan in 1883, southeast of Hemphill at a site now leggers and other lawbreakers who hid out in the pines. under Toledo Bend Reservoir. Several Conners were convicted Another account claims that the name arose from a 1910 and jailed; some escaped, including the family patriarch, Willis lovers’ quarrel at a church box supper when a disrespected Conner. young woman gave her boyfriend a memorable whipping. Local authorities couldn’t catch the Conners, whose back- Whatever the name’s origin, the remote region was home to woods savvy and sharpshooter skills kept them on the run and vast logging operations. It also harbored moonshiners during out of the local jail. The state sent in Texas Ranger Captain Prohibition, when four people were murdered in a feud William Scott and Company “F.” A fiery battle ensued between between rival distillers.

samhouston.net July 2019 SAM HOUSTON EC Texas Co-op Power 23 SamHoustonEC1907_ 6/11/19 5:33 PM Page 24

TexasSAM USA HOUSTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

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Hunts and ‘Wuffledust’ and sports figures. The name Scrappin’ Valley became the namesake of a hunting “They would look out across that lake and say, ‘Wow!’ ” and fishing club started in the early 1950s by timber industry Norman recalled. “You never get tired of seeing people’s face leader Arthur Temple Jr. According to historical records and light up.” interviews archived at the History Center in Diboll, Temple Norman’s favorite visitor was adventurous U.S. Rep. Charlie himself sketched out the lodge. The retreat was originally built Wilson of Lufkin, who on at least one occasion arrived with an for Temple Lumber Company employees and situated amid assault rifle given to him by an Afghan tribal leader. thousands of acres of pines. Scrappin’ Valley Lodge guest books sport signatures of other The hilltop getaway consisted of a living room sandwiched notable guests—such as musicians Jerry Jeff Walker and Johnny between two wings of three bedrooms each, overlooking scenic Lee, in addition to politicians Sen. Gary Hart, Vice President Scrappin’ Valley Lake. By the time Temple Industries merged Walter Mondale and former Texas Governor John Connally. The in 1973 with Time Inc., the lodge had become a conference History Center’s interview with longtime Temple employee Joe center for hunting, fishing and weekend parties where com- Hamrick describes Scrappin’ Valley’s annual chili cook-off for pany executives entertained clients, vendors and politicians. company executives and Temple family friends. The facility was renovated in the mid-1970s, adding detached “Arthur Temple Jr. would christen each chili pot with a cottages (later duplexes) and a game room. pinch of sawdust he called ‘wuffledust’ from one of the com- Time President Jim Shepley, an avid hunter, became a fre- pany sawmills,” he explained. quent visitor. He often arrived from New York in a private A 1993 History Center interview with Temple, who died in plane, landing at the company’s landing strip carved out of the 2006, added that Shepley wrote a script for a political musical woods nearby. Interviews of Scrappin’ Valley employees, con- to be performed at each cook-off. He added new lyrics to well- ducted by the History Center, described a lively place filled known songs and hired a piano player for accompaniment. with excitement. Longtime employee Jack Norman of Jasper Cook-off participants performed the script dressed in the- recalled occasions when executives of Time and Look maga- atrical costumes that Shepley had flown in from New York . zines, along with HBO and Sports Illustrated, arrived from New Lady Bird Johnson and her aide, Liz Carpenter, attended the York City with advertising clients and notable entertainment festive chili affair several years.

24 Texas Co-op Power SAM HOUSTON EC July 2019 samhouston.net SamHoustonEC1907_ 6/11/19 5:33 PM Page 25

SAM HOUSTON ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

1. Duncan family property at Scrappin’ Valley features a dramatic waterfall at a spot called Dees Cave, where a family of pacifists purportedly hid from Confeder- ate authorities during the Civil War.

2. Scott Duncan inspects a creekside filled with carnivorous pitcher plants.

3. Scrappin’ Valley Road winds through private and public land, shown here near the intersection of National Forest Road 117 in Sabine National Forest.

4. Duncan family property protects the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, which builds nests accessed by pecked- out holes, shown here, that ooze with pine sap.

5. Rufus Duncan and son Scott wander 6 through protected red-cockaded woodpecker nesting trees (marked with white paint) on the family’s Scrappin’ Valley forestland.

6. Scrappin’ Valley is famous for the Smith-Lowe-Conner feud of the 1880s, which the Texas Rangers tried unsuc- cessfully to end. A Ranger who was killed, Pvt. James H. Moore, was buried in Hemphill Cemetery.

Native Protection tinue on 1,885 acres that Rufus Duncan and family bought From early on, the Scrappin’ Valley Lodge and its surrounding from Gillespie. The Duncans have built a deep-woods family forest served a purpose higher than entertaining the wealthy retreat amid the longleaf pines, featuring wooden walls made and prominent. Under Temple’s direction, it became an envi- from a half-dozen native species—from longleaf and cedar to ronmental laboratory, where researchers such as Texas Parks catalpa and black walnut—cut on-site and milled nearby. and Wildlife Department biologist Dan Lay learned how to Like Native Americans before them, the Duncans burn the nurture the area’s ecosystem, including longleaf pines and the woods to encourage fire-resistant longleaf and to create a red-cockaded woodpeckers that depend on them. grassy forest floor that encourages wild turkey and deer popu- Unlike most woodpeckers, the red-cockaded drills its nest lations. As CEO of Lufkin-based Higginbotham Brothers build- cavity in living pine trees aged 75 years or older. The wood- ing supply stores, Duncan notes that he’s done his share of pecker also requires open, parklike habitat resulting from fre- forest clear-cutting for wood products. But, he adds, “at the quent forest fires. Early 20th-century clear-cutting and ongoing same time, we can save some of the special places, like Scrap- suppression of forest fires brought about the decline of both lon- pin’ Valley, for the future.” gleaf pines and red-cockaded woodpeckers. Lay’s research con- History and nature come together at one of the most pictur- ducted at Scrappin’ Valley helped convince federal authorities in esque places on the Duncans’ wooded acres. A spring-fed creek 1970 to designate the woodpecker as an endangered species. cascades 6 feet or more over a rock-lined ledge into a deep pool Work continues today at Scrappin’ Valley to restore longleaf of clear water flanked by wild azaleas and palmettos. The spot pines and protect the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker is named Dees’ Cave, once situated near a wagon trail, the (see Longleaf Pines, Texas Co-op Power, July 2018, at Sam- Hemphill-Newton Road. Now largely silted in, the grotto Houston.net to learn more). The lodge and surrounding 11,213- became a backwoods hideout for the Dees family, a group of acre property were sold in 2013 to Gillespie & Partners of pacifists who resisted the Confederacy during the Civil War. Nacogdoches. Lloyd Gillespie expressed his commitment to Lording over the historic and pastoral scene are 60- to 70-foot- the red-cockaded woodpecker program, which involves regular high longleaf pines, some still slightly blackened from last controlled burns of longleaf habitat. year’s controlled burn. Controlled burns and red-cockaded monitoring also con- Then as now, the spirits of Scrappin’ Valley carry on.

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Geronimo in San Antonio

After his final capture by the U.S. Army, the Apache leader was detained at a military post

BY CYNDY IRVINE

M=885J, S9CF9@69D 10, 1886, 5 EC97=5? train from Fort Bowie, Arizona, arrived at

San Antonio’s Sunset Depot. On board,

under heavy guard, were prominent

Apache leader Geronimo and 33 fellow Native Americans, en route to Florida as

prisoners of the United States government.

Geronimo was a Chiricahua Apache who fought settlers and soldiers through-

out the tribe’s homeland in what is now Arizona and New Mexico. He was a spiri- tual leader and formidable warrior who ings,” according to the paper. leniency with the captured Apache. led the fight against settlers’ incursions “After the Civil War, federal officials The prisoners were housed in tents

into Apache lands. He had an uncanny forced unrelated Apache bands to live on pitched on the lawns of the Quadrangle cam- ability to evade capture and frequently reservations in bleak, desolate places,” pus. The San Antonio Daily Light reported retreated into Mexico before reappearing says Catharine Franklin, assistant profes- that they were fed “with all the luxuries to continue his battle. sor of history at Texas Tech University. of the season, fresh fruit included.” They After multiple surrenders and subse- “Geronimo and his followers faced dire passed time playing cards and were allowed

quent escapes, Geronimo and a small band poverty, isolation, hunger and illness. It’s visitors. Geronimo was driven on at least

of his followers, outnumbered and weary, no wonder they fought outsiders whom one carriage ride and “shown the city and surrendered for the last time to U.S. Army they viewed as their enemies.” its surroundings.” The women were granted personnel September 4, 1886. Local reporters sensationalized the a shopping excursion to “a store on the Plaza

When these captives arrived in San captives. The Daily Express described in San Antonio...[where they] bought all Antonio, they were taken to the military Geronimo as 50 years old, of medium the red calico in the shop” and posed for

post at Government Hill, part of present- height, with long black hair. His face was photographs in front of the building. day Fort Sam Houston, a few miles north- “seamed and furrowed” and his legs On October 22, the captives were sent east of downtown. Here they were confined “bowed by their long grip on the saddle,” to join their fellow Chiricahuas in Florida. to the 8 acres within the limestone-walled the paper reported. Geronimo and his warriors were detained supply depot known as the Quadrangle. “The residents of San Antonio didn’t at Fort Pickens, and the women and chil- Newspaper coverage of the spectacle know, and seldom cared, about the diffi- dren were sent farther east to Fort Marion. reflected the jingoist attitudes of the cult choices faced by indigenous people,” Large numbers of Chiricahua died in

time and included this headline in the Franklin says. Florida from disease and the tropical September 11 San Antonio Daily Express: The prisoners were detained in the humidity. The survivors were eventually

“Arrival of Geronimo, Nachez, squaws and Quadrangle for six weeks while the govern- relocated to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where papooses—the meanest nest of cut-throats ment decided whether they were to be Geronimo died in 1909 from pneumonia

in America.” That very evening, soldiers maintained as prisoners of war or returned after a horse-riding accident. He is buried guarded against an unruly crowd “that to civil authorities in Arizona anxious to in the Apache cemetery there, never having peered and surged and...kicked around try them. During this time, local newspa- been allowed to return to his homeland.

JOHN WILSON the entrance to the government build- pers criticized the military officers for their Cyndy Irvine lives in San Antonio.

TexasCoopPower.com July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 29 Smithsonian®

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GovMint.com • 14101 Southcross Dr. W., Suite 175, Dept. SHN223-01 • Burnsville, MN 55337

GovMint.com® is a retail distributor of coin and currency issues and is not affi liated with the U.S. government. The collectible coin market is unregulated, highly speculative and involves risk. GovMint.com reserves the right to decline to consummate any sale, within its discretion, including due to pricing errors. Prices, facts, fi gures and populations deemed accurate as of the date of publication but may change signifi cantly over time. All purchases are expressly conditioned upon your acceptance of GovMint.com’s Terms and Conditions (www.govmint.com/terms-conditions or call 1-800-721-0320); to decline, return your purchase pursuant to GovMint.com’s Return Policy. © 2019 GovMint.com. All rights reserved. Retro Recipes Gulf Shrimp T<9 <95DF B: EG@@9D =E C95> season for two of my favorite pas- times: grilling and eating shrimp from the Gulf. This recipe for Grilled Shrimp With Herb and Wine Butter first appeared in Texas Co-op Power in June 1988, but its appeal is time- less. It’s easy enough to prepare at a beach house and makes for the perfect light summer meal—especially when paired with a pile of angel hair pasta, crackly bread or warm steamed rice. To deepen the smoky nuance, use juice from lightly charred lemons in the butter sauce. The original recipe suggests skew- ering the shrimp or cooking them in a grill basket. I prefer to fire the shrimp in a preheated paella pan to retain all the buttery juices. PAULA DISBROWE, FOOD EDITOR

Grilled Shrimp With Herb and Wine Butter ½ cup (1 stick) butter 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons fresh chives 1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley 1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary ¼ cup dry white wine Juice of ½ lemon Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste 1½–2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined Olive oil Lemon wedges, for serving (if desired)

1. In a heavy saucepan, heat the butter and garlic over very low heat, just until the butter sizzles. Stir in the chives, parsley, tarragon and rosemary and cook 1–2 minutes more, then whisk in the wine and lemon juice (charred or fresh) and remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 2. Place the shrimp in a large bowl See a and drizzle with enough olive oil to video online lightly coat. Season with salt and to watch Paula pepper and toss to combine. make this

LARISA BLINOVA | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM CONTINUED ON PAGE 32 recipe.

July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 31 ½–1 cup chopped green onions, to tasteto onions, green chopped cup ½–1 celery,chopped taste cups to 1–2 6 2 1 ¾ 1 1 ¾ 1 1 5 1 andDill Salad TexasGulf Shrimp Gulf Shrimp Gulf bor—tempt them with some salad afterwards.”salad some with bor—temptthem neigh- a fromborrowmarket it or farmers your local to go hand, on haveyouit don’t If dill. Retro Recipes Retro plus ½ cup liquid from jar from liquid cup ½ plus drained and rinsed and drained Boil Crab & Crawfish,Shrimp fewshells) deveineda (reserving ENTER ONLINE ENTER is deadline readers,too.The our with overholidays.them Sharefriends the and family for these making you’llbe WeCandiesknow. Cookiesand contestrecipeis December’stopic youareentering. contestthe of name the and number,yourco-op plus 763-3401.(512) phone addressyourand name, Include to 1122 Colorado St., 24thFloor,Colorado78701;TXSt., Austin,1122 to $100 Recipe Contest Recipe $100 cups spring greens spring cups arugula cups iceberglettuce,chopped head dill fresh chopped cup beans, kidneyounces)red (15.5 can horseradish tablespoon cupgreen olives stuffed with pimientos, mayonnaisecup ounces)Zatarain’s(3 package and shelled shrimp, Gulf pounds use divided lemon, large July 10. July at TexasCoopPower.com/contests;at IF YOUR RECIPE IS FEATURED, FEATURED, IS RECIPE YOUR IF YOU’LL WIN A TCP APRON! TCP A WIN YOU’LL THIS MONTH’S RECIPE CONTEST WINNER CONTEST RECIPE MONTH’S THIS herbs to grow are fresh dill and arugula,” she says. “The best dill is fresh is dill best says.“Thearugula,” she and growto dill freshare herbs has served it at Christmas, too. “I love to garden, and two of my favoritemy twoloveof and garden,too.“I toChristmas, at servedit has KATHRYN TUMA TUMA KATHRYN This salad can feed a crowd. It’s perfect for a hot day,hot Tumacrowd.a foralthough a perfect feedIt’s can salad This FAX MAIL | NUECES EC EC NUECES | to chipsand arefreshing beverage. Servewith dinner rolls, potato greensand top with bean dressing. onions.Spread cooled shrimp over greensand celery. Top with green platter,mix lettuce, arugula, spring untilneeded. canbe made ahead and refrigerated dill.Shake to mix. This bean dressing liquid,horseradish, kidney beans and lemonjuice, lemon zest, olives, olive tightfittinglid, add mayonnaise, torat least 1hour. Drainand cool shrimp in arefrigera- accordingto package directions. lemonslices in water with Zatarain’s, otherhalf into slices. andjuice 1half, reserving juice. Cut 1tablespoon of zest; then cut in half a 4. 3. 2. 1. Serves14–16. Zestlemon to get approximately Inaquart-size container with a Boilshrimp, reserved shells and Inalarge salad bowl or on a ring occasionally.ring low.5–10minutes,stir-to simmer Let heat reduce and beer add spices,then all and garlic in Stir heat. medium tional lemon, if desired. if lemon, tional addi- with warm Serve tough.) be will shrimp or overcooktender.notjust (Do and pink is quently,shrimp the until fre- stirringtotal, 5–7 minutes about skewers) on or basket wire a in (or pan goldenbrown. minutes2 perside, until edgesare withflour, thenfry skilletin about medium-highheat. Coatthe squares CONTINUED FROM PAGEFROM CONTINUED 31 ½ frying Vegetablefor oil, 1 1 2 2 CAKES GRIT day,”says.Feldman all good breakfast,forbut sauce.“Meant beer the fromboost a getscombination classic This FELDMAN JAMES Sauce Beer With Grits and Shrimp 3. 3. 2. 1. 1 1 2 SHRIMP 4 ½ 1 1 1 2 4 SAUCE cool, cut into 4 equal squares.equal 4 into cut cool, Once use. quicker for refrigerator in or counter on cool Let thick. inch 1 about are grits so pan, baking size similar constantly.8-by-8-inchor an Pourinto minutes,stirring 20 about heat medium over cook and grits Add boil. a to salt and deveined and GRIT CAKES: GRIT Grill the shrimp in a preheated paella preheated a in shrimp the Grill SAUCE: Heatinchskillet½oilof ain over cup flour cup stone-groundgrits cup salt teaspoon milk cups brothchicken cups pound jumbo Gulf shrimp, peeled shrimp, Gulf jumbo pound juice lemon teaspoon butter stick) (¼ tablespoons beer ounces salt teaspoon pepper black teaspoon pepper red crushed teaspoon oreganoteaspoon garlic mincedteaspoons butter stick) (½ tablespoons Melt butter in a skillet overskillet a in butterMelt | BANDERA EC EC BANDERA | Bring broth, milk and milk broth, Bring a TexasCoopPower.com Serves4–6.

TUMA: COURTESY KATHRYN TUMA. SHRIMP: KAREPASTOCK | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM. BACKGROUND: OODDYSMILE STOCKER | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM 4. SHRIMP: Melt butter in skillet over thinly sliced onion) 2 tablespoons sliced green onion medium heat. Add lemon juice and 2 bay leaves 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped shrimp, cooking shrimp about 2 min- Saltine crackers (optional) 1½ cups uncooked orzo utes per side. 2 teaspoons fresh chopped dill 5. When ready to serve, put 1 grit cake 1. Bring water to a boil and add Old Bay (or ½ teaspoon dried) on a plate, top with ¼ of the shrimp and seasoning and shrimp, cooking 4 min- 1 teaspoon lemon zest pour ¼ of the sauce over grit cake and utes. Do not overcook. Drain, cool and ½ teaspoon salt shrimp. Serve warm. a Serves 4. peel shrimp. 1¾ cups chicken broth 2. In a bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, 1 cup water Sweet and Tangy mustard, ketchup, chili sauce and paprika. 2 cups shredded spinach Pickled Shrimp 3. Pack shrimp, mushrooms, onion slices 1½ cups medium Gulf shrimp, shelled HONEY HARRELL | UNITED COOPERATIVE SERVICES and bay leaves into a large jar or con- and deveined tainer with a tightfitting lid. Pour oil and Grated Parmesan cheese (optional) 3 quarts water vinegar mixture into container. Refriger- 4 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning ate at least 2 days, but preferably longer. 1. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over 4 pounds large Gulf shrimp Several times a day, turn jar over to mari- medium-high heat. Cook pepper, onion 2 cups vegetable or olive oil nate evenly. Keeps 1 week. and garlic in oil for 2 minutes, stirring 1 cup red wine vinegar 4. Remove bay leaves before serving. frequently, until they are tender. 1 tablespoon mustard Serve in a chilled bowl with saltine crack- 2. Stir in orzo, dill, lemon zest, salt, broth 2 cups ketchup ers, if desired. a Serves 12–14. and water. Heat to boiling, then reduce ½ cup chili sauce heat to low. Cover and simmer 8–10 min- 1 teaspoon paprika Shrimp Pilaf Florentine utes or until orzo is tender. 3 jars (6 ounces each) whole button MILLIE KIRCHOFF | NUECES EC 3. Stir in spinach and shrimp. Cover and mushrooms, drained cook 2 –3 minutes, until shrimp are pink. 3 cups whole pearl onions, sliced 1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil Sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired. into very thin rings (or 2 cups ½ cup diced red bell pepper a Serves 4.

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TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE O COMMISSIONER SID MILLER

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Focus on Texas Trucks

AE 5 7<=?8’E FBJ, they haul rocks up from the driveway and track mud across freshly washed floors. Full-sized, they can be used to haul loads for family, friends and neighbors. They are valuable tools on ranches and farms and give drivers a sense of freedom and identity. Trucks keep Texas moving. GRACE FULTZ

WEB EXTRAS a See Focus on Texas on our website for more photos from readers.

g CHAD PRAHL, CoServ: “This hardworking Chevy now rests in Gladewater on my in-laws’ land.”

o LINDA LEE BICKFORD, Grayson-Collin EC: “A sweet couple sitting close in the old Ford driving in Texas.”

d MARILYN BRUNT, Deep East Texas EC: “A 1952 Ford rests in Austin after over a half-century of traveling the back roads in the Hill Country.”

o TINA WEBB, Bluebonnet EC: d MELISSA FONTENETTE-MITCHELL, Pedernales EC: “An old red barn in Fayetteville “Driving down a rural road in Round Rock, I spot- with a neat, old Chevrolet truck ted this beautiful old truck resting in the Texas with an American flag.” bluebonnets.”

UPCOMING CONTESTS

NOVEMBER UP THE CREEK DUE JULY 10

DECEMBER DESERTS DUE AUGUST 10

JANUARY FENCES DUE SEPTEMBER 10 All entries must include name, address, daytime phone and co-op affiliation, plus the contest topic and a brief description of your photo.

ONLINE: Submit highest-resolution digital images at TexasCoopPower.com/contests. MAIL: Focus on Texas, 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. A stamped, self- addressed envelope must be included if you want your entry returned (approximately six weeks). Please do not submit irreplaceable photographs—send a copy or duplicate. We do not accept entries via email. We regret that Texas Co-op Power cannot be responsible for photos that are lost in the mail or not received by the deadline.

TexasCoopPower.com July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 35 Around Texas Event Calendar

Pick of the Month July Spicer Gripp Memorial Roping 11 Hereford August 1–4 Sachse Space Magic With Brett Roberts, (806) 364-5362, spicergripp.com (972) 530-8966, cityofsachse.com This event includes roping, dummy roping for youngsters, golf and a barbecue cook-off and 12 honors Spicer Gripp of Hereford. Deaf Smith Kerrville [12–13] Kerrville Open Pro Rodeo, Electric Cooperative sponsors some of the (830) 997-1864, lmrodeo.com events. Proceeds help fund scholarships at Mason [12–14] Mason County Roundup West Texas A&M University. Weekend, (325) 347-5758, masontxcoc.com 13 Palacios Poker in Palacios and Seafood July 13 Weatherford Dinner, (361) 972-2615, palacioschamber.com Parker County Peach Festival Weatherford Parker County Peach Festival, (817) 596-380, peachfestivaltx.com Dumas [19–20] D’Town Barbecue Cook-Off, 18 (806) 935-2123, dumaschamber.com Athens [18–27] Beauty and the Beast Jr., Paris [19–20] Balloon and Music Festival, (903) 675-3908, hcpac.org (903) 782-6215, parisballoonandmusicfestival.com Temple [19–20] Wildflower Quilt Guild Quilt 19 Show, (254) 220-5597, wildflowerquiltguild.com Palestine Romance on the Rails, Ingram [19–20, 26–27, Aug. 2–3] Mamma (855) 632-7729, texasstaterailroad.net Mia!, (830) 367-5121, hcaf.com

ROPER: COURTESY LONE WOLF PHOTOGRAPHY. PEACHES: BRONWYN8 | DREAMSTIME.COM. THIMBLE: JUDY KENNAMER | DREAMSTIME.COM

HUNTER BEATON DAY 1 BAGS provide foster children with due bags ﬁlled with supplies for their move to a new home. POWER OF OUR PEOPLE | APRIL 2019 25 Year Warranty • Easy Bolt-Together Design Engineered Stamp Blueprints

Farm • Industrial • Commercial POWER 940-304-8068 RHINO.BUILDERS/TX OF OUR [email protected] AROUND PEOPLE TEXAS $100 EVENT LISTINGS WINNER Nominate someone today!

Tell us about somebody who improves the quality of life in your community. Email your nom- PLAN YOUR TRIP TODAY AT ination to [email protected]. Include the person’s name, co-op aliation and a short description of his or her work in the community. Featured nominees will receive a $100 donation for their cause. TexasCoopPower.com

36 Texas Co-op Power July 2019 TexasCoopPower.com South Padre Island [31–Aug. 4] 20 30 Texas International Fishing Tournament, Brazoria Santa Ana Ball, (979) 248-8323, Boerne Abendkonzert, (830) 248-1635, (956) 943-8438, tift.org brazoriahf.org visitboerne.org Caldwell Texas Czech Genealogical Society: Tracing Orphans and Adoptions in Genealogy, 31 (214) 577-0029, txczgs.org New Braunfels [31–Aug. 4] Lone Star August Fredericksburg Night in Old Fredericks- Gourd Festival and Art Show, (210) 468-9924, texasgourdsociety.org 1 burg, (830) 997-2359, gillespiefair.net Jacksonville [1–4] Back to School Bash, Santo Christmas in July, (940) 659-3990 (903) 724-4100, riverrunpark.com 24 2 Levelland [24–27] Junior Rodeo Cowboy Levelland [2–4] Texas Best Show Association Finals, (806) 894-4161, Series: Lamb Show, (806) 894-4161, malleteventcenter.com malleteventcenter.com 26 3 Kerrville Movies in the Park, (830) 257-7300, Corpus Christi South Texas Summer kerrvilletx.gov PolkaFest, (361) 215-9163, chssouthtexas.org Bonham [26–27] Quilt Hop, (903) 583-9830, visitbonham.com 4 Huntsville [26–27] East Texas Thimble Trail, Frelsburg Sts. Peter & Paul Country (936) 594-1237, easttexasthimbletrail.com Festival, (979) 732-7603 Fredericksburg [26–28] Hill Country Auto Swap Meet, (254) 751-7958, Submit Your Event! earhartproductions.com July 26–27 We pick events for the magazine directly from Palestine [26–28, Aug. 2–4] My Son Pinoc- Huntsville East Texas TexasCoopPower.com. Submit your event online chio, (903) 922-1126, thetexastheater.com Thimble Trail for September by July 10, and it just might be featured in this calendar. M BE THE ENVY OF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

ENTER TO WIN THIS AMAZING PRIZE PACKAGE OFFERED IN OUR 2019 “GIVING AWAY THE FARM” SWEEPSTAKES! • $75,000 credit towards a new Morton building • John Deere Crossover Utility Vehicle XUV835M with approximate retail value of $23,000 Don’t miss your chance to win! Enter online at mortonbuildings.com or at participating trade shows from July 15, 2019 to October 17, 2019!

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TexasCoopPower.com July 2019 Texas Co-op Power 37 Hit the Road With Chet Garner What Lies Beneath Buffalo Bayou’s forgotten cistern returns to public life

F=:F99A J95DE 5;B, BA 5 H=E=F FB IEF5A- bul, I descended into a damp underground labyrinth of stone columns known as the Basilica Cistern, which dates to Roman times. The scene was otherworldly, and I thought I would never again see anything like it. Little did I know that I would visit another subterranean marvel that would recall this otherworldly sensation—only this time it would be in Houston. To understand Houston, one must understand Buffalo Bayou. This muddy waterway flows through the heart of the The Buffalo Bayou entrance three times dozens of canyons, including that grand one city and once drove Houston’s economy. Park Cistern is when I first tried to in Arizona, and I’ve never heard anything Simply put, without Buffalo Bayou there about the size of visit. However, as soon like it. We spent the next hour yelling and 1½ football fields. would be no Houston. In recent decades, as I stepped through shining our phone lights into the abyss. a partnership between the city and a ded- the door and descended into the mysteri- Even though the room feels like a work icated bayou nonprofit has reclaimed the ous sunken world, I knew I was standing of art itself, the cistern lives a new life long-neglected waterway, which now runs somewhere special, in one of only two as an art space. With guidance from the through world-class parks and green underground cisterns in the world open Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, artists spaces. The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern, for public tours. from around the world visit the Bayou City however, was ignored. I felt dwarfed by the massive room, to take advantage of the cistern’s unique The cistern was built in 1926 to hold which measures approximately one and sound and light capabilities for their own approximately 15 million gallons of water a half football fields. The cistern’s 221 installations. for the residents of Houston. It did its concrete columns, each 25 feet tall, gave In Texas, we have countless buildings, job well for more than 80 years, until an me the sense that I was standing in an including our Capitol and many county irreparable leak caused it to be decom- underground Greek temple or even a sub- courthouses, that were built to impress. Isn’t missioned in 2007. With no need for a terranean Lincoln Memorial. That was it ironic that one of our most unique and leaking water tank, the city condemned a jaw-dropping experience. Then came awe-inspiring spaces was built as a func- the space and scheduled it for demolition. the light and sound show. tional reservoir that was never intended to While the city searched for a demolition Our tour guide bounced a single flash- see the light of day? I left the Buffalo Bayou crew, members of the Buffalo Bayou Part- light beam off the ceiling and into the Park Cistern inspired to keep exploring nership discovered the space and decided 4 inches of water covering the cistern floor. because if something so cool can go unit should be saved. One architect called it Suddenly, the ground became an entrance mentioned for 80 years, imagine what other “The Cistern” because it reminded him of into another dimension. OK, not really, but treasures await discovery. the one in Istanbul. The name stuck. it did transform into a huge reflecting pool Chet Garner shares his Texplorations as the At ground level, the only evidence of with a perfect upside-down reflection of host of The Daytripper on PBS. the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern is an unre- the cistern. Our guide prompted us to be markable door set into a small hill. That’s quiet, and when everything was still, she WEB EXTRAS a Read this story on our why it went virtually unnoticed for eight let out a single shout that reverberated off . website to see Chet’s video of his visit

decades. And it is the reason I missed the the walls for a full 17 seconds. I’ve been in to Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern. COURTESY CHET GARNER

38 Texas Co-op Power July 2019 TexasCoopPower.com

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