YOUR ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE NEWS MARCH 2020 Soapy’s Skulduggery Fresh From the Gulf Devil’s Rope Museum

¡VIVA CONJUNTO! The soul music of South Texas reaches far and wide MMADE A D E FFOR O R LLASTINGASTING performance

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FAVORITES 5 Letters 6 Currents 18 Co-op News Get the latest information plus energy and safety tips from your cooperative. 29 Texas History The Dirt on Soapy By Clay Coppedge 31 Recipes Crawfish, Oysters, Crab and More 35 Focus on Texas Photo Contest: First Ride 36 Around Texas List of Local Events 38 Hit the Road Sharpening My Knowledge By Chet Garner Eduardo Garza of Mission was one of the big winners at the 2019 Big Squeeze youth ONLINE accordion competition. TexasCoopPower.com Find these stories online if they don’t FEATURES appear in your edition of the magazine. Observations Soul Music of South Texas Conjunto turns accordions Lessons in Canning By Joe Holley 8 and 12-string guitars into ambassadors of happy music. By Joe Nick Patoski Texas USA

Twist in the Wind Texas’ Main Squeeze The accordion has been a beloved By E. Dan Klepper 14 musical instrument since it got here. By Joe Nick Patoski

NEXT MONTH

A Snake To Love An outdoors journalist comes to admire rattlesnakes, which are not the evil beings of legend and myth. 31 38

29 35 GARZA: COURTESY TEXAS FOLKLIFE. RATTLESNAKE: FIVESPOTS | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

ON THE COVER Flaco Jiménez brought the conjunto accordion to Amsterdam in 1989. Photo by Frans Schellekens | Getty Images

TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Alan Lesley, Chair, Comanche; Robert Loth III, Vice Chair, Fredericksburg; Gary Raybon, Secretary-Treasurer, El Campo; Mark Boyd, Douglassville; Greg Henley, Tahoka; Billy Jones, Corsicana; David McGinnis, Van Alstyne • PRESIDENT/CEO: Mike Williams, Austin • COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBER SERVICES COMMITTEE: Marty Haught, Burleson; Bill Hetherington, Bandera; Ron Hughes, Sinton; Boyd McCamish, Littlefield; Mark McClain, Roby; 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; Grace Fultz, Print Production Specialist; Travis Hill, Communications Specialist; Qasim K. Johnson, Administrative Assistant; Megan Myers, Food Editor; Jessica Ridge, Communications Specialist; Chris Salazar, Digital Field Editor; Jane Sharpe, Senior Designer; Kristin Wise, Digital Media Intern; Shannon Oelrich, Proofreader

TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 3

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LETTERS

Scrumptious and Healthy

I am tickled to death to welcome Courthouses as Art

Megan Myers as the new food

As an artist and student of Texas courthouse editor [New Year’s Resolution,

January 2020]. I have eaten architecture, I loved Sheryl Smith-Rodgers’

healthy most of my life and am article about architect James Riely Gordon excited to be able to consult

Texas Co-op Power for new [Gordon’s Gold, January 2020]. Gordon’s

recipes.

iconic structures make some of the most

The January meals look scrump-

tious, so I am already a fan. interesting subjects for my Texas court-

ELAINE FRIEDBERG | BRENHAM house drawings [Wise County, right].

BLUEBONNET EC I suspect that there was a rivalry between

When I was in college, I had to counties for who could commission the grand- subsist on the meal plan since money was tight. A vegetable est structure, and Gordon was certainly proac- that was often served in the tive promoting his vision of civic buildings. cafeteria was Brussels sprouts.

I absolutely hated them.

As I have gotten older, I have NORMAN BEAN | MARTINDALE | BLUEBONNET EC learned how important it is

to eat fresh vegetables. I can’t say enough good things

about Megan Myers’ recipe for January 2020]. The church inte- will be pluralized by adding “es.” be created where all property Spicy Glazed Brussels Sprouts. It rior has been redesigned into a MIKE MCEWEN | JACKSONVILLE owners—not just those who feel was easy, and even my husband taproom for customers. CHEROKEE COUNTY EC like it—contribute, and many vol- enjoyed the tasty vegetables. The owners invited the priest unteer fire departments receive NANCY GLASSCOCK | SONORA from St. Isidore Episcopal Church Editor’s Note: Yes, in Spanish, funding via the ESD mechanism.

SOUTHWEST TEXAS EC and the congregation to come the singular is tamal, originally Voters must approve the pro-

and help bless their brewery. tamalli in the Nahuatl language. posed district and tax rate.

MARY VAZQUEZ | MONTGOMERY However, the word has been RON BOERGER | BRUSHY CREEK

MIDSOUTH EC adapted into English as tamale. PEDERNALES EC

Tamalada Tradition Letters About Letters

We used to do tamaladas with Having grown up in a ranching GET MORE TCP AT my mom and all eight daugh- family, I knew how to change TexasCoopPower.com

ters [The Call of the Tamalada, a tire and drive stick shift early Sign up for our e-newsletter for December 2019]. Sadly, we lost on [Letters, January 2020]. monthly updates, prize drawings Mom [a] few years ago, and this Having taught high school 37 and more! year we lost one of our sisters, years, I always told my students

but the tradition continues even they needed to know those We want to hear from you!

as our circle gets smaller. two things, even if they never ONLINE: TexasCoopPower.com/share BETTY KEIPER | VIA FACEBOOK needed to use them. EMAIL: [email protected] CHARLOTTE CASSIN | BATESVILLE MAIL: Editor, Texas Co-op Power, Brews and Pews At the risk of coming across too MEDINA EC 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701 Back Pew Brewing in Porter is picky, I would like to point out

located on acreage that once that the singular of tamales is A reader proposes a “dues Please include your town and electric co-op. Letters may be edited for clarity and length. belonged to a little country not tamale; it is tamal. In Span- requirement in Texas for VFDs.” church [Texas Feels a Draft, ish, when a word ends in “l,” it Emergency services districts may D FE Texas Co-op Power

TEXAS CO-OP POWER VOLUME 76, NUMBER 9 (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 sat-

isfaction and delivery responsibility lie solely with the advertiser. © Copyright 2020 Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. Reproduction of this issue or any portion of it is expressly prohib-

WISE COUNTY COURTHOUSE: COURTESYited NORMAN BEAN. SALAD: MEGANwithout MYERS written permission. Willie Wiredhand © Copyright 2020 National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 5

CURRENTS

HAPPENINGS FLASHBACK The Box Tops 175 Years Ago Congress passed a joint resolu- Are Back tion annexing Texas on March 1, 1845, and on December 29 that year, Texas joined the union as the 28th state. A theater from the 1940s brings a soul band from the 1960s to a 2020s Texas audience. The BOX TOPS of Memphis, Tennessee, who released a string of hit singles in the late 1960s, are back on the scene and play a show MARCH 13 at the Brauntex Theatre in downtown NEW BRAUNFELS. The Box Tops’ heyday was short-lived, but they became a sensation with hit singles The Letter, Cry Like a Baby and Soul Deep. SPORTS SECTION The Brauntex has a storied history, opening a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor with a showing of Birth of the Blues, starring Bing Crosby RANGERS ARE MADE and Mary Martin. Today, it is a regular stop for touring and Texas acts. IN THE SHADE INFO a (830) 627-0808, brauntex.org/tickets.html Plenty of Texas Rangers fans will tell you it was the best catch they’ve ever seen. During a game at then-Ameriquest Field in Arlington on July 1, 2006, Mike Lamb of the WEB EXTRAS Houston Astros sent a shot barrel- a Find more ing toward the wall in center field. happenings The Rangers’ Gary Matthews gave online. chase, leapt and snagged the ball with his back to home plate, twist- ing in the air to rob a home run.

“People are always bringing it up,” Matthews told the Los Angeles Times a year later. “A few days ago, I was on deck in Cincinnati, and I heard a guy in the crowd say, ‘That’s the best catch I’ve ever seen.’ ”

Over the course of 26 seasons, sunny Globe Life Park in Arlington saw scores of big moments, includ- ing a perfect game pitched by Kenny Rogers on July 28, 1994.

But when the Rangers take the field for the start of the season March 31, players—and fans—will no longer have to contend with the sun. The new $1.1 billion Globe Life Field, just across the street, features 40,000 BOX TOPS, 1968

seats under a retractable roof. BOX TOPS: MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES | GETTY IMAGES. GLOVE: ZORAN ORCIK | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

TexasCoopPower.com TCP CONTEST a WIN 5 POUNDS OF TEXAS GULF SHRIMP Check out our favorite seafood recipes starting on Page 31, then enter online.

BY THE NUMBERS ; Did you know? The rubber band was patented 175 years ago. British inventor Stephen Perry received his patent March 17, 1845.

More than 30 million pounds of rubber bands are sold in the U.S. every year.

TECH KNOWLEDGE Powering the World

The average Texan retires when they’re about 64 years old.

John Goodenough passed that mark back in 1986, the same year he joined the University of Texas, after decades spent developing lithium-ion batteries.

He hasn’t stopped.

Now, Goodenough, who’s 97, is the oldest person to win the Nobel Prize— for his battery breakthroughs that power the smartphones, laptops and cars we use every day. He shares the The largest rubber band ball ever made used prize with two other scientists. Of course, Goodenough is still going. rubber bands and He still works 8–10 hours a day, accord- stood 6 feet, 7 inches tall. ing to his assistant at UT, and just last 700,000 year announced a breakthrough: non- It was made by a Florida man. Some things flammable, glass powder-based lithium- ion batteries with twice the energy aren’t always bigger in Texas. density of traditional lithium-ion cells.

Maybe he’ll retire at 100. We hope not.

Below are some of the responses to our January prompt: FINISH THIS SENTENCE I knew I was grown up when ... Why do dogs always . . . I could kill my own spiders. SYLVIA WILLIAMS | NEW BOSTON | BOWIE-CASS EC a Tell us how you would finish that sentence. Your answers I sat at the dinner table and realized my feet touched the floor. can be silly, serious, deep or superficial. Email your short GEORGE MCNEW | SPRING BRANCH | PEDERNALES EC responses to [email protected] or post them on our Facebook page. Please include your city and co-op. I realized I could eat ice cream for breakfast if I wanted. ROBIN HODGES | BANDERA | BANDERA EC

BALL: JIRI HERA | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM. GOODENOUGH: MARSHA MILLER | UT AUSTIN. DOG: JENNY SUN | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM To see more responses, read Currents on our website.

TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 7 SOUL MUSIC OF SOUTH

8 Texas Co-op Power March 2020 TexasCoopPower.com BY JOE NICK PATOSKI

CONJUNTO, BUILT UPON A POLKA RHYTHM, TURNS ACCORDIONS AND 12-STRING GUITARS INTO A UNIQUE SOUND AND SUBCULTURE

arren David Prieto played the accordion in Carnitas Uruapan, a meat market on the west side Dof San Antonio, one Sunday morning in 2016 while customers lined up for tamales and carnitas. Back then, the mar- ket hosted a weekly residency with accordionist Santiago Jiménez Jr., younger brother of accordion legend Flaco Jiménez. The gig was practice for Jiménez, but for Prieto, it was an apprenticeship and a steppingstone to a career performing the soul music of South Texas. Jiménez introduced the shy teenager from New Braunfels, then 16, as “mi protegido”—his protégé—and, blushing, Prieto nodded toward Jiménez and added, “Mi profesor.” This unlikely venue and early start time was a very big deal for the slight, quiet young man because as part of a new generation of conjunto accor- dionists, it was his opportunity to learn from a master. As Jiménez played his diatonic button accordion, accompa- nied by a sideman strumming chords on a 12-string guitar called a bajo sexto, pounding out a rhythm to propel the sounds from Jiménez’s accordion, the meat market’s owner occasionally walked out from behind the counter to harmonize with Jiménez in vocal duets. “Margarita, Margarita,” they crooned, faces inches TEXAS from each other. Sit-ins from the neighborhood were part of the weekly routine. Grammy Award winner Max Baca of Los Tex- maniacs walked into Carnitas wearing a football jersey and shorts rather than his western stage outfit and sat in with the band, playing bajo sexto.

Opposite: Joel Guzmán at the Alamo. Above: Teenage conjunto performer

GUZMÁN: JOHN DYER. PRIETO: COURTESY TEXAS FOLKLIFE Darren David Prieto in 2015.

TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 9 AT A TIME WHEN MOST AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC’S POPULARITY IS ON THE DOWNSWING, CONJUNTO’S ROOTS ARE SPREADING.

onjunto’s bouncy rhythm, typically a polka, is why and bajo sexto classes are taught weekly at the Conjunto Heritage it is also known as música alegre, happy music. Like Taller and the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio. blues and country, conjunto—pronounced cohn- “We get them from 8 to 80,” said Rodolfo Lopez, Conjunto Heritage hoon-toe—is indigenous, only regionally specific Taller director. “Conjunto is us, la gente. This is a unique music Cto South Texas, with mostly Spanish lyrics. In South form.” Kids from the taller (workshop) have dominated the state- Texas, and anywhere conjunto’s influence extends, the term is wide Big Squeeze youth accordion competition sponsored by applied to both sound and subculture. Texas Folklife since its inception in 2007. Conjunto has two key instruments: the diatonic button accor- Conjunto was born in the late 19th WEB EXTRAS dion, which, like a harmonica, changes notes as air is pushed or century when German immigrants a Read this story pulled past vibrating reeds, and the bajo sexto, which provides introduced the button accordion to on our website to the rhythm and backbeat. Most modern conjuntos also include South Texas. In part because of its rural learn where to see drums, guitar and bass. roots, it was known as cantina music. and hear conjunto At a time when most American roots music’s popularity is on Conjunto made its commercial debut music. And check the downswing, conjunto’s roots are spreading. Public school pro- in the 1920s and ’30s, when Columbia out our playlist. grams in La Joya, Los Fresnos, Brownsville and other towns across and Bluebird joined other labels in the

the Rio Grande Valley have added conjunto to their curricula, fledgling recording business, setting up SANTIAGO JIMÉNEZ JR: JOHN DYER. LOS TEXMANIACS: FOLKWAYS MEDIA. LYDIA MENDOZA: MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVE | GETTY IMAGES. EVA YBARRA: LINDA VARTOOGIAN | GETTY IMAGES. NARCISO MARTÍNEZ: COURTESY ARHOOLIE FOUNDATION

10 Texas Co-op Power March 2020 TexasCoopPower.com Clockwise from opposite page: Santiago Jiménez Jr., who gave Texas conjunto recording pioneers Bruno Villarreal from accordion lessons to Prieto. Los Texmaniacs have taken conjunto as Santa Rosa, Narciso Martínez of La Paloma and Santiago Jiménez far as China. With her 12-string guitar, Lydia Mendoza became the first of San Antonio all eavesdropped on Czech, German and Polish female star of Mexican American music. San Antonio’s Eva Ybarra is known as the Queen of the Accordion. Narciso Martínez was one of dances in South Texas and incorporated what they heard into the recording pioneers of conjunto. their own music. Conjunto follows neither mariachi nor ranchera traditions, studios in rooms at San Antonio’s Gunter and Bluebonnet hotels nor is it norteño, the accordion style popular in northern Mexico. as well as at local WOAI radio to record musicians solicited by “It’s a melding of European music and the Mexican bajo sexto,” talent scouts. Conjunto accordionists were recruited to San Anto- Rodolfo Lopez explained, noting that Czech redowas, Bohemian nio alongside bluesman Robert Johnson, western swingsters Bill schottisches, waltzes and polkas all came from Europe. “We just Boyd & His Cowboy Ramblers and the Tex-Czech sounds of added our jalapeño chiltepin flavor to it.” Adolph Hofner as well as Texan Mexican singer Lydia Mendoza. Flaco Jiménez, the older of conjunto pioneer Santiago Jiménez’s The instrumentals by those conjunto accordionists sounded two sons, expanded awareness of the genre in 1973, appearing on Mexican with additional Bohemian, Czech and German ele- the album Doug Sahm and Band, featuring the rock musician from ments, reflecting the influence of the immigrant communities San Antonio and an all-star lineup that included Bob Dylan. Sahm of South Texas. sought out and played bajo sexto with Flaco Jiménez in his back-

TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 11 yard on San Antonio’s west side. “He could groove,” Jiménez said. Samilpa; a middle-aged Polish import Esteban “Steve” Jordan Flaco Jiménez would ultimately take conjunto accordion from Saginaw, Michigan, named began playing accordion at the age of 7. around the world, recording with Ry Cooder, Peter Rowan, the Bradley Jaye Williams; and Mark Rolling Stones, Dwight Yoakum and Emmylou Harris before join- Weber, an accordionist from San Anto- ing the Tex-Mex supergroup Texas Tornados. nio. Another crossover success is Stevie Ray Vavages of the Esteban “Steve” Jordan of Elsa, a dashing figure with an eye- Tohono O’odham Nation in Arizona, who learned the bajo sexto patch known as the Jimi Hendrix of the accordion, also worked playing the native sound called chicken scratch. as a conjunto innovator. One record label described Jordan’s Darren Prieto is part of the next wave. style as acordeón psicodélico. If Jiménez was the standard-bearer, Typical of most Texas kids, he grew up listening to rock, coun- Jordan was the experimentalist—always pushing the envelope try, jazz and hip-hop. Not typical of most Texas kids, he chose to until his passing in 2010. play accordion when he was 14. “I was always with my grandfa- Another notable exporter of conjunto accordion is Joel ther,” he explained. “Around our house, conjunto music was Guzmán of Buda, who performs with his wife, Sarah Fox, as Aztex; always on. I listened to all types of conjunto, from Los Pavo Reales plays and records with country rocker Joe Ely; and joined Paul to Ruben Naranjo.” The summer before he entered high school, Simon on his Homeward Bound tour. One of few professional Prieto picked up his grandfather’s accordion, just as his own female accordionists, Eva Ybarra earned a National Heritage father once had. By that September, he’d learned some polkas. Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2017. “I started falling in love,” Prieto said. Those Sunday morning performances on the small stage at Carnitas Uruapan, where he learned from Santiago Jiménez Jr., onjunto is no longer exclusively a Texas thing. Japan stoked Prieto’s creative fire. “He helped me learn to get over stage has several conjuntos who were inspired by Flaco fright, how to talk to the crowd and even how to be a humble Jiménez’s appearance in their country with the musician,” Prieto said. Texas Tornados. Dwayne Verheyden from the The gigs at Carnitas Uruapan stopped in 2018 when the owner CNetherlands mastered Jiménez’s playing style, then retired. But Prieto remains tight with Jiménez. “You can hear a mastered Spanish to better communicate with Jiménez and con- little bit of Santiago Jiménez Jr.’s style in my own playing,” Prieto junto audiences. After his performance at the Tejano Conjunto said. “Playing conjunto music is so fun. It isn’t like any other Fest in San Antonio in 2014, fans patiently lined up to have their music. It has that beat that makes you want to dance. It makes picture taken with him, as if he was the Justin Bieber of conjunto. you feel alive.” Conjunto’s crossover appeal comes to life in the music of Con- Writer Joe Nick Patoski, a confessed conjunto addict, lives outside Wim-

junto Los Pinkys, an Austin band led by octogenarian Isidro berley and is a member of Pedernales EC. JACK VARTOOGIAN | GETTY IMAGES

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TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 13 TEXAS’ MAIN SQUEEZE

Chris Rybak continues a tradition brought to Texas by European settlers in the 1800s. Inset: Rybak as an 11-year-old.

14 Texas Co-op Power March 2020 TexasCoopPower.com BY JOE NICK PATOSKI

THE ACCORDION HAS BEEN A BELOVED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SINCE IT GOT HERE

f all the musical instruments brought to Texas by German, Czech, Polish and Moravian immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the accordion made the most unexpected inroads among Mexi- Ocan, Cajun and Creole communities who embraced it as their instrument of choice. Generations later, squeezeboxes still move Texans. Chris Rybak, known as the Accordion Cowboy, who hails from Hallettsville, explains that when he picked up the instrument 30 years ago, at age 11, accordion-playing bandleader Lawrence Welk was a big thing. “But that also made accordion not so cool,” he says, adding that now it’s heard in jazz, rock and a wide variety of other musical genres. “It doesn’t have to be just your grandpa’s oompah anymore.” Packing the full-bodied sound of an entire band into one instrument, the accordion, invented in Europe in the 1820s, pro- vided entertainment at dances of all kinds as Texas was settled. Accordionist and band Rybak explains that Czech, German, Without the need for electricity or amplification, its sound car- leader Emil Schuhmann German-Polish, Tejano and Cajun ried farther than stringed instruments. of Fayette County in music each embody a distinct style. “On the 1890s. The accordion was a key instrument for western swing bands the other hand, when you go to a con- in the 1930s and ’40s. It remains the most versatile musical junto place,” he says, “the band will instrument going in Texas, straddling regions and borders and throw in a few Czech songs. And vice versa. The accordion is dis- injecting its sound into rock, country, blues, jazz and zydeco. It’s tinctive, and it can cross boundaries and cultures.” the defining instrument of conjunto, the folk music of South The universality of the accordion is celebrated at the Accor- Texas, and the faster-paced norteño, a folk music of northern dion Kings and Queens at the Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston Mexico that is similar to conjunto. on the first Saturday in June, a production of Texas Folklife. All Without the accordion, there would be no Mark Halata at the bands onstage feature accordions as the lead instrument, Wurstfest, no Brave Combo playing WestFest, no Ennis Czech but the performers sing in English, Spanish, French, German, Boys working the National Polka Festival, no Fritz Hodde and Polish and Czech, reflecting each group’s ethnic background. the Fabulous Six performing at an SPJST hall. Despite those differences, everyone dances the same on the The European-style accordion, the traditional large instru- dance floor, moving in a counterclockwise direction. ment with piano keys on the right-hand side that functions like These days, Rybak says he mostly uses a digital accordion, a glorified organ, is favored by the Bohemians, Czechs, Poles and which has changed his instrument much the way a digital key- Germans of South and Central Texas; some Zydeco bands around board changed piano playing. He can create blaring trumpets to Houston and southeast Texas; and Fort Worth’s Ginny Mac and open the Johnny Cash standard Ring of Fire. Austin’s Debra Peters. It can weigh upward of 30 pounds. “I would say for most shows, I play 70 or 80% with a digital Conjuntos and some zydeco bands favor the smaller, diatonic accordion,” he says. “And that’s what the new generation really model of accordion with buttons on both sides that change notes as loves, too. They can do anything on it.” you push and pull and has considerably faster action. Texas Cajuns Although Joe Nick Patoski gave up piano accordion for violin at age 7,

RYBAK PHOTOS: COURTESY CHRIS RYBAK.play SCHUHMANN: WINEDALE PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION |an THE DOLPH BRISCOE CENTER evenFOR AMERICAN HISTORY, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTINsmaller, simpler diatonic model with fewer buttons. he owns a button accordion autographed by Flaco Jiménez.

TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 15 Wear the Colors of Italy’s Legendary Regatta

Raffinato™ ——— Italy

To show exquisite details, necklace shown is not exact size.

he Regata Storica started in 1489, when the beautiful TCaterina Cornaro, wife of the King of Cyprus, renounced her Cypriot throne in favor of Venice. The people of Venice welcomed her with a parade of elaborately-decorated gondolas, in a rainbow of popping colors. Every year since, the spirit Thanks to the Regata, we’ve visited Venice often and of 1489 is recaptured in those world-famous made great contacts, which is how we found and canals when the famous Regata is repeated. negotiated the best possible price on the highest Our Cornaro Necklace is the essence quality Murano available. Now’s your chance to of Venice, with the revelry of the Regata share in the spirit of this legendary event without channeled into one perfect piece of jewelry. needing to break out your passport. The gorgeous colors recall the Regata itself, Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. and the 59 beads of authentic Murano are Enjoy the gorgeous colors of the Cornaro Murano the only thing as historic and uniquely Venice Necklace for 30 days. If it doesn’t pass with ying as those gondolas. Each necklace is handmade colors, send it back for a full refund of the item price. by the legendary Murano glassmakers, where the proud Venetian tradition has been passed down Limited Reserves. You could easily pay $300 or more for a from generation to generation, dating Murano glass bead necklace, but at $29, this genuine handmade back to before the city threw that first famous party Murano won’t last. Don’t miss the boat! for Caterina. CALL 1-888-444-5949 TODAY! “...businesses on the crowded little island [Murano] also Cornaro Murano Necklace produce high fashion jewelry found on runways and in exclusive social settings around the world”. Stunningly affordable at $29+ S&P — The New York Times • Made in Italy • Murano glass • 25" necklace with lobster clasp • Gold-finished settings Call today. There’s never been a better time to let your elegance shine. 1-888-444-5949 Offer Code: RFG252-02. You must use the offer code to get our special price.

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20 Texas Co-op Power March 2020 TexasCoopPower.com CentralTexasEC2003_ 2/11/20 1:28 PM Page 18

Co-op News CENTRAL TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

CENTRAL TEXAS EC Why We Encourage You JANUARY 7, 2020 Regular Board To Conserve Energy Meeting Recap

Meeting called to order and prayer offered. Reviewed: Operations and Outages Report MESSAGE FROM Approved: December 3–December 30, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ROBERT A. LOTH III 2019, Membership List and Membership Conversions YOU MAY WONDER WHY WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO USE ELECTRICITY Approved: Minutes of the Regular Board efficiently. After all, we’re in the business of selling kilowatt- Meeting Held December 12, hours—so why would we want our customers to use less electricity? 2019 Unlike other utilities, your cooperative isn’t in business to make a profit; it’s in Reviewed: Safety Report for 11 Months business to serve you in the most efficient, reliable and cost-effective way possible. Ended November 30, 2019 Each co-op is collectively owned by the people it serves and shares its members’ Reviewed: Financial and Statistical interest in keeping costs down. Reports for 11 Months Ended We strongly encourage energy conservation for a number of reasons. November 30, 2019 First, it’s common sense. Although fossil fuels are still relatively abundant, they Reviewed: Preliminary Budget for 2020 are finite. Depleting these natural resources too quickly contributes to environmen- Approved: Uncollectable Accounts Writ- tal degradation and means there will be less fuel for future generations. ten Off for 2019 Conserving energy also saves money in two ways: Using less electricity decreases Approved: Estate Retirements Processed your electric bill, and when in 2019 many consumers lower Reviewed: CEO Goals and Objectives for their usage, it saves your 2020 cooperative money as well. Approved: Formation of Technology That’s because electric co- Board Committee ops must keep enough Approved: NRECA Annual Membership power on hand to supply all Dues members’ highest usage. So, Reviewed: Board Policy No. 2 if electricity can be con- Meeting adjourned. served, less overall power is needed, new power sources may not have to be tapped as soon as they would other- wise and the construction of LIKE US ON costly new generating plants can be postponed. FACEBOOK As our electric system continues to grow, we must Central Texas Electric Cooperative

JITTAWIT.21 | ISTOCK.COM maintain an adequate sup- members can like their co-op on ply of power. Your conser- Facebook. On the CTEC Facebook vation efforts, combined with the efforts of fellow members, can ensure the page, members can find informa- cooperative’s stability and continued growth. Here at Central Texas Electric Cooperative, we seek to keep your electricity tion on energy efficiency, co-op affordable by automating operations where possible and by setting reasonable budg- meetings, outages, CTEC’s com- ets that do not sacrifice reliability or service. We have no control, however, over the munity involvement, contests and market price of fuels needed to generate electricity. other timely information you can We’ll continue to offer tips for conserving electricity and using it efficiently, even use—so like us today. though we’re in the business of selling it. You can count on Central Texas EC to con- tinue looking out for you.

18 Texas Co-op Power CENTRAL TEXAS EC March 2020 ctec.coop CentralTexasEC2003_ 2/11/20 1:28 PM Page 19

1-800-900-CTEC (2832) | CTEC.COOP

Central Texas Electric Cooperative Fredericksburg (headquarters) 386 Friendship Lane Fredericksburg, TX 78624 (830) 997-2126 | 1-800-900-CTEC (2832) Llano 1410 E. State Highway 29, Llano (325) 247-4191 Kingsland Nob Hill Subdivision 706 Cottonwood St., Kingsland (325) 388-4542 Mason 1881 E. State Highway 29, Mason (325) 347-6314 Office Hours 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday RUSLAN DANYLIUK | ISTOCK.COM Website ctec.coop

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER CFL or LED? Robert A. Loth III

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Compact fluorescent lightbulbs may soon Mark Hahn, President, Mason County become history, like incandescents before James Low, Vice President, San Saba County Doylene Bode, Secretary, Gillespie County Charles E. Pearson, Treasurer, Gillespie County Connie Stockbridge, Mason County INCANDESCENT LIGHTBULBS—THE ONES THAT WE INSTALLED IN TABLE LAMPS AND Mark A. Reeve, Kerr County overhead fixtures since the beginning of electricity—have become relics since the Tommy Duncan, Llano County Allen Goodwin, Kendall County U.S. government ordered that manufacturers stop making most of them in 2014. Is Wayne W. Seipp, Llano County the compact fluorescent lightbulb next? W.C. “Dub” Stewart, Llano County The twisty CFL bulbs, which can last up to five years and are much more energy Joseph B. Wieser, Gillespie County efficient than the old incandescents, were once hailed as the latest and greatest energy and money saver for household lighting. But LEDs—which are often built right into light fixtures, so you’ll never have to change a bulb again—have proved to be a better energy value. Both CFLs and LEDs use up to 75% less energy than incandescents. But LEDs last much longer than CFLs—up to 25,000 hours compared with 10,000 or so. Here’s why LEDs are quickly becoming America’s favorite lightbulb: a LEDs don’t get hot to the touch while they’re on, unlike incandescents, which release about 90% of their energy as heat. CFLs release about 80% of their energy as heat, but LEDs release almost no heat, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. a Unlike CFLs, LEDs contain no mercury, so their environmental impact is Emergency Contact minimal. a To report electric service interruptions, With an LED fixture that has the lighting element built right into it, no bulb is please call the Central Texas Electric visible and no bulb will ever need changing. Cooperative office in your area at the a LEDs come in a wide range of wattages, styles and hues, and many are compat- number listed below: ible with dimmer switches. 1-800-900-CTEC (2832) a LEDs are made with very sturdy materials and components that can stand up to harsh weather, shocks, vibrations and abrasion—one reason they’re increasingly adopted for roadside applications. a The price of LED bulbs has dropped from about $100 a bulb five years ago to around $3 or less today. As the popularity of LEDs grows, the CFL, like the incandescent, could become a museum piece—a relic of a bygone and less energy-efficient era.

ctec.coop March 2020 CENTRAL TEXAS EC Texas Co-op Power 19 CentralTexasEC2003_ 2/11/20 1:28 PM Page 20

CENTRAL TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

Where Memories Are Made

RIO VISTA RESORT HAS BEEN HELPING FAMILIES MAKE MEMORIES RV sites have amazing views of Lake LBJ. on Lake LBJ since 1982, when Henry and Janis Koenig turned The fixed-level lake is perfect for boating, tubing and fish- their love of visiting the lake into a way of life that they can ing. And the resort offers a water trampoline and slide in addi- share with their children and grandchildren—a family-owned tion to plenty of other on-site amenities to keep you busy. The and -operated business. resort also features a pool, hot tub, playscape, minigolf course, Less than a mile from Kingsland, the resort has five water- splash pad and game room with a pool table and pingpong front lake houses, which each accommodate 10 or 20 guests. table. Laundry and shower facilities are available as well, and The lake houses are all fully stocked with any basics you since the resort is in Kingsland, it is a quick trip to a fabulous might need for your stay and come with a boat slip. For restaurant or a grocery store. smaller groups, condos are available that sleep 4–8 guests With spacious waterfront areas and the ability to accommo- and come stocked with essentials as well as a boat slip. date large groups, the resort is perfect for hosting a wedding, If you have a home on wheels, the resort has nearly 100 family reunion or corporate retreat. From team building to recreational vehicle spots to accommodate you. Most of the family fun, Rio Vista Resort is where memories are made.

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20 Texas Co-op Power CENTRAL TEXAS EC March 2020 ctec.coop CentralTexasEC2003_ 2/11/20 1:28 PM Page 21

1-800-900-CTEC (2832) | CTEC.COOP

ctec.coop March 2020 CENTRAL TEXAS EC Texas Co-op Power 21 CentralTexasEC2003_ 2/11/20 1:28 PM Page 22

CENTRAL TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

Add Safety to Your Spring Cleaning Checklist

can’t see. Use a small ladder so you can climb high enough to wipe down the tops of the blades. If your fan has a built-in light, remove the decora- tive cover and rinse out the dust and dead bugs. Let it dry completely before replacing it. 5. Cord clutter. Are tangled cords a hazard in your home? Tangled cords can become damaged or frayed, increasing the risk of electrical shock or fire. A tangled mess increases the chance of damaging electrical equipment by inducing power loss or by accidentally pulling out one cord while working with another. Keep your wires neat and organized with cable ties or clips and make sure they are in good repair. 6. Power tools. Inspect power tools and outdoor appliances before using them. The long winter months could have left dirt buildup and some wear and tear. The risk of elec- trical danger is too high to not take a few minutes to clean them up and check for damage. 7. Smoke detectors. Although they

GREGORY_DUBUS | ISTOCK.COM may look clean from the outside, dust can accumulate inside the cover of smoke detectors and cause them AS YOU GIVE YOUR HOUSE A GOOD CLEANING THIS SPRING, to malfunction. Gently vacuum them with a soft brush to avoid don’t overlook appliances, fixtures and emergency supplies. false alarms, then check to ensure that the battery is opera- Here are 10 things you might not have thought to check: tional. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recom- 1. The stove’s exhaust hood. A year’s worth of home cook- mends replacing smoke detectors every 10 years. ing—especially after the holidays, when your home might have 8. Outdoor lighting. Damp air can corrode the metal fixtures hosted company—can leave grime and grease buildup on the of outdoor lights, so check each one carefully. Check metal hood. That buildup, which also includes food particles and sockets for any signs of corrosion. If you find rust that has dust, can catch on fire. Remove the hood and clean the filter eaten into the metal socket, contact an electrician to install a and all surfaces. new one. 2. The back of the refrigerator. When is the last time you 9. Outlets and switches. During your spring cleaning, take a pulled the fridge away from the wall and vacuumed the coils? A quick walk through your home and check each switch and out- rule of thumb: Do that every two or three months. Dust on the let. If you see any that appear discolored or are hot to the coils prevents the appliance from operating efficiently. Once touch, contact an electrician immediately. This is a sign of a they’re clean, push the fridge back toward the wall, but don’t wiring issue that could easily become a fire hazard. let it touch. Air needs to circulate around those coils. 10. Emergency kit. Some things in your emergency kit are 3. The dryer vent. The lint that collects in the dryer duct built to stand the test of time. But others, like batteries, canned presents a fire hazard. Snake it out at least twice a year and goods and bottled water, must be replaced every so often. Take clean the lint trap after every dryer cycle. time each spring to toss out and replace as needed so you’re 4. Ceiling fans. It’s easy to overlook dirt and dust that you prepared for spring storms.

22 Texas Co-op Power CENTRAL TEXAS EC March 2020 ctec.coop CentralTexasEC2003_ 2/11/20 1:28 PM Page 23

1-800-900-CTEC (2832) | CTEC.COOP

Deadline for District Meeting Ballot Is Approaching

THE MARCH 16 DEADLINE IS APPROACHING FOR CENTRAL TEXAS dentials and election committee composed of cooperative Electric Cooperative members interested in running for a seat members. on the cooperative’s board of directors. According to the CTEC The names of all candidates whose applications and peti- bylaws, any member seeking to have his or her name placed on tions are approved by the credentials and election committee the ballot for director nomination at the upcoming district will be listed on the district meeting notice mailed to all coop- meetings must deliver a completed application and petition to erative members in the district in question. the cooperative before this deadline. The deadline for submitting required materials is 5 p.m. This year, there are three seats on the board of directors to Monday, March 16. Applications and petitions submitted after be filled. The directors currently serving in districts 4 and 5 are the deadline will not be considered. Members wishing to be both in the final year of their fourth terms and are not able to placed on the ballot are encouraged to turn in completed appli- run as incumbents. The incumbent director in District 6 has cations and petitions as soon as possible. If materials are sub- filed to run for reelection. Details about the director selection mitted early enough, CTEC staff will review the materials and process are contained in the bylaws excerpts reprinted on make a preliminary determination regarding their sufficiency, pages 23–25 of this magazine and summarized here. giving potential candidates an opportunity to remedy any defi- Candidates for director must meet bylaws requirements for ciencies before the deadline. director eligibility. Members submitting petitions are also urged to secure peti- Candidates must reside in the area served by the coopera- tion signatures from more than 10 members to provide a mar- tive and must receive electric service in the district where they gin for error in the event that one or more of the signatures are seeking to be placed on the ballot. submitted is not recognized as valid by the credentials and Anyone seeking a district meeting nomination must submit election committee. Application and petition forms are avail- an application and a petition signed by at least 10 cooperative able by calling the CTEC headquarters office in Fredericksburg, members who receive electric service in the district in question. and completed applications and petitions must be returned Anyone who does not submit an application and petition by there by March 16, 2020. the deadline will not be eligible to be named as a district meet- Questions about the director selection process should be ing nominee, as the bylaws no longer provide for nominations directed to the CTEC headquarters office. In Fredericksburg, from the floor. members should call (830) 997-2126; the toll-free number is All applications and petitions will be reviewed by a cre- 1-800-900-2832.

Excerpts From the CTEC Bylaws tenure and nominations. To view the annual member meeting, and so forth, pro- on Director Elections complete CTEC bylaws, visit the co-op’s vided that the terms of no two directors THE CENTRAL TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERA- website, ctec.coop, or see them at any from the same directorate district shall tive Board of Directors is comprised of CTEC office. coincide. Upon their election, directors 11 co-op members representing six direc- shall, subject to the provisions of these torate districts in the co-op’s service SECTION 2. QUALIFICATIONS AND TENURE. bylaws with respect to the removal of direc- area. This year, director candidates from Directors shall be so nominated and elected tors, serve until the annual meeting of the districts 4, 5 and 6 will be nominated at that one director from or with respect to members of the year in which their terms their respective district meetings, and each of directorate districts numbers four, expire or until their successors shall have elections will be held at the annual meet- five, and six shall be elected for three-year been elected and shall have qualified. If for ing, which is scheduled for August 18, terms at an annual member meeting; one any reason an election of directors shall not 2020, in Fredericksburg. director from or with respect to each of be held at an annual meeting of the mem- A meeting will be held at the co-op’s directorate districts nos. one, three, four bers duly fixed and called pursuant to these headquarters office March 24, 2020, at and five shall be elected for three-year bylaws, such election may be held at an 6 p.m. and attended by members who terms at the next succeeding annual mem- adjournment of this meeting of the mem- have been selected to serve on this year’s ber meeting; and one director from or with bers. Failure of an election for a given year credentials and election committee. Fol- respect to each of directorate districts nos. shall allow the incumbents whose director- lowing are sections of the co-op’s bylaws two, three, four and five shall be elected for ships would have been voted on to hold that deal with director qualifications, three-year terms at the next succeeding over only until the next member meeting at

ctec.coop March 2020 CENTRAL TEXAS EC Texas Co-op Power 23 CentralTexasEC2003_ 2/11/20 1:28 PM Page 24

CENTRAL TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

which a quorum is present. (3) years. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a published in the notice of meeting mailed to To initiate the staggered terms described Member of the Board of Directors with the members of the cooperative, along with above the directors from districts three, four twelve (12) consecutive years of service on a proxy ballot including the names of all and five shall draw by lot to determine their said Board shall be eligible for appointment such nominated candidates for director. respective terms of office, a separate draw- to the Board of Directors for the purpose of Methods of Nominating. Nominations to ing being held for each district. filling a Director Vacancy in accordance with serve as a director may be made: (1) by the To be eligible for election or appoint- Article III, Section 4 of these Bylaws. members at a district meeting as provided in ment to, and to serve on, the Cooperative’s Married individuals shall not both be subsection (a) of this section or (2) by mem- Board of Directors, a person shall: eligible to serve on the Board of Directors ber petition delivered to the Cooperative as a. Be an individual with the capacity to at the same time. provided in subsection (b) of this section. enter legally binding contracts; Nothing in this Section contained shall, (a) District Meetings. Between May 20 b. Be a member of the Cooperative for at or shall be construed to, affect in any and June 20 of each year, the Board of least twelve (12) months; manner whatsoever, the validity of any Directors shall convene a separate meeting c. Have within the service territory action taken at any meeting of the Board of the members of each district at a suitable served by the cooperative (i) his/her princi- of Directors. place designated by the Board of Directors. pal place of residence for which his/her resi- The Board of Directors shall not author- Notice of the meeting shall be mailed to dence homestead exemption is claimed ize the employment of a chief executive offi- each member located in such district and pursuant to Chapter 11 of the Texas Tax cer, assistant chief executive officer, attorney, shall indicate the district to which the mem- Code; or (ii) if none of the above apply, assistant attorney, who is related in the sec- ber belongs. If a director is to be selected his/her principal residence, as defined under ond degree by affinity or the third degree from the district, the notice shall state that 26 C.F.R. §1.121-1(a)(2); by consanguinity to any director, retained the members in attendance at the meeting d. Not be engaged in any business, nor Cooperative attorney, chief executive officer shall select the district’s nominee for direc- employed by or materially affiliated with any and/or assistant chief executive officer of tor. The meeting shall be open for discussion individual or entity: the Cooperative. of any other matters pertaining to the busi- 1. Regularly, directly, and substan- Director Disqualification: After being ness of the Cooperative, regardless of tially competing with the Cooperative or a elected or appointed, if a Director does not whether or not such matters were listed in Cooperative Subsidiary; comply with the Director Qualifications the notice of the meeting. However, the dis- 2. Regularly selling goods or serv- existing when the Director was elected or trict meeting does not constitute a meeting ices to the Cooperative or a Cooperative appointed, then except as otherwise pro- of members of the Cooperative as described Subsidiary; or vided by the Board for good cause, the in these bylaws, and no formal action may 3. Otherwise possessing a sub- Board, by two-thirds vote, shall disqualify be taken, other than the selection of the dis- stantial conflict of interest with the Coopera- the Director and the individual is no longer a trict’s nominee for director. tive or a Cooperative Subsidiary; Director if: (1) the Board notifies the Director On or before March 15 (or the next fol- e. Not be an incumbent of or candidate in writing of the basis for, and provides the lowing day that is not a Saturday, Sunday for an elective public office in connection Director an opportunity to comment regard- or legal holiday) of each year, each member with which a salary is paid, other than mem- ing, the Board’s proposed disqualification; seeking to become his or her district’s nom- bers of a School Board or County Commis- and (2) within 45 days after the Board noti- inee for director must deliver to the Coop- sioner’s Court; fies the Director of the proposed disqualifi- erative a Cooperative-approved application f. Not be an individual that has been an cation, the director neither complies with confirming that the member satisfies bylaw employee of the Cooperative within two (2) nor meets the Director Qualification. If a requirements to serve as director, along years prior to serving on the Cooperative’s majority of Directors authorized by these with a petition meeting the following Board of Directors; and Bylaws complies with the Director Qualifica- requirements: g. Except as otherwise provided by the tions and approves a Board action, then the 1. Listing, on each page, the name Board of Directors for good cause, receive a failure of a Director to comply with the of the member seeking to become the dis- Credentialed Cooperative Director designa- Director Qualifications does not affect the trict meeting nominee; tion, Director’s Certificate, or similar certifi- Board action. 2. Indicating, on each page, the cation from the National Rural Electric director position for which the member will Cooperative Association within three years SECTION 3. NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS. run; and after becoming a director. Director elections will take place at the 3. Containing the printed names, Members of the Board of Directors hav- annual meeting of members held on the addresses, telephone numbers, and original ing been elected to four (4) terms of service third Tuesday of August of each year. The dated signatures of at least ten Cooperative on said Board (regardless of whether such names of all candidates nominated for elec- members receiving electric service from the terms are consecutive) shall be ineligible for tion to the board of directors in accordance Cooperative in the district in question. election to the Board of Directors. As stated with these bylaws, and whose eligibility is The C & E Committee shall review all in Article III, Section 2, a term shall last three confirmed by the C & E Committee, shall be applications and petitions submitted by

24 Texas Co-op Power CENTRAL TEXAS EC March 2020 ctec.coop CentralTexasEC2003_ 2/11/20 1:28 PM Page 25

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members seeking nomination at a district district meeting from such district. firming that the member satisfies bylaw meeting to confirm that the requirements of The minutes of each district meeting requirements to serve as director, along these bylaws have been satisfied, and fur- shall set forth, among other matters; the with a petition meeting the following ther confirming that each such member sat- name of each candidate seeking to become requirements: isfies bylaw eligibility requirements to serve the district meeting nominee and the num- 1. Listing, on each page, the name as director. The C & E Committee shall ber of votes received by each, and shall of the member being placed in nomination; report its findings to the President of the specify the official nominee of the district 2. Indicating, on each page, the Board of Directors in writing on or before meeting. A copy of the minutes, signed and director position for which the nominee will March 30 of each year. The names of all certified to by the chairperson and secretary run; and candidates seeking district meeting nomina- of the district meeting, shall be delivered to 3. Containing the printed names, tions whose eligibility is confirmed by the C the secretary of the Cooperative within ten addresses, telephone numbers, and original & E Committee shall be included in the Dis- (10) days after such district meeting. No dated signatures of at least one percent (1%) trict Meeting Notice. informality or defect in such minutes, or in of the Cooperative members as of the date The President of the Board of Directors the proceedings had, shall void the nomina- the petition is submitted. shall designate a chairperson to preside over tions so made or affect the validity of the The C & E Committee shall review all each district meeting. The district meeting election of directors at the meeting of the applications and petitions submitted by shall be called to order by the chairperson, members of the Cooperative. members seeking to place their name in who shall appoint a secretary to act for the District Meeting Record Date. A “Record nomination for a director position at an duration of the meeting. Members of other Date” is the date for determining the mem- annual meeting to confirm that the require- districts present at the meeting may be bers entitled to (1) receive notice of a dis- ments of these bylaws have been satisfied, heard but shall have no vote. trict meeting, and (2) vote at a district and further confirming that each such mem- The district meeting shall select one and meeting. In order to exercise these privi- ber satisfies bylaw eligibility requirements to only one member to be the nominee of the leges, an individual or entity must be serve as director. The C & E Committee shall district meeting to serve on the Board of accepted for membership in the Cooperative report its findings to the President of the Directors. Such person shall be considered by the Board of Directors in accordance Board of Directors in writing on or before at the meeting of the members as the nom- with Article I, Section 1 of these bylaws on June 30 of each year. inee of the district meeting. Voting by mail or before the Record Date. Any membership (c) Notice of Nominations. The Secre- and voting by proxy shall not be allowed at transfer to create a joint membership in tary shall mail with the notice of the meet- the district meeting. If only one candidate is accordance with Article I, Section 7(b) of ing, or separately, but at least ten (10) seeking to become the district’s nominee these bylaws must be accepted by the days prior to the meeting, a statement of for director, he or she may be elected by Board of Directors on or before the Record the number of directors to be elected and acclamation. If more than one candidate is Date in order for such membership transfer showing the nominations made by the dis- seeking to become the district meeting to be given effect at a district meeting. If a trict meetings and nominations by peti- nominee at the district meeting, voting by member is suspended after the Record tion. Notwithstanding anything in this ballot shall be conducted. If one candidate Date, that member is not entitled to receive section contained, failure to comply with receives more than fifty percent (50%) of notice or exercise the right to vote at a dis- any of the provisions of this section shall the vote, that candidate shall be declared trict meeting. not affect in any manner whatsoever the to be the official nominee of the district Unless otherwise designated by the validity of any election of directors. meeting from such district. If no candidate Board of Directors, the Record Date for pur- (d) Elections. Members present in per- receives more than fifty percent (50%) of poses of determining the members entitled son and by proxy at the annual member the votes, runoff ballots shall be conducted to (1) receive notice of a district meeting meeting shall elect directors from each until one candidate receives more than fifty and (2) vote at a district meeting shall be directorate district in which a director elec- percent (50%) of the vote. The two candi- the second Tuesday in May immediately tion is being held. Each member may cast dates receiving the highest number of votes preceding such district meeting. one vote in each such district, without on the preceding ballot shall be included in (b) Nomination by Petition. In addition regard to the district or districts where the the succeeding runoff ballot. In the event of to district meeting nominations, a Coopera- member resides or receives electric service ties, more than two candidates may be tive member may place his or her name in from the Cooperative. Directors shall be included in a runoff ballot. In the event nomination to run for election to a director elected from the District Meeting Nomina- there are three runoff ballots with no candi- position at an annual meeting of members tions and Member Petition Nominations. If date receiving more than fifty percent by member petition and application. On or only one candidate is nominated in a dis- (50%) of the vote, the nominee of the dis- before June 25 (or the next day that is not trict, he or she may be elected by acclama- trict meeting shall be selected by lot from a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday) of each tion. Members may not vote for write-in among the candidates included on the final year, a member seeking to be nominated in candidates. The candidate receiving the runoff ballot. One member shall be this manner must deliver to the Cooperative most votes in each district shall be declared to be the official nominee of the a Cooperative-approved application con- declared the winner of the election.

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Lessons in Canning

Preserving figs brings to mind the Bible and rural life before electricity

BY JOE HOLLEY W;8@ 4 :A><4E; A9 4 546=J4C7 9<: ton farm. Even though he fled the drudg- tree looms over the roof of your house, ery as soon as he could, he jumped at the you feel a special obligation to prevent chance when my brothers and I were kids countless ripening figs from going to waste to buy a house on the edge of town with (or to the birds). That sense of obligation mature fruit trees, including figs, and an prompted wife Laura and me to spend a adjacent lot for a large garden. Mom was Sunday afternoon last summer harvesting a city girl—Bigfoot, population 250—and figs, clipping off the stems, carefully tend- had spent more time behind the counter ing them on the stove as they jiggled in of her folks’ general store than she did pots of boiling water and then ladling the learning to preserve nature’s bounty. In beautiful golden preserves through a fun- the semirural house that appealed to her nel into glass jars. For an afternoon, at husband’s farm-boy fantasies, she taught least, we were preserving the way our fore- herself to preserve in Mason jars not only bears used to. figs but also green beans, black-eyed peas, My primary chore was to clamber bare- tomatoes, okra and blackberries, not to foot among branches the size of an ele- mention plums, peaches, pears and apri- phant’s leg, ducking limbs, plucking the cots (even as she tried to corral three ram- just-turning-purple fruit and trying to bunctious boys). avoid the souring, gnat-attracting fig The best description of canning’s mash that carpeted the bare ground tedium you’ll ever read is in the first vol- beneath the tree. At one point, I blundered ume of Robert Caro’s Lyndon B. Johnson into a spiderweb and when, seconds later, biography, The Path to Power, in the chap- a dive-bombing wasp bounced off my ter titled The Sad Irons. He’s writing about eyelid, I thought of a lesson from the Bible. farm life that lasted into the 1940s. As the Gospel of Matthew recounts, “Since—because there was no elec- Jesus was headed back to the city one tricity—there were no refrigerators in morning after preaching in Bethany, and the Hill Country, vegetables or fruit had he was hungry. Spying a leafy fig tree up to be canned the very day they came ripe,” the road, his spirit lifted, but when he got Caro writes. “And, from June through closer, he saw it was barren. A burst of September, something was coming ripe righteous anger ensued. almost every day, it seemed; on a single “May you never bear fruit again!” he peach tree, the fruit on different branches exclaimed. He had barely gotten the words would come ripe on different days. In a out of his mouth when the fruitless tree single orchard, the peaches might be withered, its green leaves instantly turning reaching ripeness over a span as long as brittle and yellow. He used the incident to two weeks.” illustrate the efficacy of faith. Elderly farm wives recalled for Caro that My dad grew up in the early decades after the peaches, the strawberries would

of the 20th century on a Hill County cot- ripen, then the gooseberries and the blue- FIGS: MANANA | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM. JAR: RANGSAN PAIDAEN | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

22 Texas Co-op Power March 2020 TexasCoopPower.com (a “sad iron”), and tending to the kids. Caro interviewed Kitty Clyde Ross Leonard, LBJ’s first girlfriend who later became a teacher, princi- pal and superintendent of Johnson City schools. “You’d have to cook for hours,” she recalled. “Oh, that was a terrible thing.... I remem- ber the perspiration pouring down my mother’s face, and when I grew up and had my own family, it poured down mine. That stove was so hot.” A Hill Country farmwoman named Gay Harris told Caro: “We had no choice, you see.” These days, we do have choices, and from what I hear, more and more Texans are reverting to the old ways, even if they don’t have big gardens. Relying on roadside stands and farmers markets, they’re able to can fresh fruits and vegetables almost year-round. There’s joy in that experience—and pride in being heirs to a venerable tradition. (Fortunately, pre- serving is not as arduous as it once was.) Fig preserves, anybody? berries. The tomatoes would ripen before every morning, cooking meals on a wood As I write on this hot afternoon, another the okra, the okra before the zucchini and stove for family and farmhands, mending batch just turned purple. the zucchini before the corn. Canning went and washing clothes, smoothing out wrin- Joe Holley, a writer for the Houston Chronicle, on all summer—along with hauling water kles with a 6-pound wedge of hot iron is a former editor of Texas Co-op Power.

TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 23 Texas USA

Twist in the Wind

Dust devils, common in West Texas, turn up wherever atmospheric conditions are just right

BY E. DAN KLEPPER AD I 6CADD87 E;8 S8C8@:8E< <@ 4 ?F7- to stabilize the dust devil. Altogether, these covered Land Rover, a dust devil suddenly factors produce a self-sustaining engine appeared in the dirt road ahead, as if that transports air forward, around, and summoned by wizardry. up and down like a moving, spinning “Kimbunga!” my guide shouted in elevator. A tornado, on the other hand, Swahili. forms from the updraft of a supercell The rogue dervish spun up from the thunderstorm. red volcanic soils that cover the grassland Disruption, a common denominator of plain. It traced our route, leading the way change, is usually responsible for the dust down bumpy ruts, drawing us farther into devil’s demise. Once a whirlwind’s careful a wild and mysterious place. There was balance of upward and circular movement something transformative about the way is disrupted, by a slight decrease in surface it spun the landscape into a scene from temperature, a sudden rush of cold air my West Texas home, a similar basin- sucked into the warm void or a topo- and-range topography abundant with graphic bump along the travel route, the its own special wild things. dust devil quickly collapses like a magician Whether it’s an East African kimbunga in a puff of smoke. The magic is real but or a West Texas dust devil, whirlwinds fleeting. occur wherever and whenever conditions Magic is an apt descriptor for whirl- are right. The formula calls for specific cir- winds, particularly if you consider “magic” cumstances: a dramatic change in temper- a romantic word for science. Whirlwinds ature caused by warm air that creates an do not discriminate, and they lift anything updraft as it rises from the ground through that isn’t heavy enough to remain on the cooler air above. Add a light wind that ground. You’ll find sand devils among encourages horizontal rotation and for- dunes, steam devils around power plants, ward momentum, and a whirlwind is born. coal devils in mining country and snow Studies suggest that these spinning devils on ski slopes. With luck, you might columns of air occur all the time in the also see a hay devil forming over fresh-cut first several hundred feet of atmosphere fields of summer. above the Earth’s surface. We’re able to They also occur on Mars. Dust devils witness this phenomenon when the up- were first photographed on Mars by draft is strong enough to lift sand, soil and orbiters, part of NASA’s Viking program ash from the ground to form a visible in the 1970s. Since then, Mars rovers vortex—a dust devil—that can rise several Pathfinder and Spirit have documented hundred feet. The warmer air rising dust devil activity. The red planet is a creates a void for more warm air to replace hotbed of atmospheric instability, spawn- it, then cools in the upper layers before ing about two dust devils per square mile exiting the chimney. The cooled air sinks per day, on average. According to scien- around the outer chimney walls, helping tists, Martian dust devils play an integral

24 Texas Co-op Power March 2020 TexasCoopPower.com role in the planet’s weather and climate, to race across the landscape. I felt the coun- dispensing particles into the atmosphere, try’s kinship to West Texas a few more where they help retain heat, which can times until a herd of giraffes appeared on measure 68 degrees at the equator. the horizon, a clear sign that I was traveling Martian dust devils have also assisted across an unfamiliar continent. in their own research. Whirlwinds have In many ways, East Africa is as different lifted dust from solar panels and instru- from home as Earth is from Mars. But a mentation on NASA probes, which can be life of travel often leads to enlightenment, hampered by particulate buildup. Any suggesting that no matter how strange or passing dust devil simply cleans up like a alien a place may appear, you can always housekeeper, allowing the technology to find something in common, whether it’s a function at full capacity. dust devil or otherwise on the opposite That day on the African veld, the kim- side of Earth or millions of miles away, on bunga was the first of many we would see another planet. as the afternoon heated up, as if someone Photographer, author and artist E. Dan Klepper

E. DAN KLEPPER had slowly let loose a box full of whirligigs lives in Marathon.

TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 25

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Texas History The Dirt on Soapy

Onetime Texan cleaned up as a nefarious con man and syndicate boss

BY CLAY COPPEDGE

T;AF:; ;8:8@7

began his career as a swindler in Fort Worth. Before he was Soapy Smith, he was Jefferson Randolph Smith ever bought a bar with money. He ran this Jefferson “Soapy” Smith’s reputa- c II, son of a wealthy Georgia family that swindle for decades. Smith stands at the tion as King of the

lost everything after the Civil War and Fort Worth was Smith’s first opera- bar in a Skagway, Frontier Con Men Alaska, saloon. moved to Round Rock in 1876. Smith and tional base. He assembled a skilled gang, prompted him to a cousin reportedly witnessed the shoot- and they pooled their money, paid off cops seek dishonest work

out there that killed outlaw Sam Bass in and bribed politicians to overlook their beyond Colorado. He traveled to Skag- 1878. But the crime-doesn’t-pay lesson nefarious activity. Jeff Smith V, Smith’s way, Alaska, gateway to the Klondike gold inherent in the Bass incident was appar- great-grandson and biographer, wrote that fields.

ently lost on Smith: His two years in Soapy’s particular gift was organization. In Skagway, citizens formed a vigilance

Round Rock were his last as a law-abiding “Alone, these men were forced to be committee to run Smith and his confed-

citizen. drifters, moving from one town to the erates out of town. Smith responded by

Jefferson Smith morphed into Soapy next, as Jefferson had done,” Jeff Smith announcing his own committee to run the

Smith following his most famous swindle, wrote. “Jefferson united the men, and original committee out of town. the “Prize Package Soap Sell.” He’d set up together as an organization, they were The tipping point came when a theft of a display featuring bars of soap on a street almost unstoppable. ... In the late 1870s $2,000 was pinned on a Smith associate, and corner, establish a friendly patter with Jeff became so powerful and known for Smith wouldn’t give up the robber or return passersby and then wrap some of the soap his crimes that laws were enacted at Fort the money. A group met at the Juneau Wharf with paper money. He then rewrapped the Worth especially due to him. It was time on July 8, 1898, to discuss their next move. bars in plain paper, mixed them in with for Jeff to move on.” An armed and intoxicated Smith confronted the others and sold them for 50 cents— Though the gang opted for Denver and the meeting. His enemies claimed his last about $12 in today’s money. points north, Smith maintained contact words were, “My God, don’t shoot!”

Someone—a ringer—always bought a with Texans for the rest of his life. His Twenty years to the month after Sam

bar of soap, unwrapped it and found younger brother, Bascom, was arrested in Bass was gunned down in Round Rock,

money. The excitement spread to passers- 1883, when he was 14, for trying to set fire Soapy Smith met the same fate in Alaska.

by who took the bait and bought up the to a Belton hotel, and two sisters lived in Clay Coppedge, a member of Bartlett EC, lives

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS whole pile of soap. Only Smith cohorts Bell County. near Walburg.

TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 29

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Shrimp Étouffée ¼ cup (½ stick) butter ¼ cup flour 1 yellow onion, chopped 1 small green or red bell pepper, chopped 2 large ribs celery, chopped 3 large cloves garlic, minced 1 can (14.5 ounces) whole tomatoes, drained and chopped 2 cups shrimp stock 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning 2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley ¼ cup chopped green onions Salt and pepper, to taste Cooked rice, for serving Hot pepper sauce, for serving

1. In a large heavy skillet or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Increase heat to medium-high and whisk in flour until incorporated fully. Whisk continu- ously until roux is the color of peanut butter, about 10 minutes. 2. Add onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic, mixing into roux. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened and onion is

BRENT HOFACKER | STOCK.ADOBE.COM CONTINUED ON PAGE 32

March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 31 Recipes Salad greens or toast points, for serving for points, toast or greens Salad Paprika slices Lemon pepper,and tasteto Salt ¼ ½ 1 2 ¼ GulfLump Crabmeat Sauté lemonslices over the crab for acitrusy kick. simplyenjoy on its own; it’s equally delicious chilled. When serving, squeeze the paprika-dipped Crawfish,MoreCrabOysters,and through for shells for through cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsleyflat-leaffresh chopped cup toastedsliveredalmonds, cup crabmeat,picked lump pound clovespressed garlic, butter stick) (½ cup THIS MONTH’S RECIPE CONTEST WINNER CONTEST RECIPE MONTH’S THIS whereit was often served as an appetizer. Scoop the crab onto toast points or quickly.Payne learned of it through achef at aprivate club in Corpus Christi, DEANNA PAYNE PAYNE DEANNA Thiseasy yet flavorful recipe is perfect for entertaining, as it comes together prize! $500 New | GUADALUPE VALLEY EC VALLEY GUADALUPE | carefullyto keep crab pieces intact. meatis very hot, 3–5 minutes, stirring untilgolden, 2–3 minutes. mediumheat. Add garlic and sauté inpaprika. servingplatter. 1minute and ladle onto apreheated saltand pepper to taste. Heat through 4. 3. 2. 1. Meltbutter in askillet over Stirin almonds and parsley, adding Addcrabmeat and stir-fry until all Garnishwith lemon slices dipped ENTER ONLINE ENTER special whoserecipes are featured willreceive a best.Thedeadline is stove-or-oven-neededdishes. Sendyourus Easethismonth’s swelter withsomeno- August’srecipe contest topic is Colorado St., 24thFloor,Colorado78701;TXSt., Austin, co-op and the name of the contestyouthe areentering. of name the and co-op number,yourphone plus addressyourand name, Include $500 Recipe Contest Recipe $500 TexasCo-op Power a at TexasCoopPower.com/contests;at Serves8as an appetizer. March10 apron. FAX . Readers. to (512) 763-3401.(512)to CoolFoods MAIL to 1122 to . has thickened. Stir in seasoning. in Stir thickened. has and bubbling and smooth is sauce until stir to Continue stock. the in stirslowly occasionally,minutes.15 about stirring Cook, medium. to heat reduce on the side. the on sauce pepper hot with rice overServe needed. as pepper and salt seasoning, Creole more seasonings,adding adjust minutes.Taste3 about and opaque, is shrimp until cook and sauce into adventures in the kitchen at stetted.com.at kitchen adventuresthe in with Followalong thereof. combination any or water juice, clam stock, chicken stock, be thick. be will Mixture incorporated. well until pepper.bell ingredients Folddry in and eggs,onions corn, cheese, fish, COOK’STIP 5. 4. 3. well. combine to stir and tomatoes minutes.Add 5 about transparent, PAGEFROM CONTINUED 31 3. 3. andcayenne pepper. breadmix, baking soda, Creole seasoning 2. 1. pepper bell greendiced cup ½ ½ ½ 3 1 2 cookedcrawfishtail fully ounces 12 ⅛ 1 1 1 cheeses. of variety a with Tryexperimenting store. grocery your of section freezer the in meat tail crawfish the for Look spread. seafood larger a to tion addi- wonderful a is dish side unexpected This HUPP GERI CrawfishBread meat, thawed meat, tastetomore plus Preheatoven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together craw-together stirbowl, large a In Inasmall bowl, whisk together corn- Fold shrimp, parsley and green onion Foldgreen and shrimp,parsley Increase heat to medium-high and medium-high to heat Increase Bring to a low boil, stirring, then stirring, boil, low a to Bring cup diced white onion whitediced cup onions greendiced cup beaten eggs, drainedounces)corn, (15.25 can cheese cheddar shredded cups cayennegroundpepper,teaspoon seasoning Creole tablespoon soda baking tablespoon ounces)cornbreadmix (6 package | DEEP EAST TEXAS EC TEXAS EAST DEEP | In lieu of shrimp stock, use seafood use stock, shrimp of lieu In a Serves8. Megan MyersMegan TexasCoopPower.com and her and

PAYNE: COURTESY DEANNA PAYNE. CRABMEAT SAUTÉ: MEGAN MYERS. BACKGROUND: PHATTHANIT | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM 4. Spread batter into an ungreased 2 cups vegetable broth mer until potatoes are tender, about 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bake 30–40 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled 15 minutes. minutes or until golden brown. Let and deveined 5. While potatoes are cooking, heat cool slightly before cutting, then serve 2 tablespoons seafood seasoning a pot of water to boiling. Add shrimp warm. a Serves 12. (such as Old Bay) and seafood seasoning, reduce heat 2 cups 2% milk to a simmer and cook 2–3 minutes. 1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk Remove shrimp from water, set aside Gulf Coast Corn Chowder 2 cups corn, thawed if frozen and keep warm. With Shrimp and Pico 1½ teaspoons dried oregano 6. When potatoes are done, slightly de Gallo 1 avocado, diced, for garnish mash some of the potatoes in the SHERRY SCOTT | PEDERNALES EC Pico de gallo, for garnish pot, leaving some chunks. Whisk Chowder is always a winning way to enjoy seafood. ¼ cup of broth from the pot into This version uses potatoes, corn and plenty of top- 1. Roast the poblano over an open milk, then add milk and evaporated pings. “While visiting South Padre Island one fall, flame until all skin is charred black. milk to stockpot. we were experimenting with seafood recipes and Place charred pepper in a plastic bag 7. Stir in corn and oregano, and add came up with this delicious option that has become until it cools. Rinse the pepper under salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a a requested favorite,” Scott says. running water to remove charred skin. gentle boil, then reduce heat and sim- 2. Cook bacon until crisp. Drain and mer until corn is heated through, 1 poblano pepper set aside. about 15 minutes. 4 slices bacon 3. Melt butter in a stockpot over 8. To serve, place 6 shrimp in each ⅙ cup (⅓ stick) butter medium heat. Add poblano, onion, bowl. Add chowder, and garnish with 1 cup diced white onion garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper crumbled bacon, avocado and pico de 6 cloves garlic, minced and sauté until onion is translucent, gallo. a Serves 4-6. Salt and pepper, to taste about 3 minutes. 2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut 4. Add potatoes and broth and bring COOK’S TIP You can substitute 1 can (4 ounces) into 1-inch chunks to a boil, then reduce heat and sim- roasted hatch peppers for the poblano.

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36 Texas Co-op Power March 2020 TexasCoopPower.com Seguin Eastern Star Stew Dinner & Country Sabinal [27–29] Wild Hog Festival Store, (720) 394-8514 and Craft Fair, (830) 486-8549, 30 sabinalwildhogfestival.com Canton [30–April 4] Van Zandt County Fair, Fort Worth [14–15] Funky Finds Spring (903) 292-6250, vzfair.org Fling, (903) 665-7954, funkyfinds.com 28 20 Huntsville Herb Festival at the Wynne Round Top [20–21] Herb Society of America: Home, (936) 891-5024, texasthymeunit.org April Pioneer Unit Herbal Forum Plant and Gift Sale, (979) 421-9980, herbsocietypioneer.org 2 Brenham Texas A&M Singing Cadets, West [20–21] West, Central Texas Ceramic (979) 337-7240, thebarnhillcenter.com Expo & Handcrafted Items, (254) 716-5227, westceramicshow.com Edinburg [2–4] UFO Festival, (956) 383-6246, edinburgarts.com 21 George West Patsy Torres as Patsy Cline, 3 (361) 436-1098, dobie-westtheatre.com Cuero [3–4] Heirloom Stitchers Quilt Show, (361) 550-9388, cuero.org Kerrville Camerata San Antonio: Blueprint, (210) 492-9519, cameratasa.org Lakehills Lakehills UMC Annual Fish Fry 4 Port Arthur [4] Cajun Heritage Fest, and Auction, (830) 751-2404, (409) 835-2787, cajunheritagefest.com lakehillsumc.org/fishfry Quintana [4–May 6] Spring Fling, Woodville [21–22] Festival of the Arts (979) 480-0999, gcbo.org/spring-fling and Dinner on the Grounds, (409) 283-2272, heritage-village.org Submit Your Event! 27 April 2–4 We pick events for the magazine directly from Tyler [27–28] Quilters’ Guild of East Texas Edinburg TexasCoopPower.com. Submit your event online Annual Quilt Show, (903) 747-7072, UFO Festival for May by March 10, and it just might be qgetx.org/quilt-show.html featured in this calendar.

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TexasCoopPower.com March 2020 Texas Co-op Power 37 Hit the Road With Chet Garner Sharpening My Knowledge Poking around the Devil’s Rope Museum in McLean

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