Recipes Your Best Pies 39 Focus on Texas Photo Contest: Swings 40 Around Texas List of Local Events 42 Hit the Road Taking in Tyler by Melissa Gaskill

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LOCAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE EDITION APRIL 2016 Helping Local Libraries Gettysburg Casualty Best Pies. Yum!

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FAVORITES 5 Letters 6 Currents 20 Local Co-op News Get the latest information plus energy and safety tips from your cooperative. 33 Texas History Gettysburg’s Last Casualty By E.R. Bills 35 Recipes Your Best Pies 39 Focus on Texas Photo Contest: Swings 40 Around Texas List of Local Events 42 Hit the Road Taking in Tyler By Melissa Gaskill

Jeff Biggars applies steam ONLINE as he shapes a hat. TexasCoopPower.com Find these stories online if they don’t FEATURES appear in your edition of the magazine. Observations Cowboy Hatters Texas artisans crown your cranium in Tough Kid, Tough Breaks 8 a grand and storied tradition By Clay Coppedge Story by Gene Fowler | Photos by Tadd Myers Texas USA The Erudite Ranger Community Anchors Enlivening libraries establishes By Lonn Taylor 12 an environment for learning, sharing and loving literacy By Dan Oko NEXT MONTH New Directions in Farming A younger generation seeks alternatives to keep the family business thriving. 33 39

35 42 BIGGARS: TADD MYERS. PLANT: CANDY1812 | DOLLAR PHOTO CLUB ON THE COVER J.W. Brooks handcrafts hats for cowboys and cowgirls at his shop in Lipan. Photo by Tadd Myers

TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES BOARD OF DIRECTORS: David Marricle, Chair, Muleshoe; Mark Tamplin, Vice Chair, Kirbyville; Bryan Lightfoot, Secretary-Treasurer, Bartlett; Mike R. Hagy, Tipton, Oklahoma; William F. Hetherington, Bandera; Mark Rollans, Hondo; Anne Vaden, Corinth • PRESIDENT/CEO: Mike Williams, Austin • COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBER SERVICES COMMITTEE: Jerry Boze, Kaufman; Rick Haile, McGregor; Greg Henley, Tahoka; Billy Marricle, Bellville; Mark McClain, Roby; Blaine Warzecha, Victoria; Kathy Wood, Marshall • 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; Grace Arsiaga, Print Production Specialist; Chris Burrows, Communications Specialist; Christine Carlson, Communications & Member Services Assistant; Paula Disbrowe, Food Editor; Suzanne Halko, Communications Specialist; Jane Sharpe, Senior Designer; Ellen Stader, Communications Specialist; Shannon Oelrich, Proofreader

TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 3 Here today. Here tomorrow. BUILD A HOME YOU TRUST WITH A COMPANY YOU TRUST.

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A Crooner and His Crony Gene Austin’s family connec- Dig This Story tions gave us another great Martha Deeringer’s article The First Texans? [February 2016] musician [The Original Crooner, February 2016]. Austin gave his was most interesting. I always enjoy and learn much younger cousin, Tommy from her articles. Overstreet, the opportunity to perform with him when the I’m always looking for places famous crooner came to per- to find arrowheads. Cooper, in form in Houston in the ’50s, when Overstreet was a teen- East Texas, had a neat place to ager. This experience, Austin’s hunt arrowheads. mentoring and Overstreet’s natural talent allowed him to GLENN SNYDER | BLUE RIDGE | FANNIN COUNTY EC bloom into a great entertainer and Music Row executive. Editor’s note: Picking up arrowheads on Overstreet was a true Texas public land is illegal. Be sure you know the treasure. His story is told in his law before you begin your search. autobiography, A Road Less Traveled (Roots and Branches, 2013). SCOTT CAMERON | LAGO VISTA PEDERNALES EC pines, which are softwoods, not Flooded With Memories overwhelming. hardwoods. There’s a big differ- I live in Alvin, and we were in This exhibit is traveling Kolache and Trees ence botanically, visually and the process of having our house through Texas, and I would I just read East Texas Outdoors commercially, as softwoods are built when the rains hit [Alvin’s encourage everyone to see it [January 2016] by Melissa gymnosperms that are mostly Deluge: It Reigns, October 2015]. [rememberingourfallen.org/ Gaskill and was bothered by evergreen conifers with narrow No water came into the house, texas]. Your heart for our her use of the term “kolach” as needles and soft wood. Hard- but we had to chase down military will never be the a sausage wrapped in yeasty woods are angiosperms that lumber and materials that had same again. bread. She ate a pig in a blanket, are mostly deciduous trees with floated away. We had built 2 feet LORENA HADLEY | SCHERTZ not a kolach. broad leaves and hard wood. above the road grade, which GUADALUPE VALLEY EC My husband is Czech, and he Oaks and hickories are good probably saved us. Later, the knows his kolache. They are examples of hardwoods. county decided to build the road always filled with fruit. Prune is GREG GRANT | CENTER up 2 feet, so we have had water traditional. Sometimes they are DEEP EAST TEXAS EC in our house twice. I don’t wish GET MORE TCP AT filled with cottage or cream PINEYWOODS NATIVE PLANT CENTER that on anybody—no fun. TexasCoopPower.com cheese, but they’re never savory. DONNA AMERSON | ALVIN Sign up for our E-Newsletter for I remember a very good article SAM HOUSTON EC monthly updates, prize drawings in Texas Co-op Power devoted and more! to kolache [The Kolach Trail, Pride in the Military January 2014]. The September Pick of the WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! | HONDO Month [Around Texas, Septem- DANIELLA SPANN ONLINE: TexasCoopPower.com/share MEDINA EC ber 2015] was Remember Our EMAIL: [email protected] Fallen, a display of 600 photos MAIL: Editor, Texas Co-op Power, I especially enjoy the Hit the in Cameron honoring Texans 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Road stories at the end of the who died in the wars on terror- Austin, TX 78701 Please include your town and electric co-op. magazine. Somebody probably ism. The pictures of the men Letters may be edited for clarity and length. already pointed out that the Big and women who lost their Thicket picture [right] was of lives for our freedom were Texas Co-op Power Magazine

TEXAS CO-OP POWER VOLUME 72, NUMBER 10 (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 $4.08 per year for individual members of subscribing cooperatives. If you are not a member of a subscribing cooperative, you can purchase an annual subscription at the nonmember rate of $7.50. Individual copies and back issues are available for $3 each. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Texas Co-op Power (USPS 540-560), 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. Please enclose label from this copy of Texas Co-op Power showing old address and key numbers. ADVERTISING: Advertisers interested in buying display ad space in Texas Co-op Power and/or in our 30 sister publications in other states, contact Martin Bevins at (512) 486-6249. Advertisements in Texas Co-op Power are paid solicitations. The publisher neither endorses nor guarantees in any manner any product or company included in this publication. Product satisfaction and delivery responsibility lie solely with the advertiser. © Copyright 2016 Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. Reproduction of this issue or any portion of it is expressly prohibited without written permission.

TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 5 CURRENTS

HAPPENINGS NATIONAL LINEMAN APPRECIATION DAY Is This Up THE MEN WE Your Alley? LOOK UP TO NATIONAL LINEMAN APPRECIATION DAY is April 11. It’s not prudent to climb a pole and shake their FOR ANTIQUES ADDICTS who can’t contain themselves at the sight of rotary hands, but remember to thank telephones, apothecary bottles or windup doorbells, Antique Alley Texas might them when you meet them eye- to-eye. They are among the be the perfect stop. Antique Alley, April 15–17, can’t contain itself to Grandview 18,000 full-time linemen at elec- and is spread out over 30 miles of back roads—toward tric co-ops across the country. FLEA MARKET first Cleburne, Alvarado, Venus and Maypearl. Linemen keep your lights on. appeared in English in When nasty storms hit and you Nita Redmon, a member of HILCO Electric Cooperative 1922, a translation of seek shelter, they grab their the French market’s and one of Antique Alley’s organizers, says it never gets old gear, charge into the teeth of name for secondhand the worst weather, repair when a visitor tells her, “This was my first Antique Alley goods, which in the damage and restore electricity. 1800s sometimes con- Texas, but it won’t be my last.” Who doesn’t appreciate that? tained fleas. Another The flea market-style event started in 1999 and includes story is that used-goods Co-op linemen also readily merchants were forced volunteer through NRECA stops in pastures along FM 916, FM 4 and Texas Highway 81. from central Paris and, International to help establish Redmon warns that bargain hunters must not park after fleeing, set up infrastructure in developing shops outside of town. countries, including Haiti, along the road because police will ticket them. Guatemala and Ethiopia.

Free parking is provided at each pasture sale. Since 2008, these Texas co-ops have sent volunteers overseas: INFO a (817) 240-4948, antiquealleytexas.com Bandera, HILCO, Pedernales and Wood County electric cooperatives; CoServ Electric; Mid-South Synergy; and United Cooper- ative Services. Find more happenings all “We take electric power for across the state at granted now, but it was incredi- TexasCoopPower ble the way it transformed .com rural Texas in the ’30s and ’40s,” says Kerry Kelton, CEO of Mid-South Synergy and a board member of NRECA’s International Foundation. “We’re doing the same thing rough now around the world. My linemen who go work in developing countries say the work is hard, but the personal reward is great when you give a community hope for the future.

“The NRECA international program is in Africa, the Philippines, South America, Bangladesh, all over the world.”

6 Texas Co-op Power April 2016 TexasCoopPower.com AMAZON SOLD MORE TURNTABLES THAN ANY OTHER HOME AUDIO HISTORY LESSON PRODUCT DURING THE 2015 HOLIDAY SEASON. FOOLED TO THE BRIM?

When you read Cowboy Hatters on Page 8, you’ll learn about the skilled craftsmen around the state who make hats for a living. It’s a serious endeavor— for the artisans and their clients. Less serious is the mythology of the 10-gallon hat, as cowboy hats are often called.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR Notion Doesn’t Hold Water Don’t Skip It First of all, no hat could hold 10 gallons. The folks at Stetson, one of the leading hat brands, WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME you played a record on a turntable? say a cowboy hat can hold You might want to dust it off by April 16, in time for RECORD STORE DAY. 3 quarts of water, tops. The Origins A couple of theo- Since 2007, the third Saturday in April ries exist involving Anglicized marks Record Store Day, a global event Spanish. One is that the phrase celebrating music on vinyl and the Did you know? tan galán, roughly translated independently owned record stores as “very gallant” or “really that sell it. Two of the most acclaimed STARTING IN 1989, new handsome,” evolved into “ten record stores in Texas—and some ; album releases arrived gallon.” Another idea involves would say the U.S.—are Forever in record stores on the galónes—braided bands— Young Records in Grand Prairie Tuesdays in the U.S. on sombreros. A large sombrero and Waterloo Records in Austin. That all changed could hold 10 galónes. July 10, 2015, when After decades of being pronounced Heads Up Notable cowboys the record industry deader than disco, records are on the and Wild West outlaws often moved the record rise. Vinyl sales in the U.S. have grown preferred not to wear 10-gallon release day to Fridays. 260 percent in six years, totaling $9.2 hats because they were too million in 2014 and making vinyl the easy to spot and made them fastest-growing music format sold today. easy targets. DOLLAR PHOTO CLUB. BISCUIT: UROS PETROVIC | DOLLAR PHOTO CLUB | DOLLAR PHOTO UROS PETROVIC BISCUIT: CLUB. DOLLAR PHOTO

BY THE NUMBERS As April 10 marks the 150th anniversary of the American 41.7 PERCENT Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the group can celebrate the fact that more cats and dogs are today acquired through rescue and shelter services— 41.7 percent—than by any other means.

Nearly half of U.S. pet owners found their furry friend at a shelter, according to the 2015–16 national pet owners

FARM & RECORD PLAYER: DAVE URBAN. TOP RECORD: STEPAN BORMOTOV | DOLLAR PHOTO CLUB. BOTTOM RECORD: KANTVER | DOLLAR PHOTO CLUB CLUB | DOLLAR PHOTO KANTVER RECORD: BOTTOM CLUB. | DOLLAR PHOTO BORMOTOV STEPAN RECORD: URBAN. TOP DAVE PLAYER: & RECORD FARM | SONSEDSKAYA PETS: CLUB. | DOLLAR PHOTO MEASURING CUP: SKOLERD survey. That’s almost 70 million four-legged friends.

TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 7 COWBOYCOWBOY

8 Texas Co-op Power April 2016 TexasCoopPower.com HATTERSHATTERS

Story by GENE FOWLER Photos by TADD MYERS

T’S HARD TO IMAGINE A PERSONAL ACCESSORY IMORE WORLD-FAMOUSR THAN THE COWBOY HAT.

Here in Texas, we might even be tempted to think that the first humans to set foot within present state boundaries wore the distinctive headgear upon arrival. While that perception stretches the blanket, it’s not an exaggeration to say that—despite the fickle flights of style and trend—the classic cowboy image is as popular as ever. And when it comes to “goin’ cowboy,” whether fauxpoke or genuine article, much of the mystique is all about the hat. Many of the store-bought Stetson and Resistol hats sold in the state are produced at the Hatco factory in Garland. For a more exacting fit, you can order a cowpoke chapeau custom-made by an expert independent hatter. Either way, when you crown your cranium with a cowboy hat, you’re struttin’ your stuff in the bootsteps of a grand and storied tradition. Tracking the origins of that tradition, as one Texas hatter put it in a previous century, is “like following a twisting coyote trail.” Spanish and Mexican vaqueros wore versions of the wide-brimmed hat as they spread cattle culture northward into Texas and across the Southwest. Westering settlers adopted the protective headwear, too, and in 1865, Philadelphia hatmaker John Batterson Stetson introduced his “Boss of the Plains” hat. By the cattle-drive heyday of the 1870s, Montgomery Ward catalogs offered the “Texan Chief Cow Boy’s Mexican Style Sombrero Hat” for $5.34. Western movie stars established the cowboy hat as an American cultural icon in the 20th century, and country-western singers further solidified its timeless appeal. When one of Ernest Tubb’s Texas Troubadours asked if he could perform sans Stetson, Tubb offered to let him off the tour bus. George Strait continued the tradition when he first went to Nashville in the early 1980s, though record executives tried in vain to get him to “lose the hat.” Not long ago, when hatmaker and aspiring country singer Brooks Atwood wore his hat into the Nashville offices of MCA Records, an executive smirked, “All we need is another Texas hat act.” Bristling, the East Texas cowboy shot back, “This hat ain’t no act.”

TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 9 Previous spread: J.W. Brooks irons a hat. This page, clockwise from top left: Jeff Biggars hand-sands the felt. Biggars blocks a crown, one of the first steps in crafting a hat. Brooks applies an iron to a hat. Biggars uses a conformateur to get a precise fit. Brooks draws a custom stitch design that will adorn the underside of a brim. IN ADDITION TO MAKING HATS, SOME HATTERS ALSO RESTORE THEM. JEFF BIGGARS RECENTLY RESTORED A COWBOY HAT THAT HAD BEEN CRUSHED AND MAGIC-MARKERED BY ITS OWNER’S ANGRY EX.

The songwriting buddy who had accompanied Atwood to the Stephenville. “We specialize in good old quality western hats.” meeting recognized a hit lyric hook when he heard one. “Don’t say That “old” theme is reflected not only in the tried-and-true that phrase out loud again!” he whispered. “We gotta write that hatmaking process but also in the antique equipment used by song!” This Hat Ain’t No Act is the title track on his 2014 release. hatters. First, they measure your head with a sci-fi-looking gizmo Like many hatmakers, Atwood, whose family and business called the “conformateur.” At Spradley Hats in Alpine, Jim are members of Trinity Valley Electric Cooperative, began appre- Spradley’s conformateur was made in Paris in the 1850s. Then ciating cowboy hats as a toddler, romping around wearing the the hatter “builds” the hat from a “blank,” a hairy, conical piece hat and boots of his father, Dick Atwood. An 84-year-old of raw felt that hatters buy from hat-body factories. Pure beaver Frankston-area rancher, the elder Atwood says he started making fur makes the best and most expensive felt hats, but wild hare hats after years of looking for one that would work hard in the fur and wool are also used. hay fields and branding pens and then still look good on trips to Placed in a blocking machine, the hat body is pulled in all direc- town. One of the few Texas companies that makes hats in bulk tions as steam latches together the microscopic barbs on the fur for retail stores and custom hats specially fitted to a customer’s to create the hardened felt. A poplar block is inserted to create head, Atwood Hat Company started out with three styles in 1996 the hat’s size and crown height, and then the fibers are reshrunk and now offers more than 125 styles with names like Van Horn, with a blast of cold air. After a two-step ironing process, the felt is Sweetwater, Langtry and Rodeo Del Rio. sanded, and the brim is trimmed on a plating machine. Finally, “Some of the designs these days are different and crazy,” the hat is hand-shaped with the customer’s head template. says hatmaker Jeff Biggars, who opened his western wear and In addition to making hats, some hatters also restore them. “A custom hat outpost, Biggar Hat Store, on the Decatur square lotta old hats have been whooped up bad,” says 23-year-old hatter in 2013. “The vast majority of straws used to be plain white, in Seth “Johnny” Bishop of Johnny’s Custom Hatters in Longview. three styles. But when I worked as a designer for American Hat “As long as it’s beaver and the color isn’t gone, we can usually Company in Bowie, we started doing more colors and some wild- bring it back.” Biggars recently restored a cowboy hat that had er weaves.” been crushed and magic-markered by its owner’s angry ex. Taller crowns with smaller brims used to be more popular, Conversely, some hatters will distress a hat—make a new hat too, but today’s tastes often reverse those dimensions. Biggars’ look old. Biggars distressed the hat Daniel Day-Lewis wore in the Red Dirt Special custom felt design features a big 5-inch brim. film There Will Be Blood. “He won an Oscar for the role,” jokes “We call it a super punchy hat ’cause it’s preferred by cowpunch- the hatter, “and I think I should’ve gotten an Oscar for the hat.” ers,” Biggars says. But his favorite custom hat is his Eighter From Many customers request a hat like one they’ve seen in a movie Decatur, named for a classic gambling expression that became or one that is worn by a favorite musician. “I get a lot of orders the title of a song by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. for John Wayne hats and the hat worn by Tom Selleck in Quigley Western hats for women also have surged in popularity. Hat- Down Under,” says Murchison hatter Rex Fleming. “Another maker J.W. Brooks of J.W. Brooks Custom Hat Co. in Weatherford favorite is a hat worn by the late blues guitarist Stevie Ray and Lipan gets artsy with his Neon Cowgirls line inspired by Dale Vaughan, and I also get requests for hats like the one I made for Evans and Roy Rogers and other sagebrush fashionistas of the singer Ray Wiley Hubbard.” The high-crowned “Gus hat” worn 1940s and ’50s. Brooks creates designs on the undersides of his by Robert Duvall in the television miniseries Lonesome Dove is upturned brims that give his women’s hats a blingy zing. Hatmaker also a perennial favorite. John Davis of Limpia Creek Hats in Fort Davis adds that bolero- “A cowboy hat is an extension of your personality,” Biggars style hats, with a flat top and brim, are also in demand. “They says. “I can tell a lot about a person just by lookin’ at their hat.” dress ’em up with bound edges and triple bows,” Davis says. Gene Fowler is an Austin writer who specializes in history. Despite style trends that come and go, any custom hatter will still build you a basic, old-school cowboy hat. “Our own style has WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com See a slideshow and find contact never changed,” testifies James Andrae of Capital Hatters in information for independent Texas hatmakers.

TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 11 SMALL-TOWN LIBRARIES create an BY DAN OKO environment for learning and sharing

TexasCoopPower.com If you haven’t visited your local public library lately, now is the time. What you find may surprise you. This is especially true in rural communities. Take the Silverton Public Library in the Texas Panhandle, a half-hour drive east of U.S. Highway 87 between Amarillo and Lubbock. There, across from the historic Briscoe County Courthouse, stands a former Masonic Lodge built in the 1950s, which, after extensive renovations, reopened in mid-2015 as a model 21st- century library. Step inside and you’ll find a hive of activity rather than a hushed and dusty quiet zone. Seniors and students alike occupy the well-lit rooms, relaxing in comfortable chairs, scanning freshly installed shelves filled with books or taking advantage of the high-speed wireless Internet at computer terminals. “Before, we had a tiny room in the basement of the courthouse,” says Tina Nance, one of the 25 volunteers who devote their time to operating the Silverton library. “Nobody used it. But with this new building, the new books and new computers, we are seeing a real increase in people coming in.” The lively scene at Silverton is repeated across the state, says Patricia Smith, executive director of the Texas Library Association, which has 7,000 members representing all kinds of libraries, from small collections to large public institutions. “The modern library is a little bit of everything,” she says. “In these small towns, they are the intellectual hub, community center and a major resource for social services.” As such, Smith says that rural libraries could not have a better friend these days than the Austin-based Tocker Foundation, a family-run nonprofit. Providing financial assistance to libraries in towns with fewer than 12,000 residents is chief among its philanthropic efforts. The renovations in Silverton, for instance, were paid for with grants from the Tocker Foundation, one of several nonprofit groups in Texas that provide financial support to the state’s libraries. “The Tockers have been an inspiration,” Smith says. “They are true visionaries and agents of change, and they have given rural libraries real hope. In its way, the Tocker Foundation is every bit as powerful as the Carnegie Foun-

HOTO CLUB HOTO dation. Their help with technology, especially, is helping these libraries to be the very best they can be.” Darryl Tocker, the foundation’s executive director and nephew of founder Phillip Tocker, says the desire to help small-town libraries grew directly out of his late uncle’s own experiences growing up as the son of immigrant parents near Waco. Young Phillip Tocker learned to read and write at the local library and eventually uncov- ered resources for filing property contracts and managing bank- books—skills he taught his mother and father. “He learned all that with the help of librarians, and he wanted to give back,” Tocker says. “He did not necessarily believe in entitlements, but he did believe that with unfettered access to information, anybody could achieve anything they wanted. “We build collections, but we do a lot more,” Tocker says. “We are helping cut down on the digital divide, solving a lot of connec- tivity issues for people who don’t necessarily have broadband access in their homes. In some cases, we even have permission to beam Wi-Fi into the parking lot so that the library doesn’t have to be open. There will Grant money helped the Pottsboro always be a need for books, but a lot has to do with the patron experience.” Area Library buy new furniture and Texas Writes, a program from the Writers’ League of Texas, brings published shelves, opposite page. Librarian Dianne Connery, above, stands in authors to small-town libraries statewide for half-day seminars on topics that the computer lab, which was a mail include memoir writing, memorable dialogue and improving productivity. The room in the old post office.

LIBRARY INTERIOR AND POTTSBORO LIBRARIAN: RUSSELL GRAVES. SHADOW FIGURES: GHOSTSTONE | BIGSTOCK.COM. BOOKS: VIPERAGP | DOLLAR P VIPERAGP BOOKS: | BIGSTOCK.COM. FIGURES: GHOSTSTONE SHADOW GRAVES. RUSSELL LIBRARIAN: INTERIOR AND POTTSBORO LIBRARY Tocker Foundation also supports Texas Writes. “The purpose of the program is 2014 Government-In-Action Youth Tour participants at the U.S. Capitol. TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 13 The Silverton Public Library remains open thanks to many volunteers, including, from left, Tina Nance, Sheryl Breedlove and Mary Beth King.

Tocker Foundation grants provided a lifeline for the Pottsboro Area Library, which occupies a former post office not far from Lake Texoma. Just a few years ago, says Dianne Connery, volunteer president of operations, Pottsboro faced a budget shortfall that could have meant the library’s demise. “It looked like what it was, an old 1960s post office, and the only people who came here were seniors who wanted large-print books,” Connery says. for us to connect with writers across the state,” says Becka Oliver, Today, the online calendar includes an old-school video game WLT executive director. “In these communities, the library is night with first-generation console games and a celebration of often the place where you find the writers, and we have people World Juggling Day. “With the help of the Tocker Foundation, checking our website for events and driving 30, 50, even 80 miles we were able to reinvent ourselves,” Connery says, noting that to be there.” the Tocker monies acted as a magnet for other grants. In 2015, Texas Writes ushered writers to 30 rural libraries, pay- “We bought new furniture and got another grant from the ing a stipend to the authors for their time. “It’s so rewarding for us Hampshire Foundation for new shelves. And we were able to buy to go into the libraries and see what they’re doing,” Oliver says. new desktop computers and tablets, and now teens and tweens The Tocker Foundation’s biggest individual library grants run all hang out here, too. The Tockers are our cheerleaders,” she to $50,000, and the foundation encourages applicants to aim says. “They are such strong supporters, we feel like we can go to high with their requests so they can make a greater impact. As them anytime we have a new idea.” many as 350 libraries are eligible statewide, says Karin Gersten- That explains why the grants have been used not only for elec- haber, Tocker grant director. tronics, stylish renovations and plush furniture to draw more “The more rural it is, or the more remote it is, the more impor- library visitors, but also, in some cases, upgrades to infrastructure. tant it is as a community anchor,” says Gerstenhaber, noting that Installing e-books and automated circulation systems means many small-town libraries double as community centers, not that librarians don’t have to track which books are overdue, who just offering an educational setting for youths but also providing owes fines or what volumes remain on the shelves. The Tocker employment resources and skills training for adults, and in some Foundation initiated a program for uploading old newspapers cases, even health screenings. “The goal is to update them for and microfiche systems to the Internet, creating a vast database 21st-century use.” of historic news reports that might have disappeared without small-town libraries, which have kept the papers. “The libraries are frequently the last repository,” says Gerstenhaber, noting that as more newspapers fold, this information is endangered. A It’s all part of fulfilling a vision that Phillip Tocker first had in dditional organizations aid small-town and rural the 1960s, says Darryl Tocker. After graduating from the Uni- libraries in Texas. Tocker paid for a new drop box at the Bonham versity of Texas at Austin in the 1930s and then earning a law Public Library northeast of Dallas and provided grants for com- degree, Phillip Tocker became a powerful lobbyist and made a puters and tablets that brought the staff’s electronics suite up to fortune in billboards and outdoor advertising, which led him to date. However, Bonham has also received grants from the Ladd the presidency of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Amer- and Katherine Hancher Library Foundation in Columbus. The ica. By 1992, the Tocker Foundation—which also underwrites foundation, which serves communities of fewer than 50,000 people, the Texas Reads license plate program and backs the annual bought furniture to replace the 1970s décor at Bonham. The MW Texas Book Festival—turned its energy to helping rural libraries. and Fair Miller Foundation in Bonham provided $13,000 for the “My uncle felt he had taken a lot of money out of these small library to buy four child-friendly computers loaded with educa- towns,” explains Darryl Tocker. “Helping the libraries was his tional games and featuring touch-screen displays that aim to help way to repay them.” kids ages 2 to 12 prepare for school and get a leg up on classwork. Dan Oko is a Houston writer; his website is danoko.com. “Before, we were just maintaining the status quo,” says Kimberly Bowen, Bonham’s library director. “Now we are a bustling com- WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com See photos from a Texas Writes pro-

munity center—and business center. Our patrons are very excited.” gram in Johnson City. GRAVES RUSSELL

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CONSERVATION AND SAFETY INFORMATION Tornado Season Approaches Are you and your family ready for severe weather?

Stay Alert Afterward In the aftermath of a tornado, potential hazards must be considered during response and recovery efforts. Keep yourself and your family members alert with these general precautions: Continue to monitor local radio or TV stations for emergency information and the potential for additional storms. Be aware of possible structural, electri- cal or gas leak hazards in and around recovery sites. If you see these hazards, report them to the proper local authori- ties and/or utilities. Spring is tornado season, so make sure that Do not touch downed power lines or you and your family are prepared beforehand. objects that are in contact with them.

CLINT SPENCER | ISTOCK.COM Call your electric cooperative. Wear proper clothing, including boots TORNADOES ARE AMONG NATURE’S most violent and unpre- and gloves, when walking on or near debris. dictable storms, and Texas regularly sees plenty of them. Sur- Use the proper safety precautions when operating genera- vival is a matter of planning and preparation. tors, chain saws or other power tools. In Texas, tornadoes are more prevalent from April through Take steps to prevent heat illnesses and dehydration in your- July, with April and May being the peak months. But remem- self and others. ber: Like thunderstorms, tornadoes can form any time of the year and occur in every state in the country. Take Advantage of Resources One of the most alarming aspects of a tornado is its random- The following websites and apps can help you stay informed, ness; there’s no telling whose home it will miss, and whose it connected and prepared before, during and after a tornado. will hit. Your best defense is to be alert and prepared. EMERGENCY WEBSITES Be Prepared a National Weather Service: Pay attention to local weather reports. You can get reliable infor- nssl.noaa.gov/education/svrwx101/tornadoes mation from broadcasts on a National Oceanic and Atmos- a Red Cross: redcross.org/prepare/disaster/tornado pheric Administration weather radio and via free alerts by a Federal Emergency Management Agency: ready.gov/tornadoes apps on your mobile phone or other devices. If you use a a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: mobile app, plan to use it sparingly to save power on your emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/tornadoes/index.asp device if the electricity goes out. WEATHER APPS Develop a family emergency plan. Make sure everyone in a Nixle: Collects and distributes weather advisories from more your family knows where to go in case a tornado warning is than 9,000 public safety agencies, including local fire depart- issued while they’re at home, school or work, or on the road. ments and emergency management agencies. Assemble a family emergency supply kit. Make certain every- a American Red Cross Tornado: Find step-by-step instructions on thing you need is in one specific, easy-to-access location. Per- how to prepare for and recover from a tornado. Provides live tor- ishable items should be changed or replaced every six months. nado warnings and a map, plus an “I’m Safe” button that allows More information on assembling a kit can be found on the those affected by recent tornadoes to notify family and friends. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s website, ready.gov. a American Red Cross First Aid: Offers safety tips specifically for During any emergency, always pay attention to the instructions bad weather and natural disasters, including tornadoes. All issued by local emergency management officials. Take time info is downloaded with the app so an Internet connection is before bad weather season to learn about emergency plans not required, and a 911 integration feature allows emergency established in your area by state and local governments. phone calls to be made directly from the app.

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JAZZIRT | ISTOCK.COM Observations

Tough Kid, Tough Breaks

Lubbock pal with an ax to grind achieved fleeting football fame

My boyhood pal Ricky was either an be a natural. He had enjoyed a bit of a BY CLAY COPPEDGE accident waiting to happen or a pretty fair growth spurt and was nothing if not aggres- country football player, depending on sive. The qualities that made him such a whether he was injuring himself or some- liability in the neighborhood and the class- one else. His aggression made him what room endeared him to the coaches. the coaches liked to call a “headhunter,” But Ricky’s road to gridiron glory would but he also became something of a fall guy. be full of detours. A week before workouts Like a lot of us back then, Ricky and I began, Ricky took it upon himself to climb grew up watching the Dallas Cowboys long a tree outside the local skating rink to before they were “America’s Team.” With impress an older girl of 16. He happened to stiff competition from the Dallas Texans be wearing roller skates at the time, which of the American Football League, there doctors and parents said caused his fall was some doubt in the ’60s as to whether from the tree and the breaking of his two the Cowboys were even Dallas’ team. favorite arms. So much for that season. We watched anxiously each Sunday to The next summer, Ricky was working see if quarterback Don Meredith would be in his father’s woodshop when a girl walk- knocked unconscious before he could loft ing down the street in a miniskirt caught a deep ball to Robert Lee “Bullet Bob” his eye. His attention wavered and the Hayes, or if Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy next thing anybody knew, he had sawed Jordan would knock the stuffing out of an off two of his favorite fingers. opposing running back, putting him out Some time later, we were in his garage of the game and giving Dallas a chance for when Ricky used two of his remaining fin- one of its few victories that season. gers to grab some doughnuts that he found Jordan was Ricky’s hero from the start. on top of the washing machine. I took one “I want to hit people,” Ricky said. “I want too but threw it away when I found a dead them to wake up the next morning in pain ant curled up in the icing. and remember me.” “Hmmm,” Ricky said, helping himself That wasn’t hard for me to believe. The to a third one. “That’s weird.” first words Ricky said to me when we A few minutes later his mother came moved into a northeast Lubbock neigh- home from the store and broke the bad borhood were, “You wanna fight?” news: She had laced those doughnuts So we fought. Instead of declaring a with ant poison. “You’ve killed me!” Ricky winner, each of us declared the other to wailed, but yet another trip to the emer- be our best friend. Neighbors advised my gency room, this time to have doctors pump parents to keep me away from Ricky. He his stomach, put him back in the ball game. was a bully, they said, and something of a Eventually, the coaches were glad to get troublemaker in school. Ricky back, swaggering around the practice When the time came to “suit up” for field without a splint, cast or sling of any seventh-grade football, Ricky appeared to kind, but Ricky had fought his battle with

22 Texas Co-op Power April 2016 TexasCoopPower.com the world at an early age and didn’t care as workouts with such reckless abandon that be best if he took the rest of the season off. much as he once had for knocking his peers he finally came to resemble the headhunt- While convalescing, Ricky discovered into next week. Frustrated coaches yelled ing linebacker he had fancied himself the electric guitar. He also discovered that at him, which inspired Ricky not at all. when we were younger. girls liked guitar players as much or even When he fell off a skateboard and broke Results were mixed. While trying to more than they liked football players—not two more fingers, keeping him out of con- hurt himself, he hurt a lot of other people, that it was easy to play the instrument tact drills for an entire week, Ricky came mostly his teammates. He became a start- with two missing fingers. up with a plan. He unveiled it to me fol- ing linebacker and struck terror into the “The thing is, I don’t have to get my lowing a particularly grueling practice. hearts of opposing teams. Even the high brains beat out every day just to meet “Here’s the deal. I’m accident-prone, number of unnecessary roughness and chicks,” he told me. “I just have to strum a right?” personal foul calls were not enough to off- few chords.” “’Maybe a little,” I allowed. set the damage he did to the psyche and And that was pretty much the story of “All I have to do is get hurt. The guys bodies of our opponents. People took Ricky’s football career. who get hurt don’t have to work out. They notice of him for the first time. As a postscript, it should be noted that just sit on the sidelines or go see the The same neighbors and friends who Ricky, the man who worked hard to be a trainer, and that’s it. How hard can it be warned us about Ricky now sang his football casualty and who was the most to get hurt playing football?” praises. “That boy’s a natural,” they said. accident-prone person in the history of While most of us aspired to be a first- “A real headhunter, that one.” Lubbock County, grew up to be a construc- string player, Ricky’s fondest desire was Ricky’s call to gridiron glory came to tion worker. to go on the injured reserve list. an abrupt end halfway through the season. On nuclear power plants. Ricky set out to do just that. The results One of his favorite knees got twisted dur- Clay Coppedge, a member of Bartlett EC,

HOWARD MCWILLIAM HOWARD were truly startling. He threw himself into ing a pileup, and the doctors said it would lives near Walburg.

TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 23 Texas USA

The Erudite Ranger

Texas, My Texas book excerpt: Sul Ross library preserves Roy Aldrich’s collection

Not long ago I was prowling around Aldrich’s life was as varied and colorful BY LONN TAYLOR the shelves of the Wildenthal Library at as his library. He was born in 1869 in Illi- Sul Ross State University, which I often nois and grew up in Golden City, Missouri, do when I have gone over there to look where his father owned a bank. He never something up and have some spare time went to school. He was educated at home on my hands, and I stumbled on a clutch by his mother, who had been a teacher. of English fox-hunting memoirs, books When he was 17 he left home and went to with titles like Trencher and Kennel: Some Idaho, where he worked as a lumberjack Famous Yorkshire Packs, published in Lon- and steamboat hand. In the 1890s he spent don in 1927, and The Eighth Duke of Bad- some time as a horse trader and deputy minton and the Badminton Hunt, London, sheriff in Oklahoma Territory, as the 1901. These seemed to me to be odd vol- owner of a coffee plantation in Mexico, umes to encounter in the library of a West and as a stagecoach driver in Arizona Ter- Texas cow college until I remembered ritory. During the Spanish-American War Texas Ranger Captain Roy W. Aldrich, he served as a second lieutenant in the whose library and papers were acquired Second Missouri Volunteer Regiment in by Sul Ross in 1958. Then it all made sense. the Philippines, and when that war was Roy Aldrich was undoubtedly the most over he took a load of horses to South literate Texas Ranger in the history of the Africa for the British Army’s remount ranger force, and surely one of the most service in the Boer War. He was sheriff of intellectually curious. By the time of his Kiowa County, Oklahoma Territory from death in 1955 he had assembled a library of 1903 to 1907, when he came to Texas and 10,000 volumes, which took up the entire went into the real estate business, first in second floor of his large Austin home. The Corpus Christi and then in San Antonio. first floor was stuffed with collections of When the border troubles broke out in Indian pottery, arrowheads and stone arti- 1915 he couldn’t stay away from the action facts, horns, spurs, firearms, and other and, at the age of 45, he joined the Texas Western memorabilia. The 20-acre grounds Rangers as a private in Company A, sta- of that home, which was out east of town tioned in Rio Grande City. His talents were on Manor Road, included several gardens quickly recognized and by 1918 he had of native plants and a private zoo. Aldrich been promoted to captain and appointed was an omnivorous reader who spent most Quartermaster and Paymaster of the of his salary on books, as the receipts in his Rangers, a position he held for 28 years papers show. The largest part of his library until his retirement in 1947. consisted of volumes on Texas and the Aldrich first came to the Big Bend on Southwest, but he also formed respectable Ranger business in 1920 and returned collections on ornithology, natural history, many times over the years, sometimes on hunting and outdoor life (thus the English official business and sometimes to collect

fox-hunting memoirs), and travel. plants and natural history specimens. He CLUB | DOLLAR PHOTO BOOK: VLADIMIR NIKULIN AUSTIN. AT OF TEXAS | UNIVERSITY AMERICAN HISTORY CENTER FOR ALDRICH: DOLPH BRISCOE

24 Texas Co-op Power April 2016 TexasCoopPower.com items to the museum, and told Morelock several times that he wanted his library to eventually go to the college, but he could not bear to part with his books during his lifetime. Aldrich never married and when he died in 1955, he left his entire estate, including his library, to his housekeeper, a Mrs. R.M. Riley of Austin. Friends of Sul Ross immediately mobi- lized to bring Aldrich’s library to Alpine. Dudley Dobie, a San Marcos bookseller and a long-time friend of Aldrich, offered to inventory and appraise the books. Mrs. Riley agreed to sell them for their $50,000 appraised value. Legendary Big Bend rancher Hallie Stillwell and Virginia Madi- son, the woman who had written her thesis on Aldrich, set out in a Sul Ross station wagon to raise the money. It was in the middle of the drought and no one had any spare cash. In a letter to the Alpine Ava- lanche, Stillwell told how they drove all over West Texas and came back to Alpine two days before the deadline with pledges for $47,000. That night she and Madison ran into H.L. Kokernot, Jr. at the American Legion Hall and told him their story. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his checkbook, and wrote them a check for made many friends here, including Sul Townsend had recently donated their col- $3,000. Because of his impulsive gen- Ross president Horace Morelock. In 1940 lections to the museum, adding that “we erosity the collection was in the bag. Morelock started trolling for Aldrich’s are specializing in this type of material.” Today Aldrich’s books form the core of library and collections, hoping to bring When Aldrich failed to take the bait, More- the Texas and Southwestern Collection of them to Sul Ross. He wrote Aldrich a letter lock got Harry Anthony DeYoung, who ran the Wildenthal Library. describing the new museum building on the Sul Ross summer art program, to paint Lonn Taylor is a writer and historian who the campus, saying that it was “fireproof Aldrich’s portrait on horseback to hang in lives in Fort Davis. He can be reached at taylorw and had steel doors, every one of which is the museum. He persuaded a graduate stu- @fortdavis.net. Excerpted from Texas, My Texas: kept locked.” He pointed out that ex- dent to write Aldrich’s biography for her Musings of the Rambling Boy, TCU Press [Original Rangers James B. Gillett and Everett master’s thesis. Aldrich donated several column: March 15, 2007].

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32 Texas Co-op Power April 2016 TexasCoopPower.com Texas History Gettysburg’s Last Casualty James Hamaker from Aledo survived the Civil War but didn’t survive the reunion

BY E.R. BILLS

In 1938, veterans of the American Civil War gathered in Pennsylvania to acknowledge the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Some 200,000 people witnessed the event, from June 29 to July 6, including two dozen veterans of the battle itself and 1,845 veterans of the Civil War in general (1,359 representing the Union and 486 representing the Con- federacy). It was an amicable commemo- ration, characterized by goodwill and heartfelt handshakes. Congress appropriated $1.7 million for the reunion to cover transportation, lodging and meals, as well as the cost of one attendant or caretaker to accompany each veteran. The caretaker was necessary, in the war as a Union prisoner and was freed Hamaker conceded defeat. “I guess I better part, because the average age of the vet- June 20, 1865, two months after the Civil get home to my rocking chair,” he said. His erans was 94. The attendees’ quarters in War ended. He returned to his home state journey was delayed two weeks for treat- the fields north of Gettysburg College con- of Virginia. He married Bettie 20 years ment at Walter Reed. sisted of 3,800 tents connected by board- later and moved to the Aledo area in 1894, After his return from Gettysburg, walks and wired for electricity. where he served as the foreman of the Hig- Hamaker never fully recovered. In the days On July 3, President Franklin Delano bee Ranch in East Parker County. and weeks after his ill-fated trip, he made Roosevelt addressed the crowd at the In late June of 1938, Hamaker began the most of his rocking chair, enjoying the unveiling and dedication of the Eternal his long trip by train to Pennsylvania, look- early autumn breezes on the front porch of Light Peace Memorial, which still sits on ing forward to the gathering. Just before his home as he attempted to convalesce. Oak Hill just northwest of Gettysburg. he reached Gettysburg, however, he suf- On September 5, 1938, Hamaker’s His comments were conciliatory. “All of fered a mishap, falling from a train berth housekeeper checked on him and said that them we honor,” he said, “not asking under and breaking his shoulder. shortly after he got up from his rocking which flag they fought then—thankful that When Hamaker arrived in Gettysburg, chair, walked to the bathroom and then they stand together under one flag now.” an attentive medical staff was on hand. He returned, she found him motionless. He James Hamaker, a 94-year-old resident was sent to Walter Reed Hospital, built on had survived being shot twice during Pick- of Aledo, attended the festivities. His wife, the site of the hospital where he was treated ett’s Charge, but it was his third Gettys- Bettie, had passed, and his children had in 1863. The locals did everything they burg wound, incurred as he traveled for a all died. Hamaker’s final wish was to revisit could to make Hamaker comfortable and peaceful reunion, that dealt the fatal blow, the tree under which he had been shot fulfill his last wish. “If I could get to that allowing him only a few final days until he twice during the Battle of Gettysburg. tree,” he told them, “I could die happy.” died on his porch in Texas. Hamaker had served under Stonewall Medical attendants, fellow veterans and His passing was noted in newspapers Jackson and then was part of the disastrous current U. S. soldiers transported Hamaker around the state, and he was buried along- Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863, during the around the battlefield in an attempt to side Bettie in Aledo’s Brown Cemetery. Battle of Gettysburg. His wounds incapac- locate the tree where he was shot, but the E.R. Bills is a writer from Aledo. itated him, and he was captured by Union terrain had changed too much in the inter- troops and transported to a hospital. vening three-quarters of a century, and WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com See video

CARL WIENS Hamaker spent the final two years of they were not able to find it. In the end, and photos from the 1938 Gettysburg Reunion.

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1-800-726-7990 harvestright.com MADE IN AMERICA BRENT HOFACKER | SHUTTERSTOCK.COM 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. for $29.95 to with cinnamonandsugar. lattice-type topcrust. Sprinklegenerously lightly dusted withnutmeg.Dot withbutter. Cherry Pie great food,andplentyofpies, fordecades. of Texas homecookswhohavebeenmaking of over 700recipesthatcelebratethelegacy and handling), Cookbook recently published swoon. ThisCherryPierecipeisfromthe you’ll findarecipeheretomakeyourfamily meringue, buttermilk custard orfreshfruit, you preferalattice toppingoracloudof for yourfavoritewaystofillacrust. Whether few dessertsinspiremoredevotion, weasked more in What makesahome Your BestPies NOTE 5. 4. 3. mixture stand forafewminutes. coloring, ifusing,inamixingbowl andlet cherry juice,almondextract, salt andfood 2. 1. Sugar Cinnamon to taste butter,stick) into(¼ cut tablespoons 2 Ground nutmeg,to taste unbakedcrusts, pie 9-inch 2 Red food coloring (optional) salt teaspoon ⅛ extractalmond teaspoon ¼ juice cherry cup ½ sugar cup 1 tapioca 2½ tablespoons cherries, ounces)sour (14 can 1 it isjust rightfor us,” shesays. over theyears. “Ihave addedandtaken away until Pearson, althoughshe’s tweaked theoldstandby This recipe haslongbeenafamily favorite, says ELAINE PEARSON small chunks small chopped and drained Preheat oven to325degrees. Bake untilbubblyandnicelybrowned. Pour intoanunbakedpiecrust thathasbeen Combine thecherries, tapioca,sugar, Cut secondcrust intostrips andmake PAULA DISBROWE, To order by mail,sendacheckormoney order viting thanhomemadepie?Because ($29.95; priceincludestax,shipping The Best ofTypically Texas Cookbook, | O’DONNELL,LYNTEGAR EC April 2016 Texas Co-op Power’ FOOD EDITOR The BestofTypically Texas (or roadsidecafé) Texas Co-op Power Recipes s collection 35 Recipes

Your Best Pies Creamy Coconut Pie With Divinity-Style Meringue THIS MONTH’S RECIPE CONTEST WINNER KERI SMITH | JASPER-NEWTON EC SPRING CABINESS | MEDINA EC What we love about this pie: the rich, creamy What’s not to love about fresh apple pie drizzled with an aromatic custard made by a clever method (it’s cooked maple glaze? For the best flavor and texture, Cabiness makes a crust in the microwave!) and the billowy texture of that uses both shortening and butter. She recommends slicing the Smith’s “divinity-style” meringue that relies on apples as thinly as possible and using a mixture of sweet (Golden a secret ingredient (pass the marshmallow Delicious, Pink Lady) and tart (Granny Smith, McIntosh) varieties. crème, please).

FILLING Maple-Frosted pulse the ingredients in a food proces- 1½ cups sugar Apple Pan Tart sor until just combined.) 3 heaping tablespoons cornstarch 3. Add cold water 1 tablespoon at a ¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted CRUST time to the dough until the flour mix- 3 egg yolks 3 cups flour ture pulls together in a ball that’s 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ cup vegetable shortening neither too dry nor too sticky. Divide 1 cup milk ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter the dough in half. Roll out the first 1 cup evaporated milk 1½ teaspoons salt half on a floured surface and line the 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sweetened, 6–12tablespoons cold water bottom of a pie pan with dough. flaked coconut, divided use 4. FILLING: Place the apple slices, sugar, FILLING flour and cinnamon in a mixing bowl MERINGUE 6 cups peeled, thinly sliced apples and toss to combine. Pour the apple 3 egg whites 1 cup sugar mixture into the dough-lined pie pan. ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar 2 tablespoons flour 5. Roll out the remaining half of dough. ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon cinnamon Drape dough over the fruit and pan 1 jar (7 ounces) marshmallow crème edges, fluting or crimping edges as GLAZE desired. Cut several slits in the top CRUST ½ cup powdered sugar dough to allow steam to escape. 1 9- or 10-inch deep-dish pie crust, 3 tablespoons maple syrup 6. Bake pie 45 minutes to 1 hour, until baked and cooled the crust is golden brown and the apples 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. are tender. 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 2. CRUST: Using a pastry blender or 7. GLAZE: While pie is baking, whisk 2. FILLING: Whisk together sugar and your fingers, combine flour, shortening, together the powdered sugar and maple cornstarch in a large, microwaveable butter and salt thoroughly until the syrup until smooth. Drizzle syrup over the bowl until the mixture is smooth and free mixture has the texture of pebbly, pie while it’s still warm. Pie can be served of lumps. Add melted butter, egg yolks coarse meal. (Alternatively, you can warm, at room temperature or cold. and vanilla, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the milk and evaporated milk. 3. Microwave the mixture on high about 8 minutes, stopping to whisk every minute or so, until thickened. When the custard is thick, whisk in 1 cup of flaked coconut and set aside. 4. MERINGUE: While the custard cools, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with a mixer on high speed until the eggs are very foamy, and then add the vanilla. Continue beating until the whites reach the soft-peak stage, then add the marsh- $100 Recipe Contest mallow crème. Continue beating until the whites are stiff and glossy. Do not September’s recipe contest is One- underbeat. Dish Dinners. Send us your favorite 5. Pour the custard filling into the baked recipes for a quick and tasty one-dish pie crust and top with meringue. Use a dinner by the April 10 deadline. rubber spatula to gently form peaks.

ENTER ONLINE at TexasCoopPower.com/contests; Sprinkle the remaining coconut flakes to 1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701; MAIL over the top. WALDRON PAT MARY PIE BIRDS: CLUB. | DOLLAR PHOTO PIE: TASHKA2000 CLUB. | DOLLAR PHOTO NUTTAPOL BACKGROUND: FAX to (512) 763-3401. Include your name, address and phone number, plus your co-op and the name of the contest you are entering. TexasCoopPower.com 6. Bake until the meringue is lightly browned, about 30–35 minutes. Allow PIE BIRDS the pie to cool at least 15 minutes before They’re more cute than essential, but what’s wrong serving. Can be served at room tempera- with that? Pie bird steamers might have nested in ture or chilled to serve cold. your mother’s pantry, but they hatched in England for venting meat pies: The open mouths allow Buttermilk Pie steam to escape, averting a soggy crust. (Cutting JUDY GWIN | BLUEBONNET EC slits in the top crust accomplishes the same goal.) This classic, easy-to-prepare pie is a third- To use a pie bird, place it in the center of the generation recipe from Gwin’s grandmother, bottom uncooked crust. Place filling around bird. Helen Kappas, who lived in Minnesota. The filling Cut a circle in center of top crust for the bird to handily makes two pies—one for you and one peek through, then top pie, crimp, and bake. to share. Even if you don’t use them regularly, a collection of pie birds makes a cheery addition to any 1 cup buttermilk kitchen. Look for vintage birds at antique fairs or ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted thrift shops. You can find new pie birds at Sur la 2½ cups sugar Table (surlatable.com) or King Arthur Flour 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (kingarthurflour.com). —PD 1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut 1 cup chopped pecans 6 eggs crust in a large mixing bowl and stir COOK’S TIP For a filling that is less sweet, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract together until smooth. reduce the sugar to 2 cups and use unsweetened 2 unbaked pie crusts 3. Divide the mixture among the two pie coconut. crusts and bake 1 hour, or until a knife 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. inserted in the middle of each pie comes WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com 2. Combine all the ingredients except out clean. Finding more recipes is easy as pie at our website.

EXPERIENCE #4265 the MORTON NEXT MONTH ADVANTAGE NEW DIRECTIONS IN FARMING A younger generation seeks alternatives to keep the family business thriving.

VINTAGE BASEBALL Players turn back the clock to the days before the game became America’s pastime.

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TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 37 Paid Advertisement

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VAULT CODE: TX21131 Focus on Texas Swings Built for relaxation and for play, these swings soar up, up and away! GRACE ARSIAGA

WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com Hang around for more photos online. a WAYNE WILKERSON, CoServ Electric: Near Drop, in southwest Denton County

d SEAN RIEDEL, Guadalupe Valley EC: Lake McQueeney

o LAUREN MCCLAIN, Cooke County EC: Gianna, 3, soars high at a park in Lake Dallas. d GARY OTT, Pedernales EC: Although Prairie Mountain School closed in 1948, it serves as a community center, and the playground swings have been maintained for area youth and the young at heart.

UPCOMING CONTESTS

AUGUST RESTORED DUE APRIL 10

SEPTEMBER GONE FISHIN’ DUE MAY 10

OCTOBER CREEPY CRAWLIES DUE JUNE 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 Texas CoopPower.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.

o LISA EFFREN, Pedernales EC: Daughter Emily, 16, on a family trip

TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 39 Around Texas Event Calendar April 8–9 San Augustine San Augustine Garden Club’s Gala Garden Fair Pick of the Month April Germanfest Muenster [April 22–24] 8 San Augustine [8–9] San Augustine (940) 759-2227, germanfest.net Garden Club’s Gala Garden Fair, Muenster, founded by German settlers in 1889, (936) 675-1072, sagardenclub.org celebrates its heritage with a festival featuring Groesbeck [8–16] Limestone County food and music, a fun run and bicycle rally, Rodeo, Livestock and Horse Show, and a cook-off. Cooke County EC is a sponsor, (254) 747-2120, limestone-co-fair-grounds.com and more than half of its employees volunteer at Germanfest—a demonstration of Coopera- Silsbee [8-9, 14-16, 21-23] Silsbee tive Principle No. 7: Concern for Community. Little Theater Spring Production: Dearly Beloved, (409) 385-5562, facebook.com/silsbeelittletheater 9 Gallatin Gopher Fest, (903) 262-0130 Hamilton Spring Fling, (254) 372-3120 Lewisville ColorPalooza: A Celebration 15 of Spring, (972) 219-3401, Burton [15–16] Cotton Gin Festival, lewisvillecolorpalooza.com (979) 289-3378, cottonginmuseum.org [15–16] Piney Woods Quilt Chappell Hill [9–10] Bluebonnet Carthage Festival, (979) 836-6033, Festival, (903) 754-3263, chappellhillhistoricalsociety.com carthagetexas.us/main-street Coleman [15–16] Petticoats on the Prairie, (325) 625-2163, colemantexas.org

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8TH ANNUAL Helping Hand Project

Mueller strongly believes in giving back to organizations that always give to others. For the 8th year in a row, we are extending CJGNRKPIJCPFVQC6GZCUPQPRTQƒVKPPGGFQHCPGYHCEKNKV[ One deserving organization will receive a FREE Mueller steel building through our Helping Hand Project.

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40 Texas Co-op Power April 2016 TexasCoopPower.com Henderson [15–16] East Texas Antique Tractor & Engine Club Show, (903) 889-2671, 28 May etateci.org Kerrville A Night in Old Mexico, (830) 792-7469, symphonyofthehills.org Neches [15–25] The 1836 Chuckwagon Race, 1 (903) 721-9111, 1836chuckwagonrace.com Austin Cap 2K Open Water Race & Pledge 30 Swim, (512) 327-0955, cap2k.com Livingston Downton Tabby Cat Adoption St. Stanislaus Parish Festival, 16 Event, (936) 327-7722, spcaofpolkcounty.org Bandera Port Arthur Carnival des Cajuns, (830) 460-4712, ststanislausbandera.com (409) 835-2787, setxac.org Lubbock Blue Ribbon Rally Classic Car and Custom Motorcycle Show, (806) 747-5577, familyguidancecenterlubbock.org 6 22 Temple [6–8] Central Texas Air Show, Linden [22–23] Wildflower Trails Festival, Port O’Connor Crawfish Festival, (512) 869-1759, centraltexasairshow.com (903) 756-7774, lindenwildflowertrails.net (361) 983-2898, portoconnorchamber.com Grand Prairie [22–24] Main Street Fest, Waco [30–May 1] Gem and Mineral Show, (254) 548-6839, wacogemandmineral.org 7 (972) 237-8110, facebook.com/mainstreetfest Hemphill Garden Club Flower Show, Montgomery [22–24] Concours d’Elegance (409) 787-1524 of Texas, 1-877-426-6763, concoursoftexas.org Pattison German Sausage Dinner and Auction, (281) 934-8218, 23 christlutheranchurchpattison.org Mineola Spring Fling, (817) 455-4599, Stephenville Cowboy Capital MS Trail Ride, mineolanaturepreserve.com (254) 592-1895 Weches Mission Tejas State Park Folk Festival, (936) 687-2394, tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/mission-tejas Find More Events Online! 24 May 1 Submit Your Event We pick events for the Austin Yorktown Garfield Spring Feast, magazine directly from TexasCoopPower.com. (361) 550-9391, Cap 2K Open Water Race & Pledge Swim Submit your event for June by April 10, and it facebook.com/garfielddance.hall just might be featured in this calendar!

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TexasCoopPower.com April 2016 Texas Co-op Power 41 Hit the Road Taking in Tyler Beyond the roses, top options include wining, dining and Tyler State Park

BY MELISSA GASKILL

I have traveled to Tyler a number of times, enjoying such diversions as New York Texas Zipline Adventures, Rick’s on the Square restaurant in historic downtown, top- ranked Jucys Hamburgers, Discovery Science Place and the famous Rose Garden Center. But three destinations top my list. First, sprawling Kiepersol Estates includes vineyards, a winery, a distillery, tasting rooms, a restaurant and lodging. Guided tours of the distillery and winery production facilities are offered Saturday afternoons and by appointment. Wine tastings include a selection of Fly with a bird’s-eye view four to six wines, and if you’re staying on of East Texas landscape the premises, I recommend happy hour via New York Texas Zipline. on the veranda, which overlooks some of Kiepersol’s 63 acres of vineyards. I also recommend strolling the 1-mile trail best places to enjoy this area’s outdoor ins, as well as several group camping areas through the vineyards. Watch for a flock beauty because it encompasses the junc- and facilities. Rangers offer a variety of of large grey guinea fowl prowling the rows tion of Pineywoods and Post Oak Savannah guided activities, including birding and sto- of vines, eating insects and providing nat- bioregions, mixing shortleaf and loblolly ries around the campfire, and kids can keep ural pest control. pines with oak, sweet gum, pecan and black busy with Junior Ranger Explorer Packs. Just across a tranquil pond from the walnut. The park contains more than 13 My third fave is Lago del Pino restaurant, winery, the Restaurant at Kiepersol fea- miles of hike-and-bike trails, but I often created by locals Randal and Donna Brooks tures one wall lined with windows and opt for the three-quarter-mile Whispering with sons Trey, Derek and Daren, which other walls lined with wine bottles, whites Pines Nature Trail. It loops through pines overlooks a 40-acre, tree-lined lake. The chilling on the bottom floor and reds aging and hardwoods and passes enduring struc- restaurant offers an expansive menu and on the second. My most recent dinner here tures from the Civilian Conservation live music on the patio every Friday and started with jumbo lump crab cakes, fol- Corps, which created this park between Saturday night. There’s an eclectic lowed by black pepper and honey-glazed 1935 and 1941. Beauchamp Springs forms Sunday brunch menu accompanied by salmon and buttery green beans. I noted a 64-acre lake in the center of the park. more live music. In addition to steaks and the juicy filet mignon and Colorado lamb Circle the water on the 2.1-mile Lakeshore seafood, the chef creates smoked jalapeño chops at a neighboring table for my next Trail, which passes fishing piers, picnic meatloaf, shrimp and grits, and beer- visit. The wine list contains more than 20 areas, campgrounds, boat docks and a play- battered chicken tacos. Don’t miss the Kiepersol wines and hundreds of others. ground. You could enjoy a day on the east cocktail selections made with unusual “Servers can recommend how to best pair shore of the lake, with its swim beach and ingredients such as habanero-infused your meal with a wine from our list,” owner bathhouse, well-equipped store and boat tequila, fresh lemongrass and lavender gin. Pierre de Wet says. “But most importantly, pavilion that offers canoes, paddleboats, And the sunsets can be spectacular. we want you to drink what you like.” kayaks, bike boats and johnboats for rent— Melissa Gaskill is an Austin writer who spe- Five bed-and-breakfast rooms line a daily in summer and weekends year-round. cializes in travel and nature topics. nearby hall, and other lodging options And it’s just a short walk to a fishing pier include the five-bedroom Stable House and shady picnic area. WEB EXTRAS at TexasCoopPower.com and the two-bedroom Caretaker’s Cottage. The park offers tent and recreational . Plan your trip and learn more about

Next, Tyler State Park ranks as one of the vehicle camping, screened shelters and cab- these locations. SHULTZ CONNIE COURTESY

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