LOCAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE EDITION JULY 2011 GLUTEN-FREE COOKING THE HEALING POWERS OF DIVING OFFOFF TOTO THETHE RACESRACES Up, up and away … and back home again for pigeons on logic-defying flights WHEN IT COMESCOMES TOTO CUSTOM CUS TOM BUILDINGS, MUELLERUELLER TAKESTATAAKES IT PERSONAL WithWith Mueller's ChoicChoicee Series, yyouou can crcreateeate a ssteelteel building fforor yyourour oownwn personal needs. Based on yyourour ideas, our eexperiencedxperienced engineers will design a customizedcustomized structurestructure jusjustt fforor yyou.ou. TThen,hen, the Mueller tteameam will manufmanufactureacture it ttoo the highesthighest quality sstandards.tandards. EEveryvery ssteptep of the wway,ay, a Mueller rrepresentativeepresentative will givgivee yyouou the eextra-personalxtra-personal attentionattention yyouou deservdeserve.e. CALL,ALL, CLICK OR COMECOME BY one of our 30 locationslocations forfor a freefree estimate.estimate. www.muellerinc.comwww.muellerinc.com 877-2-MUELLER877-2-MUELLER July 2011 VOLUME 68 NUMBER 1 FEATURES 8 Off to the Races By Helen Cordes Photos by Will van Overbeek For the owners of racing pigeons—the so- called thoroughbreds of the sky—there’s nothing like thrilling, high-stakes competi- tions that pit top fliers against each other for lucrative purses. 14 Beneath the Surface By Melissa Gaskill Photos by Woody Welch and John Thompson Disabled military veterans discover a sense of freedom and a world of wonder through 88 scuba diving. DEPARTMENTS ONLINE Footnotes by Martha Deeringer The Official Dog of Texas 25 TexasCoopPower.com The following July stories are available on our Recipe Roundup Meeting the Gluten-Free Challenge 27 website. Focus on Texas Those Were the Days 35 Texas Reader by Joel W. Barna Around Texas Local Events Listings 36 We were not orphans: Stories from the Waco State Home Hit the Road by Suzanne Haberman Brackenridge Park 38 Observations by Mike Cox Digging Holes 25 27 38 TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Kendall Montgomery, Chair, Olney; Rick Haile, Vice Chair, McGregor; Ron Hughes, Secretary-Treasurer, Sinton; Randy Mahannah, Perryton; Billy Marricle, Bellville; Mark Stubbs, Greenville; Larry Warren, San Augustine PRESIDENT/CEO: Mike Williams, Austin STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE: William (Buff) Whitten, Chair, Eldorado; Melody Pinnell, Texas Co-op Power is published by your Vice Chair, Crockett; Roy Griffin, Edna; Bryan Lightfoot, Bartlett; Stan McClendon, Wellington; Gary Nietsche, La Grange; Anne Vaden, Corinth electric cooperative to enhance the qual- COMMUNICATIONS STAFF: Martin Bevins, Sales Director; Carol Moczygemba, Executive Editor; Camille Wheeler, Associate ity of life of its member-customers in an Editor; Suzi Sands, Art Director; Karen Nejtek, Production Manager; Ashley Clary, Field Editor; Andy Doughty, Production Designer; Sandra Forston, Communications Assistant; Suzanne Haberman, Communications Specialist; Kevin Hargis, Food Editor, educational and entertaining format. Israel Perez, Editorial Intern COVER PHOTO by Will van Overbeek July 2011 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 3 Aff ordable, Simple Plans Rates as low as $10 per month With Consumer Cellular you get a choice of simple, affordable cellular plans starting from just $10 with no contracts on a nationwide network. We offer a complete line of phones from Nokia and Motorola with features like texting, cameras and wireless web access. All this and a risk free money-back guarantee. < BOOMER FRIENDLY AARP members Doro PhoneEasy ask for your special discount when Large, bright screens starting new service! and text Big, raised buttons USER Emergency call feature FRIENDLY (on back) Phone NO CONTRACTS FREE* Phone No contracts on any Consumer Cellular plans! GUARANTEED 30 days or 30 minutes, money-back guarantee†. SMART NOW AVAILABLE AT Phone Call Consumer Cellular 1.888.344.7817 Online www.ConsumerCellular.com/817 *Requires new service activation on approved credit and $35 activation fee. Pricing at retail stores will include the $35 activation fee. Certain models are free beyond activation fee. Cellular service is not available in all areas and is subject to system limitations. Phones are limited to stock on hand. Terms and Conditions subject to change. †If you’re not satisfi ed within 30 days or 30 minutes of usage, whichever comes fi rst, cancel and pay nothing, no questions asked. AARP member benefi ts are provided by third parties, not by AARP or its affi liates. Providers pay royalty fees to AARP for the use of its intellectual property. These fees are used for the general purposes of AARP. Some provider offers are subject to change and may have restrictions. Please contact the provider directly for details. On the back cover of one Booger Red, which appeared in of his albums it states: “Old some May 2011 print issues of POWERtalk Fiddlers Never Die, they just Texas Co-op Power, can be Play Away!” Thank you for found at TexasCoopPower.com. Letters from Texas Co-op Power Readers that wonderful memory and for capturing the real spirit of CHARCOAL TO CASH those Texas-style fiddlers! Regarding the “Charcoal City: A TOP RATING FOR GVEC good memories of fiddling LINDA MCMURTRAY Turning Cedar into Cash” article I would like to thank Guadalupe music. We used to have those United Cooperative Services in the April 2011 issue: It Valley Electric Cooperative good ol’ family reunions in reminded me of a trip my hus- (GVEC) for the continued elec- Childress and Vernon every band and I took to Zambia, tric power I receive and the low year when I was growing up. READ MORE LETTERS Africa, in 2001, as part of a rates. I don’t remember the last My uncle, Wes Nivens, was See “Letters to the Editor” in medical mission. I was time I had an outage. president of the National Old July’s Table of Contents at impressed that they make char- I live in Schertz, and my last Time Fiddlers’ Association for TexasCoopPower.com coal out of trees and sell it. bill from GVEC was $39.21 for many years. Uncle Wes made They do the same as described my all-electric, two-bedroom many records and cassettes in the article—cover the wood house. My bill from the City of (remember those?). As with RIDE ’EM, BOOGER RED with mud, start a fire and close Schertz for 700 gallons of several of the fiddlers in the To Charles Boisseau: You all holes to let the wood smolder. water was $44.32, and my lawn article, he never took lessons wrote a great article about CAROL HIGDON watering is paid for in my com- but learned by watching the Booger Red (May 2011). Too Taylor Electric Cooperative munity maintenance fee. other fiddlers as he grew up, bad it only appeared in the We want to hear from our readers. Thank you very much, GVEC. and then adding his own flair online section. Submit letters online under the Submit and DAVID A. KLING to make it his style. The list of LARRY O’NEILL Share tab at TexasCoopPower.com, e-mail us Guadalupe Valley Central Texas Electric Cooperative at [email protected], or mail to songs he played is much the Editor, Texas Co-op Power, 1122 Colorado St., Electric Cooperative same as today. I particularly 24th Floor, Austin, TX 78701. Please include Editor’s note: the name of your town and electric co-op. loved to hear “Osage Stomp” The article Letters may be edited for clarity and length KUDOS TO JASPER-NEWTON EC and “San Antonio Rose.” about legendary bronc rider and are printed as space allows. I want to express my thanks for the expedient service that I received on April 19. A large oak tree had fallen across the SAVING THE PURE LONGHORNS power lines and broke a pole at approximately noon, and by 3:30 p.m., a Jasper-Newton Regarding the May 2011, “Who Knew?” item about Electric Cooperative service the Texas longhorn: There is an interesting debate crew had restored power. going on about the true Texas longhorn. It is my One week later, a trans- understanding that the pure, historically correct former blew, and the service longhorns are the cattle that were rounded up in crew had my power back on in South Texas and Northeastern Mexico and were less than two hours. In a time at that time crossed with English cattle in the late that service is lacking in 1800s. There is an abundance of these crossbred almost every segment of our “longhorns” today, but there are only 3,000 or so Here’s a good look at true Texas longhorns. culture, our local electric co-op that have been identified as historically correct. stands well above the norm. The two nonprofit organizations trying to save the “old-timey pure longhorns” are GARY AND KAREN HINSON the Cattlemen’s Texas Longhorn Conservancy and the Cattlemen’s Texas Longhorn Jasper-Newton Electric Cooperative Registry, both based in Gonzales. The conservancy funded the research to genetically FIDDLING MEMORIES define the Texas longhorn. The registry uses visual inspection and DNA mapping as a Hi, y’all. The “Texas-style requirement for the registration of animals. They are interesting and dedicated groups. Fiddlin’ ” article in the April 2011 Tracy Salmon, Comanche Electric Cooperative edition brought back a lot of PHOTO COURTESY DEBBIE DAVIS, CATTLEMEN'S TEXAS LONGHORN CONSERVANCY TEXAS CO-OP POWER (USPS 540-560) is published monthly by Texas Electric Cooperatives (TEC). Periodical Postage Paid at Austin, TX and at additional offices. TEC is the statewide association representing 76 electric cooperatives. Texas Co-op Power’s website is TexasCoopPower.com. Call (512) 454-0311 or e-mail [email protected]. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE is $3.84 per year for individual members of subscribing cooperatives. If you are not a member of a subscribing cooperative, you can purchase an annual subscription at the nonmember rate of $7.50. Individual copies and back issues are available for $3 each.