Well, it was 100 degrees yesterday, so Bob,
Dennis and Nancy, Kathy, Jerry and Wendy
went to the island. I opted to stay home, catch up
on balancing the books, and reading a book!
Wendy took the picture...the guys and Kathy
enjoyed the raw oysters!
of "Mary Poppins" and had three roles:
Katie Nanny, a chimney sweep, and
a customer. She also did a cartwheel
and a flip during the play! Congrats, Anni!
Wendy, Nancy, and I played Card Bingo
on Sunday. since Brenda wasn't with us,
we dealt her a hand anyway! She didn't win,
but we all ended up with some maple syrup,
a gift from Rae, the caller, who is from Vermont.
walking when we get to see him in May!
He is still a "most happy fella".
Claire--the tall one in the box; Ana driving our pickup!
Claire, Cecelia, and Jesus in the pickup
in the restaurant on Sunday
We went to Sarita, Texas on the 15th
and learned about the Kenedy family
that became huge landowners and
were very successful.
This is Mifflin Kenedy who was a steamship
captain. He brought the King family
to the Rio Grande Valley.
who was described as a "tomboy".
She married Arthur East, but they
both contracted undulent fever
and never had children. A man once
claimed to be her grandson, but
the courts threw out the case since
there was no way to prove it.
This looks like Arthur East...he is dressed
in typical "vaquero" garb. Did you know that
the word "buckaroo" comes from a
mispronunciation of vaquero! (the "V"
in Spanish is often pronounced as a "B".
Clothing on the bronze models is their original clothes.
Sarita (on Mary's left) was very devoted to the Catholic Church
and received Papal recognition and honors. She and her
sister-in-law established a hospital and convent
in the Corpus Christi area. After some challenges
to the family fortune after their deaths, the courts
ruled that 80% of the money from the properties
would go to Catholic Charities of Texas.
On the 16th, we went to San Benito
to visit the only Conjunto museum in the world.
Conjunto literally means joined together; the music
features two or more artists creating typical
Hispanic music.
show the original building which has three
floors and and an open-air dance floor
on the roof. the only access to the upper
floors is an outside staircase.
who collected thousands of memorabilia
of conjunto music and stored it in his
garage and house waiting to find a
permanent home for his collection.
After he died in 2019, his family was given permission
to use a building owned by the city. Avila had at
least 100 framed photos of conjunto musicians, and
thousands of other collectibles in the museum.
His daughter was out tour guide, and she said
that the old RCA phonograph still works. We also
saw the equipment for pressing vinyl records
that Avila had also saved.
and he was the first one to actually
make vinyl records there
creating the IDEAL label.
and the special display was Living Along the Border
featuring women artists.
I really liked this one...artist and description below...
This was computer-generated.
San Benito is also the home of Freddie Fender,
but the museum next door to the art exhibit
was undergoing renovation.
on St. Patrick's Day. Dennis and Bob
are loading up their food!
On the 18th we went to hear the story of Rio Rico,
and how the course of the Rio Grande was changed.
Joe Vidales has met some of the Rio Rico citizens,
and was instrumental in telling their history.
The former area then became part of Mexico
instead of within the US boundary which was the river.
taking care of his mother, who later died. The US government
wanted to deport him, but he applied for immigration. He
claimed that he was born when Rio Rico was in the US.
His lawyer had heard and read about Rio Rico and they
appealed his claim, and Cantu was a US citizen!! Hundreds
of others had to prove their birthright---and people came
from all over the world to "try" to claim, but only
250 people were granted their rightful citizenship.
and RJ had a hat trick!!! He's the one on the far right!
Julia was a gnome for her Spring Concert.
On the 20th, Grace won third place
On the 22nd, Wendy and I took Kathy and Nancy
John and Ruth hosted an end-of-year party
Pam, Mary, Ron & Shirley, Lodi, Wendy
Went to Weslaco for the Onion Fest on the 25th.
The tour bus to the Rocket Ranch and Space X
Ana and Katie is Fargo
and at the Fargo theater
Sara and Marissa in DC
Sara and kids enjoying the cherry blossoms
RJ, Julia, and Ian in DC
The Hispanic Genealogical Society had a
meeting on the 19th and featured speakers
about conjunto music and performers, too!
Conjunto, as I see it, is Hispanic polka music,
played by two (or more) musicians
with guitars and accordions.
in the North Dakota State Spelling Bee!
We caught the news story on our ROKU tv.
to lunch for their birthdays...
on the 23rd for the pickleball gang. They were the park
managers when we moved to Texas for the winter.
Meeting of the minds? Terry, Bob, Dale seated
Lyle, Jerry, and Dave standing...looks like
the blue shirt club
Nancy, Leanne, Diane, Dennis, all seated
and John standing
The gang isn't all here. A couple of people have
already headed north, and Ruth is taking the photo.
Dave & Jean, Wendy, Jeff, Terry, Bob, and Mary in back;
Middle: Dennis, Richard, Pam & Dale, Shirley & Ron,
Kathy & Lyle; front kneeling: Leanne, Diane, John;
and sitting Gabe and Deb
First we watched a video at the museum
about the 1015 Onion that explained how
this variety was developed at the USDA
Ag Experiment Station in Weslaco, Texas.
It was named the 1015 because the
optimum date for planting was on October 15th.
Afterward was a short documentary by BBC
about Rio Rico.
Texas Avenue was blocked off and there were
a lot of vendors and an entire "culinary" section.
This doggie is a mascot for a Canes BBQ place.
The ultimate treat at the festival is the onion blossom.
Step one: Cutting the onion! This is so cool!
Step 2: the onion is coated with a light batter
Step 3: and then it is deep-fried!
This "blossom" with "the works" fed both Bob and me!
On the 26th, we saw this funny Neil
Simon play in the Water Tower theater.
picked 50 of us up at our park at 6:30 a.m.
Where's Waldo?
Not really a ranch, it is now a
bed and breakfast place...sort of...
that gives tours of Space X and sells
prime seats to view the launches.
Who knew that one day the Civil War trail
would be filled with rockets.
L
LLeft to right: the booster for the rockets;
next, a rocket they think will be sent up but
not programmed to return; middle with the
tummy patch is #15 which has already made
its up and down flight. Next with the wide dark
patch--the heat shield--is #24 which is supposed
to be going up next. The far right shows the
heat shield which is on only one side
because the rocket descends parallel
to the earth and turns vertically just
before landing.
The two arms sticking out lift the rocket onto
the booster. If you go on YouTube, search,
and type in Lab Padre, you can see it work.
The bus took us to the Black Bear Diner in Brownsville
for lunch. Great food and a fun, interesting day!
