Tripp: The Man in the Red Suit
By Barb Zanetti
(Photos by Dennis Zanetti)
Alamo Rec-Veh Park
He has been a bride. A pirate. A clown. But this Winter Texan really shines in a red suit with 1,000’s of children on his lap.
It does not matter that sometimes he is in a foreign country. Nor does it matter that he is sitting in the scorching sun for hours in a heavy, authentic Santa suit.
When I think of Harlingen, I usually think about the Military Academy and the museum – but there is much more to Harlingen than that. Harlingen has a history that delves deeper than those few things that pop in our head when we think of the city.
Helen Wright found a Schwinn bike back in Michigan for $20 and bought it, figuring she may want to ride after she arrived at Bentsen Palm RV Park in Mission.
She did not realize at the time how much she would be using it.
Join the Center for Urban Ecology at Quinta Mazatlán for a journey into the world of rare birds on Saturday morning, December 12. The program will deepen your understanding of who our rare birds are, what makes them rare, and puts them in the context of a changing bird community in the Rio Grande Valley. Visitors will get to share in the excitement and mystery of rare birds of the past, speculation on which ones may show up next, and will leave knowing more about the birds that secret away in the Rio Grande Valley’s forests, marshes, and even yards.
The Edinburg World Birding Center is delighted to have local raptor expert, Bill Clark, present virtually a Basic Raptor ID course. Build up your hawk watching skills in this program as you learn helpful tips to identify raptors. He will provide an ID overview of vultures, osprey, harrier, and falcons. He will then go into detail about buteos, accipiters, and others.
Bill Clark is a photographer, author, researcher, and lecturer and has over 50 years of experience working with birds of prey, including five years as Director of NWF's Raptor Information Center.
This is a six-hour course consisting of three two-hour sessions. The first session will begin on Friday, December 11 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The last two sessions are on Saturday, December 12 at 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Registration deadline is two days prior to the program. This program will be delivered via zoom. Register at the EWBC website: www.EdinburgWBC.org or call them at (956) 381-9922. Payment can be taken by phone or in-person.
You can visit holiday themed sandcastles at South Padre Island. The sandcastles are an ongoing thing and this year the sculptors have worked hard to get things done. The Christmas village is currently open for visitors.
The Christmas Extravaganza is now on display at Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum featuring the creative ways people decorate Christmas trees. The exhibit runs through December 31.
The trails of Quinta Mazatlán in McAllen will be lined with thousands of candle luminarias to celebrate the winter holidays around the world. Presented by SpawGlass, ILLUMINA Fest 2020 takes place on December 16, 17, 18, and 19 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tickets go fast and can only be purchased online at www.ticketleap.com, search for Quinta Mazatlán.
The Rio Grande Valley supports two chapters of Texas Master Naturalist and both chapters are taking applications for the new class training that will begin January 7. The deadline to register is December 18.
Read more: Texas Master Naturalist Training registration open
The Edinburg Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the City of Edinburg and Edinburg EDC presents the inaugural Holiday in the Park. This holiday season, Edinburg Municipal Park will be transformed into a drive-thru wonderland. Thousands of twinkling lights will be on display from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. starting December 12 through January 2, 2021.
The festive event will be free to the public and will be open for a total of 22 nights to enjoy approximately one mile of themed entertainment. The Holiday in the Park event will be held in place of the annual Night of Lights Parade
