Although it was still pretty cool on Thursday, January 16, it turned out to be a really nice afternoon and an even nicer day on Friday, January 17. Winter Texans and others took advantage of that nice weather and made it out to the Ron Hoover Open House. They also took advantage of the great deals Ron Hoover was having throughout the event.
The porch and parking lot were full Saturday at Clayton Homes anniversary event. Visitors were walking around doing tours of the many homes that were in stock. James and Linda Slife from Tropic Winds (Loves Park, IL) visited the Clayton Homes Anniversary this past Saturday. The couple was making their rounds Saturday morning and dropped by after going to the flea market nearby. James said they were looking at homes to see what they were missing and checking to see if it was time to upgrade yet. They also enjoyed free drinks and a corn dog at the event.
Bob Courtney, AKA Pastor Pudge, will be hosting the Gospel Music Extravaganza next week where he and others will be performing great gospel music to lift our spirits. The event begins at 3 p.m., Tuesday, January 28, at Winter Ranch Resort, 600 State Hwy. 495, in Alamo.
Others that will be performing are Redneck Revival, Alta Courtney, Even You Ministries, and starring this year is legendary piano man Scott Roberts.
Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum (HAHM) has two new exhibits that are currently open. One of them is a quilt exhibition and the other is an exhibition on the Texas Cowboy.
HAHM invites visitors to stop by this year’s Quilt Show 2025 featuring Llano Grande Quilting Bee. These beautiful quilts are on exhibit through March 15. The quilt were made by residents at Llano Grande RV Resort. A reception will be held on February 9 from 1 to 4 p.m.
WindSync, an internationally renowned Wind Quintet, is performing at an upcoming event at UTRGV. The event will be held on Sunday, January 26 at 3 p.m. It will be held at the UTRGV Performing Arts Complex, 1201 W. University Dr., in Edinburg.
Join us for an exploration of some of the common and the extraordinary spiders that inhabit the Rio Grande Valley, Thursday, January 30, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Quinta Mazatlán. Discover fascinating facts, behaviors, adaptations, and learn where to find these misunderstood eight-legged wonders with Joseph Connors.
Read more: Learn about spiders of the RGV with Joseph Connors
The Museum of South Texas History (MOSTH) will host the Sunday Speaker Series, “Community Resilience in Restoration: American Forests in the RGV,” featuring Mylen Arias at 2 p.m. January 26.
This presentation will focus on the community resilience programming of American Forests in the Rio Grande Valley. American Forests is a nonprofit organization that aims to increase environmental literacy on native plant restoration, community engagement venues and the challenges and solutions encountered and envisioned to increase impact in the region.
Native Plant Project's guest speaker for the January 28 meeting in Weslaco will be Christina Mild, active Board Member of the Native Plant Project and long-time Editor of the "Sabal," the monthly newsletter of the Native Plant Project. Mild's presentation is entitled, "Dusty Old Botanical Tomes."
She has been studying native plants of the Lower Rio Grande Valley for the past 30 years both on the college level, with Dr. Alfred Richardson at the university in Brownsville and with Dr. Robert Lonard in Edinburg, as well as through extensive research in the field. Under Dr. Richardson's direction, she became familiar with a number of almost forgotten publications on native plants, many of which were from his private collection. Then, while taking Dr. Lonard's Botany course, she found an even wider selection of botanical books in the library at the university in Edinburg. These large books (tomes) provided invaluable and sometimes profound information about the native plants that could not be found by any other means.
The 14th Annual Valley Star Awards will be held at Mission Bell Resort on Wednesday, February 12. The show will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. with an intermission. Mission Bell will have lunch available for attendees for a small price before the show at 12 p.m. or just get there early to have a seat up front. They will also provide drinks and snacks during intermission for a small fee.
This year’s lineup includes some Winter Texan favorites, a newer group, some nominees, and a previous Valley Star Award winner. This year’s performers are Kiley & Co., Pat Davison & Tess, The Lady & the Outlaw, The Warman Trio, Sister Luv, and Steven May and the Southern Knights. It’s sure to be a show that gives you a little bit of everything from magic to oldies, to country and rock ‘n roll.
On Friday, January 3, Trophy Gardens RV Resort in Alamo celebrated its 40th Anniversary in the RGV.
Trophy Gardens was never supposed to be an RV Resort. Initially, it was to be a housing development. When that fell through, Charles and Darrel Yoder of the Cadillac dealership in McAllen and John Phillips of the Alamo Bank decided to develop the property as an RV Park.
There was nothing on the property. At that time, route 495 was a two-lane road. Across the street was a grapefruit grove, and farmland was all around.
In the hot summer of 1984, plumbing and electricity were installed, and a few buildings were built, mainly to support construction. On November 1, the property was complete enough to begin registering guests. A ribbon cutting ceremony took place on January 4, 1985, officially opening Trophy Gardens RV Resort.
