The Winter Texan Times is sponsoring a contest for Winter Texans to choose their favorite golf course in the Rio Grande Valley. If you haven’t entered our contest by casting a ballot for your favorite golf course, you still have time to enter. And you may just win $150 cash.
Calling all golfers! The Winter Texan Times is again sponsoring a contest for Winter Texans to choose their favorite golf course in the Rio Grande Valley. Winter Texan golfers are invited to vote for the “Winter Texans’ Favorite Golf Courses” to help determine the winners of this year’s contest. Those who cast their votes will be entered in a drawing for $150 cash! Just fill out the ballot on page 15 of the January 7 edition of the paper and send it in, or fill out the ballot online at www.wttrgv.com. Just click on the Winter Texans’ Favorite Golf Course contest box on our home page and that will take you to the ballot form online.
You can also request a ballot by email. Email us at news@wttrgv.com, request the golf course ballot and we will send you the ballot form to fill out. Limit one entry per person. See the ballot for complete contest rules. For those who prefer to mail in their ballot, our mailing address is 1217 N. Conway, Mission, TX 78572. All ballots must be received by the entry deadline, which is January 21.
After a three-year absence from the Rio Grande Valley entertainment scene, the Ball Ranch Family will be performing at the upcoming Entertainer’s Showcase and are available for the month of January. Call 325-698-2186 for booking information.
The Ball Ranch Family is best known for their old western music like that sung by the Sons of the Pioneers. Old Favorites like “Tumblin’ Tumbleweed,” “Spanish Eyes,” and “Take Me Back to Tulsa,” along with songs of Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline, Bob Wills and other old favorites will bring back memories of times passed long ago. In addition to cowboy western they also sing Gospel.
The Pausewangs – Wendy, Derek, Mikaela and Logan – will be returning for another season of entertaining in the Rio Grande Valley. Known collectively as Southern Anthem, the band got its start as interim talent in a local theater production but has grown into a full-time ministry. They perform both country and Gospel music.
Mom (Wendy) plays guitar and mandolin while Derek and Mikaela play guitar. All of the children are talented, but young Logan was wowing audiences in the Rio Grande Valley last year at age 11 with his ability to make his fiddle sing. Not only do the children play musical instruments, but they also have good singing voices that allow them to perform the harmony that makes their country and Gospel music so popular.
A Valley favorite, the Roger Kenaston Band from Nebraska, will be performing in the Valley for the 2016 season. The band plays country music, but also does bluegrass and Gospel shows upon request.
The band is a regular performer on RFD-TV’s Midwest Country Show, has performed at Silver Dollar City and the RFD-TV Theater in Branson, and has won numerous awards and recognitions for their talents over the years. They have worked with celebrity entertainers including Stonewall Jackson, Leona Williams, Charlie McCoy, Norma Jean, Jimmy C. Newman, Freddie Hart, Bobby Flores, Claude Gray and others. Sharon’s CD, “Sharon,” was recognized as 2012’s Best Classic Country CD of the Year by the Rural Roots Music Commission and Roger’s newly released CD, “Gospel Guitar,” is the 2015 Gospel Instrumental CD of the Year by the Rural Roots Music Commission.
Richard Lynch of Waynesville, Ohio is returning to Texas with his band for their third season of pure country music in the Rio Grande Valley. The band played in the showcase last January and proved to be popular with the activity directors, many of whom scurried out of the room and headed to the booking room after the band played.
Lynch is an American Country music artist who has released many songs that charted in the world of traditional country music. His passion and purity for country music is similar to that of Conway Twitty, Waylon Jennings, George Jones and Hank Williams.
Get ready to step back in time to the days when the Beatles were the top band around the world. When many Winter Texans were students still in school, the Beatles – John, Paul, Ringo and George – wowed the music world, changing the style of music listened to by youth all over the world.
The Grammy nominated Liverpool Legends were handpicked by Louise Harrison, sister of the late George Harrison. The group was selected for their voices, musical abilities and uncanny resemblance to the original Beatles they portrayed. They are the only Beatles tribute show with a family tie back to the original Beatles.
Those who attend the upcoming bullfight at the Santa Maria Bullring in La Gloria will be seeing bulls from the same lineage as the bulls that were used 1500 years ago in Spain where the art of bullfighting originated. According to Fred Renk, who owns the Santa Maria Bullring, the bulls are four years old and full grown weighing up to 400 kilos.
The upcoming bullfight will be held on Sunday, Jan. 10, featuring highly-acclaimed matador Cesar Casteñeda, currently the fourth ranked bullfighter in Mexico, and Leal Montalvo of Monterrey, who will do anything he can to unseat Casteñeda. The bulls they will be fighting are the biggest ever fought at the Santa Maria Bullring, said Renk. They are the grandsons of Clarenero, the brave bull who was pardoned in Spain over 15 years ago.
Read more: Spanish lineage bulls used at Santa Maria bullfights
The Mission Historical Museum’s annual Mission Quilt Show will be begin Jan. 9. This year there will be 23 quilts in three categories. The categories are machine-made bed quilts, handcrafted bed quilts and wall hangings.
Winter Texans are invited to go see the exhibit and vote for the Visitor’s Choice award.
Llano Grande is preparing for a great show on Jan. 8 when the CSN (Crosby Stills Nash & Young) tribute show takes place at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. CSNSongs is a group of professional musicians that have perfected the hits of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
Anyone who loved songs of the Woodstock Generation like “Long Time Ago,” “Suite Judy Blue Eyes,” “Teach Your Children,” “Marrakesh Express,” and “Just a Song Before I Go,” will not want to miss this performance. Although their music started in the 1960s Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young continued to be popular through the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Read more: Crosby Stills Nash & Young tribute show is Jan. 8
The annual Golden Age Olympics put on by the McAllen Parks and Recreation Department starts its annual competition on Jan. 11. Leslie Howland, Marketing & Events Coordinator for McAllen Parks &Recreation, said competition would run through March. While the lists are usually online by the beginning of the year, Howland explained things were a little behind because she had been out on maternity leave. Good Excuse! (She had a little boy.) So those who looked earlier and couldn’t find the schedule online now know why. But the list should be up by the time this paper comes out on Thursday, she says.
The Redhead Express, one of The Rio Grande Valley’s favorite performing group, will be returning for just three performances in the Valley this season. Many Winter Texans have watched the Walker girls, who are known as the Redhead Express, grow from young girls into lovely young women. Originally from Alaska, the family moved several years ago to Nashville to help further the girls’ careers in the music business.
The annual All Valley RV & Outdoor Show will be held Jan.14-18 at the Mercedes Livestock Showgrounds in Mercedes. The show will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
For the second year in a row, the show has been expanded from RVs and mobile homes to include all kinds of equipment and vehicles that might appeal to owners of RVs and motor homes.
December 2015
Dec. 11 -- Butterfly Walk, 1:30 p.m., Estero Llano Grande State Park, 3301 S. International Blvd. Weslaco.
Dec. 11 -- Dragonfly Walk, 3:30 p.m., Estero Llano Grande State Park, 3301 S. International Blvd. Weslaco.
Dec. 11 -- History of Quinta Mazatlan, 10 a.m., 600 Sunset Dr., McAllen.
Dec. 11 -- iNaturalist Walk, 4 p.m. Edinburg WBC, 714 Raul Longoria Rd.
January
Jan. 1 -- Butterfly Walk, 1:30 p.m., Estero Llano Grande State Park, 3301 S. International Blvd. Weslaco,
Jan. 1 -- Dragonfly Walk, 3:30 p.m., Estero Llano Grande State Park, 3301 S. International Blvd. Weslaco,
Bird Walk, 8:30 a.m., Estero Llano Grande State Park, 3301 S. International Blvd., Weslaco.
Jan. 2 -- Volunteer Park Cleanup Day, 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Quinta Mazatlan, 600 Sunset Drive, McAllen.
Jan. 1 -- iNaturalist Walk, 4 p.m. Edinburg WBC, 714 Raul Longoria Rd.
Jan. 3 -- Bird Walk, 8:30 a.m., Estero Llano Grande State Park, 3301 S. International Blvd., Weslaco.
Jan. 3 -- Nature Tram Tour, 2-4 p.m. Estero Llano Grande State Park, 3301 S. International Blvd., Weslaco.
Jan. 5 -- Bird Walk, 8:30 a.m. Edinburg WBC, 714 Raul Longoria Rd.
Bluegrass jams may not be as common in the RGV as they were ten years ago, but there are still a good number of Winter Texan jammers who enjoy the genre. In the mid-valley area, Kenwood RV Park in La Feria has a Bluegrass Jam on Tuesdays at 1:30 p.m. The stage band has banjos, guitars, dobros, bass violins and, of course, a fiddle. They also have an autoharp seated near the stage.
When the Winter Texan Times visited during Christmas week, the music was a mixture of Bluegrass and Christmas tunes.
One of the reasons Midwestern Winter Texans enjoy coming to the Rio Grande Valley for the winter is to be able to enjoy the tropical beaches. While their friends shovel snow at home, they are riding boats or jet-skis, fishing from the pier or the jetties, or hiking along the beach searching for shells (best early in the morning). Some simply sit on the beach enjoying waves breaking along the shoreline and the deep blue colors of the Gulf of Mexico.
Guess where one of the most popular private homes visited by tourists in the United States is located. Right here in the Rio Grande Valley in Los Fresnos!
According travel researchers, Little Graceland ranks as one of the most popular private homes to be visited in the United States.
Little Graceland is the home of Simon Vega, a long time fan of Elvis since he served with Elvis in the military. Both received their basic training at Fort Hood in 1959 and both were later stationed at Ray Barracks in Friedburg, Germany beginning in 1959 for a 20-month period.
Get ready for another season of chills and thrills as the Winter Texan bullfighting season opens in La Gloria with the first bloodless bullfight set for Jan 10.
Santa Maria Bullring, now in its 16th year, is pleased to announce the return of famed matador Cesar Castaneda to perform his brave and artistic feats in the bullring to delight the audiences. He is the fourth-ranked matador in Mexico and South America. He was the triumphant matador of the 2015 season at Santa Maria, winning symbolic ears in all his performances. He performed in the third largest bullring in the world, Tijuana's monumental Bullring by the Sea on three occasions in 2015, winning the golden sword award in the finale.
Dick Smith is a character.
At age 97 he looks decades younger than his age suggests. He still gets around quite well. In fact, one of the ways he gets around is in an airplane he built himself from a kit. It took him four years to build it, but it was completed in 1999 and is still flying. While Dick does not go far these days, he still enjoys flying his plane. He often flies from the McAllen Airport to the Edinburg Airport just to keep his flying skills intact.
Born April 2, 1918 in Coraopolis, a suburb of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, it seems he always knew what he wanted to do. In a civics contest when he was 13, he wrote he wanted to build airplanes. After turning 17 in April and graduating high school in May, he left home to pursue his dream of building airplanes. He went to the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he trained as an airplane mechanic for one year.
All proceeds will benefit Trooper Moises Sanchez; Eight bands lined up
Mission, TX- The City of Mission has teamed up with the South Texas Sheepdogs and several other local sponsors to host a music festival benefiting Texas DPS Trooper Moises Sanchez who was shot in the line of duty.
Read More +
The Mission Lions Club is planning their next Market Days event for Saturday, April 13.
Mission Lions Market Days is held on the second Saturday of the month, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the newly renovated Leo Pena Placita Park in downtown Mission. The park… Read More +
The Rio Grande Valley Red Hat Queen’s Council enjoyed its final outing of the year visiting the Iwo Jima Memorial in Harlingen. The ladies met at 10 a.m. to tour the museum and see the artifacts of the battle on display including weapons used in the battle, Japanese flags brought home by… Read More +
By Carol Austing
Activities Director
The Grove Park, San Juan
For a number of years, a sweet lady was in residence here in our park, The Grove Park in San Juan. She had… Read More +
The City of Pharr is set to host the annual Pharr HubPhestival this Saturday, March 30, beginning at 2 p.m. The festival will be held on the grounds of Pharr city hall, located in downtown Pharr at 118 S. Cage. Admission is free before 5 p.m., and only $5 per person after 5 p.m.… Read More +
The Valley Symphony Orchestra presents its season finale concert, “The 3 Bs: Beatles, Brahms, and Beethoven” on Friday, April 5. Under the direction of Maestro Peter Dabrowski, the orchestra and chorale will perform Johannes Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture,” Henry Mancini’s “Portrait of the Beatles,” and the fourth movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony… Read More +
It’s hard to believe it’s that time of year already. We have had so much fun covering many of the activities and events for Winter Texans. Whether it’s Bean Bag Baseball at Country Sunshine, Donut Day at Bentsen Grove or the Rock ‘n Roll Jam at Green Gate Grove – and so many other activities held in the resorts… Read More +
Hundreds of Winter Texans joined the fun during the annual Canada Day celebration at the Riverside Club in Mission.
The celebration drew Canadians from seven provinces – and a few friends from the United States – on Tuesday, March 5.
The big… Read More +
