AUSTIN - The Texas Veterans Land Board recently announced a statewide campaign to bring Valentine’s Day love to the nearly 1,000 Veterans residing in state-ran nursing homes. The mission is to bring awareness from Texans that although the Veterans have had to isolate for nearly a year due to COVID-19, they are not forgotten by their nearby communities.
The Edinburg Economic Development Corporation and the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce have teamed up to host a Paycheck Protection Program webinar on Thursday, February 4th, at 10 a.m.
During the free webinar an overview of the Paycheck Protection Program and other services available to small businesses will be provided.
The events featured speakers will include: the U.S. Small Business Administration, UTRGV Small Business Development Center, and Workforce Solutions.
Learn about the application process, resources, and get any questions regarding the program answered.
To register for the webinar, visit www.edinburg.com.
This past week when I went to Weslaco, I did something different after I stopped at the Weslaco Museum (by the way, the museum is a must go to spot) – I checked for historical landmarks in the area. I had been told about a few places I should go by, but by searching for historical landmarks in the area, it opened my eyes to places I would not have seen otherwise. And then, by going to these places I was able to see more of Weslaco, it’s architecture, and culture.
The Hidalgo Watercolor Society Annual Exhibit will open next weekend, February 12, and run through March 6. The exhibit will be displayed at the Upper Valley Art League (UVAL) at 921 E. 12th St. in Mission.
The exhibit features art made by Winter Texans and local artists. A “Meet the Artists” event will be held on Saturday, February 13th, outside, with gallery viewing from 4 to 6 p.m.
Gallery hours are Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Masks and social distancing are required for all events.
For more information, call the gallery at (956) 583-2787.
When going into Weslaco, there is one prominent structure that kind of calls out and is noticed by all that travel down South Texas Blvd. or Business 83 – El Tinaco Tower. The tower stands at 100 feet tall on six concrete pillars. Upon its completion in 1941, the tower was proclaimed a marvel of modern construction. It received a Texas Historical Landmark designation in 1982. There was even a working Tower Theatre in one of the buildings at the base of the tower. But, the tower isn’t the only thing interesting about the City of Weslaco.
By Susan Thomas, Bit-O-Heaven Activity Director
Bit-O-Heaven RV and MH Resort residents in Donna like to help the local community when possible. This season the park held their Second Annual Reverse Advent Calendar event for charity. The concept is to buy the food item on the list for each day of the month of December and have a basket of food ready to deliver by Christmas to a needy family. It is really easy to do and most residents just buy all the recommended items at one time and fill two tote bags per family. You can usually purchase all the items at Dollar Tree for $25-$30.
If you drive along the expressway, now I-2, heading south from Pharr – which I coverd last week – you will find Pharr’s neighboring cities, that all share a school district with, San Juan and Alamo.
The most distinct thing about San Juan is the Our Lady of San Juan del Valle shrine. It was designated a national shrine in 1998 and the following year, Pope John Paul II designated it as a minor Basilica. The history of the shrine begins in 1920, when Reverend Alfonso Jalbert, OMI, built a small wooden chapel in San Juan as a mission church of St. Margaret Mary Church in Pharr.
Tammy Garrison-Maier has found a fun way to keep the residents at Oleander Acres active. As the activity director, Tammy has had to come up with new ways to entertain the residents and keep them on their toes. She started something last year before the Pandemic, and since it was such a hit, she is doing it again.
She is hiding beautifully painted rocks around the park. The fun is, if you find one, you get some chocolate. You have a choice of keeping the rock or hiding again for someone else to find.
Yep… another busy week has gone by. Despite the dreariness of a few wet days last week, it flew by fairly fast.
I had a great time last week visiting with the activity director at Oleander Acres. She stays busy at the park coming up with ideas to keep the residents occupied.
She has had to come up with new ways to do activities. One of them includes her arts and crafts time. She has also been painting up a storm. Not just her rocks that she will be hiding, but also signs representing where residents are from.
I hope to visit the park again when the weather is a bit nicer to see the park’s butterfly garden in full bloom.
Watch the Butterfly Garden at Oleander Acres and you will see what this little garden brings to the park.
If you have a butterfly garden at your park, I would love to know and see yours. Send me a picture. Let me know what kind of visitors you get in your park. Send me pictures and information to news@wintertexantimes.com. I would love to see what you are doing at your park and be able to share it with others.
In the meantime, enjoy the weather. Go for a walk. Smile at a neighbor. You can still spread some happy while being socially distant.
The Consulate of Mexico in Brownsville and the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art cordially invite you to the Digital Art Photography Exhibit titled, “Music Box” by the Mexican artist Mauricio Silerio at the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art Permanent Collection Gallery.
The collection consists of 38 images of surreal spaces and situations that include concepts of a temporary reality, as well as the distortion of our supernatural existence in which the unreal and the extraordinary begins to adhere to the photographs.
The exhibit will be on display through March 20. Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Brownsville Museum of Fine Art located at 660 E. Ringgold St. Brownsville, TX 78520
For more information, please contact Diana Gonzalez at culturalesbro@sre.gob.mx and/or 956-542-4090 ext. 6617.
Making a movie can be fun and if you are a beginner most experts will tell you, first start with a short film to practice the craft and work your way up to a feature. One of the most important aspects of filmmaking is having a decent script to begin with. Writing good dialogue for characters and stories will help you. Pharr Community Theater is offering teens and adults online screenwriting classes for beginners, with RGV independent filmmaker and producer Robert Longoria.
Another essential for the movies are actors. Famous movie actor, producer and director, Clint Eastwood, says, “you’ll have less problems on a movie set when you cast right.” In other words he prefers to work with actors who either have training and knowledge about performing or in some cases raw talent. Pharr Community Theater is also offering acting classes for kids and teens.
The City of McAllen has once again partnered with the Juneteenth community leaders, this time, to participate in a month-long list of activities in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. They started celebrations on Monday, January 18, and are continuing through Black History Month.
“Martin Luther King, Jr. was truly an inspirational man,” said McAllen Mayor Jim Darling. “In light of recent events, the celebration of MLK’s non-violent methods of protest are more important than ever, as is this quote by him: ‘We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.’”
This year’s observation will feature events throughout the Rio Grande Valley, celebrating the theme “Building a Stronger CommUNITY Through Service.”
AUSTIN – The Texas Center for the Book is continuing its the #TXBookChat series with a third lineup of virtual literary events for spring 2021. This online program from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission launched in 2020. The #TXBookChat series offers brief discussions and programs with authors, librarians, and literary professionals. These informal “coffee chats” last about 30 minutes and offer a quick look into different aspects of the state’s literary world. The #TXBookChat series seeks to bring together diverse voices and perspectives.
The International Museum of Art & Science (IMAS) presents Max Vityk’s Warriors of Light. The exhibit is on display in the Main Gallery through March 28.
Warriors of Light is part of the figurative series of the artist Max Vityk. In this series Vityk investigates the narrative elements and figures of ancient rock engravings and mythological and folk symbols.
“The emotional vulnerability of the Warriors of Light fuels their plea for change; it is something akin to going into battle naked… a certain nakedness protected only by an unfaltering conviction of ideals. Vityk’s work feels less like a personal enterprise and more like an ode, or an act of adulation to the spirit of change — a spirit plagued by credulous hope for something better… something happier,” stated Nahla Samaha, Cairo, about the exhibit.
The Humane Society of Harlingen dog kennels are at capacity. HSH is asking the community to step up as adoptive and foster parents for canine friends.
For a limited time, all adoption fees for dogs over six months old are donation based, meaning the adopter can choose how much to leave as a donation. All adopted pets will go home up to date on vaccinations, dewormed, on preventatives for fleas/ticks/heartworms, microchipped and either already spayed/neutered, or with an appointment to spay/neuter at no cost to the adoptive family.
Puppies under six months old have a $100 adoption fee, except during Puppy Power Hour (3 p.m. to 4 p.m. every day) when their adoption fees become donation based as well. Anybody interested in adopting a dog should head to the shelter as soon as possible. All adoptions are done on a first come, first serve basis, curbside.
Fostering a pet is always free and HSH will provide foster parents with everything they will need to care for the pet, including food, toys, and other care items. Foster families can customize the length of foster to meet their availability, with foster periods lasting a few hours to a few months.
To see an updated list of available dogs, visit hshtx.org/dogs. This list is updated live with all the animals in our care. Clicking on photos of the pet will take the viewer to a pet profile, which contains more photos and information about the pets age, breed, sex, size/weight, and a short bio. For more information, contact the Humane Society of Harlingen at (956) 425-7297 or by email at info@hshtx.org.
