The Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley and Boggus Ford Lincoln McAllen have partnered together to help make the holidays brighter for many RGV families, this holiday season.
To kick off the partnership, Boggus Ford Lincoln McAllen has made a generous donation of $5,000 to sponsor the Thanksgiving ‘Drive-Thru Emergency Pantry’ at the Food Bank RGV located at 724 N. Cage Blvd. in Pharr. This distribution will be on Wednesday, November 17, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. or until capacity is reached. This distribution will serve 1,000 families.
Read more: RGV Food Bank seeking holiday food donations
South Padre Island is planning several events in the next few weeks to open up the holiday season. The first event is the third Annual Holiday Light Show.
The Holiday Light Show is synchronized with festive music that is played in 15-minute intervals. This event will run from November 22, 2021, through January 16, 2022, from 6 to 9 p.m. daily. It will be located at the SPI Convention Center.
Read more: SPI hosts holiday events
By Herb Moering
“So glad to see those of you who want to keep the Day of the Dead alive,” said Alex Oyoque, director of City of Alamo Museum during a reception November 1 involving a presentation on the meaning of Dias de Los Muertos by the PSJA Memorial Early College High School’s Spanish Club.
This first ever Day of the Dead altar honored the museum’s late founding member Fire Chief Rolando Espinoza. In addition to Spanish Club members and a few PSJA teachers, about 35 other people attended, including the chief’s widow, Betty, his sisters, Pilar Garza and Armida Gomez, and a dozen other family members.
Angelika Garza, daughter of PSJA Spanish Department teacher Patricia Garza, explained the meaning of the two-day Day of the Dead occasion, mainly celebrated in Mexico and some parts of Central and South America. The holiday has spread in recent years into places like South Texas. It has nothing to do with Halloween traditions it was pointed out.
Read more: Day of the Dead altar opens at Alamo Museum
Join Mission Historical Museum (MHM) as Ms. Margarita Longoria presents this captivating lecture on Saturday, November 13 at 11 a.m. Admission is FREE to the public. Coffee and light refreshments will be served.
In this mixed-media collection of short stories, personal essays, poetry, and comics, this celebrated group of authors share the borders they have crossed, the struggles they have pushed through, and the two cultures they continue to navigate as Mexican Americans. Living Beyond Borders is at once an eye-opening, heart-wrenching, and hopeful love letter from the Mexican American community to today’s young readers. Twenty stand-alone short stories, essays, poems, and more from celebrated and award-winning authors make up this YA anthology that explores the Mexican American experience. With works by Francisco X. Stork, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, David Bowles, Rubén Degollado, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Diana López, Xavier Garza, Trinidad Gonzales, Alex Temblador, Aida Salazar, Guadalupe Ruiz-Flores, Sylvia Sánchez Garza, Dominic Carrillo, Angela Cervantes, Carolyn Dee Flores, René Saldaña Jr., Justine Narro, Daniel García Ordáz, and Anna Meriano.
Read more: MHM presents “Living Beyond Borders”
Join Palm Valley Animal Society’s on Saturday, November 20, for their First Annual “Give A Bark 5K Walk/Run” at Fireman’s Park at 201 N 1st St., in McAllen. The main event will kick off at 8 a.m. with a one-mile Doggie Dash starting at 9 a.m.
University Draft House will be the official race day headquarters. University Draft House will also provide breakfast for participants and host a “Give a Meow Brunch” from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. to the public, where a portion of those proceeds will benefit PVAS. Joining the event will be local ax-throwing establishment Kickin Axes, where they will bring their mobile unit for anyone wanting to take part between 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Read more: Join PVAS for their First Annual Give A Bark 5K
The Deep South Texas Master Gardeners welcomes our Winter Texans back and would like to help you start your winter vegetable garden. Unlike in the north where gardening is done during the summer months, we here in Texas do our gardening in the fall and winter. Many of those wonderful vegetables that you enjoy back home can be grown here in Texas during the winter months.
Read more: Time to start those vegetable gardens
During this year’s season of hope and giving, Wreaths Across America Radio (WAAR) invites our troops from across the country and overseas, as well as their loved ones at home, to send a holiday greeting to one another in the form of an internet radio greeting. They call this the “Remembrance Ring” program.
The “Remembrance Ring” provides American military families the opportunity to extend holiday greetings and thanks to service members and veterans through Wreaths Across America Radio. Wreaths Across America Radio is a stream you can listen to anywhere, 24/7 at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/radio, and via the iHeart Radio app, or download it at the App Store or on Google. (hashtag #WreathsRadio.) Last year the program connected many families from all over the globe. Be sure to email your friends and loved ones and let them know about this program.
Read more: WAAR program provides a way for families to connect
By U.S. Sen. John Cornyn
Chili is a staple of Texas cuisine. Many of us know it as a warm bowl of joy on a crisp fall evening and a great way to gather family and friends around the dinner table. In fact, on May 11, 1977, chili was adopted as the state dish of Texas by the Legislature. Will Rogers may have said it best when he described Texas chili as “the bowl of blessedness.”
This timeless Texas classic is known for many things, including annual competitions sure to cook up delicious entries. From Flatonia to Galveston to Pflugerville, the Lone Star State is known for hosting some of the best annual chili cook-offs.
Read more: Welcoming the Chili Weather
I still can’t believe it is already November. This past month has gone by way too quickly and before we know it, Christmas is going to be here. We don’t want to get through the month of November too fast though. The month is a great time for thanksgiving.
We tend to really think about the things we are thankful for during the month of November. This season I feel like I have a lot more to be thankful for than usual. I have been down and out for a bit with a broken knee and have had help from so many of my dear friends, church family, and of course my own family. I can’t wait until I am fully functional again so I can pay it back to those that have gone out of their way to lend a helping hand, even if it was a text to see how I was doing, or a kind note left at my door.
Read more: November 10, 2021 - Rinas Ramblings
With the resurgence of the pandemic these last six months, the organization is digging in for another challenging season of need. As thousands of people continue to struggle with the impacts of pandemic poverty, The Salvation Army of McAllen is calling on everyone to help individuals and families overcome the threat of eviction amid the holiday season.
Social services organizations like The Salvation Army have worked tirelessly to provide help and hope since the pandemic started, but needs are increasing again this holiday season because of the threat of evictions and a resurging pandemic. The Salvation Army staff and volunteers are steadfast on the frontlines of need to ensure hope marches on. The organization anticipates a greater need from individuals and families struggling to stay in their homes this holiday season.
Read more: Salvation Army ensures ‘Hope Marches On’
The Autumn/Winter exhibits at the Texas Quilt Museum once again showcase the variety of the art form with three very important diverse offerings. The exhibits will be on display through December 19.
Christmas is coming. Not something that most people want to hear this soon, except perhaps those who are thinking about entering the International Museum of Art and Science Christmas Tree Forest. The IMAS Guild, which organizes this popular locally sourced annual exhibit, has chosen “Christmas in the Rio Grande Valley” for this year’s theme.
The Museum of South Texas History welcomes the community to the launch of a temporary Veterans Day exhibit that honors the historic contributions of South Texas veterans. 
By William Renner, reference librarian
Quinta Mazatlán World Birding Center is honored to host, Mycological Solutions LLC (One Up Mushroom Products), on Thursday November 4th from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. for a presentation on “Fungi: History, Usage, and Health Benefits” on the Thursday Night Live series at Quinta Mazatlán.
