Parades celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr. got their start in Houston, and that tradition continues this month. A leading magazine in the state, Texas Co-op Power, celebrates 75 years of informing, educating and entertaining members of electric cooperatives.
Houston Leads the Way on MLK Day
The Black Heritage Society in Houston deems its Martin Luther King Jr. parade the first of its kind in the country. Indeed, the first parade, in 1978, featured King’s father as grand marshal.
This year, the annual Original MLK Day Parade is January 21, a state and national holiday, and starts in front of Minute Maid Park.
After the parade, the celebration continues with the MLK Jr. Taste of Houston festival, also at Minute Maid Park.
Find more information by calling (713) 236-1700 or visiting blackheritagesociety.org.
Hope You Eat This Up
Texas Co-op Power turns 75 in 2019, and we’ll commemorate the past 75 years with a themed timeline every month.
Our goal is to highlight events and milestones in history that coincide with the publication of the magazine, which began in July 1944 as a four-page newspaper called Texas Cooperative Electric Power.
These timelines are by no means comprehensive—75 years of history can’t be captured in just a few hundred words. We trust readers will let us know of overlooked moments and people.
We kick off with food and drink; see the timeline here. Next month we’ll feature sports. In the coming months, watch for these themes: politics, music, electricity and energy, science and technology, the economy, rural life, travel, outdoors, society and fashion, and the arts.
Bart Browne
Made in the Shade
University of Minnesota researchers are experimenting with installing solar panels 8 feet off the ground to provide shade for livestock, according to Farm Journal. “We’ll monitor the behavior of the cows under the shade, their eating and lying behavior, and also their milk production compared to when they don’t have access to the shaded areas,” researcher Brad Heins said.
Don’t Be Left Out
January 25 is not National Opposite Day. Don’t have fun with that.
Soccer Superstar Heads Home
Clint Dempsey became the first American soccer player to score a hat trick in England’s top soccer league in 2012. After that, he became the highest-paid American player in the U.K. and scored more goals than any other American in any top-tier European league. He has appeared in 140 international matches for the U.S. national team and scored 57 international goals, tying the U.S. record. He’s been called the greatest American soccer player of all time.
He grew up going to church with his grandmother in Nacogdoches. And after a 15-year career, Dempsey announced his retirement in August.
What now? Locals expect to see the international superstar back in East Texas, where his family still lives. “It’s where you’re from, it’s your roots, and that’s why I like to get back to Nacogdoches in the offseason and hang out with my family,” Dempsey told The Seattle Times in 2013. “To me, it keeps me grounded and reminds me of how far I’ve come.”
