That First Light
Cooperative electricity, which today serves more than 3 million Texans, got its start 90 years ago this month at a farmhouse outside Bartlett.
After paying a $5 deposit for an electric meter, Charles Saage yanked a string and turned on a light bulb March 7, 1936. That made Bartlett Electric Cooperative in Central Texas the first to bring Rural Electrification Administration-funded power to rural America.
Today, 77 electric co-ops serve Texans, and nationwide, nearly 900 serve 42 million Americans.
In addition to being the senior tow operator for family-owned Lee’s Wrecker Service, Tyler Schlickeisen has served with the Florence Volunteer Fire Department for 12 years.
Courtesy Julie Horelica
Pulling His Leg?
Rare is the day without a hitch for Tyler Schlickeisen.
And rare is the day he’ll catch you having a good day. Schlickeisen drives a tow truck for Lee’s Wrecker Service out of the Central Texas town of Florence. “Nobody likes to see a tow truck driver,” he said.
But in between naps, Schlickeisen, 29, shows up at all hours for breakdowns, wrecks and other roadside emergencies. For his diligence, he was one of 32 wrecker operators inducted into the Order of Towman in November 2025 at a national ceremony in Baltimore.
The honor surprised Schlickeisen, a Pedernales Electric Cooperative member, and at first he thought it was scam. Then he was humbled to realize “my work’s being valued.”
John Kachik
Strokes of Genius
Painting cows with zebra-like stripes reduces biting fly attacks by about 50%—regardless of what it might do to the cattle’s self-esteem.
Japanese scientists proved this in 2019, and for their discovery, they won a 2025 Ig Nobel Prize, which honors “research that makes people laugh … then think.”
Go ahead. Joke. Zebra cows get the last laugh.
A Bat’s Buffet
At least a dozen bat-viewing sites in Texas allow for watching the mammals emerge for a night of dining on insects. But some bats eat so much more than bugs. Bat Conservation International, based in Austin, notes their diets can include birds, fish, frogs, leaves, nectar, scorpions, sea lion blood and even other bats.
Courting Marine Life
The 1954 Queen Isabella Causeway, which connected Port Isabel to South Padre Island, is being demolished, and the resulting waste will create an artificial reef 10 miles offshore of the Brownsville Ship Channel entrance jetties at SPI.
The original roadway was replaced in 1974, and a new causeway will go up soon to replace that one.
125 Years Ago
On March 7, 1901, the Texas Legislature adopted the bluebonnet as the state flower.
Barbara “Tad” Lucas, the youngest of 24 children, earned the nickname Tadpole, later shortened to Tad, for her speedy crawling as a baby.
Courtesy National Cowboy Museum Collection
Women’s History Month: Rodeo’s First Lady
Tad Lucas made a name for herself performing acrobatics and death-defying tricks on the back of a horse. After making her pro rodeo debut at age 14 in 1917, she went on to win just about every major rodeo prize available to women at the time.
The stories of Lucas and other women who left their mark in the arena are told at Fort Worth’s National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. The museum is currently undergoing a $19 million 16,000-square-foot expansion slated to open November 4.
