Join Login Search
For Electric Cooperative Members
For Electric Cooperative Members
August 2014 Letters

TCP Talk

Letters and comments from our readers

Syd Brak

A Lifetime of Fishing Fun

Really enjoyed “Finders, Keepers” [June 2014] on Texas high school fishing. My youngest son has been on the Marble Falls High School team for three years, and the program is a wonderful resource to teach our kids good wildlife management as well as water safety practices to prepare them for a lifetime of fishing fun.

It has amazed me how the student fishing population has exploded over the years and how far many of the teams will travel to participate. I urge parents whose schools do not have teams to ask their school board to open the program. And kudos to the hundreds of sponsors and volunteers for the support these kids must have to participate.

My son graduates this year, so he will move onto adult fun fishing, but we will continue to support our school program for years to come.

Gary Delz | Marble Falls
Pedernales EC

Safety on the Water

As a parent and grandparent, I am concerned that it appears these young anglers are not wearing life jackets [“Finders, Keepers,” June 2014].

There was a recent accident at Braunig Lake near San Antonio in which a boat went into an out-of-control spin, and both passengers were thrown out. Neither reportedly was wearing a life jacket. The man’s body was not found until days later.

If you seek to teach good boating skills that will last a lifetime, give them life jackets and teach them why it is in their best interest to use them. Modern jackets inflate when hitting the water and are not cumbersome.

Please help these young people learn great boating skills.

Laura Dylla | Adkins
Guadalupe Valley EC

Soul Mate Dogs?

We were quite surprised to see a picture of our white boxer Minko in the Focus on Texas feature [“In the Doghouse,” June 2014]. After reading the caption, we realized someone else has a court jester for a dog, too. Minko is always making us laugh.

Bill and Julia Bradley | Carthage
Rusk County EC

Best Telephone Man Ever

Enjoyed “Wired for Sound” [May 2014]. It fits my dad perfectly. He was a “wire chief” for the old Southwestern States Telephone Company in Wellington from 1945 to 1951.

Back then, a telephone man’s goal was to have not more than six trouble reports per 100 lines. Well, Dad met his goal but had a trouble spot that needed fixin’. It was in Quail, 11 miles northwest. Quail had a 16-party line on a grounded barbed-wire fence that worked from Wellington.

Dad got permission to order an open boxcar of telephone poles. So in his spare time, he and another man hand-dug and placed 32 poles per mile for 11 miles. This calculates to 352 poles, including crossarms, brackets, insulators and stringing four wires for 11 miles. This eliminated the “fence” line and decreased the number of problems reported.

That was my dad, Tony Craig, the best telephone man ever.

Don Craig | Georgetown
Central Texas EC

Mustang Namesake

I heard that the Mustang car was named after the P-51 Mustang airplane [“Mustang Mania,” April 2014].

Richard Prevallet | Donna
Magic Valley EC

‘Leave No Footprint’

This is for those potential pig hunters, low-income or not—with complaints about the farmers and ranchers—who felt they should have free reign to hunt pigs for the benefit of the landowner [“Here a Pig, There a Pig,” April 2014]. I am a landowner, and I might like folks to hunt for pigs on my land.

However, I know fellow owners who pay professional hunters to do the job. Why? Damaged and cut fences, crop damage, livestock damage, trash and other damage.

If all hunters followed the rule of good campers, “leave no footprint,” landowners would have a different attitude and might not charge you to hunt if they do not have to pay workers to clean up afterward. I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley and saw a lot of crop damage by irresponsible hunters.

Another bonus to the landowner if you are a good hunter is you can help identify and catch poachers. Build a relationship of trust and honest communication and then enjoy the hunt.

Bill Kelberlau | Georgetown
Pedernales EC

Crates as Bookcases

I enjoyed the article about the old crates becoming canvases [“When Crates Become Canvases,” April 2014]. I have a “Pride of Corona Lemons” that was my bookcase in the 1950s during my college days. It still serves the same purpose.

Pearl Acker | Tulia
Swisher EC

Island Reading

I asked my wife what books she would like to read on a deserted island [“Bound & Determined,” March 2014]. She replied, “A how-to-survive book.” After all, what good is a fine book when you’re dying from eating a poisonous plant? I would not read anything by Stephen King after his silly ending to “The Dark Tower” series.

Bill and Sharon Landis | Harlingen
Magic Valley EC