Comanche County honors veterans with its annual Veterans Day luncheon. Every June, selected members of Texas’ contingent on the Government-in-Action Youth Tour participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Tribute to Veterans
Comanche County sent much of its population to fight in World War II, Garry Steele says, and the community hasn’t forgotten. That’s why, on November 11, the Comanche County Museum holds its annual Veterans Day Luncheon & Tribute at the Comanche Community Center.
“We roll out the red carpet for them,” says Steele, president of the museum’s board of trustees and a Comanche Electric Cooperative member. “It’s a somber but very special day.” He says 250–300 veterans and their families typically attend the event, which is open to the public.
The co-op regularly supports the museum, which has 15 rooms of historical exhibits and is part of the Texas Forts Trail. “History is so important, and without the volunteers who work so diligently in these organizations to preserve our history, it would all be lost,” says Shirley Dukes, communications specialist at Comanche EC. Call (325) 356-5115, or visit comanchecountytxmuseum.com.
Every summer, when Texas sends as many as 150 students to Washington, D.C., as part of the Government-in-Action Youth Tour, four are chosen to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony held at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider.
Travis Hill | TEC
Wreath-Laying Honor
Since 1979, Texas co-ops have provided a special opportunity for teens to honor missing service members. Every summer, when Texas sends as many as 150 students to Washington, D.C., as part of the Government-in-Action Youth Tour, four are chosen to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony held at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider.
Hallie Richardson, a senior at Guthrie High School who represented South Plains Electric Cooperative on Youth Tour, participated in the ceremony in June.
“It was a big deal for me because it was more of a family history thing,” she says. Several of Richardson’s family members served in the armed forces, including her great-grandfather, Sgt. Elma LeFevre, who lost a leg during World War II.
Did You Know?
Veterans across Texas are remembered at Christmas through Wreaths Across America. Read about the program’s impact.
Election Herstory
Two Texas women made history in the November elections 100 years ago.
Women obtained the right to vote in Texas primaries earlier in 1918, and they strongly supported Annie Webb Blanton, a teacher and suffragist, in the Democratic primary in the race for superintendent of public instruction. She went on to win in November, becoming the first woman elected to statewide office in Texas.
Nellie Gray Robertson of Hood County was elected the first female county attorney in Texas, defeating her male opponent by a vote of 446-2.
Robertson was in the spotlight again in 1925 when Gov. Pat Neff appointed America’s first all-woman state Supreme Court and made her the chief justice. Robertson resigned within days of her appointment because she fell short of the required seven years of experience practicing law in the state.
Frisco’s Frenzy
Frisco tops the U.S. Census Bureau’s list of fastest-growing big cities in the nation, adding an average of 37 residents every day for a population jump of 8.2 percent between July 1, 2016, and July 1, 2017.
CoServ, the electric cooperative that serves Frisco, is well aware of the dramatic surge.
“We see the effects of the growth in every area of our organization—call volume, connects and disconnects, construction and work orders,” says Donnie Clary, CoServ president and CEO. “However, the growth is very evident when you are sitting in traffic gridlock.”
Four other Texas cities with populations of at least 50,000 are among the top 10 in population growth by percentage:
2. New Braunfels, 8 percent
3. Pflugerville, 6.5 percent
6. Georgetown, 5.4 percent
9. McKinney, 4.8 percent
By the Numbers: 6.5 Pounds
That’s how much garbage each Texan generates every day, on average, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
America Recycles Day, November 15, is an opportunity to considering reducing that amount.
Scott Joplin, who was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for the opera Treemonisha, learned to play piano in the home where his mother worked as a domestic in Texarkana.
Library of Congress
An Offbeat Legend
Scott Joplin, called the “King of Ragtime,” was born 150 years ago near Linden. He grew up in Texarkana before moving to Missouri. Joplin’s music was featured in the 1973 motion picture, The Sting, which won an Academy Award for its film score. In 1976, Joplin was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Treemonisha, the first grand opera by an African-American. Joplin was born November 24, 1868.
