nelson's Notes

NELSON'S NOTES #74, Fun N Sun, San Benito, Texas, June 8, 2008

HURRICANE MEETING

The last major hurricane to hit the Valley was Beulah in September 1967. Nowadays, a hurricane will have an even greater impact. Many Valley farms have been replaced by buildings and parking lots (which don't soak up water like fields), the Valley is more populous, the levees are worn, and the area is a big basin only 30 to 40 feet above sea level (actually below the level of the Rio Grande River, we've been told).

Thus it was no surprise that there will be no emergency shelters set up in the Valley. The closest shelters will be in San Antonio and Laredo. Residents will have to head north on U.S. 281 to get to San Antonio (5 hours away) because coastal highway U.S. 77 will be closed. The route west to Laredo is U.S. 83.

On May 29, three officials from San Benito, which is a Cameron County "hub" for hurricane preparedness, spoke to Fun N Sun residents. Around 400 residents are in the park now. Bruce thinks 50-60 attended. The meeting focused on evacuating, especially for people who have special needs or require help getting to an emergency shelter. Official planning has been going on for a while as part of a strong county and state network that doesn't want to repeat the traffic backups that occurred during the exodus from hurricane Rita in 2005. Now it's up to each citizen to plan how to comply should a hurricane threaten the Valley.

At the Hurricane Preparedness meeting, three officials spoke and a 32-page packet of information was passed out. Compiled by ELS (the corporation that owns Fun N Sun), the packet included a map of evacuation routes, emergency phone numbers, and lots of material on what to look for and do both before and after a hurricane. (Photo from the San Benito News).

BOOK TV ON C-SPAN2

Ken Vaughn, our son-in-law who is an announcer at WAFG Radio in Fort Lauderdale, recently introduced Jerry Newcombe, co-author of How Would Jesus Vote? at a program presented bythe South Florida Bible College and Theological Seminary in Deerfield Beach. C-SPAN2 recorded it live with the option that they might broadcast it later, which they did.

When the program was shown here on June 1, Bruce recorded Ken's six minutes of introductions on videotape. Bruce had some problems that made it necessary to take a picture with his video camera of the tape playing on the TV screen. One unwanted outcome was a pattern of diagonal lines.

JUDGING FOR SAN BENITO TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Carolyn Ross and I volunteered to judge essays written by 17 candidates chosen as 2008 Teacher of the Year by their individual schools. Evaluating the essays was a learning experience for me. If the opportunity comes your way, try it. Here's how it worked.

Earlier this spring the 17 candidates had been given several questions to ponder and answer. Then, on April 25 Carolyn and I and two other judges sat in a closed-off room for 5 hours and individually mulled over the essays and scored them. Our scores determined the two candidates who would be named Teacher of the Year--one from the 11 elementary schools and one from the high schools and middle schools.

To me, the process was mentally grueling--especially by the time I'd reached the 17th teacher--but it was enlightening. I felt the teachers were sincere and wrote from their hearts.

Bruce and I think the schools in San Benito and Harlingen are very good. We enjoy attending band performances and basketball games and seeing the looks of pleasure and self esteem on the kids' faces.

It's amazing that the schools can provide so much for their students in this low-income area. When we lived in relatively well-off Wethersfield in a state that has the highest per capita income in the country (Connecticut), both town and state monies were tight. In some places it was difficult or impossible to pass funding for projects.

Down here, things seem to get done quickly and easily. The reasons may be: 1) school budgets are separate from municipal budgets, 2) Bruce and I are not as aware of school issues as we used to be, 3) revenues from Texas oil may make it easier to get state support for schools, and 4) obvious community support and a pep-rally atmosphere are compelling factors for funding the schools.

The judges ranked these two teachers as San Benito's 2008 Teachers of the Year:

Elizabeth Atkinson-Padilla (front row, second from left), a teacher for 31 years, works with students with special needs and integrated classes at the elementary and pre-school levels.

Rolando Buitron (middle row, fourth from left), teaches government at San Benito High School and has taught for 16 years

SUMMER PLANS

Before diesel fuel and gasoline prices began to increase this spring, we made reservations at a July RV rally in Gillette, Wyoming, and for a two-day tour of Yellowstone National Park. Before long, we realized we couldn't justify the 6,000-mile round trip. Diesel was costing over $4.50 a gallon and promised to rise more. So, we canceled our reservations.

Now our plans are to drive our motorhome only about 1,800 miles. We'll meet Craig, Sandy, and Sarah in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and do some touring along the way.

In September, we'll fly to Cape Cod to meet Kristi, David, Abby, and Matthew.

We hope our campsite this year is as good as the one we rented on Beaver Lake in August 2001.

The cottage we've reserved at North Eastham is near the Cape Cod National Seashore, which has other beaches as spectacular as this one.

Marianna Nelson