April 2022

The Big Bend Tri-County Aggie Muster will be held Thursday, April 21, at American Legion Post 79, 306 West Sul Ross, in Alpine beginning at 6 p.m. All former students and friends of Texas A&M University are invited to gather in camaraderie to remember those fellow Aggies who have passed away in the preceding year.

What is your favorite Easter tradition? Emily Hendryx, Alpine: My favorite Easter traditions consist of hunting eggs with my kids, church, and lunch with my family! Letty Carrillo, Alpine: Getting all of the family together at our house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. Although it gets harder to get everyone together as the kids have grown.

Members of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church’s Our Lady of Guadalupe organization - Mike “Coach” Pallanez, Rory Contreras, Berta Rios-Martinez, and Esther Cordova - pitched in on April 1 for the Guadalupanas Free Spaghetti Day drive-by pickup at the church in Alpine. Four hundred plates were distributed as a way of sharing joy to the community.

On April 6 Brewster County deputies, Marathon and Alpine volunteer fire departments, Texas A&M Forest Service, and a number of ranchers and other volunteers responded to a fire west of Marathon along the railroad tracks.

April 22, 1982 C o o k i e champion Belen Chavez of Junior Girl Scout Troop 18 sold 330 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, making her Alpine’s best two years in a row. She earned a cookie patch, a frisbee, a $65 camper ship, and $66 profit for her troop.

Dear Neil: This growth has been attached to the base of our sweetgum tree for the past year. It’s like hard Styrofoam, and it is about 2’x1’x4” thick.

During the week of April 11, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is surveying bighorn sheep and aoudad, or Barbary sheep, in Big Bend National Park. TPWD biologists are using a helicopter in the remote Mesa de Anguila area of the park to search for both species. There will be no lethal control of aoudad, and all areas of the park will remain open. Barbary sheep are native to the dry mountains of Northern Africa, but now thrive within the rugged landscape of West Texas. Over the last 30 years, Barbary sheep have established a foothold within the park, and have increased significantly in recent years. Hundreds now roam the area, but the park is home to only a small population of native desert bighorn sheep. Barbary sheep occupy the same habitats as native bighorn, and negatively impact the natural ecology of the park. Large groups of aoudad can prevent desert bighorn from accessing water, threaten biodiversity, and impair park visitors’ ability to experience natural conditions and scenery. Although there will be no lethal control in this spring survey, the information gained from this project will help direct control efforts in the future. National park managers will again collaborate with TPWD to survey in October. That survey will focus on the eastern areas of the park, including Persimmon Gap, the Deadhorse Mountains, and Boquillas Canyon. There will be lethal control of aoudad, and temporary park closures in the areas of the survey at that time. This effort is part of Big Bend’s long-term, integrated approach to control exotic animals and protect park resources. Management of aoudad is in keeping with the Big Bend Exotic Animal Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, finalized in June 2018.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller invited Texas farmers and ranchers to apply for the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Family Land Heritage program, which since 1974 has paid tribute to families who have kept their land in continuous agricultural production for at least 100 years. Families are asked to submit their applications for recognition in the 2022 program by Monday, May 2. At the 47th annual recognition ceremony at the Texas Capitol this fall, Miller will honor farms and ranches established in 1922 or earlier.

What are you especially looking forward to in your senior year? Even though I am in the last stretch of the year and all I have to do is wait for it to be over, the most important thing I’ve been looking forward to are the warm spring days after school when all I get to do is go to the park, be with my friends, and read. What activities are you involved in during your senior year? National Honor Society, band, cross country, one act plays, STUCO, and academic UIL.

Living in West Texas, hot sauce or salsa is a staple in most households. At least it is in mine. If I do not have at least a couple of diverse types of salsas and or hot sauce in my refrigerator, it feels as if it is almost naked. In fact, not having a spicy condiment to add to my food is as sacrilegious as not having cheese in my refrigerator.