Lifestyle

Last Friday, we celebrated our Independence Day. A big part of holiday celebrations is always food, and Alpine was no different. Heather Yadon with Visit Alpine accepted entries for the first-ever Blue-Ribbon Cook-Off.

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Theatre of the Big Bend celebrates its 60th anniversary of summer theatre with two productions. The first is Next to Normal, a contemporary rock musical by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, and the second is Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, a musical of the classic fairytale.

While the summer sun beats down on Far West Texas, pounding the horny toads into submission, Alpine High School student-athletes are rising early, not for leisure or video games, but for sled pushes, plyometric drills, and weight training. It’s all part of a focused effort to sharpen their bodies and minds ahead of another demanding year of playoff-caliber competition.

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We belong to God. Jesus tells us we belong to Him, and so we also belong to the Father who sent Him. So what is so special about that? All of creation belongs to God. Every tree, every flower, every bird, every flying creature, every fish and creature of the water, every animal, everything belongs to God. All these creations glorify God with their beauty and majesty. But God was not satisfied with the wonder and amusement of his creations. He wanted more. He wanted to be loved and worshiped. But no God wanted more than worship and love; he wanted a relationship with his creation, so He created humans, us. And He made us a little lower than the angels and set us over the rest of His creation. He did not want humanity to worship and love Him because they had no choice. He gave us free will so that we could choose to follow Him and love, and worship Him. He gave us a choice to either walk with Him or do it our way. He did not want us to blindly follow Him. He wanted us to choose to walk with Him, to have a relationship with Him.

What is more quintessential than Summertime in Texas and Fredericksburg Peaches? Not much, if you ask me. Growing up in Texas, a trip during the summer always meant a trip to the Hill Country to pick the peaches right off the tree. Nowadays, multiple orchards supply these sweet fruits. Most will agree Fredericksburg Peaches stand above and beyond the less favored Georgia Peach, unless, I guess, you are a Bulldog Fan. My favorite stand is Studebaker Farms right outside of town, headed to Stonewall.

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The Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University has been nominated for the second straight year in USA Today’s 2025 10Best Readers’ Choice travel awards. The museum won the award in 2024. An expert panel selected the Museum of the Big Bend as a contender for Best Smalltown Museum, a new category, according to a press release from USA Today. The contest allows four weeks to vote for the museum of your choice at https://10best. usatoday.com/awards/ travel/best-small-townmuseum2025/ museumof- the-big-bend-alpinetexas/. You can vote once a day for the run of the contest by visiting the SRSU and Museum of the Big Bend Facebook and Instagram pages, or by going directly to the link above. Voting ends Monday, February 10, and the winner will be announced on 10Best on Wednesday, February 19. The museum has previously received a “Top Western Museum” award from True West magazine. For more information, email Director John Klingemann at john.klingemann@sulross.edu.