LOVE SEA TURTLES?
Agreements signed to boost and expand on sea turtle conservation!
UPCOMING EVENTS!
Check out our monthly listings of what’s happening in the RGV!
SOME LIKE IT HOT!
Junior League of McAllen, Inc. shares a delicious recipe for pan de polvo!
Welcome Home See details on page 4.
See calendar on page 8.
Try their recipe on page 6.
®
RIO GRANDE VALLEY
August 2016
• • • your official connection to the rio grande valley • • •
Winter Differently This Year:
Make South Texas Rio Grande Valley the Difference Maker!
A
ugust, 2016, is the month I have dreaded for the last 18 years. If you’ve read my columns, you understand why. If not, well.....this month we will pack up my baby girl and get her settled into college life at the University of Texas at Austin. (Hook ‘em!) I don’t think it has completely hit me yet, although this summer has been a busy one, so there hasn’t been too much idle time to think about it. I’m excited about this next chapter for her. Oh, to be eighteen again! There are so many things I would do differently and so many things I wouldn’t change for any amount of money. But if given the chance, I’d be a different person than who I am today....which may or may not be a good thing. I take comfort in knowing that we have taught her to give thought to decisions she’ll make, to have patience, to be kind to others, and to work hard for what she wants in life. I’m not worried about her at all, honestly. She’ll be just fine. Her parents, on the other hand, well, that’s a different story entirely. Luckily, I have work to do--and a whole lot of it. With Winter Texan season right around the corner, I will soon have more things to see and do than I will have time for in a day! The month of August will be a difficult one, that’s for sure. Transitioning to my ‘new normal’ might take awhile, but I look forward to all that lies ahead! • We’re just connecting the dots,
Kristi
- Part II -
by Tony Ortiz, Regional Manager, Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (If you missed Part 1, you’ll find it in our July 2016 monthly issue.)
Secure Season Subscriptions
for VSO 65th Anniversary Season by September 22 Special to Welcome Home RGV
The
Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorale and Maestro Peter Dabrowski invite you to join us in celebrating our 65th year of providing quality symphonic music to the Rio Grande Valley by purchasing season tickets as either a renewal patron or as a new subscription. The new symphony season commences in September and culminates in April 2017. The six major works concerts included in the season subscription will take place in two outstanding new performing arts venues. The first three concerts will be performed at the Academic Performing Arts Complex on the UTRGV Campus in Edinburg. The remaining concerts are scheduled at the new McAllen Performing Arts Center (MPAC), beginning with Concert IV - Star Wars and Galactic Pops on Friday, February 3, 2017. A season subscription package includes the six VSO major works concerts featuring the full orchestra, with appearances by the symphony chorale on two of the concerts -- the always popular holiday Concert III - A Touch of Frost set for November 18
at UTRGV and Concert V – Brahms with Opera scheduled for March 2, 2017, at the new MPAC. All seating is reserved, and selection of seating passes on from season to season on all renewing subscriptions (pending some restrictions). New subscriptions can be purchased now, with reserved seat selection, until the deadline of September 22. Season subscriptions are the most economical way to purchase symphony tickets, and a discount is applied that excludes extra fees and upcharges associated with single-ticket purchases. Season subscriptions will be sold until all seating is sold or until the first concert in September. Single tickets will be available for purchase of individual concerts starting on August 22. To buy your season tickets, visit the VSO Box Office, located at 200 South 10th St, Suite 104 (Chase Tower) in McAllen, call 956-661-1615, or go online to www.valleyorchestra. org today. The Box Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. •
“Those
places and things” are what draw seniors to South Texas. A favorite among residents and visitors is South Padre Island, which has popular landmarks and destinations like the Port Isabel Lighthouse and the Sea Turtle Rescue Center. The Sea Turtle Rescue Center is a nonprofit organization that helps to support and monitor the sea turtles’ harrowing first trip to the ocean. While the center’s mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and release injured sea turtles, they also educate the public and assist with conservation efforts for all marine turtles. Other landmarks that attract Winter Texans include the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, and the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Local attractions, such as the Museum of South Texas, Falcon Dam Reservoir, Quinta Mazatlán, and many others are go-to places to explore. Deep in South Texas on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico is one of the Top 10 sportfishing destinations, Port Mansfield, according to Sport Fishing Magazine in 2014. Port Mansfield is a popular place to catch the famous “Colorado,” as the natives call the wily redfish. Other species, such as snook and snapper, are caught closer WINTER DIFFERENTLY PART II CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 >>
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OUR 2015-2016 SEASON SPONSORS