Winter Texan Times

RootsTech Connect is next week

roots tech Patricia Heaton 2019 keynote Speaker Just in its first month of registration in October, RootsTech Connect 2021 had more than 111,000 people from 168 countries signed up for the virtual event. And 86% of them have never attended RootsTech before.

RootsTech Connect — a free, global family history conference with classes, keynote speakers and virtual expo hall — will be held Feb. 25-27, 2021. For the first time in RootsTech’s 10-year history, classes will be completely virtual and offered in multiple languages. Presenters will teach from international locations.

MOSTH presents Callandret

Callandret Museum Logo 600px The Museum of South Texas History will host the Sunday Speaker Series Online presentation, “Callandret, The Man, The School, The Times,” featuring Sandra Tumberlinson and Lonnie Davis at 2 p.m. on Feb. 21 on Facebook Live.

This presentation is part of the Virtual Pioneer & Ranching Crafts Day programming, which highlights regional pioneers in education, industry and city founding.

McAllen International CarFest: Social Distance Edition

car fest McAllen International CarFest returns to the McAllen Convention Center, 700 Convention Center Blvd., Saturday, February 27, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a Social Distance Edition and free admission.

Check your county, city websites for clinics

We have been asked often about where to go for vaccinations. We have put very little in the paper because availability have been known to change at publication time or shortly after. We have been able to put a few notices on our Facebook page and have tried to monitor them as much as we can so we can unpublish when they are no longer valid.

Several cities, including Mission and Brownsville, have had some recent clinics that have been successful and are looking at having more in the near future. I would like to get some of this information out to you so you know where to go for information.

Success at Winter Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup event

COASTAL BEND, TEXAS – Over 340 volunteers participated in the 2021 Annual Adopt-A-Beach Winter Cleanup that took place on February 5 and 6, 2021. Volunteers worked together to clean a total of 28.5 miles of beach and bay area.

The two-day trash cleanup event resulted in over 8,900 pounds of trash being removed, leaving our Texas beaches clean and beautiful for wildlife and the community alike to enjoy.

Sixty-three volunteers helped clean South Padre Island on Friday and collected 1,512 pounds of trash. Hundreds of other volunteers cleaned up areas along Padre Island National Seashore, Cole Park, Port Aransas, North Corpus Christi Beach, Packery Flats, and Aransas Pass where they collected 7,468 pounds of trash.
All volunteers were required to wear a mask, social distance from separate parties, and bring their own gloves as a COVID-19 precaution.

Colliers bring a mix of sound to the stage

Colliers Picturs 600px The Colliers are a vibrant, Americana group, that blends acoustic and electric instrumentation. They mix a host of genres like rock, pop, country, Celtic (Irish/Scottish), and folk, in a rootsy, down-home way. By doing this they form their own unique sound. They also put their own twist on a huge variety of covers of all genres from past to present, including pop-rock, country, R&B, swing, and even some Hawaiian pedal steel. They are refreshingly different from other Wintertainers™.

Time sure does fly

On The Road Header They say that time flies when you are having fun. Perhaps that is true. But it seems to me that time has flown this past year...and it has not been much fun.

A little over a year ago, the Corona Virus found its way into the United States. By mid-March, we were really in the midst of a pandemic that was truly affecting all of us. Soon mid-March will be here again. Have we progressed? Did time fly by? What progress have we personally made in the fight to conquer the pandemic?