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Thanks to a $15,900 grant from Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative and the Lower Colorado River Authority, Bastrop County First Responders will purchase two new heart monitors to improve emergency care for cardiac patients.
The Community Development Partnership Program grant will allow the nonprofit organization to replace cardiac monitors that were recently de-certified for use under new federal guidelines. The new monitors will be able to diagnose symptoms of a heart attack; act as defibrillators; track and adjust a patient’s heart rhythm; and perform 12-lead electrocardiogram tests.
Bastrop County First Responders, a nonprofit organization whose members include paramedics and emergency medical technicians, is contributing $4,000 in matching funds toward the purchase.
“These monitors are required for us to provide advanced life support,” said James Green, president of Bastrop County First Responders. “With these, we can utilize our paramedics to their full potential, and they can provide more medicines and more therapies to patients.”
Green said Bastrop County First Responders frequently provides stand-by emergency service at public events across the county, including rodeos and car shows. The group’s paramedics and EMTs respond to calls in their personal vehicles.
“We’re kind of like a volunteer fire department, but it’s just for EMS,” Green said. “We’re available to provide more hands if needed.”
The de-certification of his organization’s older heart monitors came as an “unbudgeted surprise,” Green said. “We had pretty late notice that this was happening, and we were behind the eight ball. Without this grant, we’d really be up the creek without a paddle right now.”
The community grant is one of six grants being awarded by Bluebonnet and the LCRA through LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program, which helps volunteer fire departments, local governments, emergency responders and nonprofit organizations fund capital improvement projects in LCRA’s wholesale electric, water and transmission service areas. The program is part of LCRA’s effort to give back to the communities it serves. Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is one of LCRA’s wholesale electric customers and is a partner in the grant program.
Applications for the next round of grants will be accepted in July. More information is available here.
For decades, on the second Tuesday of every May, hundreds of Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative members have gathered to attend the co-op’s Annual Meeting.
“I moved here [to Bluebonnet’s service area] in 2002,” said Debra Irvin, a Bluebonnet member in Lee County. “I still enjoy coming to the Annual Meeting. It’s fun.”
The 2022 Annual Meeting, on Tuesday, May 10, in Giddings, was another opportunity for members to register, chat with employees and cooperative leaders, get a bag full of useful information, ask questions and be entered to win door prizes.
In the parking lot of The Silos on 77 event facility, nearly 200 members were guided through two white tents, each wide enough for several lanes of vehicles. Attendees even received ready-to-go snack bags stuffed with kolaches.
“I love how connected to the community Bluebonnet is and the effort to keep everyone safe,” said Kathy Ray Mack, a Bluebonnet member in Caldwell County.
During the Annual Meeting, three incumbent members of the Bluebonnet Board of Directors were re-elected: Milton Shaw, District 1, Caldwell, Hays, Guadalupe, Gonzales counties; Debbi Goertz, District 3, Bastrop County; and Ben Flencher, District 5, Burleson County.
Flencher has been chairman of the Board since 2014 and a Board member since 1987. “Congratulations to Directors Milton Shaw and Debbi Goertz, who, with me, were re-elected to the Board,” he said.
Milton Shaw has been on the Bluebonnet Board since 2010. “It is a great honor to serve as your Director and represent your interests,” he said.
Debbi Goertz joined the co-op’s Board in 2017. “I am honored to be re-elected to serve as one of your Directors from Bastrop County, and greatly appreciate the confidence you have in me and my fellow Directors,” she said.
Before the event, more than 6,100 Bluebonnet members participated in the Annual Meeting by submitting proxy voting forms. Those, along with members who registered at the event, constituted a quorum of member representation for the meeting.
Members who submitted proxy voting forms or registered at the drive-through were also entered to win door prizes. Those prize drawings took place the next day, May 11. Three members — Corrine Randall of Dale in Caldwell County, Earl Hodges of Cedar Creek in Bastrop County and Herbert Beerwinkel of Chappell Hill in Washington County — won the grand prizes, Cub Cadet riding lawnmowers.
Greeting members at the Annual Meeting is always a highlight for Bluebonnet employees and Directors. “We had an opportunity to meet a lot of our members, share thoughts with them and answer their questions,” Flencher said. “We hope you’ll join us for our next Annual Meeting in 2023.”
Get a video peek of the Annual Meeting here and find the information given to members at the event at bluebonnet.coop/annualmeeting.
“Any chance that we have to match our employees up with our wonderful members is a great day,” said Matt Bentke, Bluebonnet’s general manager. “Annual Meeting is that one day we cherish, and is an incredibly special day for Bluebonnet.”
By Alyssa Dussetschleger
A 4-H Livestock Ambassador who plans to be a policy analyst for agriculture and a budding entrepreneur who hopes to become a real estate agent will head to Washington, D.C., this summer as recipients of Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative’s 2022 Government-in-Action Youth Tour awards.
Keely Mikolajchak, a senior at Brenham High School, and Jada Martin, a senior at Cedar Creek High School, will represent Bluebonnet on the tour that has been an annual event for many decades. Creed Whitfill, a senior at Bastrop High School, is the alternate representative and will join the tour if one of the winners is unable to attend.
The recipients will each receive a $1,000 scholarship and tour the Texas Capitol and the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin before flying to Washington, D.C. The tour dates are June 12-21.
The two recipients and alternate were among eight finalists who applied and submitted a video on the topic: “What is the greatest energy issue facing your generation, and how can youths be a part of the solution?” Recipients were selected based on video presentations, extracurricular involvement, and school and community service.
Mikolajchak, 17, of Chappell Hill picked up the political bug after participating in an oratorical speech contest. It challenged her to discuss the role of the U. S. Constitution in her daily life. She became interested in agriculture economics and policy after visiting with state representatives at the Texas Capitol.
She is also involved with youth agriculture organizations, including 4-H and FFA. Mikolajchak has served in leadership roles as state 4-H Livestock Ambassador, Washington County 4-H president, and vice president of Area XI Future Farmers of America, which represents high schools in southeast Texas counties. She is also Brenham High School’s FFA president. In the fall, she’ll attend Texas A&M University and study agriculture economics.
During her video presentation, Mikolajchak discussed the potential of young people’s impact on innovative renewable energy resources. “As youths, we are the next leaders of our communities, nation and world,” she said. “We must take a stand and empower our society to look beyond traditional energy sources and look into the future of sustainability.”
Martin, 18, of Cedar Creek volunteers for the holiday Adopt-a-Family program in Cedar Creek as part of her involvement in National Honor Society. She also volunteers at the Bastrop Animal Shelter and at a City of Bastrop vaccine clinic. She held leadership roles for school organizations, including the National Honor Society, student council and LEO club, a youth organization of Lions Clubs International. Martin also played volleyball, tennis and ran track for the Cedar Creek Eagles. She plans to attend the University of Texas at San Antonio in the fall and major in business. After college, she plans to return to Bastrop County and open a real estate firm.
Martin became interested in government after meeting City of Bastrop Mayor Connie Schroeder while volunteering at the city’s vaccine clinic.
“I loved seeing our local politicians out in the community helping the citizens, and I realized there is a lot of good done behind the scenes,” she said. “When I heard about the Government-in-Action Youth Tour, I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn even more about the great things that are done for my generation at a higher level of government.”
Whitfill, 18, of Bastrop, is involved with Peer Assistance and Leadership at Bastrop ISD, as well as mentorship programs at his church. He has been involved with fundraisers, including the Peer Assistance and Leadership basketball fundraiser and Cougar Moats fishing tournament, which raises money for graduating high school students in Bastrop County.
Whitfill has also participated in community service projects, picking up trash and recyclables in Bastrop County and collecting canned foods for Thanksgiving meals for families in need. He plans to attend the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and study small business entrepreneurship and business management.
Mikolajchak and Martin will join 122 young people representing other Texas electric cooperatives and about 1,000 teens from other states in the nation’s capital, where they will visit historical sites and the U.S. Capitol, meet members of Congress and attend events hosted by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. NRECA represents more than 900 electric cooperatives across America.
The youth tour program has more than 50,000 alumni, including CEOs, state and national elected officials, and countless business and community leaders.
For more information, visit bluebonnet.coop/scholarships-youth-tour. Look for 2023 applications in the fall.