Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative will send one senior journeyman lineworker team, three journeyman lineworker teams, 10 apprentice lineworkers, nine competition judges, a barbecue team and volunteers to the Texas Lineman’s Rodeo at Nolte Island Park near Seguin on July 20.
Lydia Huebner and Chasidy Nowicki are set to represent Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative when they join hundreds of other high school juniors and seniors in Washington, D.C., this summer for an immersive week of connection, education and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
They are called Freedom Colonies: at least 65 settlements, built by newly freed Black people, established across the Bluebonnet region more than a century ago. Family histories and dedicated descendants keep their stories alive.
Story by Clayton Stromberger l Photos by Sarah Beal
Tucked away in the Post Oak Savannah about 10 miles northeast of Lockhart, the unincorporated community of St. John Colony is country-quiet much of the year, just like the rest of rural Caldwell County.
At Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, many have followed in the bootsteps of their family members. Today, the next generation of lineworkers keeps the lights on, builds new power lines, maintains the electric system and watches out for each other. It’s not just a job — it’s a calling.
Story by Alyssa Meinke
On Monday, April 8, residents of the Bluebonnet service area will be treated to a rare celestial event: an eclipse that will darken the midday sun across the region.
By Sharon Jayson
Students across the Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative area are readying special telescopes and protective eyewear. Astronomy experts and photographers are brimming with excitement. Public safety departments are preparing for the likelihood that drivers will abruptly stop to stare into the sky.
Two graduates began their co-op careers as interns; four additional staff members receive advanced technical training certifications
By Sidni Carruthers
Fifteen
History is alive and essential to Bluebonnet-area towns. That’s why examples still stand, from busy Main Streets to quiet back roads.
Stories by Addie Broyles,
Sarah Beckham and Sara Abrego
Long before cars or electricity, resilient men and women built lives in Central Texas.
Immigrants and settlers were determined to make this rugged land their home. Many towns were settled more than 200 years ago — some through forceful means — in the vast 3,800-square-mile area currently powered by Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative.
Soak up the town’s history, shopping and dining
By Camille Wheeler
From its lone stoplight where U.S. 290 meets FM 1155, Chappell Hill opens like a history book. The two-lane road serves as both Main Street and a stretch of the Texas Independence Trail reaching into the Washington County countryside. On this general path, Stephen F. Austin established his first colony in 1821. A small community with an estimated population of 1,000, Chappell Hill has numerous homes and businesses with national and state historic designations.
Today’s bullfighters skip the face paint and silly clothes for the serious business of protecting riders in the rodeo ring
Story by Pam LeBlanc -- Photos by Laura Skelding
If a snot-slinging, 1,500-pound hunk of muscle and rage hurtled across an arena in your direction, would you run toward it or beat a hasty escape?
Your answer could determine whether you’d make a good bullfighter, the term now used in the U.S. and Canada to describe the rodeo athletes who distract bulls and protect riders during bull-riding competitions.