April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative is raising awareness and providing information about area organizations involved in the prevention of abuse and support of victims.
Keep an eye on our social media channels in April to learn more about how you can get involved, key community events and resources. The cooperative’s member service centers in Bastrop, Brenham, Giddings, Lockhart and Manor will gleam with blue lights at night to support the awareness effort.
The gusts of wind and rain began late on Friday, Aug. 25. Before it was over, Hurricane Harvey blasted Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative’s service area with destructive winds and drenching rains. Crews responded to 602 service calls, 396 of which were power outages that affected 12,760 members.
It’s a milestone year for Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative. We’re turning 80. The co-op, originally called the Lower Colorado River Electric Cooperative, received its state charter on Aug. 2, 1939. The mission was to provide electricity to rural residents in 10 Central Texas counties (which later grew to include parts of 14 counties). In 1965, the co-op was renamed Bluebonnet.
![An unidentified group poses with a 1924 Ford Model T owned by Urissa Rhone before her marriage. Rhone family papers [di_10766]](/sites/default/files/images/news/Group-with-Ford-Model-T.jpg)
By Denise Gamino
Sometimes, even a chicken coop can be a cradle of history. In 1897, Calvin and Lucia Rhone bought 100 acres in Fayette County. They brought their love letters, financial papers and family photos. They brought their five children and then had four more (another three died at birth). All 12 births were recorded by hand in the big, ornate family Bible.
By Janet Wilson
For a sliver of a second, there was silence. Then the words from the loudspeakers rang out.
Three new champions leapt to their feet. High-fives and hearty cheers gave way to shrieks of joy and raucous shouts that rippled like a wave through the crowd of several hundred. Despite aching muscles, the men bounded up the stage, their own joyous hollering adding to the din.
Bluebonnet celebrated several milestones in 2019. In addition to its 80th anniversary and surpassing 100,000 meters and 10,000 followers on Facebook, the cooperative added its 1,000th renewable energy member in November.
Story by Pam LeBlanc
I start slowly, easing my foot onto the accelerator of a nimble white Miata at the first bend of a half-mile dirt track surrounded by sunflowers in rural Caldwell County.
Brianne Corn, buckled into the passenger seat, asked me what makes me nervous about driving a rally race car. I think about that for a second. I’m still panting slightly, after the high voltage, 3-minute ride I just took around the track as a passenger with Corn, a champion rally car driver and coach, at the wheel.
Story by Alyssa Dussetschleger
If you think you're seeing more electric vehicles on the roads of Central Texas, your eyes aren’t lying. By mid-June this year, more than 52,000 electric vehicles — or EVs — were registered in Texas, and 63% of them are model years 2020 or newer, according to data from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.