Bluebonnet crews traveled to Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative near the Louisiana border to help restore power to about 25,000 of its members after being hit by Hurricane Laura in late August. Above, from left, just before heading to East Texas, are Daniel Fritsche, Troy Moore, Eric Cobb, Chris Rivera, Michael Guajardo, John Horton, Nick Baker, Heath Walden, Joshua Gonzales and Derek Morgan. Below, from left: Bluebonnet crews use two bucket trucks and a digger truck to make repairs; Troy Moore, left, and

When Hurricane Laura made landfall in the early hours of Aug. 27, 2020, its devastating winds, rain and storm surge left hundreds of thousands of people without power across Louisiana and East Texas. Central Texans dodged damage from this storm, which enabled Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative to help out hard-hit utilities.

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Helping after Hurricane Laura

The sun rises over the Pecore Farm conservation easement in Fayette County, which includes 24 acres of never-plowed blackland prairie. (Leigh Ann Moran photo)

Story by Ed Crowell

When Melanie Pavlas can get away from paperwork at her small upstairs office on Main Street in Bastrop, she heads for the green part of her job amid rolling hills, prairies and riverfront trails.

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Preserving pieces of Texas

Kicker
The waterways in the Bluebonnet region are ideal for both beginners and seasoned veterans.
Pam LeBlanc and Jimmy Harvey paddle their boats on the Colorado River at Fisherman’s Park in Bastrop. (Sarah Beal photo)

GET GOING - With Pam Leblanc 

One in a series of stories on fitness, recreation and outdoor adventure in the Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative region.

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A passion for paddling

A group of young men, ages 17-22, who took part in the The Luling Foundation's training school established in March of 1934. The one-year program taught hands-on classes in poultry, dairy, livestock and general farming. Historic photos courtesy of the Luling Foundation

BY CLAYTON STROMBERGER

As you drive down quiet, tree-lined Mulberry Avenue out on the southwestern edge of Luling, just past the high school football stadium, you come to an unadorned metal archway that reads, “The Luling Foundation,” and below that, “Est. 1927.” Passing under the arch, you’re simultaneously going backward and forward in time.

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The Luling Foundation

Bluebonnet line workers in the 1940s take a break from their hazardous and backbreaking work in Giddings, original home to the co-op’s headquarters. From left, William Proske, Walter Urban and Winslow Zwerneman.

By Clayton Stromberger and Denise Gamino

If you were born at least fourscore and seven or so years ago, and grew up in these parts, you may remember what it was like in 1939.

No one was in a huge rush back then. The highway speed limit was 45 mph — lower for trucks. More than half the state was rural. Kids in the country rode a horse to confirmation class. Air conditioning meant opening a window or sitting on the front porch with a hand-held fan from church. Screen time was for when the mosquitoes came back. 

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The way we lived

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Printing a better building at Camp Swift
The largest 3D-printed building in North America is a 3,800-square-foot barracks that can house 72 military personnel at Bastrop County’s Camp Swift. The computer-guided machine that built the barracks was developed by Austin-based company ICON. (Laura Skelding photo)

Story by Ed Crowell

Military troops learn to live and sleep in unusual spots — from inside a desert foxhole to wedged between a rock and a hard place.

Now, some Texas soldiers will have an opportunity to rest, comfortably, in a revolutionary new barracks in Bastrop County.

At Camp Swift — the National Guard’s main training facility in Texas — some troops will sleep in the largest structure in North America built by a giant robotic 3D printer.

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3D barracks houses troops at Camp Swift