RENEWABLE ENERGY – Few things in life have more energy than Polynesian dancers and the Dance Tahiti troupe demonstrated that at Living with Nature Saturday in Marathon. It was all about energy, wasn’t it?

ARLENE GRIFFIS

GREEN GAS - David Lynch of Cummins - Westport, lead a discussion on the future of the medium sized internal combustion engine at the Living with Nature Festival in Marathon Saturday. He said Ethanol has 70 percent of the power that gasoline does, but natural gas is the most energy efficient fuel available.

THE POWER OF WIND – Kenneth Starcher of the Alternative Energy Institute lectured the Living with Nature crowd Saturday on the economics and science of wind power. It was a timely presentation. Wind is a key feature of T. Boone Pickens’ energy plan now being widely discussed.

VENDORS ROW - A row of vendors lined up at the Parish Hall at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Marathon Saturday, awaiting the influx of visitors to the Living with Nature festival. All things “green” were offered for sale to the crowd attending the festival. 

HOT COOKIES – Aly Cardoza decorated a jalapeño cookie at the Summer Reading Program at Marathon Public Library last week. And Jackie Boyd read “Jalapeño Hal” to those present. Shirley’s Burnt Biscuit provided the cookies and children attending the program did the rest.

READING HELP – Volunteers helped with the Summer Reading Program at Marathon Public Library last week. They were, from left, Jackie Boyd, Tracie Joyner, Carol Henthorne and Eula Mae Colmenero. The children heard from Marathon artist Mary Baxter and photography Luc Novovitch

NEW LIFE – The Shafter Mine, closed for 66 years, will get new life in 2010. Aurcana of Vancouver, BC, has bought the mine and plans to restart the mining for silver to take advantage of prices nearing $20 per troy ounce.

PUBLIC ACCESS – The public would gain access to the rugged Christmas Mountains north of Big Bend National Park under a draft agreement between the Texas Land Office and Terlingua Ranch. An earlier easement from Big Bend provided some access, but only via a harsh four-mile hike.

Photo by Jason Hennington

FOUR GENERATIONS – 2008 Sul Ross graduate Ryan Zent displayed a 1949 Brand yearbook showing his grandfather, Wylie McMillan, who graduated in 1955 following four years in the US Navy. Ryan Zent, of Tucson, received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2007 and will receive an MBA tomorrow. He is a fourth generation graduate of Sul Ross.