General Interest

Alfredo Gonzalez Texas State Veterans Home hosts fund-raiser for Wounded Warrior Project

The Second Annual Car Show and Veterans Expo returns to McAllen’s Alfredo Gonzalez Texas State Veterans Home from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, July 7, in McAllen. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

All proceeds from the $10 car registration fee and the $50 booth registration fees benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, which helps to heal members of the military who suffered service-related injuries since 2001.

Read more: Car Show and Veterans Expo Saturday

McALLEN – The 4^th Annual RGV Salsa Heat Wave, a Latin Dance Convention held at the McAllen Convention Center, will be awarding three students one-year dance scholarships to one of three McAllen dance schools. The RGV Salsa Heat Wave is to take place Saturday July 14^th, at the McAllen Convention Center. With government funding for the arts at risk and the Valley’s average income one of the lowest in the country, the RGV Salsa Heat Wave wishes to help offset tuition costs and grant three students the opportunity to pursue their love of dance.

Read more: 4th Annual RGV Salsa Heat Wave to award dance scholarships

Through a memorandum of understanding approved by the Hidalgo County Commissioners’ Court and the City of McAllen, the RGV Spay/Neuter Clinic will begin providing mobile services in the county’s rural areas.

The collaborative effort is meant to control the growing population of stray dogs and cats in the area. Pet overpopulation is a serious problem in the Rio Grande Valley as more than 40,000 dogs and cats enter the local animal center every year. Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia presented the RGV Spay/Neuter Clinic with a $50,000 check June 28, helping to kick off the program.

The mission of the RGV Low Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic is to reduce pet overpopulation by providing high volume, high quality, and affordable sterilization services to all companion animals in the Rio Grande Valley. The clinic will offer low cost spay and neuter surgeries for cats and dogs.

Read more: RGV spay and neuter clinic will service rural areas

The 19^th Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival opened its registration last week with nearly 200 birders making reservations during the first day of opening. The festival will be held November 7-11. The event will feature field trips guided by birding experts, informative seminars and a trade show with lots of birding-related vendors.

The Rio Grande Valley has become a Mecca for serious, as well as amateur, birders. The new and different opportunities keep visitors coming back for sightings of our wonderful native, as well as migrant, species.

Sites included this year are area state parks, King Ranch, South Padre Island, and Laguna Atascosa and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuges. Trips and other events have been tailored for those that can only do minimal walking, for beginners, first time visitors, family trips and veterans to birding.

Read more: RGV Bird Fest opens registration

UTPA Professor, Richard Hyslin will be the featured sculptor at a reception at the Upper Valley Art Gallery on July 14 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The reception is open free to the public and everyone is welcome.

Richard Hyslin is a sculptor and Professor of Art at the University of Texas-Pan American since 1968. He received his MA at the University of New Mexico. His home and sculpture studio are in Mission. He is married to Nancy Gibson Hyslin and has three children.

Read more: UVAL to feature sculptor Richard Hyslin

Natalie Mireles (left) and Brogan Cheever scale the wall at Texas Lion’s Camp. Courtesy photoKERRVILLE — Natalie Mireles is not your typical teen attending summer camp.  Natalie is deaf and blind, but still a teen ready to explore new things.

And, Texas Lions Camp (TLC) is not your typical summer camp. It is the place where children with disabilities break down walls.

Read more: No wall is too high at Texas Lions Camp

AUSTIN — Summers are a time for family barbeques, weekends on the lake, and road trips. Along with these celebrations comes a significant uptick in miles traveled and gas consumed on Texas highways.

Fortunately, organizers of the state’s Drive Clean Across Texas air quality campaign have plenty of practical advice for drivers looking to save money at the pump and reduce air pollution at the same time.

Read more: Initiative helps motorists reduce air pollution, save cash

KINGSVILLE — For the second summer in a row, faculty from Texas A&M University-Kingsville and educators across South Texas have studied the literature, culture and history of the Caribbean in an effort to hone strategies for teaching college and high school levels.

Read more: Caribbean literature focus of A&M Kingsville conference