HARLINGEN — There’ll be some sweet-smelling smoke wafting around the west side of the city this weekend.

More than 68 cooks from all over Texas are expected to be cooking up some of their favorite meats and tasty treats in an effort to help those in need.

Organizers from the 5th annual Harlingen Bravest Cook-off have stopped taking entries. But that doesn’t mean the public can’t stop by to get some free samples.

Event promoter and lieutenant with the fire department, Andy Galvan, said some guests might get their chance to grab a few samples if the cooks are willing to hand them over.

When it started in 2012, the cook-off only had six teams registered to compete. Now, it has 68.

The teams vary in experience. About seven or eight teams consist of the best cooks in the state, Galvan said.

Winners will receive the opportunity to win $6,500 in cash and prizes. There will be several judging categories.

Galvan said it’s possible for guests attending the event to get pulled out and become a judge at random.

Proceeds from the cook-off go to the Burn Fund.

Galvan said the burn fund is used to help families of disasters and fires. By using the money to purchase gift cards, families are able to buy clothes and other possessions they might have lost in the fire, Galvan said.

Other vendors will be on hand selling drinks and food.

This family-friendly event also will have a kid-friendly zone, complete with inflatables.

For future events, Galvan hopes they are bigger and better.

“We want to make this a city event and put Harlingen on the map,” he said.

RIO HONDO — Every now and again, life hands you a surprise, and for Rio Hondo senior Joshua Gonzalez, this surprise is one he hopes doesn’t slip through his hands.

About three months ago, Gonzalez, a noted football player for the Rio Hondo Bobcats, received word from his coach that he had a letter on his desk with his name on it.

What Gonzalez opened was an invitation to play in the Down Under Bowl in Australia.

The bowl was established in 1989 and is used to promote football in Australia and New Zealand.

Past notable participants of the Down Under Bowl have included Jake “The Snake” Plummer, who played for the Denver Broncos, and Ahman Green, who played for the Green Bay Packers.

This is the 28th year of the competition and teams are chosen from the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

The trip consists of a few days in Australia and upon return a quick stop in Hawaii.

But for Gonzalez, son of a decorated Army veteran who served three tours overseas, this opportunity means much more than just a trip of a lifetime.

“I want to get to play the game one more time,” said Gonzalez. “Maybe it will open up new doors so I can show what I can do.

“Not a lot of people get this opportunity to represent the Valley and I was given a chance.”

However, the total for the trip is around $7,000, a sizable amount for anybody.

The senior Honor Roll student has until June 1 to pay the amount and has set up a GoFundMe account for any one who wishes to donate. He’s also open to sponsorship offers.

HARLINGEN – Victor Blanco of San Benito will be forever grateful to a man who Victor never knew – a person who was willing to donate his organs when he died.

Because of that person’s decision, Victor is now celebrating his third-year anniversary of living with a donated kidney.

Three years ago, Victor’s own kidneys were failing. At the young age of 29, he needed a transplant – and was placed on a long waiting list for a kidney donation. Then in April 2013, he received a phone call – from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, which had found a potential match for Victor.

Victor, family members and friends drove through the night to Galveston, where a transplant was successfully performed at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). Victor left that hospital four days later, with a new kidney.

“It’s like you are born again … the next day when I woke up, I felt like a new man,” Victor said during a recent presentation on organ donation at Harlingen Medical Center, as part of National Donate Life Month.

While at Harlingen Medical Center, Victor also wanted to thank the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who took care of him there. Victor’s long road back to health actually started at Harlingen Medical, when he was brought into the Emergency Room after he started retaining water in his feet.

“At the time, I didn’t know what was going on … it was very baffling,” Victor said. “But the staff members at Harlingen Medical Center were amazing. They found out about my kidney problems, and that I needed a new kidney, and they took real good care of me.”

Physicians at Harlingen Medical started Victor on dialysis, a process in which a machine is used to filter waste out of the body – something which is normally done by healthy kidneys.

“The nurses at Harlingen Medical Center taught me from ‘A to Z’ what to do, to get started with dialysis treatment,” Victor said. “I can’t thank them enough, from everyone in the Emergency Room to upstairs in the ICU … the nurses were there for me, holding my hand, even after their shift ended. I will never forget my experience at Harlingen Medical Center … it was very beautiful.”

Even though he was suddenly facing an unexpected medical diagnosis at a very young age, Victor kept a positive attitude. Despite needing dialysis treatments three times a week, he kept going to the gym to work out, and he kept working at his job as a promotions assistant at the KVEO Channel 23 TV station in Brownsville.

“Work would keep me motivated,” Victor said. “I tried to stay positive. I’m a very energetic person. The Transplant Support Group meetings, and my family from Los Angeles, Mexico and here in the Rio Grande Valley is what kept me focused … and many people helped with my fundraising efforts for my medical expenses. I’m very blessed.”

The name of his Facebook page – “Victor’s Hope” – also reflected his determination to battle kidney disease. An added motivation was his young godson, Benny, now three years old.

“He’s my inspiration and I love him with all my heart,” Victor said. “Till this day I carry Benny’s baby mitten wherever I go, knowing he is right next to me. I want to make sure that I, as his padrino, will be there for him.”

Now that he has benefitted from organ donation, Victor is serving as sort of an ambassador to promote others in the Valley to sign up to become a donor.

“All of my family members are now organ donors,” he said. “One of my uncles passed away after an accident in North Carolina, but because he was an organ donor, he saved a lot of lives. Being an organ donor doesn’t cost anything, and it’s a beautiful thing.”

Victor noted that because of diabetes, there are many people in the Valley in need of a kidney transplant … yet very few people have made the decision to be an organ donor.

“Right now I have a friend of mine who needs a double transplant,” Victor added. “You can help so many people by signing up to be an organ and tissue donor.”

With April being National Donate Life Month, Valley residents are encouraged to consider becoming a donor, and to make their wishes known to family members. For more information on organ and tissue donation, please contact the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance in McAllen at (956) 630-0884 or visit www.TxOrganSharing.org.

Harlingen’s residents have demonstrated their commitment this month to creating more awareness about autism. That commitment has revealed itself in numerous events in support of National Autism Awareness Month.

The action and excitement of being part of a cause continues Saturday with “Blues for Autism” at Ol’ D’s Soda Shop. Another event, the 2nd Annual 5K Color Run, is being organized by the student council at Harlingen High School South.

Chris Maley organizes “Blues for Autism” several times a year. Experts make presentations at different venues where visitors can have free finger foods and enjoy live blues music. Two experts will speak at Saturday’s event at Ol’ D’s at 105 W. Jackson St. The event will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. and will feature blues artists Emilio Crixell, Big Bruce Hodge, Tom Gonzalez of Nashville and Johnny Harper.

Marshal Nelson, a professor of psychology specializing in the creative journal expressive arts, will talk about using art to help children with autism express themselves. Lebby Salinas, a certified health coach, will talk about foods that tend to aggravate the behaviors of people with autism. She’ll also talk about foods that can help them remain more calm.

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The 2nd Annual 5K Color Run, which is also being held to promote National Autism Awareness Month, will take place much earlier. The “run” will begin at about 8:30 a.m. at the Harlingen High School South Mini-Stadium parking lot. All ages are welcome to walk, jog, or “skip” at their own pace.

Along the route, participants will learn why the event is called a “color run” when they are bathed with colored powder. To accentuate the power of color, runners/walkers/skippers are asked to wear white T-shirts, although this isn’t a requirement.

There is a fee or requested “donation” for each of these events.

For more information about the run, contact Claudia Rogers at Harlingen High School South at 427-3800.

Those interested in attending “Autism for Blues” can call 230-1963 for more information.

I really enjoyed reading Lisa Seiser’s “Restoring history” of the Landrum House in Sunday’s Valley Morning Star.

On finding some of the original kitchen floor tiles, I hope they will include this section in the new kitchen flooring.

Then, I turned to page 9 and my mind went, “wow” when I saw the staircase picture.

Over 20 years ago, my husband and I took an architectural tour to Matamoros with our San Benito First Community Bank senior group. The main objective was to be the first Anglos to ever walk through the doors of a restored mansion belonging to prominent restaurant owners.

Yes, we were the first and what a thrill it was to see the beauty of this lovingly-restored home.

The main staircase was similar to the one in the Landrum House. A focal point I the foyer. The remodelers had left a tiny section of the staircase “as is” so future visitors could see the condition it was in prior to the remodeling.

They had, also sent actual samples of the wallpaper in this house to a restoring company in New England, who duplicated all of the wallpaper. Again, they left a square of the old historical paper for show.

The other pictures of the Landrum house reminded me of the rest of the historical Matamoros house we visited. Truly a jewel in restoration.

I commend Jesus and Diana Artiaga and all of the contractors involved in this endeavor. May God bless their efforts in restoring it to its past glory, the Landrum Home on the south side of U.S. 281, San Benito.

Sallie L. Nelson San Benito

Texas LNG (liquefied natural gas) has formally filed with FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) to build its export terminal on the Brownsville ship channel.

Local residents and concerned citizens now have a very narrow window (until May 5) to once again write comments/concerns to FERC regarding the location of heavy industrial petrochemical LNG refineries and natural gas transportation pipelines in our area.

If you have already sent comments to FERC before, this was during the pre-filing process. This comment period is for interveners and is to communicate whether you or your business will suffer or be affected by the Texas LNG plant construction and operation.

It is important to file during this time because we need to make our concerns for the health of the nearby residents and the ecosystems of the Laguna Madre known to FERC.

Those of us living in South Padre Island, Port Isabel, Long Island Village and Laguna Vista plus those working in the green ecotourism dependent industries of the Laguna Madre have the most to lose with the construction of the proposed LNGs.

Last summer, the above entities voted against LNGs coming to the Brownsville ship channel. It is time to move along to the next important step to protect our greenfield jobs, retirement environment and vacation destination “golden eggs” of an ecotourism based economy, which currently pays taxes and brings in hundreds of millions of dollars to Cameron County.

Go to saveRGVfromLNG on Facebook or saveRGVfromLNG.com to find out more info on how to file as an intervenor.

Thanks for caring and sharing.

Diane and Rick Teter Laguna Vista

COMBES — For Ashley Rodriguez, losing weight is a matter of life or death.

So, she joined the Combes Summer Slim Down Challenge.

The eight-week program will help her lose 76 pounds by the end of the year, said Rodriguez, a Harlingen health care worker who weighed-in at 276 pounds this week.

Like many of her teammates, Rodriguez has struggled with health problems in this area plagued with high rates of obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

“Do I want to die or live?” Rodriguez, 47, asked.

Now, she’s learning about healthy eating and exercise as part of Combes Elite Fitness, a community health program funded through an annual $90,000 grant from the University of Texas Health Science Center.

“It’s a whole lifestyle change,” said Ashley Weaver, a personal trainer who leads the slim-down challenge.

Last year, eight women took part in the program.

Now, word of mouth is leading more women to take the challenge.

So Weaver expects about 45 women to participate this year.

“It’s healthy weight loss — making realistic goals to lose weight and keep it off,” Weaver said.

During the next two months, Sara Garcia wants to lose 20 to 25 pounds to drop to 165 pounds.

“It’s not really a number, it’s a health goal,” said Garcia, 30, a housewife. “This gives me motivation because I wasn’t happy with what I’d become.”

As part of the program, Weaver teaches what she calls “portion control.”

“It’s real important to incorporate portion control, not just healthy eating,” Weaver said.

Then she opens up her hands.

“I teach them the correct portion for their body size,” she said.

For each of her clients, she said, the right portion of protein fits in their palm.

For the right amount of carbohydrates, the right portion fits into a cupped hand, Weaver said.

And for a healthy portion of fruits and vegetables, she holds out two cupped hands.

As part of the class, Weaver also teaches her clients how to read nutrition labels.

So she offers a catchphrase to help dieters scan labels for healthy foods — “first five under five.”

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HARLINGEN — A two-RBI double by Alina Jasso in the third and a fifth-inning double play was enough to see San Benito past Harlingen South on Tuesday evening.

Jasso’s two RBIs were the difference offensively as the Lady ’Hounds clinched a share of the District 32-6A crown and can win the title outright with a victory over BrownsvilleRivera on Friday.

“The girls know how to get it done, however I think our emotions took over today because we started the game very strong and we were having good looks at bat,” said San Benito head coach Kristy Leal. “Toward the end, however, we have to learn how to make adjustments.

“I’m very proud of how my pitchers picked each other up because that was big for us and defensively we made some plays.”

Full story at RGVSports.com

HARLINGEN — Once again, Harlingen Cardinals pitcher Jaedon Wynn and the defense behind him had a solid outing.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it wouldn’t be enough as they only managed two hits in a 3-0 loss to the Brownsville Veterans Chargers and the arm of starting pitcher Noe Solis Tuesday night at Harlingen Field.

Solis fanned nine batters and walked only one in seven shutout innings to pick up the win for the Chargers (17-3, 11-1).

“Defensively we did a fantastic job in the outfield and the infield,” said first-year Veterans head coach Eric Gonzalez.

“We came up with some good defensive plays because I know (Harlingen) can hit. We took them out of some innings and Noe (Solis) did a fantastic job hanging in there — it was a good defensive team effort.”

Full story at RGVSports.com

SAN BENITO — For the new school year, elementary students will have to start their day a little earlier.

That’s because the school bell will be ringing earlier — 7:30 a.m. to be exact.

Last week, the school board approved a new calendar that is almost identical to this year’s school calendar.

The only change affects the elementary schools.

Instruction will begin at 7:30 a.m. for all elementary campuses during the 2016-2017 school year.

First bell is 7:25 a.m. with instruction starting five minutes later.

Before the change, children were starting school about 20 minutes later.

The students will be dismissed at 3 p.m.

Because of a recently passed state law, the school district is required to base the school calendar on the number of instructional minutes instead of the number of instructional days, Superintendent Dr. Adrian Vega said.

As a result, the start of the elementary school day will change to meet the state’s required number of minutes — 76,500.

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Subscribe to it for only $6.99 per month or purchase a print subscription and receive the online version free, which includes an electronic version of the full newspaper and extra photo galleries, links and other information you can’t find anywhere else.

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