Mission High School Alumni Site Redone

Hi, everybody. I've taken steps to move the Mission High School reunion site to a community site. A few years back, I had created a similar site on my own host. It got hacked at one point and I never got around to rebuilding it. Instead, I moved the community into Yahoo groups. This splintered the community until it finally just died out.

If you are looking for Mission High School alumni for your reunion, I urge you to join http://missioneagles.ning.com and start interacting with others from your home town in Mission, Tx. We can rebuild the community. Soon, I'll move the domain name http://www.missionhsreunion.com to the new site, but missioneagles.ning.com seems simple enough to me.

See you all at Mission Eagles!

View my profile on Mission Eagles

Video of No Border Wall Rally at La Lomita

This is a video of various groups gathering at La Lomita to protest the construction of a border wall on the Texas-Mexico border.

No Border Wall Event at La Lomita

There will be a No Border Wall event tomorrow at La Lomita. There will be a rally, but it won't be a pure political event. Families are encouraged to attend. The Riverside Club will be providing pontoon boat rides. It should be a fun and educational experience for all who attend.

Steve Taylor has more details at the Rio Grande Guardian.

Looking for Mission High School Alumni

I have created a new, FREE website for Mission High School Alumni. It is called Mission Eagles and is hosted on Ning. You can visit http://missioneagles.ning.com to join.


Visit Mission Eagles

Construction at Mission Jr High School

Mission Junior High School
Originally uploaded by shainelee

Yesterday, I went for a walk around Mission to see what is going on. While passing by the Mission Jr. High School, I saw that there is a lot of construction going on. As you can see here, all the concrete walkway has been removed. The same has happened to the parking lot on the South side of the campus. Due to all the construction, there are large portions of the fence that are missing, so access to the campus is unimpeded.

RGV Life Weekend Chat

I'll be doing a live show, RGV Life - Weekend Chat, on BlogTalkRadio today, July 28, at 5 PM. You are welcome to call in and chit chat. I'll try to throw together some talking points. English or Spanish is welcome. Give me a call at 646-716-8227 when the show starts so that you can be on the air with me.

Follow the link below so you can bookmark.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?show_id=41720

Invitation to New Media types in the Rio Grande Valley

If you are into producing video, audio, or other New Media content for the web and live in the Rio Grande Valley, you are welcome to join the RGV New Media community at Ning. Simply go to rgvnewmedia.ning.com and sign up. The benefit of joining us on Ning is that the site is open and accessible to people outside of Ning. So, if somebody is thinking about maybe joining but isn't too sure, they can at least read our discussions and posts to determine if joining such august company is worthwhile.

Another advantage is that Ning provides RSS feeds for the forums and blogs. This allows you to keep up with the latest within the group without having to visit the site. You can simply check your RSS reader for updates.

Ning also provides options for uploading media like videos, photos, and widgets. You never know what's going to be cool through the course of the group's history.

The absolute most important reason to join is that you will get to meet and interact with other people in the Rio Grande Valley who are into New Media. The greatest value you will get out of this are the relationships you can forge. We look forward to meeting you.

Shaine

Ice Cream the Old Fashioned Way

Mission, Texas has a local ice-cream sales shop that outfits employees with a cooler and ice-cream to sell around town. When you drive around town, you will frequently see these young men making the rounds through neighborhoods selling cool treats to the public.

The World Birding Center

The Texas Country Reporter has a segment on the World Birding Center in the Rio Grande Valley. One of the centers is located in Mission, Texas. It is one of the main attractions in the Rio Grande Valley. Bird watchers from all over come to enjoy the birds that pass by here during their annual migrations. Here is the video.

mountain biking at mission trail

Here is video of some local bike riders who frequent the Mission Bike Trail. You'll witness a few falls, but that's to be expected from mountain biking. The point is, they had a good time.

The hike and bike trail started off as the Mission Nature Park, which it still is officially. There were trails made by illegal aliens that bike riders used to frequent. After the bike riders expressed a desire for the City of Mission to develop the trails, the city paved about 5 miles from the Nature Park to Bentsen Park. It was a great job. Unfortunately, many of the existing dirt trails were torn up in the process.

Over time, and with some work, bike riders have made new trails and found new places to practice their mountain biking within the park. Enjoy the video.

La Lomita: South Texas Haunting

Here is a video by Las Milpas Productions about the St. Peter's Novitiate in Mission, Texas. There is sparse information online about the novitiate built by the Oblate priests. We do know that they settled in the La Lomita area around 1877 as a stop between Brownsville and Rio Grande City. For a while, the novitiate was used as a mental health center. There are still priests alive who attended the novitiate when it was still in operation by the Oblates.

The second half is at La Lomita Chapel, not far from the Novitiate, which was the first structure built by the priests. The Chapel is small and open to the public. It stands very close to the Rio Grande river. The chapel is where our city gets its name. Originally, the founders wanted to name it La Lomita, Texas; but, there was already a Lomita, Texas and the U.S. Post office would not take the name. They then settled on naming the town Mission.

As with any old structures, there are always rumors of hauntings. The crew of Las Milpas Production investigates.

Skateboarding in Mission, Texas

I recently came across this video of a group of skaters performing their skills in Mission, Tx. One of the skaters gets hurt on a stunt where he is sliding down a light post, but that's part of the sport. Enjoy.

Heavy Rains in Mission

Flooded Movie Parking Lot
Originally uploaded by shainelee

Mission has had heavy rains this week, with more expected. Today's news tells us that we are still under a threat of flash floods. City officials were giving out sandbags to residents just in case any more heavy rains grace us.

A quick drive by the Sharyland Golf Course shows that it is mostly water hazard at this time. There are a few fallen branches here and there, but not as bad as when there have been violent storms.

Crews are busy pumping water out of low-lying areas and into drainage ditches and street gutters to help dry the flooding sooner. Most of the flooding in Mission is due to slow drainage. Yesterday, for instance, Conway Ave. was flooded and effectively closed to through traffic. Given time, the water flows into the county's drainage system.

Generally, city workers and county workers are quick to respond to get standing water moving. This is both good for convenience of residents and good for combatting the spread of mosquitoes.

Cheap Gas in Mission

Cheap Gas in Mission
Originally uploaded by shainelee

While other stores have raised prices to $2.79, Aziz and HEB on FM 495 (Griffin Parkway) in Mission have remained at $2.64, today.

Flooded Street

Flooded Street
Originally uploaded by shainelee

We had some heavy rains here in Mission, Texas for a short period yesterday. It was enough to flood our street. It drained in a few hours. This is why hurricanes and heavy rains upstream on the Rio Grande are a concern around here. This is why it was so important for Congress to appropriate money to strengthen the levee system that protects. us.

The Snow Hut

The Snow Hut
Originally uploaded by shainelee

We stopped for snow cones and a marranada at the Snow Hut in Mission yesterday. The snow cones are self-explanatory. A marranada is corn, a form of powdered chile, lemon, white cheese (Mexican), and Fritos.

Drive Down Conway

Here is a video of driving down Conway Avenue through the middle of Mission, Texas. We start from Palmhurst and finish in the community of Madero, a small community South of Mission. Madero is less than 1 mile away from the Mexican border. Unlike Palmhurst, Madero is a part of Mission.

Play Windows Media version

Video About Mission

I've been experimenting with video lately. I think I'll be posting video about Mission soon as I live here. Don't expect high production quality yet as I'm still in the learning curve. Keep visiting for the latest.

Starting a Podcaster or Blogger Meetup Group in the RGV

An Idea

I am doing some preliminary planning to start a Podcaster and/or Blogger Meetup group in the Rio Grande Valley. I know that there is interest in some kind of Internet or technology group in the area. Thus far, nobody has moved to organize a group. I have really enjoyed the friendship and information sharing that I experienced briefly with the San Antonio Podcasters. I would like to bring that to the Rio Grande Valley.

Precautions

Instinctually, I am against putting money into a meetup group without first knowing if people will show up. However, it's a Catch 22. If I don't pay up, how will others know? So, before I do that, I need to contact potential members and ask them about their level of interest in such a group. As in business, you should find the customers before you commit resources. That is not to say that the group would be a money-making venture. Simply, I should know how popular the idea is before spending my hard-earned money.

Benefits of an RGV Meetup

One thing I have asked myself is, why would I undertake such a project? Why would anybody care? Well, there are some obvious benefits that I have seen with my friends in San Antonio.

• Friendship and Community. It is always great to know people who share your interests. If you play a sport, it's fun to hang out with other players. If you collect stamps, it's good to hang out with other stamp collectors. Similarly, if you are a blogger or podcaster, it makes sense to hang out with other bloggers and podcasters. That's what I want, to hang out with other bloggers and podcasters locally.


• Recognition. As an individual podcaster, you have to work pretty damn hard to get recognition from the online community or even locally. As a part of a Rio Grande Valley Podcaster/Blogger Group, it sounds really official and professional. You get some frakin' respect.


• Knowledge and skill trading. This is perhaps the best benefit of all. Members of a Podcasting or Blogging group can trade knowledge and teach each other skills to help each other improve.


• Networking. You never know if one of the other Podcasters/Bloggers in the group might be a great connection for you in the job market. You're in the group because you have skills or want to get skills. Who better than a fellow podcaster or blogger to recognize your skills and recommend you for a project of job?


• Link trading. This is vital to get your podcast or blog off the ground. You are more likely to link to people you know than somebody you don't. As a group, you can easily spread link love to give each others sites more exposure.

I am sure that there are more compelling reasons to organize a group; but this is all I could think of at this time.

Looking Ahead

I am slighlty apprehensive at the undertaking because I don't know how it will turn out. I have a rough idea, but no detailed plan. All I can do is what Jack Welch said about strategy, "pick a general direction and implement like hell."

Coming Back

I've been busy with work and other projects. I will be coming back to keep MissionTexas.net alive. In the meantime, you can find me over at Shaine: Life Without a Manual.