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THIS MONTH
SAVE THE DATE
Annual Meeting set for May 10
SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE
Academic, vocational assistance
PORTABLE POWERHOUSE
New mobile substation rolls out
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MONTHLY MEETING
ABOVE: Luling’s 2015 Watermelon Thump queen
Kyleigh Peters participates in her hometown parade.
BELOW: Luling’s 1988 Watermelon Thump queen
Tandra Damon and husband, Bubba, have hauled the
Thump float to hundreds of small-town parades over
the past 20 years. FAR RIGHT: Kyleigh Peters takes
a selfie with boyfriend Justin Hardin (left), mother
Carrie Gray (right) and brother Aiden Gray (center).
By Denise Gamino
M
ore than 20 years ago, Tandra and Bubba Damon
answered a newspaper ad looking for someone to
get the show on the road. The beloved red-and-green
Luling Watermelon Thump parade float — a version
of which has entertained
crowds since 1954 —
needed to be hauled from one small
town festival to another throughout
Central Texas to promote tourism.
The Damons, a young married
couple with a baby, needed extra
income and were hired as the
official float freighters.
Sarah Beal photo
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Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE March 2016
bluebonnet.coop
Jay Godwin photo
But, over the years, their behind-the-scenes
job expanded into much more than just longhaul transport on weekends. They have become
surrogate parents to the annual Watermelon Thump
queen who rides the float: leaving Luling at 5
a.m. on Saturday mornings with a sleepy teenager
allows lots of time to discuss life’s ups and downs.
“I’m your second momma, because I’m gonna
be with you every weekend,” Tandra tells each
Thump queen.
Tandra knows the drill; she was Thump queen
in 1988 and the Damons’ daughter, RaVana, was
Thump queen in 2009.
Photo courtesy of Kylei
The Damons have become civic ambassadors on
gh Peters
a first-name basis with scores of out-of-town festival officials. And they
are DIY designers who tweak displays on the Thump float every few years to keep it fresh.
The current $9,000 Thump float has a miniature black pump jack in honor of Luling’s oil
history and three-dimensional watermelon slices, including a large one serving as a backdrop
for the queen’s podium.
Until recently, the Damons even stored the Watermelon Thump parade float at their house
on the outskirts of Luling.
Continued on next page
bluebonnet.coop
Bluebonnet’s Board of Directors will meet at 9 a.m.
March 15, at Bluebonnet’s Headquarters, 155 Electric
Ave. (formerly 650 Texas Hwy. 21 East), Bastrop. Find
the agenda and last-minute updates March 11 at
bluebonnet.coop. Hover your cursor over ‘next board
meeting’ on our home page.
CONTACT US
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative
P.O. Box 729
Bastrop, TX 78602
Member services: 800-842-7708, Monday through
Friday, 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Email: [email protected]
OUTAGES
Call 800-949-4414 if you have a power outage. Keep
up with outages 24/7 at bluebonnet.coop. Hover your
cursor over ‘outage report’ on our home page. You
can also send us a text message: To get started, text
BBOUTAGE to 85700 and follow the prompts. Save
that number in your contacts, perhaps as “Bluebonnet
Outages.” If your power goes out, text OUT to that
number. If you have our free mobile app for Android or
iPhone, you can report an outage on your smartphone.
ONLINE
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Connect with us on LinkedIn!
Watch our videos on YouTube!
ABOUT THIS ISSUE
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative produced the bluebordered pages 20-27 in this issue of the magazine
with content that is of specific interest or relevance to
Bluebonnet members. The rest of the magazine’s content
is distributed statewide to any member of an electric
cooperative in Texas. For information about the magazine,
contact Janet Wilson at 512-750-5483 or email
[email protected].
March 2016 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
­­Texas Co-op Power
21
Jay Godwin photos
ABOVE: Since 1881, Maifest in Brenham has celebrated German
heritage with an annual parade and festival. RIGHT: Children ride
on the Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative float in the 2015 Maifest
parade.
ABOVE: A colorful float with elaborate trains for the Maifest royalty was a
crowd pleaser.
Continued from previous page
Tandra and Bubba Damon are
parade people, part of a sprawling
unsung backstage network that keeps
community parades in Texas as big
and popular as ever, even in today’s
fast-paced world. Annual parades
in small Texas towns can last for
hours because of the large number of
festooned floats, decorated cars and
trucks, marching bands, horses and
riders, and dignitaries who often walk
the route.
Luling’s Watermelon Thump parade
is one of the largest small-town
parades in Texas. In 2015, the Thump
parade had 45 large, colorful floats,
most featuring the local festival
queens from small towns as far away
as Lampasas, 120 miles northwest of
Luling.
The Watermelon Thump parade is
June 25 this year.
“In a small town, you wouldn’t
think they’d have (so many) floats,
but it’s quite a thing,” said Robert
Middleton, owner of Southwest
Parades in San Antonio. “It’s kind of
a Texas thing.”
Middleton knows parades. His
company builds floats for San
Antonio’s renowned annual 11-day
Fiesta, whose Battle of Flowers
Parade is the second largest parade
in the country, dwarfed only by the
Tournament of Roses Parade in
Pasadena, Calif., to celebrate New
Year’s Day.
Middleton’s decades-old company
built several Watermelon Thump
floats, a recent first-ever float for
Karnes City, floats for Buccaneer
Days in Corpus Christi, and H-E-B’s
traveling grocery float. In the past,
Southwest Parades has built floats
for Lockhart and Pleasanton, among
others. In the past, Southwest Parades
has built floats for Pleasanton, Karnes
City, Sinton and Poteet, among others.
Today’s all-weather floats are made
of plastic floral sheeting and fringe.
Decades ago, floats were created by
pushing tissue paper flowers into
chicken wire, but rain and wind
could damage them. Real flowers are
rarely used for floats, Middleton said,
because they wilt so quickly.
“Every one of these small towns
has a float,” Middleton said. “It’s
something. It’s a whole different culture, I
tell you.’’
Here’s how it works: Many small
towns have an annual festival, such as
the Watermelon Thump, that includes
crowning a high school student as queen,
with runner-up contestants serving as her
court. They ride on the official festival
float, not only in the hometown parade but
also in parades held in other small towns
celebrating their own local festivals.
“You come to my parade and I’ll go to
your parade,” is the agreement among
small towns, Middleton said. “In other
words, if Luling goes to Yoakum (for its
annual Tom Tom Festival honoring the
tomato), then Yoakum is obligated to come
back to Luling’s parade.”
Kyleigh Peters was crowned queen of
Luling’s Watermelon Thump in June
2015 and the very next weekend began
appearing in other festival parades with
her princess and duchess court. Kyleigh
traveled with her mother and Tandra
Damon to Seguin (Independence Day),
Lampasas (Spring Ho Festival), Moulton
(Jamboree), Schulenburg (Schulenburg
Festival), Fredericksburg (Gillespie
County Fair), LaGrange (Fayette County
Fair), Karnes City (Lonesome Dove Fest),
New Braunfels (Comal County Fair),
Halletsville (Kolache Fest), Gonzales
(Come and Take It Celebration), Yorktown
(Western Days), Pleasanton (Cowboy
Homecoming) and Flatonia (Czhilispiel)
before breaking for the winter months.
The trio, and Kyleigh’s court, will begin
traveling most weekends again in April
to attend the Poteet Strawberry Festival,
Fiesta in San Antonio, the Buccaneer
Days festival in Corpus Christi and other
springtime parades. Kyleigh is obligated to
travel to other parades to earn the $1,250
Thump queen scholarship.
Parade travel is not posh.
Tandra Damon usually drives a red or
green pickup donated by Luling Chevrolet
for the weekend drive. She not only hauls
the 3,500-pound float along the highway,
she also pulls it during each parade.
Sometimes, Tandra provides a unique
dressing room for the Thump queen after
pulling into the pre-assigned float slot in a
parade staging area early in the morning.
There is no green room for parade royalty
in small towns. Kyleigh’s Thump queen
dress is a white Cinderella-like ball gown
with a big hoop skirt. Tandra holds the
Continued on next page
Photos courtesy of Kyleigh Peters
TOP: Former Luling Watermelon Thump queen Tandra
Damon pins the crown on 2015 Thump queen Kyleigh
Peters before a parade. Thump duchess Natalie Reyna is
far left; behind Damon is duchess Brandy Glover.
BOTTOM: When she was 3, Kyleigh Peters dressed as a
Thump queen and won best costume in the young child
division of Luling’s annual Halloween Spook Parade.
BELOW: The McDade Watermelon Festival float passes
by the Caldwell County courthouse in Lockhart during
the 2015 Chisholm Trail Roundup Grand Parade.
Queens Emily Griffith and her niece Karly Griffith
wave to the crowd.
BELOW: The 2015 Watermelon Thump parade featured 45
floats, including this one sponsored by the San Antonio Lutheran
Coronation. RIGHT: H-E-B grocery’s company float makes a turn
during the 2015 Thump parade.
ABOVE: Photos from 1929 capture glimpses of the Central Texas
parade scene back in the day. A peacock float is decorated in
all its glory for the 1929 Maifest parade.1 A crowd bustles as the
procession rounds a corner at the town, square in Brenham.2
Maifest originated in Germany but today enjoys widespread
popularity in German-settled areas.
1 Winkelmann Photograph Collection, The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of
Texas at Austin, image e_wk_0260; 2 Winkelmann Photograph Collection, The Dolph Briscoe Center for
American History, The University of Texas at Austin, image e_wk_0257
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Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE March 2016
Jay Godwin photos
bluebonnet.coop
bluebonnet.coop
March 2016 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
­­Texas Co-op Power
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Parades all around the Bluebonnet region in 2016
Mark your calendars for local parades during 2016 in the
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative service area. Parades range
from elaborate hours-long spectacles to a nod to pets, teddy
bears and patriotism. Be sure to check parade websites for
locations and start times as an event date approaches. For a
list of more parades, visit bluebonnet.coop/parades.
Luling Watermelon Thump Parade, June 25, Luling,
watermelonthump.com, 830-875-3214
Maifest Parade, May 7, Brenham, maifest.org
Festival of Lights Parade, Dec. 3, Smithville,
smithvilletx.org, 512-237-2313
Lee County Fair Parade, May 21, Giddings,
leecountyfairtx.com, 979-542-3455 or 979-492-2373
Chisholm Trail Roundup Parade, June 11, Lockhart,
chisholmtrailroundup.com, 512-398-2818
Round Top 4th of July Parade, July 4, Round Top,
roundtop.org, 979-249-4042
Bastrop Homecoming Parade, Aug. 6, Bastrop,
bastrophomecomingrodeo.org, 512-303-0558
Cotton Gin Festival Parade, April 16, Burton,
cottonginmuseum.org, 979-289-3378.
— Allyson Clayton
SAVE THE DATE
Bluebonnet elects Board members May 10
B
luebonnet Electric Cooperative’s Annual
Meeting this year is May 10, at the Sons of
Hermann Hall in Giddings. Four of 11 seats
on the Board of Directors are up for election that
day and co-op officials will present members with
the annual state-of-the-cooperative message.
Board members serve staggered three-year terms.
Seats up for election this year represent District 1 —
Caldwell, Guadalupe, Gonzales and Hays counties;
District 3 — Bastrop County; District 5 — Burleson
County; and District 7 — Washington County.
The deadline to declare candidacy, file required
documentation and pay fees to seek a seat on the
Board was Feb. 10 (after the deadline for this issue
of the magazine). Look for information about
candidates and more details about the Annual
Meeting in Bluebonnet’s pages inside April’s
Texas Co-op Power magazine or on our website,
bluebonnet.coop.
Sons of Hermann Hall is at 1031 County Road
223, Giddings. Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. and
the meeting begins at 2:30 p.m. If you cannot attend,
you can vote by proxy. Proxy forms will be mailed
to Bluebonnet members in March.
If you have questions about the meeting, call
800-842-7708 from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, or email memberservices@
bluebonnet.coop.
DEADLINE THIS MONTH!
25 scholarships for trade and technical programs
25 scholarships for colleges or universities
Jay Godwin photos
LEFT: Tim Bosse drives a John Deere Model
70 in the 2015 Cotton Gin Festival parade in
Burton. ABOVE: A Chevrolet Belair entertains
parade viewers at the festival.
Continued from previous page
dress up high, allowing the skirt to completely
hide Kyleigh as she slips off her Thump T-shirt
and shorts.
“I put my dress on right there on the street
by the car,” Kyleigh said, and, “I can do my
hair without looking and I can do most of my
makeup without looking.”
Tandra drives alone these days because of
Bubba’s work schedule and because he can’t
draw a hauler’s check now that he’s on the
Board of Directors for the Watermelon Thump.
But the ever-entertaining Bubba continues to
give each Thump Queen a nickname. He teases
Kyleigh Peters with “Pugsly,” a word that
popped into his head for no particular reason.
Bubba Damon’s thump chaperone role, which
included reading the local newspaper to the
Thump queen and explaining a town’s historical
highlights, is immortalized in the 2007 book
“Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar
Charms of Small-Town America” by Bill Geist,
a CBS Sunday Morning show correspondent.
The book captures the then-outgoing Thump
queen, Catherine Johnson, thanking Bubba in
her emotional farewell address:
“Bubba truly made an impact on me…Bubba
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taught me to just lay back and laugh...One
time I passed out and Bubba threw me over
his shoulder…The Saturdays that were the
best were just me and Bubba, the two of us…
Thanks, Bubba, for making this year everything
I wanted and some things I didn’t want.”
Bubba chokes up when he reads that passage.
“We were in Fredericksburg,” Bubba said.
Catherine’s mother, riding in the pickup with
Bubba as they pulled the float, glanced out the
back window at her daughter and said, “She
doesn’t look well.”
Bubba reacted immediately. “I stopped the
truck (in the middle of the parade), ran up on the
float and she just fell and I caught her.” She had
fainted from the heat.
Another parade moment Bubba can’t forget
occurred with Thump queen Raven Robbins and
her father, who rode shotgun with Bubba during
a parade. “Her dad just looked out the back
window and said, ‘She’s beautiful, isn’t she?’
It just touches your heart to hear someone talk
about their daughter that way.”
Parade trips are buddy trips. Enduring
memories are made backstage as well as in
the limelight. Many people may believe that
a town’s float gets its moment in the sun only
once a year. But every town has volunteers or
Texas Co-op Power BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE March 2016
paid staff who work nearly year-round to travel
with the float to show off their town’s colors,
legends and mascots, be they watermelons,
peaches, strawberries, tomatoes or a Texas
Revolution flag.
The roadie life of a Texas community float is
“a little quiet story no one knows about,” says
Bill Perryman of San Antonio, who was part of
Luling’s parade production team in the 1980s
and 1990s. He designed the Watermelon Thump
float that won the top trophy in the 1986 Texas
Sesquicentennial parade. That float celebrated
150 years of Texas history with a replica of
the San Jacinto monument, a revolving star,
a fabricated horse-drawn wagon filled with
watermelons and a backdrop of the six flags of
Texas. Perryman is now a professional history
tour guide and educator who performs historical
character portrayals such as Sam Houston and
Paul Revere in school classrooms as part of a
Texas Commission on the Arts program. Parade
float work may go unrecognized, but the travel
and time make it possible for tens of thousands
of Texans to celebrate their community once a
year with a warm embrace from other towns.
“There’s a tremendous sense of pride in a
parade and a festival,” Perryman said. “It helps
develop that sense of community.’’ n
bluebonnet.coop
bluebonnet.coop
Q:
I recently saw an advertisement
in the newspaper about a
Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative
Town Hall meeting. Can you tell me
more about this event? Why is the
co-op hosting this meeting and are
any more scheduled?
A:
You are in luck. Bluebonnet
scheduled five Town Hall meetings
to give our co-op members and the public
the chance to meet the people who run
the co-op and discuss
Bluebonnet’s future.
While three meetings
were held in February,
there are two more
this month.
On March 2, a
Town Hall meeting
will be held at Manor
Independent School
District’s Board
Room at the Central
Office Building, 10335 U.S. 290 E.,
Manor; on March 3, the final Town Hall
meeting will be held at First Lockhart
Baptist Church’s Connection Center, 200
S. Blanco St., Lockhart.
This is a great opportunity to meet
Bluebonnet’s executive staff and key
personnel and learn about the benefits of
being a member of an electric cooperative. Wonder when and why we need
to be on your property? Just ask. Have
questions about your account? Member
service representatives will be on hand
to answer all member-related questions.
Want a security light installed like the one
your neighbor has? You can request that
service at the Town Hall meeting.
There will be information booths
with handouts, door prizes and light
refreshments. If the Town Hall meetings
are successful, we may schedule them on
a regular basis.
Can’t make one of the five Town Hall
meetings? You still have a chance to
interact with co-op officials during the
Annual Meeting May 10 in Giddings.
That’s when co-op directors are elected
and Bluebonnet members hear a state-ofthe-cooperative presentation.
If you have more questions about
our Town Hall meetings or the Annual
Meeting, call a member services
representative at 800-842-7708 or email
[email protected].
— Marc Perez, Manager,
Member Services Call Center
March 2016 BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
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