Frog Gone

"And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people." (Exodus 8:11)

Photo ftom Pinterest.

Second only to the courthouse, it is the most photographed structure in Kermit, Texas. It is mentioned in at least two travel books, this one and this one. And it's about to be painted over. And only a few of us, it seems, are sad about it.
From CBS7:
Posted: Friday, July 18, 2014 7:13 pm | Updated: 1:27 pm, Mon Jul 21, 2014.
by DeAnn Lopez

(Watch the video here.)

KERMIT - It seems that Kermit the Frog has over stayed his visit in one West Texas city.

The Muppets star's face was painted on the city's water tower nine years ago when Kermit came down to celebrate his 50th anniversary of being in the entertainment industry.

City officials have been planning Kermit’s departure for a little over a year now.

Even though it won't be cheap to paint over the Muppets star, it's a price they’re willing to pay to show their community pride.

Back in 2005, Kermit Texas was the first stop that Kermit the Frog made while on his 50th Anniversary World Tour.

As part of his visit, Disney was given permission to paint Kermit’s face on the city's main water tower.

But, in just a few weeks the high school’s mascot will be buzzing its way back on to the tower.

"It's been the desire of many citizens that we make this change," Mayor Jerry Phillips said.

The water tower isn't the only thing that Kermit the Frog left his mark on.

Kermit the Frog Boulevard, which runs directly in front of City Hall, will once again be named South Tornillo Street.

CBS7 photo.

During Thursday night’s city council meeting, council voted to re-paint not only the Kermit the Frog tower, but their other water tower, which is going to cost them $123,500.

But not all residents agree with council’s decision.

 "I kind of don't see the point of them wanting to recover the Kermit the Frog, we got a lot of attention even with the Kermit the Frog festivities that still go on, I mean the Kermit Celebration Days, which they call now,” Kermit resident Letecia Garcia said. “It brings in a lot of publicity for Kermit."

Long-time resident Jaime Morales says he can't wait until those paint brushes hit Kermit the Frogs face.

"I know Yellow Jackets has been up for the longest time, I came to school here (Kermit High), I was proud to be from this school, it doesn’t make sense why we would still have a Frog,” Morales said. “It’s time to let go and let our bee come back."

If all goes according to plan, both towers will be painted sometime in mid-August.

(I just found this: About a month after Kermit's visit in 2005, a UFO was reported near Kermit. Muppets from Space? - DK)

Prada Marfa

Photo from A.Addison's blog.

(Previously we told you about a piece of Playboy artwork in Marfa.  Well, that was only the beginning of Marfa's troubles with outdoor art.)
From the Huffington Post:

Prada Marfa, a destination for fashion, art and road trip-loving folks alike, might be closing up "shop." We use the term lightly, of course, since the West Texas storefront isn't a retail shop at all, but rather an art installation set up by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset back in 2005. The beloved Prada building is now being called out by the Texas Department of Transportation, which has deemed the structure as an "illegal outdoor advertising sign," the New York Times reports.

The main issue is that the Prada logo, prominently displayed on the 15-foot-by-25-foot "store," is considered a sign under state and federal law, thereby violating the 1965 Highway Beautification Act (even though technically Prada Marfa sits on private property). Between the countless numbers of Instagram and Facebook photos taken at the locale -- not to mention Beyonce's viral personal snap -- since its erection eight years ago, we're not really sure why lawmakers are deciding to act on this now (though the Times names a Playboy installation in Marfa as catalyst).

We are sure, however, that we'll miss Prada Marfa if the state decides on a forced removal. After all, Miuccia Prada approved (not commissioned) the project and picked out the 20 shoes sitting in the front window. The message Elmgreen and Dragset set out to convey with their installation, a commentary on the mushrooming influence of luxury brands and consumerist culture, is one that Miuccia herself subscribes to. "I'm completely against the idea that we do fashion for an elite," the designer, who has eschewed money-making, mass-market designer collaborations, has said. "That would be too easy, in a way."

Plus, Miuccia has a soft spot for the art world, integrating Surrealism components into her groundbreaking fashion collections and even commissioning a three-story slide from German artist Carsten Höller that runs from her window to the outside of Prada's Milan headquarters. We're sure Miuccia, along with the rest of the camera-happy travelers in West Texas, will be sad to see the art-meets-fashion monument go if Prada Marfa is torn down.

Bring the Marshmallows Part 2!

Liz and Robert are visible above.

My camera's battery was iffy here, so lucky for me that Creating Memories documented the entire homecoming parade and bonfire.  Be sure to see all 324 of their pictures.

 

Robert and a friend.

 

My shadow.

This was Kermit's first bonfire since 2010, due to burn ban issues.  This year, the county granted an exemption for one night only.

The football team arrives.

Of course, this is all entirely safe.  No one ever throws aerosol cans or bullets or anything in the fire.  Everyone acts responsibly.

Looks like a fire to me.  Yup.

 

 

Bring the Marshmallows!




From Winkler County News.

Click to enlarge.

Also in Grandfalls ...

From collectintexasgal.

 

This is a unique horse fountain in Grandfalls.

You can guess where the water emerges.

 



Fight Like a Girl!

 I saw this today in Grandfalls, TX, but I didn't have my camera.  So thanks Yahoo images!

From a Facebook page. Used without permission.

It's a breast cancer awareness tow truck from Neal Pool Rekers in Odessa.

 



From Neal Pool Rekers' Facebook page.
Used again without permission.

 

The back of the truck says "Towing for Tatas". 

You Had Us at Hello!

Check out the opening line of Brenda Chapman's new mystery, entitled My Sister's Keeper, which is scheduled for publication this month:

"It was the middle of a steamy August night in Kermit, Texas, and my bedside phone was ringing."

 

 

We've gotta read it!  Stay tuned!

 

 

Matilda the UTPB Ghost

 

(Liz graduated from UTPB and for a summer she worked in the library, which at that time was housed in the Mesa Building.  She never experienced Matilda firsthand, but she can testify to the strange noises that occur in the building late at night, as well as the reactions of students and staff who had felt or heard something out of the ordinary ...

I briefly mentioned the Matilda legend once before in these pages.  The OA ran this article Sunday as part of the 40th anniversary of the university.)

From the Odessa American:

by Celinda Hawkins

I was doing some online perusing recently and came across an Odessa ghost story that I had never heard before involving a haunting in the hallowed halls of UTPB.

In 2009, the good students at the Mesa Journal did some digging and found out that yes, there have been stories about a ghost at UTPB for years and her name is “Matilda.” According to a story penned by Amber Batura, the most common legend claims that Matilda was the wife or girlfriend of a construction worker on campus while the Mesa Building was being built in the early 1970s. Legend has it (remember, this is legend and speculation, not fact) he may have killed her (although the circumstances are vague) and buried her remains somewhere in the building, perhaps somewhere in the foundation of stairwell six.

The legend of Matilda is alive and well — even if she isn’t. The “Matilda” part of the campus lore during orientation is always a favorite of new students. Last week, orientation students could not wait to get to stairwell six.

“They took a photo there and gathered around like they had their arms around Matilda,” said Jessica Zuniga, director of student life. Sadly, Matilda did not appear in the photo. Maybe she was there…in spirit.

Zuniga said there have even been strange orbs that have appeared in photos taken in the Student Union Building.

“If you ask any of the folks that work there or the students — everybody has Matilda stories,” Zuniga told me, especially the security guards who are there late at night. One said Matilda talked to him and may have even forced a soda out of the machine when he was thirsty, Zuniga said.

Some folks were talking about the story on Facebook: a woman said she had always heard about the legend of the ghostly apparition of a woman was haunting the hallowed halls of the Mesa Building at UTPB.

Michele Thompson posted that while she was a student at UTPB there were reports that the gal ghost was haunting the student union area and had been spotted on a stairwell in the building. She admitted hearing lots of different versions, but wanted to quash the rumor mill once and for all.

It was obviously no secret since lots of other folks weighed in. Cindy Wagnon Cole recalled in a post the tale of a UTPB officer in 1985 who said he saw the ghost as he was locking up the doors on the stairwell at the Mesa Building.

“As he is opening the door he saw a figure of a woman with long hair, arms with no legs, staring right at him and in an instant she moved to her right and disappeared,” Cole posted. “Within 2-3 seconds after that the large metal door to the stairwell where she disappeared SLAMMED open!”

She said the officer recalled feeling a bit like a jittery, bug –eyed Don Knotts because when he ran back to the office, he was shaking so bad he couldn’t get his keys in the door.

“…When the dispatcher came out and she said you look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” she posted. “without knowing he really did.”

According to Batura’s report, Matilda mostly haunts the Student Union women’s restroom, the fourth floor and the sixth stairwell. But the reporter also uncovered stories of hearing the voice of a sad and forlorn female in an eerie whisper beckoning him to “come here.”

Other former students and employees have heard of the Matilda legend too. “

I went to school at UTPB and later worked there for five years,” Janice Slaughter Golden posted. “I heard stories from staff members about seeing “Matilda.” One was the Chief of Campus Police at the time, who told a story about doing his security check of the gym building. He said no one was supposed to be in the building and all the lights were out, but he heard noises coming from the weight room. He went to check....no one there. I guess Matilda liked to work out!...”

So if you happen to be at the Mesa Building walking up or down stairwell six and you see an orb, feel a cold chill or see a soda coming flying out of the machine — don’t fret, it’s just Matilda saying hello.

Contact Celinda Hawkins on Twitter at @OAciti or call 432-333-7779.

Bunnytown?

From Fox News:
MARFA, Texas – A Texas agency says Playboy has 45 days to remove a neon-lit 40-foot high sculpture of the magazine's iconic bunny logo from a West Texas road.

The Texas Department of Transportation ordered the removal of the sign, called "Playboy Marfa," because Playboy does not have a license for outdoor advertisement in Texas.

The El Paso Times reports officials representing Playboy said the company has not violated any laws and will try to resolve the agency's concerns.

Officials were alerted about the sign after Marfa resident Lineaus Lorette filed a complaint. "I thought it was a sign -- a corporate logo. And in Texas you can't put up signs without permits," Lorette said. "I checked and it didn't have a permit so I filed a complaint."

Lorette says some Marfa residents are upset the company has used their town, known as a hub for artists, for marketing purposes.

"I was really ambivalent. It's a beautifully made sign," Lorette said. "The problem is that it's a sign. The rules have to apply to everybody."

Veronica Beyer, TxDOT's director of media relations in Austin said that the agency is treating the case like any other instance in which someone puts up a road side advertisement without a license in an area that does not qualify.

The sign is part of a roadside art display designed by New York contemporary artist Richard Phillips and Playboy's creative director of special projects Neville Wakefield. The installation features the offending sign perched atop a post and a concrete platform displaying a stylized version of 1972 Dodge Charger, a classic American "muscle car."

PR Consulting, a firm that represents Playboy, said that they do not consider that "the art installation by Richard Phillips violates any laws, rules or regulations. Our legal counsel is currently looking into this matter and we hope to resolve this issue satisfactorily and as quickly as possible."

Located in the heart of West Texas, Marfa is known as a hub for artists and creative types. It is also no stranger to out-of-the-ordinary roadside art exhibitions. Prada Marfa, an installation that mimics one of the high-end fashion brand's stores in the middle of a pasture was erected in 2005 along the same road as the Playboy display.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Monahans, Texas is getting a Bush's Chicken!  Finally, Monahans residents have a reason to live!

The Yellow Jacket Through the Years

From Kermit on Tour.

Speaking of Yellow Jackets, here is an image I've been looking for. It's the 1958 Kermit Yellow Jacket mascot as painted by local artist Michael Vargas:

This somewhat poutier version appears on the wall of the high school basketball gym, which sadly is soon to be demolished:

In the 1990's and 2000's, a modern stylized version is used:

And beginning last year, this bee from the '60's has made a comeback, with the caption "Tradition Old School Style."

Is Kermit Getting Tired of Kermit the Frog?

(We at Frogtown have long celebrated the now-fading images of Kermit the Frog which first appeared in 2005 when he visited our town. See here, here, here and here. But some residents and former residents of Kermit may be feeling differently ... )

From NewsWest9:
Posted: Jul 24, 2012

From Kermit on Tour.

By Sylvia Gonzalez NewsWest 9

KERMIT - It's not easy being green in Kermit.

Several people in the small town of Kermit have taken to Facebook to express their disgust for Kermit the Frog. Some want to see him permanently removed while others like having the amphibian around.

"We were proud to be the fighting Yellow Jackets, we've never been the frogs," former Kermit resident, Allen Vinyard, said.

The Facebook page, Kermit Memories, has been seeing more comments than usual and it all revolves around Kermit the Frog. There are people who believe they're seeing too much of him in town.

Vinyard lived in Kermit during his school years, and even though he no longer lives there, he says its embarrassing the reaction people get when he reveals where he is from.

"It's insulting to me when I tell someone where I grew up and they say oh like Kermit the Frog, and I say no like Kermit Roosevelt, which the town was named after," Vinyard said.

Many of the residents that NewsWest 9 spoke to didn't have any negative feelings towards the frog, as a matter of fact they are proud of it.

Austin Williamson is the starting quarterback for the high school football team and he says when he plays in other towns he actually likes hearing comments about Kermit the Frog.

"I take it as a compliment because I want a lot of people to know what Kermit is, but you have to tell them what it is, what it actually is. It's more than just a frog. I think it is just a little design, there's nothing wrong with it just being there," Williamson said.

Some of the comments on Facebook read, "The stupid frog was nothing until some California hippies got lucky. Kermit, Texas is way more important than the stuffed sock."

Another one read, "death due to an allergic reaction to a yellow jacket."

Lane Nutt is a business owner and he says he uses the frog as a conversational piece.

"In my business, I have lots of calls and they always make some comment about Kermit the Frog, it's kinda like a conversational piece, it doesn't bother me," Nutt said.

Nina Huda is a former resident of Kermit, who says the Facebook comments is just the beginning of what they plan on doing to get rid of the frog.

"We are going to be doing petitions and sending them to the City Manager's office," Huda said. Many residents say they're subject is clear. "Get rid of the frog," Huda said.



What a Couple!

From the Odessa American:
BY NATHANIEL MILLER

They’re known as Whataburger’s biggest fans.

At least, that’s what the orange and white T-shirts that Karl and Carol Hoepfner wore had printed as they sat down for breakfast Tuesday morning at the Whataburger restaurant on East Eighth Street.

The couple’s morning stop was No. 671, Karl Hoepfner said, on their trip to visit the chain’s 735 stores in 10 states. Stops No. 672 and 673 were to come later Tuesday as the couple visited the locations on Andrews Highway — Whataburger’s first ever A-frame restaurant — and East 42nd Street.

Traveling in their van full of Whataburger memorabilia that they’ve collected since their trip began, the Rockport, Texas, couple and retired U.S. Army master sergeants have been checking in at every store since starting their journey April 2011. To document their trip, the couple has been putting their receipts from the restaurants and other items, such as postcards and pictures, in different three-ring binders to document their trip.

Stores have also been giving up their plastic order number bearing the couple’s permanently assigned waiting number: 13.

“In our hometown, you can’t even get that number,” Karl Hoepfner, 75, said.

Earning the title “biggest fans” happened in November 2010 after an essay contest from Whataburger was brought to Karl’s attention asking people for submissions on why they felt were the organizations biggest fan A published author, Karl Hoepfner said he submitted a 400 word essay about the couple’s first trip to Whataburger in San Angelo in 1963 while the two were still in the Air Force and how Carol and himself have had visited Whataburger restaurants at least 7,000 times since then.

“We’ve been all over the world and we haven’t tasted a better burger,” Karl Hoepfner said.

The trip to visit all the stores started in April 2011 after Carol, 73, was diagnosed with eye cancer and underwent 17 treatments in 23 nights in Houston, her husband said. Karl Hoepfner also said his wife’s cancer is in remission and she has a hard time seeing.

The couple then decided to visit each store in the Houston area, 90 in total, and decided to visit them all. Karl Hoepfner said the company didn’t start taking notice until their 200th stop.

“I just enjoy seeing the people and talking to them,” Carol Hoepfner said.

A meal for the couple usually consists of their favorites, a Whataburger for Karl and a Justaburger — a Whataburger Jr. with only mustard, pickles and onions — for Carol Hoepfner. Carol also said she likes the organization’s chicken strips.

To keep from gaining weight from the large amount of Whataburger the couple consumes, the couple tries to avoid items things such as onion rings while ordering. Karl Hoepfner also said the couple walks all the time and he rides his bike at least once a day. His wife however, has an easier time keeping weight off then him.

“She weighed 113 pounds when I met her and she hasn’t changed since,” Karl Hoepfner joked.

Karl Hoepfner also said the company was big on giving back to the community, citing the work the Whataburger Family Foundation did after Katrina, and he and his wife try to do the same.

Winning $8,000 after his essay was picked by Whataburger, The Hoepfners decided to send $7,000 back and got 1,000 $7 gift cards instead. The couple then handed out their gift cards to help feed homeless people. Karl Hoepfner said it took them about a year before they finally ran out of cards.

The couple’s next stop will be in Midland and then move on to the Dallas area June 23, Karl Hoepfner said. After that, the couple plans on taking a cruise to Alaska for their 55th anniversary.

Karl Hoepfner also said he has a book in mind about the experience and plans to titled it after the license plates on their vehicle, “MSGTS 2.”

“It’s all about our life in the service and our trips,” Karl Hoepfner said. “It’s been a lot of fun.”

Transitions

From Liz's Facebook on June 1:

 

"Robert has 'graduated' from Junior High and is starting high school next year.  Today was my last working day at Kermit Elementary.  We are both stepping into new territory and are eagerly waiting to see what God has in store!"

Liz Moves to First Grade!

After four years teaching second grade, Liz has been moved to first grade.  At first, they were going to move her to kindergarten, but I think they witnessed her reaction and they changed their minds.  Please refer to last year's article to compare and contrast the old room with the new.

So here we are in room B-120, all the way across the building from A-105.  Our theme was going to be apples this year but we wound up doing bugs again, with apples as a sort of sub-theme.  We wouldn't, after all, have apples without bees.  Oh, and this is one of our two fire extinguishers.

This reading canopy (draped over our $2.49 reading couch) is the envy of the school.  Liz found it at Oriental Trading.

A prairie dog from Science Spectrum keeps the bugs and the kids company.

The alphabet and the kids' cubbies.  (No lockers in first grade.)

The traffic light discipline chart from previous years ...

... has been replaced by this possibly friendlier set of apples.

Tattling Turtle has returned from last year.

Franklin.

The bug curtains from last year are back.

Liz got this pocket chart stand from Really Good Stuff.

Kermit and the quasi-legal pinecone.

This angry Yellow Jacket probably dates from the '60's.

This flag holder, and another one just like it, were rescued from the old East Primary building.

The audience is listening, or will be.

Wild thing.

Liz found this mural in the teachers' lounge and posted it in the hall.  It was still sealed and dated 1986.

I close with this classic poem Liz found:

I fell asleep in class today,
as I was awfully bored.
 I laid my head upon my desk
 and closed my eyes and snored.

I woke to find a piece of paper
sticking to my face.
I’d slobbered on my textbooks,
and my hair was a disgrace.

My clothes were badly rumpled,
and my eyes were glazed and red.
My binder left a three-ring
indentation in my head.

I slept through class, and probably
I would have slept some more,
except my students woke me
as they headed out the door.