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Find or Refer a Contractor in Tyler

Guadalupe Radio Network is Spreading Across the Lone Star State

August 10th, 2010

A close friend of mine who happens to be Catholic and who lives in the Dallas Metroplex was recently invited to be a guest on a local Catholic talk radio show there. I have yet to listen to the interview as it has not been posted yet but it may well serve as a subject for a future article. In the meantime I took the occasion of his interview to learn a bit about both the station and the network of which it is a part.

The Guadalupe Radio Network (GRN) serves Catholic listeners across Texas with twelve different stations. The closest station to the Tyler area is the North Texas station located in the Dallas area or at 910 on the am radio dial. So why would someone who writes on East Texas culture and events write an article on a religious radio station a couple of hours out of his jurisdiction?

There are a couple of answers to that question. First off with stations everywhere are now streaming their broadcasts, it’s possible to reside a hundred miles away or more and remain in the cultural loop. And the GRN broadcasts to most of our state. It’s not unreasonable to expect an affiliate to spring up closer to our area. The only branch outside the state that I’m aware of is located in Washington DC by the way.

The Guadalupe Network was founded in 1997, and has as its goal to help educate Catholics on the fundamentals of their faith as well as to stand up for conservative pro-family values in a society that increasingly rejects them. The format is all, or nearly all topical. While the network is very Catholic in its theology and its views on modern society and politics even the most ardent protestant is likely to find a natural ally in the station.

Many socially conservative Tylerites are likely to find an agenda with which they can sympathize. Recent broadcasts addressed issues like prolife activism, the abstinence movement, and parochial and private education.

Much like Tyler’s religious broadcasting, GRN is a non- profit that subsists on the donations of listeners, as well as grants from businesses, church groups and community organizations. So how wide will the stations reach be? I think it remains to be seen.

The network’s agenda is likely to appeal to Texans from all over the state regardless of theological stripe, but I’m curious whether or not the more exclusive denominations will be able to overlook the station’s orthodoxy in order to unify around its family values message.

I’ll confess (no pun intended) I remain unsure how often I’ll listen in, not due to religious differences but time constraints. For those in our area who would like to check out the broadcasts or perhaps make a donation visit the website at http://grnonline.info/.

Discovery Science Place in Tyler Texas

June 21st, 2010

It’s probably been going on for some time, but I’ve only just recently noticed that in the last few years most major cities have opened up very hands science museums geared to kids of all ages. I spent a number of years as a teacher in St. Paul, Minnesota, where there is an excellent model.

Every year we paid a visit with our classes as I recall. It’s an excellent facility that has brought in some really big time exhibits including the T-Rex Sue. (In fact as a side note, while researching for this piece I learned that the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition is visiting the Science Museum of Minnesota, from March through October.

It has been touring the country and I have looked high and low for a schedule of the tour, hoping it will come to Texas, but as yet I have been unable to find one. If any readers know whether or not this exhibition will be visiting the Lone Star State Please leave a comment on this site. I would love to take some Tyler TX history students. But I greatly digress… Sorry).

Tyler is a growing city that is always on the look- out for opportunities to emulate her larger sisters and this, is no exception. The Discovery Science Place (DSP) is Tyler’s version of the hands- on child friendly educational experience offered by institutions like the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas.

Now admittedly the DSP is not nearly the size of the Dallas version, but if it continues to grow with the City of Tyler, perhaps it will one day rival the bigger institutions. Their exhibits include: Watts of Fun, Little Ones Lagoon, the Shadow Wall and a number of others. Hands on exhibits include: thumbprint pictures, and mighty magnets. At this point it is definitely geared to younger children, but that should change some as they expand. Admission is six dollars per person with free admittance for visitors two and under.

Another opportunity offered by the Discovery Science Place is the Passport to Summer Discovery Camp. It runs from June seventh through August thirteenth, and is essentially a Vacation Science School for kids from four to twelve. The camp seems like an excellent opportunity. It runs in week- long sessions lasting either a half day or full day and cost seventy five, or one hundred fifty dollars respectively.

For more information on the Discovery Science place in Tyler visit their website at www.discoveryscienceplace.org. To plan a visit to the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, go to www.natureandscience.org. The Fort Worth version also appears worthy of investigation. Their website is www.fwmuseum.org.  Lastly, for those headed toward the coast this summer, I should mention that there is also a science museum in Houston simply called the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It looks terrific! Their website is www.hmns.org.