This document is being prepared to show friends what I do today and why I can’t do more. As a start, a
quick review of my professional life provides a background. I was a government research scientist for 32
years and director of a small research laboratory until 1989. As director I oversaw the research of
several students from around the world and throughout the U.S. I served on the graduate committee of
these students and was appointed Adjunct Professor at 14 universities. I was never paid by a university
but once taught genetics in a small college and in return was able to collect all the horse manure
needed as fertilizer for my garden. I taught classes for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Veterinarian
Division of the Department of Agriculture and other agencies. About half of my time, I was somewhere
other than home. Official travel carried me to many sites in North and South America, Europe, the
Mideast, Russia and Australia. I was half of a two-man team reviewing government lands suitable for
potential research facilities primarily in eastern and southern states. In 1989 my 35th address was
Lubbock, Texas where I became a member of the graduate faculty of Texas Tech University. In 2003 I
retired from government service and departed from Texas Tech University. After retiring I became so
busy I don’t know how there was ever any time for my professional life. Here’s what I do today.
1. Backyard Mission is a big part of my life. About 12 to 18 volunteer retirees meet weekly to help
those 60 and older get their homes warm and dry. We put in new doors, locks, windows, storm
windows, storm doors, minor electrical and plumbing repair, sheetrock repair, facia and siding
repair, remove or trim trees, and with other partners roof replacement or repair. Eligible clients
must live in their own home and have limited income. Our work is structural, functional and not
cosmetic but we do try to leave a site as attractive and safe as possible. These repairs are at no
cost to the homeowner; Backyard Mission, established in September 1992 by Laurie Foster, is
funded by donations and grants. To date BYM has repaired about 1,800 homes.
2. Habitat for Humanity-Lubbock uses volunteers to build homes and communities to primarily
serve first-time homeowners. I worked on my first Habitat home in 2000 and in 2025 completed
house number 40 for me. In 2010 I was the only man on the women’s-built home. Most of these
women had never used a chop saw, a nail gun or involved in any construction. They did a
marvelous job and were appreciative that due to recent oral surgery I could only whisper. They
said that’s the way they liked their men. This year. 3 October-9 October 2026. I’ll be working to
build house number 41. Occupants of these new homes must have committed 250 hours of
sweat equity and attend classes on home maintenance, finance, and safety. They must also be
able to pay for the house and its utilities. Habibat carries a 30-year mortgage on the houses
with an interest free loan.
3. The Lubbock Lions Club meets weekly for lunch and to hear presentations by guest speakers.
The Club has given over $ 1.8 million to local charitable and service organizations since its
founding in 1929. The Lions motto is “WE SERVE”, and we do. I’ve been a Lion for 44 years, Past
President of Marion, Alabama Lions and this year was honored by Lubbock Lions for lifetime
membership. And I thought only old guys got this type of award. Well? Lubbock Lions owns the

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world record for serving pancakes to 20,000+ people in 2010 during our annual pancake festival.
In 2026 the Pancake Festival ordered 6,000 pounds of pancake mix, 72,000 sausage links,
60,000 ounces of syrup, 240 gallons of coffee and much more. At Christmas time the Club rings
bells to raise funds for the Salvation Army. Some members serve on the Salvation Army Disaster
Response Team, pack boxes for the FOOD Bank, work with Meals on Wheels, sell flags during
the 4th of July parade to raise funds for the Scouts of America. The Club conducts a one-day
event, Kids Fish, to provide fishing and training for youth. My major participation in these events
has been to assist with setup, solicit items for the raffle and to take hundreds of photos.
4. Christ the King Diocesan Schools conducts a Science Fair for their students each year and for
several years I have served as a judge and in some cases an advisor for students. Similarly, I’ve
provided presentations and guidance for some students in the Lubbock Independent School
District.
5. As a member of the Lakeridge Global Methodist Church, I’ve worked with others to prepare
hotdogs for Texas Tech students and community members at the Wesley Foundation, provided
gifts for children of need at Christmas, and assisted with community building projects, fence
repair and tree trimming.
6. The Sideways Collision Center in Lubbock takes up most of my time. I’m there nearly every day
doing construction, electrical, plumbing and facility maintenance work. This week I assisted in
putting up sheetrock, installed a mini-split AC unit, rewired an auto lift, decked an upstairs
storage area, and replaced the contactor in a three-phase magnetic starter for a 5-hp
compressor. I’ve just had a three-stage forklift cylinder rebuilt and will begin reassembly
immediately. This week we had a milestone accomplishment as we remover the engine, then
the body from a 1967 Triumph TR4A for a frame-off restoration. It will be a beauty when
finished. I do work for Sideways and they do work for me. I have 9 or 10, or maybe more, old cars
and a 6.000-pound capacity Clark forklift. Three of these autos are licensed and run, another
has the engine and drive chain rebuilt but needs to be painted and reassembled. Others are in
some state of repair or awaiting finding or making the correct parts.
The Sideways-owned shop, Legacy Collision Center, in Midland is 2 hours away from Lubbock.
On occasion we get up at 4:30, leave Lubbock at 6:00, get to Midland at 8:00 AM work until
5:00PM and get back to Lubbock at 7:00PM. Normally we try to leave Midland at 3:00PM and get
back to Lubbock at 5:00PM. The new shop in Midland is 12,000 ft2 and has 51 8-ft fluorescent
lights in one section and 20 in another. I’ve removed the ballast from these lights and converted
them to LEDs. The electrical service for the building is being upgraded to a 600-amp supply and
will support two large paint booths, each with two 5-hp blowers and a 15-hp compressor plus
other smaller equipment.
7. The Caprock Peace Officers held their 77th snake shoot in 2026. They will typically have about
50 rattlesnakes and the officers with the highest scores from paper targets in each division pair
off to shoot live rattlesnakes. The officers have a guest division and I once won 1

st place there,
but only once. After the shoot I take all snakes home and immediately skin and dress those that
have been shot. Those that were not shot I save for the Scouts. I get the head and they get the

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snake. The Scouts must identify internal body parts from their snake, be able to determine
males from females, skin their snake, place the skin in a tanning solution, eviscerate the snake
and prepare the carcass for cooking. They learn about the history of tanning when men used
both urine and animal brains as tanning agents. There was a time when people could collect
urine and sell it to tanners. To collect urine, they had to have a pot. If they had no pot, they were
very poor, piss poor.
One year, of the 50 snakes from the snake shoot, 48 were males. I kept the two females and
one of them had five albino babies. In the wild these albinos would have had a very short life.
Their lack of camouflage made them very visible; they would have been dinner for some other
critter. I gave the albinos to a wildlife rehab and rescue center. Two of these albinos lived for 2
years but were lost when an electrical fire caused the reptile building to burn down to the
ground.
The Scouts had skins and rattlers from their snakes. I think most used the skin for display, but
I’ve had a vest made from rattle snake skins. When I was a high school student, I had a
snakeskin vest but today that vest is worn and too small.
8. In 1962 my ‘32 Ford roadster burned when one of the three duces flooded; the Offenhauser
aluminum heads and intake manifold melted. I thought my life was over but that was the best
blessing I have ever had; I joined the Air Force. Following my 6 weeks of basic training I stayed at
Lackland to attend 1 year of technical training in electronics. My one and only assignment was
to Altus, Oklahoma, a SAC base with Atlas F missiles. My job was putting special equipment in
the silos and in the communication center. I was discharged in May 1966 as a Vietnam era
veteran and used the GI Bill to continue my education. Now as a veteran I have been honored to
take the South Plains Honor Flight to DC to visit the military memorials. That was the trip of a
lifetime. Upon returning I’ve continued to be involved with other veterans to support the Honor
Flight. We meet on the first Monday of every month to plan the next trip and throughout the year
to conduct fund-raising events allowing other veterans to take their Honor Flight. Supporting
veterans is a high priority for me.
9. I own a small amount of stock and have advisors who want to send me information or to visit
with me about potential trades. I don’t have time or interest for that. While they want to visit
daily or several times a week, I told them once a month is enough for me. Money may be
important but not nearly as important as my time. It commonly costs more to rebuild an old car
than it would cost to buy one ready-built. Anybody with money can buy any car they want but
those who do the rebuilding do so because that’s what they do. If it’s broken some want to fix it.
That’s me.
10. My brother said no one ever calls him to fix anything. If he needs woodwork he calls a
carpenter. If it’s an electrical problem, he calls an electrician. If there is a plumbing problem, he
calls a plumber. When my neighbor and friends have a problem, I often get a call. I’ve repaired
cars, tractors, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, heaters, lights, and more.
11. SEED, Sustainable Environmental and Economic Development, is a non-profit organization I
established after my retirement with some close friends in Colorado. One of the goals of SEED

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is to help people take the waste or residues from one business and to recycle that material as
seedstock for a downstream business. That process led SEED to explore biomass gasification.
In 2006 I received a grant that allowed Erwin Young and me to travel over 10,500 miles to visit
sites, engineers, and investors pursuing biomass gasification. We found some with apparent
potential based on performance of their pilot plants, but they were constrained by legal and
licensing restrictions. Yosemite Clean Energy appeared to have patented and licensed
technology from Europe where several plants were operating commercial-scale gasifiers. We
invited and brought Yosemite Clean Energy to the San Luis Valley. Forester and CEO Tom Hobby
had strong ties with the U.S. Forest Service and was a featured speaker at a USFS conference
held in Denver in November 2024. SEED provided $30,000 in-kind matching funds allowing
Yosemite to receive a $300,000 grant from the Department of Agriculture. I’ve made several
trips to the SLV and considerable research time assisting with this project. I’m 8 hours away
from the SLV and cannot respond in the timely manner required as this project moves forward.
Yosemite now has a competent team and a local partner that can respond in a timely manner. I
am therefore withdrawing from hands-on contact with this project but will be available for
consultation if needed. I wish great success to Yosemite and this project. My focus in the SLV
is now for an educational center to be housed in the old train station in Monta Vista. There’s a
great deal of work to be done to save and upgrade the train station to a renewable energy
education center. There are only 24 hours in a day and at 83 I wish to use my time as
productively as possible. When I was young I had a lot of time but no money; today I still have
little money but my time is far more important than money. I will work and serve as long as God
allows.

Nick Parker, Ph.D.
7805 Zoar Ave
Lubbock, TX 79424
Nickparkerllc@gmail.com
806 786 0925
30 August 2026