Ok. It works.
To register, go to this link.
http://www.textmarks.com/WINDY
and follow the instructions in the prior post.
When wishing to enter an update to send out to others, the phone number to call is 41411.
In your text message, the FIRST word texted is 'windy'.... followed by a space and then the actual message. That first word (windy) clues the program as to which textmark group to send the text to. Don't forget it.
That message is instantly sent out to all that subscribe to the group "windy".
If someone wants to setup a different mark with a different name, that's fine. Or if you guys don't like this, again, that's fine. I don't even have text messaging as an option on my phone (had to borrow buddy's phone for this), so I obviously don't care. But this approach works.
Not sure of the charges. It says standard charges apply. Also, you can very easily unsubscribe if it becomes a pain.
There is an API for web-designers to put text messages onto their site and provide a text box to upload text messages (semi-Twitter like).