Inside the Moon
Cinco de Mayo Pro Am A2
Bark at the Park A2
The
Issue 682
Live Music A18
Mardis Gras in May A4
Island Moon
The voice of The Island since 1996
May 11, 2017
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Photo by Debbie Noble
Around The Island
Fine Arts Night at Seashore
By Dale Rankin The winds this week seemed determined to blow our little sandbar right across the Laguna to The Bluff on grain at a time. You know it’s windy when Island sailors stay ashore.
Art, Music, and a Wax Museum By Avica Burrill Student Reporter
The high winds and the big waves that come with it have kept the offshore fishingpersons in port as well, but being the intrepid and generally restless souls they are when there is a weather window of any duration they head out the passes.
Seashore Middle Academy hosted its annual Fine Arts Night last Thursday in the school gym. It consisted of an art competition, judged by Sheila Gritte, a wax museum put on by Theater I students, and a music performance by the music students.
Last week our friend Glen from Port A jumped in the Got ‘em On and headed for the Perdido floating oil platform about 150 miles off Port Aransas. The northern that blew through had spent itself and there was supposed to be a twenty-four hour lull before the wind shifted back to the prevailing southeast. But alas, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature and the weather held through Monday night but by Tuesday when they headed back in the wind shifted and they battled an angry following sea back to The Island, but the 500plus pounds of Yellow Fin they bought back made it worth the trip.
There were 237 entries in the art competition from 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places awarded at each grade level. Best of Show and the People’s Choice
Many Islanders make the trek to Perdido, “lost” in Spanish, where bait fish surrounding the floating rig attract sport and table fish from the Alaminos Canyon below. From North Padre they usually head south and out at Mansfield Channel. But if you go watch the weather.
The annual Cinco de Mayo Pro was a colorful affair. . See page 2 for more pictures of the event.
Development at Aquarius Intersection to Begin this Summer
Wiley Coyotes The Island coyote population has been on the move of late. Two coyotes on Whitecap and Main Royal got a dog and a cat this week and several have been seen in the neighborhoods. They are resourceful little boogers that can climb fences and find their way into Island garages for dog food. When people complain all we can do is remind them that the coyotes were here first.
IUPAC candidate wins Island vote by more than three to one Island voters backed Joe McComb, the winner in Saturday’s race for Mayor of Corpus Christi, by a margin of more than three to one over former Mayor Nelda Martinez.
Mad Max on The Island Landing Strip! We were driving southbound on State Highway 361 from Port Aransas Sunday when a slow-moving truck pulling a trailer turned in front of us then pulled over the let us by; along with a single rider on a non-Harley who buzzed in right behind us. About a mile down the road the bike rider was joined by about twenty of this friends who passed us on the right and the left at speeds approaching if not exceeding 100 miles per hour like a swarm of bumble bees. The first rider was the pilot checking ahead for police and finding the coast clear gave the signal for the jail break. This is a practice that has been going on for years with little that can be done about it. The same thing has been happening on southbound SPID starting at Rodd Field Road where a limited number of access points make it possible for dragsters to check for police as they blast through Flour Bluff and further onto The Island via the JFK Causeway giving them about five miles of highway to turn into their personal drag strip. There have been several accidents related to this practice and the police are aware of the problem but short of a permanent patrol there a real solution is hard to find.
Showman to the end! We have to send out a Moon Attaboy to musician Bruce Hampton who knows how to make an exit. Hampton was known as the Granddaddy of the Jam Scene and was a member of the Hampton Grease Band known for its outlandish shows. He was performing at his own 70 the birthday party at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta last week when he was called back for an encore. He chose his hit “Turn on Your Lovelight” and was rounding
Island Voters Back Joe McComb for Mayor
A total of 1327 Island voters cast ballots with 1105 votes going to McComb and 259 for Martinez. Islanders accounted for about 7 percent of the total vote across the city of 21,278 votes were cast in the mayor’s race.
Crews this week put the finishing touches on the turn lane at the Aquarius/SPID intersection. The work is the last of the city improvements that included the traffic light. Developer Walt Busby, whose company owns the lots on the east side of the intersection, said construction on retail development there is scheduled to begin this summer. “We have Starbucks under contract and a letter of intent with a hotel chain,” Busby said this week. “We are
also talking to a couple of restaurant owners.” Busby’s company paid $426,000 toward the project to redesign the intersection and install the traffic light, at a final cost of $1.2 million
McComb, currently an AtLarge council member, won the endorsement of Island voters through the Island United Political Action Committee. Former mayor Martinez was defeated in her bid for re-election in November by Dan McQueen who resigned after just over one month in office, prompting Saturday’s Special Election.
Election cont. on A4
Eighth grader Kayla-Ann McKamie poses by her display. She earned the People's Choice Award for earning the most votes for best artist. Award spanned all grade levels. Kayla-Ann McKamie, winner of the People’s Award, said, “I was very excited to put my stuff out there, but I was even more excited getting the People’s Choice award. I felt on top of the world.” Alana Ehrmann took Best of Show for a photo of her horse, Asper. “I
McKayla Long paints her twin sister Morgan's face as part of her exhibit of stage makeup effects. Besides on-site models, McKayla's display included an array of photographs of her work. Art Show cont. on A4
A little Island history
Lydia Ann Lighthouse
Editor’s note: With so many visitors to the area this week we locals often get questions about the Lydia Anne Lighthouse which is visible from Port Aransas. Here is a brief history taken directly from the book Aransas; The life of a Texas Coastal County by William Allen and Sue Hastings Taylor published by Eakin Press in 1997. By William Allen and Sue Hastings Taylor With the rapid growth rate at Aransas (in the mide-1880s), the need for a well-marked pass became more and more essential. For years, the best landmark for ships nearing the pass was a “very conspicuous” large frame warehouse on San
Jose Island, probably Captain Peter Johnson’s.
By that time, Captain Johnson had won a U.S. government contract to carry the mails from Indianola to Corpus Christi and all the ports in between. He developed a route for passengers as well as mail, moved his headquarters to Saint Joseph from farther north and built a large, twostory station house. Upstairs, where his family quarters were, Captain Peter offered lodging for passengers down below, he maintained a commissary and warehouse. The investment required by such an enterprise was large: Captain Johnson had two stage coaches, three stage station houses, a ferry boat, relays of mile teams, the sloop Belleport, and the schooner Fairy.
Lydia Ann Lighthouse History cont. on A4