683 a for the web by Mary Craft

Inside the Moon

May P.I.B.A Mixer A2

Pop-up Gallery Opening A2

The Truth About Palms A6

The

Issue 683

Island Moon

The voice of The Island since 1996

May 18, 2017

Live Music A18

Babes on the Bay A8

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Photo by Teri Beck

Around The Island

New Record for Nesting Sea Turtles

By Dale Rankin

The rain on Wednesday gave us a respite from the blowing sand on our little sandbar. We Islanders don’t need a secret handshake to identify each other on our trips OTB. We know each other by our Dustbowl Hack. Where’s Woody Guthrie when you need him?

High Winds bring them ashore A new state record was set on Tuesday when 43 Kemp’s ridley nests were found in Texas, including 28 at Padre Island National Seashore, 6 on South Padre Island, 4 on North Padre Island north of Padre Island National Seashore, 1 on Bolivar Peninsula, 1 on Galveston Island, 1 on Surfside Beach, 1 on Mustang Island, and 1 on Boca Chica Beach.

Litter Critter lineup

The line for the Saturday Island visit of the Litter Critter backed up traffic from the end of Whitecap all the way back to Tesoro. We can’t say if this is due to the cutback from two Litter Critter visits per month to one or if we Islanders are just generating more stuff that needs to be thrown out. Either way if you are taking your litter to the critter be sure to give yourself some traffic time.

Beach to Bay And speaking of traffic the 41st annual Beach to Bay run is this Saturday and that means an Island traffic snarl of a few hours in the morning. The 26.2 mile-long event is billed as the largest relay marathon in the country and will have 2000 teams this year and that means 2000 runners taking off on the first leg which starts on The Island. For the second year there is also an individual class which will swell the running ranks ever further. The first leg of the event begins near Beach Access Road 5 and is entirely on The Island with the first team exchange point on the beach south of Bob Hall Pier. That means runners who drive themselves will be parking in that area. The route enters SPID/ Park Road 22 at Access Road 6 and continues all the way to the base of the JFK Causeway Bridge where it takes the northbound side to Flour Bluff. The southbound side of the JFK will be one lane each way and in past years that means a backup until around 10:30 a.m.

Brent Chesney's annual Sandcastle Run took place last Saturday. The event raise money to help send children with diabetes to summer camp. More on A16. Photo by Bruce Bair.

Fixing Irrigation System to Collapsed Stop Sand Blowing Bulkhead Expected to Cost $200$300,000

Relief!

By Dale Rankin

Since spring winds picked up in earnest several weeks ago Islanders downwind of the construction area around Lake Padre have been feeling the effects of the fine, blowing sand. On Wednesday the lead developer on the property, Paul Schexnailder, issued his plan to deal with the problem. “We know it’s a problem,” he said Wednesday, “We didn’t anticipate this much wind and we are moving to deal with it.” The plan calls for a series of rotating sprinkler heads place sixty feet apart,

first along State Highway 361 and then along SPID, which will pump 35,808 gallons of water per day in a 36-foot radius. A special coast seed mix of grass will be spread throughout the irrigated area. The work is being done by PureNature, LLC., Landscape Construction Services based in New Braunfels. The water will come from a pond located near the sprinklers which will be fed by non-brine surface water. Schexnailder said the irrigation will be in place, “As soon as we can get the equipment there.”

Lack of bidders a problem

By Dale Rankin About seventy feet of collapsed

Fourth of July Fireworks

We’ll see you there, and in the meantime say hello if you see us Around The Island.

Nest Count 4 Galveston Island 0 Brazoria County, N. of Surfside 1 Surfside Beach 0 Quintana Beach 0 Bryan Beach 0 Brazoria County, N. of Sargent Beach 0 Sargent Beach 1 Matagorda Peninsula 0 Matagorda Island 1 San Jose Island 8 Mustang Island 6 North Padre Island north of Padre Island National Seashore

Sargassum seepage

Strange as it may sound the annual Fourth of July Island Blast Fireworks Display is but a mere seven weeks away and organizer Jerry Watkins has everything ready but is about $3800 short of the final amount of funds needed. We’re trying to keep Jerry from having to sell pencils in the Stripes Parking lot to raise the money so if you can help out make checks payable to Island Blast, addressed to 14890 Granada Dr. #205, or drop them here at the Island Moon office, 14646 Compass. All of the proceeds go directly to the show. This will be the fifth year for the show which in only a short time has become an Island tradition.

Dr. Donna Shaver said the nesting season could extend until midJuly, so certainly more nests will be recorded in Texas this year. 2 Bolivar Peninsula

It kicks off at 7 a.m. and the duration of the traffic event varies from year to year but should be cleared out well before noon. A tip for we Islanders; the route does not use Windward or go north of the beach at Whitecap. South Packery beach is free and clear if you can get there. We’re starting to see some sargassum weed wash up of late. It’s been a couple of years since we have a serious infestation but it looks like this may be the year as fisherpersons have been reporting large offshore mats for several weeks. When is someone going to figure out how to cook this stuff?

That brings the total to 236 Kemp’s ridley nests found in Texas this year and exceeds the previous annual record of 209 nests found in 2012. The 144 nests found at Padre Island National Seashore exceeds the previous annual record of 117 Kemp’s ridley nests found there during 2009 and 2011. The 14 nests found at Boca Chica Beach also exceeds the previous annual record of 12 nests found during 2008.

Sand Blows! Sand blowing across Park Road 22 caused a fog-like effect last week as winds gusted at over 35mph.

bulkhead on Primavera Street is expected to cost between $200,000$300,000 to repair according to an estimate from Padre Isles Property

144 Padre Island National Seashore

Bulkheads cont. on A4

Turtles cont. on A4

55 South Padre Island 14 Boca Chica Beach

A little Island history

Indianola was the State’s Busiest Port -- Now it’s a Ghost Town By Dale Rankin The port town of Indianola was born and died through suffering. The town was situated near sea level on Matagorda Bay near Port Lavaca from 1844-1886. During that time Indianola grew from a camp of immigrants running from suffering in Europe into a cosmopolitan port city. Before the first of two storms hit the city in 1875 Indianola was regarded as second only to Galveston in commercial and maritime supremacy and was a threat to the older port because of Indianola’s location nearer to the heart of Texas, and points west, which were then being settled my immigrant Europeans. Indianola was the port for trade with Chihuahua and the eastern terminus for the shortest overland route to

California. The town that became known as the Mother of Western Texas was founded after the earlier settlement of Matagorda, situated on the left bank of the Colorado River and which had the first newspaper in the state, failed due to raids by Comanche Indians and the development of a silt bar deposited by the river along the narrow eastern arm of the bay which prevented the approach to Matagorda by ships entering the bay through Pass Cavallo. Cargo had to be shifted to lighter vessels and ferried the final four miles of the route, which was expensive and tiresome.

Politics intervenes Then in 1839 things changed for the mid-coast region of Texas when a decision was made, against the wishes of Sam Houston, to move the seat of

Indainola, TX street scene History cont. on A4

May 18, 2017

Island Moon

Water Street Gallery Grand Opening Corpus Christi's first "Pop Up" Gallery

Artist Wade Koniakowsky hangs his work prior to Thursday's grand opening of Corpus Christi's first pop-up gallery. Koniakowsky was one of three featured artists whose work focuses on surfing and surf culture. All the works are for sale, and a portion of the profits will go to support the Texas Surf Museum located next door,

May P.I.B.A. Mixer

The May Padre Island Business association Mixer was sponsored by Compass Bay associates L.P. an Illinois limited partner company that recently purchased the Compass Bay Apartment complex and is turning them into high end privately owned condominiums. Pictured top: (from left) the new owner Bruce Kinney, Shannon Bumstead of Bumstead properties who are handling the sales of the units and David Heitzman the director of Property management. Photos below: Guests enjoy complementary food and drinksPhotos by Jan Rankin

6871 St Hwy 361 Lost Colony Unit 13

Open House

Saturday, May 20th, 12:00 - 4:00 Beach Front Home with Great View in Gated Community with Pool & Boardwalk to the Beach. 2,174 sq. ft. 4Br/Bth includes Cool Coastal Decor, $699,000. MLS 308248

Listed By Del Welborn, 361-319-4180 www.portaransasrealty.com ♥ Home Decor ♥ ♥ Chocolate & Coffee ♥ ♥ Gift Baskets ♥ ♥ Wine Accessories ♥ ♥ Jewelry & Purses ♥ ♥ Sunglasses ♥ Wine Wednesdays

Open Until 6:30 with wine & snacks!

Open Tuesday - Saturday 10-5 14814 Compass St. (361) 867-8033

• Moving • storage • Remodeling • Free up space • home staging

Convenient and secure, timely pickup and delivery! COWs of Corpus Christi • 361.937.3930

www. 866-get-a-cow .com

866-get-a-cow

Gulfstream Beach Condo

Price Reduced! 14810 Windward #521

$221,000

Beautiful Updates! Gorgeous Gulf Views! Call 361-949-7281

Mary Melick Real Estate

May 18, 2017

Island Moon

Moon Monkeys Mike Ellis, Founder

Letters to the Editor

Maps Good morning, I am new to the island. My family and I absolutely love living here. Is it possible to get a copy of the First Geological Map of Texas that was printed in the May 11 issue? Thanks for your help. Scott Sowles Editor’s note: It is available from the Texas General Land Office. Check their website, there are a large number of historical maps available there for a nominal fee.

Town Hall Meeting

Distribution Pete Alsop Island Delivery

Big Ethanol

Coldwell Banker Advertising Jan Park Rankin Classifieds Arlene Ritley Production Manager Abigail Bair Contributing Writers Joey Farah Andy Purvis Mary Craft MayBeth Christiansen Jay Gardner

“Big Ethanol” is at it again. In a new advertising campaign timed with the start of boating season, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the leading trade association for America’s ethanol industry, continues to spread mistruths in its support of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a 2005 law that mandates the blending of biofuels such as corn-ethanol into our gasoline. The nation’s largest recreational boating advocacy, services and safety group Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) clarifies the ad campaign’s spin with hard truths. SPIN: “E10 is the fuel of choice for many boaters because of its high performance and lower emissions.”

Todd Hunter Dotson Lewis Ronnie Narmour Brent Rourk Photographers Miles Merwin Debbie Noble Mary Craft Ronnie Narmour Office Security/Spillage Control (Emeritus) Riley P. Dog

HARD TRUTH: E10 is simply the most common fuel sold in America today, but it is not recreational boaters’ preferred choice of fuel. According to those surveyed by BoatUS, 91 percent prefer non-ethanol fuel for their boats. Unfortunately, non-ethanol gas is facing more uncertainty as the government mandate to increase the volume of ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply may actually reduce the availability of ethanol-free gas. While ethanol boosts a fuel’s octane rating, the US Department of Energy acknowledges that ethanol contains less energy than gasoline and “result(s) in lower fuel economy.” SPIN: E10 is the “preferred choice by professionals” with supporting quotes by the National Boat Racing Association and Crappie Masters. HARD TRUTH: Both organizations are sponsored by the RFA. SPIN: “Tip #1: Ensure a tight seal, if water is found, dry the tank before refueling.”

Publisher Dale Rankin About the Island Moon The Island Moon is published every Thursday, Dale Rankin, Editor / Publisher. Total circulation is 10,000 copies. Distribution includes delivery to 4,000 Island homes, free distribution of 3,000 copies in over 50 Padre Island businesses and condos, as well as 600 copies distributed in Flour Bluff, 1,400 copies on Mustang Island and Port Aransas businesses. News articles, photos, display ads, classified ads, payments, etc. may be left at the Moon Office.

The Island Moon Newspaper 14646 Compass, Suite 3 Corpus Christi, TX 78418 361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com Facebook: The Island Moon Newspaper

Where to Find The Island Moon Port Aransas

Sand Piper Condos Sea Gull Condos Gulf Breeze RV Pioneer RV La Palmilla Golf Club Stripes (1A) Kody’s Restaurant

CVS

361 Bar Moby Dicks

Island Italian

Spanky’s Liquor

Brooklyn Pie Co.

IGA Grocery Store

Ace Hardware

Port A Glass Studio

Holiday Inn

San Juan’s Mexican Restaurant

Texas Star (Shell) Jesse’s Liquor Scuttlebutt’s Restaurant Subway

Port A Parks & Rec

Island Tire

Public Library

Padre Pizzeria

Chamber of Commerce/ Visitor’s Center

And all Moon retail advertisers WB Liquor

Back Porch

Flour Bluff

Shorty’s Place

H.E.B.

Fisherman’s Wharf

Whataburger on Waldron

Gratitude’s The Gaff Wild Horse Treasure Island

IUPAC candidate selection forum

Whataburger

Isle Mail N More

Tarpon Inn

What is IUPAC?

Black Sheep/ Barrel

Snoopy’s Pier

Giggity’s

Boat U.S.

All Stripes Stores

WB Liquor

Woody’s Sports Center

HARD TRUTH: It certainly is when it comes to ethanol! A 2016 survey by Boating Industry magazine points to ethanol as playing an even “bigger role” in boat service issues than it was the year prior, with 87 percent of survey respondents reporting seeing boat engine damage caused by ethanol. Said one boat manufacturer, “Ethanol is a boom for the service departments (and a) huge drag on our industry because it negatively affects the customers. It makes them hate boating. It ruins their day, their boat and their entire boating experience.”

North Padre

Doc’s Restaurant

Drop Anchor Bar & Grill

SPIN: “Regular maintenance is key.”

Trinity By the Sea Episcopal

Amano

Wash Board Laundry Mat

HARD TRUTH: This impractical and potentially very unsafe “tip” asks boaters with built-in fuel tanks to do the impossible. Removing and disposing of phase-separated fuel – a result of too much water in moistureattracting ethanol fuels – can only be done safely by professionals and is expensive. Even for those with portable fuel tanks, this RFA spin offers no practical, reality-based solution to the challenging disposal issue of the ethanol-andwater soaked gas.

Ethyl Everly Senior Center Fire Station Police Station Stripes on Flour Bluff & SPID

The Island United Political Action Committee annual meeting is Thursday, June 8 at 6pm at the Holiday Inn. Come help us help you! Meet the board members, help us officially install and elect new members and officers. Cash bar and door prizes! The IU PAC is not a members only club. It is a nonpartisan organization that works for every member of our Island community. We are the people who help provide the rest of the Island with information to make voting easier. We provide candidate forums and endorsements during election years and meet and greets with elected officials in between - all so you can understand who is and should be working for you. Our goal is to provide a strong unified voting voice from the Island so that we are well represented at city hall. All our events are open to the public, and our endorsements decisions are made by any and all registered voters on the Island who care to participate. You can be added to our email list, follow us on Facebook (IslandUnitedPAC), check out our website (IslandUnitedPAC.com), or read about our events in the Island Moon.

Please attend Marvin Jones’s Town Hall Meeting. I am sponsoring a meeting on May 22, 2017 at Schlitterbahn- Veranda at 6:00 PM. Come and tell me your concerns, the pros and the cons regarding the POA. I will be your voice on the Board. Possible issues to talk about, bulkheads, canals, Billish Park, hurricane planes, POA budget and spending, and the ever-controversial compliance program and enforcement. You can talk about any issue on your mind. Do not be silent- Be HEARD. POA Board Member, Marvin Jones

POA Problems This Monday, I got a notice in the mail from Sam Glover, Compliance Inspector at our POA. It included 3 pictures of my garage door and car. The door was obviously open a bit. "Please paint or repair garage door and keep maintained in an attractive condition. Section V.K.13. House trim, garage doors, and windows and doors shall be painted as needed so to create a clean and upkept appearance when viewed from the street. (Who wrote that obtuse verbage into what kind of bylaws? I dunno. I mean "un kept" doesn't pass Spellcheck. ) My garage door was recently replaced and works very well, thank you. I like to leave my garage door open a bit to vent it, or for any neighbor's kitties to run in and hide from predators. When you have a re-enforced garage door to withstand storms, it is very heavy and eats garage door openers. There is a little rust on a few panels of the garage door. I had that repainted, along with the trim all over, not terribly long ago. When I planned to move here, I wanted a condo, to begin with. Then I discovered what could be nightmarish HOA's who wanted lots of monthly income. I decided a house was better. More for the money and less hassle. I just wanted to finish out my working days working from home in peace. I am now a retired nurse case manager, who writes screenplays, that don't sell. Yet. So I am on a fixed income. This would have been more; however, I encountered a confidence man (read lawyer) in Dallas who fleeced me out of a lot of my retirement bucks over a period of time. But that is another story. All I can say is that when you deal with 4 lawyers over the years on estate matters, and 2 out of 4 are either crooked or inept or both, where does that leave you in your estimation of the value of the legal profession? And this is from the adult child of a lawyer and sister of same, both now gone. Sorry, no further rambling. I did call Sam today at the POA,. She was pleasant and I explained to her that my garage door DID work. I had my verbal, aged fists up,. She noted that the letter did say "Friendly Reminder Notice", but I see it is in small letters on top of the first picture. Yes, I can nit pick with the best of them. I explained to her that I just don't have the bucks to paint the door again at this time. And I cannot do it myself, as I do well to walk and cant stand for any great period of time. (years as a clinical nurse will take your legs and /or back) .Per Ms Sam, the POA is working on getting a group together to do small jobs when the owner cannot do them. She will put me on their list. I thanked her for that. So here I am/here we are with the mini KGB's at the POA making the rounds, looking for trouble in our "Disneyland" by the Gulf. "We have met the enemy and he is us".-Pogo comic character. We pay for all of this. So why don't we stop? Does anybody remember Joan Baez when she stopped paying the IRS to support the ever popular Vietnam War? You know, the days of coffins coming into the states by the plane load. And yes, I do support our armed forces and remember all my family and ex-spouse who did serve in that melee from hell. So do we need to amend the bylaws or what? This is out of hand. I am too old to go to the mailbox and have to get angry. I/we deserve better. Sincerely, Mary Winborn on Natal Plum

Donate to Island Fireworks! Hey everybody, it's almost that time again for "Fire in the Sky Fourth of July Island Blast". Permits are in place and we are working toward having a fantastic display this year! Once again I want to thank everyone who contributed financially to last year’s 4th of July Fireworks and am asking for donations to help put us over the top for this year. We are currently $3800 short of funding the show. Make checks payable to "Island Blast" 14890 Granada Dr #205 Corpus Christi Tx 78418 Or drop at The Island Moon. Jerry Watkins, Event Founder

New Advertisers Port Aransas Realty is having an open house on Saturday, May 20th noon – 4 pm at 6871 Hwy 361 Lost Colony Unit 13. It is a beach front home in a gated community with pool and boardwalk to the beach. The home is 2174 sq. ft. 4 br/4 bath for $699,000. It is listed by Del Welborn who can be reached at 319-4180. Moving Sale at 15857 Cuttysark 5/19-5/20 8 am – 3 pm. They will have household items, fishing rods, surf boards, tools, lumber and more.

Business Briefs Eagle Lock & Key no longer has a store on the Island but are continuing to operate as a mobile business. They can be reached at 949-2233. The Island Bar & Grill at the Holiday Inn is having a New Menu Tasting Event on Friday, May 19th 5 – 10 pm with live music by Tori McClure. There will be drinks and free tasting until 7 pm. A Town Hall Meeting by POA Board Member Marvin Jones on Monday, May 22nd 6 pm at the Veranda Restaurant. Marvin wants to be your voice and talk about your concerns. All POA members are welcome. WB Liqours & Wine is having May specials on 1.75L bottles of Deep Eddy for $26.99, Svedka for $17.99, Bacardi for $19.99 an Fireball for $24.99. They have locations in Port A, North Padre and in town. “Fire in the Sky Fourth of July Island Blast” is once again looking to Islanders to help fund the event. Permits are in place and they are working toward having another fantastic display. They are currently $3800 short of funding the show. Make checks payable to “Island Blast” 14890 Granada Drive #205 or drop off a donation at the Island Moon office at 14646 Compass. The BoatUS 2017 top 3 boat names are Serenity, Seas the Day and Andiamo (let’s go in Italian). The Nueces County Appraisal District Satellite Workshop in Port A will be held Saturday, May 20th 8:30 am – 3:30 pm at the Brundett Middle School Gymnasium 100 Station Street. I went to the one last week at Flour Bluff and was able to reduce my property value by about 10% so definitely worth going. There were plenty of representatives there so I just had to wait a few minutes to be seen but come prepared. Kody’s Restaurant & Bar in Port A has prime rib with twice baked potatoes on Wednesdays 5 pm until they are gone. They are located at 2034 Hwy 361 and open 11 am – 2 am. The Island Italian Restaurant has live music Thursday, Friday and Saturday. You can check out their daily specials on their Facebook page. They offer delivery on the Island after 5 pm. Giggity’s Restaurant & Bar in Port A has all you can eat fried flounder every day 11 am – 7 pm. They have live music every night and karaoke in the Tiki Room.

Top Ten Boat Names The nation’s largest recreational boating advocacy, services and safety group, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), issued its 2017 Top Ten Boat Names list today, a tradition dating back a quarter decade. The names come from tallying up requests for boat names to the BoatUS Graphics service, and each reveal much about the personality of the vessel’s owner.

The BoatUS 2017 Top 10 Boat Names: 1.Serenity: The utter calm and quietude boating brings 2. Seas the Day: A nautical wordplay on the Latin saying “Carpe diem,” taking boating to its fullest 3. Andiamo: “Let’s go!” in Italian and a perennial favorite boat name 4. Irish Wake: Mourning and merrymaking after the death of a family member or friend 5. Freedom: Patriotic name that first appeared on the Top 10 Names List in 2004 6. Adagio: Italian for “at a slow tempo.” Represents how boating reduces stress in our hectic lives

8. Oasis: A fertile spot in a desert where water is found; symbolizes boating’s ability to refresh and nourish our daily lives 9. Happy Ours: A playful take on the good feeling you get at the afternoon communal cocktail time

Debbie Noble

The Island Moon Newspaper

By Mary Craft mkay512@aol.com

7. Ohana: From the Hawaiian culture, meaning “family” in an extended sense

Want to get involved, learn more about the election process, help your community? We need a few more good citizens to fill our board which meets once a month at Island Time Sushi on second Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Please contact islandunitedpac@gmail.com to tell us who you are and why you want to be a part of IU PAC!

Send letters and photos to editor@ islandmoon.com Facebook:

Did Ya Hear?

10. Firefly: Making the list for the first time, it’s thought that the kids picked this one

Need some pallets for your projects?

For a look at all of the BoatUS Top 10 Boat Names lists over the years as well as a directory of over 9,000 boat names, go to BoatUS.com/ boatnames.

May 18, 2017

History cont. from A1

state government from Houston to the center of the state along the Colorado River, which was then the edge of the Texas frontier. The state needed a deep water port that would feed people and trade goods into the Heart of Texas but as often happens politics got in the way of good judgment and the port town of Calhoun,

Island Moon

Turtles cont. from A1 canneries began popping up along the Indianola wharfs. In 1871 the Texas Legislature approved the incorporation of the Indianola, San Antonio and El Paso Railroad Company. Hotels sprang up, as did general stores, an ice cream parlor, then in 1871 came regular trips from New York by steamship which disembarked passengers

Bulkheads cont. from A1

The high winds continue to bring large numbers of nesting Kemp’s ridley turtles to our shores. This nesting turtle was found near Bob Hall Pier where she laid 106 eggs.

Owners Association Executive Coordinator Maybeth Christensen. The problem began several years ago when it is believed the tiebacks which connect the bulkhead to an anchoring device behind the bulkhead were cut by crews installing cable lines. Over the years rainwater was trapped behind the bulkhead and a storm drain that goes through the bulkhead had to be repaired several times. Then about a year ago a major rain event

from which the country now takes its name, was founded in 1839 on the northeastern end of Matagorda Island. There were two reasons for locating Calhoun on the east side of Matagorda Island: First, the constant fear of invasion by Mexico from the sea meant that Calhoun could defend the pass into Matagorda Bay, and second; the lawmakers who were about to move from the safety of Houston to the Republic’s new capitol in the state’s center wanted a fort between them and the Mexican Navy. It was immediately apparent that Calhoun’s location was a disaster for commercial traffic. Many of the other local towns had been put to the torch during the recent Texas Revolution and the sites of the seven military camps set up the new Republic in the area were not suitable for ports so the hunt for a site for a new port was begun. By early 1840 the military camps were gone and there was no town of significance along that area of the coast. Then in August of that year an Indian attack on Victoria pointed out the region’s vulnerability.

The arrival of a German Prince The events which began the life of the town of Indianola began in 1842 in Germany with the formation of the Adelsverein at Biebrich am Rhein. The stated purpose of this group was to sponsor those willing to immigrate to escape the economic depression there and the political upheaval that went with it. The Adelsverein secured grants from the Republic of Texas for land and each household wanting to immigrate deposited 600 gulden ($240) to pay for passage. The next problem was where to land. Prince Karl zu Solms-Branufels set sail for Texas in May 1844 with the first group of emigrants hot on his heels. When he landed at Galveston he immediately realized that city would not work as the port of entry for the Germans and he sailed west along the coast looking for a place for a new port. He looked at Port Lavaca, which he described as “a town of four houses” set high on a bluff away from the inland swamps but saw that the sand and mud bars in Lavaca Bay made the landing of large ships impossible. Had that not been the case Port Lavaca would likely have eventually supplanted Galveston as Texas’ largest port. On the west side of the bay near Gallinipper Bar was a spot called Indian Point where vessels carrying cargo and people could dock. Indian Point was connected to the mainland by a series of low islands made of fine, white, crushed shell which heavy rain and tides did not disturb. What the Prince saw was a deep water port with a land bridge to the interior of Texas. Indianola was born.

German settlement

in Indianola for overland passage to San Antonio, and then a telegraph connection from Indianola through Corpus Christi to Mexico was established; Indianola was booming.

Trouble Then came September 1, 1875 when the United States Signal Service office in Indianola received by wire from Washington the news of a burgeoning hurricane sent from the ship Tautallon Castle off the coast of Africa. The report generated little interest in Indianola but no doubt would have if it had listed the hurricane’s point of landfall – Indianola. The storm hit the Caribbean and veered west northwest splashing over 100-foot cliffs and swamping ships. But on through early-September ships continued steaming out of Indianola for open water with no knowledge of what was ahead. On the 15th Rockport took the brunt of the storm and experienced ship captains refused to go to sea after seeing the “highest tides they had ever seen on the coast.” In Indianola business went on without knowledge of the coming storm. By the morning of the 16th the tide had broken over the beach and was running in the streets. Wooden buildings on Main Street began to collapse and by mid-day the wharfs were gone and the streets were rivers. The cement courthouse was jammed with refugees as the storm slammed into the coast that night and breakers in the streets made evacuation impossible. Winds reached 150 mph. A cubic yard of salt water weighs 1728 pounds and the surge tide of 15 feet bore down with all its weight on the town. By the time the eye passed over the town in the hours after midnight all the water that had been built up inland by the storms furry reversed course and headed back out to sea. With it went half of the town of Indianola, washed out to sea and gone along with the people who lived there. When reporters from the Victoria Advocate rode into town the next morning they brought back a note from W.H. Crain, the Indianola District Attorney: “We are destitute. The town is gone. One-tenth of the population are gone. Dead bodies are strewn for twenty miles along the bay. Ninetenths of our houses are destroyed. Send us help, for God’s sake.” Indianola’s unfettered access to deep water had been her life’s blood and now was her downfall. Entire families were gone and in their place were piles of debris. Most of those left relocated to San Antonio but a few hardy souls stayed to rebuild. By 1886 it was clear that Indianola would never be the dominant Texas port originally envisioned. Realizing their town would never be a freight and transit port again residents turned to making it a resort town with fishing, yachting, great seafood restaurants and swimming as the main attractions.

Another hit

It was here that Texas’ first German Protestant minister, the Rev. Louis Ervendberg held the first Weihnachtsfest complete that December complete with a Christmas tree for the new Texans. Those families were the first of many thousands of Germans who would arrive at Indianola and eventually fan out across Texas and found towns with German names which are today part of the daily Texas vernacular. In January 1845 the first wagon train of immigrants set out across the plains bound for the Comal Tract of land, at the current site of the town of New Braunfels in Comal County between Austin and San Antonio. The Comal River, called Las Fontanas by the Spanish, would provide the water supply for the first group of immigrants who landed at Indianola and set out for their new homes. The group soon purchased the land which became the town of Fredericksburg and in the fall of that year 5,247 men, women, and children arrived in Indianola from Bremen and Antwerp and the rush was on. Indianola grew and prospered. Warehouses sprang up along the wharfs. With the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 a commission was sent to West Texas to survey the Texas/Mexico border. The commission left New York in 1850 and landed in Indianola, the settlement of West Texas was begun in earnest with Indianola as the port of entry. The town’s future looked bright. The Civil War came and went, but during the war when the markets for Texas beef were cut off by the Union blockade the herds of unattended Texas Longhorns swelled to eight million head. In 1869 a process for canning the meat using carbonic acid gas created a boom for ranchers shipping canned beef out of Texas and

Then came the summer of 1886 when a hot and dry and unusually strong easterly wind blew sand that pelted the citizens who were still wary from their 1875 experience. But they thought that the Signal Corps now had the means to warn them of an impending storm. It turned out that a simmering feud between the U.S. Signal Corps and their counterparts in Cuba made reliable reports about storms crossing the Cuban Island impossible to get in the U.S.; a problem that would also contribute to the devastation of Galveston in its 1900 hurricane. By the time the warning came the tide was already in the streets of Indianola. An inbound train was blown off the tracks; the tracks were washed away two miles inland. A lamp left lit, ironically in the Signal Corps office, blew over and set the downtown ablaze. The storm tore through Texas with 85 mph winds doing $250,000 worth of damage to the Government Hill section of San Antonio. The people of Indianola had seen enough. On September 20 the Commissioners Court issued an order moving the County Seat from Indianola to Port Lavaca. Indianola was no more. In April, 1887 what little was left of the town was destroyed by fire and the railroad line was torn out. The post office shut down in October and the town was officially dead. The hurricane that hit Indianola in 1875 was the first to ever hit a populated area of Texas and eventually barriers and seawalls were erected but it was all too late for Indianola. What was once the gateway to West Texas is now a small subdivision at the end of a two lane road near Bayside. You can reach it if you want to but will see little to indicate it was once was the second largest port in Texas. The rise and fall of Indianola is a stark testament that we live at the edge of the Big Water at Mother Nature’s pleasure and sooner or later she’s going to remind us of that.

Send letters and photos to editor@islandmoon.com

So far this year, 193 nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state): 1 Bolivar Peninsula 3 Galveston Island 0 Brazoria County, N. of Surfside 0 Surfside Beach 0 Quintana Beach

which dropped a large amount of water in a short period of time caused the wall to start leaving toward the water side.

0 Bryan Beach 0 Brazoria County, N. of Sargent Beach 0 Sargent Beach 1 Matagorda Peninsula 0 Matagorda Island 1 San Jose Island 7 Mustang Island 2 North Padre Island north of Padre Island National Seashore 116 Padre Island National Seashore 49 South Padre Island 13 Boca Chica Beach

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At that point Christensen began looking for contractors to do repairs, also meeting with the city and the cable company, and the project went to bids. But only one company responded and Christensen began contacting other potential bidders, but so far no contract has been awarded. “I called about nine companies and most of them were not interested, they were too busy, Christensen said. “One of them actually told me – we don’t do any work for homeowners associations because there are too many “eyes” watching our every move, and questioning everything we do - it’s not worth it!” Currently the project is being re-engineered before going back out to bids. The first work on the project will be offsite where sheet panels and the support devices will be built and the drying time for the cement can take as long as twenty eight days, then testing is necessary. “I know the residents are upset with the length of time – no less upset than I am,” Christensen said. “But since folks want multiple bids and companies who are qualified, I’m sorry!”

May 18, 2017

Island Moon

Stuff I Heard on the Island By Dale Rankin There are a couple of Under the Radar items this week.

Where’s the patrol boat? Ever since I can remember Island homeowners have been screaming about lack of enforcement of No Wake Zones in Island canals. Well, get ready for the volume to ratchet up to Ted Nugent levels. Island taxpayers have been paying for a patrol boat since 2004 that has been parked downtown. I say again, Island taxpayers have been paying for a patrol boat since 2004 that has been parked downtown. The Island Strategic Action Committee has been digging into the finances of the Island Tax Reinvestment Zone, which collects property tax on new Island construction inside the TRZ after 2004. The first result of their effort was a savings of over $2 million over the next four years on the Packery Channel Monitoring program.

Tides of the Week Tides for Bob Hall Pier May 18 - May 25

Day

High /Low

Tide Time

Low

1:37 AM

High

10:43 AM

Height in Feet

Sunrise Moon Time Sunset

0.2

6:38 AM

Rise 1:39 AM

1.7

8:13 PM

Set 1:02 PM

0.4

6:38 AM

Rise 2:20 AM

1.6

8:13 PM

Set 1:58 PM

Low

2:38 AM

High

11:13 AM

Low

7:15 PM

0.9

High 9:33 PM

1.0

Low

3:54 AM

0.5

6:37 AM

Rise 3:00 AM

High

11:38 AM

1.5

8:14 PM

Set 2:57 PM

Low

6:54 PM

High

11:38 PM

Low

5:28 AM

High

12:00 PM

Low

6:59 PM

0.6

High 1:13 AM

Low

7:10 AM

High

12:18 PM

Low

7:19 PM

0.3

High 2:33 AM

1.5

6:36 AM

Rise 5:02 AM

Low

8:48 AM

1.1

8:15 PM

Set 6:04 PM

High

12:32 PM

0.7

6:37 AM

Rise 3:39 AM

1.4

8:14 PM

Set 3:57 PM

1.3

6:36 AM

Rise 4:20 AM

0.9

8:15 PM

Set 4:59 PM

1.3 12

1.2

Low

7:50 PM

0.0

High 3:43 AM

1.8

6:36 AM

Rise 5:48 AM

8:16 PM

Set 7:11 PM

Low

10:28 AM

1.1

High

12:36 PM

1.2

Low

8:28 PM

High 4:48 AM

Low

-0.3

1.1

9:12 PM

0.8

Moon Visible

1.9

6:35 AM

Rise 6:38 AM

-0.5

8:16 PM

Set 8:19 PM

The second finding was that Island taxpayers last year spent $98,000 for the phantom boat, up from $92,000 the year before. The question is where is the boat? When ISAC members and District 4 Councilman Greg Smith started asking that question the first thing that happened – supposedly – is that the boat was moved from its home downtown to a hiding place “on The Island.” But where is anybody’s guess as no living Islander so far has laid eyes on it or the two city employees said to be employed to staff it. Also on the list of new discoveries, the budget for the boat, which began in 2004 at $80,000, has been automatically increasing by three percent each year since, getting it to the $98,000 that until last week was being pulled from The Island to pay for it. When Packery Channel was first opened federal rules required the boat as a way to help boaters get accustomed to the new waterway. But as is the way with things bureaucratic if no one is paying attention taxes, funds, fees, increase and, of course, no money goes unspent. On top of the bleeding of the account is the salt in the wound; the boat operators cannot write tickets nor can they in any way cite scofflaws for excessive wake-making even in Packery Channel which is currently their sole area of operations. Their job, as best as I can tell, is to drive around and see if people are having a nice day. Or in some cases, according to eyewitnesses, sunning themselves in one end of the boat under the Packery Bridge while “patrolling” in the shade at the other end of the boat. Nice work if you can get it. There are also some as of yet unconfirmed reports of some of the money being spent on a “floatable device” of undetermined definition. “Floatable device” covers a lot of ground. Maybe it paid for that life preserver the Mayor Pro Tem wore when they shoved her off the pirate boat into the bay last week – sans plank. The question now is whether the $98,000, or some part of it at least, can be used to fund a patrol boat for Island canals. I anticipate the policy wonks at city hall will say the money can’t be used to patrol outside the TRZ limits, which would rule out everything but the Main Canal which as of last year became part of the Packery Monitoring contract and therefore must be inside the TRZ. But where there is a will there is always a way. You may recall that about six years ago Islanders donated $26,000 for an Island boat, on the way to a total of $80,000, but fundraising stopped when the then police chief said he would not staff it with officers. But it’s a new day, and there is little reason that the patrollers have to be licensed peace officers. Again, where there’s a will there’s a way. Maybe Marta and her Island Squad could help out.

I get the sense that we have a chance to do something great here if we push back. If the city can spend TRZ money for a boat downtown it seems to me spending it on a boat for The Island isn’t much of a hill to climb. My compliments to the ISAC and Smith for digging into this. It is an idea whose time has come. For more details attend the next ISAC meeting, 5:30 Tuesday, June 6 at the Veranda. A year ago I would have told you an Island patrol boat was Crazy Talk. But it turns out if we just call it a Floatation Device we might get one! A boat by any other name right…

Police For the past couple of months there has been a concerted effort to put a string of speakers in front of city council meetings calling for125 more police officers. The effort clearly has been carefully orchestrated and has, I’m told, found some traction with newly minted Councilwoman Paulette Guajardo who proposes to pay for them with a reserve fund. Here are some numbers presented to the city council on Tuesday. • It costs $1 million to hire eight new police officers • It will cost the city an estimated $11.6 million for police health care in 2017 • The city had to pony up an additional $8 million last year for police health care over the budgeted amount • An additional $3.8 million was paid out Tuesday for overruns on police health care costs so far this year, which were budgeted at $8,378,177 but are now estimated to come in at $11,589,142. • Claims against the police account, which forced Tuesday’s funding of overruns, have increased fourfold since 2014 primarily due to “catastrophic claims • Police and fire personnel, unlike other city employees, can go outside their system of doctors and the city will pick up the tab. • The overages in the police fund have been paid from a reserved fund which now has only $679,977 left. A level a city staffer on Tuesday called “a dangerous area” since given the city’s total debt the city’s AA bond rating is imperiled if cash reserves drop too low. • The number of reported police calls across the city in the last quarter of 2016 was the second lowest on record, the lowest being in 2015, and down by half from the late 1990s. The huge growth Texas has experienced since 1990 has largely bypassed the Sparking City by the Sea, from 259,000 in 1990 to 320,000 now, even as the state population went from 17 million in 1990 to 27.5 million now. City Manager Margie Rose said Tuesday that while the health care plan for city employees is being revised to save money, the costs of the police and fire health care plans are negotiated and locked in until the next round of bargaining. As of right now the cash reserve fund that is being used to fund the annual overage in the police plan does not have nearly enough money, short by about $7 million annually, to fund the same overages that have been run up in each of the last two years. Something has to give. “We’ve been kicking this can down the street for years,” Smith said Tuesday, “and we are out of cans.” The council is being lobbied to add 125 more police but first has to figure out how to pay for the ones we have. “This is a crisis for our city,” Councilwoman Carolyn Vaughn said Tuesday. “There is no telling where we are going to be five years from now.” No telling.

The BACK PORCH Scarecrow People May 18 Thomas Michael Riley May 19 Rosie Flores May 20 Selfie May 25 Gary P. Nunn May 26 Larry Joe Taylor May 27

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May 18, 2017

Island Moon

Senior Moments

Vietnam 1940-1975 Plus

Anecdotingly

Housekeeping

By Abigail Bair By Dotson Lewis Special to the Island Moon only in the South, and in October 1955 he declared himself president of the Republic of Vietnam. The North, not ready to start a new war and unable to induce its Chinese or Russian allies to act, could do little.

Dotson’s Note: Officially the Vietnam War took place during the period of 1954 to 1975. The best estimate that the Department of Defense can conclude is that between 2,709,918 and 3,173,845 GI's served in-country and in-waters Vietnam between 1954 and 1975 (this does not count the handful of Americans who served in Vietnam during WWII). Ronald H. Spector contributed to this article.

French Rule Ended-Vietnam Divided

The Vietnam War had its origins in the broader Indochina wars of the 1940s and ’50s, when nationalist groups such as Ho Chi Minh’s Viet Minh, inspired by Chinese and Soviet communism, fought the colonial rule, first of Japan and then of France. The French Indochina War broke out in 1946 and went on for eight years, with France’s war effort largely funded and supplied by the United States. Finally, with their shattering defeat by the Viet Minh at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in May 1954, the French came to the end of their rule in Indochina. The battle prodded negotiators at the Geneva Conference to produce the final Geneva Accords in July 1954. The accords established the 17th parallel as a temporary demarcation line separating the military forces of the French and the Viet Minh. North of the line was the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, or North Vietnam, which had waged a successful eightyear struggle against the French. The North was under the full control of the Worker’s Party, or Vietnamese Communist Party, led by Ho Chi Minh; its capital was Hanoi. In the South the French transferred most of their authority to the State of Vietnam, which had its capital at Saigon and was nominally under the authority of the former Vietnamese emperor, Bao Dai. Within 300 days of the signing of the accords, a demilitarized zone, or DMZ, was to be created by mutual withdrawal of forces north and south of the 17th parallel, and the transfer of any civilians who wished to leave either side was to be completed. Nationwide elections to decide the future of Vietnam, North and South, were to be held in 1956. Accepting the de facto partition of Vietnam as unavoidable, but still pledging to halt the spread of communism in Asia, President Eisenhower began a crash program of assistance to the State of Vietnam, or South Vietnam, as it was invariably called. The Saigon Military Mission, a covert operation to conduct psychological warfare and paramilitary activities in South Vietnam, was launched on June 1, 1954, under the command of United States Air Force Colonel Edward Lansdale. At the same time, Viet Minh leaders, expecting political disarray and unrest in the South, retained many of their political operatives and propagandists below the 17th parallel even as they withdrew their military forces to the North. Ngo Dinh Diem, the newly installed premier of South Vietnam, thus faced opposition not only from the communist regime in the North but also from the Viet Minh’s stay-behind political agents, armed religious sects in the South, and even subversive elements in his own army. Yet Diem had the full support of U.S. military advisers, who trained and reequipped his army along American lines and foiled coup plots by dissident officers. Operatives of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) bought off or intimidated Diem’s domestic opposition, and U.S. aid agencies helped him to keep his economy afloat and to resettle some 900,000 refugees who had fled the communist North. By late 1955 Diem had consolidated his power in the South, defeating the remaining sect forces and arresting communist operatives who had surfaced in considerable numbers to prepare for the anticipated elections. Publicly opposed to the elections, Diem called for a referendum

History of the Vietnam War The Vietnam War was a conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam and its allies in South Vietnam, known as the Viet Cong, against the government of South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. Called the “American War” in Vietnam (or, in full, the “War Against the Americans to Save the Nation”), the war was also part of a larger regional conflict (Indochina wars) and a manifestation of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. At the heart of the conflict was the desire of North Vietnam, which had defeated the French colonial administration of Vietnam in 1954, to unify the entire country under a single communist regime modeled after those of the Soviet Union and China. The South Vietnamese government, on the other hand, fought to preserve a Vietnam more closely aligned with the West. U.S. military advisers, present in small numbers throughout the 1950s, were introduced on a large scale beginning in 1961, and active combat units were introduced in 1965. By 1969 more than 500,000 U.S. military personnel were stationed in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union and China poured weapons, supplies, and advisers into the North, which in turn provided support, political direction, and regular combat troops for the campaign in the South. The costs and casualties of the growing war proved too much for the United States to bear, and U.S. combat units were withdrawn by 1973. In 1975 South Vietnam fell to a full-scale invasion by the North. The human costs of the long conflict were harsh for all involved. Not until 1995 did Vietnam release its official estimate of war dead: as many as 2 million civilians on both sides and some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters. The U.S. military has estimated that between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war. In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., inscribed with the names of 57,939 members of U.S. armed forces who had died or were missing as a result of the war. Over the following years, additions to the list have brought the total past 58,200. (At least 100 names on the memorial are those of servicemen who were actually Canadian citizens.) Among other countries that fought for South Vietnam on a smaller scale, South Korea suffered more than 4,000 dead, Thailand about 350, Australia more than 500, and New Zealand some three dozen. Vietnam emerged from the war as a potent

I’m not going to lie: I’m not the best housekeeper. I employ the ancient art of collecting lots of pretty baskets, throwing random junk in them until they get full, then purchasing additional baskets to handle the overflow. My whites come out barely whiter-than-black. It doesn’t help that Stadler-the-Dog cultivates terrible smells so extensively that her resume should list “Stink Farmer” as her primary occupation. Also, my beloved yard lizards have recently decided (evidently en masse) that they’d much rather be house lizards. They keep sneaking through the dog door and stowing away in my orchids. This has resulted in several dropped pots, and terrible evictions wherein both lizard and landlord caterwaul about the unfairness of the situation. Todd, a reptilian recidivist who enjoys dog food, may actually have squatter’s rights by now. This said, for the most part my home appears clean(ish) and reeks like “Kitchen Sunshine” wax cubes (they smell a lot like Lemon Pledge) which can be purchased for a mere $2 at HEB. I am aware of certain filth pockets which I typically try to forget -- out of sight and mostly out of mind until some sunny Saturday in spring when I find myself precariously perched atop a step ladder, gangster rap blaring, dusting as though I channeled a tornado made of wolverines, and wondering how things could “possibly have gotten this bad.” Prime examples of this blissful ignorance include filthy (possibly lizard-y) ceiling fans and tops of picture frames. This week, however, my out-of-sight routine encountered a hitch. My friend, Lena (yes, you probably know her) decided to drive to Corpus from Charleston, South Carolina with her giant dog, Scooter. She told me her plan well in advance, giving me plenty of time to incrementally tear the house apart and clean all the grossness pockets. Yeah, right. I, of course, procrastinated. I started scouring the morning of the arrival. Mistake #1. By 10 a.m., my house was torn apart, only a little razor wire short of looking like a Latvian missile testing facility. I had dramatically careened into the stage-ofscrubbing-for-company where everything was much, much worse than when I started. Cleaning products dripped all over the kitchen floor. The freshly washed curtains created an inadvertent tent city, held up by my disassembled couch. The bathroom was coated in bleach and Comet layers so thick that they resembled striations in antediluvian granite. Despite the mess, the front of the house was so quiet you could hear a lizard fart. I had paused all of the above because I decided mid-stream that it was most important to focus on the spare bedroom. Calling my second bedroom a ‘multipurpose space’ is a nice way of saying that it provides storage for various overflow problems that are

Part 2

Over-pruning is so common that it looks normal to us. Figure 1 shows a classic example of over-pruned palms. According to experts, palms should look like a lollypop, with a full 360° canopy— not a feather duster. As we learned in the previous article, such (Figure 1: palms over-pruning impacts the health of the tree over-pruned) by causing potassium deficiencies, reduced photosynthesis, weakens the trunks, and leaves the palms vulnerable to disease. That’s logical. If we reduce access to its food source (the fronds)—essentially starving the tree — of course the tree will suffer.

A mass exodus in 1975 of people loyal to the South Vietnamese cause was followed by another wave in 1978 of “boat people,” refugees fleeing the economic restructuring imposed by the communist regime. Meanwhile, the United States, its military demoralized and its civilian electorate deeply divided, began a process of coming to terms with defeat in what had been its longest and most controversial war. The two countries finally resumed formal diplomatic relations in 1995. Dotson’s Other Note: The youngest Vietnam veterans will be turning 60 this year, unless they lied and got in under age. Today there are about 855,070 veterans who actually served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Today Vietnam Veterans are dying at a rate of about 492 daily, which is approximately the same numbers as their WWII brothers. Because of faulty record keeping there is no confirmed number of Americans who served in Vietnam. However, veterans groups estimate that today approximately 9 to 12 million Americans fraudulently claim they served in Vietnam. The debate still goes on, should we (the US of A) have participated in that conflict? Perhaps we will never agree. Your thoughts regarding this or any articles appearing in The Island Moon are greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading and commenting on Senior Moments. I can be reached at: dlewis1@stx.rr.com and/or Land Line: 361-949-7681 Cell: 530-748-8475. Hang in there/Have fun!

Send letters and photos to editor@islandmoon.com

When I’m involved, “some assembly” requires several distinct phases. Phase #1: Build it backwards. Figure out that project is backwards due to project falling on self/floor/dog/dinner/lizard. Start over. Phase #2: Build correctly. Project still falls apart and lands on head/dog/fragile heirloom/ Todd because I had to take it apart with a claw hammer. Phase #2(a): Throw project on floor in spare room and cuss at it every time I see it. This can take months. Phase #3: Super glue. (The BAD phase). I once glued my right foot to a carpet with Liquid Nails and had to cut myself out with scissors. My heel was hairy for two weeks. At this point, I was still only on Phase #2. I either had to fix the rack, or throw it out and pile the shoes on the closet floor. “That just won’t do for a guest,” complained my inner Heloise. I took the hint. Time to initiate Phase #3! Amazingly, I got the thing glued/pounded together without sticking anything to myself. However, the shelf had a gazillion parts, each of which must irrevocably stick to some other piece, or risk further total tower collapse. Construction took hours, but I got it done at about the same time Lena was fighting her way through Houston. “Ab, a city bus just crossed four lanes of traffic! It almost took out some old pickup without tags going 28 in a 70. We’re going to die for sure.” “No way, Lena! That’s just the Houston version of Tokyo Drift. Quick, see if you can spot Vin Diesel’s counterpart, Van Weasel.” “What’s that?” “I don’t know, some weasly looking guy driving a windowless kidnap van?” “OH! I see four of those!” The race was on. Time was of the essence. I realized that I was never going to get things both actually clean and reassembled in the approximately three hours I had left, so I evolved into the final stage of housekeeping-forcompany: “Flying to Phuket.” Suffice it to say, that while every lizard I could find was forcibly evicted, and the house really looks clean, it’s all just as cosmetic as ever. At any moment, a painting might shift, dislodging a deluge of filth (and possibly lizards). Lena is a good person, though. She may notice the dust, but I’m pretty sure she won’t write in it. The jury is still out on the lizards.

The Truth about Palms

Pruning vs. Over-Pruning: In our previous article, we learned that palms produce and store the nutrients they need to thrive in their fronds. Before we start talking about pruning, know this: all experts agree on one certainty: Palms do not need or benefit from pruning.

military power within Southeast Asia, but its agriculture, business, and industry were disrupted, large parts of its countryside were scarred by bombs and defoliation and laced with land mines, and its cities and towns were heavily damaged.

too big for baskets. My collection of shoes I don’t wear, but still like to look at is the worst of these. Last January, the floor to shoe ratio in the spare room finally tipped to the “unfavorable to human survival” side. Because the deadliness of five inch platform heels approaches that of a spilled bucket of Legos, I began referring to the area as "Shoe-ma-geddon," and purchased a vertical storage rack.

How much can you safely prune? Palms tolerate removing fruits, flower stalks, or completely dead fronds that are dry and completely brown all the way to the trunk. The ideal time to remove dead fronds is when they are about to fall, but this would require constant care, which is neither practical or financially feasible for tall trees. As you will see in upcoming articles, there are things to consider here too, when removing dead fronds or tree beards. Our POA wants us to remove all brown fronds (living and dead) once a year and they hand out a pamphlet that recommends pruning all fronds below the 9 -3 o’clock positions on the tree, which leaves the palm looking like an umbrella, not a lollypop. This cut is a common compromise that many experts admit they have resigned themselves to in order to discourage (Figure 2: “pencil-pointing” as narrowed trunks seen in figure 1. And from past overyet the same experts pruning) acknowledge that this goes against their assertion that palms need their full canopy. They also agree that the more fronds you cut off, the less nutrition is available to the tree, which will affect the long term health of your trees. However, if you feel you must prune your trees this is likely to be better tolerated than pencil-pointing, but this brings us to the dangers that you are entitled to know about before you grab that chain saw. One of the major concerns is that tree trimmers do not disinfect their equipment between each tree. That is a like going to the doctor and allowing them to use the same needle on you that they used on all the other patients that day. There is no dispute that contaminated tools

spread infections such as Thielaviopsis Trunk Rot and Fusarium Wilt. This source of lethal diseases is one of the leading causes of palm tree death. Dr. Timothy Broschat tells us that this is reason enough to not prune.

(Figure 3: Spikes, holes, and shaving) Compromised nutrition from

well-intended pruning gone bad will lead to the thinning and weakening of the trunks. We’ll talk more about that in another article, but for now look around the island. You will see trunks that are uneven, very thin, or they have a narrowing as seen in figure 2. Those are weak points that are predisposed to breaking in high winds and cold snaps. Another risk is that the raw stubs of freshly trimmed fronds, especially green ones, emit volatile chemicals that draw palm weevils, which can wipe out your trees and those of your neighbors. Yikes! Spikes! Ladders can’t get a tree trimmer up high enough on tall palms to prune. A bucket truck can do the job, but that can be very expensive and they often can’t reach trees that aren’t close to the street. One of the most common and sometimes only option is climbing the tree with spikes as seen in figure 3. (Yellow arrow) These spikes leave (Fig. 4: open wounds in the palm’s Suffering trunk. (Orange arrows) trunks) Jennifer Thomas, with Texas A&M’s AgriLife Extension tells us that trees with bark “can regenerate and re-grow, but palms are different, they do not regenerate. The damage to the trunk will remain forever.” Those holes will remain open portals for pests and diseases and each year when you prune, you’ll be adding more holes. The other thing you see in figure 3 (white arrow) is a practice called shaving. Some tree trimmers prefer to shave so they can get a better foothold with the spikes. Also, when a palm has seen its share of pruning, it’s common to see the trunk take on a ragged, uneven appearance. (See figure 4) To remedy this, tree trimmers and property owners have taken to the practice of shaving the trunks. Like spikes, this too scores the trunks with permanent wounds, which also leaves it wide open to insect infestations and viruses. If palms don’t benefit from trimming and considering all these risks, we have to ask: why do we prune palms at all? There is only one answer— some people think trimmed palms are pretty and they don’t know about the risks or are are willing to accept the risks. Others see the risks as outweighing any perceived aesthetic value. The choice is yours. After all, these are your trees. Your property. Next week we will delve into what lurks beneath those “Brown Fronds.” Any questions? Contact me at: Marta@MartaSprout.com

May 18, 2017

Island Moon

Who Reads the Newspapers? Experts have found the following analysis of newspapers to be nearly 100% accurate:

they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

9. The Chicago Tribune is read by people who are in prison, who used to run the state, & would like to do so again, as would their constituents who are currently free on bail.

2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country. 3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country, and who are very good at crossword puzzles. 4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. 5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could find the time and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it. 6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country. 7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

10. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country, but need the baseball scores. 11. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure if there is a country or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. 12. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store. 13. The Seattle Times is read by people who have recently caught a fish and need something to wrap it in. 14. No one is sure who is reading the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. 15. The Island Moon is ready by people who would rather not have to go OTB again, ever.

8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who is running the country as long as

Maximize and Extend the Beauty of Roses with Proper Care

by Melinda Myers Although June is national rose month, gardeners can keep their roses healthy and blooming all summer long. Through proper care and a few simple strategies both existing and new roses can continue to look their best throughout the summer months – maximizing their beauty and enjoyment for all. Water thoroughly whenever the top few inches of soil are crumbly and moist. Use soaker hoses or drip irrigation to apply the water directly to the soil where it is needed. You’ll lose less water to evaporation and reduce the risk of disease by avoiding overhead irrigation.

discovered when some plants are stressed they produce hundreds of molecules that help them better tolerate environmental stresses as well as insect and disease attacks. When applied to plants in the form of a plant strengthener, the treated plants improve their own defenses, much like immunizations do for us. Gardeners will notice less damage from stress, better recovery, reduced yellow leaves, and healthier plants overall.

Keep your plants blooming and looking their best in spite of the heat, humidity and pests of summer. Immunize your plants against common environmental stresses such as heat and drought, while building their defenses against insects and diseases natural defenses with an organic plant strengthener, such as JAZ™ Rose Spray (gardeners.com). Researchers

Enjoy your efforts and improve your roses appearance by harvesting a few rosebuds for indoor enjoyment. Prune flowering stems back to the first 5-leaflet leaf. You can prune back farther on established plants, but be sure to always leave at least two 5-leaflet leaves behind on the plant’s stem. Those gardening in cold climates should stop deadheading roses toward the end of the season. Allow the plants to develop rose hips. This helps the plants prepare for the cold weather ahead and increases hardiness. Plus, these red to orange fruits provide winter food for birds as well as attractive winter interest in the garden. And if you don’t have roses, make this the summer you add one or more of these beauties to your landscape.

Do it Yourself Garden Edging

Garden edging is one of the best ways to finish off your landscape design. Edging adds structure and definition to your lawn and garden, while also improving curb appeal. However, this element of gardening is one of the most neglected techniques for the “Do It Yourself” landscaper. Installing edging can often be expensive and labor intensive. Since it is not absolutely necessary to the success of your garden, it can often be overlooked. Here are several tips to up-cycle a variety of materials to make garden edging a way for you to be creative and unique, while likely lowering your costs.

Dishes and Pots Many of us have that one cupboard in our kitchens that is used to house/hide all the random dishes that have survived over the years without their matching set. Using them as edging for your garden or lawn, can be a great way to add spice to your yard while clearing out some space. For those of us who have managed to avoid the collection, yard sales or resale shops are great places to find bargain dishes. Ceramic pots, perhaps leftover from the plants you are now rehoming into your garden, can also be a great option. Combining both materials can add color and texture to your edging, making it more unique. Saucers and shallow bowls can be used as a border by burying them slightly in the ground along the edge. The other option is to use the broken ceramic pieces to fill a shallow trench. You can place a few dishes or small pots into a pillow case to prevent flying glass and break them using the ground or a

Grilling Isn’t Just For Meat By Chef Vita Jarrin Grilling season is well under way. Some prefer a charcoal grill, some of us prefer a quicker method and use a gas grill. Both of which are fine. What’s important to recognize is that you can pretty much grill anything you want (within reason).

Grilled Baby Potato Salad Recipe: 1 5lb bag Red baby potatoes 5 Corn on the cob (husks on) 1 Head of Garlic 2 sprigs of rosemary

Grilling adds a unique flavor of its own. Coupled with marinades, seasonings, dry rubs etc. you can have a flavor packed meal better than any restaurant can serve. The way to do that is to practice. Getting to know your grill, and how the food you grill reacts to the heat element will teach you what cooks fast, what needs a longer cook time, what temperature chars, or slow cooks.

3 Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

The only way to really know is to cook often on the grill and try various foods. The most important thing to do when grilling chicken or fish, is to have a thermometer. You can’t eat undercooked chicken or fish therefore if you’re a novice this little device can ensure your food is safe to eat. Another great reason to have a thermometer is if you’re picky about cooking a rare or medium rare steak or burger. It tells you if it’s ready or not.

1 C Extra Virgin Olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste Arugula Salad leaves 1 lg. Red Onion 1 small can chick peas rinsed / drained ½ C Olives of choice (pitted) Vinaigrette Dressing ½ C Red wine Vinegar 1 Tsp Salt ½ Tsp black pepper ½ Tsp granulated garlic

Directions: Rinse potatoes and wrap about 4 at a time in aluminum foil Dip Corn on the cob in a sink filled with water (prevents burning the leaves) for about 10 minutes, drain for grill. Cut the top off garlic head about an inch, until the interior cloves are partially exposed. Place on a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle oil over the cloves. Place rosemary on top and wrap the foil around the garlic so nothing is exposed.

Proper fertilization will help keep roses healthy and producing lots of flowers. A soil test is the best way to determine how much and what type of fertilizer is best for roses growing in your landscape. Check your plants throughout the season for signs of insects and disease. Early detection makes control easier. Remove insects or infested plant parts when discovered. Look for the most eco-friendly control options when intervention is needed.

Mulch the soil surface with shredded leaves, evergreen needles or other organic matter to conserve moisture, suppress weeds and improve the soil as they decompose.

Island Moon on a Spoon

Place these three items on the grill. While they are grilling, rinse and drain the chick peas, and cut the onion and place in salad bowl.

Most backyard get-togethers serve up lengthy tables of meat filled platters starting from the infamous patties for burgers to platters of seasoned steaks, ribs, chops, chicken, fish and the list goes on. However, if planned correctly you can use the grill to slow cook rosemary infused garlic, drizzled in olive oil then wrapped in foil, baby potatoes, sweet corn wrapped in its own husk, then cut off the cob. Put these three ingredients in a bowl, add fresh red onion, arugula, olives and chick peas, drizzle with a house made vinaigrette and you just put together a delicious grilled potato salad. It’s that simple. Now the grill is ready for your entrée selections. When your oven is full and you need to bake that one casserole dish, you can use your grill also. Make sure there aren’t any flames, check temperature like you would an oven and place your covered oven proof casserole on the grill and voila! You just created another use for your back yard grill.

To check doneness of potatoes, pierce the potatoes with a knife. When everything is cooked, remove the foil from potatoes and cut in halves or quarters and add to salad bowl. Once the corn is cooled, remove the husks. Place clean corn and one at a time on a cutting board, cut the corn off the cob lengthwise and put it in the bowl. Add the roasted garlic, after discarding the rosemary. You add the cloves by pressing the garlic from the bottom in a squeezing motion and they pop right out. You don’t have to put more than 4 cloves. You can use the rest as a spread by creaming it into butter and spreading it on warm crusty bread. Make the vinaigrette and add the salt, pepper and garlic granules to dressing and add to salad. Toss the salad gently and

Tip of the week! NOTE*** To reduce the sharpness of the raw onion you can rinse the onion in a bowl of salted water. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, rinse with fresh water, drain and add to the salad. The important thing is to Have Fun! Try New Things! Happy Eats… Enjoy!

hammer. Safety glasses and gloves are always recommended. The size of the glass is based completely on your preference. You can be creative with different sizes and colors.

Bottles Old glass bottles can be used for many DIY projects around the house. Your garden is no exception. Given they are glass, you should be aware of the traffic in the area where they will be placed. For instance, this material may not be the best option for an area that is often close to the mower. The best thing about bottles is there visual appeal. Because they will likely be a very visible element of your garden, choosing your size, color, and placement can be a defining feature of your yard. To place the bottles, bury the neck of the bottle into the ground side by side, creating the edge as you go. Bottles can be buried at different depths to add variety.

Industrial Materials With all the construction zones around our growing city, excess material should not be too difficult to come across. The local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store is a great option for finding material to be repurposed. Much like the bottles, any material that can be buried into the ground, can be a good option for edging. Pipe, such as small steel or PVC pieces, can be buried partially into the ground, side by side as a border. If you use pipe, you may wish to backfill the pipes with small stones or gravel to add to your garden. Small stone can add a natural appeal, while dyed gravel can add a pop of color.

Pallets By far the favorite material for DIY-ers, pallets offer great raw material at a very low price. You can often find free pallets around town, but remember to always ask before you take. Cut the wood into smaller pieces to use as a small fenced border. Again like the bottles, the planks can be buried at varying heights to add visual appeal. The wood can be left bare for a natural look, or can be painted to suit any theme in your garden. This project, in particular, can be a great one to involve the family in. Allow children to paint their own planks to make your garden truly unique and personal. DIY projects are a great way to enjoy your garden while making it truly your own. If you have completed any new projects, please feel free to share. Stay tuned in to what the Beautify Corpus Christi Association is working on in your city by following us on Facebook.

Padre Island Real Estate Ticker April 16 - April 30

By Cindy Molnar Coldwell Banker Island Realtors

Waterfront Homes Sold

Interior Lot Homes/Condominiums and Duplexes 14721 Whitecap Blvd. #311

13634 Camino De Oro Court

15449 Palmira Avenue

14222 San Felipe Drive

15453 Palmira Avenue

13758 Cayo Cantiles Court

15104 Dory Drive

13918 El Soccorro Loop

15101 Beach Country Drive

14242 Playa Del Rey

15105 Beach Country Drive

Average Sales Price $695,215 80 Waterfront Homes Listed From $309,900-$3,500,000

Interior Lot Homes Sold 13958 Seafarer Drive 13948 Lighthouse Drive 13938 Whitecape Blvd. 15214 Reales Drive

Average Selling Price $254,250 105 Interior Lot Condominiums/ Townhomes/Duplexes Listed From $94,000-$925,000

Waterfront Lots 13518 Royal Fifth Court 60 Waterfront Lots Listed From $139,900-$2,000,000

Interior Lots Sold

15709 Finistere Street

115809 Vincent Drive

Average Sales Price $240,972

15837 Portillo Drive

84 Interior Lot Homes Listed From $204,900-$650,000

15209 Laffite Circle

Waterfront Condomiums/Townhomes Sold

Average Sales Price $51,500

14873 Granada Drive #18 15413 Gun Cay Court #103 14802 Windward Drive #102 14802 Windward Drive #230 14300 Aloha Street #133 14300 Aloha Street #230 Average Sales Price $178,000 134 Waterfront Condominiums/ Townhomes/Duplexes Listed From $70,000-$799,000

15630 Escapade Street 58 Interior Lots Listed From $45,000$350,000

Commercial Lots 16 Commercial Lots Listed From $49,900-$2,625,000

May 18, 2017

Island Moon

SPORTS Sports Talk Special to The Island Moon

Forgotten-The Greatest Athlete of all Time By Dotson Lewis Special to the Island Moon Dotson’s Note: In my opinion Babe Didrikson Zaharias is/was the greatest athletic that ever lived. She did it all. Do you remember her? If you don’t, you should, so here goes. My thanks to Don Van Natta Jr., WHO contributed to this article.

Babe Didrikson Zaharias’s Legacy Fades

finished first in five events: broad jump, shotput, javelin, 80-meter hurdles and the baseball throw. She tied for first in a sixth event, the high jump. In qualifying for three Olympic events, she amassed a total of 30 team points for Employers Casualty. The second-place team, the Illinois Women’s Athletic Club, scored 22 points — with 22 athletes. “Implausible is the adjective that best befits the Babe,” Arthur Daley wrote in The New York Times. She went on to Los Angeles for the 1932 Olympics and won gold medals in the javelin and the 80-meter hurdles and a silver medal in the high jump. Almost overnight, she had become the most famous female athlete in the world. But she had few places to compete. And she had to overcome ridiculers, among them highsociety Texas women who wondered whether she was a she, a he or an ‘it’. They whispered she was a lesbian obsessed with athletic competition to compensate for her failure in “the sport of man-snatching.”

Mildred Ella Babe Didrikson Zaharias has, in many ways, become America’s all-but-forgotten sports superstar. And nowhere is Didrikson’s faded sporting legacy felt more powerfully than in her hometown, where she hopped hedges along Doucette Street and learned how to play golf at Beaumont Country Club. Off Interstate 10, a modest, circular brick museum, built in 1976 as a tribute to Babe, is easy to miss. Its smudged glass cases are stocked with the loot collected during Didrikson’s fabulous sporting life: the medals, trophies, golf clubs and get-well telegrams and letters, from housewives and schoolchildren, prime ministers and presidents, now yellowed and fading. It is open every day except Christmas.

Three for a Day By Andy Purvis Special to the Island Moon Young 22-year-old Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals hit three homeruns in three consecutive at-bats in a single game, on Wednesday, May 6th 2015. Those three home runs against the Miami Marlins traveled 404’, 431’, and 441 feet. The first was hit to leftcenter, the second to straightaway centerfield and the third and longest was hit into the rightfield upper deck. It was a monster day for the kid and just one of many to come. He would go on to hit a total of six home runs in three consecutive games. Harper, known as “BamBam,” hit 55 home runs in his first three seasons. Harper is very confident with lots of mustard on him and he sports a complicated haircut. Bryce may be the closes player we have to a modern day Pete Rose. It will be fun to watch him progress. Harper’s exploits reminded me of another day in May, when the “Colossus of Clout” set the record that would last a lifetime.

The Babe

Within five months of her Olympic success, Didrikson, needing a job during the Depression, performed vaudeville on Chicago’s Palace Theater stage, then played baseball riding a donkey around the base paths with the barnstorming House of David team in small towns and villages across the country. It was not until Didrikson took up golf that she began to transform her image and personality. She embraced golf in part to try to conform, somewhat, to America’s expectations of how a female athlete should look and act in the 1930s. She bought a new wardrobe and applied lipstick. Some writers still ridiculed her looks. (“I know I’m not pretty, but I try to be graceful,” she said.) And in December 1938, she married George Zaharias, a professional wrestler. He helped sell her makeover to the news media and to the public. Golf was the toughest game for Didrikson, but she mastered it by practicing for 10 hours a day

On a good day, the museum attracts a handful of visitors. On many days, though, no one steps inside.

Babe Ruth On May 25, 1935 (82 years ago), another fellow hit three home runs in three consecutive at-bats for the last time in his career. His name was George Herman “Babe” Ruth. Ruth, no longer a Yankee, had joined the Boston Braves

At a local awards for gifted high school golfers, only two winners said they had visited Babe Didrikson’s museum. Even in her own backyard, the young golfers now prowling the courses where Didrikson learned the game barely know her name. “Every time I tell her story, people have trouble believing everything she was able to do during her life,” said Beaumont’s mayor pro tem, W. L. Pate Jr., the president of the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Foundation. “And she did so much in so little time.” Didrikson died of cancer at 45 on Sept. 27, 1956, and she was buried in Beaumont, at the Forest Lawn Cemetery. On a memorial near her burial site, there is the old Grantland Rice line about how winning and losing are not what matters but rather how one played the game. It is unclear how the lines came to be engraved into the stone. What is clear is Didrikson never subscribed to them. “I don’t see any point in playing the game if you don’t win,” she often said. “Do you?” But if her name may mean increasingly little to a young generation of sports fans, Didrikson, who was born 106 years ago, was perhaps America’s greatest all-around athlete, male or female. No athlete excelled at more sports and games than Didrikson. She was an all-American basketball player, a two-time Olympic track and field gold medalist and a golf champion who won 82 tournaments, including an astonishing 14 in a row. One of the 13 founding members of the L.P.G.A., Didrikson became the first woman to play against men in a PGA Tour event and the first American to win the British Women’s Amateur Championship. She was also an outstanding baseball, softball, tennis and billiards player, diver and bowler. At 13 she was just a poor, foul-mouthed Beaumont girl who preferred to play baseball and basketball with the boys because they were better athletes than the girls. A brash, tough-talking Texan who spent her life hurdling obstacles placed in her way by chauvinistic sports fans, sexist reporters and class-conscious golfers, Didrikson often showed up in the clubhouse before a tournament and bellowed to her female competitors: “The Babe’s here! Who is going to finish second?” Perhaps Didrikson’s most spectacular athletic achievement occurred at the amateur track and field championships in Evanston, Ill., on July 16, 1932. She was the lone representative of Employers Casualty Insurance Company of Dallas, competing against company teams of 12, 15, even 22 women. When Didrikson was introduced, she ran onto the field by herself, her arms waving wildly. The crowd gasped at the audacity of this “one-woman track team” (a phrase Didrikson coined). Over the course of three hours on a sweltering track, she sprinted from event to event, with barely enough time to catch her breath. She

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Didrikson Pitching For New Orleans of the Southern Association In 1934. until her hands were bloodied and blistered. From 1946 to 1947, she won 14 consecutive tournaments, including the British Women’s Amateur Championship in Gullane, Scotland. Perhaps her most lasting legacy is as a founding member of the L.P.G.A. The women’s tour was created in large part to showcase Didrikson’s booming drives, soft touch around the greens and the effortless way she made members of the gallery laugh and cheer. “I just loosen my girdle and let the ball have it,” she liked to say. Tournament organizers paid her $1,000 under the table just to show up; it did not take long for other female golfers to become envious of her stardom. But they also knew it was Didrikson whom the people were coming to see. “Babe was an entertainer,” said Marilynn Smith, a Kansas pro and L.P.G.A. founding member, who won 21 tour events in her career. “She knew you’re not just out there hitting a golf ball.” Didrikson received a diagnosis of rectal cancer in April 1953. Doctors told reporters she would never play professional golf again. She tried to give her clubs to a friend, but soon she vowed publicly that she would come back to play tournament golf and win. Fifteen months after a colostomy, she won the United States Women’s Open at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass., by an amazing 12 strokes. Afterward, she shared her victory with her doctors and the thousands of cancer patients who had written to her and rooted for her.

of the National League. They were finishing up a three-game series with the Pirates of Pittsburgh, at Forbes Field. Ruth was 41 years old and hitting .150 at the time. In front of a crowd of less than 10,000 cranks (fans) that day, Ruth proceeded to hit three home runs. There were no lights in 1935; all games were played in the afternoon. All three home runs were hit to right-field. The first home run was hit off Red Lucas and landed in the lower deck. Pitcher Guy Bush gave up the second home run in the

upper deck and the third and last, number 714 cleared the 86-foot high upper deck, in right field. It was the first home run to ever leave the yard at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Seventeen others would accomplish the same feat over the next 35 years. Ruth left the game after hitting

Bryce Harper his third home run in the seventh inning. The only access at Forbes Field for both teams’ locker rooms was through the Pirates’ dugout. Ruth was said to have stopped and sat down on the Pirates’ bench next to Mace Brown, where he said, “Boy, that last one felt good.” The third home run was estimated to have traveled over 600 feet, but it was impossible to verify. Eyewitnesses said the ball struck the roof of a house located at 334 Joncaire Street and bounced over to Bouquet Street where a kid named Henry DeOrio retrieved the ball. That ball was later donated to the National-BaseballMuseum Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, by DeOrio. I was able to see this ball on my two separate visits to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ruth walked by himself back to the Schenley Hotel in Pittsburgh. We now know that he was contemplating retiring at this time. Despite Ruth’s slugging performance, the Braves lost to the Pirates, 11 to 7. Five days later, after returning to Boston and meeting with management, Ruth retired for good as the alltime home-run leader. Babe’s record would stand until Hank Aaron hit #715 in 1974. Hank would finish his career with 755 home runs. Ruth had joined the Braves with a promise that he would be the assistant manager to manager Bill McKechnie, who had also managed the Pirates in the 1925 World Series. Ruth had been to Pittsburgh only one previous time, when the Yankees swept the Pirates in the 1927 World Series. Ruth eventually begin to see the real truth to his signing, as his fame was being used to enhance the gate receipts, and the Braves had no intention of replacing McKechnie with him. Most of you know that Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants has passed both Ruth and Aaron in career home runs, with 762. With young superstars like Bryce Harper, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton, is the record safe? Only time will tell. But on next Monday, May 29, 2017 Memorial Day, take a minute to remember this day in baseball history when “The Babe” decided 714 was enough. Andy Purvis is a local author and radio personality. Please visit www.purvisbooks. com for all the latest info on his books or to listen to the new radio podcast. Andy’s books are available online and can be found in the local Barnes & Noble bookstore. Andy can be contacted at purvis.andy@mygrande.net. Also listen to sports talk radio on Dennis & Andy’s Q & A Session from 6-8 PM on Sportsradiocc.com 1230 AM, 96.1 FM and 103.3 FM. The home of the Houston Astros.

“Babes on the Bay” This Weekend

Largest Women Anglers tournament in the U.S. On Friday and Saturday, May 19- 20, Aransas Bay will be filled with women! They will be arriving for the annual Jim Ehman Memorial “Babes on the Bay” fishing tournament. The tournament, which originally started at Fulton Harbor, but later moved to Rockport, has returned to its original starting point at Fulton Harbor for 2017. The tournament has been going strong since the year 2000. The tournament is the largest one day unrestricted fishing tournament in the United States, bringing in around 1,300 ladies, of all ages as participants. The ladies who fish the tournament range from elementary school students to greatgrandmothers. If the fishing tournament itself is not unique enough, the team names certainly are: Nauti-Tails, Reel Ladies, Bayboy Bunnies, Outa Line, Playing Hookies, and Anglers without Danglers…just to name a few. Along with the fishing tournament, the event also features a Food Vendors Court and a Babes Shopping Mall where vendors sell everything

from fishing rods to jewelry.

The kick-off for Babes on the Bay will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 19, at the Fulton Harbor Park with a mandatory Captains Meeting at 8 p.m. The fishing tournament officially begins at sunrise on Saturday, May 20. Weigh-in for the event will be from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. at Fulton Park grounds. 1st - 5th place prizes will be given for five divisions. The divisions are as follows: Team with a professional guide (any bait); Team with a Professional Guide (artificial only); team with Non-Professional Guide (any bait); Team with Non-Professional Guide (artificial only); and Babe-ette Division (ages 16 and under). 1st -5th places will be awarded for the first four divisions with additional prizes for Babe-ette Division. Additional prizes given for heaviest fish in 4 categories. Awards will be presented at approximately 6 p.m., following the weigh-in on Saturday. For more information, visit www. babesonthebay.com , call 361-386-0028. or email ccababes@gmail.com

Didrikson became a tireless crusader against cancer. She spoke openly about her illness in an era when public figures preferred to keep theirs a secret. Twenty-six months after her triumph at Salem Country Club, she was dead. On the morning she died in a Galveston, Tex., hospital, President Dwight D. Eisenhower began his news conference in Washington with this salute: “She was a woman who, in her athletic career, certainly won the admiration of every person in the United States, all sports people all over the world, and in her gallant fight against cancer, she put up one of the kind of fights that inspire us all.” Dotson’s Other Note: We who are Babe’s fans wish more kids knew about her and the museum; it’s a very special place. She did it all. She transcends everything. If you ever have the chance, you along with all of your family should visit the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum & Visitor Center in Beaumont, Texas. Everyone will be the better for it. Contact me at Phone: 361-949-7681 Cell: 530-748-8475 Email: dlewis1@stx.rr.com Have fun -30-

Send letters and photos to editor@islandmoon.com

May 18, 2017

Island Moon

The Traveling Moon Gets Around

Seashore Happenings

Traveling Moon Sharon and Norris Stricker recently visited The Plaza in Kansas City, MO with The Moon, where they lived before moving to Port A in 2001.

Pictured above: Seashore Learning Center's "Kinder Water Day." Below: 1st grade "Teddy Bear Picnic Musical." Photos by Teri Beck.

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May 18, 2017

Island Moon

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15958 Punta Espada 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3 car garage. 2,575 sq. ft. Upgraded granite, lots of lighting. Double oven. $379,900. Charlie Knoll 361443-2499.

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14853 Quarterdeck 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath 2 car garage with 2,177 sq. ft. Built in 2013. Master features walk in shower and separate tub. Granite and tile. $289,000. Charlie Knoll 361-443-2499.

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14427 Compass B8 $228,000. 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1 car garage. Great location. 1,326 sq. ft. on the water with boat and boatslip. Kellye 361-522-0292.

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15729 Dyna—Just listed. 3/2/2 interior lot. Walk to the Charter school and beach. Move in ready. Nicely landscaped backyard. Call for a viewing today. Cheryl 361563-0444.

New Construction by R.T. Bryant. 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage. 1,854 sq. ft. of living area. Close to beach. Quiet area. $269,000. Call Terry 549-7703.

Condos, Condos, Condos

Open Sunday 5/21 2‐5 p.m.

Check Out these Condos available in Wonderful Complexes allowing Short Term Rentals!

14978 Topgallant Fantastic two story 2,160 sq. ft. + a bonus area of 235. 3-2.5-2 two story. Salt water heated pool. Large lot on cul de sac. A must see. Call Cheryl 563-0444.

13641 Camino De Oro Luxurious one story 4/2.5/2 3,210 sq. ft. waterfront home with 2 living, 2 dining, 2 fireplaces, boat lift. $650,000. Cindy Molnar 5495557.

13953 Blackbeard 3/2/2 waterfront home with 1,589 sq. ft. North facing exposure. Open airy floorplan. Deck and dock set up for sailboat. $314,900. Charlie Knoll 361-443-2499.

15350 Yardarm 3/2.5/2 waterfront home with two living and two dining areas. Boat dock. Tile roof, stucco construction. New tile downstairs. $399,000. Terry 549-7703.

15629 Escapade Fabulous open floor plan with 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 dining areas, 3+ garage, covered patio. Still time to customize, $314,900. Call Cindy Molnar 549-5557.

13921 Flintlock 3/2/2 with 1,499 sq. ft. of living space. Four side brick. Nice floor plan, covered patio. Close to boat launch. $204,900. Charlie 443-2499.

Walking Distance to Schlitterbahn!

Beach Club Condos Close to Beach Pool, hot tub, fitness center

Marquesas #401 2/2 unit Great complex $184,900

Anchor Resort #196 1/1.5 remodeled unit $139,400

#375 2/2 $159,900 #394 Studio $99,000 #334 1/1 $115,000 #289 Studio $115,000

Beach Haven #703 3/2.5/1 Close to beach $199,900

Call Charlie 443-2499 or Terry 549-7703 to view!

Lot 9 Block 218 Cruiser Great waterfront lot perfect for multifamily construction. 80x120. $150,000. Call Shonna Soderqvist 510-3445.

13830 Hawksnest Bay completely updated inside/out 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 2 dining, 3 living, over 4500 sq. ft., $675,900. Cindy Molnar 549-5557 to preview.

13722 A La Entrada 3 bedrooms, 4 baths, 2 car garage w/3,769 sq. ft. located on a wide canal. Gourmet kitchen, dramatic fireplace, cathedral ceilings, office & more! $1,150,000. Charlie 443-2499.

Great Mustang Island 2/2 condo, updated, covered veranda, pool/spa, private beach access, short term rentals apply, potential+ $176,000. Call Dorothy 361-5638486.

14945 S. Padre Island Dr. Corpus Chris�, TX 78418 (361) 949‐2131 (877) 269‐2131

www.rentpadreisland.com Superior Service, Outstanding Reputa�on since 1999 Looking for Professional Long Term Property Management Services? Our services include:  Tenant Qualifying  Collec�ons of Rents  Coordina�ng Repairs & Maintenance  Professional Itemized Monthly Statements  Marke�ng/Adver�sing

Open Sunday 5/21 2‐5 p.m.

Looking for Long Term Rental Property? Below are some of our available rentals:

15125 Leeward #24 2/2 $1150

14910 Leeward #302 3/3.5/2 $2200

15345 Cruiser B 3/2/2 $1400

13953 Fortuna Bay 5 & 7 2/2 ea. $1200 ea.

15425 Fortuna Bay #306 1/1 $900

13997 Ports O’Call 3/2 $1400

Leeward Isles #308 1/1 furnished $975

4765 Willowick 3/2/2 $1400

Beach Club #375 2/2 $1275

13817 Halyard 3/2/2. Open floor plan. Lots of tile. Great light. Lots of decking. 1,654 sq. ft. Separate laundry. Call Cheryl for a viewing. 563-0444.

15674 Cumana 3/4/2. Bonus area now set up as a mother in law suite. Mature landscaping. Pool. Well maintained. You don’t want to miss this one. Call Cheryl 5630444.

Open Sunday 5/21 2‐5 p.m.

Great Investment! Duplex with oversized RV garage. 12’x75’x15’ full hook ups. Each unit has: 3B/2B/1. Open floor plan. Tile. Boat Parking. Carrie 949-5200.

13914 Mingo Cay 1 bedroom, 1 bath waterfront condo with boat slip, covered patio and washer/ dryer hook up in unit, $110,000. Call Cindy Molnar 549-5557.

Palm Bay Village 3 bed/2 bath 1 story townhome. Poolside location. 2 car garage. Short term rentals. Call Charlene 361-244-2344.

13626 Whitecap—Seaquist Homes 3/2/2. 1,635 sq. ft. Tile floors, stainless appl., open floor plan, crown moulding, covered patio. $229,000. Cheryl.

Looking for Vaca�on Rental Services you can trust? Call Padre Escapes, Padre Island’s Premier Vaca�on Rental Company at 361‐949‐0430 Visit us online at www.padreescapes.com email at vaca�on@padreescapes.com

13901 Hawksnest Bay Wonderful 4-2.5-3 new construction. Corner lot. Room for a pool. 2254 sq. ft. Tile floors. Mudroom and butler’s pantry & more. Cheryl.