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The Island Moon
Issue 531
June 19, 2014 Around The Island By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
We’re kind of proud of our typos here at the Word Factory but this one has got us beat. It makes you wonder if the Copy Editor at the Sentinel asked the reporter, “Hey, are we sure this guy is on drugs” before he approved the story.
The voice of The Island since 1996
November ballot
$90 Million in Bonds
Weekly
Schlitterbahn Park Opens Limited opening set for Saturday
Nothing for The Island but $13.5 Million Tab By Dale Rankin It took less than an hour Tuesday for The Island to be shut out of a proposed $90 million bond package from the City of Corpus Christi that appears headed for a November ballot. When District 4 Council member Colleen McIntyre proposed adding a $2 million to the bond package to open the sand-filled water passage under Encantada Avenue on The Island the response from the naysayers was quick and unequivocal.
Seaweed report The ubiquitous weed is still lining much of our shoreline hereabouts but for now at least, has stopped arriving in the quantity we have become accustomed to of late. The Sargassum Advisory System at Texas A&M Galveston shows very few seaweed mats off the central Texas coast and as the summer winds shift from the east to the east-southeast the majority of the weed mats will move north of the Coastal Bend. So if the prognosticators are correct the worst of the weed season may be behind us.
Fire in the Sky! Don’t forget that the 2nd Annual Fire in the Sky Island Blast is on for Friday, July 4. The public is invited to view the parade with the judges on the decks at the homes between 13758 and 13764 Three Fathoms Bank where the Statesboro Revue band will be playing. Jerry Watkins who is organizing the event says he has raised enough money to make sure the fireworks will go up but is still in need of donations to cover contingencies. Donations can be dropped off at the POA office. The launch site is at the end of Whitecap next to the Padre Island Yacht Club so the show will be visible from just about anywhere on The Island. As anyone who saw last year’s show knows this is a chance for Islanders to throw the Mother of All Deck Parties and if there’s one thing we Islanders know it’s how to throw the Mother of All Deck Parties. We’ll see you there and in the meantime say hello if you see us Around The Island.
“I know we are entering the election cycle so it is the pandering season,” said At-Large Council member David Loeb, who has received the endorsement of Island voters and the Island United Political Action Committee (IPAC) in his last three races. “And everyone wants something for their district, but we are building streets not bridges.” Loeb was a strong supporter of the ill-fated $72 million Destination Bayfront project downtown, which if approved would have been paid for with bond money, which was rejected handily last year by voters both citywide and on The Island.
Bonds continued on A15
Island Moon ArtWalk Set for This Saturday, June 21 The 2014 version of the Island Moon ArtWalk will kick off on the Michael J. Ellis Seawall, just north of the city parking lot, this Saturday, June 21. The event is free to vendors and the public. Vendors can begin setting up at 8 a.m. For questions visit our Facebook page at theislandmoonnewspaper or e-mail at editor@islandmoon. com. There is no need for vendors to register in advance.
Ski Basin Weekend
Barring any unforeseen obstacles, as of this writing on Wednesday, the new Schlitterbahn Beach Country Resort will open its doors at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 21, for a soft open with the Swim-Up Bar, Kiddie Pool, and concession stand open. The open is aimed at attracting potential members. Admission is free to current and prospective club members. Entry will be by way of a sidewalk on the east side of the main building and beginning Saturday the park will remain open throughout the summer with additional rides and the main building open as they are completed. The opening of the entire 60-acre park was delayed three weeks due to expansion of the original design.
First Turtle Hatchling Release Held as Nesting Continues By Donna J. Shaver, Ph.D. Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery National Park Service Padre Island National Seashore The first public release of Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchlings on the Texas coast this year was held at Padre Island National Seashore on Monday June 16. We were thrilled at the turnout for this first release of the season. Between 500 and 600 people attended and cheered on the turtles as they crawled down the beach and entered the surf. Each year, Padre Island National Seashore invites the public to attend about 15-30 releases of Kemp’s ridley hatchlings. These releases are open to the public free-ofcharge, and are held starting at 6:45
am in front of the Malaquite Visitor Center at the National Seashore. Park rangers gather on the deck of the Visitor Center at about 6:15 am on release mornings to greet people that are attending and deliver
short educational programs about the turtles. After the releases, many people go to the Visitor Center where they see displays about the turtles and pick up literature about them and our
Turtles continued on A6
A little Island history
When The Island was a Ranch
When rancher Patrick Dunn built structures on The Island to support his ranch operation more than one hundred years ago he was unable to simply call up a lumber yard in Corpus and ask them to deliver so many board feet of lumber, so many kegs of nails, so many hinges, or so much glass. There of course was no causeway, lumber was expensive, and transportation to The Island was difficult. Like Padre Balli, John Singer, and all those who had built structures on Padre before him, Pat Dunn turned to The Island itself for his materials.
Bounty from the Nicaragua He found them on the beach, where the Gulf delivered a constant supply of hard and softwood boards of all lengths and widths. Dragged to one of the camps they became the huts, kitchens, fences, and corrals. Shingles were hand made from rough lumber. The sea also supplied furniture. Barrels with the tops removed and filled with sand became small stoves. Stools and chairs came in and found their way to the camps. Indeed it is said Dunn furnished his headquarters home with furniture from the Nicaragua, an unlucky Mexican ship that stranded on Padre in 1912 or 1913. Tar barrels floated in and were
melted to close holes. Other barrels collected rainwater. Ropes of all sizes were used for a variety of purposes. The sea and island were generous and Dunn took advantage of it. In an architectural sense he in fact adapted his structures to the environment and used available materials in their construction. In relation to form the structures were not elegant. They were simple, plain, and rough like the men who lived in them and the island upon which they stood.
Sweet water easy to get Throughout The Island Dunn constructed the wells which were the
most unusual feature of the Padre Island cattle operation. Again using lumber from the beach Dunn first built a rectangular frame about eight feet by two feet. A hole was then dug in the sand, usually near a sand dune, and the frame inserted in the hole. Water, which did not run off but which was rather trapped in the sand, slowly seeped into the tanks. According to Dunn, at one time or another there were as many as 75 of these tanks spread out on the island. Keeping them clean was a constant task, but it was easily accomplished
History continued on A5