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The Island Newspaper since 1996 Island Area News ● Events ● Entertainment
November 15, 2012
The Island Where Kemp’s Ridley Turtles go to the Beach
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com By Dale Rankin
We’ve had some yo-yo weather this week as a cool front blew through and replaced windy and clear skies with windy and cloudy skies, and some chilly temps. But all in all we have little to complain about weather-wise this November as compared to last year when by this time we were bringing in the Brass Monkeys. We’ll hunker down for a few days and things should be back to normal as we wind our way down to the Holiday Season.
A little sun action You may not have been able to tell it by looking but we had a solar eclipse overnight on Monday/Tuesday. It was hard to tell because it’s hard to see a solar eclipse at night. You basically had to be on a line between Chile and Australia to see it but you may have seen some signs of it Around The Island and not even known it. Some readers may have noticed that some pregnant women that day were wearing a safety pin on their garment around their naval. It wasn’t because they were missing a button; it was due to a superstition in the Mexican culture dating all the way back to the Aztecs. The Aztecs believed that an eclipse was a bite on the face of the Moon and that if an expectant mother watched it the same thing would happen to her baby; the baby would be born with a cleft pallet. The safety pin – or in the alternative a pair of red underwear – would deflect the harm and the newborn would be protected. This belief has made its way down through the ages and lives on the Mexican-American community of South Texas. As the fellow said when he put on both belt and suspenders, “Hey it couldn’t hurt.”
Craigslist rumble The Island made the television news on Monday when an Islander ran a note on Craigslist announcing that all kinds of free stuff was available just for the taking. It didn’t take long for the Coconut Telegraph to fire up and pretty soon looters were using that house the way the Indians used the buffalo. By the time the cops got wind of it and showed up they had hauled off literally everything but the kitchen sink, an old television that could only get Lucy reruns, and a window air conditioning unit which the looters were in the process of prying loose. Someone had even hauled off the refrigerator. Note to advertisers: the “free” word works.
New council For those who need a reason to go OTB the new City Council will be sworn in next Tuesday. As the old saying goes, “the swearing in will begin at 12 noon followed by the swearing at, at 12:01.”
La Posada kick-off party The First Annual La Posada Kickoff Event at Scuttlebutt’s last year was a rousing success and this year’s promises to be even bigger. Sponsored by Scuttlebutt’s and the Padre Island Yacht Club, the event kicks off at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, December 4 at Scuttlebutt’s and features a swing band, ½ price bottles of wine, prime rib, displays of military hardware and some other stuff they haven’t thought of yet. As usual with La Posada events this one is a Toys For Tots collection and everyone is encouraged to bring a toy to donate, and a portion of the night’s proceeds will be donated to La Posada. The La Posada Watercraft and Lighted Boat Parade this year is on Friday, December 7 and Saturday, December 8. So the official Island Holiday Season kicks off on Tuesday, December 4. Don’t miss it if you can.
Islandfest A meeting will be held at Johnny D’s on Thursday, November 29, to gather ideas for putting on an Island festival – it doesn’t have an official name, time of year, or theme – that’s what the meeting is for. For years we’ve said we need some event to showcase The Island and after a meeting with the Convention Visitors Bureau this week the process is picking up steam. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. It will be completely informal and we hope to see you there. In the meantime, say hello if you see us Around The Island.
Photo by Dale Rankin Year 15, Issue 449
Next Publication Date: 11/22/2012
Update on Island projects
Packery Dredging to Begin, New Parking Lot Near JFK Causeway Packery Dredging Crews and equipment are due to show up in the Packery Channel between the jetties in the next few weeks as work begins to finish the dredging project there cut short by the turtle nesting season last spring. 70,000 cubic yards of sand will be moved, mostly from an area within about 300 feet of the mouth of the channel. According to city staff the sand was deposited there by Hurricane Ike several years ago and once it is removed no additional dredging is anticipated in the foreseeable future. The dredge sand will be placed on the beach at the south end of the Michael J. Ellis Seawall and areas between the south end of the seawall and the county park. The dredging is part of the spring project and will come at no additional cost to city taxpayers.
Aquarius Extension Design work continues on street lights along the recently completed Aquarius Extension. The start date on the lights was originally set for mid-October, no update on when it may begin. Also in the area, the city has constructed temporary barricades to prevent vehicles from entering the private property between the Aquarius Extension and the Laguna Madre. Permanent barricades are being designed and will be installed as soon as they are ready. The city now has revered a previous position that it would not enforce the city ordinance prohibiting hunting within 1000 feet of homes in that area and says that prohibition will now be enforced during the current duck hunting season.
Park Road (SPID) Water Exchange Bridge A design contract has been awarded to Urban engineering, the U.S. Coast Guard has informed the city that no permit from them will be required for the bridge. Design on the wastewater lift station that will be required at the bridge site is 60% complete and the city has committed the $8.2 million to pay for the project.
Flip the Kemp’s Ridley who was found cold stunned in the Netherlands was returned to Padre Island and released last week to the delight of the crowd.
A little Island history
Shipwreck Uncovered by Hurricane Still Lies Buried in the Sand South of Bob Hall Pier Editor’s note: After last week’s story on Island treasure hunter Eugene (Frenchy) French we received this question from reader Altan Guzeldere. Hi, Really enjoying the past articles on Louis Rawalt and this weeks on the 1554 shipwrecks. Apparently Frenchy and two other guys discovered a shipwreck roughly three miles south of Bob Hall in 1967 after Hurricane Beulah that they think was another Spanish ship. I have also heard that the state covered the ship back up and littered the area with nails to discourage metal detectors. Three miles south roughly puts it in front of the “bowl”. Do you have any further insight on this mystery shipwreck? Altan Guzeldere By Dale Rankin The story comes to us via a man named Joe Hagan who lived with an aunt and uncle on the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station from 194950. Hagan writes, “My uncle Ray Cummins, had a model A Ford with the old rumble seat.
Construction is not expected to begin until 2014.
Tha Nao Victoria I have wonderful memories of those times. We used to travel down the Island about an hour to his favorite place where we always tied a rope to a post that stuck up out of the History Continued on A7
La Maestrita en Guatemala
Projects continued on A8
Deadline for Thanksgiving Issue of the Moon The next issue of the Island Moon will come out a day early – on Wednesday rather than Thursday – due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday. Ads and copy will need to be in to us by Tuesday, November 20 by Noon in order to make the Wednesday edition. E-mail us at editor@islandmoon.com. For questions call 361 949-7700
Texas Shipwrecks Treasure Map and Shipwreck Locations on Page A 14
By Brent Rourk
We’ve been writing a lot about shipwrecks and lost treasure on The Island. Since the first Spanish ships washed ashore in 1554 there has been everything from Liberty Ships to blockade runners, to a ship which blew up in Nueces Bay with future President U.S. Grant aboard go to watery graves in these parts.
Kindly, she occasionally called out to suspected tourists walking by her colorful and full stall. Bolsas hung from its hooks, jewelry filled cases attached to its sides, brilliantly colored material jumped out at tourists, and other colorful cositas (things) filled every possible square inch of the worn but stout stall. The cheerfully burdened stall was strategically situated near a corner along the narrow main street that gently emptied into Lake Atitlan.
All told there have been just over 2000 known shipwrecks on the Texas Coast and more are being found even today. When Hurricane Ike hit Galveston in 2009 she turned up a Civil War era ship that there was no previous record of. It’s a subject that brings out the little kid in all of us.
What an incredible site the block was, offering its brilliant colors, alluring scents, shopping deals, and old town sounds all under the watchful eye of the volcano, surrounding mountains, sunshine, and pastel brushed Lake Atitlan. Did it not get better than that?
So this issue we’re going to feature a list and map of many of the ships which made their last port o call in the briny deep, or shallow, in Texas waters.
She tried with honed skills extremely rare in a 14 year old to sell her wares to various visitors wandering the tourist friendly ten blocks of Atitlan, Guatemala. Aiding her was an excellent
grasp of English, a widening smile arching up slightly in the middle of her cheeks, and a drive I did not initially understand. In addition to everything else, she had a marvelous ability to assess situations and people, all done quickly, calmly, and compassionately. She seemed from a distance no different than the scores of street vendors who were engaged in selling food, jewelry, clothing, art, and curios to hungry tourists happily looking for an inexpensive souvenir. But she was different.
The locals who passed her stall all said hello to her or stopped briefly to exchange a few kind or humorous words. She seemed to know all the locals, not unusual in a small town, but there was a friendliness and mutual respect that was instantly recognizable. In spite of all of the conditions, business was slower than she wanted. But if she was disappointed, she did not visibly show it. Only an occasional sale, but not due to her lack of
Guatemala on A2