The Island Moon Newspaper

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Did Ancient Aliens Build the Pyramids? A4

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The Island Moon Published by Island Moon Publishing, LLC 15201 S. Padre Island Drive Ste. 250 Corpus Christi, TX. 78418 editor@islandmoon.com (361) 949-7700

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Photo by Dale Rankin

The

Island Moon The Island Newspaper since 1996

Island Area News ● Events ● Entertainment

September 6, 2012

The Island where existentialists come to find themselves…I Land therefore I am. Next Publication Date: 9/13/2012 Facebook: The Island Moon Newspaper Year 15, Issue 439

Around The Island

By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com

It’s been said that it is truly an ill wind that doesn’t blow someone some good. So in that vein we’ll say that while Hurricane Isaac didn’t do the folks in Louisiana any favors it helped beaches here in the Coastal Bend.

The high tides made for much better beach driving just in time for the three-deep parking during the Labor Day Weekend. The holiday crowd was not nearly as massive as the one for the Memorial Day or the Fourth of July but it was concentrated in the area south of Packery Channel where there were few parking spaces left unoccupied.

There were very few problems and while the visitors left behind plenty of trash, city crews had it removed by Tuesday evening.

Now we Islanders can expect a drop off in the number of visitors using the spare bedroom and we get the beach to ourselves for the months of September and October which are usually, along with April, the best weather for beach going.

Update on Island projects

Schlitterbahn Workers on Site, Packery Dredging Set, Sand Burrs in City Parks Targeted

By Dale Rankin Schlitterbahn Resort & Waterpark.

Developer Paul Schexnailder gave an update on the project to the Island Strategic Action Committee on Tuesday. He said the heavy equipment to be used on the project is now in New Braunfels undergoing maintenance before being moved to The Island which should happen “in the next few weeks.”

He said engineers and surveyors are currently working at the site and construction trailers will be moving “in the next few weeks.” The plans for the project are now in their 5th revision and a final design should be done soon. He said financing for the project is in place and “documentation for the banking is approved” and the contracts are currently being finalized.

“We are moving forward on the project,” Schexnailder said. “We are spending equity dollars now.”

He said plans are to keep at least nine holes of golf open at the Padre Isles Country Club throughout the construction.

No date has been set for a groundbreaking.

No Wake!

The Moon Complaint Department gets a regular schedule of calls from people wanting to know when “they” are going to do something about boats making wakes in our canals. As it turns out “we” are the “they,” at least as far as many callers are concerned. The main question is why someone doesn’t enforce the No Wake laws. The short answer is because there aren’t any. The signs you see along the canal are for show.

State law allows Game Wardens to write No Wake tickets if there is damage to a dock.

But of course the problem is not that wakes break docks all at once, but rather wear them out incrementally. Since the canals are not considered navigable waterways federal laws don’t attach. And since there is no city ordinance against it there is nothing for city crews to enforce.

All we can say is an airhorn gets their attention.

Law enforcement flotilla Speaking of boats in the canals there are now seven, count ‘em seven, different law enforcement agencies running boats of various types in our canal system. We got boats with machine guns mounted on them stopping people to make sure they have enough life jackets on board. The City of Corpus Christi is the latest to get into the act as they are moving two city boats to The Island soon. They will have to compete for space with the State Trooper boat with bulletproof sides and grenade launchers on board, and the Customs, and ICE boats which have been cruising the canals of late with engines so big that if they ever opened them up the only thing left in the water would be the propeller.

The latest to join the flotilla is a boat from the Kleberg County Sheriff’s Office which has been stopping – and boarding – boats headed to Baffin Bay to fish. We can’t get the Kleberg County Sheriff’s Office to keep naked men from running around on Kleberg Beach but they have enough money to patrol the Laguna. Oh well.

Most of these boats are running on drug money they seize – or hope to seize – from smugglers they catch. All we can say is there better be a lot of smugglers to keep this flotilla in gas money.

Way to go Steve…

Islander Steve Owen has been busy of late doing volunteer work over at Seashore Learning Center, and now sprucing up Island signage.

That’s him at work on the Padre Island sign up there in the right hand corner. Way to go Steve!

That’s all for now, say hello if you see us Around The Island.

Great Horned Owls Take Test Flights on The Island

Packery Dredging. After studying water flow in Packery Channel in recent months city staff has decided that it will be necessary to dredge the channel near the opening beginning in October. Dredging early this year was cut short due to the turtle nesting season leaving a bank of 50-100 cubic yards of sand in the channel.

There was a question of whether it was better to remove the sand or leave it in place as a way to prevent sand from entering the channel with water flow. The result of the studies were to remove 70 cubic yards and spread it on the beach south of the seawall. The city council has set aside $1.4 million in money raised by the Island Tax Increment Financing Zone which funds work in and around the channel.

Lighting on north side of Packery Channel.

AEP crews are working on the first phase of installing electric lines in the area around the parking lots and boat ramp on the shores of the North Packery Jetty. That work is expected to be done by the end of November and work then will begin to install street lights.

Aquarius extension. Work is complete on the Aquarius Extension but drivers have been using the old dirt road that was in place before the street was paved to access and as a result have already damaged the new curb structure. City crews are going to put up barricades to keep drivers from using the illegal cut through. AEP is working on the final design for street lights.

Beach Maintenance. The tourist season is Projects continued on page A5

Island United PAC Endorsements Nights Approaching Ballots on Page A8 The IU PAC will have 2 Endorsement Nights coming soon. On Wednesday, Sept 19, 6pm at the Holiday Inn, we will have Endorsement Night for the Mayoral and District 4 races. On Wednesday, Sept 26, 6pm at the Comfort Suites (across the street from the Holiday Inn), we will have Endorsement Night for the At-Large races.

If you’re not able to attend, you are still able to vote by filling out a ballot and dropping it off either at the POA office or the Island Moon office. Your other option is to email your ballot to islandunitedpac@gmail.com. You will find copies of the ballots in both this issue and next issue of the Moon.

We will also be publishing the responses to the questionnaires filled out by all the candidates.

These questions were submitted by Island residents to give the Island a better understanding of our candidates. These responses will appear in the next two issues of the Moon.

If you have any questions, feel free to send them to us at islandunitedpac@gmail.com.

JJ Hart President, Island United PAC

By Dale Rankin If you happened to drive past Aquarius Park Tuesday morning you saw a rather unusual sight. Two guys fishing for Great Horned Owls…well, sort of.

she has lived her whole life in captivity may never be ready for release. If not, Guy hopes to use her as his “education bird” in the Texas Coastal Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation facility he is trying to build on The Island.

Gufa, a female, and Luke, a male, are two Great Horned Owls that have been rehabbing at the ARK in Port Aransas for over a year. Due to budget constraints the ARK only has a bird cage that is 33-feet long so the owls don’t get to fly very far. When it comes time to release them into the wild it takes them a while to get into flying shape. So Guy Davis takes them out to Aquarius Park and plays tether-bird with them to get them accustomed to flying longer distances.

Luke did a little better at flying than Gufa and should be ready for release at some point in the future. He flew several hundred yards before he was tired out and did live in the wild for the first part of his life.

He was sitting on a fence post on the Northshore Country Club in Portland when some golfers simply walked up and grabbed him, thinking he was injured, and took him to the ARK.

That was what was going on So why would a Tuesday morning. Gufa went seemingly healthy bird let Guy Davis with Gufa first. She was rescued as a chick people just grab him? when she fell out of her nest and “He was a juvenile and juveniles do dumb was taken to the ARK. After three sorties Gufa things sometimes,” Guy says. was panting and ready to go back into her cage.

So stop by and check it out if you see Guy out Gufa weighs three pounds, the females are almost twice as large as the males, and because there owl fishing in Aquarius Park.

A little Island history

Revolution in Mexico, Raid on a Texas Train, Heads in a Gunny Sack, and Finally Peace in The Valley

By Dale Rankin The relationship between the United States and Mexico with regards to The Border has always been a symbiotic one. Whether it be a maquiladora plant where cheap Mexican labor assembles parts made in China with a finished product shipped to America, or whether it be a deadly border fight among drug cartels literally fighting for access to an underground American market.

The problems along the 1915 U.S./Mexico border were much like the ones we face now, except the cause of the fight going on in Mexico then had nothing to do directly with the United States. It has been accurately said over the years that there are three ways of doing things; the right way, the wrong way, and the Mexican way.

The Mexican way to fight a revolution was not to divide into two camps and fight it out, but rather to divide into five camps and fight a Balkanized war of attrition. By the fall of 1915 the revolution had narrowed to two groups; one headed by agrarian land reformer Emiliano Zapata in southern Mexico and Pancho Villa in the north, the other by Venustiano Carranza who’s policies, unbeknownst to American President Woodrow Wilson, had been the cause of the cross-border killing spree along the Rio Grande River.

with General Álvaro Obregon in Northern Mexico and was closing in on victory in the revolution.

In October Carranza requested and was granted permission to move troops over the American Railroads from Eagle Pass, Texas to Sonora to reinforce Obregon’s forces fighting Villa. Wilson, unaware of Carranza’s double game of pushing a Border War on one hand while seeking diplomatic recognition for his government on the other, recognized the Carranza government effectively making him the winner of the Mexican Revolution.

Carranza received American diplomatic recognition on October 19, 1915. This opened the way for Carranza to move his troops across American soil on American railroads, it also made him the de facto President of Mexico.

The train will be a little late

Carranza’s flirtation with the Photograph of the train wrecked by Mexican Bandits Germans who were looking for a foothold on the American continent had Unbeknownst to Wilson was an attack the encouraged him to foment the Border War. night before his recognition of Carranza Even as the warfare continued along the on the St. Louis, Brownsville, & Mexico border Carranza had forged an alliance History continued on page A8

A 2

The Travelling Moon

Island Moon

September 6, 2012

On the Rocks

By Jay Gardener Whew! I’m sure glad that’s over! (Labor Day that is). The beaches and local businesses were packed for the three-day weekend, and hope everyone had a good time and was safe.

Hopefully all of our local sponsors and advertisers had a great weekend as well.

Isaac weeping

Charlie and Linda Zahn took The Moon along on their 45th wedding anniversary celebration in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

Kay Wiley recently traveled to the Arctic islands of Svalbard north of Norway on an expedition cruise geared toward seeing the wildlife of the Arctic, mainly polar bears, walruses, seals, whales, and lots of sea birds. The Arctic is indeed melting at an alarming rate and the polar bears, which depend on hunting seals on the ice, are suffering. The hungry bears, which would have loved to have come aboard the ship for dinner, did make for spectacular photos, however. We traveled around the islands of Svalbard, stopping to see various wildlife, and eventually made it up to the pack ice around the 81st parallel (we were about 550 miles from the North Pole!). This photo was taken in Longyearben, the capitol of the Island of Spitzbergen. Most of the rest of the islands are uninhabited (by humans).

Photos by Miles Merwin

Hurricane Isaac finally came ashore in Louisiana last week, and they are still reeling from the effects.

Last count was 7 lives were lost and the ‘cane spawned 42 tornados, causing lots of damage.

As you’ve heard, some of the levees failed (again) and homes were flooded.

While I don’t wish that on anyone, I was watching the Dusky Damsel radar and all the rain Issac dumped all over like a dog looking at a soup bone. We sure could have used it down here.

Instead, we got nothing and had to like it. The surfers only got a few days of a ground-swell, but it was nice and slow and well formed (from my vantage point on the rocks). Around the time the swell hit, some church kids came down to visit the Berry’s and they borrowed my long board to tool around with. So I fished instead.

Three prong overkill

David and Marsha Burkett at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows New York.

Paddle for Parkinsons 2012 a Huge Success

One thing Isaac did was make it very calm here in the northwest corner of the gulf for a brief time, and I’m talking like 36 hours.

But it was enough of a weather window for the surf to sit down a bit and the water to clear up. And of course the clear water brings out all the snorkelers and wanna be spearfisher persons.

I get a good giggle when I see folks dumping off into the water with a 5 foot long triple-band speargun at the jetties. I mean, what are you going to shoot with that thing?!

Most of the fish that you can shoot are less than 20” long (sheepshead and mangrove snapper) and about any speargun is just overkill.

French Angel

Unfortunately, there is also errant behavior that occurs when the water clears up. Some folks can’t help themselves and shoot the snook and anything else that gets in their way. Those linesiders are game fish folks, hook and line only. In addition, in their zeal to get The Big One, some snorkelers also will go all the way along the jetty, right underneath people standing on the rocks fishing. That’s rude, and don’t be surprised when you get hooked. You KNOW it’s wrong, STOP it.

Mullet galore!

So I walked in the surf on the south side with my camera to check it out. The clarity still had some room for improvement, but it was good enough to check it out. Of course there were a million sargent majors; little yellow and black-barred fish, you can see them while standing on the rocks. Mullet galore, tons of spadefish, and a few small mangroves. What always surprises me are the Bermuda Chubs; they were everywhere. These are typically tropicalwater fish and don’t normally come in shore. It’s one of the many species that associate with the Sargassum and wind up here on our shores.

I also saw a few juvenile dog snapper (remember those guys from last year?) The hairy blennies were joined by small rock hinds Hairy Blenny this year (many people errantly call them strawberry grouper). I saw a bunch of juvenile dusky damselfish; very cool find for the jetties, they are tropical reef fish. Electric blue fish with a reddish back. I also managed to get a shot of a juvenile French angelfish, which is also a tropical reef fish. I about wore myself out trying to get a still shot of those guys while snorkeling; they move around very quickly. I was wishing I had brought my scuba tank and could take my time.

Dove season prognosticator Well, better luck next time folks. The high pressure can’t sit on our heads forever. The jet stream will eventually dip and we’ll see some unstable weather. How do I know this? Am I a prognosticator? Weatherman? Clairvoyant? Nope. The reason I know the weather is about to change; dove season is upon us, and history always tells us that we get a front right before season opener that pushes them all south. Ha! See you folks on the rocks, and if you don’t, shoot me an email at jaygardner@scientist.com

Sep

September 6, 2012

Island Moon

Stuff I Heard on the Island

Police Blotter

Purse Snatcher Caught, Credit Card Thieves Headed for The Island Police Seek Burglar In Parks Along Ocean Drive And Ennis Joslin Road September 3, 9:30am, 2900 Ocean Drive, Burglary from a motor vehicle.

Corpus Christi Police would like help from the public to locate the individual responsible for several burglaries to vehicles along Ocean Drive and Ennis Joslin Road in the past few weeks.

One such burglary happened Monday, September 3, 2012 at Oleander Park. A man parked his gray 2010 Nissan Altima at Oleander Park then went for a walk. The man returned and discovered his right front passenger window broken to his car and items missing from inside the car.

The investigating Police Officer found a witness to the burglary and the witness had taken a picture of the vehicle the suspect used to leave the area. The suspect’s vehicle is a gray 2004 Dodge Ram pickup. Police investigators have the license plate and continue to investigate.

The burglar is described as a white man who wore a blue t-shirt and blue jeans.

This truck matches the description provided to Corpus Christi Police in other reports of auto burglaries on Ocean Drive and at Hans Suter Park.

Anyone with information that can locate this vehicle or the person responsible for the thefts should call the Corpus Christi Police Auto Theft Task Force at 886-2862. The Auto Theft Task Force urges everyone not to leave valuables in an unattended vehicle.

Anyone interested to research reported criminal activity in Corpus Christi should visit Crimereports.com for useful information.

Anyone with information about a crime may provide anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS (8477) or submit an online tip at www.888TIPS.com.

They were headed for The Island

Police Seeking Credit Card Thieves Thursday, August 16, 19:00, Burglary from a Vehicle, Credit Card Abuse The Corpus Christi Police Financial Crimes Investigators would like help from the public to identify and locate the individuals involved in credit card abuse. The Detectives released pictures of four individuals that have bought merchandise with several credit cards that were stolen from several vehicles. The four suspects in these crimes are two men and two women.

The credit cards taken from two cars in Annaville were used at the Wal-Mart at Greenwood and then in several stores on the way out to Padre Island. Police Patrol Officers have collected some of the stolen credit cards on the south side of Corpus Christi.

Anyone with any information about these crimes should call Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS (8477) or submit tips online at www.888TIPS. com.

Corpus Christi Police encourage everyone not to leave anything of value in an unoccupied vehicle.

Police calls

Purse Snatcher Nabbed

9300 block SH 361 (Mustang Island State Park) 9:08 p.m. Sept. 2 Burglary of vehicle

Sunday, September 2, 2012 17:39, 4444 Kostoryz, Theft-purse snatching.

Corpus Christi Police are searching for a Hispanic man in a white older model pickup truck that stole a purse from a 32-year-old woman as she loaded groceries into her car Sunday afternoon. A 32-year-old woman told police that she loaded groceries into her car in the parking lot of HEB on Kostoryz Road at Gollihar Road when a man took her purse from the shopping cart. The woman told police the man got into an older model white pick up truck and left northbound on Kostoryz toward McArdle. The 32-year-old woman told police the truck was driven by a heavy-set Hispanic Woman.

The entire event was recorded on store video surveillance cameras and investigators will evaluate the recording to identify any suspects.

The man who took the purse is described as a Hispanic man, between 30 to 40 years in age, about 5 ft. 9 inches tall, about 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.Anyone with additional information about this crime should call Corpus Christi Police Property crimes investigators, or submit a tip to Crime Stoppers at 888-TIPS (8477) or submit an online tip at www.888TIPS.com.

*UPDATE* Monday

in the original theft report. Both suspects were arrested for the theft of the purse. Additional items were also located in the truck and further investigation will determine if that property is stolen as well.

300 block Gulf Beach Road (on beach) 12:39 a.m. Sept. 3 Assault by contact 10700 block SH 361 1:14 a.m. Sept. 2 Public Intoxication Beach marker 207 2:05 a.m. Sept. 3 Assault by contact 15800 block SPID 23:13 p.m. Aug. 29 Warrant Beach Marker 252 1:10 a.m. Sept. 2 Reckless driving 13900 block Hawksnest Bay Sept. 1 7 p.m.

Criminal mischief over $500 13600 block Moro Ln. 8:45 a.m. Sept. 3 Fraudulent use of identifying info 14400 block SH 361 8:15 p.m. Sept. 3 Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon 14300 block SPID 3 a.m. Sept. 3 Burglary of a building 14300 block SPID 5:12 p.m. Aug. 29 Fraudulent use of identifying info 14300 block SPID 8 p.m. Sept. 1 Assault with bodily injury 14200 block Aquarius 8:42 p.m. Sept. 1 Public intoxication 13300 block SPID 5:37 p.m. Sept. 2 Warrant

September 3 12:45pm 100 Shawnee

While on patrol, Officer E. Tagle noticed a white Chevy truck turn from Shawnee on to Agnes Street without signaling the turn. The driver, Nemias Gonzalez 11/7/82 was contacted and found to have his driver’s license under suspension. He was arrested. The passenger Michelle Martinez 5/18/86 did not have a valid driver’s license. The vehicle was impounded and upon conducting an inventory, Officer Tagle located a purse that did not appear to belong to the vehicles occupants. An investigation revealed it was stolen during the incident posted above. Their vehicle and general physical descriptions matched those described

SH 361 & Zahn Road 4:36 p.m. August 8 Intoxicated assault with a vehicle Beach Marker 205 7:44 p.m. Sept. 3 Assault with injury 14200 block Punta Bonaire 10:20 a.m.

August 25 Theft 15600 block Cruiser 4:23 a.m. August 28 Unauthorized use of motor vehicle 15300 block SPID 3:17 Sept.1 Gasoline theft 15200 block Windward 2 a.m. August 26 Theft

A3

by Dale Rankin

This week we will take up a question we have been getting a lot lately.

What is going to be done about the plastic bags flying around The Island?

The short answer here is not a dang thing. The Surfrider Foundation has been trying to get the City Council to address this problem and their underwhelming response was to launch a voluntary Ban the Bag program. So far, and in the foreseeable future, this works about as well as a voluntary anything program. You get what you pay for.

A drive down Whitecap of late shows how acute the problem actually is. Crews ran a mower along the north side of the street this week and it revealed a healthy crop of these plastic birds that have nested permanently in the tall grass. They are now visible and they are everywhere.

them to the store, and it pays to clean up the bags from people who pay the $1 then throw the bags on the ground. So far everyone who occupies a decision making seat in our city has run from this obvious solution. After all it is an election year and retailers make good contributors. That’s understandable but doesn’t help solve the problem.

The Island Strategic Action Committee listened to the Surfriders at this month’s meeting and decided to do nothing. Just for the record they are against litter, but apparently not enough to actually do anything about it. They asked the Surfriders to come up with a city ordinance and said they would vote on that, but since they are an advisory committee I thought that meant it was up to them to advise rather than be advised.

So what we apparently are going to do is stick with the volunteer program. The problem with this is obvious. The people who live on The Island are not the problem; we live with these

Leave The Island for a week and when you come back you will wonder where all those plastic bags came from.

The fact is once they hatch and nest they never leave. We just get so used to seeing them we don’t pay any attention until we leave and come back.

Of course big retailers don’t want a serious Island Bird Nests along Whitecap crackdown on the use of these things because flying trash birds and most of us take care not they will have to come up with a solution and it to produce any hatchlings. But the voluntary could cost them money. You will see a lot of hot program won’t reach the 3 million or so people air expended in the next few months by various who visit the area each year and they are the retailers and politicians extolling the voluntary main source of the problem. campaign. It’s a lot of hooey.

So we can tell each other we are doing In the touchy-feely city of Austin a voluntary something by putting a voluntary program in program reduced littering by just 20% and they place if that makes us feel better but it means we were forced to move toward a fee system on will have to concentrate a little harder to ignore bags – which we will get to after we kick the the elephant in the room – or should I say the bag down the beach for another year or two. If plastic trash bags in the air. our voluntary program reduces bags by 10% We call ourselves the Birdiest City and I can’t we’ll be handing out awards to people but in argue with that if you include Flying Plastic reality it won’t make any noticeable difference.

Trash Bag Birds in the bird count. So while we Here’s the scope of the problem: Each day fiddle and tiptoe our way around the obvious 1000 pounds of new, one-use, plastic bags enter solution The Island will continue to be buried the refuse chain in our city; of those only 5% under fresh flights of The Island Bird that once are being recycled. You can do the math. It’s it lands takes years to wither and work its way cheaper to buy new bags than to recycle the old into the soil. ones so as of right now there are 200 tons of old So volunteer away, but know that the only ones sitting in the recycling center looking for solution to this problem is the one no one wants someone to take them. to back; a fee charged per plastic bag paid by The Texas Commission on Environmental those who want to set them free in the Island Quality requires that the city cleanup the bags breeze. A good start might be to Ban the Bag that fly out of the landfill and stop within a twojust on The Island as a test. When the rest of the mile radius. If the fugitive bags make it beyond city sees how it works maybe then a citywide two miles they are free to attach themselves to ban would be a little easier to pass. the nearest palm tree to live out their life cycle.

Anything short of that is just kicking the bag But if they find a tree within two miles of the trash dump they must be retrieved at a cost to down the beach. the city of $1000 per day. Remember that the next time the city has to shut down a senior citizens center due to lack of $50,000. All told our city pays about $500,000 per year to clean up litter. The most common types, in order, are; cigarette butts, plastic bottles, Styrofoam cups, and then plastic bags.

Our city’s litter ordinance is split among six different and separate ordinances making it nearly unenforceable. If a guy is standing out on the beach drinking a beer and there are five empty beer cans of the same brand he is holding piled around his feet, he is not guilty of littering unless/until he drives off and leaves them. Our police officers have more to do than stand around on the beach for hours waiting for a guy to drive off so they can arrest him for littering.

As a result in the last six years a grand total of nine – count ‘em nine – people have been convicted of littering in our fair city.

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A 4

Island Moon

A Fine life

Under the Padre Palms: Notes from the Island

Musings from an Island Mama

by Daphne Fine

Last firsts…

Today was my last first day of kindergarten.

Last firsts…I’ve been having a lot of those lately.

As of August 27, 2012, I have passed through the parenting portals of infant, crawler, toddler, and finally, potty-trained, backpack-toting, napmat-needing preschooler. I have done it three times. I have done it male and female.

And I have survived. I still have most of my sanity intact and portions of my body.

This morning I drove down Hustlin Hornet Drive and dropped off a 7th grader, a 3rd grader and the last fresh-faced kindergartener for their first day of school.

The last...

My last kiddo did it all this year: graduated from preschool, learned to read, learned to swim and jumped into the “deep end.” And, my oldest daughter started junior high today which feels like a kind of ending too.

My life has changed from stay-at-home-mom of 3...2...1....to empty house from 8 to 3.

Last lasts to first firsts…

I’m not a super emotional mama, as mamas go, but there’s no denying the huge change this is for me and my family. It’s not that I have nothing to do (books to write, husband to help, volunteering to do, body to whip into shape), but one last after another has taken its toll on my heart.

I ask the questions every mama asks in the quiet of the night - have I loved enough, taught enough, read enough, prayed enough? Enough for them to be ready for today? Today - my very

have I loved enough, taught enough, read enough, prayed enough?

last last of the preschool years?

One of the nights I asked that question, I heard an answer in response. In the emotional chaos that my nighttime wonderings can be, this statement broke through with peaceful clarity: “Last lasts lead to first firsts.”

First firsts...hmmm. I began to imagine all of the firsts this year will bring.

This will be the year of free babysitting. (I know. That shouldn’t be first on my list, right?

Read: consistent date nights.) This will be the year everyone can read their own book on cartrips. We will ride roller coasters together (no one will be too short), bike together (no training wheels) and come home together from school.

We will play games together (no one will be left out), do chores together (everyone can reach) and stay up late together on Friday nights! The firsts never end.

Thank God for the midnight reminder that firsts and lasts are all about growing and becoming (for me and my kids). This season is always the right season to attend to with everything I’ve got.

I’m thankful for lasts and firsts, knowing that they are part and parcel with the never-ending responsibilities and privileges of motherhood.

A wiser man than me once said: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” - King Solomon Firsts, here I come!

Meeting Ancient Aliens Arlan Andrews, Sr arlan@thingsto.com On the day that Obama killed Osama, I met “Ancient Aliens”. Sunday morning, May 1, 2011, found me in a very large hotel room in Denver, Colorado, where I had arrived from The Island the day before, in preparation for being video-recorded in an interview for the History Channel TV show, “Ancient Aliens”.

The Answer Always Is: It’s Ancient Aliens!

Did Ancient Aliens Build the Pyramids?

For this particular episode, sub-titled, “Ancient Engineers”, I had been selected to present my views on how the ancient Aztecs and others had utilized large slabs of the mineral mica, how the ancient Incas or others had constructed megalithic Peruvian architectural sites, how the ancient Egyptians had inscribed perfectly-cut hieroglyphs on an obelisk at Karnak, and how the ancient Maltese had made what are called “cart ruts.” And how all of these things were done by – (of course!) -- ancient aliens.

The trouble started right after the production company contacted me and carried out a long telephone interview. They said they wanted my expert opinion as a Registered Professional Engineer of long standing, but the questions they wanted me to pontificate on were absurd beyond reason: “Do you think that the ancients used mica to protect the Mexican pyramids from heat and radiation when aliens spaceships landed and took off there? Did aliens help Egyptian with lasers to cut hieroglyphic symbols?” And others even worse. I told them that I would not dignify such questions with any kind of answer, that I would drop out of the interview. The response was panic – they had already arranged my flights and hotel room, and would I please generate some questions that I would answer? So I did, and took the flight.

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The night before I departed, and en route to Denver, I experienced the worst allergy attack of my life, so was popping Claritins like M&Ms, just so I could talk. The Ritz hotel room was fabulous, but the Ancient Aliens TV crew was scheduled for 6:00 AM, and my allergies kept attacking pretty badly. When I awoke from a few hours of restless non-sleep, I couldn’t find a coffee maker in that 1400 square foot luxury room furnished with four large flat-screen TVs, and hotel room service was not yet available.

So the TV crew arrived at 6 AM, looked over the place and told me that the actress and rock star, Madonna, had used that very room for her own interview some time before. I told them I would be sure to take another bath, then. Eventually, the interview proceeded, and I speculated on the uses of Mexican mica in pyramids (no ancient aliens; but I had visited the sites), on how Peruvian megalith sites could have built (no ancient aliens; had not been there yet), how the Egyptian hieroglyphs had

been machined (no aliens; had been there), and finally, how the cart ruts of Malta could have been made and used (ditto; not been). I had even purchased and brought along a two-inch slab of mica to show them what the material looked like. They spent nearly as much camera time on Mr. Mica, as on me.

After more than an hour of what I considered to be moderately speculative conjectures on unsolved archeological mysteries, always keeping the engineering perspective, the AA’ers wrapped up their show and left to interrogate some local professor.. Flight delays en route back to The Island kept me overnight at DFW, where I heard the announcement that Obama had killed Osama.

Sixty Censored Seconds of Speculation…

When the “Ancient Engineers” episode of “Ancient Aliens” finally aired on September 1, 2011, I anxiously awaited my appearance on the show. Finally, there I was, my Claritinfacilitated audible tones describing the size of the Mexican pyramid at Teotihuacan, and the one in Giza, Egypt. For about ten seconds.

Then my little friend, Mr. Mica, had his longer period on-screen, and later in the show some of my narration about hieroglyphs and cart ruts played over stock video footage of rock ruts and showed me waving my hands in explanation.

But nothing of my brilliant comments about mica, or Peru, or how the ruts were used.

Elapsed time, about 60 seconds, video and narration combined. Out of an hour of video interviews. Out of three days of my life on the road.

…A Year of Fleeting Fame Then several of my grandkids and other family members called up right after the show and said that they were thrilled that I was on it, however briefly. In the intervening year, after many repeated showings on the History Channel, I still get compliments, some even here on The Island. So I suppose it was worth the trouble, after all.

And I never mentioned aliens.

Arlan and his wife Joyce live on The Island. He has two books out for Kindle and Nook: OTHER HEADS & OTHER TALES, an anthology of short fiction; and VALLEY OF THE SHAMAN, a novel of New Mexico.

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SEPTEMBER 8TH: CAPTAIN’S MEETING SEPTEMBER 9TH: FISHING TOURNAMENT

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September 6, 2012

Letters to the Editor Lydia Ann Lighthouse

Island Moon

Projects continued from A1

Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanup Sept. 22

now behind us and city crews are removing the life guard stands from the beach. This season marked the first with a beefed up beach crew and the results were noticeable. City staffers report that complaints about beach trash have dropped from two complaints per week in 2010 to only two the entire season this year.

All-volunteer coastal cleanup effort expected to draw about 10,000 beach lovers

City crews handed out 20,000 yellow trash bags this season and while many visitors simply filled them up then left them on the beach, at least the bagged trash didn’t blow into the dunes.

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is urging all Texans to take advantage of their right to access the public beach Saturday, Sept. 22 for the 26th Annual Texas General Land Office Fall Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup. The cleanup will take place at 29 sites along the Texas coast.

Construction of parking lot at JFK Causeway. The project to add more than one hundred parking spots under the JFK Causeway and pave and landscape the area is expected to get underway by the end of the year. Texas Department of Transportation signed off on the final design within the last two months and the $1.3 million in funding is in place.

Editor’s note: Last time we ran this photo of the Lydia Ann Lighthouse but somehow managed to leave out the caption. The purpose in running the photo was to explain the scaffolding around the lighthouse which has been there since 1857.

It is undergoing a facelift – not being shot into space as rumored.

Adopt-A-Beach volunteers can register at any of 28 check-in sites all along the Texas coast between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Sept.

22. Volunteers must pre-register for the St. Jo Island location in advance.

Volunteers should wear shoes, a hat and sunscreen. Volunteers will be given data cards, gloves, pencils and trash bags. Most sites along the coast conclude the day’s cleanup with cold drinks, hot food and lots of fun.

Street and infrastructure on west side of JFK Causeway. $1.3 million for a new street and waterline in the Ernie’s Flats area behind Doc’s Restaurant and Snoopy’s Pier is included in the bond issue on the November ballot. If approved by voters the street and landscaping will be done, along with the addition of an 8-inch waterline. The existing street and waterline were built by Ernie Buttler, owner of Snoopy’s.

Volunteers may register on-line at www.

TexasAdoptABeach.org or become a fan of the Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach program on Facebook. Texans who can’t make it to the beach but still want to support the effort can make a tax-deductible donation at www.

TexasAdoptABeach.org. Sponsorship levels range from $25 to $25,000.

The Texas General Land Office Adopt-ABeach program began in the fall of 1986, when 2,800 volunteers picked up 124 tons of trash.

Since then, it has grown into one of the most successful all-volunteer efforts in the nation. In 26 years, 430,000 Adopt-A-Beach volunteers have picked up more than 8,300 tons of trash from the Texas Gulf Coast.

City crews will soon erect a barricade to block this dirt Aquarius

Shell Oil Company is the statewide sponsor for the 26th Texas General Land Office AdoptA-Beach Fall Cleanup. Other sponsors include Apache Corporation, AkzoNobel Surface Chemistry LLC, Cheniere Energy, Halliburton and the Ocean Conservancy.

The city has also committed money from the Capital Improvement Budget to provide the underground infrastructure.

New water line to The Island. Plans for a new 24-inch water line to run parallel to the JFK Causeway are moving forward. Some additional testing remains to be done and discussions are underway about possibly adding a new gas line at the same time.

Scouts Editor, My name is Nathan Young and I am a senior at Flour Bluff High School. I live on the Island and ever since the new section of Aquarius was put in I always transited on Whitecap like everyone else to go to school. Now that the new section of Aquarius has been completed it literally decreases ten minutes off traveling time which is great for a high school student, because the more sleep one gets, the happier they are.

Speaking of happy I have also noticed people are using the path that parallels the road for a multitude of activities. When the grass starts to grow over the sidewalk they are reluctant to exercise on the path. Will the city maintain this area?

Nathan Editor’s note: The city recently completed work on the median for the Aquarius Extension.

The median should be relatively maintenance free as it is gravel and palm trees. The areas outside the sidewalk belong to private owners and it is up to them to maintain that area.

Eventually there will be homes along that route.

Until then it is up to the property owners.

Who Are the Moon Monkeys

For more information about how you can get involved, call 1-877-TXCOAST or visit our Web site at www.texasadoptabeach.org.

A5

Beach Driving Conditions on National Seashore

By Shauna C. Ertolacci Biological Science Technician National Park Service Padre Island National Seashore Hurricane Isaac brought intense storm swell to the Texas coast, pushing tides all the way to the dune line for two full days. Rip currents were strong but have since receded and left wide open beaches swept clean of any disturbance or debris. Driving is at an all time best for the entire length of the island; it softens up once you hit the 17 mile mark but is easily navigable with a steady pace. Be sure to watch for the partially covered tree trunks and branches jutting out from the sand. Efforts started today to open up the access road to Yarborough Pass and should be completed within a couple days.

Please call 361.949.9305 for additional details.

Tea Party Forums for September and October

The Island Tea Party has a full schedule for the next two months. At 6:00 p.m. on Thursday September 13th at the Padre Isles Country Club: The candidates for District 4 have all RSVP’d to speak with us.

Also coming to our September 13th meeting will be the candidates for Corpus Christi Mayor.

At our September 20th meeting (same time & place) the At Large Candidates will be talking with us about their backgrounds and projections.

We are also working to bring in several other candidates for various Corpus Christi elections for the September 20th meeting. As you can see, we have a full slate for both meetings, so come early. Seating will be at a premium.

Can you believe November is almost here? Get out and beat on doors, talk to your neighbors, take a friend to the polls – WHATEVER! This may be the most important election of the century and the future of our country is at stake.

Improvements to City parks. City parks on The Island might better be described as sand burr horticultural experiments. Lack of water means the burr population soars while the grass population suffers. To fix the problem city staffers are looking at installing irrigation systems and planting a type of grass that eradicates the nasty burrs. No word in when that work may begin.

Improvments to Whitecap Wastewater Treatment Plant. As we have reported here in previous issue, the Whitecap Wastewater Treatment Plant is in need of about $5 million to install an Ultraviolet Light treatment system.

The current system has now exceeded state limits on the bacteria Enterococcus twenty times since 2009, the last being at the last reported testing at the end of July. A feasibility study is underway to add the needed system.

The plant was built in the 1970s.

The city tests the outflow at the plant and sends the results to TCEQ. Currently there is no regular testing to see how much, if any, of the bacteria entering the canal system leaving the plant exists in the canal water. Montly testing is done by the POA but that does not including testing for bacteria. That testing is done only on request from the POA since it is not required by the state.

Whitecap sewer line. Crews are expected to finish the work on the new sewer line along Whitecap by the end of this week.

Mike Ellis, Founder

Peewee's Animal Shelter Peewee’s Animal Shelter is located at 1307 Saratoga and has been in operations since May, 1997. Peewee’s presently over 300 animals, including dogs, puppies, cats, Located in the Loma Alta Plaza houses kittens as well as, pigs, goats, rabbits and other barn animals.

Peewee’s relies on donations only for its operation.

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Shelter operations are accomplished strictly by donations.

Peewee’s does not get any government, city or federal funding.

Peewee’s helps those animals no one else will - the sick and the stray. The volunteers at Peewee’s work tirelessly to rehabilitate poor orphaned pets in the hopes that they will find new, loving homes. The dogs and cats are spayed/neutered, given regular heartworm preventative, and are on flea & tick prevention and medications as needed. Peewee’s does not discriminate due to age or health conditions of the pet. Please visit AuntSissysKitchen@stx.rr.com Gourmet Take-Out Meals Peewee’s Pet Adoption World & Sanctuary at 1307 Saratoga Road. You can call them at 361www.AuntSissysKitchen.com 888-4141 but they do not have staff to answer phones so please leave a message.

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Located in the Loma Alta Plaza Hours: 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.

14254 SPID, Suite 109 Design/Layout Visit our website at www.AuntSissysKitchen.com Jeff Craft 949-4848 For weekly menus Contributing Writers Classifieds

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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 15201 S P I D. Suite 250. For more information call 361-949-7700 or contact the Moon at 15201 S Padre Island Dr., Suite 250, Corpus Christi, TX 78418 or by e-mail to editor@islandmoon.com.

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A 6

DEE-SCOVERIES

Island Moon

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam

September 6, 2012

facebook.com/theislandmoonnewspaper

by Devorah Fox The kids have gone back to school. The summer visitors have gone home. Our beaches are deserted and we can navigate Alister Street without having to dodge golf carts and jaywalking tourists.

Summer is if not officially over, effectively over.

Here are some tasty tidbits of SPAM lore to enjoy while you munch: SPAM is made Corporation. First canned precooked combination of the

by the Hormel Foods introduced in 1937, it’s meat: The name is a words “spice” and “ham.”

However, hurricane season is still in force. Thus far in 2012 we haven’t had that many storms come into the Gulf. Nevertheless, we can’t relax our vigil. Hurricane season lasts officially until November 30, and the months of August and September are most active for us along the Gulf Coast. So I still have my hurricane preparedness kit at the ready: spare batteries, gallons of drinking water, candles and matches, instant coffee, a can of SPAM. Every hurricane season I dutifully buy the recommended SPAM, although I’ve never known what it’s for. Maybe if a wind-propelled flying two-by-four happens to punch a hole in the wall, I’m to use a can of SPAM to plug it up? Perhaps I’m to make a line of SPAM cans into a levee to keep high water from seeping under the door? In any case, at the end of hurricane season, I give away my unused SPAM to the food pantry.

Until now. When Hurricane Isaac was threatening the Gulf States, the subject of hurricane preparedness came up in conversation.

“Not to worry,” I said. “I have all the required supplies, including a can of SPAM.” “You have SPAM in the house?” came the reply. “I love SPAM! Let’s eat!”

Eat? You’re supposed to eat it? Apparently so.

Here are two ways to enjoy SPAM, courtesy of Sir SPAMalot.

SPAMbled Eggs (for two) You will need: a can of SPAM, four eggs, an onion, butter, milk, ground mustard, salt and pepper.

Dice four slices of SPAM and half an onion.

Melt a tablespoon of butter in a skillet. Brown the diced SPAM and onion in the butter.

Beat the four eggs. Add a quarter of a teaspoon ground mustard, a splash of milk and salt and pepper to taste. Microwave the egg mixture for two minutes on HIGH. Fluff up the eggs and mix in the SPAM and onions.

Serve.

SPAMwich (for one) You will need: a slice of SPAM, two slices of bread (white, wheat or oat bread are fine but don’t use strong-flavored bread like rye or raisin). Put the slice of SPAM between the two slices of bread.

Serve.

The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of SPAM are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, a binder and a preservative. The a little bit of glaze in the can forms when the meat stock cools.

At the end of World War II, Hormel Foods assembled a troupe of ex-G.I. women to promote the consumption of SPAM as “patriotic.” The Hormel Girls grew to a troupe of 60 women including a 16-piece orchestra. They had a radio show.

Also during the Second World War, SPAM became popular in the United Kingdom, largely due to food rationing. A factory in Liverpool was licensed to produce SPAM which previously had all been made in Minnesota and Nebraska.

Residents of the state of Hawaii, the territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands consume the most SPAM per person in the U.S. Fast food restaurants there have SPAM on the menu.

In Minnesota, there is a restaurant where the menu is devoted exclusively to SPAM. In 1970, the British comedy show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” included a sketch wherein SPAM was an ingredient in every dish offered in a café. The sketch gave rise to the use of the name SPAM to describe ubiquitous, unavoidable and undesirable electronic communications.

If you need some SPAM for breakfast or a SPAMwich or any of the numerous recipes that you can find on www.spam.com (SPAM Musubi, anyone?) or just for your hurricane preparedness kit, you can find it at the supermarket in several flavors including low sodium, spicy, lite, hickory smoke, ovenroasted turkey, bacon and cheese. It’s available as a spread and in single-serving packs.

I’ll see you there.

Did Ya Hear?

By Mary Craft Send your business news to: mkay512@aol.com

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Business Briefs

Free Mesquite Wood for your fireplace if you cut the tree down and haul it off. Call 537-3458.

Hair Stylist Haley, formerly of Michele’s Salon and Haley’s Salon, is now at Salon Salon near Airline and McArdle. She is back on her feet and ready for her regulars and new clients.

Call or text 949-0401.

Padre Island Baptist Church is showing a screening of the movie Sex and Money about human sex trafficking in the United States. It can be viewed September 16th and 19th. There is no admission charge.

JB’s German Bakery now has a Lutheran traditin Bible Study weekly. The dates are September 14,28 and October 11, 25. For more info call Rev Tom Dietzel at 445-1029 or visit lifetogethermin@aol.com. The Bible study is sponsored by the Gulf Coast Outreach Committee and Grace Lutheran Church in Sinton. It is open to the public and is no cost.

Scuttlebutt’s Bar & Grill is looking for a good name for the gator on the wall near the game room. Some of the names so far are: Chubbs, Sam, Fred, Scuttles, Snappy, Thirsty, Gilly, Canaligator and Toothache.

The Lighthouse has a “back on the market” sign. The Triangular Lot across from the Lighthouse has a “sale pending” sign on it

Island Yogurt Shoppe Owner Joey Gallardo and his amazing assistant Amy are ready to serve you tasty and delicious treats at their new shop, now open next to Scuttlebutt’s

Child Abuse Motivates People to Walk

“Walk Padre Island For Children” to Raise Funds, Awareness to Prevent Child Abuse Inaugurating a new front in the struggle against child abuse, Prevent Child Abuse Texas (PCAT) in conjunction with the Padre Island Rotary Club, announced the launch of a new event.

The Walk Padre Island For Children will debut September 22, 2012 starting at Bob Hall Pier.

Participants will walk the 5K to raise awareness and demonstrate their commitment to making the lives of our children safer.

to raise awareness in our own community. A major focus of the Padre Island Rotary Club’s charitable activity, both monetarily and through volunteerism, is helping children reach their full potential and assisting them in becoming happy and successful members of our community.

Supporting Walk Padre Island is just one of the many ways the Club has chosen to achieve this goal.”

The Padre Island Rotary Club is a major sponsor of the Walk. “Abused children need to have a voice outside their own home, schools and churches” said Jeff Rank, President of the Padre Island Rotary Club. “Unfortunately, the vast majority of child abuse is perpetrated by people the victims know. It is imperative that those children have a voice that is heard. PCAT provides that voice and advocates for children statewide. Walk Padre Island For Children is an important way for this amazing organization

For more information about the Walk Padre Island For Children, to register to walk, or to donate, go online to www.

Prevent ChildAbuseTexas.org, or call 1-800-CHILDREN. Prevent Child Abuse Texas is a statewide nonprofit organization working to prevent child abuse and neglect in all its form. Our vision is a world where every child is free from abuse and neglect and lives in a community committed to preventing child abuse.

LIVE MUSIC Thursday

John Eric

Friday

Brian Winfrey

Saturday

Ruben Limas

Music is subject to change Remember to book our Party Room for your next event - call for details -

September 6, 2012

Island Moon

China – Traditional and Modern

Brent Rourk

and clog the lungs, making the trip risky for those with respiratory issues. So why go to such a large, congested city? Simply, there are too many remarkable historical and cultural sites to miss.

For five thousand years the Chinese People have solidified their place as master inventors, artists, soldiers, writers, conquerors, builders, and cooks. Through the successive reigns of almost 400 emperors and the impact of 24 dynasties the resilient Chinese have survived wars and insurrections to create a unique culture that enters the 21st century vigorously working to craft and solidify its place as a modern, world leader.

Beijing is a convenient jumpstart for visiting the Great Wall of China, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the Eight Wonders of the World stretching nearly 5,500 miles. Though it took almost 2000 years to build this defensive structure, most of it was completed during the Ming Dynasty. A one or two day trip to the wall is nothing short of a spiritual experience. Stroll for miles on top of history and enjoy the scenic countryside. The scope and size of the wall are truly unimaginable.

China currently wrestles with many of the same challenges that other countries face; pollution, over-population, economic highs and lows, protecting the environment, creating food and fresh water, education, employment, and crime.

While it rushes to become a world power, it also seriously must look at how to resolve the challenges.

It is a large geographic country, tremendously populated, with one foot in the modern world and the other foot in the third world. It is also rich in history, diversity, and sites that every traveler must visit.

For the history lover a stop and stroll at Ming Tombs is a must. These marvelous grounds, inspired by Feng-shui beliefs, are the burial place of 12 emperors.

Photo opportunities abound here.

In Beijing as well as throughout China, many temples and palaces have survived.

Beautifully carved stone edifices as well as colorful wood buildings stoically stand and each one is steeped in rich history that an informed guide will cheerfully share.

A two to four week visit to China will begin to reveal to the traveler both Terracotta Warrior replicas traditional and in the Xian Museum modern cultural After exploring the components and great number of temples (the Summer Temple China’s progress on achieving its ambitious and the Temple of Heaven are a must), the goal. Such a trip deserves top priority on museums, parks, and neighborhoods and everybody’s ‘Bucket list’. enjoying the unique cuisine of northern China, The value of using a tour company arguably has including mouth watering duck dishes, an early its pros and cons. Unless a visitor has family in evening trip to Bird’s Nest Stadium and Water China or speaks the language(s), it is probably Cube will punctuate a perfect day. The wise to find a reputable tour company offering golden sunset’s reflections against trips to China that include your time frame, type the uniquely constructed and lit steel of trip, cost, and desired destinations and sites. stadium and the nearby pond create a The terrific value of having a tour company plan spectacular view. The adjacent Water and take care of countless transportation, sight- Cube is simply too cool to pass up. seeing, hotel and meal details is incalculable. So The Beijing Zoo can be a pleasant you have chosen your dates of travel and your diversion from more historical and tour company. What are some of the highlights? cultural stops. This modest zoo No trip to China is complete without visiting contains a fair number of indigenous Beijing (Peking), Shanghai, Xian, Chongqing animals with the most popular being and The Yangtze River. Each place offers a the iconic Panda, unfortunately different geographic and cultural perspective. packed into small, concrete cubicles minimal outside space.

The Yangtze cruise gives the visitor both a slice with Regardless, a three hour zoo visit will of ancient and modern China from the comfort offer the naturalists an opportunity of a cruise ship. to celebrate some of China’s unique Beijing, located in Northern China near the wildlife.

40th parallel, has a cold winter climate and a Walking shoes, water, and head-ware warm and sometimes hot summer climate. It is a congested metropolitan area anywhere from are the norm for two of the more spectacular sites 15 to 22 million inhabitants (depending on in China; The Forbidden City and Tiananmen the definition of metropolitan area and other Square. A morning visit to Tiananmen Square factors and criteria determined by the source will reveal the largest central city square in the measuring metropolitan areas). Certainly, it is world complete with several notable landmarks expansive and populated. Avoid the seemingly of historical significance. The Forbidden City, endless traffic jams by planning or timing your the administrative center of the country for 500 daily touring. The air pollution, cited by some years, contains 9999 rooms and is considered agencies as some of the worst in the world to be the largest and most well-preserved (similar to New Delhi’s), can block the views ancient palace in the world. The temples are indescribably colorful and magical. A seasoned guide will offer you eyeopening facts, hopefully in the little shade available. Have a few extra digital camera cards with you.

Modern Beijing - All photos by Brent Rourke

Over 8,000 ancient soldiers, each uniquely different in dress and face, stand at attention in large formations near another city in China that tourists must visit. The Terracotta Warriors near Xian, China are one of the most fascinating historical finds in the last century and archeologists continue

The New Wave in the Island’s Shipping & Mailing

to find additional warriors on the grounds. Located about 22 miles from Xian and 1 mile from Emperor QinShihuang’s mausoleum, the warriors are divided into a series of pits. Four brothers operated a farm on this location when in 1974 one of the brothers discovered the long forgotten, buried soldiers while digging a well. Today leisurely paths lead to imposing buildings housing life-sized terracotta warriors and horses. The number of warriors is mind boggling. This UNESCO site can be a full day or half day visit. In and around Xian there are several stores or “factories” where during the balance of the day eager tourists can easily purchase souvenirs or treasures, including the ubiquitous jade, gorgeous silk, colorful carpets, carved furniture and more.

Shanghai, a mammoth metropolis in Southern China, undeniably offers perhaps some of the most striking modern architecture in the world.

The climate is warmer, bordering on tropical.

The air pollution, a sad staple of virtually every global metropolis, annoyingly lingers at times as it does in Beijing. Pollution and crowds aside, Shanghai has too many places of interest to skip. In fact, it is the perfect beginning or end to a vacation in China.

The embodiment of Shanghai is the architecture along an area known as the Bund and a half-day stroll on a walkway across from the imposing buildings is a must. The spires and towers, considered an architectural fair, sprouting from this 1.5 km. stretch along the Huangpu River will amaze everybody. People-watching on the wide walkway along Zhongshan Road is a sport here. Adjacent to the walkway, the road leads visitors to a host of delightful restaurants

Three Gorges Dam and stores. A sunset stroll along the Bund can elegantly top a romantic day in Shanghai or it can keep a camera continuously clicking.

Other sites to see in Shanghai include the stunning Yuyuan Garden, Chenghuang Temple (another must see), Shanghai Old Street, Shanghai Grand Theatre, and a host of museums and parks. While in Shanghai a visit to an acrobatic troupe performance is a headturning delight, making the onlooker deliriously spellbound. For fun family entertainment visit a shop where you can learn to paint Chinese characters. Print whatever you want and take the treasure home.

A stop in mountainous Chongqing might clearly open your eyes to an example of the quintessential mega-metropolis. Chongqing is a vast, growing, modern cultural center attracting industry, tourists and citizens from nearby rural areas seeking employment.

Boasting a staggering 32 million inhabitants (China’s population presently leans towards 1,400,000,000), Chongqing’s varied skyline is ringed with towering buildings and busy cranes hoisting materials that stretch the skyline to neck-bending heights. It is virtually impossible to take a cityscape photograph without at least several cranes dotting the background.

Chongqing’s geography is attractively uneven

Stop in to check out our premium cigars, island artists’ work, and Navy flight training guides.

Open Monday to Friday 9:00-6:00 Saturday 9:00-12:00 Call Our Store: (361)949-7471

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Driveways, Patios, Sidewalks, Patio Overlays, Decorative Stamping & Staining, Decks, Bulkheads, Grouted Stone Walls & Patios, Decorative Stone Paver Driveways & Patios

Owned & Operated by Island Residents David & Katherine Pierce References Available Upon Request Commercial & Residential

Doing Everything a Home or Business Needs

Meals on the boat are tasty and nutritious with typical Chinese dishes interspersed among plates designed to please the less adventurous eaters. Rooms are generally small, though comfortable with a bathroom, closet, and a window that opens. The cruise ship staffs work tirelessly to provide three delicious meals, thorough room-cleaning, prompt room service and laundry service. Shopping is available on the ships and though tempting, it is probably best done in major cities where a wider selection of tapestries is available at bargain prices.

There is unquestionably more to experience in China if the visitor has more time. Rural hamlets, farmlands, forests, and fishing villages all provide memorable cultural interactions.

Visiting the theatre or opera is exhilarating.

Learning calligraphy or taking a few hour course in Chinese painting can add immense pleasure to the adventure. Terrific shopping is available virtually everywhere and with some advance research about pricing a tourist should be able to purchase goods at an appropriate bargain (buyer beware; prices on tapestries, carpets, and furniture tend to be very fluid if not excessively inflated so don’t hesitate to bargain).

Enjoy the sites, food, and culture of China.

Regardless of what people read about China and its history, visiting China and experiencing its culture is a dream come true. Remember as you prepare for your trip by learning a few handy phrases of Chinese and doing a little background research to leave room in the suitcase for your trinkets and treasures.

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Remodeling

Design work, Yard Maintenance, Decks, Pergolas, Installation of Rock, Grass, Plants, Trees, Walkways, Paths, Tree Trimming, Container Planting, Vacant Lot Mowing & Shade Covers. All Kinds of Fencing, Pressure Washing & Deck Staining & Sealing

The views along the Yangtze are fascinating and incredibly beautiful. Deep and colorful gorges give way to wild forests which give way to small villages or even a few modest homes and tiered gardens scattered along the steep canyon walls. In an instant the canyons open to reveal lush, green valleys. A few photos later and a large city with skyscrapers appears out of nowhere. Perhaps your guide will point out a rural stretch where lore has it that all of the villagers live to be over 100 years old.

To order by mail please send your checks made payable to J. Park to The Island Moon, 14493 S.P.I.D., PMB 220, C.C., Tx 78418.

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Perhaps Chongqing is also best known as the springboard for Yangtze River cruises. No trip to China is complete without at least a four day trip down the Yangtze. The slower, scenic, and relaxing cruise provides a stark and welcome change to the smoggy, noisy, and busy (albeit engaging and entertaining) cities. A few stops along the river enable the traveler to stretch sea legs and visit cultural high points. Typically, there is a stop for several hours along the river each day.

Get yours for only $19.95 plus $5.05 shipping and handling. Or you can purchase them at The Island Moon Markets held the fourth Saturday of every month. Shirts come in grey or white short sleeve T-Shirts sizes L. XL and XXL. Tank Tops come in Aqua and White in sizes Med and Large.

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and the hilly city is filled with hot springs, gorges and caves. Local sites of note include the Dazu Rock Carvings and nearby Ci Qi Kou (Porcelain Village). Finally, the area presents Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. Though controversial for a number of valid reasons at its inception, it currently provides an immense amount of electricity. Current worries include damclogging water pollution and urgent efforts are underway to correct that problem.

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Fishing on the Yangtze

Views from the top deck of the small cruise ship are unrivaled as history and cultural contrasts slowly pass the eye. Smaller boats transport locals from one village to another.

Other compact boats show enough space barely for one fisherman, nets, and equipment. A friendly wave and nod acknowledge each other; a local third world fisherman and a tourist.

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Island Creations

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A 8

Island Moon

September 6, 2012

History continued from A1 Railroad by Mexican Revolutionaries acting presumably without Carranza’s orders. At 10:45 p.m. raiders stuck the rail line which was the lifeline of the Rio Grande Valley. The southbound passenger train was less than seven miles north of Brownsville, near Olmisto, when sixty raiders, mostly from Matamoros and led

by Luis de la Rosa and Aniceto Pizana derailed the train. They had pulled up the spikes holding a rail in place and as the locomotive approached they yanked the rail away.

thought he was dying. Kleiber later said there was blood from one end of the coach to the other.

The engine overturned, killing the engineer and severely scalding the fireman with steam.

The engine, tender, baggage, and express cars left the track, while the smoking car and firstclass coach remained upright.

The Border War was a dirty fight. wounded. An ex-Texas Ranger and a Texas quarantine officer tried to hide in the lavatory but a Hispanic youngster on the train revealed their hiding place and the raiders fired through the door. The ex-Ranger had a finger shot off and was shot in the shoulder but survived. The quarantine officer died.

Half a dozen masked raiders stormed the train yelling, “Viva Carranza, Viva Luis de la Rosa, Viva Aniceto Pizana and began robbing and shooting Anglo passengers. Hispanics were not molested.

The local District Attorney, John Kleiber, was returning from court in Corpus Christi and was saved because he was covered in blood from one of the soldiers who was shot and the raiders

Three soldiers in uniform were shot immediately, one died and the other two were

Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School in Flour Bluff

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The raiders took $325 in cash from the passengers along with diamonds and watches, even a sample case from a traveling salesman. They stole shoes – favoring regulation U.S. Army footwear which they stripped from the soldiers. Kleiber had his shoes stolen as well but would later prosecute several men who participated in the attack.

The ex-Ranger later testified he recognized Luis de la Rosa even Pancho Villa (left center) and Emiliano Zapata in the National Palace in Mexico City. though the raider was wearing a mask.

What really disturbed the Texas authorities was that de la Rosa had learned that the army had removed the detachment guarding the train station near where the raid occurred only a few days before. The raiders had an infiltrator in the American Army’s ranks. They headed out for Mexico and burned a railroad trestle south of the station so that when the Army troops arrived to help they had to walk the last mile. By then the raiders were back in Mexico.

Along with the army troops from Fort Brown the Texas Rangers also arrived from their camp in Brownsville along with about 1000 Brownsville citizens who flocked to the scene, including a “large number of Brownsville women who had to be carried from the scene due to feinting spells.”

The Texans wanted revenge and Ranger Captain Henry Ransom obliged by seizing four random Hispanics and executing them.

This act created a rift between state and local lawman. Sheriff W.T. Vann from Brownsville later testified “We came out there and arrested those four men. Captain Ransom had them and walked over to me and says, ‘I am going to kill those fellows’ and I told him no. He says ‘if you don’t have the guts …to do it, I will go myself.’ I says, that takes a whole lot of guts, four fellows with their hands tied behind them, it takes a whole lot of guts to do that.”

A few days later a local newspaper reported that “no inquest would be held” over the four bodies found. The same day as the newspaper posting twenty-five raiders attacked the fifteenman Signal Corps detachment at Ojo de Aqua killing three and wounding eight soldiers. This was the last straw for U.S. General Frederick Funston who issued a statement of No Quarter authorizing the execution of captured raiders on the spot. He also asked the Secretary of War for bloodhounds and Apache scouts to be sent to the border. Three days later raiders tried to burn the railroad trestle which had been rebuilt but were driven off by Army troops.

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But Carranza had withdrawn his support for the raids and they stopped. The guerrillas were now so busy dodging the Mexican Army they had no time for raids into Texas. The death toll from the Border War was put at around 5000 – about 300 executed by hanging or shooting by governmental entities. The war to return South Texas to Mexico was over. Carranza executed Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa would flee into the Mexican interior pursued by the U.S. Army.

But the damage caused by the war between Anglos and Hispanics in South Texas was done.

The Anglos viewed the Mexican-Americans as a fifth column for Mexican interests. The Mexican-Americans, many of whose families had lived on their land since before it was part of Texas or the United States, were ostracized by former friends.

The Border War was history but its legacy was not.

The Mexicans who had instigated the war with the intent of retuning Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California to Mexico were left with nothing but the oft repeated fateful line still heard today in the Border Region, “Tan cerca de Estados Unidos tan lejos de dios;” So close to America so far from God.”

Island United - Political Action Committee

SAT.

9/7

Little did anyone know this was to be the last raid of the Border War which had begun in 1911 and burst into full combat in 1915. This was due partially to Wilson’s recognition of Carranza and partially due to 800 men from the 28th Infantry regiment sent to South Texas to augment the 5000 troops already there. Local citizens put up a $1000 reward for the killing of either or both de la Rosa or Pizana. The U.S. Attorney General reduced the amount to $250 apiece and stipulated that the reward would only be paid to persons who delivered the heads of either of the men in a gunny sack to the American side of the Rio Grande – an unusual bounty to be issued forth by the U.S. government.

Island United PAC Ballots

oPEN 7 dAYS + nOON-2AM FRI.

Heads in a gunny sack

“I’m going to kill those fellows”

Endorsement Ballot 2012 (At-Large) All registered voters residing in Districts 40, 81 or 19 and are eligible to vote in Corpus Christi elections are eligible to vote in our endorsement process. If you are unable to attend the Endorsement Nights, you may vote early by completing the ballot below and returning by email to IslandUnitedPAC@gmail.com or drop in the box at either the POA or Island Moon offices no later than 5pm September 18 for Mayor and District 4 or by September 25 for At-Large.

Name ___________________________ Phone number ________________

Address _____________________________ Voter Registration number ________________

At-Large Please check 1, 2 or 3 candidates Alicia Benavidez _____________

Lillian Riojas

_______________

John Garcia

_____________

Mark Scott

_______________

David Loeb

_____________

John A Sendejar _______________

Ballots will be counted during Endorsement Night, followed immediately by an announcement of the names of endorsed candidates.

Endorsement Nights: Mayor/Dist 4 - Wed, Sept 19th, 6pm, Holiday Inn At-Large -

Wed, Sept 26th, 6pm, Comfort Suites (across the street from Holiday Inn)

www.IslandUnitedPAC.com.

Scoopy’s Veranda Sun - Sat 11am - 10pm

Island United - Political Action Committee Endorsement Ballot 2012 (Mayor/District 4) All registered voters residing in Districts 40, 81 or 19 and are eligible to vote in Corpus Christi elections are eligible to vote in our endorsement process. If you are unable to attend the Endorsement Nights, you may vote early by completing the ballot below and returning by email to IslandUnitedPAC@gmail.com or drop in the box at either the POA or Island Moon offices no later than 5pm September 18 for Mayor and District 4 or by September 25 for At-Large.

Name ___________________________ Phone number ________________

Address _____________________________ Voter Registration number ________________

District 4

Mayor

Please check one:

Carry-out Available!

Snoopy’s (361) 949-8815 Scoopy’s (361) 949-7810 13313 S. Padre Island Drive Corpus Christi, TX 78418

Jano Andrasik

Please check one

___________

Chris Adler

________________

Colleen McIntyre ___________

Ray Madrigal

________________

Webster Pell

Nelda Martinez ________________

___________

Josey Wales

________________

Endorsement Nights: Mayor/Dist 4 - Wed, Sept 19th, 6pm, Holiday Inn At-Large -

Wed, Sept 26th, 6pm, Comfort Suites (across the street from Holiday Inn)

www.IslandUnitedPAC.com.

September 6, 2012

Back Porch End of Season Blowout

Port Aransas Art Center

First Friday

Island Moon

Labor Day Beach Bums

A9

Reception September 7th 323 N. Alister 361-749-7334

John Olvey

John Olvey combines saltwater, acrylic and soul to create an artistic expression of the surf lifestyle, offering a secret glimpse into the challenging lifestyle surfers have chosen.

Stanley Orchard focuses his experience with acrylics, watercolors, charcoals and a variety of other mediums to depict everything that he loves about the environment, the culture and the lifestyle associated with South Texas.

Blake Taveapont said while working on a still life drawing Stanley he learned that paintings which “look flat” do not capture Orchard one’s attention. “If you see a bright picture, it comes off the canvass. You have to make a painting have its own light.”

Ed Boyd’s works are generally inspired by his environment. His latest medium and creations involve overlays of vinyl stickers which resemble an actual painting technique. He also carves area Palm Trees into Tikis.

LAGUNA GARDENS CEMETERY

Overlooking the beautiful Laguna Madre...

New Corpus Christi Assistant City Manager Wes Pierson with Jeff Frank at the Padre Island Rotary Club luncheon.

Susan Powell treated her Back Porch staff to a limousine driven spa day and then dinner and drinks at Scuttlebutt’s Bar & Grill. Looks like a great time was had by all. Thanks Susan!

Cremation Burial Plots (5’ x 5’) $695.00

F I NANCI NG AVAI L AB L E

361.939.7187

Photos by Mary Craft

www.lagunagardenscemetery.com ww

Beach House Realty

Get the attention you deserve.

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Selling a home?

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Call 361-949-7281

Mary Melick Real Estate

Mary Ann McShane, Realtor, GRI, SRES e-mail: malm335@sbcglobal.net Corpus Christi Realty Group Considering a move to the Island?

Let me help you find your piece of Paradise - waterfront or interior homes, condos, townhouses, lots Considering selling your Island Property?

Call me for a free consultation to obtain the current market value along with tips to make your property the one buyers will put on their “must see” list

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122 Bay Court, Aransas Pass, TX

Beautiful, well maintained 3/2.5/2 home in prestigious Pelican Cove Subdivision. In ground pool, covered patio, boat lift and easy access to Redfish Bay! This home has beautiful hardwood and tile floors, granite counter tops in bathrooms and kitchen! An extra room with Dry/bar and one whole wall a wine cooler...awesome for entertaining! Easy to see just give me a call!

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Upgrades, split plan, tile counters, fully furnished, wawsher/dryer. Spacious patio, assigned covered parking, huge pool, ship’s store and restaurant on premises. Low $200’s.

WATERFRONT--Fortuna Bay’s finest! 3/2 penthouse with high ceilings, completely redone in style with stainless, glass tile, granite, quality fixtures throughout, sumptuous baths, attractive furnishings, storage closet, boat dock, community pool/hot tub, tile/carpet.

Ready to go, just move in or rent out--vacation rentals okay. Bring your boat. $164,900 CHARMING WATERFRONT single bedroom condo with washer/dryer. Remodeled interior, beachy colors, tile floors, upgraded bath, elec box/plugs switches replaced, ceiling fans, new baseboards, window coverings, privacy door on patio. This is a must see showing pride of ownership. Close to the proposed new Schlitterbahn and convenient to everything.

Think investment! $99,900 Beach House Realty, Gail D. Spinn, Agent 2217 State Highway 361, Suite A-1, Port Aransas, Texas 78373

A 10

Two Headed Dog Missing!

Island Moon

Gone Fishin’

September 6, 2012

Back To The Cut Capt. Joey Farah (361)442_8145 Facebook: Farah’s Backwater Fishing Adventures

Jason Zepplin of TxGLO and Rachel Schmitt enjoy catching and releasing a snook on Packery Jetty

Well, not really but we got your attention.

That’s Lokie on the right and his buddy T-Bone in the back. Lokie has been missing for almost three weeks from his home on Cruiser.

Islander Ken Hookman has been looking for the three year old male dog with no luck so far. He knows several tricks like how to retrieves cans from the beach and put them in the trash can, and also makes deposits at Frost Bank.

You will know it’s Lokie by the small tear in his right ear and has a small tooth missing from his grill.

Flounder Pounders !!

The amazing fish tank at Dragonfly Restaurant is undergoing some changes.

Go by and See it!

Its facebook contest time!

We want you to name the Gator! Our longtime beer drinkin’ mascot needs a name and we want you to name him!! Go to Scuttlebutt’s Facebook page and vote for a chance to win

o p w e o n n

He will also heal and is friendly with people. If you see Lokie call 480-8786.

Some say Summer is a state of mind. Mother Nature is a true lady and is very consistent about changing hers, fall is defiantly on its way. The first Tropical Storm came through the Gulf and brought us a BULL Tide with the full moon. The first week cold fronts have started to come south and I watched as flocks of ducks made their way along the King Ranch Shoreline this weekend. As the next few months develop look for game fish to ride the tides out towards the Gulf passes and beaches, anglers should ambush them along their travels for some bent rods and great fun. Lets get a little more specific in our target species, the FLOUNDER.

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Bron’s Beach Carts

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Bron’s Beach Carts located at 314 East Avenue G. Best cars in Port Aransas.

Great service, friendly people.

Call 361-290-7143 for pricing and reservations.

This flounder came from the Boat Hole last week along the old Crash Channel.

I’ve met some fishermen who looked me strait in the eye and told me “I catch trout and reds by accident, I’m a Flounder fishermen.” This is absolutely true, if you are concentrating on flounder you will happen upon some great trout and reds as well. Most of us think of flounder as being a “BONUS” fish, but for the next few months we will see large numbers of them start grouping up and becoming easier to target. Flounder have thin skin and are effected by temperature very easily. As water temperatures are as high as the 90’s in some parts of the bay flounder move towards the cooler temperate regions of the Laguna Madre and Baffin Bay area with good water quality and tide movement. As cooler times fall upon us these fish will migrate towards the passes and finally the open gulf for their spawn in late November and Dec. Flounder are really a schooling fish and tend to settle in areas together. They ride the currents and move up into extremely shallow water to feed at night on small baitfish. During daylight hours look for them to hold slightly off of the shallow edge of channels and cuts.

Perfect camouflage patterns that can change to match its surroundings aid the fish in turning invisible on the bottom. The “angel wing fins” that encircle the outer edge of the fish, fluff sand over the top of its body to burry it just under the surface of the bottom. One look into the business end of a flounder reveals a large mouth full of sharp aggressive teeth, this is no scavenger, but a DANGEROUS KILLER. The preferred food source for the flounder is small baitfish but they eat a lot of shrimp as well. The best baits this time of year are mud minnows, small finger mullet, and small piggy perch. Rig up with a Carolina Rig set up using a small swivel and a slip weight, attached to a good 18 inches of fluorocarbon leader and a #2or #3 hook. Hook your baitfish in the back or bottom area above the anal fin. This will let it swim up against the weight just

above a waiting flounder. One must not jerk the hook out of their mouth, but allow the flounder to fully swallow the bait before reeling the line tight. With sideways mouths hooks come out easily, so have a net ready to help them into the boat. Concentrate on channel intersections and the sandy ledges along the Intracoastal Canal. Any small cut or drainage you might find moving water and baitfish out of shallow water towards deep is a great place to ambush the ultimate ambush predatory fish. Use the current to float your bait along the bottom covering the area completely.

Plastic Attack Some of the most enjoyable trips on the water are the easiest. Jump in the boat or even throw a pole in the truck and catch that magical first and last two hours of the day on the water. This is the best time to find Flounder feeding. Flipping soft plastics along the edges of the channel and hunting flounder with artificial is so much fun. It is like hunting because you actually are casting at a target, a specific spot and imagining a flounder waiting for your bait to fall and swim just close enough to explode in a violent attack on your lure. Much more fun than going out and waiting for something to swim on bye. I vary between very light and heavy jig heads for different areas and presentation. I flutter and float a lighter jig in calmer areas, and use a heavy jig for swift current or deep water. When approaching a spot you suspect may be good, anchor up silently out deep and work the spot completely. One or two casts as you float bye may not allow you to slow the lure down and get in their “zone”. When you find one flounder there is usually more, so stay with the spot for at least ten casts. The LOGIC LURES “WIGGLY JIGGLY” jig head is the best flounder head on the market. Its jointed shaft adds mid-body movement but more importantly keeps the fish from dislodging the hook. My landing ratio goes way up with this head compared to conventional types. You can find them at Roy’s Bait and Tackle and the ACE Hardware out here on the island. Classic colors preferred by the best FLOUNDER POUNDERS are white, red/ white, pumkinseed/chartruse, glow, and greens.

Anglers should use a soft and slow bumping action allowing the bait to sit on the bottom for a few seconds. There is no better eating fish in the bay as the Flounder, thus the reduction in their numbers in the past. Recent changes in limits and harvest have improved their abundance tenfold. As hunting season comes closer and school bells ring, the water has been pleasantly quiet. Treat yourself to a half day flounder hunt and follow their movements this fall. Catch me on FaceBook!