Mueller - July 2021 by Peel, Inc.

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Building a Community that is Practicing Anti-Racism Part V - Our neighborhood has some work to do in creating events that are truly inclusive Saamiya Seraj Building a community practicing anti-racism doesn't mean business as usual. This means as an entire neighborhood, we need to pause and reflect. Have we done enough so that the BIPOC community feels welcomed? Most of our neighbors have the privilege of feeling and belonging in this neighborhood, but others feel that they can't openly honor or celebrate traditions rooted in their culture and beliefs. It was a real treat to read Saamiya's love and her family history of Ramadan and Eid. I'm hoping to see this event honored and celebrated in Mueller, in the future. -Koreena Malone, MNA Community Engagement and Inclusion Chair “By the way, Eid Mubarak!” my neighbor waved at me as we finished our conversation and were going our respective ways. I paused for a second, taken aback by the fact that he knew it was Eid. I’m not sure what my expression looked like at the time, but I must have had the biggest grin on my face. “Eid Mubarak!” I shouted back enthusiastically. My neighbor doesn’t know this, but he made my day. Growing up in Bangladesh, Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr was one of my favorite times of the year, as it felt like an entire month dedicated to spirituality and community. For 30 days, instead Baby's First Eid of the usual hubbub of our daily lives, everyone was encouraged to pray, fast, think good thoughts, and do good deeds in their community. Offices closed an hour earlier each day to accommodate people’s spiritual endeavors, allowing families to break their fast and eat iftar together at sundown (iftar is the meal eaten by Muslims after sunset during Ramadan). One of my favorite memories as a child is the feeling of love and peace that swept over me as our noisy extended family sat down together for iftar and enjoyed the delicious sweetness of that first gulp of water after a whole day of fasting. I also loved the rising excitement and anticipation in the last few days of Ramadan. As Eid approached, our house would be in a flurry of activity, with the scent of henna and shemai (fried vermicelli in sweet milk) thick in the air. In contrast, Eid in America has always felt rather lonely and lackluster. Despite an estimated 3.45 million Muslims living in the US (Pew Beautiful Blessed Ramadan decoration on Research Center, 2018), in my experience, Yasmin's door knowledge about Eid is not very common. Copyright © 2021 Peel, Inc.

Employers, universities, and colleges are required to make accommodations for religious holidays, but sometimes the hassle of taking the day off and switching around your meetings and other obligations can take away from the feeling of festivity. The pandemic heightened that feeling of disconnection, as many of us were unable to visit and celebrate with Muslim family members and friends or gather for communal prayers in mosques. That day, as my neighbor walked away after Eating together on Eid wishing me “Eid Mubarak”, I wondered why after living in Mueller for nine years, I hadn’t really tried to reach out to celebrate Eid with my neighbors. If the feeling of community was what was missing in my Eid celebrations in the US, why hadn’t I tried to recreate it where I lived? The answer was simple, if I had the courage, to be honest. I was afraid to reach out. Years of living in the US had conditioned me to celebrate as quietly as possible. Perhaps, I was tired, too – tired of the explanations that had to follow the usual comments of “Oh! I’ve never heard of Eid before.” However, with a small but powerful gesture, my neighbor had shown me a glimpse of what it could be like to celebrate in the community and encouraged Eid dinner with polao and me to lean into my fear. chicken The next day, I posted on the Mueller Facebook group, asking neighbors if they wanted to celebrate Eid next year in the community, once the pandemic was over. I was still apprehensive, but perhaps I could find other Muslim neighbors like myself who were quietly celebrating Eid in their own bubble, not knowing there was someone else celebrating down the street from them. Continued on Page 3 Front Porch Flyer - July 2021

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EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Dusty Harshman Kathy Sokolic EDITORIAL STAFF Greg Buford, Cynthia Cammack, Andrew Clements, Shawn Collins, Ani Colt, Luke Downs, Susan Egan, April Geruso, Drew Harris, Bart Jacob, Judith Katzman, Woody Lauland, Layla Mansuri, Dennis Mick, Sadia Tirmizi, Preston Tyree, Lila Valencia, Chrissy Yates

My decision to post turned out to be really rewarding, as I realized from the responses that there were a lot of neighbors in Mueller celebrating Eid. Although each celebration and story were unique, they all shared a beautiful sense of joy and hope and new beginnings. And food – everyone’s celebration included lots of delicious food. After one month of fasting, that’s a given. I wanted to give these unheard stories of diverse celebrations in our neighborhood a little more Eid gifts from elders visibility and decided to write this article for the Mueller Front Porch Flyer. I hope seeing this will give another neighbor the push to speak up and connect with others or suggest a different celebration that we’re all missing out on. After all, life is short and one can never have too many celebrations, right? I hope you enjoy all the pictures of our neighbors celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr this year. And if you Traditional sweets see your Muslim neighbor during Eid next year, be sure to wish them “Eid Mubarak.” made for Eid It might just make their day as it did for me.

Steering Committee Members: Dale Cannedy Pat DiSanza - Vice Chair Edwin Dorn Ted Herr Koreena Malone Damaris Nicholson - Secretary Sarah Roper-Coleman Josh Rudow Jason Sears John Thomas - Treasurer Marta White Taylor Youngblood - Chair John Wooding (Ex Officio) contact@muellerneighborhood.org muellerneighborhood.org Copyright © 2021 Peel, Inc.

Reem's boy in matching new outfits for Eid

Sarah and Minh celebrate as a newly married couple

Khadija celebrating with her entire family

Planning for a Smooth Transition: Mueller Property Owners Association (POA) Provided by Karen Sharp, Chair of the POA Transition Committee

A Little Background on our POA... The Mueller POA is the legal entity that owns and maintains the common elements in the Mueller development, such as the parks, the pools, the row home exteriors, and the POA also makes and enforces the rules that apply to all properties in Mueller. Since Mueller is a neighborhood with both residential and commercial property ownership, we actually have three associations that make up our POA. The Master Association includes all property owners, both residential and commercial. In addition, there are two geographically based sub-associations: the Mixed Use Association (primarily residential) and the Employment Center/Town Center Association (primarily commercial), known as the EC/TC.

Planning for Transition Our POA is currently managed by the developer, Catellus, but over the next few years, control of some, and then all, of the POA will transition from Catellus to the property owners, both residential and commercial, within Mueller. To prepare for this eventuality, the Mueller Master Board formed a Transition Committee a few years ago to start working through issues that will need to be addressed for a smooth transition. The Transition Committee includes members of Catellus as well as residential and commercial property owners. Continued on Page 4

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Seeking Community Input on Governance Options One of the most important issues that the Transition Committee is tackling is the issue of governance, that is, mostly, how the Board of Directors for each of the three associations will be selected in the future. The Transition Committee has identified three potential approaches to the governance structure and will be seeking input this summer from the Mueller community. The first opportunity to provide input will be an interactive webinar hosted by Kathy Sokolic and Joe Freeland. In the webinar, the details will be provided on the governance options under consideration and community members will have the opportunity to submit questions during the webinar. Following the webinar, a community survey will be released so that the Transition Committee can receive input and opinions on the governance options under consideration from a larger segment of the community. The third opportunity to provide input will be in the form of a focus group (or groups) held after the survey. The focus group(s) will provide the opportunity to reflect on the survey results and dive deeper into topics that would benefit from more dialogue.

Stay tuned... Be on the lookout for more information and specific dates to participate in the community input events. The Transition Committee will put out the word broadly through the POA weekly e-newsletter, the Mueller Messenger, through the Mueller Facebook Group, and through the Mueller Neighborhood Association newsletter and website. If you are not receiving the weekly POA Mueller Messenger via email contact MuellerPOA@associa.us and request to be added to the distribution list. If you have questions about the information in this article, please contact Transition Committee Chair Karen Sharp at karenlynnsharpMNA@ gmail.com.

Which Would You Choose: Friendship, a Good Time, or Pétanque? by Ted Herr

What if you could have all three at the same time? Several times a week, a group of Mueller residents and their friends choose all three whenever they gather for a game of pétanque (pronounced “pay tonk") at the Mueller Browning Hangar. I had the opportunity to meet with four of them, including Mueller resident Gayla Slikas, who began playing after organizing the game online. Silkas and the other players explained the rules to me. In pétanque, a player throws 1.5 pound metal boules (balls) underhanded towards a target about 20-33 feet away. The object is to have your boules end up closest to the “cochonnet.” One team of two players throws three boules each, or three players on a team throw two boules each. Pétanque may sound familiar to some. In various European countries, there are similar games, such as bocce in Italy and lawn bowling in the United Kingdom. One of the players at our meeting, Thierry Aisse, told me about the day he and his teammates beat a two-time world champion at a tournament in Dallas. He enthusiastically crowed that it was “the best day of my life.” Aisse is known for his expertise and attention to detail. He works restoring French and antique furniture here in Austin, and is a Frenchman by birth. On the terrain, or playing court, he can play both roles in pétanque: a “pointer” and a “shooter.” A pointer, using a backspin, attempts to land his boule closest to the target cochonnet. The closest boules win points for the team. A shooter, on the other hand, attempts to use his shots to knock the opponents’ boules away from the target. Pétanque is a team sport that originated over 100 years ago in France. On a recent Saturday, four friends met up to play pétanque as part of the Oput Pétanque Club. (“Oput,” they advised me, is an inside joke and stands for an off-color expression.) The club that meets under the Mueller Hangar has been playing there for years. Jerry Plemons, one of the original Mueller residents, founded the neighborhood club and played. There are also occasional games here in Mueller at Paggi Square (located off Robert Browning Street between Ruiz and Page Streets). In fact, the Heart of Texas Pétanque club even contributed to the design of the square. The local club is affiliated with the Alliance Française of Austin. The local pétanque club meets formally every Thursday at 10:00 AM and Sundays at 3:00 PM, and also organizes less formal games several times a week. They say they welcome both new and experienced players. The Alliance is also organizing special pétanque meetups the second and fourth Sundays of June, July, and August from 3:00-5:00 PM at the Mueller Hangar. Their website invitation says “come out and enjoy a favorite French past-time, enjoy food & drinks, and speak French with your Alliance Française friends & neighbors.” Continued on Page 5

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Visit afaustin.org/sunday-ptanque for more information about these events. The answer to the question “Which would you choose: friendship, a good time, or Pétanque?” is provided by player Peter Gray: ”About half of all my good friends are people I met through playing pétanque." For more information about pétanque, see the Wikipedia article at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pétanque Photo credits

How to Get to Q2 Stadium for Austin FC Matches By Shawn Collins

Longtime friends, Thierry Aisse (left) and Peter Gray show off their “Oput” team pétanque t-shirts during a break between rounds under the Mueller hangar. Photo by Ted Herr

Thierry Aisse stands in the shooter's circle as he prepares to launch a boule (ball) towards the target cochonnet. Photo by Ted Herr

Thierry Aisse starts his windup standing in the shooter's circle. The player must toss the boule (ball) towards the target cochonnet. Photo by Ted Herr

Thierry Aisse follows though after launching his boule (ball) towards the target cochonnet. Photo by Ted Herr

Austin FC, the new Major League Soccer club in Austin, is finally playing at home at the soccer-specific Q2 Stadium near the Domain. The season started with eight games on the road as they completed the stadium, and now we’re in for a summer and fall of matches in Austin. In late May, Austin FC and Austin Public Health announced that the stadium could be at full capacity (20,500). The club sold out of season tickets and there are approximately 20,000 on the waitlist to get season tickets. If you are looking for tickets, consider joining one of the supporters’ groups, such as Los Verdes or Austin Anthem, where members sell tickets to fellow members for face value. If you were lucky enough to get tickets to the whole season or a single game, now you’ve got to figure out how to get there. There are many ways to get to Q2 Stadium: bike, bus, car, rail, and rideshare. Bike Fans who bicycle to Q2 Stadium on match days will be able to use the Bike Valet system. This is a free service located on the east side of the stadium behind Live Oak Park. Some members of the Los Verdes supporters’ group are planning bike rides for matches: an eleven-mile ride starting at Treaty Oak Park and a five-mile ride that starts at Northwest District Park. Bus CapMetro is increasing frequency on game days for routes near Q2 Stadium. It looks like the quickest and easiest way will be route 335 transferring at the West 38th Station to either route 803 or 3, both of which drop off in front of the stadium. Car There is not a lot of parking around Q2 Stadium, and the lots owned and controlled by Austin FC are only available to season ticket holders in club sections. Other fans can park nearby using the Pavemint app to pre-purchase a parking spot. Be sure to do this before leaving for the stadium. There is no fan parking in the surrounding neighborhoods. Continued on Page 6

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Rail The MLK Station (roughly a 30-minute walk depending on where you live in Mueller) on the red line of the MetroRail takes about 20 minutes to get to the Kramer Station, which is then around a 15-minute walk to the stadium. Construction will begin on or around March 1, 2022, for a MetroRail station at Q2 Stadium. Rideshare Rideshare services such asUber and Lyft will have a dedicated dropoff zone on West Road on the west side of Q2 Stadium. There will be two spots for rideshare pick up, one north of the stadium on Brockton Drive and one south of the stadium on Rutland Drive. If you don’t have tickets, there is a network of bars and restaurants that will be showing Austin FC matches with sound and B.D. Riley’s is part of the Austin FC Pub Club. The Front Porch Flyer is a publication of the Mueller Neighborhood Association, produced and distributed by Peel, Inc. At no time will anyone be allowed to use the Front Porch Flyer content, or loan said content, to others in any way, shape, or form, nor in any media, web site, print, film, email, electronic copy, fax, or other means, for the purpose of solicitation, commercial use, or any other use for profit, political campaigns, or other self-amplification, under penalty of law, without written or expressed permission from the Mueller Neighborhood Association. DISCLAIMER: Articles and ads in this newsletter express the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Peel, Inc. or its employees. Peel, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of any facts stated in articles submitted by others. The publisher also assumes no responsibility for the advertising content with this publication. All warranties and representations made in the advertising content are solely that of the advertiser and any such claims regarding its content should be taken up with the advertiser. * The publisher assumes no liability with regard to its advertisers for misprints or failure to place advertising in this publication except for the actual cost of such advertising. * Although every effort is taken to avoid mistakes and/or misprints, the publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors of information or typographical mistakes, except as limited to the cost of advertising as stated above or in the case of misinformation, a printed retraction/correction. * Under no circumstances shall the publisher be held liable for incidental or consequential damages, inconvenience, loss of business or services, or any other liabilities from failure to publish, or from failure to publish in a timely manner, except as limited to liabilities stated above. 6

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The Buy Nothing Project

By Taylor Youngblood, Mueller Zero Waste Block Leader

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The Buy Nothing Project Mission: We offer people a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through a worldwide network of hyper-local gift economies in which the true wealth is the web of connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors. ~From buynothingproject.org/about/mission-and-principles

The Buy Nothing Project is a wonderful way to meet and help your neighbors, and to explore your community. It is also an excellent way to live a more zero waste lifestyle. You can find unusual items that meet your needs, as well as gift giveaway items locally to those who need them. You can post extra food, cook for those in need, offer help, and lend items. Instead of automatically trashing, composting or recycling something, see if anyone on Buy Nothing is interested. I’ve given away extra food and garden surplus, found bubble wands for my homemade bubble solution, borrowed a snap fastener for a sewing project, lent out clippers, and so much more. If you have something to offer, you write a “Give” post. If you are looking for something you post an “Ask.” Many of these exchanges are porch pickups or garage meetups. I’ve also shared “Offer to Lend” and “Looking to Borrow” posts. Many people share “gratitude” posts of them using or enjoying what they have received from their generous neighbors. The posts aren’t deleted so the history of the project and ideas are there for you to be inspired. When you pick something up or it gets taken, you just update your post: “Taken/Give” or “Received/Ask.” Mueller is part of two Buy Nothing groups on Facebook. Originally part of one large group with Springdale and MLK, the group grew so large that in January 2021 it was redrawn and separated out into four new groups. Mueller is now split into two of those groups, North and South, so you can’t necessarily go by your neighbor’s group when you look to join. Buy Nothing Mueller (North)/Delwood 2, Austin, Texas Admins: Rachel Lynn Carr & Sally Darner Baldridge http://bit.ly/buynothingnorth (Green - North of Zach Scott) Buy Nothing Mueller (South)/JJ Seabrook/E 51st (South), Austin, TX Admins: Brooke Rich & Lynne Kammer http://bit.ly/buynothingsouth (Yellow - South of Zach Scott, all the little neighborhoods from Springdale to 183 and from E 51st to MLK) I hope you meet some new neighbor friends and make new connections.

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