Sandfest 2014
Inside the Moon...
Fish Stories A4
Progress at Schlitterbahn A7
Following Columbus A6
The
Island Moon Weekly
FREE
Sandfest A11
Free
Photo by Tim Burdick
April 17, 2014
The only Island in Texas with more renegade pigs than deep sea charters.
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com We’ve hit the sweet spot of the Island season and now it’s time to get out the white pants and seersucker jacket for the big post-Easter season. Fishing is picking up, most of the tourists and Spring Texans have gone OTB, and the Chamber of Commerce weather arrived with the first day of Passover; lent is almost over, Cinco de Mayo will be here before we know it, and life is good on our sandbar so get out there and enjoy it.
An end to sandburs in our time One of the few drawbacks to being an Island kid is that if you want to play baseball or soccer, or any sport that involves grass, you have two choices; you can play in the street or go OTB. The reason is the ubiquitous and evil sandbur. Many, if not most, Island yards are gravel or cement and if there is grass, it most likely has sandburs, so Island kids have to play in the street. It’s just a fact of Island life that we all take for granted. But one of the great things about The Island is that no matter what subject you pick the chances are that some Islander is an expert at it and horticulture is no exception. Islander David Dunseth, whose story appears on this page, has hit on an idea that, if put into effect can change all that. If implemented it can be the End of the Sandbur In Our Time, at least in our parks. We have all become so used to seeing no people in our Island public parks that we don’t even think about it anymore. Even our dogs cast a wary eye on them because they know if they go out there they won’t get but a few steps without picking up a ready supply of burs. It’s just how it has always been. The solution is a combination of two things; water and grass. We know it can be done because the fairways at the golf course are sticker free and that’s how they do it; grass and lots of water. Over the years our city has pretty much given up on our parks because the cost of water and the systems to deliver it to park grass are budget busters. But right now there is $500,000 available to improve Billish Park and that combined with David’s idea can be a real game changer. We have a chance to impact the Island lifestyle with little more than smart design.
Sounds like crazy talk This may sound crazy but within a short time we could actually be using our parks. David’s idea is brilliant in its simplicity. Water is the problem, or more specifically, lack of water. But over the years David has been hand-drilling wells all over The Island and what he has found is that six feet below the surface of our parks is a free and ready supply of fresh water. When the new canals were dug at the Schlitterbahn site last year one of the problems they encountered was that they immediately filled up with water; fresh water that seeped in at the rate of nine inches per day. So why not dig a storage reservoir in the park and pump water from it to help the grass crowd out the stickers? Not only does the pond solve the water problem – free water on site! – it also provides the fill sand to build a berm on the southeast side of the park to keep the prevailing wind from blowing a new sticker crop in from off site. To their credit, as soon as city planners heard this idea they acted. The high water table is unique to The Island so it wasn’t on the park department’s radar, but when they heard about it they showed up the next day and David took them on a tour of all the parks on The Island and the idea of using ponds to crowd out the sandburs immediately took hold. We have the water, we have the idea, all we need is the momentum to get it done. Just think about it, a baseball/softball field where we can have an Island league, a soccer field which kids can actually use, parks that people and pets can actually go to. It may sound like a pipe dream folks, but it can become a reality. It begins with the simple act of digging a hole and letting it fill up with water. A simple solution to a chronic problem. David has provided the solution, now it's up to the rest of us to get it done. Let’s get busy.
Next Publication Date: 4/24/2014 Facebook: The Island Moon Newspaper
A Pond in Billish Park The Island sets on a layer of fresh water six feet below the surface
Year 17, Issue 522
Seventy-Five Percent of Fire Hydrants on The Island Need Repair
Editor’s note: Islander Dr. David Dunseth has a PhD in Aquatic Management and Science and has managed aquatic projects in The United States and abroad. He spoke at a public hearing held by the city last week to gather ideas for planned improvements at Billish Park. His idea to include a pond in the plans met with approval from Islanders and city planners. By David Dunseth On April 8 at the Seashore Learning Center a public meeting was held to present the current plan for improvements to Billish Park and to get input from Island residents on features they would like to have included in the development which voters have already approved $500,000 in bonds.
Billish Park continued on A5
IUPAC to Provide a Meet and Greet
By Colleen McIntyre City Council District 4 The City’s ISO rating helps to determine how much we will pay for our fire insurance. Currently, we are rated a 2 - better than 99% of the nation’s cities. In our last evaluation, the only ding we received was for hydrant maintenance. Last September, while putting out a blaze in the mini-storage unit south of Encantada, Corpus Christi firefighters had a hydrant fail, create a sink hole, and cause a truck to sink into the
roadway. When this happened, we all began looking at our hydrants a little more closely.... some of us a lot more closely! Prior to these two events, the firefighters would test hydrants and the water department would repair and/or replace any hydrants that were not functioning satisfactorily. The process did not require checking for corrosion. To be fair, most communities in our nation do not deal with the corrosion we face every day, so the
Hydrants continued on A5
Precinct 4 Country Texas Wildflowers 2014 Commissioner Candidates Radiant Displays Throughout and Others Line Up to Meet Islanders
the State
By Brent Rourk As we head towards another election on May 27th the IUPAC will provide a meet and greet opportunity so that islanders can meet the candidates. This informal meeting will be held at Mikel Mays on Wednesday, April 30th from 6 to 8 pm. Come on out and meet the two candidates for the County Commissioners Precinct 4 runoff election, Brent Chesney and Joe McComb, who will be available for a meet and greet. Also in attendance will be City Council members, Mayor, State Representative, Todd Hunter and many more of our Local and State Elected Officials who will be running for Office or reelection in November. IUPAC is a non-partisan island organization committed to providing election information for islanders. They have provided several meet and greet opportunities as well as question and answer sessions with candidates. IUPAC is also committed to encouraging islanders to vote and represent the island in city elections.
28th Spring AdoptA-Beach Clean-Up Approaching Need Volunteers to Help Clean Beaches By Brent Rourk As beaches come and go our local beaches are fairly clean, however, the currents still deposit all types of refuse on a daily basis and beach users are not always considerate about picking up all of their trash. Responding to the need to maintain the Gulf Coast beaches the 28th spring Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach clean-up will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 26th. In the fall over 11,000 dedicated volunteers gathered at 31 different Coastal Bend sites to begin a day of beach clean-up efforts that helped remove 207 TONS of trash from Texas beaches. Keeping our beaches clean means not only keeping them attractive, but also keeping
Cleanup continued on A3
By Brent Rourk Planning a day trip to photograph Texas Wildflowers is not without its challenges, especially if you aren’t sure exactly where to go. Maps, cameras, lenses, snacks and meals, water, gas and bathroom stops, weather, clothing, and the unexpected all play a role in making the
trip go smoother or not. Fortunately, reliable information about where wildflowers are at their peak is more forthcoming these days and with keen research, a wildflower aficionado or photographer can plan a successful and colorful one day wildflower road trip.
Flowers continued on A9
A little Island History
Announcing Their Presence with a Prarie Fire
Editor’s note: This is part three of a story first printed in Texas Game and Fish Magazine in 1945. It chronicles he journey of two men commissioned by the state of Texas in 1928 to explore the land bridge which bifurcated the Laguna Madre between North and South Padre Islands. The idea was to dig the Land Cut, which was eventually done, to allow the through flow of water and vessels. However, these men set out on their journey with a map which showed the land bridge was only five miles long when it fact it was twenty miles long and ten miles wide. They took only enough food and water for what they though would be a one-say journey. In our last installment their guides had left them alone and the men, a Mr. Tucker and the writer, now were two days wandering and out of food and water and had split up and were near death in the dry South Texas land until a ranch hand from the Kenedy Ranch came to their rescue. By J.G. Burr It is said that some parts of Texas are so dry that hogs had to be soaked to make them hold slop. That was what I needed but I took
only a few swallows at first. It was the best water I ever drank, so it seemed. Then a paper was handed me signed by Mr. Tucker stating that I was somewhere in the Laguna area and to find me if possible. Then I knew that Tucker had found a ranch house. The cow hand slid
History continued on A6