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361-949-7700 editor@islandmoon.com The Island Newspaper since 1996 Facebook : The Island Moon Newspaper
December 19, 2013
Merry Christmas Ya'll!
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin editor@islandmoon.com
It’s an exciting time of year Around The Island. A collective groan went up last Sunday punctuated by a smattering of cheers as Cowboy fans lamented the latest collapse of America’s Choking Team and Island Cheeseheads threw their pointy hats in the air and celebrated the Packers’ biggest comeback since JR Ewing. One of the great things about our Island is that we have fans of teams from New York to Seattle and most everywhere in between so football season takes on a diverse hue hereabouts. It makes for vigorous wagering and endless trash talking; the problem for we Cowboy fans is we are mostly on the receiving end the last few years (decades). Anybody want to buy an NFL team… The 39th Annual La Posada Lighted Boat Parades went off under clear skies and a brisk wind last weekend. Thanks to the good work of the folks over at the Padre Island Yacht Club it was the best organized parade in memory and raised almost $15,000 for Toys for Tots. We have plenty of coverage in this issue.
Barefoot Mardi Gras The next big event on The Island agenda will be Barefoot Mardi gras in early March. This year the event will be a fundraiser for the Island Blast! 4th of July Fireworks Show; the second year for Fire in the Sky on the 4th of July. Barefoot Mardi Gras has quickly become an Island tradition and the fireworks show looks to follow in its footsteps. We look forward to both in 2014.
Island Moon Home Showcase And speaking of Island events the Island Moon Home Showcase is set for Saturday, February 8 once we turn the corner into the New Year. Mary Lou White is once again organizing this showcase for Island homes. If you have a house for sale and want to get involved contact Mary Lou at the address included in this issue.
Island of Darkness It was Black Sunday for half of our Island last weekend. Seems a transformer blew over by CVS and blacked out the northern half of The Island; another reminder of the fine line between civilization and anarchy.
The Island Ukeharmonic The Island Ukulele Club is off to a brisk 4/4 start. Only a couple of weeks ago the idea was broached and now it won’t be long before Island seagulls are dancing to Tiptoe Through the Tulips. Where do we sign up? See the story in his issue.
Island Anchorman Islander and local television icon Joe Gazin scheduled a special midnight preview of the new movie Anchorman 2 on Monday. About fifty people showed up for the Will Ferrell laugher. An anchorman watching the Anchorman – there is some harmonic balance there.
Season to be jolly A local Social Psychologist has debunked the Holiday Depression Myth that says the Holiday Season is the height of the Depression Season. Dr. Steven Seidel says that the start of spring is actually the time of year when a higher number of people experience feelings of frustration, sadness, and anxiety. So we got that going for us. Have a great Christmas and say hello if you see us Around The Island.
Next Publication Date: 12/26/2013
City Projects on The Island
Work on Water Exchange Bridge to Begin in Summer 2014
La Posada Boat Parades Light up the Canals Toy Collection Boats Kept Busy
Island Police Boat Becalmed in Ignominious Bureaucratic Malaise By Dale Rankin Editor’s note: Four Corpus Christi City Council Members spoke to the Padre Island Business Association Luncheon on Thursday, December 12 about ongoing city issues and projects. What follows is a summation of each of their remarks.
District 4 Council Member Colleen McIntyre. Park Road 22 (SPID) Water Exchange Bridge. Work is due to begin in the summer of 2014. Previous reports from other sources place completion of the bridge before the summer of 2015. Island Police Boat. Islanders have contributed just under $25,000 to pay for half of the estimated $50,000 to purchase and outfit a police boat to patrol Island canals to monitor excessive wakes and other violations of city code. As of this writing the word from the city is that the Police Chief who told the Island Strategic Action
Fleet Award Winner "Last Call" By Brent Rourk, Brent Rourk, Miles Merwin, and Jan Rankin contributed photographs for this story. Stretching from the Padre Island Yacht Club
Vehicle Ignites Fire That Burns 550 Acres Landowners request city address trespassing
Projects continued on A8
Cookies, candies and kleenex By Mindy J. Niles
Editor’s note: Long-time Islander Mindy Niles passed away this year. Mindy was a close friend of Mike Ellis and his Island Moon. She left us this story about a Christmas past. It’s that time of year again, the one we all look so forward to!! Flames flicker from the fireplace, smoke winding up the chimney and into the cool night air. Houses are bedecked with strings of colored lights and palm trees are decorated beyond recognition. Wreaths are hung upon the door to greet holiday guests and special family fare is prepared. Cookies, candies, kleenex... WAIT! That’s the time of year I was thinking of….. ahCCHHOOOO. Kleenex! That’s what I had in mind. Just as sure as Thanksgiving rolls around and one’s mind turns to Christmas and all its doo-dah, I am reminded once again that I should have bought that Kimberly-Clark stock when it was down. Drat! Is it the parties that encourage the sharing of pathogenic organisms? The gatherings that are moved inside, while during the other 10 months of the year they are generally held out of doors? Are we Islanders for once held victim by the maladies affecting the rest of the land locked country? Sniffsniff.
By Dale Rankin It began early Saturday afternoon when a 24year old military officer allegedly drove his car off the end of Sea Pines onto 1260 acres of deep dry grass on private property in Kleberg County. His destination and his purpose are unknown but the result of his sojourn is 550 acres of scorched earth.
By Dale Rankin
We’ve all heard the stories of buried Island Treasure.
Mindy continued on A8
Jean Laffite
revealing relaxing beach scenes. Her peaceful and colorful landscapes invite the viewer into the space to relax and enjoy the sunset or the sand. Recent Southwest images reflect yet another side of Staut’s talent, skill, and interest. Artist continued on A7
Fire continued on A7
Two Million in Pirate Treasure at the Bottom of a Texas Lake
We have all been there… and trust me, the flu and cold season has arrived on Padre. One can judge the extent of the spread of the winter woes
“Art is a fantastic journey”, asserts local artist Carolyn Staut. What kind of artist is she? What has her journey been like so far as an artist? At first glance Carolyn Staut’s fabulous art radiates attractive colors and images of local nature and culture, including fine pastels of shells, peaceful shorelines, and handsome bird images. Many of these paintings are taken from her own photographs.
It was just before 2 p.m. on Saturday when calls began ringing into the Fire Department. People were seeing large amounts of thick black smoke waft into the air on the far south end of The Island between Sea Pines and Padre Island National Seashore.
A little Island history
By Brent Rourk
Metal earrings are fused with riveting swirls of color and design, some with additional stones or dangling gold animals. Her line of purses and handbags are more subdued in tone, instead
building to waiting vans and trucks in the parking lot, a long, enthusiastic line of volunteers moved hundreds of bags of toys while they socialized and enjoyed some welcome warmth La Posada continued on A4
Local Artist Fractals The Island
Invariably, a viewer sees more in her artistic talents; riveting abstracts and geometrics that fire an entire palette of brilliant colors. Her geometric paintings pulse with striking colors, almost electric at times. Her abstracts either invite or defy explanation but regardless invite and please the eye.
Photo by Miles Merwin Year 16, Issue 505
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One told of a man going egg-hunting on The Island and returned with his pockets filled with Spanish coins. Another man, an Englishman known as "Buttermilk" Bill, found $4,000 in gold coins near Devil's Elbow. Spanish ships full of New World Gold run around.
But many of the treasure tales along our section of the coast are connected to the pirate Jean Lafitte, who was driven from Galvez's Island in 1820 and established two bases along the Texas Coast; on of them at the south end of St. Joseph's Island, just across from Port Aransas. The wife of one of his pirates, a woman known later as "Grandma" Frank, told the story that Lafitte's treasure — more than $500,000 he took away from Galveston — was buried in a mott of live oak trees at False Live Oak Point. After the last of the treasure was buried, and Lafitte came back alone, he supposedly told Mrs. Frank, "There is enough treasure in those
woods to ransom a nation."
Near but Oso far away… Other tales say that Lafitte buried his treasure on the Oso, or at the mouth of the Nueces, or at a place later called the Treasure Dunes at Packery Channel. Those are tales which spark the imagination. But another story has echoed through the years with enough detail and believability to send hunters probing the bottom of Hendricks Lake near Galveston looking for $2 million in Mexican silver which has a better than average chance of actually being there.
The beginning It all began when a Spanish brig named the Santa Rosa left Vera Cruz Mexico in the spring of 1816 with $2 million in Mexican silver ingots and sailed out along the lower Texas coast bound for Madrid, Spain. The ship was blown off course by a storm and took refuge in the shallows of Matagorda Bay. After two days anchored in the bay the Santa Rosa continued its voyage but as the crew was setting sails an armada led by Lafitte attacked. Laffite looted the silver and returned to his lair, the Red House near Galveston. Then in the summer of 1816 Lafitte gave the order to move the silver from his base on Campeachy and head up Trammell’s Trace through what is now Carthage, Marshall, and Texarkana with the History continued on A8