Texas Women Anglers Tournament
Issue 541
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The voice of The Island since 1996
The Island Moon
August 28, 2014 Around The Island By Dale Rankin
editor@islandmoon.com The forecast is for some rain, sort of, maybe, or maybe not. As of this writing a disorganized storm is headed for the mid-Texas Coast which has some rain. The rain will show up or not, the question is what will it do to the Labor Day crowd who often decides to stay home when the Coastal forecast calls for even scattered showers. Here’s betting that it won’t matter; the forecast says no rain Sunday or Monday so hold your breath everybody and hit the grocery store Thursday this looks like it’s going to be a big one. A substantial part of the 15 million Texans who live within an easy drive of The Island are gassing up; nary a hot dog nor twelve-pack will be safe until Monday afternoon rolls around and we officially enter the Decompression Season.
What Happens on the Island Stays here until Monday
At least it isn’t Eugene V. Debs Day As you celebrate American labor this weekend here’s a few fun facts. Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894 and was celebrated in May as part of worldwide May Day celebrations which were particularly popular in communist countries. The first Labor Day parade in the U.S. was held in September 1882 when 10,000 workers marched in New York. Then in May, 1894 workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike in Chicago and when the federal government sent in troops the Haymarket Riots followed and more than a dozen people were killed. To keep Labor Day from becoming a rally for the fallen workers the holiday later that year was moved to the first Monday in September. So there you go.
Time to paddle! This is the weekend for the 5th Annual Paddle for Parkinson’s over at Billish Park. So grab your kayak, or standup paddle board, or whatever you have that floats and head over that way. We’ll see you there and in the meantime say hello if you see us Around The Island.
Weekly
Schlitterbahn Water Ride Open for Labor Day By Dale Rankin Visitors to the Schlitterbahn Waterpark last weekend got to splash into the Momentum River for the first time, even as the Veranda Restaurant on the first floor of the main building opened the same week. Both are now permanently open to the public, and the Flowrider, which pumps out a standing wave for surfers, will be next and will remain open through the winter season, park developer Jeff Henry said this week. Henry said the workforce at the site has been reduced by about 100 people as the concrete work has been completed and the summer season winds down. finished. Phase II of the project was not expected to begin until after that but we are already working on it now.”
Offshore Anglers are reporting an abundance of Kingfish in nearshore waters. And speaking of nearshore waters…Mike Hurst over at S.E.A. reports that the 155-foot freighter that will be sunk at the Nearshore Reef nine nautical miles off Packery Channel is about to leave Alabama and head this way. He says he expects it to arrive hereabouts by late September or early October.
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Jeff Henry (left) discusses his plans for the future of Schlitterbahn “We have a complete work crew at the site right now,” Henry said. “By next April the park will be completely
When the groundbreaking for the park was held in February 2013 Phase I of the project was expected to cost $41 million. Henry said the scope of the project has doubled since then. “The size of the building has more than doubled since we began,” he said. “And there have several other
attractions added.” Here is a timeline of the project from the beginning: April 2011: Schlitterbahn officials confirm Padre Island is under consideration as a site for the development of a waterpark. February 2012: Corpus Christi City Council unanimously approves a zoning change from multifamily apartment tourist district to a resort commercial district which allows
Boaters Warning Issued for Packery Channel By Dale Rankin
112 acres west of Park Road 22 to be developed into the waterpark. May 2012: City Council unanimously approves a $117 million tax incentive for sales and Hotel/ Motel tax once the park opens. February 2013 Officials break ground for the $41 million waterpark resort. June 2014 first portion of the park is opened to the public.
Inside the Moon
Shallow water along the south side
A warning has been issued to boaters going through Packery Channel to be on the lookout for shallow water near the channels mouth. In the past three years a sandy shoal has emerged in the mouth of Packery Channel which has reduced water depth along the South Packery Jetty, in some cases to as little as three feet, according to Deidre Williams with the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science at Texas A&M University Corpus Christi. The warning was issued for boaters to be aware of the shallow water when going through the channel. Williams, who monitors the channel under a contract with the City of Corpus Christi, said the sand bar which runs about 600 feet back from the mouth of the channel, was first discovered in 2011, then seen found again this year. “We were doing a survey of the channel in June when we discovered that something was going on that was causing this shoal to form very quickly,” Williams said. “We went
Texas Women Anglers Tournament A2, A4
back and did another run and realized that something very unusual was going on.” Williams said that while it is too early to say for certain what the cause may be, 2011 and 2014 were
both heavy years for an influx of Sargassum weed. “It is possible that the seaweed combined with the sand blowing over
Packery continued on A3 Ice Bucket Challenge A4
Island Tree Massacre
Island Legends
Breakfast with Bubba Milina
By Jackie Bales You can’t live on this sandbar for long without being kin to a Mathews. Indeed I have several in my family line. Bubba Milina is akin to all of them. If you want to know about things that happened in the last 94 years then talk to Bubba. It’s best to catch him over breakfast down at Juan’s. He does like his eggs and ham, pancakes with plenty of syrup (side orders for his dog, Marlina Milina).
The stands of Oak and Bay Trees near the corner of Verdemar and Sand Dollar Streets over near Packery Channel are the oldest on The Island and are the last of the type of motts which once covered the entire island. But their number has been reduced by about a dozen trees after a do-it-yourselfer decided
to rid his lot of weeds and used a herbicide called Remedy Ultra to do it. He let fly with about a gallon of the stuff, which according to the manufacturer is enough to wipe out an entire acre of unwanted weeds, on his corner lot during a southeast wind strong enough it applied the ultimate remedy to 80-100 yearold trees with the bad luck to be growing downwind.
Suzanne Giilliam examines the damage
Residents are holding their breath and hoping for the best as the trees continue to try to resist the deadly dusting. If you plan to use a herbicide please take a minute to read the instructions; Island trees will thank you.
Fishin' with Farah A7
I asked him how he came to meet his wife and lifelong soul mate, Woodie Raye Milina. “Well”, he reflected, “Woodie Raye was in the army with Florine Mathews. When they came back from the service, I married Woodie and Woody Ousley married Florine Mathews.” Bubba and Woodie Raye have one daughter, Annetta Milina-Adams. “My mother was Bessie Mathews”, I thought he would never stop pouring that syrup on those pancakes, “My father, Papa John Milina, came over from Yugoslavia. He was working on building the Jetties and this and that when he met my mother Bessie Mathews”. He continued his story without missing a beat on the ham and eggs. “Those Mathews had about ten kids” He named them in order before recalling a couple of stories.
Taps and Reveille from the water tower “Bud Mathews was an Aransas Pilot.
Rio Del Oro A9 Bubba and Marlina He was a large man and had to climb those ladders up and down the ships. He slipped and fell one day and lost his life. Sim had a lot of talent. He could build anything. He built two 30 foot shrimp boats. He built a windmill and cistern. It was at the house that Woody Ousley and Fluorine had over by where the high school is now. He ran a two inch pipe all the way to Mathews’ on the waterfront. That’s how they had fresh water down there.
Legends continued on A3
Live Music A18