WAN 10/20/22

Area National Merit Scholarship

By Anne DeVries

T he National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) has officially announced the 16,000 nationwide Semifinalists in their 68th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Fourteen area students are amongst this elite group who have been recognized for their outstanding performance on the 2021 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. These highachieving students will have an opportunity to compete for approximately 7,250 National Merit Scholarships to be offered in the spring of 2023.

To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, a semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.

The goal of the NMSC is to honor the nation’s scholastic champions and encourage high school students to pursue academic excellence. Congratulations to the West Austin Students who have earned the honor of becoming a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist.

Westminster Presbyterian hosts CROP Hunger Walk leaders

By Alana Moehring Mallard

Leaders of top congregational fundraising teams for Austin’s CROP Hunger Walk met recently at Westminister Presbyterian Church for a wrap-up of 2022 fundraising efforts and to look forward to CROP Hunger Walk 2023. Nearly $80,000 was raised in this year’s virtual walk by congregations all across Central Texas, with money going to Church World Service global efforts as well as local Austin agencies.

The Austin walk for hunger is one of the nation’s ten top fundraising walks for

Church World Service, and Westminister Presbyterian consistently ranks in the top of Austin’s CROP Hunger Walk congregational teams, raising more than $10,000 for the 2022 hunger walk.

Westminister’s CROP team and team leader Nancy Ebert were recognized by Church World Service with a “Cream of the Crop” award for their continued leadership.

Westminister’s Elise Ragland was the 2023 walk’s top fundraiser.

“I am a recruiter,” said Ragland of her success at fundraising for hunger, “and I love fundraising and recruiting

– kids, their parents, families, couples. You just have to ask.” Austin’s 2023 Hunger Walk will be Sunday, March 5, at Camp Mabry – an in-person walk for the first time in three years.

Local recipients for 2023 will be Central Texas Food Bank, Manos de Cristo, Sustainable Food Center, iACT Refugee Services, Hope Food Pantry, Austin City Lutherans Bread for All, Refugee Services of Texas, and Mt. Olive Food Pantry.

As many as 828 million people, about 1 in 10, go to bed hungry every night, according to Church World Service.

PHOTO ALANA MOEHRING MALLARD

Ron Mullen

BY FORREST PREECE

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In that era, the key word around Austin’s private clubs and high-end restaurants was “deal.” Of course, that was before the savings and loans cratered and a harsh downturn set in around the end of 1986. (Good grief. Did all that drama happen almost forty years ago?) At any rate, it was good to have a one-on-one with Ron and reminisce about his accomplishments as Austin’s top elected official when he served from 1983-1985 and before that, when he started on the council in 1977.

Not many people know that when Ron began his career, he was a San Antonio police officer on the 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift, who was spending his days as a student at Southwest Texas State. As luck would have it, one of his classes was for budding entrepreneurs and his professor, Dr. Hal Pickle, appointed him president of the class. Their semesterlong project was to research the feasibility of putting in a convenience store in San Marcos. Ron and his fellow students had a good time on that project.

But more importantly to his career, a couple of years prior to that, the professor’s class had looked into buying land near Aquarena and building an apartment house

when

He laughs and says that all 52 council candidates for all the places would show up for a debate and each person only got one minute to talk. On election night, after the final count, Ron had amassed 49% of the votes for his race and they went to a runoff, where he won with 54%.

RON’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

One of the first things that he started working on when he won his seat on the council was the creation of a 911 system for Austin, a necessity for a fully functioning city. Gaining approval for that project was not as easy as it looked on paper. It took twoand-a-half years of protracted squabbles to have success on this matter. The argument was over which entity would control the dispatchers – fire, EMS, or police. Ron says that he enlisted Bob Honts to help him with the county, and they finally hammered out a resolution.

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there. Ron found out about that idea from Dr. Pickle, and he suggested that they look into making that deal happen. The land was 8.3 acres, and the price tag was $16,000. Ron and the professor managed to amass $1000, and they finally found someone else to loan them the remaining $15,000 in return for a share of the project. And yes, 16 years later, they sold the land for $600,000.

They also bought a house and tried to get it rezoned to increase the value. The council wouldn’t work with them, and Dr. Pickle was so mad about it that he tried to get Ron to run for mayor of San Marcos. “That was where I got my notion to get into politics,” Ron says. “Having a mentor makes all the difference and I am so grateful for his presence in my life.”

When Ron came to Austin in 1966, he started thinking about running for a council seat. At that point in his career, he was an up-andcoming manager with the Principal Financial Group which offers insurance and wealth management. In 1977, he decided to run for Place 3 against incumbent Emma Lou Linn. Eight people were in that race and Dr. Pickle served as his campaign’s treasurer.

When he was elected mayor, Ron had some specific things in mind to accomplish. One that he is most proud of was establishing the Keep Austin Beautiful program. He had attended a national meeting of mayors and heard several people discussing the idea. He brought the concept home and asked the council for a budget amendment of $43,000 to start the program. Then Ron went to his friend Lee Cooke, who was heading the Chamber of Commerce at that point, and convinced him to take it over. The chamber ran it for a couple of years and then it became a standalone group. Now the city commits $1 million a year to the program and many private companies step up and sponsor various beautification projects around town. Ron is proud that our city will be benefiting from these good works for a long time –especially in the form of antilittering and tree planting.

While he was a council member and mayor, Ron was a tireless advocate for installing more roads to provide the infrastructure for more growth. He looks back now and is happy that his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have a city with so many employment opportunities—many more than existed in the 1960s. As an ancillary idea to building more roads, Ron also initiated the push to not allow outdoor billboards on MoPac and other major thoroughfares.

When he was mayor, he instituted goals and objectives with council members and handed out certificates and buttons to people who got things done. The newspaper saw what was happening and pegged them as the “Can Do” council. As he says, they would have meetings, council members would come up with ideas and their assignment then was to find the staff resources to put a plan in motion and then return and report on their progress.

Previously, council members were often working in private on their ideas and they never came to fruition.

Another accomplishment – he solicited buy-in from the council members and instituted a three-minute time limit on people speaking

before the council. For instance, he remembers a lady who talked for 45 minutes about the boat races in East Austin. He says the council was laughingly called “The Bat Cave” back then because meetings could drag on until the wee hours of the morning.

He certainly wanted public input, but he felt there had to be limits so people could have a say within a reasonable time frame.

When he was mayor, his council passed the second largest bond measure in the country at the time. (Yes, in the entire USA.) That measure provided funding to all manner of measures – sewers, water, roads -- ten to fifteen years past that point, which was a lot more efficient than having to come back several times and vote on and issue smaller bond packages.

From the time Ron won a council seat, through the time he was mayor, he backed Austin’s participation in the South Texas Nuclear Protect.

When he was mayor, the city manager came to them and said that they would have to vote internally to fund the nuclear project. They wanted to take it to the public for a vote, but the manager said that there was not enough time. So Ron called the council into executive session and negotiated a unanimous agreement on the matter. He acknowledges that there was vocal opposition to participation in it back then. But in retrospect, he says that the STNP has been an incredibly good thing to have in our energy system and it has saved the city “megabucks.”

People may not realize this, but when he was on the council, he was the first

member to propose a Barton Creek Watershed Ordinance and he got it passed. He was pushing for roads and trying to protect the creek – it’s all a part of being a good city with balance.

I asked about single member districts and he said that he was willing to consider it back in the day, but his question was who gets to decide where the lines are drawn. When the activists told him, he said that he would oppose the idea. “Maybe it’s OK now,” he says. “But from my perspective, it seems to come down to people putting the interests of their part of town over that of the city as a whole.”

One other program for the city in which he was instrumental – thanks to his background in the insurance business, he knew that if the city would self-insure, it would save Austin taxpayers a lot of money. He was able to push that idea through and it saved $440,000 the first year, and millions to the current day. They hired an internal administrator for the program, and it has worked out well.

One note: when Ron was mayor, he was still running his branch of the insurance company and he had four managers and 45 representatives under him. So he had two full-time, timeconsuming jobs.

WHAT IS RON UP TO NOW?

Ron’s wife of 60 years, Carole, died in 2019, and his friend H.C. Carter died a few years before that. Now, Ron and H.C.’s widow, Lynnda, are married, and live happily in a beautiful home in the hills.

I asked if he ever sees other former mayors and Ron says that he and his wife Lynnda sometimes go to dinner with Lee Cooke and his partner. He has been friends with Lee for decades, since before he was on the council. Also, he is in a Bible study class with Lee Leffingwell, so they see each other weekly.

He is still in The Rotary Club, plays golf with a group of friends, and is active in Austin Baptist Church, which he helped start over a decade ago. The church, on 2222 near River Place, had grown from 79 people to over 1800. He was the administrator of one of the church’s Sunday Schools which now has over 400 members, but he has resigned that demanding post after 13 years.

He is especially proud of his two children, five grandchildren, and three greatgrandchildren. Ron smiles and says, “I’m having a wonderful life.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER, AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLES QUINN PHOTOGRAPHY A FRIENDLY QUOTATION

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Helping Hands Champions for Children Awards Luncheon Shines Light on Community Members

On October 5th, a full house of almost 1,200 people celebrated the 23rd Annual Champions for Children Awards Luncheon at the JW Marriott, hosted by the Helping Hand Home for Children, which shined a light on community heroes Kelly White, longtime CEO of SAFE; volunteers from Celebration Church; high schooler Ella Lovins; and Philanthropic Honoree Andy Roddick and the Andy Roddick Foundation for giving their time and resources to improving the lives of children in need.

Radio and TV personality

Bobby Bones, who got his start in Austin, shared about his challenging childhood and the mentors who lifted him up. He introduced his friend and producer Eddie Garcia who shared his journey as a parent of two fostered and adopted children.

KLBJ AM talk shot host Ed Clements gave a moving memorial to Ron Franklin, the “voice of football,” who emcee’ed this luncheon for its first two decades. Event chairs were Kerri Ann Chambless, Bob Harrell, and Ginnie Wilcox. The event emcee was Chet Garner of KLRU’s The Daytripper. Flowers were designed by Westbank Flower Market and inspired by Champion honoree and tennis player Andy Roddick.

Helping Hand Home, the oldest continuously operating residential childcare agency in Travis County, provides a safe haven for children healing from physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect or abandonment. For more information, visit www. helpinghandhome.org

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Prior to real estate, Susie honed her negotiating and organizational skills while working in sales and project management at Dell for a dozen years. She has lived in Tarrytown Oaks since the early 90s and loves how the neighborhood has transformed. Originally from Houston, Susie has now lived in Austin longer than in her hometown. She visits family there regularly and sells there, too, as she is a member of the Houston Association of Realtors in addition to the Austin Board of Realtors.

Susie has been a long-time volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels and participates in Realty Austin’s annual Habitat for Humanity build. For fun, she enjoys Austin’s vibrant restaurant scene, reading for pleasure often, sometimes running on the trail and forever walking her dogs to Tarrytown Park!

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On Sept. 19, St. Andrew’s Upper School held its first “Pillar Day” of the school year.

Pillar Days are four half days throughout the school year, each highlighting one of the four pillars of a St. Andrew’s education — Scholar, Artist, Athlete, and Servant.

This first pillar day focused on the Servant Pillar, which emphasizes the importance of taking the time to serve your community throughout your life. Following a half day of classes, each grade set out for their different service projects either on campus or around the city of Austin.

The ninth and twelfth graders packed over 40,000 meals for Mission of Hope in the St. Andrew’s gym, and the tenth graders worked with St. Andrew’s fifth graders to weave stars out of ribbons for the One Million Stars Texas anti-violence campaign. The eleventh graders split into small groups and headed into

the Austin community, helping seven local organizations, including Barton Creek Greenbelt, Salvation Army, Austin Creative Reuse, Austin Diaper Bank, Posada Esperanza, Casa Marienella, and Ronald McDonald House Charities.

“At this early point in the year, it was great to see students and faculty actively taking time to help others in the Austin area and beyond,” said Austin Davis, the Upper School’s Director of Community Engagement. “We hope that on Pillar Day, students learned about an organization where they may continue to volunteer for the rest of their high school careers.”

The St. Andrews Upper School campus is looking forward to the upcoming three Pillar days of the year as they engage in the foundations of their school’s focus and commitment to excellence.

Heart of a Lion Gala held by Side by Side Kids

By Anne DeVries

On October 13, 2022, Side by Side Kids (SBSK) held their “Heart of a Lion” gala at Omni Resort’s Barton Creek Country Club. This annual event featured a cocktail hour, a sit-down dinner, and entertainment by Jack Ingram. True to Austin’s generous spirit, 250 guests attended and supported the cause which included a live Auction conducted by Scotty D. Gibbs.

Founded in 1996, SBSK is an afterschool program for K-5th graders. Though focused initially on Austin’s St. Johns community in east Austin through need and expanded financial support, the initiative has spread to include south and southwest Austin elementary schools. Currently, 30 partner organizations and 50 volunteers provide a structured afterschool program for 265 students at five Austin elementary schools, all in the Austin ISD.

The need for afterschool programs has never been more vital. Registration for this academic year was double previous enrollment numbers, and there are currently over 100 kids on the waitlist for

the program. The surge in requested participation is likely a result of distance learning during the Covid Crisis. Children have fallen behind in school, and families in the service area for SBSK, 97% of whom are economically disadvantaged, need support.

The goals of the program go beyond academic focus for elementary-age children.

By offering companionship, academic encouragement, and consistency, the dedicated team at each location seeks to inspire and equip kids to be excellent students, make wise choices, and follow Christ. Daily snacks are provided, homework is done, and recreational activities, including art and music, are incorporated into teaching strategies that UT professors and SBSK staff have developed.

Additional information about SBSK can be found at Sidebysidekids.org. More volunteers are needed to serve the children on the waitlist.

Financial support will enable the program to continue fortifying children in academic learning and encourage them to build a strong relationship with Jesus Christ.

PHOTOS BY HAILEY MERLO, ANNE DEVRIES

Camp Balcones Springs: So Much More Than a Summer Camp

Deep in the heart of the Hill Country just north of Austin lies one of the area’s best kept secrets – Camp Balcones Springs. An overnight summer camp for girls and boys ages 7-18, Camp Balcones is so much more than your average sleepaway camp.

One of Camp Balcones Springs’ most unique features is its wide variety of activity offerings. As is the case at many summer camps, girls and boys choose several “major” activities to focus on throughout the course of each session.

In addition to areas of specialization, all campers also participate in “minor” activities every other day of camp. Campers are exposed to all of Camp Balcones Springs’ offerings – from horseback to rock climbing, painting to canoeing, and everything in between! Many campers are able to try something new that will become an area of focus in the following summers – or even something they choose to continue once they are back at home.

Camp Balcones Springs also boasts prime access to three lakes. Campers can wakeboard, waterski, and tube on Lake LBJ, learn how to sail on the neighboring Lake Travis, and spend hot Texas days in the private, springfed Lake Ted where they can canoe, kayak, and cool down by jumping off the infamous Blob.

Out of all the summer camps across the United States, Camp Balcones Springs is famous for its stellar evening programming. From themed dances – like the annual western-style Rodeo Round-up event – to elaborate activities – like the surprise Mission Impossible game night – CBS offers some of the most enriching and unforgettable nighttime events in the summer camp world.

With an industry best camper to counselor ratio of 4:1, state-of-the-art sports facilities, and a host of storied traditions, Camp Balcones Springs is ideal for any summer camp enthusiast.

Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Central Texas kicked off the season with the organization’s iconic Ice Ball Gala, held at the JW Marriott in downtown Austin on Saturday, August 27th.

A crowd of over 750 generous guests attended the glamorous balck-tie event, helping to raise over $930,000 in support of BBBS’s work to create life-changing friendships between atrisk youth and caring adult mentors.

“Ice Ball is one of the premier galas in the Austin community. Thanks to the amazing generosity of our donors, even more children will be able to experience mentoring relationships that can change their lives for the better, forever”, said BBBS CEO, Dr. Leah Newkirk Meunier.

The stars of the night were Little Brother AJ and his Big Brother Justin whose match story was presented during the evening’s Mission Moment. Their relationship reflected the importance, and purpose, of the entire event as it described the huge impact a Big Brother or Big Sister can make in the life of a child. In just a couple of years,

AJ has changed from a shy child who rarely smiled, into a child who has many friends, enjoys cooking and soccer, is excelling in the classroom, and whose big smile could be seen, and felt throughout, the ballroom.

Longtime BBBS mentors, leaders, and benefactors Laura and Kyndel Bennett, were honored with this year’s Ice VII award, which is presented to those who have had the most significant impact and influence on Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas.

PHOTOS BY GYPC GIRL AND CHRIS CASELLI PHOTOGRAPHY

Austin Smiles Wish Upon a Smile Gala HONORING TWO PHILANTHROPIC LEADERS IN AUSTIN: Jamie Barshop & Beau Theriot

on Lake Travis on November 5th at 5:30 pm to raise critical funds for their life-changing mission of providing surgical and post-surgical care to children born with cleft lip and palate, both locally and internationally.

Guests will enjoy the best sunset in town, dinner & an open bar, a live auction, and a special performance by Austin’s own Tomar and the FCs. This year’s Gala Co-chairs are Patrice Emrie and Michelle Mattina. Allison Miller will emcee the event from CBS Austin, and Victoria Pineda will return as the Auctioneer.

At the event, Austin Smiles will recognize two outstanding philanthropic leaders, Jamie Barshop and Beau Theriot, with the 4th Annual Cullington, Fox, Beckham International Service Award. This distinguished award honors the legacy and leadership of individuals who have inspired others to get involved and give back to Austin Smiles’s mission.

Beau Theriot is the owner of the Oasis on Lake Travis, and he has been an incredible supporter and volunteer for Austin Smiles for many years. Jamie Barshop got involved with Austin Smiles decades ago with the Junior League of Austin and was essential in creating the first Wish Upon a Smile Gala.

Jamie & Beau also dedicated their time and energy to many Austin Smiles trips abroad to Latin America, helping children receive cleft lip and palate surgeries at no cost. They continued to support the mission by encouraging others

to give monetarily. Both Beau and Jamie have a deep sense of humanity, and their compassion is naturally contagious to others. Austin Smiles is honored to recognize these two individuals as true change-makers in the world.

One in 700 children is born with a cleft lip and/or palate, which impacts their ability to communicate intelligibly, receive proper nourishment and adversely affects their quality of life. Austin Smiles, in collaboration with local and incountry entities, aims to develop a continuum of care to identify and treat children as early as possible.

In Central Texas, Austin Smiles provides wraparound support and

social and emotional services to over 800 children undergoing surgery annually at Dell Children’s Medical Center. Each year the team takes 2-3 medical mission trips to Latin America, where they perform over 50 life-changing surgeries per trip.

The gala will celebrate the countless lives changed over the past 36 years! Proceeds from the annual gala allow the nonprofit to continue serving children born with cleft lip and palate in Central Texas and Latin America. To learn more about volunteering, sponsorships, and donations or for more information about the organization and the Wish Upon a Smile Gala, please visit www. austinsmiles.org.

By Forrest Preece

Quesoff, one of Central Texas Food Bank’s favorite annual fundraising events, took place at The Mohawk, 912 Red River, on Saturday, Oct. 8 from noon to 3 pm. Restaurants, top chefs, home cooks, and food companies went head to head in four categoriesMeaty, Spicy, Veggie and Wild Card -- to determine the best quesos in Central Texas. All-star official judges were assembled to make the official decisions, while paying guests sampled the quesos and picked their own favorites. All the funds collected from attendees went to benefit the Food Bank.

The judging panel for the contest included Aaron Franklin (Franklin Barbecue, Hot Luck Fest), Luis ‘Beto’ Robledo (Cuantos Tacos), Matthew Odam (Austin AmericanStatesman / Austin360.com), Rosa de Lima H (La Santa Barbacha), and Vanessa Fuentes (Austin City Council).

The Quesoff 2022 winners included Best In Show: Burning Ring Of Queso—Lenoir/Vixen’s Wedding. Best Meaty: Eldorado Cafe ATX. Best Spicy: Burning Ring Of Queso— Lenoir/Vixen’s Wedding. Best Veggie: Up To No Gouda. Best Wild Card: Eldorado Cafe ATX.

Mark Jackson, Chief Development Officer for CTFB, said, “The enthusiasm and queso quality levels were off the chart this year. Our attendees certainly got their money’s worth, and we raised over $15,000 to help us fight hunger issues in Central Texas. We are so grateful to everyone who participated and especially to our judges who volunteered their time and expertise.”

Central Texas Food Bank works with food donors across the country, financial supporters and volunteers to fill unmet needs in Central Texas. This commitment from private, government and charitable partners has allowed the organization to bring nearly 54 million meals to the area last year and into the hands of families and local nonprofits that turn to them for help.