Landscape Planting Party Committee members express their deep appreciation for the efforts of the wonderful volunteers who worked diligently to put into effect the first part of the new landscape design for the common areas.

Many thanks to Vicki, Ronnie and Jimmy Sherrill who drove to New Braunfels to Mortellaro’s, the wholesale nursery, early Saturday morning to pick up the larger trees. Thanks, too, to David Crouchet, who drove there Thursday afternoon (leaving work early to do so) to pick up half of the plants for the project. Also, GWW is indebted to resident Shawn Dane, of Greenleaf Landscape, for locating an excellent source of beautiful, native plants, and for enabling us to place our order through his business to get the plants at wholesale cost, a great savings for us.

On Sunday afternoon a group of volunteers met at the pavilion to create the planting bed around the pavilion and pool area. These hardworking volunteers included Beth Blanchard, Laurie Halfpenny, Warren and Karen Hayward, Gary and Larisa Kosut, Mindy Russell, Jeff and Rhys Paine, David and Margaret Paine,Vicki, Ronnie and Jimmy Sherrill, Julie Spelman, and David Jungerman (Penny and Wiley cheered us on nearby). To our delight, Gary appeared with a large tractor and accomplished the work of several people by moving a large portion of the compost and mulch. Huge thanks, also, to two of our neighborhood teens, Rhys Paine and Jimmie Sherrill, who donated their free time on Sunday afternoon to haul rocks and dig holes for trees.

The following Sunday, John Anderson, Eric Russell, Bernie Beeman, and several of the folks who came the previous week met again at the pavilion to complete the tilling of the compost around the plants, and to spread mulch over the remaining area of the planting bed. Thanks so much to everyone who participated! Those of you who were unable to come, please thank these neighbors when you see them for their generous donation of time and effort to make our common area beautiful. n Editor

Holiday events at the Wildflower Center Visit http://www.wildflower.org for news of upcoming holiday activities at a great Hill Country resource for local nature enthusiasts.

Neighborhood History: Wimberley (Jewel on the Blanco)

Present-day Wimberley is a pleasant, rather unorthodox, little town on the banks of the beautiful cypress-lined Blanco River. Over the years, it has attracted many independent-minded and artistic settlers. A few years ago, its citizens voted to incorporate, but soon after, decided they preferred their original less-regulated state.

To many people, Wimberley means market days. On the first Saturday of the month from April until December, the normally quiet roads are jammed with bargain hunters. Another unusual attraction in the summer is the outdoor movie theater. First-run movies can be viewed from the comfort of one’s lawn chair, provided one has remembered the bug spray and dressed for a warm evening!

Not too many of Wimberley’s visitors have ventured into the quiet cemetery where lies Pleasant Wimberley. His gravestone proclaims – “For Whom The Town Was Named.”

Pleasant Wimberley was born on 2 May 1823 in North Carolina to Zachariah and Quinnie Vaughn Wimberley. When he was twenty years old, he and several of his siblings were attracted by the lure of Texas. Moving by stages, it was four years later, on Christmas Day 1847 that they arrived in Brenham, Texas.

It was in Brenham that Pleasant met and married Amanda Jackson on 9 January 1849. They acquired a herd of longhorn cattle which they moved to a ranch on the border of Blanco and Llano County, an area still very much on the frontier. As well as cattle, they raised horses. Pleasant had an English Percheron stallion which he crossed with native mares to produce sturdy horses, ideal for drawing stagecoaches.

With the advent of the Civil War, Pleasant Wimberley enlisted as a corporal in the Texas Militia, ending the war as a first lieutenant under Brigadier General John McAdoo. Having doffed his uniform, Pleasant decided to move further south, away from Indian confrontations.

On Cypress Creek in Hays County was a mill, built in 1850 by William Carvin Winters, two years after the first settlers arrived in the area. By 1874, it was being sold by his heirs. So, for the sum of $8000, Pleasant Wimberley took possession of the mill and its accompanying 200 acres.

The mill became a multi-purpose business, serving as gristmill, sawmill, shingle mill, molasses mill, and cotton gin. Pleasant took his son, Zachariah, and grandson, Calvin, into a partnership that became the most important business in the little settlement, leading to it being known as Wimberley Mills. In 1880, the US Post Office decided to shorten the name to Wimberley.

Today, Wimberley’s pride in its heritage is evident in its excellent web page – www.wimberley.org. It cites the April 2003 Travel Holiday Magazine’s article which included it in the list of “America’s Ten Best Small Towns.” n ” November 2005 J. Marie Bassett

Fun holiday events In support of Capital Area Reach Out and Read (CAROR), tickets are being sold for two fun events:
An Evening of Giving will be held at Barton Creek Mall on Sunday, November 20 from 6:30 to 9:00 pm. Tickets are $10. The mall closes for regular events and opens to the benefit. There will be free food, entertainment, drawings, and special sales for attendees. Santa will be there, too.

A play at the Austin Playhouse entitled My Three Angels on Wednesday, will be performed on December 14 from 7:00 to 9:30 pm. In addition, there will be a cash bar, Hors d’oeuvres, a raffle ($1 per ticket) and drawing, and dessert treats. Tickets are $30. If you need more information, contact Mindy Gomillion at mgomillion@caror.org or 495-9988.

CAROR is a wonderful organization that sees that parents of infants and young children (from low income families) learn the importance of reading to their children regularly starting in infancy. They fund books that are given to the children at pediatric visits and supply new and used books to health clinic waiting areas that can also be taken home. Last year, over 7,000 children were reached and more than 30,000 books were distributed to families that typically have very few books in their homes. See www.caror.org for additional information.

Please consider attending one of these events. CAROR also welcomes donations of cash and new or gently used books. n Editor and Karen Hayward

PEC seminar On Saturday, October 15, a representative from PEC presented an informative seminar for residents on the topic of successful tree planting and tree care for our area. Several residents attended this event, which was sponsored by the BOT.

To summarize some of the information presented at the seminar, here are a few points for homeowners to keep in mind:
Trees in power lines account for almost half of power interruptions. They also create a very real danger. A tree is a living thing, and contains water. Therefore, if a tree limb is in contact with a power line, the entire tree could be electrified. This is why proper tree care near PEC power lines is so important.

Texas law mandates that only trained, authorized professionals can work within ten feet of power lines.
Homeowners should avoid planting trees within ten feet of power lines.
Keep in mind the mature height and crown size of the tree you are planting. When planting near powerlines, trees that will be under 25 feet tall are recommended.
Don’t plant trees within 15 feet of sidewalks, driveways and patios.
Planting deciduous trees on the south and west sides of your homes. They will provide cooling shade in the summer and still let the sun’s radiant energy warm your home in the winter.

Texas law requires you call 1-800-DIG-TESS if you are going to dig more than 16 inches into the ground. The Texas Excavation Safety System is a free service. Call the toll free number at least two days before digging and a locator service will come to your home and locate all the underground utility lines on your property. This is a good idea even if don’t plan on digging deeper than 16 inches. It’s important to know where the gas, water, phone and electric lines are on your property. DIG TESS also has a website, www.digtess.org. Contact PEC at 1-888-554-4732.

More information about coyotes Research biologists [in the outskirts of Chicago] belong to the Cook County Coyote Project, which has spent nearly six years studying the habits of more than 200 coyotes in the northern and western Chicago suburbs. Among other things, they tried to determine what the growing numbers of these beasts might have had to do with another puzzling development: the sudden end of the goose explosion.

...The coyote was not an obvious suspect, being small and skulky and unlikely to stand up to a wrathful Canada goose. Examinations of coyote scat had seldom found damning traces of eggshell. But then infrared cameras exposed the coyote as a nest robber, one that carefully cracks open a goose egg and licks it clean.

...Coyotes will behave, [principal investigator, Prof. Stanley Gehrt] said, as long as people do not feed them. Leave nothing tasty outside in an open trash can or food dish, and definitely nothing small and fluffy at the end of a leash. Professor Gehrt says with confidence that the sensible suburban toddler has little to fear from the suburban coyote, but he will not say the same for the suburban Shih Tzu.

Read the complete article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/06/opinion/06sun4.html. (Excerpted from the November 6 edition of the NY Times). n Editor

Board of Trustees NewsThe next BOT meeting will be held on January 4 at 7 pm at the pavilion. These meetings are open to the public, and residents with questions, comments, or simply interest in neighborhood activities are welcome to attend. Meetings begin with an open forum.

The Annual POA general membership meeting will take place this year on Wednesday, November 16, at 8 pm. Positions held by Lisa Boyer and Margaret Paine will expire, and the temporary position held by Mark Ruthenbeck will be filled by election from the membership at this meeting. All members are strongly urged to attend. The agenda for the meeting will include election of officers, the Neighborhood Watch program, and a possible revision of our covenants.

News from the APC
Holiday Yard Recognition The APC will again give public recognition to the most beautiful holiday yard in Goldenwood West. Judging will take place on December 21st, so residents are encouraged to go all out in making their yards reflect the joy of the season.

The next APC meeting will be held on November 16 at 7 pm at the pavilion. The following APC meeting is scheduled for December 21.

News from the GWW Water Board
The next Water Board meeting will be held on January 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the pavilion.