Goldenwood West News

August 2007

National Night Out Remember how much fun last year’s National Night Out party was? Remember the awesome food? Plans are being made for Goldenwood West’s second annual NNO party at 7 pm on Tuesday, August 7, at the GWW pavilion. The purpose of this event is to help neighbors meet and get to know who lives nearby, and to familiarize folks with the Neighborhood Watch program. Our party this year will be a potluck social, with iced tea, plates and napkins provided by the POA. Residents are asked to bring whatever food they care to share: appetizers, casserole or other main dish, vegetable, side dish, salad or dessert.

All residents (and friends) who are musicians are encouraged to bring their instruments and share their music. Last year resident Kathryn Paine brought her fiddle and entertained guests with Scottish tunes at the end of the evening. We’re hoping for a return performance, and it would be great if more of our local musicians join her.
Contact Rick Bondurant (rbond@iiat.org) or the editor for more information . • Editor

Neighborhood History: Love’s Labor Not Lost

Within a week this July, the local area lost two ladies who left tangible legacies. The first was Claudia Alta Taylor, better known as Lady Bird Johnson. Apparently she did not relish her nickname, bestowed by a nursemaid who thought her charge was as pretty as a lady-bird. The second was Katherine Berkley Cannon of Dripping Springs, also known as Katie, to which she did not object.

We all know about Lady Bird Johnson’s “other life,” as she referred to it, played out on the public stage. She experienced highs and lows quite unimaginable to the average person and did so with grace. “Gracious” is probably the word most associated with Mrs. Johnson. She had time for everyone, and their comfort was always foremost in her mind. She was indeed the “Queen Mum” of Texas.

Nature was Mrs. Johnson’s passion, nurtured as a lonely child seeking solace in the East Texas woods after the early death of her mother. Mrs. Johnson used her position as First Lady to further that passion. Wildflowers, not billboards, adorn the highways and byways. The day before her death, my husband and I saw the rosy blush of Lady Bird’s centaury (Centarium texense) along the median and verges near Johnson City. When we came home, we found some in our yard–see photo. The Texas bluebell (Eustoma grandiflorum) was Mrs. Johnson’s favorite flower. They are in full bloom at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, her greatest achievement. She lived to attend the Silver Jubilee celebrations in May and died knowing that the Center’s future is assured by the merger with her alma mater, the University of Texas. As if in colorful tribute to its benefactor, thanks to the rain, the Center is at its most beautiful.

Lady Bird’s centaury (Centarium texense)

Katherine Cannon was equally as determined to see her passion come to fruition. A rancher’s daughter from Henly, she often played with the descendents of Dr. Pound, one of the founders of Dripping Springs. When the Pound House fell into disrepair, she was determined to save an important part of the town’s history. Through her tireless fundraising efforts, the house opened to visitors in May 2003. Katherine realized that, as Dripping Springs began to lose its rural nature, much of its uniqueness was disappearing with its elderly residents passing to their rest. She was responsible for the collection of many oral histories. These are available for study in the Dripping Springs Community Library, providing a window on a way of life fast disappearing.

Celebrate both these women by visiting the Wildflower Center and the Pound House. You will be glad you did! Details can be found at www.wildflower.org and www.drpoundpioneerfarmstead.com. •©2007 J. Marie Bassett

GWW celebrates the Fourth with community spirit

David Paine

David Paine

Many thanks to Julie and Mark Spelman, who organized this year’s Independence Day parade and potluck gathering. Their generosity in giving their time to plan, purchase supplies, decorate and cook is very much appreciated. Thanks to the Spelmans, and to all the great residents, young and not quite so, who participated. • Editor

David Paine

Cell phone survey Here are the results of the neighborhood cell phone service survey. Please be cautioned that we do not view this chart to be statistically valid because of the relatively few responses we received. If we receive additional input in the next few weeks, we’ll publish a revision.

Here is the methodology used in this analysis: • The rating scale runs from 1 to 5. A value of 1 indicates a specific problem such as weak reception or an indication of preference for another provider’s service. A value of 3 indicates generally good performance with occasional problems. A value of 5 indicates good service and no performance problems while in the neighborhood. • Some people have changed service providers and were able to make comments about the service they are getting now compared to what they received previously. The information about the current provider is more recent and should be more accurate, therefore it is weighted more heavily. •David Paine

Two landscaping heros Residents Mark Habkirk and Shawn Dane deserve a huge thank you for improvements to our common areas. Mark donated many large landscaping stones to create a natural barrier to protect our underground sprinkler system behind the mail station. He also donated his time and used his own equipment and workers to place and carefully level each stone. John Anderson and Jerry Stanley assisted in this effort. Additional split rail fencing on that side of the pavilion driveway would have cost the POA several hundred dollars.

Shawn, of Agave Custom Design, did extensive repairs to our sprinkler system at his own expense and on his own time. Similar repairs done by another company a few years ago were very costly. Please thank these two good neighbors for helping to keep our grounds beautiful while saving the POA considerable expense. • Editor

Thanks to Eric Russell, who has offered to take over the helm of the Welcoming Committee during the summer months. Anyone interested in going with other residents to welcome newcomers, or in baking treats for the committee to bring on their welcome visit are encouraged to contact the editor or administrator for more information. Also, thanks to Jerry Stanley for replacing all the lights at our entrance with energy efficient fluorescent bulbs. • Editor

Board of Trustees News

The APC manual Residents who would like to know what criteria are being used by the APC to enforce the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions are encouraged to look at the APC manual, which contains a criteria list. The manual may be obtained on our GWW website’s Resources for Residents page, gww.zpgraphic.com/GWWHTML/GWW_resident_resources.html.

Questions or comments about the manual may be emailed to the editor or submitted in writing to the BOT via the POA drop box at the mail station.

Repairs to our common areas Locating a roofer for the mail station to replace the deteriorating roof has been challenging due to the small size of the job and the high demand for roofers this spring and summer. Plans are finally underway for getting the roof replaced before fall. Also, a sign painter has been located for our entry way sign, and the only delay now is getting a long enough stretch of dry weather to complete the work.

The next meeting of the BOT will be on Wednesday, 5 September at 7 pm at the pavilion.

News from the APC

Congratulations to Burt and Tena Jebusek, whose yard has been selected for the Spring Yard Recognition. Their energetic work to keep their yard beautiful benefits the entire community.

Member Judy King has resigned from her position on the Committee. The POA gratefully acknowledges her work for the benefit of our community. This Committee is very important, and it is not easy to find dedicated folks who are willing to serve their community in this capacity. Any resident interested in serving on the Committee is encouraged to contact the Administrator.

The next meeting of the APC will be on Tuesday, 14 August, at 7 pm at the pavilion. Residents with questions or comments are always welcome to attend the meetings.

News from the GWW Water Board

A meeting of the Water Board was held on 26 July. Nicholas Dotin and LaReine Pound were elected to fill the places of retiring members. The Water Board thanks Delbert Basset for his help and willingness to serve on the board. Thanks, too, to Terry Dunk and Jay Kolar for their service on the Board.

The water board also would like to let residents know that they support PGMS. They feel the company is doing a good job, that water outages happen and when they do we are being taken care of.

The next meeting of the Water Board is scheduled for 16 August at 7 pm at the pavilion.

Goldenwood West
Property Owners’ Association
16200 Westview Trail
Austin, TX 78737-9068
(512) 858-9528 office
Administrator@GoldenwoodWestPOA.org
www.GoldenwoodWestPOA.org

Please direct comments, articles, email subscriptions and inquiries regarding advertisements to the above address.

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