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Island Life December 25, 2008  RSS feed
Celebrate 2009 early in the park
      Get a head start on 2009. Join the City of Port Aransas Parks and Recreation Department at the Fred Rhodes Memorial Pavilion in Roberts Point Park for an early celebration of the coming year. Wednesday, Dec. 31, from 11:30 am to12:30 pm, celebrate (early) the arrival of 2009 with music and fellowship.
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In the spirit
      Wearing santa hats, third graders Carson Burns, left, and Aaron Peterson watch a Christmas program performance by fellow students at the H.G. Olsen Elementary School gym on Friday, Dec. 19.
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Foul weather fails to dampen birders' spirits
      Cold, wind and waves did little to dampen the enthusiasm of participants in the 32nd annual Port Aransas Christmas Bird Count on Monday, Dec. 15.
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Sitters ready for New Year's Eve
      If you don't have a babysitter lined up yet for New Year's Eve, you're in luck. A group of eighth graders from Brundrett Middle School is offering babysitting services at the Pollock Center, 129 S. Alister St., from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 31.
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Beach walk set for Friday
      A beach walk may appeal to the hale and hearty souls who have energy to burn after Christmas. Port Aransas resident Shirley Fischer will guide beach walkers on Friday, Dec. 26, in browsing tidal offerings. Walkers should meet at 9 a.m. under the purple flag near Horace Caldwell Pier, at the end of Beach St.
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New PACT production opening
      Warm up in January by seeing a play about the Fourth of July. The Port Aransas Community Theatre winter musical production is entitled "Fourth Of July." Performances will be Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 8 - 31, with a 2:30 matinee on Sunday, Feb. 1.
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Changing light
      Standing in a raised bulldozer bucket, Cody Claypool of the City of Port Aransas Public Works Department changes the bulb in a traffic light at the intersection of Alister and Cotter streets on Friday, Dec. 19.
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Museum benefit projects planned
      The Mercer logs, a boat that Barney Farley built and the bell from the train that delivered the jetty boulders are among the latest offerings to the collection of the newly opened Port Aransas Museum. The Port Aransas Preservation and Historical Association met a week after the museum opened to the public on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec.
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Amos to give talk
      The public is invited to hear Tony Amos discuss Hurricane Ike and beach marine debris on Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m. Amos, a research science fellow at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, will speak in the Port Aransas Civic Center, 710 W. Ave. A.
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Book club to read 'Dreams from My Father'
      The Ellis Memorial Library Book Club discussion group will meet on Tuesday, Jan. 13. The club, open to the public, meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the library. The January selection to be discussed is "Dreams from My Father," by Barack Obama.
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Laughing Gull writers to convene workshop
      Writers and aspiring writers will have an opportunity to hone their craft at a writer's workshop on Saturday, Jan. 24. A Day with Laughing Gull Writers Workshop will be at Brundrett Middle School from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. In the morning session, from 9 a.m. to noon, three workshops are available.
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Faux snow
      Four-year-old Elish Brennan frolicks in what at first might look like a highly localized snowfall but actually was simply about 10 tons of crushed ice lying in the parking lot of Coastal Bend Ice on Alister Street on Friday, Dec. 12. Workers threw out the ice as part of a cleaning project in the ice house, said Wayne Serpa, owner of the plant.
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BUSINESS BRIEFS
      Business briefs features top level management additions, changes or promotions, professional continuing education or other business news that is not classified as marketing. Deadline for submissions is 10 a.m. Monday for the following Thursday's edition. Submit information and photos to southjetty@centurytel.net or mail to South Jetty, P.O. Box 1117, Port Aransas, TX 78373.
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City offers EMT training
      Applications are being taken now for the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) basic training course to be offered by the City of Port Aransas. The classes will be held January through May on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 7 to 10 p.m., at Brundrett Middle School. Classes begin Monday, Jan. 5.
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ISLAND OBSERVER: TONY AMOS
Rare rescue of rare bald eagle
      There's something about those eyes: Regal, stern, unafraid. There's something about that beak, too: Powerful, hooked and dangerous. Then there's the head: Far from being bald, the feathers are white, dense and defined. No wonder it was adopted as the symbol of our nation.
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FOR THE BIRDS
Adventures in bird counting
      We have been busy. I don't know if we are coming, going, or have just been. It is Christmas Bird Count time, they are counting down everywhere and the results are near. We just finished our second CBC this year and we still have one more to go.
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Port Aransas escapes cleanup requirement
      Port Aransas will not be targeted in state mandates that would require pollution reduction measures in Corpus Christi Bay. That news came via e-mail to city hall after the Environmental Protection Agency reviewed the city's request that Corpus Christi Bay be subdivided into distinct water body districts in its assessment of pollution levels.
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City to hold run and walk
      Usher in the New Year with a two-mile fun run or a 2009-meter walk. Meet at the Port Aransas Community Park, 700 Clark Blvd., off Ross Avenue on Thursday, Jan. 1, at 2:09 p.m. Free and open to the public, the run/walk is sponsored by the City of Port Aransas Parks and Recreation Department.
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DINING SCOUT
A friendly place to grab a gourmet burger to go
      SOUTH SWELL SIDEWALK CAFE 314 E. AVE. G 749-1590 OPEN 11 A.M. TO 7 P.M. WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY CASH ONLY If you want food fast but not fast-food, I know just the place. On Wednesday, Dec.
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Up and down
      In a sequence of photos, 9-year-old Aaron Peterson of Port Aransas flings himself down the side of a sand dune facing the beach near Horace Caldwell Pier on Sunday, Dec. 14. Unhurt, Aaron climbed right back up and jumped back down again moments later. He was part of a group of kids playing on the dune.
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Holiday rituals
      Christmas preparations for this year have already been marred by what Dad calls "the bon-bon incident." He explained it to me over barbecue in Luling. "Your mother," he said, "spent all day one day making hundreds of bon-bons. And then she packaged them up on special plates she bought at a garage sale, and she just gave them away.
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The big winner
      In voting, children at the selected a Christmas tree decorating job titled "Fairy Christmas" as the winner of the 2008 Children's Choice Award at the Holiday Forest at the Port Aransas Civic Center on Tuesday, Dec. 16. The tree was decorated by Fire It! Ceramics. The Holiday Forest was sponsored by the Port Aransas Parks and Recreation Department.
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Don't get popped!
Police to patrol area for fireworks violators
      Folks can ring in the New Year with parties, drinks and song, but Port Aransas police and firefighters want everyone to remember that setting off fireworks inside the Port Aransas city limits is illegal.
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POLICE BLOTTER
CITY OF PORT ARANSAS POLICE DEPARTMENT
      MONDAY, DEC. 15 1:20 p.m. • A barrel was removed from Pole No. 21 On the Beach. 1:28 p.m. • The Port Aransas Volunteer Fire Department extinguished a fire at the south jetty. TUESDAY, DEC. 16 9:10 a.m. • Two dogs were impounded after an officer checked out a dog-atlarge report near Avenue G at Station Street.
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Lucky dogs
      Two dogs enjoy the scenery and the breeze as their driver cruises down the beach near Horace Caldwell Pier on Sunday, Dec. 14.
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Curcuru loses new trial attempt; Friesenhahn takes guilty plea
      Benjamin Curcuru, a man who was sentenced to 45 years in prison and fined $10,000 in October for aggravated sexual assault of a two-year-old girl, was denied a new trial on Friday, Dec. 19, in the 319th District Court. The child's mother, 24-year-old Erica Friesenhahn, pleaded guilty on Thursday, Dec.
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JP audit pending in week
      Nueces County Auditor Margaret Hayes said the results of a short audit by her office in the financial accounts of the Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace office in Port Aransas will not be ready until next week. Hayes had previously said the audit was requested by Justice of the Peace Duncan Neblett.
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Art center to celebrate First Friday
      The Art Center for the Islands will hold its First Friday reception on Jan. 2, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the art center, 323 N. Alister. The January exhibit will feature the works of adult students in art center classes and workshops.
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Holiday closings slated
      Public offices and banks in Port Aransas will take time off for Christmas and New Year's days. Some offices will keep abbreviated hours on Christmas Eve, and some city services will be interrupted for the holiday. City offices will be closed Christmas Day, Dec. 25 and Dec. 26, and on New Year's Day.
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Brown Bag resumes Jan. 7
      The next lecture in the Brown Bag Lecture Series will be on Wednesday, Jan. 7. Beginning at noon in the Pollock Center, 129 S. Alister St., Kiesha Hall of the Corpus Christi Food Bank will speak.
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CONSTABLE'S BEAT
NUECES COUNTY, PRECINCT 4
      SUNDAY, DEC. 14 6:50 a.m. • A deputy responded to a false alarm in the 6800 block of State Hwy. 361. MONDAY, DEC. 15 10:30 a.m. • Threats were reported in the 200 block of Alister Street. WEDNESDAY, DEC.
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PASTOR'S PEN
Doing the beautiful
      Galatians 6:9 - "And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." "Kalos" (the Greek word for "well") really suggests "the beautiful." Let us not grow weary in beautiful action or acting beautifully in the service of our Lord.
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Port Aransas churches offer holiday services
      Several island churches will offer Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and NewYear's Eve services. The Community Presbyterian Church, 113 S. Alister St., will hold a candlelight Christmas Eve service at 6 p.m. The church also will offer a New Year's Eve communion service at 6 p.m.
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La Posada
      Students at Trinity-by-the-Sea Day School get ready for their Holy Family Parade to chapel, or La Posada, on Wednesday, Dec. 17. They knocked on many doors before being admitted to the chapel, as is the tradition of La Posada. They then enjoyed reenacting the Christmas story and eating cookies.
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Dance is Jan. 14
      Shine up those dancing shoes. The JELM Center has scheduled its first winter dance for Wednesday, Jan. 14. Tickets, $5 each, will go on sale at the JELM office or at the Golden Oldies sessions beginning Friday, Jan. 2. The dance will begin at 6 p.m., with live music by the Texas Stars.
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JELM offers new classes, four trips
      The Joint Effort Leisure Ministry Center has a lot going on for the New Year. Four new classes will be offered and four trips are scheduled. Two trips to hear big-name country singers at the San Antonio Rodeo are planned. The trip on Saturday, Feb. 7, is to see Alan Jackson. The trip on Monday, Feb. 16, is to see Brooks and Dunn.
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JELM Center December Calendar
      Monday 8 a.m. Aerobics Pollock Center 9:15 a.m. Beginner's Line Dancing Pollock Center 10 a.m. Writer's Workshop JELM Library 10:45 a.m. Advanced Line Dancing Pollock Center 10 a.m. Writer's Workshop JELM Library 1 p.m.
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Craft sessions are rescheduled
      The We're Having fun craft activities at the Pollock Center are being moved to Mondays at 1 p.m. through the rest of the season, beginning Jan. 5. The Jan. 5, activity will be making fringed t-shirts with Pam Greene of the City of Port Aransas Parks and Recreation Department.
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Care and share
      Dick Valentine loads Christmas turkeys into boxes as he and other volunteers with the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8967 joined city employees to deliver hams, turkeys and trimmings to 135 area households. The volunteers gathered at the Port Aransas Civic Center to load boxes of food onto city-owned and privately-owned vehicles for delivery.
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Council lets taxi free trade stand
      A set of new rules for taxi companies operating in Port Aransas had some city council members raising the spectre of creating a monopoly for one taxi company. An amendment updates the city's taxi ordinance, which adopted a free trade approach to regulating the taxi industry.
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Hockey time
      Assisted by adult volunteers, children take part in a street hockey clinic at Port Aransas Community Park on Saturday, Dec. 13. The clinic was the brainchild of Port Aransas City Manager Michael Kovacs, a longtime hockey enthusiast. Several players for the IceRays, Corpus Christi's minor-league hockey team, helped out at the event as volunteers.
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