Sunny skies blessed our neighborhood this year for our annual July 4th Parade, and Barton Hills Drive was alive with red, white, and blue patriotic spirit. Check out the pictures taken by neighbor Bill Newcomb during the parade and afterwards at the gathering at Barton Hills Elementary.
On July 26, 2004,
in July 4 Parade,
by Glenn
On July 21, 2004,
in Greenbelt Guardians,
by Glenn
This is getting to be a good habit. We had another great workday on the greenbelt trail, high temperatures not withstanding. What looked daunting at the beginning of the day was achieved, plus some, by the end of the day. We had 20 hardy neighborhood volunteers working side by side with 16 strapping teenagers from the Travis County Juvenile Probation program and their three supervisors, logging in a total of 179 work hours! That kind of team working that many hours can achieve miracles.
Our accomplishments:
- The entry trail, which had been diminished to a four foot wide path due to creeping bermudagrass, was weeded and cleared to its original eight foot wide expanse, and the rock edges were re-established;
- The erosion rivulets in the middle of the path were repaired with a new layer of decomposed granite, which was crowned in the center and packed, to protect it from future “gully-washers”;
- The newly planted trees were all fitted with trunk collars at the base to protect them from weed eater injuries;
- The three-foot tall overgrowth along the sides of the trail was “mowed” with the weedeater, civilizing its appearance;
- The revegetation area that we worked on six months ago had become completely overgrown with resprouting of Chinaberry and Ligustrum trees, plus poison oak, johnson grass and ragweed – brave souls ventured forth and cleared the area, to give breathing room to our newly planted trees;
- The upper trail was further reinforced with cedar side bars, to keep the trail intact along the steep embankments;
- The retaining walls that help support the banks of our new bridge were repaired and extended, as the high waters had washed some of the stones down the channel;
- New boulder steps were added to make the transition of earthen trail to the rock flats safer during muddy periods;
- Bags of trash were collected, reducing the aftermath of exuberant youthful celebrations of the return of flowing water.
Many thanks to all of the volunteers for their hardy and enthusiastic participation. The next workday is scheduled for Saturday, October 16, in preparation for the National Trails Day tour, which will take place on Saturday, October 23.
On July 19, 2004,
in News Articles,
by Glenn
Did you miss the last neighborhood association meeting and want to know what you missed?
Debby Kalk’s concise but complete meeting notes from the June 22 General Meeting will get you up-to-speed on what’s going on in our neighborhood.
