Island Walk Canal Work Moving Ahead Quickly

Inside the Moon Island Time A2 On the Rocks A7 Birds A9 Keep Port A. Beautiful A15 Issue 840 The 27° 37' 0.5952'' N | 97° 13' 21.4068'' W Photo by Freda Greene Island Free The voiceMoon of The Island since 1996 May 21, 2020 Weekly www.islandmoon.com FREE Around The Flour Bluff ISD Island Island Walk Canal Work Announces By Dale Rankin Graduation What a week it has been Around The Island. There is all kinds of things Moving Ahead Quickly Ceremony Plan going. Canal and Water Exchange Friday, June 5 at Bridge Hornet Stadium Islanders who have been Around Flour Bluff ISD is moving forward The Island for a while understandably with an in-person, outdoor graduation take a jaundiced view when new for the Flour Bluff High School Class projects are announced and the Park of 2020. For the first time in 45 years, Road 22 Water Exchange Bridge is the graduation ceremony will be held no exception; “I’ll believe it when I on the district’s home turf, at 7 p.m. see it” could be the Island motto or, on Friday, June 5, at Hornet Stadium. as Norm Baker has often suggested This modified graduation plan the Marlin “Welcome to the Island” follows the guidance of the Texas sign at the base of the JFK Bridge Education Agency. could have the words “Coming Soon” because we see those words Crews at work on the new canal. For more pictures, see page A4 often when in fact nothing shows up. as can be seen from the photos in this But even the skeptics should be By Dale Rankin the excavation work is underway. issue. Under an agreement with the City assured this week that the Water Work on the Island Walk Canal took of Corpus Christi work on the bridge Exchange Bridge project, first off in earnest this week with a full The work is being paid for by the will begin when work on the canal approved in a bond package by voters crew on site west of SPID near Nemo private landowners, Axys Capital is “substantially complete.” Axys in 2004, is happening right before Court. and International Bank of Commerce our eyes. The two private landowners who have owned the land with officials say the excavation work The work is the first phase of the responsible for digging the canal that divided interests for less than two will be done by late summer, barring Park Road 22 Water Exchange Bridge is precursor to the bridge stepped up years. They purchased the 70 acres weather delays. project and will connect the existing to the plate and by mid-week dirt – where the canal is located in two Funding for the $13.7 million Water Island canal system to the bridge or sand – was flying. Progress on the separate foreclosure auctions after the Exchange Bridge is in place and the through an eight-foot deep canal canal has been the stopping point for bankruptcy filing of the Schlitterbahn construction contract awarded to that will allow boat passage from the bridge for the past two years as Waterpark in 2017. Haas-Anderson Construction who the canals through to Lake Padre and the land where it is located changed will begin work on the bridge when the Gulf of Mexico. Crews began Crews are scheduled to begin work hands, but that changed dramatically directed by the Corpus Christi City work Monday and by press time on on the bulkheads for the canal while as crews went to work Monday. We Council. Wednesday the work was well along, often are asked exactly where the bridge will be located so we launched the air fleet this week and the photos in this issue will answer that question Memorial Day PINS Turtle Releases Closed to Flour Bluff High School is honoring definitively. its graduating Seniors with portraits The Water Exchange Bridge is Boat Parade the Public Through Summer 2020 on the streets surrounding the school. coming and this week marks the nexus A group of Islanders are organizing The release of Kemp’s ridley turtles social distancing and crowd between planning and execution. We a Patriotic Boat Parade on Monday, at Padre Island National Seashore avoidance guidelines. When owe a thanks to the current Corpus May 25. will be closed to the public through conditions and guidance allow, The graduation ceremony will Christi City Council, many hours of follow all the social distancing It will depart at 11:00 a.m. from the the summer of 2020, park officials the park will resume these popular work by the Island Strategic Action announced Wednesday. turtle release events, as well recommendations set by local, Committee, and the private owners of proximity of the Padre Island Yacht state and national authorities Club's docks. The events, held several times each as, traditional ranger guided the land for making this happen. activities. This summer the park while celebrating our student’s All boaters are encouraged to join summer, are the victim of their own achievements with a traditional Message in a Bottle success in the time of the COVID-19 will film hatchling releases and in and sport their Patriotic Flags. The post them on the turtle Facebook graduation ceremony. Due to the Last week we Parade will head towards the JFK virus as they routinely draw more COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, than 1000 spectators. page, https://www.facebook.com/ reported that Bridge, and throughout our canals. nps.pais.seaturtles. each graduate will be allowed two (2) Islander Dave guests to attend in-person graduation Note: The Yacht Club is currently Park officials announced Wednesday. Hoffmann Park officials will notify the public at Hornet Stadium. The limit on the not open, and is not affiliated with The statement read in part: found a when full operations are resumed number of guests will allow for the this parade. message in a Due to the overwhelming and provide updates on their website, ceremony to proceed while following bottle that was popularity of these public events, https://nps.gov/pais and Facebook the social distancing protocols. launched five it is not possible to host them page, http://www.facebook.com/nps. Map on page A4 this summer while adhering to pais. Due to the limited number of in- years ago in person guests allowed in Hornet the Cayman Stadium, Flour Bluff ISD will live Islands, but Avery and her Dad stream the commencement ceremony his attempts A little Island history via the District’s Facebook social to find three- media platform (facebook.com/ year old Avery Posner who wrote FlourBluffISD). The District will the message had been unsuccessful. As Father’s Day Nears… be finalizing all requirements for Well, after our story Moon reader Jim students and guests who attend Worth went to work and tracked the Time spent fishing doesn’t make you any older. the in-person graduation and will now eight year-old Avery down in communicate that information Baltimore. Avery’s father has been Editor’s note; Bobbie Kimbrell directly to our senior students and going to the Caymans for many years was a commercial fisherman in families. and when Avery came along he took Flour Bluff from the early 1940s her there and launched their message until his retirement. This week he Due to the fluid nature of the current in a bottle. Call this one a Moon story is remembering his Dad as Father’s situation, our modified graduation with a happy ending for Dave, Jim, Day nears… plan may be impacted by future and mostly Avery. We can all use a national, state and local requirements. By Bobbie Kimbrell little cheer in these trying times. Any changes will be communicated Remembering Dad on Father’s as quickly as possible to senior Porto Villageo Day brings back cherished students and parents. Last week we reported on the new memories of the times we shared development at Porto Villageo on when my Dad ran the Red Dot Bait Saturday, May 23 State Highway 361 just inside the Stand that was located between Corpus Christi City Limits – which Doc’s Seafood and Steaks and the the Big Daily picked up the next day. Intracoastal Bridge. Dad started Free COVID-19 We want to clarify that while the new his work years as a surveyor and development planned there is similar cement bridge builder and helped home. Throughout Dad’s work years I turned sixteen and had already Testing in Flour to the current Cinnamon Shore North build the underground cement fuel he spent most of the time off rod finished high school Dad started project the two are not connected. tanks and the cement breakwaters and reel fishing anywhere there was making trips down to the lower Bluff during the construction of the a river, lake, pond or seawater. Dad end of the Laguna Madre on a Island boat ramps Naval Air Station in the early and I lived in a little camp off Laguna motor fishing boat with a Spanish You must register As the limit on public gatherings 1940s. Shores Road and we nearly starved to American War veteran, Windy has made people from OTB a little After the NAS was finished, Dad death at first but after a while Dad got Bowman, and they sometimes before you go stir crazy of late Island boat ramps helped build invasion and crash the hang of commercial fishing and loaded the boat with fish in one People with symptoms of the have been more active than ever boats that were used in the invasion made a good go of it.

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