Inside the Moon Christmas in July A2 Poker Run A2 Traveling Moon A9 Fishing A13 Sunk A18 Issue 746 The Photo by Dale Rankin Island Free The voiceMoon of The Island since 1996 August 2, 2018 Weekly www.islandmoon.com FREE Around The Flour Bluff ISD Island Island On the Move! Votes to Phase By Dale Rankin Out University Marker 37 gets a Remake Preparatory We’ve had some great nighttime sky watching of late as Mars and the Program Moon take turns chasing each other across the eastern sky. Mars is now Current students will closer to The Island (and the rest of the Earth) than it has been in the last be allowed to finish fifteen years. The beaches and roads on Padre but will be the last Island were the most crowded in By Dale Rankin memory last weekend, especially In a packed meeting room at their from the Packery Channel south to regular July meeting the Flour Bluff PINS. It is likely to remain that way ISD Board of Directors modified the next few weeks as visitors from a decision made a month earlier to OTB get in one last trip to The Coast immediately terminate its University before the school year kicks in. Preparatory High School (UP) The post-Harvey weekend traffic program which allows students at patterns have changed noticeably as the Junior and Senior levels to attend more vehicles are now continuing classes on local college campuses and south at the State Highway 361/SPID earn up to sixty college credits before intersection than has historically been graduation from high school. the case. The lack of overnight stay The June decision to abruptly end rooms due to Harvey damage on both A new deck has been built out back for special events. the problem would have forced 297 ends of The Island has resulted in a students currently in the program By Dale Rankin A look around the grounds this “We want to provide a first class larger percent of day trippers who to alter their plans in the upcoming week shows he is not waiting around. place for fishermen and boaters to leave at sundown and they just want When Austin native Mitchell scholastic year, according to A portion of the old boat slips have come and get supplies and services, to get to the nearest beach. Some Kalogridis decided to do one last information presented at the July been replaced by a deck with shade and for the public in general to retailers, especially in Port Aransas project before hanging up his meeting. Instead, after the July structures and three brand new fuel come and enjoy the beautiful view are reporting their daytime business developer hat he found just the kind vote, the program will be phased pumps which will offer gas, diesel, of the Laguna Madre,” Kalogridis is off the charts but their nighttime of place he was looking for. Late out through the 2022 school year, and ethanol-free gas. Pier damaged said. business is down some as visitors last year he purchased Marker 37 allowing students currently in the by Hurricane Harvey is repaired and disappear OTB in the evening. This is along the Laguna Madre and set out Still to come is a mobile kitchen program, including those entering now has new benches and a cleaning almost certainly temporary and will to turn it into a first class spot for for an on-site eatery for boaters, as freshmen this fall, to finish the station, and will soon be shaded by revert to the norm when the hotels fishermen, boaters, and live music and construction to make a spot program before it is terminated. and condos are back up and running aficionados. twenty-foot long red, white, and blue for it is already underway. Also, a The decision before the board was next year. canvas canopies. From inside the one-hundred foot-wide boardwalk “I’ve sold everything else,” he whether to stick with the decision original building to the deck out back on the south side of the property Harvey update said this week, “this one is a labor you see signs of construction, either made in June, when only five of love. I’m doing this one to which will have retail space on the Word out of Port Aransas this week underway or recently completed. have some fun and do something The full name of the new facility is FBISD cont. on A4 is that Sales Tax in May was down special.” Marker 37 cont. on A4 7% compared to May 2017 and Hotel Market 37 Marina at Sunset Island. ISAC Meeting Tuesday, Occupancy Tax is down 13%. That is not bad considering that so many of Dollar General August 7 the overnight stay accommodations Billish Park Work Moving are not yet back in service. Coming Soon Flood Insurance, The good news is that Port Royal, which is not actually in Port Aransas Quickly Windward but just south of the Corpus Christi line, has more rooms back up and Playground installation underway Crosswalk on running and is open for business, making it the first of its kind to Public access scheduled for September Agenda get back in service after Harvey. The Island Strategic Action Congratulations you guys and we Six years after the project began Committee will meet Tuesday, look forward to the other six highrises volunteers swarmed over the new August 7, at the Holiday Inn Express on the Corpus end getting back up playground at Billish Park this Work is well underway along on Windward. and going soon. week installing equipment for kids SPID south of Whitecap turning On the agenda are items concerning a 2-12 years old. The volunteers a paper street into a paved street new crosswalk planned for Windward Thinking of Patsy… from KLS Construction and JT to make way for a Dollar General near the seawall parking lot, repairs Construction braved the summer For newcomers to The Island, and store at the location. to the Packery Channel Jetties due heat on Wednesday working on even for oldcomers too for that to Hurricane Harvey, and new flood the project, and cement around The city required the developer to matter, here’s something to put maps from FEMA which will impact the playground is expected to be build Las Tunas Street which was on your bucket list. Go online and flood insurance rates for the whole of in place by next week. A ribbon part of the original Island design listen to Patsy Jones sing her classic, Nueces County. “That’s My Island.” It was a Mike cutting on the playground area is plan, but the street was never built. Ellis’ favorite and still reminds us set for August 18. Jennifer Seymore (left) and It was required before work could The Island Strategic Action Madelyn Garner spearheaded continue on the Dollar General Committee is an advisory committee of the old Island crowd that used to Meanwhile around the remainder store and is nearing completion. to the Corpus Christi City Council for gather at Island Italian to hear her of the park watering and pre- the four-year effort to raise According to the developer the matters pertaining to Padre Island. sing it while Mike did his pantomime. emulsion has begun and at mid- $78,000 for the new playground new store is expected to be open in The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. and the We still have Patsy’s hat in the Moon week crews were placing sod that equipment at Billish Park. office to remind us of those days. early 2019. public is invited to attend and address Billish cont. on A4 the committee. Low Packery We ran into boating friends at the newly improved and still improving A little Island history Marker 37 last weekend who reported dragging bottom as they ran up Packery Channel from the Intracoastal side toward the bridge. The Civil War Comes to The Island Their boat drew four feet of water, but the boat we were in (not ours, Battle at the end of Whitecap newspaper scribblers can’t afford By Greg Smith The first thing was to chart the current where Whitecap Boulevard ends boats) drew about three and a half and Editor’s note: Last week we ran depths of the pass. The plan was for at the beach, it then went through the depth finder showed us with less the first story on the Civil War In December of 1862 Corpus Christi had been cut off from shipping the Confederate schooner Queen of what is now lake Padre behind the than six inches of clearance in three battle that happened at the end of the Bay manned by forty seven year seawall condo’s, going along where places. The low spots start about what is now Whitecap Drive from by the Union blockade for almost a year. The town’s business and old Jack Sands of Indianola, two SH 361 currently is for a couple of halfway between the southward turn the standpoint of the commanders sailors and to be augmented by seven miles and then angled to Corpus in the canal near Packery Channel on each side. This week we run a commerce had ground to a halt and the citizens were running out of all men plus Captain Ireland of Hobby’s Christi Bay. Park and the bridge and were about narrative of the battle and will Texas regiment. Captain Ireland was one hundred yards apart. That portion continue in the next few issues and the basic necessities of living.