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April 2015
Brentwood Neighborhood Association
BNA -- Serving Our Neighborhood from 45th St. to Justin Lane and North Lamar to Burnet Road
Violet Crown
Spring Festival
10 am - 5 pm, Sat. May 2nd
at Brentwood School
One of our most beloved traditions is right around the corner! It’s festival time! The annual Violet Crown Festival is being held on May 2 from 10 am – 5 pm in the back parking lot of Brentwood
Elementary. This is shaping up to be our best family carnival ever (with free admission as usual)!
For the kids: professional storytelling, Shakespeare performances by kids, two face painters, lifesized Jenga, giant chess, ladder ball toss, bicycle spin art, Lego building, cake walk, photos with
princesses, plus some very special surprises throughout the day! Be sure to bring some cash to tip
these wonderful entertainers. For the grownups: Over 50 local artisans with one-of-a-kind items,
the very popular raffle and silent auction, rune reading, jugglers, belly dancing, hot rods, coffee,
food, food, and more food, as well as our fantastic 2015 live music lineup:
• 10 am Lunch with Danny
• 11 am Jungle Jill and the Jaybirds
• Noon Roger Beck / Knights of Texas Swing
• 1 pm Belly Dancer, Jamie Shelton
• 2 pm Deann Renee
• 3 pm The Light Upstairs Band
• 4 pm Feet First
The festival is always a wonderful way
to usher spring into the hoods and a great
way to hang out with your neighbors while
supporting the projects being funded with
proceeds. The festival is presented to you
by The Violet Crown Community Works
(VCCW) as a way to foster goodwill in the
neighborhoods and support projects that
build and beautify the community like The
Wall of Welcome, the raised garden beds at
Brentwood Elementary and the new Arroyo
Seco Hike and Bike Trail.
Major sponsors so far this year include: Grandecom, Snapology, Amy’s Ice Cream, Crestview
Minimax, Native Edge, John Dunham at Juice Homes, Barnstormers, Brentwood Neighborhood
Association, Taco Deli, Lighcrafters and Stepping Stone Schools. If your business is interested in
sponsoring the festival, please contact Michele Holt at wabisabiholt@gmail.com, or Nancy Barnard
at okrasalad@gmail.com. The festival is also always in desperate need of volunteers! We will be
offering free tacos from Taco Deli and coffee to all volunteers. You can access our Volunteer Spot
page at http://vols.pt/RZ9cpv. Please remember that parking is limited so try and walk or bike.
We’ll see you there!
BNA Newsletter 4-2015
http://brentwoodaustin.blogspot.com/
CALL TO SERVE
By John Halaburt, BNA President
In February, a new group of Officers and
Steering Committee members was elected to
serve on behalf of the Brentwood Neighborhood Association. I am excited to assume the
role of President after serving for several years
in other capacities. I would like to share a little
bit about myself, and explain how I arrived at a
point where I would even consider such an assignment. I also want to share why I am excited
about the near future. Finally, and perhaps most
importantly, I want to tell you that I need your
help.
15 years ago, my wife and I moved into
Brentwood. We were fortunate to meet and
interact with some folks who were still living
in the new homes they bought in the 1950’s
when the neighborhood was established. They
provided an historical appreciation for the space
we came to call home. More importantly, we
became friends with our neighbors, who came
into the area in the 1980’s to live in their “starter home”, which they have yet to vacate. They
taught me the value of community work and
stewardship during a time of dramatic change
in the city of Austin. They invited me to attend
BNA meetings. Eventually, the group welcomed me to the Steering Committee, to invest
a small amount of my time and talent to assisting with the good works of the group. Steering
Committee members serve on a completely voluntary basis and devote their expertise, passion,
and countless hours of time to help preserve all
that we love about our neighborhood.
While not infallible, the people who choose
to serve do so because they care. Like most residents, they worry about taxes, property values,
transportation, crime, schools, preserving green
space, and utility rates. Unlike most, they actually serve on committees for Zoning, Police Relations, Transportation, Information, and more.
They lobby the city for sidewalks, traffic lights
and accessibility improvements. They strive,
through the guidance of an approved Neighborhood Plan, to balance the pressures of urban
densification with the single-family residential
character of our streets. They attend midnight
City Council meetings to lobby on behalf of
their neighbors. They sponsor annual events,
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like the lighting of the luminarias along Arroyo Seco and the Labor Day
Parade, and designate BNA funds to help with other area causes, like the
Friends of Brentwood Park and the Violet Crown Community Works.
They advocate for those who need support and guidance. They serve.
When the previous President announced he would step down at the
end of the 2014 term, I initially declined an offer to serve in that position. Then, the recent City Council election and the implementation of the
10/1 system came along, and my mindset was changed. We may have a
once in generation opportunity to cast aside apathy and pessimism and
reconnect with the process of city governance. There is an opportunity to
take a stand for the most vital aspects of our neighborhood and our entire
city. We have a newly-elected District 7 representative, Council Member
Leslie Pool, who is accountable to us as voters. We are equally accountable to her as community activists. This is an important time to open
new lines of communication and respectful dialog between ourselves and
those who represent our interests in the new council. So for me, this is a
call to serve as a bridge between our neighborhood and our city government. I am excited about the road ahead, even if our destination might
not be entirely clear.
What I do know, is that to continue to be proper stewards of our small
slice of the fastest growing city in the country - we need help. From all
of you! We need new people to come to meetings. We need new ideas
and new energy. Consider joining a committee. Find out about how to
set up a neighborhood watch on your block. Join with the Anti-Graffiti
League to clean up our streets. We are about to begin on the exciting
Arroyo Seco Trail Project – look out for your opportunity to participate.
Have a way with words? We would love to find a newsletter editor or
blog writer for our website. Worried about car break-ins or property
theft? Then, consider joining the Police Relations committee and speak
with the APD leadership at their Commanders Forum meetings. Donate
your time and energy to serving more than your own immediate needs.
Find a cause, and make a difference. Answer your call to serve.
DRIVE A SENIOR NORTH CENTRAL NEEDS
VOLUNTEERS
by Steve Zwernemann
For most of us, car keys represent freedom and independence. According to the American Association for Retired People, more than 95 percent
of seniors want to stay in their homes as long as possible, but the key to
remaining independent is transportation. When driving is no longer an
option, running simple errands
like getting to the grocery
store, doctor’s office, or beauty shop is a critical challenge.
Staying connected is essential
to healthy aging, but without
transportation, many seniors
feel stuck and alone.
Every day, more than 10,000 Americans turn 65. In Austin, the number
of people age 60 and older is growing and expected to more than double
in 10 years, creating a significant mobility gap. For thousands of senior
citizens in our community, not having transportation may mean they are
no longer able to stay in their own homes. Sometimes, public transportation isn’t available where they live or when they need it, and often there is
simply no one available to give them a ride.
• Volunteering to be a Drive a Senior driver is easy and flexible.
• No long-term commitment is required
• Choose the times and locations most convenient for you
• Organize drives around your schedule – weekly, monthly, or as
convenient
BNA Newsletter 4-2015
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•
•
Schedule drives from your computer or by phone
Drive seniors living nearby (area bounded by Burnet Road, FM
1325, IH-35 and W 45th Street)
To volunteer, please call 512-453-2273, email nc@driveasenior.org
or go to www.driveasenior.org. Drive a Senior is a 501(c)3 non-profit
organization.
ESPERANZA SCHOOL
by Susan Burneson, from VOICES OF VIOLET CROWN
Before Brentwood Elementary and McCallum High, even before the
Brentwood neighborhood, there was Esperanza School. We first learned
about Esperanza from two former Brentwood neighbors, Mickey Pease
Bauer, who started school there, and Al Kirby. Then we discovered other
Esperanza students who later owned businesses in the area—Mary Frances Bible Alexander and Odis Walker. Esperanza was one of the Travis
County rural schools for children living outside the Austin city limits. The
school was first built in 1866 on a site southwest of today’s Mopac and
Spicewood Springs Road intersection. The original log structure is now
part of Pioneer Village at Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin. The building received a Texas Historical Marker in 1974.
Photo of Esperanza School
In 1893, Esperanza School moved to a larger, one-room frame building
on the northeast corner of today’s Romeria and Burnet Road, then called
Upper Georgetown Road. The school was beyond the Austin city limits
and surrounded by open farmland and a handful of houses. The 1932 map
shows Esperanza School; the small solid squares are homes, and the eastwest street to the south of Esperanza is today’s Koenig Lane.
According to The Defender,
a 1936 history of the Travis
County rural schools, “Even
though the name of the school
is a Spanish word, there is no
record of a Spanish or Mexican child ever attending the
school,” and “The district has
neither a Mexican nor a Negro
school.” After a 1928 city plan
established a “negro district”
in East Austin, segregation in
general became more common.
A county report lists only one
student at Esperanza, Altee
McDade, 10, a black child who
would have attended the school
about 1934. On the 1932 map,
St. Johns, an all-black school,
1932 Map showing School
was east of North Lamar and
north of Airport. From one room in 1893, Esperanza was expanded to
two rooms in 1922, then to three rooms in 1934. By 1941, enrollment
had decreased, and Esperanza was closed by the Austin School Board. Al
Kirby believed that Esperanza may have been one of the last rural schools
BNA Newsletter 4-2015
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Page 3
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Conveniently located at the SE corner of Burnet and Anderson
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in this part of Travis County.
Al’s family moved to a farm on
North Street, now part of Brentwood, in
1940, a year before Esperanza closed.
He remembered Big Bear grocery store
across Romeria from the school, on the
north end of Northwest Center. Al attended Baker Elementary in Hyde Park,
built in 1911. Later, area students went
to Rosedale Elementary, built in 1947,
Al Kirby
and then Brentwood Elementary, built
in the early 1950s.
In 1936, Mickey Bauer moved with her parents and siblings to a 14acre farm a quarter mile north of Esperanza
between today’s Burnet Lane and Arroyo
Seco. Except for a few months, she has
lived in either Brentwood or Crestview ever
since. Mickey remembered Esperanza being
the tallest building in the area at the time.
She started school there and then attended
a Catholic school near the University of
Texas. Mary Frances Bible, listed in The
Defender as an Esperanza student in 1936,
Mickey Bauer
married John C. (Jack) Alexander. They
owned Alexanders’ Nursery in Crestview for 38 years.
Odis Walker began working at his older brother Pete’s tire store in
1934 when he was 16. Four years later Odis opened his own store. After
World War II, they combined their downtown businesses into Walker Tire
Company. Its tongue-in-cheek slogan is “If it’s in stock, we’ve got it.” In
2011, Odis, 93, passed away. In 2014, Walker Tire moved a mile south of
its longtime location on North Lamar north of Justin Lane.
Last year, Odis’s son Roy shared with me a photo of students at Esperanza School taken about 1923. He said his father attended the school but
wasn’t there the day the photo was taken.
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BNA Newsletter 4-2015
@ Richcreek
512-698-5151
1923 Class Photo
Louise Rader Carlson, who appears in the front row, third from the left,
identified others in the photo:
Row 2, left to right: third person, Frank Rader; last person, one of four
Sunday boys.
Row 3, left to right: Irene Spillar, Itasca Scott (Lizzie Baker Walker’s niece),
Lucille Rader Preece; last three, three Sunday boys.
Teachers: Mrs. Yelderman and Mrs. Spring.
The four Sunday boys were grandsons of Thomas Jefferson Sunday
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Jr., owner of Sunday’s Store in the 1930s and 1940s. Mickey Bauer first
told us about the grocery and filling station at Burnet Road and Northland
Drive, the current location of Amy’s Ice Creams and Phil’s Icehouse. In
1930, Wilber, Alex, Robert, and Marvin, the four sons of John Alexander
Sunday, lived on Upper Georgetown Road (today’s Burnet Road), near T.
J. and his family.
Until the 1940s, Burnet Lane, a quarter mile north of Esperanza, was
part of the original Burnet Road. Then, Travis County purchased several
acres across Burnet Lane from the farm owned by Mickey Bauer’s father,
Frank E. Pease. To help straighten Burnet Road, a new section was built
on the west side of the county property, which was used as a maintenance
facility for many years. It became a farmers’ market in the late 1980s, and
the county sold it in 2007.
In the early 1950s, Frank Pease sold most of his 14-acre farm, and
Brentwood Elementary and nearby homes were built on the land. The
Pease family kept a few acres, including their home at 6503 Burnet Lane.
In the late 1970s, Mickey’s brothers recycled all the lumber from the
buildings, and the property was sold. Today, it remains the only open land
on the east side of Burnet Lane, with some of the original trees Mickey
planted there when it still was a farm.
(Susan Burneson coordinates the Voices of the Violet Crown community/history project, including the website violetcrownvoices.com)
INCLUSIVE SCHOOL IN THE BRENTWOOD
NOW ENROLLING
by Rob Hoffman
Capitol School of Austin, located at 2011 W. Koenig Lane next to Walgreen’s, is now enrolling neighborhood children for the upcoming school
year. Capitol School, who has been in the Brentwood neighborhood since
1994, offers individualized, multi-sensory classes for children ages 2
through 4th grade. We are Austin’s go-to non-profit school specializing in
children with speech, language and learning differences who struggle in
a traditional school setting. Most of our students have average to above
average cognitive ability with a diagnosed language/learning delay, and
up to 30% of our students are typically-developing children who benefit
from our language-rich, small group setting while acting as peer models
for language-impaired classmates. This inclusive model benefits both
types of students tremendously as curriculum goals focus on language
development, which is fundamental for early learning, and are tailored to
each child’s individual needs.
Our three levels of pre-school and K-4th classes are led by masterslevel speech therapists and bachelors-level teaching assistants. Our
program is enriched with library, occupational therapy (to facilitate fine
& gross motor skills), music, drama/dance, and Sportball classes, and is
accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. We offer
Visitors Days for prospective parents once per month and we would love
to show you around! Please contact Jeannette at jyoung@capitolschool.
com or 512-467-7006 or visit us at capitolschool.com for more information.
IT’S MY PARK DAY RE-CAP
by Denman Glober Netherland & Friends of Brentwood Park
Thank you to everyone who came out this year to help with IMPD!
With your help, we accomplished the following at Brentwood Park:
• 20 cubic yards of mulch were distributed to trees in the northwest
corner of the park and along the north side of the ball field.
• Trees were weeded • The sign bed was weeded and mulched.
• The purple martin bed was weeded and mulched.
BNA Newsletter 4-2015
Living and working in
OUR Neighborhood
Ron@PresidioGroup.com
www.PresidioGroup.com
Ron Redder
Broker/Owner
ABR, CRS, GRI, MBA, SRS
512.476.1591 office
512.657.8674 mobile
Page 5
Carpentry - Cabinetry - Repair Jobs
MONTE H. SMITH
512-913-0603
montehsmithconstructor.com
montehsmith78757@yahoo.com
40 years in Austin construction
25-year Brentwood homeowner
2015 BNA OFFICERS & STEERING COMMITTEE
President:
Vice-Pres.: Treasurer:
Secretary:
John Halaburt
Mike McChesney
Angie Ward
Evan Rivera
Steering Committee:
Barbara McArthur Pam Leighton-Burwell
Lauren Waters
Bill Morgan
Don Leighton-Burwell
Michele Holt
Brian Jackson
1501 Palo Duro
1202 Brentwood 1707 Romeria
5314 McCandless 5700 Clay
1417 Palo Duro
5604 Joe Sayers
2005 Burbank
1417 Palo Duro
1515 Ruth
5604 Joe Sayers
512-453-2976
512-848-9126
512-452-1366
512-465-9656
512-699-1493
512-467-7093
713-854-3841
512-454-7207
512-323-2017
512-220-5377
805-698-2822
•
The beds around the pool were weeded and mulched, and trash
was extracted from the pool area.
• The volleyball court was sifted for gravel and debris.
Thank you also to our sponsors! Genuine Joe’s provided coffee;
Tacodeli provided tacos; Wheatsville Coop provided food; Chipotle and
Luke’s Locker provided gift cards; Austin Parks Foundation planned
IMPD and provided resources and assistance; and, Austin Parks and
Recreation provided support for the work, including mulch and logistical
assistance.
NXNA GARDEN AND ART TOUR -CREATE. GROW. CONNECT
After attending the Violet Crown Festival, consider going to the NXNA
Garden and Art Tour on Saturday, May 2nd from 10 am - 4 pm. This
event highlights Gardens, Artisans and Community. The tour will include
all three North Austin Community Gardens:
• Aldephi Acre: Adelphi & Amherst
• Gus Garcia: 1201 E. Rundberg
• North Austin YMCA: 1000 W. Rundberg
For more information and tickets, go to LoveNorthAustin.com; proceeds will fund North Austin Beautification and Park Projects.
IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN BNA!
If you didn’t renew your annual membership dues in February, consider
doing it now. Your support allows BNA to do many projects to enhance
our community. Extra donations are always appreciated! Use the form
below, or pay on-line via PayPal at:
I WANT TO SUPPORT BRENTWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD!
BRENTWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION Membership Form (2015):
Name: _______________________________________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________________________________
Phone #:_________________________
E-mail:_________________________________________________________
What are your most important concerns? ___________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Can you deliver newsletters on your block? Yes / No (please circle one)
___Renewal or ___New Membership?
___$10.00/Household
_____Additional Donation? (this will really help!)
(Please check one)
___$5.00/Senior Citizens
Please make checks payable to Brentwood Neighborhood Association; Clip and mail form (with check) to:
BNA, 1707 Romeria, Austin TX 78757. Contributions are NOT tax deductible.
BNA Newsletter 4-2015
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