A memorial marker honoring Austin policeman Clinton Warren Hunter, was placed near Onion Creek Parkway last week. Hunter was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 29, 2001 along the frontage road of IH-35 and Onion Creek Parkway. Hunter’s 11-year-old daughter, Mikayla, shoveled the first dirt for the five-foot gray granite memorial. Hunter was a U.S. Army veteran and Hays High School graduate.

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Do you want to help the Buda senior citizens with a fundraising event that will add money to their building project? The seniors are planning a rummage sale on Sat., August 21 at the senior center. Clean your clutter and donate items in good condition to the seniors. For information please call 295-2416 or 295-2077. Donations can be dropped off at the senior center on Thurs. and Fri., Aug. 19 and 20.

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Thanks to two helpful Rebels – that’s Travis Rebels. Gaynell and Mikel Conner just recently mailed out, in the form of CDs, memories of the 50th reunion of the Travis High School class of 1960, which was held a few months ago. Many Travis Rebels have moved south and now call the Buda area home. If you did not get a copy and would like to have one, call Gaynell at 295-3592.

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Birthday wishes to out to Mike Manning and Ralph Pfluger on July 30; Eleanor Earley, Ginny Harlow and 95-year-old Helen McCaughan on July 31; Jesse Logan on Aug. 1; Commissioner Jeff Barton and Butch Grizzle on Aug. 2; Andrea Bishop, Alice Chisholm and Marguerite Gillis on Aug. 3.

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Don’t miss the “Voices of Hays County” oral history series by the Hays County Historical Commission on Friday, July 30, at 6:30 p.m., at Buda Elementary School. Our very own Cecil Clark will be sharing memories of this area.

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The next day, Sat., July 31, the public is invited to tour the new Carpenter Hill Elementary School located on RR 967. The Buda/Kyle Masons will have a cornerstone leveling ceremony at 10:30 a.m. and staff and volunteers will provide tours.

Also on Saturday, Boy Scout Troop 967 and Cub Scout Pack 118 will be collecting food for our local food pantries. If you received a yellow flyer on your door last weekend, please consider placing a bag of non-perishable food on your doorstep by 10 a.m. A scout will stop by to pick up your donations. If you use a plastic bag, the scouts will recycle it.

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Another “First Thursday” is coming again. Come downtown Buda on Thursday, August 5 from 6-9 p.m. and enjoy our small town. Special treats and games will be in store for the children along with food and drinks at the various restaurants.

So you missed me – oh, I mean you missed the column. Thank you, but no one had any news worthy to report, or so they thought, so nothing to write.

Well, we did have a few exciting incidents. While cleaning their yard, some tenants discovered a hive of bees in an old unused camper trailer. Sorry to report five folks were sitting by the bees. All are reported ok. They were not the killer bees and a word of caution, keep your yard clean and be cautious of unused barrels, “trailers” etc.

Speaking of being cautious, slow down when you drive through Uhland on Highway 21. There are no caution signs, but there is crossroad traffic, people turning to go to the café and church. We need a traffic light, but so far no avail.

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There was another auto and motorcycle accident on Highway 21 in Uhland last week. The cyclist was severely injured.

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How about some good news? Barbara Hanna reports she delivered some 50 lap robes and bed covers to Hays Nursing Home in San Marcos and Deer Creek Nursing Home in Wimberley. She also visited with Linda Loep and Caroline Fuchs in Hays Nursing Home. Members of the Women’s Guild of St. John Lutheran Church made or gathered these items. Thanks ladies and thanks also to Barbara.

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The Harvest Festival, sponsored by St. John Women’s Guild, will still be held in October, but the date had to be changed to October 23. The time of the event remains the same; only the date was changed because of conflicting events. So mark your calendar on Oct. 23. There will be a raffle, silent auction, country store with bake sale, a general store, jewelry store, cakewalk and children’s games. Donations are needed. A sign-up list will be put in the back of the church the first part of August.

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Did you know that the kitchen in the community center is now air-conditioned? That will make the serving of the turkey and dressing dinner at the Harvest Festival, as one of my grandsons used to say, “more gooder.”

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Happy birthday to George Lyons on August 4 and happy anniversary to William and Barbara Ilse on August 11.

The Women’s Guild of St. John Lutheran Church will meet Sat., August 6 at noon at the church rec center. Bring a dish of your favorite food and join the ladies for good food, fun and a business meeting. The Men’s Fellowship will meet at the St John Rec Center for breakfast and a few chores, but always some fun thrown in. Come join the group of ladies on Sat., Aug. 6 at noon or the fellers on Sat., the 13th of Aug. at 9 a.m.

God, this is definitely my least favorite time of year in Texas. The frolicking days of the new summer have gotten flame-torched into these breezeless scorching marathons that run deep into the night. Seems like everyone I run into is either cranky or bored. It’s too hot to breathe so we spend our days running from our air-conditioned cars to our air-conditioned houses. I just want to know when they are going to build the dang movie theatre in that cow pasture so we can escape this hellish existence without having to leave town. A bookstore would also be nice. And a Pei Wei Asian Diner.

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Let’s see, the library is still hosting a weekly story time on Wednesdays and Fridays. The pool is still open every day through August 22, and then only on weekends through Labor Day. There’s a city council meeting Tuesday, the 3rd, and Market Days the following Saturday, August 7 so mark your calendars and come downtown for these two diverse events.

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And happy birthday to one of downtown’s most ardent supporters, Gene Johnson, who celebrated last Sunday.

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I’m sure you’ve already heard by now that the riveting 2010-11 Annual Budget Proposal was unveiled at the council meeting last week. It’s quite a hefty tome, so luckily Mayor Johnson will be holding a Town Hall Meeting next Wednesday, from 7-8 p.m. at Kyle City Hall to discuss it. At this gathering she is “hoping to educate and involve the public in the budget process”. This is your chance to air your concerns and ideas (to someone who actually cares), so utilize this opportunity to get your questions answered and develop a clearer vision of how our city plans on spending your money.

Doak Walker ended the speculation about his future in football by announcing on July 29, 1955 that he had agreed to play one more season with the Detroit Lions.

Grantland Rice, dean of American sportswriters, called him “the most authentic all-around player in football history.” Doak Walker could do everything – run, pass, catch, punt and kick – and did it with a modest grace that endeared him to fans who never had heard of Southern Methodist University.

The three-time consensus All-American led the Mustangs to back-to-back Southwest Conference championships in 1947 and 1948, while winning every individual honor college football had to offer. (He was the first underclassman awarded the Heisman Trophy.) The Cotton Bowl had to add an upper-deck to accommodate the record crowds the triple threat attracted and became known as “The House That Doak Built.”

Following an injury-plagued senior season at SMU, an East Coast coach the Texan met at the College All-Star Game urged him to skip the NFL. There was no way his 5-foot-11, 165-pound body could withstand the punishment of the brutal professional sport with its crazy rule that the ball carrier was fair game even when he was down.

But Doak could not resist the challenge nor the long-awaited reunion with high school teammate Bobby Layne. The coach of the Detroit Lions was none other than Bo McMillin, one of the earliest All-Americans from the Lone Star State, and it was his brilliant idea to bring the two old friends together again in the same backfield.

In addition to Walker and Layne, McMillin stocked the Lions with other native Texans, several of whom were stars in their own right. They included with position, hometown and college: Yale Lary (safety and punter, Fort Worth, Texas A&M), Harley Sewell (lineman, Saint Jo, U.T.), Cloyce Box (receiver, Hamilton, West Texas State) and Bob Smith (halfback, Ranger, Iowa).

In 1950 Doak proved beyond all doubt that talent trumped size. He led the league in scoring with five rushing touchdowns, six receiving TD’s, eight field goals and 38 PAT’s to come within 10 points of the single-season best. The guy who was too small for the National Football League was everybody’s choice for Rookie of the Year.

Under the guidance of Buddy Parker, another Texan who stepped in for the terminally ill McMillin, the Detroit Lions played in three straight NFL title games. Each time the opponent was the Cleveland Browns, and Walker, Layne & Company took two out of three.

Doak was instrumental in both victories. After missing much of the 1952 season with a bad hamstring, he put the game out of reach with a sensational 67-yard touchdown run. The next year, he accounted for 11 of the Lions’ 17 points, including the PAT that broke a 16-16 tie late in the fourth quarter.

Doak was never an athlete in denial and always knew deep down that someday he would have to give up the game he loved. Looking back decades later on his decision to retire at the age of 28, he said, “I didn’t want to be one of those guys who stayed a year too long. I didn’t want to leave burned out or crippled.”

Then he added on a more positive note, “I’d been on three division champions, two world champions. I’d been to five Pro Bowls. I’d been All-Pro four times. What else was there to do?”

No one on either side of the field, not the Detroit Lions or the Philadelphia Eagles, kidded themselves about the unusually large turnout for an exhibition game on a hot August night in Dallas. The forty thousand fans were not about to miss Doak’s final appearance in the Cotton Bowl.

In a halftime ceremony, Number 37’s many admirers showered him with praise and presents. The State Fair presented him with a solid gold, lifetime pass to the stadium he “built,” and not to be outdone, Matty Bell, his former coach, handed him a solid gold membership card to the Mustang Club. It was hard to top the showroom-new Cadillac from a group of anonymous donors, but Doak’s ex-teammates gave it the good old college try with a gag gift – a broken-down jalopy.

The guest of honor almost made it through his appreciation speech but choked up when he tried to thank his parents.

Three months later, 43,000 Detroit faithful braved sub-freezing weather to pay a final tribute to the little Texan they had learned to love. It certainly was not their team that made them risk pneumonia, for the Lions were about to finish a disappointing season with nine losses in 12 games.

The lieutenant governor of the state of Michigan set the tone for Doak Walker Day by saying, “I want you to know that personally and officially we all regret seeing you leave.” Then came all the gifts and testimonials.

Finally, it was Doak’s turn at the microphone. “Looks like Christmas comes early,” he drawled. “I just want to thank you for giving me a home in Detroit and from a Texan that’s really something.”

“Secession & Civil War” – newest “Best of This Week in Texas History” collection available for $10.95 plus $3.25 postage and handling from Bartee Haile, P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 or order on-line at twith.com.

The Kyle Fire Depart-ment came to the library on Splash Day to give children fire safety tips and stayed to cool the kids down with a water hose. (Courtesy photos)

Norma Mercado (right) used a spider puppet while reciting There’s a Spider on the Floor to children attending Kyle Community Library story time. Norma was assisted by Kirsten Barbee (left) and Emily Mazanec (middle).

Check it out
by CONNIE BROOKS

Norma Mercado, Kyle Community Library’s beloved “Miss Norma,” is leaving the library to become Creedmoor Elementary

School’s “community liaison.” The staff and patrons of Kyle Community Library wish her well in her new position.

Norma became the storyteller at the Kyle Community Library on September 11, 2006. Before coming to the Kyle Library, Norma spent seven years as a family advocate for Head Start, where she did story times to give the Head Start teachers a much needed break.

In the fall of 2006, there was only one story time per week, instead of the three per week currently hosted by the library. Norma fondly remembers how Bill Mears, former library director, told her to plan for 20 children to attend that first story time, and only six came. This is quite a contrast to the present. Norma now plans for a hundred children to attend the three weekly story times, which include a story time in both English and Spanish on Friday mornings.

Adults, both patrons and staff members, also will miss Norma. Norma routinely goes the extra mile to help people and is famous for her mischievous sense of humor. Even when the line at the circulation desk is long and lots of people are vying for her attention, she always remains cheerful.

Norma’s last day of work at the Kyle Community Library will be Thursday, July 22—wrap-up day for the summer reading program. So come to the big party for the prize drawings, pizza, snow cones, moonwalk, face painting and train rides, but don’t forget to say goodbye to Norma.

Goodbye, Norma! Thanks for everything and good luck in your next job.

(Left to Right) Tammi Cornett, Tina Havard, Michelle Blanc and their kiddos enjoy a beautiful summer day with friends at a backyard bash for the Kyle MOMS Club.

Madeline Huebner cools off in Lake Travis.

Olivia Trube, daughter of former Buda Mayor John Trube, swings on the porch in Pass Christian, MS.

The Hays Free Press asked Buda and Kyle residents to send us photos of their family enjoying the dog days of summer. From local swimming holes to international adventures, here’s what they had to offer.

Mountain City residents may find the prickly but nutritious stinging nettle in the area. (Photo courtesy of www.natureasmedicine.wordpress.com)

Mountain City Montage
by PAULINE TOM

Whoa, Nettle-y! Who would’ve thunk it? After all this Montage’ing about coral snakes and Kiss’Me’ hunting, in slithered a tidbit pairing the two.

RonTom said, “Probably a little frog” as Kiss’Me’ whimpered and dug dirt at a little dog ramp just off our back porch. Just in case danger lurked, I held Kiss’Me’ while Ron flipped the ramp. CORAL SNAKE! Ron ran for a  shovel as I followed after the fast-moving serpent. KA-BAM! After halved in two, Ron chopped off her still moving and still venomous head.

Without the head, she measured 27 inches. I’m guessing “she,” since females run (slither?) longer.

You might say a coral snake, like pokeweed leaves, is “glabrous.” This columnist makes words up, but “glabrous” is for real.

Glabrous: Having no hairs, projections, or pubescence; smooth.

With that clue (and one embedded in this column), have you guessed the “unglabrous” plant that some folks prepare like pokeweed?

“Dandelions” came in as a good guess. But, I’m talking unglabrous-to-the-max.

Manuel, a magnificent painter, called to my attention a young plant in my lawn for which he could only say, “If baby touch it, baby cry.”

Stinging nettle! And, sure as hell, when I went to gather tidbits about a seemingly ubiquitous element of “nature in the yard,” I picked a bushel.

Two weeks in a row, a plant with edible parts has called itself to my attention. Some prefer stinging nettle to spinach. It’s rich in vitamins and protein.

Pick very young leaves (with gloves, long sleeves and pants.) Rinse. Boil. Then do it again. And, again. Just like pokeweed. And, dandelions.

Another nettle recipe calls for sautéing in olive oil with some garlic. Still yet, nettle pesto.

Stinging nettle online sells at $54 for two pounds.

Stinging nettle (think “needles”) burning can last for hours. Hairs cover the underside of leaves. When brushed, the tip of each hair breaks, forming a sharp needle that injects toxins into the skin.

Remedies include baking soda, mud, saliva, and pee. As for me and my household, we use Benadryl spray for household stings and itches.

Not only is nettle delicious (to some), it’s “dioecious.”

“Dioecious”: having separate male and female plants. (Dioecious plants make up about six or seven percent of plant species.)

To complicate learning, “nettle” is also monoecious. Wildflower.org explains, “Flowers are unisexual, with either male or female on a given plant, or on same plant with males in upper leaf axils, females lower.”

And, to complicate learning what to look for, Hays County is home to at least three distinctively different plants commonly known as “Stinging Nettle”: Texas Bull Nettle, Cnidoscolus texanus; Heartleaf Nettle, Urtica chamaedryoides (said to be the worst sting), and California nettle, Urtica dioica ssp. gracilis.

Two pecks down. Two to go. To be continued next week.

Take a break. No need for pecking tidbits to me this week.

Thanks! Love, Pauline

Buda historian Cecil Clark acknowledges one of the town’s most significant landmarks – the Live Oak Cemetery. (Courtesy photo)

Buda Bits
by SANDRA GRIZZLE

Voices of Hays County” will be heard in Buda on Friday, July 30, with the latest oral history series sponsored by the Hays County Historical Commission. The free event will feature Buda’s beloved Cecil Clark. Mark your calendar and plan now to attend at 6:30 p.m., in the Kunkel Room at Buda Elementary School.

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We recently learned of the death of former Buda resident Robert Holt. Robert was 86 years old and had been living at Regency Village Nursing Home in Austin for the past few years. He was a member of the Onion Creek Senior Citizens in Buda and had served on the board of directors for several years. He became known as the “donut man” because he would deliver donuts to the senior center as well as other offices around town. Burial was in South Carolina.

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Our prayers are needed for several of our friends. Ollie Boothe is suffering from shingles and is in lots of pain. Evelyn Hamilin who was involved in an automobile accident in which she was not hurt, but her car was a mess and also the accident was not her fault! Wally Bludworth fell while mowing his lawn last week and broke his hip. He had partial hip replacement surgery Tuesday morning at Seton Hays. Syd Hall had quadruple bypass heart surgery a few weeks ago and will be moved from the hospital to a rehab facility this week.

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Best wishes go out to Darlene and Brent Freitag who will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary July 25.

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Birthday wishes go out this week to one year old Maggie Koehn and Mike Owens on July 22; Debbie Lyons on July 24; Nell Watkins on July 25; T.J. Higginbotham on July 26; Elva Opiela on July 28.

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Garcia’s Small Engine Repair Shop, which is on North Main Street in Buda, will soon be moving to the IH-35 frontage road near Brake Specialists.

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Camper Clinic II is celebrating ten years in their Buda location.

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Center Union Missionary Baptist Church located at 905 West Goforth Road in Buda is offering a free community youth activity on Saturday, July 31 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Youth will learn how to use art as an expression to tie-dye t-shirts. Pre-registration is July 20-30. Contact Sister Emma Mouton at 512-295-4381 for information.

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A Place For Me, the new childcare center at Buda United Methodist Church is scheduled to open on August 23. The Christian Child Development Center is a 2, 3, and 5 day option Mother’s Day Out program and also offers an afterschool program for K-5th graders who attend Buda Elementary School. For more information, parents can contact Stephanie O’Neal at 295-2329.

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This year’s final free summer Concert in the Park will be Friday, July 23 starting at 7 p.m. with Tejano Night. Come out and enjoy the evening at Buda City Park.

For those of you who attempted to respond to the email address printed last week for a free chicken dinner at tonight’s Town Hall Meeting, I was just informed that there should have been an “s” after Kyle (brad@kylesvoice.com). Sorry about that. It’s still happening, tonight at 7 p.m. at City Hall, and Councilmember Pickett will be on-hand to give you the latest news in city government and is genuinely interested in hearing what you have to say. Free dinner and an opportunity for your concerns to actually be heard. Seems like a no-brainer.

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I guess the big news on Center Street this week must be the movie in the park on Friday night. Looks like the children’s classic “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” will be showing on the big out-door screen in Gregg-Clarke Park at 9:00 p.m. From what I hear, it’s a great way to wile away these Texas summer nights.

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And as for these Texas summer days, I saw fire trucks shooting plumes of cool water across Blanco Street last week and could hear the shrieks of happy kiddos a block away as the KFD entertained and enlightened local children at the Kyle Community Library annual Splash Day. Unfortunately, though, all good things must come to an end and the library will be wrapping up its 2010 Summer Reading Club with prizes and pizza, a moonwalk, face painting, train rides and snow cones. The festivities begin on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. so bring your final reading logs and reward yourselves for a job well done this summer. Last, but not least, don’t forget bilingual storytime on Friday at 10:30 a.m. The theme this week is “El Desierto”.

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Also, don’t lose sight of the fact that although we are under voluntary water restrictions and should only water between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10 a.m.  So, you guys in charge of watering around Target and Kohl’s, your incessant high-spray watering at three o’clock in the afternoon insults us all and makes you look like a bad neighbor. Lucky for us, though, was that incredible rain storm last Sunday afternoon. I had to smile when I walked out of the Free Press offices and saw the double rainbow spanning the tracks from Buda to San Marcos, it seemed, with Kyle cradled in its arc. Made me miss my old next door neighbors, Bret and Andy, who so loved rainbows. Validation, I suppose.

If you’re tired of the sight of your neighbor’s old car on blocks, or if you prefer the idea of your morning swim being a more private affair, then it might be time to turn your thoughts to creating screens and barriers with plants.

A few years ago Paul Kaskie (Southern Wood subdivision) wanted to screen out road noise, and wanted it fast.

He planted primrose jasmine (Jasminum mesnyi)… a sensible choice. This shrub is a fast grower, and has deep green leaves with lemon-yellow, unscented flowers in late winter and early spring.

It normally grows six feet high, but can grow like a vine up to 10 feet high if it has some support.  And if you give it adequate space, it can become two to three times as wide as tall.

Primrose jasmine can tolerate shade but does its best in partial to full sun. It can tolerate drought once established. However, it will grow faster and fill in better if it gets adequate water.

Paul showed me an effective and simple way to incorporate a drip irrigation system so that the newly planted plants could automatically get the water they needed to grow fast and thrive.

To provide regular water, Paul ran flexible ¾ inch drip pipe along the length of the planting row and pinned it to the ground. Later he hid the pipe under a cover of mulch.

At the base of each plant he inserted two to five gallon per hour emitters. At the water faucet end, he installed a battery timer that could be programmed for multiple start times and durations. This allowed him to water his screen without being there.

This was planted a few years ago, and the outcome is substantial and beautiful. Paul now has an effective sight and sound barrier.

On the other side of town, Paisley Robertson had a different dilemma: how to block the view of the two-story balcony porches that stared down upon her backyard.

Paisley’s solution: build a tall trellis and plant an evergreen flowering vine. By doing this she has flowers and an effective living barrier all year.

We live in an area where the climate allows us to choose from a variety of screening and barrier plants. Paul and Paisley both made good choices.

Here are some others:
On the evergreen vine side, my favorites are tangerine beauty crossvine, Texas coral honeysuckle, carolinae jasmine and confederate jasmine.

On the evergreen shrub side, there is yaupon holly, bay laurel (also a culinary herb), xylosma, eleagnus, compact cherry laurel, southern wax myrtle, the viburnums (at least five varieties to choose from), loquat, clumping bamboo and primrose jasmine.

If the irrigation part that I wrote about sounds a little difficult, give me a call, and I will be happy to give a hands-on demonstration.

Happy gardening everyone!

If you have a question for Chris, send it via email to iathyme@yahoo.com.  Or mail a postcard to It’s About Thyme: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748  www.itsaboutthyme.com