FALL 2011 A PUBLICATION OF THE EL JARDIN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Join El Jardin del Mar on Facebook! For El Jardin events, photos, newsletters and more, visit www.eljardindelmar.org Important Contacts Emergencies 911 ActionLine 713-475-5555 Non-emergency Police 713-475-5568 Public Works 713-475-7836 Animal Rescue & Assistance 281-991-0602 Pasadena City Hall 713-477-1511 Emergency Preparedness 713-475-5588 Pasadena Recycling 713-922-1000 City of Pasadena Website www.ci.pasadena.tx.us Please recycle this newsletter! Bayfest Thank You By: Sue Hayes The EJCA officers would like to give all the neighbors who helped at Bayfest a huge THANK YOU! What you may not realize is that the biggest challenge with putting on Bayfest is getting enough people to help. So I personally want to thank all who came out and helped make this year the great success that it was. We received donations from all the industries on Port Road. Without their support, the cost to put on Bayfest would be almost insurmountable. We also had help from Red’s--they donated the egg rolls and much of the ice that is needed to keep the soft drinks and beer cold. The Fire Department also donated ice from their ice machine and the generator for the food booth. Without the generator, there would be no nachos or popcorn. Paul Nederland is to be thanked for cooking the brisket, sausage, and corn. Bayfest is truly a community event. Without our friends and neighbors, this event could not happen.
Transcript
FALL 2011
A PUBLICATION OF THE
EL JARDIN COMMUNITY
ASSOCIATION
Join El Jardin del Mar on Facebook!
For El Jardin events, photos, newsletters and more, visit www.eljardindelmar.org
Important Contacts
Emergencies 911
ActionLine
713-475-5555
Non-emergency Police
713-475-5568
Public Works
713-475-7836
Animal Rescue & Assistance281-991-0602
Pasadena City Hall
713-477-1511
Emergency Preparedness
713-475-5588
Pasadena Recycling
713-922-1000
City of Pasadena Website
www.ci.pasadena.tx.us
Please recycle this newsletter!
Bayfest Thank You By: Sue Hayes
The EJCA officers would like to give all the neighbors who helped at Bayfest a huge THANK YOU! What you may not realize is that the biggest challenge with putting on Bayfest is getting enough people to help. So I personally want to thank all who came out and helped make this year the great success that it was.
We received donations from all the industries on Port Road. Without their support, the cost to put on Bayfest would be almost insurmountable. We also had help from Red’s--they donated the egg rolls and much of the ice that is needed to keep the soft drinks and beer cold. The Fire Department also donated ice from their ice machine and the generator for the food booth. Without the generator, there would be no nachos or popcorn. Paul Nederland is to be thanked for cooking the brisket, sausage, and corn.
Bayfest is truly a community event. Without our friends and neighbors, this event could not happen.
Treasurer’s Chest By: Wyatt McCormack
Bayfest 2011: Another Great Year!
Despite recent drainage pipe construction impacting the road, the public turned out on a gorgeous day to celebrate Bayfest with us. Numerous volunteers were able to work effectively to put together the annual event almost seamlessly. In fact, we were able to find hay and offer hay rides for our guests--an impressive feat given the drought!
I would like to thank our sponsors: American Acryl, N.A. Industries, Odfjell, LCB/Houston Baton Rouge and the Port of Houston Authority for their gracious donations to this community. While the final numbers are not yet in, the event netted nearly $7,000 (up from last year!). Thank you again to all the volunteers and sponsors who help make this event a success!
Frederick S.Weis By: Joan McMillan, Weis Art & Historical Preservation Committee
If you are fairly new to our little community of El Jardin, perhaps you have not heard of Frederick S. Weis or the love of his life, his wife Adeline. Mr. Weis was a man of many talents and he showered El Jardin with those talents from the 40s, when he and Adeline first moved here, until his death in 1976.
I moved to El Jardin many years after his death but fell in love with the Weis House, the Weis legacy and the history of El Jardin. While many of our founding families have wonderful histories of their own, the Weis’ were unique. He was an artist of tremendous talent; she was a nurse and writer whose abilities complemented her husband’s. After a long illness, Adeline died in 1958 and Frederick found comfort in the many friends they had made in El Jardin. The room currently used as a storage room in the Weis Community house was an addition he had built onto his Studio By the Sea for the children. It was there that he started the Junior Artist League and taught dozens of the youth from Seabrook to Shoreacres how to draw and paint. Some of those children are still living in El Jardin and the surrounding communities, and the EJCA still has much of the artwork done by these children.
After his death, his heirs donated the studio/house to the (then) El Jardin Property Owners Association. Along with the house, which is our community meeting center, they left some of the artwork that he had created over a period of 40 or more years. We have been able to use his sketches in various ways. Lucy Klopp, a former resident and friend of the Weis’, used some in her book, “A History of El Jardin del Mar.” Sally Antrobus, a local resident in Seabrook, wrote “Galveston Bay” in which she used 20 of the Weis sketches. This past month, partly due to this latter book, the Weis drawings were once again used in an exhibit at the Mitchell Center for the Arts at the main campus of the University of Houston.
In a dark and troubled time in the past I wrote, “Without history, we cannot go forward, for we will lose our way. It is in the light of our history, that we can see the path to the future.” The history of El Jardin del Mar is warm and full of life. I can only hope that the residents who live here now will take a part in helping to keep El Jardin truly the Garden by the Sea. Join the association; be a part of the history for the next generation. copy of original art by Frederick Weis
EJCA General MeetingBy: Sue Hayes
It is again time for the EJCA fall General Meeting. It will be held at the Weis House on November 12th at 4:00 pm. This is usually a short meeting as the main topic is a recap of Bayfest.
EJCA will provide brisket. You are encouraged to bring a dish to share. This is a great time to come and visit with your neighbors. Hope to see you there!
Judging by the banter and bul lying on the basketbal l courts, it would make sense. Kindly ask your child to keep the foul language and crude manners on the bay, not the playground. Help us keep the park family-friendly.
Gardening doesn’t only have to happen in the spring. Here are some ways you can take advantage of our cooler temperatures.• When leaves start to fall, you can more easily see the
shape of your trees. Pruning is easier. Just remember that spring-flowering trees have already set their flower buds for next year.
• Avoid heavy pruning of roses and other shrubs. You don’t want to stimulate new growth right before winter.
• Put in a garden! These are great fall/winter veggies: lettuce, greens, cabbage, garlic, leeks, spinach, turnips, broccoli, & cauliflower.
• Add a little color to the drought-stricken landscape with a pot or two of annuals. Look for chrysanthemums, marigolds, and pansies.
• Plan for winter and spring blooms. Now is the time to get bulbs in the ground. I’ve had pretty good luck with hyacinth, lilies, and even ranunculus.
• Sit back and enjoy the fact that you’re not mowing. Sure the grass may have died months ago but you can just pretend it’s dormant.
• If you’re like me, you still need to dig out the sad remains of your spring/summer garden. You can do it now without fearing a heatstroke.
• As the growing season winds down, take stock of your gardening tools. Clean and/or sharpen them before putting them away for a few months.
• And if you actually enjoy working in the yard, now is the time to dream about spring.
Is Your Child a Sailor?
Welcome, Fall!
On Wednesdays, the City of Pasadena collects recycling in El Jardin. You don’t even have to separate types of recycling--throw your plastic, glass, metal, and aluminum in the big blue plastic bags provided by the city. A quick rinse of food containers is preferable and helps keep bugs away. Paper can be bundled or placed in paper bags. Easy, right? The only tricky part is remembering what days they collect paper and what days they collect everything else (it switches every other week). Here’s the upcoming schedule:
November: Paper on the 9th and 23rd; all others on the 2nd, 16th, and 30th December: Paper on the 7th and 21st; all others on the 14th and 28th January: Paper on the 4th and 18th; all others on the 11th and 25th
As a reminder, normal trash days are Tuesdays and Fridays.
A big thank you goes out to the Fire Department for watering the Magnolia tree at the bay front park. They have also been watering the vegetation by the entrance sign on El Jardin Drive. The fire department must fully discharge its water supply periodically and volunteered to water neighborhood plants rather than direct the water down the drain. With the lack of rain, this is the only way these plants could survive this summer. We are very lucky to have a pumper truck and volunteer firemen that help us out in this situation.
“Thanksgiving is the day when you turn to another family member and say, ‘How long has Mom been drinking like this?’ My mom, after six Bloody Marys looks at the turkey an goes, ‘Here, kitty, kitty.’” - David Letterman
“Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often.” - Johnny Carson
“Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half-times take 12 minutes. This is not coincidence.” - Erma Bombeck
“Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants.” - Kevin James
El Jardin Drainage Pipe By the time this newsletter goes to press, the installation of the drainage pipe from Charles Ditch to the bay will have been completed. The foreman told me that at the top of the hill there will be a catch basin that the City of Pasadena can come pump out. This will prevent any trash from being washed into the bay. Close to the bay-end of the drain pipe they are going to install a back-flow preventer so the bay water will not come up the pipe.
A Little of This and a Little of That By: Sue Hays
EJCA Meetings
Held on the 3rd Monday of the month
7:00 pm at the Weis House
All residents welcome!
The El Jardin Community Association, a non-profit organization, needs your monetary support!
Where does this money go?• It keeps the common areas (like the parks) maintained.• It pays for gasoline and tractor maintenance for lawn mowing.• It pays for the maintenance costs for the playground equipment.• It keeps the electricity running at the Weis House.
• It gave us our awesome entrance sign.
Historically, only about 12% of households pay these low annual dues. Just think of what we could do if everyone donated! Please do your part to help make our community the best it can be!
El Jardin Community AssociationMembership Registration
P.O. Box 1115Seabrook, Texas 77586
Dues: $35.00 per year for June 1, 2011 - May 31, 2012
