Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 11, 1985 Page: 1 of 16
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Vol. 15 No. 15
33<t plus 2<t tax
On Mustang Island
USPS 946-020
Thursday, April 11, 1985
ity
of
Aransa
I swear...
Place 1 city councilman Tom McNatt (left) and place 5 alderman Jimmy Barr (right) were
sworn in for a second term Monday night. Municipal Judge Duncan Neblett did the
honors. (Staff photo)
Easter crowds slim.
Good for lawmen, not so good for merchants
A combinat ion of events seemed
to have dealt a blow to anticipated
activity over Easter weekend.
By all counts the crowds were
down which means that everything
from sales to vandalism and arrests
were also down.
Precinct 7 Constable DeeWayne
Mathews attributed the small crowds
to two events held south of here. A
surfing contest at Padre Island
drew about 30,000 people accord-
ing to a report Mathews got from
Precinct 8 Constable Ronnie Pol
st on. Crowds were also heavy at the
Corpus Christi Naval Air Station's
annual Air Show featuring perfor-
mances by the Blue Angels. Those
events, Mathews said kept people
away from Port Aransas.
Mathews said it was “very slow,
probably the slowest we've itad in
many years.” He said activity by his
officers was no greater than a
“heavy weekend" with disorderly
conduct and public intoxication
the main problem areas. He said a
total of nine arrests were made.
Police Chief Doug Dombroski
estimated the crowd at 10,000 and
echoed t he sentiment that it was a
"light Easter”. He cited no discipline
problems and no traffic problems
other than one incident involving a
motorcyclist fleeing an officer.
A 39-year-old San Antonio man,
Thomas Rudy Murphy, was charged
with fleeing and eluding an officer,
driving while intoxicated and “var-
ious other traffic violations," Dom-
broski said.
Murphy was reported to have
fled when he was stopped for a t raf-
fic violation in the County Park on
the beach. He left the beach via
Avenue G, turned north on Alister
and east on Beach Street where a
police officer blocked the roadway
••'itb ’ >s vehicle. Murphy’s cycle hit
some loose sand and skidded to a
stop hitting the officer’s vehicle.
The arresting officer was Royce
Iberson.
Mathews and Dombroski said
that "in general” people are comply
ing with the new beach parking
permit stickers.
Chamber of Commerce manager
Lunette Nolte said “we had plenty
of vacancies" in reference to motel
and condominiums. She noted t hat
it was an orderly crowd from the
reports she has received although
"it was not the usual crowd" in
terms of numbers of people. She
noted that city and school board
elections throughout the state as
well as reports of a norther may
have also kept prospective beach
goers away.
Beach left
in good shape
City Operations Director Carl
Castell said visible damage to the
beach was less than during Spring
Break, but in terms of cost it was
more expensive. Vandalism to signs,
he said, will put a dent in City
coffers. He said there was “<|uite a
bit of glass on the beach" but very
few other problems. Castell said
that rain Monday morning delayed
clean tip operations, but signs of
clearing skies would mean stepped
up clean up on the beach.
Castell said that the crowds
"didn’t make a dent in the dunes".
From an economic standpoint,
the weekend started out with a
bang. Jim Magee of the Ice Box con
venience stores said business Fri
dav was “real good, we were way
ahead of last year.”
By mid afternoon Sat unlay, how-
ever, Magee said the pace had
dropped off noticeably. "It was a
good crowd but it let up," he said.
Sales of beach parking permits are
still brisk he noted.
From a real estate standpoint,
realtor Bill Whitten said that real
tors look forward to this weekend
when families come to the beach,
often with buying on their minds.
His weekend was busy and he ex-
pects the trend to continue.
“I’m real encouraged,” Whitten
said of real estate prospects for t he
coming tourist season. “There's an
awful lot available, a proliferation
of real estate to choose from. It’s a
buyer’s market," he said.
Whitten looks for the market to
“explode" when the oil industry
bounces back and interest rates
drop. Now he said, the real estate
market here “is in a stable period."
The statistical side of the story
shows that the number of round
trips made by the ferry during
East or weekend (counted front
Friday through Sunday) declined
from last year’s trips hv 23(5.
Last year the ferry boats made
18,11(5 round trips during Easter
weekend. That number dropped to
17,880 this year. The number of
round trips peaked on Friday of
hot h years and dropped off most on
Sunday. One more person walked
on to the ferry this year than last
with 387 boarding on foot.
Attention now turns to prepara
tion for the official opening of the
summer tourist season: Memorial
Day. That "holiday” is thr.ee months
long, beginning in June and ending
with Labor Day at the end of Aug
list. Many of the Island's businesses
depend on those three months td
carry them through the other nine
mont Its.
Boatman
//enry S tudemanrecognized
as 1 985 's man of the year
HENRY STUDEMAN
Fifteen of years earning a liv ing
off the sea as a charter member of
the Port Aransas Boatman, Inc.
netted Henry Studeman the 1985
Boatman of the Year Award.
Fellow members surprised St tide
man with the award Wednesday
night, April 3.
In an interview later, Studeman
said Ik* doesn’t know how or why he
got th<* award. "It canty as a sur-
prise to me," he said.
At 7(5, St ulieman is one of t he few
living charter members of t he assn
ciation of boatmen. He hasn't been
active in the association since he
sold the Del Mar Yacht Basin in
1957, he said.
Born in Okeene, Ok., he later
replanted his roots at Eagle Lake,
lie came to Port Aransas to fish and
finallv pulled up stakes and moved
here in 1932.
He started earning a living off t he
sea its a charter boat captain, then
opened the Del Mar Yacht Basin at
Cline's Point at the end of Station
Street where tin* private Turtle
Cove now st antis. From tin* yacht
basin he sold fishing tackle and
rented about 28 boat slips to boats
from 4(5 to 08 feet.
When hi* sold in 1957 he went to
work lor the telephone company,
lie is now special protects supervi-
sor for Mustang Telephone Co.
Studeman says he hasn't done
much fishing of late, but he has an
1 1 year old grandson expressing
an interest, so he’s going to bring
out t he gear and pass on to anot her
generation the trade on which Port
Aransas thrives.
Looking back on his years of fish-
ing and booking charters for a liv-
ing, Studeman says the biggest dif-
ference between then and now is
that then “there used to be fish to
catch."
Studeman will again In* recog
ni/.ed as Boatman of the Year din-
ing the 50th Annual Deep Sea
K Roundup in July.
On the beach...
Showers are packing the beach, further improving driving
conditions. The precipitation is also helping clean the
beach. A little seaweed can be found just above the water’s
edge, there is very little tar to mar a beach walk and shelling
is fair.
Weather watch...
Spring showers have come our way to turn grass green and
bring up a palate of colorful wildflowers. Temperatures will
be spring-like in the 70s and 80s. Seawater temperature
Wednesday morning was 68 degrees.
Runoff
Keene, Martin still in contest;
Sherrill, Littleton on School Board
One incumbent was ousted, one
faces a runoff and others were re-
elected during balloting Saturday,
April (5.
Elections were held for positions
on the City Council, School Board
and Water District Board.
Voter turnout was about 40 per-
cent of the 1(500 registered voters,
down somewhat from last year
when the mayor’s seat was left
vacant and four candidates queued
up for the post.
A four-way race for two at-large
positions on the School Board and
a four-way race for Place 3 on the
City Council drew voters to the
Community Center.
School Board
Incumbent Jim Cole fell short at
the ballot box while DeLana Lit -
t leton and Jim Sherrill found ample
support to give them seats on the*
School Board.
Sherrill took aim at Cole’s attend-
ance record during Candidates’
Night the Monday before the Sat-
urday election and in newspaper
advertising that Thursday. Cole
countered with his performance in
office,but apparently tin*effort was
not enough to keep him in office.
Sherrill is a vet eran of t he School
Board, having served as a member
and for a year as its president
before temporarily withdrawing
from public service.
Sherrill polled the most votes
with 357. Mrs. Littleton drew 33(5 to
her side. Cole garnered 244 votes
and Mark Creighton tallied 252
votes.
A total of (511 voters marked bal-
lots in thjs race compared to (504
voting in 1984.
Sherrill and Mrs. Littleton will be
sworn in at a meeting Monday,
April 15.
City Council
Ralph Gerald Keene goes against
Glenn Martin in a runoff election
Saturday, April 27, in an effort to
retain Place 3 on the City Council.
The two were the big vote-getters
out of a field of four. Martin lead
with 273, Keene polled 1(59, George
Swank paced Keene with 130 and
Parke Unangst pulled in (52 votes.
Incumbents in the two other
races were re-elected.
Tom McNatt turned back chal-
lenger James Sumner 358 to 24!) to
hold his Place 1 seat.
In Place 5 Jimmy Barr outdist-
anced two competitors, winning
with 450 votes. Robert Lawrence
received 111 votes and 5(5 votes
were cast in Norman White’s favor.
McNatt and Barr were sworn in
during a special meeting of the City
Council Monday, April 8.
Water Board
George Hawn and Jay Sanders
were re-elected to their at large
positions on the Water District
Board. Hawn polled 417 and Sand
ers drew 410. A total of 543 cast
ballots. They will Ik* sworn in at a
special meeting at 5 p.m. Friday,
April 12.
Honieport
Voters here favored selling $25
million worth of bonds if one of
three area sites is selected for the
U.S. Navy Honieport. The vote was
31 1 forantl247 against. Amongthe
sites being considered is Harbor
Island, across the Corpus Christi
Ship Channel from Port Aransas.
Other sites are Ingleside Point and
the Corpus Christi Naval Air Sta-
tion.
R u noff
Absentee voting in the Place 3
runoff election will get underway
Monday, April 15, and continue
through Tuesday, April 23. Voting
in person will be from 7 a.m. to 7
p.m. Saturday, April 27, at tlu*
Community Center.
Election at a glance
City Council
Total voting: 611 Place 5
Place 1
Norman White
56
Tom McNatt
358
Jimmy Barr
450
James Sumner
249
Robert Lawrence
1 1 1
Place 3
School Board
Total votinu: 6 1 1
Ralph G. Keene
169 ,
Mark Creighton
252
Parke Unangst Sr.
62
DeLana Littleton
336
Glenn Martin
273
Jim Sherrill
357
George Swank
130
Jim Cole
244
Individuals honored at
regional UIL competition
A bid for a fourth time at state
One Act play competition wasn’t in
t he cards for t Ik* Port Aransas High
School drama club.
Drama director Karen Mclntire
took her charges to Brenham for
competition at tin* regional level
Tuesday, April 9. Weslie Nixon and
Jim Beck tier were named to t he All-
Star cast and Sim Nicholson earned
honorable mention All Star Cast
honors.
After winning area competition
in Beeville last week, Mrs. Mclntire
said compel it ion t here was tougher
t han at (list riot and more st ringent
in ('lass A t han in t he ot her Classes.
She explained that with about 270
schools in ('lass A t he odds against
advancing to st ate compel it ion are
much greater. Only two plays from
each of the four regions of t he state
will compete in Austin April 27 for
tin* state title. It was not known at
press time which plays will repres
i*nt our region at the state contest.
This year’s entry from PAHS, The
Jurious Savage, represents a first
attempt at comedy after three
dramatic presentations which have
competed at state for the past
t hree years.
At the area contest in Beeville,
Miss Nixon was Best Actress; Saudi
Smith and Dee Smith were named
to the All-Star cast and honorable
mention All Star cast members in
eluded Jim Beckner and Laura Lee
Magness.
Advancing wit h PAHS to regional
was The Saga of Katie and the
Gambling Lady, a western melo-
drama by Nueces Canyon High
School. Others competing at area
were Knippa, Falls City, Flatonia
and A list well-Tivoli.
Mrs. Mclntire said t hat of t he six
plays at area, three were weak and
"t hree were really good ones. 1 kind
of hold my breath. This was much
tougher t han (listrid."
Judging the area contest was I)r.
Randall Buchanan, Texas A(VI I ni
versity drama professor. He com
mented on the “distinct characteri
zation and lovely handling of dia
login*.’’ He also noted the "nice
maturity and control exhibited by
all actors, particulary Weslie."
The public will be treated to
a dinner theatre performance of
the play Saturday, April 20.
Starring students
UIL actors from Port Aransas High School presented "The Curious Savage” at regional
competition in Brenham. The cast includes (I to r) Dee Smith (hidden), Corey Keniston,
Rebecca Sheppard, Kim Flood, David Cullen, Weslie Nixon (All-star Cast), |im Beckner
(All-star Cast), Sim Nicholson (honorable mention All-star Cast), Richard Leucht, Laura
Lee Magness and Sandi Smith. Karen Mclntire is the drama director. (Photo by Bill
Mclntire)
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Judson, Mary. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 15, No. 15, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 11, 1985, newspaper, April 11, 1985; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth662973/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.