The competition for table design at the Seton High Tea is always a highlight of the annual fundraiser.

The popular Seton Tea will take place at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 28 at The Hills Country Club.

Make reservations now for this delightful event. Local organizations, businesses and individuals design and decorate the tables.
The tables showcase the most exquisite table-settings designed around a theme.
In order to attend this event individual tickets are available for $30 per person which includes a delicious traditional English High Tea.
Mail reservation checks to Barbara Beebe at 712 Vanguard, Lakeway, 78734.
Those who are interested in designing a table of 10 for the competition may contact Barbara Beebe at 261-1711. For information, call  Nancy Clayton at 267-7759.
All proceeds from the event benefit Seton Shoal Creek Psychiatric Hospital in Austin, the only acute care psychiatric hospital in Central Texas that treats children, teens and adults.  The hospital offers both in-patient and outpatient programs for people struggling with mental disorders, chemical dependency, detoxification, emotional and/or behavioral problems.
For membership information about organization, call Beth Maher at 261-8059.

Georgetown CID Detective Ruben Vasquez, will be the guest speaker at Sisters in Crime on Sunday.
Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter meets monthly on the second Sunday of the month at 2 p.m. at the Westlake Barnes & Noble bookstore at the southeastcorner of Loop 360 and Bee Cave Road in The Village at Westlake shopping center.
Vasquez started his law enforcement career in 1992 for the Nueces County Sheriff’s Department in Corpus Christi.
During his time there, he worked on the streets as a patrol officer as well as in warrants and the jail. He made a move to Georgetown Texas in 2003 and was a dedicated patrol officer for four years and also serving as a field training officer where he would train the new recruits.
He has since moved to Criminal Investigations Division where he is a major crimes detective and an investigator for sexual and physical child abuse. On top of his regular duties, Vasquez is also the lead hostage negotiator for the Georgetown Police Department, as well as a mental health officer and instructor.
As the mental health instructor, he teaches other officers about what to expect, and how to handle situations when they come in contact with people who have mental health issues such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism and others. He’s worked in CID for four years and has been with the Georgetown Police Department for eight years.
Sisters in Crime is an international organization of women and men whose purpose is to promote mysteries written by women, and combat discrimination against women mystery authors.
Speakers include published mystery authors and technical experts who help writers craft better mysteries and readers enjoy what they read.
Meetings are free and open to all.
For information, visit the Sisters in Crime website at www.hotxsinc.org.

If you could run to save someone’s life, would you get off the couch and go the distance?

Meet Peggy. She’s a 55 year-old wife, mother and grandmother. Rising before most school kids, Peggy begins her day at 5:30 a.m. with a three-to-five mile run, and on the weekends, Peggy runs longer distances with her Team in Training group around the hills and neighborhoods of Lake Travis.

Two weeks ago, after finishing a group run, Peggy led her peers to the mobile blood drive sponsored by the local Lions Club. Together with her team, Peggy’s running crew gave 16 pints of blood, almost half of the record amount collected that day.

“Peggy told us that she wanted to host a blood drive in honor of her sister, Jackie,” says David Hanson, Lions Club Blood Drive Coordinator. “Her energy and passion helped inspire her friends and supporters to donate. There’s a story behind every donor and receiver, and typically, that story is never fully expressed.”

But if you ask Peggy why she started running and supporting the local blood drives in her community, you’ll uncover the struggle behind the stride.

Peggy is a six-year breast cancer survivor. Diagnosed at the age of 49, a lumpectomy and six weeks of radiation knocked out her aggressive form of cancer thanks to early detection. Through this experience, Peggy became stronger, more resilient and discovered the fighter inside. After six years cancer-free, Peggy needs these survival skills not only for herself, but also to help her sister, Jackie.

Every morning that Peggy laces up her running shoes, Jackie is in the back of her mind. Jackie, Peggy’s older sister, has been fighting for her life every single day since 2005. Diagnosed with leukemia, breast and bone cancers, Jackie has endured several painful rounds of chemotherapy and years of illness.

While trying to find a way to help her sister, Peggy found Team in Training (TNT) through a close friend’s recommendation.

“My friend, Donice, signed up and told me that I should join,” says Peggy. “She knew that my sister was diagnosed with Leukemia, and that I had been raising money for the American Cancer Society.”

TNT is the world’s leading sports charity training program, and its members support and raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Through TNT, Peggy began an athletic journey, becoming a marathon runner in honor of her sister. Since her first group run, Peggy has participated in several events such as the San Antonio and San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon, the Mayor’s Marathon Race in Anchorage, Alaska and ZOOMA Austin Half Marathon and 5K.

“The important thing about ZOOMA and their partnership with TNT is that through their support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, ZOOMA is getting people involved in raising money to find the cure for diseases that affect everyone,” says Peggy. “Every family has a story about someone who needs our help for a cure!”

This year, ZOOMA will bring TNT groups from Austin, San Antonio and the Valley to participate in the ZOOMA Austin Half Marathon. ZOOMA Austin’s 3,000 participants are sisters, mothers, daughters and friends. Several have stories just like Peggy’s, journeys of personal triumphs and tragedies. But for 13.1 or 3.1 miles, these women are able to put their struggles aside and celebrate their victories with loved ones.

Celebrations overflow to the course, as well. Spectator cheering sections line the streets to show support for the runners. During the times that Jackie has felt good, she has been in those crowds cheering for Peggy. Also placed along the scenic ZOOMA route are signs containing words of encouragement. All of this energy leads up to that euphoric step across the finish line, where ZOOMA participants are treated to some TLC at an expo featuring spa treatments, massage, shopping and bubbly to toast their achievement.

Next time you see a neighbor, like Peggy, out running in your community, maybe you’ll join them for a few miles and a lot of support. For Peggy, pounding the pavement is hope that someday her sister and all others faced with the diagnosis of cancer, will know a cure for their disease. With hundreds of miles under her belt and counting, Peggy considers each step an opportunity to help. “Each mile is dedicated to special people in my life and the last mile is for my sister, Jackie! “

Peggy will be attending the ZOOMA Austin Half Marathon and 5K on Saturday, April 16th at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa in Bastrop, Texas. For more information, visit www.zoomarun.com.

The Hills residents Bill and Reid Kirchenbauer have enjoyed their share of the spotlight. Bill starred in film and TV roles that spanned the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s highlighted by series appearances on “Fernwood 2 Night,” “Mork & Mindy” and “Growing Pains” and a lead role on its spin-off, “Just the Ten of Us.” Reid, 19, followed with commercials such as Toys “R” Us and Oscar Mayer and with a role as a Whobris in the Jim Carrey-film “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” in his youth.

The father-son duo also starred together as humans dressed as bunnies in a Toblerone Easter commercial.

Bill, who was adopted in Austria by a military family that moved about 12 times in 13 years, entertained to assimilate into each new neighborhood by doing puppet shows at school and then ventriloquism with a Jerry Mahoney puppet until he became a teenager.

“Then my buddies started asking me why I had so many dolls,” he joked.

As he took theater, Bill switched over to doing impressions as a teen-ager of John F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne and Hubert Humphrey and learned by watching Rich Little and David Frye.

After graduating from high school in 1971, he worked on the air at his college’s radio station for two years before following his girlfriend out to California. While the relationship didn’t pan out, he stuck around out west, mostly because he lacked the money to go home. So, he got an apartment on his own where his first pieces of furniture were his luggage.

He studied mime for three years, which he said led to some of the physical comedy he did such as impressions of a garbage truck, stick of chewing gum and a typewriter. Comedy, he found, was his calling.

His parents were supportive, but his father wanted him to have something to fall back on if comedy didn’t pan out.

“I told him, ‘Dad, there’s literally more guys that can cut your head open and take your brain out and show it to you and put it back in and sew it up, than do what I do. But that changed over the years,” Bill recalled of the days before comedy clubs and Comedy Central attracted a proliferation of punch line pretenders.

One night as he was performing, a group of shadowy figures walked into the club. They shuffled around in the back where he couldn’t see them, but the aspiring comedian was bothered by the commotion and told them to shut up or get out, which they did immediately without a scene. After the show, the stage manager told Bill he might as well leave town because he kicked out Merv Griffin and his producer.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God’ what have I done,’” he recalled.

The faux pas didn’t hinder his rise to stardom. He landed several appearances on “Fernwood 2 Night” as character Tony Rolletti based on a nightclub singer at a Holiday Inn where Bill worked as a busboy.

“That was the first acting I did where I got a check,” Bill said.

Bill’s career started to take off when he won the first and only L.A. Stand Up Competition where George Carlin was a judge.

“That’s how I became friends with him. I killed, and he came out and gave me a hug,” he recalled.

The victory propelled him onto “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” in the late ’70s, where he appeared 14 times.

“I’ve always been funny. I found it enjoyable. I like to watch people laugh,” Bill said.

He had met his wife, Lynn, while doing a show in Dallas and after trying the long-distance thing, she moved to L.A. and they married in 1988.

Bill got the shot at his big breakout role when his guest role as Coach Lubbock on “Growing Pains” caught the attention of studio executives and viewers. Lynn answered the phone one day and told Bill that three producers from “Growing Pains” all wanted to speak to him.

“I thought, ‘Oh, what did I do?’” he said, fearing that he might have accidentally held his hand so it looked like he was making a rude gesture on camera.

“I picked up the phone, and they said … ‘How would you like your own show,’” he said. “I couldn’t believe it. It was like one of those movie moments.”

A confusing title of “Just the Ten of Us” — think “Eight is Enough” — and lack of creative control hindered the show, Bill said, and after three seasons ABC cancelled it.

“It’s not exactly what I would have picked for myself, but I know great guys — very funny guys — that have been sucked up into the machinery of network television and spit out like white bread,” he said. “It happens all the time, and it’s hard. It’s art through committee.”

Bill continued his career, hosting talk shows and a hidden camera show, and Reid was born in 1992. They quickly found that the apple indeed didn’t fall far from the tree.

“People were attracted to him, and he was always friendly and outgoing,” said Bill, who found him an agent.

In Reid’s first commercial role he was dressed as a cowboy in a Pringles ad when he was 5 years old.

“I was very young at the time, but I took it pretty well I think. It was kind of natural to me,” he recalled.

Crackerjack, Toys “R” Us and Sears commercials followed. Reid’s acting highlight came in 2000, when he played an 8-year-old Whobris in a classroom flashback scene in “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.”

He worked with director Ron Howard and watched Jim Carrey chase studio tour buses in his Grinch suit, in which he also smoked cigarettes.

“He was a great director, but I didn’t really know who [Howard] was. He was a very nice guy. I saw a little bit of Jim Carrey,” Reid said.

The city that fed their careers also threatened to devour their family’s happiness, and the lifestyle eventually convinced them to return to Lynn’s home in Texas.

Life in Texas has treated them well. Bill continues to do corporate and casino comedy shows, writes and creates podcasts in Texas while acting in some film roles and selling caviar to local restaurants.

Reid has developed an interest in international business and in 2013 plans to attend Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, which was founded by Northwestern University.

“It’s one of the nicest schools in southeast Asia,” he said in eager anticipation of moving into a condo paid for by his acting work and receiving his diploma from the king of Thailand.

Bill has embraced the Lake Travis area that he believes is ready for a comedy club that offers a different experience from the Austin comedy clubs that cater to college students’ tastes.

“There’s really nothing out here where you can go and have dinner and a show or some entertainment,” he said with ideas of bringing in a variety of acts such as jugglers, magicians and ventriloquists. “There’s a big spectrum of entertainment that could be done out here that I think would pull people in. I think people around here would eat it up.”

One might think an auctioneer’s wife would have to ask him to slow down when he’s talking, but Scott Swenson swears his spouse spurs him to spit his syllables out.

Swenson used to race across the state to multiple auctions on the same day; however, the Lakeway resident and owner of United Country Jones Swenson Auction Marketing, said he’s more deliberate in his words and actions now after conducting more than 1,200 auctions.
“Most people when you say you’re an auctioneer, equate that to ‘Oh, you talk real fast!’” Swenson said. “I do when I’m calling bids, generally.”
The 1992 Texas State Champion Auctioneer and current president of the Texas Auctioneers Association said the speed of the sales depends on the number of lots and complexity of the items.
Auctioneers take their time at real estate auctions where newcomers might need a slower pace, but a business liquidation of hundreds of lots necessitates brisk business.
“We’re trying to make use of every second,” Swenson said.
An auctioneer’s ability to gauge an audience can make or break an auction.
“You have to read your crowd. We have times where we go fast once people get bidding [at charity auctions] because it’s fun and people like the way it sounds,” he said. “But when someone gets a quizzical look on their face, then I slow down.”
Auctioneers also have to constantly evaluate not only the value of each item in their heads while calling but also keep track of where the bids are, have they reached the item’s value and if there’s a reason why the bids have not reached the item’s value and how likely it is they will get to that level.
The industry that dates back to 500 B.C. has entered the 22nd century by incorporating online bidding into the mix.
At a recent auction in Irving for a sign company’s liquidation, Swenson’s company online bidders from 18 states, Mexico and Canada in addition to bidders in the room.
Mexico, Vietnam, China, India and other countries frequently bid on industrial equipment.
“The Internet has radically changed our industry,” Swenson said, adding that some companies hold auctions exclusively online. “It’s been a great tool for us to help our sellers and make it more convenient for our buyers.”
Online auction giants such as eBay or classified advertising sites such as Craigslist haven’t cut into the business, Swenson said, rather they have introduced the auction process to more people.
Swenson learned of auctioneering when he attended a Czechoslovakian wedding in Waco where an auctioneer pitted uncles from each side of the family in a bidding war over the bride’s garter belt for the money to go to the couple’s honeymoon fund.
“I thought that sounds like it would be fun,” he recalled of learning from the auctioneer what it would take to be a professional. “It came more naturally for me than I expected.”
He was attending Texas A&M University at the time, but graduated from Britten Auction Academy in 1983 where he learned from the late auctioneer Walter Britten.
Swenson got a “real job” in Houston and auctioneered part-time, but he soon discovered that the part-time gig earned him more money, so he became a full-time run-and-gun.
The title reminiscent of Old West guns for hire describes an auctioneer who goes from one auction to the next working for a different employer each time.
“It’s a busy, tough schedule,” he said. “While I did some of that in my younger years, I decided that was not what I wanted to do; I wanted to run an auction company.”
His company specializes in real estate auctions and business liquidations, but Swenson has sold his fare share of unique items.
Shaving mugs from the 1800s and a pair of columns from a Masonic Lodge produced many queries and as many buyers. His company conducted the postproduction auction for 2004’s “The Alamo” to sell props and other movie memorabilia.
“You have to learn about a lot of different merchandise. That’s one of the things that makes it fun,” Swenson said.
Preparing for an auction constitutes the bulk of the business. Auction firms meet with clients such as companies that have to close their doors or business owners who are retiring. Banks that have foreclosed on a property need a return on the site.
“We are in the marketing business. The day of the auction is an important part of it, but it’s a smaller part. We have to make sure people are sitting in the crowd first of all to bid,” he said, noting that the economy has generated more business.
In some cases, businesses contact auction companies mere days before their deadline to unload warehouses full of inventory.
That whips auction crews into action to organize lots, appraise and photograph them to post online and then market the auction to potential bidders. In many cases, they have to clean the business that will be the site of the auction.
United Country Jones Swenson Auction Marketing staffs four full-time auctioneers and brings at least two auctioneers to each event to ensure one can fill in for the other should misfortune occur. Britten and his auctioneer understudy would drive in separate cars to livestock auctions.
“God forbid, if I fell and broke my leg in the parking lot trying to get in the door and somebody takes me to the hospital, there’s still going to be an auction,” Swenson said.
The Texas A&M University graduate teaches five auctioneer courses a year at the Texas Auction Academy in Dallas and is a continuing education instructor for the Texas Auctioneers Association.
He is as dedicated in his desire to give back to the community he’s been a part of since 1995 by helping raise more than $8 million at local charity fund-raisers for Lake Travis Education Foundation, Lake Travis Circle of Friends, Boy Scouts, Lakeway Police Department Memorial and Benevolent Foundation, Lake Travis ISD schools, Ducks Unlimited and Rotary clubs.
“We really like Lakeway. We really do,” he said slowly and deliberately.

Lake Travis Community Library was recently awarded a national Ezra Jack Keats grant to fund their monthly ABC’s of Cooking class.

The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation offers “mini-grants” of $500 to school and public libraries for programs that encourage literacy and creativity in children.
“We are thrilled to be awarded this national grant,” said Library Director Morgan McMillian. “We had a cooking class this summer and it was wildly successful, so we decided to make it a monthly event. The ABC’s of Cooking has been so popular that we have had to limit the class to 12 children. Show up early to get a spot on January 18th!”
The ABC’s of Cooking is held the third Tuesday of every month at 3:45 p.m. for 5 to 10 year olds. Librarian Sue Gilman teaches youngsters simple recipes such as solar powered s’mores, ladybugs on a log, and even butter. As a former nutrition major at Cornell University, Sue is also able to incorporate lessons about healthy eating habits and nutrition.
“In January, all of our recipes will feature some aspect of winter fun,” said Gilman. “We will be cooking Snowman Soup, igloos, and I am especially excited to see the tortilla snowflakes pile up!”
The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation began in 1964 with the goal to fund programs benefiting children. Illustrator Keats is the author of Caldecott Medal winning Snowy Day and is one of the most popular children’s authors of the twentieth century. Keats is best known for introducing multiculturalism into mainstream American children’s literature and published more than 85 books for children throughout his career.
Contact the library for more information at (512) 263-2885 or www.laketravislibrary.org.

Realizing the answer to this question will provide a richer and fuller life, a life of greater relevance, women are seeking the answer to that personalized knowledge within themselves.

Although Elizabeth chose to travel to Italy, India, and Bali to find the answer, Oprah points out, “You don’t have to travel across the world, like Elizabeth Gilbert, to reclaim your life.” You can do it right here.

This where Lakeway resident, Lori Anderson, comes in. With a background in Psychology and certification as a Passion Test Facilitator, she takes women on a journey — a journey within, connecting them to their true self. This transformation is achieved easily and effortlessly using proven tools and principles, such as The Passion Test, that have guided thousands of people across the world, from successful CEOs to enlightened Saints in India.

All who have completed this work have found deeper clarity as to who they really are and experienced a positive shift in their lives as a result.

“It’s a day when you shut off your cell phone and the ‘outside’ world for a few hours and allow yourself to go ‘inside’ for deep and rich self-discovery. The result: a happier, healthier, more rejuvenated and genuine you. That’s where the real magic in your life begins,” said instructor Anderson. “As women, mothers, care-takers, career women — we are all giving of ourselves, naturally. Without hesitation, we put the needs of our loved ones before our own so much of the time. And sometimes that’s all we want to do — there’s certainly a time for that. We need to be very aware and wise to the fact, however, of how important it is to take care of ourselves as well, so that you don’t find yourself one day feeling completely depleted. Taking care of yourself allows you to be a better mother, wife, friend, person. When you take care of yourself, you naturally become a brighter light to those around you.”

On Saturday, Oct, 16, 2010, this special workshop for women will be held at the Lakeway Activity Center called, “Discover Your Passions & Unleash Your Amazing Potential.”

When disasters devastate entire countries, such as the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12 and the 8.8-magnitude disaster that hit Chile on Saturday, the world reels in shock but millions react with aid.

Lakeway resident Sandy Larson, RN, has been at the forefront of disaster relief and humanitarian efforts as a registered nurse working aboard hospital ships.
When Larson read about Project HOPE’s need for qualified nurses to work onboard the USNS Comfort off the coast of Port-au-Prince, she signed up immediately for a three-week volunteer rotation.
The Comfort had been in dry dock in Baltimore, Md., when the earthquake ravaged Haiti, but the U.S. Navy ship and its crew were called into duty and set sail Jan. 16. The ship primarily supports overseas military operations, but its secondary mission is to provide a full hospital service for other government agencies involved in the support of relief and humanitarian operations worldwide.
As the 894-foot Comfort sailed to the Caribbean as part of Operation Unified Response, workers outfitted the ship in transit and 26 volunteers, including Larson, flew on a military cargo transport Jan. 27 from Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida to Toussaint Louverture Airport in Port-au-Prince with a brief stop at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Before the Comfort moored, helicopters began flying patients in for surgery and treatments.
Within two hours of arriving onboard, Larson’s group began a grueling cycle of relief. She worked 16 shifts of 12 hours each.
“I quickly realized it would be sleep and work,” Larson said. “It was exhausting for everybody, no doubt.”
The 1,000-bed floating hospital ship took on 700 patients initially and continued taking up to 100 new patients each day to treat in eight operating rooms.
Project HOPE volunteers who supplemented military personnel included medical professionals with experience in surgery, neonatal intensive care, pediatrics, post anesthesia care, intensive care and physical therapy.
As a critical care nurse for 26 years at Seton Medical Center Austin in its intensive care unit and several decades, Larson is no stranger to working on international relief projects and hospital ships.
She feels that she has been blessed with good health and skills that have been of value to these missions.
“I firmly believe that to whom much has been given, much is expected,” she said.
She served on a couple of short-term, land-based missions in Panama and in 2007 she served a month on GRT Africa Mercy harbored in Liberia. Larson also was familiar with the USNS Comfort from a Project HOPE humanitarian mission last spring for six weeks in the Caribbean, including a stop at Haiti.
“I had been ashore two or three times there, so I had a pretty good sense of what I was getting into. I knew it was going to be a way more intense scene than I had been a part of in the spring,” Larson said, adding that her three-week rotation was her first nursing mission to support disaster relief.
She learned that flexibility was the key word.
“You have to be able to go with the flow. In that kind of a setting, you have to give up some of the rules and regulations that work under here in the States,” she explained. “You’re doing the most for the most patients that you can at the time.”
The hospital ship took a steady stream of patients who were airlifted by helicopter and occasionally transported by small boats.
“There was a continuous flow of that kind of activity,” she said.
Larson recalled seeing lots of cases of amputations, head trauma, fractured legs and arms and spinal injuries.
She noted that few doctors onboard had treated patients of typhoid and tetanus.
“That was interesting for about everybody. Very few of the physicians had ever encountered that because we just don’t see it in our modern medical setting,” she said.
Gut-wrenching stories became part of the daily routine.
“The human grief was really overwhelming at times. We took care of many people of all ages who had lost their total families. They were the lone survivors,” she said, fondly remembering one patient who had lost her parents and five siblings when their family’s house collapsed. The woman, who had a good command of English, escaped with major facial fractures and unable to speak after receiving treatment wrote notes and letter of thanks to Larson.
Amid the disease and trauma, doctors also delivered a few babies onboard.
One expectant mother had suffered a fractured pelvis, and she and her baby were extremely ill when they came onboard. Doctors didn’t expect the baby, dubbed Isabella, to survive after delivering her prematurely at 6 1/2 months and taking her off a breathing machine.
“She just started breathing on her own and started thriving. She went home with her mother,” Larson recalled. “Baby Isabella is the miracle baby of the ship.”
The story was one among many that lifted spirits and morale on the ship.
“There were definitely some bright spots,” Larson said. “People got over the hump, when we didn’t know if they would make it. They did survive and ultimately get better.”
The scope of Project HOPE’s mission and collaboration with Navy personnel astounded her.
“When you think about it, it was just unbelievable what the end result was because it was a huge, huge undertaking with so many levels of people involved,” Larson. “It was a very high level of care for the situation. To work at that level for three weeks was plenty.”
The ups and downs and long shifts did fatigue Larson who is semi-retired, but she gained a greater understanding of tragedy on an epic scale.
“I deal with death and dying on a regular basis in what I do … but when you add that level of not only the injuries but also people who have lost several or all of their family members and have no home to go to, it puts my whole world into a different perspective,” she said. “It makes me incredibly grateful.”
Although she was ready to come home, she took several memories with her of Haiti’s unwavering faith.
On the eve of the one-month anniversary of the earthquake Feb. 12, the ship’s chaplain and an interpreter hosted a service of remembrance and hope in the ship’s mess hall that included hymns and prayer.
“Everybody came — all the patients who could make it – along with the Red Cross and Project HOPE. It was packed to the brim, shoulder to shoulder. That was a hugely powerful experience. There weren’t so many dry eyes at the service,” Larson said. “It was such an example of their strength. [Haitians] are used to very, very hard lives, and they have very strong spirits. That was a wonderful way to end our mission.”

The boat-up docks at Carlos 'n Charlie's are high and dry.

Despite low water levels, Lake Travis will be open for business this Labor Day holiday.

“Many people from the Dallas area seem to think the lake is closed, and that is just not true,” said Don Kahn, a longtime ski instructor on Lake Travis. “It is unfortunate, because the lake gets a lot of its business from that area.”

Kahn blames media reports, which he said tell only part of the story.

“The public boat ramps may be closed, but there are a lot of private boat ramps that are open and available,” he said. “You can easily get on the lake.”

Kahn said the lake is actually safer than normal because many of the obstacles just below the water when the lake is full, are fully above the water line.

“When people come up here, I urge them to read the map at the marina to know where the low water obstacles are,” Kahn said. “Stay away from Point Venture — that is shallow water when the lake is full. Right now it is less dangerous than usual. But all in all, it is safer today than when it is full from the standpoint of boating hazards.”

Kahn, now in his 80s, has been teaching water skiing on the lake since the City of Lakeway was founded.

“When the lake is full, people don’t know about ‘Sometimes Island,’ but you can see it now, and avoid it,” he said, noting he wants to encourage tourism at the lake. “Labor Day is coming up, and gossip and rumors say the lake is closed. The lake is not closed.”

He said businesses are taking it on the chin, and it isn’t necessary because there is plenty of recreation to be had on Lake Travis.

“Businesses are seeing a drop — up to 40 percent of their business,” Kahn said. “People are being misled by the media. It is not fair for these restaurants and marinas.”

Authorities advised boaters — even those intimately familiar with Lake Travis — to follow precautions because of the increased number of obstacles such as rocks, stumps, and islands jutting up from the water’s surface.

“Very few people have seen lake levels this low before,” said Bill Hagey, boating and water safety coordinator for the Lower Colorado River Authority.

LCRA will station additional patrols on the lake for the Labor Day weekend.

“The number of boaters will be down so we won’t have the same number of officers,” Hagey said, adding that they will be working with other enforcement agencies such as Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to monitor the lake.

TPWD statistics show a decline in the number of boating-related injuries on Lake Travis over the last three years from 73 in 2006 to 43 in 2007 to 20 in 2008. The department reports 12 boating-related injuries thus far this year. However, nine water-related deaths were recorded on Lake Travis last year and one last month, so officials urge everyone out on the lake to use caution.

Statewide, however, the number of boating-related accidents and fatalities has risen. TPWD reports state 258 accidents occurred in 2006, 260 in 2007, and 271 in 2008. Fatalities rose from 47 in 2006 to 52 in 2007 to 61 in 2008.

Hagey urged boaters to wear lifejackets, noting that children should not wear adult-sized lifejackets.

“That’s extremely dangerous. [Lifejackets] just don’t work that way,” he said, noting that 90 percent of all drowning victims were not wearing lifejackets.

Boaters should check the weather and weather forecast before going out on the lake, hydrate themselves and wear sunscreen. They also must maintain a 50-foot distance from other watercraft when at maneuvering speed and avoid nighttime boating, Hagey said. In addition, they should call 9-1-1 if they experience an emergency on the lake. Paying attention to milemarkers on the lake is invaluable in assisting a dispatcher in locating where the incident is occurring.

Intoxication limits of .08 blood alcohol content apply on the lake as well as on the road. Boating While Intoxicated charges will be filed.

“If anyone is going to be drinking alcohol, please do so responsibly,” LCRA manager Tim Bradle said.

The agency has partnered with TPWD for four years on Nobody’s Waterproof, a water safety campaign that is in full effect this summer. LCRA operated a personal watercraft simulator and outreach program Aug. 29 at Inks Lake State Park and had a campaign boat on Lake LBJ. For information on the campaign, visit www.nobodyswaterproof.com.

Authorities also will be out in force to patrol area roads and highways.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is leading “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest,” a national campaign to crack down on under-the-influence driving.

An estimated 11,000 police departments and other law enforcement agencies across the nation will team up in an effort to lower the number of drunken driving-related fatalities. Nearly 12,000 DWI-related deaths were recorded in 2008, with 40 percent of all fatal crashes during last year’s Labor Day holiday involving a drunken driver, according to the NHTSA Web site.

“Police will be redoubling their efforts during this high-risk travel period to ensure that impaired drivers are detected and arrested,” the Web site stated.

Lakeway Police Department spokesman Detective Mary Proctor urged motorists to wear their seatbelts, drive safely, and not drink and drive.

“Take your time getting to your destination. Don’t be in a hurry. We want you to arrive there safely,” Proctor said.

Bee Cave Police Chief Rusty Pancoast echoed Proctor’s message and encouraged driver’s to remain alert, even if they haven’t been drinking.

“For those of us [drivers] who haven’t been drinking, we should be observant of those who have,” Pancoast advised.

He also warned drivers to avoid driving home late Monday night because fatigue will set in.

Roger Wade, public information officer for the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, said sheriffs will be participating in Selected Traffic Enforcement Period (STEP) through Sept. 7 with increased patrols.

“We’ll have people out and about. We’re hoping it will be an uneventful Labor Day,” Wade said, encouraging people to celebrate the holiday responsibly.

 Editor Charles McClure contributed to this report. He may be reached at news@ltview.com.

news@ltview.com

In April of 1968, the Cold War gripped the world with fear that a clash of that time’s two great superpowers – the U.S. and the former Soviet Union – could result in the literal destruction of humanity.

In that same month, something went terribly wrong with the Soviet diesel-electric powered submarine K-129, armed with nuclear warheads, and it sunk to the bottom of the North Pacific Ocean – not far from Hawaii. The Soviets quietly launched an all-out effort to find the submarine, but it was simply too deep to reach.

However, it wasn’t just the USSR that was interested in the K-129 – the Central Intelligence Agency discovered the submarine had gone missing, and was interested to find out why.
As intriguing as the situation was – it would become even more so when eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes set out to build the Hughes Glomar-Explorer (HGE) between 1973 and 1974. Constructed by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, the vessel cost more than $350 million to build.
By mid-June of 1974 it was ready to set sail. The media was told the ship would engage in marine geology and extract manganese nodules from the ocean floor. But the CIA had other plans for the HGE.
“It was built with a very large drill platform,” explained Lakeway resident Tom Smith during a meeting of the Men’s Breakfast Club last March. “It was unique because it would have an inside diameter of six inches – which is a pretty good size hole for a drill platform.”
But in fact, the HGE was outfitted for more than just drilling. It was equipped with a specially-designed claw system that could lift the weight of 17 million pounds.
“Numbers can seem meaningless,” Smith mused. “But that is the equivalent of 45,900 Cadillacs.”
Smith wasn’t referring to the scaled down Cadillacs of today – he was talking about the massive models of the 1960s, which were a status symbol of wealth and equipped with the latest in automobile technology.
Smith, who worked at Hughes Tool Company, wasn’t initially aware of the cover story. At first, he thought he was working on a deep ocean mining project.
Manganese nodules are a fascinating geological fact, and in the late 1960s-70s, it was thought that mining them could prove profitable. They are rock concretions on the ocean’s floor comprised of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides. In fact they are microfossils formed around phosphatized shark teeth and basalt debris. The oceans of the world are littered with them.
While the mineral could have great value, many efforts to extract it proved too difficult and expensive as a practical mining technology. It costs a lot of money to mine at depths of five to six kilometers and transport the mineral to the surface.
But the CIA wasn’t interested in transporting manganese nodules to the surface – it wanted to transport the K-129 to the surface and mine it for its Russian technology in hopes of gaining a strategic advantage.
“There were experts who had the final say on every design aspect,” Smith said. “The testing was done within two miles of downtown Houston.”
It was during a trip to Pennsylvania when Smith came to realize the HGE was not being designed to mine manganese nodules. An area of the ship below the decks where rough necks typically change bits was to be refrigerated.
“This area wasn’t typically refrigerated – and that was my first clue that were not out to mine manganese nodules,” he said with a smile.
Instead, this was the area where the K-129 was to be housed after it was retrieved from the bottom of the ocean.
“The Russians had never found out exactly where it had sunk,” Smith said. “It was believed to contain the bodies of the crew. The U.S. knew the location and was pretty sure the Russians did not. The goal was to obtain the secret code books without the Russians knowing it.”
Retrieving a submarine three miles below the ocean surface is no easy task.
Sometime between July and August of 1974 the HGE discovered the submarine and managed to lift the front portion of the K-129. But something went wrong. According to one published report, one of the HGE’s specially-designed claws fractured, and the portion of the K-129 being raised broke into two pieces.
The critical section of the ship, where the U.S. government hoped to recover the code books, fell back to the ocean floor.
It is believed to this day that portions of the submarine were recovered – but exactly what remains highly classified. The Soviets believed the U.S. recovered torpedoes with nuclear warheads, operations manuals, code books and coding machines. Other reports maintain the U.S. never managed to bring cryptographic equipment or the coveted code books to the surface.
As for Smith, he was sworn to secrecy. He didn’t even tell his wife until decades later when the story broke in the Los Angeles Times and the basic mission became unclassified, which, he says, didn’t settle well with his wife. Still, only the government knows what – if anything – was recovered.
The Glomar-Explorer still sails the oceans today.
Beginning in 1997, and at a cost of more than $180 million, it was modified into a deep sea drilling ship, capable of drilling in waters between 7,500-11,500 feet – deeper than any other existing drilling vessel. It was is officially leased to the U.S. Navy for global marine drilling. At last report, the Glomar-Explorer was being used by British Petroleum Angola for drilling exploration and appraisal of wells – or at least that’s the official story now.
The Glomar-Explorer has long since passed into the pantheon of pop culture, inspiring a myriad of novels, including Shock Wave by Clive Cussler, The Ghost from the Grand Banks, by the late science fiction novelist Arthur C. Clarke, and The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross.
It’s initial mission has also been chronicled in documentaries by both the Discovery and History channels.