the pemberton journal

Copyright © 2009 Peel, Inc. Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association Newsletter - May 2009 �

The Pemberton Journal

Official PublicatiOn Of PembertOn HeigHts neigHbOrHOOd assOciatiOn may 2009, VOl iii, issue V


(Continued on Page 3)

The History of the Dunbar-Eilers House

2502 Harris Boulevard

days. Marion was listed in the Cactus as a tutor in the Romance languages for the Pi Phi Sorority. Mrs. Dunbar hired Olin Scurlock, a partner in the Dallas firm Wood and Scurlock, to build her new ranch style house for $7,000. The Dallas Morning News featured many articles about Scurlock. He was a contractor for Love Field, built a new men’s dormitory at U.T., and was instrumental in developing the Park Cities, building many ranch style homes there. McCall and Margaret Eilers bought the house in 1946 and lived there until 1982. McCall worked with his father, A.J. Eilers, in the McKean Eilers Company, a wholesale dry goods firm on Congress Avenue. A. J. was one of the founders of the LCRA, and owned and operated Deep Eddy pool before donating it to the City of Austin. Margaret Speer Eilers was the daughter of Judge Ocie Speer, one of the elder statesmen of the legal profession in Texas. The proceeds from his book, Texas Jurists, were used to pay

Its hard to imagine Pemberton Heights without all of it’s beautiful trees, but early pictures show it to be fields of corn and spinach. These crops were grown on Judge Harris’ farm before it was developed into Austin’s newest subdivision, beginning around 1927. With so much of Pemberton Heights still available for purchase in 1938, Mrs. Marion Bone Dunbar chose one of the few lots that had existing trees. The grove of live oaks on this lot were already around 50 years old. She purchased thirty additional feet of the adjacent lot to provide ample room to build her home behind the trees. Arborists now estimate these trees to be approximately 120 years old. Marion was a young widow from Dallas, a socialite featured in the Dallas Morning News and New York Times society pages...traveling to Europe for extended periods...skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho. She had attended U.T. from 1927 to 1931, and now had returned to Austin as a single woman to build her new home...quite unusual in those

May 2009 Events

May 2 – 3OLD PECAN STREET FESTIVAL

oldPeCansTreeTfesTival.Com

May 3SCHLOTzSKY’S BUN RUN

Bunrun.Com

May 5CINCO DE MAYO CELEBRATION

ausTinmaCC.Com

May 5EARLY VOTINg ENDS

May 9VOTINg DAY

May 10MOTHER’S DAY

May 16O. HENRY PUN-OFFPunPunPun.Com

May 21-June 7KERRVILLE FOLK FESTIVAL

kerrvillefolkfesTival.Com

May 23UT COMMENCEMENT

May 23 - 25AUSTIN WINE FESTIVAL

ausTinwinefesTival.Com

May 29TExAS gREEK FESTIVAL

TexasgreekfesTival.Com

2 Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association Newsletter - May 2009 Copyright © 2009 Peel, Inc.


OfficErs & bOarD

nEwslETTEr infO

Bryan Chester (P) .......................... [email protected] Candace Volz........................................ [email protected] Charles Heimsath [email protected] Charles Johanson (VP) [email protected] Miller [email protected] Morris (VP) ............................. [email protected] greg Hybl [email protected] Wheeler [email protected] Tate (T) [email protected] Susan Pascoe .................................... [email protected] Tom Daniel ........................................... [email protected]

Crista Wheeler ......................................................................Lance Thompson .................... [email protected] Nykaza [email protected]

rEpOrT Of criMEJeff Minch ......................................... [email protected] Miller Anderson [email protected]

rEpOrT Of prOblEMs On TrianglEs Lance Thompson ........................................... 713-702-5776 ............................................ [email protected]

HOnOrary DirEcTOrs

OTHEr cOnTacTs

acTing EDiTOr

Thea Wood [email protected]

assisTanT EDiTOrThea Wood [email protected]

publisHErPeel, Inc. ........................www.PEELinc.com, 512-263-9181Advertising .................................. [email protected]

pErsOnal classifiEDs (one time sell items, such as a used bike...) run at no charge to Pemberton Heights residents, limit 30 words, please e-mail [email protected].

businEss classifiEDs (offering a service or product line for profit) are $50, limit 40 words, please contact Peel, Inc. Sales Office @ 512-263-9181 or [email protected].

Howson branch library closing for renovation

Howson Branch Library will close May 18 for renovation. A Cool Roof with high reflectivity and a Rain Water Harvesting System for irrigation are two of the green Building provisions included in the renovation.

Library Facilities Services Division hired an asbestos abatement contractor to perform the necessary asbestos remediation preceding the facility’s renovation. The building will need to be sealed and closed to create a negative pressure zone for the abatement process. 

Following roof replacement, an interior remodel will commence, including new finishes, a new furniture/shelving layout, additional electrical circuits, enhanced internet conductivity, mechanical improvements, and an automated door to enhance accessibility.

Howson will reopen November 2, 2009. Patrons are invited to go to the newly renovated Central Library and nearby Yarborough Branch Library. In addition, the new North Village Branch Library at 2505 Steck Avenue will open May 30. Please visit to http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/library for specific library hours and information.

Traffic Enforcement – You Can Help!

Worried about all those speeders flying by your house? Email our district representative and request more traffic enforcement for speeding by contacting 512-974-5340 or email ([email protected]). Perhaps it will detour burglaries and unwanted solicitations, too!



for the painting of the portraits of appellate judges which hung in the Capitol’s rotunda. Margaret’s sister, Ann, painted the first portrait. Margaret was very active in the Settlement Club and spent many hours volunteering at the Austin Children’s Shelter. Dr. george Thorne, Jr., one of Austin’s leading eye surgeons, owned the house from 1983-86. Key and Melissa Collie bought it in 1987, and noted Austin architect Paul Lamb designed the remodel for them. Mr. Lamb did an excellent job of modernizing the inside of the house. Don Crowell, who has been featured in regional and national magazines, was the builder.Key Collie is an oil and gas lawyer, and Melissa was a government Professor at U.T. Current owners Suzanne and David Deaderick have lived in the house since 1993. The house was designated a City of Austin Historic landmark in October of 2008. David is an attorney and Suzanne works with other homeowners in their pursuit of historic landmark status. Their son, Will, is a 7th grader at Paragon Prep Middle School.

The History of the Dunbar-eilers House-(Continued from Cover Page) wang parks advisory board underway

The West Austin Neighborhood group (WANg)Parks Advisory Board met for the first time to discuss the future of our neighborhood parks. Richard Craig, who was instrumental in “Trees For Pease” fund-raising efforts, represented Pemberton Heights and reported on the Board’s meeting and planned activities. The Board would like to become a permanent entity that meets regularly to discuss plans, ideas and solutions for issues surrounding park maintenance, fund-raising, volunteer programs, Austin Parks assistance, the City Parks Department and related topics. “The idea is that no one should have to re-invent the wheel, and that we should share each group’s hard won knowledge and experience,” noted Mr. Craig. The first order of business is for each representative to submit a synopsis of current and past park projects and the knowledge gained from each effort. Ifyouhaveinformationyou’dlikeincludedinthesubmissionregardingPemberton’spocketparksortrafficislandparks,pleasecontactMr.Craigat512-477-0737(home),512-925-5306(cell)[email protected].

� Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association Newsletter - May 2009 Copyright © 2009 Peel, Inc.


Great Hills Baptist ChurchVacation Bible School | June 15-19Going Beyond - Women’s Conference with Priscilla Shirer | June 26-27Patriotic Celebration - Both Sunday Services | June 28Children’s Fine Art Workshop | July 6-10Veggie Tales Day Camp | July 27-31Middle / High School Camps - Baylor University | July 27-31Celebrate Recovery | Mondays, 7 pm, 2nd �oor of building A

Summer Activities

Regular Sunday Schedule:9:30 & 11 am Bible Life Groups for all ages9:30 am Celebration - Connection | Worship Choir & Orchestra11:00 am Life - Connection | Worship Band

10500 Jollyville Road . Austin, TX . 78759 | www.ghbc.org | 512.343.7763

reporting suspicious activityIf the crime is in progress, give the circumstances and possible crime being committed.

WHen In DOuBT, CaLL IT InUnder no circumstances should you

attempt to apprehend a person committing a crime or try to investigate suspicious activity. The police want your information – not your action.

The police department would rather investigate than be called when it is too late. Your call could save a life, prevent an injury or stop a criminal act. BE ALERT.

Not every stranger who comes into your neighborhood is a criminal, by any means.

There are many door-to-door salesmen, repairmen, and servicemen moving around our neighborhood all the time. But criminals do take advantage of this by pretending to be legitimate workmen.

•The purpose for reporting suspicious activity to the police is to stop the criminal activity, increase police presence in your neighborhood and give a true perspective of crime. Making a report will enhance the possibility of getting your property returned. Keep police emergency numbers close by when reporting suspicious activity or an emergency. Anything that seems slightly “out of place” or does not look right could be criminal activity.

Do not worry about “bothering” the police or being embarrassed if your suspicions prove to be unfounded. Think ahead about what could happen if you don’t act. give the police or the telephone clerk:

The reason for the call.The location of the activity.The description of the suspect and any vehicle involved.

•••

request for photos!

DearNeighbors, I have been asked by local/regional history publisher Arcadia Publishing (www.arcadiapublishing.com) to submit a book proposal for a Pemberton Heights photo history. I am already inventorying the photos that are available at the Austin History Center. However, if you have any old photographs of people, homes, or events in Pemberton Heights that you’d be willing to share for this project, I would like to hear from you! There are no particular requirements except that the photo be of potential interest to prospective readers of the history book. Contact Elizabeth Cash at [email protected] or at (512) 391-0721 (please leave message). Many thanks in advance!!



pEasE parK ETErnal? thousands of new users, time, weather and plain general neglect have left the park in alarming shape. The end of 2008 finds the park and trail limping along on borrowed time.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center conducted a comprehensive park study per the Austin Parks Foundation’s request. They issued their assessment and made a series of recommendations for its restoration in June, 2007. The plan involves removing invasive species of vegetation, restoring the soil’s health and curtailing erosion by planting native grasses and wildflowers, and undertaking a concerted re-forestation effort. Several demonstration plots of different mixes of grasses and wildflowers have been installed to help determine what plants and methods will work best for revitalization. However, the money to implement the Wildflower Center’s recommendations is woefully lacking.

Funding for park maintenance is always a difficult issue in every City Budget. Parks are an easy thing for council members to slash in favor of other needs perceived as more urgent. Increasingly, the City of Austin depends on private groups like the Austin Parks Foundation for funding and volunteer assistance to make up the shortfall in parks’ care.

A new group called “Friends of Pease Park” has been formed under the umbrella of the Austin Parks Foundation to focus on this one park and its problems. It plans to raise money for the re-forestation of the park and greenbelt and for implementing all of the recommendations of the Lady Bird Wildflower Center study. The group’s immediate goal is to plant over 100 large trees and install an irrigation system in conjunction with the Foundation and the City Parks Department.

If you would like to contribute financially to this very worthy effort, please make your check payable to the “Austin Parks Foundation-Trees for Pease” and mail it to the Austin Parks Foundation, 701 Brazos, Suite 170, Austin, Texas 78701. Your donations to the Foundation are tax deductible. For more information or to offer your volunteer services, contact Charlie McCabe or Rosie Weaver at the Austin Parks Foundation at 477-1566 or Richard Craig of “Friends of Pease Park” at 477-0737.

One of the best things about living in Pemberton Heights is our proximity to Pease Park, the historic crown jewel of the Austin Parks system and the Shoal Creek Hike and Bike Trail. We drive by them every day, but not many of us give these incredible public amenities a second thought. They have always been there and always will, right? The reality is that just might not be true. Their beautiful canopy of trees, the green lungs of our neighborhood, could disappear within a generation unless we take immediate steps to restore and revitalize it!

Pease Park and the adjacent trail areas are in trouble. They’re overused and under loved. The aged cedar elms are ravaged by wind storms and droughts. The majestic live oaks’ root zones are compacted by heavy pedestrian traffic and top soil scoured away by periodic flooding. The underbrush, including new tree saplings, was cut away to discourage criminal activity and make the area undesirable for camping transients. There has been no concerted effort to plant new trees on the scale needed to replace those lost each year. Without action, the park could become a torrid, dusty wasteland and the term “greenbelt” could become a misnomer.

This would be a very sad end to an illustrious past. governor Elijah Pease gave the acreage along Shoal Creek to the City of Austin for use as a park in 1875. Even at that early date the park already had a rich history. Paleolithic hunter-gatherers had camped there. Comanche Indians attacked early settlers along Shoal Creek. Union general george Armstrong Custer’s cavalry troops pitched their tents south of the present West 24th Street bridge in 1865-1866, during Reconstruction. Author and Austin resident O. Henry even featured the area in a short story about buried Mexican treasure: Bexar Script No. 2692. However, it wasn’t until 1926 that city fathers began developing Pease Park into the oasis we know today. Environmental activist Ms. Russell Fish followed suit in the 1960’s by pioneering the Shoal Creek Hike and Bike Trail construction northward, parallel to the creek.

Since then Austin has changed dramatically with an exploding downtown population that leaves an increasingly heavy foot print on the park. Eeyore’s Birthday celebration and Frisbee golfers found permanent homes at Pease in the 1970’s and 80’s. These



DISCLAIMER: Articles and ads in this newsletter express the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Peel, Inc. or its employees. Peel, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of any facts stated in articles submitted by others. The publisher also assumes no responsibility for the advertising content with this publication. All warranties and representations made in the advertising content are solely that of the advertiser and any such claims regarding its content should be taken up with the advertiser.* The publisher assumes no liability with regard to its advertisers for misprints or failure to place advertising in this publication except for the actual cost of such advertising.* Although every effort is taken to avoid mistakes and/or misprints, the publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors of information or typographical mistakes, except as limited to the cost of advertising as stated above or in the case of misinformation, a printed retraction/correction.* Under no circumstances shall the publisher be held liable for incidental or consequential damages, inconvenience, loss of business or services, or any other liabilities from failure to publish, or from failure to publish in a timely manner, except as limited to liabilities stated above.

Newsletter Article SubmissionsInterested in submitting an article? You can do so by emailing [email protected]. All news must be received by the 7th of the month prior to the issue. So if you are involved with a school group, scouts, sports etc – please submit your articles for The Pemberton Journal. Personal news for the Stork Report, Teenage Job Seekers, special celebrations and military service are also welcome.

FREE CHECKING 200+ FREE ATMs

WWW.ATFCU.ORG 512.302.5555

14METRO

LOCATIONS

HOME EQUITY LOANS

5.15%APR*

5.35%APR*

5.60%APR*

10 YEARS

15 YEARS

20 YEARS

BUSINESS LOANS

5.70%***

5.85%***

6.10%***

5 YEARS

10 YEARS

15 YEARS

AUTO LOANS

3.694.39

UP TO 66 MONTHS

72 MONTHS

MONEY MARKET

1.41%APY****

1.611.81

$25,000 TO $74,999

$75,000 TO $124,999

*Annual Percentage Rate. All rates are expressed “as low as”. Actual rate may vary depending on credit qualifications. **Austin Telco will pay all standard closing costs on Home Equity loans below $100k. Additional non-standard fees will be the responsibility of the member. ***Rate applies to 1st lien commercial real estate loans with a loan to value of 80% or less; construction/development loan rates/terms may be different. No Pre-payment penalty. ****Annual Percentage Yield. Penalties for early withdrawal may apply. 1Regular - A minimum deposit of $1000 is required. 2Jumbo - A minimum deposit of $95000 is required. All APRs, APYs and terms are subject to change without notice. Please call for details. This credit union is federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration.

$125,000 &ABOVE

%APY****%APY****

CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT

2.07 %APY****

2.172.32

6 MONTHS

12 MONTHS

24 MONTHS

%APY****%APY****

CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT

2.17%APY****

2.272.42

6 MONTHS

12 MONTHS

24 MONTHS

%APY****%APY****

%APR*

%APR*

PLUS NO CLOSING COSTS** 20 YEAR AMORTIZATION

NEW OR USED MINIMUM DAILY BALANCE OF $2000 REQUIRED

REGULAR1 JUMBO2

New Pemberton Heights Neighborhood Association

Websitehttp://www.pembertonheights.org/

Not Available Online


The Pemberton Journalwho is watching your neighborhood?

a letter from officer david J. knutson

Crime or the fear of crime provides the impetus for residents to become better informed on how to protect themselves and their property. getting back to the old adage of being our “brother’s keepers”, means neighbors watching out for other neighbors.

Neighbors are the eyes and ears in helping police apprehend criminals. Crime Watch is not designed to substitute for police protection. Rather it is an extension or supplement in assisting police in making neighborhoods safer. Neighborhood Watch programs operate under two principles. First, when neighbors get to know and watch out for each other, they watch out for each other’s property as though it was their own. Second, Neighborhood Watch helps to create an identity within the neighborhood, which in turn fosters sense of pride and belonging for the participants.

Participants make their neighborhood a safer place to live by adopting more observant and active attitudes, resulting in awareness of strange cars, persons, or circumstances. This will not take a lot of time and soon will develop into a daily habit of becoming more aware of what is going on in the neighborhood.

As a community, people generate many good ideas on how to protect their neighborhood from crime, but it takes active participation. A reduction in crime and higher quality of life can be accomplished by combining citizen involvement with the available law enforcement resources. More resources can help reduce crime, but a joint effort will be more effective almost every time.

Some associations coordinate their recreational walks with spotting suspicious activity and reporting it to the police.

In the age of c e l l phone s , r e p o r t i n g suspicious activity to the police can be done from almost anywhere. You can help by being familiar and aware of your surroundings and when you observe something that looks suspicious – report it. Follow these tips what to do if you see suspicious activity. Do it for your neighbor – do it for your community.

“What is Neighborhood Watch” and“Suspicious Activity Reporting andPurpose of Reporting” informationwas obtained from the Austin PoliceDepartment “Forming a NeighborhoodWatch Program” manual http://www.c i .aus t in . tx .us /po l i ce /downloads /neighborhoodwatchmanual.pdf


The Pemberton JournalPeel, Inc.311 Ranch Road 620 S. Ste 200Lakeway, TX 78734-4775www.PEELinc.com

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPEEL, INC.

PH

www.PEELinc.com

ADVERTISE

HERE512-263-9181

www.PEELinc.com

ADVERTISE

HERE512-263-9181

the pemberton journal

Documents